We have a Hope
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no Hope. - I Thessalonians 4:13
When Jenny was five, she asked her mother, “Does heaven have a floor?” Surprised, her mother said, “Well, Jenny, what do you think heaven is like?”
Jenny looked up at the sky and clouds and replied, “Well, I can’t see any floor, so I guess people are up there on shirt hangers!"
The mother told her five-year-old daughter that, in heaven we will have glorified bodies. Jenny asked, “Do you think we’ll look like Barbie?”
Today we are going to talk about heaven and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re not going to try, like some of those children, to describe heaven. We don’t know much about what happens to us after we die. The Christian believers in the city of Thessalonica faced persecution from the outside. In spite of this, the Thessalonian church appeared to be a faithful community of believers. The apostle Paul, author of I and II Thessalonians, often praises them for their faithfulness, holy living, and generosity. Yet he also wants to make sure that they are thoroughly instructed in the issues of the faith, because he knows they will come under great pressure from the surrounding society.
Keep away from looseness, he says to them, follow Christ as an example of holiness, work hard to support yourself, live at peace with your neighbors. The first half of I Thessalonians, chapter 4, teaches the believers in Thessalonica how to LIVE as Christians. For example in verse 7, For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to live in holiness. The second half of this chapter teaches them how to DIE in the same manner. We all want instructions on how to live better, but rarely we ask the question of how to die better. In fact, we would rather avoid the subject altogether.
The Apostle Paul gives us godly hope for our faithful christian lives. He tells us that God will bring back those who sleep in Jesus, the Lord will descend from heaven with glory, and we shall always be with our Lord. Through these words, he comforts every one of us and the church of Thessalonica.
I. God will bring those who sleep in Jesus:
Paul writes, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
That is what he wants to communicate to the church Thessalonica. And that is what he wants to communicate to us as well. We believe that God will bring with Jesus, those who have fallen asleep in him. He was describing the difference between the way pagans greet death and the way Christians greet death. “They rejoice and offer thanks to God,” he said, speaking of Christians. Can we face death with rejoicing and thanksgiving? I’m not suggesting that we deny ourselves the chance to grieve. We must grieve--but we grieve in hope. Jesus came to save us from death, and he gave his life as a sacrifice so that we could live forever in communion with him. Amen.
The Bible presents us with a few precious details. We are given little information about heaven, and we are expected to say that there will be no more death and no more tears. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Rev. 21:4). Another thing is, who’s going to heaven and who’s not. We don’t know. But the scripture says, we will leave that-up to God. Life does not end at the grave. Life does not end in this world. We do not lose our loved ones forever to death. Those who die in Christ live with him forever.
Paul is not writing these words to the Thessalonians to give them a definitive description of the nature of eternity, but to encourage them. Notice that Paul does not make light of losing a loved one. He does not tell his friends in Thessalonica not to grieve. Grief is one of the most natural and even essential experiences of life. A wise person once said, “Tear-less grief bleeds inwardly.” Watch out for someone who does not grieve when a loved one dies, who always keeps from shedding a tear. Feelings are being stuffed down that need to come out.
When a Christian grieves, he or she grieves with hope, in the knowledge that their loved one has met the Lord face to face. Believers find their completeness in death, because it leads to the life that is truly life abundant.
The plague of Cyprian erupted in North Africa during the 3rd century (250 AD). The plague lasted nearly 20 years and reportedly killed as many as 5,000 people per day in Rome. St. Cyprian (200-258 CD) bishop of Carthage, said that Christians showed and lived differently than others. They had a hope of resurrection, hope of eternity, hope of life forever, and it was their victory. The pagans (gentile) said of them they would carry their dead with a hope of victory. It is because of that hope that Christians have, the pandemic we have today is a great opportunity for us to show our faith and hope of Christian life.
“If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they accompany his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.” - Aristedes. Greek writer, 125 A.D.)
Paul does not minimize the hurt people feel when they lose a loved one. He does not tell us not to grieve. He simply tells us that we need not grieve in the same way as people “who have no hope.” Christ has conquered death. When we are absent from this body, we will be given a new spiritual body, a glorified body. Not like Barbie perhaps,--but a perfect body nonetheless. Grieve not as those who have no hope.
He easily could have said, “Fear not” as those who have no hope. Is there anyone in this room who is afraid of death? I don’t want to sound unpleasant, but the fear of death is almost universal among human beings, but our Lord will descend from heaven. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
II. The Lord will Descend from Heaven:
We have a great hope that the Lord will descend from heaven. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
As Christians we believe that the Lord himself will descend down with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The word translated “with a shout” or “with a loud voice” is a military commander’s authoritative shout to direct his troops. Jesus will return with such authority and “with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
When we are talking about the Lord’s second coming, return is an encouraging word. Paul is encouraging the church of Thessalonians and our church as well. Our departed loved ones will return. As Paul wrote, “We believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). The Thessalonians were new Christians, and Paul was not able to stay with them long enough to give them all of the instructions a new believer might need. When some of their members died, they wondered if they would miss out on the grand return of Christ. In fact, Paul assured them that their loved ones would rise or return with Christ.
Dr. Walter L. Wilson, M.D., was talking with a man who was an atheist. This non-believing man said he believed that death ends all. Dr. Wilson agreed with him. To the surprised atheist, Wilson said: “Death ends all my wanderings, all my tears, all my perplexities, all my disappointments, all my aches and pains; death ends it all, and, but, I go to be with my Lord in glory.
And those of you who have lost someone you love--don’t give up. The person you love is now in Christ’s care. They know peace and joy that is unattainable in this world. One day, you’ll be reunited. In the meantime, this sanctuary is a good place to be each week. Paul gives us another hope. That is.
III. We shall always be with our Lord:
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. - 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
The apostle Paul gives us an assurance that we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). How encouraging! “Together with Him!” None of us will miss out on that incredible day. The grave is a temporary resting place for a body. And we will be with the Lord forever! Think about it. All of us here today and the loved ones we have lost will be together on the day of glory with Him forever. Indeed, these are bright thoughts for dark days.
There is a delightful old story called “The King and the Three Princes.” It is about a king who had a very attractive daughter. Three princes asked for her hand in marriage. The king had told each prince that in order to marry his daughter, they would have to complete a particular task. To the first prince, he said, “Go tonight to the graveyard and lie down in an empty casket. If you can stay there all night, then you will have proven your courage.”
To the second prince, he said, “I have a dead man in a casket down at the graveyard. Go tonight and pray by the side of his casket. If you stay all night, then you will have proven your courage.” To the third prince, he said, “Go tonight to the graveyard, where you will find a young man praying by the side of a casket. Pretend to be the devil and try to scare him away. If you can scare him away from his prayers, then you will have proven your courage.” That night, the prince in the casket was surely brave, until he saw the devil walking through the graveyard. In terror, he jumped out of the casket and ran away. The praying man beside his casket and the devil himself were so frightened to see a dead man come to life that they jumped up and ran away as well. When the king arrived at the graveyard, he discovered it was empty. None of the princes had the courage to stay all night.
It’s very human to fear death. Our natural inclination is to cling to life. And that’s good. God wants us to treasure life. We need not to fear death. Neither do we need to grieve as those who have no hope. Christ has overcome death.
Here’s where our focus should be--on here and now. Do not fear death. Do not grieve as those with no hope. But put your emphasis on living here and now. If you were to die tomorrow, what would you want people to remember about you? Which of your values do you hope to pass on to your children and grandchildren? For some of us, these are urgent questions.
Paul says to us, “we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of humanity, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” Amen.
