Walk in Hope

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NKJV

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Introduction

As followers of Christ we are encouraged to not only walk in holiness, in love, and honesty; but we are also to walk in hope.

To have hope is to have a confident expectation.

We are to live with the confident expectation that we will be reunited with believing loved ones at the return of Christ.

As the New American Commentary says, “The living and the dead will be reunited and will be together with the Lord forever. It is this expectation that makes Christian grief the grief of temporary separation. It is still grief, but it is grief moderated by the anticipation of a certain and joyous reunion in Christ.”

What we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a comforting reminder concerning the rapture of the church.

To experience the full comfort that this passage brings, it is required of us that we have a clear picture of Biblical eschatology.

(share basic eschatology timeline)

Our text at hand, however, deals with the rapture of the church.

That wonderful day when the dead in Christ will rise and we will meet the Lord in the air!

As we consider the rapture of the church and that glorious hope we have in Christ, there are several principles concerning the rapture that we should consider.

I. There is no need for sorrow (v. 13)

Paul is not reprimanding the believers for mourning the death of loved ones.

As Jamieson and Brown writes, “Not all natural mourningfor dead friends is forbidden: for the Lord Jesus and Paul sinlessly gave way to it (Jn 11:31, 33, 35; Php 2:27); but sorrow as though there were “no hope,” which indeed the heathen had not (Eph 2:12): the Christian hope here meant is that of the resurrection.”

It needs to be understood that it is okay to mourn. Mourning the death of a loved one is not only natural, but very appropriate.

Wiersbe says, “Christians are expected to mourn when loved ones die, but they are not to grieve as do the people of the world who have no hope. Certainly Christ expects us to shed tears and feel loneliness (see John 11:33–36) as we go through the valley; but in the midst of our sorrow, there must be the testimony of the living hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 1:3).”

However, unbelievers mourn with no hope. They do not have that confident expectation in a resurrection and in the coming of Christ.

But for us as believers, we have a hope. We have a confident expectation that we will see our believing loved ones again.

II. Our believing loved ones are with Jesus (v. 14)

Verse 14 assures us that at the rapture, Jesus will bring with Him those who died and went home to be with Him.

Paul reminds us of the resurrection of Christ. If Jesus truly rose from the dead, then we can be assured that our believing loved ones will also rise again.

In verse 13, Paul encourages the believers to not be ignorant of this very important truth.

We can take comfort in the fact that the bodies of our loved ones are just asleep.

Their soul is currently in the presence of Jesus.

Warren Wiersbe says, “Sleep in Jesus” in v. 14 is literally “put to sleep through Jesus.” Regardless of how a believer dies, Jesus Christ is there to put him to sleep. Of course, the soul goes to be with Christ (Phil. 1:20–24; 2 Cor. 5:6–8); it is the body that sleeps, not the soul. The word “cemetery” means “a sleeping place”; it is the place where the bodies sleep, awaiting the resurrection.”

The Bible also teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord.

III. Nothing can prevent us from seeing our loved ones again (v. 15)

Paul encourages us in verse 15 that based on the authority of the Word of God, those who sleep in Jesus will not be prevented from rising again at the rapture of the church.

Take comfort child of God, you will see your loved one again.

The separation we are experiencing now is only temporary.

This begs the question: “Will we know each other in glory?” The answer is emphatically, yes!

And on that day of the rapture, we will see and hold our loved ones again.

What a glorious reunion we have to look forward too!

IV. Jesus Himself will descend from Heaven (v. 16)

Paul encourages us with the fact that at the rapture, it is the Lord Jesus Himself that will descend from Heaven and call us home to be with Him!

He doesn’t send a representative or an escort.

Jesus Himself leaves the throne of Heaven and descends into the earth’s atmosphere.

As Jesus descends from Heaven, there is the sound of a shout.

It is not clear who makes the shout, however, I personally understand it to be Jesus Himself who shouts.

This is a commanding shout. It is the voice of one in authority.

Jesus is also accompanied by the voice of the archangel.

Some say that the shout is perhaps coming from the archangel.

Though I get the sense that it is Jesus that shouts the command and the archangel is repeating the command like the chief officer repeats the command of the captain.

This implementing of a chain of command in calling the saints to meet in the air is also heard along with the trump of God.

Ellingworth suggests, “The closest equivalent in some languages is simply that God will shout a command, the archangel will speak, and people will hear God’s trumpet.”

Who blows the trumpet is also not certain, however, being the trump of God, one could conclude that it is God Himself that blows the trumpet.

However you look at it, Jesus will physically descend from Heaven and will call His children to meet Him in the air by giving a clear and authoritative command.

V. Our believing loved ones will be given a new resurrected body (v. 16)

The souls of our loved ones are already with the Lord.

However, at the rapture, their bodies will be resurrected and their souls reunited with their bodies in a new and glorified state.

(1 Corinthians 15:51-57) - We will not all see physical death, but all believers will be changed.

VI. We who are alive at the rapture will meet the Lord in the air (v. 17)

There will be some believers, perhaps even among us today that will live to the time of the rapture.

Paul says that we will be ‘caught up’ together with our loved ones and we will together meet the Lord in the air. We will meet Him somewhere between earth and Heaven.

Paul encourages us at the close of verse 17 that from that moment on, we will forever be with the Lord.

No more separation.

No more sin.

No more shame.

Nothing will keep us from His presence.

We will forever be with Jesus!

Conclusion

Paul concludes this encouragement to walk in hope with the words in verse 15: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

There is no greater comfort for the believer living in this troubled life, than knowing that Jesus is soon to come to call us home.

To walk in hope is to live with this expectation.

It is to continuously remind each other of the rapture that is soon to come.

It is a day we all long for and live for with great anticipation.

As John said in the book of Revelation, “Even so come, Lord Jesus!”