Sermon Tone Analysis

That you may believe … and have life #4 - Gospel of John

John 1:10-13

 

Mothers And Arithmetic

/A teacher in one of our public schools put this question to little James in the arithmetic class, "James, suppose your mother made a peach pie, and there were ten of you at the table-your mother and father and eight children-how much of the pie would you get?" "A ninth, ma'am," was the prompt answer.

"No, no, James.

Now pay attention," said the teacher.

"There are ten of you.

Ten, remember.

Don't you know your fractions?"

"Yes, ma'am," was the swift reply of little James, "I know my fractions, but I know my mother, too.

She'd say that she didn't want any pie."

/

 

Lord Shaftesbury said /give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in 12 months/

 

Prayer's Chain Reaction

/Picture an old woman with a halo of silvered hair-the hot tears flowing down her furrowed cheeks-her worn hands busy over a washboard in a room of poverty-praying-for her son John-John who ran away from home in his teens to become a sailor-John of whom it was now reported that he had become a very wicked man-praying, praying always, that her son might be of service to God.

The mother believed in two things, the power of prayer and the reformation of her son.

God answered the prayer by working a miracle in the heart of John Newton.

/

/John Newton, the sailor-preacher.

Among the thousands of men and women he brought to Christ was Thomas Scott, cultured, selfish, and self-satisfied.

Because of the washtub prayers another miracle was worked, and Thomas Scott used both his pen and voice to lead thousands of unbelieving hearts to Christ, among them a dyspeptic, melancholic young man, William Cowper by name.

He, too, was washed in the cleansing blood and in a moment of inspiration wrote "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood."

And these song has brought countless thousands to the Man who died on Calvary.

All this resulted because a mother took God at His word and prayed that her son's heart might become as white as the soapsuds in the washtub.

/

 

 

Well we've been in John 1

In the beginning was the word, who was with God and was God.

He made everything that was made.

But despite the fact that he made everything, he is Lord of everything, he is light in the midst of darkness, he came to his own people and they wouldn't receive him.

We also realized last time that we, his own followers, are guilty of failing to receive Christ when he comes to us.

Failing to follow, failing to believe his revelation

 

But the good news is that there isn't JUST an indictment on those who don't receive, there is a promise for those who do, a promise for inclusion into the family.

Family, isn't that one of the things that we all want, that we all need?

Family?

Don't we celebrate family today?

One of the beautiful things we celebrate about Mothers is their selfless love that receives and rewards us more than we deserve.

A mother's love is always there, but oh when we receive it … we live in the blessing of it

 

So much more the unconditional love available because of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Return with me to verse 10 and read through verse 13

READ 10-13

 

So many look at Jesus with indifference

So many look at Jesus with ignorance

So many look at Jesus with insolence

 

However,

But,

Yet,

To as many as

To all that received …

 

How do we make the shift from being apart from him to being IN him?

We find a hint in verse 10 … and we talked about it 2 weeks ago

 

Before we can receive … we've got to recognize

 

 

1.

Recognition

 

What is it to recognize God?

To Recognize Jesus?

People want to talk about God, in the generic sense.

It is not offensive to them.

When they get offended is when we want to bring Jesus into the equation

They don't want to recognize him.

First we have to be Aware

> Awareness

We have to realize who he is

That's why John wrote verses 1-3

God is not a life force

God is not just a generic being or a higher power

God is a self-existent, self-sustaining, self-revealing intelligent God.

He has chosen to reveal himself in Father, Son, and Spirit.

John sought to make us aware that this Jesus is our Creator and that awareness is step one

Awareness should lead us to step two

 

> Respect

If he is Creator God, then I have to respect his rights over this universe and thus his rights over me

If he is ruler, then I have to respect his right to rule in my life

If he orders this universe, he orders the world

He should order my life

To respect means "the quality of being esteemed" …

Is. 53:3 says "he is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not"

 

What do you recognize?

What do you

Respect and esteem?

Those that follow the way of faith esteem and Respect Christ above all

Heb 11:26 speaking of Moses says "/he regarded (or esteemed) disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward."/

Awareness of God is step one to recognition, Respect is step two and that leads to step three …

 

> Fear -

Deuteronomy 6:13 (NIV)

/13 //Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name./

Ps 19:9 says the Fear of the Lord is pure and endures forever …

You want to know where to go, what to do?

Ps 25:12 says that the one who fears the Lord, finds the Lord instructs him in the way chosen for him …

And 25:14 says the Lord confides in those who fear him

And of course Ps 11:10 says that wisdom begins in the Fear of the Lord

What is it?

Psalm 34 instructs us … it is of course recognizing God's place, his authority and loving him more than life.

It is living your life as if in his presence all the time.

It is walking in the way he would have you to walk.

/Simply put, the fear of the Lord is living your life under the gaze of God.  /

 

So, there were those that did NOT recognize him … but those who did recognize him, take the natural step of receiving him

 

2.

Reception

 

What does that mean?

To receive him …

> Accept

We use that word a lot … we talk about Accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior.

The English word accept, means /"to receive willingly; to give approval to; to recognize as true; to make a favorable response to"/

 

To receive him we must accept, willingly receive, approving of his way over ours, his truth over our understanding, respond with a resounding "Yes Lord"

And