Sermon Tone Analysis

True change is the result of lather, rinse, repeat.

Change is hard.

Change is difficult.

It demands new patterns of behavior.

New growth.

New responsibility.

What is true today was true over 200 years ago, 700 years before Jesus the Messiah would be born.The people of God had abandoned true worship for ritual.

Many were abandoning the worship of the true God for the worship of demonic deities that demanded immorality and even the murder of children as a form of sacrifice.

This is the background of and 12. has four main themes: restoration, salvation, exultation, and proclamation.

- the coming of the Savior.

In we see the coming of the Messiah.

He will be of the lineage of David (1), the Spirit of the Lord will be upon him (2) giving him wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear (he will live by God’s word, v3-4).

Notice that he will “decide with equity.”

There is a lot of talk today about equality.

Notice that the equality of the Messiah is not equality of outcome but equality of opportunity.

Everyone has the opportunity to be blessed by him but those who reject him will receive judgment (4).

What he does and how he does it is considered to be righteous and faithful (5).

There shall be a return to Eden during his millennial reign (6-9), a sinless paradise where the Lord’s knowledge shall be completely revealed and obeyed (9).

There will be unity and peace and all peoples shall be welcome in his kingdom (10-16).

This is the setting for chapter 12. Messiah has come in power and righteousness to set up his kingdom.

Chapter 12 is the response of his obedient followers.

A biblical cycle for true change.

Something to be removed.

Something to be applied.

Something to get into a lather.

Something to be rinsed.

Repeat.

has four main themes: restoration, salvation, exaltation, and proclamation.

Restoration:

​

Salvation:

Salvation:

​ “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

​ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Notice how verse 2 implies trust and faith whole verse 3 implies a chosen attitude of joy and responsibility “you will draw water from”.

You do not draw joy from the wells of life.

You draw joy from the wells of salvation.

Notice how verse 2 implies trust and faith whole verse 3 implies a chosen attitude of joy and responsibility “you will draw water from”.

What does this do to our views of happiness and life purpose?

Exaltation:

To exalt, means to glorify or elevate something, but to exult is to rejoice.

Exalt Jesus.

Exult when you get the last two tickets to see your favorite band.

​ And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.

Proclamation:

Proclamation:

Isaiah 12:5-6

Worship on the inside, worship in the world, worship in the church

Worship Christ, Walk with Christ, Work for Christ, Witness for Christ

Example  You cannot achieve your purpose simply by being part of a group.

You need to have a personal purpose.

With respect to being a follower of Christ you don’t get to dictate your purpose.

Christ has given you your purpose.

Love God - love others - no limits.If you are not holding up your individual responsibility to Christ you can’t expect the rest of the group to do it for you.

We hear people all the time say that America is a Christian nation without thinking it through.

It is true that the entire framework of our constitution and judicial system was based on the 10 commandments.

But how is America a Christian nation?

What kind of Christian?

Are we basing it on a percentage?

If we’re basing it on a percentage of people who call themselves Christian and yet don’t go to church, don’t obey the 10 Commandments, don’t follow the other commands of Christ,  then what kind Christian are we talking about?

People say they want America to be Christian but they themselves don’t live Christian.

They want the benefits without personally taking responsibility.

How does this work in the Bible?

A good example is to look at how the old testament was written.

Yes it talks about God, yes it talks about rules for living.

But there is something else just as big in addition to this.

Notice that the Bible tells the personal stories of individuals who chose to take responsibility and who chose not to take responsibility.

The Bible is a book of heroes.

Flawed heroes.

Imperfect heroes.

Nonetheless they took responsibility for their personal relationship with God and they took responsibility for their personal obedience to God.  

Israel was a group but where would they be without a Moses?

Israel was a kingdom but where would they be without a David?

The captives were a group but where would they be without a Daniel?

We need to stop playing the game of I’m part of the group therefore I belong in the group and have the same rights as the rest of the group, have the same amount of leadership decision making, benefits receiving, opinion in what happens, etc.

Before we expect from the group we need to inspect our lives and do some work.