Men. Now we're going to turn in God's
Word, reading again from First Thessalonians, turning to the
chapter 4 for those who are visitors.
I'm very conscious that we're working our way through one of
Paul's epistles, his first epistle to the Church of
Thessalonica. We're in chapter 4 and we're
going to read verses 13 right through to verse 18, First
Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 13 to verse 18.
For those online, the words will come up on screen and we pray
that the Lord will richly bless you.
For those who would like a Bible, please feel free to
contact us and we'll distribute you a Bible free.
We're reading, of course, from the King James Bible.
Let's hear God's word, First Thessalonians chapter 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 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 Himself 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, and so shall we ever be
with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. Amen.
We know God will stamp with His own approval and blessing this
reading of His own precious and infallible word.
Now this morning as we continue our series of expository sermons
on 1st Thessalonians, my text today is taken from First
Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 all the way through to 18,
and I've entitled the message today, the Christians Greatest
Comfort at Christ's Coming, coming.
So you've got the text First Thessalonians 413 to 18.
Here's the subject, the Christians greatest comfort at
Christ's coming. Now as I have looked at this
passage of Scripture, there were three things came to mind.
First of all, here there's a word of explanation needed.
You see, as I read First Thessalonians 413 to 18, there
was three things came at me. First of all, there was a
problem discussed. Notice the word in verse 13.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, Catherine.
Underline the word ignorant. You see, we think when we read
the word ignorant that that's about being cheeky.
That's somebody who's bad mannered.
That's somebody who's rude. Such an ignorant boy.
Such an ignorant girl is the word ignorant.
But that's not the biblical use. The word ignorant means
uninformed. I would not have you to be
uninformed, brethren. I would not have you to lack
knowledge. I would not have you to lack
understanding and perception. You see, here was a 1st century
church and they were asking this question, probably asked at the
Timothy when he came to visit. What about the true state of our
dead loved ones? What about our martyred dead who
die in Christ? You see, they believed in
Revelation 14 and 13. And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Right, blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth. Yeah, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labour, All of them.
See, this Christian Church knew the difference between somebody
who died in their sins. Remember Jesus said that three
times, John 822 and 24. If you die in your sins, where I
am, there you cannot be. And that's how people sadly
choose to die. But there's a difference between
dying in sins and dying in the Saviour.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
Now in this context, in the 1st century, I believe that many of
God's people had been brutally martyred and the church was
filled with a great sense of sorrow and grief.
Imagine if somebody was martyred in this congregation, taken out
and stoned to death, or taken out and had their head chopped
off or were burnt at the stake. Well, well, this church will be
filled with a great sense of grief and sorrow.
And here's Paul moved by the Holy Spirit to read a message to
them about the true state of their dead loved ones who died
in Christ. He wants to comfort them.
He wants to help them. Notice what he says.
If you look at verse 13 again, that ye sorrow not even as
others which have no hope. And you see many people today
and carried off lack hope. Thousands today all over
Northern Ireland battled oppression and as they do so,
they lack hope. Lacking hope was one of the most
prevalent emotional disorders of our generation and lots of
things fueled this lack of hope. This current world affairs,
economic woes, maybe debt coming up, the Crest of the Christian
Church and especially in Asia and African countries, increase
of godlessness in our own land, health concerns.
Maybe it even is the death of a loved one.
Maybe it's even facing our own death.
And there's a lack of hope and a spirit of hopelessness.
You see, many are without hope in a hopeless world.
And Paul writes of others here which have no hope, and I
believe those to whom he was making reference to were the
pagans of Paul's day. You see, Pagan religion have no
real hope concerning the dead. Pagan religion has no doctrine
of the resurrection of the body of dead loved ones.
When they're dead, they're dead. They have no real genuine hope
and of comfort for the dead and the dying.
And all false religion, all false cults are devoid of real
hope concerning the true state and condition of the dead.
And Paul is teaching them here. Paul is telling them that as ye
sorrow not wrong to sorrow for your dead loved ones.
For as you sorrow for your dead loved ones.
Don't be uninformed, don't lack knowledge, don't sorrow as those
without hope and a state of hopelessness.
For the true Christian has a real genuine hope because we
have believed in the God of hope.
Romans chapter 15 and verse 13. Therefore don't sorrow as those
who follow the Pagan false religion.
I believe that these genuine converts, some in Fest and Anka,
some of them sadly had lapsed back into the thinking.
There's no real hope concerning our believing dead.
They were thinking to themselves.
This was the question in their mind.
Would our believing dead miss out in Christ's glorious coming
for His Church? Would their resurrection be
delayed? Would their resurrection happen
at all, or would they just remain in the grave?
Would their bodies lie there in the grave and be forgotten?
Would the living Saints have an advantage over the dead sins?
All of these concerns, all of these questions were being
raised in their mind over their dead loved ones.
I have no doubt there was other questions as well.
So Paul discusses at length the problem in this whole passage of
Scripture. In this word of explanation,
there's a problem being discussed.
This one passage of Scripture was written for a specific
purpose of dealing with that particular problem.
In this word of explanation, there's a purpose disclosed.
Why did Paul write this? Why is this in the Bible?
What's his purpose? What's his goal?
Well, look with me at verse 18. Very important.
Notice the word wherefore. See that?
Wherefore? It means in light of this, in
light of what I've just told you from verse 13 down to 17,
comfort one another with what? Notice again for the emphasis
with these words. Now I want you to catch that the
word comfort here means a calling to come alongside
another and offer help to one another in a variety of
situations. Remember, these are spirit
inspired words. These are life giving words.
These are words of comfort and words of truth.
These words drive away the false empty ideas of false Pagan
religion concerning the dead. These spirit inspired words
delightfully embrace the message of the Spirit of God.
Paul's whole purpose was to bring comfort to the souls of
living Saints. He was deeply concerned about
the bodies of loved ones who had died in Christ.
Now, in order to do this, in order to bring comfort, he
employed the use of the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord
Jesus. The second coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ is a major focus in the book of First Thessalonians
and 2nd Thessalonians, and Paul uses this doctrine to press on
the truth that all true believers who sorrow about their
loved ones who have died in Christ can't find comfort and
help. Now Paul's primary focus, listen
to me carefully, is not to teach the doctrine of Christ second
coming. His primary purpose is to
comfort the Christians and he employs and uses the doctrine of
the second coming to show what is going to happen to the dead
in Christ. There can be no doubt the
certainty of Christ's glorious coming gives us hope, gives us
comfort. Now let me emphasise that this
text of scripture is not explicitly teaching a pre
tribulation rapture of the church unless you choose to read
that into the text. And many sadly within
Christendom read that into the text.
But that's not what's being explicitly taught.
Nor is Paul writing this so we can draw out an elaborate
prophetic chart to satisfy our mind about world future events.
Paul's concern is pastoral. He wants the church to
experience hope and comfort in the Lord regarding our loved
ones who have died in Christ. And that's the purpose that's
disclosed. And I just wish those that would
preach would, would preach with that thought in mind.
That was his purpose in writing, his primary purpose.
Now he did bring in some teaching about the second
coming, but that wasn't his primary purpose.
He was just employing the second coming to bring comfort and help
to God's people. The third thing by way of
explanation is the prospectus declared Now the promise of
Christ's coming is certain because he was raised from the
dead. Look at verse 14.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, you Even so
them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
I want you to think of his announcement here.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, the word if
doesn't imply uncertainty. In the Greek, we could put the
word sense we believe. Now notice the word Jesus here.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, that's the
human name of our Lord. He has used it once before in
chapter 1 and in the verse 10, and it's used in connection with
his death and resurrection. And he did this, I believe, to
show that our faith in Christ coming again is based on the
historical fact of his birth, His life, his death, and his
resurrection. Jesus is a real historical
figure. I was in a home yesterday.
I'm not mentioned where or who, but the man was asking me, do
you believe that Jesus is a real historical figure or is he a
mythological figure? Well, I want to tell you, he's
not a mythological figure. He's not a mere legend created
in the minds of men. No, the Lord Jesus is a real
historical figure, and I would put it to you that none of the
apostles who suffered for Christ and gave their lives for him and
proclaimed him as Lord and Saviour would have done so if
it'd been a mythical figure or the stuff of myths and legends.
And that was true not only of the apostles, but it had to be
true of those who were the martyred, dead out of the church
in Vestanenka. Paul's point is this, that the
bodily return of Jesus Christ to this earth is just as certain,
as is physical birth, as is physical life, as is physical
death, as is physical burial, as is physical resurrection.
All historical validated facts. Notice the words Jesus died.
Stop there. The word dead or died is a
reference to Christ's death of penal substitution.
See, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures was
buried, was rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Corinthians First Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4.
Whenever Christ died in the cross, His death was a
substitute in the debt that we couldn't pay to the Brooklyn
Law. He died as a sin bear.
He's wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. And with his stripe through your
heel, He died as a sacrifice. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.
He died as a sin offering. He bore the wrath of God.
Remember, the Lord Jesus bore the full wrath of God for us.
He died in our guilty room instead and and and and Paul
seems to contrast Jesus death over against the believers
sleep. Look at the text, he says, for
we believe that Jesus died and rose again even through them
also, which sleep in Jesus will God bring with them?
You see, if we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we know Him as
Lord and Redeemer, if we die in Him, then our death will be like
asleep. Notice the used here in the
verse 13 concerning them which are asleep.
It's used in the verse 14. Even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with Him. You see, sleep is a euphemism
for death, not soul sleep. Sadly, the 7th Day Adventists
and others believe that when we die, our souls go into a sleep
until the 2nd coming. But that's not so because when
you compare scripture with scripture, remember 2nd
Corinthians 5 and 8, Paul talked about being absent from the body
and present with the Lord. Well, what is absent from the
body? What leaves the body at death?
It's the soul and spirit. Paul says I have a desire to
depart to be with Christ, which is far better.
Philippians 123 Remember Jesus said to the dying thief, What
did he say today shall thy be with me in paradise?
How was that possible? His, his, his body was on the
the, the tree being crucified reference to his soul.
And remember Stephen when he was being martyred and they were
throwing stones at him, putting him to death.
The Bible tells us in Acts Chapter 7 verses 59 and into
verse 60 that he fell asleep over there in First
Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 10, who died for us that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Souls sleep is not biblical. So I want to under you to
understand that sleep is a euthanism for death.
But it's not about soul sleep. It's a reference to the body.
It implies a sweet sleep. It implies a time of rest.
The believers not suffering death as a penal suffering like
Christ did, because in Christ by faith, he has rest in peace.
Oh yes, as physical earthly life, as bodily life has come to
an end. Whenever he Braves his last, the
soul leaves the body and the body goes into the earth as if
it's gone to sleep. And it's a sweet sleep in Jesus.
And it implies something else asleep, that death is only
temporary. You see, you wake from sleep
each morning. So do I.
Jesus said of Lazarus. Our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep, but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep.
John 11 and 11. You see, after death, our souls
will be in a disembodied state with the Lord until Jesus Christ
returns in power and glory. And at His return He will bring
our souls and spirits with Him, and He will raise our dead
bodies from the dead. See, here's a question.
Will we see our loved ones again?
These Thessalonians believers were saying, but the
relationship was broken. They had this morbid dread.
We'll never see them again. They're gone forever.
Their bodies are gone. What are they going to do?
Remember what Daniel said in Daniel 12 and two?
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, some to see him and everlasting
contempt. Yes, their bodies are decayed.
They've been in the ground for centuries, maybe eaten by
vultures, maybe bodies blown apart because they've exploded
in a bomb. Think of members of the Royal
Ulster Constabulary, members of the Royal Ulster Regiment.
Remember as well, even if the body has been cremated and the
ashes have been scattered over land or sea, or maybe the body
has been burned in the fire, like our martyr dead.
Death is only temporary for the bodies of those who die in
Christ, all who die in the Christ.
It's a bit like bedtime. It's a bit like retiring for
rest and relaxation to await the resurrection.
Over years here in carried off FPC, we've so many gone home to
be with the Lord. Their bodies are still in the
graveyard, I think, and I mention their names, not all
deliberately. Alice Crawford.
May Boyd. Jack Anderson, senior Frank
Campbell, he sat at the back and we loved him in the Lord.
Billy Coulter, great help to the church.
Ernest Patterson, Missus Lowe, James Lowe, Mary and Jim Ellis,
Alex Corel. Their bodies are buried and many
others with them. But their bodies have been
buried in the grave and it's a temporary thing.
They're waiting and they're waiting.
Oh, yes, we miss them. And you miss your loved ones you
have buried this year. But here's the comfort.
You're going to see them again. Yes, their souls are with
Christ, their bodies are in the grave.
But we're going to see them again.
This also implies the sleep relief from bodily aches and
pains. Rest from our earthly
neighbours. Sleep is not something that's
harsh and fearful. I go to sleep whenever you're
tired, you go to bed at night and you're really weary.
And I can testify to that. It was like that last night
after a very busy week of meetings and distributing the
outreach hampers. And I'm pleased to say I have
them all out. So we're thankful to God for
that. And but when you have got bodily
aches and pains, maybe it's an illness and it struck your body
and you and you want rest well, well that's the picture This
sleep gives you rest from your bodily aches and pains, rest
from earthly labour. Not something harsh, not
something fearful. And Paul's point in this is our
resurrection from the dead depends on Christ's
resurrection. He said because I live, ye shall
live also. So our loved ones who have
fallen asleep in Christ, like those in theften, and I got like
those from the dawn of time. God will raise you up.
I'll tell you something else. Notice his authority very
quickly, verse 15 For this we say unto you, by the word of the
Lord. You see, the promise of Christ's
coming was certain because Paul had got God's word in it.
And what follows is Christ's word on the order of the
resurrection. And here's new information not
found in any part of the Old Testament Scriptures, not found
in any part of the gospel. So this was new revelation from
the Lord. But Paul was telling them
something that they needed to to comfort their hearts.
And I believe this was revealed directly to Paul by the Holy
Spirit for the comfort of God's people.
Not presently, no one a word directly from the Lord, not his
speculation, not his opinion. Here's his authority.
He says, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
Notice what he says, that we which are alive and remain unto
the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Here's his assertion. Not only his announcement about
sleep, not only his authority, but think of his assertion
people alive and remain, people asleep and resurrected.
Notice the word prevent here. The word prevent means come
before. What advantage have got the
living over the dead? No advantage.
What precedent have the living over the dead?
No precedent. See the idea is this.
Those who are alive and remain. This is what was thought about
in Thessalonica. They have an advantage over the
dead in Christ. Paul says there's no advantage
when Christ comes. Here's the order, here's what's
going to happen. Here's the two companies, the
living and the dead sins, Those who are as bodies are asleep in
the ground awaiting the resurrection, and those who are
alive still in the earth. And he expected the people to be
alive and remain in the earth when Jesus Christ comes.
And he says, here's the impact that it's going to have.
Here's the order that's going to take place.
This is what was revealed to me. So that's the word of
explanation. Very quickly, and it'll have to
be quickly, there's a word of exhortation.
Listen to me carefully. Christ's coming will reunite us
with deceased loved ones in Christ.
So if your father, mother, brother, sister has died in
Christ, and you've stood and wept at the grave, and you sit
and look at an empty chair and your heart's broken at home,
then I want you to comfort your heart with this truth.
Christ's coming will reunite us with deceased loved ones who
have died in Christ, and all will have a new resurrected body
like Christ. And Christ will bring us
together, and forever we will be with the Lord.
And that's his exhortation. You see the word comfort in
verse 18. It means exhort.
Wherefore exhort one another with these words.
I've given you a word of explanation, but look very
carefully at the word of exhortation as we finish.
There's a number of things here. You've got the return of Christ.
Look at verse 16. And we'll come back to this a
different time. For the Lord himself 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 notice the word shite, the
voice of the Archangel, the trump of God.
Now let me ask this question to those who believe in a secret
silent rapture. How could that be secret and
silent? I believe it's open, I believe
it's public, and I believe in the rapture of the church.
But I want to tell you the timing of it may be different
from what you think. I don't believe it's pre
tribulation. I believe it's at the end of the
tribulation when Jesus comes. So there's a return here.
Let's think about the resurrection he he mentions
here. And the dead in Christ shall
rise first. Here's the order.
There's no advantage to those that are alive and remain when
Jesus comes, because here's the order.
The dead in Christ shall rise first.
The souls and spirits of our departed loved ones who are now
with the Lord. He will bring the souls and
spirits with him when He returns.
And He will rejoin and reunite their soul and spirit with their
dead body in the grave. And He will resurrect the body.
And He will also receive our resigresic bodies as we rise up
to meet Him in the air. This is the first resurrection.
The unbelieving dead, they'll not be raised for another 1000
years. They will not come to life until
the end of the Millennium revelated.
There's not only a return here and a resurrection, but very
quickly there's a relationship here.
If you look again at verse 17, then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. This relationship was one of
unification, the unification of the entire body of Christ.
It's never been seen before to come.
These dead Saints and living Saints, the entire company of
the elect people, the Old Testament Saints from Adam and
Abel and Abraham, all the redeemed of God, all here saved
right up to the last believer who who dies in Christ just
prior to Christ's return. They will be resurrected, They
will be reunited body and soul, but they'll also be reunited
with the living Saints. And when he comes, we'll be
caught up together. And this will be the first time
in all history that the Church of God met together in the
United Company. We get a little hint of that in
the Book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter 4 and in
the verse 4 we read these words and round about the throne were
4 and 20 seats, and upon the seats I saw 4 and 20 elders
sitting clothed in white raiment, and they have on their
heads crowns of gold. 24 seats, 24 elders.
Who are they? I believe 12 are from the Old
Testament, the 12 tribes of Israel.
The 12 are the 12 apostles of the New Testament, the Old and
New Testament, 24 elders, the entire body.
And over there in chapter 5 of Revelation and we read in
chapter 5 verse 8, he says, And when he had taken the book, the
four beasts and four and 20 elders fell down before the
Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of
odours, which is the prayers of the Saints.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou word worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof.
For that was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood,
out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and has
made us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on
the earth. This relationship is 1 of
unification. Here's great assurance.
Your departed loved ones who have believed in Christ, who
have died and their bodies in the ground, they're going to be
resurrected. The body's going to be
resurrected. We believe in the resurrection
of the body. We believe in the redemption of
the body. Jesus just didn't die to save
the soul. He died to redeem the body.
And on that day when body and soul is reunited, it'll be
before the living Saints, and it'll all happen when Christ
returns. The relationship was one of
indemnification. We'll know one another.
You miss your loved one, don't you?
So do I. You think you'll not see them
again? That's what the Thessalonians
were seeing. They were full of pain and
grief. I would love to see them again.
You want to see them again? Well, we will.
Better than that. We'll not only see them, but
we'll know them. You'll know your mummy.
You'll know your father. You'll know your brother.
You'll know your sister. That resurrection body will be
like Christ's glorious resurrection body.
How did Peter know Moses and Elias?
Moses had died. Elijah hadn't.
How did he know that God revealed it to him.
How will we know God will reveal it to us over there in Second
Corinthians, in chapter 4 and in the verse 14, Paul makes this
tremendous statement, knowing that he which raised up the Lord
Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with
you. She's going to present us to the
Father. He's going to name us by name
and say here's so and so Father, and here's so and so right down
the line. It's one of unification.
It's one of identification very quickly, and our time is gone.
It's one of restoration. Notice these words he says in
verse 17. So shall we ever be with the
Lord? So shall we ever be with the
Lord. Here's the purpose of the
rapture of the church and the word caught up literally means
rapture. We're caught up to meet the
Lord. There's a restoration of
fellowship. The dead and living Saints meet
around Christ. You see, Christ will be central,
not thinking of anyone else. It'd be lovely to go to heaven
and meet Adam and Abel and and meet Abraham and maybe go and
meet Martin Luther and John Calvin and maybe John Knox and
have a chat. Maybe some of the other
prophets, maybe some of the other apostles.
But the primary, central thing is to be with the Lord, to meet
the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord.
The best part, the greatest part is to be with the Lord
transfigured into his likeness, free from all sin and death.
The removal of every conflict and bad experience.
It's all gone forever because here's the point of the
restoration. It's fellowship with the Lord.
That's all part of this relationship.
I finish with this. There's a word of
experimentation here. If we go back to the word
comfort. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. You see, there are pastoral
practical benefit in knowing the biblical truth.
Real hope, real hope in life, real hope and death.
Do you have real hope in life? Do you have real hope and death?
You're in the midst of trials of life now.
You're knowing hardship and difficulty.
Can I suggest even today, if your grief stricken over a loved
one, don't suppress your grief, don't stop your tears.
Grief is normal, grief is real. But you have to have hope in
Christ. And if you have hope in Christ
and know him as Lord and Saviour, then your loved one has
gone to a better place. Your, your loved one's suffering
is over, but it's only in Christ.
It's only the abode of those who die in Christ.
I finish. There's two ways to die.
Die in your sins or die in the Saviour.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
And I urge you to choose that if you're going to die and die, you
will choose to die in Christ, die in the Saviour, faith in
Him, rest in him alone for salvation.
Come to Him and repent of your sin asked him to be your Lord
and Saviour. Trust in him that you look
forward to the day of his return.
You live in light of His resurrection.
You look forward to this time of reunion, where at the centre of
that reunion will not only see and know your loved ones, but
you will have real meaning forever.
Fellowship with the Lord. The Lord bless you today.
Thank you for coming. I've only skirted this passage
of Scripture. We've dealt with so many verses
and we may return to the theme of the second coming in the new
year, but we'll leave it there until the new year for now.