Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction:
Obituary
Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, “Someone Else.”
Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill.
Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work.
Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's list, "Let Someone Else do it."
Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; "Someone Else can work with that group."
It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church.
Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.
Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman.
Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else.
Now Someone Else is gone!
We wonder what we are going to do.
Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it?
Who is going to do the things Someone Else did?
When you are asked to help this church, remember -- we can't depend on Someone Else anymore.
Someone Else is dead.
So what then am I asking you to help with this morning?
A Dead Church
A new Pastor in a small Oklahoma town spent the first four days making personal visits to each one of the members, inviting them to come to his first services.
The following Sunday the church was all but empty.
Accordingly, the Pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the church was dead, it was everyone's duty to give it a decent Christian burial.
The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon, the notice said.
Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the "funeral."
In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin, smothered in flowers.
After the Pastor delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church.
Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a "dead church," all the people eagerly lined up to look in the coffin.
Each "mourner" peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look.
In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror.
Transition:
Obviously, these two anecdotes are a bit facetious—it is a bit fun to use humor to introduce tough topics, but what if there is too much familiarity between these anecdotes and Grace Baptist Church?
What if this is dead serious?
If so, there are deadly consequences.
Let’s continue in our journey through Revelation as this morning’s passage can help understand the severity of these deadly topics.
At the conclusion of the bowl judgments last week, Babylon was split into three parts and is made to drink the full cup of God’s wrath (16:19).
Now one of the seven angels from chapter 16 invites John to witness in greater detail the judgment God will bring on the harlot.
Scripture Reading:
Revelation 17:1–6
The judgment of Babylon the Great in chapters 17–19:5 is expanding the final bowl judgments of Revelation 16.
In the rest of this morning’s chapter, the angel interprets the meaning of the vision (17:7–18).
In the end, Revelation is about God’s desire to live among his people, the Creator with his creation.
This divine desire reaches its full glory in the coming together of the Lamb and the bride.
Throughout the Bible, the marriage metaphor with Israel as YHWH’s bride and the church as the bride of Christ reveals the depth and fullness of God’s covenant love for His people.
But when the people are unfaithful, the metaphor changes from the beauty of marital fidelity to the filthiness of adultery and prostitution (e.g., Hos.
2–3; Jer.
3; Ezek.
16).
If the people of God can play the harlot, how much more can those who vehemently and repeatedly curse God, those who never took covenant vows to begin with?
The images of prostitution and marital faithfulness stand side by side in Revelation 17–18 as one of the most dramatic spiritual contrasts in the Bible.
Transition:
The question I have for you this morning is do you, do we, love God enough?
Our church needs t be able to recognize who they fight against
- What Chapter 17 shows us is the religious system that Satan uses
A common question at this point in the Great Tribulation is: Why is Satan so successful?
all the Earth Dweller know without a doubt who is the one plaguing them
Since the rapture of the church, many people are confused and seeking answers--This is the primary reason why the world is able to be united under one religion
Because of the confusion and chaos, people will be looking for answers
APP: Satan knows who we are and what are needs are, so he uses those- He knows that we are willing to follow any trend of the day
-- So with that in hand, he is able to take control (because we give it so easily)
- As Christians, we need to understand this and be able to act accordingly.
As Christians, we are to be a witness to this deceptive, manipulative way of satan—all the while a witness of the transforming love of God.
This passage this morning was written for us today.
This passage has more relevance than you might first think.
To explain how, let’s now witness what John saw.
I.
An Invitation to Witness (vv.1-2)
The vision of the great prostitute and the vision of the bride of the Lamb begin in similar ways, emphasizing the contrast between the two: “Come, I will show you …” (here in 17:1; & then in Rev 21:9–10).
But first, what John is to witness is the judgment of the harlot, although what he sees at first is her prosperity and influence.
She “sits by many waters,” defined later in verse 15 as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” (the people under her rule).
The great prostitute (a.k.a.
Babylon) symbolizes a great center of secular demonic power.
She leads other nations and individual unbelievers (“dwellers/inhabitants of the earth,” ) to join her .
Okay, we know this is a vision and the symbols will be interpreted.
So what is all this talk of sexual immorality about?
This could refer to specific sexual sin, but I suspect it includes way more.
We know from the O.T. days that YHWH often rightly accused Israel of religious adultery.
This was not due to literal promiscuity, but a desire for other gods.
In a similar fashion, the Earth dwellers with the beast are worshipping a different god—the harlot.
They know of the judging True God yet they rather go after another god.
Apparently a few thousand years doesn’t change much.
Okay so this is between the unbeliever Israelites and the unbeliever Earth dwellers.
How is this applicable to now at Grace?
It is applicable to us because there are quite a bit of us who become so easily deceived and perhaps unknowingly dabble in this religious immorality.
How so?
We get uneasy about some clear biblical principle so we whore after a way to excuse ourselves from a seemingly difficult, unwanted biblical mandate.
Do we love God enough to do hard things?
For just one example: A verbal witness to strangers around us.
In other words:
Must Every Christian Share the Gospel with strangers?
If we’re honest, most of us here today would really like it if the answer to this question were, “No.” “No” would enable us to avoid being hated (for telling the Gospel, anyway!), and all that comes with that.
“No” would help us mask our fear of man.
In essence, “No,” would justify our reasons for not telling the Gospel of Jesus to strangers.
Do any of these following excuses sound familiar?
“It’s not my calling.”
“I don’t know how to tell the Gospel.”
“I’m not good with stuff like that.”
“I’m not gifted that way”
“I don’t know many unbelievers.”
or how about this one: “I live the Gospel rather than tell the Gospel.”
“I may not be able to answer people’s questions/comments.”
Etc.
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