But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 – … to Serve the Living & True God
Christ the King Sunday – November 22, 2020 (am)
   

INTRODUCTION

Today I have the privilege of continuing the exposition of 1 Thessalonians that Pastor Daryle and the staff have started. I am glad that it worked out to be able to preach a very non-controversial passage today.

I am actually very excited to jump into this passage and I would like to tell you why.

I enlisted in the Air Force in 1986. When I finally was done with training and went to my first squadron I served with several guys who were Vietnam Vets. Because I was in a security Flight in the Air Force, all of these guys saw major combat in Vietnam.

One day I was assigned the job of cleaning our supply room. The guy I was with was one of those Vets. As we cleaned he picked the music we listened to and I was forced to listen to a lot of Psychedelic music from the 60’s. We listened to a lot of music from a band called The Doors. 

One of the songs we listened to was called The End. That was the first time I had actually listened to the lyrics of this song and it was depressing. Jim Morrison the author of the song had broken up with his girlfriend and he was writing a song about endings. But, as he kept writing, the song started taking some really crazy twists. It was a bit of a stream of consciousness songs that had him talking about how death is better than life – and a whole bunch of other things, which finally led him to start screaming expletives at the end. 

I talked with the guy I was working with about the song and he said that this guy was the voice of his generation. He said that life stinks, all things end, there is no hope and the faster you get to this understanding the better.

That song is a 12 min song that represents a lot of emotions that people feel in this world. In fact, that song is nothing more than grieving about the world with no hope. It is all of the pain and misery of the world, that leads us to live for immediate pleasure of life because that is all there is.

There are many in this world that experience the pain, misery and problems of this world and nothing other than this moment in time to live for. When there is nothing other than this life to live for what you are left with is misery – pain – temporary pleasure that is often interrupted by more misery and pain.

Then, when someone dies we grieve and ending – the loss of a person – and are left with sometimes guilt that we did not do enough or missed moments with them that we will never have back. Jim Morrison ended up dying from a drug overdose and all of his followers were left with the grief of the loss of their spokesman. It was a sad event.

Let’s close in prayer.

That is the way the world grieves. They experience the pain and heartache of the world, and then when someone dies, they feel the loss without anything to comfort them in their loss. 

It is different for believers. We do not grieve in that same way. In fact, the message of Christianity says to the world that there is news that is beyond the despair of only living for this moment. There is good news about something that is so powerful that it will reshape not only the way we live, but also the way we grieve. It is such good news that if Jim Morrison would have known in, he would have had to retitle the song from calling it The End, to The Beginning.

In this passage Paul tells the Thessalonians that he wants them to live different in this world and one of the key ways is that their grief at the loss of a loved one should be filtered and influenced by hope. We should not embrace the hopelessness of grief for those who live outside of Christ, but instead, we should grieve when someone dies, but grieve through the lens of Christ and His return. When we grieve this way, we have something to look forward to when we consider the sting and pain of death. 

The point of this passage is to show the Thessalonians how the return of Jesus is to impact the way they view the death of a believer. 

Today we will look at how the return of Jesus is to influence the way we view deal and the way we are to grieve when believers die. To guide us through this passage I have one of the least most inspiring outlines ever written. Today we are going to see

•      Grieving With Hope

•      Why do we Grieve With Hope?

•      What is the Source of our Hope?

•      What Should we do With This Understanding?

My heart for us today as we look at this is

1.    I want those of you who maybe are grieving the loss of a loved one who was a believer to understand the hope of the return of Jesus – especially during this time if you have not been able to attend a funeral because of COVID.

2.    I want those of you who are maybe a little overwhelmed with the pandemic and all of the talk about death to find some encouragement in Christ. We must not fixate on death, but we must fixate on where history is headed and what is coming down the road for everyone.

3.    I want us all to be reminded of where history is headed so as we face the pain of living in a fallen world, in fallen bodies around fallen people that the grief we experience in the world would never be divorced from hope.

Let’s dive into the first point:

  

GRIEVING WITH HOPE

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

As we look at this text I want you to notice that it begins with the word “But”. The reason for this is that Paul wants to point something out to the people in light of what He just said. Paul does this by pointing it out in a contrasting form.

In the previous section Paul told the people how he wanted them to conduct their lives in this world. Part of that instruction is a call for them to have what we can call a “High Profile” life. In verse 12 Paul said that He was giving them these instructions so that they might walk properly towards outsiders. In other words, to live in a way that they do not add a burden to people, but instead to work with their own hands or in short, add value not take resources. Paul did not want them being dependent upon the world but instead, being productive.

This is a common call for God anytime His people were living in exile:

•      Jeremiah 29: Live and work and get married. Bless the people of Babylon

•      1 Peter chapter 2:11 ff - Live with excellence around the world so that Christ would be glorified

•      In 1 and 2 Thessalonians Paul wants them to live a quiet life not be dependent on outsiders 

It is here that we see this word “But” emerge. The word “But” is a conjunction that is designed to connect ideas that are contrasting. The idea he just said was I want you to live well among the world and then he moves on to a practical issue where they are not actually living distinctly from the world. It is an issue that almost catches you by surprise – it was by the fact that they were either grieving like the world grieves when someone dies, or could potentially do it.

The way this flows is that Paul tells them, work with your own hands so that you will live properly before the world, but, do not grieve like the world when someone dies – you need to grieve differently. 

What these two thoughts have in common is that they are both about the way believers are to live in this world that is different from the world.

The issue here is that the world grieves as if there is no hope. They see death as the end and then it’s over and so people feel the loss with no way to stop this feeling. When someone dies they cry and are caught up in a depression that can be intense.

It appears as if the people in Thessalonica were grieving like the world. They are a young church so it is possible that they are not in rebellion, but instead, just need to be taught about the future. So Paul does not want them to be unaware of the future that awaits both those who die and those who will be alive on the day of the coming of Jesus.

At the same time, there also seemed to be an ignorance about those who died and what happened to those who dies before the return of Jesus. It appears as if they thought that if you died that was it, you would miss out on the return of the Lord and all the glories that will surround that event. Which could have fueled their grief.

As a result people were grieving for those who had died as if those people were in essence in a worse state than those who are alive because they will miss out on getting their new bodies and on being with Jesus. It is even possible that they thought that if you died you missed even an eternity with Jesus.

The ultimate problem here is that their grieving was indistinguishable from those of the world. This is a big deal. To grieve like the world is to send a signal that there is no hope. If you have no hope, then when problems come, you will be shaken. 

Hope is what gives us stability in this world. Look at chapter 1:2-3. In this chapter Paul extols them for showing the three great virtues that are to be with us on this earth – Faith, Hope and Love. Observe.

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

These three virtues are talked about throughout the book.

3:1-5 – Paul talks about their faith
4:9-12 – Paul talks about their love
4:13-18 – Paul talks about their hope

Hope is one of the great realities of the Christian life. When we lose hope we lose the will to keep going. In fact, in 1:3 we see that hope is described as the steadfastness of hope. Hope is what produces perseverance. If there is no hope then the church will be weak and will send a signal that the gospel is weak as well.

Hope is what allows us to go through the valley of the shadow of death without fear. Without hope, death is horrible.

Death is what causes us to feel the sting of sin in the most dramatic form. When we feel it, it hurts. Grief is real. It is something we all feel. The Scriptures does not tell us not to grieve, but instead, gives us insight into the future of the world to help shape and inform how far our grief is going to go.

Paul does not want them to go through life uninformed as to what will happen to those who have died. He wants to make sure that out of ignorance they do not over- grieve a loss and end up in the place of Jim Morrison.

The only thing that will keep these people going is understanding the future coming of the Lord. They must remember how the coming of Jesus impacts their understanding of death. Paul will make a coloration between these two.

The use of the return of Jesus in this passage is not looking at the coming of Jesus in relation to a calendar, but in relation to death and the future of those who have died. 

What we will do is look at death through the lens of the return of Jesus. Which means, those of you who want to look at this in relation to a calendar and all the other prophetic events will be disappointed.

Let us now jump into the reasoning of Paul as he explains

•      Why we grieve with hope

•      The thing we should anchor our life on as we face death

Let us now start examining this by answering the question – Why do we grieve with hope?

  

WHY DO WE GRIEVE WITH HOPE?

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 

I want you to notice that this passage begins with the word “For.” Whenever you see the word “for” it usually means that a rational or an explanation is on the way. So, Paul will now explain his reasoning why we grieve with hope.

To understand this verse we must walk through it in some detail to really find the encouragement of this verse.

What we will see in verse 14 is first the grounding of our hope in the cross and then second, the impact of the cross to our future.

A)    The Grounding of our Hope

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again

He begins his rational by declaring the main doctrine that is at the core of Christianity

– Jesus died and rose again and every true child of God believes this to be true. It is at the heart of our understanding of the work of Jesus.

The wages of sin is death and so Jesus died in our place into order to save us from the consequences of our sin and from the wrath of God. God accepted that work – we know this because God raised Jesus from the dead.

This gives us a little insight into why we grieve with hope. The hope for the future of those who have died is grounded in the certainty the cross. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the event that is to ground our understanding of what will happen to every Christian when they die.

What is the impact of the cross on the life of the believer that should give them hope? From the grounding in the cross – we now move to the impact of the cross.

B)   The Impact of the Cross

14  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

The first thing that we must look at is the that this second half of this sentence connects with the first. Paul said – even so. Paul is corresponding what happened to Jesus to what will happen to all believers who have died.

The death and resurrection was a substitutionary death. What that means is that Jesus was dying for mankind. He was experiencing something in our place so that we could have the same experience. That is why Paul said – even so, through Jesus. Jesus did this for you so there will impact all the children of God. 

The cross is the future for every believer who dies! It has a very real impact in your life. Every human will experience the coming of the Lord! 

What we are going to see now is how the believer will experience the resurrection personally as a result of what Jesus did for them. Child of God, if you die before the Lord comes back, this is your future.

There is an interesting way this argument is made. Paul said – Jesus died and Jesus rose. Then Paul goes on to talk about believers who have also died – or in his case called them asleep because their soul is still alive.

But when it comes to the Christian who is asleep, he says that the believer dies but does not balance the sentence by simply saying that Christians rise. Instead, he goes into to explaining how they will rise. We will actually see what is going to take place when the resurrection of our bodies occur.

How does it happen? even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 

The way Paul explains the resurrection here could be interpreted in two ways. First, it could be interpreted as the Lord will bring the souls of the dead back with him at his second coming. The second way is that God will raise those who have fallen asleep from the dead at the second coming. 

The next verse is going to tell us which one it is – but I will let you in on the secret now as to which one it is: I believe he is referring to the second one, that their bodies will rise not that the spirits come back with Jesus. I will show you when in the next verse.

Before we look at it, we must stop and reflect on this point. Laying a believer in the grave is not the end of the story for them. We must grieve this because death is a consequence of sin – but we must not lose sight to the end of the story for that person.

The reason why we grieve with hope is simple – Jesus died and rose for us so that through Him, we will rise after we die.

This means it does not matter when it happens because we will all experience it. This is why we grieve with hope. 

Let us now dig a little deeper and look at how this will take place so that we can actually get a source for our hope. When we see how this resurrection will happen, there is no way to not be filled with awe. I will see if I can even explain this to you without crying tears of awe and hope.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF OUR HOPE?

15  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

Verse 15 begins with the word “for.” What that means is that Paul is going to explain 14 in even greater detail so that we can see why the return of Jesus is the source of our hope. It is because of the way that 15 explains 14 that we understand that the focus of Paul is on our resurrection.

Paul starts this thought with the authority of the Lord. Some question why Paul is saying this – is he referring to a Scripture, or to some private Word that he received. I believe that Paul was giving an understanding of the events concerning the Lord’s return that He received both from Scripture and from the Lord directly– just look at 1 Corinthians 15 – and what he is telling us is that his words of encouragement are not just conjecture, but directly from the Lord. It is a fixed reality. It is the theology that is to ground our lives and ground our understanding of death.

In other words, we can simply stick a fork in this truth – it is done. Or, if you prefer a more urban approach – you can take that to the bank!

Let us look at what is the certain future for all believers who have died.

that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep

Those who are alive do not have an advantage over those who have died. If you die, you will not miss the return of the Lord. It is possible that some of the people in Thessalonica thought that if you died and if your body wasted away in the ground, it was over for you. But that is not the case. 

Those who are alive will not be caught up with Jesus before those who have died. Moses, whose bones are nowhere to be found will be among those who first experience the return of the Lord – even before those who are on earth when the event takes place. 

Here is the reason why:

16  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Verse 16 begins with the word “for” because 16 is explaining 15.

Verse 16 is making a very strong statement. When the Lord returns, which we will look at in the moment, those who have died will be united with their new resurrected bodies and they will join Jesus. Let’s first just look at the resurrection of the saints.

A)  The Resurrection of the Saints

That is what I believe Paul is saying here. The first event after Jesus announces His coming to the world is that all the believers who died will have their spirits join their new resurrected bodies. The dead will rise from the grave at the voice of Jesus.

Why do I say this is what Paul meant? Because it is talking about the dead rising. If they are already dead and their spirits are with the Lord, how can they rise first? The way it happens is that this is where the new bodies are given to the dead.

I believe Paul made this same point in 1 Corinthians 15. Listen to verses 42-44

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

That seems to be the point here in this text. The believers who have died will be a part of the coming of Jesus. They will be reunited with their resurrected bodies and be brought into the kingdom of God in the same kind of body Jesus had at His resurrection. 

Jesus said this would happen in John 5:25-28

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

When this return happens it will be powerful. Let’s look at the second thing this verse tells us, the Return of Jesus.

B) The Return of Jesus

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Notice the way this return is described: the Lord will descend, He will shout in a manner that will get the attention of the entire world. It will be with the voice of an archangel, and there will also be the trumpet blaring. In short, no one will miss this moment. No one will misunderstand what is happening. It will not be a secret – it will be a moment for the entire world to see and experience. It will be loud!

When this day happens, it appears as if this is what will happen: 

•      Jesus will come with a shouting command – probably the call to the dead to rise

•      Then, Jesus will probably give a command to archangel to gather then elect from the four comers of the earth

•      While a trumpet is blaring

 

What is happening in this passage we see described in other places. The Word of the Lord is what will cause the dead to rise from the grave.

When Jesus calls, even the dead come to life to do His bidding. Matthew 24:30-31 paints the same picture of this event.

30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

The emphasis is on the authority of the Lord Jesus. His voice will make this happen. Jesus will come and it will be powerful and the dead will rise! This is the future of all believers in Christ! 

But there is more happening on this day. It is even more amazing. Look at verse 17.

17  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

On this day there will be two reunions. The first is for those who have died are united with their new bodies, and the second on is the reunion of all of the saints of God both alive and dead. After the dead are reunited to their bodies, then those who are alive will be caught up with Jesus and be reunited with all those who have died.

It will be an awesome! I cannot even imagine. It will be loud, powerful and intense! 

This makes the election so trite! This is the future for the whole world. This is our hope and nothing more.

Being on earth during the return of Jesus does not mean you have advantage. The resurrection of the dead makes up the first act of the return of Jesus. The dead have no disadvantage. 

In this verse we come across a word that we are all familiar with, it is this word Caught up. This is a word that some have translated into the word snatching others the word rapture. It actually has elements of intensity in it. It means to grab something away quickly and decisively.

What is the point of this – when Jesus calls we will come. There will be no delay, no build up. When He speaks our name so to speak we will respond. He will grab his children on earth and unite them with the children that have preceded them.

The return of Jesus shows us the irresistible voice of the living Lord to reunite the dead with their new bodies and the living with the dead into the unified presence of the Lord. No one will be able to resist it and no one will miss it.

When people die we should not grieve in a manner that forgets this future hope. We should grieve their loss and presence in this world, grieve that we will miss them, but not grieve to the point where we forget that the death of a believer is not the final chapter of their life. 

Those who have fallen asleep will be the first to rise and they will be the first who are given their new bodies. Death is not the end of the story. We do not need to write a song call The End. Death is only the beginning of what is to come.

•      We grieve with hope

•      We grieve with hope because the dead will be part of the return of Jesus

This leaves us with a final thought we need to consider – what should we do with this?

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH THIS UNDERSTANDING?

18  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Therefore, means an application is coming. What is the application of this text? It is not to write a book, develop a ministry and argue over the second coming of Jesus. It is to actually encouraging each other with this news.

We are to encourage other with the news that:

When a believer dies, there is still am amazing event that they will partake of – so no need to fear you will miss out

1.    When we face the death of a believer, it is good to grieve, just do not let the grief be driven by hopeless despair. We should grief their death, it is a consequence of sin that we all deal with.

2.    Yet, Christ sanctified death to such a level that it is not the end of the story, but rather the first step to our resurrection

3.    All believers, both dead and alive will experience the coming of the Lord. There is a future hope of reunion around our Lord and Savior Jesus. 

The Word of the Lord is to help your

•      grief not lead you to despair but to hope,

•      fear in to stability,

•      insecurity into security.

Conclusion

Death is a reality for all of us – whether we live in a COVID year or not. It has been with us from Adam until today and until the New Heaven and New Earth.

When we deal with the death of someone, there is pain and a loss. We cry over losing them. We miss them. Yet, if they are in Christ there is good news. Their future is bright and exciting. Jesus will take them with Him when He returns.

The first event will be the resurrection of their heavenly bodies – the first reunion. Then, the second reunion occurs, the believers who are left on earth will be snatched away and united with them. All of the Children of God will be set free together from the bonds of sin and death.

Why do we hope? We hope because we know the future. Let’s pray

Next Sunday: Concerning the Times and the Seasons, 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11