Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

A VOICE FROM HEAVEN
Part 1

1. A voice from heaven:
   1. A rare event.
   2. Only on special occasions was a voice heard from heaven -
      1. At the baptism of Christ - Matt. 3:17
      2. At his transfiguration - Matt. 17:5
   3. Each event, significantly, has some connection with the death of our Lord.
2. The context shows that the occasion is extraordinary:
   1. It comes at a time when God's remnant people will face a declaration of war against them by Satan - Rev. 12:17
   2. At a time when our only hope is in the upward look - Luke 21:28
   3. That means that God's people have been abandoned by the nations to their fate as the world sees it - Luke 18:7

1. That God is interested in the death of the saints:
   1. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." - Ps. 116:15
   2. He showed this at the tomb of His good friend Lazarus - "Jesus wept" - John 11:35
2. It is a message of reassurance:
   1. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord" - Rev. 14:13
   2. "Thy brother shall live again" - John 11:23
3. The Bible makes a difference between the death of the righteous and the wicked:
   1. "The righteous hath hope in his death" - Prov. 14:32
   2. But of the wicked it is written, "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness" - Prov. 14:32
   3. For them there is no hope - 1 Thess. 4:13

1. They have forgiveness of their sins:
   1. All their sins are covered with the blood of Jesus Christ - Ps. 32:1-3; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; 1 John 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5
   2. They have the promise of the first resurrection - Rev. 20:6; Luke 14:14; John 5:28, 29
   3. They can take the fruit of their labors with them, "their works do follow them"
   4. "Say unto the righteous that it shall be well with them" - Isa. 3:10
2. Not so with the wicked:
   1. "Woe unto the wicked it shall be ill with them: for the reward of his hands shall be given him." - Isa. 3:11
   2. "For the wages of sin is death" - Rom. 6:23
3. The final pronouncement to the righteous and to the wicked will be:
   1. To the righteous the Lord will say, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." - Matt. 25:34
   2. But to them that are wicked, He will say, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire" - Matt. 25:41
4. We believe that this loved one not only knew and understood our opening text but:
   1. Believed it and that he fell asleep with the assurance given to the saints by the voice that was heard from heaven.
   2. That the words of our opening text find a true application in the life of our brother.
   3. He lived in the Lord and he died in the Lord, and these two conditions give him the right to believe that he will hear this voice from heaven in the first resurrection - 1 Thess. 4:13-17
   4. We must now see to it that those of us who knew the brother, will so live that it shall be well with us when Jesus comes.
   5. What more could be said to reassure loved ones that we need not sorrow as those who have no hope.