Sermon Tone Analysis

Tell story of 1989 movie ‘Field of Dreams’.

Ask ‘why doesn’t God speak to us in this way?’ with the answer being ‘he has already spoken to us in Scripture’.

Review of Last Week

What does the Bible say about God’s will?

2 Peter 1:3 - “Everything we need is in Scripture”

Two types of God’s will

God’s Will of Decree - his secret will/hidden will (Deut.

29:29)

God’s Will of Desire - his revealed will.

Our duty

Because God’s revealed will usually contains his commands or “precepts” for our moral conduct, God’s revealed will is sometimes also called God’s will of precept or will of command.

This revealed will of God is God’s declared will concerning what we should do or what God commands us to do.

On the other hand, God’s secret will usually includes his hidden decrees by which he governs the universe and determines everything that will happen.

Desiring God article on the difference between the two (http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/are-there-two-wills-in-god-yes)

We and they [know it was] God's secret will that Abraham should not sacrifice his son, but yet his command was to do it.

[We] do certainly know that God willed that Pharaoh's heart should be hardened, and yet that the hardness of his heart was his sin.

We do know that God willed that [the] Egyptians should hate God's people.

Psalms 105:25, "He turned their heart to hate his people and deal subtilely with his servants."

We do know that it was God's will that Absalom should lie with David's wives. 2 Samuel 12:11–12, "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor; and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun."

Two most important questions

Is there a God?

If yes, has this God spoken?

We established “yes, he has spoken” therefore we studied the Doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture

The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.

This definition emphasizes that it is in Scripture alone that we are to search for God’s words to us.

It also reminds us that God considers what he has told us in the Bible to be enough for us, and that we should rejoice in the great revelation that he has given us and be content with it.

We see this in 2 Timothy 3:16

5 Application Statements

Believers should be lifelong learners

We are to add nothing to the Scriptures

We are not required to believe anything about God that he does not teach us

We should search for God’s will in our life on Scripture alone rather than just prayer or a “gut feeling”

Emphasize what Scripture emphasizes and be content with that

Romans 8:28

What is autonomy?

Autonomy - a self-governing state, self directing freedom, moral independence

Our culture loves to “be their own boss”, LGBTQ Movement, need for the Nashville Statement

In society, takes ownership off of higher government

In software, we love the concept of autonomy or self sustaining software.

That’s why AI is both intriguing and terrifying.

Facebook robots.

God wants dependence and weakness

From the beginning of Scripture we see that autonomy is against God’s creation

Genesis 2:18

Paul, even when discusses gifts of celibacy, shows the need for community

1 Corinthians 7:6

2 Timothy 4:10,16-18,21

The end of a letter is a peering into the heart of the writer.

Most of the time neglected.

We see Paul’s eagerness for community

To be autonomous (truly) there must exist perfect government

Government - the continuous exercise of authority

“Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself or prepare himself thereunto.”

- 1689 BCF p.57

Romans 5:6; 8:7

Ephesians 2:1,5

We are forever separated from perfect government, perfect obedience, perfect exercise of authority over our own body.

Where there is perfect government (self-government), there exists a “god”

When we speak of this kind of perfection, the only outcome is a “god”

This type of perfection (perfection our eyes have never seen) we see “god”

As outlined in the previous step, we are not perfect nor will we ever be.

When there is “god”, do we see the God of the Scriptures?

Do we see a triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

Do we see holy and righteous Father?

Do we see merciful Savior?

Do we see guiding and counseling Spirit?

Mark 10:18

Deuteronomy 32:4

2 Samuel 22:31

Romans 12:2

or do we see ‘deism’? distant god that cannot be defined.

do we see the god of Islam?

Distant and vengeful.

Talk about Nabeel Quereshi “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus”

Therefore, if we as believers, believe in the triune God that is revealed to us through the Old & New Testament (Holy Scriptures), then we see (and cannot help but see) that autonomy is reserved for God and God alone.

We as fallen, sinful humans are not designed to be autonomous

In fact, humans exercising autonomy are in direct violation to the counsel of Scripture and are therefore in sin.

Go over self-governing symptoms (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-signs-youre-arrogant-though-you-dont-feel-like-you-are.html)

All of us here have fell into one of these categories of self-government/autonomy

There is a great trench of sinfulness that has separated us from God

Tell the story of Derek Walden salvation story.

Standing on the beach swimming across the ocean with no works.

With works, you have a canoe and a spoon as a paddle

GOSPEL CALL! Lay out it out clearly here

Lloyd-Jones vs. William Wilberforce

Story of William Wilberforce

Lived between 1759-1833

Close friends with William Pitt who was the Prime Minister

Won election in Parliament in 1780

In 1784, he read the book A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law.

Cause him to doubt his unbelief

'Can one serve God and one's nation in parliament?'

He wondered whether the two goals might be mutually exclusive.

He discussed the problem with John Newton, the hymn writer who wrote Amazing Grace and a former slave ship captain.

Newton’s response to Wilberforce

‘God has raised you up for the good of the church and the good of the nation, maintain your friendship with Pitt, continue in Parliament, who knows that but for such a time as this God has brought you into public life and has a purpose for you.’

Labored in Parliament for 20 years until the Slave Trade Act of 1807

“Thank goodness he chose that life since he was in line with God’s will.”

NO!

The Lord doesn’t drive an ambulance.