Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

(Church family, you’ve been a refuge for my family and me this week.

Many of you who have been around for the last year, know what a struggle it’s been.

You’ve been a place of refuge, and I praise God for you.)

Have you ever been hopeless before?

My family tasted the bitterness of hopelessness this week.

My sister began having some very troubling symptoms, and before we know it, we’re at the ER.

And, you’re sitting there, and you’re expecting them to have a simple explanation as to what is going on so that you can leave with your antibiotics and go home, right?

But then, it’s like the all of the dominos fall, and these painful diagnoses are coming at you like machine gun fire — brain tumor and heart problems.

And man, you’re just paralyzed with hopelessness, right?

You’re sitting there and the doctor’s talking, but it’s hard to believe that he’s saying what he’s actually saying.

But then, one of them comes in, and they’re like, “We can help her.

We believe we can make her better.”

And, those words are just so sweet when your mouth has been filled with such a bitter taste.

When you’re surrounded by the dark, nothing is so spectacular as that first glimmer of light.

You can’t love hope until you’ve tasted hopelessness.

You can’t appreciate how sweet hope is until you’ve tasted the bitterness of despair.

Have you ever wondered why people don’t love Jesus?

Have you ever wondered why everyone in the world doesn’t run to the hope of the Gospel and the Good News that we have in Christ?

It’s because they haven’t realized their hopelessness yet.

You see, they don’t understand the final costs and so following Jesus still looks too costly.

This morning, we open up our Advent season by thinking of hope, and to think about hope, we’re going to look at our hopelessness.

We’re going to stare at it and contemplate it, and we’re going to do that so that we can cherish the hope that we have in Christ’s coming.

Have you ever been hopeless before?

My family tasted the bitterness of hopelessness this week.

My sister began having some very troubling symptoms, and before we know it, we’re at the ER.

And, you’re sitting there, and you’re expecting them to have a simple explanation as to what is going on so that you can leave with your antibiotics and go home, right?

But then, it’s like the all of the dominos fall, and these painful diagnoses are coming at you like machine gun fire — brain tumor and heart problems.

And man, you’re just paralyzed with hopelessness, right?

You’re sitting there and the doctor’s talking, but it’s hard to believe that he’s saying what he’s actually saying.

God’s Word

People are not generally good.

Have you ever been hopeless before?

You know, this week, my family

Read (We’re going to be taking an interesting look at Noah and what we’re supposed to learn about the Gospel from Noah’s life over the next four weeks of Advent.)

Then and Now

“every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” There are many scars that we bear as a result of sin.

We have to have hospitals and insurance because disaster is always around the corner.

We deal with loss and with fear and with persecution.

But, as many scars as we may bear and as many difficulties as we may face as a result of sin, none are so bad as the corruption of the mind.

Listen to how explains it: The NET Bible translates it as saying: "Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time."

Your translation might place the emphasis on the heart, but the Jewish people referred to the heart as the place of decision and will and deepest thinking.

Think of that.

Every thought, every desire, every motivation, every want are only evil.

Notice that it doesn't say simply "They did evil."

It says, "They wanted to do evil.

They thought evil thoughts.

They had evil desires and evil wants and evil motivations."

This isn't simply a doing problem; it's a thinking problem.

It's not just what they're doing; it's what they want to do.

It's just what they say and how they live; it's, first and foremost, how they think.

We are Just as Deserving of the Flood

There are many scars that we bear as a result of sin.

We have to have hospitals and insurance because disaster is always around the corner.

We deal with loss and with fear and with persecution.

But, as many scars as we may bear and as many difficulties as we may face as a result of sin, none are so bad as the corruption of the mind.

Listen to how explains it: The NET Bible translates it as saying: "Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time."

Think of that.

Every thought, every desire, every motivation, every want are only evil.

Notice that it doesn't say simply "They did evil."

It says, "They wanted to do evil.

They thought evil thoughts.

They had evil desires and evil wants and evil motivations."

This isn't simply a doing problem; it's a thinking problem.

It's not just what they're doing; it's what they want to do.

It's just what they say and how they live; it's, first and foremost, how they think.

What Moses is driving home is not that these were good people that made a couple of mistakes.

These weren’t good people who wanted to do good and be a blessing to God as they were intended, but made mistakes.

These were bad people who did bad things because they wanted to.

These were people who were so inherently wicked that their very inclinations and appetites were evil.

These weren’t good people making mistakes.

These were natural born sinners living out their true desires.

Now, when I was growing up, I used to think: "Oh wow, things were really bad in Noah's day.

All of the people were just so wicked and so evil.

I'm so glad that I didn't live then and that I live now when it's not that bad."

But, brothers and sisters, doesn't just describe a long time ago; it describes right now.

We are just as deserving of the flood today as they were then.

Now, when I was growing up, I used to think: "Oh wow, things were really bad in Noah's day.

All of the people were just so wicked and so evil.

I'm so glad that I didn't live then and that I live now when it's not that bad."

But, brothers and sisters, doesn't just describe a long time ago; it describes right now.

This isn't just an Old Testament problem that goes away after the great flood.

This is humanity's ongoing problem, and the flood is to show us that the judgement of sin requires the life of every sinner.

The problem of sin is so pervasive that God would have to purify the whole earth of every person if He is to pour out his righteous wrath without his own intervention.

And, in no place, is the corruption of the creation and the corruption of humanity worse than in the human mind.

This is how Adam and Eve originally sinned, wasn't it?

Think about what it was that they wanted.

They wanted the full 'knowledge' of good and evil like God.

In other words, their sin was the aspiration of their minds to know what God knows.

It was the inclination of their minds to do evil and to think they were entitled as God that led to their wickedness.

And, in no place, is the corruption of the creation and the corruption of humanity worse than in the human mind.

This is how Adam and Eve originally sinned, wasn't it?

Think about what it was that they wanted.

They wanted the full 'knowledge' of good and evil like God.

In other words, their sin was the aspiration of their minds to know what God knows.

It was the inclination of their minds to do evil and to think they were entitled as God that led to their wickedness.

Live Stream of Your Thoughts

ILL: People have trouble believing that they're evil, but what if we could see what you're really thinking all of the time.

Imagine with me that I announced today that next Sunday I was going to have a device that allowed us to stream all of your thoughts from the past week through our projection system and that we were going to stream them person-by-person for good accountability.

Now, some of you would want to come just because you're nosy and want to see what people are thinking, but I bet you'd sure leave quickly when you realized it was about to be your time.