Three Of The Greatest Emotions In Life

A. INTRODUCTION

1. We have many emotions. These include fear, anger, excitement, loneliness, despair, and satisfaction. What emotions motivate you the most

____________________________?

2. The three greatest emotions. Today’s lesson surrounds three of the greatest emotions:

WHAT EMOTIONS

What makes you cry? LOSS PAST

What makes you sing? HAPPINESS PRESENT

What makes you dream? HOPE FUTURE

3. Why are these among the greatest emotions? Because we cry over the past and ask, "What might have been?" This deals with our loss. Then, we sing to reflect our present happiness. Our songs tell everyone our joy. Then we dream of the future, and hope for what might be.

B. WHAT MAKES YOU CRY: THE PAST. (Ps. 137:1)

1. We cry because we remember PAST BLESSINGS. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion" (Ps. 137:1). They wept because they could no longer worship God in the temple, no longer live in the land, they no longer had freedom.

2. We cry because our DREAMS WERE DESTROYED. Alexander the Great sat down and wept because there were no more kingdoms to conquer. He lived his life for war and conquering other nations, and wept when there were no more to conquer.

Athletes weep when they can no longer compete, parents weep when they no longer can influence their children, businessmen weep when they can no longer go to work, and all ministers weep because they can no longer preach. We weep when our dreams die.

3. We weep because others DISAPPOINT US. "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). Why did Jesus weep?

a. Because of Mary’s UNBELIEF. "If thou hast been here, my brother had not died" (John 11:21).

b. Because of the multitudes’ UNBELIEF. "Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man (Lazarus) from dying" (John 11:37).

c. Because He LOVED Lazarus. "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus" (John 11:5).

4. We weep because we LOSE SOMETHING. We weep at funerals because we have lost a loved one. Parents weep at a wedding because they lose their "little girl." We weep because of loss.

5. We weep when we can’t do what WE USED TO DO. The Jews in Babylon wept because, "We hung our harps upon the willows . . . "

(Ps. 137:2). The harp made the Jews happy and they no longer used their musical instruments.

C. WHAT MAKES YOU SING? (Ps. 137:2,3)

1. The Jews in Babylon could NOT SING. "For there those who carried us away captive required of us a song, and those who plundered us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion" (Ps. 137:3).

2. When you are happy, it shapes YOUR SONG. We usually sing because we are happy. The word "blessed" means happy. All of the Beatitudes begin with the word, "blessed" (Matt. 5:3-11). The first word in the most spiritual book in the Bible (Psalms) is "blessed" which means we must be happy to be spiritual. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful" (Ps. 1:1). If you are a happy Christian, you will sing the songs of Zion. The Jews in captivity were asked, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion" (Ps. 137:3). The people were not singing because they were not happy. "How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?" (Ps. 137:4). Happy Christians sing, whistle, or hum Christian songs.

3. Don’t seek happiness, just to HAVE FUN. The world seeks fun just to "have a good time." A truly happy person has a purpose in life and is working toward a purpose. The happy (blessed) person measures his/her life by that purpose. "Happiness is found on the road to duty." -E. Towns

D. WHAT MAKES YOU DREAM? (Ps. 137:4-6)

1. What you REMEMBER is what you dream. "If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth-If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy" (Ps. 137:6). Our dreams of the future are based on what we remember of the past.

a. We raise our children how our parents raised us.

b. Our track record in business is based on how we prepared in school.

c. How we will treat people in the future, is based on how we were treated in the past.

2. You are KNOWN by your dreams. Joseph was called a dreamer because of his dreams. "Behold this dreamer cometh" (Gen. 37:19). Jerry Falwell is known by his dream of Liberty University. What dreams are you known by?

3. Your dreams will get you in TROUBLE. Because Joseph had dreams about his brothers serving him, "they hated him yet the more for his dream" (Gen. 37:8). Good dreams get you in trouble with bad people.