Sermon Tone Analysis

Jeff Myers, the author of Understanding the Times (a masterful work) wrote:

“Often people get their beliefs like they catch colds — by being around other people!

And since ideas are everywhere—on television, in books and magazines, at the movies, and in conversation with friends and family—it’s easy to pick them up without considering whether they’re worth believing.”[1]

Myers argues that:

1.

For most, our beliefs are acquired without effort!

2. For most, our beliefs are acquired through culture!

3.

For most, our beliefs are acquired without conscious filtering!

4. That is, the average person holds a set of beliefs that are a conglomeration of the beliefs of those surrounding them!

Stated concisely, the average person forms their beliefs with little thought, searching, or evaluation—THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!

Our aim is the direct challenge of our worldview within the following areas:

1.

We want to challenge our understanding of God (develop a proper foundation)

2. We want to challenge our understanding of Obedience (form a foundational response)

3. We want to examine our personal level of Obedience (evaluate consistency)

4. We want to examine and implement the necessary key components of Obedience (course correction)

Why?

A worldview that is held in theory only, while refusing implement and conform to said worldview, demonstrates that it is an illegitimate worldview.

In order for a prescribed worldview to be legitimate, the promoter must:

1. Define the worldview (we identify the proper worldview)

2. Align to the worldview (we create standards/laws in accord to the worldview)

3. Act consistently within the worldview (we live under the prescribed standard)

Illustration:

1. Negative: “I believe that God is real—and Jesus is the way to life”

a. But… there is no difference between my life before Christ and “after” Christ

b.

I don’t read or pray to know God

c.

I don’t affirm what the Lord reveals as truth and commands of us

d.

I don’t live in accord to His example and instruction

2. Positive: “I believe that God is real—and Jesus is the way to life”

a.

And there is a noticeable difference in my life!

b.

I read and pray to know the Lord

c.

I affirm what the Scripture reveals—even when it is hard to do so

d.

I strive to follow the example of Christ and His apostles by developing an intimate relationship with the Lord—which requires me to jettison my former way of living.

LET ME BE CLEAR HERE: A WORLDVIEW IS NOT A MEANS TO SALVATION ;

rather, A WORLDVIEW IDENTIFIES WHY WE ACT THE WAY WE DO.

You see, Myers states:

“A worldview is a pattern of ideas but also a pattern of beliefs, convictions, and habits that help us make sense of God, the world, and our relationship to God and the world.”[2]

All worldviews answers life’s most basic questions (but each worldview does so differently):

1.

How did I get here?

2.

Where am I going?

3. What is my purpose?

4. What is wrong?

5. How do I fix it?

6.

Is there a God, how do I know?

In regards to today, we will only look at and answer question #3—“What is my purpose?”

Our purpose: To glorify God and enjoy Him immensely.

1.

We work to honor God through obedience = Glorify God

2. We develop our love for God = Enjoy Him

How do we do this?

Through the work of Jesus Christ!

Jesus Saves and Empowers us through the Spirit for our OBEDIENCE so we walk in a dynamic, soul-satisfying, and God glorifying relationship with Him.

My goals for today:

Develop a theological argument for obedience.

(This will affect our worldview)

Define obedience from a vertical level (our actions in relation to God)

Define obedience from a horizontal level (our actions in relation to others)

Define obedience within the public context of society (our actions indirectly related to others)

Before we begin, let’s look at a few quotes:

Some Popular Conservative Thoughts on Obedience from Church Leaders:

John MacArthur: “The gospel in vogue today holds forth a false hope to sinners.

It promises them that they can have eternal life yet continue to live in rebellion against God.

Indeed, it encourages people to claim Jesus as Savior yet defer until later the commitment to obey Him as Lord.”[3]

Jeff Myers: “To understand what God wants from us we must identify the world’s patterns, refuse to conform to them, and be transformed into a God - pleasing pattern of living.”[4]

MacArthur: “The belief that someone could be a true Christian while that person’s whole lifestyle, value system, speech, and attitude are marked by a stubborn refusal to surrender to Christ as Lord is a notion that shouldn’t even need to be refuted.

It is an idea you will never find in any credible volume of Christian doctrine or devotion from the time of the earliest church fathers through the era of the Protestant Reformation and for at least three and a half centuries beyond that.”[5]

J.I. Packer: “Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.

This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.”[6]

J.I. Packer gave us five basic assumptions to work from when looking at the Lord:

God has spoken to man, and the Bible is his Word, given to us to make us wise unto salvation.

God is Lord and King over his world; he rules all things for his own glory, displaying his perfections in all that he does, in order that men and angels may worship and adore him.

God is Lord and King over his world; he rules all things for his own glory, displaying his perfections in all that he does, in order that men and angels may worship and adore him.

God is Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue believers from the guilt and power of sin, to adopt them as his children and to bless them accordingly.

God is Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue believers from the guilt and power of sin, to adopt them as his children and to bless them accordingly.

God is triune; there are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it.

Godliness means responding to God’s revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service.

Life must be seen and lived in the light of God’s Word.

This, and nothing else, is true religion.[7]

Now, for the rest our time together, let’s look at 1st Peter and extract a theology of obedience:

Notes on 1st Peter:

1.

There is a long-standing debate on authorship due to the quality of Greek and some phraseology; however, it is reasonable to assume that Peter used an amanuensis to write his letter.

2. The material presented within the letter is considered basic or foundational rather than advanced (requiring mastery of foundational instruction).

3. 1st Peter has an intense eschatological focus that, at times, ventures into an apocalyptic tone.

4. The goal of 1st Peter is HOLINESS in three forms: 1) Personal, 2) Social, and 3) Corporate.[8]

5.

The suffering consciously addressed in 1st Peter is that of PERSECUTION and REJECTION due to faith—not that of illness, grief, and pains associated with normal day-to-day life.

= Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Two things we MUST see from this text (1 Peter 1:1-2):

1. God planned and chose to save us through the sacrificial death of Christ (Justification).

2. God planned and chose to save us to enable us to grow in obedience (Sanctification).

God’s will is that we obey; however, it is also God’s will that He enables us to obey!

What Obedience is and is not:

1. Obedience is submission to God’s authority

2. Obedience is difficult because it is a battle

3. Obedience is a gift made possible through the Holy Spirit

4. Obedience is conforming to God’s household—we are aliens in the world.

5. Obedience is not independent of God’s presence, work, and power