Sermon Tone Analysis

*The In Laws*

A young woman brought her fiancé home to meet her parents.

After dinner, her mother told her father to find out about the young man.

The father invited the fiancé to his study for a talk.

"So what are your plans?" the father asked the young man.

"I am a biblical scholar," he replied.

"A Biblical scholar.

Hmmm," the father said.

"Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in?"  "I will study," the young man replied, "and God will provide for us."

"And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?"

asked the father.

"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."

"And children?" asked the father.

"How will you support children?"  "Don't worry, sir, God will provide," replied the fiancé.

The conversation proceeded like this, and each time the father questioned, the young idealist insisted that God would provide.

Later, the mother asked, "How did it go, Honey?"

The father answered, "He has no job and no plans, and he thinks I'm God!"

 

Habitudes=leadership=pictures  God brought this parody of a title to my mind, Thursday, The In Laws…

 

IRobot=can’t harm or allow harm to human, obey human x-conflict(1), protect existence x-conflict(1,2)

 

We know that laws cause creation to continue to be.

God spoke things from nothing, and here we are.

Faith is a law.

Laws cause things to work smoothly and look out for the common good.

They protect, empower, and create boundaries.

We also operate under laws in the new covenant we share through Jesus Christ, and today, we are focusing on these…the In Laws.

*In Law #1 - In you...* (common, readily verbalized, known)

/~*Romans 8:9,11  You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ./

/And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you./

~*1 Cor 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

/Phil 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus./

Phil 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

/Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God./

1 Thess 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe

/2 Tim 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands./

James 1:21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

/~*1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world./

~*2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

The road becomes a little more complicated, though.

It’s easy for one to claim Jesus as savior and put on the nametag Christian, but is it reality?

*The transition… *(think, question, change)

/John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you./

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him

/John 14:20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you./

You see, it’s as much about you working to remain in Him, as it is about God’s Spirit living in you.

Jesus did all he could do to pave the way.

The Spirit is working hard.

It’s vital to each of our lives that we work diligently to stay in Him.

The world today makes things so easy that we lose sight of the necessity of hard work on our part.

Return to me…Draw nigh unto me…It’s a two way street.

In Law #1…He is in you.

*In Law #2 - In me…*

~*John 15:4-7 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches.

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

/~*Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me./

Rom 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

/Rom 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,/

~*Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

/~*2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!/

Gal 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus

/Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love./

Eph 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

/Eph 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you./

~*Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

/~*Phil 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus/

~*Philemon 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Like any working relationship, it’s a give, give.

He is in you, you are in Him.

Understand something, though.

When it’s working as God intended it, we begin hating sin, not continuing to find excuses for it.

We begin avoiding questionable practices rather than justifying them because there are no definite scriptures against them.

Consider for a moment as I begin to close if the things you are doing or are struggling with would survive in Jesus’ life.

The answer is a resounding NO!!!  Then how can we truly live within these laws clearly defined in scripture?

How can we expect God to do anything if we are doing nothing?

(heal, deliver, save, fill with the Spirit, speak to, reveal, redeem)

 

*In Law’s Counterpart - Sin’s affect “in me”*

Romans 7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment (thou shall not covet), produced in me every kind of covetous desire.

For apart from law, sin is dead.

Right now is your time to build the proper foundation and solidify the In Laws in your life.

I only see three choices, and two of them go hand in hand.