Joseph Posey Homegoing
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Spiritual Pride
There was a godly Christian woman who startled her friends by saying, “There isn’t a sin of which I am not capable. I could be a prostitute; I could murder; I could embezzle.”
Most of her friends were not impressed with her frankness. Instead they thought that she was displaying a false humility. Then she added, “You don’t really believe what I just said. I mean it—because I realize that any particular sin that crops up in someone else’s life expresses itself in me, but in different ways. Until I accept that, I am self-righteous, proud, and arrogant.”
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.
One of the marks of Christian maturity is the recognition that we, like that woman in the story, know our limitations. When our friends and fans sing our praises, it takes maturity to know that we have achieved those accolades by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph Posey lived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and by the power of the same Spirit he received God’s exceeding great and precious promises, clung to them, and obtained them. No longer does Joseph wrestle with the uncertainties of life, health, happiness, and the other things by which we measure how well we are doing.
The Bible says , through a prayer of Moses, that the boundaries of our lives are in the hands of God, who is holy, righteous, and faithful:
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
We can take that for granted, and then, whether in our own lives or those of others whom we know, the words spoken through the Prophet Isaiah remind us of the fragility of life:
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.
We try to establish significance by our goodness and service towards others, by endeavoring to make our good outweigh our bad, so that God will give us credit for that, but Job’s friend Elihu correctly stated:
Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man.
Joseph was raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, just like his siblings Bertha,
