1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Notes
Transcript
Behave like you Believe
Behave like you Believe
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
I titled this sermon “Behave like you Believe” because there are times when my actions, thoughts, and emotions are not reflecting what I believe as a disciple of Jesus
Perfect truth comes from the word of God and will change my behavior if I remember it and allow it to
Last week Jared shared with us from the previous text here in Thessalonians some behavior, or “stinking grave clothes” that we should remove from our lives as disciples of Jesus.
Stinking Grave clothes
Sexual immorality
conditional love
busybodies
Laziness
This week before I speak on my 3 “Be” bullet points I want to point out that Paul gives us his purpose for what he is about to write. If we stay focused on this purpose it should produce behavior in us that is different than the world who has no hope.
1 Thessalonians 1;1a - “so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope”
This is specifically about disciples of Jesus grieving with hope because of what we believe
In so many words “Behave like you Believe”
My behavior should reflect the hope I have in Jesus
Which brings us to my first “Be” bullet point
Be Lieve
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again
You must believe in the gospel!
None of this makes sense if you have not began a relationship with Jesus
Not just showed up to church, or feeding the needy, or helping your neighbor. No religious motions will save you, Only a relationship with Jesus saves you!
We talk a lot about the gospel here and I hope we never stop. It is essential we know the gospel because as Paul says in Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.
If i don’t know the gospel I cannot be saved, and if I don’t know the gospel well enough to share I will miss out on sharing this power unto salvation with the world.
What is the gospel
gospel means “good news”
it was a commonly used phrase at the time of Jesus with the Romans
Whenever a Roman general successfully defeated an enemy, he would send out what was called a gospel message throughout the country, announcing he had won a battle. In the message he would tell his people there is no longer anything to fear. The enemy has been defeated and you are free.
It was not an announcement to come and fight or a summons to pay for freedom. It was an announcement that he had already won, they could rest in the victory, and they could share the news with others
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is what we need to define, understand, and believe
is the announcement that Jesus has finished the payment for our sin, through his death, burial, and resurrection.
Believing this gospel message releases us from the penalty of our sin, which is death, eternal separation from God and brings us into a relationship with God
This is not because you are worthy, not because you did something good. Salvation is offered to the world because God’s love
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
We don’t come to God after we clean ourselves up, we come to Him broken, sick, unrighteous and He saves us, welcomes us in as sick broken children covered in His righteousness, to walk out a process of healing, restoring, and removing sinful practices in our life.
I love the verse in Mark 2:17
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The gospel says that “Jesus is enough!”
1. The first point in our text this morning is to Be Lieve the gospel
2. The second “Be” bullet point in our text this morning to Be Informed
Be informed
What are we being informed about specifically here? This scripture is talking specifically about future events
the 2nd coming of Jesus, The dead rising, and those still physically still alive being caught up with Jesus, commonly referred to as the rapture
The 1st coming is when Jesus came down and made salvation available through his death, burial, and resurrection
The 2nd coming is when Jesus will return to establish His kingdom on earth, and judge perfectly the living and the dead.
Some of you may be disappointed because I will be addressing for the purpose Paul wrote it (so we behave like we believe) and not trying to prove any theological views. I will communicate what is in the text in front of us.
Essentially this may be the worst rapture sermon you’ll ever haha!
In Verse 13 the text opens us up to our 1st informative topic - “those who sleep in death”
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death
What does “sleep in death” refer to and why say it like that?
Sleep was a commonly used term for someone who had died as a believer 2000 years ago
Similar to how we say that someone has “passed”. This doesn’t mean someone is literally passing by
Sleep was how Paul was referring to the state of the body, not the Soul
It’s interesting that cemeteries began because they were the resting place of the physical bodies of those in Christ
cemetery literally means - resting place and gave this familiar language to the text here “sleeping in death”
They were resting places of the physical bodies of the saints
So we understand in our language that Paul is referring here to those who have died in Christ.
So first be informed that Paul is referring to Christians that have died
Second, because those who have died are in Christ their physical bodies will be raised to life just as Jesus’ Physical body was resurrected
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.
In this verse we see that the Lord himself will return.
So Jesus will return one day and if you are wondering why He seems so slow? I can tell you it’s because of His love and patience for as many people to come to know Him as possible. If God were on my time schedule sadly many of those I love as brothers and sisters in Christ would not have had a chance to know Him. Praise God for His patience!
In This verse we again see that the dead in Christ will rise 1st
At the 2nd coming, the physical bodies of the dead will rise
It’s such a beautiful thing that Jesus knit us together in our mothers womb and knows where every molecule of our physical bodies lies on the earth and again will knit each piece back together to form our bodies to rise from wherever they are and in whatever state of decay they are in.
What an amazing God that in the beginning made man out of the dust of the earth and women out of the rib of man to once again in our future bring together the physical bodies of those who have died in Christ
What a miracle! What an amazing hope we have for those who believe
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.
We see that the dead will rise 1st then those who are in Christ, still alive on earth will be caught up
So be informed church, Jesus is coming back and he is bringing with Him all those who have gone before and He will rapture up those who are still living to come with Him
So what do I do with this information?.....my final “Be” Bullet
Be Encouraged
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Whenever we see the word Therefore in the bible it’s good to ask “What is it therefore?”
Essentially it is saying, “because of all that I just said, these next words should be your response or behavior”
So what is an appropriate response to this text?
not to get caught up in all the wrong details
Be Encouraged
Encouragement is something all of us need and also something we need to give
Specifically today the encouragement is this:
Jesus will return and set up His Kingdom and judge perfectly the living and the dead
He won’t leave any disciple behind dead or alive, we will live in eternity with Jesus
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to the day where God will wipe every tear from my eye, there is no more death, mourning, or pain,
But until that day I can have hope that produces for me now
right emotions, right thinking, and right actions
I can have joy in sorrow
peace in chaos
Love for my enemy
encouragement in grief
Our hope is not wishful thinking or optimism, or positive approach
Our hope is perfect assurance that what God promises, God will fulfill
This hope drives our sanctification
I love that God is doing the work in me because what God has started God will finish
Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus, more Holy
In the process of becoming like Jesus there are both behaviors we need to take off like Jared shared last week and there are behaviors we need to put on as I shared with you today
Put on Belief!
Put on the right information...the Truth and encourage one another with the truth
Put on encouragement
I truly believe Paul reminds us here in verse 18 to encourage one another with these words because we are so prone to forget. I need constantly to be reminded of truth so I can be reminded constantly to believe the truth.
Believing the truth changes my life, it changes my behavior, my thoughts, my emotions!
In closing there are 3 questions I have for you to reflect on
Head - Does my behavior today reflect my hope in Jesus?
Heart - What encouragement does God have for me today?
Hands - Who can I encourage today with the Truth of God’s word?
The world has a way of creeping back into my life and distorting the truth of Gods word
Don’t accept the lies of the enemy or even our own weak flesh, but be encouraged by the truth
Jesus is coming back and we’re gonna be with him!
