Sermon Tone Analysis

Title: Gratitude, God’s Antidote for Guilt

Theme: Resting in the Price Christ Paid for You

Topic: Thanksgiving Communion Service

Series: Full Measure of Thanksgiving

Medical research tells us that gratitude is one of the healthiest emotions that a person can express.

The more a person understands and responds to God’s Antidote for the guilt that comes from living outside of God’s will, the more he expresses a peace that comes from the Lord.

On that first Sunday after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, (Luke 24:1) Jesus stood among His disciples and spoke forth, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:26)

2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

It is Satan who keeps unrepentant sinners from enjoying the peace that comes from responding to Jesus as both Savior and Lord.

The Bible says Satan is an accuser of the children of God.

(Revelation 12:10)

Satan often uses guilt to keep nonbelievers and even Christians from enjoying the abundant life that is promised in Christ.

(Romans 5:17; John 10:10) Rick Warren wrote, “Guilt is man’s oldest problem [outside of sin].

It does not matter what culture you live in, where you are from, who you are, what your background is.

All of us experience guilt at different times.

You can see it all over society, people drive themselves because of guilt and they hide it through business, rushing through life and indulging in all this world has to offer.”

In my early days of walking with the Lord, I constantly had the call from the Lord to prepare for preaching and teaching God’s Word, but convinced myself I would do the Lord’s work more harm than good because of the life I lived before coming to know Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.

This is how destructive guilt can be when we do not set our hope on God’s Word.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

I would propose to you that responding to God’s antidote for the guilt that comes from living for the flesh, loving the world, and listening to the lies of the devil, will enable you to express true gratitude as you live for Him.

Just who should we focus on as we partake in the Biblical ordinance, “Communion?”

During World War ll there was a man who went around and amazingly obtained 300,000 little hand mirrors.

On the back of them he wrote John 3:16 and when he personally handed the mirrors out, he said, “If you want to see who God loves turn to the back side of this mirror and read.”

(Rick Warren)

Our sins put Christ on the Cross of Calvary

The first step toward enjoying healthy gratitude in the “Communion” service is believe the truth.

It is our sins that put Christ on the Cross of Calvary.

Romans 3:23 says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

To have sinned (hamartane) means to have missed a mark on the way.

(The Complete Word Study Dictionary) As I study the whole counsel of the Word of God, sinning is missing the intended purpose for which God created you.

Sin is lawlessness, a willful act of breaking the law or choosing to be ignorant of the Word of God.

(1 John 3:4) It is of the devil.

(1 John 3:8; John 8:44) It is all unrighteousness.

(1 John 5:17) It is omission of what we know to be good.

(James 4:17) It is whatever is not of true faith.

(Romans 14:23) It is the thought of foolishness.

(Proverbs 24:9) Sin is all the imaginations of the unrenewed heart apart from the Lordship of Christ.

(Genesis 6:5; 8:21)

The Word of God describes sin as coming from the heart.

(Matthew 15:19) Sin is the fruit of lust, (James 1:15) the sting of death, (1 Corinthians 15:56) and rebellion against God.

(Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18) It is the works of darkness, (Ephesians 5:11) dead works toward the kingdom of God.

(Hebrew 6:1; 9:14) It is the very heart and mind that God hates, (Proverbs 15:9; Jeremiah 44:4,11) which leads to mocking the Lord, (Psalm 74:18) defilement, (Proverbs 30:12; Isaiah 59:3) deceitfulness, (Hebrews 3:13) and disgraceful.

(Proverbs 14:34) Sin is great, mighty, manifold, and presumptuous in God’s sight.

(Exodus 32:20; 1 Samuel 2:17; Amos 5:12; Psalm 19:13) Sometimes sin is open and manifest, (1 Timothy 5:24) sometimes secret, (Psalm 90:8. 1 Timothy 5:24) besetting, (Hebrews 12:1) like a stain that cannot be removed, (Isaiah 1:18) and reaching to heaven.

(Revelation 18:5)

The Bible teaches that sin entered into the world by Adam, (Genesis 3:6-7; Romans 5:12) all of mankind are conceived and born in it, (Genesis 5:3; Job 15:14; 25:4; Psalm 51:5) no one is without sin, (1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20) except Jesus Christ, (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; 1 John 3:5) and apart from the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit of Christ all of mankind is directed by it from birth unto death.

(Psalm 51:5)

Before anyone can express true thanksgiving in the “Communion” service he must understand the nature of the sinful heart apart from Lordship of Christ.

This truth is powerfully proclaimed in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right unto man, but in the end it leads to death.”

There is a phrase that holds such a powerful truth, “You must make a man understand that he is lost before he can be saved.”

Unless mankind sees themselves as sinners, they will not search for the only One who holds the remedy for the sinful state of the spiritual heart.

Professor Charles Williams writes, “One cannot hold a Scriptural view of God and the plan of salvation without having a Scriptural idea of sin.

One cannot proclaim a true theory of society unless [he hates sin as much as God does and understands] its relation to all ills and disorders.

No man can be a successful New Testament evangelist publishing the Gospel as, ‘the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,’ unless he has an adequate conception of the enormity of sin.

Nor can a man hold a consistent theory of ethics or live up to the highest standard of morality unless he is gripped with a keen sense of sin’s seductive nature.”

In the carnality of our thinking we say things like, “I can’t believe I did that,” or “I can’t believe anyone would do that!”

When we have a Biblical perspective of our hearts we realize that except by God’s intervention, worse things can be happening.

Non-Christians have a misunderstanding when they think God would not send a person who does good things to hell.

Holy Spirit illuminated Christians with a Biblical understanding of sin in humility say, “I am surprised that God would save anybody.”

There is a truth that must be grasped, “The sinful nature and its influence on mankind is unknown until we begin to try to live for the Lord.”

(Changed Into His Image) Dr Jim Berg in writing about “Recognizing the Evil Within” wrote, “This truth of understanding the pull of sin is very much like the experience of one who is rowing a canoe.

As long as he is going with the current, he has no idea how strong the current really is.

Only when he turns his canoe around and start rowing against the current does he experience its true strength.

A believer who has been giving in to the pull of his sinful heart never learns the extent of its power over him.

When he decides to row upstream, [against the common flow of life here] he meets the strength and realization of sin.

It is then he sees how much he needs the Lord’s strength.”

For application’s sake: When it comes to obeying the Lord’s call to partake in “Communion,” do you understand that it was your sin that put Christ on the Cross?

When you eat of the bread, which represents Jesus’ body given for us and drink of cup of the new covenant through Jesus’ blood, is there an uneasiness that comes over you as the realization hits you it is the sin you committed just this week that put Christ on the Cross?

Great men of God, like the Apostle Paul (Romans 7:7-25) and Martin Luther grieved often over their failure to subdue the flesh.

Do we?

1 Corinthians 11:26 teaches that when we partake in the bread and drink of the cup, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Understand what Christ took for our sins

Once the child of God recognizes that his sins put Christ on the Cross, he should take time to understand what Christ took for those sins.

The Lord’s prophet wrote about Jesus’ suffering in Isaiah 52:14, “Just as there were many who were appalled at Him – His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness…” Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him [that is Christ] the iniquity of us all.”

“Iniquity” (awon) here is a masculine noun meaning evil, guilt, punishment.

This word indicates sin that is done deliberately and presents the idea of twisting truth and perverting what is pure and right.

The consequences of sin is punishment.

This word for sin can also indicate the guilt that results from the act of sin.

(The Complete Word Study Dictionary)

However, God says this about the servant-hood and obedience of Christ to the Cross, “After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life, and be satisfied; by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.”

(Isaiah 53:11) Jesus took upon Himself the consequences of sin.

This figure of straying sheep is used to describe the spiritual apostasy of people.

(Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23) Jesus suffered willingly and silently, making Himself the sinners’ substitute.

(Matthew 26:63; 27:11-14; Luke 23:9) (Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary; A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory)

The atonement blood of Christ is an amazing ongoing work still touching spiritual hearts today.

One Bible teacher wrote, “His continued taking of our trespasses upon Himself is merely the constant presence and presentation of His atonement, which has been offered once for all.

…because of His one self-sacrifice, as an eternal Priest, who now lives to distribute the blessings which He has acquired.”

Isaiah 53:12 says, “…Fore He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”

This passage of Scripture enables the child of God to see Jesus as bearing our sins and interceding at the Throne of Grace for us daily.

(Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 2:1-2)

This thanksgiving season is an opportunity for Christians to rest upon the truths of Isaiah 53:4-5, “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Considering the Cross of Calvary and our Savior, Jesus Christ who gave Himself upon it, enables us to rest upon the fact that Christ has taken upon Himself every harsh word we have spoken, every wrong deed we have done and offers healing to all we may have injured in our sins.

Focusing on what Christ took upon Himself, the sins of the world, enables us to enjoy complete healing for every harsh word spoken to us, find rest in His intercession for every wrong deed done unto us and brings true healing to our spiritual hearts every time it becomes injured.

Walter B. Night wrote, “In a vision, Martin Luther seemed to see Satan approaching him with a large book under his arm.

‘This book’ said Satan, ‘contains the record of the sins of your life!’

As Satan begins to read, Luther said, ‘Stop!

Here is another Book – the Word of God.

It says, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

For application’s sake: When you come to “Communion” do you approach it as just another religious observance or is there an assurance in your spiritual heart that Christ bore your iniquities and that His sacrifice satisfies God our Father?