Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week I shared a story with you all a story from history.

And it is one of the most bizarre history lessons That I believe you can encounter.

And so today will have another history lesson but not nearly as long and not nearly as bizarre.

This section of scripture that we're looking at is the application of all the doctrine that Paul had laid out in the first eleven chapters.

And so if we can conclude what this section is about we can say it is about the life as a Christian.

What is a Christian act like what does a Christian look like those kinds of things.

So it is a section that is important for us to pay attention to, to listen to but we can never forget the first eleven chapters.

The reason why this section is so important for us to pay attention to in light of having a proper understanding of the doctrine that Paul had laid down in the first eleven chapters is because this is where it applies to us in a dynamic an meaningful way.

This is where the teachings of scripture an your life collide.

And one thing we all in this room know from experience is that life is filled with Ups and downs.

And we have all lived it and we have all heard that saying.

We have all heard that life is a roller coaster.

I like the saying life is an elevator it's filled with Ups and downs and every once in a while people come and push your buttons.

This life hurts, we go through good times and we kind of get lost in ourselves during those good times.

We say life is good and life is grand and I'm so happy and sometimes it's thank God and sometimes it's people forgetting about God.

All depends on who you are.

Then we go through hard times and hardships and nobody really responds the same way during those times.

Some people get closer to God , they trust in his healing power they trust in his ability to comfort and that is where they are faith lies.

Some people are upset but still trusting in God , some people get lossed in their misery.

And everyone of us in here knows exactly what I'm talking about.

We have had seasons of joy and we've had seasons of depression.

We've had good times and we have had bad times.

We have been on cloud 9 we have been in the lowest valleys.

This is why this section is so important because it's the beginning of the doctrine that we have studied and our lives colliding.

Just keep that in mind as we progress through the rest of this letter.

So again, last week we had a little history lesson and we concluded that this is what happens when people don't know their place, this is what happens when people do not know their role.

When people try to play a part they're not meant to play it creates chaos, it creates disaster.

And what we have in this section is the analogy of a body an we said if the hand was trying to be the head and the head was trying to be a foot what you have is a monster , you don't have a body you have a monster.

So it is important that everybody play their parts, it is important that everyone do what they're called to do.

And last week i gave you all a challenge to think about what you're calling is an I hope you thought about it.

Not only do I hope you thought about it but I hope you prayed about it.

While I'm on the subject, I hope that you thought about and prayed about every sermon that I have preached and that you meditate on those teachings every day of the week and come back ready for a new teaching.

It's only going to help you if you meditate on the word of God.

So another history example, this is not a strict focus in time.

But it has to do with the first great awakening.

The first great awakening was a revival movement that was not predicted nor plan.

It was something that just happened.

To the amazement and astonishment of the people who lived through it.

Powerful preaching swept through the nation.

It was theologically rich and people cared about the word of God and so they went over it verse by verse.

And transformation was taking place.

It was a time where people were craving the word of God and were never satisfied with the forms that they had.

So when preachers came with exposit Tori preaching feeding the people they felt it in a powerful way.

But the intensity died out , the church did grow in America but it was not to the points where everybody in the nation was saved.

So as far as church history goes, this was a pinnacle point for the church.

Then it phased out and in the 1800s you have what historians have labeled the second great awakening.

This one was different.

Rather than it being an event that just happened it was more of something new that took place and got attention.

You had circuit writers doing their preaching and eventually it turned into tent preaching which then turned into tent revival.

People were being saved in some of these tent revivals but you have to keep in mind the big difference between the first great awakening and the 2nd.

The second great awakening was an organized planned event.

Not the whole history side of it but each individual tent revival was a planned event.

And when that died out people still tried to carry it on and they were calling it revivals.

They would planet, have specific music for it, specific talking points, it was all a controlled environment.

The first great awakening was far more impactful, far more influential, and far more historically known as a great event in American history an that was not planned.

The 2nd gets less attention and some historians critique the narative of it all.

Some believe that some stories , a lot of stories, are fabrications.

And then each other little tent revival gets less and less impressive.

There is a reason for that and the reason is man cannot manipulate revival.

A true revival is a work of God that man cannot manipulate.

God does it when he freely chooses to do it.

Which is why the unplanned event was so miraculous an influential because it was not a planned event, it was not man trying to manipulate revivalism it was God who was actually performing revivalism.

the first grade awakening the preachers knew their role, they knew their role in preaching and so that is what they did.

They preached the gospel.

These other revival movements were manipulated so these men did not know their role.

They thought they had to do more, they thought they were helping God. they tried to play A role they were not meant to play.

One of those events went down in history as an event that cannot be explained.

Truly an amazing time in American history that cannot be explained by secularist.

Faithful men faithfully preached the word and the result was pure amazement till this very day.

other revivals were men preaching but also men who decided that they had to do more in order for the preaching to be more successful.

they had 2 get people in the right mood, they had to pressure in ways that the reform preachers of the great awakening did not have to do, they had to use tactics this should not be used.

They created an atmosphere that gave people false impressions of what they were really feeling.

and this became more and more of the American church tradition.

And so this is the point of the section of scripture that we're looking at for today the point is know your position, know who you are and know your role in ministry.

Not just in ministry but in life.

And so let's unpack this further and see how this can be more impactful for us.

Now again last week we covered what it looks like when people do not fulfill the role.

Before we can go through and look at one fulfilling the role we have to understand something about this analogy that Paul is giving us.

The analogy that Paul is giving us is that of a human body.

That's pretty self explanatory.

But the phrase body when it comes to the reference of believers is not a new phrase for Paul nor the New Testament.

And there is no doubt that is exactly on Paul's mind when he is using this analogy.

And it's one we still use today, we are the body of believers and Christ is the head.

We say Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body of believers.

The reason why Jesus is the head of the church is because he is the one that leads it he is the one that thinks for it he is the one that should be our guiding force behind everything we do.

But one thing we have to distinguish is what the church really is.

We have discussed this in the past and it would benefit us to discuss it again.

In theological circles they will use 2 phrases to make a distinction.

There is the visible church and then there is the invisible church.

The visible church is every local congregation that you can physically see and visit.

It is made up of people who come together in a place where they sit in pews and they worship God.

The invisible church is not something you can directly see.

The invisible church is every true believer worldwide throughout time.

Inside of the visible church can be those who are not saved.

As a matter of fact there are many who sit in pews across the world who were not saved.

This is why there is a distinction, because there are those who are not truly saved but look like they're part of the visible church 'cause they're visibly there.

Another way to look at it is the physical church as we see it that is the visible church and then the true church as God sees it that is the invisible church.

We can never know who truly belongs to God.

We do not know the heart of man therefore we do not know who truly belongs to God.

But God knows who truly belongs to him.