Danger of Too Many Voices! (Under the Influence)

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. Yo, what's up? This is Tim Pratt Jr., man, and I have a really good one for you today. Matter of fact, it's the last one, the last one. We're gonna call this one The Danger of Too Many Voices. Uh, and so just really jumping straight into it now, we'll say this before we, before we do, let me back up. I will be dropping things ad hoc. I don't know if I'm going to come back in maybe late spring or early summer, but there will be some bonus content and we will start bringing back interviews on this podcast. Uh, I know I did a few of them like 2 seasons and I just dropped off, uh, so they will be coming back. Uh, that being said, I want to go ahead and close out this season with this episode that I really believe truly, if you meditate on it and go challenge, uh, go back and search the scriptures yourself and just meditate on the beautiful word of God, uh, man, you're going to see so much more revelation, things that I'm not even going to have the ability to draw out because I'm not God. And you know, the more you meditate, his word is living and it's active. And I'm going to be using the Old Testament, uh, Genesis 3. Which is often referred to as the fall. Uh, but to give you some context, and I'm, I'm recording this podcast actually ahead of time, like I think like a week ahead of time. So right now I'm being led, I believe, to preach this the next opportunity I preach, which will be in a week, I believe. Uh, so I believe this episode, I think I'm gonna preach it and then this episode will drop like the following day. Uh, so that being said, um, With this, when it comes to hearing God's word, I just, I feel compelled and led to say this, uh, you have to study God's word. It's going to take time, but you have to study God's word, man, to truly discern his voice. He sounds like his word. Like, it takes time. And this commentary, you know, I encourage you to wrestle with the text first, draw your own conclusions through the power of the Holy Spirit illuminating the passages, but also to respect the fact that he's worked through true men and women of God way before you probably was even thought of. And, and not, not in God's, but in like in your mom or dad before you was in the twinkling their eye. Um, so, uh, just really dig in and study his word, man. Not for content, not for messages, not for like a sermons or whatever, but just truly studying his word because it— you should want to. And just not in the context of like, oh, I'm getting a word from my preacher or my, my life group Bible study, or, hey man, you know, I subscribe. No, study the word of God for yourself. Yourself. If you want to know what God sounds like, study his word, meditate on his word, thirst after his word, hunger after his word, and let it fulfill your spiritual appetite. Uh, so that being said, let's talk about Genesis 3. But before I do that, let me give you a little context. So, uh, I had put up a status talking about Adam and Eve in the fall, uh, before she was named Eve. I get all late. And some people, like, really a lot of people brought out a lot of good observations. I think a lot of it had more to do with practical application. Um, one guy, he pointed out some things that, um, I was like, hey, cool, yeah, I brought it into my studies. Uh, of course I test everything with scripture, just as I— before I preach, teach, or whatever, I say, hey, test everything with scripture. But I noticed, uh, not just with him, but a lot of people in general, not just in that status, but when I'm talking, it's always, what do you think, what do you think? And like, and this is what I mean by that, Um, I think the more we stay with the word of God and take as much of it as possible— now listen, I, I'm not a theologian by any means. I understand you start getting into alliterations and, you know, and figuratively and all metaphors and things like that, uh, but at the same time, I do believe sometimes scripture is just scripture. Scripture is scripture. Uh, don't read too much into it. Don't try to make it say something that it should, or don't try to get in there and say, well, if they would have done this, it would have changed. Look, just take the word of God for what it is and leave it at that. I don't, I don't do that. I'm not a person that does that. And I might be missing some things, but also too, I've seen we're very skilled communicators. And you know, I'm— listen, I have— I'm on finishing my second seminary degree as well. Uh, my wife is in the Master of Divinity program. I like— listen, I get it, it's a lot of content out there, but just because there's a lot of content out there doesn't mean it's always scripture. Um, so that's just something to also consider and why you should, you know, like say, through the power of the Holy Spirit, study, study your Bible for yourself. Um, so, but anywho, I had put that out there, took that feedback, test a lot of things with scripture. Uh, some things I was like, wow, okay, this did enlighten me. Because some— because the same guy I'm talking about, it did enlighten me in the area, uh, just as well as like some other people. And then there were some things I was like, ah, you know, I'm just gonna take it for what it is. And hey, thank you. And not to be negative or anything, but just like, hey, you know, that's good, but, uh, I'ma just, you know, stay with the text. And like I say, not try to read no more in it than I believe that the Holy Spirit, uh, is not wanting me to. Uh, but in this context, man, like I said, Genesis 3, you know, and like I said, I'm not going to go by verse by verse. I'm encouraging you to go study it. But I, I want to talk to you about the danger of too many voices because any voice that's elevated over God is one too many. Uh, and so sometimes it can be one voice, and sometimes it could be many others, especially when we live in an over-opinionated world. I mean, everybody has an opinion about everything. Oh my God, like, man, I mean, it's just opinion overload. Like, you say this, 10 other people say this, and you know, you say this and 15 other people say this. You say no, 30 people say yes. You say yes, 50 people say no. So it, it's just opinion overload, uh, but when it really comes down to weeding out, we have to truly be so sensitive to God and understand that he works through people and a multitude of counselors. But, um, in this thing, man, I was studying and actually looking through various commentaries, and I, I found it interesting in Genesis 3 that Satan— because we know, you know, I believe Revelation points to John calling, uh, the serpent Satan, um, it was like his duty to enter into the talk with Eve. I know she was just referred to as woman or wife at the time. She wasn't necessarily named Eve at that moment. That's one thing I love that the brother pointed out, as well as my cousin Daniel, uh, but, um, she wasn't referred to as Eve just at the time. But Satan entered into a talk with her when she was alone. What am I trying to say there? There are many temptations in our life that come from us in isolation. We've heard isolation or separation requires isolation, all of that type of stuff, but there's a difference from isolation and consecration. There's a difference from isolation and the sabbatical. The enemy wants to isolate us because we're better together, we're stronger together through the power of God. Now I know God lives in us, he indwells in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. I understand that, and that is so true, but he also works through community, accountability. We live in a day and age now where we truly don't like accountability, and we will call foul in a heartbeat. Because people are holding us accountable. But there are many temptations that literally will overtake us simply because we are alone, and it gives the enemy, or Satan, him and his imps, a great advantage against us. Yes, I can pray and I can commune with God, but the reason why we are the local church collectively— while, I mean, not look— the reason why we are the church, the big church, the, the universal church It's because of that communion, that communion, that community of other believers, man. And basically what I'm trying to say is that it tends like it gives us strength. We are— we overcome by the blood of our testimony. It gives us strength and it gives us safety because we have other people watching out for us, using their gifts to see things in our life. And you know, of course you have to pray and navigate this with God, of course. I don't want to keep putting disclaimers on it. I'm just going to speak of how it should be.. But in your small group, in your discipleship group, um, these can be the voices of God, man, speaking through his people. So you want to be very careful with isolation or always having a, uh, wanting to isolate yourself. And we're gonna get into that a little bit because I got something for us husbands as well, uh, out here, you know, with our wives. But it also can be twofold because I believe our wives can also learn, or, you know, if you're dating or just a friend or whatever, can learn something from this principle with Adam failing Eve. But before we get into that, like I say, man, Satan, when it comes to the devil or just anything that opposes God's will, uh, he, he want to get you in— he want to get you in isolation. He does. A matter of fact, I believe I wrote it here, uh, he sent temptations. I'm sorry, let me back up. God allowed them to be tempted. I believe God knew that they were going to sin. So Jesus has always been the plan. He's always been the foundation. He's always been the one that was going to redeem us, but God gave him choice, and God allowed Satan so it could be a contrast there. Because God is— he hasn't created us to be robots, so we have to choose to elevate his voice over everything. He had gave the command to Adam, so, you know, nothing happened necessarily when Eve— as far as the fall— the fall is not recorded when Eve is recorded because Adam was the one giving the instructions. And you know, he blamed Eve, blamed God. You know, the woman you gave me. But he elevated Eve's voice over God command. He did. So we have to ask ourselves sometimes, man, truthfully, the closest people to us can sometimes influence us in a way that God never wanted to, never desired to. Now I'm not trying to say, don't go and say, oh man, Pastor Tim or whatever, whatever, Brother Tim, whatever you want to call me, just Tim. Don't go back saying, oh babe, listen now, a wife or your spouse, whatever, listen, I believe you the devil, you listen to the devil. And I— no, no, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying, the principle that can be took from this, we have to be very careful because her voice should have been consistent. No, she should have went to her husband, no, we're not going to eat this. Because you told me God said not to eat of this fruit. But, you know, she gave it to him, he ate of it. So he allowed the influence of their relationship to surpass— he turned her voice up louder than God's, and, and he turned her voice up louder than God. And this could be our parents, this could be our kids, this could be our friends. And it's not— you can go to the Book of Job— this is not always the context of of just like, oh, like these people are the devil. I'm not saying that. Like, let's not do that. But what I'm saying is that we have to ensure and make sure that— or I shouldn't say it like that. We, we should— we have to make sure that God's voice is the highest priority. Now listen, because there's a lot of people that say, God told me, or thus says the Lord. Be careful with that. Because God don't miss. God does not miss. He doesn't. He's 100%, not 99.999. He's 100%. He doesn't miss at all. So another thing people look at and point out in this observation of scripture is saying he quoted the command wrong, he twisted it. And you can point to Jesus when he tried to do this, you know, when Jesus was fasting and um, he went through the 40 days of fast, and, uh, he approached him. And, you know, Jesus was responding, 'It is written, it is written.' And Satan was also talking to the, the— not just the, the Jesus incarnated, but he was talking to the Living Word of God. He was talking to God himself. But Jesus knew the word. He was the word. So that kind of goes back to, like, we have to know God's word in order to know what he's commanding. What is he speaking to us? If you don't know his word, you won't know. You're always going to elevate voices over him. If you spend more time talking to other people than you do God, you're always going to think you hear God, but you're going to really hear the influences of other people. Let me say that again. If you spend more time with people and everything else, you're going to elevate their voice, and you're going to think it— you are going to think it's God when it's actually the influence of other people. This is what got Adam in trouble. He knew the command of God. And he should have stayed with the command of God, but he listened to Eve, and Eve's voice was elevated over God when he bit from that fruit that God told him not to bite from. Everything that the devil does, he wants us to sin. He wants to lead people to sin. Anything— I don't care if someone does something to you and you do something in retaliation. I don't care if you're just out here and you having fun. If it's not of God, it's going to lead to sin. If it's the devil. I'm not saying you can't have fun. I'm, I'm not saying— but I'm saying like, if the fun leads to sin, baby, it ain't fun. Just don't do it. And like, let me keep it real with you, all right? You know, in college, like I said, you know, of course I had fun. I had fun in high school as well and things like that. But what I'm trying to say is this: you can have clean fun. It doesn't always have to progressively— you know, when you're kicking against the prick and you're like, you, you know, you feel the unction of the Holy Spirit saying, no, not this, settle down, no, not— no, no, you're convicted. When you feel that, lean into it. Elevate God's voice because you're getting into a place now where it's like, okay, you're, you're, you're kicking the pricks, you're frustrating the grace of God. Because my father-in-law always said like this, and it's something to think about: what happens when grace doesn't show up this time? What happens when grace doesn't show up? So we don't want to frustrate the grace of God. So keep in mind, man, like I said, just, just always yield to the power of the Holy Spirit, whether you're in meetings, man. I listen, I've gotten triggered and said some things I shouldn't have said, but I have to repent. I don't stay there. I've used profanity, like, at work, but you know, now it's not nothing that I like. I don't believe anyone can come up like, oh man, Tim is a— it's like if I say, it's like, oh man, Tim, you know? And, and that's not like— and I don't want to, but it, it shows me that, okay, like, man, he's really not in a context of being legalistic, but like, man, he really is striving to model the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And not just me, but it's other people as well. So it's in our best interest, man, to obey the wisdom of God versus ourselves. It really is. Like, when you think about it, like, anything outside of the wisdom of God, it's not good. Like, it's like this: everything that comes from God is good, but everything that's good does not come from God. Everything that's good— I mean, everything that God gives us, everything that comes from God is good. But everything that's good does not come from God. So we have— it's in our best interest, man, to obey his command, obey what his word is saying, rightly dividing the true word of God. And we can only do that by the power of the Holy Spirit, because the devil wants to— basically, when you really study this passage, it was all about doubt. Doubting God, who he said he was and what he commanded, and then denying him. If I can get you to doubt and deny, I got you, because I'm more influential in your life. So you're going to succumb to what— you're going to make yourself subjective to what I want. And that's why we got to be careful with so many voices that we cannot pull from, because we live in a very influential world. Influencers, influencers, influencers. When you really think about it, man, you can watch TikTok and end up wanting to do what they— like, you just start changing your whole family up because of what you're seeing on TikTok. You start changing your whole ministry up because what you might see a very influential person— so you have to be careful. Like, there's nothing wrong with gleaning from people, but is it the word of God? Is it what God desires for me? And so that's why we have to have a heart posture of just praying and communing and consecrated, because the enemy, he wants you to doubt and deny what God said. And this is why James 4:7 is so beautiful, man. It says, submit yourself, submit ourselves, submitting ourselves to God, then resist the devil and he will flee from you. Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Submission. We have to submit. We have to be fully submitted to God. It's not in our own strength, but if I'm fully submitted to God and I'm, I'm, I'm a heart posture through the power of the Holy Spirit is desiring to do the will of God, man, I can overcome what this flesh wants me to, because this flesh will always oppose God. So I'm living in something that always wants to reject God. So if I'm living in something that always wants to oppose God, how much more time do you think I need to be in the presence and truly feeding on the things of God? If I'm living— if I'm literally living in a vehicle that opposes the will of God. I, I have to, man, I have to be feeding my spirit. Just like, I literally live, breathe, I live— do we really understand it? Like, the sense, like, is it— it might— it's really the simple— we really, we live in something that totally opposes God. I thought We're con— then we're con— we live in a world that totally rejects God, and then we have the devil and his dominions or his minions running around here like Despicable Me. Like, so all of these three things, it's inevitable. Like, it's here. So we, we have to be very cognitive of that, man. This is why we have to submit ourselves. We, we have to, because Eve, man, listen, I don't get too much get caught up on all of that, but when you really look at it, Adam should have been there protecting her. He should have been there protecting her. She needed protection from her husband because she seen something that was good and pleasant and desirable to her eye when she engaged with temptation. When she engaged with the enemy. A lot of times, man, like, just straight up the TV, you watching the show, boom, out of nowhere, like, where did that scene come from? Or boom, where did that thought come from? The old saying, I can't stop a bird from flying over my head, but I can stop him from building a nest. Taking captive every thought. But who's, who's speaking into your children's life? Who's influential in their ear? Who's influential in your spouse's life? Are you giving them the necessary protection that they need? Are you there for them, telling them, no, no, no, this is what God said? Are you the very one saying, no, it's okay, you can go against God's will, take this, take that, my voice is more important than God's? No, no, what did God say? And the only way we can do that is by truly feeding and being dedicated to his word. So listen, Don't allow anyone to be so influential in your life that they distort the command and the will of God, the voice of God in your life, that they don't distort his character. Because one of the attributes I love, and I think this world totally rejects— we like to identify with God with so many other attributes, his love, his mercy, his grace, his infinite wisdom and all of that, but we don't like talking about his holiness. We don't. But listen, I'm a graces, but there are certain things I truly believe in my heart. It's like, no, yes, I'm— I get graces intact, but this right here, this right here is reserved for my holiness. Like, we have to stop abusing grace, man, for real, because a lot of us, we do. And I've been guilty of it. Oh, I mean, a lot of us. But we have to stop abusing it, man. And so we just have to— like, man, we have to have an unconditional heart posture of surrender. Like, this is the only way to have complete victory, with an unconditional heart posture of being submitted and surrendering to God. It's the only way to walk in that complete victory, because God wants every area. Any area that's not submitted, I'm telling you, that's where you're going to be attacked the most at. Any— like, the devil is not— he's not omniscience, he's not all-knowing. He's just studied mankind. He's been at this for a very long time. He knows your great-great-great-grandfather, great-great-grandmother. He studied your lineage. He's been here for a very long time. He understands patterns and all this type of stuff. So he will whoop all our tails. It ain't nothing in our own strength that we can do. He will kick our butt. And that's like, he knows how to navigate. He knows what we like. He knows the people because he studies all men. They really love them. Let me find some— like, he's just putting, setting the stage every single time. And when you really think about it, all of it goes back, you can trace it to who voice am I going to elevate the most? Am I going to elevate and stay true to God's word in his voice, or am I going to stay true and elevate the most influential person outside of God voice. And what I mean by that, I'm elevating the influencer voice more than God. So that's the danger. That's the danger of having too many voices in society today. It's always something competing against God. It's always something competing. And like I said, we live in a body, we live in a vehicle that totally opposes the will of God. It, it, man, it wants to reject God like all the time. So feed on his word, like, man, truly feed on his word and, and, and examine everything, everybody in your life. Not becoming judgmental and cynical, but examine everything, including yourself, against the word of God. Not your spirit, not your intuition, not your gut check, but examine everything and everybody according to the word of God. It is okay to inspect the fruit or lack of and not throw away the whole tree all the time. Now, there are certain things like, yes, terminate fellowship, but a lot of times let's stop being so cynical because we can reach people through the power of God, man, and we learn how to rightly divide the word of truth. If this is a person that's a child of the devil Listen, I'm done. If I can truly evaluate that and discern and see it through the power of God, but then if it's just say a person like I was, Jacob versus Israel, now I need to spend time with Jacob. I need to disciple Jacob. As my wife said, clean heart, but I need to get my hands dirty in the context of this. And what I mean by getting my hands dirty is not doing things of evil deeds. But getting my hands dirty, meaning that they're like mud because I'm with this person, I'm helping disciple them through the power of God. So as Tim Ross said, listen, this is the last episode, but I promise you, coming back, man, if you imitate me as I imitate Christ, if you follow me as I follow Christ, as Paul said, I promise you I'm gonna point you to Jesus through the power of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I'ma point you to Jesus, man, because discipleship, true discipleship, seeing me up close and personal as well as from a distance— like, one thing about me, man, I don't always get it right. But I can tell you this, not making excuse anything, quick to repent, quick to apologize, man, quick to ask for forgiveness. Sometimes I can be stubborn depending on who it is, but for the most part, truthfully, my life, it's going to be proof that the power of the Holy Spirit is real, that Jesus died. He is my Lord, he is my Savior, and he's also my Lord. Because listen, salvation was freely given through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but that discipleship part It's gonna cost, and he said it's gonna cost you your life, our life. I love you. Make sure God's voice is truly number one, and the only way you can do that is truly by feeding, studying his word, and praying in community. God bless, man. Love you all. Share, share, share. Looking forward to seeing you all and talking to you all soon. Be blessed. Praying for you all. Trust God, man, and keep him first. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student of Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothyprattjr.com. Once again, thanks.