THE RETURN OF THE KING
1 Thess. 4: 13-18 (p836) Nov. 18, 2012
INTRODUCTION
Please remember there were no chapters and verses in the bible when these letters were originally written…None of the early Christians in Thessalonica would have any idea what you were talking about if you said, “Today’s study will be from 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18.”
This is Paul’s first letter to a group of Believers, both Jew and Gentile who meet in the synagogues, but also in homes and private places…if you remember Paul and Silas came there after being severely beaten and put in jail in Philippi…where God miraculously broke them out of jail with and earthquake. The jailer was about to kill himself because he failed the responsibility of losing all these prisoners…but Paul and Silas assure him…we could have run…but we’re all here…Paul then shares the gospel…God’s Spirit works, and the Philippian jailer and his family surrender to Christ and immediately in the middle of the night they are baptized.
The same persecution that put Paul and Silas in jail follows them to Thessalonica…they have to flee for their lives after only 3 weeks…But the new believers are family committed. They are growing in the faith, and they are loving in their relationships…but…they are also going through the wringer! Paul says, “you became imitators of us and Jesus in spite of severe suffering ( 1 Thess 1:6 We dared to tell you the gospel in spite of strong opposition” (1 Thess 2:2) “You suffered from your own countrymen.” (1 Thess 2:14) “In fact when we were with you we kept telling you that we would be persecuted.” (1 Thess.3:4) “In all our distress and persecution we were encouraged because of your faith” (1 Thess 3:7)
What is severe suffering for our faith…what is strong opposition to the gospel…what is suffering (for our faith) from our own people…and facing real persecution for our message?
I’m not sure; we have any idea what that is, even now in America…but maybe what we deal with is even more difficult to overcome…
Cassie Bernall may or may not have been asked, “Do you believe in God?” Immediately before the Columbine killers shot she...but I will tell you a gun to your head is pretty black and white… “I believe...Gun goes off…your Spirit is in the presence of Jesus.
In China, India, Iran…and many many other places your faith in Christ as your Savior and Lord will be put to the test…severely….
But what we deal with in American is different…Christianity is a word that describes anyone who goes to church or believes in Jesus (in any form of belief)…many are very comfortable at practicing the religion of Christianity, but certainly not letting it change their lifestyles or the schedules.
Because of that I believe real commitment to the cross is exchange for the Love of an easy chair. Denying self, carrying my daily death on a cross I Christ, and truly living like Jesus...is hard, when I don’t believe I have to…nor does it make me really long for the Kings return.
The Thessalonians didn’t have that problem…luke warmness wasn’t the issue…severe persecution and strong opposition to the gospel were…
It’s exactly why Paul writes….may He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (1 Thess 3:13)
Hang in there…in the midst of a sexually immoral society, where you are beaten for your beliefs…Jesus is coming for you!
I IGNORANCE ISN’T BLISS
“We don’t want you to be ignorant”
[I remember at Johnson I had a professor in the “History of the Restoration Movement” get so frustrated with this guy named Dwight that he said, “You are ignorant!” and Dwight said, “I don’t feel ignorant”]
Ignorant doesn’t mean “stupid”. I think my professor really wanted to call Dwight…that word instead of ignorant.
Ignorant means “uninformed”…here’s an example….I was ignorant of the fact that U.K., Duke, N.C. and other basketball schools receive 4 times the revenue from football than from basketball…it shocked me!
“What most people don’t understand is that every school is a football school. The amount of revenue that football can generate dwarfs even the greatest basketball programs.” said Mark Nagel, associate professor in the sport and entertainment management department at the University of South Carolina. “Certainly the fans identify with what sport wins the most, but football just has the potential to make so much more money with attendance and television contracts.
I was ignorant of this information…uninformed.
The Apostle Paul does not want the Thessalonians to be uninformed about those who fall asleep”.
And clearly he’s not talking about those 1 or 2 that do the head nod thing on Sunday morning. (Demonstrate) He’s talking about Believers who die before the Lord’s return.
Death is painful…to all men…(all people) Grief is natural…you can’t help it…Your heart aches…death equates separation from those who are alive…and those who aren’t anymore…important people in our lives are absent…life here on earth isn’t quite as good or the same.
Paul doesn’t address the grief of eternally lost people here, except to say…”Christians don’t grieve the same…”like the rest of men who have no hope…” Ignorance isn’t Bliss…its devastating when it comes to death…I know it…you know it…and Paul knows it…It’s why he uses the word…”Sleep” to describe the Believers who have died.
What replaces ignorance in our lives?
II AN EXPECTANT HOPE
Hope isn’t just wishing for something…like “I wish I could win the lottery and all my problems will go away.”
Hope isn’t dreaming about something…”I dream about the amazing person coming along and making my life complete… (I’ve already got that person)
Hope is different because there is a real expectation that what you want will come true…Why, because in faith you trust the one who promised it… Past situations prove that this person is a “promise keeper” in every sense of the word.
I might wish and dream that fried chicken will fall from the sky and be a vitamin…but I really don’t hope that will happen…
Paul lets us know that belief and hope walk down the same hallway holding hands…and both he and the Thessalonians share the same belief…listen “We” believe.
“We believe that Jesus died and rose again and because we believe that…we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have “fallen asleep” I Him.
In fact Jesus himself said that those who are still alive when he returns won’t precede those who have fallen asleep.”
Belief that causes us to have an expectant hope…Number one
1) Jesus died and rose again.
If you do not believe Jesus physically died and that He physically rose again…then you really have no future hope for the same thing to happen for you or your love one’s in Christ.
You see Christ’s death on the cross pays for all sin…every sin…He paid our debt to God…”God demonstrates His love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” “We have been justified by His blood.” (Roman 5: 8, 9)
Perfect love= Giving your only son so that the world could be saved through Him, for those who believe this won’t have to perish…die eternally.
Perfect Justice = Demanding death as the price for sin, then dying to pay that price.”
Romans 4:25 says “He was delivered over to death for our sins and who raised to life for our justification”.
I might physically die, leave this temporary body…but I have accepted this sacrifice … this gift of grace…so my hope goes beyond the grave…the one who conquered the grave has promised…”My victory is your Victory.”
I believe this enough I have responded to it by faith…I’ve died, been buried in Christ…and I live a resurrected life. Now! My new life isn’t some future promise I live in it now…waiting for the full revelation to take place when Jesus returns…and I hope with my Dad, with my friend Darrell, with Gary Wilson, with Ollie, with Gene, with Jim, and others I love who have fallen asleep.
Paul says, “the Lord himself will come down out of heaven…there will be a loud command, the voice of the Archangel will pierce the sky…the trumpet will blow.” When this happens…the dead in Christ will rise first.”
Jesus told the thief, “This day you will be with me in Paradise”, Paul says to the Corinthians in his 2nd letter, “When we are absent from this body we are in the presence of the Lord.”
What part of the thief was with Jesus…what leaves the body to be in the presence of God? What part of those who have fallen asleep is God going to bring with Jesus..?
It’s our spirit… (Little “s”) It’s what makes us uniquely who we are…its eternal…listen carefully to these words of hope from
Romans 8: 15-25 (p 800)
The Holy Spirit is our adoption paper…our new birth, our guarantee of what is to come…In fact in verse 11 Paul says.”If the Spirit (big “s”) of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.” (Romans 8: 11)
Jesus mortal body was raised back to life…when he returns, with these spirits…the dead in Christ will be raised first…and we who are alive will be transformed, instantly in the wink of an eye. It doesn’t matter whether we’ve been buried at sea, cremated or scattered to the 4 winds…the author and creator of life will restore and transform these earthly ashes into eternal houses. Listen
1 Cor. 15: 42-44, 50-54 (p 815)
“After that, we who are still alive 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.”
This is an expected hope for Christ’s followers who are living in persecution and trial...and for those who are fighting the apathy of lukewarmness. Be Alert, don’t let this day of light find you asleep in the dark, like a thief (1 Thess 5:4)
I understand loving your wife and family, even some parts of this world, and by that I mean my friends, some them lost…and if Jesus returns…they will be eternally lost…so a part of me hopes…and will I hope I share the gospel story of redemption…and I hope that story opens their hearts through the Holy Spirit’s blade.
But the longer I live the more I desire his return…I want to see Jesus and my Dad, and those that I’ve loved and have loved God again.
Hopefully, when He returns He’ll find me doing what I do every day, and I won’t be ashamed of what this is..
[When I lived in Lawrenceburg I remember walking in the speedway after I’d gotten some gas for my jeep…I also thought a Reese’s cup might make a wonderful snack…and when I came through the door one of our deacons had a 30 pack bud light up on the counter to pay for it…(I’m not sharing this so that we can have an in depth discussion of whether it’s sinful to have a beer or a glass of wine) I’m sharing this because he turned 8 shades of red…tried to pretend it wasn’t his and bought something else. As we walked out he stammered and stuttered through an awkward conversation… (later we would sit together in his truck and make things right).
Paul is telling us and the Thessalonians….”People are saying “Peace and Safety” but destruction will come on them suddenly…and they will not escape…you, as God’s people aren’t living a life of darkness….you live and walk in the light…so when Jesus steps through the door of eternity it won’t surprise you like a thief…your heart will rejoice for his return…the complete redemption of your body and soul…and the promise of Home.
