Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Last week we learned that a crescendo is a steady rise in a musical passage to build excitement or intensity in the passage that leads up to a climatic point.

We also learned that crescendo can be used in a non-musical sense to describe a building of excitement, danger etc.

Last week I left you built up waiting for the climatic point like a good cliff hanger movie or TV show might.

The latter part, which is called the Benedictus because in Latin Vulgate the hymn begins in 1:68 with the word “Benedictus” (like the Magnificat), is heavily dependent on the OT both for its terminology and content and can be divided into four parts

The latter part, which is called the Benedictus because in Latin Vulgate the hymn begins in 1:68 with the word “Benedictus” (like the Magnificat), is heavily dependent on the OT both for its terminology and content and can be divided into four parts: 1:67 (the narrative introduction); 1:68a (the opening statement of praise); 1:68b–79 (the hymn itself, which can be subdivided into 1:68b–75, 76–79); and 1:80 (the narrative conclusion)

Luke wanted his readers to understand this as Zechariah’s divinely inspired hymn praising God for fulfilling his promises to his people and describing the roles of John the Baptist and especially the Messiah.

That’s where we we’ll start today.

As a reminder, this is still under O.T. era and this is O.T. Holy Spirit ministry.

Therefore you should know this filled with the Holy Spirit is not referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.

It’s temporary used for a specific task.

After Zach sings this song of praise that is filled with prophecy, we don’t see further evidence of him being filled.

In fact, we don’t hear about him at all....which goes to show…**think of something to say about him being temporary but don’t get caught up with it**

we might ask, For what task was he filled for?

You could say the task is for Zacharias to sing a song of praise to God.

You might could say that Zacharias’ song was to help people understand “what is John going to be” by explaining what Gabriel had told him.

If I were to answer that question this way, I wouldn’t be wrong.

But, am I asking the right question?

What was the question that I challenged you to ask while reading Scripture this week?

What do I see God revealing of Himself?

This song of Zacharias reveals several of God’s attributes.

This song of Zacharias reveals several of God’s attributes.

Before we get to long into discussing the attributes found here, perhaps it might be important to establish why it is important to understand the attributes of God.

or define what attributes mean

Because they aren’t just a list of His characteristics.

In his book No One Like Him, John Feinberg says:

Biblical authors paint a rich and full picture of the grandeur of God.

Their description of his attributes reveals not only who God is but also what we can expect from him and what he expects from us. . . .

Seldom does a writer mention divine attributes as though he were writing a mere list of God’s characteristics.

Rather, he appeals to a divine attribute as a basis for addressing some need of God’s people.

He Continues

...since God’s being is pure spirit and hence invisible, without his attributes, there would be little we could know about God, and it would be difficult to conceptualize him at all.

Its difficult to sing songs of praise like this if you are not filled by the Holy Spirit.

Luke :67

And there would be no Ginosko.

Attributes of God are qualities that belong to God’s essential nature and that are found wherever God becomes self-revealed.

Theologian Rolland McCune says:

…the essence of God, His deity, is revealed in the attributes.

These attributes (i.e., perfections) belong to God and are perceived by, not products of, the human intellect.

There is much to discuss regarding the topic of the Attributes of God, but you must understand a few important things.

God doesn’t “have” attributes, He is His attributes.

McCune says again:

God is what the attributes are; He does not just have what they are.

For example, He is knowledge, will, love, and all the rest.

Dr. Dave Burggraff of Shepherds Theological Seminary states:

The various attributes of God are not component parts of God.

Each describes His total being.

Love, for example, is not a part of God’s nature; God in His total being is love.

While God may display one quality or another at a given time, no quality is independent of or preeminent over any of the others.

Whenever God displays His wrath, He is still love.

When He shows His love, He does not abandon His holiness.

God would be unknowable without His attributes.

He is revealed and knowable by the attributes He reveals to us in Scripture.

We could not ponder Him if He had not made himself known to us through any definable attributes.

If we knew nothing about Him, then we could not worship Him.

We could not pray to Him, testify of Him, or boast about Him without speaking in some way about His attributes.

Burggraff says:

It would be absurd and impossible to try to worship God without implicitly thinking of some divine attributes, such as attentiveness, presence, power, mercy, holiness, or love.

Every thought of God or prayer to God, properly understood, assumes something about God’s attributes.

Most of you know my testimony.

Perhaps you’ve heard parts of it or I have share it fully with you.

I promise I won’t give you it now in it’s entirety.

But I grew up with religion.

I was in Catholic school for my first two years until I was informed by them the public school across the street was accepting applications.

But I still attended Catholic church with my mom until I was 14.

Then we started at an Episcopal church until I was 19.

Then we went to a Baptist church until I was 22.

Then to a methodist church until I was about 25 or 26.

Then I went into my running from God stage.

During that 25 or 26 years of religion, I never knew God.

I was in Christmas and Easter plays, memorized Bible verses.

Participated in Catholic traditions.

Never knew God.

I never ginosko-ed God.

I didn’t know He WAS Love, Mercy, Grace, Peace, Salvation, Holy, Comfort, Restoration, Eternity, etc.

He was just God to me.

NO WONDER I ran away from anything related to God.

This is why it is so important for us to ask this question

I couldn’t possibly worship Him because I didn’t know His attributes.

My prayers, my thoughts and my understanding of Him was empty.

This is why it is so important to teach our children, our friends and family who God is first.

The Bible is not a rule book.

It is a description of the God we worship.

It would be absurd and impossible to try to worship God without implicitly thinking of some divine attributes

With all this said, let’s ask the question of the text again:

Its difficult to sing songs of praise like this if ou are not filled by the Holy Spirit

With all this said, let’s ask the question of the text again:

What do I see God revealing of Himself?

I might add another subsequent question,

What is our response to what He’s revealed?

Forgiveness -

I’m not entering a theological lesson on the truth of the Trinity.

But in a discussion of God’s attributes, we tend to think of only God the Father in connection with these attributes.

I’m not entering a theological lesson on the truth of the Trinity.

But in a discussion of God’s attributes, we tend to think of only God the Father in connection with these attributes.

Wayne Grudem says

It is important to remember the doctrine of the Trinity in connection with the study of God’s attributes.

…the biblical teaching on the Trinity tells us that all of God’s attributes are true of all three persons, for each is fully God.

And since the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith we must remember as The writer of The Gospel for Muslims: Thabiti Anyabwile explains:

The writer of The Gospel for Muslims: Thabiti Anyabwile explains: