The King Returns Series

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

So, let’s get a little context here as we jump into this. Paul is writing this letter to people in the church in Thessalonica a city in Greece both Jews and Greeks who have put their faith in Jesus. Paul himself has been forced out of the city and life has continued to go from bad to worse for these people. He is writing this letter to bring some hope and encouragement to people who are trying hard to hang on to their faith but are going through some really tough stuff in life. Does that sound familiar? In some way or another sounds like every single one of us here today. So, Paul says here you go, when the going gets tough, remember, this is not the end of the story. A trumpet is going to sound, an angel is going to scream, Jesus is going to appear, dead believers in Jesus bodies are going to rise from their graves be united with their spirits in the sky, we are going to fly up and join them and from that moment forever be with Jesus. What was written as an encouragement for them really should be an encouragement for us too. Is it? So, here’s the question that I want us to start with today as we start down the back stretch in the story...

DOES THE STORY SCARE ME OR ENCOURAGE ME? Here’s why I ask the question. I grew up in church scared to death of this moment in the story. The Bible actually describes this moment a few different ways. Paul says in chapter 5 that this day will come like a thief in the night, like labor pains on a pregnant woman.

ILLUST> A few weeks ago I asked my buddy Yemi where his awesome wife Abby was on a Sunday morning. She was pregnant and not feeling well. About 2 hours later he was texting me this. Little Zion makes an appearance. At about the exact same time I heard about a couple that started dating on Bachelor in Paradise and ended up getting married. Don’t worry, someone told me about it, my daughters watch it. I don’t recommend that by the way. Anyway, the wife, Jade just had a baby in their master bedroom closet.

So Paul says look it’s going to come out of nowhere and happen fast. Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 24 that none of us can really know when it will happen, the angels don’t know, Jesus doesn’t know, only the Father knows. So if your friend tells you an angel or Jesus told him that it’s happening this week don’t believe him. So, I didn’t know a lot about this as a kid growing up in church but what I did know freaked me out. What if I am not ready when Jesus comes back? What if I cuss and Jesus comes back before I confess? I’m hosed. I lived in fear and then, when I was in 5th grade, I went to church on Sunday night and saw this. This pushed me over teh edge. Watch this. ******ROLL A THIEF IN THE NIGHT CLIP**************