Encourage with these Words

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Good morning!  We’re continuing today in our series on the two letters which Paul and his fellow missionaries wrote to the church at Thessalonica.  The name of our series is “Follow Christ.  He Comes!”  Up till now, I’d say our focus has primarily been about following Christ, but today we’re going to get a big dose of “He Comes!”

I Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a somewhat unique passage of Scripture.  We’ll get into those details in a bit.  It is also an incredibly exciting passage.  This passage really puts us in mind of what we have to look forward to as believers in Christ.  We can get very focused in our day-to-day lives that we don’t stop to take in what remarkable future awaits the one who has put their trust in Jesus Christ.

On Tuesday this week, I was encouraged by a friend at work.  A few of us had gathered for a lunch Bible study.  We read a few verses together from Mark chapter 8.  It was the place where Jesus asks the disciples who people say that He is.  After they replied that some said He was John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets, Jesus asked them who they say that He is, and Peter replies that Jesus is the Messiah.

Maybe you remember what comes next.  Jesus begins to explain that He must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and ultimately be killed before rising again after three days.  Jesus spoke in plain detail of these coming events.  Peter, though, didn’t like it.  In fact, He outright opposed such things being allowed to happen.  In a remarkable turnaround from recognizing Jesus as Messiah, Peter pulls Jesus aside.  Seriously, the NIV says, “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke” Jesus.  The expression conjures up an older wiser person trying to correct a younger simpleton.

Unfortunately, for Peter, the other disciples didn’t allow him a quiet moment to set Jesus straight.  As they begin to come over, Jesus must reject Peter’s misplaced protective attitude, and concludes by telling Peter, “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

We too should avoid thinking of Jesus in terms of who we want Him to be rather than who He is.  It turns out the “things of God” may not be safe or easy.  The cross comes first.  Jesus died to be our Savior.  It is both because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done that we can read today’s passage from I Thessalonians in hope and joy.

I don’t want us to miss that key question that Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?”  Our answer to Jesus on this question will decide our eternal future.  Do we believe that Jesus is our Messiah, our Savior, or do we have our minds focused on earthly concerns?

Our conversation on Tuesday led from this passage directly into a discussion of the resurrection life.  We talked about how Jesus after His resurrection was seen, He was touched, held on to so tightly by Mary that Jesus had to ask to be let go.  Jesus ate food on more than on occasion after the resurrection.  My friend was beaming with anticipation of what we would have to look forward to in our eternity with Jesus.  Not some boring, mindless obedience, but a joyful celebration with meaningful work and satisfying growth as unique individuals in the eternal Kingdom of God.

We too can spend time looking ahead with expectation taking clues from Scripture to see that Jesus has wonderful plans for His bride, the church.  That is what the church is called, the bride of Christ.  Let’s pray and then go into our passage from I Thessalonians.

Lord Jesus, please help us to be released from distractions or burdens which might keep us from seeing clearly the many blessings you have prepared for us.  I pray for those who may not have yet placed their faith in You.  Please help them to understand You better and to want to know You more and to become a part of Your family.  Teach us from Your Word now.  In Your Name we pray.  Amen.

We are reading from I Thessalonians chapter 4 beginning in verse 13.  I’m just going to read the beginning of this verse.  It says,

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed … —I Thessalonians 4:13

Paul writes several times that he does not want the followers of Christ to be unaware or uninformed.  In Romans 11:25, he does not want the believers to be uninformed of God’s plan for Israel.  In I Corinthians 12:1, he does not want the believers to be uniformed about spiritual gifts.  In II Corinthians 1:8, he does not want the believers to be uniformed about suffering and trials.  As we’ll see shortly in I Thessalonians 4:13, he does not want the believers to be uninformed about the return of Christ.  Curiously, these are all areas where many people have questions still today.

I had a couple of thoughts on this.  For one, the Bible is our eternal contemporary.  Someone might say that the Bible is an old book, who could learn from it.  But, it is as Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and active.”  God knows today what we need to hear, and He has given us His Word to learn and to be filled with His truth.

Some have said that having faith requires people suppress their intellect, that it is a blind leap.  I find passages like this and the ones I just mentioned as strong evidence to the contrary.  God does not want us to be uninformed.  He wants us to understand what it is that we believe.  He wants us to be prepared to give an answer to people that do not know Him.  Why do we believe what we believe?  Jesus can stand up to any rigorous questions.  If you have questions which are being thrown at you or are a burden to you, let’s discuss them and seek answers from the Lord.

Let’s add the rest of verse 13 and continue with our passage.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  —I Thessalonians 4:13

So, sleep is a metaphor for death.  Jesus said that Lazarus (John 11:11-14) as well as the young girl (Mark 5:39) were asleep before raising them from the dead.  Saying sleep in place of death is particularly fitting for the believer because we have the hope and confidence in life after death.  But, saying sleep in place of death can also be a bit confusing.  Jesus’ disciples were confused when He told them Lazarus was asleep.  They remarked that if Lazarus was sleeping he would get well.  Then, Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus had died after which He went and raised Lazarus from the grave.

Here in I Thessalonians, it appears there was some misunderstanding that believers would live until Christ’s return.  Then, as some may have died, questions evidently arose.  Had those believers that died missed out on all God had planned?  Paul is clarifying the situation.

Much as today, many unbelievers in the time of the early church viewed death with horror and as the end of everything.  Aeschylus was a Greek playwright who lived in the 400’s BC.  He wrote, “Of a man once dead there is no resurrection.”  Theocritus was another Greek writer who lived in the 200’s BC.  He wrote, “Hopes are among the living, the dead are without hope.”  I’ll give just one more example, this one comes from Catullus, a 1^st century BC Roman writer and poet.  He wrote, “Suns may set and rise again but we, when once our brief light goes down, must sleep an endless night.”  The beliefs behind those quotes led to a terrible and even crushing grief when people lost loved ones.  There would be no hope of a reunion.  No hope of a resurrection.

Please don’t think that this means that Christians shouldn’t grieve.  We do grieve when other believers die, but it is a grief lined with hope of the resurrection and reunion to come.

The message of Christ is a powerful contrast to this.  Take for instance, I Corinthians 15:55-57, “‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here’s another testimony from Philippians 1:21-23 where Paul wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”

For the Christian, death is more like moving rather than like, well, dying.  Even the word we use for the place where the dead are buried actually hints at this idea of death being sleep.  Our word cemetery has Greek roots meaning a place for sleeping.  The etymology of the word cemetery is similar to the word dormitory which comes from the Latin roots as a place for sleeping.  The cemetery then is a place for the bodies of believers to rest.

However, only believers sleep or rest in death.  The unbeliever has no rest or peace or comfort in death.  In Ephesians 2:12, Paul asked them to “remember that at that time [the time before they became believers] you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

We need to share the love and truth of Christ with people around us who do not know Him so that they too can look forward to a glorious reunion.  Paul doesn’t leave the Ephesians without hope but continued in verse 13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace …”

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.  —I Thessalonians 4:14

Paul does not say that Jesus slept, but fully expressed the fact that Jesus bore the horror of death and separation from God so that those who believe in Him do not have to.  Romans 14:9 explains, “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential to the gospel.  Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (I Corinthians 15:14, 17-22)

We have more than a wishful hope of resurrection.  We have the resurrection of Jesus as an amazing example of it as well as the promise of our own.  We sang the song “That Where I Am There You May Also Be” last week.  It is, of course, based on the words of Jesus found in John 14:1-3.  Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)

We can take Jesus at His word that He will come back and take everyone who believes in Him to His Father’s house.

According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. —I Thessalonians 4:15

The Lord’s word on this is not recorded in the Gospels, so it was either a direct revelation to Paul or something which Jesus said that had been passed down orally.  Either way, we should not think this makes it less certain.  This verse has one of the most confident and positive assertion from Paul in all his letters that something he is sharing has come from the Lord.  We should then be ready to receive some momentous truth.

Those who are living will not have any advantage over those who have fallen asleep.

The use of we in this context (we who are still alive) does not necessarily mean that Paul and the writers of I Thessalonians thought that they would live until Jesus returned.  There are a couple of other places where Paul writes that God will raise “us” (I Corinthians 6:14 and II Corinthians 4:14).  They are writing in view of their present situation (being alive) and in view of the immediacy of which we should anticipate the return of Christ.

I Corinthians 1:7 explains, “you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”  One Christian author called this eagerly waiting “proper Christian anticipation.”  It may sound funny, but it’s not a bad question to ask yourself.  Do I have proper Christian anticipation?  It’s like the enthusiasm that a child has waiting for Christmas to arrive.  Can you think back to when you were little and you were filled with excitement that something great was coming?

This is terrible, but when I was little, my sister and I would comb the house and try to find as many gifts as we could.  So we already knew a lot of what we would get.  In fact, I remember one Christmas when we had opened all the gifts when my sister blurts out, “Where’s my watch?” because she had found it, but my mom had forgotten to wrap it.  Anyway, like I said, we were naughty.

But you would think that knowing about the gifts might soften our excitement.  In fact, it might have done just the opposite.  We were enthusiastically waiting and waking up early and anticipating getting to enjoy all those gifts we knew were coming.

God has done much to tell us of the blessings to come.  Are we waiting eagerly?  Do we have proper Christian anticipation?

Paul writes that those who are alive at Jesus’ return will certainly not precede those who are asleep.  Again there is a feeling that the Thessalonians were worried about those believers who had died missing out on the great events when the Lord returns.  Paul assures them that this is not the case.  There are other passages which communicate the same understanding:

Revelation 14:13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’ ”

I Corinthians 15:52 says that “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”  Both the dead will be raised and the living changed to our resurrection bodies.

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  —I Thessalonians 4:16-17

It will be the Lord Himself who comes for us, not an agent of His, not a heavenly chauffeur.  No, it will be the Lord come back for you and for me.  Doesn’t that make your heart smile?

Jesus said so Himself in Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done.”

This is the point in Scripture where the idea of the rapture comes from.  Some have said that you can’t find the word rapture in the Bible, so it is something thought up later.  Well, the word rapture comes from the Latin translation of the expression “to be caught up.”  This is rapiemur, from the root verb rapere from which the English word rapture is derived.

There’s a whole lot of noise going along with this event.  In fictional accounts of the rapture, I don’t ever recall this event where living believers are taken up to be with Christ ever described as being something evident or loud.  But here we see a shout, a voice, and a trumpet.  Whether or not they’re at the same time or in succession, we don’t get the idea that this is going to be a silent event. 

There is meaning in each of the three, though those may not be fully understood.  During the time of the Exodus and the journey through the wilderness, the people were called to assembly or called to embark on a new leg of their journey by the sound of a trumpet.  This is the ultimate calling of believers.  There is only one archangel mentioned in Scripture, and that is Michael.  Does he play a special role here?  I don’t think we can say.  The command and the idea of being caught up both have the idea of being a confident and immediate action.  It is not something that can fail to happen.  No believer will be left behind.

We can look to at this calling up in the way that we considered the resurrection.  We have proof in our future resurrection in the fact that Jesus rose again.  Acts 1:9 points out that Jesus was taken up before the eyes of the disciples into a cloud.

This passage is delivered in straightforward language.  It is free from figurative speech.  The information is given as literal details.  This is not told in symbolic language.  This message should be received as a matter of practical expectation.  Amazing!

And so we will be with the Lord forever.  —I Thessalonians 4:17

I don’t know what pops into your mind when you think of being with the Lord forever.  The Far Side cartoon below captures something which is not that uncommon of a thought about heaven.   

Sometimes people fear that heaven might be boring.  And yet, the God who made this magnificent earth is the architect of eternity.  We shouldn’t be afraid of being disappointed in eternity.  We will be with the Lord who loves us forever.

This is the great hope of all believers.  Colossians 3:4 says it this way, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

The way this short sentence is written implies that this “being with the Lord” is continuing.  In other words, we are already with the Lord from the point that we put our faith in Him.  We will continue to develop a far deeper and richer relationship with the Lord.  This “being with the Lord” now also includes hope for the dying because in death we shall still be with the Lord.  And “being with the Lord” gives us future confidence because after death we are with Him forever.

In John 12:26, Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”  Where Jesus is, there we will also be.

Scripture is not silent on what being with the Lord will be like.  There is a new heaven and new earth to come and explore.  It will be filled with adventures and relationship and meaning and meaningful work.  It is not going to be an ethereal existence of quiet, nor will it be an endless church service.  (Thank the Lord!)  The God who created the splendor of this world is preparing a place for us which fits perfectly with who God has created us to be.  We will live in our own bodies except they won’t grow weak and old.

There’s a song from Keith Green called “I Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven.”  He says a few things before the song starts including this line, “I know that Jesus Christ has been preparing a home for me and for some of you, for two thousand years. And if this world took six days and that home two thousand years, hey man, this is like living in a garbage can compared to what's going on up there.”

Therefore encourage one another with these words.  —I Thessalonians 4:18

The focus of these verses is not to give us a chronology of future events (which it does give us a glimpse into) but rather to urge us to mutual encouragement just as we started out in verse 13 with clarifying and giving hope to all believers.

We are not only to take comfort, but Paul exhorts us to give comfort to others.

Paul prayed for the new believers at Ephesus, and I believe we can repeat his prayer in our time, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:17-19)

As we know Him better, we will be better and better prepared to share the hope that lives within us.  There are so many in need.

Isaiah 40 gives us a picture of our frailty as people and God’s power, sovereignty, mercy, gentleness, and kindness.

 All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." … See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and He rules with a mighty arm. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as His counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the right way? Who was it that taught Him knowledge, or showed Him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. … Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing. With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken Him? … Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you complain … ? Why do you say …, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. –Isaiah 40:6-8,10-15,17-18,21-31

We have such good news.  May you each be strengthened in Him.  As it says in Galatians,

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. … Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir.” –Galatians 3:26-27, 4:6-7

There was a remarkable American long distance swimmer back in the 1950’s named Florence Chadwick.  Born to swim, she became the youngest person to swim the mouth of the San Diego Bay at 10 years old.  She accomplished all sorts of crossings until her last long distance swim in 1960.

In 1952, the then 30 year old stepped into the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island, determined to swim to the shore of mainland California. She’d already been the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways.

The weather was foggy and chilly; she could hardly see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam for fifteen hours. When she begged to be taken out of the water along the way, her mother, in a boat alongside, told her she was close and that she could make it. Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she stopped swimming and was pulled out. It wasn’t until she was on the boat that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day she said, “All I could see was the fog. . . . I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.” Two months later, she tried again. The same thick fog set in, but she succeeded in completing the crossing. She said that she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam.

Randy Alcorn included this story in his book titled Heaven.  He exhorted his readers to consider Florence’s words: “I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”

“For believers, that shore is Jesus and being with Him in the place that He promised to prepare for us, where we will live with Him forever. The shore we should look for is that of the New Earth. If we can see through the fog and picture our eternal home in our mind’s eye, it will comfort and energize us.”—Randy Alcorn

I can’t resist saying that what we need to do is “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” There is a beautiful eternity ahead, and all believers will live there together forever with the Lord.  It will be spectacular.  Encourage one another with these truths.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, I pray that we would have the proper Christian anticipation for a future which is beautiful beyond description.  Help us all to grow in understanding the eternal life we have now and the joys and adventures it holds for us including being caught up together in the clouds with you.  May we speak of these things with joy to those who need to hear them.  In Jesus Name, Amen.