Sermon Tone Analysis

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“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.
But the word of God is not bound!”
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We have just come through the Christmas Season.
We are poised on the cusp of a new year.
We have celebrated the knowledge that God has shared our condition—God became man.
A Christmas text that is too often ignored speaks to this very issue.
The Apostle has written, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” [PHILIPPIANS 2:5-7].
It is always a good thing to reflect on the meaning of significant events.
Thus, as we are about to enter into a new year, I propose that we reflect on who we are and where we are as Christians and as a community of faith.
We were studying through the Pastoral Letters when we entered into the Advent Season.
It is appropriate, therefore, to pick up where we left off in order to consider where we have been during the previous few weeks and to anticipate where we should be going in the coming year.
As I prepared this message I became conscious that the Spirit is evidently guiding our studies.
My reason for saying this is that the text challenges sober reflection on the message we have heard, thinking carefully about the Person we have received as Master of life.
Open your Bibles, then, to the Second Chapter of Paul’s final missive to the young preacher of Ephesus.
Focus in particular on verses eight and nine where we are commanded to remember Jesus Christ.
The text before us suggests its own outline.
There is nothing profound about the thoughts I intend to present in the message today.
The message is, however, glorious and it is marked by hope and joy that lends courage born of assurance to our service throughout the coming year.
*REMEMBER THAT JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE!* “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead!”
Some truths are essential to be always held in mind, especially if one is a follower of the Christ.
Among the truths that Christians, and especially pastors, must hold in mind is that Jesus Christ is alive.
The Greek behind what we read in our English Bible reveals something we might otherwise miss.
When the Apostle says, “Remember,” he uses the present active imperative of the Greek word /mnēmoneuō/.
The practical significance of this information is that Paul is calling for a continuous action.
Timothy is always to hold fast the knowledge that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
The teaching applies to all who occupy the sacred desk.
It would be easy to conclude that many of preachers in this day have forgotten this truth.
Listening to the messages delivered from many pulpits would lead the people in the pews to believe that the speakers really don’t remember that Jesus Christ is alive, if they ever knew this.
These speakers talk about man’s heroic struggles to find his place in the world, or they speak of coping mechanisms to deal with the pressures of modern life, of the need for greater equality in the world, the unfairness arising from privilege, the need for economic parity or a thousand other matters beside the truth that Jesus Christ is alive.
It is tragic enough when professed leaders of the churches fail to remember that Jesus is alive, but how much more tragic when we allow ourselves to be so beaten down that we forget that Jesus is alive.
Child of God, the Lord God is on His throne.
Christ Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father; and He still rises to receive His child when that child comes home.
This same Jesus hears and answers prayer.
The men who murdered Stephen witnessed him as he surrendered his life and they heard his final words.
Perhaps they could ignore the testimony he provided that drove them into unthinking rage, but they could never forget his final assertion.
Listen to the account of one who was present that day and never forgot what he witnessed.
“[Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” [ACTS 7:55, 56].
I don’t know what trials you are facing today; I am quite certain that each one listening today is either now facing trials or shall face trials in this coming year.
I am confident that we who believe the Son of God will experience trials; we will face challenges for which we lack strength.
We are cautioned not to be moved by the afflictions we face, knowing that we are destined for this [see 1 THESSALONIANS 3:3.
4].
Never forget that God is on the throne and that He is mighty on behalf of His beloved child.
And you are that beloved child if your face and hope are in Him.
Elisha walked with Elijah even to the final day of the old prophets walk on earth.
Though Elijah repeatedly tested the younger prophet, Elisha would not leave the weary prophet’s side.
He wanted the faith and the courage that Elijah possessed.
This is the story of that final day, focused on the final moments of Elijah’s journey on earth.
“When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
And Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.’
But Elisha said, ‘As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’
So they went down to Bethel.
And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?’
And he said, ‘Yes, I know it; keep quiet.’
“Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.’
But he said, ‘As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’
So they came to Jericho.
The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?’
And he answered, ‘Yes, I know it; keep quiet.’
“Then Elijah said to him, ‘Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.’
But he said, ‘As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’
So the two of them went on.
Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.
Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
“When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.’
And Elisha said, ‘Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.’
And he said, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.’
And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them.
And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it and he cried, ‘My father, my father!
The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’
And he saw him no more.
“Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?’
And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over” [2 KINGS 2:1-14].
Think of some of the great lessons demonstrated in this account of Elisha’s blessing.
We witness the prophet’s persistence in the face of discouragement.
Elijah endeavoured to discourage Elisha, but Elisha refused to leave his side.
Just so, it often feels as though God is no longer on our side and we grow discouraged.
It is almost as though God is challenging us to see if we truly want what we seek.
Spurgeon used to say that faith always gives a double knock at Heaven’s door.
The lesson—/Don’t give up when the going gets tough/.
The going will inevitably be challenging for that one pursuing Jesus the Master.
Follow hard after the Master.
Another lesson that seems to pop out of the account is that the wise follower of Jesus will /Avoid listening to the conventional wisdom/.
Whenever the child of God hears the phrase, “Everyone knows,” she must be convinced that heeding such a message leads to senescence, ensuring that there can be no advance.
The world advances on the discoveries of those who listened to an inner voice urging them to challenge the old frontiers.
In the realm of the spiritual, the child of God hears a word from behind saying, “This is the way, walk in it” [see ISAIAH 30:21].
The sons of the prophets united in saying to Elisha, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you” [2 KINGS 2:3, 5]? Elisha’s response is instructive for us.
Each time he responded, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
Let me step aside for a moment from the message.
The Northern Kingdom had apostatised.
However, even in the midst of an apostatised community were some who still sought God.
Out of the “Church of the Golden Calf” were found some identified as “sons of the prophets.
It is likely that these men had been turned to righteousness through Elijah’s preaching.
Within the apostate church are found courageous men who stand firmly for the cause of Christ.
A Savonarola resisting the evils of dissipated Florence, a Luther horrified at the excess of the Roman church, a Spurgeon refusing to go along to get along with a drifting Baptist Union—all alike stood resolute against evil and wickedness.
All the while there were well-meaning friends who though stirred at the message they received sought to drag these stalwarts back down to their own reality.
These great men sought God rather that listening to the conventional wisdom.
Again, the account provided teaches us to /Ask great things of God/.
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