Cultivating Godly Emotion: The Example of Christ

I know a lot of you like to garden, and you know the joy of bringing a seed and growing it in your garden and bringing it to food on your table.

! There's something very rewarding about eating your own produce, about eating your own corn and your own beans. But it isn't easy gardening. It takes work, and there's more work to it than just pulling weeds.

There's the active role of cultivating. There's the proactive activity of cultivating. And cultivation and gardening means you have to water and fertilize and prune.

You have to take an active role in bringing forth more fruit. And so, it's not enough to kill weeds in your garden. It's not enough to pull weeds. If you merely did that, but you didn't water, well, you wouldn't produce anything.

And the Christian life is the same way. Now, for the past four weeks or so, we've been talking about mortifying ungodly emotions.

And, you know, that's basically the weeding. That's the pulling out of sinful weeds in our emotional life. And so, we've been talking about depression and anger and bitterness, worry.

But there is more to the Christian life than mortification. There's more to growing like Jesus than just mortification. There is cultivation. And it's easy for us to think about mortification as being the end-all and the be-all of sanctification, of becoming more holy.

Because sin is so in our face. Sin is easy to identify for the most of us. Or, you know, there are certain sins that are easy for us. And we have a tendency to think, if I could just kill this sin, if I could just take care of this sin, then I would be holy.

If I could just pull this weed, then my plant would grow. But it's simply not true. The Bible tells us that there's a whole other side of things.

Weeding and mortifying has to be done. But if that's all we're doing, that's all we're focusing on, then we're going to be missing a huge part of this process of how we become like Jesus.

So remember, we are called to bear the fruit of the Spirit. It tells us to bear those things. Paul says, flee sin. That's the mortifying. But attached to that is, he says, but pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, and love.

So it's not only fleeing from sin, but it's turning and pursuing righteousness, godliness, love, faith. And so that's active. That's cultivation. And that's what we're going to be talking about for the next few weeks.

How do we cultivate godly emotions? And so today we actually reached the subtitle of Brian Borgman's book, Feelings and Faith, Cultivating Godly Emotions.

And Borgman begins with Jesus. Begins with Jesus. Jesus is our pattern for godly emotions. And that's what we're going to talk about today.

And God calls us to emulate Jesus in the way that we feel. To imitate his feelings. And so today we're going to look at four areas and see how Jesus showed godly emotions.

We're going to look at devotion, delight, compassion, and balance. And I don't think that's the completeness, the fullness of how Jesus felt.

But I think those four things cover a lot of what we see in the Bible. But before we go into those four things, I want to address a problem. And I think this is a problem that all of us share to one degree or another.

I share this problem with you and you share this problem with me. And it's this. When we're thinking about emotions and it's this problem, we stumble over the fact and say, But Jesus is God.

But Jesus is God. And so when he experienced certain things, he was God when he was experiencing those things. But when I experience those things, I'm just me.

I'm just a human. And so, you know, you're in a tough spot. Your wife, your husband is really pressing your buttons. And, I mean, they, he, she's really getting on your nerves.

I mean, we never fight at my house, but I know at your house you guys fight. And your spouse really knows the right buttons to press. She knows, he knows, from long experience, from exploring the board, that that big red button, when she hits it, it can really set you off, firing you up.

And so there he is, she is. She presses the red button, and the temptation comes. And it comes at your weakest point. And every cell in your body now is saying, Let her have it!

You know? And you let her have it. You let him have it. Well then, here comes today's Sunday school lesson. And I'm saying, now imitate Jesus in that situation.

Imitate Jesus in how he feels. Act like him. Jesus never became simply angry. When people, I mean, Jesus didn't have any buttons, right?

Or, maybe. But there's something in us, when we start to think about how Jesus would, what he would feel, how he would act in this situation, we have the tendency, or we can think.

But Jesus is God. I mean, I don't know how that worked. But, you know, when push came to shove, Jesus was God. And God can't be tempted.

James is clear about that. God can't be tempted like that. And so, you know, whatever, Jesus is in that position. He could always fall back on his divinity. And he couldn't be tempted after all, right?

And so, right from the very beginning, if that's how we're thinking about Jesus, as just God unable to be tempted emotionally, then this whole Sunday school lesson is really going to be pointless for you.

Because I'm going to be putting forth an example that you can't follow, that you couldn't follow, that you don't even, I mean, because you're not God. And he's not like you.

If Jesus is categorically different than us, completely, then there's no point in talking about Jesus as our example.

And that's my point. And so, that's the problem. Now, let me ask you, how do we get around that? What line of thinking do we need to take as we look at that issue, as we're thinking about emotional temptations?

Roger. Roger. Okay. So, Jesus was tempted in all points as we are. What else could we say? Maybe someone could build on that.

Why could Jesus be tempted in every way just like we are? Yes, Roger. Okay. He didn't hold on to his divinity? Okay.

We're moving in the right direction. Chuck. He's, he's, and I think that's what Roger would want to say. He's fully man. And he could be tempted in every way.

Jesus was the God-man. Yes, Dale? And we are going exactly there. Thank you. He, he was the God-man. He wasn't deified human.

He wasn't humanified deity. He was fully God and fully man. And, but here, here's the rub of the situation.

If Jesus could fall back onto his divinity when he was tempted, you know, just sort of like opt out of the temptation, or just fall back onto the fact that I'm God, I can't be tempted.

I don't know exactly how we would explain that, but I think that kind of thinking goes on in our heads. If he could do that, then he can't be our example. But, just as Dale said, Jesus didn't go into sort of default divinity mode when he was tempted.

He used the same resources that we have when we are fighting sin. He used the same resources that are available to you.

So, we, let's go into the wilderness. And, Jesus is being tempted in ways that you and I never would be or could be tempted.

In the sense that, Satan said, if you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread. Now, in my Christian life, that temptation has never come to me.

And, the reason is, Satan isn't going to tempt me with what is totally impossible for me. But, Jesus, having divine power, could easily turn stone into bread and feed himself.

Now, how did Jesus... So, this is a real possibility. Jesus is hungry. His humanity is desiring food. He needs food.

And, the possibility is there that he could use his divine power to serve himself and to feed himself. But, what was Jesus' response? Right.

Three times. It is written. It is written. It is written. Jesus didn't snap his fingers and magically make the temptation go away. He fought temptation with God's word.

And, just like you do. Or, just like you have to. Just like I have to. He had to go to the word of God. He had to think about the word of God.

He had to apply the word of God in his heart. And, as Dale said, he was a God-dependent man. All that he did, he was doing as he relied on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews says, even he made his final sacrifice through the eternal spirit. It was with the strength of the Holy Spirit that Jesus, the God-man, offered himself up.

And, so, he has the same resources as you do. He had the same resources as you do. He had the word of God. And, he had the spirit of God. And, so, he can be your example because he is fully man.

And, so, when your spouse is pushing your buttons. And, you're tempted to become angry. Sinfully so. Jesus can be your example.

And, whatever temptation you're in. Whatever sinful emotion that you're fighting. And, whatever godly emotion you need. Jesus can be your example. Because, he was fully man.

As, he was fully God. He knows the temptation. He has felt the temptation to ungodly emotions. And, he sympathizes with us. And, so, he sets us an example in his word for us to follow.

And, so, Jesus, then, can be our pattern. And, we are right to look to him to say, Okay, what, how did the Lord act? What did the Lord feel?

And, I need to feel the same way. Because, he was the perfect man. So, first of all, Jesus is our pattern for devotion. He's our pattern for devotion.

When, you know, a man loves a woman for 50 years. Through thick and thin. It's a beautiful thing. It's devotion. Devotion. And, devotion is about deep love.

It's about earnest commitment. But, there is more to it than just this faithfulness. There is an emotional attachment. And, it's an emotional attachment that is consuming.

It's wholehearted. It's absorbing. Half-hearted emotion. Or, half-hearted devotion. So, where you're just really not into it. That's really not devotion at all.

Devotion encompasses the way we feel about the thing, the person, the idea, whatever, that we're devoted to. And, Jesus was passionate.

Was devoted about God. And, to God. So, he was going to do exactly what his father wanted.

No matter what the cost was. So, I seek not my own will. But, the will of him who sent me. So, Jesus' devotion.

His passion for God. His passion to please his father. Took him to the garden of Gethsemane. And, he wrestled. And, he prayed. And, the emotions were so intense.

That, the capillaries burst. And, he started sweating blood. And, what was his prayer? He was saying, not my will.

But, your will. Not my will. God, I want something. I want to avoid this pain. I want to avoid this agony. I want to avoid this cup. I don't want to go there.

It's horrifying to me. But, not my will. But, your will. He was devoted to God. And, our Lord Jesus wanted his father to be happy with him.

He wanted to please him. He wanted to honor him. He desperately wanted God to be glorified. And, he was so committed that it destroyed him. He went to the cross.

His devotion took him into God's wrath. And, in his devotion to God, he made a sacrifice. He made a sacrifice of himself to make much of God.

And, so, brothers and sisters, Jesus is our model for that kind of devotion. For that kind of wholehearted commitment to God.

Whatever the cost, Jesus was going to do what his father wanted. And, so, no one can say he's different. He's special.

And, yes, in some ways he is different. Obviously. In some ways he is very special. But, his ardent devotion came from his human heart. It came from his own heart.

And, so, he was the perfect man. And, so, what does the perfect emotional man look like? Well, he was devoted. He was passionate about God. Secondly, Jesus is our pattern for delight.

He's our pattern for delight. Just curious. I want to see a raising of hands here. Just, I want to know. How many of you have ever read John Piper's book, Desiring God?

Just raise your hand. Some of you. Quite a few of you. Desiring God. Desiring God is a very orthodox title, isn't it? And, so, if you first see it, it doesn't really seem to hit any waves.

But, then you read the subtitle. And, his subtitle created a lot of waves and a lot of problems. And, it's this.

Desiring God. Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. And, Christian and Hedonism don't normally go together.

But, John Piper shows that when they're understood biblically, they should go together. And, so, we all want to be hedonists in the way that Jesus was a hedonist.

A person who pursues delight and pursues pleasure. And, how did Jesus do that? Well, Psalm 40, verse 8 says, I delight to do your will.

Oh, my God. You know, the Psalms are often, most of the time, they're a reflection of Jesus' own heart. We read what He desires there.

And, so, we see that Jesus was, He delighted to do God's will. And, we've just finished talking about how Jesus was devoted to God.

He was going to do what God wanted. He was going to obey God's will. But, we totally, totally miss it if we take delight out of the equation.

If Jesus was lethargically dragging His feet to do His Father's will, if, you know, He was only half-heartedly obeying God's will, if He didn't see that there was something really good and delightful in obeying God's will, then, Jesus didn't obey.

He didn't obey. If Jesus didn't delight in obeying God, then, He was really no better than a hypocrite. Hypocrites will obey, but their heart's not in it.

But, Jesus delighted in obeying God's Word. Remember, He's sitting at the well, and He's talking to His disciples, and He says that, doing the will of my Father, this is like food to me.

This is like food. And, I know about me, and I'm sure you're the same way, you like food, don't you? I like food. I find food comforting.

I find food delightful. I like to eat. And, it makes me happy. And, doing God's will made Jesus happy. It satisfied Him.

It satisfied Him. And so, day to day, I want you to think about this. Day to day, what did Jesus experience? Every day, He was obeying His Father. And so, every day, it was like this constant feast of obedience.

And so, He must have been a joyful man. Was it always easy? Was it just like, you know, skipping through the meadow?

No, it wasn't. Was He this chipper person that didn't have a care in the world? Not at all. We're talking about a joy that is deep, that is solemn, that it ran through the whole of His life.

Remember, it said, for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Jesus went to the cross for a purpose. And it was to get joy.

He took the hard way to arrive at joy. And so, He wanted joy and He was willing to suffer for it. B.B. Warfield, the great Princeton theologian, said this, If our Lord was the man of sorrows, He was more profoundly still the man of joy.

Did you get that? If our Lord was the man of sorrows, which He was, He was still more profoundly the man of joy. In all of His obedience, in all of His struggles, in all of His sorrow, there was still a still more profound joy and delight in God.

He enjoyed God. And He found pleasure in doing the will of God. And He found pleasure so delightful that He would be willing to suffer for it.

And so, our Lord delighted day by day to get alone with His Father. Remember, He's up before dawn to be by Himself. Psalm 16 echoed in Jesus' heart, You made known to me the path of life.

In Your presence there is fullness of joy. And at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So what was Jesus doing out there on those mountains all by Himself?

He was praying, He was meditating, He was finding pleasures at God's right hand. He delighted in God's sovereign grace.

Jesus. Remember in Luke 10, 21, In that same hour, He, Jesus, rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and the understanding and revealed them to little children.

Jesus delighted in God's free, sovereign grace. When Jesus thought about God hiding things from those who think they're so smart and revealing them to people who really realize that they're not that smart, that they need help, they need guidance.

When Jesus saw God's sovereign grace and how He humbles men and exalts the humble, it thrilled His heart. He found joy there. Hebrews 1, 9 says, You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Who was the happiest person in God's family?

It was Jesus. He's been happier than you or I have ever been. He was anointed with the oil of gladness beyond His companions. And so, He was the man of sorrows.

Yes. Yes, we don't deny that. But at a deeper level, there was this unconquerable, gladness in God. He was saving sinners.

He was making much of God. He was exalting His Father. He was doing exactly what He wanted. And so, there was gladness there. And so, brothers and sisters, Jesus is our pattern for true, wholehearted devotion.

and He shows us how to find the highest and the deepest delights. He shows us where pleasure really is.

And Jesus enjoyed the things that matter most. He was a man of joy acquainted with delight. and one of the reasons we find it so difficult to grow in holiness is not because, this is going to sound very strange, but just hear me out, is not because we're too addicted to pleasure, but we aren't addicted to the right kinds of pleasure.

We aren't addicted to pleasure enough. We choose the lesser things when God is offering us Himself, the greater thing. And you've heard this quote, but C.S. Lewis said it years ago, we're half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased. Is making mud pies fun in a slum? Yeah.

But does it really compare to a vacation at the seaside? No. And so often, we put our eggs in the wrong basket.

We seek our pleasure in the wrong place. And we don't realize that what I'm doing is actually keeping me from joy. It's not giving me true joy. And so Jesus comes to us and He says, and He shows us by His life, do you want to be happy?

Do you want real delight? Well, stop fooling around with lesser things. The real joy is at God's right hand. And so follow me. I've been there. It's wonderful. And so Jesus is our pattern for devotion and our pattern for delight.

And now we're going to talk about Jesus as our pattern for compassion. Compassion. God is compassionate. In fact, Exodus 34, 6, when God tells Moses' name, the very first attribute that God tells to Moses is, I'm the Lord.

I'm compassionate. Compassionate and gracious. And so when our Lord became a man, in many ways, He became compassion incarnate.

He embodied the Father's compassion. And of all the emotions that are attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, this is the most frequent one.

Jesus was a compassionate man. So I'd ask you to turn over in your Bibles to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. We're going to read verses 11 through 15.

This is the story of Jesus raising the widow's son. Luke 7, verse 11. Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.

And he approached the town, and as he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

So do you have this picture in your mind? Jesus has this large crowd, and now this other large crowd is coming out of Nain with the body of a son. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said, Don't cry.

Then he went up, and he touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, get up. The dead man sat up, and he began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

And they were all filled with awe and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. God has come to help his people. And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. I love this story.

This is a beautiful picture of Jesus' compassion. So Jesus is coming into the town of Nain, and he meets a funeral procession coming out of the town.

And in the very front of the crowd coming out of Nain would have been women. And among the women would have been this mother. And behind the women, there would have been an open wicker basket, wicker casket, relationship with the young man inside of it.

Now, I want you to look at the text, and we're going to talk through this a little bit. Where does Jesus' compassion begin? Look at it. In verse 13.

What's the first thing of compassion that we see? He saw her. Remember, this is a bunch of people.

Two large crowds are coming together. There's a lot of people milling around. And his eyes found her. He saw her. And with that look, he went into her heart.

He knew her pain. And it says he had compassion on her. His heart went out to her. And he said, don't cry.

Why did Jesus say, don't cry? She was crying because she lost her son. Now, why is Jesus' words not callous? I mean, have you ever had that? You're feeling hurt, and someone says, well, just don't feel that way.

Why isn't Jesus' words like that? death? Death? Death? Death? Death? He was going to fix it. He was ready to do something to make the situation all better.

And he was giving her hope. hope. So he sees her pain. He reaches out to her. He gives her hope.

And so she's a widow with no husband and now no son, but Jesus was going to help her. And so he said these hopeful words.

Don't cry. Now, so picture the story in your mind. Where is Jesus right now? Physically. Who's he standing by?

The mother. Okay? He's standing by the mother. So he's next to mom, and he's standing close to her. He's talking gently to her. He's giving her hopeful words.

And now, look again. He leaves mom, and he goes to the coffin, and he touches it, and at that, everyone stood still. So apparently, the coffin was still coming along, and Jesus puts his hand on it.

And in the middle of this funeral, he puts his hand on it without saying a word, and everything lurches to a stop. Now, all eyes are on Jesus, and Jesus says, young man, I say to you, get up.

And the dead man sat up, and he began to talk. Now, here's the thing I want you to notice. Where does Jesus go next? Back to the mother.

He goes back to the widow. So do you have the picture? Jesus goes first to the widow, then he goes second to the young man, and then he goes back to the widow.

So who's at the center of Jesus' love in this story? The widow. The widow. The widow. Jesus is having compassion on her.

He's focused on her. He's feeling her pain. He's helping her. And so, after this miracle, it tells us what everyone was saying. I mean, everyone goes into a buzz.

You can imagine that the people are praising God, saying, a great prophet is among us. God has come to help his people. But notice, it doesn't say that Jesus preached a sermon. It doesn't say there was no sermon.

He simply brings the man, the son, back to his mother. Jesus wasn't after making a name for himself in this situation.

He wasn't after, you know, he wasn't saying, well, okay, I have these people finally where I want them. They are ready to hear. They see that I'm a prophet. They're ready to hear me.

It's not at all. Jesus doesn't say anything. It doesn't say. But who was Jesus thinking about? All these people are a buzz after Jesus raised this young man.

And who is Jesus thinking about? The woman. The woman. His thoughts are all about her. And, brothers and sisters, this is just one example.

This is what Jesus went around doing. His eyes were open. His heart was open. His heart was moved. and he acted to help.

And we can't say that was all without emotion. Our Lord's heart was moved. He was feeling compassion. So, he wept in sympathy with Mary and Martha despite knowing that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.

His heart was moved to pity over Jerusalem when he crested the mountain and saw the city. And he touched lepers. People that weren't allowed to have any human touch.

He touched them. He healed the blind. He didn't shut his eyes. He didn't close his heart. He didn't pursue his own agenda. He was people oriented.

He was full of compassion. And, brothers and sisters, he's our example. It's so easy for us to close off our hearts to people that are hurting.

And, John, in 1 John 3, 17 says, But if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Or, Peter wrote, Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. And, we can't say that's not my personality.

It has to become our personality. Because, Jesus is our example. Our Lord has given us the example, and we must follow it. And, the good news is, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can.

And, when we don't, there is grace in Jesus to forgive us. I'm not saying, just go do this in your own strength. But, there is power in him enough for you.

So, now, Jesus is our pattern in devotion, delight, compassion. Now, finally, in balance. And, this is going to be rather brief. Jesus had a full range of human emotions.

And, all these emotions were in perfect balance. See, we're not balanced people emotionally. We're either too angry, we're not angry enough, we're not compassionate enough, we're not happy enough, we're not devoted, or we're devoted about the wrong things, we're not zealous.

we all sin emotionally because we're all a kilter. But, Jesus held every emotion in perfect balance. He always had the right emotion at the right time for the right reason.

So, just think about this. The gospel talks about two situations when Jesus was amazed. He was amazed when he went into his hometown and he couldn't do any miracles because of their unbelief.

He said he marveled at it. That's an emotional word. He was taken aback by what was happening. And then at the same time, it says Jesus was also amazed, remember, when the centurion said, well, you just speak the word and it will be done.

And he was taken aback. That amazed him. He was emotionally moved by that. And both of those were emotional responses for two different reasons.

our Lord was angry at the right times and in the right ways. He was angry with the Pharisees hard-heartedness. So, remember the picture, they're at the synagogue and there's a man there with a shriveled hand.

And Jesus says, now stand up. And the man stands up and you can imagine it's just like this. All of you are looking at me and I have this shriveled hand. And Jesus looked at the crowd and he said, what is lawful on the Sabbath?

To do good or to do evil? To save life or to kill? It says, but they remained silent. And then it says, he looked around at them in anger.

He was angry with those people because of their hard-heartedness. things. Or imagine a man with a clenched jaw and he's furiously, swiftly making a whip.

And then with a bellow, he says, get out of here! And then the feathers fly and the animals are mooing and lowing and animals are running for their lives. And he says, how dare you turn my father's house into a market?

And so, who was that man? Well, it was Jesus. And when his disciples saw it, when they saw their master's anger, their minds went right to Psalm 69.9, zeal for your house will consume me.

Jesus was angry in his zeal. And the point of all this is, Jesus was perfectly balanced. His emotions were right on. If the situation called for amazement, he was amazed.

And if it called for compassion, he was compassionate. If the situation demanded anger, he was angry. But brothers and sisters, how far we are from him, we don't get angry at the right times, do we?

And when we see God's amazing sovereign grace, we don't rejoice. We're zealous for lesser things. And then when our hearts need to have compassion for an individual, all we look, we look down and all there is is scorn.

And we're so different from our Lord. And so as we end, how do we get there? How do we get where Jesus is?

How do we become more like him? I think a big part of the answer is found in 2 Corinthians 3.18. Don't turn there. It says this, and we who with unveiled faces all reflect or contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

As we see Jesus' glory, that's when we're transformed. And that's what we've been doing today. We've been looking at Jesus' emotional glory.

And as we think about that, as we ponder those passages, we can become more like him. It's not automatic. You saw that it comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

As we contemplate Jesus' glory, the Holy Spirit starts renovating our lives and we start reflecting God's glory more and more. And so, we need to experience God's glory, or we need to experience Jesus' emotional glory if we're going to be like him.

And so, I have a challenge for you. This week, I'm not commanding you, just think about this. I challenge you this week to set up your quiet times so that you're viewing Christ's emotional glory.

Take different passages, and just for a week, meditate on Jesus' different emotions and how he expressed them. So, you could Monday, the widow of name, Tuesday, the cleansing of the temple, Wednesday, the garden of Gethsemane, Thursday, Jesus weeping at Lazarus' tomb, Friday, Jesus rejoicing in God's sovereign grace.

Just take a week to contemplate Jesus' emotional glory. He was a man of sorrows, and yet he was full of joy, he was full of amazement and compassion, and we need to keep putting his glory before us, and as we do, the spirit will change us.

And that's what we desperately need, don't we? We need to be changed. We need to be more like him. may God bless you, may may may may may may Okay.