Sermon Tone Analysis

“*MAKE ROOM IN YOUR HEARTS*”

                   (A Sermon Series from 2 Corinthians)

 

Westgate Chapel 10-7-07                            2 Corinthians 7:2-4

 

Proposition:      The local church is people with hearts engaged in love for God and for each other.

! i.    introduction

!! -     On October 29, 1941, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, visited his old high school to hear the traditional songs he had sung there as a youth, as well as to speak to the students.

!! -     IT became one of his most quoted speeches….maybe

one of the most quoted of all time.

!! -     IT was right in the thick of WW II….at a time when the battle could still have gone either way.

!! -     AND he said,

!!!       “Never give in.

Never give in.

Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in.

Never yield to force.

Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

!! -     THAT speech was recorded and has been captured on a CD.

!! -     AND if I came over to your house some day this week, right after you got home from work….

!!! ~*     and you parked your nice car in the garage

!!! ~*     and got out of your work clothes and put on something comfortable, like a nice fleece track suit

!!! ~*     and we broke out some hot apple pie and ice cream

!!! ~*     and dropped into a couple of recliners and leaned back to listen to this speech

!!!!       “Never give in.

Never give in.

Never, never, never, never.”

!! -     I AM going to suggest to you that it would not have the same impact, or seem quite as crucial sitting in our recliners as it did to those who heard it in 1941.

!!! ~*     Those who laid awake at night listening for the air raid sirens and the buzz bombs overhead.

!!! ~*     Those who were uncertain that Britain had the military equipment or strength to win the war.

!!! ~*     Those whose fathers, uncles and brothers were already dying in the trenches of Europe.

!!! ~*     Those who were listening to the taunting daily radio broadcasts from Nazi Germany threatening the annihilation of Great Britain and calling for their surrender.

!! -     TO these people, those three simple words (never give in) meant everything…and would ring in their hearts for the next four years while the future of the civilized world hung in the balances.

!! -     I AM going to apply this same principle to the first seven words from the apostle Paul in our passage in 2 Corinthians 7:2.

Paul writes,

!!!         “*Make room for us /in your hearts/*/!”

/(2 Corinthians 7:2)

!! -     WE sit back in our padded comfortable sanctuary seats in modern day America….no

serious persecution for our faith, no severe hardships, for the most part living pretty comfortably.

!! -     AND Paul’s words, “*Make room for us in your hearts*…” sound simple, a little syrupy, they maybe even make Paul seem a little needy.

!! -     THAT is because you weren’t there in that historical moment to feel the impact of those words.

!! -     WHEN you realize their context, those words are huge….possibly

the key to the future of the church in Corinth.

!

ii.

MAKE ROOM for us IN YOUR HEARTS

!! -     IN many ways the city of Corinth was the chief city of Greece in Paul’s day.

!!! ~*     In size, in commerce, in culture, and in religion…Corinth had 12 massive temples to many of the popular gods of the day, the temple of Aphrodite one of the most famous in the world.

!! -     THE apostle Paul had stopped in Corinth around 51 AD on his second missionary journey and through him, Jesus built His church in this strategic Greek city.

!! -     THE mere presence of this fledgling church immediately challenged the dominion of Satan over the city so much so that one day, during the season that the church was being planted, a riot broke out against the Christians.

!! -     THE very existence of the church in that city announced that the Kingdom of God was present….and

according to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2, the kingdom was present in a demonstration of God’s power.

!! -     THE external opposition in the early days of the church’s life got so severe that Jesus had to personally appear to Paul in Acts 18:9-10 and say to him,

!!!       “*Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you*…” (Acts 18:9-10)

!! -     BUT the external opposition seemed quickly to die out and in a short while things settled down quite nicely for everyone in the church in Corinth.

…so when Paul writes his letters to them some four years later, he is able to say to them,

!!! ~*     1 Corinthians 1:4 says that God’s grace was given them in Christ Jesus.

!!! ~*     1 Corinthians 1:5 says that in everything they were enriched in all speech, knowledge and testimony.

!!! ~*     1 Corinthians 1:7 says that they were not lacking in any spiritual gift.

!!! ~*     And when the apostle Paul left after 18 months in Corinth, they were blessed by the learned Apollos, then Titus, and then Timothy as pastor.

!! -     BUT, in spite of these blessings and the manifest presence and power of God in their lives and ministries, the church soon faced a very different enemy bent on their destruction.

!!! ~*     There was a lot of in-fighting between factions over loyalties to their favorite church leaders….resulting in division.

!!! ~*     There were internal jealousies that were causing tensions and strife between people.

!!! ~*     Some inside the church were not content with the simplicity of the Gospel and had separated themselves from others because they viewed themselves as too intellectual for what was happening in the services.

!!! ~*     There was division between the haves and the have nots in the church.

!!! ~*     There was division over how church discipline needed to be handled.

!!! ~*     Some of the differences between them had become so severe that the disputes were being played out in the local court system.

!!! ~*     Some were indifferent to the consciences of those weaker in the faith and flaunted their freedom by eating meat sacrificed to idols, actually stumbling the faith of the weaker ones among them…and indifferent about it.

!!! ~*     The internal struggles between members of the church had become so intense their communion services became a place where God broke out in judgment on some of them with sickness and even death.

!!! ~*     The operation of the gifts of the Spirit had been turned into one-upmanship.

!!! ~*     And now some had even turned on their founding pastor, Paul, and had launched a series of unfounded accusations against him….

!!!! -     That he was too overbearing with them in his leadership.

!!!! -     That his teachings had put a hardship on them economically by separating them from the businesses that supplied the pagan temples with products they needed.

!!!! -     That he had likely used mission offerings for Jerusalem for his own needs.

!!!! -     That his call for church discipline was excessive.

!!!! -     That he had proven unreliable re: his promises to visit them.

!! -     THINGS had turned nasty in Corinth….and

what they didn’t realize was that their ability to survive the spiritual battle they were in was hanging in the balances.

!! -     THE work of God was being sabotaged from within the church itself.

!! -     WHY was this internal turmoil threatening the life and future of the congregation?

!!! 1.

Because the only place that God anoints and blesses is that place where brothers and sisters dwell together in unity.

!!!!       “*Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!* 2 *It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, /even /Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.* 3 *It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever*.”

(Psalm 133)

!!! 2.   Because a house divided cannot stand against the attacks of the enemy.

It is one of the most basic principles of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus taught that in Matthew 12:25,

!!!!       “*Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand*.”

(Matthew 12:25)

!!!!! -     Satan has no direct authority over God’s people to move against us…other than what we provide him and his demons by any ungodly choices….and

division in family or church is one place where our choices will bring down the work of God.

!! -     THE local church, for all of its weaknesses is still God’s method for discipling all nations.

!! -     WE learn from the New Testament that in the local church….

!!! ~*     We are members of each other.

!!! ~*     Our lives are intertwined and inter-dependent.

!!! ~*     None of us can say we don’t need another part of Christ’s body….great

or small.

!!! ~*     When one rejoices we all rejoice.

!!! ~*     When one suffers we all suffer.

!!! ~*     Our lives have been joined together by none less that Jesus Christ, bone, sinew, muscle, flesh….we

are the Body of Christ.

!!! ~*     We are, not just as individuals, but together in each local church, the temple of the living God.

!! -     SO, what happens in our relationships and our interaction is of the highest importance.

!! -     NO wonder the New Testament says,

!!! ~*     Be at peace with one another.