"Caught Up Together"_I Thessalonians 4b_Oct 25 2020
"Becoming a Church of Faith, Hope, and Love" - I & II Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsThose who believe that Jesus died and rose again have a great hope
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Continuing our series: "Becoming a Church of Faith, Hope, and Love"
Bibles: I Thess 4
My message today is called “Caught up Together”
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Today, we’re going to look at I Thess 4:13-18
So far in I Thess -
Chapter 1:
Paul uses “gospel” a lot - eight times in I & II Thessalonians
How this church of former pagans are now spreading the gospel - and were a great influence on other churches
This church of faith hope and love is a great example for our church
Paul said about them in 1:2 - “your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Chapter 2:
We looked at what true discipleship looks like
That Jesus not only wants to to make disciples, but to teach them to live godly lives in this world
And how Chapter 2 is Paul’s example to that church, and to us, how to engage in discipleship
Chapter 3:
The love chapter!
We learned to: Love unbelievers - Love with the right motives - Love, encourage, and instruct other believers
Chapter 4:1-12
How to walk more and more like Jesus
Our sanctification and how to live for Jesus
Today, we’re continuing the last part of chapter 4
We’re going to be talking about end times - eschatology
I think too often we get focused on the chronology of future events of when and how Christ will return
We really need to focus Christ himself - and the fact that he is returning
We need to focus on the fact that he will lovingly return for us - but he won’t be returning in meekness
He will return in power & glory & judgment of the world
Today, I want to talk about this passage and how it gives us encouragement - let’s read the passage - and then pray
English Standard Version Chapter 4
The Coming of the Lord
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.
Pray...
I’ve really been struggling with this passage
What does it mean?
Why - in Chapter 4 - did Paul seem to change the subject so abruptly?
A couple of nights ago, I went to bed early
Woke up about 1:30am - couldn’t sleep - I really believe the Lord woke me up
Decided to go back and study this passage in I Thess
Came back to bed around 3am
My wife: “Are you okay”
“I got into a big argument with Paul”
“Which Paul?”
“Apostle Paul”
When I read this passage - I wish it was more clear!
Hollis to the doctor several weeks ago
ER doctor: “When you say you felt a pain, what exactly was that like? How exactly did the pain feel?”
“When you say you felt something weird, what do you mean?”
Well I want to ask Paul:
When you talk about those who are “asleep” what exactly do you mean by that?
When you say, “we who are alive” during the coming of the Lord- are you saying, Paul, that you thought you would personally be a part of the rapture before you died?
When you use the phrase, “coming of the Lord” are you referring to the rapture? Is this the rapture, you’re talking about?
When you say, “the dead in Christ will rise first” are you referring to those who have been asleep? Haven’t they already been with the Lord in Heaven already? Does this mean they’ll be yanked out of Heaven to be part of the rapture?
And why is the order of things important? That the dead will rise first BEFORE those who haven’t died yet?
And by the way, Paul - why do you abruptly change gears from verse 12 to verse 13? Earlier you were talking about living a quiet life - and how to mind your own business.
Then you suddenly go on about the end of the world!
In verse 12, you told us to walk properly before outsiders - now you’re giving us reason to not grieve like them
In one sense, this can be very confusing
Then I read verse 18: Therefore encourage one another with these words.
And I realize this is meant to be encouraging - the entire book of Thessalonians is meant to be encouraging!
In one sense, this passage is hard to understand - in another sense, it’s very straightforward
Paul’s goal, starting off in verse 13, is twofold:
That this church should not uninformed
That they don’t grieve as others with no hope
He’s encouraging them
The implication is very strong - that Christians have hope - and the world does not
And what makes that distinction?
Look at the next verse, 14: For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again
That is the only distinction - those who believe that Jesus died on a cross, and rose from the grave - have hope. And those who do not believe, have no hope
Belief in Jesus is the only thing which gives us hope
Notice in verses 14 & 15, that Paul makes it clear that “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” and that God will take care of those asleep, even before he takes care of those alive
There are accounts - going back to ancient times - that even pagan people were very concerned about their loved ones after they died
There is some indication that this grieving was a part of that pagan culture back then
I have been with close friends who had lost loved ones - and were not Christians…I could perceive the grief and hopelessness...
And it’s okay for Christians to be concerned for our deceased loved ones - it’s okay for us to want to see them again
I grew up thinking that when I go to Heaven, I will only be happy to see Jesus and not my family or friends…(I’ll be too busy worshiping God forever that I won’t notice the guy next to me…)
This passage encourages us that God will take care of all of us - and that we will be together - and with the Lord at the same time
Heaven’s going to be awesome!
There’s a phrase here in verse 16 - not found anywhere else in the Bible “the dead in Christ”
Those who believed in Jesus - those who had faith in God - those elect who are destined to go to heaven
There is a wonderful display of love - that Jesus cares about them and is coming for them
Even the dead are not disadvantaged
Remember - that this is an encouraging passage?
Verse 16 - this tells us what this event will be like: 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.
A couple of things on this verse:
The mention of “archangel” - twice in the Bible - once in Jude (Michael) - and here in this verse
Some bibles say “the voice of an archangel” - some bibles: “the voice of THE archangel”
We do not know if this is Michael or not, but whoever it is, it will be THE archangel who gets to sound his voice!
Notice also the description of sounds:
The Lord will come with a “cry of command” - the archangel will be sounding his voice - and there will be the “trumpet of God”
The Lord’s cry, the angel’s voice, and God’s trumpet!
So loud that the dead will indeed rise!
I am convinced it will be heard around the world - everyone will be aware of this event, including the dead in Christ
I don’t think we’re going to be silent, either - I think the crowds will be cheering - it’s going to be the loudest event in history
Imagine what this will be like!
I personally believe that even the unbelieving dead will know about this - if I’m correct, every person in history - every one who ever was - every ruler - every peasant - every slave - every baby who died - every one in the history of the world will witness this event
The unbelieving dead will not rise from the dead - but I believe they will be aware of this
Historical note: In the Roman army nothing happened without sounding the trumpet. At funerals, the trumpets were sounded. And even when Claudius died, historians wrote that the sound of the trumpets was so deafening that it was thought that the dead could hear them.
Look at verse 17:
Every believer will be “caught up together” in the clouds - God will take care of everyone. So that - look at the last part of verse 17 - so that we will always be with the Lord. Because he loves us so much...
The Greek verb for “caught up together” refers to a forceful act - “snatched away” - it will definitely “happen” to us
Notice too - this all takes place before the end of the world - it takes place while humans are still alive on Earth
I want to close with the last verse in Chapter 4 - Therefore encourage one another with these words.
My prayer is that you are encouraged - even in this crazy world right now
That God loves us
That God is in control
That Jesus is coming for us
That there’s no need to worry
That we will not only be reunited with our loved ones - but that we will finally see Jesus face to face
And we will finally be just as Jesus is
And that all of us will be together, praising him forever and ever
Pray...