Sermon for Sunday August 7th 2022: “HOPE… According to the Lord’s word…”
(Please read Psalm 25; Lamentations 3; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18)
A small group of us in this church have begun reading the book of Revelation together. We have been blessed, just as its author said we would. It has filled us, not only with understanding… but with hope. I want you to get a glimpse of that today…
The existential philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) spent his life’s work denying the existence of God. But he was unfulfilled and longed for a glimmer of hope. In 1980, the ailing Sartre wrote, “Despair returns to tempt me. . . . The world seems ugly, bad, and without hope. There, that’s the cry of despair of an old man who will die in despair. But that’s exactly what I resist. I know I shall die in hope. But that hope needs a foundation.” Within a month Sartre was dead. We wonder if he ever discovered that foundation.
I’ve nothing to look forward to. I am old. Life has passed me by. There’s more behind me than there is in front of me. I have only death to look forward to… You would think those were the words and emotions of people without God. No, those are the (very) words of church-goers, followers of Christ. People I have known. There is no doubt that death is a mystery; and that the LORD has seen to it that we have to wait to discover it… and what happens beyond it. He asks us to have faith, to hope in God – to use three little words.
But if you do credit His words with truth; if you have trusted (believed) in Jesus Christ – in his death and resurrection - then you are not (and cannot be) a person without hope and a future. In short, a Christian will ultimately view his death as a gateway to life, a beginning and not an end, the end. That’s the whole point of these words of Paul to the Church at Thessalonica… and what he also wrote to Corinth.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again…
We stand or fall on these inviolable gospel truths.
In the church that Paul had planted, someone had been teaching them that dead Christians would miss the coming of the Lord - the rapture. So the apostle sets about correcting this false teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4-5. What was taught had left the church feeling sad and confused; they were misinformed. They were long on faith and love, but short on hope. And that’s not a good place. Jesus said the truth would set us free (John 8:32). So much worry is borne of misinformation. There was fake news then too.
Paul needs to tell them the facts… about their future and about what could happen at any time and about how they should live in the meantime… Jesus taught His disciples to watch for this coming. “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40).
14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
We have watched in sadness as someone close to us has died may wonder about their new existence. We may pine away about what they are doing or where they are. If they had trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour, we know they are in heaven, according to the Lord’s word…
(Jesus Comforts His Disciples) 14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
But, for now, a veil separates us from our loved ones and we cannot see behind it. As yet, we cannot see the Lord. Nonetheless, according to the Lord’s word… God has not left us uninformed about this mystery. We know that our departed loved ones are enjoying God’s presence… away from the body and at home with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). We also know that the dead-in-Christ are recognisable and conscious of their surroundings—just like the rich man and the beggar Jesus spoke of in Luke 16:22-23. And we know that they haven’t yet received the perfect body that will be theirs when Christ returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
Beyond that, we are left with this truth: God, in His matchless love and power, is planning for a glorious reunion. Then, our eternal rejoicing will begin. The last page of this great mystery has a happy ending for… those whose hope is in the Lord - what we call the Rapture. The English word “rapture” comes from the Greek word harpazo that means “to snatch away, pluck up, or to be caught up.” In Latin the word is “rapio”.
Where is the rapture referred to in the New Testament? It is found in the first letter to the Thessalonians.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Where else is the rapture referred to in the New Testament?
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15)
What is the rapture? The rapture is the next major event in God’s timeline of the future. Christians are waiting for it because Jesus Christ will come and remove them from this evil world before the Tribulation starts. The Tribulation is an event the entire world will experience. It will be a seven year period of suffering, war, famine, destruction, pain, and great sorrow. In describing the Great Tribulation period in Revelation, there is no mention of the church. Why? Because (in His mercy) the church will no longer be on the earth – she (the bride) has been removed to heaven, resurrected, and, in that blink of an eye, she will have safely faced the Judgment.
10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no-one will take your crown (Rev 3: 10-11).
Jesus told the church in Philadelphia that this time of trouble or “testing” would be worldwide and not just a local event. It will be the world against Israel and God against the world. You’re not to grieve like the world.
The church will not be on earth until it comes back (victorious) with Christ when He establishes His kingdom. Paul encouraged a vulnerable church with the amazing fact that the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” or rapture, occurs before the (great and dreadful) Day of the Lord… before Christ’s second coming to earth. We will be delivered from the wrath to come. The rapture is for believers. Christ returns to the world as warrior and Judge and to bring back into the kingdom His people Israel…
Elsewhere, Paul tells the Thessalonians not to be unsettled, deceived, alarmed but to be consoled… that they we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation. God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it…” (The Message, 1 Thess 5)
Be encouraged and encourage each other not to worry about the future, about dates and times and all things eschatological. Live now. Do the work of witness and worship. Live now as hope-drenched people. Be prepared to share the hope you have… and try to bring them with you. Hope according to the Lord’s word. Be ready to come home! Eternity with God will be great.
Think of –
Stepping on shore… and finding it Heaven!
Of taking hold of a hand… and finding it God’s hand!
Of breathing a new air… and finding it celestial air!
Of feeling invigorated… and finding it immortality!
Of passing from storm to tempest to an unknown calm.
Of waking up, and finding it Home.
(Hazel Felleman)
MFR