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.
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Anger
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Anger
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*What happens when I sleep?*
You know?
I like to think that I don’t often get angry – I probably delude myself.
But I recall going to a funeral once that made me angry.
It was the funeral of a relative of friend, and the person who had died was not a believer.
When he was alive he made it quite clear that he had no time for God or religion.
Then at this funeral the minister got up and read all these comforting verse – things like [“*John 11:25-26*/ //Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”/
”]; he went on to say how this man would now be looking down on us with fondness as we remembered him.
But the Scriptures did not apply to him!
He was no believer, had no faith in Jesus.
He was a sinner – and he died!
I was angry with this supposed spiritual authority giving this false hope, this false comfort, this false sense of security!
It was lies!
They had no part in that hope or those promises.
There were all the family and loved ones on their way to death; and he was withholding from them the way of life!
– telling them that there was resurrection life when there was none.
That is why I spoke the way I did last time.
If you were here last time I spoke, you may recall that I spoke about “death” – what happens when I die?
The elders had given me this brief: “Would it be possible to have some ministry on the Biblical description of Death and a look at the order and timing of what takes place at death, and subsequently follows.”
I spoke about the fact that death was the consequence of sin, and of the fact that we are already dead.
Then I spoke of the need to die with Christ, to be crucified with Him, to die daily to self; in order to be raised with Him, receive His life, resurrection life that is eternal, the life of Jesus Christ Himself!
Now I wasn’t being awkward or difficult, deliberately obtuse – John wanted me to talk about what happens when our life in this earthly body ends, often referred to in the NT as “falling asleep”.
But before we fall asleep (and I don’t mean as a consequence of my preaching!)
we need to face the issue of death.
We need to die first; otherwise we will not be resurrected.
So what I say today assumes that you have already died, have been crucified with Christ and raised to life with Him.
So, what happens when I fall asleep?
*[P]* You recall that when Jesus’ friend died: [*John 11:11-13*/ //He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”
The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep./]
Jesus spoke of “sleep” but He was talking about Lazarus’s death.
Why?
When the Bible talks about “falling asleep” is it just being euphemistic?
You know?, we don’t like talking about death – so if someone has been bereaved, we don’t go to them and say, “I hear your wife died.”
No, we talk about “their loss”, the “passing” of a loved one.
Is the Bible just using gentle language: “falling asleep”?
Maybe, but perhaps it is just being consistent – the believer has already died with Christ, been raised to eternal life, they cannot die again.
Death has no mastery over them.
So it is not death, but sleep.
Jesus said that Lazarus had “/fallen asleep/” because “/I go to *awaken him*/” – he was going to wake up!
So, what happens when I sleep?
Now, I am a man of few talents, but one of the few that I do have is sleeping.
A wonderful gift from God is the ability to sleep.
I go to bed at 9:00, if Rhoda comes in at 5 past, I will be dead to the world.
It may take you longer.
You may sleep for only an hour or for ten – it makes no difference – what is the next thing after falling asleep?
You wake up! *[P]* You may struggle to get to sleep – but after you have fallen asleep the next thing you are conscious of is being awake.
It may be a short time or a long time that you have been asleep but you have no consciousness of time in that intervening period of sleep.
What happens when I sleep – I wake up!
And that is why the Bible uses the term “sleep”.
I was reading the other day the words of F. B. Meyer wrote to a friend just before he died, he wrote: “I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live.
It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace.
Don’t trouble to write.
We shall meet in the morning.”
When he awoke in the morning, they would be together.
So let’s look at what the Bible tells us about falling asleep.
Because the Bible is the only place that we can get accurate information of what happens when this earthly life ends.
We cannot speak from experience; tell you what it is like, what happens.
How can we know?
The fact is that most people are in utter ignorance as to what happens because there is no way (humanly) of knowing!
People may have their theories and ideas, their beliefs – but they do not know.
Praise God that we have the Bible!
There is Someone who knows and who has told us about it.
So, in my ignorance and inexperience, I intend to stick closely to the text – the only reliable source of information that we have.
We don’t have all the details, there are some things that are not revealed; but we are not in the dark, we are not ignorant, there are things that we know without a shadow of doubt.
*[P]* Paul writes in: [*1 Thessalonians 4:13-18*/ //But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, /(the old KJV says “be ignorant” – and most people are ignorant of what happens when someone falls asleep, even those in the church were ignorant.
Paul did not want them to be and there is no need to be) /so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope./
(Like those at that funeral I mentioned.
If you don’t know what happens, if you think death is just the end, you have no hope.
Go to a non-christian funeral and that is what you find, either that or a Pollyanna, unrealistic notion based on a false hope).
/For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, /(that is a fundamental tenet of our faith) /even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus./
(He doesn’t bring them in beds!
They are no longer asleep, now they are awake!
Jesus rose again, so those that have fallen asleep will rise, and come with Him).
/For this we say to you *by the word of the Lord*, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words./]
These are words of comfort – death is not the end – it is only falling asleep and they will wake again.
*[P]* This passage tells us that those that sleep will rise.
Not just continual existence but consummation!
Being with the LORD forever!
Hallelujah!
Forever in His wonderful presence – being like Him as a result of seeing Him as He really is! Hallelujah!
The passage is talking about a literal resurrection, a resurrection of the body.
*[P]* John asked me specifically to speak of the timing – the passage is quite clear – when is it talking about?: when Christ returns.
*[P]* The resurrection of the body takes place when Jesus descends from heaven in glory – He is coming down to earth.
If we are alive then, then we won’t fall asleep we will just go directly to be with the LORD.
Where do we go when we awake?
– it says: “we will meet the LORD” – so when we awake we are with the LORD *[P]* – for always!
Hallelujah!* *Paul talks extensively about what happens when we awake, or arise in: [*1 Corinthians 15:20-24*/ //But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep./
(Jesus awoke from sleep, so too will we – He was the first-fruits, a foretaste of what was going to be on a much larger scale)/ For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, after that those who are Christ’s *at His coming*, /(Jesus rose in a new body, so too will we.
It is consistent, a bodily resurrection when Jesus returns – “at His coming”) /then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power./]
So Jesus rose first, then the believers do when He returns; then the end comes and when the dead (as opposed to those who have fallen asleep) come to judgement: [*Revelation 20:12 -15*/ //And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire./
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