Sermon Tone Analysis

*Why the lack of Power in the Church?*

*Sin*

Isa 59:1-2

Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Job 10:14

If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

This is clear, this is concise, the Lord has not changed about sin according to our times, our whims, or our attitudes.

Mal 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not” and so where sin is in the church or person, He will not hear.

Job 31:33

33If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom

Now I believe that our concept of sin has changed over the years.

Somehow our consciences have been dulled, things that once we would not have even countenanced we now do, and accept as the done things in our lives and in our society, The Holy Spirit when speaking to the 7 churches said “He that hath ears to hear let him hear.”

Only those who were spiritual enough heard what God was saying.

To the majority it passed them by.

Do you have ears to hear?

Heb 3:7-14

Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), To day if ye will hear his voice,

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

And there are so many more of these pertinent warnings.

Do you think the Holy Spirit has uttered them for nothing?

Just to take up paper space?

To make little of them or to think of them as of little importance or not relevant is an insult to the Holy Spirit

So from this exhortation from God’s Word we know that the Christian (for this was written to the Heb “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling.”)

“It is possible to be so hardened by sin, which deceives and so be separated from God.”

In the OT we see Samson who didn’t know that the Spirit of God had departed from him.

In the NT we read of the Laodicean Church who didn’t know that Christ was out side Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

*So I ask a realistic and pertinent question*

“where is the Power of God the Holy Spirit in the church of today?”

Could it be that the Church has fallen asleep, too comfortable and living in the passed, and has let its head been shaven by the whore Delilah?

Are we the Laodicean church?

Is Christ out side?

*We talk of this power, sing of power but I see it, as a lot of empty words.*

We profess that which we do not possess.

And then when we get down to the nitty gritty situations, the Church doesn’t know what to do any more and sometimes gets desperate to do something and mistakes desperation for inspiration.

The whole situation has been turned around, if it’s a situation that demands money then we can muddle through and even here the Church has its pockets well zipped up.

Usually an offering is taken up for a mission or good cause so as not to go into the banked funds.

(We lifted £1000 wasn’t that generous?

And all the while ten’s of £1000’s sitting in the bank for the rainy day) Silver and gold we have and such we wont give, (Tithes and offerings were never meant to buy property and shares to sit in a bank to accumulate and heap up treasure on earth) but then we have nothing else to boast of.

The “such” that the early Church had and which Peter spoke off is an unknown factor in the Church to day.

Is that not the situation?

*The first reason for our impotence in the spiritual realm is the rank disobedience to and twisting and turning the Holy Scriptures and so belittling the Word of God.

Which is blasphemy.*

The claim to be a Bible believing church is only wishful thinking.

And before you protest too much just hear me out.

It appears that nowadays according to the name tag that the Church has adopted so is the believing or rejecting certain portions of Scripture.

For example, 1Cor.

12-14 speaks of the Spiritual gifts available to the Church.

Certain would hold dear to that, but the mention in the same context that a woman is to keep silence in the Church is of no importance (not relevant) to them.

Nor would the subject of head covering in chapter 11 be relevant, but the rest of chapter 11 concerning the Lord’s Supper would be.

And for another denomination it would be the opposite.

Those gifts are not for today they faded out with the Apostles.

But they would hold that a woman is to keep silent in the Church.

And they would not allow a woman to sit at the breaking of bread without a head covering.

And there are many other deviations in different assemblies.

This would be quite amusing if it weren’t so serious.

Again thinking of sickness.

Some would take James 5:14

Is any sick among you?

Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And practice it.

Others would pretend its not there.

Or take a meaning (which if the context is listened too, could never mean this) that it’s a healing of a sick soul because of sin.

Nevertheless, each would claim to stand foursquare on Scripture.

*Tell me is it possible to have different meanings for the same Scripture?*

Of course not.

There is only one meaning.

There are some who interpret Scripture from a traditional denominational standpoint, some from books and others just follow the leader never having studied for themselves.

Let me point out to you what Scripture says about these private denominational interpretations.

2 Peter 1:20-21

Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

There is only one meaning of Scripture, Gods’.

So knowing how different interpretations are, that each denomination puts on different texts of scripture.

There must be a lot who are wrong.

If I interpret a text to have a certain meaning, then further along I come across another verse that would seem to contradict my interpretation.

Then I must bow to Scripture and readdress my understanding of the Text.

Scripture interprets Scripture.

/Robert Shank in his book ‘Life in the Son’ speaks of the sign over the old blacksmith’s forge.

“All things turned and twisted here”/ A relevant word to the goings on in the Churches is it not?

So it comes to the place that there are many who are confused because of lost confidence in the scriptures.

No more can they know what they can trust in.

This takes away faith so that in the meetings they are powerless to take hold of God.

And I tell you its out of this pernickety acceptance of the Word of God there comes a powerless Church.

*So leading on from this sin in the Church.*

I would raise the subject of the Lord’s Supper and bring to your notice the consequences of belittling the Word as to the wrong participation in the Lord’s Supper.

In 1Cor.11;

27

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

*Now these are serious words, to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord is a critical matter. 1 Cor 11:23-34 Guilty of crucifying Him*

This institution that was left us by the Saviour, is observed with little thought, has become a habit, the done thing.

None of the warnings are paid attention to.

So in a manner crucifies the Saviour over again.

*Instead of being cleansed by His blood, they are guilty of His blood.*

Guilty of the death of Christ.

Listen to the word of God in Heb.

And note it was not written to or for the unsaved it was written to the people of God.