Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Overview of tonight’s material

What is Biblical Gospel?

Who is the Hero of the Bible?

Issues with Man-Centered Teaching

Issues with Prosperity Gospel teaching

If someone were to come and ask you what the Bible is all about, how would you answer their question?

Should answer something along the lines that it’s all about Jesus Christ and the Gospel - this is why Paul argues so many times that we have to get the Gospel right and agree in the Gospel!

We MUST preach and teach the Gospel every single time we gather and study the Word together

Old Testament, Christ is predicted.

In the Gospels He is revealed.

In Acts He is preached.

In the Epistles He is explained.

In Revelation He is expected.

Jesus is the Center - we are supporting characters, not the main character

YOU’RE NOT DAVID

God is able - get your eyes off of yourself and onto your Perfect Savior!

Christocentric - Christ-Centered hermeneutic or interpretation of Scripture.

We have to understand that the Bible is all about Jesus.

Jesus conquers our giants (sin/death).

He conquers it all with 1 single shot!

Problem with anthropormophic hermeneutic is that we are the hero and center.

We aren’t that powerful!

We need a better sacrifice, prophet, king, priest… Hebrews: Jesus IS Greater!

October 2022-January 2024

“Only reason that sin has any power in your life… Because you love it.”

The reason that we sin is because we love it

The solution to sin is that we need a greater love - return to your first love!

Gospel = Faith = Love = Good Works

Everyone needs the Gospel - not simply how-to topics or self-help ideas or motivational speeches.

This is why the Gospel is needed in EVERY sermon!

“If your sermon could be preached in a Jewish synagogue, it’s not a Christian sermon.”

- Paul preached the Gospel to the Jews but he got kicked out and run out of town at times!

See Joel Osteen problems.

God is the hero… not man.

We can’t control God like a genie in Aladdin.

Don’t come to church to get something from Jesus… Come for Jesus Himself!

_____________

Health and Wealth contradictions - Benny Hinn, Todd White, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Bill Johnson

The face of Christianity in many villages and countries is Prosperity Gospel

Expect health, wealth, and happiness if you’re a follower of Jesus!

Costi Hinn - More than a Healer plug!

God doesn’t give us the desires of our heart because they aren’t good desires!

Don’t worry about the future - Matthew 6 - God is sovereign

“How do I get on the good side of God’s sovereignty?” - You don’t!

Todd White - Satan is sovereign… not God! - Yikes

The church should be attractive to believers and those who want to study God’s Word… We cannot cater and make things attractive to non-believers simply to entertain them and cover contemporary movies and topics of interest and forsake the teaching and preaching of the Word.

This is the seeker-sensitive movement.

What it takes to get people to come to your church, it will take to keep them at your church.

If they only come for food, you’d better always offer food.

If they only come for games, you’d better always have games.

If they only come for events, you’d better always have events.

I’m all for food, games, and events.

But those can’t be the main thing!

The main thing must be Jesus.

His Word.

His Worship.

His Church.

Our values must be in line with His.

We study straight from His Word.

We worship Him faithfully.

We pray in His name and for His will to be done in our lives.

We gather regularly as we seek to honor Him.

It cannot be first and foremost about us or our entertainment.

Mark Dever: If we do this then we can downplay hard parts of Scripture or life in general.

Piper video:

We sell a bunch of crap called Gospel but it’s not the real Gospel… It’s a sham!

That Jesus offers us what we want… Not what God wants for us

Happiness must be found in Jesus, not in the desires of our flesh!

Conclusion about wealth and satisfaction

The things of this world wear off and create an even bigger void

Solomon had wealth, love, and knowledge and he said that it was all vain… It didn’t last!

It didn’t satisfy.

The prosperity Gospel is Satanic because it plays on our pride and fleshly desires.

It says that we know better than God does and that our desires are more important than His.

This is back to Satan’s lie in the garden that says that eating the apple will make us just like God… It’s our pride.

It’s always been our problem.

The ultimate gift of the Gospel is not the things that Jesus gives but the Gospel is ultimately about Jesus Himself.

Jesus alone is sufficient.

Jesus is enough!

It’s all about Jesus!

Questions on paper:

1.

Why do Christians need to remember what the Gospel is?

2. Why is it so easy to forget the Gospel message?

3. From Genesis to Revelation, who is the Hero of Scripture?

4. Why do we like to think that we are the hero?

We elevate ourselves and often deevelate God - Take David and Goliath… We often think that we’re David and our Goliath is depression or anxiety and we have the power to defeat him if we sling our stone and have enough faith in Jesus… Example of how this isn’t accurate from another pastor.

Recently someone was telling me they never understood why the story of David and Goliath was in the Bible.

In other words, they could not understand the true meaning behind it.

The person said they finally understood it when they heard a preacher explain that the story is there to help us fight the battles against our own Goliaths of fear, anxiety, anger, etc.

So let me ask you: Was that interpretation based upon a theocentric or anthropocentric hermeneutic?

If you said anthropocentric, you are correct.

But the reason it is anthropocentric is because the preacher spiritualized the passage rather than getting to the main point of this historical narrative.

So what’s the main point of David and Goliath?

It’s about God fulfilling his promise that the Messiah, Jesus, would come through the seed of David.(2

Samuel 7:12-16; Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:32; Acts 13:22-23).

And for that very reason God preserved David’s life when he fought Goliath.

Humanly speaking, Goliath should have killed David(1 Samuel 17).

But divinely speaking, he could not lay a finger on him.

The hero isn’t David.

David points us to Jesus, the true hero.