Sermon Tone Analysis

Lay Me Down

Welcome (Jason Wells)

1) A word about PBC.

We are Family.

2) 2023 Budget Presentation (5:30 in the chapel)

3) OCC Packing Party (11/13 at 5PM, bring a soup/dessert)

4) Members Meeting (11/20 at 5:30 PM)

Scripture Reading (Matthew 11:25-30)

Prayer of Praise (God is Eternal), Gloria Insley

Jesus Paid It All

Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

Prayer of Confession (Apathy), Seth Figgers

Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call

PBC Catechism #45

Why have we covenanted with one another?

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith having been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we do now in the presence of God and this assembly most solemnly and joyfully enter into Covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

Pastoral Prayer (Mike Klaassen)

SERMON

If you want to know who a person is, learn about their heart.

Let’s say you really wanted to learn about me after the service, so you go up to Holly.

You ask her my height, my eye color, my eating habits, my education, my hobbies, my favorite sports teams, my sleeping habits, the books I’m currently reading, where I was born, etc.

You know about me, but you don’t know me.

You could, perhaps, learn more random facts about me than even Holly might know, but do you really know me as she does?

Can you interpret the looks and the nudges that we use to communicate to one another without saying a word?

Not if you don’t know my heart.

If you want to know who a person is, learn about their heart.

The same is true of Jesus.

If you want to know who Jesus is, learn about His heart.

Turn to Matthew 11:25

We’ve seen Jesus respond to both doubt (John the Baptist) and unbelief (cities that wouldn’t repent)

But what animates those responses?

Why does He respond as He does?

Because of His heart.

Matthew 11:25-30—At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

In the four gospels, this is the only place where Jesus tells us about His own heart.

J.C. Ryle — “There are few passages in the four Gospels more important than this.”

[1]

If you want to know who Jesus is, learn about His heart.

Three Questions:

Does not align with what’s in your bulletin

1) What is the HEART?

11:29— “… I am gentle and lowly in heart…”

What does Jesus mean by “heart?”

Not the blood-pumping organ in your chest

Not entirely right to view the heart as your feelings either.

The Bible divides you into two pieces—outer self and inner self

Body = outer self

Bible uses many terms for inner self: mind, emotion, soul, spirit, will

Those words are summarized by the word HEART

Paul David Tripp— “This term is used in almost a thousand passages of Scripture.

It’s one of the most well-developed themes in all of the Bible.

When the Bible uses the term heart, it means the causal core of your personhood.

The heart is your directional system.

The heart is your steering wheel.”

[2]

Dane Ortlund—“When the Bible speaks of the heart, . . . it is not speaking of our emotional life only but of the central animating center of all we do.

It is what gets us out of bed in the morning and what we daydream about as we drift off to sleep.

It is our motivation headquarters.

The heart, in biblical terms, is not part of who we are but the center of who we are. . . .

The heart drives all we do.

It is who we are.”

[3]

Proverbs 4:23 —“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

This is what Jesus believed...

Luke 6:43-45—“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.

For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Pour water out of my water bottle.

Why did water come out?

Because water was inside the water bottle.

Your heart is who you are on the inside.

It’s your nature.

It’s your control center, your steering wheel.

If you want to know who a person is, learn about their heart.

For us, apart from Christ, our hearts are all bad...

We are NOT gently and lowly in heart

Jeremiah 17:9—The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

This is why the Bible describes conversion as heart surgery.

Your heart of stone is being replaced with a heart of flesh.

But even with a new heart, your old flesh remains.

Which is why we still struggle so much with sin...

Romans 7:18—For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Our hearts—who we are on the inside—are so tainted by sin!

But today we’re not focusing on our hearts.

We’re learning about the heart of Christ...

If you want to know who Jesus is, learn about His heart.

2) What is the Heart of CHRIST?

Remember, the heart is the steering wheel, it’s the control center of the person, it’s who we are on the inside, it’s the driving center of all we do, it’s who we are.

When Jesus tells us about His heart, notice what He says...

11:29— “… I am gentle and lowly in heart…”

Who is Jesus?

Who is He, really?

He’s GENTLE.

The word translated “gentle” is used three other times in the NT...

Matthew 5:5, “blessed are the meek”

Jesus’ heart is meek.

Not weak, but meek.

His strength is under control.