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
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
0.54LIKELY
Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
0.54LIKELY
Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
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Introduction
Attention Getter - The other night I was watching a clip from on movie on my phone (crazy!)
Anyway, I’m not sure what the movie was but it was set in a boxing ring and it looked like it was sometime in the 1930’s.
I’m a sucker for a good fight scene, especially when an unlikely champion is involved.
Well, in the one corner there was a hulking, musclebound Englishman.
He was not someone I would want to tangle with.
And in the other corner was a small, Chinese man.
Apparently they wanted to see if martial arts or boxing would win the day.
And from the outside looking in, there is no way this small Chinese man had a chance against this enormous, very skilled, boxer...
This really sets the stage for what our text has for us this morning.
An unlikely matchup.
In this corner you have the reigning champion - Death!!!
In the corner, Death, who for centuries has systematically claimed victim after victim...
And in this corner, a humble, unassuming carpenter from Nazareth...
But as we will soon see, this is an unlikely match-up, because Death doesn’t stand a chance...
Main Idea - Death is No Match for The Author of Life!
There are three ways this is true from the text.
And the first is...
1. Death is No Match for The Author’s Anger (vs.
38-40)
a.
The Savior’s Request (vs.
38-39a)
John 11:38-39a
b.
The Sister’s Reluctance (vs.
39b)
Anger is a God given emotion to get something accomplished.
Anger, in and of itself is not sinful unless the cause of our anger has something to do with our pride or selfishness.
If we are angry because someone has hurt someone else, or defamed God, this is righteous anger.
And folks, don’t be misled here, Jesus, the author of life was ANGRY at sin and death.
This is what “deeply moved” means...
John 11
ἐμβριμάομαι - to roar, storm with anger.
to be enraged, indignant, to express indignation against someone.
Apply
Jesus is ANGRY with death and all the havock it has caused over the centuries.
Ever since the Fall of mankind, original sin as well as our own sinfulness, has brought pain, sickness and the process of death.
Think of all who have died physically and worse yet, spiritually because of sin? Death is the result of sin!
c.
The Savior’s Reminder (vs.
40)
What will Jesus do about the death of His friend Lazarus?
Well, He is about to go toe to toe with His ancient foe and He will win decisively.
His Anger will drive Him to defeat death.
His anger will drive Him to the tomb.
His anger will have them “Take away the stone.”
A stone that represents the separation from life and death.
A sealing and removal of the putrid decay death inevitably brings.
After the Lord commands the stone of the tomb to be removed, Martha, ever the practical one, warns the Lord of the inescapable stench that will waft forth from the cave.
And her warning is rooted in unbelief!
Just a short time earlier Martha assented to the bold claims of the Messiah (sort of)...
John
And as we talked about before, she does admit to some profound truths about Jesus, just not the big one - that He is God in the flesh.
That He is the master over life and death!
Look back at the truth about God in the Old Testament...
Jesus is God very God.
He is the God of the Old Testament!
He is the same yesterday, today and forever!
He is the Author of life and hold ultimate power over death!
Martha didn’t get it yet!
She didn’t understand who Jesus really was and what He was capable of doing!
I think some of us here this morning might struggle with this Martha mentality.
Do you believe Jesus is God!
The God of the universe?
Do you understand and believe what He is capable of?
Look at verse 40...
What a great challenge from the Lord!
I told you, Martha (and Mary) if you believe you will live and never die!
Do you believe this?
If you do, you are going to see me do something so amazing, so unbelievable, that the fame of God (me) will spread through this land like wildfire!
That’s what glory means - fame! Jesus is about to show Himself as the omnipotent God He truly is.
But still, Mary and Martha would need to believe!
Jesus was angry at death and He was about to prove clearly that death has no power over him.
His anger is driving Him to accomplish something profound.
God hates sin and He hates what sin produces - death!
Illustrate - Allow me to read to you a snippet from a sermon from the famous preacher, Billy Graham...
We in the church have failed to remind this generation that while God is love, He also has the capacity to hate.
He hates sin, and He will judge it with the fierceness of His wrath.
This generation is schooled in the teaching about an indulgent, soft-hearted God whose judgments are uncertain and who coddles those who break His commandments.
This generation finds it difficult to believe that God hates sin.
Apply - How does this apply to us today?
I guess the question for us today is how do you feel about death?
I know you hate physical death and we do everything we can to avoid it.
But what about spiritual death?
Are you, like the Lord, angry about spiritual death?
I tell you that God hates sin just as a father hates a rattlesnake that threatens the safety and life of his child.
God loathes evil and diabolic forces that would pull people down to a godless eternity just as a mother hates a venomous spider that is found playing on the soft, warm flesh of her little baby.
It is His love for man, His compassion for the human race, that prompts God to hate sin with such a vengeance.
He gave Heaven’s finest that we might have the best; and He loathes with a holy abhorrence anything that would hinder our being reconciled to Him.
God hates sin and He hates the result of sin - DEATH!
Illustrate
I guess the question for us today is how do you feel about death?
I know you hate physical death and we do everything we can to avoid it.
But what about spiritual death?
Are you, like the Lord, angry about spiritual death?
What are you going to do about your anger?
Remember, anger is a God-given tool to drive us forward to accomplish something.
What are you going to do about death?
No idea?
Let me give you some suggestions...
Are You Angry at Death?
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