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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Emotion
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Social Tendencies
Anger
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Illustration
He Stood in the Plains of Moab and Said to the Thousands Who Were Listening to Him: (No Slide of Verse)
Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV)
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.
Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,
These are the Words of Moses Just Before the Children of Israel Were Going to Cross the Jordan River
And Just After He Had Given Them the Law of God For the 2nd Time
Israel Received the Law of God…
And Then They Were Presented With a Choice
Obey This Law and You Will Have Life
Disobey This Law and You Will Die
Matthew 7:13-29
Matthew Has Made it His Mission to Show Us How Jesus is Reliving and Fulfilling the History of Israel
And Part of That Mission is Also to Show Us How Jesus is the 2nd and Greater Moses
Matthew Even Structures His Book to Resemble the Pentateuch (First 5 Books of the Bible; Written By Moses)
Matthew’s Gospel is Structured Around 5 Discourses/Teachings of Jesus
Like Moses at Mount Sinai and in the Plains of Moab…
Jesus Has Just Given the Law of God to the People
And the Final Part of His Sermon is the Same as Some of the Final Words of Moses
Jesus is Going to Give His Listeners a Choice
Obey This Law and You Will Live
Disobey This Law and You Will Die
There are Only 2 Options
To Make Jesus Our Lord, Serve Him, and Obey His Law
Or to Reject Jesus, Refuse to Serve Him, and Disobey His Law
There is No Middle Ground
Too Many of Us Want a Middle Ground
But There is No Middle Ground
C.S. Lewis - “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, is of infinite importance.
The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
With This Lesson This Morning…
We are Going to Be Forced to Make a Decision
And Every Single Person Will Make a Decision Before You Leave This Building
You are Going to Decide if Christianity…
If Being an Active and Faithful Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom is:
Of Infinite Importance to You
Or of No Importance to You
You are Going to Be Forced to Make a Choice
A Choice of Life or Death
Whether You Know it or Not, You Will Decide This Morning
Matthew 7:13–14 (NASB)
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Jewish Literature Often Used a Road to Symbolize a Moral Path
A Narrow Gate/Way Represents a More Restrictive Path
One That is Not as Easy to Navigate
You Have to Watch Your Steps On the Narrow Path
You Have to Be Disciplined
You Can’t Veer Off to the Right or Left
Jesus Has Presented Us With the Narrow Gate/Way
His Teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are Very Restrictive and Difficult
Most People Will Not Find/Choose This Gate/Way
But Those Who Do Will Find That it Leads to Life
Most People Will Choose Wide Gate and Broad Way
It is a Much Easier Gate to Enter and Path to Walk
You Don’t Have to Watch Your Steps
You Don’t Have to Be Disciplined
You Can Veer Off to the Right and Left However and Whenever You Want
Most People Choose This Gate/Way
It’s an Easy Choice Because it Satisfies Our Desires With Instant Gratification
But What Many of Them Don’t Realize is That This Path Only Leads to Destruction
Jesus Forces Us to Make a Choice
Obey His Teachings and Have Life
Or Don’t Obey His Teachings and Lose Your Life
Matthew 7:15 (NASB)
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Jesus Warns Us of False Prophets
There Will Be People Who Pretend to Be Innocent Sheep in Jesus’ Flock
But They are Actually Ravenous Wolves
Ravenous = Violently Greedy
They are Out to Help Themselves, Even at the Expense of Others
How are We Supposed to Know a Wolf From a Sheep?
Matthew 7:16 (NASB)
“You will know them by their fruits.
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
We Will Know the Wolves From the Sheep By the Fruits They Bear
Thorns and Thistles Don’t Produce Fruits
A Wolf Can Wear Sheeps Clothing and Fool Many For a Little While
But Eventually Their Hunger Will Give Them Away
Thorn Bushes and Thistles May Fool Us into Thinking They are Grapevines and Fig Trees For a Little While
But Eventually Their Dangerously Sharp Points and Lack of Fruit Will Give Them Away
Matthew 7:17–18 (NASB95)
“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”
Every Good Tree (Good = Kind, Generous)…
Bears Good Fruit (Good = Beautiful, Desirable)
A Good, Kind, Generous Person Will Show Good, Beautiful, Desirable Characteristics and Behaviours
The Bad Tree (Bad = Rotten, Worthless)
Bears Bad Fruit (Bad = Evil, Wicked)
A Bad, Rotten, Worthless Person Will Show Bad, Evil, Wicked Characteristics and Behaviors
But We Don’t Just See the Good or Bad Fruit in the Prophet’s/Teacher’s Lives
We See Those Fruit in the Lives of Those Who Listen to Them
You’ll Know a Good or Bad Prophet/Teacher Based On How Their Message is Affecting You
When You Eat Their Fruit, the Seeds of Their Fruit are Planted in Your Heart
And Those Seeds Will Grow into Fruits in Your Life
What Types of Fruit are You Producing?
If the Messages You Take in are Leading You to Have Good, Beautiful, and Desirable Characteristics and Behaviors…
Then You Can Trust That Those Whom You are Listening to are Good, Kind, and Generous Trees
But if the Messages You Take in are Leading You to Have Bad, Evil, and Wicked Characteristics and Behaviours…
Then You Can Trust That Those Whom You are Listening to are Bad, Rotten, and Worthless Trees
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