Sermon Tone Analysis

*Date:*      24th February 2008                                                                (Sunday AM)                                                                       *Ref:* A0368

*Place:     Kambah P.S.*

*Title: Fly the Victory Flag*

*Text:        *& Exodus 17:10-15

 

*Illust:     *Yesterday marked the 63rd anniversary of the raising of the American flag on the top of Mt Suribachi on the Island of Iwo Jima by a band of 6 US Servicemen, captured in the historic photograph by Joe Rosenthal.

The photograph was extremely popular, being reprinted in thousands of publications.

It ultimately came to be regarded as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time.

- Of the six men depicted in the picture, three did not survive the battle; the three survivors became celebrities upon the publication of the photo.

Upon seeing the photo, President Franklin D. Roosevelt realized the picture would make an excellent symbol for the upcoming 7th war bond drive, and ordered the Marines identified and brought home.

The Marines were brought home at the conclusion of the battle.

The three survivors went on a whirlwind bond tour.

The tour was a success, raising $26.3 billion, twice the tour's goal.[1]

– An iconic photo that stirred Americans to invest in the war effort – stirring patriotic emotions – a banner being raised, ~~ a symbol of victory.

!

I.                   Struggle of Life

!! A.               A Tragic Tale

       “Nothing is given to man on earth - struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible \\  - /Andrew Bernstein (philosopher)/

i.

Here is a truth of life, that everybody faces struggles, it is built into life.

Struggle ~/ trials ~/ conflict ~/ disappointments ~/ failure ~/ violation.

– Life.

Ecclesiastes 2:23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest.

This too is meaningless.

(NIV)

         Job 5:6-7 6 For affliction does not come from the dust, Nor does trouble spring from the ground; 7 Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.

(NKJV)

         Job 14:1 “How frail is humanity!

How short is life, how full of trouble!

(NLT)

ii.

Born to trouble as the sparks fly upward ~~ inevitable.

– The tragic result of the curse of sin.

Genesis 3:17-19 17: …“Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.

19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, .....” (NKJV)

           An inevitable descent from trouble into more trouble.

iii.

Men & Women separated from God, living under the curse, living a life full of trouble, struggling through a darkness they can feel.

Desperate for some light.

– Bible makes it clear that those without Jesus Christ are “Lost”

         Luke 19:10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

(NKJV)

           Mired in your sin, swimming through the pig sty of your guilt & shame – Dead in sin

         Ephesians 2:1 And you ....., who were dead in trespasses and sins, (NKJV)

           This is the sad tragic plight of many people, broken families, broken lives, tormented by drugs ~/ alcohol ~/ gambling  - abused ~/ abusing.

Ephesians 2:12 .... you were living apart from Christ.

....

You lived in this world without God and without hope.

(NLT)

           Without Jesus Christ you live a life without true hope.

Proverbs 11:19 As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

(NKJV)

!! B.               Slough of Despond

i.                 | 330 years ago |

The disastrous life of many people, - What is also tragic is the number of christians, born again into a new life of hope with Jesus Christ; *YET* they are going through life defeated ~/ downcast ~/ downtrodden.

– In the “slough of despond.”  - /Pilgrims Progress// //by John Bunyan & published in February, 1678 is a Christian allegory regarded as one of the most significant works of English literature, & has been translated into more than 200 languages, & has never been out of print.*[2]*/

"This miry slough is such a place as cannot be mended: it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore it is called the Slough of Despond; for still, as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there arise in his soul many fears and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place: and this is the reason of the badness of this ground.

[3]

      Story of David at the Kibbutz, running late & so taking a shortcut to the orange groves behind the dairy – took a couple of steps & up to his chin in cow manure.

– The pits where they clean out the milking stalls, It had looked solid – top layer dried in the sun.

Gave way & he ends up in the stinking foul mire – picture of a life in sin.

ii.

Sons & daughters of God, saved, forgiven, cleansed from the filth of our past lives, - Yet plagued by fears, real or imaginary, struggling with repeated failures, temptations & disappointments ~/ depression ~/ anxiety ~/ low self esteem ~/ self hatred.

– wading through the /slough of despond/.

iii.

Miserable in all situations.

No joy ~/ No victory ~/ No power ~~ Not how it is supposed to be, we are to have the victory in all of the struggles ~/ battles of life.

!

II.

The Name

!! A.               Reality Check

i.                 Dealing with any issues of life starts with a common point.

Doesn’t matter what your problem is.

No progress is made unless *first* – you will acknowledge the sin.

You can’t be saved unless you first acknowledge – /‘you know what I am a sinner.’/

Saint you can’t begin to have the victory until you do a reality check what is the problem, the sin in my life.

– Don’t cover it, don’t minimise it.

– Don’t let anyone else minimise it.

Proverbs 25:20 Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather, And like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

(NKJV)

ii.

Only one thing can lift a spirit that is depressed ~/ crushed by a load of sin: confession ~/ repentance & forgiveness.

It was King Saul’s own attitudes and actions that kept making his condition worse, as he brooded with jealousy and resentment.

Saul’s pride and self-centeredness affected every aspect of his life.

         1 Samuel 18:8-11 8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands.

Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house.

So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand.

11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!”

But David escaped his presence twice.

(NKJV)

           Today Saul would be called mentally ill but it is interesting that the Scriptures do not attribute Saul’s madness to sickness.

Nor is his sin “excused” because he is considered sick.

Rather, his madness and his sin are directly linked.

Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?

(NKJV)

iii.

A broken spirit, emotional trouble is far more serious than physical trouble.

The only way to relieve the pain is to begin by taking a serious internal inventory – Reality check

         Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; (NKJV)

!! B.               Ha Tsur

i.

When you are sinking in the quicksand, the clinging mud of the struggles of your life, mired in the /slough of despond/, once you acknowledge the need the sin, then you are in the right place to reach out to God. – What do you need when you are sinking in a bog?

Solid Rock under your feet -