Go with me, if you would, back
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I believe mainly we will be in
this book in our Bible study, but I felt led to be in it all
day today. And I'm glad. It's a good place to be. In the Bible study, we looked
at being taught of God to love each other. And then in the message this
morning, we looked at not being ignorant of what is the only
hope of a sinner before God. And that hope is the blood and
the righteousness of Christ. It's the blood and righteousness
of Christ. His work and not mine. Isn't that just so comforting
and relaxing? The more a believer enters into
that, you mean I just get to rest? His work, not mine, rest. It's just, that's it. His payment,
not mine, rest. Just rest. Our only hope is that
God looked on our sin laid it on Christ and dealt with Him
accordingly. That's the only hope we have
before God. And there is so much peace in
that. Had God just said, well, we're
going to let it go this time. Had God only said that, we're
going to let it go this time. I'm going to look the other way
this time. If that was all that it was,
if that was His dealings with us, it would always be in the
back of our mind, the judgment's coming. It would always be in
the back of our mind. The judgment is coming and the
scripture says the books are going to be opened. And it would
always be there in the back of our mind. I wonder if my sin
is going to be in there. You know, he said, well, we'll
just look the other way this time. We'll let that one slide
this time. It would always be, I wonder if it is ever going
to be brought up again because it's still there. The uncertainty of that would
just, we wouldn't, we couldn't continue. We could not go through
this life facing the judgment, heading toward the judgment.
Wondering if that was dealt with, but that's not what God said.
He said a settlement is going to be made. Right here. Right now on that cross, we're
going to deal with it right now. We're not putting it off. All of God's people came under
judgment when Christ hung on that cross. All of every soul
that God put in him, came under the judgment of God, and all
of God's people were found to be guilty. All found to be guilty. Every one of us. We were all
found to be guilty. And all of God's people suffered
and bled and died for their sin. All of God's people suffered
and bled and died in the person of God the Son. They all were judged. They were
all found guilty. It was dealt with. The sentence
was given. And we suffered and we bled and
we died in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We hung there
in Him. And He hung there as us. That's the thing. That's what
brings such peace. Gabe Stoniker hung on that cross. That was Gabe Stoniker dying
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Substitution. He became
me that I might become him. God gave sentence on every sin
we ever committed. God saw, counted, numbered, recorded,
tallied, judged, made a sentence on every single sin that we have
ever committed or will ever commit. Every single one. None were left
unpunished. From the cradle to the grave. All of those sins that it just
causes me to cringe to think that I haven't committed yet.
All of them. were dealt with when Christ hung
on the cross. And then after that judgment
was over, He arose. God killed Him because that's
exactly what I deserved. And when He arose, the record
of every person that He died for was wiped totally clean. That's amazing. Totally, totally
wiped clean. Now, it's wiped clean, right
now. In Christ, your record is absolutely
wiped clean, blotted out. That blood, hyssop was dipped
in the blood and it just completely covered everything. It's just
solid red. Now, those are the particular
people that this is written to. What we're about to look at,
those are the people that this is written to. For every soul
that Christ did that for, every soul he accomplished that for,
redeemed, redeemed back to God on the cross. Every soul that
he came for the first time, That's what he accomplished when he
came the first time. Every soul that he came for the
first time, he is coming again. And the thought of that, you
wonder, sometimes we wonder, what would it have been like
to see God when he walked this earth? Here, God was here in
his flesh. Well, he is coming again. He is coming again. He is literally
coming to this earth a second time. Just like all the prophets
in the Old Testament prophesied, He's coming. He's coming. Now, we cry in the New Testament,
He's coming again. The New Testament cries, He came. It came true. Everything that
they cried came true. And now the cry is, He's coming
again. He is coming again. This time
He's coming to gather together all of His redeemed to Himself. Look with me at Ephesians chapter
1. Ephesians 1 verse 7, speaking
of Christ, it says, In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will. according to His
good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in Him." In that great moment that all of God's people are
waiting for, Our Lord is going to make one final appearance
to this earth. And he's going to come for the
purpose of gathering together all of his people who are in
heaven with all of his people who are still on this earth.
And our text tells us how it's going to happen. Go with me back
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13 says, But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Those believers who have already
physically died, died in the faith, gone to be with the Lord.
He said they are asleep, meaning physically dead but not spiritually
dead. Their physical bodies remain
on this earth for a while. Their bodies remain here on this
earth for a while, but their souls go to be with God. Let
me show you that in Luke chapter 9. Luke 9 verse 28 says, And it came to pass, about an
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James
and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and
glissering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory. and spake of his decease, which
he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah were standing
there in glory. They were in glory. A window
to heaven was just opened up. But they were there, they were
just in glory. Now look with me at Luke chapter
16. Luke 16 verse 19 says, there
was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine
linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus
in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am
tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. And beside all this, between
us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass
to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for
I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place of torment. Abraham said unto him,
They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, my father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead,
they will repent. And he said unto him, if they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead. So to be absent from this body
is to go to our appointed place. Our Lord told that thief on the
cross, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The apostle Paul
said in second Corinthians 12, I was caught up to paradise,
I've seen it. He said, if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, if this body becomes dissolved,
we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal
in the heavens. So concerning believers, concerning
believers whose bodies are, as the scripture says, sleeping,
sleeping in the Lord. The apostle Paul says back in
our text, don't worry about them. Don't worry about that. Now go
with me back there to first Thessalonians four. Verse 13 says. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. That you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope when a loved one
dies in the Lord. I'll open my heart to you. I dread the day that we have
our first funeral from this congregation. I'm just not looking forward
to that. And it's because I'm selfish and I want to be with
you. But the day will come. And when
a loved one dies in the Lord. When a loved one dies, truly
trusting the Lord, it's sorrowful. It is sorrowful. And it is okay
to be sorrowful. It is okay. We love them. We
love them. That temporary separation, and
that's what it is, it is a temporary, a very temporary separation. And it's painful, so it's okay
to be sorrowful. But if that loved one died in
the Lord, if that loved one's only confession before God was,
Lord, I plead your choice. All of that that we just read
in Ephesians 1. His will, his purpose, his good pleasure. I
plead your choice. You did all the choosing. And
I plead your salvation, Lord, you did all the saving. And I plead your calling me in
repentance and faith to yourself. I am what I am by the grace of
God. A recipient of your loving kindness,
your tender mercy. If that was their confession,
And if that is our confession, then the apostle Paul said, go
ahead and sorrow if that was their confession. And if that's
our confession, go ahead and sorrow, but not as those who
have no hope. You'll see him again. You will
see them again. You'll see him real soon. Our
minds can't get ahold of that, but it's so, I mean, it's so
you will see them again very soon. Verse 14 says, for if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. When he comes back. He is going to bring every soul
that is currently with him. With him. And I just love the
thought of that. I just the the the loving reunion
that that's going to be. Verse 15 says, for this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord, Paul said, we we declare this
to you on the authority of God. We're saying this on the authority
of God's word, this is God's word, you have God's word on
this. You can have God's word on this.
Verse 15, this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.
Whichever believers are standing on this earth still living out
their earthly lives on the day that he returns, whichever believers
that is. The end of verse 15 says, they
shall not prevent them which are asleep. Nothing is going
to happen to the believers that are standing on this earth until
something happens to the believers that have already gone on to
be with the Lord. Something's going to happen to
them first. And I'm so glad to know that. For a long time, I
did not understand how this was going to happen. I used to I used to worry that
the Lord was not going to come back in my lifetime. And that
I was going to miss out on this glorious return, I used to think
about that some believers will be standing on the earth, not
having physically died yet, and they're going to see this glorious
return and and. I thought I might miss out on
it, but no believer is going to miss out on this glorious,
triumphant return, not one believer. Verse 16 says, for the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout. Now, when I was studying
this, my heart was shouting. I thought the Lord was going
to come the other day. I was just rejoicing in this
so much, thinking about this shout. The Lord is going to descend
from heaven with a shout. What's the shout? Do you think
about all of heaven? I mean, you just think about
the number of angels no man can number, all the believers that
have gone on before him. Every, God is going to, on that
day, God is going to empty heaven. God is going to empty heaven.
And all of heaven is going to shout, Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord. Behold your King. I mean, the whole earth is gonna
hear this. Thy God reigneth. Verse 16 says, for the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel. Can you imagine hearing Michael
the archangel? I wanna meet him. He's been given a high honor. Can you imagine Michael the archangel
crying, hear the Lord? All hail, here's the announcement
as it goes out to the air, all hail the power of Jesus' name. Didn't the scripture say at the
hearing of his name? All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Let angels and everything prostrate
fall. Now bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. And then the praise goes up. Verse 16 says, For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall
rise first. That will not be the first time
that the graves have opened up because of His glory. That will
not be the first time. Look with me at Matthew 27. Matthew 27 verse 50 says, Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth
did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the
graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and
appeared unto many. His people cannot remain dead
in the presence of His glory. They just can't. Their death gets swallowed up
by His life. When He resurrected, when life
came back into Him, life flowed through the ground, and all the
saints that were in His vicinity, they got up with Him. They got
up with it. They couldn't help it. It was
just too much life. Just too much life. They got
up and appeared unto many. That is what is going to happen
again. When He comes down, it's just
going to be too much life. God's saints are going to come
out of their graves and they're going to appear unto many. Revelation
1-7 says, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see
him. Every eye. The redeemed are going
to see him in his glory. The unredeemed are going to see
him in his wrath. But every eye shall see him. Every single eye. Now go with
me back to 1 Thessalonians 4. Verse 15 says, 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. Those of us who have not physically
died yet. After the saints which currently
sleep arise from their graves. It says, we will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. He is not stepping foot on this
earth again, according to his word. This sinful earth, he is gonna
enter our airspace, and we are gonna be caught up with the saints
that arise from their graves to meet him in the air. We're
caught up at that moment to meet him. But we're not gonna be caught
up like this. We cannot go up to meet Him like
this. Something's going to have to
happen in a very moment. Turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
15. Just hold your place right here
and look at 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 35 says, Some man will say, how are the
dead raised up and with what body do they come? Thou fool,
that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And
that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall
be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain.
Now, just think about the fact that when you put a seed in the
ground, at that moment, it looks nothing like a corn stalk. But everything that that corn
stalk is, is in that seed. It's the same thing. It's the
same exact thing. That is that. Nobody came and
got rid of that and stuck a corn stalk in the ground. That's what
it is. And the difference between the
glory of that seed And the glory of the cornstalk is just is just. Immeasurable. Well, First Corinthians
15 verse 42 says so also is the resurrection of the dead. That's
exactly what it's going to be like when the bodies that go
into this ground. Or like that seed, but the bodies
that come out are going to be like that cornstalk, same body,
same Same thing. Verse 42, so also is the resurrection
of the dead. It's sown in corruption. It's
raised in incorruption. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised
in glory. It's sown in weakness, raised
in power. It's sown a natural body. It's
raised a spiritual body. There's a natural body and there's
a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first
man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. How be it that was not first
which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward
that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy.
And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, Adam, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly, Christ. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. But I show you a mystery. We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in
the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall
sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be
changed for this corruptible must put on in corruption and
this mortal must put on immortality. must, in a twinkling of an eye,
for whoever is still standing on this earth, they're gonna
be changed from a corn kernel to a full stalk, that fast. Just poom. The Apostle John said,
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when
he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him
as he is. Soon as our eyes behold him,
as soon as we see him, we're going to change. Verse 54, so
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That moment when
he comes back is gonna be so joyful. That moment is gonna
be so joyful. Everything that the spirit of
Christ in a sinner cries out to God for is gonna be given
to us that fast. And if we are not one of the ones
still standing on this earth, the moment your body is sown
into the ground, It is going to be the same experience of
joy in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye. Whenever it's your
time, if He does not return, and it is your turn for Him to
take you, and you're looking to Him and crying out to Him,
as soon as that body falls, you're going to see Him. You're going
to see everything that is in Him. You're going to see your
brethren. You're going to see glory. It's
just the joy We cannot enter into it, and
our flesh, sorrows, and sorrow overtakes it, and we cannot understand
it, but based on God's Word, it's gonna be the greatest experience
you've ever known. There He is. It's gonna be the
same thing. There He is. And just like when
He comes, there He is. So back in our text, 1 Thessalonians
4, verse 17 says, 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. Let's see if
this will sink in. We will never be separated from
him after that moment ever again. The moment he returns, the moment
he comes back, and the moment that Trump resounds, and we're
changed and we arise to meet Him in the air, from that moment
forward, we will never be without Him ever again. We'll never not
have Him in our presence ever again. Never again. So shall
we ever be with the Lord. Verse 18 says, wherefore, comfort
one another with these words. How comforting they are. It's
almost here. Man, it's almost here. Let's
all stand together.