Save America Ministries

Guest (Male): This is Viewpoint with attorney and author Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is a one-hour talk show confronting the issues of America's heart and home. And now, for today's edition of Viewpoint, here is Chuck Crismier.

Chuck Crismier: Efforts are being made now to restore prayer in the public schools, to restore Bible reading in the public schools, maybe even the Ten Commandments. And we're also being told that we just need to become a more religious nation. We even have Godly tennis shoes installed in the museum of the Bible. Why? Because they quote a scripture. Question: Will any of these change America, and will any of these prevent deception?

The answer is none. None of them will because they are not the heart of the problem. They may reflect some of the problems that we have had and why we've entered into the problems that we have, but they're not the heart of the problem. The heart of the problem is the heart, and the heart is connected to the mind, and the heart is connected to the emotions and our feelings, and so on.

So today on Viewpoint, we're going to be talking about something we probably all ought to think about very, very carefully. In fact, I want to ask you a question as we launch into the program today. What do you think is Satan's cleverest weapon? What do you think is Satan's cleverest weapon? The Apostle Paul told us all that we're not ignorant of his devices, that is, Satan's devices. But are we ignorant? Are we ignorant of his devices?

Today we're going to talk about what I believe is Satan's cleverest weapon. And it has to do with what we might call sovereign feelings. Sovereign feelings. In other words, when feelings become Lord. When feelings do not serve us but actually enslave us, and they become actually the way in which we interpret everything, even God's Word, even what God has said.

And we have a problem with that because we know right there in the book of Genesis, chapter three, Satan went after the first woman. Now, somebody might not like the fact that I clearly stated that, but that's what the Bible does say. After Adam and Eve were married by God, at God's choice, his sovereign will, Satan went immediately after the new wife that was supposed to be the helpmate to Adam.

Remember God saw that Adam was alone. All the other animals had a companion, had a helpmate. So God said, "It's not right for Adam to be alone. I'm going to create for him a helpmate." Which he did. And he said, God performed the first marriage and he said, "What God has put together, man must not put asunder." So that resolved a problem right there, although the feelings in America and in our churches for the past 50, 60 years have completely undone what God said in Genesis chapter three, which means that Satan himself got involved in the bigger picture.

The bigger picture had to do with what God had said, not how anybody felt about what God had said. Not how Eve felt about it or how Adam felt about it, but what God had said because he's God. And God had spoken to Adam and said, "You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die." And obviously he communicated that to Eve because when Satan came to Eve and asked her, "Hath God said?" she said, "Oh, yes. He did. He said we shouldn't eat of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

So Satan, understanding that that was true, never argued with what God had said. Have you noticed that? Satan never argued with what God had said in and of itself because to do that would have been a direct confrontation with Eve and it would have put her on notice. So he has to deal in a way that does not put Eve on notice. So he asks her a question.

Well, actually he introduces an idea about why God said what he said. So he's going to interpret the mind and heart of God. Satan is, the arch enemy of God is going to interpret the mind and heart of God by telling Eve why God told her and Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so he says, "Because he knows, God knows that in the day you eat of it, you're not only going not to surely die, but you're going to be like God, and you're going to know good and evil."

See, the problem is that God never intended for Adam and Eve to know good and evil because God knew what good and evil was and he had given Adam and Eve pure good, righteousness, holiness before him. But he gave them a choice. You can either choose what I said, that is, good, truth, purity, holiness, righteousness, or you can eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but in the day you do eat of that, it ain't going to be so well for you. But Satan said, "Hey, it's going to be really great for you."

And so he twisted Eve at the point of what? Her knowledge? No, he didn't twist her at the point of her knowledge. He twisted her at the point of her feelings. Now, why did he go directly to Eve instead of to Adam? Because he knew, Satan knew, that when God created Eve, it was to be a counterpart, so to speak, to Adam, who had been created to rule in the garden, on the earth, to exercise the thought and mind and heart of God to rule in the world.

But Eve decided to elevate her feelings, her interpretation of what God had said because of the re-interpreter of Satan himself called the serpent, and thereby ended up deceiving the whole world. That's how we got to where we are. We got there because Eve was deceived. And how was she deceived? She was deceived through Satan's clearest, most clever, most dangerous weapon: unrestrained feelings.

In other words, she did not submit her feelings to her faith or to the truth of what God had said. Rather, she elevated her feelings over what God had said. So I want to ask you a question. Have you ever done that? Now, just to be real honest with you, if you're a human being, you have done that. Every human being has done that. Every professing Christian has done that at some point, elevated their feelings over what God has said. And it's the most dangerous thing that we can do because of where it ultimately leads. If our feelings become sovereign, then God is nothing but what? What would you say? God becomes nothing but what? A mantra? Not real. In other words, he's a pretense. What really is real is our feelings. And Satan knows that once he gets us at that point, he has us. Does he have you? Have you been struggling with your feelings lately? We'll be back.

Once upon a time, children could pray and read their Bibles in school. Divorces were practically unknown, as was child abuse. In our once great America, virginity and chastity were popular virtues, and homosexuality was an abomination. So what happened in just one generation? Hi, I'm Chuck Crismier, and I urge you to join me daily on Viewpoint where we discuss the most challenging issues touching our hearts and homes. Could America's moral slide relate to the Fourth Commandment? Listen to Viewpoint on this radio station or anytime at saveus.org.

Welcome back to Viewpoint. Is Jesus our master? Are Jesus's words mastering over our minds, our hearts, our wills, our emotions? What's mastering us? Satan knows that the number one way to gain dominion over our minds and hearts and to redirect our spiritual path is to get us at the level of our feelings. Now, before we go even further, I want to make it very clear because all of us have different personalities, and some people are more emotional than others in their general makeup.

Women tend to be more emotional than men, and I believe that that's why Satan went after Eve. The serpent didn't go after Adam. He went after Eve. And the Bible says Eve was deceived, but Adam was not. So when Eve came to Adam and said, "Look, look at this fruit. And Satan says we're going to be like God if we eat it," so Adam responds. Now, the Bible, I don't think, gives us the full picture of what happened there between Adam and Eve.

I believe that because Eve was given to Adam as his helpmate, his companion, and he wanted to love and respect her, God expects us as husbands to do that with our wives, that he actually yielded because of his feelings for Eve. He yielded to Eve's aberration from the truth or the faith that God had given them. Because, you know, like the old phrase says, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. So he yielded to Eve's feelings because he didn't want to hurt her feelings, and he didn't want to bruise the fruit, so to speak, of their relationship together.

And when a husband does that over something that is absolutely important before God, you're on dangerous, dangerous ground. Very dangerous ground. So husbands are supposed to protect their wives. Not just protect them from physical danger, but protect them from spiritual danger, which would lead also to deception. There have been a number of times when I've had to do that very cautiously, very carefully, and had to be sure before the Lord that I was truly stepping into a place to protect my wife. And she acknowledged after I did so that indeed I had.

We each can remember those times. There have just been a couple of them, two or three times maybe, over our 59 years of marriage. But God wants husbands to stand in the gap for him vis-a-vis our wives. He calls us to love our wives as Christ loved the church. Well, how did Christ love the church? He didn't pussyfoot around the church with kind with loving feelings to tell them what they wanted to hear. No, he brought correction. He brought righteousness. He called to humility. He called to exercise forgiveness. All of these things were corrective in Jesus's message to us as the bride of Christ.

So there's nothing wrong with feelings in and of themselves. They're part of how God ordained us or created us to be. And the feelings are directly related to our emotions. And we all have emotions. Some people are more emotional than others. Some give sway to their emotions rather than keeping themselves under self-control. And that's a problem when we allow our emotions to get out of control, we have a problem.

But when feelings are related to our emotions, which they are, then we double the problem. Then we have another aspect to this composite of how we respond to things in our lives. We have emotions, we have feelings, and we have thoughts. Thoughts are the mental processes in our brains, including our beliefs, our ideas, our judgments, and the words and the images that we use to understand things.

So God gives us his thoughts. God does not truly give us his feelings. Now, some might interpret it that way, but he says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you. Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give unto you a hope and a future." Well, some would interpret that, who are extremely emotional people, would interpret that totally emotionally. But that's not what God said. He said, "I know the thoughts that I have toward you." In other words, God's thoughts always override and contain feelings, but they are not subjected to his feelings or emotions.

Just the exact opposite of the way it is for us. God sent his word and healed us and delivered us from our destructions. The Bible doesn't say he sent his emotions. It doesn't say he sent his feelings. It says he sent his word. That's his thoughts. And that's what's so hard for us in this day and age to comprehend and understand. And that's why Satan is so unbelievably successful in deceiving today, even among professing Christians. Satan's cleverest weapon: when feelings reign supreme.

So we're going to take a look at that in more detail here on the program today. I remember a song, I think it was a kids' song, way back maybe in the 1970s. "I feel, I feel, I feel like the morning star." Well, it sounds cute. Have you ever felt like the morning star? Let's suppose that you had at some point as a kid felt like the morning star. Did that make you the morning star? How about the one who created the morning star, Venus? How about the one that created that? Would you be like him because you felt like it?

See, our problem is our feelings have been given a level of supremacy in our lives, in our decisions, in our responses to things, in our responses to people, even in our responses to the Word of God that he has given us. Because he says, "My thoughts are not the same as your thoughts. You can't interpret my thoughts based upon your feelings. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord."

But that's very hard for us to receive. Why is that so hard for us to receive? Well, there is something in us that is willing to be deceived. I'm sorry to have to put it so bluntly, but there is. It's called human nature. Human nature is the sin nature. It's the very nature that was instilled and handed down to us through the sin of Adam and Eve. Eve's deception and Adam's rebellion.

And the rest is history. And so you and I are dealing with this problem. They dealt with it in a very simple way right there in the garden. But now it has multiplied into every single area of our lives. The decisions that we make, how do we respond to the issues of our time? How do we respond? I mean, just because people are going to read the Bible or pray in the public school, does that mean it's going to change all of their feelings, the lordship of their feelings that have become so endemic to our culture today, even in God's house? No, it's not going to change that at all.

Well, it could if people actually reversed direction and went back to the original understanding that God gave right there in the garden. "You can eat of everything, every tree that's here. I've given it all to you to bless you. Just don't eat of that one thing. Just don't do that." Yet just as Adam and Eve said yes, but, so we say yes, but today. Why? Because our feelings have become Lord.

So what happens when our feelings become Lord? Well, first of all, it shifts our faith to the flesh. Our faith has to be dependent upon the Word, the truth, the facts of God's representation of who he is, how he operates, how he thinks, and what he expects of us. But when we start yielding to our feelings, then all of a sudden faith is turned on its head. And we claim to be people of faith, but actually are living according to the flesh because our feelings are of the flesh.

Another thing: feelings shift our trust to distrust. In other words, we don't have absolute trust in God anymore because we're compromised with putting our trust in our feelings. And this is exactly what Satan wants to do. It's so simple. He doesn't have to change his modus operandi at all because he knows human nature. He knows the sin nature because he is the sin nature. And so he leads us to corrupt faith by feelings that countermand what God has said.

Feelings, our feelings, tend to override facts, even. When the President of the United States said, "We believe in feelings, not facts." Joseph Biden said that. Whether he believed it or not, I don't know, but he did say that on television. "We believe in feelings, not facts." What did he really mean by that? Whether or not he meant that, he spoke a truth that is consistent with American society today.

You see, our feelings don't have any anchor. There's no anchor for our soul with feelings. Why? Because feelings are fickle. Have you noticed that? Our feelings are like riding a rollercoaster. And for women, it's even a more tumultuous rollercoaster because it oftentimes involves body chemistry and so on, things going on, hormones and so on. So we cannot rely upon our feelings. They are very deceptive. But we want to because that's what we feel.

So people have come to the place now in America where we have actually come out with many, many people saying, "My feelings are my truth." So you come out with the idea: my truth and your truth. "I feel, therefore it's true. If I feel it, it's true. If you don't feel the same thing, well, that's your truth." You see how confusing we are? And so we can't even talk together. We can't even communicate together, even in God's own house oftentimes because, well, I feel that it should be this way.

"I feel that people should be able to divorce their spouse with impunity. I feel that they should be able to remarry after divorce, even if their spouse is still with even living, even though Jesus said no way, no how, Paul said no way, no how, but I feel." You get the point. So Satan has his devices, and they are intended to deceive. Question: Has he connected with you yet? And maybe right now. Maybe even as we're talking, there's an area in your life that you're thinking, "Oh, my. Wow. Has he been reading my mail? Has God been reading my mail?"

I remember when I was a kid, I do remember back way back then, and we used to sing a song. And you probably heard this song, maybe you taught it to your kids or grandkids. "Watch your eyes, watch your eyes, what they see. There's a father up above looking down in tender love. Watch your eyes, watch your eyes what they see. Watch your ears, watch your ears what they hear. Watch your ears, watch your ears what they hear. There's a father up above looking down in tender love. Watch your ears, watch your ears what they hear. Watch your hands, what they do. Watch your feet, where they go. Watch your mind, what it thinks," and so on.

You get the point. It's pretty simple. Why is that true? Because otherwise our feelings will lead us astray. So it was a simple message to kids that I've never forgotten. I've got to be careful. Watch my eyes what they see because it's going to engender feelings. Men, that's how you got into pornography. That's how 70% of Christian men admit to being involved in pornography. That's how over 30% of Christian pastors admit to being in pornography because they didn't watch their eyes what they saw.

Hmm. Same is true for Christian women. 34% admit to being involved in some form of pornography. So it has to do with our feelings, friends. That's where pornography catches us at the point of our feelings, not at the point of truth or facts, but at the point of our feelings. And it engenders emotions, and the emotions composite with our feelings, and Satan has us by the throat, the spiritual throat, so to speak.

So when we get back, we're going to take a look at the lives of the tragedy, projecting the tragedies of many leading Bible figures who erred because of feelings.

There is so much more about Chuck Crismier and Save America Ministries on our website, saveus.org. For example, under the marriage section, God has marriage on his mind. Chuck has some great resources to strengthen your marriage. First off, a fact sheet on the state of the marital union. A fact sheet on the state of ministry marriage and morals. Saveus.org: Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage, what does the Bible really teach about this? Find all of this at saveus.org. Also, A Letter to Pastors, the Hosea Project, saveus.org, and many more resources to strengthen your marriage. It's all on Chuck's website, saveus.org. Again, you can listen to Chuck's Viewpoint broadcast live and archived, Save America Ministries website at saveus.org.

Feelings demand to be satisfied. They just do. And our flesh constantly demands to be satisfied, doesn't it? And that's why our principal battle is a veritable war between the flesh and the spirit. And our feelings become the intermediary to coordinate the flesh against our spirit and against God himself. Unfortunately, deception plays upon fleshly demands. In fact, deception is a yielding to fleshly demands, and if left unchecked, will persist progressively to yield to ever deeper demands until I become ruled by or under the dominion of the flesh: my feelings.

So I think that's precisely why the Apostle Paul warned of the itching ear syndrome there in his book to Timothy. The demands of the flesh in the world will be and currently are so great that even professing followers of Christ lose their love of the truth, demanding that pastors and prophets and parachurch leaders tell them what they want to hear to pacify their feelings. So maybe Burger King had it right after all: gotta give the people what they want, have it your way.

But fleshly demands manifest themselves in many other ways, all of which are rooted in deception and produce poisonous fruit. We're going to see how that worked out in the lives of about 10 different leading biblical figures, people that we revere and respect, that you revere and respect. You see, Satan will get after anybody. He came after Jesus, didn't he? Right there in the wilderness.

How did Satan deal with Jesus? He went after his feelings to get his feelings to override what God had said. He tried to confuse Jesus to give lordship to his feelings and his flesh. Satan no. "It is written." Notice he said "it is written." He didn't say "I feel," "I think," no, he said, "It is written." In other words, he had to have authority to go back on, and that's what protected him. And that's what you need. That's what I need.

Unfortunately, feelings have become virtual Lords in our lives. How did this happen? Well, I'm going to share with you how it happened in a cultural way in just a moment. But before I do, I want to give you an opportunity to get a copy of my book Seduction of the Saints: How to Stay Pure in a World of Deception. There are three whole chapters dealing, by the way, with the truth about deception. And we're talking about that right now.

And we're going to find how even with a fellow by the name of David, a man after God's own heart, even Satan got ahold of him through his feelings. That's right. So look, get a copy of this book. It's the number two or number three bestseller of all of my books, Seduction of the Saints. It's an $18 book yours for $15, it's on our website saveus.org, saveus.org. Give us a call, 1-800-SAVE-USA, that's 1-800-SAVE-USA, or write to us at Save America Ministries, P.O. Box 70879, Richmond, Virginia, 23255, writing a check and $6 for postage and handling. Seduction of the Saints: How to Stay Pure in a World of Deception. That's the world we live in.

All right, going back very quickly to the late 1960s, early 1970s in California, it became the educational department's philosophy changing everything that we had believed in terms of education, that education was going to be primarily a matter of teaching kids facts, basic information, so that then they could apply that information in their lives as they grew up.

Well, in the great wisdom of the state of California Education Department, they decided in the late 1960s to change all of that. And here's how it happened. They decided to start what they called the encounter movement and to retrain teachers as to how to speak. They sent us, I was a teacher at that time for nine years, they sent us to Palos Verdes there in California on the beach on our own time to be retrained into how to speak.

And here's how it went. No longer could you speak in terms of facts or speak in terms of I think or speak in terms of that's true. Couldn't use that terminology anymore. You were required then to use these words: I feel. I feel. Therefore, by intent, the state of California and its entire education department, supposedly having the best education system in the country up to that time, perverted it all.

Well, guess who perverted it all? The one who deceives to pervert. Satan did it. How did he do it? By using exactly the same technology, deception, that he used in the garden with Eve. To cause subjective experience and feelings to be superimposed over truth. In other words, to annihilate truth. Couldn't talk about truth anymore, only my feelings.

Therefore, people could have different truths about the very same fact. Interesting. Up could become down, down could become up, east could become west, west could become east, depending on how you felt about it. That's what happened. I was there, right in the midst of it. It was the upturning, the overturning of all educational theory in this country from the late 1960s into the mid-1970s. I feel, I feel, I feel.

That same spirit permeated the church during the same period of time, the early 1970s into the late 1970s through the marriage and divorce issue. I feel. I feel I'm not happy with my marriage, so I'm free to divorce. Well, what did Jesus say about that? Well, it doesn't matter what Jesus said about it. It's how I feel. And he loves me so much that he'll allow me to do what I want to do, notwithstanding what he wants us to do because I feel.

So once the "I feels" allowed me to divorce my spouse, then the "I feels" allowed me to remarry and commit adultery notwithstanding what Jesus had said or the Apostle Paul had said, and so pastors capitulated to the "I feels" of the culture that made its way through the church. So Satan had the entire church in a juggernaut. Still does. Still does. And maybe had you.

Now, that having been said, let's take a look at a few figures in the Bible. Maybe we should start with a man God said was a man after his own heart, David. At a time when kings go forth to battle, David tarried in Jerusalem. And in the evening, the Bible says he arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof and saw a woman washing herself, very beautiful to look upon. And he sent and inquired after the woman, and he lay with her. In other words, he committed adultery.

So he was a man, obviously, given to fleshly passions, as are all men moved by their eyes. And when he should have been out doing his business, waging war with his men, he was lollygagging around on his rooftop. And that's what's happened with 60 to 70% of Christian men and their pastors who got involved in pornography: lollygagging around when they should have been doing something else that God asked them to do.

So David was moved by his feelings. What did that do? First of all, it caused him to commit adultery. Then it caused him to connive to murder Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. David had to be confronted by Nathan the prophet because he didn't see it. He was unwilling to see what his feelings had led him to do, that they had become the Lord of his life even though he was pronouncing in the Psalms how much his love was for God.

Do you remember that remark? A lot of pastors do. Just this very day, I printed out an article how a pastor was removed, another pastor removed from his church for committing adultery. How many are there? This is how Satan works. It's his number one enemy. The cleverest weapon that he has is to deal with our feelings. That's the weakest point, and he knows how to get us. And if he can't get you directly, he'll get you indirectly. He'll present you with a choice of feelings that will snag you and draw you into his deceptive web.

That's why we're engaged in spiritual warfare. It's not against demons out there; it's in the demons between your ears, my friend. How about, oh, by the way, remember what David had to do in response. When Nathan the prophet pointed it out, David was just blown away in his heart. And he cried out to God, "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Take not your Holy Spirit from me, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence." Oh. And he said, "Then when I have done those things, I will be able to teach others your truth."

Oh, maybe one of the problems in our so-called evangelistic efforts these days and in speaking authoritatively to unbelievers is they look at us and they say, "You're not believers. You're living according to the lordship of your feelings. The statistics prove it." And that's what they're saying. That's how they've advanced the cause of homosexuality and then same-sex marriage and then transgenderism. All of those things fell through feelings.

But there's another way in which David allowed his feelings to get ahold of him, and it cost Israel 70,000 men. Can you believe it? We'll be back.

Have you ever considered what the early church was like? Many people are developing a heart longing for a greater fulfillment in our practices as Christians. A recent study showed 53,000 people a week are leaving the back door of America's churches in frustration. What is going on? Why has there not been even a 1% gain among followers of Christ in the last 25 years? Could it be that God is seeking to restore first-century Christianity for the 21st century?

Jesus said, "I'll build my church." Is Christ, by His Spirit, stirring to prepare the church for the 21st century? The early church prayed together and broke bread from house to house. They were family, and it was said by all who observed, "Behold how they love one another." Incredible. But the same can be found right now. Go to saveus.org and click Sell Church. We can revive first-century Christianity for the 21st century. It's about people, not programs. It's about a body, not a building. That's saveus.org. Click Sell Church.

If Satan can destroy kings, even godly kings, through their feelings, why couldn't he get a grip on pastors, preachers, prime ministers, presidents, and even we the people? Indeed he can. David, a man after God's own heart, was a warrior. And God ordained him to be a warrior. He knew he was a warrior, and because of that, he would not allow him to build the first temple. He said, "I'm going to allow Solomon your son to do that because you've got too much blood on your hands."

But David was revered by God, and God said, "You're going to reign upon my throne. My king is going to reign upon your throne forever." All right. So what do we do with a situation where David is looking out there and he sees the enemies around him, that were many? He talks about them in the Psalms. "Many are they that rise up against me. Many are they that say of my soul there's no help for him in God," and so on. "But you, oh Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head."

So what happened to David then when he decided to number the armies of Israel? Why did he do that? His head honcho, his key general, warned him, "Do not number the people." David said, "I'm going to do what I want because I'm the king." In other words, I feel like it. I want to.

So David numbered the armies of Israel. And then he was smitten in his heart because of what he had done. He knew that he had not done what God would have him do. What was the problem? He trusted his feelings that were linked to what he thought he needed to have in order to be successful to wage the Lord's battles. God said, "No. I can win my battles by many or by few. Your job is to trust me."

Your job is not to trust the number of people in your army. It's to trust me. Then I'll deal with the number of people in your army. That was proven, by the way, with regard to Gideon. God isolated out the number of men down to 300 men to defeat a million Midianites. But David didn't get it, and he numbered the people because of his feelings, the lordship of his feelings at that point.

And God said, "Okay. You didn't trust me." His feelings led him not to trust God. And God said, "Okay, I'm going to give you three choices. There are three penalties, consequences, for your refusal to trust me because you elevated the lordship of your feelings over your faith." God gave him three choices. One of those happened to be that he would be running for three months before his enemies.

And David said, "No, no, no, no, no. They're ruthless people. I will submit to God because at least I know that God is merciful." So God said, "Okay, you're going to lose 70,000 of your men." So God sent the angel of destruction to strike down 70,000 of the choicest men of Israel. That's what David had to suffer at the very point of the lordship of his feelings. God struck him at that very point. You're going to trust your feelings? Okay. I'll show you what that looks like. I'll take away everything you trusted, or 70,000 of them.

You say, "Why would God allow... I thought God was a merciful God." Well, David thought that he was and still did. But the way you and I interpret God is not the same as the way God interprets himself. And that's our problem because we elevate our feelings over what God has said and how God revealed himself in his word. That's why a lot of people don't want to read the Old Testament because God is revealing who he is as God and how he deals with people, how he deals with a people group called Israel, the apple of his eye.

Then there was a fellow by the name of Judas. Remember him? Betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Why did he do that? Because his feelings became Lord. Why? Because he was upset that Jesus had allowed a woman to break an alabaster box of ointment that was worth a lot of money, and it incensed Judas in his feelings and he said, "I'm going to get this guy. He's got to suffer for this." So he betrayed Jesus. That's how Jesus ended up getting crucified: because Judas's feelings became his Lord.

Then again, there's a fellow by the name of Peter. Some people say Peter was the one upon whom Jesus built his church. I don't agree with that, but I don't think that's a proper interpretation of what the scripture is. But that's what some people say. And yet we have Peter who told Jesus himself, "I would never deny you. If everybody else denies you, I would never do that." And yet he denied Jesus three times within an hour. Three times.

How could he do that? Because Satan got ahold of him through his feelings. How? Fear. Fear of the flesh took Peter down. The Sanhedrin crucified Jesus, the religious leaders, 71 religious elders of Israel crucified Jesus. Why? Because they allowed their feelings and their fear to superimpose itself on what God had said in his word. They were more protective of their power, perks, and position than they were of the kingdom of God.

Envy kills. Envy is one of the most destructive emotional feeling applications in the Bible. In fact, we know from the very beginning that the very first murder was accomplished because of Cain's feelings against his brother. So he allowed his feelings to override the relationship that God had created between him and his brother, Abel. Envy.

But that's not the end of the story. You see, we find also that Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers, his 11 brothers who were the children of Israel because of envy. What was that? Oh, their feelings. Their feelings. They weren't living by faith or truth; they were living by their feelings, and their feelings governed them. Sent their brother into Egypt, almost got him killed.

And then we go to the New Testament. We find that Jesus himself was crucified because of envy. Pontius Pilate saw right through it. He said it was because of envy that they brought him. What was envy? The intense feelings that rose up to protect power, perks, and position in the flesh. Have you had anything rise up like that in you? Maybe in business? Maybe in your church? Oh, lots of that kind of stuff going on in churches across America, both small and big.

And then the Bible says that every one of the disciples, including Paul himself, were persecuted and killed because of envy. Envy is a very powerful feeling. It's the very thing that caused Satan to rise up against Jesus in the first place, to rise up against God in the heavenlies, and to begin the whole process of distorting people's feelings. When feelings become sovereign, all hell will break loose in your life.

They have in our world. When Satan decided he was going to be like the most high God, he was going to be equal with God. Why? Because I feel like it. Doesn't God know who I am? And there are so many others, friends, in the scripture that we could bring out. But these are illustrations that will help us to understand. You may not like the use of the word feelings, but friends, somebody has to pierce through all of the discussion, all of the emotionalism, all of the make-me-feel-good talk because God's not interested ultimately in that I feel good, but that I be good in his eyes.

David felt good for a while, but then he knew he wasn't good in God's eyes. It's critical to know that many who will be deceived will be deceived precisely because it comes even in the name of Christ. Feelings: the lordship of feelings even in the name of Christ. How? Because Jesus is love. Therefore, he will permit me to do whatever I want to do because he loves me so much. No. If he loves you, he's going to discipline you to keep you from doing what you should not do. That's why he disciplined David.

It's not a peripheral minority, but many who are going to be deceived like this. Jesus said so. Many. Most don't believe that they can be deceived. It's always them, the other guy somewhere out there, those unbelievers. Yet the scripture warns, it almost always warns professing believers.

Look, if we really believe that we're on the near edge of the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Apostle John said whoever has that hope in him will purify himself even as Christ is pure. Just like David did. In other words, we have to come clean before God. We confess our sin because we're deeply grieved by it. And when we do that, he's faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He knows, my friends, our frame.

We all desperately need God's mercy. We need his mercy before we need his grace. His mercy is what allows him to receive our repentance; his grace is what equips us to do his will because of his favor toward us. Get your copy of Seduction of the Saints. I think it'll be very helpful to you in so many different ways. It talks about so many things way beyond anything we can possibly talk about here on the program today. It's not all about feelings. It's about all the ways that we are seduced and don't even realize it.

These are tricky times. Jesus said to his disciples there two days before his crucifixion, "Take heed that no man deceive you." It was the number one thing on his mind. What's the number one thing on your mind? How are you preparing your children, your grandchildren? Pastor, how are you preparing the people that are trusting you to prepare them? Just interesting questions to apply the truth, you see. Get a copy of the book Seduction of the Saints. $15 will put this $18 book in your hands. It's on our website saveus.org, saveus.org. Give us a call at 1-800-SAVE-USA, that's 1-800-SAVE-USA, or write to us at Save America Ministries, P.O. Box 70879, Richmond, Virginia, 23255, writing a check and $6 for postage and handling.

And may I just indicate to you that as time is going on here, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep this program on the air. Why? Because whatever reason you can think of, God's people are not coming forward to support. Is it because of financial stress? Is it because they just don't want to hear the message? Is it because they don't think it's that important? What do you think? If you value what we're doing here on this program for 30 years now without any compensation whatsoever, please come forward. Ask God what he would have you to give and do it today generously. I believe that God will bless you.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Viewpoint with Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is supported by the faithful gifts of our listeners. Let me urge you to become a partner with Chuck as a voice to the church, declaring vision for the nation. Join us again next time on Viewpoint as we confront the issues of America's heart and home.