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
0.15UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.11UNLIKELY
Joy
0.58LIKELY
Sadness
0.53LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.15UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.16UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.72LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.92LIKELY
Extraversion
0.26UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.99LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.68LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
How God Works in Our Lives
The Gospel of John
John 13:33-38
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - July 19, 2017
(Revised January 7, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to John 13.
Most of you know that in this chapter God's Word has moved forward to the night before the cross.
Verse 31 tells us that Judas had already gone out to betray the Lord.
And in these crucial moments Jesus prepared His disciples for the cross and the things that would come next.
*Last time we focused on the vital importance of the new commandment the Lord gave in vs. 34.
There Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
*Tonight, we will take a broader look at this Scripture passage to see how God works in the lives of His people.
Please think about that as we read vs. 33-38.
MESSAGE:
*Back when our children were young, the Hemphills had a popular kid's song that went like this:
"There really ought to be a sign upon my heart
Don't judge him yet, there's an unfinished part
But I'll be better just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master's loving hands
He's still working on me
To make me what I ought to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
He's still workin' on me" (1)
*Yes, Christians: How loving and patient He must be.
He's still working on us!
Praise the Lord!
Most of us are here right now, because we realize that God's not finished with us yet.
We believe that Jesus has been at work in our lives, is at work in our lives, and will keep on working in our lives to make us all He wants us to be.
Tonight's Scripture helps us see how God works in our lives.
1. FIRST: HE TEACHES US TO WAIT ON THE LORD.
*We all have to learn to wait on the Lord.
Verse 33 reminds us of this truth.
Here Jesus spoke to His 11 remaining disciples and said, "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.
You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you."
*The Lord had already said something very similar to the hard-hearted rulers of the Jews.
It happened about 6 months before when Jesus was teaching in the Temple.
By then, most of the Pharisees and chief priests wanted to kill Jesus.
But many of the people were beginning to believe, and at that time the Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to arrest Jesus.
*John 7:30-34 says:
30.
Then they sought to take Him (Jesus); but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
31.
And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?''
32.
The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.
33.
Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.
34.
You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.''
*There in John 7, Jesus was warning the Christ-haters that that they would never be able to get to Heaven, unless they repented and received the Lord.
Now in vs. 33, Jesus basically said the same thing.
But here the Lord said it for a very different reason.
Now it was the night before the cross, and Jesus knew that 40 days after His resurrection He would go back home to Heaven.
*The Lord was going to leave His followers behind, so countless other people could hear the good news of His cross.
That's why Jesus basically told them, "I am going away, but you can't come yet.
You're going to have to wait."
*Well, we don't generally like to wait.
Ask an 8-year-old four weeks before Christmas.
Ask a mom-to-be when she's about 8 months pregnant.
Ask somebody stuck in traffic for more than a few minutes.
Ask someone in the long line at McDonald's.
*We generally don't like to wait, and Peter felt the same way.
In vs. 36-37:
36.
Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?''
Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.''
37. Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You NOW?
I will lay down my life for Your sake.''
*Waiting can be hard, but we have to learn to wait on the Lord.
Again, in vs. 33 Jesus said, "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.
You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you CANNOT COME,' so now I say to you."
*Sometimes the Lord has to remind us of our limits.
There are some things that we can't do, or we can't do yet, so we have to wait on the Lord.
This is the Bible's clear teaching in both the Old Testament and the New.
For example, in Psalm 27:13-14 King David gave this testimony:
13.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.
14.
WAIT on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; WAIT, I say, on the Lord!
*The original word for "wait" there has the idea of patiently and eagerly looking for, hoping in and expecting God.
It's trusting in the Lord God to show up, help us, strengthen us, save us, and give us everything we need we need.
We have to learn to wait on the Lord.
*Psalm 33:18-20 says:
18. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,
19.
To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.
20.
Our soul WAITS for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
21.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22.
Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.
*And in Isaiah 40:29-31, God's Word says:
29.
He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.
30.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall,
31.
But those who WAIT on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
*We must learn to wait on the Lord.
A New Testament example is Acts 1:4.
There our Risen Savior was with the Apostles.
And as He talked to them about the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus "commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to WAIT for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me.'"
All of God's people must learn to wait on the Lord.
*Ellen Layfield was a tremendous Christian lady from Jonesboro, Louisiana.
She was a devoted wife, mother, teacher and friend.
In April 2007, at the age of 49, Ellen was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
She went home to be with the Lord on May 30, 2008.
Here is part of a testimony her daughter, Cathy put on the Caring Bridge website a few months before her mother passed away:
*"I wish I could tell you that last night was better, but I don't really think it was.
Mom seemed to feel better yesterday evening than she did on Monday evening, but she couldn't sleep last night.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9