Bulletins - Eagles Nest Church

- - Ephesians 2:1–9ESV
Most of us have left:
a service,
conference,
or camp feeling spiritually on fire,
only to have it fade by Wednesday.
Was it real?
Was it the Holy Spirit or the music?
I wanna tell you about a man named Charles Finney.
He lived from 1792 to 1875,
and started out as a lawyer.
But he soon became the most famous preacher of the Second Great Awakening.
Billy Graham even called him one of history’s greatest evangelists.
Now, even if you’ve never heard of Charles Finney before,
You’ve seen Finney’s influence.
Through something that still lives on today from him,
called “the altar call.”
In 1835, Finney published a book called Lectures on Revivals of Religion.
In the very first lecture, here’s what he said:
he said: A revival “is not a miracle, or dependent on a miracle, in any sense.”
Instead, it is “a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means.”
Now, what does he mean by philosophical?
That’s a good question.
Because it doesn’t mean what we mean.
back in his day, “philosophical” meant something closer to what we today call “Scientific.”
What Finney was essentially saying, was that revival was a formula to follow.
It’s basic cause and effect.
He said it was like farming.
Plant the seed,
tend the field,
and WHOLLAH! You get a crop.
Nobody calls a corn crop a miracle.
And in Finney’s mind, revival worked the same way.
Use the right means,
and WHOLLAH! You get the result.
Finney wrote:
“God has found it necessary to take advantage of the excitability there is in mankind to produce powerful excitements among them, before He can lead them to obey.”
Charles Finney
Do you understand what Finney is saying there?
He’s saying that God has to get people emotionally worked up before He can get them obey.
God has to “take advantage” of people’s emotions to get them to do what He wants them to do.
OK, first off.
Can I just say that God doesn’t “take advantage” ever.
He’s not that kind of God.
He is the advantage, and He will is unstoppable.
If He wants to make the stones cry out and worship Him, He will!
And the same is true of you and I.
So with this thinking,
Finney centered his ministry on methods to get people emotionally riled up.
And he had a name for this.
He called them “new measures.”
He ran revival meetings night after night,
often for several days at a time - and sometimes even weeks at a time.
Any of this sound familiar yet?
He set up something he called an “anxious bench” up at the front for people who felt under conviction.
Which then morphed into the altar call where you would walk forward to the front if you were under conviction.
He he was so bold that he would call out sinners by name from the pulpit
and call them to repent and make a decision for the Lord, right then and there. (and some people think my preaching can be a little too “in your face....”
Finny heavily relied on music to set the mood and keep long invitations going.
He even brought a musical assistant with him to New York, a man named Thomas Hastings.
You wrote the tune we sing to “Rock of Ages.”
Not the words, but the melody.
In other words, if you use the right methods, you’ll get the right results.
Now, to be fair, Finney still said the means needed God’s blessing.
But his system made that blessing a formula to follow with and, almost automatic, result.
And once you believe that, the question stops being
“Is God at work?”
and becomes “Are we doing it right?”
Finney preached a sermon titled:
"Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts."
Which is quite a different title than Jonathan Edward’s sermon: “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.”
Finney taught that when a sinner rejected the gospel,
it was really unwillingness, not inability.
And so the solution was to just give the will enough pressure.
So here’s my first question:
What must you believe about the human heart for emotional manipulation to make sense?
Well, let’s see what the Bible says about this:
John 1:12–13 ESV
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:3–8 ESV
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Yes, man in responsible to believe,
but man cannot believe without the working of the Holy Spirit.
Now, emotions are not the enemy.
I know we are stoic and stalwart Minnesotans.
But emotions are not a bad thing.
The Psalms are full of deep emotions.
Jesus Himself went in John 11.
And Paul commands joy in Philippians 4:4.
So an emotionless Christianity isn’t anymore biblical than Finney’s emotion-driven Christianity.
We aren’t after a cold faith.
Instead, we are after an affectionate faith.
Jonathan Edwards lived through the First Great Awakening and saw both real revival and wild emotionalism.
His main claim in his book Religious Affections was:
“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.”
Jonathan Edwards
Edwards warned that as good as revival was, false religion tends to flourish during times of true revival:
And by "affections,"
Edwards means the heart's strong inclinations: love, joy, fear, sorrow, desire.
He wasn’t talking about shallow moods.
Nehemiah 8:9–12 ESV
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
So notice the order here:
Verse 9: The people wept when they heard the Law.
Verse 10: Nehemiah told them, "Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Verse 12: The people rejoiced greatly "because they had understood the words that were declared to them."
Both the weeping and the rejoicing came from understanding.
No one set the mood.
The Word was read, explained, and understood, and the emotion followed.
That's the biblical pattern of true revival.
Then in Luke 24 we read:
Luke 24:32 ESV
32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
What caused their hearts to burn?
The Scripture being opened.
That’s where the burning came from.
Let’s look at Psalm 42:
Psalm 42:5 ESV
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
The psalmist isn’t follow his feelings.
Instead he fights them by preaching to them.
Truth governs emotion, not the other way around.
What this means is:
Biblical emotion is a response to truth.
Emotionalism is a response to the moment and proper technique.
In part II of Religious Affections, Edwards lists things that can’t prove either way if it’s revival or emotionalism.
The first is: "It is no sign one way or the other, that religious affections are very great, or raised very high."
And he warns against both errors.
Some condemn all high emotions as delusion.
But Scripture clearly shows very high religious emotions that are not spiritual or saving.
But the point is,
intense feelings don't prove something is false,
and they don't prove it's real.
So chasing emotion for the sake of emotion isn’t a good metric.
Instead, we look at the results.
Matthew 13:20–21 ESV
20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
The joy was real, but the root was missing.
Quick feeling without depth looks like fruit for a while.
But it’s not - because it doesn’t last.
Ezekiel 33:30–32 ESV
30 “As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ 31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.
So here the people come to hear Ezekiel and say:
“Come, and hear what the word is."
But God says, "You are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it."
God’s point is that they enjoyed the prophet like a person who enjoys a concert.
And even though they enjoyed it,
that emotion isn't the same as obeying.
And this applies directly to music and worship.
The Irish poet Oscar Wilde put it this way:
"A sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it."
Oscar Wilde
Luke 14:25–33 ESV
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Luke tells us here how great crowds were following Jesus.
And what does Jesus do?
Does He say: “GREAT! THIS IS REVIVAL!”
No… He turned and told them to count the cost.
He says to carry their cross, and to renounce everything.
Jesus did the opposite of Finney.
He had an excited crowd and thinned those crowds on purpose.
He wasn't interested in feeling without commitment.
This is why pastor Mark Dever, who’s church service runs 2 hours every week, says:
He says he wants to have a long service with long prayers,
to drive away all of the people who don’t love Jesus.
And when we hear that,
that might sound harsh.
It might sound like he doesn’t want people to accept the Gospel.
But that’s actually backwards.
Dever knows that Finney-ism isn’t fruit.
And he’s after REAL spiritual fruit.
And drawing a crowd and moving their emotions is nothing but tickling ears.
And not only does that hurt the pure and real church,
But it leads unbelievers to think they are believers.
And in case you think that mentality means you’re resigning yourself to be a tiny church,
Dever shows otherwise - because his church runs about 1,000 people on a given Sunday.
The Prophet Jeremiah put it this way when he wrote:
Jeremiah 6:14 ESV
14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
The point is:
comfort without truth is sentimental, and it's dangerous.
Which is something you often sadly see at funerals.
You know what I’m talking about.
Those funerals that assume everyone is in heaven,
Because they preach a God of love without holiness,
and they preach tears over the cross with no grief over sin.
“My own experience”
1 Corinthians 2:1–5 ESV
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Paul could have used persuasive Finney-type technique.
But he refused to that so their faith would rest on God's power, not his skill.
That's the direct answer to Finney.
2 Corinthians 4:2 ESV
2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
Again, Paul’s point is the method matters.
And the method must be based on truth not tricks.
But sadly, the American church has bought into the tricks mentality.
That’s why pastor’s preach short sermons that barely touch on the text.
It’s why the music repeats the same 7 theologically-light words 11 times.
And it’s why so many churches refuse do to church discipline.
And it’s because they have ignored the holiness of God,
and embraced sentimentality instead - which is idolatry.
And because of this,
I am convinced the American church at large is not going to do well on the day of judgment.
Instead we needGod’s word preached to produce godly sorrow (which are emotions) which leads to REPENTANCE.
2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
What does worldly sorrow, or worldly emotions produce?
DEATH.
Two real emotions with opposite results.
What matters isn't how strong the grief was, but where it led.
So here are four questions to test our emotions by:
Four questions
Source: Did this come from truth about God, or from the moment?
Direction: Is it about God, or about my experience of God?
Fruit: Does it lead to repentance and obedience? Edwards's final positive sign of true revival is that true affections bear fruit in Christian practice.
Durability: Does it last after the music stops?
So for us let’s look at a few things here and apply this:
Worship: Are we singing truth that moves us, or building toward a feeling?
Evangelism: Are we pressing for a decision that the Spirit hasn't produced?
Grief and funerals: Are we offering comfort based on truth, or sentiment?
Decisions: Are we seeing repentance and emotions that lead to true life change of loving God and loving His church?
Now, let’s apply this in one more place,
And some of you have probably already guessed where I’m going to apply it.
And that’s to the Lord’s Table.
1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
This verse tells us that we are preaching a message every time we gather at the table.
We are preaching that repentance must be real.
That the Lord’s death is the only way our sin can forgiven.
and that Christ is coming again.
And my question is:
What does ANY of this have to do with how we feel in the moment of that proclamation?
Sure, I have moments where my feelings are really engaged with the truths we celebrate at the table,
but sometimes my feelings aren’t fully there.
And that’s even with doing only once a month.
The point is:
The weight of the table comes from Christ, not from how rarely we eat it or how it makes us feel.
Because if we decide how often to do the Lord’s table based purely on feelings,
then that’s nothing but Finney’s sentimentality.
Not Edwards’ godly affections.
And I bring this up,
because this is one of the concerns that’s been raised.
Will doing the table every week make it feel less special?
And that’s the WRONG question.
The question is, will it enable to us proclaim what we are called proclaim.
AND, will it give us a weekly opportunity to examine ourselves and repent where we need to repent?
And I believe it will.
And as we do THAT - chase godly sorrow and godly affections - our feelings will follow.
Maybe not every single time.
But that’s not the main goal.
No more than every time I eat dinner with my family and my wife is there,
should be expected to produce the same exact feelings I had when we went out on our first few dates together.
But… by spending time together at the table,
we develop our affections, and the feelings then can follow.
And the same is true of the Lord’s Table.
None of us want Communion to become a mindless and heartless routine.
But the fact is,
if we aren’t engaging with God through His Word,
That can happen with monthly communion just as much as it can happen with weekly communion.
Because if feeling something at the table is based purely on the rarity of it,
That’s nothing but sentimentality - not religious affections.
The gospel is the guard.
And centered our minds and heart’s on it every week,
every day for that matter,
is the antidote.
1 Peter 1:6–8 ESV
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
Jonathan Edwards built his entire book on this passage from 1 Peter.
Peter writes to suffering believers:
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him.”
“Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory."
This is the highest emotion in the Bible, and look at its source.
No atmosphere,
no technique,
no ideal conditions.
These believers were suffering.
That was the condition!
And their joy came from faith in a Christ they could not see.
That's what we want.
Not manufactured feelings,
but hearts so captured by Christ that joy overflows even in trials.
- - John 1:12–13ESV
- - John 3:3–8ESV
- - Nehemiah 8:9–12ESV
- - Luke 24:32ESV
- - Psalm 42:5ESV
- - Matthew 13:20–21ESV
- - Ezekiel 33:30–32ESV
- - Luke 14:25–33ESV
- - Jeremiah 6:14ESV
- - 1 Corinthians 2:1–5ESV
- - 2 Corinthians 4:2ESV
- - 2 Corinthians 7:10ESV
- - 1 Corinthians 11:26ESV
- - 1 Peter 1:6–8ESV

Ephesians 2:1–9ESV

John 1:12–13ESV

John 3:3–8ESV

Nehemiah 8:9–12ESV

Luke 24:32ESV

Psalm 42:5ESV

Matthew 13:20–21ESV

Ezekiel 33:30–32ESV

Luke 14:25–33ESV

Jeremiah 6:14ESV

1 Corinthians 2:1–5ESV

2 Corinthians 4:2ESV

2 Corinthians 7:10ESV

1 Corinthians 11:26ESV

1 Peter 1:6–8ESV