1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,920 Your feelings can be faulty. What do I mean? 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,200 Stay tuned to find out on this week's episode of Liberty at 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:15,760 Home. Hello there, folks. 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,040 Welcome to our latest edition of Liberty at Home, broadcast here 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,680 on Easton Community Access Television and brought to you by 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,440 the Liberty Baptist Church, where I, Adam Rivero, have 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,600 served as pastor for almost 13 years. 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,240 Today, as always, we're broadcasting from beautiful 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,520 Easton, MA, where the new Chipotle has now opened its 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,560 doors at Five Corners and is now in direct competition with a 11 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,840 nearby Taco Bell to see who can butcher authentic Mexican 12 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,400 cuisine the most. But I will say I'll love me some 13 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,040 Taco Bell. On this week's episode, I want 14 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,960 to talk about feelings. And to do that, let's head over 15 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,320 today's text, which is located in the first 3 verses of Exodus 16 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,640 16. And they took their journey from 17 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,840 Elam, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came 18 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,280 unto the wilderness of sin, which is between Elam and Sinai, 19 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,520 on the 15th day of the second month after their departing out 20 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,960 of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of 21 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:08,880 the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the 22 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,120 wilderness. And the children of Israel said 23 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,800 unto them, would to God, We had died by the hand of the Lord in 24 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,000 the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we 25 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,320 did eat bread to the full. For he had brought us forth into 26 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:25,080 this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 27 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,040 In the 16th chapter of the Book of Exodus, the Israelites were 28 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,680 in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. 29 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,200 Through the power of God manifested in 10 plagues, the 30 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,880 Israelites had escaped the clutches of the Egyptians. 31 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,240 No longer slaves, they were now free. 32 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,120 Yet they had an arduous journey ahead of them through the 33 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,120 unforgiving desert before they were to arrive at the land 34 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,680 promised to Abraham by God several generations before. 35 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,360 Now Exodus 16 recounts a time where, very early in this 36 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,160 journey, the Israelites complained about their seemingly 37 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,920 meager rations. In their discouragement they 38 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,520 made some very odd statements. Consider what we just read a few 39 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:05,920 moments ago. The Israelites feelings about 40 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,440 the situation were off base on a number of levels. 41 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,880 First, it's odd that the people of Israel would reminisce about 42 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,560 their time in bondage, for certainly they did not joy any 43 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,000 kind of freedom in their final years in Egypt as slaves. 44 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,920 It's also unlikely they sat at the flesh pots or ate bread to 45 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,240 the full. The Egyptians would not have fed 46 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,600 them in this manner as they saw Israel as a threat and were 47 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,520 actively trying to decrease their population, not strengthen 48 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:34,720 it. Also, the people of Israel had 49 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,760 forgotten that Moses and Aaron were used by God to hearken. 50 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,640 They released from bondage and brought them safely through the 51 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:43,320 Red Sea. Now they're complaining that 52 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,920 these same two men were going to hasten their demise. 53 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,960 Wow. Feelings can be wonderful 54 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,480 things, and they certainly are a gift from God when they're in 55 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,640 line with God's Word. Yet our feelings should not 56 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:58,800 always be trusted as accurate representations of truth. 57 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,920 No doubt the Israelites felt discouraged as they were 58 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,400 discovering their desert experience wasn't everything 59 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,520 they'd hoped it to be. Yet instead of trusting the same 60 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,000 God that had brought them so far already, they ended up trusting 61 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,320 their own flawed assessment of the situation. 62 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,480 So now, instead of looking to ourselves, instead of the 63 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,440 Israelites of the Old Testament, how do we know if our feelings 64 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,400 are correct? Well, it's easy. 65 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,200 We line them up with the Word of God. 66 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,120 Although we may loudly proclaim that nobody can tell us how to 67 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,600 feel, God's Word often admonishes us to align our 68 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,080 thoughts with the Word. Why? 69 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,160 Well, one reason is Jeremiah 17 verse 9, where it says the heart 70 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,800 is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 71 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,600 Who can know it? This means that because our 72 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,800 hearts are sinful, we shouldn't automatically trust our feelings 73 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,480 and emotions to be accurate representations of the truth for 74 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:53,400 Israel. Everything they claimed about 75 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,480 their situation in Exodus chapter 16 verses 2 and 3 was 76 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,800 wrong. We can make the same mistake 77 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,840 ourselves, and we trust ourselves and our fallible 78 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,840 feelings over an infallible, loving God. 79 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,680 Feelings can be like a funhouse mirror. 80 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,400 They give an inaccurate, distorted picture of the truth. 81 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,560 Trust, the mirror of the Word, which James calls the perfect 82 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,160 law of liberty. In James 125, truth read comes 83 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,640 from trusting God in His Word, not from trusting our own flawed 84 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:27,280 sensibilities and emotions. Well, it feels like we've used 85 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:30,200 up all of our time for today's episode of Liberty at Home, and 86 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,760 well, that's because we have. But before we go, I'd like to 87 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,200 thank you for watching and invite you to join us this week 88 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,440 at Liberty Baptist Church. We meet every Sunday and 89 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,600 Wednesday at 800 Washington St. Route 138, right across the 90 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,800 street from Easton Pool and Spa. Learn more about a church or 91 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,880 watch online services anytime by heading over to my 92 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,760 libertybaptist.org. Well, I'm Pastor Adam Rivero, 93 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,480 reminding you that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's 94 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,760 liberty. See you next week on ECAT for 95 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:57,760 our next edition of Liberty at Home.