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[This sermon was introduced with the video “Sunday’s Comin’” by Igniter Media Group.]
Jesus was crucified on a Friday. That day was filled with brutality, humiliation, pain, and death. But Jesus knew that Sunday was coming. He knew that He would rise again.
In this life, we go through our own Friday experiences: sickness, pain, sorrow, disappointment. But there is also a Sunday coming for us. There is a future day of resurrection for every follower of Christ.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.
13Brothers, 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. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According 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. 16For 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. 17After 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. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Because of Good Friday, we can look BACK and not be afraid. Because of Easter, we can look AHEAD and not be afraid.
“So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:6-11).
Jesus was crucified, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will one day return to earth.
“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant [uninformed] about those who fall asleep [those who have died before the coming of the Lord], or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (v. 13).
At least some of the Thessalonians had only recently been converted from a pagan culture in which death was associated with a complete lack of hope.
“Hopes are for the living; the dead are without hope.”—Theocritus (Idyll, 4.42)
Paul doesn’t say the Thessalonians should not grieve, but that they should not grieve in the same way as those without hope grieve. Grief at a Christian friend’s death is normal, but a grief of despair is a denial of hope itself.
For Christians, death is no less real, but the hope of resurrection means that death is viewed not as a permanent state but as a temporary condition.
Our expectations of what Jesus will do in the future are based on our convictions of what Jesus has already done in the past.
“[Since] 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” (v. 14).
• What Jesus has already done in the past: He ROSE FROM THE DEAD.
• What Jesus will do in the future: He will RAISE BELIEVERS FROM THE DEAD.
What happens to believers between death and resurrection? Our spirits go to be with Christ:
• “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; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:21-24).
• “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
What will happen on the day of resurrection?
1. On the day of resurrection, we will receive a new BODY.
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:1-4).
“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. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).
2. On the day of resurrection, we will receive a new HOME.
“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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).
3. On the day of resurrection, we will begin a new LIFE.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21:1-4).
4. On the day of resurrection, we will enjoy a new EXPERIENCE.
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (v. 17).
5. As we await the day of resurrection, we have a new outlook: HOPE
“Therefore encourage [comfort] each other with these words” (v. 18).
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
“While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
What we know and believe about the future ought to shape how we live in the present.
Our hope is not an optimistic speculation but a confident expectation.
“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
In 1971, Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote the popular gospel song “Because He Lives.” Back then, America was in turmoil with a bloody war in Southeast Asia and riots at home. At the same time, Bill contracted mononucleosis, which left him exhausted. When they suddenly discovered they were expecting another baby, Bill and Gloria asked themselves, “If this world is like this now, what will it be like in sixteen years for our baby? What will this child face?” While grappling with that question, they realized that the power of the resurrection of Jesus gives hope for tomorrow, whatever the circumstances. Their song reflects the truth about Easter:
Because He lives I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!
Sunday’s Coming
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Because of Good Friday, we can look _______________ and not be afraid. Because of Easter, we can look _______________ and not be afraid.
Our expectations of what Jesus will do in the future are based on our convictions of what Jesus has already done in the past.
• What Jesus has already done in the past: He ________________________________________.
• What Jesus will do in the future: He will ________________________________________________________.
What will happen on the day of resurrection?
1. On the day of resurrection, we will receive a new _______________.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 2 Corinthians 5:1-4; Philippians 3:20-21
2. On the day of resurrection, we will receive a new _______________.
John 14:1-3
3. On the day of resurrection, we will begin a new _______________.
Revelation 21:1-4
4. On the day of resurrection, we will enjoy a new _________________________.
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (v. 17).
5. As we await the day of resurrection, we have a new outlook: _______________
“Therefore encourage each other with these words” (v. 18).
Because He lives I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!
