Sermon Tone Analysis

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/Scripture:  Ephesians 6:17/
 
1.
The Function Of The Helmet
 
*It is purely protective*.
As the breastplate of righteousness protects the heart, so the helmet of salvation protects the mind and it is undeniably true that our minds need to be protected.
When I refer to the mind what am I talking about?
Jesus refers to the fact that we are to love with our minds as well as our hearts.
In the greatest commandment he talks about love as being something that springs from our hearts, souls, minds, strength.
Perhaps he may be telling us that we are to love emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and physically.
Today as a matter of the mind, I refer to the volitional center of a person.
The place where rule ourselves from.
It is command central.
It is the place of mental toughness, of strategy, creativity.
It is that part of you which answers the most basic of faith questions, “Will I trust God?”
 
Believe it or not salvation is presented for the Christian as a helmet or a protection for the mind.
Obviously the adversary is the devil.
He is insidious and relentless in his attack on the human mind.
He does not need to defeat us, merely to distract us, either way, He wins.
Spiritual Irritations
 
There is another problem that we need to be aware of.
Some Christians find it very tempting to be so very certain about what is right that they start laying down the law.
Often it is difficult to be both firm and loving.
A.W. Tozer put it this way:
 
"It requires great care and a true knowledge of ourselves to distinguish a spiritual burden from a religious irritation.
Often acts done in a spirit of religious irritation have consequences far beyond what we could have guessed.
It is more important that we maintain a right spirit toward the others than that we bring them to our way of thinking even if our way is right.
Satan cares very little whether we go astray after false doctrine or merely turn sour.
Either way he wins."
Do you know what Tozer means by "sour Christians"?
Often they have a good grasp of doctrine and a clear analysis of the situation, but seem to lack gentleness and peace.
Any follower of religion can have a religious irritation: . . .
It is very easy to right in the wrong way.
We can never possibly anticipate the subtleties of his attacks.
Awareness of the fact however that unless we remain “on duty”, it is likely that the unprotected mind is vulnerable to the enemy.
*Salvation is not meant to be an adornment**/./*
If there is no functional, fruitful result that springs from a person’s faith then that person’s faith is dead.
*2 Timothy 3:1*      But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5*/ /**/having a form of godliness but denying its power./*
Have nothing to do with them.
6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
[1]
 
If we cannot learn to express our faith in ways other than the things that we hang about our necks, or the bumper stickers that we put on our cars, then we are merely adorned or decorated but potentially ineffective.
Form can bring unfounded confidence.
When people place too much emphasis on form, it can become a very deceptive thing.
It can let us down in time of need.
Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
[2]
 
2.
The Fragility Of The Flesh
 
Unprotected we do not have a long life expectancy.
To live a life that is pleasing to God we must approach it vastly different than we might otherwise.
I think this morning of the parable of the sower and the life expectancy of the seed that lands in the wrong place.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
This is the seed sown along the path.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.
When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.
He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
[3]
 
Funny how a $10.00 bill looks so big when you take it to worship but so small when you take it to the supermarket.
Funny how reading the church bulletin is a chore, but reading a 30 page newspaper every day is a habit you have grown to enjoy.
Funny how long an hour is spent in worship, but how short it is when golfing, fishing, or attending a ball game.
Funny how we applaud when the ball game goes overtime, but we complain if the worship hour is over the regular time.
Funny how laborious it is to read a chapter in the Bible, but how easy it is to read a 300-page novel.
Funny how much difficulty some have learning the simple Gospel well enough to tell others.
But how simple it is for the same people to understand and explain more difficult subjects.
Funny how people scramble to get a front set at the ball game, but scramble to get a back seat at services.
Funny how we cannot fit a Gospel meeting into our schedule with a year to plan for it, but we can adjust the schedule for other events at a moment's notice.
Funny that parents are so concerned about school lessons but are completely unconcerned about Bible lessons.
Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided he~/she doesn't have to believe, or to think, or to say, or to do anything.
All of this would be funny if it were not so tragically true!
 
See:  Prov 18:1; Phil 3:19; 2 Tim 4:3
 
3.
The Foes Of Our Faith
 
[  Corruption –
 
:3 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing.
He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that *godliness is a means to financial gain*.
[4] (1 Timothy 6)
 
Sow a thought and you reap an act;
Sow an act and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit and you reap a character;
Sow a character and you reap a destiny.
Samuel Smiles (1812-1904)
 
One of the concerns that I have for professing Christian people in this day and age is their inability to recognize error – fatal error that is.
There are differences of opinion that we will always have with people.
Many times we hold different views of scripture.
Theologians for centuries have disagreed over the same portions of scripture.
This will never change.
But on issues that make the difference between spiritual life and death we need to have an understanding that is reliable.
The scripture that we have read from 2 Timothy illustrates this point.
Godliness as a means to financial gain.
I have heard people preach the merits of tithing saying that God will give you back dollar for dollar and perhaps more.
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