1 Thessalonians 4 this morning. 1 Thessalonians 4.14 For if we
believe. In the previous verse, Paul spoke
of hope and now faith. For if we believe. Without faith,
there's no hope. Without faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have no hope. And it's faith concerning something
in particular. If we believe that Jesus. God's Christ. If we believe that. He shall save his people from
their sins. Dad. That's his name. He shall save. If we believe
that, in other words, the sovereign victorious Christ of God did
what he came to do, accomplished what he came to accomplish, finished
the work he came to perform. If we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, If we believe that he did what he came to do,
offer his very soul a sacrifice for our sin, and that God accepted
it, he rose again. Oh, even so, them also which sleep
in him, in Jesus, will God bring with him. This is our hope. We believe. We hope because we
believe something, somebody, what he did, what he accomplished.
It's faith concerning the redeeming death and justifying resurrection. He rose for our justification
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is our hope with regard
to our loved ones and ourselves? The crucified, risen Son of God. He's our hope. Why is the death
of the believer referred to as sleep in verse 13 and 14 here? Because like in sleep, we're
going to rise up soon. We're going to get up. I went
to bed last night and before I knew it I was getting up. I
don't remember much in between, do you? It's going to be kind
of like that. And we're going to rise up refreshed
and renewed in a whole different sense. We don't fear going to
sleep. Death for the believer, the Lord
uses these beautiful, familiar, endearing terms. We fall asleep. I value sleep, don't you? I look
forward to it sometimes. Sometimes sleep is a whole lot
better than being awake. And he uses this phrase, we're
going home. To die is to go home. Paul said,
I have a desire to depart and be with him. To be in the presence
of the Lord, to go home. To be present at home with the
Lord. And death shouldn't upset us any more than falling asleep
does. if we are sleeping in him, in Jesus. I like that phrase,
don't you? Sleeping in Jesus. Turn to Mark chapter five. Here
we have a picture. of what our experience will be
in death. Mark 5, verse 35, While he yet
spake, the Lord Jesus is speaking to someone else. And then there
came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy
daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the Master
any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word
that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be
not afraid, only believe. That's what He said in the face
of our death. What does the Lord Jesus Christ
say to me when I think about dying? In this case, He's speaking
to a man who is facing something even worse than his own death,
the death of his precious daughter. But when death, when I contemplate
death, what's the Lord's word to me? Don't be afraid, believe. That's what our text said. We
have hope because we believe. We believe on him. And he suffered
no man to follow him, save Peter and James and John, the brother
of James. And he cometh to the house of
the ruler of the synagogue and seeth the tumult. and them that
wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith
unto them, why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead,
but sleepeth. And they left him to scorn. But
when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the
mother of the damsel. and them that were with him.
Everybody else can just go. The ones that really have an
interest in this. He wanted them to witness his power, his grace. They entered in where the damsel
was lying, and he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her,
Talitha Kumai, which is being interpreted, damsel, I say unto
thee, arise and straightway The damsel arose and walked, for
she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished
with a great astonishment. And he charged them straightly
that no man should know it, and commanded that something should
be given her to eat." This is why we don't fear. We can be
not afraid because we do believe. What do we believe? Well, it's
not a list of things on the wall. It's a person. I believe that
Jesus Christ is life. He said, he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. And he asked me and you, do you
believe this? Do you believe this? Then don't
be afraid and don't be ignorant concerning them which are dead
in Christ. He's able to take you by the hand and wake you
up. The key to not being afraid and
not being ignorant, as he said in verse 13, is those first four words, for
if we believe. Do we believe? Do you and I believe? Oh, I know he'll rise again in
the resurrection. It's not about an event. It's about a person. Are they sleeping in Him? Are
you gonna sleep in Him? Are you of God, in Christ, who
is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption?
Are you in Him, alive or dead, wake or sleep? Are you in Him? Then you're safe, you're blessed,
you're fine. If we believe, then we don't
sorrow as others who have no hope. Because our hope is Him
in whom we have believed. I know whom I have believed,
and therefore, our hope is sure. To the extent that we believe,
we won't fear death. To the extent that we believe,
we'll rejoice together when our loved ones in Christ are gone
from here. I've said to several of you, I wanna go before you
because I don't wanna see you go. But if I do, I'll have to
rejoice. If you're one of those who are
asleep in Him, it'll be sad too. We do sorrow, but not as others.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, now about a faith, hope, and
love, these three. And we see two of them expressly
in our text. And the third is implied. Hope is the result of faith because
we believe. We have hope and because we believe
on the Son of God because of whom. It who it is upon whom
we believe we have a sure hope. A steadfast. Hope. And because of who he is, because
he died and rose again, as in our text, for me, and because
I am in him, whether awake or asleep, I'm in him, because of
his dying love and mercy toward me, I love him. Faith, hope,
and love, these three. Now those who sleep, in Jesus,
it says God will bring with Him. God will bring with Him. And
that's because Christ, when He died and rose again, as the verse
says, redeemed their souls from sin, from death, from hell, from
the grave. And they'll be with Him in death
as in life and when He comes. Those who have died when he comes
are called, in verse 16, that we'll see in the next few weeks,
the dead in Christ. The dead in Christ shall rise.
In Christ, asleep in Jesus. The picture, I see myself sleeping
in his very arms. Of course, being in Him is more
than a physical position. It's to be in Christ as our Redeemer,
as our surety, as our mediator. To be of God in Him, who has made unto us everything.
I like the words with Him in the text, don't you? With Him. It reminds me of David's Psalm
139. If I'm alive, He's promised, as long as I'm
alive, what's his promise to me? That I remember a lot. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. Wherever he goes, I'm with him. If I'm dead, if this body that
you're looking at now dies, I am, as he promised that thief on
the cross, today thou shalt be, where? With me. And that's what paradise is with
me. When he comes back to this earth,
our text says that I will be with him. That's where I want
to be. Wherever that is about you. If it means going into the valley
for a while, the valley of the shadow of death, David said,
I won't fear there because thou art with me. If that's where
I have to go, as long as he's with me, that's where I want
to be. His name is Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. Listen to the words that David
wrote in Psalm 139. I want to look at it. Psalm 139. Think about our text now. God
bring you with Him. If you're one of those who are
asleep in Jesus, you're going to be with Him. And that's what
I want to know. That's what I want to know about
my loved ones, my father who died many years ago. I was very young, and it was
hard to lose my father, but this is what I want to know about
him now. He's with Him. God's going to bring him with
Him. Look at Psalm 139, verse 1. O Lord, Thou hast searched
me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and my up-rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off, and Thou accompaniest my path and my lying down. and are acquainted with all my
ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord,
thou knowest it all together. Listen to the verse five. Thou
hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. It's too wonderful for me too,
David, to think about God's hand on me. He's hedged me about with his
love, with his power, and he's put his hand on me. And such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It's high. I cannot attain unto it, but
I sure like to try, don't you? I'm reaching for it. Whither
shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there, I'll
be with you in paradise. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou. You see that? Behold, you. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say,
and I've said this probably a few times in my life, surely the
darkness will cover me. Surely I'll be
swallowed up Even the night shall be light
about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins,
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. Not only
is his hand on me, but it always has been. And he's promised that
it always will be. I just got to thinking about
those words, with him. He'll bring them with him. David, what David's saying there,
we've always been with him. Him with us. No matter where we find ourselves
in this earth, he's with us. Moses said, if you're not going
with us, then we don't want to go. I don't either. May he always
be with us. Let's pray.