How To Have Real Hope Series

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

› Engagement

There is a really interesting phenomenon that is happening in our culture today. Even though church attendance in this country has been steadily decreasing, and fewer Americans say they believe in God or pray regularly, the belief in some kind of life after death has actually increased slightly. One poll even showed that 32% of those who identified as atheists or agnostics believed in some kind of life after death and 6% believed in a bodily resurrection of the dead.

Unfortunately, however, there is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to what that afterlife is going to look like. That is because so many people get their ideas about the afterlife from the wrong sources:

• A lot of people base their ideas on their own wishes and desires. So they tend to believe that everyone is going to “heaven” and that, with maybe a few exceptions for “really bad people”, God would never sentence anyone to eternal punishment in hell.

• Some people base their ideas of the accounts of those who have had “near death” experiences, which may or may not match up with what the Bible teaches.

• Some views are influenced by popular television shows and movies. That seems to be where we get the idea that people become angels after they die, which as we’ll see this morning is completely contrary to Scripture.

› Tension

As we’re going to learn this morning, a proper Biblical view of what happens after we die here on earth is actually a source of tremendous hope for those who have put their faith in Jesus. That hope is something that none of the various incorrect views of life after death can ever produce. But at the same time, for those who have not placed their faith in Jesus, that proper understanding should be terrifying.

The purpose of my message this morning is much the same as Paul’s was when he wrote the passage we will be studying. I’m not going to attempt to create some nice clean timeline that attempts to lay out the events of the end times in chronological order. As I’ve shared before, I think there is enough ambiguity and mystery in the Bible passages that describe the return of Jesus, that makes that an impossible task anyway. And although I have my own personal views about the overall timing of the events we’ll be discussing this morning, I’m not even going to share those views, alone try to convince you that they are right or argue with you about them.

My concern, like Paul’s is completely pastoral. My goal today is to provide you with hope and comfort, both for you and for your loved ones who are no longer with us.

› Truth

So with that in mind, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and follow along as I begin reading in verse 13:

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 ESV

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

It’s pretty easy to read between the lines here and figure out why Paul wrote these words. When he was in Thessalonica, he would have undoubtedly taught about the second coming of Jesus. Paul expected that was going to happen soon - during his lifetime. Notice what he writes in verse 17:

…we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up...

By using the plural pronoun “we” Paul clearly implies that he thought he would still be alive when Jesus returned. So it’s likely he left the people there in Thessalonica with the impression that Jesus’ return would happen soon. But in the time between planting the church there and writing this letter from Corinth, some of the disciples there in Thessalonica had apparently died. And the people there were worried about what was going to happen to them.