Sermon Tone Analysis

A few weeks ago, I was working on a sermon at my computer when I accidently pressed a combination of keys I really shouldn’t have pressed.

It caused the computer to do something I really didn’t want it to do, so I did something very “unmanly”—I went to the “Help” menu.

It told me to press the Escape Key twice to back out of what I had just done.

It actually rectified my problem.

A computer’s escape key – for those of you who may not be computer literate – usually cancels or aborts the current operation.

At that moment, I had a flash of insight: “Wouldn’t it be nice if life came with an escape key?” Anytime we made a decision that turned out bad, we could just hit the escape key and back out of our difficulty.

As I thought about it, it dawned on me that there is a lot in common between the computers that set on many of our desks and our lives.

Let me share some observations I’ve made about the similarities.

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I. LIFE IS LIKE A COMPUTER: THE CPU IS CENTRAL TO EVERYTHING

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CPU is an abbreviation that stands for Central Processing Unit

#. the CPU is the soul of your computer

#. in terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of any computer system

#. the CPU is where calculations and decisions take place

#. everything else about a computer is peripheral

#. if the CPU is not working right then the monitor, the speakers, the printer, or the scanner really don’t matter – they become expensive paper weights

#. they are all useless if the CPU is down

!! A. LIKE A COMPUTER’S CPU, YOUR SOUL IS CENTRAL TO LIFE – EVERYTHING ELSE IS PERIPHERAL

#. have you ever thought much about your soul?

#. most people don’t give their souls much thought

#.

I mean, exactly what is it?

#. if I were to ask you to describe your soul to me, could you do it?

#. let me give you some help

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your soul is core personality – it is composed of your mind, and your emotions and your will

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they find expression through your physical body

#. according to the Scripture, you just do not have a soul, you are a soul

* Genesis 2:7 /“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into is nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”/

KJV

#. it is from your soul that you have the ability to think, and to decide, and to feel and these are evidence that we were created in the image of God

#. the word soul in the Bible generally means life or total self

#. your soul is what gives you your distinctiveness and is what makes each of you different from another

#. in computer terms, your soul is your CPU

#. it performs the logical operations and is the control center for processing instructions and making decisions

#. this is the part of your life that is central to everything and most important to God

#. our bodies are important, yes, but in the long run they are peripheral

#. in other words, if there is something wrong with your soul, it doesn’t matter how well the body looks or how stylish you dress it up

#.

Jesus knew this and He told His disciples in His Sermon on the Mount: Luke 12:22-23 /“. . .

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.”/

KJV

!! B. BECAUSE THE CPU IS ‘OUT OF SIGHT’ WE OFTEN TREAT THE PERIPHERALS AS IF THEY WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS AND NEGLECT THE CPU

#. most computer users wouldn’t know a CPU if they saw one

#.

if they popped the lid off of their computer they probably wouldn’t be able to find it

#. the typical computer user is more concerned about the peripherals — their keyboard, their mouse, their printer, and their monitor

#. these are the things you can “see” and so the computer user takes care of them

#. the only time they think about the CPU is when there is a catastrophic failure with the computer

#.

too many people – including too many Christians – treat their body and soul in the same fashion

#. they can’t see their soul and so they concentrate on the body

#. what makes the body look good . . .

#. what makes the body feel good . . .

#. they work hard to keep the body in shape

#. the only time they worry about the soul is when they experience a catastrophic failure in life

#.

Jesus knew that what really mattered in life was the soul

* Matthew 16:24-26 /“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, . . .

what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”/

KJV

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Life Is like a Computer: Just like the Cpu Is Central to the Computer, Your Soul Is Central In Life – Everything Else Is Peripheral

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II.

LIFE IS LIKE A COMPUTER: THE SOFTWARE HAS BUGS IN IT

#. software is nothing more than computer instructions or data that is stored electronically

#. software can be divided into two categories:

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System Software – includes the operating system and all the drivers that enable the computer to function

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Application Software – includes programs that do real work for users

#. examples include, word processors, spreadsheets, graphics and database management systems, and Bible Study software

#. the creators of software intend for their software to be perfect

#. programers spend hours – often hundreds of hours – testing and evaluating their software to make sure it works right and will interface with all kinds of computer hardware

#. but no matter how hard a programer works three unfailing problems plague computer software

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ONE, software bugs are a fact of life

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no matter how careful they are, programers make mistakes which means that somewhere that software application will have a glitch

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TWO, software viruses are a fact of life

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no matter how careful a user might be, the potential for corrupting your software by accidently introducing a computer virus is always possible

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THREE, software upgrades are a fact of life

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no matter how good the original software might be, programers are always updating and upgrading the software

!! A. LIKE A COMPUTER’S SOFTWARE OUR SOUL HAS BUGS IN IT

#. unlike a computer programer, God created us with perfect software

#. our original operating system was bug-free!

#. but not long after the creation, man succumbed to Satan’s temptation and disobeyed God

#. in that disobedience a spiritual virus was introduced into man’s operating system

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that spiritual virus is called sin

#. sin is the bug the corrupts our software

#. it’s a spiritual virus that all men are infected with

* Romans 3:10 /“As the Scriptures say: “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one.”/

NCV

#. just like a computer virus corrupts the original programer’s design for his software, sin keeps us from functioning as our original programer – God – created us to function

#. our entire personality – heart, mind, and will – are infiltrated with evil and disobedience

* Ephesians 2:1-3 /“In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God.2 Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth.

That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God.3

In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted.

We should have suffered God’s anger because of the way we were.

We were the same as all other people.”/

KJV

#. the result is that, no matter how careful you are, sooner or later this spiritual virus called sin, will cause a malfunction in your life

#.

just like a computer virus can cause your software program to die . . .

#. so too, the spiritual virus called sin brings death to us

#. because of sin, all men will die physically

#. because of sin, all men who do not give their heart and life to Jesus Christ will also die spiritually

#. the results of spiritual death is eternity in hell

#.

Life Is like a Computer: the Software Has Bugs in it and Constantly Needs Updating

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III.

LIFE IS LIKE A COMPUTER – CRASHES USUALLY COME WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING

#. a computer crash is a serious computer failure