The name of tonight's message
is Christ's Return. Let's read verses 13 to 18 of
1 Thessalonians chapter 4 for tonight's study. But I would
not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye shall 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. 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.
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." As I mentioned last week, Timothy had probably
communicated to Paul the occasion of the anxiety that the Thessalonian
church members were feeling. Just as in other churches, there
were those who, from time to time, died in the faith. And
some of the Thessalonian believers would wonder, as we have seen,
how it did fare with their dead, and how also would it fare with
those whom death would yet overtake. Christians are distinguished
from the rest of mankind as we have a great hope in God, a great
hope in Christ Jesus our Lord, who was God incarnate in the
flesh. It is said of the lost in the latter part of verse 13,
as Paul's writing to the brethren at Thessalonica, he says, But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye sorrow not. And here he's speaking of the
unsaved, even as others which have no hope. Remember, these
believers who Paul's writing to, they're in an age of paganism. Paganism is rampant during this
time. All around them. So what did
it mean to the old heathen world? And what did man think with regards
to their dead? Well, we see that there's nothing
new under the sun. with the words of some of the
philosophers of their days, during the days of the Thessalonian
believers, we'll see that there's nothing new under the sun with
the philosophers of nowadays and the unbelievers of nowadays.
Listen to what some of the philosophers and thinkers of the day of the
Thessalonian believers said concerning death. Theopterus, a Sicilian
poet and the creator of ancient Greek poetry said this, The living
have hopes, but the dead are without hope. Sokalos, a writer
of Greek tragedies, said this, Of the once dead there is no
resurrection. Lacrius, a Roman poet and philosopher,
said this, Nor does anyone stand forth awakened, Whom once the
cold paws of death has found. Catullus, a Latin poet of the
late Roman Republic, said this, Sons may set and return, when
once our brief day has set, we must sleep one everlasting night. So we see, brethren, we see,
beloved of God, that there's nothing new under the sun with
what unbelievers think nowadays. Now on Sunday morning, we looked
at how the Lord blesses His people and keeps His people. And we
are blessed, beloved, both in life and in death. It says this
in Revelation 14, 13, And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto
me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and
their works do follow them. So on Sunday morning we saw how
we are blessed and kept by the Lord. And in Revelation 14, 13
says, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Oh, blessed
are God's people who die in the Lord. Because to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. And now let's look
at verse 14 again, and we see the reason for the hope that
the believer has. The reason why the world has
no hope, and we have hope, and our hope is always in Christ.
in Christ alone. Look at verse 14 of 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. The scripture declares, For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Now notice that
Paul here brings forth the fact that Jesus died and rose again. Beloved of God, what a hope we
have in life, and what a hope we have in death, as blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Our hope
The believer's hope is Christ, and Christ alone who died in
our room and place at Calvary's Cross, and who rose again for
the justification of his people. He rose from the grave, and those
who have died in the faith of Christ will be raised also. Their
bodies will be raised. Their soul is present with the
Lord, right? because to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord. But their body right now
is asleep in the grave. They're dead. The body physically
is dead, awaiting that great day, the great day of resurrection.
And it'll be raised one day, because where he is, there will
we be also. And the belief in Christ gives
a hope to the believer, a full assurance that we will be with
him. It brings forth a full assurance
of the resurrection. Because he rose, we're rose.
Because he's the head and we're the body. And we have a vital
union with Christ. And those who were chosen in
Christ in eternity were crucified with Christ and were raised with
him. He's our representative. He's our federal head. He's our
great high priest. And he's already entered into
heaven. And we are loved in him by God. We are forgiven in Christ
by God. We are accepted in Christ by
God. And we're made one with him.
He's the head and we're the body. And the believers who have died
in Christ, having left this world, they are now with him in paradise.
and they will return with him when he comes again. Remember
what our Lord told the penitent thief on the cross? He said,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Beloved, all throughout eternity,
God's elect, God's sheep will be displayed as trophies of the
wonderful, free grace of God in Christ. And all the elect
angels and all the elect men and women will forever praise
the Lord for His mercy and His kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus, forever. And the believer cannot be separated
from Christ. Listen to these wonderful words
of the Master in John 17, verses 23 and 24. He said this, I in
them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. and
that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and has loved
them as Thou hast loved me. John 17, 24 here, Father, I will,
that they also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me, for
Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. So in Christ's
high priestly prayer, he says, Father, I will, that they also
whom Thou hast given me. That's a people given to Christ
by God in eternity. that they may be with me. He
asks, he prays that they be with him. He says, Father, I will,
that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I
am in glory, that they may behold my glory. When we get to heaven,
we're going to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he's had that glory from before the foundation of the world.
He's God the Son, the Word of God. the second person of the
Trinity. Now, what sort of body or dwelling
do they have now, those who have gone home to be with the Lord?
Well, we don't know, but let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. We'll read verses 1 to 4. See what the scripture says.
The scriptures declare, For we know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we
groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house
which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
We desire to be in the presence of the Lord. God's people desire
to be in the presence of the Lord, desire to be in glory with
our Lord. We do know that when our bodies
are raised, we shall be like Christ. 1 John 3, verses 1 and
2, the scripture declares, Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. Therefore the world knoweth not us, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and 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. Now let's go back to our text
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Let's read verse 15. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep. Now this epistle was written
by the Apostle Paul to the church at Thessalonica. But we can see
clearly in our text that these words are from God himself. Paul
was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to write these words.
We see what Paul is and what he was not speaking of. He was
not saying these things might happen. He was not saying that
he hoped that these things might happen. No, he's saying, thus
saith the Lord. He says, this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord. He's saying these are not my
words. These are God's words. believe them, embrace them, be
comforted by them. And now seeing this today, we
as believers can be greatly comforted by these words. If we die in
the Lord, we will be present with Him. If we are alive at
His coming, we shall be with Him. And no one alive at that
time will hinder the dead in Christ being raised, as they
will rise from their graves at the command of our great God
and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the word prevent
And the text there is an Old English word, and it means to
go before. And notice the believers who
are alive will not first be changed. No, the dead in Christ, who sleep
in Christ, those who are absent from the body, and those who
are with Christ, their bodies shall be raised first. Now think
of how sweet a thought this is. It shows the ever watchful care
of the Lord Jesus Christ over His sleeping members. And it
becomes a blessed fact when we consider Psalm 116 verse 15 which
proclaims, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints. And there is another blessing
brought forth as the living members of Christ's mystical body will
find their spirits abundantly strengthened in beholding the
dead in Christ who rise to the wonders of eternity. What joy
will burst forth at the majestic descent of our great God and
King when the voice of the archangel and the trump of God is heard.
what inexpressible emotions will be felt by all the living in
Christ at that time, when they shall see Jesus personally descending
in all the splendor of His glory. And remember as well, at the
time of this writing, Paul didn't know if he would still be alive
or not when our Lord Jesus Christ returned. We see that in the
verbiage he uses in this sentence, We which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. Are God's born-again blood-washed
saints? Know that there's an appointed time for our departure
from this life. Even the unregenerate will make
a statement like this sometimes. They say, well, when your time's
up, it's up. But beloved God, none of us know at all when our
appointed time will come or if we'll be alive at the coming
of the Lord. We don't know how the Lord will
take us from this life. But we should be more concerned
about what Paul wrote in the third chapter of this book in
verse 19. He said, Stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness
before God, even our Father, at the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ with all his saints. Whether we leave this life going
through that door marked death or If we are alive when the Lord
Jesus Christ returns, by God-given faith we are assured of these
glorious Christ-honoring truths that nothing shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus,
and that we are kept by the power of God through faith into salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last times. Beloved of God, our Lord
Jesus is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. He is all
power. And if we are still alive when
our Lord Jesus Christ returns, we shall not prevent them which
are asleep. No. Like the thief on the cross,
God's saints are ushered into paradise the day they fall asleep
in the arms of the Savior, which means the day they die. The moment
we breathe our last breaths as the saints of God on this earth,
we are present with the Lord in glory. And although we cannot
explain, nor do we understand what sort of body they're dwelling
in while waiting for the resurrection of their glorified bodies, we
know that they're in glory right now. And we know they're not
just floating spirits that cannot be recognized, because Peter
and James and John, they recognized Moses and Elijah when they were
on the Mount of Transfiguration with our Lord Jesus Christ. And
they, Moses and Elijah, must also wait for the day of resurrection.
before they get their glorified bodies. But they were in some
form of a body that was recognizable. Now let's look at verse 16. 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. Marvel, you who are the elect
of God, at these words. Marvel at this wonderful verse
before us. The scriptures declare that the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven. He will not send someone
to represent Him. When He comes in the brightness
of His glory, no, He comes Himself. The Lamb of God shall return
as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who has prevailed. The Scripture
declares, And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed
to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And
this title of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is in reference
to the prophecy of our Lord in Genesis 49.9 which says this,
Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey, my son, thou art gone
up. He stooped down, he crouched
as a lion, and is an old lion, who shall rouse him up. The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Oh, this is the great gathering
day, beloved, and on this great day every eye shall see Him. Beloved, He is coming in the
same body that was nailed to that cruel cross over 2,000 years
ago. The wounds are still visible
in His body. Behold, it says in Revelation
1-7, Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see
him. And they also which pierced him,
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even
so, amen. Notice in our text there in 1
Thessalonians 4.16, it says, for the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout. The Lord himself. Now notice
also, this is a very public appearance. This is not secret. No, it's
a very public appearance. Remember what we studied in the
sermon called The Same Jesus a few weeks back in Acts 1.11.
The angels told the disciples that this same Jesus was coming
back. Acts 1.11 which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye gazing up into heaven? So these angels were speaking
to the disciples and the disciples were astonished as our Lord ascended
up into glory. And these angels spoke to them
and said, ye men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into
heaven. Well, he's gonna ascend to this
earth, beloved. Oh, he's coming, he's coming.
We just don't know the hour of the day. And we see here in our
text in verse 16, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trump
of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. We see in our
text that the very one that the angels were speaking of in Acts
chapter 111, this same Jesus shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with a voice of an archangel, with the Trump of God. Beloved
of God, we see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords Himself
descending in majesty before us in this text. The Lord Himself,
beloved, He now sits enthroned in heaven, Lord over all. But we see in this text, He's
going to descend from heaven. This is the great second coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, This is confirmation of
the announcement made by the angels in Acts 1.11 which said
to the disciples who were gazing up in astonishment after our
Lord ascended up into glory, this same Jesus which has taken
up from you into heaven so shall come in like manner as you have
seen him go into heaven. Beloved, he came to this earth
the first time and he came here to redeem his people from their
sins. He was born, born of a virgin,
perfect, sinless, spotless. And as he grew, and all through
his life, he sinned not. He's the perfect, spotless Lamb
of God, sent here on a mission. And that mission is to redeem
his people from their sins. In his face, the scripture declares,
is set like a flint to Jerusalem. And he goes forth to Jerusalem
when the hour comes. and he's crucified on that cruel
cross and there the sinless one there the spotless lamb of God
dies in the room and place of sinners and he's purchased them
with his own blood he gave his life for them everything that
God demanded for the ransom of their souls for the souls of
his people he paid in full he came to save his people from
their sins and praise be to God he did it he cried it is finished
and then he was buried but on the third day he rose again for
the justification of his people And then in Acts chapter 1 verse
11, those disciples, they saw him ascend up into glory. And
then here in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, it talks about his majestic
descent. His second coming. Right now
He sits enthroned in heaven over all. Lord, Lord over all. But we see in this text, He shall
descend from heaven. This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven. So shall come in like manner
as you have seen Him go into heaven. Beloved, again, this
is the majestic, mighty return of the Lord Jesus Christ that
those angels spoke of. And He comes with a shout, with
a voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God. and God's
elect who are alive when Christ returns are going to witness
many things. There will be little waiting
period for us while we're waiting for the resurrection of the bodies
of those our Lord is bringing with him. If we're still alive,
we will see the brightness of our Lord Jesus as he descends
from heaven. We'll hear the shout from the
voice of the archangel. We'll hear the sound of the trump
of God. Oh, we'll hear the sound of the
trump of God. This doesn't sound like a secret
rapture, does it? No wonder the scriptures declare
of the lost that they will cry for the mountains to cover them
at his sight, when they realize the end of all things is at hand. And think upon this, to the saints
of God, to the elect of God, this great day of the majestic
descent of our Lord from glory, this great shout spoken of in
verse 16 will be a joyous shout for us, but to the lost This
will be a great shout of their eternal doom. Let's look at verse
16 again. 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. Oh, look again at these comforting
words that are brought forth in this statement of Paul by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. These tried and tested
saints that Paul's writing to in Thessalonica, what great comfort
this would bring them. The Lord himself And what great
comfort this brings us today. The Lord himself shall descend.
You know, the sum of the entirety of the believer's salvation is
of the Lord. We know that. And we believe
that as God's born again, blood washed people. He himself bore
our sins in his body on the tree. He himself died in our room instead
and answered all the laws demands for us. He himself is our wisdom,
our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. He himself
is our life. He himself is our hope. He himself
is our shield. He himself is our exceedingly
great reward. Christ and Christ alone. That's
why Paul wrote, Christ is all to the believer. We have nothing
but him. It is his appearing that the
believer loves. As we read this scripture, we
love the fact of his appearing. It says, in Revelation, behold,
he cometh with the clouds. And it says here, 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. the glorious return of our almighty
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the believer is not concerned
about mapping out events that will attend his coming. No, we're
looking for Christ right now, aren't we? We're looking for
Christ himself. It is he who shall descend from
heaven with a shout. No man knows the hour or the
day. We're looking for him. We're
looking for Christ. We're not looking for signs.
We're looking for Christ. We're keeping our eyes waiting
for Christ's return. and here either come at our death
or here come when we're alive and we'll be caught up to meet
him in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord glory to
his name and it is he who shall descend from heaven a shout.
With a shout is a commanding order, a stimulating cry, as
a shepherd calls for his sheep. And he will have the voice of
the archangel. A definite article in the great
brother Tim James says, Christ is the reigning messenger, isn't
he? Yes, he's the messenger of the covenant, beloved. And this,
his voice, his voice is familiar to every one of the sheep of
God. It is Christ, the great shepherd
of his people, who will come with the trump of God. The Last
Trump. A call to arms. The sound of
the Jubilee. When this takes place, the dead
in Christ will rise first. Turn if you would to John chapter
5. John chapter 5. This is the last
scripture we'll look at for tonight. John chapter 5 verses 25 to 29.
And first we'll see the voice of the shepherd during the gospel
age, and then we'll see the voice of the shepherd at the end. John
chapter 5 verse 25, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. Oh, the gospel goes forth,
and the Holy Spirit regenerates, and the dead, those dead spiritually
whom God has chosen whom Christ has redeemed, shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and shall live. For as the Father
hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life
in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of Man. Now listen to this in John
5, 28. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all
that are in the grave shall hear his voice. That's speaking about
what we're looking at today. Therefore, 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. And John 5.29 says, And they
shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection
of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation. Oh my. What a great day this
shall be. And praise God's mighty name,
that God's born-again, blood-washed saints will not be unaware of
what is happening. We're not in darkness, the scripture
says. This day shall not overtake us
as a thief in the night. The return of the Lord Jesus
Christ is what we're looking for right now. And this is the
desire and the longing of every believer's heart. Our hearts
rejoice in the one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for us. And oh, what unspeakable joy
fills our hearts as we anticipate that day, that great day, when
faith gives way to sight, when either we breathe our last breath
here upon this or if we're alive when the Lord returns. Oh, what
a great day that'll be. What a great day that'll be when
faith gives way to sight and we see our blessed Redeemer in
all his glory. What a day of rejoicing that
will be. Glory to his name. Amen and amen.