Sermon Tone Analysis

Synopsis

God is not passive or remote from his creation but dynamically involved in all that he has made.

In the past, this activity was seen in the history of Israel and in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

In the present, God’s activity can be seen in the life of believers and of the church.

God is active by nature

He actively works out his purposes

Jn 5:17

John 5:17 (ESV) — 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

See also Nu 23:19; Ps 115:3; Pr 16:4; Is 43:13

Numbers 23:19 (ESV) — 19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Psalm 115:3 (ESV) — 3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Proverbs 16:4 (ESV) — 4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Isaiah 43:13 (ESV) — 13 Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

His names reflect his activity and involvement in his people’s lives

Ge 22:14 “The Lord Will Provide”; Ex 15:26 “The Lord, who heals you”; Ex 17:15 “The Lord is my Banner”: this title emphasises that God is like a warrior who champions his people’s cause; Ps 95:6 “The Lord our Maker”: the Hebrew word used does not refer to original creation but to the way in which God is fashioning a people for himself.

Genesis 22:14 (ESV) — 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Exodus 15:26 (ESV) — 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

Exodus 17:15 (ESV) — 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,

Psalm 95:6 (ESV) — 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

His word is active

Is 55:10–11 The Hebrew for “word” can also be translated “deed” or “action”.

God’s word is not merely a communication of abstract truth but a powerful force active in the world.

Isaiah 55:10–11 (ESV) — 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

See also Ge 1:3; Eze 37:4; Eze 37:7

Genesis 1:3 (ESV) — 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Ezekiel 37:4 (ESV) — 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:7 (ESV) — 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded.

And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

God is active in the creation

In making the universe

Ne 9:6

Nehemiah 9:6 (ESV) — 6 “You are the Lord, you alone.

You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

See also Ge 1:1; Ge 1:31; Ge 2:2; Ge 5:1–2; Ps 102:25; Am 4:13; Ac 17:24; Re 4:11

Genesis 1:1 (ESV) — 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:31 (ESV) — 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2:2 (ESV) — 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

Genesis 5:1–2 (ESV) — 1 This is the book of the generations of Adam.

When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.

Psalm 102:25 (ESV) — 25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Amos 4:13 (ESV) — 13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Acts 17:24 (ESV) — 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

Revelation 4:11 (ESV) — 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

In sustaining the created order

Ps 103:19

Psalm 103:19 (ESV) — 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

See also Ps 104:10–17; Ps 107:33–35; Mt 6:28–30; Ac 14:17; Eph 1:11; Col 1:16–17

Psalm 104:10–17 (ESV) — 10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; 11 they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.

13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth 15 and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17 In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees.

Psalm 107:33–35 (ESV) — 33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.

35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.

Matthew 6:28–30 (ESV) — 28 And why are you anxious about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Acts 14:17 (ESV) — 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

Ephesians 1:11 (ESV) — 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Colossians 1:16–17 (ESV) — 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

In bringing about changes in the weather

Job 37:10; Job 38:22–30; Job 38:34–35; Ps 107:25; Ps 147:8; Mt 5:45; Ac 14:17

Job 37:10 (ESV) — 10 By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.

Job 38:22–30 (ESV) — 22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? 24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, 26 to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, 27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?

28 “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

Job 38:34–35 (ESV) — 34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? 35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

Psalm 107:25 (ESV) — 25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.

Psalm 147:8 (ESV) — 8 He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills.

Matthew 5:45 (ESV) — 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Acts 14:17 (ESV) — 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

In the stars and other heavenly bodies

Job 38:31–33; Ps 104:19; Ps 147:4; Is 40:26; Jas 1:17

Job 38:31–33 (ESV) — 31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Psalm 104:19 (ESV) — 19 He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.

Psalm 147:4 (ESV) — 4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

Isaiah 40:26 (ESV) — 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?

He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

James 1:17 (ESV) — 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

In the animal creation

Job 39:1–30; Job 40:15–24; Job 41:1–11; Ps 104:20–27; Ps 147:9; Mt 10:29

Job 39:1–30 (ESV) — 1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe the calving of the does? 2 Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, 3 when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young?

4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them. 5 “Who has let the wild donkey go free?

Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 6 to whom I have given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver.

8 He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.

9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?

Will he spend the night at your manger? 10 Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11 Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor?

12 Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?