1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - The Coming Of The Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Target Date: Sunday, 19 February 2023

NOTES:

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Uninformed - ἀγνοέω agnŏĕō – lit. un-knowing, ignorant.

Trumpet - σάλπιγξ salpinx – very much the same configuration as a trumpet today. Can be brass or animal (ram) horn. Used in this passage more of fanfare than music.

Use and Significance.

1. In War. Horns or trumpets play an important role in war, whether to give warning, to summon to battle, to sound an attack, to frighten enemies, or, religiously, to invoke God’s help. The horn also sounds a retreat, announces victory, and dismisses the host.

2. In peace. Horns or trumpets are used at coronations, at the laying of the temple’s foundation, at its dedication, in festal processions, and in solemn self-dedication to God.

3. Cultic Use [Announcements]. The trumpet or horn is sounded at offerings, at the temple dedication, at feasts, at fasts, and at the initiation of the year of release.

4. Theophanies. In both war and peace there is a strict relation to God, but there is a special use of the trumpet at Sinai (Ex. 19:16ff.; cf. Zech. 9:14), where the trumpet seems to denote the inexpressible voice of God.

5. Eschatological Significance. The horn will announce the day of the Lord (Joel 2:1; Zeph. 1:16), the last judgment, and the age of salvation (Is. 27:13; Zech. 9:14).

6. Musical Instruments. The horn or trumpet is a musical instrument in Babylon in Dan. 3:5ff. and in temple praise in 2 Chr. 5:13; Ps. 150:3. Horns and trumpets do not play melodies but stress the rhythm and strengthen the sound.

Then the Lord will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord God will blow the trumpet, And will march in the storm winds of the south. 15 The Lord of hosts will defend them. – Zechariah 9:14-15

The trumpet here speaks of the Lord’s defense of His people.

Thoughts on the Passage:

The main difference between this passage and the earlier reference to the Parousia (3:11-13) is that the earlier reference was to doctrine that had already been taught to the Thessalonians; this passage is new information for them.

The new information was most likely meant to correct misunderstandings and speculations.

This passage is heavily related to the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24), though not in its entirety.

There is no exegetical reason AT ALL to interpret this passage in any way but literally – a historical fact set in the future. Olivet certainly has different parts, but this passage was not meant as a parable, but as a direct and literal teaching of events.

As for the Return of Christ, crave as if He is far off; work as if He is nigh. For both are true.

Much of what I will speak on today will challenge any eschatological system you currently hold:

And I will be quick to say here that it does not generally matter which end-times construct you like – the construct is merely man-made and, thus, flawed from the outset.

If your eschatology requires you to make allegory out of plain passages of scripture, your eschatology is wrong.

If your eschatology makes any other way to salvation other than the single work of Jesus Christ, your eschatology is wrong.

Contrary to Dispensationalism, Israel is not treated differently than the church. The church is GRAFTED into Israel:

If Israel had a distinct destiny apart from the church in God’s plan, why did the apostles spend so much time converting them? Why was Paul’s heart continually broken for them?

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. – Romans 11:17-18

There is no biblical support for the often-quoted idea that Paul expected the Return of Christ in his lifetime, particularly in this passage.

The use of “we” in v. 17 is simply identification with the people of God, not an indication he was expecting to be alive on earth at the Parousia.

The idea that his “eschatology”, his assessment of the timing of the Parousia, had changed would bring into doubt the consistency of Scripture; if Paul’s theology changed in the course of his canonical writings, then nothing can be trusted as canonical.

Geerhardus Vos asserted: “Ours is a religion whose centre of gravity lies beyond the grave in the world to come.”

Question 47 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “Then, is not Christ with us unto the end of the world?” The answer makes a careful distinction: “As a man, he is no longer on earth, but in his divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit, he is never absent from us.”

The fulfillment of this passage will mark the fulfillment of all the promises of the End of the Age:

And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. – Daniel 7:13-14

You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And have appointed him over the works of Your hands; 8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. – Hebrews 2:7-9

But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. – 2 Timothy 2:16-18

“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon Text:

As we return to this passage again this week, I would remind you that what Paul and Silas are writing in this part of the letter are things they had NOT imparted, or felt they had not covered adequately, to the Thessalonians before they had been sent away from the city.

We know that because this section is prefaced by the statement “we do not want you to be uninformed…” in verse 13.

And it is in the context of answering the question “What will be the fate of believers who die before the Return of Jesus Christ?” that we find the great description of the Last Day that we will be looking at today.

In responding to this question, they wanted to make sure the church, both then and now, understood the glorious promise to all God’s people who live in any age:

Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, will return on the Last Day to finish the history of this world and begin our full participation in eternity.

It is in that moment, whether dead or alive in body, all who are in Christ will be raised, whether from the grave or from the ground.

You may have noticed many similarities in the events and descriptions of this day between our passage today and the so-called “Olivet Discourse” recorded in Matthew 24-25.

In both, we see the Lord Jesus Christ in the sky (Mt. 24:30).

We see angels (Mt. 24:31).

We see the Trumpet of God (Mt. 24:31).

We see the gathering of the Elect (Mt. 24:31).

And it is the culminating event of history (Mt. 24:21-22, 29, 31 – although more clearly seen in 1 Thessalonians).

There is no doubt that this is the same day in both witnesses, along with the synoptic passages in Mark and Luke.

It is also the fulfillment of the promises made to the prophets of old – the Day of the Lord.

But before we look specifically at this great event, I would like to correct one error that I myself have heard and accepted in the past.

You may have heard it as well.

The error is the idea that, at the time of writing this letter, Paul believed the Return of Christ would happen during his lifetime.

But then, as he grew older and understood more, he realized the Second Coming of Jesus Christ would be much later.

TO BELIEVE THIS IS A GRAVE ERROR.

This idea has been propounded by intellectuals and liberal theologians for a single purpose: to cast doubt upon the reliability of ALL Scripture.

Because if some of Paul’s letters held one belief, but others held a different belief, the Bible could be proved inconsistent and, thus, a work of man.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we know that ALL Scripture is God-breathed – is written by the Holy Spirit working infallibly through men.

Was the Holy Spirit mistaken in understanding the Great Day of the Lord?

How many parables of our Lord began with a man who went on a long journey?

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:8-9

And for this passage, that entire diabolical theory hinges on the single word “we” in verse 17: Then we who are alive, who are left…

To speak of “we” in this context, you can easily understand, has nothing at all to do with some Pauline expectation to be alive to see the Coming of Christ.

The entire point he makes in 5:1 – You have no need to know WHEN this will happen – shows even he and Silas were not trying to predict the time, but to be found faithful when the time came,

Whether they lived in the flesh or had finished their race.

No, Paul and Silas had no expectation of the Return of Christ in their lifetimes;

They fully expected to be with Him as He returned to be raised from the dead into glory.

But the hope, the expectation they did have, is that at the Second Coming, there would be a church of faithful followers alive on the earth.

And this is indeed the expectation set in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) as well.

So let’s move on to the details the apostles give us about that Day:

1. It will be the Lord Himself.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven…

He is not simply sending his angelic armies, but He will come Himself.

It is HIS Second Coming.

The first, to bring redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The second, to bring judgment for all people.

Everything will, on that day, be placed under His feet.

The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8:

“You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

But he then adds:

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. – Hebrews 2:8

Not until that Day will everything be culminated, where EVERYTHING is subjected to Christ.

And in that day, He will come to receive everything to Himself, and everything will be examined in the light of His holiness.

And after that, the only things that will exist outside the torments of hell will be those things that are holy to the Lord.

2. The second thing we see is that the Return of Christ will in no way be secret.

with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

We are not told what that command cry will be:

Whether a cry to His people, living or dead, to come to Him.

Or a command to His angels to gather His elect.

The nature of the command doesn’t matter; the result of the command is the same:

With that cry of command, that global shout, ALL the people of God will be gathered in an instant.

What a powerful cry:

The cry that reunites person with body long dead.

The cry that gathers every follower alive on the earth.

And a cry that snatches all His people to be with Him in the air.

There is a gentle violence to that cry – irresistible and merciful.

Sudden and long-expected.

And along with the cry, the trumpet of God.

This is not simply a musical instrument playing a melody, but the fanfare of a trumpet in regal glory.

The blare of the trumpet, a terror to His enemies who in that moment see their doom and know their judgment.

The trumpet proclaiming the coronation of Him who has returned to claim everything as His own.

The trumpet announcing the fulfillment of all God’s great promises to His children.

It is much like we see in the prophecies of Zechariah:

Then the Lord will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord God will blow the trumpet, And will march in the storm winds of the south. 15 The Lord of hosts will defend them. – Zechariah 9:14-15

The trumpet of God announces the arrival of our final salvation.

This is our glorious hope – the Coming of our Lord.

Theologian Geerhardus Vos asserted: “Ours is a religion whose centre of gravity lies beyond the grave in the world to come.”

Faith in Jesus Christ is not just an intellectual exercise, an act of believing the right things.

It is not solely an internal struggle toward holiness.

It is a faith that is looking toward a DAY in history when all God’s promises are completed.

The Second Coming of our Lord reminds us that our faith is not about us – it is about His glory and praise.

Salvation is a gift given to us because of the glory and pleasure it brings to the Father to give us to the Son.

The apostles who wrote this epistle did not care if the church believed the “right things” about the Day of the Lord if it didn’t change the way they lived here and now.

Encourage one another with these words.

We have seen that word “encourage” before:

Call each other alongside with these words.

Comfort each other with these words.

Draw each other nearer to God with these words.

BE CHANGED by these words.

The parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14ff is SO often misused outside its context.

Far from simply being the rather worldly instruction to “do the best with what you have”,

As if its main point is that God judges on a sliding scale.

It is the command of our Lord to waste no time in this life being about HIS business.

The Lord went on a long journey and TRUSTED each of his servants with great treasure.

None was insubstantial.

We tend to look at the ratios: 5, 2, and 1, but remember that the SINGLE talent given to the last servant was worth 6,000 times his daily wage.

It would be the equivalent of entrusting 1.2 million dollars to a man who makes 50k per year.

Each of these servants was expected to make an increase.

But one held it, hid it, and went on with his life without doing anything WITH the treasure.

He was supposed to USE the treasure, and he simply lived as if it didn’t exist.

For the entire time the master was gone.

The punishment he received was not because he was a rotten businessman.

He was cast out because he was told to be a steward of the master’s treasure, but he chose to not allow it to change his life.

He might have been the greatest field hand in the world, or the best butler, or the best accountant the world had ever seen.

But the moment he was handed the master’s treasure, his job changed – as did the master’s expectations of him.

But instead of obediently changing his life, his work, to the needs of the master’s call,

He kept the treasure separate from everything else in his life.

That is why he was wicked.

That is why he was lazy.

He was not changed by the treasure that had been entrusted to him.

And that is why the very next parable is the parable of the Judgment Seat – the Sheep and the Goats.

Will you be changed by the treasure God has trusted to you?

It is easy to continue to live as if success in your job or in your community was your highest calling.

It is tempting to live your own life, leaving the Day of the Lord up to itself.

There will be many on that day who call Jesus “Lord”, but who worked under their own lordship, their own rules.

And the great Judge will dismiss them from His presence forever.

That is the call of God to you today in this command – encourage one another:

“I have placed My treasure, My gospel, in you, trusted it to you.”

Everything in you that is not flowing from that gospel must change.

Is there sin? It must go.

Is there worldly pleasure? It must be forsaken.

Do you love comfort? Leave your ease and throw yourself into the work of Christ.

Is there vanity and pride? It must be mortified.

Is there sloth? Wake up! Get up!

Is there fear? Love others and leave your selfish fears.

Is there anything you treasure above obedience to God? Cut it off from you.

Today, I would say to you regarding the Return of Christ:

Crave his return as if He is far off; work as if He is nigh.

Because both are true.