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
0.52LIKELY
Disgust
0.14UNLIKELY
Fear
0.17UNLIKELY
Joy
0.53LIKELY
Sadness
0.47UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.37UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.5LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.91LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.62LIKELY
Extraversion
0.1UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.24UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.66LIKELY

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
*“May I Speak to Your Conscience? Please!” *
*Rev.
John W. Worley, Ph.D.*
*October 1, 2000*
* *
!!!! Introduction
!
A Historical Sketch
In the mid-sixties of the first century, many Jews who had become Christians were made homeless.
Without places to call their own, they lived as pilgrims and strangers in a foreign land.
They were mocked, scourged, tormented, and imprisoned.
They lived in caves and holes in the ground.
Being of Jewish background, they didn’t fit into the anti-Semitic, gentile life-style of the Roman Empire.
Having become Christians, they were cut off from their Jewish families and friends.
An unknown writer felt compelled by the Jewish Christians’ situation to sit down and compose a message to them, to encouraging them to endure.
The world was governed at the time by an emperor quartered in Rome: Nero.
He had come to despise Christians.
When he took the throne in A.D. 54, conditions remained mild for about five years until he became psychotic.
In A.D. 64, a devastating fire swept through Rome and destroyed a great portion of the city.
The emperor himself was suspected of having set the fire because of his desire to build a “golden house.”
In order to divert the blame, Nero accused the Christians of having caused the disaster.
Many stood trial and were subsequently tortured to death.
The people who received this letter lived in the midst of this nightmare.
* *
The overall development of the theme: The Superiority of Christ can be observed throughout the book and is developed as follows:
*Chapters 1-4              Christ – superior in His person*
!!! Chapters 5-10            Christ – superior as our priest
Chapters 11-13          Christ – superior for life
 
*4893** **suneidesis** { soon-i’-day-sis} *
from a prolonged form of 4894; TDNT - 7:898,1120; n f
AV - conscience 32; 32 GK - 5287 { suneivdhsi" }
1)   the consciousness of anything
2)     the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other
 
*26.13*
*suneivdhsi"*b*,** ew" */f/: (contrast suneivdhsi"a  ‘knowledge about something,’ 28.4) the psychological faculty which can distinguish between right and wrong - ‘moral sensitivity, conscience.’
summarturouvsh" aujtw`n th`" suneidhvsew" kai; metaxu; ajllhvlwn tw`n logismw`n kathgorouvntwn h] kai; ajpologoumevnwn ‘their consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them’ Ro 2.15.
In some languages suneivdhsi"b  may be rendered as ‘the inner voice’ or ‘the voice in one’s heart’ or ‘how one knows right from wrong.’
In some instances suneivdhsi"b  may be equivalent to some organ of the body, for example, heart or liver, but generally some descriptive phrase proves to be the most satisfactory equivalent.
*27.54*
*kausthriavzomai th;n suneivdhsin*: (an idiom, literally ‘to be seared in the conscience’ or ‘...as to one’s conscience’) to be unwilling to learn from one’s conscience - ‘to refuse to listen to one’s conscience, to be completely insensitive to.’ kekausthriasmevnwn th;n ijdivan suneivdhsin ‘their own consciences are seared’ or ‘they refuse to listen to their consciences’ 1 Tm 4.2.[1]
\\ May I Speak to Your Conscience, Please?
*Hebrews 9:1-14*
* *
With the Old Testament scene of the tabernacle, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews directs our thoughts again to Christ.
In doing so, he addresses one of the multifaceted issues with which we live and must deal: the conscience deep within each of us.
+    The conscience can be wrongly programmed to make us feel guilty when guilt is undeserved.
+    On the other hand, our consciences can be seared and hardened, giving us the feeling of approval when we should in fact feel wrong.
Thanks to Hebrews 9, we are given valuable instruction regarding the conscience.
*I.
**Internal-External Distinction: Clarification.*
Externally, we have a body that can be touched and handled.
Internally, we have a conscience that sends us gut-wrenching signals or strokes of confirmation.
*a.
**The Tangibles Without*.
Both the Old and New Testament contain passages showing the relationship of our externals to our internals.
Here are three examples.
v    “…God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
(I Sam.
16:7).
v    “… Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable t kill the soul…” (Matt.
10:28).
v    “   Though our outer man is decaying, yet out inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor.
4:16).
*b.
**The Tangibles Within*.
Inside our amazing bodies are networks of interrelated feelings and impulses.
The soul, will, and spirit from which these extend are closely tied to that powerful, but unseen, force: the conscience.
No doctor can perform surgery on the conscience, even though it may give us terrible pain.
*II.
**External Regulations: The Tabernacle (Heb.
9:1-10).
*
The ten verses dealing with these fall into two categories.
*a.
The Arrangement of Furniture (vv.
1-5).*
*b.
The Activities of the Priests (vv.
6 – 9).*
 
*a.
**The Arrangement of Furniture (vv.
1-5).*
The ancient place of worship was a temporary, portable structure.
Within it was a variety of furnishings placed in particular positions to assist the people in their worship of God.
* *
The writer of Hebrews describes the tabernacle for us in versus 1-5:
 
*“1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.
2 A tabernacle was set up.
In its first room [the outer one “A”] were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called /the Holy Place/.
3. Behind the second curtain was a room [B]called the /Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies/, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant.
This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s rod that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the place of atonement.
But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
(vv.
1-5, emphasis added)*
* *
Not mentioned in this description were the brazen altar, located just inside the courtyard, and the laver which stood between the brazen altar and the tent structure*.*
* *
*b.               **The Activities of the Priests (vv.
6 – 9).*
Nothing was wrong with the duties performed by the priests as recounted by the writer of Hebrews.
6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry.
7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.
9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered */were not able to clear the conscience/* of the worshiper.
10.
They (the gifts and sacrifices) are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
However, they had two limitations:
 
1.
The ritual changed nothing within a person (v.
10);
2.     The ritual represented something of greater importance and itself only a symbol (v.
9).
Perhaps we could say that the activities in the tabernacle were something like a religious play: the movements lacked power (cf.
Heb.
10: 4-6) in themselves, but were “imposed until a time of reformation” v. 10).
*COMMENT:*
Many of the Hebrews who originally received this letter were thinking, “If I could get back to the tabernacle and become involved in that type of ritual and worship, somehow I could live with myself again.”
However, the writer says in this chapter that the problem is not one of an evil conscience, but of a conscience of dead works.
The point he makes is clear: /You cannot, by doing something external, solve a problem that’s internal./
As humans, we love the tangibles – the symbols.
In fact, we often become more attached to symbols than to the realities they represent.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9