Sermon Tone Analysis
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Prayer
Have you ever wondered why it seems that the world is in such opposition to Christ and his purposes?
Illustration
Like when you’re watching a movie and out of nowhere a character decides to take the Lords name in vain.
Of all the names that person could utter.
They choose to utter our Lord Jesus‘s name in place of an expletive.
The Bible is abundantly clear of man’s rebellion.
Our text today will be directly addressing this.
Why does it seem the world is in such opposition to God?
What is God’s response to human rebellion?
What confidence does a Christian have in this world?
What is the correct response to the Lordship of Christ?
Why does it seem the world is in such opposition to God?
Scene I: The Nations
“The Nations”
Illustration
In the movie, the Chronicles of Narnia.
I remember watching it for the first time, and the scene that is called “The Great Battle.”
It depicts a battle between the White Witches army and Aslan’s army.
When you hear the Psalmist talking about the nations raging in the peoples plotting in vain I want you to imagine the White Witches army.
Her army consists of all the evil creatures in Narnia.
Black Dwarves,
Werewolves,
Giants,
Ghouls,
Minotaurs
Evil creatures who plot and scheme against Aslan and His army.
The nations are all gathered together and they have one sole purpose.
Notice the text says that they serve a “united front”
They are united with one aim, to rebel before God.
If you were to ask the Psalmist, what every nation has in common?
It would be this one thing: they are in rebellion.
From the Amazon jungles,
to the streets of the largest cities on earth,
to the rural countryside.
They are united by this: The Quest for Freedom.
Notice what the nations gathered together say....
The Quest for “Freedom”
Since Adam and Eve were in the garden, humanity has always sought freedom.
Now we live in America and we just instinctively think that freedom is a good thing.
But unlimited freedom is actually a very bad thing.
It may be surprising to you to think about the nations raging and the peoples plotting in vain and their battle cry is,
“Let’s free ourselves from their ropes!”
“Let’s free ourselves from the oppression of God and His Anointed!”
I want you to see two aspects of humanity’s quest for freedom…
Autonomy
“Self-Governing”
The word autonomy is made up of two words
“autos” which can be rendered his self
“nomos” which can be rendered as law.
Autonomy is literally a self-law.
It’s one desire to be a law unto oneself.
Let me give you an example of what this freeing oneself sounds like.
There’s a kind of counseling within the counseling world referred to as Rogerian counseling.
It’s a kind of counseling that does not see advising someone as the role of the counselor.
This translates to...
“Don’t ever tell someone what to do.”
“Don’t ever instruct someone from God’s Word.”
Rather...
“Help them discover for themselves what they should do.”
Advice-giving is not an adequate counseling function because it violates the autonomy of personality
It has been agreed that personality must be free and autonomous; how, then, can one person justifiably pass ready-made decisions down to another.
Ethically one cannot do it; and practically one cannot-for advice from above can never effect any real change in the other’s personality.
The idea never becomes part of him, and he will cast it off at the earliest convenience.
(Adams, Jay Edward.
1986.
Competent to Counsel: Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling.
Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library.)
Application
We as Christians should never look at others and think...
“They are just pursuing freedom!”
“You do you”
“It’s their life, you can live it however you think best...”
These are utterly un-christian things.
When we see the world around us, pursuing a self governing attitude, or seeking to throw off the “bonds” they feel.
We should never support them.
Now I’m not saying we take up arms against them.
But we should see the folly of this self governing autonomy.
Notice the second feature....
Rebellion
“Freeing Oneself”
The reality of this is simply that all of us at one time were on the side of the White Witches army.
All of us at one time or another have hated God and His Anointed One.
George McDonald, a writer that C.S. Lewis deeply looked up to once commented on what he thought the principle of hell is…
“I am my own.
I am my own king and my own subject.
I am the centre from which go out my thoughts; I am the object and end of my thoughts; back upon me as the alpha and omega of life, my thoughts return.
My own glory is, and ought to be, my chief care; my ambition, to gather regards of men to the one centre, myself.
My pleasure is my pleasure.
My kingdom is — as many as I can bring to acknowledge my greatness over them.
My judgment is the faultless rule of things.
My right is — what I desire.
The more I am all in all to myself, the greater I am.”
-George McDonald (Referenced in Tim Kellers sermon on Psalm 2).
This is a good representation of human rebellion.
It’s not literally taking up arms.
It is a hatred of God that says, I want to do what I want to do and I despise anything which is not my own.
What is God’s response to human rebellion?
Scene II: The Enthroned LORD
“The Enthroned LORD”
So if you were to write up a list of things that make God laugh, how many of us would think “His enemies”?
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