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
0.18UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.54LIKELY
Sadness
0.52LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.42UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.01UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.89LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.71LIKELY
Extraversion
0.16UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.86LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.83LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Everybody Should Worship the Lord Jesus Christ!
The Gospel of John
John 8:53-59; 31-36
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - February 1, 2017
(Revised September 20, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*Here in John 8, Jesus was preaching to a crowd of people at the Temple in Jerusalem.
Some of them believed in the Lord.
But Jesus was also preaching to Jewish religious rulers who viciously hated Him and had been trying to kill Him.
*In vs. 21 and 24, Jesus warned them that that they would die in their sins, if they didn't believe in Him.
So the hard-hearted Jews began to argue with Jesus, and part of their argument went back to the Old Testament patriarch Abraham.
He lived 2,000 years before Christ was born, and the Bible calls Abraham "the Friend of God." That's because, by faith, Abraham left his home and followed the Lord to the land that would eventually become Israel.
*Genesis 12:1-3 says:
1.
Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.''
*Those last words were a prophecy and a promise from God that one of Abraham's descendants would be the Savior of all who believe in Him.
And Jesus Christ is that promised Savior.
*But the scribes and Pharisees used "Father Abraham" to argue with Jesus, and they started in vs. 31-33.
Jesus had been talking about the spiritual freedom only He can give:
31.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.''
33.
They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.
How can you say, 'You will be made free'?''
*Then starting in vs. 37, Jesus said:
37. "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38.
I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.''
39.
They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father.''
Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40.
But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41.
You do the deeds of your father.''
Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father God.''
42.
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me."
*In vs. 51, Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.''
*And in vs. 52-53, those hate-filled unbelievers replied:
52. . .
"Now we know that You have a demon!
Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'
53.
Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?
And the prophets are dead.
Whom do You make Yourself out to be?''
*With this background in let's read vs. 53-59, and as we read we will see some crucial reasons why everybody should worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE:
*How far would you go to worship Jesus?
Matthew 2 tells the story of the Wise Men who worshiped the baby Jesus.
Verses 1-2 say:
1.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2. saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?
For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.''
*Those men had probably been traveling for two years.
They had ridden camels and walked four to five hundred miles to see Jesus.
All of that effort: Why did they do it?
*From a human point of view, the Wise Men already had everything they could have wanted: Education, wealth, power, and prestige.
They certainly had prestige, because they were ushered in to see King Herod, and the King didn't see just anybody you know.
The Wise Men also must have had great wealth, because they were able to give great treasures to Jesus.
*These men had everything the world could offer, but there was something missing in their lives.
They had a spiritual hunger that drove them to the highest goal.
They were seeking the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, seeking to find Him, seeking to know Him, seeking to get close to Him, seeking to worship Him.
And everybody should worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
Tonight's Scripture shows us why.
1. FIRST: WE SHOULD WORSHIP JESUS FOR HIS ETERNITY.
*In vs. 53-58, the Lord was responding to the unbelieving Jews, and as He did, Jesus spoke of His eternal existence:
53.
(They asked): "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?
And the prophets are dead.
Whom do You make Yourself out to be?''
54.
Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.
It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
55.
Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.
And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
56.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.''
57.
Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?''
58.
Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.''
*In these verses, 33-year-old Jesus Christ claimed to be older than Abraham, and the Lord said that because He is the eternal Son of God.
The Apostle John confirmed this truth for us in the opening words of His Gospel.
In John 1:1-3, he said this about Jesus:
1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was in the beginning with God.
3.
All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
*Jesus Christ has existed and will exist for all eternity.
Trapped in time as we are, it's impossible for us to grasp the concept of eternity.
But one thing we know for sure is this: God is bigger than time.
God created time.
He was there before the beginning of time.
*God created time.
And the only way, I can understand it is to see time as sort of like a ruler a with a definite beginning, and maybe no ending, but God is standing over and above the whole thing.
And however long time lasts, God goes farther!
That's why in Isaiah 46:9-10, the Lord could say:
9. "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'"
*In Revelation 21:6, Jesus could also say, "It is done!
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts."
God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is both the beginning and the end, so He is surely bigger than time.
And He is in control of time in amazing, miraculous ways.
*The Lord can make time stand still!
In Joshua 10:12-14, God's word says:
12. On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel.
He said, "Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Ajalon."
13.
So the sun and moon stood still until the Israelites had defeated their enemies.
Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jasher?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9