Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

evidence

1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

INTRODUCTION

I want to begin my sermon this morning by asking 2 questions:

If life that you live was submitted as proof that God exists, would there be enough evidence to prove the case.

Would the evidence of your life be admissible in God’s Holy court system.

If you were the only proof that God exists, what evidence would an investigation of your life present.

declares:

The evidence that you are a child of God and that you are filled with the spirit is the fruit that the holy spirit produces in your life.

In legal realm there are different types of evidence.

The fruit, the by-product, the results that show up in your spirit and your life point to and prove the reality that there is a God and that you know Him for yourself.

Not the functions of the flesh, but the fruit of the spirit.

Beloved — we confuse the functions of the flesh with fruit of the spirit.

It is not what you do in the flesh that proves your relationship with God.

It is what shows up in your spirit that is an indication that you know God — that you are filled with Holy Spirit.

We also confuse talentedness with being filled with the holy spirit.

The world is filled with a whole lot of talented people who don’t know God and use their God given talents to do the devil’s work.

We also confuse giftedness with being filled with the holy spirit.

You can have talents that are power, impressive, and awesome, and not even have a relationship with the God who gave you the talents.

There are people who can sing up a storm.

There are people who can preach like the wind.

There are people who can pray you happy.

But the quality of their talents are not indicative of the filling of the Holy Spirit.

One of the weaknesses of the church is that we glorify talentedness.

But there is a difference in a natural talent and a spiritual gift.

Both the talent and the gift come from God, but difference is this:

The talent is used to bring glory to individual.

The spiritual gift on the other hand is used by God to bring glory to God.

The difference is a spiritual gift has been surrender to God for his glory and his edification and for his purpose.

So we all too often we used the wrong kind of evidence as an indication that someone is filled with the spirit.

It is what is produced in your spirit.

TWO KINDS OF EVIDENCE

Anyone who has a background in law will tell you that in the legal realm there are different types of evidence.

There is direct evidence and then there is circumstantial evidence.

Direct evidence can be seen.

Direct evidence is produced by means of eyewitness testimony.

Circumstantial evidence, on the other hand, is reached by drawing conclusions based upon a collection of arbitrary facts and details.

When an eyewitness asserts actual knowledge of a fact, that witness’ testimony is direct evidence.

On the other hand, when we make inferences or draw conclusions based upon a collect of details, we are engaging in circumstantial evidence.

If I walked out to my window one morning after I got out of bed and saw that snow was falling and was asked to testify in court about what I had seen, my testimony would be direct evidence.

How did I know it was snowing?

I knew it was snowing because I saw it with my own eyes while it was happening.

On the other hand, if I looked out my window the night before and saw no snow on the ground, laid down went to sleep, got up the next morning and saw snow on the ground, then concluded that it had to snow last night because snow was on the ground when I woke up in the morning.

That is circumstantial evidence.

I didn’t see the snow fall with my own eyes.

I did not observe it happening, but I am assuming that because there is snow on the ground, the snow must have fell last night.

ight before I went to bed and saw no snow on ground, and then went to sleep, but got up and saw snow on the ground and then concluded that it had to snow last night because snow was on the ground when I woke up, that is circumstantial evidence.

I didn’t see the snow fall with my own eyes, but I am assuming that because there is snow on the ground, the snow fell last night.

According to the court of law, both direct and circumstantial evidence are admissible as a means of proving a case.

Oh, but according to divine law, circumstantial evidence is not admissible in God’s justice system.

You can’t assume that you know the Lord based upon circumstantial evidence.

I must know the Lord because I am working in the church, that’s circumstantial evidence.

I am serving him, so I must know him —that’s circumstantial evidence.

What you do

You must know him for yourself.

You must see him for yourself.

I come to church every Sunday dressed in Baptist beautiful, carrying my biggest Bible, I must know the lord — that’s circumstantial evidence.

I shout on Sunday, I say Amen!

I must know the Lord — that’s circumstantial.

In God’s Kingdom, the only evidence that you are filled with the Holy Spirit, that you know the Lord is the fruit that shows up in spirit, the change that occurs in your heart.

THE EVIDENCE

For centuries, Christian congregations have sung William Kethe’s paraphrase of this psalm, wedded to the beloved tune “Old Hundredth.”

First published in 1561, the words summarize the message of the psalm and help the worshippers give thanks to the Lord.

Sometimes the traditional “Doxology” (“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow”) by Thomas Ken is sung as the last verse.

The psalm is a fitting climax to the collection of “royal psalms” (93, 95–100) and sums up their emphasis on God’s sovereign rule, His goodness to His people, the responsibility of all nations to acknowledge Him, and the importance of God’s people exalting and worshipping Him.

(See 95:1-2, 6-7.)

Our text this mornings gives us 3 pieces of evidence of being filled with the spirit.

We are admonished in

By the same token, says:

Both Paul and the Psalmist give up 3 pieces of evidence that you are filled with the Spirit:

Paul lifts up 3 pieces of evidence that you are filled with the Spirit:

Anyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit have JOY,

We are admonished in to be filled with the Spirit of God, and the evidence of this fullness is that we are joyful (5:19), thankful (5:20), and submissive (5:21–6:9).

If you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will display THANKSGIVING

Anyone who is filled with the Holy Ghost is able to SUBMIT themselves under the mighty hand of God.

These three characteristics of the believer controlled by God’s Spirit and God’s Word–and they go together–are presented in this wonderful psalm of thanksgiving.

When I first recieved Christ many years ago, a group of Charismatic Christians told me that the sign or the evidence that I was filled with the Holy Ghost was speaking in tongues.

So for a long time, I felt like I was inferior to other Christians because I could not speak in tongues.

Then I read for myself, I got some direct evidence, not what they had told me, but what I read for myself where Paul ask,

Paul is saying that since every Christians does not have the gift of speaking in tongues, then speaking tongues cannot be the evidence of be filled with the Holy Ghost because some people would be filled and some wouldn’t.

So if every Christians does not speak in tongues, it cannot be the evidence of be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Then Paul goes on to say:

So even if I speak with the tongues of angels but have not love, I am nothing but a clinking symbol.

You can be gifted.

Your giftedness, your talent is not an indication that you know the Lord.

You can be talented and still not know the Lord.

But there is a difference in a talent and gift.

They both come from God.

But the difference is a gift is used to glorify God not the individual.

In fact that difference in a gift and talent is the talent is given by God, but you give you life to God and allow him to use your talent to glorify him, then the talent is a gift.