Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:
13 We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, so you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall absolutely not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a cried out command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are living, who are remaining, will be carried away into the clouds at the same time with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 For this reason, encourage one another with these words.
Sermon:
It was a warm, sunny summer day. But all I saw and felt was a cold doom and gloom in the church during my brother-in-law’s funeral. I was mourning his death and tears of sorrow were flowing down my cheeks. We had been close friends. His loss struck me deeply.
You are likely to have had a similar experience. Death does get to us all. The death of our family members and friends whom we loved saddens us. We grieve and mourn their loss.
We have no reason to grieve over the death of our Christian loved ones and friends, however, like others in this world grieve over the death of their loved ones. This is what I want to share with you now. Based on the sermon text above I can urge you: “Don’t Despair Over Departed Christians.”
The apostle Paul originally wrote the words of the sermon text to the Christians in ancient Thessalonica. They had been enduring a severe persecution because of their faith in Jesus. Yet the one thing that especially bothered those early Christians was their concern about their beloved Christian family members and friends who had died before Jesus returned in glory to take them to heaven. They were afraid that those Christians who had died would miss out on being taken to heaven when Jesus returned.
Death is a fact of life because of sin. Death is the consequence of sin. We all have sinned in things we have thought, said, and done. So we all will die. The same is true of our Christian loved ones and friends. Thus we have probably experienced the death of one or more Christians whom we loved.
When Christians who are dear to us die, we also could be bothered by our concern of what has happened to them and what will happen to them. Therefore, what Paul wrote to the ancient Christians in Thessalonica will encourage us as well. When we look at Paul’s words, we see we have no reason to be so concerned. We have no reason to despair over our departed Christians.
In verse 13 Paul wrote: “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, so you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope.” Do you understand from this verse what would cause us to grieve as the rest of the people in this world who have no hope? It is an ignorance of the facts about what will happen to the Christians who have died. When we know the facts, however, we then have hope and we do not grieve to the point of despairing over those Christians who have died.
In verse 13 Paul also described those Christians who had died. He described them with the same words in verses 14 and 15 as well. He described the Christians who had died as those who are asleep. So for Christians, what is death? Death is a sleep. It is this simple. When their living soul left their body, their body fell asleep.
We lay down our heads and go to sleep every night, don’t we? We are not afraid to go to sleep, because we know it will only be for a short time until we wake up again. Now I ask you, what has happened to our beloved Christians who have died? Their bodies have fallen asleep to wake up once again. So why shouldn’t we despair over our departed Christians? They are only asleep.
Verse 14 states: “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” We know that Jesus ascended into heaven. We know that it is from heaven that Jesus will come. When he descends from heaven, those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will be with him. So where are the Christians who have died until Jesus returns? They, their souls, are in heaven. Why, then, shouldn’t we despair over our departed Christians? They are in heaven.
When Jesus comes down from heaven in glory, verse 14 states: “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” So what is another reason, therefore, for us not to despair over our departed Christians? They, their souls, will come with Jesus in glory.
Jesus tells us in John 14:2, 3: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you to myself, in order that where I am, you also may be.” With these words Jesus tells us that when he returns in glory he will come to take us to be with him in heaven. But what about those Christians who have died? Will they miss out on being taken to heaven bodily with the rest of us Christians who are still living on earth? Verse 15 tells us: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, shall absolutely not precede those who have fallen asleep.” According to what the Lord himself had said, we who are still living here on earth, and who are here until Jesus' second coming, we shall absolutely not enter into heaven before those Christians who had fallen asleep in death. Those Christians who died will not be left behind and fail to enter into heaven bodily with us. So why shouldn’t we despair over our departed Christians? They will not be left behind.
What will happen, then, with regard to those Christians who have died? Verse 16 says: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a cried out command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” What does this verse tell us will happen to the bodies of the Christians who died when Jesus comes down from heaven? Doesn’t the verse state the dead in Christ will rise first? When Jesus comes down from heaven in glory, and before we Christians who are living are taken into heaven, the Christians who died will have their bodies raised from the dead.
Their resurrection from the dead will happen quickly. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and indeed we will be changed.” We will not all be dead. We will all be changed in a flash, however, in a mere twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. Then the dead will be raised imperishable. We who are living on earth when Jesus comes down from heaven will have our bodies changed and transformed. We will be glorified in an instant. In that same moment of time the Christians who have died will have their bodies raised in a flash, in a blinking of an eye. So why should we not despair over our Christian loved ones who have died? Because their bodies will be raised from the dead.
Another reason for us not to despair over our departed Christians is this: We will be reunited with them. Picture what a joyful reunion will occur when our departed Christian loved ones are raised from the dead. When they died, we grieved. On the last day when their bodies are raised from the dead, we will rejoice. We will be with them once again and forever thereafter. How happy we will be to see them once again. How happy we will be to be with them once again. How happy we will be to have their companionship once again. So let’s not despair over our departed Christians. They will be raised from the dead and we will be reunited with them.
There is more to this good news. Verse 17 states: “Then we who are living, who are remaining, will be carried away into the clouds at the same time with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.” After the Christians who had died are raised from the dead, we who are still alive and are left here on earth will be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. From then on we will be with the Lord forever in heaven. There in the air we will be safe from the destruction of the world, which will be burned up by fire.
There in the air we and our beloved Christians with whom we are reunited will meet Jesus together. We have perhaps wished that we could have met Jesus during his life and ministry on earth. Well, the day is coming when we will meet him in his glorified state and will then be with him forever.
What a joyous meeting that will be for us and our beloved Christians with whom we are reunited. At last we will get to see the Jesus who redeemed us with his perfect life that he lived for us and with his sacrificial death that he died for our sins. At last we will get to know personally the Jesus who reconciled us to God and made us heirs of heaven. So why should we not despair over our departed Christians? They will be in heaven with us.
As you can understand now, we have numerous reasons not to despair over our departed Christians. What will prevent our despairing over them is the knowledge of the preceding facts. As verse 18 then says, “For this reason, encourage one another with these words.” So now you also be encouraged by these words you have just heard, so you do not despair over your departed Christian family members and friends. Amen.