Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Opening Prayer
Father, we seek your wisdom, not the wisdom of the world:
We ask for protection from distraction, from any ungodly influence that would prevent your message from being received today.
I ask for personal guidance and leading by the Holy Spirit: I can’t do this by my own strength.
Father, I ask for your blessing of understanding for each person hearing this message here and online.
Our faith is strengthened when we see the power of your Word in action, how each person is touched in a personal way by your written Word.
Please show each of us where we fall short of Christ, and gently correct us, knowing that we are frail flesh.
We love you and offer ourselves to you without condition.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Lets Put on Our Spiritual Armor
I strongly recommend memorizing these verses and say them in your morning prayers.
You don’t want to be out on the battlefield unprotected!
Are you all armored up?
Isn’t the armor of God comforting?
We stand on the truth of His Word and have peace in the protection of God our savior.
So What are Spiritual Doors?
That is our teaching topic for today.
We’ll explore what scripture has to say, and compare this to what the world offers.
You’ll make your own conclusions.
As your teacher, I don’t want you to receive this passively.
Go study, see if its true, see where it applies to you.
Do not be dependent on others to think for you.
And don’t just look at the scientific evidence in front of us, and assume its truth because 99% of serious scientists agree.
Rather instead, consult the Lord, study scripture, and use spiritual discernment.
God will grant you wisdom in abundance if you seek him diligently.
I can testify personally to this fact with many examples, which some of you have already heard.
Jesus is The Door
We are familiar with this expression, and we certainly understand the metaphor of a door: when shut, nothing can pass; when open, passage can occur.
Note that passage is optional.
You can stand in front of the open door of salvation and not accept the free offer of eternal life.
Jesus uses the metaphor of a sheepfold and it’s door to declare wonderful spiritual truth.
Before we turn to scripture, here’s some context: Jesus talks with the recently healed blind man who was cast out of the temple by the Pharisees.
He then asks the man whether he believes on the Son of God, and some of the Pharisees heard this conversation:
This cryptic proverb was lost on the Pharisees.
It’s cryptic to me, too!
But not unknowable.
We have the Holy Spirit to teach us.
When encountering difficult scripture, it’s a important signpost that says “dig here.”
I’m sure an entire sermon and more is contained in these last three verses.
Thankfully, Jesus offers further teaching, in the form of a parable.
Sheepfold in Ancient Context
Shepherds
Show the picture, invite for closer inspection.
Explain the covered, uncovered sections, the wall, the single gate, and the role of the gatekeeper.
Explain how herds were mixed in the sheepfold for protection.
Explain how each shepherd’s distinctive voice and singing was recognized by his sheep, they that they would dutifully follow the shepherd.
Explain how easily frightened sheep are.
Gatekeepers
Gatekeepers served as guards to protect the gates of a walled city, such as Jerusalem.
They would personally know most of the people passing through, would recognize travellers, and should be able to recognize an enemy.
Gatekeepers were also used to protect the temple.
Several lists and genealogies of gatekeepers are recorded in scripture, starting with the Levite temple servants.
God honors gatekeepers with great obligation, and holds them personally accountable if they fail their duties.
Keep this in mind and we proceed.
The temple gatekeepers protected the temple from those who would desecrate it or steal its treasure.
Did you know that with the new covenant, those who are in Christ are now a temple of God?
The Holy Spirit resides in us!
What great news — we are no longer alone.
I remember crushing loneliness as a child.
If only I had Jesus back then!
Show picture of the tabernacle, then the first, second, third, and heavenly temples.
It turns out that our bodies have a high degree of correlation to the tabernacle, which we discussed at a recent men’s prayer breakfast.
See me if you’d like the materials from that teaching, or send an email us to nliccedarcreek@outlook.com.
Desecration
The temple gatekeeper was there to prevent desecration of the temple.
Witthoff defines desecration as defiling an object or place by some unclean or impure act.
This can render an object unholy, impure, unclean, or it can simply be a great offense to the object or place.
Witthoff, D. (Ed.).
(2014).
The Lexham Cultural Ontology Glossary.
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Temple Desecration
Personal Desecration
Pastor Phil recently taught on this, also.
Let’s remind ourselves of Jesus’ definition of what defiles a person:
The writer of Hebrews reveals another source of defilement:
We who are the temple of God can defile that temple and ourselves by our words (and we now know words come forth from the heart).
We can also defile our temple by our attitudes.
Deliverance from the Root of Bitterness
The Holy Spirit revealed to me a root of bitterness going back to childhood.
I was angry with my mother and I was perhaps 8 or 9 years old.
Although long suppressed and hidden in darkness, God revealed it to me and memory of it came fully to light.
From my adult perspective, Mom was perfectly reasonable in her response: She was worried because I had been playing down the road several houses and she didn’t know where I was and had been gone for a long time.
As a child, I chose to be resentful and to hold on to that resentment and anger.
Just like a root, this bitterness took hold of me and poisoned me in many ways for decades afterwards.
Like pathetic and really annoying self-pity, for example.
Those who know me well have seen this.
Some day, I’ll share my message on self pity and how the Lord healed me, and is healing me.
So lets get healing for any roots of bitterness we might have.
I bind Satan, the strongman, and the spirits of bitterness in Jesus’ name.
I break their power over me in Jesus name.
I cast them out and away from me, and order them into cages to be taken to the feet of Jesus for immediate judgement.
(We’re not playing catch and release here!)
We apply the blood of Jesus to the empty places in our hearts where bitterness once imprisoned and defiled us.
We invite the Holy Spirit to heal us by the stripes of Jesus.
We loose warrior angels to stand as gatekeepers to prevent new spirits of bitterness from entering our sheepfold, in Jesus’ name.
We invite (or re-invite?)
Jesus to be our shepherd and to keep us safe in the sheepfold as we heal from those roots of bitterness.
I ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of this healing so that I can share this miracle with others, thereby glorifying God.
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