Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts 6

Scripture reading (2 Cor 3:1-3, and 1 Peter 1:24 Isaiah 28:13)

1 Are we beginning to ?a?compliment ourselves again?

Or do we need, as some do, ?b?letters of praise to give to you?

Or do we need to get letters of praise from you?

2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

3 being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, ?1??a?cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ?b?the living God, not on ?c?tablets of stone but on ?d?tablets of ?2??e?human hearts.

Isaiah 28:13

Then the word of the Lord came to them:

          “Law after law, law after law,

          line after line, line after line,

          a little here, a little there,” n

          so they go stumbling backwards, (because the Jews in the Northern Kingdom were negative to the Word)

          to be broken, trapped, and captured.

O (prophecy of the Northern Kingdom Israel being captured by the Assyrians, due to there rejection of the Word of God)

\

           All flesh is like grass,

          and all its glory u like a flower of the grass.

The grass withers, and the flower drops off,

          25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Please open the word of the Lord to Ephesians chapter 6.

We are going to mention a lot of scripture tonight, as we do every night.

I may mention a lot of scripture in passing to further illuminate what we are studying, and I may mention some scripture in passing because we have already studied it before

So here is a list of all the scriptures mentioned tonight in case you want to go over these passages at home for your own private study.

Scriptures mentioned tonight; 2 cor 3:1-3, 1 Peter 1:24-25 Eph 6 10-20, 1Cor 3:3-4, 1Peter 2:1-5 Hebrews 6:1-3, 2 Tim 2;14-15 2 Tim 4:2-3 1 cor 3:11-15, Acts 4:32-37, Acts 5:1, Acts 5:41, Acts 6:1, John 21:15-19, 1 Peter 5:2

I think that's all of them.

Review

Last time we asked the question, Are you dangerous to the enemy?

We studied last time that we are in a war.

Turn to Ephesians Chapter 6.

What an awesome subject Eph 6 the Armor of God.

We went over this because we were studying on how Peter and the Apostles after being whipped and then thrown into jail, could felt lucky that they had the opportunity to go through that experience.

Acts 5:41

Most Christians would have moaned and complained but the Apostles at this time had reached a stage of Maturity where they were Spiritual Giants.

And all this is made possible by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Put into action “The sword of the Spirit” application of the Word of God.

So Peter and the Apostles stood with Boldness (Eph 6:19 is the boldness Paul prayed for and asked others to pray for, for himself while in prison)

So Peter and the Apostles stood with Boldness, when asked to leave and not preach the good news of Jesus Christ.

And even after being whipped and thrown into jail, they were back in the temple proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.

They were dangerous to the enemy because they were utilizing the full Armor of God.

They were soldiers for Christ prepared for battle.

How many christian soldiers are prepared for battle today?

Just as it is important to compare scripture with scripture.

It is also important to understand the historical background of the passage.

As we mentioned last time the Apostle Paul is using military language here.

We also mentioned that the military that was around during the time he lived was the Roman solider.

So turn with me to Ephesians Chapter 6.

Belt of Truth-Bible Doctrine “The great Stabilizer”

Practical Military Purpose 

This was a very important piece to the Roman Soldier's armor.

The Roman soldier put around his waist a very wide belt which was the holder for a lot of equipment.

There was a loop, for example, for the different swords.

Other loops held ropes and a rations sack.

When the legions conquered a city, the soldiers would empty out the ration sack to make room for gold, jewelry, and other loot they picked up.

There were loops on the belt for darts.

The belt was tied in several places to stay in place, so that no matter how the soldier moved about, fell down, climbed hills, etc., the belt was always in place with weapons at the ready.

If the belt were not on straight, then everything would be out of place for the soldier.

This would cut down his efficiency in battle and may even cost him his life.

Spiritual Application- The Christian has the word of God available to support him through life.

We asked the question last time, are you dangerous to the enemy?

Remember Jesus said in Revelation 3 to pick a side.

He would rather you be hot, or cold but not lukewarm.

So just as the solider relied on his belt to stabilize the rest of his heavy armor.

So the christian needs to rely on the word of God to stabilize him through his christian walk.

How many time do you go through the word of God?

If you don't how would you know the proper way to pray?

We mention last time that domestic harmony was essential to an effective prayer life.

How many Christians know about that?

How many Christians are going to the battle unarmed?

How many Christians even know we are in a battle.

I understand that witnessing to the loss in important, however it is equally important that we grow in the word.

Turn to 1 Peter 1:24:25-1peter 2:5

24 For

          All flesh is like grass,

          and all its glory u like a flower of the grass.

The grass withers, and the flower drops off,

          25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

v w

There are a lot of Christians that have a misunderstanding of Heaven.

They invison us singing and maybe even telling Jesus for eternity how much we love him.

However I want you to reflect on what the scripture just said.

God's word endures forever.

We aren't going to somehow quit learning when we get to heaven.

Some Christians believe we are just going to “arrive” and know it all.

But that would make us God?

For

          All flesh is like grass,

          and all its glory u like a flower of the grass.

The grass withers, and the flower drops off,

          25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

v w

And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.

The Living Stone and a Holy People

2     So rid yourselves of a all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

b 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, c so that you may grow by it in ?your? salvation, d  3 since you have tasted e that the Lord is good.

f g 4 Coming to Him, a living stone—rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God h through Jesus Christ.

Now compare that to 1 cor 3

3     Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.

a 2 I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were not yet able to receive it.

In fact, you are still not able, 3 because you are still fleshly.

For since there is envy b and strife c d among you, are you not fleshly and living like ordinary people?