The Second Coming of Christ
The Solid Rock (last vs & chorus)
Call to Worship:
Pastor Kevin McGuire
Daniel 7.13-14
Historical: WCF 33.3
Pastor Andrew Loginow
Song: Let Your Kingdom Come
Confession & Pardon
Pastor Brett Eckel
Song: Doxology
Song: New Again
Sermon:
Pastor Zachary McGuire
1 Thessalonians 4.13-18
Good morning. Tell everyone to turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4
(Begin off script). Echo what Bobby and Mike said… Thankful for our church (love you guys), thankful that the gospel is preached week in and week out from our pulpit, thankful for the fellow elders bringing me in over the past few months, and thankful they stuck my sermon on Labor Day weekend as the lowest attended Sunday of the year.
Read Text
Pray – Pray the gospel to be heard with clarity and plainly. Sanctify us in truth, your word is truth.
Introduction:
To be clear, I got her permission to tell this story
In preparing for this sermon, I’ve had many conversations, one included my neighbor who is a 69-year old Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor
He had knocked on my door on a June Thursday night telling me he backed into my car. Our neighborhood sidewalks were getting re-paved, so I was parked in the street.
My neighbor and I went out to look at it together and saw there was no damage, so we proceeded to get into conversation
Naturally, the fact that I was preaching in September came up, so we began talking about 1 Thess. 4:13-18
While talking in my driveway, Jess had to run out to an appointment at the nail salon. She walked past us in the driveway and waved goodbye.
As our dialogue progressed, my neighbor eventually invited me to his 7,000-book library in his basement
We chatted about our thoughts on eschatology (which just means the study of end times), to his views on the rapture and what Paul means by Christians being “caught up” in vs. 17, to his system for how he prepares his sermons, and several other topics
In total, I’d say we were down there a little over an hour and a half
We walked upstairs and, as we were exiting his house onto his driveway, I look up to see Jess quickly hustling out of our house on the phone
When she made eye contact with me she dropped her hands to her knees and began panting, out of breath like she had just ran a marathon
I was a good hundred feet from her so I wasn’t sure what was going on
As my neighbor and I got closer to Jess I realized her eyes were puffy, she had tears coming down her face, and she actually was out of breath
In the short 25 minutes since Jess got home from her nail appointment and I wasn’t there, she had called my phone 9 times (I had left my phone in our house, remember this all began checking my car for a scratch), frantically ran through our neighborhood calling out my name, then called my mom as she went into our basement afraid I was injured, or worse
As I hugged her to calm her down, my neighbor whispered to me “If she thought this was bad, imagine what the rapture will be like”
It was a funny comment, but my neighbor was misunderstanding what this passage is saying; thinking it would look like the scene in Marvel Avengers End Game when everyone starts disappearing. Today we’ll look at what the text is actually saying…
Background:
Paul is the author (1:1) and he writes this letter to the church at Thessalonica around AD 50
The church at Thessalonica is somewhat struggling… Jesus died and resurrected defeating sin. This was fresh on their minds.
But they weren’t struggling from some egregious sin
It is clear from the first 3 chapters of 1 Thess that the church at Thessalonica had come to believe in, and hope for, the reality of their Savior’s return.
They eagerly awaited Christ’s return, knowing it will be a climactic event in redemptive history and they didn’t want to miss it.
The major questions they had was “What happens to the Christians who die before he comes? Do they miss his return?”
Paul writes the words in vs. 13-18 to encourage the people and answer these questions. And to correct a wrong understanding of prophetic events.
Transition to first point:
I want to encourage all my brothers and sisters in Christ here today, Jesus is coming back
Since the empty tomb in Jesus’ resurrection, God’s people have always met awaiting His second coming!
This is the point of Paul’s writings here to the church at Thessalonica.... ENCCOURAGEMENT!!
Today we’ll look at 3 words or themes that Paul points out in these 6 verses
ENCOURAGEMENT
HOPE
VICTORY
For all you notetakers, I’ll repeat those points 1) Encouragement 2) Hope 3) Victory
Encourage:
Chapter 4 leading into vs. 13-18 the tone of Paul’s language is pleasant and uplifting. Remember, we’ve added numerical chapter and verse breakdowns to make it easier to study God’s word, but the early church would’ve read these letters straight through. So, that same pleasant and uplifting tone from the first 12 verses of chapter 4, should be carried through when reading verses 13-18. Yes, Paul may not explicitly use the word “encourage” until the final verse of today’s text, but don’t lose sight that the entire tone of the chapter and letter is one of encouragement.
Look back at chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians. Verse 10 says “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10)”.
Early in this letter, Paul is already encouraging the Thessalonians “to wait for his Son from Heaven” hinting that Paul truly believed the return of Jesus was imminent, while also encouraging the church that in Christ we receive grace, and are delivered from God’s wrath.
Look ahead at chapter 2 verse 12. The Holy scripture says, “we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory (1 Thess 2:12)”.
Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of his recent visit how he encouraged them to walk in a manner worthy of God.
Lastly, tracing the theme of encouragement in 1 Thessalonians leading into our text, look at chapter 4 verses 9-10. “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more (1 Thess 4:9-10).”
The church at Thessalonica were loving believers. Paul acknowledges this and encourages them to love “more and more” in vs.10.
Christians and theologians can get so caught up in trying to decipher what 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is saying – arguing over eschatology and views on a rapture – but please don’t lose sight of this, this passage is meant to be read through a lens of encouragement and hope. This is no more evident than reading how Paul ends verse 17 “so we will always be with the Lord”. THAT IS BEAUTIFUL! This passage is written to encourage us that upon Christ’s return, we will always be with Him for the rest of eternity.
Not only this, but it is also a passage of encouragement for those in the church who have lost loved ones that belong to Christ. Vs. 13 tells us to “not grieve as others do who have no hope.”
Which leads us to our second point of today’s sermon, “HOPE”
Hope:
We see in verse 13 that Paul is writing to those who are grieving the loss of loved ones that have placed their faith in Christ. Paul is imploring them to not to grieve as the non-believers who have no hope vs. 13.
The people, in their ignorance, had concluded that those who die miss the Lord’s return and they were grieved over their absence at such a glorious event. So the death of a loved one brought great anguish. But Paul is telling them “we will not precede those who have fallen asleep” in verse 15. Providing them with hope and confidence that all the saints in history will get to experience Christ’s return.
Need to address the term used 3 times in today’s passage of “those who are asleep” (used in vs. 13, 14, and 15). The term “asleep” is used to describe followers of Christ who have died. It’s not the only time in the Bible that dead Christians are referred to as “asleep”. Turn to John 11:11-14 (I have it bookmarked). Read the verses…. Here, Jesus calls Lazarus “asleep” prior to raising him from the dead.
I’ve slept with a fan on my whole life. Growing up, my dad would wake my brothers and I up for school, but he wouldn’t do so by shaking us or whispering to us that it’s time to get up. He’d simply turn off the fan and I’d instantly wake up. To Jesus, awakening a dead believer is as easy as turning off the fan.
Just as in Bobby’s sermon in Gen 1:4 the phrase “in Him was life” to which Bobby said “I can’t give you life, only the Creator can.” God calls saints who are dead “asleep” because even life and death bows to the Creator. Christ has control over everything, even death. Jesus saying in John 11:11 that he “goes to awaken” Lazarus, who was dead, is a picture of Jesus’ deity and a foreshadowing of his own future victory over death.
Kevin DeYoung, a pastor whose church I attended while I was at MSU. Wrote an article in the Gospel Coalition that summarizes our hope in grief better than I can. He said:
“Everyone has affliction. Both Christians and non-Christian mourn. They hurt. They suffer. Loved ones die. Tragedy happens. Everyone grieves. Christians too. We are not immune to suffering. We are not somehow above it all, as if we were promised in this life nothing but success and ease and happiness. We grieve, as much or more than anyone.
But not as those who have no hope.
The Christian cries differently. Our tears are not tears of hopelessness. Death is not the end. There is a hope we have that the world does not have. To be sure, there will be fine sounding platitudes at any funeral you attend. And sadly, the empty, content-less cliches and platitudes show up at Christian funerals too. But we have something more than inspiring words or some vague notion about a place in the clouds or singing with the angels or looking up to grandpa as he watches down over us. We have a firm hope that is grounded in the work of Christ.
We can have hope in the midst of affliction, because our God raises the dead.”
Victory:
Now let’s address verses 16 and 17. Read them again.
Jesus is victorious, the conquering king. In Mike’s sermon, we saw the Holy Spirit’s descent on Jesus after his baptism. In vs. 16, we Jesus’ return in victory.
But western civilization loves to dramatize this end-time scenario using books like the “Left Behind” series and various apocalyptic type movies alluding to a rapture, including Marvel Avengers End Game
In verses 16 and 17, Paul is really just borrowing imagery from biblical and political sources to enhance his message. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55
Read 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55 – Jesus’ second coming defeats death once and for all. And he does so giving believers a new, immortal body.
At Jesus’ “coming” or “appearing,” those who are still alive will be “changed” or “transformed” so that their mortal bodies will become incorruptible and deathless.
Imagery Paul uses from political sources:
Historically, when an emperor visited a colony or province, the citizens go out to meet him in open country and escort him into the city. The Thessalonians would’ve been keenly aware of this practice. So in vs. 17 Paul’s image of the people “meeting the Lord in the air” should be read with the assumption that the people will immediately turn around and lead the Lord back to the newly remade world.
Before going any further, need to clarify something from today’s text. Maybe you’re sitting there a little confused with vs. 14 on what exactly it means when it says, “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” If you’re not confused at all, I’m happy for you, but I’m not as smart as you and needed some clarification. Similar to Andrew in his sermon, I needed to look to other translations, to help paint a clearer picture. I love the ESV translation of the beginning of the verse saying “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again” because that is plain and easy to understand. Jesus died and rose again. Where I got a little thrown off, was the ESV translation of the remainder of the verse stating, “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep”. Specifically, the “bring with him” phrase led me a different connotation than the translator may have intended. To me, I like the NCV translation for the second half of vs. 14 which says “God will raise with Jesus those who have died.” The point of Paul’s letter here is to encourage the church that the believers who have passed away, will still get to experience the climactic event of Christ’s return. I thought the NCV translation explained that a little better for my own understanding by using the phrase "God will raise with Jesus those who have died” rather than “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus died and rose again, and here Paul states that the fallen saints will rise with Jesus in his second return.
The reason I wanted to make that clarification was I think it helps to better understand vs. 15-16. In verse 15, it says “that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.” And the end of verse 16 says “and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Drawing on the imagery Paul uses from political sources in vs. 17, we now know that the fallen saints will be with us in Christ’s return to meet the Lord in the air and return to the newly remade world. And the promise Paul leaves them with at the end of verse 17 is “we will always be with the Lord”…
Anticipation and readiness for Christ’s return should be a part of our daily thinking. Remembering the “Day of the Lord” and believing that it is imminent should heighten our attentiveness to life. Faith in the certainty of Christ’s promised return should guide our choices and actions.
The Thessalonians lived their life as if Jesus would return today, which is why they needed this encouragement from Paul in the first place. So, the question each of us must ask ourselves is – am I prepared for Christ to return right now?
Am I placing my faith in Jesus alone to save me?
And, what is faith? Faith involves 3 aspects – knowledge, ascent, and trust.
You must first hear the components of the gospel. God is Holy and cannot commune with sin. Man is dead in our trespasses and sin. And through the person and work of Jesus alone (which is what we’ve been preaching through this elder series) – humbling Himself into the form of man, born of the virgin Mary, living the perfect sinless life, dying on the cross, and raising on the third day to defeat death. Through him alone, can we be saved.
But it doesn’t stop at simply knowing the gospel. You must ascent it to be true. There’s the old adage that you can miss heaven by 18 inches (mind to heart). Meaning you can understand the gospel but unless you believe it to be true, you cannot be saved. So you must ascent that the gospel is true
And finally, you must trust in the gospel for your salvation. Placing all trust in Jesus alone to save you.
Eschatology is important. Trying to decipher the haziness in the chronological order of the end time events is a debate worth having. But don’t lose sight of the beautiful truth of Jesus’ return... We are to find encouragement and hope in the promise that Jesus will return in Victory. And from the moment Christ returns, we will always be with the Lord for the rest of eternity.
Ending Prayer:
Encourage us with your word. Help us to find our hope in you through the victory of your Son, Jesus, on the cross; who defeated death and will come again to make all things new.