Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Ray Ashford, the Canadian preacher and author, tells of his good friend who invested all his money in a grocery business in a large city in Canada.

It was a thriving business he was told, but soon it was in trouble.

He contracted scarlet fever and while he was in the hospital the business collapsed and he lost everything.

It was the low point of his life.

He began to dream about what he always wanted to be, which was a teacher.

It seemed like a foolish idea to all who knew him, but he was captivated by the idea.

So much so that when he got out of the hospital he went back to finish high school.

Then he went on the university and finally to teachers college.

He was close to 30 when he finished, but he was an excellent teacher.

He became a leading teacher in one of the largest school systems of Canada.

Whenever he talks about the strange twists of his career he says, "What a good thing it was that I failed as a grocer!

At the time, of course, I was absolutely devastated.

But I see now that if it hadn't been for that failure, I would likely have spent my life muddling along in a business for which I am not equipped at all."

Here is a man who ended up doing his own thing in life-the thing he was best equipped for because of the blessing of failure where he did not fit.

This happened to a very famous man that all of you know.

George had a troubled youth and had no direction, but then some Hollywood directors discovered him and were convinced that under all his toughness there was a making of a star.

They were right, but they went the wrong road to bring it out.

They made him a star in a film, and they were so confident it would make money that they gave George a check for $25,000.

He was so proud of it that he did not cash it.

He carried it around showing everyone.

It was not a wise move, for the film was a total flop and the producers went bankrupt.

The check bounced when he finally did take it to the bank.

George had an ego as deflated as his bank account.

He was one of the greatest failures of all time as an actor, but he didn't give up.

He found his niche in life elsewhere, and he became a star after all.

We know him as Babe, or George Babe Ruth.

Numerous are the stories that reveal failure to be one of the steps on the road to success.

It is failure that helps us learn not to waste our lives trying to do what we are not fit to do.

A pastor learned that a call to preach did not include the talent of barbering.

He cut his little boys hair so that he looked as if he had been to a butcher.

The boy was so ashamed to be seen in public that he pulled his cap over his head with the ear flaps pulled down.

He went to a real barber down the street.

It was quite a job to undo a haircut, but at least he came out looking presentable.

That night the boy ended his prayer so that dad could hear: "And, dear Lord, please help every man to stick to his own trade."

Unfortunately, not everyone fails at what they are poorly equipped to do.

They either succeed, or do an adequate job of it, and so they stick with it and never discover their potential for some other field.

What is true for secular life is also true for the body life of the church.

We should not fear failure as Christians, for the fear of failure keeps us from experiments that would help us discover our gifts.

The church should be a group which is constantly striving to help each member to find the role they play best.

Every Christian should have opportunity to experiment with a variety of roles because a gift can go undetected if it is never put to use.

Back in 1968 there was a Billy Graham day in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Billy's younger brother Melvin was given the privilege of saying a few words.

He told the story of the farmer who had seen the letters P and C in the sky, and being a dedicated Christian he figured it meant preach Christ.

So he left his farm and started preaching.

After many fruitless months he decided he must have misinterpreted the letters.

They probably meant plant corn, and so he went back to the farm.

Melvin said, "I don't want to make that same mistake here, so I'll let Billy spread the Gospel, and I'll spread the fertilizer.

He was being humorous, but serious at the same time.

For he recognized that not all the Graham boys had the same gifts.

So it is in the family of God.

There are a variety of gifts, and all members do not have the same function.

Paul lists 7 examples of the different gifts in the body, and we are now focusing on the third gift, which is teaching.

Jesus had all the gifts of the Spirit, but this is one in which He excelled.

He was the master teacher, and even at age 12 He had adults listening to Him.

Socrates taught for 40 years; Plato taught for 50 years, and Aristotle taught for 40 years.

Jesus taught for only 3 years, but His teaching has had infinitely greater impact on the world than the combined 130 years of these greatest of philosophers.

He was truly a gifted teacher.

It is also one of the greatest tasks of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer to teach all things, and lead them into a deeper grasp of the teachings of Jesus.

Teaching will always be a major part of the church's task in history.

Jesus sent the church into all the world to make disciples and to teach them all He had commanded.

The church cannot be the church without teachers.

As you read through the book of Acts you discover that teaching was a major task of the Apostles.

In 5:21 they, "Entered the temple early in the morning and taught."

The Sanhedrin was told, "Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching people."

Even after they were beaten we read in Acts 5:42 that they, "cease not to teach Jesus Christ."

Paul in Corinth continued a year and six months, "Teaching the Word of God among them."

(Acts 18:11).

He taught in Ephesus for 2 years from house to house.

Paul stressed the importance of teaching in the church.

He wrote to Timothy to give attention to teaching, and in II Tim.

2:2 he wrote, "The things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

Teaching is what keeps the truth of God communicated from one member to another, and from one generation to another.

Every Christian is to get involved in teaching on some level, for it is vital for the functioning of the body.

Paul writes in Col. 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom."

Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse felt that teaching was his special gift, but he also felt, and rightly so, that every Christian is to be a teacher.

He writes, "I believe that every member of the body of Christ is called upon to tell someone else every fresh bit of truth learned, every new knowledge of Christ received, every pitfall seen and avoided, every distant glory brought near, and every lesson learned that will help us to be more like Christ."

When you read or hear of a new truth from the Word of God share it with another member of the body while it is fresh in your mind.

This will multiply the fruit of the gift of teaching.

What this means is that you do not have to have the gift of teaching in order to teach.

Even the non-gifted teacher can share truth learned with others.

The Hebrew Christians are scolded in Heb.

5:12: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of God's Word.

You need milk not solid food."

Every Christian has an obligation to learn the basics well enough to teach them to another.

If he needs them taught to him over and over, he is a baby that can't grow up.

Every Christian must grow up and be a teacher who can share the basic truths of Christ's death and resurrection, and how by faith in Him and His finished work a person can be saved.

Beyond the basics there is a vast body of wisdom and knowledge, and that is where the gift of teaching comes in.

Only those gifted by God can enter the depths of the knowledge of God and His wisdom, and then share it with the rest of the body in a way they can grasp.

Gifted teachers have played a major role in the history of the church.

Origen was the greatest teacher in his day.

He was born to Christian parents in 185 A. D. He attended the first Christian school in Alexandria.

Violent persecution came to the church and his father was beheaded.

He had to care for his widowed mother and 6 younger brothers by teaching at age 16.

Persecution forced the closing of the school, but he gathered a group of young Christians and taught them free of charge.

He was so successful that people flocked to him and the Bishop Demetrius officially assigned him to the position of teacher.

He live in poverty but hardly noticed it, for he spent day and night in study.

He became so famous that the bishops wanted to set under his teaching.

This made Demetrius angry, for no laymen was to teach ordained bishops.

Demetrius tried to put a man made system above the gifts of the Spirit, but it did not work.