Sermon Tone Analysis

*Luke 4:31-40*

 

From 1643 to 1715 there was no greater authority in France than Louis XIV.

Under his rule, France prospered and suffered like it had never done before.

There are just a handful of monarchs that have ever lived that ruled with such total power and authority as that of Louis XIV.

King Louis ruled in a time when people thought that their monarch’s authority came by divine appointment and he lived that out.

He lived in such opulence that he was given the nickname “the Sun King.”

His rule was absolute.

Whatever he said was carried out.

Once when questioned about the limits of his power and authority, he responded, “L'état, c'est moi” when translated means “I am the state.”

Louis flaunted his authority his whole life.

However that all came to an end in 1715 when Louis XIV died.

His funeral was as spectacular as his life.

His body lay in a golden coffin.

To dramatize the his deceased greatness, orders had been given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit and that a lone candle be placed above his coffin.

Thousands waited in silence for the funeral to begin.

Bishop Massilon was given the privilege of preaching the funeral sermon.

As he stepped up beside the coffin, he slowly reached down and snuffed out the candle.

A sense of shock and hush fell over the crowd.

Massilon looked up and spoke a 4 word sermon, “Only God is great”

By stating those 4 words, Massilon let the people know what the truth was.  Louis XIV was just a man with no divine power.

He was not the state, he was not God.

His authority was gone!

 

v    He was also putting forth another truth…

Ø     True power and authority resides in God alone

 

v    In our Scripture today, Luke puts Power and Authority on display through the incarnate God, Jesus Christ

 

*READ 4:31-32*

 

v    The first hint of Authority we see is in…

*V.

31-32 ~~ Jesus Teaching Authority*

v    V.

32 ~~ “/They were amazed at His teaching because His message had authority/”

Ø     *RQ: Why did Jesus’ preaching & teaching have authority?*

§        He taught First Hand

·        Explain how teaching was done

¨     Prophets said, “Thus sayeth the Lord…”

¨     Rabbis said, “There is a saying…”

¨     Jesus said, “I say to you…”

Ø     I want you to notice as we go through the Gospel of Luke how many times Jesus uses the first person pronoun

§        Lk 6:9 ~~ Healing on the Sabbath

·        “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath…”

§        Lk 6:27 ~~ Lukan sermon on the mount

·        “I tell you who hear me…”

§        LK 28 ~~ Jesus teaching about John the Baptist

·        “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John…”

§        Lk 7:40 ~~ Annointed by woman in Parisees house

·        “Simon, I have something to tell you…”

¨     Jesus does not ask what the Scripture teach…

Ø     He tells them

§        Claims authority equal to and sometimes greater than the Bible!

·        If you hear anyone doing anything remotely like this today…

¨     Run, don’t walk, away from that person!

Secondly, the people recognized Jesus’ Authority because…

§        It is rooted in the Word

·        Remember Jesus’ first sermon

¨     Came right from *Isaiah 61:1-2*

·        He did this again and again

¨     Lk 6 ~~ Sermon on the Mount

Ø     Straight from Deuteronomy

¨     Lk 7 ~~ Jesus teaching from Malachi 3

¨     Lk 8 ~~ We see Jesus teaching from Isa 9

¨     During His 3 year ministry…

Ø     We find Jesus quoting from every book in the OT except Esther

§        The son of God found it important to preach and teach from the Scriptures…

·        Why doesn’t the 21st century church!

§        We are in a sad state today

·        Churches are not preaching from the Word of God

 

A preacher once confided to his head deacon that he was troubled at how few of the church members showed up for any given service.

The deacon, a faithful farmhand who never missed a service, reflected on the years he had listened to his preacher's sermons and then replied: "Well, Preacher, if you pour only water into the feeding trough, the hogs don't come around to feed too often.”

Ø     Our problem is even worse than that!

§        In so many pulpits, unedifying water is being poured and the people come and drink it as if it were milk and meat!

·        So many pastors just use the Bible as a springboard to talk on what they want to talk about

¨     Sunday morning sermons have deteriorated into story-time, newspaper philosophy and personal soapboxes

Ø     Our postmodern culture is not interested in reasoned Biblical doctrine anymore

§        If the church is to have any authority today, it must teach on the authority of God’s holy Word

 

Thirdly, Jesus’ teaching was authoritative because…

§        It is Challenging

·        Star Trek (Scottie)

¨     Matter and anti-matter = explosion

·        Same is true spiritually

¨     Whenever righteousness and unrighteousness come in contact with each other, there is bound to be a spiritual explosion

·        Whenever the pure teaching of the Bible is taught

¨     And it comes in contact with a depraved mind

Ø     The depraved mind is challenged

§        Amy Carmicheal

·        /“If you have never been hurt by a word from God, it is probable that you have never heard God speak./”

¨     When you or I are listening to a sermon that is Scripturally rooted and something is said

Ø     That strikes us…

Ø     That challenges us…

Ø     That we don’t agree with…

Ø     Or that we plain just don’t like

§        I challenge all of us to sit back and reflect…

·        Ask the question…

¨     *Is this God’s truth bringing light into a dark part of my mind?

*

Ø      *2 Cor 10:5*

§        /we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ/

·        Our mind does not want to be obedient to Christ’s teaching

¨     But…

Ø     We must allow God to be the authority in all aspects of our life

 

v    We not only see Jesus’ Authority manifest in His teaching…

Ø     In verses 33-37 we see…