Looking Forward to That Day
I Thessalonians 4:13-18[1]
11-07-04
What are you looking forward to in life? What goals have you set and how are those goals affecting the way you life? Isn’t it amazing how our hopes and dreams determine the choices we make in life—determine the sacrifices we are willing to make—determine the way we spend our money and our time. We fix our eyes on a desired future and we invest ourselves toward that objective. A young couple was in my office Wednesday planning their wedding. Everything in their lives is revolving around the future they have planned together. It is beautiful to see a young couple in love and filled with hopeful expectations about tomorrow. Some people are looking forward to finishing school. Their lives are filled with hours of study and homework and reports. Because of the envisioned future they discipline themselves toward that end. Some are anticipating a better job. Some are planning for retirement. About a month ago I sat at a hospital in Branson with John and Jill Nolie as they anticipated the birth of their first child. They had worked hard on their house preparing for Benjamin’s arrival. They had invested time and money toward that event in their lives. And what a joy it was for all of us when the day finally came.
The future we anticipate—the hope we set before us—powerfully influences the way we live—the way we invest our time and energy—the way we conduct our lives. That’s why our attitude concerning the Coming of the Lord is so very important. In our text Paul is explaining that event to the Christians at Thessalonica. He is clearing up misunderstandings and establishing them in truth—with two essential objectives. One is to bring comfort to those who have lost loved ones. The other is to inspire holiness and service to the Lord.
He begins in 1 Thess 4:13 with these words, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep...” “those who have fallen asleep” are the Christians who had died. He’s just using a common metaphor to express that—in the same way we say a person “has passed away”. We mean they died but the idiom communicates it in a more sensitive way.
I. What will happen when Jesus returns?
(1) Verse 16 says “For the Lord Himself (speaking of Jesus) will descend from heaven.”
At some point in the course of human history the Father is going to say to the Son—Now! Now is the time to take your Bride. Now is the time to reap the fruit of your sufferings. Now is the time to bring your people home. There is a glorious NOW coming for you and me and all those who love His appearing. There is coming an awesome climatic moment in the history of mankind.
“For the Lord Himself...” In the Greek the “Himself” is prominent and emphatic. We won’t just meet an agent of the King. We won’t just be greeted by a host of angels. The King Himself will come! At His ascension in Acts 1 Jesus gave instruction to the disciples and then ascended into the clouds right before there eyes. As they stood dumbfounded by what they had just seen, two angels appeared and said to them,
"Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11
“...in like manner..” means “in like manner”—literally in a glorified body visible to the disciples. At first those kinds of details may not seem all that important. But I remember years ago in a church I attended a whole group of people going off in deception. It began with a doctrine that said Jesus has already returned spiritually and we need not expect him to come back literally. A weird system of beliefs was built around that error. "Therefore if they say to you, ’Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ’Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matt 24:26-27
Many of us who watched the events unfold in Waco with David Khoresh’s group and saw what kind of tragedy can come out of error concerning the Lord’s return. The Jehovah’s Witness cult gained a large following with false predictions about the coming of the Lord. Why did people fall for it? If we’re not established in truth, we’re vulnerable to lies. Some people will follow anything that sounds spiritual and exciting.
The coming of the Lord will not be some street person wearing a white sheet. It will not be some eastern guru claiming to be divine. For the believer, the coming of the Lord will be absolutely unmistakable. When you get caught up in the air with the Lord you will know something has happened. It won’t just be a spiritual experience. It will be a total transformation from mortality to immortality.
(2) Three things are mentioned in verse 16 as indications of the majesty and pomp of this event.
(a) “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout” keleusmati—an authoritative command like military officers give their subordinates[2], like Jesus gave at the tomb when he shouted “Lazarus, come forth.” Only this time it won’t just be Lazarus coming forth. It will be all the dead in Christ and all who are alive and remain. Lazarus was raised in mortality. But we will be raised in immortality.
I Cor. 15:51-57 “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O Death, where is your sting?O Hades, where is your victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a keleusmati –a commanding shout.
(b) I Thess. 4:16 “...with the voice of an archangel...” All of heaven will be celebrating this great event—a shout of triumph.
(c) “...and with the trumpet of God.” The trumpet blast was used to gather God’s people at Mt. Sinai in Numbers 19. It signaled the victory at Jericho in Joshua 6. It was blown when Solomon was crowned king in 1 Kings 1. It signaled the beginning of the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:9).[3]
(3) “And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
Their bodies will be resurrected. Notice verse 14 says “God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” Their spirit is already with the Lord. For the Christian to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). But on that great day of the Lord they will receive their glorified bodies. “And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Perhaps we might say a nanosecond before we (who are alive) are changed in the twinkling of an eye.
(4) Verse 17 “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
We used to sing a song “There’s going to be a meeting in the air, In the sweet, sweet by and by
I’m going to meet you-meet you over there, Somewhere beyond the sky,
Such singing we will hear, never heard by mortal ear
T’will be glorious I do declare
And God’s own Son will be the leading One, In that meeting in the air.”
That’s what Paul is talking about here. Verse 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 by no means precede those who are asleep.”
You and I have an appointment for the most awesome meeting ever—a meeting in the air first and foremost with our coming King and Bridegroom—but also with all our loved one in the Lord, living or dead. This is the great reunion God has prepared for us. “And thus shall we always be with the Lord.” The importance of the rapture (or as scripture puts it in verse 17 “caught up” (harpageesometha)—rapto in Latin Vulgate.[4]
II. What is the Significance of this Event?
1. The coming of the Lord for us is something far more than just escape from trouble. It may very well be that. And let me just say that if I have the option to escape wrath rather than endure it, I’ll take escape anytime. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Thess 5:9). It’s not my purpose to convince you that the rapture of the church will come before the great tribulation, during or after. That’s not the specific subject of our text and the Bible is not abundantly clear as to exactly when it occurs. About twenty years ago I filed all my charts away and haven’t been able to find them since. What Paul wants us to understand, is that the day is coming and that day is our blessed hope. It’s the fact of the event more than the timing that is of supreme importance. The response God is looking for in you and me is godly living so that whenever it happens we are ready.
It concerns me when people diminish the importance of this blessed hope with suggestions that all we’re talking about here is escapism. This is there culmination of everything we live for. This is the day of the Lord.
2. It is the day our salvation is made complete—the day this mortality takes on immortality—the day we receive our glorified bodies. It is the resurrection of the just.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Rom 8:18-25
What we enjoy now is the earnest of our inheritance.[5] An earnest is just a small amount to insure that the full amount will be forthcoming. If you sell your house the buying will put down earnest money which is perhaps one percent to insure that all the rest will be provided at closing. I’m afraid that many Christians have received there earnest and are so excited about it. But they have lost sight of the full inheritance. Can you imagine selling a house and receiving that one percent earnest money and going around showing everybody the earnest money saying, “Look what I got” and forgetting all about the close on the house. The close is what it’s ultimately all about.
3. It is the day we are reunited with our loves one who have passed away. That’s a major reason Paul is giving this teaching—to bring assurance of this great family reunion.
4. It is the day we come face to face with our wonderful Lord—in His very presence—“parousia”[6]. It is the day that begins this reality “and thus shall we always be with the Lord.” It is the day that Jesus receives the fruit of His sufferings.[7] It is the day the Bridegroom receives His bride.[8] Can you imagine a bride not looking forward to her wedding day? When we have fallen in love with the Bridegroom we will love His appearing.[9] What has captured your affection? What are you looking forward to most?
Is it this lovely Bridegroom who has promised to return? If that’s where your heart is, I don’t have to convince you of the significance to that day. You feel it with every heartbeat. When you wake up in the morning you gaze into the eastern sky and say, “Maybe this day I will see HIM face to face.” You lay your head on the pillow at night and fall asleep saying, “Even so come Lord Jesus”.[10]
Paul characterized these early Christians in Chapter 1:10 as those who “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Is that a fair description of our lives? Have we turned from idols to serve the living God? Are we waiting fro His Son from heaving? Oh, that our lives might be characterized by “waiting for His Son from heaven...” The carnal mind sees that as negative defeatism. Proud humanity thinks God should wait on them to take care of matters. Proud humanity celebrates the accomplishments of mortal man more than the reality of God’s plan. I’m just simple enough to believe the revelation I find here in these verses and value them more than the wisdom and man and his reasonings.
The day of the Lord will come and that day is what I want to look forward to. I’m not saying we can’t anticipate temporal milestones and events in this mortal life. There is much in the “here and now” that is to be enjoyed and received with thanksgiving. But when those have so overshadowed the eternal hope—when the cares and pleasures of this life have choked out the hope of resurrection we are in more trouble than we think.[11] Why? Everything we do is driven by what we are hoping for, living for, anticipating.
When we take a vacation we decided where we’re going—we get the destination in view and we keep it in view. Then all the other decisions are designed to reach that destination. If I’m going to Chicago, I don’t drive south- because reaching Chicago via Antarctic is utter nonsense. Our vision of a preferred tomorrow (the destination we have set in our hearts) motivates the actions of today.
III. How does this revelation affect our lives?
(1) When we look into chapter 5 we see it is a call to purity and obedience. In the first 11 verses of chapter 5 Paul compares the world’s relationship to the Lord’s coming to our relationship to it. For the world it will mean wrath and destruction. I Thess. 5:3 “For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” Like in Noah’s day, the world will not see this coming at all. In fact, they will be embracing a false sense of security when it does come. But it will come suddenly and inescapably.
Once the labor begins a mother can not say, “On second thought, I don’t think I want to do this.” The baby is coming and it will happen. The Greek is very emphatic[12]—they will most certainly not escape. They will not be able to say a quick prayer of apology to God. The judgment will already be in motion.
2 Peter 3:3-14 “ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;”
Paul uses the illustration of a thief in the night to make the point that the whole thing will come unexpectedly and catch them off guard. Then he draws the contrast to say that won’t be the case for us—as children of light. If we live ready we will be ready. If we live in anticipation of that day it will be a day of great joy not sorrow. God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (5:9)
This word of encouragement is not designed to breed complacency in us but diligence. 1 Thess 5:6-8 “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”
Webster’s Dictionary uses words like stupefied and confused to explain what it means to be “inebriated”. Intoxicate comes from a Latin word meaning poison and that is the first meaning in the dictionary. The 2nd has to do with diminished mental capacity. Is there anything poisoning your spiritual life? Is there anything diminishing your spiritual sensitivity? Paul says our response to this is to be “sober”.[13]
“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint...” (Prov 29:18 ASV). When our hearts are anticipating this great meeting with the Lord we are strengthened to say no to immediate gratification. We are strengthened to live disciplined, holy lives.[14] It enables us to obey Paul’s commands against immorality in the first half of IThess. 4. “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”( 1 John 3:3)
The Coming of the Lord is a call to stay ready.
It is also a wonder source of comfort and assurance because
(2) it gives us a view death that is different from the way the world looks at it. The world lives in fear and dread of death. For the most part the way they deal with those fears is to avoid the subject—a reality by the way which is unavoidable in the long run. “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.”[15]
Paul describes the world in verse 13 as those who have no hope. That’s the reality they live in whether they will honestly acknowledge it or not. Listen to this dreary inscription on a gravestone in Britain near Windsor Castle: Pause, my friend, as you walk by;
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so you will be.
Prepare, my friend, to follow me!
A visitor was overheard adding these lines:
To follow you is not my intent,
Until I know which way you went![16]
We can know where we’re going and live in a joyful anticipation of tomorrow. In 1Thess. 4:18 Paul says, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” There is nothing more comforting than this kind of eternal hope when we lose a loved one. That is not the best time to this teaching. In times like that what people need is for us to embrace them and love them and simply walk through the pain with them.[17] That’s why we’re giving the teaching now. So that in a day like that we already know it, we have it in our hearts. It rises up as a strength and powerful source of comfort.
Perhaps the best illustration of how this truth can affect us is found in the sinking of the ship named Express of Ireland. As the ship began to sink in the cold Atlantic Ocean it was discovered that there were not enough life belts on board for all the passengers. On that ship were 130 Salvation Army officers—109 were drowned and not one body that was picked up had on a life belt. The few survivors told how the Salvation Army Christians took off their own belts and strapped them even upon strong men, saying, “I can die better than you can” and from the deck of that ship was demonstrated what it means to live with this revelation in our hearts.[18]
How would you respond to that kind of situation? What are you looking forward to today? Some of us are aiming too low? Some of us only see the fulfillment of temporal goals before us. Life your eyes a bit higher this morning and you will see the Coming of the King—The Lord of Lords, the King of Glory—our most precious Bridegroom. “Even so come Lord Jesus”.
Invitation
TEXT: 1 Thess 4:13-18
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. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 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 by no means precede those who are asleep. 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. 17 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. NKJV
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] Text which was read earlier in the service is provided at the end of this manuscript. All quotes are from the New King James Version unless otherwise specified.
[2] 1 Thess 4:16 (from Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft & Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament. Copyright (c) 1985 by Broadman Press)
[3] Lev 25:8-55 from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
[4] The use of the term rapture came from the Latin Vulgate. The biblical concept is found in this Greek word, harpagmos,which means to take by force; take away, carry off; catch up (into heaven) –see UBS in Bible Works 6.
[5] Eph. 1:14; IICor. 1:22; 5:5
[6] Greek word Paul uses meaning: coming, arrival; presence—see UBS in Bible Works 6
[7] Hebrews 12:2
[8] Eph. 5:32; Rev. 21:2,9
[9] IITim. 4:8
[10] Rev. 22:20
[11] Matthew 24:42-51
[12] In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 the double negative is used which in Greek means certainly not.
[13] When the Titanic sailed for England the ship was said to be unsinkable. Everyone was saying peace and safety. Scenes ((2:45:04 to 2:47:20) and ( 2:52:14 to 2:57:07) from the movie, Titanic (2oth Century Fox), vividly depict the condition of the lost and our responsibility to rescue them with the gospel.
[14] Titus 2:11-14
[15] The Christians who are raptured meet that appointment in a special way. But every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord and every one of us will give account of himself to the Lord.
[16] Warren Wiersbe, Be Ready (Wheaton, Illinois: SP Publications, Inc., 1979) p. 93
[17] Romans 12:15
[18] Paul Lee Tan, ed. , Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (Rockville, Maryland: Assurance Publishers, 1979) p. 1177
