Pastoral Hope In The Midst Of Grieving

INTRODUCTION

It’s been a bit since we have been in 1 Thessalonians. A brief review:

Paul and Silas went to the city of Thessalonica on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey.

Not too long after arriving, trouble started brewing as Paul’s announcement of the risen Jesus as the true Lord led to local opposition.

The Christians in Thessalonica were accused of defying Caesar, the Roman emperor, by saying that there’s another king, Jesus. (Acts 17:7)

This led to persecution that became so intense that Paul and Silas were forced to flee from Thessalonica after only being there a few weeks.

This letter is Paul’s reconnection with them after rece­iving a report from Timothy that the Thessalonian Christians were flourishing despite intense persecution.

We kicked off 1 Thessalonians 4 at the beginning of November, which is a chapter that reveals Paul’s pastoral heart for the people.

Chapter 4 gives depth to the prayer from Pastor Paul in 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 [Read]

The two primary foci of that prayer for the Thessalonian believers:

Love that abounds for one another (v. 12)

Being established as blameless in holiness (v. 13)

The process of sanctification is being made more into the image of Christ through the various battles we fight on a daily basis.

Sexual impurity runs rampant in America

Greed and the love of money consumes people

Substance abuse and dependency ravages lives

Gossiping and unwholesome talk tears people down for the benefit of selfish individuals

PrIde and sIn are manifested in a myriad of ways, exemplifying the Big ‘I’ problems that they are

As we do battle against these influences in our lives, we seek to live in obedience to the Word of God without compromise.

Paul encourages believers to pursue purity.

Grow up in the knowledge of the Word and seek to beat back sin in our lives.

Believers who are living lives that are marked by:

Love for one another

Sacrificial concern for others

Hard work to provide for themselves and their families

Peace and tranquility in the midst of chaos and hostility

Are glorifying God in their obedience and opening an avenue of opportunity for the gospel.

ORIENT TO TEXT

This morning, we come to the section of this letter that many of you have been looking forward to.

A very familiar passage to many Christians

It is of particular interest because of of the consuming passion of many in the church today to study the end times (eschatology)

It is known as “The Rapture” passage, and it describes the snatching away of the church.

“The Rapture” generates a lot of interest and discussion in many Christian circles, because of its close knit connection to the end times

Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins made a fortune by selling 65-80 million copies of the Left Behind series books in the early 2000s

Sensational best-selling authors today argue that current events fulfill their often dubious interpretation of biblical prophecy

Some claim to have figured out the secret that even Jesus in His Incarnation did not know — the time of the Second Coming.

As fascinating and fun as studying eschatology can be, it is very easy to lose focus of the reason it is given to us.

It is not given to us by the Lord to find puzzles and secret codes and hidden messages to debate over and make small fortunes peddling to the rest of the world

Rather, it is given to us to motivate principles of spiritual growth and evangelism

1 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV

so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Acts 17:30–31 ESV

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Since we know that a day is coming when Christ will return to judge the world in righteousness, we need to take that as a motivational piece:

For us to take serious our walk with the Lord and to continue to grow in sanctification

For us to take serious the need to warn others about the judgment to come, and tell them about the good news of deliverance offered in Jesus Christ alone

This letter, as has been laid out this morning, is not a doctrinal dissertation on the end times.

It is a pastoral letter sent by concerned Paul to his spiritual children in Thessalonica

He wants to encourage them in the faith, and exhort them to continue living in obedience to to the Lord.

With that context in mind, let’s read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and see the Pastoral Hope In The Midst Of Grieving.

DO NOT BE UNINFORMED ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP

There is no question that the Thessalonians had some concerns about what was taking place.

They were facing some intense persecution

They had some fellow believers who had died, perhaps as a result of this persecution

Now they are concerned about what it means for those who died, when the Lord returns

Paul is now taking time to instruct them about those who are asleep.

Asleep is a euphemism of sorts to identify those who are the dead in Christ, and would only be a reference to their earthly bodies…never their souls.

Soul sleep” is the false teaching that the souls of the dead are in a state of unconscious existence in the afterlife. That is contrary to what we see in Scripture!

Paul:

2 Corinthians 5:8 ESV

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Philippians 1:23 ESV

I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Jesus:

Luke 23:43 ESV

And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Matthew 17:3 ESV

And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

Tribulation martyrs:

Revelation 6:9–11 ESV

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

In Luke 16, we are given the account of the Rich Man and Lazarus, which shows that after death the redeemed go consciously into the presence of the Lord, while the unsaved go into conscious punishment.

The good news for believers is that we do not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Yes, there is loneliness and loss in the death of a loved one

Jesus grieved over the death of Lazarus

Paul told believers in Rome to rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15).

The reality is that Paul describes those who are not in Christ as having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12).

There is an awful, terrifying, hopeless finality for unbelievers when a loved one dies

A sorrow that has no hope of a reunion

Commenting on the hopeless despair of unbelievers in the ancient world:

William Barclay In the face of death the pagan world stood in despair. They met it with grim resignation and bleak hopelessness. Aeschylus wrote, “Once a man dies there is no resurrection.” Theocritus wrote, “There is hope for those who are alive, but those who have died are without hope.” Catullus wrote, “When once our brief light sets, there is one perpetual night through which we must sleep.” On their tombstones grim epitaphs were carved. “I was not; I became; I am not; I care not.”

Even pagans who believe in life after death do not have that hope confirmed by the Holy Spirit.

There is a desperate clinging to a hollow hope without any affirmation from God

Christians do not experience the hopeless grief of nonbelievers, for whom death marks the permanent severing of relationships.

Partings in this life are only temporary.

We have an eternal hope in Christ, which will begin when we are gathered together with Him…so we will always be with the Lord.