Let us turn again to God's Word
in the portion of Scripture that we read, 1 Thessalonians chapter
4, and I'll read again from verse 13 through to the end of the
chapter. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4,
verse 13, following, 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 if 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." And it's these last words
of the chapter in verse 18 that I want to take for our text,
where for comforts one another with these words, and to endeavor
to say something then of the believer's comfort in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Of course, we recognize that
the believer finds it all in Christ, as Paul says to the Colossians,
ye are complete in him who is the head of all principality
and power. And again, the words of the Apostle
to the Corinthians, of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
that as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord, or the believer's comfort then, centers in the person and
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to confine what I'm
going to say with regards to the comfort that is in Christ,
I want to confine it to the context in which the Apostle makes this
particular statement. limiting ourselves then to these
final verses of this fourth chapter in Paul's first letter to the
Thessalonians. And of course the striking thing
is that here he is speaking in particular of that comfort that
the believer has in the prospect of the Lord's return, the second
coming of the Lord Jesus. There is much misunderstanding
concerning his return. Certainly that was the case when
Paul wrote this epistle. He's addressing a very real concrete
situation that had arisen amongst those believers at Thessalonica. And we see that from what he
says here in verses 11 and 12. He instructs them that ye study
to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your
own hands, as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward
them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. It would seem that they were
expecting a very imminent return of the Lord Jesus, and so some
of them had stopped attending to the normal duties of daily
life. They'd ceased to work. They were
simply waiting for the Lord to appear. And it was a very real
issue amongst them because he takes up the matter again in
the second epistle, and there in the third chapter, verse 11,
he says, We hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly,
working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command
and exhort by the Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they
work and eat their own bread. They had such an erroneous concept
of the great truth that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to return. He would come suddenly. He would come unexpectedly. But Paul makes it plain that
no one actually knew exactly when this would burn. And so
he goes on, of course, here at the beginning of chapter 5. But
of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that
I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly
that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For
when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they
shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. no one knew exactly when that
day would come but there would certainly be certain precursors
and Paul is careful to instruct them with regards to these things
as he goes on to say again in that second epistle and in the
second chapter he speaks here in the opening verses of that
second chapter in the second epistle concerning those things
that would be associated with the coming of the Lord. Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for that day shall not come, except their comer falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
So he tells them quite plainly, they're not to be taken in by
any false teachers who come and speak of the return as something
that is so imminent. Yes, it will be sudden, it will
be unexpected. and they should always be ready,
watching and waiting. But there were certain things
that would come to pass before the Lord returned." That's what
he goes on to say there, of course, in that second chapter. He speaks
of the man of sin, the son of perdition. He speaks of that
that is preventing the manifestation of this Antichrist figure. And what was it that prevented
it? It was the the great power of
imperial Rome. We haven't time to go into the
significance of that second chapter in the second epistle, but we
do believe that what he is writing of there is how that in the course
of time the Antichrist would be manifested, and that Antichrist
would be the papacy. that is the understanding of
the Reformers, that is the understanding of the Puritans concerning that
chapter. So, there must be the fall of
Imperial Rome and Imperial Rome being replaced by Papal Rome. And so, the coming of Christ
is not something that is going to occur imminently as Paul is
writing these various things in his epistles. The Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, of course, in the course of His own ministry,
had spoken of the truth of Him coming again. When we come to
the end of the Gospels, we see how the Lord Jesus does clearly
speak of these things. In Matthew 24, for example, and
there at verse 4, He says, Take heed that no man
deceive you. For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And you shall hear
of wars, rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled,
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Even the Lord, you see, had spoken
of a return that will be so sudden and so unexpected, and yet not
to think it is something imminent. There was much misunderstanding
And we see that further in what he says here in verse 15 of this
fourth chapter in the first epistle. He says, 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. The word prevent here has the
original meaning of the word. would use it now in the idea
of something that comes as a hindrance. But the etymology of the word
really indicates that it speaks of that that is really going
before. That's the meaning here. That ancient, the original meaning
of the word we which are alive and remain under the coming of
the Lord shall not go before them that are asleep. The living
shall have no advantage over those believers who have died."
That's what he is saying. When the Lord appears, the dead in Christ are to arise
first. and then those who are living
will be caught up together with them in the air. The living believers
have no advantage. He's seeking then here to disabuse
the Thessalonians with regards to the false ideas that they
had obtained concerning the second coming of the Lord. There was
so much misunderstanding that it was so bad that they were
not conducting themselves in a way that becomes those who
profess godliness. They were not working. They were
becoming busybodies as they lived idle lives. So, Paul's seeking
to not only instruct them, but he wants to exhort them also
to proper conduct. And as we see, of course, as
we go through, as we read through the final part of chapter 5,
he gives so many words of exhortation, words of commands. But there
is a comfort here. There is that comfort, the truth
that the Lord Jesus himself is to return and believers are to
be those who would anticipate that coming. We look not at the
things that are seen but the things that are not seen. We
know that the things that are seen are the temporal things,
the unseen things are the eternal things. and the end will come
in that time that God himself has ordained. The Lord himself
is to return with power and great glory. And there is comfort in
a right understanding of the truth of the second coming of
the Lord Jesus. We therefore comfort one another
with these words. But not only comfort in that
prospect, that the Lord is to return, but also here we see
that there is real comfort in death. There is real comfort
with regards to those who have died. Now we do read of some
in Hebrews chapter 2 who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. There are those amongst believers
who are fearful with regards to that kingdom of terror which
is death God himself of course created man as body and soul
and in death there is the separation of the soul from the body not
as God appointed it at the beginning the awful consequence of man's
sin is that separation of the body from the soul and some are
fearful with regard to these things But here Paul speaks of
how the believer is able, when death comes, when there is that
loss of a loved one, he's able to sorrow with hope. Look at what he says in verse
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. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words." There is comfort to be ministered with regards
to those who are in that state of sad grief and mourning. Sorrow is not wrong. Death is an imposter, as we've
said. It's the result of man's sin,
man's rebellion against God, that awful separation that comes
when the body is left and the soul departs in a sense we can
say that is unnatural because man is his body and soul and
of course there is to be the resurrection of the body and
the reuniting of the body with the soul that is the glorious
hope of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ And so when we think
of what death is, it is not improper for there to be that sense of
sadness and grief. Even the Lord Jesus Christ himself
knew what it was to be sorrowful. We know that the Lord Jesus had
real human emotions. We read of him being wearied
in his journey and resting at the well at Sychar in John chapter
4 but also of course we read of him in John chapter 11 at
the grave of his friend Lazarus and we're told there how Jesus
wept he was sorrowful he was touched in his heart his emotions
were stirred when he saw the grief of the sisters of Lazarus
Martha and Mary and yet At that very time the Lord knew what
He was about to do. He was about to raise Lazarus
from the dead. Why? Within a few verses of that
statement that Jesus wept, we see how He speaks that sovereign
words to Lazarus. Lazarus come forth and he that
was dead came forth from the grave. There we see then the
Lord Jesus as that one who is able to raise the dead and yet,
though there we see something of the glories of his deity,
in the same context we also see the reality of his human nature
as he weeps, as he experiences sorrow. But the believers hope with regards
to those that die in the Lord is of course that they are immediately
in the presence of Christ and is the believers not at death
is it not? Think of the words of the Lord
Jesus to that thief upon the cross when he asks the Lord to
remember him for does Christ say verily I say unto thee to
death, thou shalt be with me in paradise." What a word it
is that the Lord speaks to that dying thief as he clearly is
looking to Christ. repentant of his sins, exercising
faith in Christ as he asks the Lord to remember him and he receives
that great word of reassurance, today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. Paul, when he writes to these
various believers in these New Testament epistles, speaks of
his own confidence. Writing to the Corinthians, he
can say, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body and to be present with the Lord. absent from the
body, present with the Lord." And you know what he says to
the Philippians there in the opening chapter, as he finds
himself in this strife between the two, he sees how desirable
it is that he should remain and minister to the Philippians,
and yet all the prospects of death for him, he says, having
the desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Or the believer then, he can
sorrow over the departed with that real hope where there is
true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not wrong to be sorrowful. It is a proper human response,
a human emotion. Because we're witnessing that
that is a solemn reminder of man's sinful condition and the
soul and the body are separated one from the other. All but that
blessed hope that there is in the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is comfort. There is comfort even with regards
to those who have died. And the believer's death in Scripture
is spoken of as a sleep. And we see it here in the context. In verses 13 and 14 And fifteen, I would not have
you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
he says, 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." Three times he uses the word asleep
in referring to those who have died. Now what is this sleep? It is not soul sleep. It is not
soul sleep. We must be clear on that. We
read of the spirits of just men made perfect. In Hebrews chapter
12. The spirits of just men made
perfect. Those that have died, their spirits,
their souls are made perfect in the very presence of God.
the language of the preacher in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the Spirit
to God will guide it. Not soulfully, you see. The body
is lying in the ground, but the Spirit returns to God, in the
presence of God. Again, in the New Testament,
2 Corinthians 5 and verse 8, absent from the body, present
with the Lord. It is the body that sleeps in
the grave. It is not soul sleep. So, whilst we have this word
used repeatedly here in these verses concerning them which
are asleep, the reference is not to their souls. Look at the
language of the hymn writer. It is remarkable what good theology
we often find in the hymn book, in these hymns. And here in the
hymn 463, Sweetly sleep, dear saints, in
Jesus. Thou with us shalt wake from
death. Hold ye cannot, though he sees us. We is power defied
by faith." It is the saint's body that is sleeping, that has
been seized by death. But ultimately, there will be
that rising again from the dead. Why is it that the apostle, as
he writes here in the epistles, and it's not only in this context,
but we have it in other parts of his epistles. We have it,
for example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, where he is speaking
of the need for proper order to be observed at the observance
of the Lord's Supper. And he speaks of some which are
asleep. and the reference there is to the fact that some had
died because God had visited judgment upon them because of
their disorder in that church at Corinth. Several times Paul
then uses this expression speaking of those who have died as believers
that they are asleep. Now why is it that he can use
such an expression? It is because Christ himself
has taken away the sting from death. And so for the believer
it is but as a sleep. Those great words of course that
we have at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, O death where is
thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the one
who has so vanquished sin that in vanquishing sin he has dealt
with everything that has come as a result of man's rebellion
against God. He has triumphed also over the
grave. Oh, the Lord Jesus is that one
who has led captivity captive. And here, look at what Paul says
in verse 14, "...if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so then also with sleep in Jesus will God bring with
Him." Here is the encouragement of our faith. Here is that word
whereby then we can comfort ourselves. The amazing thing is, of course,
that the Lord Jesus Christ's death was such a real death.
The Lord Jesus is that one who has gone the way of the grave. And what a death it was that
he died. It was a judicial death, was
it not? It was an accursed death. As we're told in the epistle
to the Galatians, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
written in the book of the law to do them. There is the consequence
of man's sin, the curse. In the day that thou eatest hereof,
said God to Adam, thou shalt surely die. Disobedience will
bring the punishment, and that punishment is death. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. And Christ has died the accursed
day. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, says Paul,
being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. In dying, what did the Lord Jesus
do? He bore that punishment that
was the just desert of His people. He has died for just, for the
unjust, to bring sinners to God. And so because of what Christ
has experienced in dying, and taking away that curse, removing,
as it were, the sting, it is right and proper to say that
to the believer, death is that that is sweet. Because the believer
is one who sleeps in Jesus. That's the language that we have
here. Wonderful words, are they not, in verse 14? If we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also would sleep
in Jesus. All they sleep in Jesus, that
is their bodies. And as they sleep in Jesus, what
does that imply? It implies that they are at rest. There remaineth therefore a rest. to the people of God. Their bodies sleep awaiting the
resurrection but their spirits are there in the presence of
God himself. Do we not have those great words
sometimes read at a funeral service that we find in the last book
of Scripture in Revelation 14? And verse 13 John says, And I heard
A voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord. Here it is again, you see they
sleep in Jesus. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. Oh, the believer! He has a blessed
hope then when it comes to the matter of death. The spirit has returned to the
gods who first gave it and the body is simply resting, sleeping. in the Lord Jesus and awaiting
that glorious resurrection. Paul would have us to find comfort
in these truths, wherefore comfort one another with these words,
these things that he's been saying to these Thessalonians who had
become so confused and so erroneous with regards to their understanding
of the great truth of the Lord's return and it seems also had
become somewhat confused with regards to the
truth of death and what death entailed for the believer. But
there's not only comfort in the prospects of the second coming
of Christ and comfort with regards to those who die as believers
in the Lord Jesus, there is of course here also comfort in the
great truth of the resurrection, that resurrection, that general
resurrection that is associated with the coming of Christ. The
great theme that runs through the verses is that of the Lord's
return. But at that coming of Christ
there will be a general resurrection from the dead. Now remember what
we said concerning that word prevent at the end of verse 15.
We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent, shall not go before them which are asleep." That's
Christ's coming. It is quite plainly declared
here that those who have died shall be raised again from the
dead. And the living, those who are alive at His appearing, shall
simply be taken up with them to Christ in heaven. If you believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will
God bring with Him. Verse 16, For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ,
shall rise first, and 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." The language
is so plain, so straightforward, is it not? And the great truth
is this, of course, that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself is the pledge and the guarantee of that general
resurrection And then the final judgment, the fact that Christ
has been raised again from the dead. He is the firstfruits. And we see it in what Paul says,
writing in that 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, there at verse At verse 20 he says, now is Christ
risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that
slept. Just as in the Old Testament there was that that was to be
presented as the firstfruits at the time of harvest which
is a guarantee that the full harvest would be brought in.
So here, this is the imagery that Paul is using. Christ is
the firstfruits. of them that slept." You see,
he uses this word again, slept, with regards to the bodies of
the believer. For since by man came death,
he says, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order.
Christ the first Christ. Afterward they that are Christ's
at His coming then come at the end when He shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put
down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign
till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death. And that is the prospect. At
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the general resurrection,
then death itself is destroyed. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
himself has finished that great work of redemption, he has destroyed
all the works of Satan. He has destroyed sin, he has
destroyed the consequence of sin. These are the glorious works
that Christ accomplished. when He came into this world
and by that life of obedience even unto death and that's the
death of the cross. His rising again as the first
fruits is the pledge, the guarantee of that general resurrection
and not only a general resurrection but also His rising is the guarantee
of the truth, the solemn truth, that there will be a day of reckoning,
there will be a day of judgment. Look at what Paul says during
the course of his preaching at Athens in Acts 17. He speaks in verse 31, Because
he hath appointed, that is God hath appointed a day in the which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead." God has appointed the day. Just as
the day of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was ordained
from all eternity as we see in Galatians chapter 4 and verse
4, when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his Son
made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. When did Christ come? It was
in the fullness of the time. It was the day that God himself
had appointed a time to be born. And as with Christ it was a time
to be born so there was a time to die We know that there were
those occasions when the Jews would have sought to stone him
because they accused him of blasphemy, but his hour was not yet come.
But when the hour was come, we are told that he set his face
as a flint to go to Jerusalem. There was a time to be born for
Christ. There was a time to die. And
so God has also ordained another time. He has appointed a day.
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained, that's Christ, because the Father has
committed all judgment into his hands. But this, whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from
the dead." Christ's resurrection is the guarantee of the coming
day of judgment. It's a solemn truth then that's
set before us here. Yes, there's comfort. There's
comfort for the believer in the prospect of that resurrection,
but there's comfort for the believer also, of course, in the prospect
of the Day of Judgment, when that final separation is made
between the goats and the sheep. And the sheep shall hear that
voice of Christ as they are called to inherit that kingdom. that
was prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Look at what Paul is saying then
here in verse 15. This we say unto you by the word
of the Lord. This we say unto you by the word
of the Lord. It has echoes, does it not, of
the language of the Old Testament prophets. time and again we see
how those men were able to declare thus saith the Lord they're not
speaking their own words they're speaking the word of God they
are the Lord's servants the Lord's messengers and so the prophets
make that claim they're not speaking out of their own minds as it
were, they are speaking that that has come to them from the
Lord. Thus says the Lord and so too
with the apostles. For this we sound to you by the
word of the Lord. For it is the great truth of
scripture. These words that minister comfort,
comfort one another with these words, they're God's words. They're
God's words, they're not the words of a man. They're the words
of God Himself. And we know that with regards
to the Lord Jesus Christ, all that occurred during His life
and ministry was in accordance with the Word of God. He died,
did He not? According to the Scriptures.
And He rose again. Once more, we're told that was
according to the Scriptures. That's the language that we have
there in verses 3 and 4 of 1 Corinthians 15. And here is Paul,
what is he about? He's declaring unto them the
Gospel. This whole chapter, this great 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. dealing with the matter of the
resurrection. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand, by which also ye are saved. All this is the gospel. What does he say? I delivered
unto you, first of all, that which also I received, that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. and that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. All that Christ did, all that
occurred in his life and ministry was in accordance with the Scriptures. It was the fulfillment of the
Word of God. And God's Word is that that also
declares to us here the great truth of his coming again at
the end of time and his return now as that one who is to be
the great judge and make the final separation. For this we
say unto you by the word of the Lord. that we which are alive
and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
that are asleep for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump
of God." All this comfort you see, and this comfort in the
words of Holy Scripture. These things that concern the
person and the work of the Lord Jesus. And it's interesting that
this word comforts one another with these words. The word is
derived from that that we find used repeatedly in those three
chapters in John's Gospel where Christ speaks of the ministry
of the Holy Spirit and speaks of Him as the Comforter, the
Paraclete. It really is the same words.
We therefore comfort one another with these words. How we need
that the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost Himself, the One who first
gave the words, as we have it here before us in Holy Scripture,
those holy men of God, they spake as they were moved by the Spirit
of God. How it is the Spirit who must
come and minister to us and comfort us. by that gracious application
of the words of Holy Scripture that we might find our comfort
all together in the Lord Jesus Christ that One who by His death
has vanquished sin and Satan, death and the grave for that
One who is to return in power and great glory and then there
will be that glorious resurrection of all those who died in Christ. There will be that reuniting
of their bodies with their glorified spirits. That's what lies before
the child of God. What a glorious gospel it is
that God has granted to us poor mortal, sinful men and women. But He says to us, Wherefore
comforts one another with these words. Amen. and the June is Guno 699. Nothing know we of the seasons,
when the world shall pass away, but we know the saints have reason
to expect a glorious day, when the Saviour will return and his
people cease to mourn.