Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

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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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It made international headlines in 1995 when David Guest got his driver's license.
It made news because David Guest was 33 years old, and because David Guest had been trying to get his driver’s license for 17 years.
It made the news because during those 17 years, David took 632 driving lessons with eight instructors, crashing five cars in the process.
But finally, it all paid off.
“When I was told I'd passed, I bent down on my knees and thanked God,” he said.
“I feel like I have died and gone to heaven.”[i]
/Have you ever had trouble passing a big test?
/
/Maybe it was that really challenging course in high school or college—Algebra, or Literature, or World History.
Maybe it was one of the tests you take before you get into college—the SAT or the ACT.
Maybe it was your driving test, though I imagine nobody failed the test as many times as David Guest did.
/
/Life is full of tests, even after you graduate and get your license.
Every day you and I face tests which you either pass or fail, tests which ultimately make us either winners in life, or losers.
The tests I’m talking about are tests of character, and they come to us in the form of the choices we make, either to do right, or to do wrong.
/
Dr. Madison Sarratt taught mathematics at Vanderbilt University for many years.
Before giving a test, the professor would say something like this: “Today I am giving two examinations—one in trigonometry and the other in honesty.
I hope you will pass them both.
If you must fail one, fail trigonometry.
There are many good people in the world who can’t pass trig, but there are no good people in the world who cannot pass the examination of honesty.”
[ii]
            /Dr.
Sarratt was stressing the difference between the little tests of life and the big tests—the test of character.
/
/            I want to talk to you today about passing these Big Tests—tests that come to you no matter how young or old you are, no matter how rich or poor you are, no matter how smart or not-so-smart you may be.
I want to do this by reading the story of the testing of the Lord Jesus Christ in *Luke 4:1-13*,.
Let’s begin with *vs.
1-2.*/
*PRAYER*
*            *We step into this story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, just after He is baptized by John in the Jordan river, just after a Voice from heaven announces to everybody /This is my Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.
/Luke tells us Jesus walks away from the river /full of the Holy Spirit=completely surrendered and obedient to the will of God.
/There was never any controversy between Jesus Christ and God’s will—they are always in perfect tune.
But where does the Spirit lead Him? /Into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
/
/            /That seems kind of a strange place for God to send His Son, doesn’t it?
Why send Jesus out in the wild, far from home and family, to go without food for 40 days, to face the temptation [lit, the /testing/] of the devil?
That doesn’t sound like something God would do for the Son He loves so much.
But there are some very specific purposes behind the testing of Christ.
First of all, *Jesus’ testing reveals He is the sinless Savior*.
Jesus goes toe-to-toe with Satan on his own turf, never once giving in to the devil’s temptations.
Why?
The purpose of the temptation was not to see if He /would/ sin but to prove that He could /not/ sin.
[iii]
   Only a sinless human being could die for your sins.
He could never pay for your sins, or anybody else’s, if He had to pay for His own.
But because He was tested and never /once /did wrong, He is qualified to die for you and I who have sinned.
The Bible puts it this way in
*2 Co 5:21* /For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him./
/            /Jesus’ testing proves His sinlessness.
*Jesus’ testing also gives Him a special empathy for us when we are tempted.
*
*Heb 2:18* /For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted./
/            /Some people say it was easy for Jesus to resist temptation because He is the Son of God.
In one sense, that’s true, but in another, the Bible says He knows what it feels like to sweat under the heat of testing—and because He knows, He is eager to help us when we are tempted.
Whenever you are tempted, you can never say to the Lord /You don’t know how hard it is.
/He does know, because He was tempted just as we are.
*Heb 4:15* /For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin./
In a recent poll of church-going Americans they discovered 42% of church going people believe Jesus Christ sinned.
/If you’re one of those who believe that, then I challenge you to read the record for yourself.
God sent Jesus to face the devil’s worst temptations—but He never failed the test, and because He never did, He alone is qualified to be your Savior from sin.
More than this His testing fills Him with compassion for you and I when we are tested, moving His great heart to help us pass our big tests.
/
A bachelor was asked why he had never married.
“Well, I guess I just never met the right lady.”
   “But you must have met at least one girl you wanted to marry.”
“Yes, there was a girl once.
She was pretty close to perfect.
In fact, she had everything.”
“Well, why didn’t you marry her?”
   “Well … she was looking for the perfect man.”
/There is only one Perfect Person—Jesus Christ, Who proved He could pass the Big Test at His temptation./
If you and I want to pass the Big Tests of our lives, we need to learn from the Only Person Who got a perfect score on His Big Test—which brings me to the last reason Jesus was tested: *to give us a pattern for how to pass our own Big Tests.
*This pattern shows up in 3 choices we must make when we face our Big Test.
They are found in *vs.
3-13*:
/You must choose God’s Word over your own desires.
/*(v.
3-4) *Most of us here this morning are pretty used to getting what we need, and most of what we want.
I thought about that the other day when I was in the grocery store, standing in line behind a lady and her husband who was checking out 3 buggies full of groceries.
There’s nothing wrong with buying groceries—even 3 buggy loads, especially for a large family.
I had my own buggy.
But I wondered how I would feel if suddenly the shelves all went bare, and food became scarce.
What if God allowed us to live like most of the rest of the world---going to bed every night hungry, wondering where or when our next meal would come from?
Could we pass a Big Test like that?
Jesus’ test involved extreme hunger—40 days of fasting.
He had to have been weak and certainly hungry when Satan came to Him and suggested a simple solution.
/Since You are the Son of God, why go hungry?
Use your power to turn these rocks into bread!
Just say the word, and You won’t be hungry anymore!
/
But hunger hasn’t dimmed Jesus’ commitment to God’s Word.
He knew He had been led into the wilderness to fast by His Father in heaven.
He was determined to be led by God’s Word, not by His own desires.
So He replies to the Enemy /My life is not controlled by hunger for bread, but by hunger for God’s Word and God’s will to be done in my life!
/
What would you do?
You’re starving, and you know you can turn stone into bread, but God says He wants you to stay hungry---what will you do?
Would you pass this Big Test?
Many of us don’t.
In fact, people sell out all the time to Satan in order to satisfy their own desires.
The cheating spouse leaves their mate because somebody else fulfills their /needs/.
The cash strapped family goes into more debt to buy what they say they /need.
/Satan plays on our desires—even our legitimate desires—to trip us up so we fail the Big Tests of life.
There is nothing wrong with eating, nothing wrong with bread.
The real test comes when you must choose between giving in to your desires, and doing what God commands.
/Will you be led by your own desires, or by God’s Word? /
*Jas 1:14-15 */14//But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death./
/            //If you are going to pass the Big Test, you must choose God’s Word over your own desires.
/
/            /The second principle Jesus teaches us here is
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