Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

This past week, Ray made a comment to me and I realized I was doing something each week in this journey through the book of Romans.

He quite enjoyed it, so I will continue.

He had noticed that I had begun each sermon with a question for us,

so as not to disappoint Ray, or others, here is today’s question.

Has there ever been a time in your life that you had a special pass.

Maybe like the monopoly game card “Get out of jail card”

Something that when produced got you into an event, or got you out of trouble?

I have some family members who were in the police force and the rumour have been said that when they would speed, like my illustration a few weeks ago, and if they would be pulled over, they would pull out their police identification and hope that this would be a pass.

Maybe it was something that gave you special privileged.

During the Flood and the subsequent road barricades, one couldn’t pass unless you had the special red band around your wrist.

A couple weeks into the recovery of the flood, I was given a special escorted tour to my house I noticed one of my neighbours home and asked how he was able to get through.

Simple.

As I drove up to the barricade, I raised my left had as a sign that I had a band and they waved me through.

What about you.

Is there something in your past that you had that gave you a special privilege?

Did you get that privilege because of something you did, you earned, or you were born with?

Once again as we look into the book of Romans, Paul continues to speak to people who took their privileged as a personal advantage and sat proudly upon that.

Let’s open the Word this morning and read the first 20 verses in the 3rd Chapter of Romans.

Let’s Pray

Spiritual Advantage

As we heard in the last chapter in which we covered last Sunday, Paul points out that man, either Jew or Greek sees their sin equally in the eyes of a righteous God.

Paul in verse one once again draws his attention back to the Jew who would have been listening and poses the question about spiritual advantage.

Are there things in our lives that we feel give us a spiritual advantage.

If Paul were speaking to us today, what would he say to us?

Maybe its that fact that you come to church, are actively involved in a church program.

You know the many things to say to sound and ways to act like a Christian.

You feel in doing these things and being involved that you will have a spiritual advantage.

What about the workplace or in your neighbourhood people have come to know you as a follower of Christ, or identify you with having a religion.

If they are struggling, they often turn to you and sometimes even ask them to pray for you.

After all, they see you having a spiritual advantage over them.

Spiritual Advantage,

Paul just spent the last chapter describing to the readers that there is no advantage in the eyes of God regarding the Jews lifestyles and then moves into Chapter three with a question for them.

What would be the right answer?

It’s like the child in a Sunday School class when a teacher asks a question and they don’t know the answer, they say, Jesus.

What is the answer here.

Is there an advantage.

Was there an advantage for the contemporary Jew of the time in which Paul is speaking to?

Do we have a spiritual advantage by attending Church, following in obedience and being baptized.

Joining the church’s membership.

Is there an advantage?

Was there an advantage for the Jews.

Look at what Paul says in vs 2

Paul points out that their act of circumcision, the sign of becoming a Jew in obedience, was a valued sign.

Some people struggle with the word or phrase

to begin with.

As there is a list of things that someone can chalk up to their credit and standing before God, but the greek word here translated First, is not a numerical order found in a list, but that it was an important thing in their lives.

Some translations use the word Chiefly, meaning the priority in your life.

Jesus used this idea as well for us found in Matthew

Paul began to point out that they were entrusted

First, chiefly, with the very word of God.

Even though the Jews counterpoints, their neighbors could know about God, the Jews Had been given the very word of God.

What are you entrusted with today.

What Has Christ done for you today,

He has given you the very words of His Voice.

We hold this in our hands,

hold up bible

for some of us we carry the words on our phones or devices.

We have an advantage.

One author writes this,

I was reared in a liberal church.

The minister did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus.

He denied the miracles of the New Testament, and his sermons exhibited that skepticism.

However, part of the liturgy in the church every Sunday was the reading of the text of the Bible.

Everything that went before the reading of the Bible and everything that went after it was distortion and heresy.

Still, in spite of the minister, not because of him, I was sitting under the word of God.

That was the advantage to me.

When I became a Christian, it was through the testimony of the word of God.

In preparation for my call to conversion, the word of God was at work in my life.-

RC Sproul

Paul says to the Jews listening that they were entrusted with the Word of God to carry to the people.

His promised son, the messiah, the redeemer came through His chosen people.

God’s Words were written down for mankind and yet a greater promise came through Christ.

Way before the coming of Christ, God placed the words in their lives that there will be a coming day that the Word will become flesh, dwell among them and then dwell within them.

Jesus promised that when

The spiritual advantage, if we can call it that, is that once we become a follower of Christ, God’s Spirit will come and dwell in us.

Paul was reminding the Jews that they had the very Word of God.

You too have the Word of God.

If you are sitting here this morning, and you are still wondering what the Believers life is like.

You haven’t make the choice to follow God, may I encourage you to continue to read the Word of God.

This is the very reason that we read the passage each Sunday as it is vital for all of us to hear the Word of God.

Hearing the Word of God to you is a great advantage, even if you don’t understand it yet or believe it.

The Word will transform your life.

I have another question for you.

If you are a follower of God, how much time are you spending reading His Word?

How much is too little and how much is too much.

There is no quantity stated, but that it is being read.

There are many things in this world today, especially if you have a device, that wants your attention.

Is God’s Word one of those things that has your attention?

Are we even aware of who much the world has our attention and not that of God’s Word?

One successful diet program to help people manage their weight is quite simply to get them to realize how much they eat.

The program begins by getting you to to write out all that you eat.

When you write down what you eat and begin to track the quantities you start to realize that you eat too much and begin to follow the parameters set out to balance the lifestyle you want to achieve.

Have you ever take a spiritual audit of your life.

Take a week, Begin by writing out all the things you do in a day.

Sleeping, food prep, eating, catching up on our emails, the news, the local coffee shop, friends family, Reading God’s Word.

Can I make it any easier for us.

What did you do today already?

Think back a few hours,

How much time did you spend reading God’s Word today?