1. Text: I Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
Introduction: The year was 155 AD. Persecution against Christians had swept across the Roman Empire and arrived at the city of Smyrna. The proconsul there joined in, and ordered the arrest of Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna. He was to be brought to the public arena for execution, before thousands of spectators screaming for blood. But the proconsul had compassion on this man, almost 100 years old. He silenced the crowd and said to Polycarp, "Curse the Christ and live."
Everyone waited for the old man to answer. In an amazingly strong voice, he said, "Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong. How dare I blaspheme the name of my King and Lord!" With that Polycarp joined the ranks of the martyrs.
Ecuador, 1956, 5 men were killed by the Auca Indians. One of them was Jim Elliot, whose widow Elisabeth ultimately saw the baptism of her husband’s killer. Listen to what she wrote on behalf of those 5 widows one year after their husbands’ deaths:
“We have proved beyond any doubt that He means what He says--His grace is sufficient, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. We pray that if any, anywhere, are fearing that the cost of discipleship is too great, that they may be given to glimpse that treasure in heaven promised to all who forsake.”
Colombia, 1981,Chet Bitterman was a missionary killed by terrorists. When he is asked about his family, Chet’s father says, “We have eight children, and they're all living: one's in heaven and seven are on earth.“
What is it about these Christians and the way people speak of their deaths?!
Sometimes it’s almost funny what people come up with as the ways that Christians are different from non-Christians. Some think it means we dress a certain way, or that we speak with a certain accent. To some, Christianity is merely being a person who doesn’t do certain things – most of them fun. In fact, it means not having any fun at all. They’re sure that’s the same as being a Christian because Jesus never smiled.
One author quoted a confused church member saying about Christians, “We already know that we can’t love each other the right way, so people can’t tell by that, but shouldn’t we at least be weird?”
How are we different – or how are we supposed to be different? Let me encourage you this morning with a section of this letter to the Thessalonians that tells us 2 very encouraging ways believers in Jesus are different from everyone else – it’s about the way we face death, and how we face our life in the future.
I. We Face Death with Great Hope (4:13-18)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 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. 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.
1. The way we face death is different than the rest
One clue to that is the way that Paul talks about those who “have fallen asleep” in v13. He does it again in 14, 15 and in 5:10. We do not want you to be uninformed about those who have fallen asleep. Asleep? Exactly! Don’t be uninformed about this. Get some good information from Jesus!
When Jesus looked at death, He saw beyond it:
• Jairus’ 12 yr old daughter lies dead at home. Jesus tells the people there, “Go away. The girl is not dead, but asleep.”
• He gets the news that His friend Lazarus has fallen ill. So, He delays 2 days and then heads for Bethany. He tells the disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and I am going to wake him up.” The disciples say, “Lord, if he’s just asleep, he’ll wake up! No need to make a trip.” Finally, Jesus tells them bluntly, “Lazarus is dead.”
In I Co, Paul speaks of death the same way.
1 Corinthians 15:17-18 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.
There has to be some significance to the number of times in the Bible death is called “being asleep.”
One way that followers of Jesus are different is the way we regard death.
Paul says in v13 that we shouldn’t grieve like people without hope. It’s not that we shouldn’t grieve, but our grief should be different, because of the hope we have through Jesus Christ.
So, (v13) there are 2 groups:
The rest – that’s non-believers. They’re the people who face death and grief with no hope. You’ve met them. I’ve visited with them around the time of a loved one’s death. I watch a mother clinging to her son’s coffin, unable to let him go, because she had no hope.
The 2nd group should be us – believers – people who face death and grieve, but who do that with great hope.
How a person faces death says a lot about his character. Your faith may look good on the outside and on paper, but is it real? Throw it into a situation where it looks like you may die, and it will come back tested. Is your faith real? Throw it into a situation where you lose someone you love to death, and you’ll know. Do I have real hope in Jesus or not?
Quote - William H. Willimon “…nobody has yet created a way to make life last forever. You and I will die. So we might as well get on with the only really pressing business there is: figuring out how to die well. If religion can help with that, it's interesting. If it can't, it's as bland as a bowl of wet, cold oat bran.”
V14 is saying, “If we really believe that Jesus died and rose again, then let’s also believe that God is going to raise up those who have died in Jesus.”
Wednesday night in my class we spent some time reviewing the importance of the Resurrection. Have you ever considered why it’s so important? After all, isn’t it Jesus’ death that forgives us? Yes, it is! But, even forgiven, we still all must die. Then what? The basis for our hope beyond this life lies in the fact that Jesus not only died, but also rose from the dead and proved that death has nothing over Him.
Romans 6:9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
The reason I know I’ll see my dad alive and well, the reason I believe I’ll see two sons I don’t really even know, the reason I believe I’ll see Stan and Jean Bouchard, and Bob and Chlo Lilley, and Frank Rigor, and Jeff and Shannon Hart, and Diann Sigars, and a whole lot of others is because I know Jesus is alive. Jesus has been there, done that, and come back from that. So will others one day!
We look at death with hope because of Jesus’ resurrection – that’s different than the rest.
We also face death with great hope
2. Because of our coming resurrection
Part of the protocol of surgeries is a visit by the surgeon and the anesthesiologist shortly before the surgery. Usually, they and the nursing staff are careful to explain a lot about what the patient will be going through. The reason is to give you a sense of security – so there will be fewer surprises.
You and I get the same thing when Paul gives the details about the resurrection we’re waiting for.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 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. 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. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Let’s get the security the Lord wants us to have from this:
1. The Lord will come down from heaven
Remember in Acts 1 how Jesus floated off into the sky, and the disciples were all standing there with their mouths open, staring up like they were watching a balloon until they couldn’t see it anymore? 2 angels appeared and told them that Jesus was going to one day return in the same way He left.
It also says there’s going to be a loud command – a shout.
There are a couple of places where God’s voice is described as sounding like the roar of rushing waters. John says the same thing, and adds that it is like a trumpet. It doesn’t tell us here what He’ll say, but whatever it is, it’s going to carry the same authority as when Jesus called into the tomb of His dead friend Lazarus and said, “Lazarus, come forth!”
There will also be the voice of an archangel, and then
The trumpet call of God. (Of course, this helps to prove once again that the trumpet is God’s favorite instrument!) I know this about the trumpet – anyone can play it loudly. It’s a much bigger challenge to play it well softly. That’s how brass instruments are. On that day, there’s going to be some brass blowing, and I don’t get the idea that the player is going to try to keep it soft! We’re going to hear it!
The point is, when Jesus comes, the world’s going to know it!
Long ago, in Bethlehem, when Jesus was born, His birth was announced to only a few. He entered the world rather quietly and obscurely the first time He came. Remember the carol, “How silently, how silently, the blessed gift is giv’n…”
Hebrews says, when Jesus returns this 2nd time, it’s going to be different, “he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” This time, when Jesus comes, the world is going to know it. That’s Part 1.
2. The Dead in Christ will Rise First
Just in case you’re grieving, when Jesus comes to take us to be with Him, when He comes to take His Bride home with Him, guess who gets to go 1st! If we’re alive, we’ll have to wait! The Bible doesn’t give us much detail beyond this. I think it’s actually going to happen rather quickly.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--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.
Doesn’t sound like a long wait. Even if it was, I doubt it’s going to be boring! Then, after the pause comes the 3rd part:
3. It’s Our Turn!
I hope you like to fly! This day is going to be the day that proclaims we’re not of this world. We don’t even belong here. In fact, we don’t even belong in these bodies that fall apart and die. We’re created for something greater.
Now, close your eyes for just a moment and try to picture all this:
There’s a globally heard shout and a trumpet call, and the Lord descends through the sky in a brilliant light that makes the entire globe bright. Suddenly, from all corners of the earth, where believers have died – some from old age, some killed for their faith, some from sickness – all of them are suddenly given new and glorified bodies. They fly straight up to Jesus. And then, before you know it, your old body has been changed too! And with nothing to hinder it, you shoot upward to the sky.
OK. So we’re all up in the air, together, new bodies. Now what? “And so, we will be with the Lord forever.” “In this way we’ll always be with the Lord.”
The next time you feel down because of death and how it has affected you, remember this day. If you happen to die before it, you get to go 1st! If you happen to be alive for it, you get to watch it all just before you go!
Oh, yeah, there’s a stipulation attached. Did you see it in vv14,16? In Christ.
Ill – To ride into space in the space shuttle would be very exciting, exhilarating, breathtaking, thrilling - provided you’re in the space shuttle. To ride into space strapped to the outside of the shuttle would require a different set of adjectives, wouldn’t it?
The only source of hope – the only thing that makes this exciting rather than terrifying is for a person to be in Christ. The only source of hope when we grieve over a loved one is for that person to have lived and died in Christ. The only way we can be courageous about our own mortality is if we’re in Christ. It all centers around being in Christ and remaining in Christ.
So when we get down to v18, it tells us what to do. It turns out that the whole point of these words is to encourage.
When you know someone that’s hurting because of a death in the family;
When you know someone who’s down because life is harsh;
When you know someone who wonders why they’re lingering on in a weakened state;
Use these words to encourage. Show the picture with these words for someone who’s hurting. .
5:11 says basically the same thing:
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
We face death with great hope.
Now, this brings us to a logical question: When?
I miss Dad. I’m tired of getting old. Life is hard. When, Lord?
This first part (4:13-18) encourages us to face death with great hope. But if you’re reading it, you’re most likely alive right now! How do we face life here and now with great encouragement?
So, in answer to that obvious question about timing, Paul writes so that…
II. We Face Life With Great Encouragement (5:1-11)
Christians aren’t just people who face death with a different approach,
1. We also face life differently than the rest
Ill - Relief pitcher Donny Moore had played for the Cubs in the 70’s. In 1989 he couldn't seem to resolve his anguish over losing an American League championship series game. In a moment of total torment, he shot his wife and then himself. He was discouraged with his life.
Contrast that with Dave Dravecky, who lost not only a game but a career, and finally his entire pitching arm, and his shoulder. Dravecky and his wife worked at rebuilding his life, and together they share a testimony about how the Lord is working with them.
We face death differently, so we don’t grieve like the rest, and because we face life differently, we have a great encouragement the rest don’t have.
As I read 5:4-9, look at the contrasts.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-9 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Not in darkness
Not surprised
Belong to the day
Alert
Self-controlled
Receive salvation
In darkness
Suddenly destroyed
Belong to the night or darkness
Asleep
Drunk
Suffer wrath
There are a lot of contrasts between the person who’s in Christ and the person who’s not. And those differences are going to be most obvious when Jesus comes again.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Jesus said His return would be like a thief. Many of us get the mental image of a cat-burglar – someone who sneaks in and then sneaks away. What we’ve been reading here today doesn’t sound very quiet or sneaky! Maybe a better image for this “thief” would be a bushwhacker. His visit is unplanned, sudden, irreversible, and uncontrollable. That’s what it’s going to be like for this other group of people when Jesus returns – not someone who quietly slips in a sneaks away, but someone who suddenly comes from out of nowhere and gets the drop on you.
Then Paul uses the word picture of labor and delivery. When is pretty much up to the baby. Compared to 9 months of waiting, they’re sudden, and are pretty much uncontrollable and irreversible.
That’s what it’s going to be like for people who are without hope. For them, the Lord’s return is their greatest reason for fear. Do you care? There are some of them who you could impact. But every time you send them on their way without speaking about their need for Jesus, it’s like sending them down a dark alley. One day, very suddenly, it will be too late. Imagine how discouraging life would be with that nagging fear hanging over you. Do you care?
But we face life with great encouragement…
2. Because of Jesus’ return
Remember those contrasts (vv6-8) – we’re “of the day.” We’re living where things can be seen more clearly. We don’t stumble around wondering if we’re going to trip over the furniture. We don’t slink down dark alleys afraid over who or what’s going to jump out after us. Our senses aren’t dulled to reality. We don’t live in fear or ignorance. We’re the people who ought to be excited as we watch the sky!
But, there’s a stipulation.
(3. Only if we’re “in the light”)
There are a lot of things I’m not sure of. I’m not sure my car will start the next time I turn the key. I’m not sure I’ll live to see another day. I’m not sure I’ll have another opportunity to speak the gospel. Here, today, we’re speaking about certainties - guarantees. We have the Lord’s guarantee that He’s going to return.
And once again, there’s a stipulation: we have to be among those people who are “in the light.” V9 says we’re placed here to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the only way. It’s the only reason our future is bright. It’s the only reason for real encouragement about the future. It’s the only way we can face death with great hope and life with great encouragement – the salvation that comes only through Jesus.
Conclusion:
1 Thessalonians 5:10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
How ironic. Did you see it? He died for us that we may live with Him.
It reminds me of other places in Scripture where the irony of what Jesus has done is so strong:
2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Jesus has given everything we need to have great encouragement in death and in life. We can face death with an unfailing hope, and we can face the future with great anticipation. But we have to be in Christ.
If you’re outside of Jesus this morning, we want to help you change that. We want for you to anticipate the day of His return with joy, not with fear. It’s a matter of being found in Him when He returns. The time of His return is anytime. He has delayed it to this point right now, with the goal that you would not put Him off anymore. Now is the time to make the change – to put aside your old way of life and to embrace Jesus as your Lord; to openly declare if you believe He really is God’s Son Who gave His life for you and rose again; to be baptized in water in His name, and have your sins washed away.
And so we will be with the Lord forever.
