Summary: A Study of Romans 13:11-14

Intro:

1. Martin Luther said he only had two days on his calendar— today and "that day."

2. I believe we should all live like that, looking for “that day” when the Lord snatches us out of here, to meet Him in the air.

3. That Day.

Trans: Lord willing, this is where we are heading in the next few messages. We’ll begin with that Day; then we want to look at the Departure itself; then Death, because there is a possibility some of us might die before the Rapture; and finally the Delay [only from our perspective, God is always right on time], what are we to do if we face Disaster [not talking about the Tribulation Period, but tribulation before that time] before the Day or Death.

Rom. 13:11-14

I. FIRST, THERE SHOULD BE A RESPONSE TO LOVE SUPERNATURALLY.

And do this – what is the this? In context it connects back to verse 9, “For this”, and thus we do these things out of a motivation of love, specifically agape [ag-ah-pay].

• We are loved by the Lord (Rom. 5:5/1 Jn. 4:10).

• Therefore, we are to love both God and man (Gal. 5:22).

• While we wait for the Lord to come, we need to realize He is already here, living in us and cultivate that first-love (Rev. 2:4).

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

Trans: Science writer Hope Jahren shares an interesting fact about plants, especially how a tiny seed starts to put down roots—the most essential thing for a plant's survival. She writes:

No risk is more terrifying than that taken by the first root. A lucky root will eventually find water, but its first job is to anchor … Once the first root is extended, the plant will never again enjoy any hope of relocating to a place less cold, less dry, less dangerous. Indeed, it will face frost, drought, and greedy jaws without any possibility of flight.

She calls taking root a big "gamble," but if the seed takes root it can go down twelve, thirty, forty meters. The results are powerful. The tree's roots can "swell and split bedrock, and move gallons of water daily for years, much more efficiently than any pump yet invented by man." If the root takes root, then the plant becomes all but indestructible: "Tear apart everything aboveground—everything—and most plants can still grow rebelliously back from just one intact root. More than once. More than twice."

II. FURTHERMORE, RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO WAKE UP FROM OUR SLEEP.

A. Needs to be an Awareness.

knowing the time – The verb knowing is a perfect tense, speaking of a settled understanding. The noun time is preceded by an article which is kahee-ros' and speaks of a certain kind of time, a fixed appointed season.

32 Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command. 1 Chronicles 12:32 See Mat. 16:1-3.

I believe we are living in the last days of the church, just before God removes His church. It will be followed by a seven-year Tribulation Period, the Second Coming, and the establishment of Christ’s earthly kingdom.

This is our hope! Our hope is not in the restoration of America; not in personal prosperity down here or in bodily health; etc. Our blessed hope is the Removal of the Church (Tit. 2:13).

While we must never set dates, I believe we can know the rapture is near. I have no time to develop this but things like:

• Israel is back in her land.

• Russia’s alignment with Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and others. Ezk. 38

• Europe is united but cannot get it together until the Anti-Christ comes. Shadows of the Revived Roman Empire.

• Moving toward a one world government and religion.

• The downfall of America, she will not be a major player in the last days.

• Etc.

As we see the stage being set for the Tribulation Period, we know the Rapture must be near because it comes before the Tribulation Period. But the Rapture is always presented as an any moment possibility. Paul said “we” shall be changed.

So we need to be aware of the fact that the rapture is near. It is that Day which we are to be focused on!

See, Jn. 14:1-3/1 Cor. 15:50-54/Phil. 3:20-21/1 Thess. 4:16-18/Rev. 3:10; 4:1-2).

Point: We need to be aware that the rapture could take place at any moment.

The blessed hope is the rapture, and we should be aware of that blessing.

The Shepherd's Home in Wisconsin has a problem with dirty windows. Many of its residents are severely disabled, once a preacher came and preached a sermon on the Rapture to them. The superintendent says, "Now every day, some of them go to the windows and press their noses against the glass, looking for Him."

I wonder if our windows are smudged because we press our noses against them looking for Him?

B. Need to be Awakened.

that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep – this is not physical but spiritual sleep. Sleep is “a state of inactivity, with a loss of consciousness and a decrease in responsiveness to events taking place.”

To be spiritually asleep is to be spiritually inactive, unengaged in spiritual things.

This is written to believers! See, Eph. 5:14/1 Cor. 15:34/1 Thess. 5:6.

Charles Spurgeon, “This exhortation is not addressed to the ungodly…but to those who are alive unto God. They are represented as being asleep and needing to awake from their present sluggishness. Though it is admitted that it is high time for them to awake out of sleep, their salvation is never questioned.”

We need to awake outwardly to what we already are inwardly. Christianity is not striving to be something, but merely becoming what we already are.

We go to bed and set our alarm for 4:00 am, the alarm wakes us from our sleep – not into existence!

To wake up is to discover we have been asleep and to begin to discover what we have. EX: A baby is born with everything. It has legs that it drags around. You don’t go to the doctor and say ok, I think this kid can walk, let’s screw in the legs. No, they already have legs, they just wake up to the fact they have legs and learn how to use them. But imagine that Baby growing and when they are about ten years old, still dragging those legs behind them! We would say it's past time for that baby to awake to the reality of using and experiencing those legs! Same with us in the Spiritual realm.

In the ongoing battle against oversleeping, humanity has devised some clever alarm clocks. But for all their clever designs, most alarm clocks still suffer from a common drawback: the fact that they're not designed for multiple users. When one person's alarm goes off, other people in the room or throughout the house have to wake up too. Most alarm clocks have no way to selectively wake up one person and leave the other person undisturbed. Until now, that is.

Freshly launched on Kickstarter, Wake is a new breed of alarm that targets individual users and wakes up one sleeper without rousing others. Here's how it works. After it's mounted to the wall above the bed, the device uses an infrared temperature sensor and special body-tracking software to discern where each person is lying (without a camera). When it's time to wake one person. Wake silently takes aim, rotates into position, and then directs a tight burst of light and sound at their face.

To keep from rousing other sleepers, the device uses a set of parametric speakers capable of focusing sound into a narrow beam. Think of it as a spotlight for noise. If Wake is pointed straight at your head you'll hear it loud and clear, but if you're outside of the beam's small radius, the sound will be extremely faint. Lucera Labs will ship the first batch in September 2015.

The Rapture is like a beam from God’s Word designed to wake the church up (2 Pet. 1:19).

Your lost friends do not need to hear about the Rapture, what they need is the Gospel!

Con:

1. Are we really living for that Day?

2. Are we Loving supernaturally? Awake from our Sleep? Aware of what time we are living in?

Dwight L. Moody used to say, "I never preach a sermon without thinking that possibly the Lord may come before I preach another."

G. Campbell Morgan said, "I never lay my head on the pillow without thinking that, perhaps, before I awake, the final morning may have dawned. I never begin my work without thinking that He may interrupt it to begin His own. And, every night before we go to sleep, we ought to say, 'Well, He may come tonight.' Every day when we get out our tools and go to work: 'This may be the last day's work I'll do.'"

Billy Graham: “Many times when I go to bed at night I think to myself that before I awaken, Christ may come.”

Every now and then I run across people who do not believe in the Rapture, even though some of us have been preaching it for years – that denial was predicted - 2 Pet. 3:3-7! See Heb. 10:35-38.

After F. B. Meyers shared about the Lord’s Return, someone objected, “I just can’t get that out of my Bible.” And he replied, “Of course not, it’s there to stay!”

Are we Awake to the fact the Dawn is about to Break? Or are we spiritually asleep?

I read about a new study on sleep, the article had just two words: Wake Up!

This latest study suggests that an overly long night's sleep could be just as bad for you as not getting enough sleep. The study concludes:

"… adults who usually sleep for less than six hours or more than eight, are at risk of dying earlier than those who sleep between six and eight hours."

It is time for a sleeping church to wake up to the reality that our time here is very, very short.

Intro:

1. At age 12, Martin Pistorius became mysteriously ill and fell into a coma. For the next decade, he was trapped inside his mind, gradually pulling himself out of a vegetative state.

For most of his time in the coma, he was aware of his surroundings. It would still be a while before his family realized he was aware of what was happening around him, but he remembers most of it. He also remembers his father, Rodney, who never gave up on him:

"Each day Dad, a mechanical engineer, washed and fed me, dressed and lifted me. A bear of a man with a huge beard like Father Christmas, his hands were always gentle. I would try to get him to understand I had returned, willing my arm to work. 'Dad! I'm here! Can't you see?' But he didn't notice me."

After a few years, his family began to notice slight movements that seemed to be more than just random occurrences. A twitch of the finger here, a faint smile in response to someone talking to him there. Eventually, he was taken to see an aromatherapist who learned to read his various attempts at communication, according to the Mail. She recommended that he be sent to the Centre For Augmentative And Alternative Communication at the University Of Pretoria. It was there that at age 26 he learned to operate a computer that could speak for him with slight gestures.

2. That boy was awake inwardly, but not outwardly. Every Christian is alive inwardly – that’s Regeneration, but God wants us to become outwardly what we already are inwardly – that’s Revival. But here is the thing, time is running out! As the saying goes:

One Life will soon be past;

Only What's Done for Christ will last.

3. That Day – part 2

Trans: We continue where we left off in Rom. 13:11-14.

Let’s Review:

• Should be a Response to love Supernaturally.

• Should Recognize the need to wake up from our Sleep.

I. FIRST, REALIZATION OF THE NEARNESS OF OUR SALVATION.

A. The time of Glory.

…for now salvation – this is talking about when we are perfectly awake! When what we are inwardly is fully realized outwardly. That will not happen in this life.

1. We have been saved.

That is inwardly, that is what we call justification and regeneration. It would take more time then we have to go into all that happened. We are Pardoned; we are Imputed the righteousness of Christ; we are a new creature.

Eph. 2:8-9

If you are here and are not saved? This is your opportunity!

We have complicated the gospel, you need a Ph.D. to understand how some people share it. We add on to it, it is no longer presented as a gift. You don’t earn a gift or add onto it you simply receive it. Acknowledging you need it because you are a sinner, and the only one who can give it is the Lord Jesus Christ based on His substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection.

I had a lost friend who could not seem to understand that he could not add anything to salvation. One day I told him about a master Cabinet builder. Suppose he made you a beautiful cabinet and you said that’s wonderful and then pulled out a hatchet and said, “I think I can make a few improvements here and there!”

He would be appalled and tell you, “It’s perfect already, anything you do to it will just take away from it! Salvation is not something we do but is already done and all we have to do is receive it (Jn. 1:12).

2. If we have been saved, we are being saved.

That is a process of the Holy Spirit making our inward salvation an outward experience. We call it sanctification, freedom from the power of sin and an imparted righteousness in our daily lives.

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

See, 2 Cor. 2:15

If we have been saved, we are in the process of being saved. If we are not being saved, we never have been saved! Why? Because we become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:21); we have a new nature (1 Jn. 3:9); we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16).

It is like a tootsie roll pop, I unwrap it, and lick it. It is now mine! No one wants to share with me a tootsie roll pop after I have slobbered on it. It is set-apart to me, but now I do not just throw it away. I continue to consume it until I get to that glory spot the tootsie roll in the middle. Salvation starts with positional sanctification, and always moves to progressive sanctification until we get to glory.

3. If we are being saved, then we will be saved in its fullness.

That is what we call glorification when our inner new nature is fully a reality outwardly. Freedom from the very presence of sin, and a glorified body. If we have been saved, and are being saved, we will one day be saved – no exceptions! Phil. 1:6

5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:5

2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:2-3

Also Rom. 8:28-29

That day is almost upon us! It is certainly “nearer than when we first believed.” We are closer today to the rapture than we have ever been before!

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 5:7-8

7 The end [goal, purpose] of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 1 Peter 4:7

We who have gone from Guilt to Grace – are headed for Glory.

Author Philip Yancey describes a moment of profound wonder and awe in Alaska's wilderness. He was driving down the road when he came upon a number of cars pulled off to the edge of the highway. Like any of us would have done, he stopped to see what everyone was looking at. Yancey describes the scene:

Against the slate-gray sky, the water of an ocean inlet had a slight greenish cast, interrupted by small whitecaps. Soon I saw these were not whitecaps at all, but whales—silvery white beluga whales in a pod feeding no more than fifty feet offshore. I stood with the other onlookers for forty minutes, listening to the rhythmic motion of the sea, following the graceful, ghostly crescents of surfacing whales. The crowd was hushed, even reverent. For just that moment, nothing else—dinner reservations, the trip schedule, life back home—mattered. We were confronted with a scene of quiet beauty and a majesty of scale. We felt small. We strangers stood together in silence until the whales moved farther out. Then we climbed the bank together and got in our cars to resume our busy, ordered lives that suddenly seemed less urgent. [Steve DeWitt, Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything (Credo House Publishers, 2012), p. 68]

Those are just dumb old whales! Imagine the awesome sight of experiencing glory in the very presence of God! If we look to that Day, we cannot simply live this life any longer as routine, and suddenly everything in this life will seem less urgent.

B. We have a limited Opportunity.

12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. – the night is talking about this dark, sinful world that we live in. It is almost gone for us, the Day of our Meeting with Him in the air is very near.

This dark, sinful world for us, is going to pass away very soon – we can do without it!

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17

According to the Chicago Tribune, on March 3, 1995, a thirty-eight-year-old man who was walking to his temporary job at a warehouse in Rosemont, Illinois, tried to get there by cutting across eight lanes of the Tri-State Tollway. After he crossed the four northbound lanes, however, the wind blew off his hat. The hat flew back across the northbound lanes, and he chased it. There a semi-trailer truck struck and killed him. A person can lose everything by chasing after nothing – and that is exactly what this world system is – nothing!

Today is our opportunity to live radically for Christ! If we are going to reach the lost now is the time to do; If we going have eternal rewards now is the time get them; I call it the WCLSD!

Witnessing (1 Thess. 2:19) ; Care for God’s people (1 Pet. 5:2-4); Looking for His Return (2 Tim. 4:8); Suffering God’s way (Jam, 1:12/Rev. 2:10); and Disciplining our bodied (1 Cor. 9:25). All of which, the Bible specifically describes various crowns for.

I’ll bet you never heard of Elisha Gray. Here's why.

In early 1875 Elisha Gray transmitted a few musical notes over a telegraph wire. He thought to himself, "If I can send music, perhaps I could send the human voice." The New York Times reported predictions of a "talking telegraph" and the public began to grow eager for it. Just one year later Elisha Gray believed he had the answer; tin can like voice chambers connected by a wire in a liquid that could turn vibrations into signals is what came to his mind. He believed he had finally invented something that would literally revolutionize everyday life.

But inexplicably, he did not put his idea on paper for two more months. After finally making a sketch, he waited four more days before he went to the patent office. And on March 7, 1876, when Elisha Gray arrived, he was told that just two hours earlier a school teacher had come through that same door with his own sketch and had already applied for the patent.

Patent number 174465 was given to a man named Alexander Graham Bell. When you compared the sketches, the voice chambers, the wire, and the liquid they were almost identical.

He had an opportunity but let it slip through his fingers. We have an opportunity to live life with eternity in mind – it will be gone before we know it!

II. SECOND, THERE MUST BE RESISTANCE TO SELF.

Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness – just as we have to awake to what we are inwardly, we also have to beware that inwardly we have a sin nature that we must not allow to express itself outwardly.

When we were saved, we did not lose our sin nature nor will we as long as we are in this world.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:8-10

We did not lose the sin nature, and the sin nature is not turning into the new nature.

Carl Jung after studying human behavior for years concluded, “All the old primitive sins are not dead but are crouching in the dark corners of our modern hearts— still there, and still as ghastly as ever.”

Again, inwardly we have already put off the sin nature:

9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices. Colossians 3:8-9

Laid aside is aorist tense, speaking of something already done in the past.

But our passage speaks of the need to lay aside that old sin nature and its deeds. An aorist subjunctive. Heb. 12:1

that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, Ephesians 4:22

Again, it is a question of becoming what we already are. Now when we tolerate sin, we become miserable because that is not who we are. We can sin as a believer, but we cannot sin and enjoy it. We cannot sin without grieving the Holy Spirit. And that misery is part of what God uses to wake us up.

We began our message with Martin, the one who slipped into a comma. He finally woke up out of it. But what woke him up? Martin was forced to watch Barney, you know that purple dinosaur. He later said:

"I cannot even express to you how much I hated Barney."

That hatred was part of what triggered him to start regaining control of his mind and body.

We believers sin, but we hate it! And that hatred causes us to be sick of sin and wakes us up to the need to get back to walking with God.

Con:

1. That Day is coming upon us!

2. We need to have a Realization of the nearness of our Salvation; and Resistance to the self-life.

3. In 1867, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel invented a new high explosive, which he named "dynamite." He was convinced that his invention would make war too horrible to ever happen again. However, he quickly discovered there was no shortage of buyers for his new explosive. He made a huge fortune from its sales, yet was horrified with the suffering and misery it caused in wars and conflicts. But what was he to do?

Towards the end of the 19th century he awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local paper: "Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before. He died a very rich man."

Actually, it was Alfred's older brother who had died. A newspaper reporter had confused the epitaph. But the account had a profound effect on Alfred. He decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing a means to kill people efficiently, and for amassing a fortune in the process.

As a result, he initiated the Nobel Prize—an award for scientists and writers who foster peace. Nobel said, "Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one."

It is not too late today, to start living this life with eternity in mind…but tomorrow it may well be.

One Life will soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ, will last.

Intro:

1. C.S. Lewis once wrote: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

2. We were made for another world, and one day, sooner then we realize, we are going to enter that world with all its fullness.

3. That Day – part 3

Trans: Let’s Review:

• Response of loving Supernaturally.

• Recognize the need to wake up from our Sleep.

• Realize the nearness of our Salvation.

• Resist the Self-life.

I. FIRST, THERE MUST BE RELIANCE UPON OUR ARMOR TO SHINE.

and put on the armor of light – Eph. 6:11-12.

When we think of armor, we rightly think of warfare. Not only do we need to contend with our sin nature but also Satan.

Again, it would take another sermon to go into this in detail, but briefly, for now, we could say that our armor is the Lord Jesus.

He is our belt of truth (Jn. 14:6); our breastplate of righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30); our shoes of peace (Eph. 2:14); our shield of faith (Heb. 12:2); our helmet of salvation (1 Cor. 2:16); and Sword or Word (Jn. 1:1).

Again, Jesus is the Light of the world (Jn. 8:12) and that light is in us (Col. 1:27); and we are lights in the Lord (1 Thess. 5:5).

Now we are to shine outwardly what we are inwardly (Mt. 5:16).

The Lord is like the Sun, and we are like the moon reflecting the Light of the Sun. The moon is not the source but a reflector. Sin blocks the sun, and the moon becomes dark. Many believers are walking eclipses!

Or think of a light switch on the wall. It is already there; you do not need to do anything but choose to flip the switch. We have an inward light switch, but we need to choose to turn it on so we will shine for the Lord Jesus outwardly.

Don’t be like the light in your refrigerator – it’s on, on the inside, but no one can see it on the outside!

15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, Philippians 2:15

Trans: We live in days that focus on self-defense like carrying a concealed weapon – guns, knives, tasers. I have noticed one method of self-defense that is getting a lot of attention these days is bright flashlights. One advertisement noted:

If you're looking for a more affordable tactical flashlight, check out the Streamlight ProTac. Its 180 lumens of light output is more than enough to blind an attacker so you can escape and evade.

I have one of those types of flashlights, so I can see what’s going on down at my deer feeder at night. At first, it worked great! I could see like it was almost daylight.

Then after several weeks, it barely illuminated the area. The light was not shining brightly outwardly because the batteries within had become weak.

It’s the same in the spiritual realm, only as we cultivate intimacy within will we shine brightly without. When we shine the light of the gospel into this dark world Satan flees and sin is exposed for what it really is.

II. FURTHERMORE, REFUSE TO LIVE LIKE THE LOST SINNER.

A. The Need to Behave Properly.

13 Let us behave properly as in the day – it is proper for people of the day to live righteously. We are to live right now, as if, it were the Day when we were standing in God’s presence in the Rapture.

B. The need to fear the Possibility.

He is writing to believers, as it is possible if we do not confess and forsake sin to allow our sin nature to influence our lives. We must not and do not have to live in sin (1 Cor. 10:13).

34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:34 See 1 Jn. 2:1

He lists three pairs of sin we need to avoid:

1. Shameful Intemperance.

• Bashes [wild parties] - not in carousing – worshippers of the pagan god Bacchus paraded down the street half-drunk, gorging themselves on food and wine.

• Booze - and drunkenness – getting into a drunken stupor by having contests to see who can drink the most.

2. Sinful Intercourse.

• Bed hopping - not in sexual promiscuity – lit. Sleeping in bed. The context indicates hooking-up or sleeping around with anyone who is available.

• Blatant lust - and sensuality – unchecked shameful lust of any and all kinds. Like pumping Hell’s Box Office into one’s home through the cable network.

3. Scornful Intolerance.

• Brawls - not in strife – speaking of fistfights, shouting matches, riots and the like.

• Burning to have what belongs to another - and jealousy – it speaks of zeal, ambition, here for what is not ours.

Kenneth Wuest writes, regarding Rom. 6:1:

“Shall we continue habitually to sustain the same relationship to the sinful nature that we sustained before we were saved, a relationship which was most cordial, a relationship in which we were fully yielded to and dependent upon that sinful nature, and all this as a habit of life?" The idea of habitual action comes from the use of the present subjunctive which speaks of habitual action. The fundamental question, therefore, is not with regard to acts of sin but with respect to the believer's relationship to the sinful nature.”

While we cannot be totally dominated by the sin nature like we were before we were saved, we can yield at times to disgusting acts of sin that betray who we really are in Christ.

We must say no to sin and trust the Holy Spirit to make that no stick.

13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13

The believer can live according to the flesh, but not be in the flesh. When we live according to the flesh, we have lost sight of any moment return of Christ (1 Jn. 3:2-3). We must stay awake to who we are and where we are headed. We are to live this life with eternity in mind.

Bob Zuppke was a football coach. He was asked, “What makes a man fight?” He said, “Two forces are at war in every fighter, the ego, and a goal. An overdose of self-love, coddling of the ego, makes bums of men who ought to be champions. Forgetfulness of self, complete absorption in the goal, often makes champions out of bums.”

Our goal is Christlikeness and we are to trust the Holy Spirit to take what we are inwardly and enable us to experience it outwardly (Gal. 5:16).

We have to wake up to the truth that if we live carnal lives we are going to experience loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

See, 1 Cor. 3:10-15/2 Cor. 5:10/2 Jn. 1:8/etc.

That does not have to happen! We can refuse to live like the lost (Rom. 12:1-2).

In 1945, communists seized power in Romania and attempted to control the churches for their purposes. Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, a Messianic Jew, immediately began an effective "underground" ministry. He was eventually arrested in 1948 and spent three years in solitary confinement, seeing no one but his Communist torturers.

He was released in 1956, after eight and a half years, and he resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959, and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured.

Pastor Wurmbrand was released in a general amnesty in 1964. Realizing the great danger of a third imprisonment, Christians in Norway negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania. The "going price" for a prisoner was $1,900. Their price for Wurmbrand was $10,000. In May 1966, he testified in Washington before the Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee and stripped to the waist to show eighteen deep torture wounds covering his body.

Pastor Wurmbrand said that he learned a valuable lesson from the brutal prison guards.

"As they allowed no place for Jesus in their hearts," said Wurmbrand "I decided I would leave not the smallest place for Satan in mine."

Tozer said it well:

“We must break the evil habit of ignoring the spiritual. We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen. For the great unseen Reality is God. “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”… If we truly want to follow God, we must seek to be other-worldly. This I say knowing well that that word has been used with scorn by the sons of this world and applied to the Christian as a badge of reproach. So be it. Every man must choose his world. [Tozer, A. W.. The Pursuit of God (The Definitive Classic) (p. 57). Gospel Light. Kindle Edition.]

III. THIRD, OUR RESOURCE FOR VICTORY IS OUR SAVIOR.

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ – again we see this tension.

• We have already put on the Lord Jesus inwardly: Isa. 61:10/Rom. 6:3/Gal. 3:27/1 Cor. 1:30/2 Cor. 5:21/etc.

• Now we are told to put Him on outwardly: Our passage tells us to put on Christ (Gal. 3:27/Eph. 4:24).

Trans: Christ is in all believers, but we can have a consciousness of His presence! Isa. 64/Ex. 33:3, 14-16/Jn. 14:21/Ja. 4:8

No time to develop this but here is a brief list:

• No Thought of merit outside of Christ (Lu. 18:9-14).

• Do not Tolerate sin (1 Cor. 4:4/1 Jn. 1:9).

• Render Total obedience by the power of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:21).

• Talk to Him all the time. This what the old preachers called practicing the presence of God (Ac. 2:25/1 Thess. 5:17).

• Take Him at His word (Rom. 8:8/1 Cor. 3:16/Col. 1:27/Rev. 2:1; 3:20).

• Travail in prayer to clear the atmosphere (2 Cor. 10/Jam. 4:7).

• Treasure His Word (Psa. 1/Josh. 1:8).

• Trust Him even in darkness (Isa. 50:10-11)

• Don’t Tell Him what to do, just set your sail (Jn. 3:8).

• Think humbly (Psa. 34:18; 51:17/Isa. 57:15; 66:2/ 2 Cor. 1, 10).

Trans: The key is to make the manifested presence of God the burning priority of our lives.

An old story that says it well is about an old man known for his intimate walk with God. He would spend hours meditating on God’s word down by the side of a river. Once a young man came and asked him what was the secret to knowing God. The old man grabbed the young man and thrust his head under the water! Soon the young man was struggling with all his might for air. Finally, the old man let him up and said, “Young man, when you want God like you wanted that air, you’ll find Him!”

When it comes to Jesus, multitasking simply will not work, He requires our full undivided attention.

IV. FINALLY, RELEASE OUR PLANS TO SIN.

and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts – Lit. don’t make plans to sin!

Foreman noted, “Paul is saying: Do not plan for sin; give it no welcome; offer it no opportunity. Kick the sin off your doorstep, and you won’t have it in the house.”

It is simple, if you have a problem with gluttony don’t bring the food home; if has trouble keeping morally pure, don’t subscribe to things like HBO; if you are tempted to drink stay out of places that serve alcohol.

A friendly waitress couldn’t get a smile out of a certain customer. The woman was dour, depressed, and dejected all through her dinner. And the food was delicious! As the woman paid her bill and was leaving, the waitress said, “Have a nice day!” And the woman responded snappishly, “I’m sorry, but I’ve made other plans!” [Hodgin, Michael. 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking: Fresh, Timely, and Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Speakers (Kindle Locations 1077-1080). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.]

If we allow plans to sin, we are also planning to be miserable! 1 Pet. 2:11

Con:

1. Awake, for the Dawn, is about to Break!

2. It won’t be long; we’ll be going home, let's live like it.

Let’s Review:

• Response of loving Supernaturally.

• Recognize the need to wake up from our Sleep.

• Realize the nearness of our Salvation.

• Resist the Self-life.

• Reliance upon God’s armor to Shine.

• Refuse to live like the lost Sinner.

• Resource is our Savior.

• Release our plans to sin.

3. In conclusion, let us be clear, we must first realize that because of what God has already done inwardly through regeneration we can awake outwardly and experience revival.

But we have to keep the order, first regeneration then revival; first inward then outward; it is not a matter of striving to become something we're not, but of becoming who we already are.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon for years, but he noticed even after removing ugly scars or straightening out crooked noses, the patients still viewed themselves as the same ugly person they were before. Their self-image was so deeply ingrained that they could not perceive themselves to be any different after the surgery than before.

After observing this for some 20 years, he concluded:

“It is impossible to behave consistently differently from what you see yourself to be.”

That is why it is essential to get our self-image from the Word of God. God says we have put off the old man; we are new creatures in Christ; We are Pardoned and Imputed Christ’s Righteousness; we are light, of the day. We must believe and trust the Holy Spirit to take us from inward reality to outward reflection of that reality – when we do we will experience a genuine, lasting revival.

Intro:

1. "On March 8, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, vanished over the South China Sea. Without a trace. And with 239 people on board. It's being described as an 'unprecedented mystery.' Where is it? Where have all the people gone?"

2. That is nothing compared to the real “unprecedented mystery” that we call the Rapture. We have looked at the need to focus on that Day, now let’s look at that Day itself or our Departure.

3. The Departure – Removal.

Trans: 1 Cor. 15:50-58

This entire chapter is thrilling! It looks at the Means of the Resurrection (35-36); then the Manner of the Resurrection (37-49); and finally, the Mystery of the Resurrection (50-58).

I. FIRST, A TRUTH - We shall all be changed. 50

A. Those Living at the time of the Rapture.

Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God – here it denotes our frail mortal bodies. We cannot enter into a spiritual heavenly kingdom. It cannot refer to the Earthly Millennial Kingdom because mortals with be in that kingdom.

We obviously cannot meet the Lord in the air with these bodies! That is why astronauts wear space suits when they go into outer space!

B. For those who are Sleeping bodily at the rapture.

…nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable – the word perishable speaks of that which is decayed or ruined. It is talking about the believer who died before the Rapture, their body is in the grave.

Trans: The Rapture will affect all believers - if you die before the rapture then your soul/spirit will immediately go to be with the Lord(2 Cor. 5:8), but your body will decompose;

At the rapture, if you are alive, you will be transformed into a glorified body without experiencing bodily death.

Every believer will have a part in the Rapture.

II. NEXT, THE TRANSFORMATION. 51-54

Paul says we have to change and then talks about that change.

A. The Promise.

1. Speaks of a Mystery.

Behold, I tell you a mystery - Mee-steer-ee-on, it speaks of a Divine secret that is now being revealed. It’s something that, human reasoning, apart from Gods revelation could not come up with.

What’s the mystery? Not that believers would experience a bodily resurrection sometime after death. That was taught in the Old Testament (Job 19:26 Ps 16:10; 49:15/Isa 26:19/Dan. 12:2/Hos. 13:14).

The mystery is that an entire generation of believers would be translated to heaven without experiencing physical death!

I remember I was dating a girl, seems like a lifetime ago, I was telling her how my back hurt. And she said they had a family secret on how to sleep to keep your back from hurting. We never got married and I never did learn the family secret.

The Rapture is a family secret; don’t expect the lost to understand it!

2. Speaks of an Any moment possibility.

It could happen at any moment – notice Paul included himself in those who would be alive at the Rapture! Notice Paul says “…we will not all sleep…we will be changed.” 1 Thess. 4:16-18 also.

That is why we are not told to wait for the antichrist but the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:9-10; 4:16-18/Tit. 2:12-13/Ja. 5:8-9/etc.). Jn. 14:1-3

This truth I fear is not at the forefront as it should be and was in the first-century church.

Alexander MacLaren a Great Britain preacher from days gone by noting:

"The ancient church thought a great deal more about the coming of Jesus Christ than about death -to them the way of passing out of life was not so much seeing corruption as being caught up together in the air."

3. Speaks of Certainty.

all be changed – keep in mind that was written to the most carnal church in the New Testament! This kills the partial rapture theory that only the spiritual will be removed. God’s promises are not based on our worth but His integrity (Num. 23:19/ 2 Tim. 2:13).

Trans: The Rapture is based on the Promise of God (Rom. 4:20-21).

CHARLES SCHULZ, in one of his “Peanuts” cartoons, shows Lucy and Linus looking out the window, watching it rain. Lucy begins the conversation: Lucy: Boy, look at it rain . . . what if it floods the whole world?

Linus: It will never do that . . . In the ninth chapter of Genesis, God promised Noah that this would never happen again, and the sign of that promise is the rainbow. Lucy: You’ve taken a great load off my mind . . . Linus: Sound theology has a way of doing that! —Robert L. Short, Parables of Peanuts

Knowing that God has promised to take us out of here before the Tribulation Period begins is good theology and should take a load off our minds.

B. The Process. 52-54

1. A Flash.

in a moment – It speaks of something so small that it cannot be cut or divided anymore. It could be translated flash or split second. Wuest translation is good:

In an instant of time so small that it cannot be divided into smaller units… 1 Corinthians 15:51 (WuestNT)

2. A Flutter.

in the twinkling of an eye – this word speaks of extremely rapid movement like the blinking of an eye.

Trans: The Rapture will happen so fast that we will not have time to prepare or even think about it when it takes places.

Billy Sunday wrote:

“The Christian has no business to be looking for death. It is his right to hope to live forever, and instead of expecting to go to the grave, he should be looking for a meeting in the air…And it will come in the twinkling of an eye – in a moment – and that moment will be what all time was made for. In that moment, some will give up old age to be young forever. Others will go from beds of pain upon which they may have lain prostrate for years. Others form the most riding poverty, will spring to eternal wealth…All in a moment! Just that quick! Quicker than a clock can tick! Quicker than lightning can flash. “

3. The Final Trumpet.

at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality – this is not the final trumpet but it is for the Church.

This Process is also found in 1 Thess. 4:16-18:

I. Return.

A. It will be Personal - The Lord Himself

B. It will be Audible – “Come up here” Rev. 4:1

Trans: This what life is all about – not the street of gold or, mansions, whatever. It is about meeting God! Notice the name Lord is used 5 times in these few verses!

I was born in 1953, which was the year Hank Williams died. I always felt like I was supposed to be his replacement— just kidding! I remember reading about how Hank, because of his addiction to booze, missed several of his concerts. Imagine the disappointment the people felt, they had come to hear Hank sing and yet he was not going to be there! I can hear the announcer now, “Well, ladies and gentleman, we sorry to inform you that Hank couldn’t make tonight, but here to take his place are the goober sisters! Let’s give a hearty welcome to the goober sisters!”

Praise God, the Lord Jesus will not let us down, He Himself will be coming.

II. Then a Resurrection.

the dead in Christ will rise first – that refers to believers who died before the rapture. It will be in the rapture that they will receive a glorified body. More on this later…

Benjamin Franklin’s epitaph, which he wrote himself:

“The body of Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents are torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here food for worms. But the work will not be lost, for it will appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised, and corrected and glorified by the Author…”

III. Third, the Rapture.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up – the rapture is related to those of us who are alive when He comes.

A. Terminology.

Charles Ryrie notes, “Rapture is a state or experience of being carried away…The English word comes from a Latin word, rapio, which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. In other words, it means to be carried away either in spirit or body…The Greek word from which we take this term rapture appears in 1 Thess. 4:17 and is translated “caught up.” The Latin translation of this verse uses the word rapturo, from which we derive our English word rapture.”

B. Transformation.

we shall be changed – we will look at this next time.

C. Transportation.

From the earth into the air!

This is going to be a literal trip! Ex: Ac. 8:39-40/2 Cor. 12:2-4/Rev. 12:5). Only our journey will only take a split second and will transform our bodies into glorified ones.

IV. Reunion.

together with them – what a meeting that is going to be!

Sheldon Vanauken was a student of the English professor and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis in the early 1950s. He recounts in his book A Severe Mercy the story of his last meeting with his mentor when Vanauken was leaving Oxford for the United States. Over one final lunch together at a pub, they had spent time wondering aloud about the nature of life after death. When they had finished eating, they stood outside of the pub, talked for a few more minutes, and just before parting ways, Lewis said to Vanauken, "I shan't say goodbye. We'll meet again." The great apologist then plunged into the traffic to cross the street while Vanuaken watched his friend walk away. When Lewis got to the other side of the street, he turned around, anticipating that his friend would still be standing there. With a grin on his face, Lewis shouted over the great roar of cars, "Besides—Christians never say goodbye."

Con:

1. On that Day we will experience a Departure – a Removal from this earth to meet the Lord Jesus in the air! Meeting Jesus is the essence of what life is all about.

2. When Harry Truman became President he was concerned about losing touch with common everyday Americans. So he often would go out and be among them.

Once he took a walk down to the Memorial Bridge on the Potomac River. He came across a man eating his lunch out of a tiny bucket. The man looked up and saw the president; he was not surprised in the least. He smiled and said, “You know, Mr. President I was just thinking of you.”

Let’s live in such a way that when the Lord comes back, we will be able to say, “You know Lord Jesus, I was just thinking about you!”

THE DEPARTURE – the Arrival

Intro:

1. Reminds me of a backward family who went to the big city for the first time. They went into a huge building and saw a strange sight. A big metal door opened up with lights flashing on the top. An old ugly wrinkly woman got into the box, the door closed, and this backwoods dad and his son watched with curiosity. A little while later those metal doors opened again and out came this young, beautiful, shapely woman. The man’s mouth dropped open and he whispered to his son, “Son! Go get your mother!”

2. One of these days in the twinkling of an eye we are going to be amazingly transformed. We looked at our Departure, which is a Removal from earth to glory. Now I was us to look at the Departure related to our Arrival.

3. Our Departure – our Arrival.

Trans: 1 Cor. 15:37-49

I. FIRST, THE TRANSFORMATION.

A. The Superiority.

35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" 36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. – when you plant a seed, the result is that something different up. If you plant an acorn you do not grow acorns! You get a tall majestic oak tree.

Just as an oak tree looks different and is far superior to an acorn, so our resurrected bodies will be different and superior to the bodies we now possess.

Take a hard, dry, plain, unimpressive seed – and out comes a beautiful gorgeous flower. What a contrast! This is demonstrated by our Lord’s resurrected body – Rev. 1:12-17).

I Remember something C. S. Lewis once said, “If a glorified saint were to walk in the room, we would be tempted to worship them!”

What a contrast with this world, where we often can identify with an insignificant little hard seed, then a beautiful exotic plant.

Lizzie Velasquez (a now 22 yr old woman with a rare, disfiguring disease) was, while still in high school, mockingly crowned YouTube’s “World’s Ugliest Woman.” A 9-second video showing her disease-ravaged face has seen nearly 5 million hits, and counting. People have left thousands of comments, and Lizzie says she has read them all. Some merely poke fun, while others more sinister urge her to “Do the world a favor and put a gun to your head.”

Lizzie is fighting back, but not with anger and bitterness. She is the author of a new book, LIZZIE BEAUTIFUL, and has committed her life to motivational speaking. Lizzie has recently made her own video in which she proudly proclaims, “I won!”

B. God’s Sovereignty. 38

But God gives it a body just as He wished – God never vacates His throne, not in time or eternity. Our glorified bodies will be designed by God Himself.

My son has a baseball, it would not be worth much except it was signed by 26 baseball players of the Baltimore Oriels. It has signatures by people like Jim Palmer and Frank Robinson. It is their signature that makes it special and valuable.

Our glorified bodies will be special because each will bear the unique signature of God on them.

C. Similarity.

to each seed a body of its own – our glorified bodies will not be created but resurrected. Just as there is a relationship between a seed and its plant, our bodies that we have now will be related to our future glorified bodies.

Laurin, “Just as various vegetable and fruit are different, depending on the nature of the seed, so in the resurrection the body will reveal the nature of the individual. The resurrection body will be both similar and different from the natural body.”

Jesus resurrected body was different and yet the same (Lu. 24:39, 41, 43/Jn. 22:27/Ac. 10:40-41).

I obviously do not understand it all, but somehow our glorified body, while being vastly superior to this body, it will somehow be patterned after this body. There will be transformation and recognition at the same time.

II. NEXT, THE VARIATION. 39-41

A. God’s variation of Earthly bodies.

1. A Definition of Flesh.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh – there are many different ways that “flesh” is used:

• The skin on our bodies (Lu. 24:39).

• Sometimes it is used for the total person (Ac. 2:17).

• Or as a synonym for the body (Ac. 2:31).

• It can refer to our sin nature (Rom. 7:23; 8:4).

• Sometimes it is used for humanity (1 Jn. 4:2).

2. A Description.

but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish – God has a variety of different kinds of skins or outward layers on various earthly beings. Point is there is a variety by God’s sovereign design.

B. Also a variation of heavenly bodies. 40

There are also heavenly bodies – these are various bodies found in heaven.

and earthly bodies – as we just noted.

but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory – obviously there is a difference between the sun, moon, stars.

Trans: His point is that we will not be a bunch of clones in heaven. We will all have a glorified body but they will all be unique and related to our own personalities.

MacDonald notes:

It is clear from other passages of Scripture that we shall not all be identical in heaven. Although all will resemble the Lord Jesus morally, that is, in freedom from sin, it does not follow that we shall all look like the Lord Jesus physically. He will be distinctly recognizable as such throughout all eternity. Likewise, we believe that each individual Christian will be a distinct personality recognizable as such. But there will be differences of reward granted at the Judgment Seat of Christ according to one's faithfulness in service. While all will be supremely happy in heaven, some will have a greater capacity for enjoying heaven.

III. FINALLY THE APPLICATION.

a. Negatively.

1. We will arrive in glory Deathless.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body – sown here refers to when we die, this body will decay. But our glorified bodies are imperishable. They never die! No aging! No decaying! No deterioration.

Hunter notes, “Nothing will invade to cause any kind of deterioration, sickness, pain, disease, etc. Its condition will be permanent, durable, eternal. Never growing old, tired or weary, it will maintain its freshness and quality of life forever.” 1 Pet. 1:3-4/Rom. 8:21.

2. We Sinless.

43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory – there is no honor in a corpse! We can dress em up, place them in a beautiful casket but what we see at every funeral is the wages of sin!

But our glorified body will have honor and beauty because it has no sin nature! What hope to one day stand before God sinless!

B. Positively.

1. It will be Supernatural.

it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power – what is weaker than a dead body? In fact, it's beyond weak it has no strength at all. You can take a man who can bench press 800 lbs, but in death, that same man cannot bench press a feather.

In John Wayne last movie ironically he played a man dying of cancer. In one scene, he goes to a doctor to confirm his disease. After examination, he is told that it’s cancer. John Wayne objects, “Doc last time you told me I was as strong as an ox. The Doc replied, “Even an ox dies!”

Truth is all of us are weak in both life and death, but we are going to be raised with a powerful supernatural body. It is going to be like our Lords who:

• Could move effortlessly and swiftly from one place to another.

• Could appear and disappear (Lu. 24:31).

• Could just go through locked doors (Jn 20:19, 26).

• Could just defy gravity (Ac. 1:9).

Who knows what all we will be able to do! How we will be able to see, hear, taste things, etc.

2. Spiritually.

44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body – we will not only be dwelt with the Holy Spirit like we are now but in a fullness, we have knew known! To be filled, directed, dominated by the Holy Spirit 24/7 throughout eternity is going to be pleasure and worship in the extreme.

This is what we were made for, it is the deepest longing in our hearts!

Nobody says it better than C. S. Lewis:

“I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, if we have ever desired anything else. You have stood before some landscape, which seems to embody what you have been looking for all your life; but at the first words to express it, a gap opens up between you and the thing, and you realize it’s just an elusive suggestion. Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction, which the others are curiously ignorant of— something not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through— the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat’s side? Something which you were born desiring, from childhood to old age, something you’ve been looking for, watching for, listening for all of your life. Yet, you have never had it, only hints of it, tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled. We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or friends or chose our work and which we shall still desire when on our deathbeds when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. All of your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope that you have attained it, or else, that it was within your reach and you have lost it forever.”

Con:

1. If you are a believer the best is yet to come! And the That Day is just around the corner!

2. Mrs. Higgins was a war correspondent who received the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Korean War. She wrote about the 5th Company of Marines who were outnumbered, it was 42 degrees below zero. One weary soldier was eating from a can of cold beans, his face covered with mud and worry. She asked, “If I were God and could grant you anything you wished what would you like most?”

He stood almost motionless for a few moments and then said, “Give me tomorrow.”

That is exactly what God has promised us – an eternal tomorrow filled with nothing but bliss!

DEATH

1. “In 564 BC, the spectators at the Olympic games saw the most incredible athletic victory of all time. Arrichion was competing for his third consecutive championship in ‘pankration,’ an event that combined boxing and wrestling. During the match, Arrichion’s opponent got him in a suffocating stranglehold. In a desperate attempt to escape the life-threatening chokehold, Arrichion dislocated his opponent’s ankle. In great pain, Arrichion’s opponent released him from the death hold and raised his hand in defeat. Just as the rival conceded defeat, Arrichion died. Due to the sequence of events, Arrichion was ruled the winner and he became the only Olympic athlete who has ever won by dying.”

2. All believers win by dying because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Now we have to deal with the fact, that we might die before the Rapture. What happens then? I believe I will be caught up in the Rapture, but the older I get the more I realize death is a possibility also.

3. Death.

Trans: The background of this passage is that Paul had taught them about the Rapture of the Church before he was kicked out of town. It was presented as any moment possibility, and they believed him. To their surprise, some died after Paul had departed and they wondered how they would relate to the Rapture. That is the problem Paul is addressing in these verses. 1 Thess. 4: 13-15

I. FIRST, GETTING OUR BEAUTY SLEEP. 13

A. The problem of being Uninformed. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep – we need to know what the Bible says about those who have died. They are said to be “asleep” which is, a metaphor. We get our English word Cemetery from this word. Sleep is Linked metaphorically to physical death (Mt. 9: 18, 24/ Jn. 11: 11-14).

Vines, “The object of the metaphor is to suggest that as the sleeper does not cease to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to exist despite his absence from the region in which those who remain can communicate with him, and that, as sleep is known to be temporary, so the death of the body will be found to be. Sleep has its waking; death will have its resurrection.”

We need not be ignorant of those who have died; their body is getting its beauty sleep. It will one day awake with a new glorified resurrected body.

Knowing the outcome of death for ourselves and our loved ones is what gives life meaning. So Paul says don’t be uninformed about what has happened to fellow believers who had died.

Readers Digest once had a story:

The staff at the office where my wife works were hosting a farewell luncheon for a retiring colleague. As the group prepared to go to the restaurant, they found that they couldn't fit the giant balloon they had purchased for the guest of honor into the car. Undaunted, they simply held the balloon out the window as they drove. My wife and her co-workers weren't prepared for the glares they received from passers-by. As the long line of traffic in front of their vehicle began to turn, they saw that their car was right behind a funeral procession. There was nothing they could do but hold on to the balloon with its farewell message: "Gone but not forgotten." -Reader's Digest, February 1991, p. 62

Those who die in Christ are gone from our midst, but let us not forget that they are alive and well in God’s awesome presence.

B. The problem of remaining Uncomforted.

so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope – these are present tenses. It means to remain in a state of grief, in a state of hopelessness.

Grief is needed and healthy unless it goes on and on. Of course, the only one who understands our grief and can, by His grace, get us through the grieving process is God Himself.

Don’t be Uninformed or Uncomforted, that loved one’s body is just getting their Beauty sleep!

There was a TV commercial some time ago that didn’t say a word. It simply shows a series of people who have one thing in common— a nasty injury or scar. There’s a cowboy with a huge scar around his eye, and something wrong with the eye itself; a fellow with a bulbous cauliflower ear; another with horribly callused feet. There’s no explanation at all, simply the Nike swoosh and “Just Do It.” The key to the commercial lies in the background music. Joe Cocker sings, “You are so beautiful... to me.”

No matter how many scars we endure in this life, our body will rest in the grave as it turns back to dust awaiting its resurrection in the Rapture. It is a beautiful process that only God Himself could pull off!

II. FURTHERMORE, THAT WHICH DOESN’T SLEEP A WINK. 14

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus – the body sleeps, but the soul doesn’t sleep a wink! The soul is what He “will bring with Him” when the rapture occurs.

8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body [we leave our body to its sleep] and to be [our souls, ourselves] at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5: 8

9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 1 Thessalonians 5: 9-10

We need to realize there is more to us than just our bodies.

Someone once asked John Quincy Adams how he was personally doing. Adams replied, "I am very well, thank you. However, the house in which John Adams lives is growing old. The thatch is wearing thin, and it trembles in every gale. I think John Quincy Adams will have to soon move out, but he himself is very well, sir."

Heaven is right outside this body! The second we leave, we enter into a new dimension, a new world – God’s world!

Ignatius of Antioch learned that the Christians of Smyrna were praying for him, that he would be pardoned by the government and not be martyred. As soon as he found out, he got a message to them that read,

“I must implore you, to do me no such untimely unkindness; pray, I beg you, leave me, to a meal for the beasts, for it is they, who provide my way to God. I am his wheat, ground fine by the lion's teeth, to be made purest bread for Christ.” Bar the Rapture; death is the way into God’s Presence!

Since in death we do not sleep a wink, we should not be afraid of death. To fear death is to fear glory!

See, 2 Cor. 5: 6-9/ Phil. 1: 23

We are all homesick to be in God’s presence where we belong. I have taken several trips out to Colorado to do some hunting. We lived in a tent – no shower, no bathroom, no heat except that of an old wood stove. It was not long before I longed to be back home where I belonged. Of course, back home wasn’t really home at all, Home is in the unhindered presence of God.

Spurgeon noted: “Methinks I shall never take my eyes off Him, but find a heaven, an eternity, an infinity of bliss in drinking Him in with all my eyes and all my heart… Here we do speak with Him but it is by faith through the Spirit of God, in the glory land we shall actually speak to Him in His immediate presence, and hear His voice while He personally speaks to us… Oh the joy which awaits us! It is almost too much for me to think of… You shall have ten thousand times as much delight in God as you have ever dreamed of.”

For us to live is Christ and to die is gain – what we gain is knowing God in the fullness. We know God now but not like we are going to know Him when we leave this body.

I confess around Christmas time I don’t like to wait until Christmas day to open my presents. I tell my wife give it to me now, I may be dead or raptured by Christmas day! I remember as a kid, when my parents would go out somewhere I would sneak around the house looking for where they hid our Christmas gifts. One time several weeks before Christmas I found a guitar hidden in the closet. I took it out and held it and thrilled at the thought of learning to play it. In a way, I was already enjoying what would be mine in fullness on Christmas morning.

We are already enjoying the gift of God’s presence, but one day we will enjoy God in His fullness! 1 Cor. 13: 12

III. FINALLY, THERE IS NO DISADVANTAGE FOR BEING A HEAVY SLEEPER. 15

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep – the phrase, “will not precede” is lit. “to gain an advantage over.” If you sleep before the rapture, it is no disadvantage! Whether we died before the rapture or are alive at the rapture, we will all get a glorified body at that time.

Trans: I have on several occasions’ fallen asleep watching the news. The problem with that is, it is during that time that I have my supper! On at least one of those occasions, Ann let me sleep, and I missed my supper. But I didn’t miss a thing because (1) when I was sleeping I was not thinking about eating; and (2) when I woke up supper was waiting for me. If we miss the rapture through death, it will not bother us because we will be in the very Presence of God; and two, we will still get our glorified body.

Con:

1. One of these days, if the Lord tarries, we're going to get a good night’s sleep!

2. I read a true story that seemed appropriate to close this message. A couple, Alfred, and Geri, of Mastic Beach, New York, were notified that their son Freddy had been killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer on a Pennsylvania highway. But it was a mistake, for some reason the man who died was carrying Freddy's driver's license. Freddy was supposed to be staying with his brother Chris, so when Chris got word of his brother's death, he raced home. He went downstairs and there he saw something on the couch. Chris poked at the lump under the blankets, and his brother awoke. Chris started screaming, 'You're dead! You're dead!' And Freddy half awake replied, “Relax, I’m not dead, I'm only sleeping!'"

The truth is those who have died in Christ, are not dead at all, they are only sleeping! That is bodily sleeping but wide awake in the presence of the Lord.

DELAY

Intro:

1. John Walvoord sees no major end-time role for America: Although conclusions concerning the role of America in prophecy in the end time are necessarily tentative, the

Scriptural evidence is sufficient to conclude that America, in that day, will not be a major power and apparently does not figure largely in either the political, economic, or religious aspects of the world. [John F. Walvoord, The Nations in Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967), 175.]

Charles Ryrie agrees:

The Bible has made crystal clear the destiny of many nations. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Egypt, Russia, and Israel… But not so with the United States… The Bible’s silence concerning the future of the United States might well mean that she will play no prominent role in the end-time drama… we are led to conclude that the United States will be neutralized, subordinated, or wiped out, thus having little or no part in the political and military affairs of the end time. [Charles C. Ryrie, The Best Is Yet to Come (Chicago: Moody, 1981), 109-10.]

2. After studying the Bible, with a focus on Bible prophecy for over 40 years, I do not see America playing a major role in the last days. The question is will this nation fall apart before the Rapture? Will things get bad before we personally experience death? How do we live through a National disaster if we are still here?

3. Delay?

Trans: Of course we can say that we are already facing one crisis after another:

• Hurricanes are coming fast and furious – Harvey, Irma, etc.

• Fires raged across the West.

• Earthquakes hit Mexico.

• North Korea threatening to drop an H-bomb into the Pacific Ocean.

• Iran will not be far behind.

• Our Nation is bitterly divided – race is now an issue again; a hatred burns between Democrats and Republicans; Jesus said a house divided cannot stand.

• Terrorist attacks like 9/ 11 are always a possibility.

• Moral perversion is paraded about as not only normal but a privileged right.

• Our Government is inept – it cannot even get rid of Obama Care or get Tax reforms through.

So what are we to do if we find ourselves in a National crisis? Let’s get some principles from the book of Joel, a time when Israel was in a national disaster. Joel 1: 1-20

I. FOR STARTERS, THE DISASTER WIPED OUT THE ECONOMY. 1: 4

A. The Source of the Disaster?

1. The Agent – God!

2: 11 But the Bible leaves us no doubt: God is never frustrated.

“No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4: 35).

Satan is real and working behind the scenes, but even he must get permission to touch God’s people (see Job 1: 12; 2: 6; and Luke 22: 31-32).

Who is it that controls the weather?

22 Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things. Jeremiah 14: 22

One notes the common thinking today:

We tend to regard it as nothing more than the impersonal expression of certain fixed meteorological or geological laws. A low-pressure system settles over my hometown, bringing a huge snowstorm, and closing our airport the day I am to leave for a ministry engagement… Whether it is trivial or traumatic, we tend to think of the expressions of nature as “just happening” and ourselves as the “unlucky” victims of whatever nature brings forth. In practice, even Christians tend to live and think like the deists.

But we either live by the Word of God or the reasoning of man: A Christian TV meteorologist has determined that there are over 1,400 references to weather terminology in the Bible. Many of these references attribute the outworking of weather directly to the hand of God. Most of these passages speak of God’s control over all weather, not just His divine intervention on specific occasions.

"Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. Job 37:3

6 "For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' Job 37:6

10 "From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen. 11 "Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. 12 "It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. 13 "Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. Job 37:10-13

16 He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. 17 He casts forth His ice as fragments; Who can stand before His cold? 18 He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. Psalm 147:16-18

13 When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses. Jeremiah 10:13

7 "Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you While there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city And on another city I would not send rain; One part would be rained on, While the part not rained on would dry up.

Amos 4:7

The insurance companies refer to major natural disasters as “acts of God.” The truth is, all expressions of nature, all occurrences of weather, whether it is a devastating tornado or a gentle rain on a spring day, are acts of God. The face is, for most of us, the weather and the effects of nature are usually favorable. Sadly, we complain about the rare adverse weather and then refuse to thank Him favor the sunny days we experience day after day.

G. C. Berkouwer stated, “The believer is never the victim of the powers of nature or fate. Chance is eliminated.

Alexander Carson said, “Scripture represent[ s] all physical laws as having their effect from the immediate agency of Almighty Power…. Christians themselves, though they recognize the doctrine [of divine providence], are prone to overlook it in practice, and consequently to be deprived, in a great measure, of that advantage which a constant and deep impression of this truth is calculated to give.”

45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45

Larry Crab tells of his grandfathers’ death in 1917 due to a flu epidemic which killed thousands of people. Larry’s dad was one of four children, and was told by his mother what happened:

“I was sitting beside the bed. Somehow I knew this was the end, and for the first time, I cried in front of you. God was taking my Charlie after giving us so short a time together. He was leaving me a widow with four children. What was I to do? Papa looked at me. He recognized me; he sat up and put his arms around me. For a moment I thought he was going to get well. Then he said, “Laura, Laura, don’t cry. Hush, God is in it” and then he was gone.”

2. The Avenue.

a. Devouring Locust. 4

Phillips, “When food is abundant locus begin to multiply until their numbers reach astronomical proportions. The more they eat, the more they breed. In a breeding area, there can be 5,000 eggs in a square yard. At intervals, females deposit their eggs pods, four inches deep in damp soil or sand where conditions are favorable for hatching.

Each female will lay at least three hundred pods in her lifetime and each pod contains up to 100 eggs. Each pod remains in the ground from 10 to 20 days. When the eggs hatch, the hatchlings find their way to the surface, shed their first skin, and become hoppers. The insects will enter a gregarious stage in which they seek each other’s company and constantly touch one another. This change of behavior triggers a change in color from green to yellow, black and red.

Then the locust form bands and begin to march. Small bands merge to form larger ones and all of them forward together in the same direction. Marching forward, feeding as they go, the locusts pass through 5 stages of growth, shedding their skins in each stage.

A medium-sized swarm may comprise more than a billion locust, and some swarms reach prodigious proportions with an estimated million locusts extending over two hundred square miles.

Having no maps, homing instinct or control over where they go, locust simply rides the prevailing winds. During its five or six months of life, each locust travels between two and three thousand miles, breeding as it goes. With teeth like saws, they devour grass and leaves, fruit and foliage – everything green and edible; they attack the young branches of trees and the bark on trunks; they consume corn in the field and fall on vines, willows, and even bitter hemp; they strip palm trees bare.”

b. Drought. 12,17,20

c. Devastating fire. 19-20

It is hard to imagine how devastating these three disasters were!

I read, “Wildfires are chewing across dried-out western forests and grassland. More than 47,000 wildfires have burned more than 8 million acres across the country, with much of the devastation in California, Oregon, and Montana.

As of Tuesday, 62 large fires were burning across nine western states, with 20 fires in Montana and 17 in Oregon, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Nearly half the large fires in the west reported zero acreage gains on Monday, helping firefighters across the west make progress towards containing them, the agency said.

Another article noted, “The western wildfire season is in full swing with dozens of fires blazing in Utah, Arizona, and California… The largest fire in the U.S., the so-called Brian Head fire in southern Utah, has destroyed 13 homes, damaged two and forced more than 1,500 people to evacuate, Inciweb reports. The fire has burned more than 91 square miles and remains 15 percent contained.

Authorities say the costs of the fire currently stands at an estimated $11 million and could grow to $20 million, which would make it the most expensive fire in the state.”

The loss of lives, homes, livestock; the smoke damage; the closing down major highways; the devastation from fires are considerable.

B. The Severity of the disaster.

1. It affected the Land – grain and barely represented their food supply. 9-11, 16-17

2. It affected the very Landscape – vines and trees – keep in mind that wine was a table beverage like water is to us today. 5-7, 10-12, 19

3. It affected Livestock. 18,20

4. It affected the Lakes and streams. 20

David Levy, “The judgment upon Judah affected every aspect of the land. First, their food supply was destroyed. Second, the prospect of future food was nonexistent. The seed was rotten under its clod because the drought and hot sun destroyed the shoots the moment they appeared. Thus with noting to harvest, the barns lay in disrepair. Third, the blazing sun burned up the pastures, scorched the trees, and dried up the rivers. Without pasture and water, the beasts would not survive for long.”

II. Furthermore, disaster-affected Everybody.

A. The Town Council…Elders. 2

B. The Citizens. 2,5

C. The Carnal – drunkards. 5

D. The Caretakers of the crops – farmers, vinedressers. 11

E. The Clergy – priests. 9, 13

III. Finally, disaster can be a blessing Eventually.

A. First, Get a word from God’s Prophets. 1:1

Today we have it in God’s Written Word. 2 Tim. 3:16-17

A true story that happened during the Vietnam War, a story about is a man named Hein Pham, an interpreter for the United States. He was arrested and imprisoned when Vietnam fell to the communists. As standard procedure the attempted to brain wash him with Communism and destroy his Christian faith. Finally, the pressure became so great that he began to doubt his faith, he decided there was no value in praying; he sought to turn his back on God. But the very next day, he was ordered to clean the crude latrines in the camp. As he cleaned he spotted a piece of paper with English writing on it, it was in a tin can full of toilet paper. He quickly washed it off and hid it in his pocket. That night, with his little flashlight, hidden under his covers he pulled out that piece of paper and discovered it was Rom. 8:28-29! Tears streamed down his face and he confessed his sin of turning away from God. God’s Presence flooded his heart! During the next several months he recovered a lot of Scriptures from that tin can; it seems that one of the prison commanders was using the Bible for toilet paper. It was God’s Word that strengthened him to endure those difficult days.

John Bunyan, “Although you may have no commentaries at hand, continue to read the Word and pray; for a little from God is better than a great deal received from man. Too many are content to listen to what comes from men’s mouth, without searching and kneeling before God to know the real truth. Even old truths are new if they come to us with the smell of heaven upon them.”

B. Furthermore, accept God’s wise Providence. 1:1 5

6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, 7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these. Isaiah 45:6-7

Dr. Edward J. Young commented on Isa. 45:7:

We gain nothing by seeking to minimize the force of the present verse.

Now, we obviously do not understand why God creates a disaster, or why He brings it to one town and not to another. If we could understand everything, we would be God…but we are not!

Glenn Chambers was a passenger on a DC-4 on Feb 19, 1947. His flight was bound for Ecuador, it crashed into the 14,000 ft high towering peak. Before he left the Miami Airport he wrote a note to his mom on a piece of paper that he had found on the floor of the terminal. On the back was one single word – Why! Between mailing the note and its arrival, Glenn was killed.

She opened the letter and the first thing she saw was this huge WHY. We often ask why when tragedy hits, but the real question is WHO! That would be God!

“God is too kind, to do anything cruel;

Too wise to make a mistake;

Too deep to explain Himself.”

C. Thirdly, allow for the Grieving Process. 5a, 8, 11, 12b, 13, 16b

“The most remarkable thing is how Joel deals with the disaster. To begin with, he does not treat the disaster lightly, as certain kinds of Christian people tend to do…far from playing down the disaster, they actually magnified it. So far as the locust invasion is concerned, Joel calls it the worst thing that has ever happened to Israel.”

It is ok to grieve.

Edgar Jackson, “Grief is a young widow trying to raise her 3 children alone. Grief is the man so filled with shocked uncertainty and confusion that he strikes out at the nearest person. Grief is a mother waling daily to a nearby cemetery to stand quietly and alone a few minutes before going about the tasks of the day. She knows that part of her is in the cemetery just as part of her is in her daily work.

Grief is the silent knife-life 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 goodnight 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.”

Yes even after getting a word from God, and truly trusting in His wise sovereign will, we till feel the sting of grief.

D. Next, acknowledge God’s Purpose. 3:17

Everything has a purpose, and that purpose is that “I might know Him!”

Wayne, a pastor in Hawaii, was given a certificate to eat at a nice restaurant; this allowed him to chow down for $100 dollars. They decided to dress up and live like wealthy folks; they even borrowed a friend’s expensive car. They ordered the most expensive thing on the menu.

The check came to just under 100 dollars so he said, “When the bill came, I said, “Honey why don’t you give me the certificate.” She said, “I don’t have it, I thought you brought it.” I said, “You have to have it! Yours suppose to have it! You’re the wife!” She persisted, “I don’t have it.” And I thought we are in deep yogurt. Here we are. We look rich, we act rich, and we even smell rich. But if we don’t have that certificate, it invalidates everything!”

He goes on to say, “There are times in our life when we can look holy, we can act holy, and we can even smell holy. But without a relationship with the Lord – we have nothing! That relationship validates everything else!”

Knowing God validates everything in our lives, He is the essence of our very life. And like it or not, suffering often speeds up the process of knowing more about Him.

E. Finally, Go to God in Prayer. 14, 19a

A simple one-word prayer will do – Help!

Tim Quinn, “My old Macintosh laptop simple would not run the Mac Bible software anymore. Though I had worked with it for hours, nothing would help. My wife suggested that I call the owner of the software for help, but no, I knew what I was doing.

Finally, after I had exhausted every last idea, I gave in and called the Mac Bible corporation. The person on the other end of the line was none other than the man who wrote the Mac Bible software. He gave me a brief set of instructions; I took them down and hung up the phone. In minutes my computer software was up and running. I just had to go to the man who wrote the program.”

The One who is writing our lives is God. He alone can help us, so why are we so reluctant to go to Him?

Con:

1. The truth is the next prophetic event on God’s calendar is the Rapture, after that this world will experience a global disaster called the Tribulation Period.

2. Before the Rapture things may get scary for all of us, including believers in Christ. But by God’s power we can endure if we:

Get a word from God’s Prophetic Word…

Rest in God’s wise loving Providence…

Allow the Grieving Process to take place…

Seek God’s Purpose…

And Go to God in Prayer…

3. Jonathan Thigpen of Wheaton Illinois was diagnosed with Lou Geris Disease – a cruel incurable illness of which there is no cure. He writes:

“I remember walking out of the doctor’s office and deep in the pit of my stomach, there was a feeling of overwhelming fear. I can’t describe it other than it felt like I was being hugged by something so dark and so horrible that I can’t describe it.”

Then he heard a voice in his mind, it was that of his dads. Jonathan noticed that his dad would disappear for an hour or two every day. One day he invited Jonathan to go with him, they spent the time visiting hospitals. His dad, a doctor would always pull out his New Testament and Psalms and read from Psa. 46.

Psalms 46:1-3

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song for Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

Jonathan writes, “By the time I got to my car that cloud of darkness had begun to lift because I realized that God was still in control. I didn’t have any more answers than I had had when I was in the doctor’s office five minutes before, but I can tell you this: Fear cannot stand in the face of a faith in a God who does not change. My fear had left.”

In the months that followed, Jonathan’s body weakened and then he was gone, but before he testified to all who would listen that God is a very present help in a time of trouble.

Johnny A Palmer Jr.