For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Christ 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.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God and the
dead in Christ shall rise first in which we are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. Now listen to this here. Wherefore
comfort one another with these words. The Lord Jesus Loves his people. Loves his people. He's called the God of all comfort.
He said there in those last verse of this fourth chapter, 1 Thessalonians,
we're for comfort one another with these words. And you know he's called the
Father of mercies, the God of all comfort. who comforts us
who comforts us and Paul here is dealing with the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ and he starts in verse 13 and
he goes all the way down to verse 17 talking about what it will
be like and what will happen and he unfolds these things to
us And then he says, you know with these blessed things that
I've said concerning the second coming of Christ and what he'll
do with his people and how they'll be changed. He said, you comfort
one another with these words. One thing that I know without
a shadow of a doubt is that the Lord Jesus Christ gives his people
a hope A hope that this world absolutely knows nothing about.
That's why it's so joyous and it's such a rejoicing to know
what we've got to look forward to after this world, after this
world. But now I want to start up here
in verse 13, read it again. and bring four or five points
on this out of these verses of scripture. Paul said, I'd not
have you to be ignorant, brethren. He's talking to the brethren
now. He's talking to people who are believers. Brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. Don't have your heart
broken even, not as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, we believe that. Even so, them
which sleep in Jesus, in the Lord Jesus Christ, God will bring
with Him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, this is God's word He said. I'm telling you
what the Lord said. For the Lord himself, and I'm
coming to you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them,
hinder them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, And
the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive
and remain shall be called up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And all listen to this, and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. Now this is the first thing I
want us to look at. It says there in verse 16, the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven. Now, here's the thing,
when Christ comes again, it's going to be Him. He's not going
to send a messenger after us. He's not going to send a bunch
of angels after us. He's not even going to send death
to get us. He's going to come Himself. He's going to come Himself. and
you know he said in Matthew 24 30 he said when you see the son
of man coming in power and great glory now you keep first Thessalonians
look in Acts chapter 1 look in Acts chapter 1 talking about
the Lord himself descending and he's descending from heaven he's
coming from heaven look over here in Acts chapter 1 and let's
look at this together It almost says there in verse
9 Our Lord's fixed to go back to glory. He's standing on Mount
Olives And when he has spoken these things While they beheld
listen to this he was taken up And a cloud received him out
of the sight They stand there watching and he's going and while
they looked at Standing looking up steadfastly toward heaven
as he went up Behold two men stood by them
in white apparel Which also said ye men of Galilee? Why stand
ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken
up from you in the heaven shall so come in like manner as you've
seen him go. And that's what he's telling
about over here. Like he went, he's coming back. He went up
in a cloud, he's coming back in a cloud. And with a shout
and the voice of an archangel. And I tell you, you're talking
about, he says, those who have no hope with sorrow, with those
who have no hope. You're talking about comforting
words of hope. when the Lord Himself shall descend, shall descend from heaven. And
you're talking about comforting words in these perilous times
which you and I live. The Lord Himself is going to
descend. And I tell you, I remember one
time I was sitting on a horse, a little old horse one time,
standing up on a big old hill, sitting on a horse. And I was
just about 26, 27 maybe, and the sky turned a weird looking
color way off in the distance. And I saw, the Lord's fixing
to come back here, and I'm sitting on this horse, and He's going
to take me off this horse to be with Him. I just, you know,
just for a split second I thought, this is the Lord's coming. The
way the sky looked out. And I tell you what, it would
have surprised me if He had. But I thought, oh, he's going
to come and take me right off the top of his horse. Oh my. But I tell you, the Lord Himself
shall descend. It was He gave Himself for us. He Himself loved us. So, oh, the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. That's who's coming. that every
eye shall see Him. Every eye is going to behold
Him. And the only people that's going
to look for that blessed appearing is those that He saved by His
grace. And then I'll tell you what about
our friends, our dear friends. We just buried a dear friend
yesterday. But he wasn't in that body. He
wasn't in that body. That was what housed his soul.
But look at our departed friends, our brethren. He says, verse
13, I'm not happy to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, our loved ones. Huh? Oh, I don't want you to
be sorrow, I don't want you to be ignorant. So many people are
ignorant about dying. So many people are ignorant about
what happens to a body after death. So many people are ignorant
of what salvation is. You know, people, some people
believe that when you die, you're an animal, you just die. And they taught you never heard
of Elysium Fields? Elysium Fields were for men of
honor and power and glory and wealth. And then there's people that
believe if you got karma and if you step on a bug you're gonna,
you know, you took a life and when you come back you might
be a bug. And I tell you, the Catholics
got a purgatory for people to buy your way out. And that's why Paul said, I don't
want you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep. Now let
me tell you something about sleep. It's the body that's asleep.
The soul does not sleep. The scripture tells us to be
absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And he
talks about those which are asleep in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I tell you, you know, and this is another thing that bothers
me. And I'm going to say it, I'm going to say it. And this
is the thing. Believers do not, should not
be cremated. Cremation is one of the most
unscriptural things in this world that people do. The only people
that were burned in the scriptures were believers that were burned
in the fire where men took their children and offered them in
fire. And the only way a God's child will ever be burned up
is if they're burned up in a house or something like that. Everybody
in the Bible was buried. Christ was buried. Abraham was
buried. Sarah was buried. Everybody's
buried. They went and bought, you know,
the Lord. Everybody was buried. And it bothers me. It's very troubling to me. I
remember when they, you know, They come to the hospice or somebody
come and was talking to Floyd one time and he was sitting there
on the couch and they said, well what do you want to do about,
you know, when you die, you know, you want to be cremated. He said,
I want to be buried. I've got my burial place fixed
out. And so don't, and that's what
he said, don't be ignorant brethren. I don't want you to be ignorant
about what happens to this body. I don't want you to be ignorant.
People say, well, it's the cheapest way to go. Listen, anybody can
dig a grave. Anybody can dig a grave. If you
think you're going to have to be cremated because it'll be
cheaper, I'll get some of these men who will go dig you a grave.
And we'll get you a pine box and put you in it and cover you
back up. Don't be burnt. Keep your ashes on a mantle somewhere. Take them out. I won't spread here. I won't
spread there. Pagans do that kind of stuff. God's people don't. That's what
he says. I don't want you to be ignorant brethren. I don't
want you to be ignorant. You say, well, but listen, we're
not, when he says, you know, concerning them with sleep. Let
me tell you something, you know, when Lazarus died, you know what
the Lord said about him? He said, Lazarus, sleep. And he's talking about him dying.
He finally told him, said, he's dead. And Thomas, and I tell
you, I learned this the other day, when Thomas said, let us
also go die with him, he meant not dying with Lazarus, dying
with Christ. He said, let us go and die with
Christ. And that's what he's talking
about, not with Lazarus. And Lazarus was asleep. His body
was asleep. And when the Lord shall descend
with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, That shout wakes
the dead. The shout of Christ to Lazarus
raised him from the dead. Huh? Had a little 12-year-old girl.
He said, He's laying there, you know. And they said, Oh, they
went in there and she's dead. And they had her laid out. Had
her laid out. Prepared her body. And the Lord
Jesus Christ went in there and says, oh listen, she's sleeping.
She's just asleep. They just said, what in the world's
the matter with you? What's the matter with you? He
said, well, just got her by the hand. He said, get up, daughter. Get up, child. He gave them back to her. And
that's what He's talking about here, them that are asleep. It's
the body that sleeps. The soul don't sleep. The soul
goes to be with Christ. It's the soul of man that goes
up there. And this soul, God made man a
living soul. He made the body first and that
body is made out of dust and dirt and clay. And then He put
a soul in that body. And we're living souls inhabiting
dying bodies. And I tell you what, you can
go in, but here's the thing about it. And when he talks about sleep,
everybody loves a good night's sleep. Nothing like a good night's
sleep. Surely he'll come in sometimes
and wake me up and say, you gonna sleep all day? I wish I could. There's nothing like a good nap
or good sleep. Oh my goodness, get a good night's
sleep. That's just wonderful. In fact, he said the sleep of
a labor man is sweet. And I'll tell you what, when
you sleep, that means you're resting from what you did that
day. Huh? And not only that, but it
means that you're not active in this world. You're not up
doing nothing. You're asleep. And then when you're asleep,
That means you're going to wake up again. Well, that's what Christ
is talking about, them which are asleep. They're going to wake up again.
That's what he's talking about here. You know, it's the body
that's represented as the sleep. David said, when I awake, when
I awake, wake from where? When God wakes me up. When I
awake, And I've made in your likeness, shall I be satisfied? Huh? Oh my. Can a soul sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob? No. It's going to be a body that's
woken up that will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven. And then look what he said. He
said here I don't want you to sorrow, even others which have
no hope. And I tell you what, it's awful
to go to a funeral where people have no hope. Oh, it's bad to
go to a place where people have no hope. I never will forget one time,
I think I've told you this, Brother Elbert Blalock, he had a nephew
that got killed. in a bad car wreck and he was
just a very young man and he had a girlfriend and the only
two people in that funeral home when he asked me to preach his
funeral was him and his wife, his girlfriend. That's the only
two people in there and the people that run the funeral home. And Elbert stood there and he
had on a pair of old cover hauls and they had them zipped up old
blue cover hauls. And he stood in front of me and
said, boy, oh boy. He said, he wasn't worth nothing, he's even
worth less dead. He said, he wasn't worth nothing
when he lived and he's nothing when he's dead. Ain't that awful?
But that's what I'm talking about. People have no hope. Are you
here without any hope? If the Lord takes you out of
here, surely, surely you're not one of those that don't have
no hope. Surely we won't have to go and stand over you in a
funeral home and you laying in a casket and say, oh, oh, oh,
they never did confess Christ. Oh, they never became a believer.
They never did embrace Christ. They never bowed to Christ. They
never come to Christ. And you have to stand there. and try to deal with that situation
with the family. And they know that they never
confessed, know that they never believed, know that they never
embraced Christ, know that they never had faith. Oh, don't go,
leave this place like that. Sorrows, those who have no hope. Oh, now then he says, Down there
in verse, oh my, where we at now here? What? He said, let me find it here again.
There in verse 14, if we believe, and this is why we have hope,
for if we believe that Jesus died, we know He did. And He rose again, we know He
did. Now listen, so, even so them
which sleep, Then which are asleep will God bring with him. Now
what does that mean? That means that all these folks
that fell asleep in Christ, that God's going to bring with Him.
All these people. Even Bill that fell asleep Thursday
morning, He's going to bring them with Him. All the people
that we've known over the years, He's going to bring them with
Him. Now watch what happens. When He says He brings them with
Him, The Scriptures tells us there that we shall not prevent
them which are asleep. When Christ comes, now listen
to what I'm going to try to tell you here. When He comes with
those which are asleep, the minute all those people He brings with
Him, He's going to take them and change their bodies while
they're in the air, and then we which are alive and remain,
He's going to kinder them. Now can I prove that from the
Scriptures? I think I can. He says, those which are asleep,
God's going to bring with Him. So that's two different people
of believers here. And so those that are asleep,
God's going to bring them with Him. And when they come, God's
going to change their bodies just like that in the twinkling
of an eye. Look with me at 1 Corinthians 15. Oh, this blesses my heart. Look
at verse 51. Oh my! And here's the thing about
it. You know when the Lord Jesus
rose from the dead, the scripture says that many spirits arose
and appeared unto the saints in Jerusalem. Just to show what's going to
happen when Christ calls His people home. Now look what it
says here in verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery.
This is mysterious. He said, I'm not saying it's
not mysterious. We shall not all sleep. Not all
of us are going to pass from death here. But here's what he
did say, we shall all be changed. Every one of us is going to be
changed. Oh, how long is it going to take? In a moment. In the
twinkling of an eye. at the last trump he just said
he shall descend with a trumpet for the trumpet shall sound and
listen to this and those that are asleep or those that are
dead shall be raised incorruptible and shall be changed all of us
are going to be changed and then it says the dead in Christ down
in the last verse of verse 16 it says back over in our text
when that voice of that archangel with the trump of God the dead
in Christ shall rise first now how's that going to be said they
was asleep well he those are the warrants that he brings with
him and gives him a new body immediately Immediately. Huh? Oh, that's why He says that
when they're coming, they're going to be changed. Changed. Just like that. When they get
down here, they're not even going to get to the earth and He's
going to change them. And then you know what? They're
going to start back up. How do I know that? Look at the
living saints here in verse 17. Then we which are alive and remain,
look what it says, shall be caught up together with them. Who? Them
that He brought with Him and changed. Shall be caught up together with
them. To meet the Lord in the air.
Oh, those who come with Him. They're going to be changed in
a moment, the twinkling of an eye. What body are you going to have?
One that looks pretty much like the one you got. Only thing is,
it's going to be incorruptible. It's going to be immortal. It
ain't going to have any sin. It's going to be a body like
Christ. It's going to be sinless. It ain't going to have no blood
in it. It will have flesh and bone. And you know when Moses
and Elijah appeared to Christ, there to talk about the death
that he should accomplish, Peter, John, and James knew exactly
who they were. Never seen them before. So they looked just like they
did. But I'm going to tell you some things now and then I'm
going to quit preaching and tell you what I think. I don't think I'll have gray
hair and you will either when we get there. We ain't going to wear glasses.
We ain't going to have no false teeth. He's going to give us
all our teeth back. But I'm telling you that we're
going to be Like we will be perfect then. And that's how come we'll
know one another when we get there. We'll recognize them. And when I get there, I'll recognize
so many people. I'll even recognize who Paul
the Apostle is. Yeah. But you know the one that I want
to see and that I'll recognize more than anybody else? The Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what everybody else, I
mean, you know, we'll have a good time later. We'll enjoy one another
throughout eternity. But oh my, to be there to see
Him. Oh! We're going to be caught up together
with Him to meet the Lord. To meet the Lord. Oh, to meet
who? The Lord. to meet the Lord, huh? Oh my! And all together, those that
come with Him and those that are alive and remain, we're going
together. Huh? Oh, a multitude that no man can
number, they're all together here now. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
victorious over death, now all are with Him and He shall see
the travail of His soul when they're all together. And He'll
be satisfied. comfort you one another with
these words. And I tell you what, here's another thing about this
blessed truth. It's going to be a place of reunion. You're talking about a reunion.
People have family reunions. We had one one time up at my
brother's farm and oh we had the best time. I enjoyed it oh
so much. I enjoyed it so much. But now
you're talking about a reunion. All the saints, all of God's
elect from all time, even Abel's gonna come with Christ. You go back as far as you can
go. Oh, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they're
gonna come with Christ. And what a place of reunion,
caught up in the clouds. And what does it say? Together
with them. Now what does it say? To meet. Verse 17, to meet. To meet who? The Lord. Oh my. Say, you ever met so and
so? No, I haven't. Well, glad to
meet you. I want to introduce so-and-so
to you. Glad to meet you. Man, we're going to go together
to meet. Meet the Lord. And here's the
thing about it. We'll know Him and He'll know every one of us. Oh my. You know the air. Satan's called the prince of
the power of the air. But I tell you what, Christ whipped
him. He controls all the power in
the air. And I tell you, he's going to
take us up. And everything, everything, even this body won't hinder us
ever again. Going to be changed. And there
he comes in that cloud and that great trumpet sound. And it's great trumpet sounds
and when that trumpet sounds it's going to change everything
in this world and in this universe. Oh my. I tell you what, we'll
go up in the air. Oh, go up in the air. I can't
imagine it. I can't imagine it. You know
an airplane, being up in an airplane, that's just look down and I mean
people look like you can't see them. But when we go up together to
meet the Lord in the air, I tell you what, I'm at a loss. I'm at a loss. What can you say? How can that be? Well, Christ lost gravity. Gravity didn't hold it. The only
thing that holds us here right now is gravity. And Christ is
going to take away all gravity. When he was standing there, no
stones watched him. Quit. He's coming back just like
that. And beloved, What a reunion, what a blessed
time that will be. What a time, what a time. I remember, they'll have a name. They'll have a name. And I'll
tell you what's going to happen. We're going to finally and fully
and perfectly and completely be saved on that day. Finally and fully, completely
and perfectly saved on that day. And look what it says there in
the last line. after we meet him in there and
so shall we ever so shall we ever be with the Lord oh bless his name so shall we ever be with the
Lord He already prepared the place.
He's already got us a house, a mansion. We're saved by Him. Saved us. Washed us from our sins in His
own blood. And then we'll be made like Him. made like Him. To see Him as He is and be just
like Him. And then forever be with the Lord. What a blessed thing to know. And then his prayer will be answered
when he said, Father, I will, that day which thou hast given
me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. Almighty. You know the greatest
blessing on this earth is to know the Lord Jesus Christ, to
know Him, to know Him, to know Him. Not about Him, to know Him. And Heaven's greatest blessing
is to be made like Him and be with Him forever. You know what will happen then?
Then we'll be brought to pass, brought to pass that say which
is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Oh, Lord come. You know that's
what John said, Lord. He said, behold I come quickly.
You know what John said? Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Oh, blessed, blessed Savior.
Blessed Savior, Savior, Savior. Our Lord, our Master. Oh Lord,
we just get overwhelmed thinking about being with you. What you've
done for us so we can be with you. Be with you forever. But Lord, we're so blessed and
so thankful to have you with us here. That you're with us
now in our midst. And that it's you we want to
worship here. And oh Lord, we'll worship and
adore you there with perfection. Father, God bless these dear
saints. Please open hearts of those who don't know Christ.
Bring them to faith. Show them their need. Show them
their need. Bring them to Christ. We ask
these things in the Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. What would be a good song to
sing? I don't have a clue. What a day! Oh yeah, that would
be a good one. Come up here and lead it. Oh
my, yes. Yeah, we'll all sing that. Yeah, I think so Number 10 more clouds in the sky more tears
to dim the eye all will feast forevermore on that happy golden
shore what a day not a day that will be when my
Jesus I shall see as I look upon his face the one who saved me
by his grace when he takes takes me by the head and leads me to
the promised land. What a day, glorious day that
will be. There'll be no sorrow there,
no more burdens to bear. No more sickness, no pain, no
more parting over there. And forever I will be with the
one who died for me. What a day that will be What
a day that will be When by Jesus I shall see When I look upon
His face What a day, glorious day, that
will be.