Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Never underestimate your opponent.

Whether you are in the sports arena or the battlefield, a come principle is to never underestimate your opponent.

It is when we take our eyes off the opponent that they receive the upper hand.

They more easily see the weaknesses in our defenses.

They can more easily exploit those found weaknesses.

A common historical and sad illustration of this is the “Battle at Little Bighorn.”

The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, suffered a major defeat while commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were wiped out and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law.

The total U.S. casualty count included 268 dead and 55 severely wounded (six died later from their wounds).

Custer underestimated his opponent and it cost him and many others their lives.

Each and every day every Christian is under spiritual attack.

Not a day or week goes by that sin does not attack.

It attacks in a variety of methods.

It may attack subtly, overtly, loudly, directly, or even patiently.

Sin attacks through using our own flesh, our own sinful nature.

It is not always a direct attack from Satan or demonic beings but rather their influence seen in the printed and electronically released materials.

It can be seen through entertainment and sports.

It can be seen in the reporting of current news and opinions.

The avenues of attack all to often seem endless.

This is the world we live in and we must choose to respond biblically.

In order to respond biblically we must have not allow our awe capacity to land anywhere but on God, God’s character, God’s nature, and God’s work.

If we are to stand against sin; if we are to when necessary flee and run from sin; if we are to preach truth and righteousness; and, if we are to live holy before God while in the war for our lives we must live in awe of God!

Big Idea: Living in awe of God strengthens your stand against sin’s attacks.

As we look into God’s Word this morning and see that living in awe of God strengthens our stand against sin, we are going to look at three separate texts.

These texts are not an exhaustive amount of scripture on standing against sinful living and fighting for righteousness in spiritual warfare.

The texts we are going to look at are found in Genesis 3:1-7, Galatians 5:13-26, and Ephesians 6:10-20.

It is in these texts that we will see that because of sin we have a awe problem that directs our heart and mind to be predisposed to living with an awe that lands nowhere near God (Genesis 3:1-7).

In these texts we will see that the battle with sin can be won when not dependent on our own(Galatians 5:13ff).

It is this dependence on God that we see God has given to us what we need to fight back(Ephesians 6:10-20).

I. Living in awe of God understands one’s own sinfulness (Genesis 3:1-7)

In this narrative of the first days and weeks of creation we see the two people God created, Adam and Eve, poised with a decision.

This decision was a deception to Eve and direct sin in the case of Adam.

God had established Adam as the ruler of creation on God’s behalf.

Adam as the leader was held responsible for sin and it was through Adam that sin entered into the world and subsequently death as well.

Adam and Eve had an awe problem.

Paul Tripp coined the word awe wrongedness.

They unfortunately allowed an awe of having knowledge like God and something they did not have over all that God had given them.

Their awe blinded them from the beauty of God and the importance of obedience.

What they looked at in awe resulted in painful consequences.

They had sinned against God and now the wonderful fellowship they enjoyed with him daily was broken.

The pattern of sin and its consequences set in the garden is replayed throughout Genesis in the accounts of Cain, the generation of the flood, and the men of Sodom.

The fall means that we humans are predisposed to sin.

Though God punishes sin, sin does not thwart God’s ultimate, gracious purpose for His human creation.

Embedded in the curse was the gleam of a promise that the offspring of the woman would someday lead the human race to triumph.

(David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Concise Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 9.)

We see this in Romans 5:12 “12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—” explains how through the sin of Adam all of humanity was and is born in sin.

We are not naturally good.

Temptation and the persuasiveness of sin is not because of any one person’s heritage or past experiences and circumstances.

The sinfulness of a person is not based on the sins their environment.

Everyone is a sinner because they were born a sinner.

Everyone is born with an awe wrongedness, a filling up of one’s awe capacity wrongly.

Men and women, Fathers and Mothers, Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, children of all ages place their awe in something and/or someone outside of God.

They do not view their awe problem as a sin problem or any problem for that matter.

Living in awe of God truly results in understanding your own sinfulness before God.

Apart from God, our awe of Him and our view of sin will be wrong.

Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” tells us that we, humanity, have fallen short of God’s standard, of being able to show the right opinion of God.

We fall short of God’s glory.

It is sad when you attend a funeral and you see family members mourning without hope because they have placed their awe in the temporal and fail to view their sin as God views their sin.

They fail to live in awe of God.

Sin makes life difficult.

It makes it hard to be the husband or wife God prescribes in His Word.

Sin hinders our ability to be the godly parents he desires from us.

Sin gets in the way of our work relationships, our daily thoughts and actions.

Sin just muddies up life.

Sin grieves God and His Spirit (Ephesians 4:30 “30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”)

In Genesis 6:5-6 (“5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”)

God shares with us the sadness of his heart to see the wickedness of his creation, of humanity that he desires greatly to have a close and growing relationship and fellowship.

Only one solution works to ease the difficulty in the spiritual warfare we find ourselves every day—Jesus Christ(John 14:6 “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”)!

It takes Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and supernatural resurrection to provide the perfect way to reconcile to God amid our horrible sin—sin that keeps one from true fellowship and familial relationship with God as his child.

Christ exchanged his perfect, righteous account for my and for your filthy account of sin (Romans 5:19 “19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”).

If we are to have the proper awe of God and live with an awe of God in the midst of spiritual warfare it is imperative that we live in awe of the gospel as we looked at a couple weeks ago but also within that having an awe that sees our sin as God sees our sin.

We cannot fall prey to justifying our sin!

We must be honest before God!

Adam and Eve failed to live with a proper awe of God!

They placed it elsewhere.

The beauty of God’s love, mercy, and grace is—God did not leave us to our own inclinations and will power but provided a Comforter, his Spirit!

Our lives need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit!

We cannot give room for sin and Satan to creep into our lives (Ephesians 4:27 “27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.”

).

II.

Living in awe of God lives controlled by the Holy Spirit, Galatians (5:13-26).

As Christians we are to be controlled by the Spirit of God.

If we are to have a properly directed awe toward God, amid the battle for our spiritual lives, we must let the Holy Spirit control our lives.

If we do not, our flesh and sin nature will fill the void.

Where we ought to be giving God the awe we will be replacing with our own selfish desires.

Paul in Galatians 5:13-26 discusses the truth that we are not under the power of law but are free to serve God.

We are free to live righteously under the power of God.

The truths in this passage are important for us as we seek to live in awe of God and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Because of our redemption in Christ we are free to serve Christ.

Paul begins this passage and repeats it later with the truth that we are not under law but free from the law!

The Law and the Believer, 13 & 18 (freed and not under the power of the law!)

We are no longer under the law.

The Mosaic Law was given to Moses and the nation of Israel and was fulfilled by Christ’s death on the cross.

It was not given to the Gentiles.

Therefore it is not binding to the Gentile.

The impact of the OT Law on the NT believer is simply put is showing us the character of man and the character of God.

Some commands are trans-dispensational.

This means that in each different period of time or dispensation there are commands that have been consistent in each one.

Commands to Abraham are still true for us though even pre-Law as they have been reiterated through time and for the NT believer today.