Comfort One Another With These Words

Q: What does the Bible say about death and resurrection?

The Bible assures believers that death is not the end, but a transition to eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, the Apostle Paul addresses the believers, encouraging them not to be uninformed about those who have died in faith. He reassures them that those who sleep in Jesus will be resurrected at His return. This promise is rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Himself, who conquered death, as seen in Romans 6:4, affirming that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so too will all who are in Him rise to eternal life. The resurrection is central to Christian hope, demonstrating that death has been defeated and that believers can find comfort and assurance in God's promises.

Q: How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

The resurrection of Jesus is confirmed by eyewitness accounts and fulfills Old Testament prophecies, affirming Him as the Messiah. We know that Jesus rose from the dead based on multiple eyewitness testimonies recorded in the Gospels and affirmed in the epistles, as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15:6, where he states that over 500 witnesses saw the risen Christ at one time. This event is not only crucial for validating Jesus’ claims of divinity but also serves to provide hope for believers, assuring them of their own resurrection. Additionally, the resurrection fulfills the prophetic Scriptures, affirming God's faithfulness to His Word (Luke 24:44). The resurrection is foundational to the faith, as indicated by Paul when he explains that if Christ did not rise, then the faith of believers is vain (1 Corinthians 15:17).

Q: Why is hope important for Christians?

Hope is crucial for Christians as it anchors their faith and provides assurance of eternal life through Christ. Hope is an essential aspect of the Christian faith, serving as a foundation upon which believers base their trust in God's promises. In Romans 5:5, Paul writes that hope does not disappoint, as it is rooted in the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This hope encourages believers to endure trials and tribulations, as informed by the assurance that God hears and answers prayer (Philippians 4:6-7). Additionally, the hope of eternal life through the resurrection assures Christians of their future with Christ, as highlighted in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, where believers are reminded that they will be together with the Lord forever. Thus, hope instills confidence and comfort amidst life's challenges.

Q: What does it mean to comfort one another with these words?

Comforting one another with these words means to encourage and strengthen fellow believers with the hope found in Christ's promises. In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Paul instructs the believers to comfort one another with the truths concerning Christ’s return and the resurrection of the dead. This directive emphasizes the importance of community and mutual encouragement in the faith. By sharing the hope of the gospel and the assurance of eternal life, believers can uplift one another during times of grief and uncertainty. This comfort is not merely sentimental but is rooted in the profound truth that Christ has conquered death and provides a future hope that strengthens our hearts (2 Corinthians 1:4). In focusing on God's promises, believers can find solace and a deeper connection as they navigate life's difficulties together.

When he shall come with trumpet
sound, may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness
alone, called lest he stand before the throne, on Christ the solid
rock is taking sand is taking sand Thank you, Sherry. Thank you,
Gabe. Thank you, Sam. Go with me now
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This is a message I hope will
be of great comfort to the brethren, to believers. That's who this
is written to. Look at verse 18. This is the
subject. This is the title, the theme. Verse 18. Wherefore, comfort
one another with these words. As said, this is written to God's
people. He says, Comfort ye, comfort
ye. My people, saith the Lord, whom
He describes in these chapters of 1 Thessalonians as the brethren,
as children of light, those that walk in light, those who are
appointed to salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for
us. children of God. And he says
to them, verse 13, 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. That is, you sorrow not over
those who have died in faith. Verse 14 says, those that sleep
in Jesus Christ. Those who fell asleep believing
and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse came to my mind as
we were standing behind the hearse watching them take my nephew's
body to the grave. And as I watched my brother watch
that casket with his son in it, very, very, very sad. And this verse spoke clearly
to my heart that we sorrow not as those who have no hope. And
those who fall asleep in believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus
Christ, those who die believing that He lived for them and died
for them and justified them and sanctified them and washed them
from their sins in His own blood, those who die believing that,
those who die on this earth, wake up in glory. Those who die
with a wounded, broken body, bruised body, who fall asleep,
wake up with a glorified body. There's nothing to sorrow there
over those who... My brother was mortally wounded
in Vietnam. was greatly broken, wasn't it?
Broken up. But we have great hope and reason
to believe that he trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
woke up with a perfect body. A perfect body. Those who die
as sinners wake up holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in God's sight,
without spot, without blemish. Those who fall asleep in age
because of age. Some die of old age, like Sister
Virgie, an old woman. She woke up with the dew of youth
on her brow. A young woman forever in the
prime of life. Those who fall asleep in a loved
one's arms, perhaps, Wake up in the arms of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Don't sorrow. Our Lord said that. Don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves
and for your children while you're upon this earth. And he says,
don't be ignorant concerning them, brethren. These things
are written unto you that you may know that you have eternal
life. Don't be ignorant. We need not
be ignorant. God has spoken unto us. God,
in whom we live and move and have our being. God in whose
hands our breath is, who kills and makes alive. God has spoken.
God at sundry time in a diverse manner spake unto the fathers
by the prophet. No man spake, no scriptures of
any private or personal interpretation, but holy men spake as they were
moved by the Spirit of God. It's God's book, okay? But now
in these last days, God has spoken unto us by His Son. God was made
flesh and dwelt among us and spoke to us. We need not be ignorant. We need not be ignorant. He has
spoken unto us. Death is a mystery to most. That's
why people fear it so much. We fear the unknown, don't we?
We fear going where we haven't been. Going to a place we don't
know anything about. We fear the unknown. Death is
a mystery to most. It's a fearful thing to most. But we need not be ignorant of
it. Our Lord has dispelled this darkness. The Lord has made known unto
us the mystery, hasn't He? The Lord Jesus Christ. Death
is veiled. to man. It's veiled. But Scripture says, when we turn
to the Lord, when He turns us, rather, opens our eyes, that
veil is done away in Christ. He opens a veil where we can
see right into glory. Right into glory. Be not ignorant,
the Scripture says, of death. God's Word has enlightened our
darkness. How's that? Christ, the entrance
of thy Word giveth light. The Word was made flat. Light
dwelled among us. Light shone in darkness. The
people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. Upon them
hath the light shined. Christ our light. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came into this earth as a man, made of a woman, laid
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. Scripture
says He lived as a man. Why did he do that? He lived
as a substitute for his people. I don't tire of saying this.
This is the gospel. He lived as a substitute for
his people who broke that holy love. And he did it for them. He did it for them. And God reckoned
that to their account, charged that to their account. He is made unto us righteous. But God is holy. He will by no
means clear the guilty. And we're all guilty. We've all
sinned and come short. But those whom Christ died for,
he was made sin for them. God laid on his Son the iniquity
of all of his people. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And Christ went to that cross
and God killed, bruised and killed His Son. The wages of sin is
death and Christ died. Now God is just and whoever Christ
died for, they will never die for those sins. The wages have
been paid, death. Christ paid it all. He died and
therefore we will not die. We will not die, but live. But live. And the way we know
that is, He rose again. Like that Old Testament priest
that went in with the blood sacrifice. Well, God accepted it if it came
out. He went in to offer up in the
holy place the blood on the mercy seat. How do we know God accepted
that blood for the remission of sin? if he came out. Christ,
we know this, Christ both died and was buried and rose again,
rose again for our justification. So we sorrow not because Christ
hath brought to light death and immortality. He's abolished death
and brought to life. immortality to life through the
gospel. I misquoted that, but he abolished
death. He made an end of death. So we
sorrow not because Christ hath put an end to our sin by his
death, and he rose from the grave. And the Scripture says that we
sorrow not as those who have no hope. No hope. You know, when you say
those words, when a doctor comes in and someone's terminally ill
and he says, there's no hope. That's an ominous sounding. It's
a sad sounding. No hope. No hope that they're
going to die. No hope that you'll ever see
them again. No hope. Scripture says, At one
time, you were without God and without hope. Without hope. It's a terrible thing. No hope.
And if we hope not in Christ, we have no hope. Because Christ
is our hope. We have hope. And it's called
hope because it's not fully realized yet. Okay? But that's the only
reason it's called hope. Because someday this hope will
give way to sight. But we believe that it's just
as sure as God is who cannot lie. God who promised us eternal
life. God who cannot lie promised it.
And we hope in His Word. We hope in His promises. We hope
in His Son. Christ is our hope. Our hope
of eternal life. We don't sorrow as those who
have no hope. Now, the Scriptures does not
tell us Never to sorrow. It doesn't say, do not sorrow. Do not sorrow. Sorrow is love. If you don't sorrow over someone,
you don't love them either. And the thought of not seeing
someone again gives you great sorrow, doesn't it? Sorrow is
love lost. Sorrow. Scripture says there's
a godless sorrow. Godly sorrow. It means a sorrow
over sin. Sorrow toward God. Repentance in a word is to say,
I'm sorry to God. Sorrow. It doesn't say, don't
sorrow. Don't sorrow. Concerning those
who fell asleep in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sleep. I was trying to
quote that verse. Christ abolished death. He called
it sleep, didn't He? Sleep. Sleep. And Sammy read
that. Those who sleep, who fell asleep
in Him. The Lord has changed. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Christ destroyed death. He abolished it. And He called
it sleep for His people. He giveth His beloved sleep. Sleep. Blessed sleep. Rest. The sleep of a laboring man is
sweet. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you sleep. That's what he's saying. Rest. Rest. So, we have rest. We have hope in Christ, our eternal
life. There's hope. There's hope for
all who trust Christ. Who simply trust the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's hope. There's hope for
all who have heard the Gospel. There's hope for all who have
heard the Gospel. There's hope in God's mercy.
There's hope in God's power. There's hope in God's Word. There's
hope in God's Son. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
between the Lord and that person. Not us. And we don't have to
see it. It's of the Lord. There's hope
for anyone who's heard the Gospels. You know, the Lord says, He taketh
pleasure in them that fear Him and those that hope in His mercy. And that's not only speaking
about those who hope in His mercy for themselves, but those who
hope in His mercy for others. The Lord had mercy on him, on
her. Like Rae had. Remember? Before
she asked for Joshua to save her, she spoke
of her whole house, didn't she? The Lord saved my father and
my mother. Well, He did. The Lord took His
pleasure and then did hope in His mercy on others. The Lord is merciful. He delights
to show mercy. He's a lot more merciful than
we are. He's much more gracious than we are. He's certainly more
powerful. He's able. With man, it's impossible. He's
able. And there's hope. And here's what I'm trying to
say. There's hope for anyone who's heard the gospel. The hope
is in God's mercy. The hope is in God's Son. The
hope is in His Word. The hope is in the incorruptible
seed that God planted. And in His good time, we'll bring
it to life. The Lord giveth not an account
of His matters to anyone. He saveth whom He will, when
He will. I know how He saves. He saves
by Christ, and He saves by His Word. It's seen. So anyone who's heard this Gospel
is hopeful, right? It was a thief on a cross. We don't know how loudly the
conversation took place between our Lord and that thief. He wrote
it down for us, for our comfort, to show that the worst, the most
hopeless case, the absolutely most hopeless
case on earth, the baddest man on earth, In his dying hour,
the Lord was merciful to us. As I said, I don't know who heard
that conversation. Maybe nobody around the cross.
We have it written for our sake. I started to ask Mindy if I could
use this illustration, and I didn't. I'm going to use it anyway. Your
brother, Byron. He died. Now, he heard the gospel
growing up, didn't he? He sat there, came with Mindy.
Her parents, when they were young children, had heard it for years. And he was in and out of prison. A troubled, troubled young man. They found him dead in his bed. And on the table beside him was
a Bible, and it was open. Now, you tell me, huh? There's hope. There's hope. Robin, we went
to your mother's bed, didn't we? And you've been talking to her
about the gospel for years, haven't you? And her last while she was
in that nursing home, listened to CD after CD, didn't she? Huh? And you were there and I was
there, Robin. We didn't coach her, didn't tell her what to
say. But I said, do you remember it?
I remember it like it used to be. I said, Hazel, what's your
hope of eternal life? She said, Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. That's my hope. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Huh? Huh? Jeanette's not here. Her father. She told me that. Her father. She, you know, all those years,
didn't believe, didn't believe. You know Jeanette. She tells
everyone the gospel doesn't she? Everybody she's around, she tells
them. Doesn't she, Ali? You heard her from the day you
met Wendy, didn't you? She's going to bear witness of
the gospel. Those she loved. And she did. And did. And did.
And did. Like the importunate woman that
she is. Her father. And she told me. In those last
days. And he would listen to the tapes.
And before, she would play him tapes and he'd say, I don't want
to listen to that. Turn it off. And in the end, they would listen
to it. He said, let's listen to another
one. She has hope. See, the hope is
in Him. Hope is in His work. Hope is
in His mercy. Anybody else? I'm sure you have
some stories to tell. Which sorrow not as those who
have no hope, hope thou in God. There is forgiveness within.
Great forgiveness. Someone said, You know, there
are going to be three wonderful surprises in glory. Well, you
know, this is speaking as a man. He said, we're going to be surprised
to see some people we didn't expect to see. The second one,
we'll be surprised we don't see some people we expect to see.
You know, the greatest surprise of all is that we're there. If you believe that you're the
chief of center, and that God spared you and had mercy on you,
it shouldn't be too hard to believe that the Lord saved that fellow
down there. Hope. Is there hope? Where do
we hope? We hope in God. We hope in His
mercy. We hope in His Son. We hope in His blood. We hope
children that die, infants that die. Infants that die. You read Brother
John Newton's article a couple of weeks ago, didn't you? I love
that man. I love that. Read it again. What's
our hope for infant? Jesus Christ. God's mercy. God's mercy. Hope. Hope. Hope. Those who fall
asleep. Fall asleep. Why do we believe
this? That those who fall asleep will
rise again? Because verse 14 says, we believe
that Jesus died and rose again. He died and rose again. Go back
to the passage Brother Sam read in 1 Corinthians 15. We believe
that the Lord Jesus Christ came, lived, died, was buried, and
He rose from the grave. Now back when the Lord did this,
it turned the world upside down. Can you imagine? What if someone
rose from the grave today? Huh? Come on now. What if someone did? There wouldn't
be anything else talked about, would there? It's never happened
before. It's been 2,000 years since that.
He did. And when he did, it turned the
world upside down. Proved who he is, who he was,
who he said, what he said, what he did. Proved everything, didn't
it? They tried to quiet it. Remember that? Couldn't. He was
saying, it said, now over 500 people at one time. Paul said
that when he wrote that, right now many of them are alive. When
he died, Brother Gay, the graves opened up then, it says, those
that slept, Got out of the graves and walked into town? Yes. Truth stranger than fiction.
That's what it says. Undeniable. Everywhere Paul went,
that's what he preached. This is what he preached. Every
time he got up. This man, Peter, when he preached at Pentecost.
Why is it so, everything we're saying? Because he rose from
the grave. This person who died, walked,
he was dead and went to God and came back. Would you listen to
somebody that died and rose again? Sure you would. Everybody would.
Ought to. Ought to. But that reminds me of that story
that he said they believed that one rose from the dead. They
won't. Our Lord said. But he did. Undeniable. Chuck,
look at verse 12. If Christ be preached, he rose
from the dead. And today, most reject this. Don't. They believe that there
was a man named Jesus that lived on. A good man, yeah, they can't
deny his existence. No one can. He died, and he died,
crucified. They all believe that. But how
many really believe he rose from the dead? Some say that. Some say that. Some so-called professional believers,
Christians, say that. Well, they're not, that's for
sure. Verse 13, if there be no resurrection of the dead, Christ
didn't rise. If Christ didn't rise, be not
risen. Our preaching is vain. What I'm doing right now is the
most worthless thing on earth. This is the most useless. And
John, Michael, that's what the world thinks about what I'm doing,
what you're doing, what we're doing here. It's just utter nonsense. They don't believe any of this
stuff. It's old, ignorant, superstitious mountain lore. Just Jewish religion,
that's all it is. That's what the wise people,
the Greeks of this world think it is. Utter foolishness. They don't believe there's a
life after death. They don't. And they call us
utter fools. And if Christ didn't rise from
the grave, they're right. I'm a fool. You're a fool to
be listening to me. You're a fool to spend your day
off in here doing this. If tomorrow we die, what are
we doing in here? Let's eat and drink and be merry.
We don't have much time left. Live life to the fullest. He
that gathers the most toys wins. Riches, get them. If this is
all you've got, get them. Isn't that what it said? We're false witnesses. We say
God said this and God said that and God's Word. Christ didn't
rise. This is why Paul preached Christ, a risen Christ. Everywhere
he went, every time he stood up, he prayed. Peter, all of
them, every single time they prayed. Because it validates
what this book says. It validates that Christ is. That everything he said is true.
Everything he did is true. And you'd better listen to him.
Better listen to him. And it says down in verse 17,
your faith is vain. That's all it is. Blind faith.
You're yet in your shoes if there is any sin to give an account
of. And those that have fallen asleep
in Christ, those that died believing Christ, trusting Christ, every
single person that died trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ died
like a dog. They don't have a soul. It's
nothing. Their life is over and you'll
never see them again. You'll never see them again. It's over. In verse 19, in this life only,
if this is it, all our hopes in Christ who's dead, a dead
man named Jesus who died and rotted, we're of all men most
miserable. But now, but now, hold on. Oh, that's like Ephesians 2,
4, isn't it? But now is Christ risen from
the dead. Yes, He is. How do you know,
preacher? Well, you ask me how we sing
that song, don't you? You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart. Everybody says that. I know they
do. I know they do. But so anyway. So anyway, Christ
hid these saints from the wise and prudent. He hid them then,
he hid them now. He's a God that hideth himself. He doesn't reveal himself to
anybody and everybody, but he reveals himself to every one
of his children. He makes himself known. Christ
in you is the hope of glory. He said, My sheep will hear my
voice, and they will. The day has come, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live.
I've heard him speak to me. Not out loud, but I've heard
him, haven't you? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Look at verse 22. Oh, don't you love that? Verse 21,
"...and by man came death, by man came the resurrection of
the dead." Our Lord said this to Martha. You know, she believed
Him. She trusted Him, didn't she?
And she said, I know my brother will rise. I know there's a resurrection
from the dead. I know that. And my brother shall
rise again in the resurrection. He said, Martha. Don't you love
what he said? Martha, I am the resurrection. I'm it. She didn't understand
what he said. She really didn't. Boy, she did
just a short time later, didn't she? Here I am. Told you. Told you. Look back in our text in 1 Thessalonians
4. It says in verse 14, Now we believe
that Jesus died and rose again. We believe that. Even so, them
also which sleep in the Lord Jesus will God bring with Him. If we believe, even so, even
so, we believe that He died and rose again, even so, Christ is
going to bring those that fell asleep in Him. Even so, we believe
it's absolutely so. We believe it. Why do we believe
it? Our Lord said, if you believe, you'll see. Faith believes God. And then
He shows you. He doesn't show and prove Himself
to everybody. Prove it and I'll believe it. That's sighting.
Faith. If you believe. Didn't I say
unto you, if you believe, you'll see the glory of God? Even so. God says so. Christ says so. Everything says
so. That He rose from the grave and
we shall too. There's hope of a tree. Job spoke
of that, didn't he? Job 14. There's hope of a tree.
Oh, a tree of life. Every spring the birds and the
bees and the flowers and the trees say so. Even so. They say
so. Every day says so. There's a
resurrection. Every day says so. Every time
that day star arises, it says so. Day unto day of the speech. There's life. Life. Christ lives. Set that sun as
a tabernacle in the sky to show everyone every single day. Is
there life? Yes. The sun says so. We believe that those who sleep
will God bring with Him. Look across the page there, 2
Thessalonians 1, verse 7. To you who are troubled, rest
with us when the Lord shall be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angel. And verse 10 says He will come
to be glorified in His saints, to be admired of all them that
believe. He shall come that day. He'll
come. He's coming. He's coming. God's going to bring with Him,
Scripture says. We sing that song. When He comes,
our glorious King, all His ransom home to bring. Then anew this
song was sung. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Them shall God bring with Him. Verse 14. Those that sleep, those
that rest in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died believing in Him, will
God bring with Him. Bring with Him. We were greatly impressed. We went to the gravesite and
when the procession pulled up to the gravesite there, there
were a number, a great number of people already waiting on
us, standing there waiting on the body to arrive. You just don't know that vast
throng of people that God says He's going to bring with Him.
With Him. You know, when you have something
glorious and wonderful, you want people to see it with you, don't
you? When you go somewhere, you take those you love with you,
don't you? You want them to see it. I remember
it was Christmastime that Mindy and I bought Isabella and Sophie
a new playhouse. And I built this mansion for
them. I prepared this place for them. I had it prepared a long time
before. The curtain set on it will take
two people eight to ten hours to put together. But I did it anyway. At any rate,
for the joy set before me, I couldn't wait to see their faces. That's why I did it. Couldn't
wait. And we did, didn't we? We grabbed
Sophie and Isabella in our arms and brought them out there. And
there's that house full of them. You just wait. This is what God's
going to bring with Him. Wait. I want to see their faces.
I want to see their faces. When
they see your faces, when they see my face, I'm bringing them
all with me. I'm bringing them all with me. Think about it. Grand and glorious. What is it like when you see
someone you haven't seen in a long time, someone you love? It's
a wonderful reunion. Just think about it. It's going
to be joy unspeakable and full of glory. Unspeakable. Everybody
we know, the chief of which is Him. See, those that love Him
now, you love Him now, wait until you see Him as He is. You love
to hear His gospel now, wait until you hear Him tell it. and
whose faith is no man's faith." Huh? You love the communion with
your saints now? You can just wait until then,
because God is going to bring them with Him. Going to bring
them with Him. Who says so? Verse 15, this we
say unto you by the Word of the Lord. By the Word of the Lord.
We have His Word on it, don't we? You know, so much was said,
so much our Lord did was not written down. Didn't the apostles
say that, that if everything that He said or did was written
in the books of the world, couldn't contain them? Well, He said many
things, and He told them to the apostles. And the apostles came
back, and everything they said was the Word of the Lord. Every
single thing the apostles said, Christ told them. It wasn't written
in the gospel. He told them what to say. And
they came back and they told us. Saying, we say this by the
word of the Lord. The Lord told us to say this. That He's bringing them all with
Him. He's bringing them all with Him. And look at verse 15. We
which are alive and remain. We which are alive and remain.
And there's somebody, every generation has been thinking, He's coming
now. He's coming now. Back in the Civil War, you know,
I know many thought, this is it. World War I, this is it,
didn't it? World War II, didn't you, Mom?
You all thought, this is it. Perhaps. And on and on it goes. There is a generation. Somebody
is going to be on this earth when it comes. Somebody. I believe
this is it. I really do. I believe this is
it. The last of the last day. I really do. I think there's
so many things that point to that. Christ said, when you see
all these things, didn't He? Newton used to say, every generation
ought to have more life than the previous one. The sign of
the times, as things began to unfold, you ought to see clearly.
Don't you see Him? He's at the door. Yes, He is.
We might be. And as He came, He'll come again.
Or as He went, He'll come again. Where two or three are gathered,
that's where I am. You remember that New Year's
Eve service we had one time? We thought, this is it! We were
fully expecting him to show up then. Well, there will come a
time that he will. He's just coming in time. Really.
And we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord,
it says, we won't go before them which are asleep. Every man in
his own order, 1 Corinthians 7. And the Lord himself, here
it is, shall descend from heaven with a shout, Shout the voice
of the archangel. Who? Michael, the archangel. What's he going to say? Behold,
the bridegroom cometh. If you're his bride, that's the sweetest sound you've
ever heard. It's going to strike fear in
many people. But great joy, as he said, unspeakable,
full of glory. He that loveth the bridegroom
is going to love that sound, that voice. His voice, the voice
of the archangel, is going to silence all other voices in it.
It's going to shut people's mouths in silence. Every unbeliever,
everyone who says, I don't believe, where is the promise of His coming? It's going to open the mouths
of His people. and praise of God. He's coming, all right. You know,
we believe, we see Him like no less than Stephen saw a son of
man sitting at the right hand of God, coming in His power,
coming with clouds. You see the clouds, don't you?
The dust of His feet. He's coming, all right. He's
coming. When they say, peace and safety,
then sudden destruction. But he's coming for his people.
It says, verse 16, "...the Lord himself shall descend with the
shout of the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God." Paul
said back there, Sam, he read it, the trump shall sound. Yes,
it shall. Trumpet. And it says, "...the
dead in Christ shall rise first." Oh, my. Ellen, and Virgie, and
Joe, and on and on it goes. There are too many to name, aren't
there? Get out of those graves. And
we're going to see it out. We're going to see it out. And it says, you know, every
funeral the Lord attended, they got up and that person got up. And when Christ Died, says the
graves open, when He comes again, every single child of God is
going to come out of that grave. Roll away the stone, He said
at Lazarus' tomb. And He's going to say, take all
those lids off all those coffins. Gather the dust from the four
corners of the earth. Put them all back together. Dead
in Christ's arms. Can you believe that? And in Christ our life shall
appear, and then shall we also appear with Him. It says in verse
17, we which are alive shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Does all this sound
like the secret rapture to you? See, if people don't know the
gospel, they don't have a clue about prophecy. They don't have
a clue. The secret rapture says every
eye shall see it, like lightning from the east to the west. Graves
opening. Is he going to go into Jerusalem
and sit on the temple? He says he's in the air, doesn't
he? He's not going to put his feet back on this earth. Meet him in the air. He shall
descend. And shall we go meet the Lord
in the air? He's not coming back to this
planet. There's nothing left to do. He did his job the first
time when he got here. Came to put away sin. He did
it. And now he's seated on the throne of grace, the throne of
glory in the heavens. He's not going to sit on David.
He is sitting on Mount Zion. That's where he's seated. And
the temple is his people. And shall we be caught up together
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air? And so shall we ever
be with the Lord. As we said, you love Him now.
You're going to love being with Him then. You love the fellowship
of the saints now. You're going to love it then.
You love to hear the Gospel now. You're going to love it then.
You love to worship God now. You're really going to love it
then. You love to sing these hymns now. It says, God will dwell with them.
Sing. He says, I will rejoice over
my people, singing, the Lord Jesus Christ, our bridegroom,
the one we love, the one we've waited for. Forever with the
Lord. With the Lord. My, my. The one we've been waiting on. That story of Rebecca, the old
servant, went to get a bride for Isaac. And he told her best
he could about his lovely master, the son, the heir of all things,
whom he came to find a bride for. And she fell in love with
him. Hadn't even seen him. Fell in love with him. Isaac,
the son of promise. Fell in love with him. It was a picture of
Christ. And she fell in love with him, alright? And she agreed
to go. She was made willing on the day of the Lord's power. And she went with this old servant.
He'd been trying to tell her about the son. What a wonderful
man he was. I know all the way home, Melanie,
he's probably talking about Isaac. Oh, you just wait. What I said,
the half wasn't told. His kingdom, his glory. Oh, His
beauty, His grace, His loveliness. You just wait. And it says that
when she saw Isaac far off, she hit the ground. So she covered
herself. She said, Who is that man? And
the old servant said, That's my master. She said, Oh! Ain't
he going to marry me? Me? Yes, you. Like the prodigal
came in, what's all that music about? Father said, that's me. Oh no, surely not. Oh yeah, you
just wait. So he says, comfort one another
with these words. What's there to fear? Huh? At least right now, We ought
to be looking forward to death as if it's the greatest thing
that could happen to us, at least right now. And if any time in
the near future you get so downcast, hope thou...

Comfort One Another With These Words

What does the Bible say about death and resurrection?

How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

Why is hope important for Christians?

What does it mean to comfort one another with these words?

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Comfort One Another With These Words

What does the Bible say about death and resurrection?

How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

Why is hope important for Christians?

What does it mean to comfort one another with these words?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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