11th January 2026 - Bishop Glenn Davies

When we started Northern Hope back in the Eisteddfod

Hall, who remembers the Eisteddfod Hall? Remember

the Eisteddfod Hall? Yes. Well, we're in a much

better place now, aren't we? With more room for

the children. I've seen the children continue

to grow here. But it was a great congregation.

I remember we had to put out more chairs because

more people were coming than we'd expected on

that day. And I met at the end of the service

a lady whom I'm sure you remember, a lady called

Monica. And she was in her 90s, I believe, when

I met her. And I talked to her at the door, and

I said, oh, how long have you been going to the

Good Shepherd? She said, oh, over 60 years. I

remember I said to her, that must have been hard

to leave the building. And buildings are important,

but to leave the building and all the associations

of marriage and baptism and children and weddings

and funerals. and then to come here. And I never

forget her words to me. She said, look, when

I heard about Northern Hope and Trevor was going

to lead us, I was in like a shot. And I thought

that was just an extraordinary thing. Because

we know the buildings and congregations and at

one stage we were going to buy the building from

the Diocese and the whole congregation was going

to come, for those of you who remember those

days, but there were certain legal impediments

for that, but that's in the past now. I remember

when Trevor told me that Monica had died and

gone to be with the Lord. I thought, what a great

aspect that I think Trevor and the elders chose

the name Northern Hope. because hope is what

binds us together. And you're pretty far north,

so it's Northern Hope. And that sense in which

hope is what holds us together. And this passage

from 1 Thessalonians, I thought, is very helpful.

I think, talking to Jen, that you've had about

three funerals in the last three years. And I

guess that's going to continue to happen. And

in many ways, part of life is also preparing

for our death. We know it's a reality that we're

going to die. Benjamin Franklin said there were

two certainties, death and taxes. And we all

know the second. But the first is a reality,

too. And of course, sometimes death comes in

old age. Sometimes death comes in middle age.

Sometimes death comes in infancy. or even in

stillborn children. I'm sure we've all had experience

of loved ones who've died, whether it's a parent

or a grandparent, and possibly even a spouse

or a child. And the great difference that Christ

makes is that we have hope. Look at the way in

which Paul expresses it. Brothers and sisters,

we do not want you to be uninformed about those

who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve

like the rest of humankind who have no hope.

Paul had been to Thessalonica. This was really

the first time he'd come in out of Asia and into

Europe. As we know, Thessalonica is in the northern

part of Greece, and he was there for about three...

weeks or so, and had a ministry after he'd been

in Philippi just before that, and then he moved

on a way down to Athens and Corinth. He writes

this letter from a lower part, Achaia, in Greece.

And because he'd heard words and Timothy had

been bringing him messages back, Timothy had

stayed there whilst he went on his journey south.

And what obviously had happened is that some

people had died in the congregation. Paul had

been preaching a message that Jesus had died

and been risen from the dead. That in that three

days of his experience of death and all the darkness

of death that Jesus experienced, on our behalf,

but he was raised from the dead. And actually

Jesus was a participant in his raising himself

from the dead. We don't always realize that because

he is God, it wasn't just that he was passive

in his resurrection, but actually he was active

in his resurrection. And that of course was the

hope that Jesus was gonna come back and draw

all people to himself. There were some in the

early church who thought that Jesus would come

back in their lifetime. And in a sense, that's

always a good way to live your life, to think

that Jesus could come back tomorrow. He'd rather

come back after school holidays, but nonetheless.

I'll never forget when I was in America, I proposed

to my wife in America because I was studying

there. She'd come across, we got engaged, and

then there was a 12 -month period before we actually

got married. So it was a long engagement. And

she said, it sounds awful, I just hope that Jesus

doesn't come back before we get married. It was

very selfish of her. But nonetheless, but you

understand the experience. And of course, we

should always live in the light that we know

the sun will shine tomorrow. But Jesus' return

is more certain than the sun rising tomorrow.

But there was those who had died and there was

obviously some uncertainty, a letter had come

back from the Thessalonians to Paul. And so he

writes this particularly with regard to the question

of death and how I thought this was a great opportunity

for us as Northern Hope to understand what happens

when you die. It's one of those questions that

you sort of think, we always went, well, what

happens when, if you go to a funeral and you

see the casket there? In America, of course,

they have open caskets, which is not our custom

in Australia, for which I think I'm pleased.

And I remember a family was going and they'd

have a viewing of the casket before the actual

funeral. And it was a grandmother and the granddaughter

who was about six or seven. came along and her

parents encouraged her to say goodbye to grandma.

And she stood up or was held up because she was

small, looked in the coffin and there she saw

a lifeless corpse. And she said to her mother,

that's not grandma, that's not the grandma that

I know. She was alive and full of life and there

that sense in which there was something missing

in that corpse. because even the very word corpse

is such a cold, dark, sort of ugly kind of word,

isn't it, really? It's a lifeless body. When

God created Adam and Eve, he created them as

body and soul. There are two aspects to our lives.

The Greeks had a dualism of body versus soul.

So Plato would say, The body is just a prison

house for the soul to be released from and the

body is of no importance. But the Bible makes

it very clear the body is important and is part

of the image of God. It's not a dualism but a

duality. Remember Jesus' words to the Jews of

his days, fear not him who can kill the body

but not the soul. But fear Him who can cast both

body and soul into hell. I remember when I was

young, I thought, oh, that must be the devil

we should fear. But of course, Jesus is talking

about His heavenly Father. Fear Him who has judgment

in His hands. We don't fear Satan who can kill

the body or humans who can kill the body. Death

actually is not the end for us. But death. everlasting

death, the second death as the book of Revelation

describes it, that is something to be feared

when body and soul are cast into everlasting

damnation. So body and soul are actually there.

Now listen to the words again if I can repeat

them though they were read to us so well. Verse

14, 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. Notice the

ground of Paul's hope. It's Jesus' resurrection

from the dead. He's the first person to be raised

from the dead, raised incorruptible, raised never

to die again. Now, of course, you know that in

Jesus' ministry, he did raise people from the

dead, Lazarus, for example, and the widow of

Nain's son. But of course, the raising of Lazarus

was back into this life, only to die again. I

always felt sorry for Lazarus' family to have

two funeral costs. Have you ever thought about

that? And to think possibly at his second funeral,

do you think he might rise again? but if Martha

or Mary were there, yes, he will rise again,

but at the day of resurrection. The very words

she spoke to Jesus. And Jesus gave a foretaste

of that. It was in a sense, It wasn't a resuscitation

because Lazarus was truly dead for four days,

as we know, but it was a resurrection back into

this life. It was a revivication, if you like,

a better word than resurrection. If we use the

word resurrection to be breaking the bonds of

this earthly coil, so we might live in resurrection

glory with new bodies, with changed bodies. That's

the hope that God holds out for us. Isn't it

wonderful? I mean, if you look at your neighbor,

or perhaps if they look at you, they can see

those wrinkles in the face and those crow's feet

and that graying hair. And yes, our bodies are

aging, aren't they? We see these young people.

Wouldn't it be great to be young again, but to

have all the wisdom of older age. That's what

we'd really like. But resurrection bodies, our

bodies are going to be perfected and resurrected

like Jesus' body. It doesn't yet appear what

we shall be like, but we know we shall be like

him. But notice the way in which Paul expresses

this. He says because of Jesus' resurrection,

God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen

asleep in him. In other words, Jesus is going

to bring with him all the saints who have died.

all those who have put their trust in Jesus,

all those who have known God's mercy and forgiveness

and repented of their sins and become members

of his family. But he then goes on in verse 15,

according to the Lord's word, we tell you that

we who are still alive and left until the coming

of the Lord, we will certainly not precede those

who have fallen asleep. What does that mean?

How can we proceed if Jesus is gonna bring with

him 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. So here's the conundrum

as you read this passage. How is it that Jesus

is bringing with him those who have fallen asleep

but the dead in Christ rise first and we who

are left on earth we will then meet the Lord

in the air and be forever with the Lord? Well

of course the best way to understand that is

that Jesus is bringing the souls of those who

have died. Their bodies are in the grave. So

the resurrection will take place at that last

day when body and soul are reunited but with

resurrection body. Whatever body goes into the

ground where it's consumed, ashes to ashes, dust

to dust, whether in cremation with ashes or whether

in a body buried in the ground, that body will

decay. and waste away, but God in his mercy is

going to revive that body, resurrect that body,

and bring new life into it. Like in Ezekiel's

vision of the valley of dry bones, where the

bones are stood up and flesh were added to the

bones, and a whole army of God's people arose

from the dead. That picture of the resurrection

of Israel as the nation of God has its application

towards us too. Some people have found this difficult

to understand because as one philosopher said,

well if the souls are in heaven, how can they

speak? Because their bodies are the organ for

speech. I remember I read a philosopher once

when I was in university. He said, oh, people

often have these visions of being in the hospital

bed and then their spirit rises up and they look

down and see their body. And the philosopher

said, their eyes are in their body. He said,

what are they looking with if they're in their

souls? Well, it's interesting. In the Book of

Revelation, there's a passage there where the

saints, the souls of those who've died cry out,

how long, oh Lord? How long oh Lord and that

in Revelation 6 that tells you a couple of things

It tells you that heaven is temporal Time still

continues in heaven because you can't say how

long oh Lord Unless you're in time only God's

outside of time. We will always be time bound

as created beings God is timeless He knows the

end from the beginning, but we're always in time.

Now, to the answer to the question, well, how

can souls cry out? How long, O Lord? My answer

is simple, in the same way in which God, the

Father, who has nobody, can speak. He's got it

solved. We don't need to worry about that philosophical

conundrum. If God can do it, he can allow his

souls to do it. Remember the very first aspect

of God we know of is that God spoke, let there

be light. Well, he's got power over voice control

and a voice box and all the rest of it. And so

these souls, but why are they crying out, how

long, oh Lord? They're crying out, how long,

oh Lord? How long before you end this old earth

and bring in the new heavens, the new earth?

How long before we get our resurrection bodies?

How long before we see justice upon the earth?

Because the prayers are going up of the saints

in heaven like incense before the throne of God.

They're actually praying for us. God's people

are one. And then you might remember the very

last verse of Hebrews 11. where the writer of

the Hebrews gives this catalog of all the people

of faith from Adam right through the Old Testament

saints. And he says, they were not made perfect

because they're awaiting us. They'll only be

made perfect when we join them. The perfection

of the people of God is gonna come place at the

last day. And you know, that's exactly, that

separation of body and soul is exactly what Jesus

experienced. When you celebrate Good Friday and

Easter Eve, the Saturday, and then Easter Day,

the Sunday, we know where Jesus is on Good Friday.

He's on the cross, isn't he? We know where Jesus

is on Easter Day. He's risen from the dead. Where

is he Easter Eve? Where is he on the Saturday?

Well, we know that his body's in the tomb, sealed

with a stone. Soldiers taking place. Joseph Arimathea

had been there and Nicodemus to actually help

make sure it was secure. The women were coming

with embalming ointments and things like that

on the Sunday morning only to be surprised that

the tomb was empty. But where was Jesus? on Easter

Eve. His body was in the tomb, but his spirit

was with his heavenly father. What were the last

words of Jesus on the cross? Into your hands,

I commend my spirit. Spirit and soul meaning

the same thing, different perspectives. What

did he say to the thief on the cross? Today,

you'll be with me in paradise. But that thief's

body was still in the ground or in the tomb wherever

he was buried. His body was there. After the Day of

Pentecost, they talk about the coming of the

Messiah. The Messiah had to be David's son. And

of course, Peter says, well, we've got King David's

burial plot here in Jerusalem. His body's there.

It's fit for corruption. but David's greatest

son is going to overcome corruption and then

all God's people will be raised from the dead.

So if you look at it that way, have a look at

these verses again you see. So in verse 14 we

have, we believe that Jesus died and rose again

and we believe that God will bring with Jesus

those who have fallen asleep in him and that

in him is very important because the souls of

the saints are in Christ. Death does not separate

us from Christ. Isn't that a wonderful thought?

Death will not separate us from Christ. But according

to the Lord's word, that we who are left alive,

if Jesus was to come back today or tomorrow,

then we would see Jesus bring the souls, then

we'd see the dead rise in Christ, and then we

would join him. So therefore he says, for the

Lord himself will come down from heaven, verse

16, with a loud command, with the voice of the

archangel, with the trump of call of God, and

the dead in Christ will rise first. And 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. Northern Hope. You're

about giving hope to Australians or even foreigners

who may be living in Cairns, to bring them into

the hope that only the Lord Jesus can do. Only

He has conquered death. Every other religion

has all kinds of strange views about reincarnation

or what happens after death, but none of them

have that combination of body and soul, that

sense of the unity that God created in the very

beginning, that unity which reflects the image

of God so that our bodies are important. That's

why sexual sins are so important in the New Testament

because don't just think you can be freelance

with your bodies as if your soul is pure. No,

it's body and soul which has made us. Remember

when Paul writes to the Philippians and he says,

I'd rather be away from the body and at home

with the Lord? That sense in which he recognizes

that separation, but he'd rather be further clothed,

that is, to have that resurrection body. And

the word further clothed is like a double, it's

like a pullover. You know, we think of a jumper

as like a pullover. You pull it over something,

that body will be, that resurrection body will

be pulled over, if you like, that naked soul.

That's the glory for which the saints in heaven

are now waiting. They continue to call out, how

long, oh Lord? And they're waiting for us. They're

waiting for us to join them. You've all seen

the difference between the funeral of a non -Christian

and the funeral of a Christian, haven't you?

It's so palpable. It's so sad. Because those

who die outside of Christ die without hope. But

those who die in Christ die with hope. They're

much far better off. It's we who are left behind,

but we don't need to worry about that. So dear

Monica, she's with the Lord. She is there. And

all the other saints that you have put to rest,

and you yourself, when the time comes, your hope

is in Jesus. who alone has conquered death. Therefore,

our trust in him is there. So what are Paul's

last words? Therefore, encourage one another

with these words. Where to encourage one another

as we gather together week by week or in our

growth groups as we seek to learn more of the

Lord Jesus through his word. We encourage one

another to say, yes, fear not. Death is not the

end. It's just a new beginning and the resurrection

that will bring even a whole new phase of God's

recreated order with a new heavens and new earth

where every tear we wiped away where death itself

will be no more and all the agonies and pains

and horrors of this world will disappear and

we shall be in the presence of the Lord resurrection

bodies forever. May God strengthen us with that

hope. May He encourage one another with these

words and may we invite others to join us in

that hope for Jesus sake. Let's pray. Father

God we thank you for your word, for the certainty

of the word that breaks the fears of death and

gives us that wonderful encouragement that you

are sovereign over life and death, and that you'll

bring us one day before your presence, and one

day in your mercies and in your timing, you'll

give us those resurrection bodies which we'll

share with the Lord Jesus, and so be able to

serve you forever. And we ask this in his name.

Amen.