Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Reminder of where we get the name Expound

Too much conversation about how to get teenagers to do thing that demonstrate they love God and not enough of us helping you see why you should love God.

Serving God as we are expected to do without loving God as we should is exhausting.

ALL.

ALL.

ALL.

There is no room here for divided affections or allegiance.

As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters”

Overcoming Sin

The secret to overcoming sin and temptation, then, is not sweat but sight.

We worship our way into sin.

We must worship our way out.”

(14)

Want to help your friends ““My goal is to help you overcome idolatry and certain sadness by pointing you to the all-satisfying, sin-destroying glory of Jesus.”

evangelism

Some of you are going to be tempted to covet in your relationships

You are at the age where things start getting boring and you start looking for something else to keep your attention.

Little kids are curious and love everything.

It is like your taste buds and Takis

“You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17).

Covetousness means simply loving something too much, loving it the way you shouldn’t love it — like loving a boyfriend, or your husband, or your health, or your life, in such a way that it starts to undermine your love for God.

When you read the word, it gives you some specific criteria to test your heart.

For example:

Does your allegiance to your boyfriend or your husband lead you into sin?

Does the pleasure that you have in being with your boyfriend diminish or does it increase the pleasure that you have in being with Jesus?

Does the enjoyment of being with your boyfriend increase or diminish the enjoyment you have in being with Bible-saturated, godly people?

Does getting to know your boyfriend lead you to know Christ better?

Does the thought of losing your boyfriend cause you to think of getting angry with God, or throwing yourself more fully on God’s mercy?

Loving God through His Ways

Psalm 103:7 “7 He made known his ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.”

Moses knew the Lord not only through his works but also through his ways.

It is good to build a personal history of God’s providential care by reviewing and remembering the things he has done at various points along your spiritual journey.

Remember his surprising answers to prayer, the way he drew you to himself, the way he carried you through turbulent waters, the way he provided for your needs when circumstances looked hopeless, the way he encouraged and comforted you in your distress, the way he exhorted you through others and disciplined you for your good, and the way he seeks to strip you of your hope in the things of this world so that you will learn to hope only in him.

Psalm 66:16, 19–20

“I was one way… and now I am completely different.

And the thing that happened in between… was Him.”

THREE PSALMS ON THE BEAUTIFUL ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

The All-Knowing God (vv.

1–6)

Psalm 139 (KJV 1900)

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

The All-Present God (vv.

7–12)

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; Even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

The All-Powerful God (vv.

13–18)

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; And in thy book all my members were written, Which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

The All-Holy God (vv.

19–24)

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, And thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?

And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

There is no higher calling than to love and worship the infinite and personal God of creation and redemption.

A. W. Tozer observed that what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

King David was a gifted man who was rich in achievements, yet his greatness lay in his choice to give his heart wholly to God.

In the midst of his struggles, David took time to meditate and stretch his vision of the living God, and this provided him with a renewed perspective about the things that really matter.

Psalm 145

Imagine someone from a preliterate culture who stumbles upon a New Testament left inadvertently by a traveling missionary.

The native picks up the strange object and brings it to the elders of his village, but because they have never heard of reading or writing, they are unable to discern the meaning of the mysterious black markings on the pages.

They may come to revere the alien object, but unless an outsider comes and explains it to them, the living words it contains will never be more than dark squiggles on a gossamer white substance.

Our world is like that book; unless an Outsider explains it to us, we will reduce its glory to the impersonal forces of time plus chance, or we will worship the creature rather than the Creator.

But this is a failure to grasp the higher levels of meaning—the markings are letters, the letters combine into words, the words conform to grammatical principles and form sentences, the sentences convey ideas, the ideas lead to aesthetic, ethical, and spiritual truth, and all truth comes from the infinite personal God.

The Word of God calls us to view the world and all of life from a divine rather than a human perspective.

Our final integration point and source of meaning is upward, not downward, heavenly, not earthly, the Creator, not the cosmos.

The world would define us by default; do nothing, and it will fill your eyes and ears with its system of values.

The Word will define us only by discipline; we must choose to sit under its daily tutelage, or our minds will never be renewed and transformed by eternal values.

The last of the Davidic psalms exhorts us to fly with the wings of the Spirit to the pinnacle from which we can see everything from a biblical viewpoint.

The more the eyes of our heart become accustomed to that vision, the more we will be amazed by the greatness, goodness, and grace of the living God.

Psalm 145, a skillfully constructed acrostic poem, invites the people of God to let their spirits resonate with his Spirit as it alternates calls to praise and reasons for praise.

The Greatness of God (vv.

1–6)

“I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever” (vv.

1–2).

This paean of praise is prompted by the psalmist’s meditation on “the glorious splendor” of God’s majesty and on his wonderful works (v.

5).

“Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts” (vv.

3–4).

David understood that the human mind cannot begin to fathom God’s greatness, and he would have agreed with these affirmations from Isaiah and Romans: “ ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord.

‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’

… Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Isaiah 55:8–9; Romans 11:33).

We will never be bored in heaven, because God’s greatness and knowledge are boundless; the surprises will never end, and the joy will ever increase.

The Goodness of God (vv.

7–13)

“They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works” (vv.