Sermon Tone Analysis

*Relationships - part I*

The Unbelief of Paul

 

Introduction:

 

True Pastors have a unique heart in that they are always carrying around with them the best and the worst of the cross.

It is reflected by the church or the people in which he Shepard’s.

I’m reminded of the joy and sadness Jesus probably felt when the disciples he sent out came back experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.

*Luke 10:17*

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “*Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”*

On one hand there were seventy-two devoted and excited disciples experiencing the power of God, the power of Christ’s word, seeing miracles and healings, and preaching they had never heard before.

On the other hand as the walk deepened and the teaching Christ proclaimed became more specific we find them deserting the very one in whom they were perceiving to be the Messiah.

*John 6:53*

53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Ten verses Later…

 

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching.

Who can accept it?”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

So what do I mean when I say, the walk deepened”?

What I mean is this.

Jesus went from talking in generalities to specifics.

Generalities give us an overall picture; it lets us see purpose, and inspires us for the purpose of change.

However, when dealing in specifics, they tell us truth which immediately seeks out an action.

Specifics talk directly into our lives and tell us we need to change.

Specifics state the truth and tell you the consequences.

In contrast, the big picture makes everyone feel good and a part of the outcome or the sum.

The reason it hasn’t told you specifically what it takes to be apart of the big picture.

We see this clearly by the example above.

When the power of God is present and the willingness of believers gathers under a focused purpose there is excitement and joy, everyone is happy.

There something instinctively self gratifying when we can talk into other lives, when we have that piece of knowledge they don’t have.

It makes us e feel good, it makes us feel smart, and it makes us feel used.

People like speaking into other peoples lives.

However, when the shoe is on the other foot, it doesn’t make us to happy.

Specifics make us look into our own lives; it calls us to change, to act now, to not do something we shouldn’t, to do something we should, it challenges us where we are at and no one likes that.

Because no one wants to be told no, to be told you shouldn’t, to be told there actions are not right, to come to grips with the consequences of that specific principles in our life.

Jesus walked around I would guess with great joy and great sadness.

I imagine he had joy for those who endured the specifics and persevered and sadness for those who fell away because it wasn’t what they want to hear.

Ask yourself, how many received the message, how many stood at the foot of his cross believing or waiting to see if what he proclaimed was true.

Pastors carry a piece of the cross with them in this way.

We speak the truth, the principles and the wisdom of God word.

But we have to stand at the foot of each one your crosses.

We wait and see will they crucify self and allow these principles and truths to live in their lives or we watch to see if what you hear will really be received.

This brings me to Paul.

Can you imagine the time spent in prayer, the suffering endured, the process he had to go to bring the Corinthians the Gospel.

However, as the Lord opened the door for the gospel to these people and as Paul moved on, slowly people began to drift to back to there heathen ways, to there old lifestyles, from receiving a gift Spiritually to reacting in their lives completely in the flesh.

This is exactly what happened to Paul.

Can you imagine his unbelief?

Open your Bibles to

 

*1 Cor.

5:1*

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans:

 

Today we are going to talk specifically into your lives.

I am going to say the unpopular thing today and talk about things we probably don’t want to hear.

I fully recognize the easy thing to talk about is generic principles, but I feel it’s my responsibilities to help you achieve God’s best and easiest path for your life.

In a recent study taken from the Barna Group we see that in America there is moral decay happening in our Culture like never before.

Check out these statistics of what we find morally acceptable in America

 

*Gambling*

61% of all adults believe its OK…

45% of born Again Christians

75% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Cohabitating*

60% of all Adults believe it’s OK

49% of born again Christians

87% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Sexual Fantasies*

59% of all adults believe it’s OK

49% of all Born Again Christians

78% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Abortion*

45% of adults

45% of Born Again

71% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Sexual relationships with someone of the opposite sex to whom you are not married*

42% of all adults

35% of Born Again Christians

69% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Looking at Pornography*

38% of all adults

28% of Born again Christians

70% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Using Profanity*

36% of all adults

29% of Born Again believers

61% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Getting Drunk*

35% of all adults

24% of Born Again Christians

61% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

*Homosexuality*

30% of all adults

20% of Born Again

55% of Atheist~/Agnostics

 

I want you to see that with the incline in the belief of Atheism, agnosticism or evolutionism also comes moral degradation among the generations who accept it in their lives.

With these type of belief systems in play it becomes a hopeless cycle of feel good do what feels right, right now moral bankruptcy.

When there is nothing from which we are created we feel there is no purpose in our lives, no law giver of the moral laws, and when we base our life on the evolutionist principles of only the strong survive, we see that in it’s extreme the ultimate evil of how it turns our.

Hitler believed in natural selection and based his principles of extremism on the foundation of evolution.

If the Jews were eliminated from the earth it was simple “natural.”

More disturbing though is what supposed Christians begin to accept.

50% toy with sexual thoughts, 30% find pornography “OK”, almost 40% find sleeping together before marriage acceptable, and 40% find abortion a viable option.

There is a clear indication that Moral standards among Christians begins to rise as the generations get older.

This is because they have already made their mistakes and are on the other side of the consequences.

I want to give you a little poll I took myself among people from youth group who recently graduated are now at least 3 years out of High school.

Out of 60 kids those who dated, even within youth group, only 2 are in the ministry, 4 have gotten married, 4 have gotten pregnant, 30 barley go to church anymore because they don’t have time, and out of that thirty that don’t have time, they do have time for a relationship, but there relationship doesn’t have time for God.  10 are no where to be found.