The Christian's Greatest Comfort At Christ's Coming

Men. Now we're going to turn in God's

Word, reading again from First Thessalonians, turning to the

chapter 4 for those who are visitors.

I'm very conscious that we're working our way through one of

Paul's epistles, his first epistle to the Church of

Thessalonica. We're in chapter 4 and we're

going to read verses 13 right through to verse 18, First

1 Thessalonians 4:13

Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 13 to verse 18.

For those online, the words will come up on screen and we pray

that the Lord will richly bless you.

For those who would like a Bible, please feel free to

contact us and we'll distribute you a Bible free.

We're reading, of course, from the King James Bible.

Let's hear God's word, First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse

1 Thessalonians 4:13

13. But I would not have you to be

ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye

sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so

them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which

are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not

prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall

descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel,

and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise

first. Then we which are alive and

remain shall be caught up together with them in the

clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be

with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another

with these words. Amen.

We know God will stamp with His own approval and blessing this

reading of His own precious and infallible word.

Now this morning as we continue our series of expository sermons

on 1st Thessalonians, my text today is taken from First

1 Thessalonians 4:13

Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 all the way through to 18,

and I've entitled the message today, the Christians Greatest

Comfort at Christ's Coming, coming.

So you've got the text First Thessalonians 413 to 18.

Here's the subject, the Christians greatest comfort at

Christ's coming. Now as I have looked at this

passage of Scripture, there were three things came to mind.

First of all, here there's a word of explanation needed.

You see, as I read First Thessalonians 413 to 18, there

was three things came at me. First of all, there was a

problem discussed. Notice the word in verse 13.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, Catherine.

Underline the word ignorant. You see, we think when we read

the word ignorant that that's about being cheeky.

That's somebody who's bad mannered.

That's somebody who's rude. Such an ignorant boy.

Such an ignorant girl is the word ignorant.

But that's not the biblical use. The word ignorant means

uninformed. I would not have you to be

uninformed, brethren. I would not have you to lack

knowledge. I would not have you to lack

understanding and perception. You see, here was a 1st century

church and they were asking this question, probably asked at the

Timothy when he came to visit. What about the true state of our

dead loved ones? What about our martyred dead who

die in Christ? You see, they believed in

Revelation 14 and 13. And I heard a voice from heaven

saying unto me, Right, blessed are the dead which die in the

Lord from henceforth. Yeah, saith the Spirit, that

they may rest from their labour, All of them.

See, this Christian Church knew the difference between somebody

who died in their sins. Remember Jesus said that three

times, John 822 and 24. If you die in your sins, where I

am, there you cannot be. And that's how people sadly

choose to die. But there's a difference between

dying in sins and dying in the Saviour.

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.

Now in this context, in the 1st century, I believe that many of

God's people had been brutally martyred and the church was

filled with a great sense of sorrow and grief.

Imagine if somebody was martyred in this congregation, taken out

and stoned to death, or taken out and had their head chopped

off or were burnt at the stake. Well, well, this church will be

filled with a great sense of grief and sorrow.

And here's Paul moved by the Holy Spirit to read a message to

them about the true state of their dead loved ones who died

in Christ. He wants to comfort them.

He wants to help them. Notice what he says.

If you look at verse 13 again, that ye sorrow not even as

others which have no hope. And you see many people today

and carried off lack hope. Thousands today all over

Northern Ireland battled oppression and as they do so,

they lack hope. Lacking hope was one of the most

prevalent emotional disorders of our generation and lots of

things fueled this lack of hope. This current world affairs,

economic woes, maybe debt coming up, the Crest of the Christian

Church and especially in Asia and African countries, increase

of godlessness in our own land, health concerns.

Maybe it even is the death of a loved one.

Maybe it's even facing our own death.

And there's a lack of hope and a spirit of hopelessness.

You see, many are without hope in a hopeless world.

And Paul writes of others here which have no hope, and I

believe those to whom he was making reference to were the

pagans of Paul's day. You see, Pagan religion have no

real hope concerning the dead. Pagan religion has no doctrine

of the resurrection of the body of dead loved ones.

When they're dead, they're dead. They have no real genuine hope

and of comfort for the dead and the dying.

And all false religion, all false cults are devoid of real

hope concerning the true state and condition of the dead.

And Paul is teaching them here. Paul is telling them that as ye

sorrow not wrong to sorrow for your dead loved ones.

For as you sorrow for your dead loved ones.

Don't be uninformed, don't lack knowledge, don't sorrow as those

without hope and a state of hopelessness.

For the true Christian has a real genuine hope because we

have believed in the God of hope.

Romans chapter 15 and verse 13. Therefore don't sorrow as those

Romans 15 · chapter mention

who follow the Pagan false religion.

I believe that these genuine converts, some in Fest and Anka,

some of them sadly had lapsed back into the thinking.

There's no real hope concerning our believing dead.

They were thinking to themselves.

This was the question in their mind.

Would our believing dead miss out in Christ's glorious coming

for His Church? Would their resurrection be

delayed? Would their resurrection happen

at all, or would they just remain in the grave?

Would their bodies lie there in the grave and be forgotten?

Would the living Saints have an advantage over the dead sins?

All of these concerns, all of these questions were being

raised in their mind over their dead loved ones.

I have no doubt there was other questions as well.

So Paul discusses at length the problem in this whole passage of

Scripture. In this word of explanation,

there's a problem being discussed.

This one passage of Scripture was written for a specific

purpose of dealing with that particular problem.

In this word of explanation, there's a purpose disclosed.

Why did Paul write this? Why is this in the Bible?

What's his purpose? What's his goal?

Well, look with me at verse 18. Very important.

Notice the word wherefore. See that?

Wherefore? It means in light of this, in

light of what I've just told you from verse 13 down to 17,

comfort one another with what? Notice again for the emphasis

with these words. Now I want you to catch that the

word comfort here means a calling to come alongside

another and offer help to one another in a variety of

situations. Remember, these are spirit

inspired words. These are life giving words.

These are words of comfort and words of truth.

These words drive away the false empty ideas of false Pagan

religion concerning the dead. These spirit inspired words

delightfully embrace the message of the Spirit of God.

Paul's whole purpose was to bring comfort to the souls of

living Saints. He was deeply concerned about

the bodies of loved ones who had died in Christ.

Now, in order to do this, in order to bring comfort, he

employed the use of the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord

Jesus. The second coming of the Lord

Jesus Christ is a major focus in the book of First Thessalonians

and 2nd Thessalonians, and Paul uses this doctrine to press on

the truth that all true believers who sorrow about their

loved ones who have died in Christ can't find comfort and

help. Now Paul's primary focus, listen

to me carefully, is not to teach the doctrine of Christ second

coming. His primary purpose is to

comfort the Christians and he employs and uses the doctrine of

the second coming to show what is going to happen to the dead

in Christ. There can be no doubt the

certainty of Christ's glorious coming gives us hope, gives us

comfort. Now let me emphasise that this

text of scripture is not explicitly teaching a pre

tribulation rapture of the church unless you choose to read

that into the text. And many sadly within

Christendom read that into the text.

But that's not what's being explicitly taught.

Nor is Paul writing this so we can draw out an elaborate

prophetic chart to satisfy our mind about world future events.

Paul's concern is pastoral. He wants the church to

experience hope and comfort in the Lord regarding our loved

ones who have died in Christ. And that's the purpose that's

disclosed. And I just wish those that would

preach would, would preach with that thought in mind.

That was his purpose in writing, his primary purpose.

Now he did bring in some teaching about the second

coming, but that wasn't his primary purpose.

He was just employing the second coming to bring comfort and help

to God's people. The third thing by way of

explanation is the prospectus declared Now the promise of

Christ's coming is certain because he was raised from the

dead. Look at verse 14.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, you Even so

them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

I want you to think of his announcement here.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, the word if

doesn't imply uncertainty. In the Greek, we could put the

word sense we believe. Now notice the word Jesus here.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, that's the

human name of our Lord. He has used it once before in

chapter 1 and in the verse 10, and it's used in connection with

his death and resurrection. And he did this, I believe, to

show that our faith in Christ coming again is based on the

historical fact of his birth, His life, his death, and his

resurrection. Jesus is a real historical

figure. I was in a home yesterday.

I'm not mentioned where or who, but the man was asking me, do

you believe that Jesus is a real historical figure or is he a

mythological figure? Well, I want to tell you, he's

not a mythological figure. He's not a mere legend created

in the minds of men. No, the Lord Jesus is a real

historical figure, and I would put it to you that none of the

apostles who suffered for Christ and gave their lives for him and

proclaimed him as Lord and Saviour would have done so if

it'd been a mythical figure or the stuff of myths and legends.

And that was true not only of the apostles, but it had to be

true of those who were the martyred, dead out of the church

in Vestanenka. Paul's point is this, that the

bodily return of Jesus Christ to this earth is just as certain,

as is physical birth, as is physical life, as is physical

death, as is physical burial, as is physical resurrection.

All historical validated facts. Notice the words Jesus died.

Stop there. The word dead or died is a

reference to Christ's death of penal substitution.

See, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures was

buried, was rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Corinthians First Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4.

1 Corinthians 15:3

Whenever Christ died in the cross, His death was a

substitute in the debt that we couldn't pay to the Brooklyn

Law. He died as a sin bear.

He's wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our

iniquities. The chastisement of our peace

was upon Him. And with his stripe through your

heel, He died as a sacrifice. Behold the Lamb of God, which

taketh away the sin of the world.

He died as a sin offering. He bore the wrath of God.

Remember, the Lord Jesus bore the full wrath of God for us.

He died in our guilty room instead and and and and Paul

seems to contrast Jesus death over against the believers

sleep. Look at the text, he says, for

we believe that Jesus died and rose again even through them

also, which sleep in Jesus will God bring with them?

You see, if we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we know Him as

Lord and Redeemer, if we die in Him, then our death will be like

asleep. Notice the used here in the

verse 13 concerning them which are asleep.

It's used in the verse 14. Even so them also which sleep in

Jesus will God bring with Him. You see, sleep is a euphemism

for death, not soul sleep. Sadly, the 7th Day Adventists

and others believe that when we die, our souls go into a sleep

until the 2nd coming. But that's not so because when

you compare scripture with scripture, remember 2nd

Corinthians 5 and 8, Paul talked about being absent from the body

and present with the Lord. Well, what is absent from the

body? What leaves the body at death?

It's the soul and spirit. Paul says I have a desire to

depart to be with Christ, which is far better.

Philippians 123 Remember Jesus said to the dying thief, What

did he say today shall thy be with me in paradise?

How was that possible? His, his, his body was on the

the, the tree being crucified reference to his soul.

And remember Stephen when he was being martyred and they were

throwing stones at him, putting him to death.

The Bible tells us in Acts Chapter 7 verses 59 and into

Acts 7:59

verse 60 that he fell asleep over there in First

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 10, who died for us that

whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Souls sleep is not biblical. So I want to under you to

understand that sleep is a euthanism for death.

But it's not about soul sleep. It's a reference to the body.

It implies a sweet sleep. It implies a time of rest.

The believers not suffering death as a penal suffering like

Christ did, because in Christ by faith, he has rest in peace.

Oh yes, as physical earthly life, as bodily life has come to

an end. Whenever he Braves his last, the

soul leaves the body and the body goes into the earth as if

it's gone to sleep. And it's a sweet sleep in Jesus.

And it implies something else asleep, that death is only

temporary. You see, you wake from sleep

each morning. So do I.

Jesus said of Lazarus. Our friend Lazarus has fallen

asleep, but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep.

John 11 and 11. You see, after death, our souls

will be in a disembodied state with the Lord until Jesus Christ

returns in power and glory. And at His return He will bring

our souls and spirits with Him, and He will raise our dead

bodies from the dead. See, here's a question.

Will we see our loved ones again?

These Thessalonians believers were saying, but the

relationship was broken. They had this morbid dread.

We'll never see them again. They're gone forever.

Their bodies are gone. What are they going to do?

Remember what Daniel said in Daniel 12 and two?

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall

awake, some to everlasting life, some to see him and everlasting

contempt. Yes, their bodies are decayed.

They've been in the ground for centuries, maybe eaten by

vultures, maybe bodies blown apart because they've exploded

in a bomb. Think of members of the Royal

Ulster Constabulary, members of the Royal Ulster Regiment.

Remember as well, even if the body has been cremated and the

ashes have been scattered over land or sea, or maybe the body

has been burned in the fire, like our martyr dead.

Death is only temporary for the bodies of those who die in

Christ, all who die in the Christ.

It's a bit like bedtime. It's a bit like retiring for

rest and relaxation to await the resurrection.

Over years here in carried off FPC, we've so many gone home to

be with the Lord. Their bodies are still in the

graveyard, I think, and I mention their names, not all

deliberately. Alice Crawford.

May Boyd. Jack Anderson, senior Frank

Campbell, he sat at the back and we loved him in the Lord.

Billy Coulter, great help to the church.

Ernest Patterson, Missus Lowe, James Lowe, Mary and Jim Ellis,

Alex Corel. Their bodies are buried and many

others with them. But their bodies have been

buried in the grave and it's a temporary thing.

They're waiting and they're waiting.

Oh, yes, we miss them. And you miss your loved ones you

have buried this year. But here's the comfort.

You're going to see them again. Yes, their souls are with

Christ, their bodies are in the grave.

But we're going to see them again.

This also implies the sleep relief from bodily aches and

pains. Rest from our earthly

neighbours. Sleep is not something that's

harsh and fearful. I go to sleep whenever you're

tired, you go to bed at night and you're really weary.

And I can testify to that. It was like that last night

after a very busy week of meetings and distributing the

outreach hampers. And I'm pleased to say I have

them all out. So we're thankful to God for

that. And but when you have got bodily

aches and pains, maybe it's an illness and it struck your body

and you and you want rest well, well that's the picture This

sleep gives you rest from your bodily aches and pains, rest

from earthly labour. Not something harsh, not

something fearful. And Paul's point in this is our

resurrection from the dead depends on Christ's

resurrection. He said because I live, ye shall

live also. So our loved ones who have

fallen asleep in Christ, like those in theften, and I got like

those from the dawn of time. God will raise you up.

I'll tell you something else. Notice his authority very

quickly, verse 15 For this we say unto you, by the word of the

Lord. You see, the promise of Christ's

coming was certain because Paul had got God's word in it.

And what follows is Christ's word on the order of the

resurrection. And here's new information not

found in any part of the Old Testament Scriptures, not found

in any part of the gospel. So this was new revelation from

the Lord. But Paul was telling them

something that they needed to to comfort their hearts.

And I believe this was revealed directly to Paul by the Holy

Spirit for the comfort of God's people.

Not presently, no one a word directly from the Lord, not his

speculation, not his opinion. Here's his authority.

He says, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,

Notice what he says, that we which are alive and remain unto

the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

Here's his assertion. Not only his announcement about

sleep, not only his authority, but think of his assertion

people alive and remain, people asleep and resurrected.

Notice the word prevent here. The word prevent means come

before. What advantage have got the

living over the dead? No advantage.

What precedent have the living over the dead?

No precedent. See the idea is this.

Those who are alive and remain. This is what was thought about

in Thessalonica. They have an advantage over the

dead in Christ. Paul says there's no advantage

when Christ comes. Here's the order, here's what's

going to happen. Here's the two companies, the

living and the dead sins, Those who are as bodies are asleep in

the ground awaiting the resurrection, and those who are

alive still in the earth. And he expected the people to be

alive and remain in the earth when Jesus Christ comes.

And he says, here's the impact that it's going to have.

Here's the order that's going to take place.

This is what was revealed to me. So that's the word of

explanation. Very quickly, and it'll have to

be quickly, there's a word of exhortation.

Listen to me carefully. Christ's coming will reunite us

with deceased loved ones in Christ.

So if your father, mother, brother, sister has died in

Christ, and you've stood and wept at the grave, and you sit

and look at an empty chair and your heart's broken at home,

then I want you to comfort your heart with this truth.

Christ's coming will reunite us with deceased loved ones who

have died in Christ, and all will have a new resurrected body

like Christ. And Christ will bring us

together, and forever we will be with the Lord.

And that's his exhortation. You see the word comfort in

verse 18. It means exhort.

Wherefore exhort one another with these words.

I've given you a word of explanation, but look very

carefully at the word of exhortation as we finish.

There's a number of things here. You've got the return of Christ.

Look at verse 16. And we'll come back to this a

different time. For the Lord himself shall

descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the

Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ

shall rise. First notice the word shite, the

voice of the Archangel, the trump of God.

Now let me ask this question to those who believe in a secret

silent rapture. How could that be secret and

silent? I believe it's open, I believe

it's public, and I believe in the rapture of the church.

But I want to tell you the timing of it may be different

from what you think. I don't believe it's pre

tribulation. I believe it's at the end of the

tribulation when Jesus comes. So there's a return here.

Let's think about the resurrection he he mentions

here. And the dead in Christ shall

rise first. Here's the order.

There's no advantage to those that are alive and remain when

Jesus comes, because here's the order.

The dead in Christ shall rise first.

The souls and spirits of our departed loved ones who are now

with the Lord. He will bring the souls and

spirits with him when He returns.

And He will rejoin and reunite their soul and spirit with their

dead body in the grave. And He will resurrect the body.

And He will also receive our resigresic bodies as we rise up

to meet Him in the air. This is the first resurrection.

The unbelieving dead, they'll not be raised for another 1000

years. They will not come to life until

the end of the Millennium revelated.

There's not only a return here and a resurrection, but very

quickly there's a relationship here.

If you look again at verse 17, then we which are alive and

remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air. This relationship was one of

unification, the unification of the entire body of Christ.

It's never been seen before to come.

These dead Saints and living Saints, the entire company of

the elect people, the Old Testament Saints from Adam and

Abel and Abraham, all the redeemed of God, all here saved

right up to the last believer who who dies in Christ just

prior to Christ's return. They will be resurrected, They

will be reunited body and soul, but they'll also be reunited

with the living Saints. And when he comes, we'll be

caught up together. And this will be the first time

in all history that the Church of God met together in the

United Company. We get a little hint of that in

the Book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter 4 and in

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

the verse 4 we read these words and round about the throne were

4 and 20 seats, and upon the seats I saw 4 and 20 elders

sitting clothed in white raiment, and they have on their

heads crowns of gold. 24 seats, 24 elders.

Who are they? I believe 12 are from the Old

Testament, the 12 tribes of Israel.

The 12 are the 12 apostles of the New Testament, the Old and

New Testament, 24 elders, the entire body.

And over there in chapter 5 of Revelation and we read in

chapter 5 verse 8, he says, And when he had taken the book, the

four beasts and four and 20 elders fell down before the

Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of

odours, which is the prayers of the Saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou word worthy to take

the book and to open the seals thereof.

For that was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood,

out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and has

made us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on

the earth. This relationship is 1 of

unification. Here's great assurance.

Your departed loved ones who have believed in Christ, who

have died and their bodies in the ground, they're going to be

resurrected. The body's going to be

resurrected. We believe in the resurrection

of the body. We believe in the redemption of

the body. Jesus just didn't die to save

the soul. He died to redeem the body.

And on that day when body and soul is reunited, it'll be

before the living Saints, and it'll all happen when Christ

returns. The relationship was one of

indemnification. We'll know one another.

You miss your loved one, don't you?

So do I. You think you'll not see them

again? That's what the Thessalonians

were seeing. They were full of pain and

grief. I would love to see them again.

You want to see them again? Well, we will.

Better than that. We'll not only see them, but

we'll know them. You'll know your mummy.

You'll know your father. You'll know your brother.

You'll know your sister. That resurrection body will be

like Christ's glorious resurrection body.

How did Peter know Moses and Elias?

Moses had died. Elijah hadn't.

How did he know that God revealed it to him.

How will we know God will reveal it to us over there in Second

Corinthians, in chapter 4 and in the verse 14, Paul makes this

tremendous statement, knowing that he which raised up the Lord

Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with

you. She's going to present us to the

Father. He's going to name us by name

and say here's so and so Father, and here's so and so right down

the line. It's one of unification.

It's one of identification very quickly, and our time is gone.

It's one of restoration. Notice these words he says in

verse 17. So shall we ever be with the

Lord? So shall we ever be with the

Lord. Here's the purpose of the

rapture of the church and the word caught up literally means

rapture. We're caught up to meet the

Lord. There's a restoration of

fellowship. The dead and living Saints meet

around Christ. You see, Christ will be central,

not thinking of anyone else. It'd be lovely to go to heaven

and meet Adam and Abel and and meet Abraham and maybe go and

meet Martin Luther and John Calvin and maybe John Knox and

have a chat. Maybe some of the other

prophets, maybe some of the other apostles.

But the primary, central thing is to be with the Lord, to meet

the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord.

The best part, the greatest part is to be with the Lord

transfigured into his likeness, free from all sin and death.

The removal of every conflict and bad experience.

It's all gone forever because here's the point of the

restoration. It's fellowship with the Lord.

That's all part of this relationship.

I finish with this. There's a word of

experimentation here. If we go back to the word

comfort. Wherefore comfort one another

with these words. You see, there are pastoral

practical benefit in knowing the biblical truth.

Real hope, real hope in life, real hope and death.

Do you have real hope in life? Do you have real hope and death?

You're in the midst of trials of life now.

You're knowing hardship and difficulty.

Can I suggest even today, if your grief stricken over a loved

one, don't suppress your grief, don't stop your tears.

Grief is normal, grief is real. But you have to have hope in

Christ. And if you have hope in Christ

and know him as Lord and Saviour, then your loved one has

gone to a better place. Your, your loved one's suffering

is over, but it's only in Christ.

It's only the abode of those who die in Christ.

I finish. There's two ways to die.

Die in your sins or die in the Saviour.

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.

And I urge you to choose that if you're going to die and die, you

will choose to die in Christ, die in the Saviour, faith in

Him, rest in him alone for salvation.

Come to Him and repent of your sin asked him to be your Lord

and Saviour. Trust in him that you look

forward to the day of his return.

You live in light of His resurrection.

You look forward to this time of reunion, where at the centre of

that reunion will not only see and know your loved ones, but

you will have real meaning forever.

Fellowship with the Lord. The Lord bless you today.

Thank you for coming. I've only skirted this passage

of Scripture. We've dealt with so many verses

and we may return to the theme of the second coming in the new

year, but we'll leave it there until the new year for now.