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Emotions – Separating the Precious from the Worthless!
By Pastor Jerry C. Vargo
I. Introduction.
A. I spent this past week thinking about emotions! I don’t even know if I’ve ever heard any teaching on the subject.
B. Emotions (in my opinion) can either be good or bad. They can either rule our lives or inform our lives.
C. I don’t believe that God wants us to be starchy and emotionless…but I also know that too many of us let emotions rule our lives. And it is out of this rulership that we often make our decisions…often with tragic results.
D. When emotions rule we often cannot separate the issues of life correctly. Our perspective gets off-balance when we let emotions rule rather than letting the Spirit of God rule.
E. I believe often that our emotions keep us from trusting God.
F. When our feelings rule…faith is not found!
G. Listen to what Twila Paris says about Christian maturity:
“A big part of Christian maturity is learning to let God keep you steady and to be ruled less and less by your emotions and circumstances.”
H. So, my point today is not that we shouldn’t have emotions, but that our emotions should not be the dominating force in our Christian walk.
I. Faith and trust in the character of God should rule…His Word should rule…His ways should rule!
J. I want to start this morning by looking at a great man of God who was so much like us. Turn to Jeremiah 15:15-21.
15 Thou who knowest, O LORD, Remember me, take notice of me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Thy patience, take me away; know that for Thy sake I endure reproach. (HERE, JEREMIAH REMINDS GOD OF ALL THAT HE IS DOING) 16 Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts. (HERE WE SEE JEREMIAH ON HIS EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER) 17 I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, nor did I exult. (ANOTHER REMINDER OF WHAT HE WAS DOING) Because of Thy hand upon me I sat alone, (OUR EMOTIONS OFTEN CONVINCE US THAT WE ARE ALONE) for Thou didst fill me with indignation. 18 Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? (EVER FEEL THIS WAY?) Wilt Thou indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable? (HIS EMOTIONS ARE REALLY STRONG HERE) 19 Therefore, thus says the LORD, "If you return, then I will restore you--before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious (COSTLY OR VALUABLE) from the worthless, (LOOSE MORALLY OR PRODIGAL) you will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. 20 "Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you and deliver (TO FREE) you," declares the LORD. 21 "So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem (TO SET FREE) you from the grasp of the violent." (brackets mine). NAS
II. Body.
A. From this passage, we see a great man of God struggle with his life and with his emotions.
B. But God has the solution! Verse 19. We must separate the precious from the worthless.
C. I am convinced that the Christian life is one of progression. When we first walk with Christ, we are often ruled by our senses and emotions. The longer we walk with Him…the less and less we let emotions rule.
D. I heard TD Jakes mention briefly this week on TV something that really made sense to me.
E. He said that the Christian life and its progression are similar to the Old Testament Tabernacle. It was separated into three areas:
1. The outer court.
2. The holy place or the inner court.
3. The holy of holies.
F. Wherever you are in your walk…we must separate the precious from the worthless. We must learn to let the Spirit of God rule in our lives and not our emotions.
We need to separate the precious from the worthless in 4 different ways…and I am going to be very brief:
1. By understanding that there will always be a wrestling with our emotions.
A. Cover the brackets in Jeremiah 15.
B. It is not necessary to feel shame or guilt concerning our emotions or our feelings.
C. This is just a part of the walk. We can’t deny our emotions…but please hear me…they can’t rule us!
D. Our emotions must be in subjection to the principles of the Word of God.
Transition: I separate the precious from the worthless by understanding that there is a wrestling and…
2. By gut-level prayer.
E. Isn’t that what we see here? Jeremiah is struggling with God in gut-level prayer.
F. Gut-level prayer is honest prayer.
G. It is honest prayer that doesn’t try to hide our true feelings from God.
H. He knows our frame…He knows that we are but dust.
I. I honestly believe that God doesn’t condemn us for our emotional prayers.
J. Our emotional prayers can be good or bad. They can be bad if we are walking in self-righteousness or performance based living.
K. They can be good if those prayers remind us that maybe our lives are not that messed up after all. When we remind God of how we are walking or living, it helps us to see that we really are making an effort.
L. And when I remind myself (or the Lord) in prayer of the things that I’m trying to accomplish in relation to my walk with God…that keeps me from condemnation.
M. And how many of you know that condemnation is one of Satan’s greatest weapons. Condemnation paralyzes us.
Transition: We separate the precious from the worthless by knowing we’re going to wrestle with emotions, by gut-level prayer, and…
2. By spending time in God’s Word.
A. Listen to what Jeremiah said again in verse 16.
B. “Eat them” – consume or devour!
C. “The joy” – this is strong emotion…gladness, joy, exultation, rejoicing.
D. “delight” – gleeful, merry, pleasure, or a happy result.
E. As we move into the holy place or the inner court…we find the bread of life…the light of the world…Jesus and His Word.
F. As we move closer and closer…emotions will rule less and less.
Illustration
Jesus didn’t allow emotions to rule…When the synagogue official named Jairus came to him about his daughter…and the report came back to not bother Jesus anymore because his daughter was dead…Jesus didn’t allow the emotion of the moment to overrule trust and faith in God.
“Don’t be afraid, only believe.
G. When the truth of His Word dominates our thinking…then irrational thoughts and emotions will have to take a backseat.
Transition: We separate the precious from the worthless by wrestling with emotions, by gut-level prayer, by spending time in God’s Word, and…
3. By understanding that trust and repentance lead to freedom.
A. I love verse 19 after Jeremiah has gone through this litany of emotions.
Therefore, thus says the LORD, "If you return, then I will restore you--Before Me you will stand…”
B. Look at 20b and verse 21. Turning to God in trust, (not trusting our emotions) will result in a freedom in heart.
C. No longer are we ruled by our emotions…we are free from the dominating forces of emotion.
D. This is similar to moving into the holy of holies. It is here that we find the mercy seat and realize that it is all about God and not us.
E. Sometimes our unruly emotions do prevail…we often sin because of these emotions…we must turn to God in repentance.
F. This turning and trusting is saying, “God, I turn to you for the ability to not let emotions rule my life.” “It’s all about you Father.”
G. It’s Galatians 2:20 come to life:
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”
III. Conclusion.
A. Let me close by turning to Philippians 3:13-14…
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
B. We need to press on! We need to wrestle. We need to pray. We need to soak in His Word. And we need to understand that when we do fail…His forgiveness and freedom can be found.
