Sermon Tone Analysis

*Who Is Your God?*

*February 22, 2004*

* *

Every once in a while we hear or read something that just seems to make our head spin with wonderment about the decisions people make that will have such far-reaching negative consequences.

Just what were they thinking?

Just what would have led them to think this way?

ILLUS: Chgo.

Trib.

2~/18~/04, p. 8, Berlusconi: Dodging high taxes OK

/Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday that it was “morally acceptable” for citizens to avoid paying excessively high taxes.

“With taxes that are too high, it is morally acceptable to evade them,” Italy’s richest man said at a news conference in Rome.

“We will announce a first cut of taxes in the 205 budget and a second in 2006.”

Earlier in his term in office, Berlusconi passed a law decriminalizing false accounting./

Now, you can guess that Berlusconi may have leaned in this direction because of some vested personal interest.

Indeed, earlier last year the Italian parliament passed a law that exempted him from any kind of prosecution (but I think it was later repealed).

But the effect of such a law to decriminalize false accounting, and of a statement by the leader of the country that it is OK to cheat on your taxes, is to open the country up to anarchy.

It is a wrong view of government.

The better answer is to make just and fair laws for all to follow.

ILLUS: Chgo.

Trib.

2~/18~/04, p. 11, 2 judges decline to block San Francisco gay weddings

/A judge said Tuesday that San Francisco appears to be violating the law by issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, but he declined to order an immediate halt to the weddings.

A conservative group had asked Judge James Warren to immediately stop the weddings and void the 2,464 same-sex marriages performed in the city since Thursday.

Instead, Warren issued a non-binding order urging the city to halt the weddings and told city lawyers to return March 29 to explain their legal position.

Another judge did likewise./

All this is clearly against California law (Proposition 22).

So here is something else that just doesn’t make sense – to say on the one hand as a judge that something violates the law but to refuse to take timely, or perhaps any, action against it.

The consequences of this are astronomical.

It has already started a firestorm of likeminded rebellions in several places around the country.

These judges will one day have to face those they give judgments against who refuse to abide by them.

This, too, is a wrong view of government leading to anarchy.

But, of course, all this is just a symptom of the direction we have been taking as a nation.

We are reminded about these symptoms of the last days in Matthew 24 and 2Timothy 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.”

(2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIVUS)

 

Of course, we find similar problems in the church.

We say we believe in God just like Berlusconi and the judges would say they believe in government, but we often have a wrong view of God just like they have a wrong view of government.

This leads to the anarchy of sin against God who is the rightful government of the church.

Dr.

Jim Binney, in the Winter 2004 edition of /Today’s Christian Preacher/, says, “In over thirty years of counseling, I have yet to find a single problem (spiritual, emotional, or behavioral) which does not have a root of origin, in part or in whole, in an unbiblical image (view) of God.”

If you and I want to be a part of the solution instead of symptom, we must reassess our view of God – to examine ourselves

“ 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?” (2 Corinthians 13:5 NIVUS)

 

Is there something you wish you could change about yourself in relation to God – something you just can’t seem to shake?

Then you must ask yourself if there is something about God you don’t understand – or accept.

We can begin with the unbiblical image of God that the leaders of Judah had as revealed in the vision of Ezekiel in chapter 8 of his book (8:5-18).

Their unbiblical image of God led to their demise as God removed his glory from the temple (chapter 10) and took the people into Babylonian captivity.

Their unbiblical image of God was that he was seen as being too distant to know or care (omniscience and omnipresence) and that he tolerated other objects of worship – that he was not a jealous God.

This problem is not new.

This bad news common to mankind, can be found also in Romans 1:22-23, 25.

“22  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

(Romans 1:22-23 NIVUS)

 “ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator— who is forever praised.

Amen.” (Romans 1:25 NIVUS)

 

The reason for why this took place can be found in the preceding verse.

It is a failed image of God or distorted view of him that leads to sin and false worship.

“ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

(Romans 1:21 NIVUS)

 

But there is also good news.

There is victory in a biblical view of God.

We can find this in Is. 6:1-3 where Isaiah has a right vision of God that ends up empowering him because it convicts him.

He was first lowered before the height of God so that he might be raised to where God is and serve him with gladness there (“I saw the Lord” – “Woe is me” – “Sin taken away” – “Send me”).

Isaiah’s conviction came after his view of God.

So like we see in Is. 6, a right view of God must surely involve his holiness.

The light of God’s holiness enables us to see ourselves rightly and change accordingly.

But we must also, like David did in Psalm 51, understand that God is good.

“ For the director of music.

A psalm of David.

When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

(Psalms 51:1 NIVUS)

 

Because David knew beyond doubt that God is good, it was David’s motivation to return to God after sin as we see also in Rom.

2:4.

“ Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Romans 2:4 NIVUS)

 

And there are other places in the Psalms that also tell us of God’s goodness to be open to our repentant appeal, which causes us to respond even more to his goodness.

“ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;” (Psalms 34:15 NIVUS)

 “1 ¶  I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.”

(Psalms 116:1-2 NIVUS)

 

A right view of God will include not only his holiness and goodness but will also carry us forward to a healthy fear of God in balance with his goodness.

“ Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.”

(Proverbs 16:6 NIVUS)

 

Paul stresses a careful balance of the two.

“ Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.

Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”

(Romans 11:22 NIVUS)

 

The fear of God is one of the least understood aspects of an effective Christian life.

Perhaps this is because of a misleading imbalance in teaching.

We tend to emphasize either the severity of God to the exclusion of his goodness (Separatists) or his goodness to the exclusion of his severity (Neo-evangelicals).

James commands us not to be double minded about God.

“ Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8 NIVUS)

 

Can any one of us live in sin and serve God with impunity?

“ "There is no fear of God before their eyes."”

(Romans 3:18 NIVUS)

 

God is not distant.

“ No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

(John 1:18 NIVUS)

 “ Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIVUS)

 

Jesus tells us not only that he is the means to God, but also the method for coming to know God.