Sermon Tone Analysis

Recap

Jesus is looking for his church that is unhindered.

The Bible calls her a bride without spot or wrinkle.

Unhindered is the name of our theme for this year and our scripture that started it all is

​ NKJV

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.

Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Like Lazarus being called forth from the grave - the dead being called to the living - the church is made of people who were all sinners who are called to be the children of God.

Like the grave clothes that bound Lazarus up, the members of the body of Christ are still dealing with the things of their former lives that have them bound up.

But Jesus is calling them and equipping them to be free

I want to be one of those free.

I want to be part of a church family that is free

Free to worship Christ

Free to live the way that Christ enabled me to live

Free to live because we are living in the truth.

Free to live, because we are following the Way

Leading others to their freedom of life by being the salt and the light in the places where we do life.

Living Free because we are following the pattern for righteous and whole living that Christ gave us in the Beatitudes which he taught on the Sermon of the Mount

- The progression of the spiritual life.

First we recognize our spiritual impoverishment - Once we admit that we don’t deserve his goodness and are lost without it - we get it

Secondly, we become sorrowful over our spiritual status outside of God - As we repent for our fallen state, we discover joy and forgiveness

This brings about a meek spirit - a spirit that is willing to become everything that God wants it to be, because they are glad to just be wanted

These three things develop a strong hunger in our hearts - We want more

As we receive more, we want to give more so we tend to be people who show the mercy that we’ve been dealt with to all those around us

And this creates within us a pure heart.

Not a perfect heart that thinks or does no wrong.

But a heart that even in the midst of the wrong around us, seeks to glorify God

A heart that is daily going through the process of sanctification

A heart that is being changed by God’s Holy Spirit - a regenerated heart

The test of the pure heart: Are my affections set on things above?Are my motives pure?Why do I assemble with the Lord’s peopleAnd for the first time, we begin to see God for who He really is - In all of His gloryAnd all of his glory in our lives.

And this brings about a peace in our lives - a peace that the Bible says, surpasses all situations.

So we see the way that each of these beatitudes lead into each other and how the previous make room for the latter

The first four show the negatives of the human heart - we are not self-sufficient, we are not self -satisfied, we are not self-important or self-righteous

But when we turn those things over to God - we become merciful toward others

we look at our lives according to the glory and power of God

and here we become the instruments of peace in others lives.

Having this progression in our lives, makes us a people who are unhindered and free to live for Christ.

it keeps us free to be soul winners

They have a driving force - they know that people cannot have peace outside of Jesus

And they are known as the children of God, because at this point in the spiritual progression of the Be Attitudes, we start to look like God.

We think like God

We love what God loves

We are about our father’s business.

We have one more to get to today.

Turn with me to

Now here is the problem with beginning to take on the nature and character of God.

We are marked by something that the unrighteous (world) does not like.

Persecuted Because We are Too Close to God

Let me assure you or something today

We could continue to give out food on a monthly basis and have no problems in our community

We can have out community dinners, we can do VBS, and Trunk or Treats and whatever else we do and the community will be very happy.

Being a Christian is good thing for our community

Being a church that believes in doing for and loving on and taking care of great for our community

The problem with our world, the problem with the community and the church is when the church decides to live godly

To speak godly

and to live in a way that reproves the ungodliness of men

Then there is resentment in the community.

Feed them all you want

Love on them, pay their bills, continue to give

But don’t do anything that would point the failures in the way that they are living - for then you will be persecuted.

John the Baptist

Here is the cousin of the messiah being treated like this.

The one who pointed the way to Christ.

But you see his cry for repentance wasn’t always one that was received with excitment.

John and warned the king that what he was doing with his sister in law was wrong.

and so at the request of Herodias, John is thrown into the dungeon.

But it doesn’t stop there.

She wanted him dead

Herod has his group of men over for what was essentially a stag party or a bachelor party.

and Herodias sends out her daughter to strut her stuff before the men.

And catches their eye

And when Herod is full of lust for his future step daughter, he asks what it will take to please her and Herodias jumps at the chance

John the Baptists head on a silver platter

Herod is stuck, he has made the promise (to do anything she wants) in front of his men and John’s head is removed instantly.

Think about this, because we see it take place in our world every day.

John dies because Herod lusts

The good man is murdered while the bad man smirks

A man of God is killed while a man of wild passions is winking at his niece

Is this how God honors the faithful?

No - this is the price of doing what is right in a world that only wants to know wrong.

This is what we call persecution.

You see brothers and sisters, the addon to Beatitude number 7 is that when you are this close to God, the enemy gets angry.

And persecution is coming.

Satan cannot have peace.

He moves in turmoil, fear and chaos.

And when the children of God become peacemakers, he does whatever he can do to steal or at least disrupt that peace.

Any one ever had their peace disrupted?

Have you ever seen the peace disrupted at your work place?

At your home?

In your marriage?

In your family?

How about your church?

And Jesus gives a real model that we can look at to understand this a little better.

Just look at the prophets before you - they persecuted them for what they said and the way that they lived.

Jesus mentions three types of sufferings or persecutions in verse 11

3 Types of Persecution

Reviling -

1. Revilings - verbal abuse - cursings, put downs, negative facebook posts, gossip about you behind your back or to your face

2. Persecution - in the greek = to pursue - to harass, to trouble or to molest (physically or verbally)

Probably what the Apostle Paul was doing to the church before God arrested him.