Our Hope - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

INTRODUCTION:

            In just a few hours 2017 will pass away and 2018 will begin.  I could not leave 2017 and enter into 2018 without speaking to you about my favorite subject, the event that I anticipate more than anything else in the world, the event Paul calls the blessed hope in his letter to Titus.

            I am talking about the glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His bride, the church, which will include a resurrection and a rapture.  This event is often called the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The word imminent means that it could happen at any moment, there is absolutely nothing that must take place before Jesus Christ returns to take the church to be with Him.  There is no prophecy of Scripture that needs to be fulfilled, which means that we must be prepared at all times, because it could happen at any time.  It could happen before we finish this service this morning, it could happen before 2017 becomes 2018.  It could happen at any moment and we must be ready and waiting for Him when He comes.

            There are several passages which talk about this event, Grace read one of them this morning from 1 Corinthians 15, but by far my favorite is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  If I should die before the rapture of the church this is the passage I want preached at my funeral.  Paul in this letter is writing to the church in Thessalonica where some are concerned because some of the members of the church have died and those living are afraid that because they have died they are going to miss out on some of the blessings that will be ours at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul writes this passage to correct this thinking and to encourage them.  May you also be encouraged and comforted by these words.  Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.

--PRAY--

SCRIPTURE:

            Turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, it is right between Colossians and 1 Timothy.  Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.

     1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,

            “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, NASB95)[1]

REVELATION (1 Thessalonians 4:13-15)

            Paul begins this passage by stating that he does not want us to be uninformed, he wants to clear up some faulty thinking about those who have passed away before the Lord’s return.  The Greek word translated “uninformed” is a word that means “to be ignorant.”  In other words, Paul does not want us to be ignorant, or lacking knowledge about the Lord’s return.  The knowledge that the Thessalonians were lacking concerned those who had fallen asleep.  The New Testament often uses this idea of sleep to describe someone who has died in Jesus.  Jesus used this term to describe the death of Lazarus before He raised him back to life in John 11.  When a believer dies they are asleep until they are awakened again.  But understand that it is our physical body that sleeps, our spirit immediately goes to be with the Lord the moment that we die.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that when we are absent from the body we are at home with the Lord. 

            Paul goes on to give them the reason that he does not want them to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, it is so that they will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.  Now Paul is not saying that we are to have no sorrow, or we are not to shed tears, or have no grief when a loved one or dear friend passes away.  I remember when my dad passed away, I was sorrowful, I shed tears, I grieved that he was gone from this earth, but I have hope that I will see him again, he is not gone we are just separated for a time.  There is always sorrow and grief when there is separation, but it does not need to be the sorrow and grief of those who have no hope.

            Paul goes on in verse 14 to give us the reason for the hope that we have.  This passage is not written for everyone, it is only written to those who have hope.  Paul says that the reason we have this hope is because of our faith, our belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Our hope is based on our salvation, that we have agreed with God that we are sinners, that we have broken God’s law and can do nothing ourselves to remedy our sin, but we believe that Jesus Christ died in our place as our perfect, sinless substitute, and His death paid the price required for our sin, He was buried and rose from the dead triumphing forever over sin and death for everyone who believes in Him.  This is the reason for my hope, it is knowing that my loved ones that have passed away had this same hope that makes me not grieve like those who do not have this hope.  The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ assures me of a future resurrection.  I know that at the moment that I die, my spirit goes to heaven to be with Jesus, but the fact that Jesus rose bodily from the grave is my assurance that I will also have a resurrection body someday.  Paul goes onto say that when Jesus returns for the church He will bring with Him all the spirits of those who are apart of His bride, the church from the time that it began on the day of Pentecost to the present, all those who have died before us so that their spirits might be reunited with their resurrection bodies.

            Paul gives us a promise and he says that this promise is based on the word of the Lord, Paul is saying that this promise is from the Lord Jesus Christ, it was given to Him by revelation that he might reveal it to us.  The Lord Jesus through Paul promises us that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  Within this statement we have two promises:  the first is that some of the church will not taste death, some will still be living when Jesus Christ returns for the church.  Secondly, he promises that those of the church who have died in Jesus will precede us in their resurrection bodies.  Those who have died before the coming of the Lord will not miss anything, but will go before us.  Paul very clearly tells us that Jesus Christ is coming again, He is coming for His bride, the church.

RETURN (1 Thessalonians 4:16a)

            Paul then describes for us in the beginning of verse 16 what the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for the church will be like and he uses simple, straight-forward facts, but they must be emphasized because there are those who would like to pervert and twist them to be something that they are not.

            First, Paul writes that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.  I do not think that this could be said anymore plainly.  Yet there are those who say that this has already been fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.  Since as a church we believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible, plenary means all of it, every word, then these words are of utmost significance, for they plainly say that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.  If God did not mean that the Lord was coming again personally and in bodily form, there would be no point in emphasizing that the Lord HIMSELF shall descend from heaven.  Hebrews 9:28 says, “…so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:28, NASB95)[2] This is just one passage of many that confirm that Jesus Christ Himself is coming again.  This is truly a blessed and encouraging truth.  Think about it, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Creator of the universe, the One who loves us and gave Himself for us, the One who left the glory of heaven to bear the shame of the cross to die and shed His blood for the payment of our sin, is truly, literally, and personally coming again to receive us unto Himself.  He is not sending someone else to get us, He is not sending angels to meet us and lead us to heaven.  He Himself is coming personally to take us unto Himself.  Jesus made the promise to come back for us in John 14:3, Jesus said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3, NASB95)[3]

            Not only will the Lord Himself descend from heaven, but that descent will be accompanied by a shout, by the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God.  This word translated shout is a Greek word that means “a commanding shout.”  Possibly it is like the words of Jesus when He resurrected Lazarus from the grave.  John 11:43 says, “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’” (John 11:43b, NASB95)[4]  Maybe it will be a commanding shout for the dead in Christ to come forth.

            Next, we are told that we will hear the voice of the archangel.  The only archangel who is named in the Bible is Michael, who seems to have a special ministry to Israel.  According to Daniel 10:13, there is more than one archangel or chief angel; so, we cannot be sure that it will be Michael’s voice.  Possibly this archangel is announcing the end of the age of grace and the beginning of the tribulation.  Perhaps he is acting as a groomsman and crying, “The bridegroom is coming!” like in the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.

            Third we are told that there will be the trumpet of God.  In our Scripture reading this morning from 1 Corinthians 15 that passage also relates Christ’s return with the sound of the trumpet.  This trumpet is not to be confused with the seven trumpets of judgment in Revelation which we will be getting back to next week, but this is the last trumpet call for the church to come out and meet God.  The Jewish people were familiar with trumpets which were used to declare war, announce special days and feasts, to gather the people such as at Mount Sinai when God gave the Law to the people of Israel, there was a long trumpet blast from the mountain to gather them at the foot of the mountain to hear from God.  Those in the Roman empire also would be familiar with trumpets, trumpets were used to announce the arrival of a great person.  This trumpet will herald the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest person in all history.

            I believe that the church will hear the commanding shout of the Lord Jesus, we will hear the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, but to the world it will make no sense, but to us it will make all the sense in the world, Jesus has come back for us.

RESURRECTION (1 Thessalonians 4:16b)

            The result of the Lord Himself descending with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God will be that the dead in Christ will rise first.  Before anything happens to those believers who are living on the earth at the time of the Lord’s return, first, the dead in Christ will be resurrected.  Their resurrection bodies will be joined again with their spirits that came with the Lord Jesus.  This resurrection body will be different than our earthly body, it will be like Adam was in the beginning before he sinned.  Understand that God is not going to put the elements of our dead body together again, resurrection is not reconstruction.  Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says that the resurrection of the human body is like the growing of a plant from a seed.  The flower is not identical to the seed that was planted, but there is continuity from seed to plant.  Christians will receive glorified bodies, like the glorified body of Christ.  The dead physical body is the “seed” that is planted in the ground; the resurrection body is the “flower” that comes from the seed.  This was the answer to those who were concerned about those who had died before the Lord’s return, they will miss nothing instead they will precede those who are alive and remain.

RAPTURE (1 Thessalonians 4:17a)

            Verse 17 tells us what will happen to those who are still living when Jesus Christ returns for the church.  Paul uses the terms we and us in this verse to show that he believed that the Lord Jesus Christ could return while he was still alive.  The living will be caught up together in the clouds with the resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air.  Three truths are taught in this statement: One, there is going to be a group of believers at the return of Christ that will never taste death.  Two, these believers are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and three, they are going to be caught up with the resurrected “dead in Christ.”  1 Corinthians tells us that our bodies will be changed instantly into glorified, immortal bodies.  Many have said the two surest things in life are death and taxes, but according to this verse the only sure thing is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is surer than death itself.  The death of man has reigned over the history of man since Adam, but God’s Word promises that some of us will not have to face death.  I will confess that I do not want to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I would much rather be one of those living when Christ descends with a shout of command and the voice of the archangel is heard and the trumpet of God sounds, and to be instantly changed and raptured and transported instantaneously, in the twinkling of an eye, into the presence of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This is surely the blessed hope we are called to look for and be ready for.  Even though the dead in Christ shall rise first, this verse assures us that we will be caught up together with them and together we will go to meet the Lord.

            The phrase “caught up” is a single word in Greek that has several meanings that all pertain to the rapture of the living believers.  I want to share those meanings with you.  First, it means to catch away speedily, we are told in 1 Corinthians that this all will happen in the twinkling of an eye.  The change of our sinful, mortal bodies into glorified, immortal bodies will be instantaneous and we will be whisked away.  The second meaning of this word is “to be seized by force” which may suggest that Satan and his forces may try to keep us from leaving the earth, I hope it does not suggest that some saints will be so attached to the earth that they will have to be literally dragged away like Lot and his family before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Third, this word means “to claim for one’s own self.”  This is from the Lord’s point of view as He comes to claim His bride for Himself.  Fourth, it means “to move to a new place.”  Jesus in John 14 promised that He was preparing a place for us and when He comes He will take us to that new place.  Fifth, this word means “to rescue from danger.”  This meaning is to let us know that the church will be removed from the earth before the tribulation begins.  Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10, NASB95)[5]  By inspiration of the Holy Spirit this term translated “caught up” was used by Paul to mean all these things to us when we who are alive and remain are caught up together with the resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air.

REUNION (1 Thessalonians 4:17b)

            “so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17b, NASB95)[6]  When we meet the Lord in the air this will be the great reunion, but the consummation of this, the pinnacle of this, the climax of it all is that never again will we be separated from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Together with our loved ones in Jesus, together with those whose earthly bodies had turned to dust, but now in resurrected, glorified bodies we will meet the Lord in the air and be with Him for the rest of eternity.  What a day that will be when we will finally see Him, meet the One who loved us and gave His life for us.  The One we have never seen with our eyes, we will see.  We will see the One who is the mighty, sovereign Creator of the universe, the One who over 2000 years ago came to earth as a baby, born in poverty and laid in a manger in Bethlehem.  We will see the One who has men and angels at His command, who spoke, and the demons fled.  The One who brought the dead back to life, who healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, opened the ears of the deaf, and loosed the tongue of the mute.  The One who hung on the cross of Calvary and suffered for you and for me, paying the penalty of death for my sin and your sin.  We shall behold the God-Man in all His glory, and so shall we ever be with our Lord and Savior.  John said it this way in 1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3, NASB95)[7]

CONCLUSION: (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

            Paul clearly and succinctly describes for us the resurrection and rapture of the church, the bride of Christ.  Paul ends chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians with these word in verse 18, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:18, NASB95)[8] These verses are to be words of encouragement and comfort for us.  They are the assurance that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again and we (the church, His bride) shall forever be with the Lord.  The pain of separation will be ended.  As John said, when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  Paul said in our Scripture reading this morning in 1 Corinthians 15 that we will be changed, we will receive our new resurrection bodies that are both imperishable and immortal and in that way, we will be like the Lord Jesus Christ.  We will again be like Adam was when he was first created, we will again fully display the image of God that we were originally created to display.

            John says in the end of those verses I read to you from 1 John 3:2-3 that everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, the hope of His return for us, purifies himself.  If we have our hope fixed on Jesus Christ returning to take us to be with Him, then we are called to live pure lives so that we are always ready for His return.  We are to seek to obey God’s Word and to live in honesty, integrity, and righteousness before God and man, and this can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit who indwells us.  Paul in the end of 1 Corinthians 15 tells us to be always abounding in the work of the Lord.  We are to be ready for the Lord’s return, but we are to be doing the work of the Lord at the same time.  We are to be making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus Christ commanded you.  We have our orders until the Lord returns.

            Maybe you are here this morning and you do not know Jesus Christ, you have never experienced His forgiveness.  Then this message should be a warning to you that the time is running out and the return of the Lord could be at any time.  If you are not sure that you will be ready when the Lord returns, then now is the time to make sure.  You can make sure in the quietness of your own heart by agreeing with God that you are a sinner with no remedy for your sin and you need His mercy and forgiveness.  Believe that Jesus Christ purchased your forgiveness on the cross when He died for your sins, believe that He was buried and that He rose from the dead three days later.  When you believe this then you are ready for the surest thing in this world, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His bride, the church to which you now belong.

[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995

[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995