Sermon Tone Analysis

Call to Worship

Romans 8:1–5 (ESV)

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

I Will Glory in My Redeemer

Forever Jesus

Scripture & Theology

This will be my final section in the Nashville Statement.

I hope that you have found it helpful, though I also recognize the degree to which it seems like an awkward topic to bring up during a church service.

However, this week I was reminded this week of its importance.

I had a discussion with someone who is exceedingly grateful that we would dare address such an issue from the pulpit because the subject matter was one their family is dealing with in a very painful way.

Churches cannot shy away from hard subjects, or awkward subjects just because they are uncomfortable.

Rather, we have to understand that we live in a world where spiritual warfare is real, and Satan himself sure seems to be deceiving the world about the very subject the Nashville Statement addresses.

Article 10 of the Nashville Statement is the hardest to swallow, but it is also very truthful.

Let me read out loud the most offensive part of this statement.

Article 10 states:

WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness.

WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree.

What the Nashville Statement addresses is a simple matter of biblical faithfulness.

To deny the plain and clear truths and teachings of Scripture constitutes a departure from Christian faithfulness and witness.

These matters are not ones of moral indifference.

We cannot agree to disagree.

And here’s the key issue - you simply cannot arrive at a different conclusion here without also denying other important truths of scripture.

And if you find yourself more closely aligned with the culture than the Scripture, then you already departed from a biblical understanding of morality.

If the Bible is wrong on this issue, then we have to call into question so much else, and who then would get to decide what is right or wrong, moral or immoral?

If we are to be a Christian church, then we are going to stand upon the truth of Scripture.

All of it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be or how much the world may hate it.

We will not capitulate to the culture.

Rick Warren has wonderfully said, “Our culture has accepted two huge lies.

The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them.

The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do.

Both are nonsense.

You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

If you are tempted to follow along with the culture in these matters, then as your pastor, I plead with you to turn back.

And with that in mind, I want to bring us full circle back to our starting point, and that is the very fact that Scripture is true and sufficient.

All of Scripture - all of it - is true, and in every case, we must let it be our guide.

Daniel Before Nebuchadnezzar

Moving along in Daniel 2, we pick up the story in verse 24, and I just continue to be amazed at how Daniel reacts to this entire situation with the king.

PRAYER

Introduction

Daniel’s moment before the king here is quite the impressive moment of Daniel speaking the truth of God before a king threatening to kill him.

And it’s not like Nebuchadnezzar was some weak-minded king who spoke big but never followed through his threats.

He was a ruthless king.

Daniel going before Nebuchadnezzar would be like you standing before someone like Kim Jong Un right now and speaking to him about the sovereignty of God.

How would you feel about having that task?

Sinclair Ferguson says in his commentary on Daniel that this moment is like “the spirit of Jesus before the high priests and Pilate; it is the spirit of Elijah before Jezebel; it is the spirit of John the Baptist before Herod.

Daniel is full of the spirit of truth.

Even Nebuchadnezzar can recognize that.”

This scene provides us with a clear picture of how we as believers in 2022 must stand before the world.

Daniels shows us, number 1, that we need a courageous faith.

Courageous Faith

Going back to last week, remember how Daniel confidently approached Arioch and told him that he would reveal the king’s dream?

Daniel was able to confidently approach the king because he knew and trusted in a sovereign God.

And there’s something for us to learn here in how Daniel approached all of this -

When you really trust in God, and when your confidence is in him, it leads to courage.

And courage is what you need in a world hostile to your faith.

Courage is easy when there are no consequences for living out your faith.

However, when faced with death or isolation like Daniel, or when you might be ostracized from family or friends or when you won’t be accepted in your social circles, courage quickly flees like prey running away from a predator.

Listen - as westerners we tend to focus only on the physical things of this world.

We trust and believe only that which we can see or feel or experiences with our senses.

We live with tremendous freedoms, but we often forget that there is a real spiritual battle raging all around us.

But the Bible reminds us that there is more to this world than what meets the eye.

Paul says in Ephesians 6:12

The same is true for you.

The same is true for Daniel here.

The trials you face.

The hostility you will face for your faith is not purely a physical battle.

It wasn’t for Daniel either.

So here’s a question - how did Daniel have such great courage?

Daniel’s courage was rooted in prayer and dependance upon God.

And guess what?

Prayer is not weakness.

Dependance on God is not a crutch.

Courage before a hostile world looks you on your knees before God because it is from a posture of prayer that you will have the courage to stand against the forces of evil in the world.

Think about it -

Moses - he only had courage to stand before Pharaoh when he trusted in God.

David - David faced Goliath because he believed God would protect him.

Esther - prayed and fasted before God and trusted in the Lord.

Daniel - was confident because prayer and dependance upon God provided a foundation for him to stand upon.

Jesus - trusted the will of the Father through prayer when faced with the greatest evil history has ever seen.

Paul - prayed to God and found the courage to withstand imprisonment, persecution, and more.

What about you?

Prayer is not weakness.

It’s not a crutch.

It’s a stretcher for you to throw yourself upon.

Courage is not built on muscle or might.

Courage is built when we have an unshakeable faith, not because we ourselves are strong but because we trust the hand of the one who holds us.

We need courageous faith that doesn’t run from spiritual battles.

We need a courageous faith that can see the fight and run toward it because we know and understand that souls are at stake.

In the years ahead, you will face more Daniel-like circumstances than you can imagine.

Prepare now.

We need courageous faith, and secondly, we need...

Selfless Faith

Now, you might be wondering where I am drawing a selfless faith from out of this text.

Let me show you.

Look at verse 24: