Waiting on God in a World of Death

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 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 own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till 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 each other with these words.”

Today the Church calendar celebrates Palm Sunday or what the Gospels refer to more commonly as the Triumphal entry.

The evangelists depict the triumphal entry as the arrival of the kingdom and king at Judaism’s most significant royal and religious location.

They present Jesus as the prophesied king of Zech 9:9 and His arrival in Jerusalem as an eschatological event.

The crowds embrace Him in royal terms at the triumphal entry, but His time in Jerusalem leads to His crucifixion as “the King of the Jews” (Matt 27:37; Mark 15:18, 26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19–21) the end toward which Jesus’ ministry had been driving, as His body would be broken and His blood “poured out for many” (Mark 14:22–25 ESV).

Jesus’ rejection in Jerusalem happens just before His rejection by the Jews.

Their rejection of the Messiah is their rejection of God and explains the empty nature of their faith, something Jesus condemns when He cleanses the Temple. (Matt 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46), indicts their corrupt leadership (Matt 21:28–46; 22:29; 23:1–36; Mark 11:17–18; 12:1–12, 24, 38–40; Luke 20:9–19, 45–47) and prophesy's their future judgment (Matt 23:37–39; 24:1–35; 25:31–46; Mark 13:1–37; Luke 19:41–44; 21:5–36; 23:28–31; John 12:31). the latter point also mentioned in Zechariah 9:9 and Zechariah 10:3–5.

This tension between the welcome and rejection of Israel’s king before His final crucifixion is a pre-enactment of the Second Coming of Christ.

He rides on a donkey to present Himself as the Lamb of God to die for the sin of the world. But Christ's second coming will be on a horse, coming through the clouds of heaven with the armies of God following Him. He will have many crowns on His head for He will come back to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Christ's first coming ended with His ascension into Heaven as He returned alone back to His Father to sit at the right hand of God; Christ’s Second Coming will be his return to earth with myriads of angels and resurrected saints to the New Jerusalem.

Palm Sunday is in some senses therefore a pre-enactment of the Second Coming of Christ.

And this links us to our series and today’s text in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

Paul has already spoken about the Second Coming - the parousia 1 Thes 2:19 - of our Lord and the Thessalonians were in no doubt that it would take place.

However their belief in it led to some practical problems, one of them was to do with the need to work during the intervening time and another seemed to be around the when and where of the Second Coming and also what happens to those who died before Christ’s return.

Paul gives clarity on the details and its implications:

1. WE MOURN OUR DEAD BUT WE HAVE HOPE:

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”

Paul is speaking about death here and he is contrasting how Christians ought to view it in comparison to unbelievers.

The unbelievers that Paul refers to here “have no hope” which might suggest that they are irreligious altogether or theologically, because they are without Christ, they will not be saved.

Paul most likely is referring the irreligious pagans who had no hope beyond life, believing that death is the end and there is nothing beyond. In contrast Christians, although they grieve over their departed loved ones, grieve in the hope of a better and more glorious future.

John Frame gives some very early examples of this contrast: The first is a letter of the second century which reads: “Irene to Taonnophris and Philo, good comfort. I was as sorry and wept over the departed one as I wept for Didymas. And all things whatsoever were fitting, I did, and all mine, Epaphroditus and Thermuthion and Philion and Apollonius and Plantas. But, nevertheless, against such things one can do nothing. Therefore comfort ye one another.” Consolation is offered but there is no consolation to offer. In contrast, this from a Christian from around the same date, in a letter from Aristides: “And if any righteous man among them passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God; and they escort the body as if he were setting out from one place to another near.”

However, it appears that not all the Thessalonians understood this, so Paul says: “we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep.”

Perhaps they had misunderstood and thought that believers would not die at all but that the Lord would return before they die.

It might be that those who died were at some disadvantage when the Lord came? Had they forfeited their share in the wonderful happenings of the End?

Some may even have felt that these deaths discredited the whole idea of the Second Coming, so Paul answers saying in v13 - Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant - a typically Pauline formula which draws attention to something that may not be known to the readers (cf. Rom. 1:13; 11:25; 1 Cor. 10:1; 12:1; 2 Cor. 1:8). We need you to understand that death does not separate you from our Lord or in any way rob you of the benefits of belonging to Him - 2 Cor 5:8.

Of course its important to acknowledge that this does not mean Christians should not grieve, but rather that they do not hopelessly grieve!

Sadness at parting is natural and inevitable and Paul is not expecting us to try and compare the depths and profundity of grief, rather his contrast is between Christian hope and pagan despair.

2. HE LIVES, SO WE WILL LIVE ALSO:

“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.”

Paul speaks of the departed as those who fall asleep, see 1 Cor. 11:30 which points to an existing situation but implies a future awakening.

the Christian certainty is what God has done in Christ’s death and resurrection v14. All those who believe in him, whether dead or alive, will rise again to eternal life.

Not even death severs the union of a believer with Christ, which is the foundation of the Christian’s hope: ‘Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep’ (1 Cor. 15:20).

Note: Paul speaks of the Thessalonian believers as having “fallen asleep” whereas he speaks here of Christ who “died” an important reminder that Christ endured the full horror of that death, the wages of our sin, so that we need not die!

Jesus thus transformed death for his followers into sleep. In the New Testament Christians are never said to die; they fall asleep.

If there is no resurrection, then Christians are to be pitied more than all men, for our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. But Christ has been raised and so in Christ all believers are made alive.

“and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus, all who have fallen asleep in Him.”

Not only will believers be resurrected, but ‘God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him’.

The God who raised Jesus will raise the followers of Jesus. He will bring their souls from heaven to be united with their bodies; therefore, all believers can die in peace with the song of triumph on their lips: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 15:54–57).

Death has been transformed into sleep through Jesus.

For those without faith, death is the antagonist that no-one can defeat, but for the Christian it is completely without terrors (cf. 1 Cor. 15:54–57). It is no more than sleep, and the transformation is brought about ‘through Jesus’.

3. HE IS RETURNING TO EARTH AND WE WILL MEET HIM IN THE AIR:

“According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till 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.”

Paul used interesting language here - “according to the Lord’s own words”

These words of the Lord are, “We tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

However we cannot precisely identify where these words are to be found, though Matthew 24:31 is the closest.

Now it could be that Paul is quoting an otherwise unrecorded saying, not included in the Gospels, of which John said there are many. (see John 20:30; 21:25). We do have one such example in Acts 20:35.

a. We who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

Paul, says nothing about WHEN the Lord will return, he does tell us HOW He will.

There are some event considerations, like in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 where Paul says, that the day of the Lord will not come ‘until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction’.

Paul wants the Thessalonians to live as if the day is imminent but he does not say they will still be alive at Christ’s coming.

Whether they are awake then or sleeping, when Christ returned, the thing that is important to know is that just as God raised Jesus, He will raise us up as well and we will see Him facet o face! (c/f 1 Cor. 6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14; 2 Cor. 5:9; Phil. 1:21–22).

b). “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.”

Paul says that there will be, ‘One word of command, one shout from the archangel, one blast from the trumpet of God and the Lord himself will come down from Heaven!’ (J.B Philips).

The Lord will awaken the dead with an irresistible command as he returns to save those for whom he died. - John 5:25-28.

The loud command is used of the cry of the charioteer to his horses or the hunter to his hounds; it is the shout of the ship’s master to the rowers, or of the commander to his soldiers. Always there is the ring of authority and the note of urgency.

This is the shout of a king or conqueror as he leaves his palace with the expressed aim of setting the captives free. Just as Jesus gave life to the dead when he was on earth, so the voice of the Son of God will give life to the dead when he returns from heaven.

This is clearly not a secret rapture, it will be an audible and visible advent. ‘Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen’ (Rev. 1:7).

Note: Rev. 1:10 Jesus speaks with ‘a loud voice like a trumpet’. The trumpet is associated with divine activity in the Old Testament (Exod. 19:16; Isa. 27:13; Joel 2:1; Zech. 9:14). In the Old Testament the trumpet sounded to summon the people to meet with God and to signal deliverance from oppression; so the final trumpet will sound to gather the elect from the four corners of the earth to meet with their Saviour and to usher in for them an eternal deliverance from every sort of oppression. It is linked elsewhere with the parousia (Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52).

c. 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.”

The dead in Christ are to rise first, after that, believers who remain alive on earth will be caught up with them in the clouds. The verb harpagēsometha suggests a forceful and sudden release of power.

There will be a reunion with Christ, but there will also be a reunion with the friends who have gone before. Both will be snatched up ‘in the clouds’, which is the space between heaven and earth.

The words ‘caught up’ show the suddenness and swiftness of the rapture and can be compared with Acts 8:39, where ‘the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again’.

Clouds are frequently associated with divine appearances and activity (cf. Dan. 7:13; Matt. 24:30; Mark 14:62; Rev. 1:7).

They will meet the Lord in the air. The word ‘meet’ refers to the welcome given to a newly arrived magistrate by the leading citizens who gladly hurry out to meet him and then escort him back to the city.

After this meeting, the Lord will pass the final judgement on the devil and the wicked, which will be approved and applauded by all believers, who themselves will receive crowns of glory.

It is a measure of the Lord’s complete supremacy that he should meet his saints in such a region, for the air was held to be the abode of all manner of evil spirits (cf. Eph. 2:2).

At the same time this is not anything more than a meeting-place. It seems that the Lord proceeds to the earth with his people (cf. 1 Cor. 6:2).

‘And so we will be with the Lord for ever.’

Paul calls on his readers not simply to take heart, but actively to encourage each other with what he has written.

Paul’s words are a source of continual strengthening for the believer, not a spur to fascination with the future. They convey the assurance that the power of God will never be defeated.

The believer’s hope and joy are complete when he goes home to be with his Saviour.

There is no greater blessing than to be with our Redeemer, to see him as he is in glory, to live with him for ever, to enjoy him eternally, to love him perfectly.

Heaven is only heaven because Jesus Christ is there.

When Jesus said to the dying thief, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’, the most precious words were the words ‘with me’.

Oh, to be with Christ! No wonder Paul could say to the Philippians, ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain … I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far’ (1:21, 23).

Paul did not want to die to escape a life of hardships and pain, but to be with his Lord and Saviour.

God is supreme, and when he sees that the time has come, he will draw this age to its close and usher in the new age with the parousia.

Whether we live or whether we die, we do not go beyond his power.

Even in the face of death, that antagonist that no human can tame, we can remain calm and triumphant, for we know that those who sleep sleep in Jesus and that they have their place in the final scheme of things.