Sermon Tone Analysis

Vision Moment:

Introduction:

We have spent the month of July teaching about Spiritual Warfare

How is that going?

How many feel like they have all the information, but applying it has been a struggle?

We know why there is SW, we know that we play a role in God’s plan, we know what that role is, we know we’re supposed to put on the armor of God, but...

All of this information is incomplete without hearing Paul’s final instructions

Scripture:

Big Idea:

Prayer in the Spirit is the location of the battle, so we must learn to pray in the Spirit in order to go to battle

Question:

If prayer in the Spirit is the location of the battle, what does that mean and how do we do it?

How do we get to the place where we are praying in the Spirit?

I always try to resist thinking about how 21st century Christians think about certain phrases in the Bible

I don’t know how groups of Christians have determined definitions, but when we’re trying to discern phrases, we can’t always just go to the Greek, because just like English has drastically changed over time, so have all languages.

Paul doesn’t use this phrase anywhere else in his writings, but he does instruct the Ephesians to “not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.”

And he does instruct the churches in Galatia to “walk in the Spirit.”

We also can’t just go to any place in the Scripture and assume that John the Apostle and Paul the Apostle were working off of the same dictionary.

So I think the most reliable way to understand what a word or phrase means is to begin within the book that was written, then move to the broader writings of the author, and then compare that with the rest of the NT, and then lastly the rest of the Scriptures.

Does Paul use the phrase “praying in the Spirit” in the rest of the letter?

The short answer is no… but he does talk about the correlation between the Spirit and prayer

Eph 1:

Near the end of the first section of his letter, he breaks out in prayer for the Ephesian Christians, he says:

Eph 2:

Paul is praying that they will be strengthened with the power of the Spirit in their inner being.

What would that look like?

Anybody remember “The Power Team” - watched at Grandma’s house

The Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom.

When we hear “power” and then assume it means that only supernatural feats will follow, we’re asking God’s Kingdom to just be a better version of our current situation.

Christ’s Kingdom is not merely a better Kingdom, it’s an altogether different Kingdom - what would this Spiritual power look like?

Why Spiritual power?

So that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith — so Spiritual power is an awareness of Christ’s presence

Why an awareness of Christ’s presence?

So that we would be Rooted and grounded in love - so Spiritual power is being grounded in Christ’s love

And why, Paul would we need to be grounded in Christ’s love?

To have the strength to comprehend Christ’s love

And why do we need a greater comprehension?

Do you see the distinction between mere knowledge of the love of Christ, to the experience of Christ’s love?

God wants us to have the knowledge of His love, but we need to personally experience His love in order to be changed by His love.

Back to WHY do we need a greater comprehension

So we will be filled with all of the fullness of God.

The deeper you are grounded in Christ’s love for you, the more you will be in tune with the Triune God.

Your intellect, yes / Your emotions, yes / Your desires, yes / Your passions, yes

I think that what Paul means when he instructs the Ephesians to pray in the Spirit IS that they are to pray out of the awareness and presence of Christ’s enduring love and faithfulness.

There is one other passage that gives me this conclusion:

How do you build yourself up in faith?

How do you pray in the Spirit?

You keep yourself IN the LOVE of GOD

How do I do that?

How do I keep myself in the love of God?

I wouldn’t spend this much time on this if I didn’t believe that this is a major struggle for us

And we are deficient in this practice of keeping ourself in God’s love

Consequently, we are not seeing the personal transformation in ourselves, in our families, and in our church...

And the reason we’re not seeing that transformation is because we’re deceived - we have all the head knowledge to fill up libraries...

The missing step is not in our educational knowledge of God’s love, but in the acknowledgement of ourselves.

We don’t think we’re all that bad.

We still see ourselves as pretty good people.

We just need a little more theological knowledge and then, we’ll be good.

What is your micro-reaction to hearing about someone else’s sin?

What is your reaction to injustice?

I live with with a guy whose response to sins he deems worse than his own need to be exposed

God’s love is not all that attractive unless you’ve acknowledged just how unlovely you are...

Only when you are willing to be transparent and vulnerable to humbly express your own sinfulness and unworthiness will you be captivated and transformed by the unconditional, covenant love of God.

Here’s a quick test, when was the last time your apologized to someone and asked for their forgiveness?

When was the last time you admitted that you royally messed something or someone up?

Are you perpetually blaming others for the way your life is shaping up?

Are you always the victim?

We’re constantly seeking to earn love from those around us, so the brain learns to say, do, and think what we think people want us to say, think, and do… That transfers into the way we think about God, so we’re constantly trying to earn His love:

Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are.

How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible’s astounding words about God’s love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?

Philip Yancey

Keeping yourself in God’s love is an exercise in meditating on the Gospel

Keeping yourself in God’s love is an exercise in meditating on the Gospel

For only when we meditate on the Gospel will we be ready for the battle

Romans 8:

Sit in reflection of just one of these passages a day and watch as you well up with the flaming affections of the Almighty God who has EVERLASTING, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR YOU

What would change if you were totally certain, totally convinced that the Triune and Eternal God was unashamedly - unmistakeably on your side, in your corner, FOR YOU?

This is where praying in the Spirit begins; we must be grounded in something other than ourselves, we must be grounded in more than just what others are saying or thinking about us, we must be grounded in what God says and thinks about us.

Then, we can be like David, who said, in that because God was on his side, he could face an entire army; he said because God’s on my side, I can scale a wall.

Where have Christians through the years received their courage and strength?

From grounding themselves in Christ’s unrelentling love.

George Mueller who is so well-known for his work with orphans and his unshakeable faith that God was going to provide for their needs said that the first thing he did every morning was get his soul happy by meditating on a passage from the NT.

And believe me, I have been there when I don’t feel like God still loves me...

Measure not God’s love and favour by your own feeling.

The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest.

The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof.

Richard Sibbes

The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands.

Martin Luther

Keeping yourself, grounding yourself in God’s love will lead you to being filled with the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit....

The alternative to praying in the Spirit is praying in the flesh

We have been taught that all that matters is that we pray, but James reminds us,

Praying in the Spirit will always align with the will of God

Praying in the flesh will always align you with the will of self

And that’s why we put the armor of God on first… putting on the armor of God is meditating on the Gospel… think about it:

Truth

Righteousness (justice)

Salvation (rescue)

Peace

Faith