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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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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Text
Review
Paul is writing to these believers in Ephesus and he is bringing great truths to their minds about who we are in Christ.
He tells them of something Positional
New Family
Seated in Heavenly Places
Mart of the Mystery - the Church - the body of Christ
He tells them something Practical
We are to live differently than we have in the past
We are to Walk Worthy - we are to exemplify what it means to be Children of God
We are to have homes that are Honoring to Christ and picture the love he has for his church
We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God but rather we are to be “filled with the Spirit” - Controlled
Introduction
In this final section of Paul’s letter he makes a concluding plea with the reader.
He calls our attention to something important!
He call our attention to a battle!!
Illustration: Imagine a war was taking place in your back yard and you were to just go on with everyday life ignoring that war.
Transition
Declaration: Spiritual opposition is a reality and God has called and equipped us to stand
Proposition:
Transition: Paul in his final thoughts of this letter outlines 3 aspects of our Struggle to Stand
1.
He defines the source of our struggle
2.
He shows us the sufficiency of our strength
3.
He calls us to stand in the face of opposition
First notice...
I.
The Source of our Struggle
QUESTION: Does the Christian life ever feel like a battle?
Every human on earth has struggles
The routine challenges of life are not unique to the Christian
There is however a difference between being held captive by the enemy and being on the other side facing his opposing army
Example - An unsaved man...
QUESTION: What do you think of when you think of Spiritual Warfare?
Demon Possession?
A. What Spiritual Warfare is Not-
"not against flesh and blood"
Illustration: Conservative talk radio - Fox News - they would all have us believe that the enemy are liberals, progressives, the “deep state”.
While there may be some truth to what they are saying, there is a spiritual force that they are in many cases completely ignorant of.
"not against flesh and blood"- Your wife is not your enemy, your pastor is not your enemy, your fellow church members are not your enemy and the guy at work that you can’t stand is not your enemy.
People are not the problem principalities are
B. What Spiritual Warfare is -
“but against”i.
A Spiritual Enemy- A Spiritual Warfare
Principalities- A chief or a governor
Powers- Authority (authority that can only be granted by God)
Rulers of the darkness- The realm we are discussing- it is a spiritual realm
Spiritual wickedness in high places- places of authority, places of power - peel back political systems - Unions - Greedy Business People - Lobbyists - underneath it all is spiritual wickedness ii.
A Defeated Enemy - The Lord has defeated Satan -
QUOTE- “We study prophecy but we do not sweat prophecy”
Illustration: -JW at my door asking me if I was worried about the state of affairs in our world - concerned to a degree of course but I already know that I am on the winning side!
The Source of our Struggle....but also..
II.
The Sufficiency of our Strength
Paul begins this section of his letter with a reminder to be strong and a reminder about where we get our strength.
A. It is found in the Person of Christ
“be strong in the Lord”
Everything hinges on Christ
The same power that saved you is the same power that strengthens you
David’s reliance on God’s strength...
B. It is found in the Potency of Christ
“and in the power of his might”
God’s power is unlike any power on earth
There is literally no comparison
The Source of our Struggle....The Source of our Strength and finally....
III.
The Summons to Stand
“that ye may be able to stand” ...... “that ye may be able to withstand” .....“and having done all, to stand”
While it is God’s power that we need, Paul balances this with our responsibility to “put on” armor so that we might be able to stand!
QUESTION: When you think of battle is your first thought to stand? - Prob not! - You might think get down!!!!
A. Standing involves preparation - we must prepare
Paul tells us to “put on the whole armor of God” - this is in preparation
A battle is coming - Paul says - GET PREPARED!
Illustration: - Simulated battle drills in the Army - they would make us put on all of our armor - it was the most uncomfortable thing!
We could not wait to get to a place where we could take off all of our battle gear!
In a similar sense the battles we face on earth will one day be over - there will come a day when we will no longer need to fight!
We will no longer need armor for battle!
B. Standing involves persistence
“and having done all to stand”
There is not one of us that has done all we can in our flesh - this is not a plea to “do more” its a plea to do all
Paul tells us that we will be able to stand if we “put on the armor of God”
Conclusion
The battle is a spiritual battle - Satan often distracts us and defers the credit
The source of our strength is found in Christ
We are reminded that standing in the evil day is possible if we get prepared and persist with the right tools!
Next week we will take a closer look at the specifics of our armour and how these are essential elements for standing in the evil day in which we live!
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