The Return Of The King (Part 2) Series

The Return Of The King

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

Good morning Maple Grove!

HEY – is anybody out there ready for some living and active WORD of God…

NOW THIS MORNING – as we are going to finish our conversation, The Return Of The King’ that we began last week, as we unpacked 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

AND MGCC – I am going to read those God breathed words again…

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

For 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.

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage one another with these words.

- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

UNDERSTAND MGCC – last week we said that all of human history is moving towards 4 great climatic events…

A Return

A Resurrection

A Rapture

A Reunion

Therefore encourage one another with these words.

MAN – last week as we looked at…

• The HOPE ‘IN’ His Return, and

• The REALITY ‘OF’ His Return

was a great day to be in the Lord’s house, AMEN?!

AND THIS MORNING – we are going to unpack what 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 teaches us about…

The Preparation For His Return

UNDERSTAND – there were many Jesus-followers in the church at Thessalonica 2000 years ago.

WHO LIKE – many Jesus followers in the church today

WERE – both convinced and concerned

YOU SEE – they were…

• ‘convinced’ – that one day, most likely in their lifetime, the king would return, and

• ‘concerned’ – not just for their loved who had died ‘in the Lord’ – but they were concerned about whether or not they would be prepared and ready when the trumpet sounds, and the sky cracks open and Jesus descends.

QUESTION, MGCC…

• Are you convinced that one day, and it may be in your lifetime that Jesus will return?, and

• Are you ready? (R/L – are you ready?)

SERIOUSLY - if the trumpet sounded and the sky cracked opened at 3:33 pm today, would you be prepared and ready to meet the returning KING?

OKAY – raise your hand if you want to be ready?

“Do you want to be ready?” “I want to be ready!”

AND LISTEN – the good news is that Paul, in Chapter 5:1-11, tells us, how we can be prepared for the return of our king.

AND UNDERSTAND – in these verses Paul tells us that being prepared for The Return Of The King, has nothing to do with knowing ‘when’ and everything to do with ‘being ready.’

OKAY – so let’s walk through these verses.

AND ALLOW – God’s word to pour down on us like rain coming down from the sky…

AND B/S - I don’t know, but maybe we all should lean in this morning with open eyes, open ears… and with open hearts and minds, because the words that are about to rain down on us, are about where we, and all of mankind will spend forever.

Prayer

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,

NOW – Paul has already used that phrase in this letter,

we do not need to write to you…

implying that this is something that these Jesus-followers already knew, most likely because Paul had taught it to them while he was with them.

It would be like me saying ‘Now brothers and sisters about me being a NE Patriot fan I do not need to write you.’

OKAY – so here is the other time that Paul uses this phrase, it’s in chapter 4.

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia.

Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, - 1 Thessalonians 4:9,10

MGCC - that is some great advice, AMEN?!

NOW – that phrase ‘more and more’ is actually made up of two words in Greek…