Goodbyes, Grief & God’s Promises
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
This sermon is summed up in its title …”Goodbyes, Grief & God’s Promises” Everyone here has endured the loss of a loved one at some time or another. Whether the loss occurred 5 months or 50 years ago there is still an element of sadness.
I visited my grandmother several years ago and I could tell that she had been crying. I asked what was wrong and she said that my grandfather had died 37 years earlier on that very day. No doubt she will grieve for him as long as she lives.
There was a lady who was a recent widow. One of her coworkers was attracted to her and wanted to ask her out on a date. He nervously approached her and uttered the most beautiful pick up line you have ever heard, He said … and I quote “So, your husband has been dead for 6 months, are you over it yet?” Needless to say he did not get a date.
Losing a precious loved one is not something that you “get over”. “Grief” is defined as “intense sorrow: great sadness, especially as a result of a death”
Author Edgar Jackson properly describes grief: Grief is a young widow trying to raise her three children, alone. Grief is the man so filled with uncertainty and confusion that he lashes out at the nearest person. Grief is a mother walking daily to a nearby cemetery to stand quietly and alone a few minutes before going about the tasks of the day. Grief is the silent, knife-like terror and sadness that comes a hundred times a day, when you start to speak to someone who is no longer there. Grief is the emptiness that comes when you eat alone after eating with another for many years.Grief is teaching yourself to go to bed without saying good night to the one who had died. Grief is the helpless wishing that things were different when you know they are not and never will be again. Grief is a whole cluster of adjustments, apprehensions, and uncertainties that strike life in its forward progress and make it difficult to redirect the energies of life. - Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong, p. 171.
Grief will come in our lives; no one is immuned to it. But for the child of God we are not without hope! Paul says as much in our verses tonight - “Do not grieve like those who have no hope.” - Yes death hurts, sadness and sorrow will come but Jesus will not forsake you in your time of grief.
I like what David said in Psalm 30: …”weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”..........In our selected text the Apostle Paul attempts to comfort the Thessalonian believers. They were sorrowful and mourned the death of their loved ones. They were uncertain about their “present state”. As believers we know all the verses concerning death & Heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
John 14:1 ¶Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Philippians 1:21 ¶For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Though we know these verses and even believe them, at times we may be blinded by our grief. If you have had to say goodbye to a precious loved one… if you are consumed with grief …I want you to know that God has given you some promises that will help you in this moment of sorrow. Let’s look at a few of these promises. We will begin with the fact that:
I. We Have The Promise Of Rest - v3 ¶But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
The Thessalonian believers were concerned about their loved ones who had died. Paul declares that they were acting like the gentiles, who possessed no hope. The Gentile (the unbeliever) had no hope of a resurrection. They had nothing to look forward to. But the believers had hope …they had a great hope of a better day and a better place! When we find ourselves blinded by grief we often lose focus of the promises that we have as believers. We become defeated and discouraged and even depressed.Sometimes the tears that fill our eyes hinder our vision of what is to come. We don’t have all the answers concerning what happens to the believer when they draw their last breath. But we do know enough to possess great hope and assurance concerning our loved ones who have gone home.
Many times when our loved ones pass away it is after a long term illness. We have to endure the difficulty of watching them suffer and fight for one more breath. Many times I have heard people say “I hate that he/she is gone but at least he/she is not hurting anymore.” That is one of the comforting promise that we have through Gods Word…. The promise of Rest! - v13 tells us that those saints who have departed are "asleep".
What a beautiful picture of the rest for those who die “in Christ” - When Paul says “asleep” he is not referring to "soul sleep". He is referring to the fact that their bodies are asleep. When a saint of God leaves this world, they are immediately ushered into the presence of the Lord. (absent from the body, present with the Lord). Friend, if you have a mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, child or friend that has died “in Christ” they are with Him right now, and they are at rest!!!
He also addresses this in 1 Corinthians 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.20 ¶But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
Jesus has overcome death; he has the victory over death and the grave. By our faith in him we too have victory over death and a place of rest! Not only are our loved ones at rest, we can rest in the fact that they are with Jesus - v14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.There are many questions about eternity that I simply can’t answer.
John Bunyan was once asked a question about heaven which he could not answer because the matter was not revealed in the Scriptures. He advised the inquirer to live a holy life, then go and see.
My grieving friend, Jesus has given us the promise of rest. Not only do we posses the promise of rest… there is another promise for the believer:
II. We Have The Promise Of A Return - v15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
What a precious promise for the believer! This promise comes not from Paul, but “by the word of the Lord”. The resurrection of the dead was a part of the Old Testament creed. Then it was much more clearly revealed in the gospels and throughout the epistles. Jesus gives the greatest promise of his return in John 14:v3 …if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. Jesus is not sending someone else, He is coming Himself! - v16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: I like the line in the song “Midnight Cry” that says …“I can almost hear the Father as he says son go get your children”.
One day Jesus will return for His people. Those who are alive will be “caught up” and taken to heaven with Him, When He comes we will leave the troubles of this world behind - Rev. 21:27, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” And this “grief” that we speak of will not follow us home! Saved friend, we have a promise of rest and Christ’s return, and we also see that:
III. We Have The Promise Of A Reunion - v17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Paul speaks of a wonderful gathering of the saints of God. If we are still living at this moment we will be “caught up together with them”. Just think for a moment about all those loved ones you have lost throughout your life. Those precious people that meant so much to you and you just long to hear their voice one more time. According to what we read in the Word of God we will be reunited with those who are “in Christ” . As great as it will be to be reunited with our loved ones, there is something event better waiting us…Paul says that we “will meet the Lord in the air”
We have seen Jesus through eyes of faith, but one day we will see Him face to face! - 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Jesus said in John 14, “…I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” - We will spend eternity with our Savior who redeemed us! - Along with the promises of rest, a return. and a reunion:
IV. We Have The Promise Of A Residence - v17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Do you see that “SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD!! This will not be a temporary meeting! We will be with the Lord forever!
It is a beautiful residence: The walls are made of jasper. The streets are pure, transparent gold The gates of this city are made of whole pearls. The foundation is comprised of many precious gemstones.
1) Jasper – Clear like a diamond
2) Sapphire - Clear Blue
3) Chalcedony - Yellowish Green
4) Emerald - Deep Green
5) Sardonyx - White with layers of red.
6) Sardius - Fiery Red
7) Chrysolyte - Golden Yellow
8) Beryl - Sea Green
9) Topaz - Greenish Yellow
10) Chrysopasus - Golden Green
11) Jacinth - Violet
12) Amethyst - Purple
We are also told of the things that will not me in that place - Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
In this world there is sickness, pain, death, sorrow, grief and crying. But for those who know Jesus we have hope! Grief will come… it is hard to say goodbye but God’s promises will help us make it through!
We have the promise of:
a. Rest
b. Return
c. Reunion
d. Residence
The only way to have access to these promises is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He has made a way for you possess the hope we have seen tonight. - Anyone can devise a plan by which good people may go to heaven. Only God can devise a plan whereby sinners, who are his enemies, can go to heaven. .......Give your life to Jesus today and make your reservations for this wonderful place! To the believer… grief is hard, saying goodbye is one of the most difficult things we have to do in this life…. God’s promises will see you through!
