Sermon Tone Analysis

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.

At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.

Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

Any Christian wants to please the Heavenly Father.

The desire to please the Father flows from filial devotion.

God is our Father and as His children, we want to always do that which is pleasing to Him.

We want to be wise administrators of all that He has entrusted to our care.

Certainly, we are responsible to wisely administer the spiritual gifts He has entrusted to us at salvation.

We are equally responsible to demonstrate wisdom in administering the earthly wealth entrusted to us.

The wisdom we are called to demonstrate in administering earthly goods begins with our understanding that possessions are entrusted to us by God.

This neither denies nor depreciates individual resourcefulness, personal integrity, intelligence, or other positive character traits we associate with successful individuals; the Word of the Lord given by the Teacher recorded in *Ecclesiastes 10:10* is yet true:

 

If the axe is dull

and its edge unsharpened,

more strength is needed

but skill will bring success.

The statement that we are to recognise God as the ultimate source of possessions is simply to refocus attention on the foundational issue, the understanding that it is the Lord God who distributes gifts such as intelligence, strength, and whatever abilities contribute to individual success.

What do you have that you did not receive?

[*1 Corinthians 4:7*] is the thought provoking biblical summary statement.

Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, spoke of wise administration of possessions, and in particular instructed his readers in wise giving—giving which pleases God.

Join me in examination of this biblical instruction that we may those characteristics which are pleasing to Him who gives freely to all who call upon Him.

Zeal — Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it.

By this statement, Paul commends the desire of the Corinthians.

They were eager to give and their eagerness is seen as a desirable trait.

Lacklustre giving and grudging response to need in no way honours the Lord God.

The congregation which will excel in the grace of giving is eager to give.

Zeal should mark every Christian endeavour.

The ardent Christian is a comely Christian.

Perhaps one of the darker blots on the church of this day is that Christians so long for acceptance in the world that we become casual and cool in the performance of our ministries.

If the congregation expects that the preacher should blaze with fervour in the preaching of the Word, then does it not follow that the remainder of the assembly ought also to be zealous in every aspect of worship?

The people of God should reveal the zeal of the Lord in all that they do.

Even in the act of giving we should rejoice and eagerly come before the Lord with our gifts.

Have you ever noticed the worship of the Hebrews as described in the Old Testament?

Listen to one call to worship recorded in the Psalms.

Praise the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.

Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,

praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.

[*Psalm 150:1-6*]

 

            When Solomon dedicated the Temple of the Lord the nation united in worship.

Listen to a description of that worship.

When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, and they brought up the ark and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it.

The priests, who were Levites, carried them up; and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted … The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place.

All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.

All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres.

They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.

The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD.

Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:

"He is good;

his love endures forever."

Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God [*2 Chronicles 5:4-6, 11-14*].

I cite one other passage from the Old Testament which speaks of the worship at the time the wall was dedicated in the days of Nehemiah.

You will recall that this is worship offered after Babylonian captivity and in a day when the people had been divinely chastised for their sin.

I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall.

I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks.

One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.

Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, as well as some priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments /prescribed by /David the man of God.

Ezra the scribe led the procession.

At the Fountain Gate they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction.

I followed them on top of the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate.

At the Gate of the Guard they stopped.

The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, as well as the priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets—and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer.

The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah.

And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy.

The women and children also rejoiced.

The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes.

From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.

They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon.

For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers.

They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people [*Nehemiah 12:31-13:1*].

From these excerpts we gain insight into the worship of our spiritual forebears.

That worship was noisy and vibrant, filled with musical instrumentation and loud singing and shouts of joy.

On occasion people even stood to dance before the Lord.

I am not suggesting that it was chaotic, but it drew observers in as the worshippers exulted in the goodness of God.

I believe it fair to say that above all else, Hebrew worship was exciting.

It is interesting, even tragic, to note that when the excitement of meeting with the Living God ceased, worship degenerated into mere rite and ritual.

Whether we anticipate meeting with the Living God or merely attend the services of the Lord out of duty depends in no small measure on our view of God.

Expectation reveals that we know God to be exciting.

In the New Testament, there was likewise eagerness to worship, so much so that Paul was compelled to comment on the alternate problem of too many trying to speak at once!

When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.

All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church [*1 Corinthians 14:26*].

While he continued to insure that chaos did not prevail and that the Body was built up, he did not rebuke the people for their desire to each one participate in worship.

New Testament worship is likewise exciting.

I have spoken of days in which I worshipped in the New Birth Baptist Church in the South Oak Cliff section of Dallas.