"Nervous Nellies"

[Coconut]

SCRIPTURE: - John 3:1-21
TEXT: - John 3:17, 18

Most of us have heard folks called "Nervous Nellies." There are millions of them in this hectic Twentieth Century world of ours. Someone once said: "If the ten o'clock news is good folks go to sleep; if it is bad they go to pieces."

Often older folks become nervous when they see all the changes which are taking place in the world and wonder if they can change their thinking to keep up with the times.

Christians are being bombarded daily with the need for change. The Bible is out-of-date, we are told - often by religious leaders - it needs to be updated to meet the needs of Twentieth Century man. Liberal theologians, with a raft of letters behind their name, make a point of setting our Christian thinking straight, by "pooh-poohing" ideas which have stood the ravages of centuries.

It would be well for us to remember, that the degrees behind a man's name can often be misleading. The D.D. behind a theologians name can just as well stand for Dumb Dog" as for Doctor of Divinity. In Isaiah 56:10, 11, we read these rather interesting words: "His watchmen are blind, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping dogs, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they look to their own way, everyone for his gain.

A literal translation of these words might well be: "They are dumb dogs who don't have the courage to bark; they sleep and close their eyes to evil for fear of disturbing their congregation, and they look for things which will bring them the most in material wealth and popularity."

Eminent theologians, like Dr. Joseph Fletcher of Cambridge University and father of Situation Ethics, tells our gullible youth: "Do anything that makes you feel good, for there are no absolutes of right and wrong; it all depends on the situation. We should rewrite the Ten Commandments so they read: Thou shalt not steal - ordinarily; thou shalt not kill - ordinarily; thou shalt not commit adultery -ordinarily. But if you love your neighbors wife enough, then the law of love supersedes the divine law of the Bible."

It is no wonder, that with these pressures falling on our youth, we find a vast increase in mental problems over the last decade, along with a noticeable increase in the suicide rate of college age youth.

Just as an aside here, in 1971, the suicide rate among psychologists and psychiatrists, was four times greater than that of the rest of the nation. These are the fellows who are supposed to tell us what is wrong and help us to solve our mental problems.

Psychiatry has always found the question of "mind change" to be perplexing. But in Christian psycho-therapy, it goes beyond the perplexing to become pathetic. Because the question almost always comes from someone who is unregenerate. In other words, one who has never been saved. This does not mean that they are not church members, and they may even bear the title of "Christian," but they have never been saved and have reached the point where they no longer derive satisfaction from "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16).

This is the same age-old question the wealthy, influential Nicodemus asked of Jesus in John, chapter three: "How can a man change when he is old?" The Master answered Him by saying: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (verse 6). In the light of his fleshly nature, this rich, important, educated man could not understand the things of the Spirit, because "they are spiritually discerned." "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The natural, unregenerate, unsaved man or woman cannot change their thinking, because they are unspiritual. Unsaved people can think only of self. Oh I realize that many of these people fit into the "bleeding heart" category of mankind. They are busy, busy, busy all the time, trying to do good - to help the needy and unfortunate, but all too often, in their ignorance, they are helping the minions of Satan. The highway of the natural man is strewn with the neurotic wrecks of those who cannot change their thinking by their own power. And, here is something to remember, the fleshly nature of man cannot find peace through the lust of the flesh.

Oh if only our young people could truly understand this. How much heartache, and frustration could be avoided; how much pain could be spared; how many hearts remain unbroken.

A well known educator recently said: In their search for freedom, young people are losing that which they want worse than anything else; because they are becoming slaves of their own desires."

A Christian psychiatrist told me that at least 75% of the patients in our mental hospitals do not belong there. "The only one's who have a legitimate right to be in our mental institutions," he said, "are those who are there because of brain damage due to illness or accident. The others are there due to sin in their lives which they refuse to face and the psychologists tell us there is no such thing as sin." Doctors tell these folks: "There is nothing physically wrong with you. You are just nervous.

cont`d...

 

[Coconut]

Enslavement of a person's mind is never sudden. It begins by subtle beguilement. It comes about, most often, through a process of "patient gradualism" so that the victim doesn't even really realize he is being enslaved. But the question is - "Can men and women tear themselves away from a lifetime habit pattern?" They have been in fellowship with Satan for so long, they have learned to depend on him and his worldly pleasures and achievements for satisfaction. This is one of the reasons it is so vitally necessary for us to reach young people for Christ - before they have become deeply enmeshed in Satan's bonds. This is the reason young people respond more easily to the appeal of Christ. A seven-year-old, who understands that he is a sinner and who believes that Christ died for him, can make a break with Satan much easier than a man or woman who has been Satan's slave for forty or fifty years.

A worldly business man, for example, has been bent on achieving success in a 'dog-eats-dog" world of fierce competition. He is out to accumulate as much of this world's earthly goods as possible. He is never satisfied with what he has. He has set a goal for himself and all thoughts and needs are centered on his ambition. He has no other ambition but his selfish ambition to become tops in his field. He lives in constant fear and anxiety that his business ventures might fail. He develops gastric disturbances which have no organic basis and his doctors tell him, "You must take time off and relax!"

So he tries a vacation, or a hospital rest - which only worries him more, because he is away from his first love -his business.

He tries psychiatry and this may give him temporary relief and a big doctor bill. He may be a member of a prestigious church - he joined because it helped his image in the business world. He may give generously to his church and to charity. His name may appear in the news as a philanthropist. He may be a member of the best country club and be an official in a prominent lodge. But these things do not help!

There is only one cure for this man. When he accepts Jesus Christ as the Savior and believes in the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary, then and only then will he have peace in his life. This is the same "peace" spoken of by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:7, when he said: "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

This is the same "peace" Jesus spoke about in John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." When this peace is in the soul then there is absence of fear, anxiety and worry.

Many psychiatric patients, like this business man, make a mental and physical recovery; but the vexation in their soul remains and comes boiling to the surface periodically, to torture the mind with doubts, anxieties, fears, and bodily tensions which cause actual physical pain.

Christ leads His sheep away from anxiety, fear and worry. Notice this promise in the Shepherd's Psalm (23rd). "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." How wonderful to know, that as adopted son's and daughter's of the King of Kings, He has promised to protect and comfort us. I can vouch for the truth of those promises, through personal experience in my own life.

But Satan, that old devil, drives his slaves. He whips them constantly with fear and anxiety. Constant worry forces them to seek relief, so Satan offers countless diversions that make their appeal through the lust of the flesh - which by the way is no longer considered sin in the liberal terminology.

As a result, sodomy becomes homosexuality and is approved by the liberal "Christ rejecting" church; adultery becomes "free love"; the drunkard becomes the socially acceptable alcoholic who is suffering from a disease, and the murderer is temporarily insane, therefore not accountable for his crime. All these things result, so we are told, not from man's sin, but from the pressures of modern society and so society is to blame for all evil and man cannot be held accountable for anything he does.

As a result of this idiotic kind of thinking, a parent must not talk about sin to their child, for it may give them a guilt complex and this will disturb them. Recently a good friend of mine who runs a fine Christian school in South Carolina, had a third grade student removed from the school. The girls' mother was disturbed because one of the teachers had talked about hell, and her "little darling" was scared. How much better to have the child frightened by a very real danger, and miss that danger, rather than to shield her from it and someday have her spend eternity in hell.

Satan has been very successful in indoctrinating the world to believe that sin is no longer sin. He often uses apostates within the church, to ensnare those he wants to use for his nefarious purposes. In 2nd Timothy 4:3, 4, we read these interesting and true words: "For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

Then in chapter 3, verse 13 - "For evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." The Living Bible paraphrases it this way: "For there is going to come a time, when people won't listen to the truth, but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear. They won't listen to what the Bible says, but will blithely follow their own misguided ideas." That time is here - NOW!

The devil, the "prince of the power of the air," is doing everything in his power to keep men and women, boys and girls, from raising their voices in a cry for deliverance. He comes to their aid with a new remedy for nerves and suggests diabolical diversions. These do not change the thought patterns - they merely divert the thoughts for a short time. They do not relieve the patient of torment or fear. Only God can do this for those who put their trust in Him. "He that feareth is not made perfect in love."

There it is! If you are constantly in fear - if you worry all the time, if anxieties drive you berserk - maybe you better look to your relationship with God, and find out if you were ever really "born-again." This isn't so, just because you have your name on some church roll, or because you were baptized sometime in the past, or because you are a member of a lodge, or because you live a good moral life. It goes much, much deeper than this.

People whose lives are anchored in things of this world can never be truly happy. The individual whose thoughts are centered on pleasing himself can never get away from anxiety and worry, for it becomes a vicious circle.

Today, Satan is battling with all his diabolical skill, using his gigantic psychological propaganda to prove to man that he has no soul and placing emphasis on the mind of man as the seat of all fear, anxiety, worry, maladjustment, and nervousness. Only a "born-again" Christian can understand this diabolical deception. It is a bold attempt on the part of the devil to wipe out all need for Christianity and force men to believe in his own power. Even when men and women express the desire to find God, Satan often tries to channel them into a bloodless religion, where psychology of the mind holds sway.

Over 150 years ago, a German philosopher by the name of Ludwig Feurbach promulgated this idea, when he said: "Man will finally be truly free, when he realizes there is no god of man, but man himself." This idea, took root in the diseased mind of a young radical called Karl Marx and became the foundation of the Communist philosophy of "dialectical materialism."

Let me quote to you from the Communist textbook on "Psychopolitics." (The art of controlling the thinking of an entire nation of people). This book is used in the Lenin School of Political Warfare, part of Lenin University in Moscow: "Man is an animal . . . Having no independent will of his own he can be easily controlled . . . The first thing to be degraded must be man himself. He must be degraded from a spiritual being to an animalistic reaction pattern. He must think of himself as an animal, capable only of animalistic reactions . . He must no longer think of himself as being capable of spiritual nobility . . . He must be taught that the salvation of man is found only in his adjustment to his environment . . . As in many countries the church is the most ennobling influence, each and every branch and activity of the church, must, one way or the other be discredited. Religion must be made unfashionable by demonstrating through psychological indoctrination that the soul is non-existent, and that man is an animal."

Why do you suppose that "evolution" as fact, is being taught in all of our public schools? Even though it is scientifically known to be an unproved theory. Why have Bible teachings on morality been superceded by the new theology of "Situation Ethics?" Often these things are being taught by "seducers" clothed in clerical garb.

Of course the unsaved individual cannot see either the folly or deception in this line of reasoning, because they do not believe or accept the Word of God, which says that "thoughts and intents," (Hebrews 4:12); "imaginations," (Genesis 6:5); "meditations," (Psalm 19:14); and "deceit," (Acts 5:4) are conceived in a man's heart.

 

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God has given to mankind the remedy for the soul's problems. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior; then God invites you today, in fact right at this moment, to accept Him. Christ died on the cross, almost 2,000 years ago, to make an atonement for your lost soul. This may be contrary to what you have believed. But listen to me - you cannot be saved by moral rules you have made up yourself, or that some other human has made... no matter how prestigeous he may be, even in the field of theology.

God has given us life and we live on this earth according to His mercy. When He takes away the breath of life, we die and our soul goes to one of two places - either heaven, or hell. You may not want to accept this - but hell exists whether you want to believe in it or not. And those who refuse to believe Christ and His atoning work on Calvary, go to hell, to suffer, in literal, physical torment through the ages of eternity. They are punished, not because of the sin they have committed, but because God offered them a way of escape and they refused.

Look at our text again: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Those who accept this salvation - freely offered by a God who loves you - will go to heaven to live with Him for eternity.

Some of you may say: "How will this keep me from being a 'Nervous Nelly?' " "How can this take away my worries?"

When you believe in Christ, God sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in you. He helps you understand the Bible. As you read His Word and begin to understand all the wonderful provisions He has made for His adopted children, you will begin to see how you can triumph over evil of all kinds.

When you overcome evil, then the influences of doubt, fear, anxiety and worry are dispelled by the power of God Himself.

When doubts return - and they do - you can turn aside from them by looking at the cross, where Christ overcame Satan and all his hosts that torment and oppress us.

Wouldn't you like to have this satisfaction right now?

You may say: "But how can I be sure?

Listen to 1st John 5:13 (READ) 'These things have I written unto you,

THAT YE MAY KNOW THAT YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!"

- Author Lt. Col. Gordon (Jack) Mohr AUS RET.