Sermon Tone Analysis

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*The Greatest Purpose*
Shaun LePage, October 9, 2005
 
I.
Introduction
A.   I am about to speak two words which have caused more fear and anxiety than almost any other phrase in the English language.
Ready?
“Pop Quiz”.
As a student in third grade or ninth grade or in college, I hated these two words.
If a teacher or professor came into the room and said, “Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil, we’re going to have a pop quiz,” a shot of adrenaline would rush through my body, causing my brain to turn to mush, rendering me unable to have a coherent thought.
B.   Every teacher I’ve ever had had a bit of a mean streak.
They sadistically enjoyed the fear and anxiety they caused in their students by speaking the words, “Pop quiz”.
So, before we begin, I want to ask a question: Do we have any teachers here today?
Then it gives me a great deal of pleasure to let you know that this morning, we will begin with a pop quiz.
But, relax!
You don’t need to take out a sheet of paper and a pencil.
You can take this pop quiz in the safety of your own mind.
C.   I’m going to ask three questions for this pop quiz.
These are the three most important questions I can think of.
That’s a pretty strong statement.
But, I’m serious.
Let me say it again: These are the three most important questions I can think of.
Now, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer—I’m not the Bible Answer Man.
But, in all my years as a Christian and in all my years of studying the Bible, I have not come up with any questions more important than these three.
D.   Now, if you know the answers to these questions before I give you the answer, if you’ve known the answers to these questions and have had time to let them sink in and become a part of how you think and how you approach life, then you will agree with me that when you learned these answers, it was one of the most significant days in your life.
I prayed for you as I prepared for this morning that God would use this message to rekindle the fire of your passion for what is most important in life.
E.    For those of you who do not know the answers to these questions and will discover them today for the first time, I’m excited for you.
Please know that I’m not saying this is the best sermon you’ll ever hear, but I believe this could be the most significant truth you will ever hear.
It’s not about me—I’m just a vessel.
I’m just the wine glass—the wine is the good part.
If you will drink in the great truths of God’s Word this morning, I believe your whole life will change.
It’s about the timeless, life-changing truth of God’s Word.
If you’ve never heard the truth I have the privilege of sharing with you this morning, I believe today could be one of the most important days in your life.
F.    As I said last week, we’re going to be looking at our shared values over the next several weeks and as we think about how we live out these values, I want you to think in terms of three relationships: God, unbelievers and believers.
These three relationships will serve as an outline for our study—my hope is that it will really help us to develop a vision for what we must do about what we value.
More on this later.
G.   So, let’s take that quiz.
I’m not going to make you try to answer these questions on paper, but I would like you to write these three questions down (fill in the blanks on your outline):
1.     Question #1 (and the most important question): What is most important to God?
2.     Question #2 (completely dependent upon question #1): What is the primary purpose of every individual and every church?
3.     Question#3: How do we accomplish our primary purpose—as individuals and as a church?
H.   Now, have your neighbor check your answers—No!
II.
Body: Let’s answer these one at a time:
A.   Question #1: What is most important to God?
1.     Do you see why this is such an important question?
Since God is our Creator—The Intelligent Designer who has an intelligent design for our lives—and since He is our Lord and Master and since He is our Judge to whom we are ultimately accountable for how we live our lives, we need to know what is most important to Him.
Then, everything else falls into place.
We simply need to make sure that what is most important to God is most important to us.
Practical Theology 101.
2.     Here’s the answer: What is most important to God? His glory!
3.     Listen to the first three of the 10 Commandments, Exodus 20:1-7: *“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”*
(i)    Do you see it?
No other gods—these commands are given to direct us to Him, to focus on Him and give God—and God alone—glory.
God will not share His glory with anyone or anything else.
(ii)  Notice also, He is a “jealous God”! That’s hard for us to get because we think of jealousy as a bad thing.
But think of it this way: If a man catches his wife in an affair with another man, is he wrong to be jealous?
Absolutely not!
His is a righteous jealousy—she vowed to love and know no other man but her husband.
He not only should be jealous, but he must be jealous.
A million times more, God is righteously jealous for His glory.
(iii)     The third command is not to take the Lord’s name in vain.
To treat it as common or to use it as a vulgarity.
This, too, is about His glory.
His name is wrapped up in who He is and when we misuse His name, we dishonor Him.
b)    Listen to what God said in Isaiah 48:9-11: *“For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And /for /My praise I restrain /it /for you, In order not to cut you off.
“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can /My name /be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.”
*
c)     Go to the New Testament.
(i)    The Transfiguration.
(a)  In Matthew 17, Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain and there was “transfigured”—in other words, Jesus let the three disciples see Him in His glory.
Moses and Elijah appeared as well—the greatest law-giver and the greatest prophet.
Peter was so overwhelmed that he blurted out that he would build three tabernacles as a way of honoring these three great men.
But God, the Father, spoke from heaven and rebuked Peter.
(b) Listen to verses 4 and 5: *“Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’” *
(c)  Peter was putting Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah.
But God quickly corrected him and let him know that Jesus would not share His glory—even with great men like Moses and Elijah.
This is God’s Son—God Himself—no ordinary man.
He is the God-Man and He will not share His glory.
(ii)  Acts 12:21-23 is an amazing illustration of God’s unwillingness to share His glory: *“On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and /began /delivering an address to them.
The people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’
And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”*
d)    This may make God seem like an egomaniac to you.
Perhaps you’re thinking all this make’s God seem arrogant and proud.
Not at all.
God is the only one worthy of glory.
He is the only one worthy of worship.
He’s the only one worthy to be praised.
He would only be an egomanic or arrogant or proud if it wasn’t true!
But it is true!
(i)    *God is infinitely valuable and important.*
Revelation 4:8 tells us the four living creatures *“…day and night do not cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
*Later, the 24 elders fall down before God and cry out, *“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power…”* (v.11).
(ii)  *God is completely unique.*
Over and over, the Scriptures tell us there is no one like God.
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