Sermon Tone Analysis

As an atheist university professor, Dr. Holly Ordway, was convinced that by definition faith is utterly irrational.

She would eventually become a Christian, but prior to her conversion she used the following analogy to explain why, as an atheist, she could not consider the option of believing in Jesus and going to heaven: Imagine that you tell me, "If you believe that there's an invisible pink unicorn in the sky, I'll give you a new BMW."

I see the car in the parking lot; you jingle the keys in your hands.

If I can believe what you want me to believe, the new car is mine.

Cool!

But it's a waste of time: I know there's no unicorn.

No matter how much I want that car, I am incapable of believing something contrary to reason in order to get it.

Believing something irrational on demand to get a prize: that is what the evangelical invitation to "accept Jesus and get eternal life in heaven!" sounded like to me.

James Engel summarized the belief system and the presuppositions that commonly prevail among what he calls modern man:

God, if He exists at all, is just an impersonal moral force.

Man basically has the capacity within himself to improve morally and make the right choices.

Happiness consists of unlimited material acquisition.

There really is no objective basis for right and wrong.

The supernatural is just a figment of someone's imagination.

If a person lives a "good life", the eternal destiny is assured.

The Bible is nothing other than a book written by man.

It is the reality of a worldview.

How you see the world.

Definition - a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.

The lenses you are looking through.

And if you are a Christian our lens should be the Bible.

And for many of us we would all say that it is definitely the case.

But is it really?

One of the clear characteristics of our culture is the reality of self-deception.

Defined as “the action or practice of allowing oneself to believe that a false or unvalidated feeling, idea, or situation is true.”

We believe that we have biblical worldview but for many of us this is not the case.

This is why it should not be a surprise that we are seeing professing evangelical Christians… supporting and standing with the world on many things that are an affront to our risen Lord Jesus.

I told you the test… if you are watching the news of some show on tv and you hear something that you disagree with strongly.

That is so wrong.

Oh how wrong you are.

Stop yourself and ask… what is the scripture that they are moving against?

If you don’t know the scripture, then your standard is possibly coming from a secular worldview.

Maybe.

How do we know that our worldview is biblical or is it really a secular worldview that does not disagree with the Bible?

It is called the scriptures.

If you don’t know it, how would you know?

When we become Christians our minds are to be renewed just as much as our hearts.

Our thinking is supposed to change.

It is not to be inline with the pattern of this world, but inline with His Word.

Not sure… let take a look.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the world of our God stands forever.

The Authority of Scripture

The Word Made Flesh

The first thing we will look at today is how we cannot avoid the reality of the secular worldview getting into our homes and our minds.

Second, we will see how it is by the power of God, through faith and His Word, that will transform us and bring us from death to life.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to copy the behavior and customs of this world to the point of real spiritual danger, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of Scripture that will lead us to fix our eyes upon Christ the author and perfecter of our faith.

I.

The Authority of Scripture

- To disbelieve the Word is to disbelieve God.

A. Wayne Grudem defined the authority of Scripture as “all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.”

B. I have been peaching and warning about this very thing for years and years now.

If we do not change our view of the Scriptures treat it as the very word of God, we will end up not treating it as the word of God and disobey it.

And to disobey the Word is to disobey God.

And it is as if… today in your hearing… my worst fears may have come true.

The unbelievable response of “confessing evangelical Christians” response to Roe vs. Wade.

The proverbs say...

C.

But many of them were not rejoicing.

Many of them were downright angry.

Many of them were absolutely shameful in their response.

The atrocities were many and brought much sadness.

And when I talk with some of them, they were absolutely shocked that the Lord condemns such things in the scriptures.

Now before we get there… I said it before and I’ll say it again, the Bible does not specifically condemn abortion per se, but it is very clear that it is condemned by God.

Sure the Bible does not say, thou shall not look at internet pornography, but the message is pretty clear that this behavior is a sin.

D. So the Bible makes it abundantly clear that the child in the mother’s womb is indeed a person that God cares about and that God is fashioning and developing from the time of conception and even before that.

Even if you call it a fetus it still does not change the fact that God is a part of the life in the womb.

It is a creation of God and it is a human creation which means what?

The real travesty…

E. That child in the womb of its mother in indeed an image bearer of the living God.

We are killing something that bears the image of the living God.

F. You are killing a worshipper of the Lord.

G.

And if the child in the womb was fashioned by God.

If the child in the womb is an image bearer and a worshipper of God from the time they were in the womb.

They are a person.

And what is it called when you unjustly take the life of a person?

Its called murder.

H.

It is pretty clear.

I just do not see how you can get around this. Oh but they do.

The first way I call the Jedi mind trick.

You just wave you hand, and say no its not and therefore it is so.

I just read an article in Time magazine where the author said that the Bible does not condemn abortion at all.

And then I kept on reading and it was basically, just that.

The Bible condemns abortion… no its not.

Believe it or not… I get this one all the time.

I.

The second thing is what I call exegetical Juijitsu.

Its called scripture twisting.

J.

The third is super self explanatory… I don’t care.

I can say that pretty much every-time I am doing pastoral counseling and there was a time I needed that person to do what I am telling them to do, they say no.

Then I give them the all important obey your spiritual leaders scripture in Hebrews 13, and how many of them actually said ok Shane… that is the word of God, ok pastor I’ll listen.

NEVER!!!

- I have many conversations with people who go to clear unbiblical churches and give them scriptures about this… prove with biblical that historic theological foundations and they do not care.

K.

The last one… is the one I harp on all the time.

Ignorance.

Like I said many are surprised when I give them these scriptures.

If you read your Bible regularly and go to church and hear the Bible preached then you should have heard some of these before.