I was watching a video the other day where they were conducting “Man (or Woman) on the Street” interviews. The reporter was asking each person, “Who said this?” and then they named two political candidates.. What interested me is that most everyone guessed wrong on “Who said this?”. That got me to thinking about doing the same thing, but in a sermon. No, not politics – we’ve got enough of that on television. But on things we hear every day. I’m going to ask quite simply, “Who said this – Jesus or Satan?”

1. Who said “Follow your heart” – Jesus or Satan?

If you thought “Jesus”, you’d be wrong. Jesus never told us to “follow your hearts”. When Jesus came from glory to this earth, He came bearing the Word of God, that which God had said from eternity past. God told us through the Prophet:

Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT) The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

The wisest man who ever lived was King Solomon. He wrote in:

Ecclesiastes 9:3 (NKJV) … Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live…

Did Jesus say “follow your heart?” No! Jesus saw the heart of mankind as the source of all evil. Jesus said:

Matthew 15:19 (NKJV) … out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

And in Mark 7:21-23 (ESV) For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.

The heart of mankind (and womankind) has been warped from the time of Adam’s sin and fall from Paradise. God gave Adam a very clear order and a clear warning. He said, “You may eat of every tree in the Garden, BUT the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Genesis 2:16). Satan appealed to the heart of man when he called on Adam and Eve to “Follow your heart”. Satan said, “You will not die when you disobey God. You will become like gods, knowing right and wrong, establishing your own truths”. Jesus never told us to follow our hearts.

Jesus said “Follow Me”.

To the men who loved to fish with all their hearts, Jesus said “FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17).

To the ones who had lost loved ones, who said “Let me first go and bury my father”, Jesus said “FOLLOW ME, and let the dead bury the dead”. (Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:59).

To the rich man who loved his money with all his heart Jesus said, “If you would be right with God, go, sell all you have. Give your money to the poor, and come FOLLOW ME.” (Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22).

In fact, to be saved you must specifically NOT follow your heart. Jesus said:

“If anyone would come after Me, let him DENY himself, and take up his CROSS, and FOLLOW ME.” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).

Judas Iscariot followed his heart when he sold Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver. After Judas saw Jesus in chains, beaten and bruised, he realized the evil he had done. Judas followed his heart. He took the thirty pieces of silver back the chief priests and elders and tried to give it back. Following his heart, Judas told them “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). The elders said, “That’s your responsibility, not ours”. Throwing down the money, Judas continued to follow his heart. Judas went away, and hung himself. (Matthew 27:5). Had he repented and followed God, he would have lived. But following his heart Judas found no recourse. He died a terrible death, “his body burst open, his intestines spilled out” (Acts 1:18).

Pilate the Governor of Judea found no fault with Jesus. Washing his hands (Matthew 27:24), he followed his heart, and had an innocent Man crucified to please a crowd that was following its murderous heart.

The devil loves when we follow our hearts. The Bible tells us to follow Jesus, and to “guard our hearts” (Proverbs 4:23). Fill your hearts with the Word of God and follow the Lord. That is where joy is.

2. Who said “Be TRUE to yourself” – Jesus or Satan?

I came across this quote the other day, and like it:

“Society preaches three seemingly innocent phrases: “Be true to yourself;” “You be you;” and “You do you.” They all communicate the same philosophy: everyone should unapologetically do what he or she wants, because that’s the path to freedom.”

I’ve already quoted this – but I’ll do it again. The Christian way of life – the Way of Christ – is not in pleasing self but in denying self. In order for God’s work to be done on this earth there must be a denial of self. At one point in His ministry the Bible says that:

Matthew 16:21 (ESV) … Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised …

The Bible tells us that (vs 22-23, AP) “Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying, ‘No Lord, You’re not going to do this. This shall never happened to you’. Jesus told Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan – that is devilish thinking. You are hindering Me. You are setting your mind – your HEART – on the things of Man, not God”. At that point Jesus went on to say:

Matthew 16:24-26 (ESV) … If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

God does not call us to “Be True To Yourself”, but to “Deny Yourself” and follow Jesus in carrying the Cross. As my commentary notes:

“Remember, when Jesus invited/commanded his disciples to follow Him:

they left their boats and nets (their identity & livelihood)

began to obey His other commands (leaving their own priorities)

began to learn from Him (beginning to leave their own opinions)

began to imitate Him (beginning to leave their self-righteousness)”

Christians are “New Creatures in Christ”. Accordingly the Scripture tells us not to be true to OURSELVES, but to be true to JESUS. The Bible says:

Romans 13:12-14 … Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

We are to deny ourselves, and be true to Jesus. Period. Any other way is of Satan.

3. Who said “Believe In Yourself” – Jesus or Satan?

The false prophet Norman Vincent Peale (writer of “The Power of Positive Thinking”) wrote:

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy”.

Jesus never told us to believe in ourselves – this is the devil’s whisper. The pagan religions teach “Believe in yourself”. Hindu Swami Vivekananda said, “You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself”. But what didJesus say?

John 14:1 (ESV) Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

As we believe in GOD, we are to believe in JESUS. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Great I AM, God manifest in the flesh. Jesus is the One Whom God has sent to show us the way of light. When Israel believed in themselves, they lost the Promised Land. God told Israel that every 7^th year was to be a Sabbatical Year where Israel believed not in themselves, but in God. God gave Israel numerous Sabbaths where they were to cease their own works, and believe in God. Yet Israel believed in themselves – and lost the Promised Land and their freedoms. We are never to believe in ourselves – but in God and in Christ. Jesus said:

John 12:44-50 (ESV) …. Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.

We are not to believe in ourselves apart from the power of Jesus. The Scripture does not say “I can do all things”, but “I can do all things through CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME” (Philippians 4:13, KJV). The Christian is saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. The Christian is sanctified – made more godly – by faith in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

John 11:25-26 (KJV) … I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Well, do you?

4. Who said “Live Your Truth” – Jesus or Satan?

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (Essays) wrote:

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

The concept of “Live YOUR truth” implies that each person has a truth deep within their soul that they must discover and live out. The thought is that your truth may not be the same as my truth – just live YOUR truth. This is not a new idea, but has been around since ancient times. When Jesus stood in front of the Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, he asked Jesus “Are You a King?” Jesus replied:

John 18:37 (AP) I was born and came into the world to bear witness to THE TRUTH. Everyone who knows THE TRUTH hears My voice …

Pilate replied, “What is TRUTH?”. Like most of the world, people want to define truth their way. But Jesus said “I bear witness to THE TRUTH”. In another place, Jesus said:

John 14:6 I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.

Jesus is THE TRUTH. Jesus bears witness to THE TRUTH. Jesus prayed for the Church before He went to the Cross for us all:

John 17:17 (KJV) {Father}, Sanctify them {the Church} through THY TRUTH: THY WORD IS TRUTH.

We do not each have a “truth” within us. There is but One Truth, and that Truth is found in the Word of God, in following Jesus the Faithful Witness of the Truth (Revelation 1:5). Jesus is “the Word made flesh” (John 1:14), God’s Word embodied in perfect Man. If Jesus said it, you can guarantee it is true. We are to not live our truth, but are to live like Jesus, to imitate Him, to let Him as “The Truth” dominate our lives. The Apostle wrote:

Galatians 2:20 (ESV) I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Our worth comes from God. It is He that made us, and He Who determines what is and is not truth. Rather than “Live Your Truth”, the way of God is to “Live God’s Truth” and “be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).

5. Who said “As Long As You’re Happy,
That’s All That Matters” – Jesus or Satan?

Happiness is a temporary emotion. The word “happiness” comes from the Old Norse word “hap”, which means “chance, luck, fortune, fate”. The Norse or Vikings practiced polytheism, the belief in many gods and goddesses. The concept of “happiness” was embedded in American culture by our Declaration of Independence which states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

Thomas Jefferson – a Deist and NOT a Christian – borrowed the phrase “pursuit of happiness” from the English Philosopher John Locke, and incorporated it into the Declaration of Independence.

As a Deist, Jefferson valued reason over revelation, and rejected traditional Christian doctrines. Jefferson did not believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection of Christ, or the Biblical Doctrine of original sin. The Philosopher Locke wrote:

“The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness; so the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for real happiness, is the necessary foundation of our liberty. ” (An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, pg 348).

The concept “As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters” has permeated our culture from its inception. But is it Biblical, something that Jesus endorsed? In His Sermon on the Mount in a section commonly called The Beatitudes, Jesus showed us that Godly Happiness comes not from “the care of ourselves, our self satisfaction”, but in laying ourselves down in service to others. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:3-11 (NKJV) BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [4] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. [5] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. [6] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. [7] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. [8] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] the pure in heart, For they shall see God. [9] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. [10] BLESSED {makarios, happy} [are] those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [11] BLESSED {makarios, happy} are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

Jesus saw happiness not coming from self care and selfishness, but from laying your life down for a greater good. Happiness is only found in pursuit of God, in the enjoyment of Jesus Christ, in following Him. After washing the disciples feet – the act of a slave – our Lord Jesus said:

John 13:13-17 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for [so] I am. [14] If I then, [your] Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. [15] For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. [16] Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. [17] If ye know these things, happy {makarios} are ye if ye do them.

There is no happiness in self care, in pandering to our every want and desire. Jesus saves us freely when we come to Him by faith, when we repent of serving ourselves as gods and come to Him as the Son of God and God the Son. Once saved by faith, we serve Him as Lord, doing good to others. This is why Jesus told us to “love your enemies. BLESS them that curse you, DO GOOD to them that hate you, and PRAY for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44).

The Happy Christian is not the selfish Christian,
but the serving Christian.

Keep His commands and you will have His joy. If you are saved, follow Jesus. Jesus said:

John 15:9-11 (KJV) As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. [10] If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. [11] These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.

If you are saved by faith in Christ, you are called not to be selfish, but to serve and love others. You are to show love to others, whether they show it to you or not. Period. You do not do this to work your way to Heaven, but because, saved by faith in Christ, you are a son or daughter of God. You are children born of love. If you are not saved, I invite you to come and receive Jesus as lord and Savior this very day. As the Scripture says:

Romans 10:9-13 KJV That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. [11] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. [12] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.