No Expiration Date
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We will be with Jesus from now on
We will be with Jesus from now on
Let’s talk about lunch meat.
A few weeks back I was craving a turkey sandwich.
Don’t ask me why.
I never crave a turkey sandwich.
I have a more refined palate - I either want a ham sandwich or a bologna sandwich.
A man’s got to have his standards, am I right?
But this day for some odd reason it had to be turkey.
And I knew we had some sliced turkey lunch meat in the fridge.
So I got the bread, slathered on the mayo, went to that special lunch meat drawer they build into our refrigerators
And I got out the turkey.
It was about 3/4 gone so I checked the expiration date just to be sure.
I had expired about 4 days earlier.
Guys, you know what I did, right?
I opened the pack and smelled it.
It smelled like lunch meat turkey.
I looked at it real closely.
It looked like lunch meat turkey.
And for a few moments I stood staring at it.
I could hear Clint Eastwood’s voice saying, “Do you feel lucky, punk?”
I didn’t.
It had expired.
Everything on this earth has an expiration date except one thing
Us.
The children of God.
Christ followers - we don’t expire.
And that affects everything - every thing in our lives.
If we truly believe that, every thing in our lives change.
Turn in your Bibles if you will to 1 Thessalonians 4, we’ll start with verse 13.
While you are looking, let’s talk to the kids right quick.
Guys, sadness will come to your life at some time.
Many of you have already had a grand parent pass away and it made you real sad.
And it should make you sad.
But, what we will talk about today will change how you feel sad.
You’ll still be sad, but it will be a different type of sad.
And that’s because Jesus changes everything.
You are listening for three words today: Jesus, Believe and Convinced.
Now, let us all hear now the Word of the Lord from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
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.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
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.
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.
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.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Let’s ask the Lord to help us hear:
Dear Father,
What we just heard borders on a fairy tale for us.
Dear Holy Spirit, illuminate Your Word so Your truth jumps out at us.
Let us see it like you have highlighted the words Yourself.
We want to hear and be strengthened and comforted.
Speak to your people we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen
Before we tear into this text, let’s establish a very basic truth.
We have two options and only two options.
Either through all space and time for all eternity, rock, dust and chemicals floated through space.
They came from nowhere and they are going nowhere.
They have always been, they are and they always will be.
That’s option one.
Option two is that the Lord has existed for all time.
He was here before the rocks, dust and chemicals
In fact He created the rocks, dust and chemicals from nothing
And He will be here after the rocks, dust and chemicals are gone.
That is option number two.
Those are your only two choices.
What we believe about where things comes from is the single, most fundamental question each of us must answer.
Because every single decision you make for rest of your life is based on what you believe about that.
If rocks, dust and chemicals are eternal, then your immortality is limited to how many chemicals you can put back into the soil when you die.
Your memory will be limited to however long there are people who know you
When they are gone, you are gone.
You will have no awareness.
You will no longer exist.
You will have expired.
And when someone you loves dies, your grief should crush you.
They will soon be forgotten.
It will be as though they never existed.
But if the Lord came first,
A whole different mindset starts cascading from that.
Paul talks about that right here.
Paul presupposes a judgement day.
Paul presupposes a judgement day.
Paul is a scholar.
He’s studied the Old Testament better than you or I ever will
And he was exceedingly familiar with passages like Isaiah 2:10-11
Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty.
The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
Because God was pre-existent and made all that is
He has the right to hold His creation to His standards
Especially after He told us the best way to live for human flourishing and said He expected us to do it.
And we didn’t.
So He’s coming back.
And now he’s coming back, as the Apostle’s Creed says, “to judge the quick and the dead.”
Now, having all of that in our heads, look at verse 13
1 Thessalonians 4:13 “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.”
The problem Paul is addressing here is pretty simple.
The early church thought Jesus was going to return pretty quick
Essentially, in their lifetimes.
But He didn’t.
So, Christian family and friends started to die.
Because they died before Jesus returned, their family and friends thought that they would never see Jesus again.
So, not only were they sad their loved one had died
Now they are doubly sad because their loved one would never see Jesus again.
They were grieving as “others who have no hope.”
They were wailing and carrying on just like the pagans - no different than anyone else.
But we are distinct people remember?
God made us distinct, different from everyone who does not follow Yahweh.
And people know we are distinct by the way the Lord treats us and how we react to Him.
So Paul had to stop them for God’s glory.
They weren’t representing God well at all.
So Paul starts with, “We don’t want you to be ignorant about those who are asleep.
Don’t let the phrase, “those who are asleep” throw you.
It did me for the longest time.
I believed for quite a long time that when you died, your soul went to sleep and you stayed in the grave until Jesus came.
And I built that off of this verse - “those who are asleep.”
Have you ever used the phrase, “passed away?”
Why do you use that instead of saying, “dead?”
Let’s answer that this way - which sounds kinder?
“I heard your dad passed away?” or
“I heard your dad is dead?”
We use passed away because it’s gentler.
“Those who are asleep” is how many, many people of that day
Not just Christians or religious people, but many people softened up dead to “fell asleep.”
Paul is saying, “We don’t want you to be ignorant when someone dies, because we don’t want your grief to be overwhelming.”
Synonyms for grief are be distressed, sorrow or be sad.
Now listen to me, this is God’s word speaking directly to us saying, “I need you to understand somethings because I don’t want to see you overwhelmed with a broken heart.”
Remember a few weeks ago when we talked about the kindness of God.
You can see it here -
He knows our pain and He wants to help.
He doesn’t want us to be overwhelmed by our sorrow.
It’s not good for us and it doesn’t represent Him well.
So look at
1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
Statement of pure fact, now listen.
I know I harp on this a lot, and I do it because this is hard for us and it’s absolutely critical.
“For since we believe...”
Believe means two things - believe - intellectually grasp the concept.
So you can say you believe Jesus died and rose again
You can point to the places in the Bible that mention it.
You can point to the calendar and give a pretty precise point in time it happened.
But that’s not believe.
Believe means you can do all of that and - AND - you are thoroughly convinced it happened just that way And it makes a difference in your life.
Jesus died and rose again.
He didn’t just die - lots of dead people around
He died and rose again.
Just for fun because I love it so much, the word rose is built from a word that means stand there.
I love that, Jesus died… and just stood there.
What happened?
They crucified Him
Buried Him
And then they came back on the third day to finish their work and what did they see.
Boom - Jesus is standing there.
“They killed you!”
“Right”
“But you are standing here.”
“Right again.”
I’m not asking you today if you believe that - I’m asking are you convinced.
Are you unshakeable.
If aliens came from a distant planet, and said it wasn’t true - would you remain convinced?
If your professor in college presents evidence that this is simply mythology created by a primitive society, will you remain convinced?
If you are convinced, then and only then will the second part of the verse be meaningful.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
“God will bring with him those who have died.”
“Pastor Randy, I believe we’ll live with Jesus forever.”
No, no, no, no, no.
Paul’s not asking you to believe - He’s asking you if you are convinced.
Listen, here’s the big question
Are you so convinced, that you will stake every decision of your life on it?
Are you so convinced, that you will stake every decision of your life on it?
Listen, if we are just time + matter + chance, when the brewery gets up and running, go get hammered.
When the first package store opens in Jones County, go and get blitzed.
There is no reason not to.
There is nothing to life.
Get every square inch of your body pierced.
Change the appearance of your gender.
Sleep with whoever, whenever - it doesn’t matter.
If you believe the universe is 14 billion years old, you might get 70 years out of that.
Make a splash.
Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
But if you are convinced that Jesus died and then stood there.
That changes everything.
We aren’t living for 70 years.
Goodness - In 70 years we’re still infants in the grand scheme of things.
We’re still learning how to live the good life.
Every single decision we make flows from that belief that we are babes in Christ, we are children of God.
We’re playing the long game because we are convinced, “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
So on that day, when Jesus returns
What will happen?
What will happen?
1 Thessalonians 4:15 “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.”
Do you see the word “left?” - “Who are left until the coming of the Lord.”
Yeah, let’s use another word.
Remain.
“Who remain until...”
I like that word because a lot is going to happen before Jesus returns, and lots of believers will fall away.
Because they were never convinced.
But those who are convinced will remain but we won’t meet Jesus before our loved ones who died do.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “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.”
You’ve heard this before - recently.
On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
This is when God gave the 10 commandments.
At the second coming, we’re going to see what they saw at Sinai.
It’s going to be the same.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 “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.”
There’s no way to know this until Jesus comes, but I think the pictures people have painted of this event are all wrong.
They show people flying out of their graves ascending into the clouds.
And Christians who haven’t died yet, flying through the air like Neo in the Matrix.
But what happened at Sinai?
“A thick cloud on the mountain...”
It wasn’t a white, fluffy cloud.
It was the cloud of the presence of God with thunder and lightning and trumpet blasts.
This is the same song, second verse.
No fluffy white clouds, it’s the cloud of the presence of God.
There’s one other thing I want us to see then we’ll tie this up with a bow.
Look at the word meet - “to meet the Lord in the air.”
That word is a technical term.
When a dignitary was visiting a city, as the dignitary approached, the leaders of the town went out to greet him to escort him into the city.
That’s the word Paul used.
He could have used other words but he didn’t.
He used that one because that’s the picture of what will happen.
So here’s the scene.
In Sinai, the Lord came down in the cloud and Moses went up into it, right, remember?
He went up to meet with God and bring God’s message back?
At the second coming, who goes first?
Look at verse 14, 1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
Jesus went first.
This is where Jesus lives.
He physically brings the presence of God to us and we walk into the cloud to greet Jesus.
To escort Him to the New Heaven and the New Earth which He will create
And then “we will always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:18 “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
Listen, our loved ones have already walked into the cloud of the presence of God.
It’s a matter of time for us.
If the Lord tarries, some or all of us will join our loved ones on the journey to Jesus.
We’ll be gathered around Him ready to escort Him back.
But one day, and it could be any day, there will be fire on the mountain and lighting in the air
A voice will shout with the sound of a trumpet
And you and I will stand with our mouths agape and the cloud of the presence of the Lord
Wraps us up and we meet Jesus face to face.
That’s going to happen - I am convinced.
Now go back with me to the very beginning.
If you are convinced we are time + matter + chance, then this is a myth and you will laugh at my naivete and superstition.
But, if you believe that Yahweh was and is and is to come - you aren’t laughing.
I’m remembering Daddy, and Nanny and Granddaddy and Ray.
I’m remembering Mr. & Mrs. Karpinecz, Willa Mae and Andy Barrett, Keith Huckaby.
I’m remembering Talmadge Chandler, Clyde Wade, and Neal Wall.
And a whole host of folks from First Baptist that I miss so much.
They are gathered around Jesus right now waiting for Him to say “Let’s go and get them.”
Can you imagine the homecoming?
There are those who say we believe in Pie in the Sky in the Sweet By and By
and they laugh at us and maybe pity us for living orderly, Christ honoring lives.
They think we are giving up so much.
But brothers and sisters, we’re playing the long game
Stand firm like our brother Jesus.
I want to encourage you this morning, if you have never trusted Jesus
If you are unconvinced, I want encourage you to examine the evidence.
Don’t just blow us off - read the same Bible we read.
Pay attention to our lives - nitpick and tear us down
But pay attention - because you’ll see moments where things happen to us that have no earthly explanation.
Were aren’t simply good people who do good things.
We are God’s people and we’re doing our best to take you to meet Him.
When you finally do meet Him, you’ll never be the same.
Let us pray:
