1 Thess 4:13-18, Jesus is the not-so-grim Reaper.

Class Outline:

Sunday April 16, 2023

Contact with the dead has been popular in all cultures.

 

Concerning death:

Not knowing means no hope which means grief. 

 

1TH 4:13

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

 

Paul states, “Brethren, we do not want you to not know about those who have died.” He is going to tell us.

 

Thos who do not know about their loved ones who have died have no hope and therefore have grief.

 

 

 

Not knowing is used to instill fear.

 

This is so common to mankind that the phrase “fear of the unknown” is universal.

 

Hence, lies are popular and truth is vilified.

 

PSA 37:7, 10

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

…

Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;

And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.

Theme: Hope and comfort come from knowing the future program of the coming of the Lord. 

 

Obviously, it is faith in the knowledge that brings hope. 

 

1TH 4:13-18

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

 

The key term centers on the dead. Paul uses the metaphor for sleep three times, then the dead in Christ and the living caught up in the air “with them” (dead), for a total reference of five times in this paragraph.

 

What Paul is not doing is establishing his eschatological theology. He is not setting down his dispensationalism in this letter. Paul is not attempting to communicate a pretrib, midtrib, or posttrib rapture. If we look for that alone, then we miss the context of Paul’s Scripture here.

 

The purpose of this paragraph is to give hope and comfort to the readers.

 

We will tackle the issue concerning the time and manner of our Lord’s coming, probably next week. Put a pin in it. We don’t want to do that first and miss the reason for which Paul actually wrote this paragraph.  

 

However, from the Rapture issue, we want to set down one certainty today and that is immanency.

 

We are not looking for signs. We are looking for Him.

 

TIT 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

 

We are not looking for signs that show His coming. We are looking for Him. I guarantee that it has been true in every generation of the church, that Christians looked at all the problems in their world and said to one another, “He is definitely coming soon.”

 

The purpose of 1TH 4:13-18 is hope and comfort from knowledge and faith. 

 

There are a lot of things in this world that are designed to make us fear. That is their purpose. Death is the greatest of them. But if Satan sees that we no longer fear death, he is going to try to find something in life that might fear.

 

The solution is knowledge and faith in it.

 

HEB 4:2

the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

 

HEB 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

When the 12 spies went into the land, the difference of opinion among them was marked by faith in the knowledge that God had given them.

 

Confusion on resurrection was not isolated to Thess: “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead” (1CO 15:12)?

 

If you know that the Lord is going to be either leading you back to earth after your death or He going to come and get you if you are still alive, you have hope. 

 

Exciting hope! The method, journey, means of His return has got to be the most exciting thing the world / universe has ever seen. 

He is not returning alone. 

 

Whose footsteps should we be following?

 

The breadcrumbs were eaten by the birds in the story of Hansel and Gretel, and the Lord’s steps are hard to see at times. The Lord’s steps are in His word.

 

Faith follows the Lord’s footsteps.

They are guaranteed to at His coming.

How does that affect our walk now?  

 

Trials are plentiful. Trials will either make us focus harder on the path or distract our minds from it. Often, it isn’t that we want another path, it’s that we focus on the problem, on ourselves, on the possibilities for the near future, and we forget the truth. God has designed us to be very sensitive to fear and anxiety. We feel the smallest amount of it. That is a time to pray or read or remind yourself - best to do all three.

 

Do you ever feel like God has seemingly grown quiet and far away from you? Does it seem that He has done nothing about your painful issue or the things wrong with your society?

 

A psalm by Asaph, one of David’s chief musicians.

 

PSA 77:1-9

My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud;

My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.

2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;

In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness;

My soul refused to be comforted.

3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed;

When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah.

4 You have held my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I have considered the days of old,

The years of long ago.

6 I will remember my song in the night;

I will meditate with my heart,

And my spirit ponders:

 

7 Will the Lord reject forever?

And will He never be favorable again?

8 Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?

Has His promise come to an end forever?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious,

Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah.

 

The solution: God changed my grief when I remembered.  

 

PSA 77:10-20

Then I said, "It is my grief,

That the right hand of the Most High has changed."

 

11 I shall remember the deeds of the Lord;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

12 I will meditate on all Your work

And muse on Your deeds.

13 Your way, O God, is holy;

What god is great like our God?

14 You are the God who works wonders;

You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

15 You have by Your power redeemed Your people,

The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

 

16 The waters saw You, O God;

The waters saw You, they were in anguish;

The deeps also trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water;

The skies gave forth a sound;

Your arrows flashed here and there.

18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

The lightnings lit up the world;

The earth trembled and shook.

19 Your way was in the sea

And Your paths in the mighty waters,

And Your footprints may not be known.

20 You led Your people like a flock

By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

 

God led them through the Red Sea. God’s footsteps trod over the seabed and are now not seen, unless you by faith know that they are there. His footsteps are all through the wilderness of the Negev. His footsteps are on the riverbed of the Jordan, and all throughout the promised land. His footsteps are from Babylon to Judea. His footsteps are from Bethlehem to Nazareth and back to Jerusalem where He was lifted off the ground to die for us. He again walked, but from a tomb, through the rock, to Mary, Peter, John, and the others. His footsteps led them to Galilee and then He left them.

 

He still led them just as He does us. The path is the word of God, which is Him. The power is the Holy Spirit, who is also Him as a member of the Trinity. The eyes to see His footsteps is our faith. Our faith also gives us the courage to push aside all fear and follow the path that He pioneered and blazed.

 

And even possessing all of that, we still need more. What sheep we are. We need comfort and hope in knowing that our future path, the final one for this life and the first one for the next life, is also marked by Him.

 

1TH 4:13-18

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

 

15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words. [NLT]

 

The Thessalonians are being persecuted by people who once, not long ago, claimed to be friends and probably even loved ones. As we’ll see in the second letter, the persecutors haven’t relented over time.

 

When suffering and trial persists, we are more likely to lose hope.

Jesus is coming from heaven with you following.

You are going to follow the Lord as He comes to rescue the living.

If you are still alive when this happens (in the twinkling of an eye, 1CO 15:52), you will be “caught up” (Rapture) to meet the Lord in the air.

 

ROM 8:18-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.