Sermon Tone Analysis

Good Evening, PLease turn with me in your Bibles this evening to .

Before we get started I want to speak a saying that you all have heard before whether it is in song or from the word of God you have heard this phrase before.

BLESS THE LORD, OH MY SOUL

AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME, BLESS HIS HOLY NAME!

BLESS THE LORD, OH MY SOUL,

AND FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS

Now let me just say ok right now you’ve given your life to Jesus you want to live for the Son of God and you believe there is great benefit in living for Him, WHAT ARE THOSE BENEFITS.

I mean what difference does it make?

I mean all I do is preach three times a week, I have three small groups going on right now, I counsel several on a weekly basis, I try to keep my finger on the pulse of our church, the best I can but really what are the benefits?

I mean your out giving your life away to JEsus and is He really worth giving your life for.

I know you will say well of course but really what are the practical benefits of giving your life away in the service of Jesus?

SOme people will occasionally say you can talk about living for Jesus but the bottom line is I’ve tried that...

GK CHESTERTON said it’s not that the Christian life has been tried and found lacking, its just never really been tried.

I mean totally committed and sold out to Him.

So I want you to look in your Bibles and what were gonna do… When the psalmist wrote this psalm its like he just held his hand up and just started here and just walked across and he talks about five major benefits of knowing the Lord.

Its a text that really does magnify the reality of praising God with every fiber of your being.

I’ll just be honest I have been in the faith now since 2005 so wouldnt you agree that I’ve had time to get over Jesus if there wasnt nothing to it?

I mean really if this Christianity was just a phase Iw as going through dont you think I would have hit the wall by now?

God got hold of me and never has let me go amen and I pray He never does.

I pray that I never get over Jesus.

This morning in my quiet time I was meditating on the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit the Parakletos that has come to walk with me and talk with me to guide me to lead me.

Oh and by the way the Holy Spirit is the only One that can make much of Jesus!

So its the Holy Spirit within us that really magnifies the Son of God.

So the other day I was sitting in a waiting room and I was reading my Bible.

there was a man who walked up and said so uh are you like a teacher of that book?

I said yes sir I teach it some.

He said I would have trouble teaching a book with so many errors in it.

So I just thought this is going to be interesting but this is going to be fun, and so I just said well were both sitting here you wanna talk about some of these errors?

He said “Well I cant think of any of em right now”

I said “I’m telling you I’ve never read a book that so radically spoke into my life and had such life in it as the Bible”.

I was waiting for his response and he wasnt giving one so I said you know I was reading just the other day and the Bible says that the righteous man walks in His integrity and his children are blessed after him.

He said “SAY THAT AGAIN” it kind of drew him in, I said “The righteous man walks in his integrity and his children are blessed after him.”

He reached in his pocket and pulled something out and said say it slower.... he was writing it down.

He said “Who wrote that, I said Solomon”

He said “Whats his last name”

I said “man I dont know”

I really dont understand why people want to be so bored in a relationship with God I love to engage people about Jesus.

Its a ball!

Let me tell you something if someone knows you’ve been changed by the Son of God They are in hopes that you’ll talk to em!

So we have times where we feel fearful to talk to someone about Jesus the older I get i am becoming the opposite I want to talk to them.

I normally carry something like this around with me it has the plan of salvation and its real easy to follow, and I handed it to him as I was about to leave and the guy sitting next to him said “Have you got another one of those?

So I’m pumped!

I really believe that’s the only reason God has kept me alive!

Matter of fact I believe its the only reason I am here, matter of fact I dont believe I was just made BY GOD I believe I was made FOR GOD!

I’m here for Him, It’s what we sing about our great God!

(Let’s pray)

The reality of this passage is that the psalmist is in prayer and through the whole chapter of psalm 103 he does not make one single personal request.

Now I dont know what your prayer life is like but I wanna ask you a question....

How long are you in the Fathers presence before you begin to ask.

I’ll use myself, I love to come into His presence but its not long before I begin to ask Him for things interceding for someone else, to ask for something I need help with.

David started with individual praise, moved to personal praise, and then ended with national praise.

The plamist is reminding us not to forget the blessings after we have recieved and enjoyed them.

This has been called Davids hallelujiah chorus.

Its called a envelope psalm.

Envelope because it begins with bless the Lord and it ends with bless the Lord.

Davids thoughts sore toward Heaven as he thinks about the praise He owes God and the benefits that he recieves from GOd.

It reminds me of the chorus we sang “When I think about the Lord, how he saved me how he raised me how He filled me with the Holy Ghost how He healed me to the uttermost, it makes me wanna shout.

The psalmist is thinking about the goodness of God and it makes Him wanna shout, you see David begins this psalms with praise by reminding himself to bless the Lord and bless His name with his entire being.

This psalms has been referred to as a transcendant prayer, what does that mean?

It means the psalmist has risen above his own self, and he is encouraging his own sluggish soul to wroship.

He feels like he doesnt have the gratitude and praise that he ought to so he is talking to himself!

I dont know why you would think that is strange I talk to myself, my granny always said that was fine until you start answering yourself.

I study God’s word and then when I go exercize I talk to God about what I learned and then I talk to myself about whether I am behaving what I claim to believe.

So the psalmist is rising above himself, I dont know if youve heard of transcendant singing, or transcendant preaching.

I’m telling you there are some times when it feels like you are just above yourself looking down and watching God use you.

Every now and then I say things that I’ve never thought about before, sometimes I get so impressed with what God has given myself I stop and amen myself!

So I can have a good time, so I dont need you to help me, if you do help me itll help but if you dont help me I’ll help me!

So he’s in this prayer and he is seeking to arouse himself to the proper worship of God, so he confronts himself with the duty of his own sluggish soul to worship.

Have you ever gone to church when you didnt wanna be at church?

But let me ask you this? Have you ever left worship when youve been at worship but you didnt wanna be at worship btu when you left you said I THANK GOD I CAME TO WORSHIP!

In other words you didnt wanna come but after you left you knew God had ministered to you, and he woke your soul up to who he is.

Thats whats happening here.

Foundational

He forgives all your iniquity- the word is only used in terms of forgiveness of sinners.

He uses the word iniquity.

It’s amazing the psalmist he always uses three words he will talk about his sin against God, His trespass against God and his iniquity against God.

When you talk about sin it really means you’ve missed the mark.

The Bibles says ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.

It means we missed the mark, thats why we all need our sins forgiven.

When the Bible speaks of transgressions, it speaks of God as a judge and lawgiver.

God gave a law and every sinner has broke the law.

Every sinner at some point in their life has overstepped God’s boundary as a result were guilty, there are none who are not guilty we are all guilty.

But then the Bible in this passage uses the word iniquity which pictures sin as something twisted or distorted.

It speaks of an engrained perversity.

All the wickedness of our being, we were concieved in sin, in the womb.

Now we have done child dedication here at Union Hill, where parents will stand up and say that they committ to raise this child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

But only a couple of times people have said you know one day I understand that our child will one day grow up and they will be a sinner but your gonna have a hard time convincing me that they are sinners right now.

Somebody says well what do you say.... you dont have to do anything just give em a couple weeks, they’ll come back and they pastor you know what this little boy is a sinner matter of fact do you perform exorcisms I think he has a demon!

I have often wondered why cant a child scream in a normal voice, I mean they scream as loud as they possibly can, because they want some attention.

If someone doesnt correct them then one day they will grow up and become your youth pastor and act the same way…

Forgiveness is the foundation of our fellowship, now listen to me carefully In the name of Jesus Christ you cannot be in relationship with God the father unless your sins have been forgiven.

So it cals always for the repentance from our sins and the forgiveness that promises God’s cleansing and God’s forgiveness.

When the Bibles uses the word forgiveness that word means taking them away and putting them somewhere else.

I had a parent who would not let their child be baptized she called when I was the youth pastor and she said are the youth pastor I said yes mam, she said I got an issue with you.

My daughter came home after going to church one time and told me herr sins are forgiven and thats not how it works how can you tell me after all the bad shes done that her sins have been forgiven?

Well the Bible says repeatedly that when you cry out on the name of Jesus and recieve HIs salvation thats it you are washed in the blood of CHrist.

Then God takes you sins and puts them somewhere else but that begs the question if God takes my sins away where did He put em?

Well

Heres the question If god has not dealt with us according to my sins then who did God deal with.

God dealt with JEsus, you see the cross is where Jesus recieved the wrath of God the justful punishment that I deserved for my sins, JESUS RECIEVED IT FOR ME