ALL WILL COME OUT
November 04, 2018
Rev. Bernt P. Tweit
Old
Testament Lesson; Daniel 12:1-3
Epistle
Lesson; Hebrews 10:11-18
Sermon
Text; John 5:25-29
Today is All Saints'
Day. Today is the day we remember
everybody who has died believing in Jesus, as their Savior. But, we especially remember our loved ones,
family, friends, and church members who have passed away this last year. They have gone to be with Jesus in Heaven,
because of their faith in Him.
And so, today on this All
Saints' Day, it really is a day in which we think about death. We think about those who have died, trusting
in Jesus, as their Savior.
Before we get to our text for
today, which is from John, chapter five, looking at verses twenty five to twenty
nine, I want to tell you what happened before that, in John, chapter five. If you were to look at John, chapter five,
you would see the title of the beginning of the chapter is The Healing at
the Pool. Here is what took
place, before our text. Jesus went to
Jerusalem. He went to Jerusalem for one
of the Jewish religious festivals. The
Bible tells us He went to the north side of the city of Jerusalem, where there
was a pool. The pool was called
Bethesda. In Aramaic the word 'bethesda'
means 'house of mercy'.
Scripture tells us there were five porticos around that pool called
Bethesda. There was one on each side and
then one over the very top. Here is the
thing that happened at that pool. Once
in awhile, and scripture doesn't tell us how often, but the water in that pool
would be stirred. It would be
agitated. There would be people who were
there, who were lame, who were blind, and who were sick. Whoever was able to get into that pool, while
the water was stirred, they would be healed.
Scripture doesn't go into great detail about it, because that is all it
says in John, chapter five. Well, Jesus
went to that pool called Bethesda, and He met a man who had been an invalid for
thirty eight years. This was probably
the town hospital. That is where the
lame hung out. That is where the blind
hung out. This man had been an invalid
for thirty eight years. Jesus went to
him and asked, “Do you want to get well?”
Now if Jesus came to you, and
asked you that question, “Do you want to get well?”, what would your
response be?
This man was so focused on
the pool called Bethesda, and he didn't know this was Jesus, when he said, “Every
time the water is stirred, or agitated, somebody else gets into the pool ahead
of me.” He had been an invalid for
thirty years, and he had no means, or way to get down in to that pool.
Now in the Greek, if you were
to look at what Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?”, it really means,
“Do you want to be whole?” It is not
just a process of getting better, but it is an immediate thing. Do you want to be whole, now?
That is when Jesus said,
“Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
That man who had been an
invalid for thirty eight years stood up, immediately. He picked up his mat. He rolled it up, and he began to walk away.
Now, if you saw that, or if
you saw the man who had been an invalid for all of those years, and you saw him
walking around, what would your response be?
I think we all would be like, “Wow!
That is AMAZING! That is
awesome! Praise God, he is now walking
around!”
The scripture says the Jews
went to this man (and oh, by the way, this was a Sabbath Day), they went to
this man, and said, “Don't you know it is unlawful for you to carry a mat on
the Sabbath Day?” They weren't
rejoicing, but they were saying, “Don't you know it is unlawful for you to
carry your mat on the Sabbath Day?”
The man said, “The Man who
healed me is the One who told me to pick up my mat, and walk. I was just following His instructions.” So, he went on his way. Scripture tells us the healed man went to the
temple. I am assuming he went there to
give glory to God that he was now healed, he was now able to walk.
It was then that Jesus came
to the temple, and met up with this man, again.
This time Scripture tells us Jesus said this to the man. “Stop sinning, or something worse may happen
to you.”
Stop sinning,
or something worse may happen to you.
Now, what could be worse than
being an invalid for thirty eight years?
What could be worse than that?
Here we see Jesus wasn't just concerned about this man's body, which He
had healed. But, He was more concerned
about this man's soul.
Something worse may happen to you.
If this man died, without
believing in Jesus, as his Savior, he would be in Hell for all eternity. And so we see, leading up to our text, Jesus,
yes is concerned about our body, but He is also concerned about our soul. He is also concerned about eternal life that
He wants us to experience with Him in Heaven.
And so, as we look at our
text for today, we are going to see two things.
It is going to be talking about,
-one, the physical
resurrection of the body, but,
-two, it is going to be
talking about the spiritual resurrection of the soul.
Let's look at our word from
John chapter five, looking at verses twenty five to twenty nine.
Here Jesus says:
“Amen, Amen, I tell you: A time is coming and is here now when the
dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will
live. For just as the Father has life in
Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute
judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
“Do not be amazed at this,
for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and
will come out. Those who have done good
will rise to live, but those who have practiced evil will rise to be
condemned.”
This is God's Word.
So, today our text is talking
about body and soul. It would be good
for us to be reminded of what happens to a believer's body and soul, when they
die. A believer has two parts: a soul, and body. What happens to a believer's soul, when they
die? Their soul goes to Heaven.
What happens to their
body? Their body is buried in the
ground.
On Judgment Day, when Jesus
returns, that body is going to rise from the dead, and it is going to be
reunited with their soul in Heaven, for all eternity.
It is important to also know
what happens to an unbeliever's body and soul, when they die. They also have a soul and a body. When an unbeliever dies, their soul goes to
Hell.
Their body is buried in the
ground.
And, on Judgment Day, their
body is going to rise from the dead, and is going to be reunited with their
soul in Hell, for all eternity.
I have entitled this talk
with you, “All Will Come Out”.
Those four words are taken directly from our text. It is talking about the physical resurrection
of the body, which scripture teaches, and which we confess. Just a moment ago, we confessed our faith
using The Third Article of The Apostle's Creed, when we said,
“I believe in the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of
sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
There we confessed the
resurrection of the body. We were
confessing that everybody will come out on Judgment Day. Everybody will physically rise from the
dead.
Then, in The
Explanation, which we confessed as well, we said,
“At the last day He
will raise up me, and all of the dead.”
So, why do we believe in the physical resurrection of the body? We believe in the physical resurrection of
the body, because that is what scripture teaches. That is what the last two verses of our text
for today are teaching us. Verse twenty
eight and verse twenty nine are
talking about the physical resurrection of the body. Hear those words, again. Jesus said,
“...a time is coming, when
all who are in their graves will hear His voice, and will come out. Those who have done good will rise to live,
but those who have practiced evil will rise to be condemned.”
So, what happens to the bodies of those who hear, and believe? Our text tells us the bodies of those who
hear, and believe will rise to live.
They will be with Jesus, in Heaven.
On the other hand, what
happens to the bodies of those who don't believe? Our text for today also tells us those bodies
will rise to be condemned.
A very straight forward
passage in scripture says this. It is
only six words, and is one you have all heard before. They are words that are sobering to hear. In the book of Romans it says these six
words.
“The wages of sin is death.”
The wages of sin is
death. What is a wage? A wage is something we receive for work we
have done. And so, scripture is telling
us, the wages of sin, what we deserve, because of our sin, is death. It is a sobering reminder that all of us are
going to die.
This last week, I was working
on my sermon. I bring my laptop to, and
from church. I have a charger in my
office, and I have a charger at home.
So, I can leave one at home, and I can leave one at church. Then, I can just carry my laptop back and
forth. So, this last week, I was here at
church. I was on my laptop, and I
plugged the cord into the back of my laptop.
I was working on my sermon for awhile, this very sermon. That is when a window popped up and said, “If
you don't plug into a power source soon, your computer is going to shut off.”
I was thinking to myself, “I
plugged the cord into the back of my laptop.
How can that possibly be?”
Well, guess what? I hadn't plugged it into the wall! I wasn't connected to a power source. Because I wasn't connected to a power source,
my computer was going to die.
That is the concern Jesus had
for the man who had been an invalid for thirty eight years. That is the concern Jesus has for you, and
me. Jesus wants us to be 'plugged in to
Him', as our 'power source'. Jesus wants
us to believe in Him, as our Savior.
Scripture tells us what happens if somebody isn't 'plugged in to Jesus',
as their 'power source'.
So, our text for today serves
as a warning. Don't be one of those
people who dies not believing in Jesus, as their Savior. Don't be one of those people who doesn't
believe in the physical resurrection of the body, as scripture teaches.
There are certain doctrines
in scripture which go hand in hand.
There are people who don't
believe in the physical resurrection of the body. They don't believe everybody is going to
physically rise from the dead. Well, if
you don't believe in the physical resurrection of the body, you can't believe
in the spiritual resurrection of the soul.
And, if you don't believe in the spiritual resurrection of the soul,
then you can't believe Jesus rose from the dead.
Then, we get into the book of
1 Corinthians, chapter fifteen, The Great Resurrection Chapter in scripture
when it says,
“If Christ has not been
raised, then your faith is futile. Your
faith is futile. You are still in your
sin.”
Then, it goes on to say,
“Then those who have
fallen asleep in Christ are lost.”
That is why we are gathered
here together today to celebrate our loved ones who have gone to Heaven, and
believed in Jesus, as their Savior.
But, if you don't believe
those things, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. And, if only for this life we have hope in
Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
It goes on to say,
“But Christ was raised from the dead.”
Christ was raised from the
dead. Christ came to be your Savior, and
He came to be my Savior.
I am going to share a statement
with you. I am going to use the word 'you'. But, it is the 'you', plural,
as I am including myself, in this word, when I say it. The phrase is (and remember I am including
myself in this):
“You are not good enough to be saved.”
You, including myself, are
not good enough to be saved. But, Jesus
is good enough to save you.
Jesus is good enough to save you.
That is exactly why He
came. He knew we were not good enough to
save ourselves, and so He came to be our substitute. He came to save us.
-Jesus, through His life, and
-Jesus, through His death,
and
-Jesus, through His
resurrection, has forgiven you of all of your sins, so you have eternal life in
Heaven. When the day comes when we have
our last breath, we are then ready to be with Him in Heaven, for all eternity.
It is awesome to think that
Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, brings us to faith, and strengthens
us in our faith, through The Word.
Scripture says,
“Faith comes from hearing the message.
The message is heard through the Word of Christ.”
Just five chapters after our
text for today, the chapter of The Good Shepherd, Jesus says,
“My sheep listen to my
voice. I know them and they follow
me. I give them eternal life, and they
will never perish. No one can snatch them
out of my hand.”
We have eternal life, because
Jesus has forgiven us of our sin, by His death on the cross, which is what
verse twenty five is talking about.
Verse twenty five is talking about the spiritual resurrection of the
soul, when Jesus said,
“A time is coming and is
now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who
listen will live.”
Those who listen will live.
So, today we celebrate our
loved ones. We celebrate our loved ones
who this past year died trusting in Jesus, as their Savior. We celebrate all believers who have passed
away, trusting in Jesus, as their Savior.
They are now with Jesus in Heaven, for all eternity.
The last take away is what
Jesus said to that invalid, when He was with him at the temple. Jesus had just healed his body, but He was
more concerned about his soul.
“Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
As we gather together today
to hear The Word, we hear the words of our Savior. May we be strengthened in our faith, so that
when we take our last breath, we hear the words of Jesus, when He says,
“Come you who are blessed by my Father.
Receive the inheritance
prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
Amen