Sermon Tone Analysis

John #17

John 5:16-47

 

Last week, Jesus healed a lame man who hadn’t walked in 38 years

The best we can tell, the man wasn’t grateful, nor did he place his Faith in Christ.

IF that wasn’t bad enough, the officials are angry with Jesus because he had the audacity to do gracious act on the Sabbath.

HE worked on the Sabbath in healing the man, and then he Told the man to work in telling him to carry his mat, on the Sabbath.

Well … we move on from that spot today

READ 5:16-47

 

You hear people say

 

“I’m a Spiritual Person”

“I want to know God”

“I want to Experience God”

 

But the problem is that Religion ~/ Spirituality has become something else.

With all due respect to some, in some expressions of Religion there has been an inordinate amount of attention paid to Mary and to Saints who have gone before us.

For others spirituality has become an emphasis on finding oneself

An emphasis on the Religion of Community, building relationships

 

The problem with all of those is that “Religion” has left it’s Purpose and Pater.

That is, I want to call us to returning Religion to the Father, that is to the WAY the FATHER intended us to express it

 

In Jesus’ day Religion of the Jews had wandered from it’s original intent, as well, into a self serving, egocentric, expression of Tradition when it should be a God-serving, God-centered, His Purpose fulfilling, exercise in Faith, Adoration, and Obedience.

Jesus Christ IS our Savior, Jesus Christ is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but learn some things about the Organization of the Trinity.

If you look to Heaven you see the Father on the Throne, the Son at the Right Hand of the Father, and the Spirit in front of the throne.

There is ORDER and submission.

When Jesus talks of the Holy Spirit he says that the Holy Spirit will do nothing on his own but only what he receives and will draw attention to Christ.

And Jesus Christ teaches us today about submitting to the Father about returning religion to the Father.

And that is a first understanding that

 

1.

By Myself I Can Do Nothing

 

  A.

Jesus Could Do Nothing By Himself

You may ask yourself as you read this, “how can this be” … Oh It Be …

But Jesus is God, yes but God is in order at all times.

Look around you, everything God created is orderly

That is because ORDER is part of his nature

So the Spirit does nothing without Christ.

1 Cor 11:3 says /“… the head of Christ is God”/

And Christ says

/The SON can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son does/

 

So, If JESUS says “I am not in this alone” “I can’t do this alone”

 

  B.

We can’t do anything alone

How in the world do we think that we can do anything on our own

How do we think we can do church on our own

 

How do we think we can program progress

How do we think we can formulate a Future

How do we think we can Energize Evangelism

How are WE going to Heal our Hurts in the Community Alone

How are we going to Rebuild Ruined Lives Alone?

BY OURSELVES?

We don’t stand a chance on our own

We need the direction of the Father

We need the blessing of the Father

How can we plan our day without the Father’s input?

How can we plan the future of our family, our finances, our education, our career without the direction of the Father?

IF you feel like there is no direction, if you feel like there is no future, if you feel like you aren’t getting anywhere, the question has to be Am I Where the Father is?

Am I doing what He is doing

 

So that brings me to a Second Conclusion

 

Religion is FROM the Father, we need to return it to the Father,

 

I need to

 

2.

Find Out What the Father is Doing

 

  A.

The Father IS at Work

How do I know that the Father is doing anything?

God is not at work in our community

God is not at work in my office

God is not at work in my school

 

Or maybe we pray this way,

“Lord please begin a work in our community”

“Lord please work at my school”

“Lord please work in my house …”

 

We are making the assumption that he might NOT be at work …

V17 – Jesus says /My Father is ALWAYS at his WORK to this very day, and I too am working/

 

So we KNOW the Father is at Work … and we know that Jesus is ONLY doing what the Father is doing

 

So, our prayer should be Father reveal to me what you are doing … so I can join you.

And, if you want to know what the Father is doing …

 

 

  B.

Look to the Son …

    1.

Watch the Son – he is watching the Father

Ask the Spirit within you to open the eyes of your heart that you can better see what Christ is doing

    2.

Talk to the Son – he talks to the Father, he is at the Father’s right hand

“But I don’t know how to pray” – That’s ok, the Spirit within you knows how to intercede for us with groanings that God understands.

Just get on your knees, quiet if you have to be …

    3.

Imitate the Son he is imitating the Father

Philippians 3:4-14 \\ /4 //though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:// //5 //circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;// //6 //as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.//

/

/ /

Paul was saying I know HOW to be Religious, I know HOW to DO THINGS for God …

 

/7 //But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.//

//8 //What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ// //9 //and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.//

//10 //I want to know Christ … //12 //Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.// //13 //Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,// //14 //I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus./

If we want to know the Father, return religion to the Father, KNOW CHRIST … Press Toward Christ

 

As we Imitate Christ … then we Imitate God

Eph 5:1 – /Be Imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering …/

 

How do we imitate God, we Do what God is doing … and that’s what Jesus did … he gave himself for us … he laid down his life, he brought us to God, because the Father was all about bringing the world to Christ … and Christ joined him in the ultimate sacrifice

Why … as an offering of Worship of to the Father …

 

What is the WORSHIP that the Father Requires

What is the WORK that the Father is About …

What is the Father’s Desire for Us?

That we, that the World, that All would

 

3.

Honor the Son

V23 – /that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.