On the journey returning this morning to 1st Thessalonians,
we're in chapter 4. We're going to read again from
verse 13 to 18, First Thessalonians chapter 4, and
we'll read from verse 13 to verse 18.
Let's hear the Word of God for those online.
The words will come up on screen, as we've said often.
Do we have emphasis? We're reading, of course, from
the King James Bible, First Thessalonians 4, verse 13.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which
have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, Even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with them. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shite, with the voice of the Archangel, with the trump of
God. The dead in Christ shall rise
first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words, Amen.
We know God will stamp His own approval and blessing.
That's reading of his own precious and infallible word.
Amen. Now this morning we are
returning to our expository studies in Paul's first letter
to the Church of Thessalonica. And my text today is taken from
First Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 14 through to 17.
Paul says, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
Even so them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not
prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord themselves shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
Archangel, and with the trump of God.
And the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
Now my subject today is entitled The Truth about the Coming of
the Lord. Paul's first letter, the 1st
letter he ever wrote to a New Testament church under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit was First Thessalonians.
Notice that his letter didn't begin with a message about their
health or well-being. It wasn't a message about help
and strength from heaven, but in fact, it began with a message of
hope. You see from the opening verses
in chapter 1 all the way through to the end in chapter 5.
With his final prayer, you as a reader will discover that First
Thessalonians is shaped by 1 Great expectation, and that
expectation is summarised in the words the coming of the Lord,
namely the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ in power
and glory. Remember, this young church was
only months old. It was living under the pressure
of persecution and opposition. Certain believers had already
been brutally murdered. Others had been put out of their
jobs and put out of their homes. Some had been imprisoned for
their faith. There were those imprisoned
being tortured. They were urged to give up the
Christian life, forget about Christ, return to paganism.
And of course, some in the church were troubled about the
state of their loved ones who had already died.
They were asking themselves questions.
Would they miss out in Christ's glorious coming for his Church?
Would their resurrection be delayed because of their death?
Was their resurrection guaranteed at all?
Would their bodies be forgotten? Had death come and robbed them
of the fulfilment of Christ's promise?
Do all of these questions run through their minds?
They needed to be answered and Paul doesn't encourage them by
telling them to look into their own heart and lives.
He doesn't tell them you find inner strength.
You discover your True Grit to master your pain or suffering.
No, instead He instructs them to look upward and that upward look
is about the coming of the Lord. Listen to what he says in First
Thessalonians chapter one, verse 10.
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from wrath to come.
Waiting for Christ coming is not a sidebar.
In fact, I believe it's one of the central truths that is the
posture of the Christian life. Paul's teaching flows from the
fact that the crucified and risen Christ will come again,
and his coming will shape how these believers suffer.
It will shape how they grieve and mourn the death of the loved
one. It will shape how they live out
a holy life before God and man. It will shape how they share a
word of exhortation and comfort with one another.
You see, when a true believer dies, Paul just doesn't say, I'm
sorry, they're there, it'll be OK.
He doesn't give them a little pat in the back.
He doesn't say we'll cry and let it all out there.
He doesn't say this is all that there is to experience.
No, to a church wondering about its future.
Paul sets before them this great truth time and time again.
And what is that great truth that Jesus Christ is coming back
again? That's one of the central truths
in this book. Look with me, I've already
quoted First Thessalonians chapter one, verse 10.
And to wait for a son from heaven whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus which delivered us from wrath to come.
If you look with me at chapter 2 and verse 19 it says for what is
our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing are not even ye in the
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming Chapter 3
and verse 3 it says this, that no man should be moved by these
afflictions for yourselves know that we were there unto
appointed. Sorry, it's verse 13 to the end.
He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all his seals. And then in chapter 4 and verse
15. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
And then in chapter 5, verse 23, he says, And the very God of
peace, sanctify you holy, and I pray God, your Holy Spirit and
soul and body be preserved, blameless unto the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Notice five times there's a
reference to Christ's coming. This is not mere idle
speculation. This is a matter to do with
divine revelation. Paul isn't interested in
throwing out a date here, but he's interested with setting
forth this glorious doctrine, the glorious doctrine of the
personal, visible, bodily return of Jesus Christ to this earth
and power and glory. Yes, this epistle teaches us
about love and grace, teaches us about the personal work of the
Lord Jesus, teaches us about holiness of life.
But all of these truths, they're all framed by the sure
expectation of the truth that Jesus Christ is coming back
again. Now I have 4 things this
morning. Next week in the will of God,
we'll deal with the fifth thing, which is maybe the more complex.
First of all, the promise of his coming is factual.
Look at verse 16 of First Thessalonians chapter 4.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
The foundation of our hope is not an event, but in a person.
Note the certainty of this promise.
Paul doesn't say if the Lord descends, but the Lord shall.
This is the language of divine certainty.
The doctrine of the second coming of Christ is not mere
poetic imagery. It's not a mere ecclesiastical
church tradition. No, it's the sworn promise of
the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14 and three, he said in
the upper room to encourage his disciples.
I will come again. That's a sure, that's a certain
and that is a sublime promise. And remember what we read in the
book of Acts on the day of his ascension.
Acts chapter 1 and verse 13. Acts chapter one, Sorry, it's
verse 11, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus which is taken up
from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus, you see, the
Bible teaches Now get the hold of this the personal, the
visible, the bodily and powerful return of Jesus Christ in power
and before the final consummation of his Kingdom.
And this is not merely about a promise, Christ reigning
invisibly through his church, but the actual person of Christ,
the King himself who ascended up into heaven, returning to this
world in bodily form in person himself.
That's what it means when it says, for the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven. He went up into heaven at his
ascension, and he's coming down out of heaven at his second
advent note to comfort not only the certainty of the promise for
the Lord himself. Not an Angel.
He's not going to send Gabriel or Michael or any of them rest
not someone appointed to represent him.
He's not going to send Mary. Remember Mary is not a Co
redemptrix with Christ. He's not going to send a power
or an influence. No, listen to Acts 111 again,
this seeing Jesus, the one who was born in a human body in
Bethlehem's Manger, the one who lived his sinless life in that
body and kept the law of God perfectly.
The one who wept at Lazarus tomb, the one who loved his own
and loved them unto the end. The one who gave his life a
ransom for many. The one who bore our sins and
his own body on the tree. This same Jesus, the very same
one who bore those wounds in his body, who bled and died in the
tree. That's why Paul says in Hebrews
chapter 10, verse 12, But this man referring to his humanity,
but this man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down in the right hand of God.
And I want to tell you for suffering Saints, the certainty
of this promise and the comfort of that promise was no small
comfort. This was genuine comfort.
This was great comfort. This was gracious comfort.
As I've told you, it wasn't a pat in the back.
It wasn't a top in the head. There, there.
Now let go of your tears. Remember, they've just been
converted out of Paganism, and Paganism had no comfort for
them. Paganism has no comfort when
death comes and takes away a loved one.
Paganism doesn't believe in the doctrine of the resurrection of
the dead, but Jesus Christ does. Jesus Christ did here.
He comes with a certain comforting promise to all who
are in Christ. And what does he say?
I will come again. You can understand in relation
to Rosie's brother the impact that has on her as well as me as
a brother-in-law and the rest of the family.
We were reading last night just before she went to bed and it
sort of jumped out at the page. We're reading from John Chapter
11. You know what it says in the
verse 23? This is what the Lord Jesus said
to Martha. And she was heartbroken about
the death of her brother Lazarus.
And what did the Lord Jesus say to Martha?
He says this in John 11. And in the verse 23, a
remarkable statement, he says, Thy brother shall rise again,
Thy brother shall rise again. That was a comfort to me as well
as a comfort to Rosie. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
And that's true. But listen, Jesus saith unto
her, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, the way we're dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believeth thy this. Let me ask this morning, do you
believe in a promise that is factual?
If we're thinking about the coming of the Lord, what does
that mean? It is rooted and based on a
promise that is factual. The promise of His coming is
factual. Notice secondly and very
quickly, the particulars of His coming are foundational.
What's the ground of the coming of Jesus Christ back into this
world? If you look at our text, and
This is why I'm returning to this, you've got the truth of
redemption here. Notice what he says in verse 14
for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so
them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Here's a conditional statement for if we believe that Jesus
died and the if here is not to suggest an element of doubt.
It's about you having faith in Christ, and it's not an element
of doubt, but an element of certainty.
We could translate it for since we believe, Here's the starting
point for the doctrine of the second coming of Christ.
You see, before there can be a crowning day, before there could
be the coming day, there had to be the cross day.
The reference here is to the death of Jesus Christ on the
cross. For if we believe that Jesus
died, the death of Christ in the cross was not merely a past
event. The death of Christ in the cross
was a pattern, a guarantee for all that is going to follow.
Remember Paul says in Corinthians, there in First
Corinthians chapter 15 and in the verse 3.
For I delivered unto you first of all, that what you also
received, how the Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures. And when we think about the
death of Christ, we think about who died and when he died and
where he died and the way he died.
But why did he die? We taught you last Sunday night.
He gave his life a ransom for many, a ransom, a once and for
all atoning sacrifice for sin. On that cross he suffered the
wrath of God. On that cross he suffered divine
satisfied, divine justice. On that cross he fulfilled the
law's penalty as well as the law perfectly.
There's a great truth here on the ground of the death of
Christ. God save sinners high.
For if we believe that Jesus died, do you believe in Christ's
attoning work on the cross? You see, belief in Christ's
death and resurrection shapes our eschatology, shapes what we
believe about future events. Remember, the Lord Jesus just
didn't die to save our immortal souls, and He did that, but He
also died to redeem these bodies as well.
Remember what we read there in First Corinthians chapter 1 and
in verse 6? It says in verse 19, First
Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19. What know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, what you have
of God, and you're not your own, for you're bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirits, which
are gods. See, death is real, and death
has to be conquered. And your body, the one that
you're living in now, Jesus died to redeem your body.
And if he is redeemed it by blood, by the precious blood,
then your body belongs to Him. Your body is not for immorality.
Your body's not for the committing of adultery or
fornication or any other immoral acts.
Why? Because your body belongs to the
Lord. Your body has been indwelt by
the Holy Spirit. Your body's been bought with the
precious blood. Your body belongs to the Lord.
Now, of course, until the resurrection, your body and mind
is under the power of death. That's why we're subject to
death and decay. Flesh and blood does not fit in
itself to enter into heaven. Our bodies as we journey through
life are subject to illness. We can suffer a heart attack, we
can take a stroke, we can be smitten with cancer.
You see, our bodies are subject to death and decay, and one day
our bodies will die. And our bodies in that state are
not fit to enter into heaven. And therefore while the soul
leaves the body. The body is buried in the
ground. And here's the wonderful
teaching of the Bible. Jesus Trace died not only to
redeem your soul, but died to redeem the bodies not only of
dead Saints, but living Saints. And that's what Paul is dealing
with here. What happens to your body when
you die and your soul leaves the body and goes to heaven?
When your body remains in the ground until the day of
resurrection? Because Jesus just didn't die to
redeem the body. Jesus died to raise the body and
Jesus died to change the body. One day your body will be
changed and transformed. Listen to what Paul says in
First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 51.
Think of these words. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep. That means we're not all die in
Christ, but we shall all be changed.
Those alive when Christ returns, their bodies will be changed in
an instant. Remember what Paul says in
Thessalonians, Philippians chapter 3.
He says this for our conversation.
Manner of living is in heaven, from whence also we look for the
Saviour of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious
body, according to the working, whereby he is able even to
subdue all things unto himself. Are you looking for His coming?
Are you aware that your body is subject to decline and disease
and death and difficulty and despair?
It's not fit to enter heaven by itself, but because of a
redemptive power of Christ's blood, one day All Saints, those
who have died and their bodies have been buried, and they're
absent from the body and present with the Lord and those who are
alive in that body, one day that body is going to be raised up
and that body is going to be changed because that body has
been redeemed. That's the truth of redemption.
And remember Paul, he talks in Romans chapter 8, isn't that in
Romans chapter 8 and verse 23? He made a tremendous statement
there in relation to the redemption of our body, and not
only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of
the Spirit. Even we ourselves grown within
ourselves. What are we waiting for?
For the adoption to wet the redemption of our body?
There's the truth of redemption. Very quickly, if you go back to
our text, you've got the truth of resurrection.
If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, you see belief
in the personal, visible, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Since you've believed in that, your faith in that doctrine of
the resurrection guarantees not only your redemption of your
soul and body, but it guarantees your resurrection.
Remember what we read as an Adam all die First Corinthians 1522.
So in Christ shall all be made alive.
All of humanities have said are subject to death.
We have sinned an Adam. We inherited the guilt of Adam's
first transgression. We have inherited an additional
guilt for every other sin of thought word.
Indeed, we're not only guilty sinners legally, but we're also
sinners because we have a polluted nature.
We have a heart that loves sin. Jeremiah 17 and 9.
The heart is deceitful, and above all things desperately
wicked. Who can know it?
And only those in Christ shall be made alive, alive spiritually
unto God, alive literally in the resurrection.
You see, if you're not in Christ this morning, if you're not born
again of the Spirit, if you haven't mean saved by the grace
of God and washed in the blood, and you're not in Christ, then
there's no certainty for you. There's no comfort really for
you. You're viewed in Adam and you're
still in your sins. And you'll not be part of the
first resurrection. You'll be part of the second
resurrection, but to be in Christ?
Revelation 14 and 13 says blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. Whenever a believer dies, he
goes to sleep in Jesus Christ or not into an unconscious state,
not into the state of annihilation, not about soul
sleep. It's a figure of speech sleeping
in Jesus. It means the bodies in the
grave. The soul is in the presence of
God into glory, because death remembers the giving up of the
ghost. And one day at the resurrection,
when Jesus returns, the body in the grave will be made alive
again. And the resurrection of Jesus
Christ's body from the dead, from the empty tomb, his
resurrection guarantees the resurrection of all in Christ.
The dead Saints will arise. They'll be changed and
transformed, a body like Christ and the living Saints for those
who are still alive, they'll also be changed.
They'll also arise because remember, He is the first fruits
from the dead, and that's something that Paul emphasised
in First Corinthians 15 and verse 23.
But every man in his own order, Christ, the first fruits
afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming.
If you have a loved one this morning, we're going to lay a
loved one this afternoon's body into the ground for those who
die in Christ. That body is going to be raised
again, not only the truth of his redemption, the truth of his
resurrection quickly, the truth of his return.
Notice what it says here in verse 14.
Even so, them also would sleep in Jesus.
Will God bring with him, will God bring with him with him as a
reference to Jesus Christ. Here's the day of his return.
Jesus Christ is going to be brought back into the world
visibly bodily. He has not been seen since the
day he left, the day of his ascension.
No St has seen him in the body since his ascension.
But if Christ has defeated death, and He has, if he's
conquered sin and Satan and the grave, and he has then has
returned bodily, His bodily resurrection guarantees the
resurrection of all who die in Christ.
It cannot fail. It will not fail.
His bodily resurrection guarantees his return in power
and glory. His bodily resurrection
guarantees his return to preserve his people to his
Father. This is real.
This is a real historical second Advent.
You're going to see Jesus Christ again.
God is going to bring Christ again.
The second time. Jesus Christ must return.
There'll be a visible, bodily, personal return of Christ.
Think of His reappearance very quickly high.
Here's the manner of His return. This is not exhaustive, but it's
sufficiently revealed. Look at verse 16.
For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven high with a
shout. That's a command of divine
authority that is loud and clear.
That's a mighty shout. Notice also with the voice of
the Archangel. I don't know who the Archangel
is. Michael Gabriel, I do not know.
But here's Heaven responding to the sovereign King that's
returning to the earth and power and glory.
And notice also these words, the third thing with the trump of
God, the trumpet shall side. It singles the divine appearance
of 1 The king coming in victory, the the king coming to to call
an assembly. The the king will be visible.
He'll be unmistakable. Every eye shall see him.
The the trumpet sounds as a a signal of divine triumph.
And here's the triumph he will bring with him.
All He have died in him, and He will resurrect them.
Their bodies will arise, and He's going to change their
bodies, a new body like His glorious body, and he'll gather
them all to himself. That, my friend, I put it to
you, is indeed a glorious truth. As you think about the
particulars of His coming that are foundational, I'd have to
finish. Let me just give you one final
point. Think this morning of the
programme of His coming as focal.
If Christ rose, then his people must rise, and He starts with
the dead first. That's the order.
It says then we and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
The focus is on resurrection from the dead, and it's not the
great hope of the Church from the beginning.
Hasn't it always been the bodily resurrection of the return of
Jesus Christ? The dead Saints are not
forgotten. They're not disadvantaged.
They, they, they, they, they haven't lost out.
They, they, they, they rise first in order.
And I have to tell you, if you haven't already guessed, I'm an
historical premillennialist, and that's my understanding of the
Scripture. Christ's returns in power and
glory, and then there is a resurrection of the righteous.
The dead in Christ will rise 1st, and the righteous Saints
still alive, they'll arise also, and their bodies will be changed
and transformed, and they'll be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And Christ will usher in His royal righteous reign that
culminates in final judgement at the new heaven and the new
earth. Think of the purpose of us
coming. It's fruitful.
Why is this in the Bible? I believe a comfort for the
grieving Saints. This doctrine is written for
funeral homes, hospital wards, persecuted churches, weary
Saints, the grave sage of loved ones.
The Second coming reminds us that death is temporary, the
death is not final. And when Christ returns, he
says, behold, I make all things new.
Christ will make everything right at the end.
Is not tremendous a comfort for the grieving, a call for holy
living, Because this type of doctrine purifies the believer.
It strengthens the believer's perseverance and resolve.
Because when Christ comes, as I've said, he will finally
intervene and make every wrong right.
That's a call for holy living, and also it's designed, I
believe, to bring glory to Christ, the Christ who was
crowned with the crown of thorns.
We'll see him crowned with many crowns.
The rejected king will come, and he will be seen as the rightful
king who has right to reign and rule over the children of man.
Here's 4 things about the coming of the Lord.
The promise that is we've thought about the particulars
that are foundational. We've thought about the
programme that is focal. The dead in Christ will rise
first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, in the air, and the
purpose that's fruitful there. Next week, in the Will of God,
we look at the most controversial aspect of this
doctrine, and I'll set out what I believe the Bible teaches.