Set Apart With Fresh Hope

Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11

The Big Idea: God gives us comfort for suffering, a reason for living, an anchor for justice, and hope for the future.

Social Media Hook: Feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or searching for meaning doesn't mean you're failing—it means you're alive. God’s promises about tomorrow enable us to live a hopeful life today.

Text: Thess 4:13-5:11 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 God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Introduction: Facing Death & The Search for Real Hope (6 mins)

The Reality of Death & The Navy Chaplaincy Story

The Routine vs. The Shock: Death is something that, as a chaplain, you deal with all the time. At times, it can almost feel like a normal, routine part of the job. At the Naval Academy, I was doing 3 to 4 memorial services a week just to catch up on the backlog left over from the COVID pandemic.

The Turning Point: In 2022, a Midshipman (MIDN) on a foreign exchange program was on a hike, went over the side of a cliff, and died. It caught everyone completely off guard.

The Shift: For the first time in a long time, I shifted from treating death as a routine event to deeply examining: In the midst of death, where do we actually find real HOPE?

The Mission: For our Midshipmen, staff, and families, we needed a true biblical picture of death—helping people look to God's Word to find lasting answers.

Theological Ignorance vs. Biblical Application

Why say this? Often, we can possess knowledge, but if it isn’t applied correctly, theological ignorance inevitably leads to confusion, worry, and frustration.

Where Are We Looking for Answers?

Carey Nieuwhof Quote:

"48% of practicing Christians say they trust AI with their spiritual growth? This is not the casual attenders... not the Christmas-and-Easter crowd... this is practicing Christians. The people who show up, give, serve, and open their Bibles. According to recent Barna research, half of them now trust AI with their spiritual life."

The Danger: We turn to fast, artificial fixes rather than the living Word of God. Think of all the sleepless nights and restless days we could avoid if only we learned to view every circumstance through the lens of God’s Word!

Psalm 19:7–8: Only Scripture can transform a human heart to truly understand. No wonder David exclaimed:

“The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.”

Context & The Tension Question (4 mins)

A. Review of 1 Thessalonians So Far

Chapters 1–3: Paul and his team spent three chapters encouraging the Thessalonian believers in their faith, standing firm under trial.

Chapter 4 Pivot: Paul shifts heavily to practical living. Too many competing voices were speaking into this young group of believers. Paul wanted to ensure their faith and daily application weren't based on worldly ideas or artificial views, but were deeply rooted in God's Word.

Growing in sanctification: Abstaining from sexual immorality (4:1–8).

Growing in love & work: Being faithful through daily labor, abstaining from idleness, gossip, stirring up conflict, and creating drama (4:9–12).

The New Focus: Now Paul turns his attention to the second coming of Christ and how believers must be ready.

Pastoral Exhortation, Not Theological Curiosity

Pastoral Heart: 

The Thessalonians were coming to faith, waiting with anticipation for Christ’s return, and in the midst of this some of their fellow believers started to die, and they did not know what to do with that.

Paul’s instruction here is far more pastoral than it is purely academic. His primary concern is giving…

Encouragement in the face of death… Like what we see twice Paul mentions this word encourage (in the Greek it has this focus of comfort)

Comfort

Encouragement to live the Christian life

Exhortation to a grieving, anxious church

The Scope: This text will not answer every speculative question about future events. In fact, it might raise more questions than it answers! But Paul gives us magnificent, necessary insights into the future hope of every believer at Christ’s return.

Core Truth: God’s promises about tomorrow enable us to live a hopeful life today.

The Tension Question: When tragedy shakes our world, will we grieve like those with no future, or stand awake in the assurance of our resurrection?

Transition: The Thessalonians were struggling to process the death of their loved ones and wondered what happened to believers who died before Christ’s return. Paul addresses these fears by giving us three clear lenses for understanding death, Christ’s return, and how to live set apart today.

Point 1: Comfort for Suffering — Grieving with Hope (9 mins)

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 "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."

The Thessalonian Dilemma

Paul and his team wanted to make sure that the Thessalonians were informed of this hope… THAT (the Result is have Hope)

In other practical areas Paul had said there was not need to write to you, but here he wanted to make sure he came around the area the hope believers have in death. Why…Ignorance Creates Confusion; Truth Creates Hope

Ignorance of God's truth invariably creates spiritual anxiety and hopeless grief.

virtually every society over the centuries and across the globe has thought about what happens after death.

Paul is about to give wisdom and understanding

that when you get it you do not grieve like everyone else!

Death Is a Certainty, but "Sleep" Is Temporary

Some people make a big deal about the word “Sleep”

Biblical Language: The biblical authors, including Jesus, describe believers who die as being "asleep" (Matt 9:24; John 11:11–14; Acts 7:60; 1 Cor 15:6, 20).

It is not only pictured here in the bible, but “sleep” is often used in secular writings to com around the area of death

Shakespeare's Hamlet: Hamlet calls death a sleep, but worries about what "dreams may come" if the mind stays active.

Walt Whitman: Writes of death and gentle night as a welcoming embrace that feels like closing tired eyes. [1, 2]

The word “sleep” and death are not uniquely Christian, but what is, is that you wake up!

How do we grieve?

Paul wanted to shift the focus for the believers that they could grieve and still have hope!

God created us with emotions, and it is ok to grieve, but as believers how we grieve should point people to Hope vs hopelessness

Illustration: As I shared at the beginning as a chaplain I have officiated many funerals. Their is pain and grief, but in the midst of that for those who were believers there was HOPE that was seen, and often the believers wanted the gospel presented, because in the gospel we have Hope, and we know that Christ has given us victory death (1 Thess 4:14)

Grieving doesn’t feel good; it’s painful. But grief isn’t wrong. Look at the sorrow of the church when Tabitha died in Acts 9:36–43 “…So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.”

Jesus wept with Mary and Martha upon the death of their brother, Lazarus (John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” ). It didn’t matter that he was about to bring Lazarus back to life. Death deserves to be grieved.

When Paul noticed that the Thessalonians had been grieving, he did not condemn them for it. Rather, he gave them hope for their grief.

Victory through Jesus (1 Thess 4:14): Question: Why do we have “hope” in death?

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep."

Because Jesus conquered sin and death… and our hope is in the resurrection

Paul share these gospel for the Thessalonians and reminds them who they are “in Christ”

Historical precedent

Jesus was a man who walked this earth who came at the promised time

That he died (confirmed in the Bible, but in secular works as well)

That he rose from the dead (multiple eyes witness acounts, and according to Matt 28:11-15 the Roman guards were bribed to say false accusations)

The growth if the church…worship Jesus as the Son of God…one of the greatest testimonies of Christ dying and rising from the grave

Grief Reframed: Christians do grieve—Paul does not forbid tears or mourning. But we do not grieve like those who have no hope. Our tears are backed by the undeniable reality of the Resurrection. Jesus’s resurrection and promised return offer us hope in our grief. To be “in Christ” doesn’t stop at the grave. We are forever his.

Challenge Question: When you face loss, do your habits reflect the hopeless despair of the world, or do your tears carry the quiet weight of resurrection hope?

Transition: If God raised Jesus, and those who have fallen asleep in Him are secure, what happens when Christ returns? How does that future reality shape our present gaze?

Point 2: Hope for the Future — The Return of the King (8 mins)

1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 "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."

The Order of the Resurrection

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.

V15-16 Paul was is referencing how Jesus declared the return of Jesus from the gospels

Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

Oliviate Discourse: Matthew 24:29–31 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

The Thessalonians’ fears were answered their loved ones would return with Christ and so will ours.

Jesus’s first coming was humble a helpless baby born to poor parents in a tiny town.

His second coming promises to be more visible: he will be announced as the victorious king with loud shouts and praises accompanied by angels and a host of faithful followers. Those who are in Christ will be with him when he comes back.

The Lord is going to see to it personally…I will come, get et you, and you will be with me

Some have argued this point of “Soul Sleep": Nowhere does the Bible teach "soul sleep" or that a person loses conscious awareness after death. At physical death, your existence does not end. Your physical body goes to sleep in the earth, but your spirit continues to exist immediately in the presence of God.

2 Corinthians 5:8 “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Philippians 1:21;23 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…My desire is to depart and be with Christ”

There are pictures of death that point to being aware that you are not just there…

Illustration: Luke 16:19–31: Both Lazarus and the rich man retain full awareness after physical death. One with Abraham and the other in Hades

John 14:1–3 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Paul is point to this Hope for the Future. The great hope of the story of God is not that we will have a spiritual, ethereal hang out in heaven but that God will return to earth, making all things new. Its creation reborn, restored, renewed. We will experience the new heavens and new earth in physical bodies.

Like we see in Romans 8:18-25… where creation longs restoration, with groans as we wait.

Question: Do we live in such a way that longs for Christ return, or is this something we talk about but do not look at with anticipation?

Question: So then what is the question the Thessalonians are asking?

What’s going to happen to our friends?

We have been waiting, and now some have died,

Are they going to heaven, whats going to happen to them because we have been waiting for your return.

The Lord Himself Descends

V16-17) 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.

The Lord doesn't send a representative or an angel; the Lord Himself descends with a shout of triumph.

Those who have died in Christ do not miss out; they actually get front-row priority! The dead in Christ rise first.

Quote: "We grieve because we miss them, but not like those who have no horizon. The resurrection gives an unshakable anchor to our sorrow." - Timothy Keller

The living believers will be "caught up" (harpazo / Latin raptura) together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

The Ultimate Promise: Verse 17 contains the true climax of heaven: "And so we will always be with the Lord."Our ultimate hope isn't just escape from trouble; it is unbroken, eternal communion with Jesus.

Within Christianity there are differing view points of Christs return…

Premillennialism (Christ returns before the millennium)

Postmillennialism (Christ returns after a golden age ushered in by the church)

Amillennialism (the millennium is a symbolic present reality)

Life Story’s Position

While we do not have time to go through all of these at Life Story while we believe this is important it is a secondary issue not primary. The elders at PKWY our sending church and our leadership at Life Story have clarity and seek unity from our partners. You do not have to agree with our positions on secondary issues to be a Christian or even to be a partner. However, we want you to have clarity on where we stand on these issues so that the church family can be unified.

We believe in a future, personal, and physical return of Jesus Christ and the bodily resurrection of the dead. As a church, we hold a premillennial position, believing that Christ will return before the future millennial reign described in Revelation 20. While we affirm this as the best biblical interpretation, we acknowledge diversity among believers concerning details of the second coming. Key Scriptures: Revelation 20:1–6; Matthew 24:29–31; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

V18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Paul concludes this section with an imperative to encourage one another with this teaching. Believers in Thessalonica who were concerned about the fate of their dead brothers and sisters in the Lord should be comforted by Paul’s teaching.

There is hope beyond the grave!!!

Jesus himself had revealed that the dead in Christ are to be raised—even raised before the living have the privilege of meeting Christ. Therefore, Christians need not grieve without hope.

Quote: "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." - CORRIE TEN BOOM

Challenge Question: Is your daily outlook shaped more by the anxiety of current headlines or the certainty of Christ's return?

Transition:Hope for the future isn't an excuse to check out of the present. Knowing how the story ends provides the exact purpose we need to live faithfully today.

Point 3: A Reason for Living & An Anchor for Justice (6 mins)

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night …while people are saying, “there is peace and security” …But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day… let us keep awake and be sober… put on the breast plate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation…build one another up.”

You Don’t Know When its Coming…But He is Coming (vv. 1–3)

V1) The Timing (Acts 1:7; Matt 24:36): No one knows the day or hour.

You know Jesus coming, but you do not know when He will return

V2-3) Paul reminded the Thessalonians that they already knew Jesus would return in victory. But he is coming like a thief in the night or like a women about to give birth and you do not know when

Illustration: For both of our two kids April had to be induced, so we knew when we needed to be in the hospital, but for both Hayleigh and Austin they were born at a time we did not fully know, but we had to be prepared!

Failed Predictions:

We know Jesus is coming but we don’t know when’. Yet many have tried to predict the second coming of Christ

Y2K: Many predicted that Christ was going to come back

Harold Camping (1994 and 2011): The American radio broadcaster self-published the book 1994? predicting the world would end on September 6, 1994. When that failed, his organization heavily promoted May 21, 2011, as the date for Christ's return and Judgment Day, later recalculating for October 2011

Cotton Mather (17th Century): The prominent New England Puritan leader published works anticipating the arrival of Christ's kingdom, initially calculating the year 1716

Yet none of the predictions ever came… And Paul remind the Thessalonians of this

How did the Thessalonians know because Paul had shared with them, and how did Paul know because we had spent time with Jesus, and had been trained by the disciples and probably understood…

Scripture Illustration: Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

V3) Sudden Destruction, “and they will not escape”

Jesus will return and even though his return is certain, about 2,000 years have passed since he ascended into heaven, causing some to question the immanence of his return.

Many are living with a false sense of peace and security doing whatever they want…

Yet when Jesus returns he will return to judge the world.

Scripture Illustration:

Psalm 37:9–10 “For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.”

Proverbs 11:21 “Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.”

2 Thessalonians 1:6–8 “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

This can be hard for us to think about because while we long for justice we wrestle with it.

His future return is an anchor for justice—every wrong will be made right, evil will be judged, and truth will prevail and none shall escape.

God is not impotent in waiting to judge the world, rather truly He is waiting out of kindness and patience. No, he is not weak. He is patient, wanting all to come to repentance.

A Reason for Living: Children of the Day We Live Like He is Coming (vv. 4–11)

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.”

V4-5) Identity Dictates Conduct: Because we belong to the Day, we don't live in spiritual apathy or moral darkness.

We don’t know when Jesus is coming

Like a thief

Like Labor pains

We know Jesus is coming

So we are not caught un aware because we are living like Jesus is coming

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

V6-8) Stay Alert & Sober: Put on the spiritual armor—faith, love, and the hope of salvation.

Paul uses sleep and drunkenness to denote distraction, inattention, and misaligned priorities. If we take our focus off of God, we cease to be alert and ready for his return.

Some were allowing God’s patience to be excuse to coast through life like they were sleeping VS being alert

The Danger: Anesthetizing our hearts with worldly comfort causes us to drift at the wheel.

Illustration: Boot camp you could march, and sleep at the same time because of the cadence, but you were not ready for what was coming, and you could find yourself in a real bad situation

Sober alertness befits soldiers who belong to the day (Ephesians 5:11–17 “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” ).

Question: Is there an area in your life where you have compromised, and you have become asleep at the wheel, or you have allowed you life to have things come in and anesthetize you from what you need to be truly focused on?

Paul is saying you need to be ready for what God is doing the Lord.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

Paul tells the Thessalonians how to stay ready in verse 8: Put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.” Faith, hope, and love remain the three foundational characteristics of a Christian. Through using war imagery, Paul calls us to stand firm against evil and despair.

V8) Breastplate of faith … helmet the hope of salvation. As in other texts concerning spiritual warfare (Rom. 15:12–14; Eph. 6:10–17), Paul echoes an OT passage that describes armor that God Himself wears in waging war against His people’s enemies (Is. 59:17).

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

V9-10) Appointed for Salvation: God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul shares the gospel a second time to again remind them who they are in Christ

they are set apart and have hope

but for the outside world they were to live on mission to carry the gospel

Illustration: A mentor of mine told a story about Nascar…Why could we freely give, because it was freely give to us! We know we’re okay, so we’re calling others to come with us…because we do not know when Jesus is coming, but we know he is coming, and because of that we live like he is coming!

Gospel Presentation: And what is the Gospel? Jesus lived, died, and rose to save us from wrath so that we might live eternally with Him., and He longs to meet you right where you are, transform your life, and give you a higher purpose to carry His name!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing... Be at peace among yourselves."

Thinking about the Lord’s future coming is meant to encourage believers. One day we will all live together with the Lord, and that’s great news.

Challenge Question: Where in your life have you fallen asleep at the wheel or allowed comfort to dull your focus on Christ's mission?

Conclusion & Application: Walking Out Fresh Hope (2 mins)

A. Summary of the Big Idea

Through the gospel, God has given us:

Comfort for suffering when we face loss and death.

Hope for the future through Christ's triumphant return.

An anchor for justice when the world feels chaotic.

A reason for living as children of light today.

So Where do we go From Here?

Grieve with open eyes. When loss hits, don't suppress your tears or pretend it doesn't hurt. Bring your real pain to God, but let your grief be framed by the empty tomb—remembering that for the believer, death is a pause, not the end.

Wake up and suit up. Identify one area where you’ve gone on spiritual autopilot or allowed worldliness to numb your focus. Shake off the slumber, root yourself daily in Scripture rather than cheap cultural fixes, and put on the armor of faith, love, and hope.

Speak hope into someone else this week. Don't keep this promise to yourself. Look for a brother or sister who is tired, anxious, or suffering, and use Paul’s directive in verse 18 to actively build them up with the certainty of Christ’s return.

John Piper says “"The text does not exist to satisfy our curiosity on timelines, but to fortify our souls.”