Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

SCRIPTURE: Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

So then, the law was our GUARDIAN until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has COME, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

For as many of you as were baptized INTO Christ have PUT ON Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, HEIRS according to PROMISE.

STORY: Alfred from the Batman

PROPOSITION: Faith has come, and we are all ONE in Christ Jesus.

INTERROGATIVE:

TRANSITION:

POINT 1: The gatekeeper or Law like Alfred

The word custodian refers to a servant of the family responsible to watch over the son, from the nursery to his entrance upon manhood.

He governs the child's behavior until the child has the maturity to do what is right without external constraints.

The "custodian" or "tutor" or "schoolmaster" does not have the power to make the child's heart good, nor can he give the child his inheritance.

The Law gave guidance and restraint and protection but couldn’t give the inheritance that we needed.

The law gave DIRECTION but couldn’t give us a NEW HEART.

Deuteronomy 9:23 “And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God and did not believe him or obey his voice.”

Numbers 14:11 “And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me?

And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”

Deuteronomy 1:32 “Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.”

And the law works that way today, too.

If you don't have a heart to trust God and rely on mercy, the law will feel like a burdensome, offensive, deadening job description given by a harsh schoolmaster.

But if you do have a heart to trust God and rely on his mercy, then the law will feel like a much-needed and desired prescription from a wise and beloved Physician.

The way you view the LAW is dependent on the way that you view the LAW-GIVER.

If you don’t know Christ and you don’t have the Holy Spirit the Law will ALWAYS feel burdensome and irritating and restraining…because it is!

But if you have the Holy Spirit and you are following His leadership it will be like 1 John 5:3 “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

And his commandments are not burdensome.”

POINT 2: Liberated by Faith

Faith is taking God at His WORD.

Faith liberates us from the bondage of the Law and makes God’s Word a BLESSING not a BURDEN.

Romans 4:6-8 “just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

What truly marks somebody that has faith?

they TRUST like little children in the mercy of God.

God is fulfilling His promise in Ezekiel 36:26-27 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”

Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

POINT 3: United to Christ

The Black Stallion Returns.

A boy named Alec Ramsey stows away on a plane and flies to North Africa, trying to get back his horse.

Then he begins to cross the desert, and he is told something about the tribesmen of the desert that saves his life and his mission.

He hears that they have such a high sense of honor that if you say you want to be their guest, they will stake their life and possessions on protecting you.

So even though Alec was totally broke and could not purchase protection and help, yet he got their protection and care twice by simply declaring his need and desire to be their guest.

He appealed to their honor, not his worth.

And he was saved.

That's how it is with Christ.

If you entrust yourself to Christ, and say you want to be his eternal guest, and wear his garments, and accept his customs, his honor is at stake; he cannot refuse you.

You have so honored his VALUE and TRUSTWORTHINESS, that he would be DENYING himself to turn you away.

And so all he has is yours.

If you are justified by faith then you are also a CHILD of God.

And one of the most wonderful things in Christ's household where guests become family members is that our own racial, social, and sexual status does not make us any more or less than child and heir.

APPLICATION:

What the law is for you depends on what you are toward the Law-giver.

Gratitude to God for a new heart to love Him and His Word.

Trusting in God means letting go.

How are you trusting the Spirit and trusting the promises of God? Gal.

5:18