Sermon Tone Analysis

In her book Amazing Grace, the writer and poet Kathleen Norris shares what she calls "the scariest story" she's ever heard about the Bible.

Norris and her husband were visiting a man named Arlo, a rugged, self-made man who was facing terminal cancer.

During their visit, Arlo started talking about his grandfather, a sincere Christian.

The grandfather gave Arlo and his bride a wedding present: an expensive leather Bible with their names printed in gold lettering.

Arlo left it in the box and never opened it.

But for months afterwards his grandfather kept asking if he liked the Bible.

Arlo told Norris, "The wife had written a nice thank-you note, and we'd thanked him in person, but somehow he couldn't let it lie, he always had to ask about it."

Finally, Arlo grew curious enough to open the Bible.

"The joke was on me," Arlo said.

"I finally took that Bible out of the closet and I found that granddad had placed a twenty-dollar bill at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, and at the beginning of every book … over thirteen hundred dollars in all.

And he knew I'd never find it."

The horrifying thing about this story is how common things like this are.

Many who have bibles and all the pages are still stuck together.

Why?

Most people in our country desire to read and understand the Bible.

The Bible in America Study reports that 62 percent of the people in the communities surrounding our churches would like to read the Bible more.

Another study reports 87 percent of the people in our churches want help understanding the Bible better.

But…

The same study shows that Bible reading is waning.

Recent studies demonstrate that in one generation the number of occasional Bible readers has fallen by 20 percent—the equivalent of 700 people per day.

If this trend continues, by 2040 two-thirds of Americans will have no meaningful connection with the Bible.

The scripture is one of the greatest gifts the Lord could have given to mankind.

It is the source of all life and godliness.

It is our hope, it is our light, it is our comfort, it is the all sufficient grace of God.

If we believe all this… why do studies show that reading the Bible is waning and Bible study attendance is falling?

Is it because we do not believe that it is enough?

The Lord says, “my grace is enough.”

What more are we looking for?

The problem is… we want more than what the scriptures have to offer.

Especially when we are faced with difficulty, sometimes the words are not what we want to hear.

You ever feel that way?

You ever felt that way?

Well today we are going to find out why we can boldly say that His grace is enough for us today.

David was saved from a serious situation.

He was face to face with either fighting against his own kingdom or becoming a turn coat.

What a wonderful display of the grace of God in a way that transcends the mind.

He was saved by being rejected.

And now as he goes home, he is faced with his most difficult test.

Now as David and his men came close to home full of excitement, I’m sure they saw smoke rising in the horizon and they wondered with fear.

As they got closer, they made a mad dash to find that the city of Ziklag was burnt to the ground.

They were attacked by the Amalekites who took captive all of the women and the children.

When David and his men found out that their wives were gone they wept till they could not weep anymore (or till they had no more strength to weep).

It is well known at the time what happens to women and children when they are taken.

Sold as slaves.

Even David’s own wives were taken.

What is more, David was now in trouble because the men thought that this was enough.

(enough is enough) They became bitter and they just had it David.

This is all your fault.

They were so angry they all began to speak of stoning him.

However, David strengthened himself in the Lord.

He called for the priest to seek counsel from the Lord.

The Lord told them to go after the Amalekites and they will get back everything they have taken.

1 Samuel 30:6-8

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

David is Overwhelmed

David is Strengthened

Christ Gives Us Strength

The first thing we will look at is how David found himself in a no win situation with total loss of all that was important to him.

The second thing we will see is how true faith in the Word of God brought strength to David just like it brings strength to us.

Finally, we will see how our High Priest in Heaven sitting at the right hand throne of the Father gives us strength to overcome total loss with and increase in this thing called Faith which comes by hearing.

Thesis: Though the philosophies of the world and the effects of our own foolish sins brings us to the point where we cannot imagine things getting any worse, it does, and we turn from our God to the horrid of Idolatry, our Lord Jesus full of grace and mercy will bring forgiveness, the power to overcome, and the light of His Word and though weeping may last through the night, joy comes in the morning.

I. David is Overwhelmed

- Sometimes we think things could not possibly get any worse... and it does.

A. What David did, was get himself into such a mess when he crossed over to be unequally yoked with the Philistines because he was running away from Saul.

And now, matters are worse.

The excitement of going home was cut short to find that it has been destroyed and their families taken captive to be sold into slavery.

B. The blow was not only too much for the men...for many it was the last straw.

“We linked up with the Hero of the Lord and what did we get out of it… nothing but despair, hardship, fear, humiliation and living deceitfully.”

There were so many times all of this could have ended.

He should have just killed Saul and ended it all and none of this would have happened.

Now our wives and children are suffering Lord knows what and everything we have worked for is gone.

Our lives are gone.

Let’s stone him.

Let’s kill him.

His leadership has caused us nothing but grief.

C. How many times have we been face to face with this kind of predicament?

We live our lives as Christians making sacrifices, hard decisions, giving of so much time and effort to be obedient, we do what the Lord asks of us, we obey and follow our leaders, and now, in our lives, we have extreme difficulties and suffering.

Look at all our obedience and sacrifices in doing the right thing in following the Word of God and our leaders and this is what we get?

Sometimes we feel this way.

D. Shane urged me to preach the Gospel to everyone and I obeyed and now everyone in my school and work, avoids me and makes fun of me.

Is this what I get for obedience?

The Scriptures tell us to love our enemies and I let this person get the promotion by getting out of the way and now he just fired me.

The Scriptures say to consider others as better than ourselves and I do and they just take advantage of me.

I gave my brother the big piece of chicken and he still ate all the rice.

E. How many times do we feel resentment because it seems that Christianity has caused more harm than good in our lives?

It has caused grief.

This feeling has created in us the same kind of feelings of resentment for God that the men had for David.

Of course we can’t stone God, but we can turn our backs on Him.

Many of us have done this before.

Many of us have “backslid.”

Many of us could be in church today, still here but have hardened our hearts toward God, His Word, and His people and are only coming because we still want to go to heaven.

F. So what did David do?

The best thing a leader can do when leadership is questioned… lead!

A Story is told of a tank company that had mutinied in the Vietnam war… When leadership is challenged the best thing to do is lead.

G.

The men were distraught, but they knew that if they were going to get their family and possessions back they were going to need the Lord.

In this way, it might have been the same for David.

Fine you guys can leave me, but the priest and the stones are coming with me.

The Word of God was going with David.

“If you want to rescue your family, you are going to have to follow me.”