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
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.64LIKELY
Sadness
0.56LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.71LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.27UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.85LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.82LIKELY
Extraversion
0.21UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.79LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.65LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
This morning, we are in a new chapter.
Our text is Romans chapter 8.
However, before we get into the text, I want to draw your attention back to chapter 7 and verse 1, which says:
As we note from these verses, the Corinthian church wrote a letter to Paul asking him to clarify some issues in the church.
The first of these were issues surrounding marriage.
The Holy Spirit dedicated this entire chapter to addressing those issues.
He answered such questions as “Should a person marry or remain single?” and “Should believers seek divorce or remain married?”
Now we come to chapter 8 and another difficulty for the local church of Corinth.
As we come to chapter 8, we find the Holy Spirit addressing the next issue in their letter to Paul.
Note how this chapter opens with verse 1.
The concern is those things that have to do with idol worship.
Context is everything.
When the Holy Spirit moved upon Paul to pen these words, idol worship was at an all-time high.
Roman and Greek mythology ran rampant throughout most of the known world.
The majority of the world fully believed in many false gods.
The center of the known world, Rome alone boasted over 80 temples.
There were three temples dedicated to Apollos, Asclepius, and Hermes in Corinth.
Additionally, it had two shrines and four sanctuaries.
Consequently, we find this young church struggling as they learned to live as believers in a very unfriendly environment.
A struggle that is just as real today.
It was something the Lord Jesus Christ recognized as He prayed for us in John 17.
Christ noted we, as believers, would be hated by the world.
His prayer was not that the Father takes us out of this world but that we remain.
Again, as you study the overall context of Scripture, our duty today is to be a witness for Christ.
We cannot accomplish that task if we are not here in the world.
Christ, therefore, understood our dilemma of living in a world that hates us.
He, as we know, was hated and despised more than any person who has lived in this world.
Yet, at the same time, Christ also understood the difficulties we face as we remain as His witness.
However, note one more thing, and we will move on.
Christ gave us the answer to coping with this world as we live in it.
Note verse 17, which says:
The word “sanctify” means to consecrate or make holy.
Christ’s prayer was that the Father would “sanctify” us or make us holy through God’s truth.
And, then, emphatically, Christ states, “thy word is truth.”
For this reason, we hold the complete Word of God in our hands today.
God gave it to us so that He might make us holy.
The person then who reads God’s Word, meditates on it, memorizes it, and seeks to obey it everyday is a person God is making holy.
It is why we, here at Calvary Baptist in Bedford, place such an emphasis on Scripture.
The Bible is the only source of truth in our world today.
Additionally, it is the only place where you can learn how to be holy in God’s eyes.
Now, getting back to our topic, we noted the problem presented to the Corinthian believers.
They were living in a city filled with idolatry.
Doing so presented many different challenges.
One of those challenges dealt with meat offered to idols.
Look again at our text and verse 1.
Note again that they sought clarification about “things offered unto idols.”
As we work our way through this chapter, we will see precisely the issue surrounding eating meat offered to idols.
Pagan idol sacrifices are often quite similar to Old Testament sacrifices.
We often think about animal sacrifices as a thing of the past.
However, animal sacrifices still happen in many places worldwide, even today.
Nepal is one such place.
My wife and I had the opportunity to visit a Hindu temple in Nepal that still offers animal sacrifices on two different occasions.
We witnessed firsthand them killing goats and pouring out the blood upon an altar.
For a believer, it is a challenging place to visit.
You can feel the Satanic presence there.
As I stated, many pagan sacrifices mirror the Old Testament sacrifices.
The priest often divides the meat into three portions in preparation for the sacrifice.
He then burns one portion in honor of the false deity.
The worshipper takes another portion home to eat.
And then, the priest takes the third portion home to eat or sell in the marketplace.
Now, as you may imagine, the leftover sacrificial meat is much cheaper than the prime cuts offered in the market.
And, everybody loves a bargain, even believers.
For that reason, it would seem several believers within the Corinthian church were purchasing the cheaper meat offered in idol worship.
Buying and eating the meat caused problems with others who were against it.
Those who opposed it argued that a faithful follower of Christ would not eat the meat or have anything to do with false idol worship.
Thus, contention arose in the church over meat offered to idols.
In the end, as we will see, the whole argument comes down to whether or not doing such things (eating meat to idols) causes another believer to stumble.
The word the Holy Spirit uses is “stumblingblock.”
Verse 9 is the key verse.
The word “stumblingblock” means any thing that becomes an obstacle to a fellow believer, causing them to stumble into sin.
We will get to that more in next week’s message.
For now, it is interesting to note how the Holy Spirit addresses this issue initially.
Instead of diving right in and giving a yes or no answer, the Holy Spirit begins by revealing our stumbling block.
A Revelation About Our Own Personal Stumbling-block
Look again at verse 1.
Surprisingly, the Holy Spirit makes no mention of food, even though food is the issue.
Instead, He directs our attention to one of man’s biggest problems - knowledge.
Why does the Holy Spirit take this approach?
We can find the answer in several different Scripture passages.
Here is just one.
Before we can help others, we must learn to deal with our particular heart issues.
Thus, before the Holy Spirit helps us understand our relationship with our fellow believers, we must admit our downfalls first.
Knowledge or the ability to obtain knowledge is both a blessing and a curse.
I am thankful that God created me in His image.
God blesses us with the ability to think, to know, and to reason.
It comes in quite helpful when you are trying to solve problems or create something.
Unfortunately, knowledge often leads to inflated egos.
Note the Holy Spirit’s attention to that very fact.
Again, look at verse 1 of our text.
The Holy Spirit plainly states “Knowledge puffeth up.”
I think we understand this all too well.
The more a person knows; the bigger their head becomes.
Education is wonderful thing.
It imparts to people the knowledge of numbers and how numbers work.
Through education, people learn how to read and write.
Many have said that education is power.
There is no doubt that education empowers people to do great things.
Without education and knowledge, we would all be sleeping in caves freezing our back sides off wondering how to start a fire.
Instead, we sit here this morning warm, dry, and comfortable through obtained knowledge.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9