The Good Church Hopes in the Return of Jesus | The Church God Calls Good | Pastor Zach Weihrauch

first

1 Thessalonians 4:3–5:1

Thessalonians

4:3 through

5:1 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 for since we believe

that Jesus died and rose again even so

through Jesus God will bring with him

those who have fallen asleep 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 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 will rise first 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 therefore

encourage one another with these

words now concerning the times and the

seasons Brothers you have no need to

have anything written to you for you

yourselves are fully aware that the day

of the Lord will come like like a thief

in the night while people are saying

there is peace and security then sudden

destruction will come upon them as labor

pains come upon a pregnant woman and

they will not Escape but you are not in

darkness Brothers for that day to

surprise you like a thief for you are

all children of light Children of the

day we are not of the night or of the

darkness so then let us not sleep as

others do but let us keep awake and be

sober for those who sleep sleep at night

and those who get drunk are drunk at

night but since we belong to the day let

us be sober having put on the

breastplate of faith and love and for a

helmet the hope of salvation for God has

not destined us for wrath but to obtain

salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

who died for us so that whether we are

awake or asleep we might live with him

therefore encourage one another and

build one another up just as you are

doing well welcome to the weekend

Gathering of Christ Community Chapel my

name is Zach I'm one of the pastors here

and I'm so glad that you are here with

us this weekend as we continue our fall

sermon series through first and 2

Thessalonians uh in fact if you have a

Bible would you take it out phone uh

device tablet and get to first or second

Thessalonians to join me in the reading

and if you're new here if you don't come

from a church background not super

familiar with the Bible at first I'm so

glad that you're here it's probably a

really big step for you and I want you

to know that everything that happens

this weekend is as much for you as is

for anyone else and so if you want to

read along you don't have to the verses

will be on the screen behind me but if

you want to follow along we do make

Bibles available to you here in the west

service in the Pew in front of you in

the East service in the back of the room

and today's reading is on page

928 in those Bibles as you're getting to

first Thessalonians uh I do want to let

you know two things uh one is that we're

going to start pretty low this weekend

okay we're going to start with some some

tough things some some difficult things

uh you are going to wonder why you came

for the first point okay but we're

starting low but we're going to end in a

good place that's my promise so hang in

there with me as we deal with some heavy

stuff uh the second thing is that I'm

going to use an outline to guide our

time together uh three points very

simple and they go like this I want to

talk about this will all end you can see

what I mean about heavy this will all

end here's here's what you need to know

and here's why you need to know it this

will all end here's what you need to

know and here's why you need to know it

all right let's start with the first one

this will all end this is a passage

about endings it's a passage about all

things coming to an end so the passage

looks at the last uh part of chapter 4

and then the beginning of chapter 5

we'll we'll look at them in Reverse uh

the begin of chapter 5 deals with the

end of the universe now I should say

that science is pretty unequivocal that

the universe will end at some point

there are a lot of theories about how

the universe will end and take it from

me Googling them doesn't take you to a

happy place okay some people say the

universe is expanding and it's just

going to keep on expanding until we all

freeze to death that'll be nice others

say the is Contracting and it's just

going to keep on Contracting and we

might either burn to death or just

collapse in on ourselves some people say

We'll become light and evaporate other

people say a black hole or many black

holes will open up and swallow us up so

you see they disagree on the methodology

but everybody agrees the universe is

going to end but when the Bible talks

about the end of the universe it does

not present it in purely science

scientific terms and it does not present

it as the end of some kind of scientific

process it doesn't present it as a kind

of biological or

physiological reality when the Bible

talks about the end of the universe it

talks about it in such a way that we

know however the universe ends it will

end when God wants it to because God

wants it to look with me at our passage

here at verse 16 and then uh verses 2

and 3 verse 16 in uh chapter 4 and then

verses 2 and 3 in chapter 5 here's what

it says uh verse 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 chapter 5: 2 and 3 uh

for you yourselves are full fully aware

that the day of the Lord will come like

a thief in the night while people are

saying there is peace and security then

sudden destruction will come upon them

as labor pains come upon a pregnant

woman and they will not escape the point

the writer is making here is that

eventually everything you know will come

to an end this universe has a stopping

point it has a a moment a a a point in

time in which God will say no more

that's it the universe as we know it is

over the Bible actually refers to this

moment as the day of the Lord and that

title is intended to imply

ownership that it isn't going to happen

because of anything other than this the

universe will end when God wants it to

because he wants it to but it is going

to end

now you might be saying H that's that's

kind of out there and esoteric and

theoretical that's hard to conceptualize

and most of us If we're honest would say

yeah okay maybe the universe is going to

end but probably not today and probably

not tomorrow right so that's someone

else's problem down the road well let me

hit you with this bit of good news not

only will the universe end you will

end for most most of us the more

pressing reality is not that the

universe is going to end but that our

universe will end because everyone in

this room is headed towards their

death everyone in this room is going to

die when I say it that way it sounds

like a threat not tonight not here at

Christ Community Chapel but everyone

here is going to die that's a reality

that's a reality look at what the writer

says here in our passage in verse 13 He

says this but we do not want you to be

uninformed Brothers about those who are

asleep and he means here those that are

dead that you may not grieve as others

who have no hope what's implicit in that

verse is that people around the

Thessalonians are dying and if people

around them are dying then of course

they will die and if they're dying and

going to die then so also are are we the

Bible is unrelenting in telling us this

everything we know will come to an end

you and I will come to an end this will

all end and as much as we try not to

think about

that as much as we try to put that out

of our minds to to busy ourselves and in

entertain ourselves so that we don't

have to think about death whether you

think about it or not whether you want

to think about it or not it is coming

this will all

end that's my first point here's my

second Point here's what you need to

know about that the Bible isn't telling

us that we're going to end just to bring

us down it isn't telling us we're going

to end because it wants us to feel

depressed or to be anxious about the end

when the Bible speaks of the end it's

always for a reason and the Reason God

wants you to know that the universe is

going to end and that you are going to

end is because there are some things he

wants you to be ready for about that

ending and here's the first thing the

first thing that God wants us to know

about the fact that we're going to end

is that no matter what the end will come

as a

surprise no matter what the end is going

to surprise us whether that's the end of

the universe or whether it's our own end

look at what he says in verses 1

through3 in chapter 5 he says now

concerning the times and the seasons

Brothers you have no need to have

anything written to you for you

yourselves are fully aware that the day

of the Lord will come like a thief in

the night while people are saying there

is peace and security then sudden

destruction will come upon them as labor

pain come upon a pregnant woman and they

will not Escape what the writer is

saying is that when he says now listen

I'm not going to write you about how

it's going to happen or when it's going

to happen he says because it isn't meant

to be understood or seen coming it is

going to be a surprise and this is

really important because throughout the

history of Christianity different people

have claimed the ability to predict the

end of the universe there have been all

kinds of moments my favorite story is

about a guy in the early 20th century

who said that Jesus was going to come

back and the universe was going to end

he picked a date on the calendar he put

it in the newspaper he advertised it and

of course it didn't happen so then he

said oh I might have had it wrong and he

went public again with a second

prediction and it didn't happen and then

he went public a third time with a

prediction and it didn't happen and he

was probably smart enough to know you

don't get a fourth time so after the

third time happened he took out another

ad in the paper saying it did happen but

when Jesus came back he was invisible so

you couldn't see him points for

creativity points for creativity right

but people have always done this when I

was a kid growing up in the church there

was a guy named Hal Lindsay who wrote

books about how the Soviet Union was

going to usher in the end of the world

and when that didn't happen it was

Saddam Hussein and people kept buying

the books somehow convinced that he had

learned from his

mistakes in fact I remember sitting in a

Sunday school class when I was a kid in

church and they were assigning every

letter of the alphabet a numeric value

and they said if if your name added up

to

666 then you were the evil ruler of the

world who was going to usher in the end

this was our Sunday School

curriculum and it might sound funny to

you except for for my name is Zachary

wrock that's a lot of letters and I

remember sitting there my dad was the

pastor of the church at the time I

remember sitting there thinking this is

going to be awkward if I have to tell my

dad at lunch that I'm the Antichrist and

there's nothing I can do about it I'm

going to bring about the end of the

world right people have always been

infatuated with this but I want you

friends please hear me on this no matter

what YouTube rabbit hole you go down no

matter what book you read no matter what

podcast you listen to the writer of this

passage inspired by the holy spirit says

no one will see it

coming no one so only thing you can be

sure when someone tells you and predicts

it is that it won't happen on that day

because no one will see it coming it'll

be like a thief in the night it's going

to surprise us and by the way he's not

just talking about the end of the world

the context of the passage is the end of

the world and the end of our Lives I

don't know if you've thought about this

but your own death is going to sneak up

on

you some of us will die suddenly and

quite literally death will sneak up on

us but others of us will sit in a

doctor's room and be told that we have

six months to live we will not have seen

it

coming it's going to surprise us in fact

the best metaphor for this I can think

of is we all know we're going to die and

yet somehow we're still going to be

surprised for it's like watching a

horror movie do you know what I mean you

know it's a scary movie when you turned

it on you knew it was going to scare you

but when the killer jumps out of the

closet you still jump because even

though you knew something scary was

coming you still weren't ready for it

listen you and I know we're going to die

but God is telling us you're going to be

caught off guard by it but here's the

other thing he wants you to know he

won't be

you will be he won't be either by the

end of the world or by the end of your

life look at what it says in verses 15

and 16 of chapter 4 he says 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 prede

those who have fallen asleep for the

Lord himself will descend from heaven

with a cry of command and with the voice

of an archangel and with the sound of

the trumpet of God and the dead in

Christ will rise first Paul says there's

a lot we don't know about the end of the

world there's a lot we don't know about

what is coming but there are some things

we do know and we do know them because

God told us because God

knows he isn't surprised God knows the

exact minute the universe will be

done God knows the exact minute that you

will be done done it surprises you it

sneaks up on me but it does not surprise

him in fact go back to the horror movie

example when you're watching that movie

it's like watching the movie with a

friend who's seen the movie and the

killer jumps out of the closet and you

jump and your friend goes you're such a

wimp well the only difference is they

knew the guy was coming out of the

closet God is like that God knows your

end he knows the universe's end you

don't he does I will be surprised he

won't be that's what God wants us to

know and here's my third Point well why

why does he want us to know

that and you might notice I've rushed to

this third point and that's intentional

because I want you to know that

overwhelmingly God In this passage has

good news for you even though he's

talking about your death even though

he's talking about the end of the

universe even though he's telling you

you could never be ready for for it

you'll never see it coming it's going to

catch you by total

surprise even in all of that God has

good news for you in fact I want you to

see that the whole point of this passage

is in verses 18 of chapter 4 and then

verse 11 of chapter 5 is encouragement

listen to what he says chapter 4: 18

right after he's talked about death this

is what he says

therefore encourage one another with

these words then verse 11 of chapter 5

right after he's talked about the end of

the universe he says this therefore

encourage one another and build one

another up just as you are doing you see

the whole reason God is speaking to us

in these passages about death and the

end of the universe is because he wants

us to be encouraged he wants us to

encourage each other in other words God

is saying something in this passage

about death and about the end of the

universe that he wants me to use to

encourage you and then he wants you to

use to encourage me now how could that

possibly be well the answer to that I

think is in three different Ministries

that these passages are calling us to

three different Ministries that I think

God wants to call you to in light of

your understanding that the universe

will end you will end you won't see it

coming but he will three Ministries here

they are first the ministry

of death the ministry of death listen to

what he says in verses 13-1

17 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 for since we believe

that Jesus died and rose again even so

through Jesus God will bring with him

those who have fallen asleep for 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 proceede those who have fallen

asleep for the Lord himself will descend

from heaven with a cry of command with

the voice of an archangel with the sound

of the trumpet of God and the dead in

Christ will rise first and 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 so that we will

always be with the Lord you see what

he's saying is that the good news that

God has for us is that we are all going

to die and we will not see it coming but

after death comes only good things for

us have you ever thought about that that

what this passage is saying is that

Death is certain and death is surprising

and death is sad he says when you grieve

I want to grieve not like you don't have

any hope he's not saying he doesn't want

us to grieve death is sad death is

surprising death is awful but death is

only the beginning of the best part of

your life because to die is to await

Resurrection with Jesus and Eternity in

the Kingdom that is to come now when I

say the ministry of dying I mean two

different things the first is I want you

to hear this that what God is calling us

to In this passage is to see death as a

mission

field I don't know if you've thought

about this but the most powerful

testimony you may ever

have the most powerful witness you may

ever have the most powerful moment that

God uses you may just be

your process of

dying that's because if you think about

it this way for those who do not know

Jesus life right now is as good as it's

ever going to

be that's because this life will end and

after this life ends becomes death and

after death comes judgment and after

judgment comes the Lord's anger but for

those of us that are in Christ at the

end of this life comes death and after

death resurrection and after

Resurrection glory and what Paul is

saying is that we should face death not

just with courage but with an

anticipation that good things are

waiting for us that doesn't mean that if

tomorrow I go to see my doctor and my

doctor says Zach you have six months to

live that I walk out saying

awesome or that I call my wife and I say

great news honey I've got 6 months to

live

no death is sad death is awful death in

that circumstance would be tragic I I'd

have to tell daughters I wouldn't walk

them down the aisle tell Sons I couldn't

help them grow into full manhood there's

all kinds of sad things that I would

have to reckon with but what what the

writer of first Thessalonians is saying

is that on the other side of all of

those painful things is good

news and it's in our moment of death

it's in our process of dying that we

testify to our hope that just as Jesus

was raised from the dead so also with

will we be Brothers and Sisters in

Christ could we even now consecrate our

death to God to say to God help me die

well help me point to My Hope in you my

trust in you my confidence in you in the

moment or moments of my death but of

course the second thing he's call

calling us to in the ministry of death

is to help each other with

death I don't know if you have ever lost

anyone but there's this cultural

phenomena that when you go through grief

people tend to shrink back from

you they don't know what to

say they don't want to make you

uncomfortable they don't want to be

uncomfortable and so everyone shows up

initially attends the funeral offers to

help in any way that we can but

eventually there's a retreating that

happens there's an uncomfortableness but

here Paul is saying that in the church

we should be leaning into each other

weeping with each other for sure

grieving with each other to be certain

but also pointing one another to this

good news that death is awful and tragic

but it is also a doorway into life

Everlasting with Jesus it's the ministry

of death

the second Ministry Paul is calling us

to is the ministry of waiting the

ministry of waiting look at what he says

here in verses 4-9 and chapter 5 when he

says this but you are not in darkness

Brothers for that day to surprise you

like a thief for you are all children of

light Children of the day we are not of

the night or of the darkness so then let

us not sleep as others do but let us

keep aake and be sober for those who

sleep sleep at night and those who get

drunk are drunk at night but since we

belong to the day let us be sober having

put on the breastplate of faith and love

and for a helmet the hope of salvation

for God has not destined us for wrath

but to obtain salvation through our Lord

Jesus Christ see what the writer is

saying is that in some ways all of us

are between now and the end we are

waiting for the universe to end or for

our lives to end we're in the waiting

room of life and in the midst of that

waiting room is all kinds of things good

things and bad things there's marriage

and divorce there's love and there's

hate there's pleasure and there's pain

but also there's anxiety because the end

is looming over us and the writer is

saying that one of the ways we encourage

each other is with the consistent

refrain that we are headed towards good

things between now and Heaven there's

infertility between now and Heaven

there's

depression between now and Heaven There

is poverty bankruptcy shame

guilt but even as we push through those

things even as we walk through those

things we are always only walking to

Hope

because the way we're walking is towards

life

Everlasting with God one of the ways you

and I are meant to encourage each other

is not by minimizing depression or

poverty or divorce or pain no that's not

the point it's not saying to someone get

over it don't you know there's good news

it's reminding each other as we cry as

we grieve as we struggle that our faces

are appointed to

Glory it's the ministry of waiting

together for the

end and then third the third Ministry

he's calling us to is the ministry of

sharing look at what he says verses 9

and 10 of chapter 5 for God has not

destined us for wrath but to obtain

salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

who died for us so that whether we are

awake or asleep we might live with him

Paul says we know that even though we

die we will get back up because that's

what Jesus did but of course he's

speaking there to Christians those who

have placed their faith in Jesus those

who have asked God to forgive them on

the basis of Jesus's life and death and

Resurrection I want you to understand

what he's saying here is that you have

hope but the implication is not everyone

does

you see when the universe ends it ends

for

everybody death is a reality for

everybody but it is not good news for

everybody so what's rattling around in

this passage is not just that we have

hope but that our desire would be that

so does everyone else around

us it's impossible to read this passage

message without saying but what about my

dad what about my mom what about my

brother what about my friend what about

my neighbor what about my coworker and I

think in that way the spirit is saying

to us through this passage what about

them because it's calling us not just to

think about our death but about

Theirs to find the courage to invite

them to ch Church to find the en the

courage to talk about our own

relationship with Jesus to find the

courage to ask them if they've thought

about what comes after this life because

the end of the universe is certain the

end of all people is certain and after

that comes judgment

unless they turn to

Christ and friends that's you and I's

responsibility to point them there

which is why I'm ending in this way if

you're here this weekend and you are not

yet a Christian here in this passage yes

the universe will end you will end you

won't see it coming no one really ever

does but God does and in seeing your

death coming God is saying to you it is

not too late to turn to

Jesus to be forgiven heav to have the

hope of Heaven this will all

end but today if you turn to Jesus that

might be the best possible news you

could

hear let me pray for us father

God thank you that you love us enough to

interrupt our comfort to interrupt our

autopilot to interrupt our living as

though this life will never end the

universe will never end we will never

end we don't think that consciously

we're smarter than that we're scientific

enough to know that isn't true but but

dayto day functionally we put it out of

our mind holy spirit my prayer this

weekend is that you might bring it into

our

minds that we might Ponder our own end

that we might those of us in Jesus might

set our face to die well to testify to

the hope that is available in Christ to

doctors and nurses and EMS and and and

police and anyone who's around us in the

moment or moments of our death that we

would grieve but with hope in such a way

that would cause them to wonder how they

might find that hope too for those here

this weekend who have yet to find that

hope that this would be the moment where

you begin a curiosity in them that will

not let them

sleep until they meet

Jesus in his name we pray amen