Sermon Tone Analysis

The Foundational Truth

Well good morning again.

If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, let me invite you to open with me to .

Everything that satisfies comes from God.

Last week I talked about awesome steaks.

Did I make anybody hungry?

I know I was.

It gave me a craving for a steak.

So I had a leftover ribeye last Sunday evening that I had grilled.

It was good.

And I’m guessing we’ve all got cravings across this room.

You may crave food, or maybe even things deeper than that.

Here’s the question.

Do you think we have cravings in us just accidentally?

Or do you think these cravings, these desires in us are there for a reason?

What I’d like us to do is dive a few steps deeper than even craving for food, and go on a journey where Jesus challenges some folks to let their craving for food go a little deeper, and to really think about if we’ve got these cravings, then why do we have them?

Has God created us with these cravings for a reason?

Christ alone can fulfill our desires.

What I’d like us to do is dive a few steps deeper than even craving for food, and go on a journey where Jesus challenges some folks to let their craving for food go a little deeper, and to really think about if we’ve got these cravings, then why do we have them?

Has God created us with these cravings for a reason?

And so, at this point, I want us to begin to think about how those cravings or those desires inside of us relate to our faith.

This is not something we talk about a lot.

How does our faith relate to our cravings?

How does our faith relate to our desires?

How does our faith relate to our emotions?

A lot of the times when we talk about faith, we stop where we stopped last week in talking about our minds, and filling our minds with truth, and Jesus transforms our minds.

And yes, that’s key, but there’s also something that happens in our emotions when Christ comes into our lives.

And I think we have a tendency to go to one side of the spectrum or the other on this picture.

Christ alone can fulfill our desires.

David Platt, “The Disciple’s Emotions,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2007), 957.Christ alone can fulfill our desires.

And so, at this point, I want us to begin to think about how those cravings or those desires inside of us relate to our faith.

This is not something we talk about a lot.

How does our faith relate to our cravings?

How does our faith relate to our desires?

How does our faith relate to our emotions?

A lot of the times when we talk about faith, we stop where we stopped last week in talking about our minds, and filling our minds with truth, and Jesus transforms our minds.

And yes, that’s key, but there’s also something that happens in our emotions when Christ comes into our lives.

And I think we have a tendency to go to one side of the spectrum or the other on this picture.

So, is there a way that truth and emotions can both come together?

I think they’re intended to come together.

I think we’re intended not to get carried away in our emotions.

At the same time, we’re not supposed to ignore our emotions.

This is one of my favorite parts of reading Jonathan Edwards, who was writing in the middle of the Great Awakening.

And this was a time in the church where people were going to one of those sides or the other.

They were either getting carried away in sensationalism and emotionalism, and they left the Word behind, or the other side was saying, “We don’t want to become like that, so we’re going to study the Word, and you won’t ever see a smile on our faces when we do.”

And so, Jonathan Edwards comes on the scene.

He writes a book called Religious Affections.

And I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes from that book.

Listen to what he said:

God created us to crave.

David Platt, “The Disciple’s Emotions,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2007), 957.God created us to crave.

So, is there a way that truth and emotions can both come together?

I think they’re intended to come together.

I think we’re intended not to get carried away in our emotions.

At the same time, we’re not supposed to ignore our emotions.

This is one of my favorite parts of reading Jonathan Edwards, who was writing in the middle of the Great Awakening.

And this was a time in the church where people were going to one of those sides or the other.

They were either getting carried away in sensationalism and emotionalism, and they left the Word behind, or the other side was saying, “We don’t want to become like that, so we’re going to study the Word, and you won’t ever see a smile on our faces when we do.”

And so, Jonathan Edwards comes on the scene.

He writes a book called Religious Affections.

And I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes from that book.

Listen to what he said:

Our external delights, our earthly pleasures, and our reputation, our human relationships, for all these things, our desires are eager, and our appetites strong.

When it comes to these things, our hearts are tender and sensitive, deeply impressed, easily moved, much concerned and greatly engaged.

We get depressed at our losses.

And we’re excited and joyful about any worldly success or prosperity—Then he makes the shift.

He says—When it comes to spiritual matters, though, how dull we feel.

How heavy and hard our hearts.

We can sit and hear of the infinite height and length and breadth and love of God in Christ Jesus, of His giving His infinitely dear Son, and yet sit there cold and unmoved.

If we’re going to be excited about anything, shouldn’t it be our spiritual lives?

Is there anything more inspiring, more exciting, more loveable and desirable in heaven or on earth than the gospel of Jesus Christ?

We should be utterly humbled that we are not more emotionally affected than we are in the church.

Our cravings are designed to be satisfied by our Creator.

David Platt, “The Disciple’s Emotions,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2007), 957.Our cravings are designed to be satisfied by our Creator.

Our external delights, our earthly pleasures, and our reputation, our human relationships, for all these things, our desires are eager, and our appetites strong.

When it comes to these things, our hearts are tender and sensitive, deeply impressed, easily moved, much concerned and greatly engaged.

We get depressed at our losses.

And we’re excited and joyful about any worldly success or prosperity—Then he makes the shift.

He says—When it comes to spiritual matters, though, how dull we feel.

How heavy and hard our hearts.

We can sit and hear of the infinite height and length and breadth and love of God in Christ Jesus, of His giving His infinitely dear Son, and yet sit there cold and unmoved.

If we’re going to be excited about anything, shouldn’t it be our spiritual lives?

Is there anything more inspiring, more exciting, more loveable and desirable in heaven or on earth than the gospel of Jesus Christ?

We should be utterly humbled that we are not more emotionally affected than we are in the church.

We cannot separate faith in Christ from feelings for Christ.

Satisfaction is not found in gifts, but in the Giver.

What we’re going to see in is that if we know God, we will be affected by God.

As we see in our picture in our notes, Christ in You affects not only your mind, but also your emotions.

And the question I want to ask is, “What if God intends for you not only to know Him, but what if He intends for you to enjoy Him?”

That would make sense, wouldn’t it, that God would get great glory in being not only known by His people, but enjoyed by His people?

And I want us to think about the disciple’s emotions based on a conversation Jesus has with some folks in .

Our deepest craving is not for something, but for Someone.

Our deepest craving is not for something, but for Someone.

And the question I want to ask is, “What if God intends for you not only to know Him, but what if He intends for you to enjoy Him?”

That would make sense, wouldn’t it, that God would get great glory in being not only known by His people, but enjoyed by His people?

And I want us to think about the disciple’s emotions based on a conversation Jesus has with some folks in .

David Platt, “The Disciple’s Emotions,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2007), 959.Our deepest craving is not for something, but for Someone.

This is an incredible conversation that Jesus enters into with the crowds, all these people who are following Him, but all these people who had misconceptions about who He is.