Sermon Tone Analysis

Walter F. Burke, general manager of Project Mercury and Gemini, and vice-president of the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, teaches Sunday school in his church.

In an interview he declared:

“I have found nothing in science or space exploration to compel me to throw away my Bible or to reject my Savior, Jesus Christ, in whom I trust.

The space age has been a factor in the deepening of my own spiritual life.

I read the Bible more now.

I get from the Bible what I cannot get from science—the really important things of life.”

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning.

Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.

… through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Today, I wish, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to share with you God’s purpose in giving us a written revelation of His will.

You see, that is what the Bible is.

People like to think of the Bible as God’s Instruction Manual for Life.

You may have even heard of the acronym, B-I-B-L-E: Basis Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

The Bible, the collection of the Old and New Testaments, with its divisions of the Law, the Prophets, the Writings in the former and the Gospels, Acts, the Pauline Epistles, the Catholic Epistles and Revelation of Jesus Christ in the latter, is much more than that.

Today, I wish, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to share with you God’s purpose in giving us a written revelation of His will.

You see, that is what the Bible is.

People like to think of the Bible as God’s Instruction Manual for Life.

You may have even heard of the acronym, B-I-B-L-E: Basis Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

The Bible, the collection of the Old and New Testaments, with its divisions of the Law, the Prophets, the Writings in the former and the Gospels, Acts, the Pauline Epistles, the Catholic Epistles and Revelation of Jesus Christ in the latter, is much more than that.

John describes his purpose in writing his Gospel in vv.

30 and 31:

Compare that with Luke’s explanation that he gives in the opening paragraph of His Gospel:

Compare that with Luke’s explanation that he gives in the opening paragraph of His Gospel:

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Compare that with Luke’s explanation that he gives in the opening paragraph of His Gospel:

Add to that Paul’s declaration of his purpose in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his Epistle to the Romans:

Then there is Paul’s statement to Timothy in his 1st Epistle to him:

Finally, there is John’s opening statement in the closing book of both the New Testament and the completed canon of the Scriptures, the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Finally, there is John’s opening statement in the closing book of both the New Testament and the completed canon of the Scriptures, the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

These words testify to a particular divine purpose.

God, in giving us a written record of His dealings with humanity across the various spectrums of life, has shown us His hand.

Human understandings of spirituality have always contained an element of mystery.

In fact, the more mysterious something was, the more spiritual we tend to judge it to be.

Throughout the Bible, however, God tells us that this is, in fact, the opposite of His way of interacting with us.

God declares Himself to be our Father, and Good.

As a Good Father, he wants His children to know Him, sending His Son for that very purpose, according to John in his Gospel:

Why am I giving you all this scholastic stuff on a Sunday morning?

One, so that you will know that the Christian faith is not something that suffers fools gladly, and (2) so that you will know that your faith is not blind, it is reasonable.

The most intelligent being in the universe did not reveal Himself in a way that calls for stupidity, in fact, it is just the opposite.

it is the fool who says in his heart, in the face of what God has revealed in His Word, that “there is no God” ( and 53).

18 {B} μονογενὴς θεός P66 א* B C* L syrp, mg geo2 Origengr Didymus Cyril1/4 // ὁ μονογενὴς θεός P75 א2 33 cop Clement2/3 Clementfrom Origengr Eusebius3/7 Basil1/2 Gregory-Nyssa Epiphanius Serapion1/2 Cyril2/4 // ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός A C3 Wsupp Δ Θ Ψ 0141 ƒ1 ƒ13 28 157 180 205 565 579 597 700 892 1006 1010 1071 1241 1243 1292 1342 1424 1505 Byz [E F G H] Lect ita, , , , , , 2, vg syrc, , arm eth geo1 slav Irenaeuslat Clementfrom Clement1/3 Hippolytus Origenlat Letter of Hymenaeus Alexander Eustathius Eusebius4/7 Serapion1/2 Athanasius Basil1/2 Gregory-Nazianzus Chrysostom Theodore Cyril1/4 Proclus Theodoret John-Damascus; Tertullian Hegemonius Victorinus-Rome Ambrosiaster Hilary5/7 Ps-Priscillian Ambrose10/11 Faustinus Gregory-Elvira Phoebadius Jerome Augustine Varimadum // μονογενὴς υἱὸς θεοῦ itq Irenaeuslat ; Ambrose1/11 // ὁ μονογενής vgms Ps-Vigilius1/2

the consistent statement of this passage is that Jesus is unique (μονογενὴς) and that He came to reveal God to us (ἐξηγήσατο, from the verb ἐξηγέομαι, to set forth in great detail, expound.

Oft. as t.t.

(terminus technicus (termini technici), technical term(s) for the activity of priests and soothsayers who impart information or reveal divine secrets; also used w.

ref. to divine beings themselves).

William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000).

for the activity of priests and soothsayers who impart information or reveal divine secrets; also used w.

ref. to divine beings themselves.

Why am I giving you all this scholastic stuff on a Sunday morning?

One, so that you will know that the Christian faith is not something that suffers fools gladly, and (2) so that you will know that your faith is not blind, it is reasonable.

The most intelligent being in the universe did not reveal Himself in a way that calls for stupidity, in fact, it is just the opposite.

it is the fool who says in his heart, in the face of what God has revealed in His Word, that “there is no God” ( and 53).

William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000)

Why am I giving you all this scholastic stuff on a Sunday morning?

One, so that you will know that the Christian faith is not something that suffers fools gladly, and (2) so that you will know that your faith is not blind, it is reasonable.

The most intelligent being in the universe did not reveal Himself in a way that calls for stupidity, in fact, it is just the opposite.

it is the fool who says in his heart, in the face of what God has revealed in His Word, that “there is no God” ( and 53).

Not only the broad strokes of the Word of God, but even the seemingly small details, such as the record of the Gospels that the initial declaration of Jesus’ resurrection and His initial appearance was not to the 11 Apostles, but to women, the one group that would have been given the least credibility among both Jews and Gentiles in that day, show that the writers of the Gospel were interested, not in being persuasive, but in being factual.

They weren’t making up stories to explain reality - the meaning of myths - but were reporting what they witnessed - News.

The reason why the Bible is so important, and, as a result, so sought after by those who love God and those who hate Him, whether to learn more about Him or to attack His credibility, is that it makes His will accessible to us, and thus, is the means by which the grace of faith comes to us, for the saving of our souls.

God wants us to be saved, and He wants it for all of us.

The God of Scripture is not hiding Himself from you, but reveals Himself to you.

God preserved His Word, in the face of the entropic principle of time and the frailties and hostilities of men, so that we could know Him and His will concerning us.

He made the Church “a pillar and buttress of the truth,” two terms which refer to supporting structures of permanent buildings.

God’s Word is that permanent building that the Church supports in the world.

God preserved His Word, in the face of the entropic principle of time and the frailties and hostilities of men, so that we could know Him and His will concerning us.

He made the Church “a pillar and buttress of the truth,” two terms which refer to supporting structures of permanent buildings.

God’s Word is that permanent building that the Church supports in the world.

You cannot love God and ignore His Word, you cannot believe God’s “exceeding great and precious promises” when you don’t “hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart.”

The measure of a strong church is not its congregational size, its staff, or its balance sheet.

It is its Bible Study.

You cannot love God and ignore His Word, you cannot believe God’s “exceeding great and precious promises” when you don’t “hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart.”

The measure of a strong church is not its congregational size, its staff, or its balance sheet.

It is its Bible Study.

Gary Mayoral candidate LaVetta Sparks-Wade is fond of saying, “show me your budget, and I’ll show you your priorities.”

That is true, not only of our talents and treasure, but our time.

Jesus said in that “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”

The Living Word, Jesus Christ, is revealed through the written Word, the Bible, as the Spirit of God brings to your remembrance what Christ has told us.

Wherever you are sitting, there should be a Bible near you; pick it up.

If you want to know Him, you will get to know this.

The Bible tells us that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” - He loves is as we are.

but He didn’t die and be raised to leave us that way; we are “beloved of God, called saints.”

God didn’t leave our salvation to be dependent upon our ability to pass on verbal traditions, but as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews testified,

One characteristic that our era shares with that of Dr. Luther is that Christianity in the West today is “a mile wide and an inch deep.”

Talking about His own time, he wrote something that looks completely contemporary:

[1] The deplorable, wretched deprivation that I recently encountered while I was a visitor has constrained and compelled me to prepare this catechism, or Christian instruction,6 in such a brief, plain, and simple version.

[2] Dear God, what misery I beheld!

The ordinary person, especially in the villages, knows absolutely nothing about the Christian faith, and unfortunately many pastors are completely unskilled and incompetent teachers.

[3] Yet supposedly they all bear the name Christian, are baptized, and receive the holy sacrament, even though they do not know the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, or the Ten Commandments!

As a result they live like simple cattle or irrational pigs and, despite the fact that the gospel has returned, have mastered the fine art of misusing all their freedom.

[4] O you bishops!

How are you going to answer to Christ, now that you have so shamefully neglected the people and have not exercised your office for even a single second?

May you escape punishment for this! [5] You forbid the cup [to the laity] in the Lord’s Supper and insist on observance of your human laws, while never even bothering to ask whether the people know the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, or a single section of God’s Word.

Shame on you forever!

So alarmed was he that Dr. Luther had this admonition for those who refused to be taught God’s Word in even the Small Catechism:

People may visit to hear a preacher who is entertaining, but they will grow under a pastor who faithfully labors in Word and doctrine.

An entertainer might draw a crowd, but only shepherd will grow a church.

You called me to shepherd you, and I cannot do it in weekly 15 minute increments.

If you fed your family like that they would starve to death within weeks.