Sermon Tone Analysis

\\ \\ */Psalm 18:30 through Psalm 18:36 (NIV) \\ /*30        As for God, his way is perfect;

          the word of the LORD is flawless.

He is a shield

          for all who take refuge in him.

31      For who is God besides the LORD?

And who is the Rock except our God?

32      It is God who arms me with strength

          and makes my way perfect.

33      He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

          he enables me to stand on the heights.

34      He trains my hands for battle;

          my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35      You give me your shield of victory,

          and your right hand sustains me;

          you stoop down to make me great.

36      You broaden the path beneath me,

          so that my ankles do not turn.

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*Introduction:*

A boy's room can be a fearsome place, especially after dark.

I recall many nights when I would go into two of my boys' room at night, and it was like walking through a minefield.

There would be a shoe left in the middle of the floor to trip over, a Lego waiting to give a sharp pain to the bottom of the foot who found it, a book, a toy; any number of things that would await you in the dark to make it a dangerous, painful passage.

Sometimes, life is like that.

Many things can go wrong, and we often feel vulnerable.

It is only as we rely on God to see us through that we can have hope of making it.

This psalm shows one who is attacked by enemies, finds himself on perilous footing, someone who feels the need of a transcending strength to see him through.

There is danger on slippery slopes, and an enemy around every corner.

The psalmists sees that if he is going to make it through, it will have to be by the help of one he has found to be up to the task.

He can only navigate his night passage successfully with the help of God.

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I.       We Find Safe Passage Through The Pathway Of Preparation.

!! A.   Learning 

 

A chapter a day keeps Satan at bay.

!! B.   Training

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The Wild Boar and the Fox

A WILD BOAR stood under a tree and rubbed his tusks against the trunk.

A Fox passing by asked him why he thus sharpened his tusks when there was no danger threatening from either huntsman or hound.

He replied, “I do it advisedly; for it would never do to have to sharpen my weapons just at the time I ought to be using them.”

For this reason, Christians should also rub their spiritual tusks (i.e.

praying, Bible reading, going to church, seeking God, etc.) so that their spiritual armor will be sharpened and ready to use at any given notice.

Indeed, Satan likes to attack Christians when they are at their weakest.

Other Topic/Subtopic/Index: 

Prayer/Aesop’s Fables

Growth/Aesop’s Fables

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II.

We Find Safe Passage Through The Pathway Of Protection.

!! A.   Where God Shields Us

!! A Safe Armor

I am told that Emperor Napoleon once went to a very skillful workman, and inquired of him if he could make a bullet-proof jacket or under garment, one that he himself would feel safe to wear as a protection against bullets.

The workman assured him he could make just such a garment; one he would feel entirely safe to wear himself.

The Emperor engaged him to make the article, requesting him to take time, and see that it was bullet-proof.

The workman took much time and pains in its construction.

The jacket was finished, and the Emperor notified that it was ready for him.

Napoleon, after carefully examining it, asked the maker if he still felt sure a bullet could not pierce it.

The workman said he was sure no bullet could penetrate it; that he himself would feel entirely safe with it on in a shower of bullets.

The Emperor asked him to put it on, that he might examine it more fully.

The maker put the jacket on himself, that the Emperor might see how finely it fitted and protected the body.

After a careful examination of its make-up and apparent safety, Napoleon stepped back a few feet, and drew his pistol on the man, who cried out:

“Don’t try it on me!”

But the Emperor said:

“You told me it was perfectly safe,” and fired.

The armor proved itself  bulletproof.

So Christ has made an armor that renders its wearer perfectly safe against all the fiery darts that may be hurled against it.

Christ has tried it on.

He was led out into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

For forty days and nights, Satan tried to pierce this armor, but broke all his arrows on it.

It could not be penetrated.

It was thoroughly tested on Christ, that all who put it on might feel safe.

Each soldier of Christ is told, at his start, to “put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

This armor covers the Christian’s loins, his breast, his feet, and is a complete shield to his whole being against any temptation or trial he may encounter.

Christ was “tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.”

Let me say, then, to all who feel a little timid about the Christian’s armor, that it has been tested by our “Captain” and thousands of his soldiers, and has never yet been pierced by our enemy’s bullets.

Let us all learn a lesson from this incident of the Emperor, to put on and trust the Christian armor.

It has been tested.

Trust it in life.

Trust it in death.

Then you go up, and hear the Master say:

“Well done.”—A.

B. Earle, From: “Incidents Used ... In His

Meetings,” published in 1888                    

                              

!! B.   Where God Sustains Us

 

 

One spring a man went on a vacation to Florida.

As far as his eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit.

When he stopped for breakfast, he ordered orange juice with his eggs.

“I’m sorry,” said the waitress.

“I cannot bring you orange juice.

Our machine is broken.”

He was speechless.

They were surrounded by millions of oranges.

He knew they had oranges in the kitchen.

Orange slices garnished his plate.

What was the problem?

No juice in the oranges?

Hardly.

They were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice.

The problem was they had become dependent on a machine to get it.

Sometimes Christians are like that.

They may be surrounded by Bibles in their homes, but if something should happen to the Sunday morning church service, or Sunday School, or the youth group, some of them would have no spiritual nourishment for their souls.

The problem is not the lack of spiritual food.

the problem is, many of us haven’t grown enough to know how to get it for oursefves.

·         Randy Brantley, “Speaking to Youth” Proclaim, (Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct.-Dec.

1996) 18

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III.