WHAT YOU KNOW WILL COMFORT YOU
1 Thess 4:13-18
This past Wednesday morning between 3:30am and 4:30am our brother Elbridge Hollimon was killed in a traffic accident and placed in the hands of God Almighty. Today’s message is especially significant, for it reminds us at this time of great loss; a loss visibly seen and deeply felt, and, that the believer in Christ has a different ending to tragedy such as this. Little did he know that I would be preaching this passage this Sunday, and little did I know that this portion of Scripture would have such significance to our church
INTRODUCTION: The motto of the American Negro College Fund was, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”. This motto pre-supposes that knowledge is a valuable commodity, and as such the mind should not be squandered but enriched by knowledge. The Apostle Paul also believed in the value of knowledge. For Paul, knowledge would combat ignorance and provide comfort. No better place is this seen then here in the book of Thessalonians, where Paul uses knowledge to deal with man’s ignorance and need of comfort in regard to death.
I PAUL WANTS US TO KNOW OUR FUTURE – 4:13
1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NIV)
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 (MSG)
13 And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word.
A Ignorance brings destruction
Hosea 4:6 (MSG)
6 My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true. Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge, I’ve turned my back on you priests. Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God, I’m no longer recognizing your children.
Hosea 4:6 (NIV)
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
1 Lack of knowledge causes us to reject God
2 The word knowledge here means a knowledge obtained from the events in which God has demonstrated himself
3 The word destruction has the meaning of cutting off or silencing
4 So lack of knowledge about God has the ability to silence us! WOW!!!!!!
What better way to silence the believer than to cause that believer to lack knowledge in an area of great concern – our state after death!
If the devil can get us to doubt God’s activity with us after we die, he can silence the effectiveness of any believer. If there is no hope of the resurrection then, in the words of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:19 (KJV) 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1 Corinthians 15:19 (MSG)
19 If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot.
B Knowledge overcomes ignorance
1 Very simple truth – the only way to combat ignorance is with knowledge
2 Paul’s source of knowledge was none other than Jesus Himself – verse 15
a No where in Scripture do we see this declaration of the Lord
b Need to conclude that Paul got this by DIRECT revelation from Jesus Himself
C Knowledge overcomes grief
1 Men grieve over what they cannot control and do not know
2 Man cannot control death
3 Man without Christ is ignorant about death
D Knowledge provides hope
1 Man ignorant of death is a hopeless man
2 Man consumed by the grief of death is a hopeless man.
3 Man with knowledge of what lies ahead is a man without ignorance, without grief, and hopeful (the expectation of a divine certainty)
THE UNBELIEVER GRIEVES OUT OF IGNORANCE
THE BELIEVER GRIEVES FOR THE RELATIONSHIP
Something I want you to see, … words have meaning. Meaning to us, and meaning to others. So often we are ambivalent to what is happening or to what the words are saying, that we miss truth, precious truth –
Those who are asleep – translate as those who are sleeping!
What we see as death, they see as sleep
Can I suggest something:
• Now we know that there is activity in heaven
• We know that those who love the Lord and have died are with the Lord in heaven
• We know that they will return with the Lord at the rapture and we will be united
• For those who have died, the re-uniting will be as though we have been separated by sleep, and then awakened to continue on
• For those of you who have lost a spouse, the rapture is an opportunity to say good morning and did you sleep well.
• For those of you who have lost parents and children, its an opportunity to say good morning and did you sleep well
• Our time apart from them is no more in their minds then the time spent apart in rest
II PAUL WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND OUR FUTURE
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 (NIV) 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. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 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. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 (MSG) Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. 15 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us.
16 The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. 17 Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master.
A The future of the believer is based on the resurrection of Christ.
1 The forgiveness of sins is based on the shed blood and death of Christ
2 Our resurrection is based on His!
3 Not only is our future based on the resurrection of Christ but also those who have died before us.
a They return with him for us
b They miss out on nothing
c Everything God has planned for those alive at his coming He has planned for those who have gone on before
B The future for the believer progresses from Christ
1 Our future is not determined by anything man can do
2 Our future is not determined by anything man has done
3 Our future is determined by God’s plan and God’s timetable
4 God’s time could be now
a 1 Corinthians 7:29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
b Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
PLAY RAPTURE WMV
C Christ Himself returns with our future
1 Jesus comes from heaven
a He leaves His place of dwelling
b He leaves His position beside the Father
2 Jesus comes in the midst of three event
a With a loud command – Jesus shouted for Lazarus.
b The voice of the Archangel –
1 The only archangel mentioned directly is Michael (thought some think Gabriel was also an archangel).
2 Michael the archangel was an angel of great power who executed the commands of God, yet was aware and used his dependence on God – over the body of Moses.
c The Trumpet Call – trumpets announced the beginning of festivals and special events
So here in one place we have three significant events calling believers to the rapture.
• The shout to life
• The call of victory through dependence on God
• The trumpet blast for a special event!
GET UP! MEET YOUR BRETHREN!! THE VICTORY IS OURS!!!
D Our Future will be at God’s Pleasure
1 For Paul the place of heaven was not as important as the person of heaven
2 Whether by rapture or by death, we are UNITED with Jesus! AMEN!
III EMBRACE OUR FUTURE
1 Thessalonians 4:18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
A Comfort comes in the presence of one who cares
1 God can comfort us because his care is perfect
2 We can comfort each other because we care
3 The presence of another to comfort us expands our world and tells us that we are not alone!
B Comfort comes from the word that provides hope
1 Expands our world from the moment of suffering to eternity.
2 Loss is seen not in itself
3 We see what we are going through in light of eternity
4 The reality of loss is joined with the promise of reunion
THE BELIEVER HAS THE BENEFIT OF GRIEF WITH HOPE, SO WE DO NOT GRIEVE AS OTHERS DO.
A Powerpoint pesentation is available for this message, please email for file
