Let's read verse 10 again here
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Paul says, who died for us that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him
who died for us. For scarcely for a good man would
one die, for a righteous man some would even dare to die.
But Christ commended his love toward us, and while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Who died for us? Well, of
course, verse 9 tells us, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for
us. And not just a death like you
and I will experience, if God wills, But he died the death
of the substitute of his people. He died under the wrath of a
holy God. He died being made a curse for
us because cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree who
died for us with this certain unchanging outcome of his death. Is that not so? Look what it
says in verse 10 further. who died for us that, that, for
a purpose, for a reason. And this is the outcome, that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together. Doesn't
stop there, does it? Oh, how sweet it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. Oh, but look here. That we should live together
with him, whether we're awake living when he comes and there
will be a generation living when Christ returns. It may be ours. It may be you and I, but whether
we are or not or whether we sleep, whether we die and go the way
of all flesh, either way we're told we shall be or rather live
together with him. Martha, whoever believes in me,
though he were dead, our Lord said, yet shall he live. And whosoever, whosoever, not
just your brother, Martha, not just yourself and your sister,
but whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And you remember what he said
to Martha after that. Do you believe that, Martha?
Believest thou this?" And Martha answered truthfully. She was
a child of God. She was a believer. The Lord
loved her and they loved him because he first loved them.
But she was a believer and she said, yeah, Lord, I believe.
I believe. And though our faith is feeble
at times, if not most of the time, yet In the very teeth of
our sin, in the very reality of all our faults and failures
and weaknesses, we still can say, every child of God can say,
yes, Lord, yes, absolutely. I believe you. I believe you. I believe what you say is so.
I may not understand it. I may not, there's no may about
it. Know how you'll bring it all
to pass, but that's not necessary. Paul said in Romans 8, a verse
that we quote so very much. We know that all things work
together for good. It doesn't say we know how, but
we know because by faith, which we walk by and not by sight,
we know because we believe God. It's God that's doing the working.
Therefore, everything must be for our good that he does or
allows to be done. Whether we wake, live, or die,
we should live together with him. Be thou my vision, O Lord
of my heart. not be all else to me save that
thou art. Thou my best thought by day or
by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Look at verse 13 of chapter 4.
Chapter 4 here, 1 Thessalonians chapter, or verse 13 of chapter
4. Paul says, but I will not have
you to be ignorant. I don't want you to be in the
dark about this. Brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. If you're sorry
for a believer, if you're grieving over a believer due to not knowing
where he's at, if that's part of your grief, Paul said, well,
you can stop it. You can stop it. They've died with a good hope. Don't grieve for them like someone
that died without Christ. Look what he says in verse 14,
for we believe that if Jesus died and rose again, or if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we do believe that,
even so them also, see how always this blessed union with Christ
is set forth. If Christ arose, we shall arise. Paul makes this as his point
here in 1 Corinthians 15. He said if Christ didn't rise
from the dead, nobody's going to rise from the dead. He's the
head. And if the head arose, the body
is bound to arise. Even so, them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. Bring with him? How can
he bring them with him? Cause they're already there. They're there, their spirit,
their soul, they are with the Lord. And Paul tells us in verse
15, 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, that is, not proceed, not go ahead, of them which are
asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with the shout and with the voice of the archangel
and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first, that new body. That body that was sown in corruption
but raised in incorruption, raised to immortality just like their
master shall be raised to meet that spirit in the air and so
shall they ever be with the Lord. And at the same time, those who
are alive when that takes place, Paul says in verse 17, then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, we shall be changed. And we'll
be caught up together with them in the clouds. My soul, what
a day that will be. Whether you're living or dying,
all God's people will partake of this at the same time. We'll be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord, never to be departed again. And just as Paul said
in verse 11 of chapter 5, he says almost the same thing, almost
exact words, they amount to the same thing here in verse 18 of
chapter 4. Wherefore, in light of that sure
promise, that certainty, that which is bound to happen, Comfort
one another with these words. Comfort one another. Our Redeemer's
coming back, brother Lord. Or we'll go to meeting. Doesn't
matter which. Either way, so shall we ever
be with the Lord. What comfort there is in the
sure triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. We refer to it, but let's
look at just a verse or two here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Paul was discussing this same subject pretty much along the
same line. And all what sweet music it is.
It's a song to those who have believing hearts, these promises. In 1 Corinthians 15 at verse
51, Paul writes, Behold, I show you
a mystery. We shall not all sleep, we shall
not all die, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, just as we read in chapter
4 of 1 Thessalonians, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead
in Christ shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. Oh,
don't you like that? We shall be changed. Not just
an incorruptible body, but one without sin. No sinful nature. I think I mentioned this a while
back, but in glory, you will never ever hear anyone there,
and it's going to be well populated. Lot of folks, multitude that
none can number, but you will never hear anyone there crying
out, O wretched man that I am. Oh, no. No, those prayers are
left in the grave with that old man. No, we shall be changed
in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Look what he goes
on to say in verse 53. For this corruptible, must put
on incorruption. It must. And this mortal must
put on immortality. So then, when this corruptible,
not if, but when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed
up. Who can do that? Swallow up death? Oh, yes, our Lord and Savior
will and has. Oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Isn't that sweet music? Only
a believer can sing this. As I related to you this morning
concerning our dear friend that I think will soon, in a matter
of a few weeks, I think will be with the Lord. But only grace
can enable a believer to sing thus. It's getting from here
to there. That's the real rough part. Oh, I'm looking forward to it.
I'm looking forward to it. We should live together with
him. Oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory? I remember hearing Don say, and
perhaps you have too, Don Fortner, that he was discussing something
in his health or something with his doctor. And I don't know,
I suspect the doctor was probably telling him, you need to do this,
that, and the other. But anyway, Don told the doctor,
he said, you know, dying is not the problem. He said, I'm not
afraid to die. Dying is not the problem. It's
the process involved of getting there. What I may have to go
through, that may be the problem, but dying itself is not. And
is this not what we read here in 1 Corinthians 15? O death,
where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. Death, where is thy sting? Christ has taken the stinger
out of death for all of his people, hasn't he, Lord? Yes, he has.
Because God had made him to be sin for us. That's the fearful
thing about dying, to die without Christ. To die is an unbeliever. The soul that sinneth, it must
die, and Christ did so for all of his people, therefore pulling
the stinger out of death, satisfying the law. The law's got nothing
against the child of God now. It's been satisfied because God
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. And as you well
know, The verse doesn't stop there. That we should be made
the righteousness of God in Him. That's a matter of justice. Christ
died as a matter of divine justice. And all those for whom he died
as a substitute, all those who he redeemed, there made their
righteousness in him as a matter of justice. It's right for God
to do so because our Lord bore all of our sins away. In Galatians
chapter 3, we read this. This is why the sting of death
is gone. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Verse 14. That's the
blessing. Here's the outcome of it. Here's
what flows from that blessed death of the Lamb of God, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith, through Jesus Christ. everything we enjoy, every blessing,
every benefit, I mean every breath we draw, but more especially
every mercy and blessing and grace, everything to do with
salvation, whatever it is, whether it's election, redemption, preservation,
perseverance, glorification, whatever it is, Everything we
receive comes through Jesus Christ, doesn't it? Everything. Christ
says, no man cometh to the Father but by me. I am the door, he
said. I am the door. By me, if any
man... And that's singular. There's
only one door. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. I like that. Now, people have
come through that door back there and they've gone out, they came
in lost and they went out lost. Oh, but Christ said, if any man
comes through this door, he shall be saved. There's no question
about it. There's no question about it.
Christ is that door. The door to God's mercy, His
grace, His everlasting salvation, eternal life in heaven. All of
it is ours because we've entered that door, Jesus Christ himself. I would to God that I believed
that more fully, that I believed him more, that I honored him
more by believing him. They used to say, men would say
years ago when you would deal with your neighbor, they didn't
draw up a contract. You didn't have to go and pay
some slick talking lawyer a bunch of money to verify the agreement
or have it notarized. You shook hands. That was enough.
That was enough. My word, we would say, is my
bond. That's it. And you knew people
like that. That's good enough for you. Oh,
my soul. How much more the Lord Jesus
Christ? How much more should I believe him? What else can
he do to prove to me how much he loves me? He gave himself,
all of himself. And how shall not the Father
freely give us all things in him? He's already given to us
his Son. I've entered in. I've entered
in. By God's grace, by God's grace
alone, being forced being sweetly forced, constrained by grace,
made willing in the day of his power, I've entered in the door
which is Jesus Christ himself and I've walked through. Today,
this afternoon, not just shortly after we dismissed from service
here this morning, I was in a restaurant downtown and before our order
was brought to us, I went to the restroom or attempted to
But they were backed up. It wasn't urgent, so I thought,
you know, I could wait. Went back and sat down. Had some
big glass of pop and ate. It became urgent. So I went back
to the bathroom. Well, attempted to. Tried the
door. Nothing. It's locked. And I heard
water running. I thought, well, somebody's in
there. So I just wait there. Another guy comes up, and he
waits beside me. And we're waiting and waiting.
And this little fella comes walking by, he's no bigger than that
little old boy, comes walking by, walks by me and that other
guy and just opens the bathroom door and walks right in. The
door was already open. It was already unlocked. I thought I tried it, but I was
mistaken. The water I was hearing was from
the ladies' restroom not far away. Christ has already opened
the way to God the Father, hasn't He? He said, I am the door. John
said in Revelation 4, Behold, I looked, and there was a door
opened in heaven. My, so a door opened in heaven? You mean there's a way into the
presence of God Almighty? John said, I saw that door. And
then I heard a voice saying, John, come through it. Come up
hither. And John, when he was caught
up, saw one setting up on the throne. He that sets up on the
throne is himself the door, the way, the only way to God. That one setting up on the throne
has called us and brought us and he has already opened the
door into the presence of God for us and by him we enter in. Everything he is and everything
he's done Everything he has, now think about that. Everything
he has, what doesn't he have? It's all his. Everything he's
accomplished is ours. All of it. All of it. Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the joy, or rather enter into
the joy prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is all for you. This heaven,
heaven's glory, the redeemed forever with their Lord, this
was no afterthought on the part of God. This was not due to plan
B. Adam, if he'd have done what
he should have, was plan A, but he didn't, so God had to hurry
up and figure No, that's foolish, that's nonsense. Now you and
I have to resort to our plan B's and C's and D's, but not
God, not God. We need a backup plan, but not
God. No, it's always been, it's always
been as our Lord taught, it's always been the Father's good
pleasure to give his children the kingdom and everything that's
in the kingdom. Yes, it's true. He is the door,
the only one, the only way to God, the only entrance to glory,
the only one. And there are no toll gates on
this highway of holiness. You won't be asked to pay a toll.
It's already been paid. It's already been paid. I recall
reading a sermon of Mr. Spurgeon's in which he told the
story about being invited to a widow's house, one of his parishioners,
one that attended the tabernacle where he pastored. So he went
one weekday afternoon, but before he left his house, he took some
little cakes, wrapped them up, put them in his jacket pocket,
and went to this lady's house, and she invited him in, was just
so happy to have a visit from her pastor, and sat down, and
she brought some things out, and Spurgeon reached in his pocket,
Pulled out those little cakes and set them on the table, and
she said, what are you doing? What are you doing? He said,
well, I thought, she said, oh, no, no, no. She said, you can
take those back home with you. She said, I invited you here.
You're my guest. I've got everything you need.
And Spurgeon said, indeed she has. And what an insult it is. God forgive me. What an insult
it is to my Glorious Savior, to my Jesus who has paid it all,
what an insult to Him for me to distrust Him by thinking that
there's something that I must add to His finished work, that
there's a toll gate for me on the way to heaven that I got
to reach in my pocket and by good works or whatever pay my
way. Oh, no. Oh, no. Thank God that
that's not so. Jesus has paid it all and I owe
everything to Him. everything to him and let me
not insult him by even thinking that I can make up any lack because
in him I lack nothing at all. All that entered by this door,
he said in John 10, shall be saved. Saved forever. So many folks think of salvation
as just a one-time something that takes
place in our experience, and it does. But all salvation is
more than that. I mean, it reaches from eternity
past, through time, all the way to eternity to come. It's an
everlasting salvation. Oh, God has saved us from sin's
penalty, our God and Savior, and from sin's power, And one
day, as we mentioned at the beginning, what a glorious thought, we shall
be saved from the very presence of sin, Lord. And I don't mean
in heaven there won't be anything like we have to put up with down
here that vex the righteous soul of Lot and Sodom. I don't mean
that because this will be destroyed anyway, but I mean in us. It's
true that in heaven there's no sin, no evidence, no trace or
whatever, but in all the inhabitants as well. No sin in glory and
no sin in all those that entered glory. Isn't that something?
My little peewee brain can't hardly get a grasp of that because
everything I do is tainted with sin. Every prayer I pray Every
song I attempt to sing, every message I preach, I don't know. It may have been last week. I
don't really recall. But somewhere I'd preach and
someone said, that's a great message. And I said, well, you
need not tell me that. The devil already did. He told
me what a wonderful message before I even got out of the pulpit.
Oh, pride, pride, that wicked weed that'll grow anywhere. Oh,
but what a joy. What a blessed, blessed joy it
is even to contemplate. Though we see now through a glass
darkly that one day, one day, the blood of Jesus Christ would
have so thoroughly cleansed us from all sin that there won't
be any trace of sin in us whatsoever in heaven. Isn't that something? That he might present the church
to himself, a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, no evidence of sin, no proof. It's all been taken
away. Case closed. Turn back, if you
will, to Isaiah chapter 51. Isaiah chapter 51. This is exactly
what God reminds his people of in order to comfort them and
help them. He says, remember, you've been redeemed. Your sins
are gone. I'll finish what I've started.
All my purpose will be fulfilled. But here in Isaiah 51 and the
book of Isaiah is just full of these blessed promises, isn't
it? But look at verse 7. Isaiah 51
and verse 7. Hearken unto me ye that know
righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Fear ye
not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moths shall eat them
up like a garment, and the worms shall eat them like wool. But
my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation
to generation. Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord. Awake, as in the ancient days,
in the generations of old. Art thou not he that hath cut
Rahab and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried
the sea, the waters of the great deep that hath made the depths
of the sea away, away? away with no toll gates, away
for the ransomed to pass over? Yes, he has. Yes, he has. That
being so, we read in verse 11, therefore, therefore, in light
of that, since he's done that, therefore, the redeemed of the
Lord shall return. They shall. and come with singing
unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. They
shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall
flee away." Therefore, four shells there in verse 11, which one
is the sweetest would be hard to say. Equally, they're all
equally so, aren't they? They shall return and come to
Zion. They'll mount up to Zion with
songs of joy singing grace, grace, grace unto it. All shall return
and come, no question about it. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They'll come to me in time and they'll come
to me in eternity when I gather them around my Father's throne.
They shall have everlasting joy and they shall obtain gladness
and joy. and sorrow and mourning shall
flee away. They all shall arrive. I'm weak, wandering, sinful. I'm full of unbelief. Yes, I
am. That's just the sad truth. But
none of these blessed promises depend on me. Depend on me. They're all His doing. None of
them are up to me. Thank God that's so. They're
all up to Him. This is the Lord's doing. What
do we do? Just stand back and marvel? Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. They come through great tribulation. Oh yes. Oh yes. Our Lord didn't
pull no punches. He didn't Try to pull the wool
over anybody's eyes, especially his children. He told the truth.
He said, in the world, you're going to have tribulation. He
told his disciples that night, I'm telling you this now so that
when it happens, I'm telling you the world hates me and it's
going to hate you for following me. But I'm telling you this
now so that when it happens, you won't be overwhelmed. You
won't be stumbled by it. You won't be ready to just throw
up your hands and quit. You'll say, oh, the master told
us it would be this way. And he said, the Holy Spirit
shall bring all these things to your remembrance. Yes, they
shall come out of great tribulation. I have a friend that I sometimes
play golf with. I don't think this little guy
weighs 100 pounds. Really, he's a squirt, Lonnie. And I can out-drive him. Well,
I mean, I should. I'm two times his size, and I
guess sometimes when we're playing, you know, we like to rib one
another, but I hit a pretty good one down the middle, and I guess
I'm obviously strutting like a peacock. He'll look at me and
say, Larry, it's not how you drive, it's how you arrive. And you know what he does? He
arrives on the green and usually beats me. Yes, he does. And brothers and sisters in Christ,
the captain of our salvation will never lose one of his own.
Yes, our drives as we go through this life, like army golf, left,
right, left, right, but our Pilgrimage through this world
has its values. If need be, Peter said, you're
in heaviness now through manifold temptations. There's no question
about it. Oh, but all the while, whether
we feel like it or not, and we may think it can't be so, we're
losing ground, we think. We're going backwards. Oh, no,
no. We're always going forward. through the valley, through the
fire, through the blood, but through the flood, but bless
his glorious name all through his blood and he's going to have
everyone he paid for. The captain of our salvation
will never lose, has never lost one of his soldiers in this great
army of his. The bridegroom will have his
bride with him in glory. I've read this statement by other
men. And I've said it myself, but it's still a wonder. My,
so it's a wonder. And it's scriptural, or I wouldn't
say it. But Christ will not be complete without his bride. Now think about that. Think about
that. Christ will not be complete without
his bride. The bridegroom must have her
whom he loved with an everlasting love and purchased with his own
precious blood. He's going to bring every one
of them to the father's house because his father is our father. And the father's house is our
house too. Is that not what he said in John 14? He is our great
God and Savior and he is able. He's sovereign. He reigns always. I've had people ask me when they
hear that word sovereignty, isn't that sad? Not surprising but
still sad that those who profess many to know God sit in churches
and then look at you when you say something about God being
sovereign and scratch their head, what? What? Yes, God is sovereign. That means the little word there
within it contains its meaning. He reigns. He reigns. That's
what it means. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. And people say, well, that's
kind of deep. No, no, no, no. Of what practical
value is it? My, my, my. Knowing, knowing
child of God. that your God is in the heavens
doing whatsoever he hath pleased. Oh, that's a great practical
value. That's what keeps you from just tossing in the towel. Knowing
that he does whatsoever he hath pleased. That was the very foundation
of Paul's exhortation of comfort one another. He's made an appointment
for us to be with him. And nobody breaks God's appointments.
He's the one that made it. Comfort one another with these
words. The same basis in 1 Thessalonians
5 and 1 Corinthians, was it not? God had appointed us to salvation,
we read in verse 9 of chapter 5. He's not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And who's going to break that
appointment? That's God's appointment. We have a reservation. Well,
we got to wrap this up. Of what practical benefit is
it to believe in the sovereignty, the majesty, the wonder of our
great God that he, because of who he is, doeth all things well. He cannot but do all things well
for his bride, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego,
was your belief, your obvious belief in God's sovereignty of
any practical benefit to you when those jealous of you poisoned
the king's mind against you and to save face because of the decree
he made commanded that you be thrown into the fiery furnace
that he heated seven times hotter than usual so that even those
mighty men were told that took them near the furnace to cast
them in, it was so hot that it killed them. But they threw in
Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. But you remember what they said
to the king when he said, You're going into the furnace. Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. We're not
just talking off top of our heads. If it be so, this is in Daniel
3, verse 17. If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able. What were they saying? Our God's
sovereign. He does whatever he wants to do. You're not in control
here. Now, did that have some practical
benefit? Now you can imagine these three
young Hebrew boys, men, telling this king who says, I'm going
to burn you alive. You're going to look like there
won't be nothing left. And they stand before him and
say, we're in God's hands. It's not up to you. If it be
so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king."
Imagine that. Where did they get such boldness?
They believed God. They simply believed God and
you know the outcome. They throw him in and Nebuchadnezzar
sets back and he says, excuse me, excuse me, Correct me if
I'm wrong, but didn't we throw three in there? Well, of course,
of course. I see four. And that fourth one
is likened to the Son of God. I will never leave you nor forsake
thee. And he never shall. And we're
told they bring them out. Nothing on them is burned. There's
not even the smell of smoke on them. Not even a hair is singed
on their head. Why? Because just as they said,
our God, if he wills to do so, is able to deliver us. And then
we're told, then the king promoted Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego
in the province of Babylon. He gave them a promotion. Isn't
that something? All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 121,
and we'll close as we read this Psalm together. Psalm 121. Verse
1, Psalm 121. I will lift up mine eyes into
the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from
the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer. He won't allow thy foot to be
moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. He will not slumber. Behold,
he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Lie down and sleep, thy helpless
child, thy fathers on the deck. And he's not there as co-pilot. Remember those, are they still
around, those license plates people have on their car? God
is my co-pilot. Really? Then who's in the driver's
seat? Who's in the driver's seat? Oh
no, our great God and Savior, he's not a co-pilot. He doesn't
need a co-pilot. And he's not himself one. He's
steering the vessel. He's on deck. He's at the helm. He's in charge. He always is. Verse five, the Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth. That pretty well covers it, doesn't
it? And even forever more. When the storms of life are raging,
may God enable us to remember who's in control of the storm.
And when you're being tossed and I'm being tossed on a troubled
sea, may we hear the voice of our Redeemer coming to us, walking
up on the storm, saying, it is I. Don't be afraid. This is not out of my control.
It is I be not afraid. Wherefore, comfort ye one another
with these words. Amen. Amen. God bless you.