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
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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2 For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?
3 And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy,
having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all.
4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe.
6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.
8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.
9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.
10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.
For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
– THE STRATEGY OF SATAN
A. Paul’s change of plans: more reasons why the Corinthians misinterpreted why he did not come to them a second time.
1. (1-2) Paul remembers his sorrowful visit to the Corinthians.
But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow.
For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?
a.
But I determined: Carrying on the thought from chapter one, Paul defends himself against the Corinthian Christians.
Some among them criticized him because he changed his travel plans and did not come when he planned to.
They used this change of plans to say of Paul, “He is unreliable and untrustworthy.
We don’t need to listen to him at all.”
But Paul explains there were many reasons why he did not come as planned, one of them being he was trying to spare the Corinthians ().
b.
I would not come again to you in sorrow: Paul’s most recent visit to Corinth was full of conflict and unpleasantness.
So he determined that he would not have another “sorrowful” visit with the Corinthians.
i. “Because of the scandals that were among them he could not see them comfortably; and therefore he determined not to see them at all till he had reason to believe that those evils were put away.” (Clarke)
c.
If I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad?
Paul also knew that another painful visit would not be good for him.
The constant conflict with the Corinthian Christians could really damage his relationship with them.
i.
It seems that Paul thought it best to give the Corinthian Christians a little room, and give them space to repent and get their act together.
He didn’t want to rebuke and admonish them all the time.
Since this was Paul’s heart, he knew that another visit of the same kind would be of little benefit for either Paul or the Corinthian Christians.
2. (3-4) Instead of a second visit, Paul wrote a letter.
And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all.
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.
a.
And I wrote this very thing to you: Paul wisely understood that considering all the circumstances, a letter was better than a personal visit.
A letter could show Paul’s heart, yet not give as much opportunity for the deterioration of their relationship.
It would give them room to repent and get right with God and Paul again.
i.
Where is this letter that Paul mentions?
Some good scholars see the “sorrowful letter” as 1 Corinthians, but it seems better to think of it as another letter that we don’t have.
Does this mean that something is missing from our Bibles?
Not at all.
Not every letter that Paul wrote was inspired Scripture for all God’s people in all ages.
We can trust that what Paul wrote in the missing letter was perfect for the Corinthian Christians at that time, but not perfect for us; otherwise, God would have preserved it.
We shouldn’t think that everything Paul or the other Bible writers wrote was necessarily Scripture.
b.
Lest when I came, I should have sorrow: Paul hoped that his letter would get all the painful work out of the way.
Then when he did visit them personally, it would be a pleasant visit because they would have taken advantage of the opportunity he gave them to get right.
c.
Over those from whom I ought to have joy: The bad conduct of the Corinthian Christians was all the more troubling considering how they should have treated the apostle who gave them so much.
d.
Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you: Paul did not enjoy confronting the Corinthian Christians.
It was hard for him to do, and he did it with many tears.
His goal was not that you should be grieved, but instead that the Corinthian Christians would know the love which I have so abundantly for you.
i.
It would take some maturity for the Corinthian Christians to receive Paul’s correction this way.
It is easy for us to think a person offering correction is our enemy and sometimes is against us.
But usually others bring correction because they love us, as Paul loved the Corinthian Christians.
His goal was not to grieve them, but to love them.
ii.
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