Sermon Tone Analysis

*Forgetting the Past and Embracing the New*

 

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NKJV) "“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert."

(Isaiah 43:18-19, NKJV)

 

2 Peter 1:1-4 (NKJV) \\ 1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 *Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that /pertain/ to life and godliness*, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, *that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption /that is/ in the world through lust*.

" But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

(2 Peter 1:5-11, NKJV)

Faith

*Faith* marks the beginning of the Christian life (see Acts 3:16; Rom.

3:28; Heb.

11:6).

Through genuine faith, God grants eternal life to a spiritually dead person (see Eph. 2:1).

! I.                 Faith

!! *A.              **We begin with faith, because faith is where we begin in our walk with God*

!!!! a)           John 20:24-31 (NKJV)

!!!!! (1)        29 Jesus said to him, 6“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed.

Blessed /are/ those who have not seen and /yet/ have believed.”

!!!! b)          *We know something about Jesus, but not everything*.

John 1:43-51 (NKJV)

!!!!! (1)        50 Jesus answered and said to [Nathanael], “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe?

You will see greater things than these.”

!!! *2.                **Faith is ths operative ingredient of our salvation*

!!!! a)           John 3:16 (NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

(John 3:16, NKJV)

!!! 3.                *Faith is where we begin our Life* (abundant and eternal)

!!!! a)           John 3:36 (NKJV) "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”"

(John 3:36, NKJV)

!!!! b)          John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

(John 10:10, NKJV)

!!! *4.                **Faith is where we begin our journey…together*

!!!! *a)           **Faith is the common ground on which you stand*

!!!! *b)          **Faith is the point and line of agreement from which you can walk together*

!!!!! (1)        Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"

(Amos 3:3, NKJV)

!!!!! (2)        or depart

!! *B.               **Through the cross God has placed Jesus on a platform to draw everyone to him*

!!!!! (1)        John 12:32-33   "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”"

(John 12:32, NKJV)

!!!!! (2)        John 3:14-15

!! *C.               **And it is through Christ, our faith in Christ, that we *

!!! 1.                *access God* John 14:6  "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6, NKJV)

!!! 2.                *secure a ticket of salvation* John 3:16

!!! 3.                *posess life* John 3:36  "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”"

(John 3:36, NKJV)

!!! 4.                *are a channel for miracles* Acts 3:16

!!!! a)           Hebrews 11:32-35

"And what more shall I say?

For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received their dead raised to life again.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection."

(Hebrews 11:32-35, NKJV)

!! *D.              **to live faith is to extend knowledge of God beyond the current reality, yet into reality.

*

!!!! a)           Hebrews 11:1 " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

(Hebrews 11:1, NKJV)

!! E.               *Faith is a continuum* *through which we are kept by God* *until the* (prescribed) *end* (of faith) (at which point our souls are saved) 1 Peter 1:3-12 

!! *F.                **For our effort to live faith I  encourage and challenge you to be brothers of Life, Leadership, Legacy.

*

!!! 1.                *Of Life* Live, embrace life, go after the abundant life you have in Christ Jesus, not settling for death or mere survival.

Thrive.

Exist in the liberty throughwhich Christ has set you free, refusing to remain (or become again) entagled with death, sin or the affairs of this life Romans 6:4-14 2 Timothy 2:3-4

!!! 2.                *Of Leadership* Not the leadership to which we are accustomed, where a person leads before he knows where he is going Luke 6:39-40 No, Follow.

Follow Christ as He has called you.

Be Christ’s disciples wholeheartedly that one day you might be able to rightly say “Follow me as I follow Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

!!! 3.                *Of Legacy* Received your inheritancec.

Actively choose what is coming to you, both naturally and spiritually  Luke 15:11-12 Accept what is God, refuse all else.

Consider your father’s spirit(s) and your mother’s disposition.

are they what you want?

To our betterment, some of us have inherited our parent’s faith 2 Timothy 1:5 As joint heirs with Christ, acknowledge and waith on your spiritual inheritance through God Romans 8:16-17 1 Peter 1:3-4 Furthermore, consider the inheritance you will leave your children and this world.

Proverbs 13:22

!!!! a)           Luke 15:11-12 " Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’

So he divided to them his livelihood."

(Luke 15:11-12, NKJV)

 

 

 

 

!

II.

Virtue

!! *A.              **Jesus lived a higher standard *

!!!! a)           Matthew 5:20-48

!!!! b)          John 8:1-12

"So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.

And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst."

(John 8:7-9, NKJV)

!!! *2.                **Jesus made clear that apart from Him we can do nothing *

!!!! a)           John 15:5  "“I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

(John 15:5, NKJV)

!! *B.               **How do you get to a life virtue?

*

!!! 1.                *Model yourself after Christ* 1 john 2:6

"He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."

(1 John 2:6, NKJV)

!!! 2.                *Role model for others* 1 Corinthians 11:1

 

*703 **ἀρετή* [/arete/ ~/ar·*et*·ay~/] n f.

From the same as 730; TDNT 1:457; TDNTA 77; GK 746; Five occurrences; AV translates as “virtue” four times, and “ praise” once.

*1* a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action.

1a virtue, moral goodness.