Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

A.     Israel’s Victory Over Philistia

1.

Where God Is Working, Satan will Oppose (v.7-8)

 

/a)        //When the Philistines heard (v.7)/

 

1)        The Philistines Response.

(a)      /Remember Their Response In 4:7-8?

/ The Philistines should have been afraid of a /repentant, God-seeking /Israel, because with God fighting for them they were invincible.

(b)      The Philistines saw Israel crying out to the Lord this time in humility, & they may have been saying, “Look at those weakling Israelites.

They are such wimps, crying out before their God like this.”  

(c)      /Y//our Biggest Weakness Is God’s Greatest Opportunity (1 Cor.1:27-29; 2Cor.12:7-10)//./

1.         God chooses the weak things of the world.

When He uses what is weak, His power and might are that much more evident.

2.         Remember, God has allowed adversity into your life to loosen your dependence on your own strength.

/b)        //The lords of the Philistines went up against Israel and the children of Israel were afraid (v.7)./

 

1)        Satan Works Through Fear ~/ Our Feeling of Confidence Can Be Very Deceptive.

Twenty years earlier Israel was completely confident against the Philistines when the ark had come into the camp and the Philistines were afraid of Israel.

But Israel’s confidence was false, and they were soon defeated.

Here, Israel is fearful and sure of defeat, they have no confidence at all.

But they are humble and repentant before the LORD, and will see a great victory.

*/In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge./"

(Proverbs 14:26, NKJV) *

1.         Often, we can’t go by how we feel (good /or /bad), we just need to humbly do what is right before God and trust Him for the victory.

2.

Israel seemed to have more faith when they were trusting in the ark than when they were humble and repentant before the LORD.

But small faith in the true and living God is more powerful than the strongest faith in a lie.

*/There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love./"

(1 John 4:18)*

*/Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.

Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful./"

(John 14:27) *

*/For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline./"

(2 Timothy 1:7, NASB95) *

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2)        Satan Works Through Scorn and Intimidation (Nehemiah 2:9-10, 19-21).

(a)      When God is building up something, the enemy wants to tear it down.

Two weapons:

1.         Scorn”/— /to “mock, scorn, laugh at, ridicule”.

It is also compared to “slander, speaking against, murmur, backbite.”

2.         Despise”/—/ The basic meaning of the root is “to accord little worth to something.”

a.

Goliath /despised/ David because he was but a youth (1 Samuel 17:42)

b.         Michal, David’s wife /despised/ him when he was dancing before the Lord (2Sam.6:16)

3)        Satan Works Through Discouragement and Criticism (Nehemiah 4: 1-3)

/One Measure Of A Leader Is To Be Able To Measure Criticism/; to not allow one to be run down by the critical, while still be sensitive to God’s voice even in the midst of criticism.

/ /

/Discouragement Is Such A Powerful Weapon/ because it is somewhat the opposite of faith; where faith believes God and His love and promises, discouragement looks for and believes the worst - and tends to pretty much forget about who God is and what He has promised to do.

4)        Satan Has No Authority To Stop The Work (Neh.4:1-3)

Because Nehemiah and the workers do in fact have legal protection from the king (proven by the /letters /mentioned in Nehemiah 2:7), Sanballat and Tobiah have no authority to actually stop the work; all they can do is discourage the Jews into stopping.

1.

/The Exact Same Attack Comes Into The Life Of The Believer/ - who is legally set free by his King; yet can be discouraged into drawing back from what God has set before them.

2.

/We Work Differently Under Faith Or Discouragement.

/We pray differently under faith or discouragement; we read and hear the word differently under faith or discouragement – no wonder Satan works so hard to keep us from faith and in discouragement!

/Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

/(Hebrews 10:38-39)

 

5)        Nehemiah Comes Against the Attack With Prayer (Heh.4:9)

Nehemiah’s response is a great example: he didn’t debate, he didn’t form a committee, he didn’t even deal with the two enemies directly - he took it to God in prayer.

1.

For Nehemiah, prayer was a first resource, not a last resort.

Don’t think of God as a /spare tire, you only pull Him out when your life has a flat.

/When times of opposition come, God wants us to rely on Him - and the purest way of expressing our reliance on God is in prayer.

2.

A Seeking After God (1 Samuel 7:8)

 

/a)        /They Turned Their Fears Into Prayers — Seeking God  (2 Chronicles 29:3)

         The Bible says, /“to cast all your cares on Him; for He cares for you.”/

Don’t be worried.

1)        What Does It Mean To Seek The Lord?

It Means You Will:

(a)      /Put God First In Your Lives/.

No matter what happens to us or around us, we choose to obey God, follow God, and have a daily and intimate relationship with God.

(b)      /Want The Lord In Your Life.

/Those who seek the Lord are in pursuit of the Lord.

They talk to Him, listen to Him, and are eager to consult Him at all times.

(c)      /Be Reading God’s Word On A Regular Basis.//

/Over time, we will grow in our understanding of the fullness of God’s plan and His desires for us.

(d)      /Be Asking The Holy Spirit To Lead And Guide Our Daily Decisions./

We will turn often to the Lord and ask, “Is this something You want me to have?

Is this something that has Your stamp of approval on it?

Is this something that is right for my life?”

(e)      /Consult God First & Foremost In All Matters /(Prov.3:5-6;

16:3; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 2 Chronicles 26:5; 1 Samuel 23:2-4; 30:8; 2 Samuel 2:1; 5:19-20, 22-25; 21:1)

 

2)        There Is A Reward To Seeking God (2 Chronicles 14:1-4, 9-11)

3)        Asa began well but ended foolishly (2 Chronicles 15:1-7, 10-15)

*"/Are you so foolish?

Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?/" (Galatians 3:3)*

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/b)        /They Trusted In The Lord, Not The Ark (v.8 see 4:3-11)

The humble state of Israel’s heart is shown by they did not feel worthy to come to the LORD themselves (Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us).

3.

The Lord Helps and Hears (7:9-12)

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*/God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble./"

(Psalm 46:1, NKJV) *

*/The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth./"

(Psalm 145:18, NKJV)     *

/a)        //Offered Up a whole burnt offering (sucking lamb)… crying out to the Lord (v.9)/

Why did Samuel take time for a sacrifice at such a critical time?

Because he knew he could only effectively pray in light of God’s atoning sacrifice

 

1)        There Was A Time of Worship — Offering Up Sacrifices To The Lord (v.9)

Think of that poor lamb - a suckling lamb - who had never hurt anyone or who had never sinned itself, had its throat slit, its blood poured out, its body cut up, and its carcass burned.

Why?

Because Samuel and Israel were saying, “This is what we deserve.

This is the punishment that should come upon us.

We thank you God, for accepting the punishment of this innocent lamb instead.”

When we trust in /the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world /(John 1:29), we are saying the same thing.

/b)        //Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered Him (v.9)/

 

1)        Samuel Modeled A Response Of Prayer (v.9)

(a)      The people knew Samuel prayed (vv.

8, 9).

(b)      The Bible speaks of Samuel as a mighty man of prayer /Exalt the Lord our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He.