Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

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Anger
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
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In our nation, a divorce is granted every 26 seconds.
Slightly more than half of all marriages, and nearly 60% of all remarriages end in divorce.
Divorces are granted for all kinds of reasons, but the most common rationalization for why marriages end is, "We just don’t love each other as we once did."
As a society, we have come to believe that when the romantic feelings of love have cooled, the relationship is no longer valid.
Author Thornton Wilder gives us a different perspective.
He writes:
·  "I married you because you gave me a promise.
That promise made up for your faults.
And the promise I gave you made up for mine.
Two imperfect people got married, and it was the promise that made the marriage.
And when our children were growing up, it wasn’t a house that protected them; and it wasn’t our love that protected them – it was that promise."
(Quoted in Grow Up! How Taking Responsibility Can Make You a Happy Adult, published by Golden Books.)
Wilder understood that *relationships are built upon a promise, not a passion*.
Should the passion die, relationships can continue because of the promise.
That is what Hosea is all about.
When we pick up the story in chapter three, Gomer has hit bottom.
She has been transported from the "exciting" world of adultery into the living hell of prostitution.
She is swapped on the open market of the sex trade like a piece of common stock.
Hosea has every legal and moral right to divorce her, and, under God’s law, to have her killed.
But Hosea is not about law.
In love, Hosea does the unthinkable.
Following God’s instructions, he goes to the slave market, purchases this woman with whom he exchanged wedding vows, takes her home, and says to her, "I will be for thee."
(Verse 3)
I am certain that Hosea didn’t "feel" much affection for Gomer at that moment.
How could he?
She had wrecked his home and publicly shamed and humiliated him.
Yet, in obedience to the Lord he was able to "love" her "yet."
(Verse 1)
What we learn from this is that love is not about passion, but about a promise.
It is not something we /feel/, but something we /do/ no matter how we feel.
It is a commitment that must endure the inconsistency of human emotions.
It must withstand insensitivity, neglect, and betrayal.
It must weather changes in personality, behavior, and physical attraction.
That kind of love can last a lifetime.
I. Love is a Promise that Endures – Verse 1
A.     
*A.
** *
*B.    **The /timing/ of God’s command to Hosea *
*1.      ** *
*2.      ** *
*3.      ** *
1.        
2.
The word /"Then" /reminds us that this took place /after/ Hosea had taken the following steps (see 2:1-13)
a.        
b.
c.
a.
b.
He had confronted Gomer with her infidelity
c.        
d.
He had issued an ultimatum – give up her affairs or get out
e.        
f.
He had backed up the ultimatum by letting her go and cutting off his financial and emotional support.
(See 2:8-12)
·  It is important to remember that Hosea didn’t take these steps in anger, or as an act of reprisal.
It was his loving, confident response to a serious problem in his relationship.
Hosea didn’t try to hang on to Gomer by overlooking her affairs, manipulating her with guilt, or making empty threats.
He simply said to her, "If you want to stay, I want you to stay – but with the understanding that you take whatever steps are necessary to end these affairs.
If you want to go, you may go, but things cannot continue as they are.
I want you to know that I’m not giving up on you, but I am willing to give you up if that is what you want."
2.        
3.
4.
1.
2.
The verses that follow clearly indicate that Hosea didn’t take the steps of restoration until Gomer had reached the point of brokenness.
a.        
b.
c.
a.
b.
It is probable that many months, and possibly years, passed between Hosea chapters 2 and 3.
c.        
d.
Like the boy in the parable of the prodigal son, Gomer had to reach the end of the road before she would see the value in returning home.
#.  
#.
* *
#. *The /terms/ of God’s command to Hosea *
*1.      ** *
*2.      ** *
*3.      ** *
1.        
/2.
/Although I believe that Gomer was inwardly broken, outwardly her condition was the same.
/"yet an adulteress" /
/a.       // /
/b.       // /
/c.       // /
a.        
b.
I think it safe to conclude that Gomer no longer enjoyed her present condition – a common prostitute sold to anyone willing to pay the price of a slave.
c.        
d.
But neither had she attempted to return to Hosea.
I think there are at least two possible reasons for this:
·          
·          
·          
·          
·         * *
o        * *
o        *She couldn’t*.
She had already sunk so low that she was no longer free to make such choices.
She was a slave, the property of the one who owned her.
o        * *
o        *She didn’t know that she could return*.
So much time had passed and she had sinned so greatly that she couldn’t imagine Hosea taking her back.
2.        
3.
4.
1.
/2.
/Hosea, after the manner of God, was to show Gomer that a relationship was still possible, not on the terms of her character, but of his commitment.
/"according to the love of the Lord" /
·  To understand this kind of love, we must look to its source – God.
He didn’t wait until we cleaned up to offer us salvation.
/"While we were yet sinners,"/ God demonstrated His love for us through Calvary.
He didn’t wait until we came crawling back to Him before He reached out to us.
Instead, He came /"to seek and to save that which was lost."/
He showed us how low we could fall; then He offered to lift us up higher than we have ever been.
And it had nothing to do with /feelings/, but with a /promise/ made to a broken, fallen couple in the Garden of Eden – a promise of redemption.
God is the one who teaches us that love is a promise, not a passion.
Marriage is not about "being in love," but agreeing to love.
It is not something we feel, but something we do no matter how we feel.
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