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
0.14UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.54LIKELY
Fear
0.51LIKELY
Joy
0.53LIKELY
Sadness
0.52LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.41UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.12UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.96LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.54LIKELY
Extraversion
0.09UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.46UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.56LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
! The Treasures of Darkness
“I will give you the TREASURES OF DARKNESS”
Isaiah 45 v 3
*/45/*/ “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,/
*/to Cyrus/*/, whose right hand I take hold of/
/to subdue nations before him/
/and to strip kings of their armour,/
/to open doors before him/
/so that gates will not be shut:/
/2 //I will go before you/
/and will level the mountains; a/
/I will break down gates of bronze/
/and cut through bars of iron./
/*3 */*/I will give you the treasures of darkness,/*
*/riches stored in secret places,/*
*/so that you may know that I am the Lord,/*
*/the God of Israel, who summons you by name./*
/4 //For the sake of Jacob my servant,/
/of Israel my chosen,/
/I summon you by name/
/and bestow on you a title of honour,/
/though you do not acknowledge me./
/5 //I am the Lord, and there is no other;/
/apart from me there is no God./
These words are remarkable because they are addressed to Cyrus a foreign king – and as His anointed – the human agency through whom Jerusalem would be rebuilt.
But I am struck by the force of the phrase used in our text rather than by the context:
The treasures of darkness
It is a phrase full of meaning, and especially to those who feel themselves to be in darkness just now.
God has treasures hidden in the darkness that others cannot see :
“/Riches stored in secret places/” as the parallelism puts it.
A treasure to be found by those whose pathway is dark, who can say with David in Psalm 18
28 You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
It is worth observing that – in the natural and the scientific world it is true that there are some treasures that are only revealed in darkness:
The treasures of distant galaxies
The secrets of the planets
The hidden detail of the night sky
The detail of a photographic film or plate
The shimmering wonder of radioactive ore like pitchblende
The glistening evidence of the cloud chamber where flashes of light indicate subatomic particles
The secret wonders of deep caves and oceans
The fluorescence of living things
The incredible chemical luminescence of denizens of the deep sea
When I was a child I spent ages trying to create luminous paint.
The idea of being able to glow in the dark fascinated me.
For every marvel revealed by the bright light of day there are a multitude more that can only be seen in darkness.
But our hearts recoil from going into the dark.
It is a place of fears and doubts and shadows, a place for knowing the guidance of His “kindly light”.
God says to Cyrus (and I personally doubt he appreciated it himself)
“I will give you the TREASURES OF DARKNESS”
Isaiah says it again, and the New Testament echoes it:
* *
*4 **Since ancient times no-one has heard,*
*no ear has perceived,*
*no eye has seen any God besides you,*
*who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
ISAIAH 64 4*
*9 **However, as it is written:*
*“No eye has seen,*
*no ear has heard,*
*no mind has conceived*
*what God has prepared for those who love him —*
10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2 v 9
In considering this beautiful promise I would like to set out four ways in which the Word of God demonstrates this truth:
The Darkness of Creation Gen 1 vv 2 & 3
The Darkness of revelation Ex 20 v 21 & 2 Pe 1 v 19
The Darkness of Repentance Jonah 1 17 - 3 3 Lk15
The Darkness Transformed 2 Cor 4 6
! 1.
The darkness of Creation Gen 1 vv 2 and 3
*1** In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth wasa formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.*
*3 **And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.*
There is a priceless treasure here – the creation, the work of God.
God working powerfully in the dark
the beginning of a new thing
the sphere of the Spirit’s brooding
the place of His command and His GOOD work
I believe that – in the dark moments of our life God chooses often to
do something NEW
to brood over us by His Spirit
to say “Let there be light!”
The next one is paradoxical:
! 2. The darkness of Revelation Exodus 19 and 20
16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.
Everyone in the camp trembled.
17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.
The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountaina trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.
Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.a
21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
Under such awesome circumstances was the Law given.
Psalm 18 again:
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
(a)
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9