Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture THE BIBLE THE VERY WORD OF GOD We believe the Bible to be--not merely to contain, but actually to be--the very Word of God.

In the words of B. B. Warfield, we "look upon the Bible as an oracular book--as the Word of God in such a sense that whatever it says God says--not a book, then, in which one may by searching find some word of God, but a book which may be frankly appealed to at any point with the assurance that whatever it may be found to say, that is the Word of God."

This is no more than the Bible teaches about itself.

It claims divine inspiration: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" ().

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself constantly appealed to Scripture.

He stamped its history, its miracles, and its canon (i.e., the books that properly should be included in it) with His personal authority.

Therefore, for example, we cannot reject the historical reality of Adam and Eve without repudiating the authority of Christ (, ).

We cannot deny the Scriptures without denying Christ.

OUR SOLE AND SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY These Scriptures are our authority in all matters of faith and practice.

Jesus said, "The scripture cannot be broken" ().

Again, "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" ().

Thus in settling any point of doctrine the question we have to ask is, "What saith the Scripture?"

Holding the authority of Scripture as a revealed truth, we necessarily believe the sufficiency of Scripture.

We need no other authority for faith and practice.

This is not to say that the Bible deals exhaustively with all subjects.

Clearly it does not, but we accept nothing as true that stands in opposition or contradiction to the Bible.

We do not need or accept any additional authority, whether it be the claimed traditions or teaching authority of the Church of Rome, or the visions and voices of the self-styled Charismatic movement.

HOW SHOULD WE TREAT THE WORD OF GOD?

This is more than a theoretical position.

It is a life-governing conviction.

Hence we read the Bible, we study it, we preach it, we seek to obey it, and we spread its message.

We are not impressed by a doctrine or a practice merely because it is currently popular.

Nor for that matter are we more likely to accept it just because it is "old-fashioned."

If it accords with Scripture, that is what commends it to us, whatever the current state of opinion in church or state may be.

What an unspeakable blessing it is to have the Word of God in our own language!

Queen Victoria is reputed to have called the Bible the secret of England's greatness.

It remains the secret and foundation of any church that aspires to do a work for God.

We unhesitatingly embrace it as our chart and compass

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

That God has an eternal purpose is beyond dispute (; ).

This purpose is based upon His infinite wisdom (; ).

It is a purpose that includes "whatsoever comes to pass." is clear on this point: "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places."

God's purpose even includes the wicked actions of sinful men (; ; ; ).

We cannot understand how such actions can be according to God's purpose while men are yet responsible moral agents who are held answerable for their own sin.

However, we believe that no act or event in all creation falls outside the decree of God.

God's purpose is, therefore, universal.

Theologians have spoken of some decrees being decrees to permit such things as the fall and subsequent sins.

This explanation helps our understanding, but it still leaves a mystery beyond our comprehension.

God's purpose is also unchangeable (; ; ) and absolute--that is, unconditional.

It does not depend for its fulfillment on anything not decreed by God.

He works "all things" according to His purpose ().

ELECTION The sovereignty of God is seen in creation (; ; ).

It is equally seen in providence ().

He controls the elements () and the animal creation (; , ), as the plagues He sent upon Egypt powerfully prove.

He controls all men (; ).

Angels and even demons obey His pleasure (; ; ; ).

Isaac Watts properly said: There's not a sparrow or a worm, but's found in His decrees;

He raises monarchs to their throne and sinks them as He please.

What is true in creation and providence is also true in salvation: God is sovereign.

"Salvation is of the Lord" ().

The Bible is clear that God chose a people unto salvation (, ; ; ; ).

This divine choice is unconditional; that is, God did not choose some because He foresaw they would believe.

Faith is not the cause, but the result of God's choice in election.

Peter makes this clear when he says that Christians are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" ().

Obedience is the obedience of faith (), and election is unto it, not because of it.

Also, foreknowledge is not merely foresight or prescience.

The syntax of indicates that God's foreknowledge is His "determinate counsel."

Thus repentance and faith are gracious gifts of our sovereign Lord given to us on the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ (; , ; ).

HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY God's sovereignty does not destroy man's moral responsibility.

Man is God's rational creature.

He is a sinner willfully.

He is a willing slave to his depravity.

He does not sin because of God's election.

He sins because of his own willful wickedness.

God holds every sinner responsible for his actions and attitudes.

Such is the depravity of man that he is incapable of spiritual good (; ).

Left to himself, he would never choose God or obey the gospel.

His carnal mind is enmity against God.

His only hope lies outside of himself in the God of all grace.

ELECTION AND EVANGELISM That is why we believe a biblical emphasis on the sovereignty of God is essential to true evangelism.

It certainly does not hinder evangelism.

shows that a strong belief in God's predestinating and electing purpose goes hand in hand with a burning passion for souls.

We have no time for a dead, intellectual Calvinism that refuses to offer Christ freely to sinners with the assurance that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" ().

Some of the greatest revival preachers in history have been strong asserters of God's sovereignty in salvation, men like John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, Asahel Nettleton, George Whitefield, Robert Murray McCheyne, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

We stand in that historical and honored line that is traced directly from Scripture through the most glorious ministries God has ever given to His church.

We refuse to "democratize the gospel," as one writer put it, by saying, "God did His part; now it is up to you to do yours."

Salvation is not a joint effort.

It is a divine work received by faith without works.

MAY I COME TO CHRIST WITHOUT KNOWING I AM ELECT?

Scripture never instructs a sinner to try to discover if he is elect and then come to Christ.

In fact, it forbids prying into the secret counsel of God ().

God's instruction to a sinner is, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" ().

He assures all that obey this instruction that He will in no wise cast them out (), but will give them eternal life ().

Every sinner's duty is to obey God.

That means every sinner should come penitently to Christ.

Once he has come and received eternal life as a free gift, he has a biblical ground of assurance that he is one of God's elect ().

The Person and Work of Christ "The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person, forever" (Shorter Catechism, 21).

Paul said, "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" ().

The same apostle wrote, "We preach Christ crucified" ().

Christ's person and work, then, lie at the very heart of the Christian message.

THE ETERNAL DEITY OF CHRIST Jesus Christ is essentially and eternally God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (, ).

In Christ is said to be "over all, God blessed for ever."

In He is called "the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Jesus Christ is "God...manifest in the flesh" ().

THE TRUE HUMANITY OF CHRIST The miracle of all miracles is that God the Son became a man.

He did not cease to be God, but He took a true human nature-- a real body and a reasonable soul--into union with Himself.

He came into the world as a babe, having been conceived by the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit ().

What a miracle!

What condescension! "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (, ).