Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.5UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.13UNLIKELY
Fear
0.59LIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.52LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.92LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.13UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.82LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.81LIKELY
Extraversion
0.04UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.55LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.66LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Three False Methods, and a True One
Three wrong ways:
Seeking God’s will through signs and “fleeces”
Where do we get the idea of “fleeces” from?
Gideon
We say that people are “setting out a fleece” when they challenge God to reveal His will through some uncommon event or through some apparently chance occurrence.
Such as? flipping a coin or casting a lot.
Illustration: Missionary as interim pastor, wanted to become full pastor.
Pulpit committee didn’t agree.
Missionary wanted the church body to cast lots to determine who was right.
Why is this a bad approach?
What Scripture can we turn to and say- this isn’t biblical?
Did God in the past use some of these ways to reveal His will to people?
Is there anything in the Bible that indicates God still intends for us to use these methods?
What does the Bible teach?
How does God speak to us right now?
In these last days?
He has (already) spoken to us by His Son!
Where do we have access to the teachings of Jesus?
Only in the Bible!
So when we turn to lots or fleeces to determine God’s will what are we doing to the Bible?
We are neglecting the Bible as God’s final revelation to us.
Any activity that neglects the Bible is never the right way for us to find God’s leading.
Wrong method #2:
Expecting God to Speak Directly to Us
How? Audible Voice, Dreams, Visions, Or even an Inner Voice.
Why is this a wrong method?
To expect these experiences is exactly to seek additional revelation, which we must never do.
Nobody today has a right to claim, “God told me,” unless she or he can point to a verse of Scripture that is addressed to Church saints.
Even if people do hear a voice, that voice is not God’s.
How do we know?
Heb.
1:2 “In these last days He has spoken (aor.
tense) to us by His Son”
Wrong Method #3:
“Bibliomancy”
What is the practice of bibliomancy?
It involves opening the Bible, reading a verse (perhaps at random), and expecting that verse to reveal the will of God in answer to our question.
Illustration: One day a preacher was trying to decide if he should make a move to a new ministry.
He told his people he had been reading his Bible and came to Acts 22 16.
How does this verse begin?
Why do you wait?
This preacher stated that he knew God was speaking to him through these words, and that God’s will was for him to move rather than “waiting.”
That is bibliomancy.
But, doesn’t God speak through the Scriptures?
What is the problem with bibliomancy?
The meaning and relevance of any verse must be determined by that verse’s context.
Can anyone think of another common example?
Every part of the Bible gains its significance from its place within the overall argument of the whole.
CONTEXT!!!
To tear a text out of the whole, and to seek answers to questions that are foreign to the biblical context, is worse that superstition.
It amounts to spiritualized horoscopes, or reading tea leaves, or sheep entrails.
So how should Christians seek to discern God’s will for their lives?
A right approach:
God’s Will Always Accords with Scripture Rightly Understood
Whatever other methods you use to discern God’s direction, the Bible always has the final word.
God will never lead contrary to His revealed will in the Bible.
The key phrase is “rightly understood.”
God’s will is different for different individuals at different times and in different places.
Example?
God’s will for OT Israel is not identical with God’s will for people in the Church.
Knowing God’ revealed will requires careful reading of the Bible and skillful interpretation.
That being said certain aspects of God’s will are pretty clear.
Examples?
Never rob a gas station, murder an enemy, abandon a spouse.
God’s will never includes envy, greed, bitterness, deceit, pride, or malice.
God never wills His children to neglect their duties.
God’s will entails holiness, justice, faith, hope, and love.
Nobody who contradicts the teaching of Scripture can ever plead that they are doing God’s will.
Summary:
God has a specific will for each believer.
God is willing to provide direction or guidance to His children who seek it.
Following God’s leading is not a matter of additional revelation.
God’s will for our lives is not complicated or mysterious.
Our following studies will outline how we can discern God’s leading.
Start With What You Know
If God is not granting further revelation beyond Scripture, then how can believers know His will for their lives?
Specifically, how can they receive direction for their decisions without asking for additional revelation and consequently sacrificing the finality and sufficiency of Scripture?
First component: God’s will always accords with Scripture rightly understood.
God never leads any of His children contrary to what the Bible teaches.
Second component: Believers who want to know God’s will must be prepared to do God’s will.
In other words, submission precedes knowledge.
We find this biblical principle in the book of Proverbs.
Submission precedes knowledge.
The starting place to receive knowledge is the fear of the Lord.
What is the fear of the Lord?
Reverence and awe / awesome respect.
This is the starting place, then comes knowledge.
In verse 28 what is God unwilling to do?
Will not answer, will not allow Himself to be found.
How would you describe the attempts of people to call and seek God in v. 28? Calling and seeking diligently!
And yet God will not respond.
Why?
What reasons are given in v. 29?
They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
The idea here is that the fact that they do not fear the Lord shows that they really hate knowledge.
Who are the ones who truly find knowledge then?
A person who understands the fear of the Lord is the one who finds knowledge.
Fear of the Lord:
The fear of the Lord involves what?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9