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
0.16UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.12UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.48UNLIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.64LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.16UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.92LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.78LIKELY
Extraversion
0.21UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.63LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.62LIKELY

Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
“*KINGS OR SERVANTS*”
(A Sermon Series on I Corinthians)
 
Westgate Chapel 5~/17~/98 a.m.
I Corinthians 4
 
PROPOSITION:  Men ought to regard us as servants of Christ, with the attitudes of a servant, the life of a servant, and the heart of a servant.
!
I. introduction
!! -     THE heart of the Christian life is a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, administered and empowered by the person of the Holy Spirit.
!! -     IN order for you and me to be ready for this relationship with God, there is a fundamental, supernatural change that is needed in our lives.
!! -     IT is not just the old you, with a little dash of religion.
!! -     IT is a fundamental change by the grace of God in you and me.
!! -     II CORINTHIANS 5:17 says,
!!!       “*Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come*!”
!! -     IF you are in Christ, there has been a change in you....180 degrees from the ways of the world!
!!! ~*     It is a change of citizenship.
!!!! •     Once you were a citizen of this world, with allegiance to this present evil age, destined for the wrath of God and the judgment of hell.
!!!! •     Now, Paul writes that you are “...*no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household*.”
(Ephesians 2:19)
!!!! •     In Philippians 3:20 Paul writes, “...*our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ*.”
!!! ~*     It is a change of heart.
!!!! •     Once you had a heart of stone.
Nothing touched you, nothing phased you, nothing moved you.
!!!! •     Now you have been given a heart of flesh.
In Ezekiel 11:19, God said, “*I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh*.”
!!! ~*     It is a change of substance.
!!!! •     Once you were darkness.
Your thinking was dark.
Your motives were dark.
!!!! •     But Ephesians 5:8 says, “*For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord*.”
!!! ~*     It is a change of priorities.
!!!! •     Once you used to take care of #1, first and everything else and everyone else was a distant second.
!!!! •     Now you “...*seek first his kingdom and his righteousness*.”
(Matthew 6:33)
!!!  
!!!  
!!! ~*     It is a change of vocation.
!!!! •     Once you were the king of your own domain.
You did what you wanted, said what you wanted, went wherever you wanted, acted however you wanted.
!!!! •     But now that you have been bought with so high a price you are not your own...you are a “...*servant  of Christ*.”
(I Corinthians 4:1)
!! -     AND it is this change of vocation that Paul writes about in great detail in I Corinthians 4.....from kings to servants of Christ.
!! -     BEFORE Paul moves on to a range of other subjects in I Corinthians, he takes one last crack at the problem of divisions in the church at Corinth.
!! -     AND in one sweep of the brush in chapter 4, he paints the contrast between kings and servants.
!! -     AND it is this difference in self-understanding (between kings and servants of Christ) that Paul feels is at the heart of the problems of division.
!! -     THIS is the context for I Corinthians 4.
!! -     AND it will be the problem in any church unless we understand that when we came to Christ there was a fundamental change that took place in our vocation.
!! -     WE are NOT called to be kings....with titles, and footmen attending us, and carriages, and robes and crowns.
!! -     WE ARE called to be servants of Christ....with aprons, and towels, and brooms and buckets, and long hours, and little earthly recognition or reward.
!! -     PLEASE be patient this morning.
I don’t believe that this message will take any longer than usual, but it does take the whole chapter....and can’t be broken down.
!
ii. the attitudes of a servant
!! -     PAUL starts chapter 4 with a statement of how people ought to “regard” or view him, Apollos, Cephas, and the others.
!! -     VERSE 1,
!!!       “*So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.*”
!! -     THERE is the heart of this chapter....servants of Christ.
!! -     THE Greek word for servant is /huperetas/, which literally means “under rower.”
It is the rower in the lower decks of a ship of those days, under the command of the captain, whose pull on the oar got the boat through the ocean.
!! -     UNSEEN, without title, without position or rank, without acclaim, without privilege....a servant.
!! -     UNIMPORTANT in the world’s system of ranking and rating....but absolutely essential to the forward progress of the ship.
!! -     A SERVANT!
!! -     PAUL says, this is how men ought to see us....as servants......of Christ.
!! -     THEN in the next 6 verses Paul describes several of the attitudes associated with being a servant of Christ.
!!  
!!  
!! 1.   DETERMINED to be faithful because we have been given a trust.
!!  
!! -     VERSE 2,
!!!       “*Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful*.”
(Verse 2)
!! -     THE “trust” is the life of Christ within you....treasure in an earthen vessel.
!! -     IT is the person of Jesus in residence in you, being revealed to the world.
!! -     THAT trust is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
!! -     IT doesn’t belong to you.
You are simply a servant.
!! -     AND your task is to prove faithful.
!!! ~*     Throughout the parables, Jesus commends the servant who is faithful in His Master’s house.
!!!! •     Faithful in stewardship.
!!!! •     Faithful in management.
!!!! •     Faithful in labor.
!!!! •     Faithful in prayer.
!!! ~*     Throughout the epistles, Paul and Peter refer to friends, associates and fellow-laborers as faithful.
!!! ~*     Jesus says to the believers in the church in Smyrna,
!!!!       “*Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life*.”
(Revelation 2:10)
!!!  
!!  
!! 2.   DETERMINED to do right because the Lord is my judge.
!!  
!! -     THE work of a servant is always under scrutiny.
But even in that there is an attitude required of a servant.
!! -     VERSE 3,
!!!       “*I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.*
(4) *My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.
It is the Lord who judges me.* (5) *Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.
He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.*”
(Verses 3-5a)
!! -     DON’T be unsettled by the judgments of others....they don’t have God’s perspective on your life and you are not their servant, but Christ’s.
!! -     DON’T spend a lot of time judging yourself.....because your perspective is tainted by your humanity as well and fairly unreliable.
!! -     DON’T jump to conclusions about others...because you are not God and will never have the whole picture that He does of their lives.
!! -     THE Lord will  be the final and absolutely accurate judge of His servants.
!! -     SO wait, hold your judgment, and leave things in His hands.
!! -     THAT is what servants do.
!! -     SERVANTS don’t concern themselves with things outside of their sphere of responsibility.....they tend their oar....period.
!! -     THAT is the attitude of a servant.
!!  
!! 3.   DETERMINED to keep my eyes on Jesus, not man, for my reward, because my praise comes from God.
!!  
!! -     VERSE 5b,
!!!       “*At that time each will receive his praise from God*.” (5b)
!! -     A SERVANT is not looking around for recognition or thanks now.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9