Bibles today to 1st Thessalonians
chapter 4. 1st Thessalonians chapter 4.
I'm going to speak to us primarily from verse 18. Let's begin our
reading in verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. that you
sorrow 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 or precede them which
are asleep. 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. 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." Comfort one another with these words. The opposite of comfort is trouble. And for God's children, when
trouble comes, and it does come to God's children as we go through
this world, When it comes, there are always words of God to comfort
God's children. Now in the context, we see what
had caused these at Thessalonica to be troubled. Their trouble
was the result of their concern about believers who the Apostle
Paul said were asleep, and they were asleep in Jesus. Their trouble seems to be the
result of thinking that believers who are alive when the Lord Jesus
comes would have some advantage over those who had fallen asleep. In other words, it seems that
they were bothered over the fact that some of their members, their
church family, had been taken from them, had fallen asleep
in Christ, and they wondered or were concerned about Those
who are alive, when the Lord comes again, will we have precedence? Those who are alive, will we
precede those in being taken to be with the Lord? Now the
apostle explains, and you know he begins, I would not have you
to be ignorant. And they were believers, they
were God's children, but they were ignorant of this particular
doctrine, this particular truth. And as God's children, when we
are born into the family of God, like little children that come
into our families, we have to learn. We have to grow. And thank God we have God's Word
and we have the ministry of God's Word whereby we grow in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were troubled. Paul explains to them, when the
Lord Jesus comes again, those who sleep in Jesus, their souls
will God bring with Him. Notice that in verse 14. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, now every believer,
every child of God, believes that Jesus died according to
the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures. No one is a child of God, no
one is saved by the grace of God who does not believe the
Gospel. And that is the Gospel in its
rudimentary form, as the Apostle Paul said, if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again. So everyone who sleeps in Jesus
believes that Jesus died and rose again. They wouldn't sleep
in Jesus. They wouldn't die in the Lord
if they had not believed this. This is the gospel whereby we
are saved. Now, they're with the Lord. That's the point I want to make.
Because the apostle says, them which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with Him. Now if they're going to be brought
with the Lord when He returns, that tells us that they are with
Him now. Just as He told the thief who
was being executed, crucified alongside of Him, and that thief
looked to Christ and said, Lord, remember me when Thou comest
into Thy kingdom. Our Lord said to him this day,
not tomorrow, not a thousand years from now, not 10,000 years,
not in the resurrection, no, today, today thou shalt be with
me in paradise. And paradise is the third heaven
as we compare 2 Corinthians 12. So they are with the Lord. Where are they now? Our loved
ones. Those of our church family who
we've taken their bodies to the cemetery and committed them to
the ground. Their bodies sleep in Jesus. And that's just a very... kind
and comforting word to speak about death and to call it sleep. And that's what our Lord did.
Remember when he spoke of Lazarus to his disciples and he said,
our friend Lazarus sleepeth. And then we find out he was dead. But our Lord said he slept. The
bodies sleep in the grave. The bodies turn back to the dust. We know that. We were created
from the dust. Our bodies were. But man is more
than just a body, isn't he? God breathed into the first man
the breath of life, and he became a living soul. Now the soul,
the spirit of man, when a believer dies, the body, yes, is sown
into the earth, sown in dishonor, be raised in honor. Sown in corruption
will be raised in incorruption. We know that. But the soul, the
spirit, goes to be with the Lord. To depart and to be with Christ,
the Apostle Paul said, which is far better. But when the Lord
comes again, they're going to be brought with Him. And then
the Apostle tells us that first their bodies are going to be
raised. And it is a resurrection. It's
not a creation. This same body in which we've
lived in this world, it's going to be resurrected. It's going
to be a glorified body. It's going to be a body like
the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for that. But it's
going to be a resurrection, not a creation. You say, that's impossible. Yes, if we were just talking
about man, I'd agree with you. But this is the work of God.
It's God who's going to raise the dead. Nothing's impossible
with Him. And they're going to be reunited. Those who are brought with Christ,
their souls are going to be reunited with their bodies in which they
have lived in this world. Resurrected body. And then, those
who are alive. We're going to be changed, or
they're going to be changed. You say, well, what's the time
frame for this? The twinkling of an eye. That's fast, isn't it? This is
going to take place in the twinkling of an eye. And then the apostle
tells us that we all together, those who are alive when the
Lord comes, those who sleep in Jesus, we're all going to be
caught up together. Those who are alive are not going
to be caught up first. They're not going to precede
those who sleep. For the scripture says, 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. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God, shall see of the travail of his soul, and
he will be satisfied. Everyone for whom he travailed
in soul When He came into this world, when He died upon the
cross, He will see saved and brought home safely body and
soul to be with Him forever. We will sit down in the kingdom
and eat the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now, I started thinking
about this message last Sunday evening. And I did so because
of two things that I heard last Sunday here at the service. Before the service, I was told
by one of our members a remark of one of his co-workers who
was facing trouble. And he faced trouble with this
saying, we must play with the cards we're dealt. I've heard
that, haven't you? We must play with the cards that
we are dealt. That's the way he was facing
trouble. And then after the service, one of our members told me this. She said, I want to thank the
Lord for the ministry here at this church, which has helped
to prepare me for the trouble that I'm going through at this
time. And I thought, what about a ministry? A ministry which comforts God's
children in trouble. What would be true of that ministry? Now there's many things I know
which are true of it, but I have four things this morning I want
to mention that are true about a ministry that prepares God's
children when we face trouble, when we go through trouble, comforts
us in our trouble. The first thing is this, the
character of God. The character of God. The characteristics
or the attributes of God make us to understand who He is. and what he is. The prophet Isaiah
lived in a dark day in the history of the nation of Israel. Many
of the nation were given to idolatry and God through the prophet asked
the nation four times, three times rather, this same question. And you can't help but wonder,
as you think about this question, is this the God of the average
pulpit? And the answer is no. No. The character of God. We must
know something about God. If we're going to have any comfort
when we face trouble and go through trouble, we've got to have a
foundation. And one corner of that foundation
should be the character of God. What is He like? Most men get
into trouble because we imagine that God is like we are. We just
imagine that. God asked through the prophet
Isaiah this question, to whom will ye liken God? Or with what
likeness will you compare him? That's the first time that question
is asked. To whom will you liken God? In other words, who are you going
to compare God to? You've made some idol, make it
of gold, make it of silver, make it of wood, make it of whatever
you want to. Make it as big as you want to
or as small as you want to. Makes no difference. There's
nothing, nothing that man can create, that man can make that
has any likeness to God. And that's one reason idolatry
is such an offense to God. And it is. Make no mistake about
it. In fact, the scripture says,
those who commit idolatry, God visits the iniquity unto the
third and fourth generation upon their children. Yes, idolatry. To whom will you liken God? Or
with what likeness will you compare Him? And then that question is
repeated, to whom will you liken me? Or shall I be equal, saith
the Holy One? And then number three, to whom
will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we
may be like? We must recognize that there
is none like God. That's one reason the scripture
says thou shall not take the name of thy God in vain. When
we even use the name of God, When we speak of God, it should
be with reverence because the God of the Bible, the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy. He's worthy of our
reverence, of our worship, of our service, of our dedication. We must recognize that there's
none like God. who is infinite, He is infinite
in every way. Every truth that we know about
God, He's infinite in that truth. In other words, there's no limit
to God. To His knowledge, to His power,
to His being, He's infinite. I want you to look back in your
Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy, the fifth book
in our Bible, Deuteronomy chapter 32. And God gave this song that's
recorded here in this chapter to Moses. And He gave this song
to Moses near the end of the life of Moses. And He told him
to teach this song to the Israelites. There's something about songs
that seems like we can remember. We learn them, don't we? Songs.
That's one good thing about putting scripture to music, isn't it? Because when we sing the scripture,
then we learn the scripture. We learn by singing. And God
told Moses, now you write this song and you teach this song
to the children of Israel. And I want to point out just
two verses. In verse 4, part of this song
is, He is the rock. His work is perfect. Now, the character of God. His work is perfect. Whatsoever
God doeth, He doeth forever. His work is perfect. For all
His ways are judgment. In other words, all of His ways
are done in justice and righteousness. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. Now one other verse, if you look
down to verse 31 in this, still in the same psalm, but Moses
indicates that even the wicked recognize that the God of Israel,
who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the God of the Bible, their rock, that is, is not as
our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. Even those who
were enemies to Israel judged and recognized that the God of
Israel is a being all by himself. You know, those sailors on that
ship that Jonah was on, when they brought him up and he confessed
that he was a servant of the God of Israel, they knew. They
had their gods, but they recognized. You read there, I think it's
the first chapter of Jonah, and you see that those sailors, in
their wickedness and idolatry, they knew there was something
different. about the God of Israel. And let me say this before I
go any further, because sometimes you will hear people say, well
I, you know, I believe in the God of the New Testament, but
I don't believe in the God of the Old Testament. Well, I hate
to bust your bubble, my friends, but there's only one God. The
same God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament.
He hasn't changed. And He's not going to change. In a world of change and decay,
we know that God changes not. His purpose stands. He said this in Isaiah 14 in
verse 27, For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall
disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and
who shall turn it back? God has purposed it, it will
come to pass. Sometimes theologians, in their
systematic theology books, they like to talk about this one attribute
as being his chief attribute, and that is his holiness. And
I've seen it or read it illustrated like this, and I think this is
well. But look, think of a wheel, and you have a hub in the middle,
and then you've got all these spokes that go out from the hub. And all these spokes may represent
a different attribute characteristic of God. His love, His wrath,
His patience, His goodness, His judgment. I mean all of them.
But the one right in the middle, the hub, is the holiness of God. And every attribute of God is
holy. His love is holy. His wrath is
holy. His patience is holy. everything
about God. He is the thrice holy God. When Isaiah in vision saw the
Lord and the seraphim crying one to the other, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God Almighty. Our God is holy. This means that
as Abraham asked, he asked the Lord this question when God had
told him he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities
of the plain. And Abraham asked, would you
destroy the righteous with the wicked? And of course God said,
no. If you can find ten righteous
men, I will spare the city. And of course there were not
ten righteous men in Sodom. But Abraham asked God this question,
shall not the judge of all the earth do right? He will. He will. Whatever he does, it's
right. His ways are perfect and right. The character of God, we've got
to have some foundation in the truth about God. Second, the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. In Psalm
103 and verse 19, Psalmist David said, The Lord hath prepared
his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. That's more than just a doctrine
to us, isn't it? A lot of people like to argue.
They say, I want to argue or talk about the doctrine of the
sovereignty of God. It's not just a doctrine. It's
not just a truth to us. It is an assurance. An assurance
that whatsoever God does is right. When in trouble, we recognize
that this trouble, whatever it is, it did not happen by chance. It's not the luck of the draw.
It's not the random dealing of cards. No, it is God's sovereign
purpose. His kingdom ruleth over all. We're all familiar, I believe,
with the words of Nebuchadnezzar. After God sent him to school,
He sent him to the school of hard knocks. Have you ever heard
of that school? The school of hard knocks. And
I tell you, he sent this king to the school of hard knocks.
He was so proud of himself. He was so proud of himself. He
walked in pride. Is not this the great Babylon
which I have built? Not recognizing that God had
raised him up and put him in that position. to work his will,
God's will. And so what did God do? He sent
him to school, didn't he? Sent him out there in the field
to eat grass like the cattle. The rains to fall upon him. His
hair grew long like feathers of a bird. And then, in God's
goodness, he came to himself. And he looked up towards heaven,
and he recognized and confessed, there's a throne which was above
my throne. There's a king which is above
me as a king, and that king is God Almighty. And he confessed
this, he, that is God, he doeth according to his will in the
army of heaven. That is, among the angels. He's
the Lord God of hosts. The armies of heaven. The angels
of God. They do His will. And among the
children, or the inhabitants of the earth. And listen to this. And none can stay His hand. You fight against God, you're
fighting a losing battle. That's just all there is to it.
The sovereignty of God. The character of God, first of
all, the sovereignty of God. This means to us that the devil,
and we recognize according to the Word of God that he is a
mighty being, but he cannot touch one of God's children without
God's permission. We learn this from the book of
Job. Satan would have destroyed Job. That was his desire. But
he could not even touch him without God's permission. He could not
touch his wealth. He could not touch his family.
He could not touch his health. He could not touch anything about
Job without God's permission. And the same thing I say about
Peter. You remember our Lord told Peter.
And he was a little bit proud, wasn't he? I remember someone
told Scott Richardson one day, said, the sovereignty of God
will knock the pride out of a man, won't it?
And Scott said, well, not all of it. It just seems to be part
and parcel of our flesh, isn't it, that we're given to pride. And we see someone else fall
and we say, oh, that'll never happen to me. I'll never be guilty
of that. We're speaking as fools. Peter
said, Lord, if all these other men, your disciples, if they
forsake you, you can count on me. I'll go with you. I'll even
die with you. The Lord said, Peter, Satan hath
desired to sift thee as wheat. But, and here's the wonderful
thing, I prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And when
thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Don't you just love the truth
about God, everything about him? But when one of his servants
falls, And thinks, it's all over. No, God's able to restore. He restores my soul, the psalmist
said. The sovereignty of God. Number
three, the blood of God. You say, now preacher, you've
gone too far. character of God and the sovereignty
of God. We're with you on that. But now
you say the blood of God. God is the Spirit and you say
the blood of God. I say that, my friends, because
of the Word of God. Turn with me to Acts chapter
20. Acts chapter 20. Paul is speaking to the elders
of the church at Ephesus, and he says, verse 28, take heed
therefore unto yourselves and all the flock over the which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church
of God, which he, who, God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood. This was the purpose of the Incarnation. In just a few weeks now, people
will be celebrating Christmas or the birth of Christ, but let's
remember what the Incarnation is, what the birth of Christ
is. It is God the Eternal Son taking
into union with His deity. that body which was prepared
him from the Virgin Mary. And there's such a union between
the humanity and the deity of Christ. Thou shalt call his name
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. There's a union
so that we have one person. And yes, the person died, the
man died, but he's the God-man. And his blood satisfied God. And with his blood, he purchased
the church of God. As the scripture in Romans says,
for what the law could not do. What was it that the law could
not do? The law could not justify a person. People run around talking about
trying to keep the Ten Commandments and living by the Ten Commandments.
Well, go on, but know this, you'll die and go to hell. What the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, our
flesh, we can't keep the Ten Commandments. We're fallen creatures. But thank God, God sending His
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. Whose sin? He didn't have any.
Whose sin? The sin of God's elect. For sin. Condemned sin in the
flesh. He said, this is my blood of
the New Testament. When He instituted the Lord's
Table, the Lord's Supper just before His death. This picture
is my blood of the New Testament. And the New Testament, the will
of Christ, bequeathed unto us all the blessings of that Testament. And one of those blessings is,
I will be their God. I will be their God. For how
long will He be our God? In what condition will he be
our God? Well, the psalmist said, for
this is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide unto death. And one other truth, the promises
of God. The character of God, the sovereignty
of God, the blood of God, the promises of God. Someone asked
a preacher, somewhat sarcastically, What would you do without Romans
828? You just seem to quote that all the time. Romans 828. And
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
What would you do without that verse? Well, first of all, I'm
going to thank God that we are not without that verse. But suppose
we were. Well, we just move on to another
one. There's plenty more that say the same thing. I just jotted
down a few. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time and even forevermore. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, the fire shall not Thou shall not be burned, neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, and
you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. That ought to be enough
to carry us a long way. God says, I will help thee. You need anybody else? Need anyone
else? Not hardly. And these words our
Lord spoke to his disciples. Here he came walking on the water. Now they were in the ship. You see, he's on top of their
problem. Their problem was the waves.
They couldn't make it. They couldn't roll against the
waves, the wind. And here he comes, the Lord Jesus
Christ, on top of the water. And he's over all of our problems,
no matter what they are. And he said, be of good cheer.
It is I. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. When we face trouble, when we
go through trouble, that which prepares us and sustains us are
these wonderful truths that I've mentioned to us today about God. His character, His sovereignty,
the blood of His Son, and His promises. I pray the Lord would
bless this message to all of us here today. We're going to
sing a couple of verses of a hymn. It's hymn number 266.