1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We Do Not Want You To Be Uninformed

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on September 29, 2024 at Beacon Church

I want to call your attention to the words of Paul in verse 13. “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,” (1 Thess. 4:13 ESV). Paul wrote this to a church of new Christians converted about six months earlier. He puts his finger on the problem: they were uninformed about Christians who die. So they grieved for people they lost as if there’s no hope. That’s why Paul wrote this. Or as he puts it a bit earlier in 3:10, he wants to “supply what is lacking” in their faith. Well that’s my prayer this evening. That this brief and straightforward passage of Scripture, as I preach it, will inform you and supply something lacking in your faith. Perhaps you’re not clear about what happens to Christians who die? Maybe you’re just a bit confused about the doctrine of the end times?

But let me ask you, do you long for Christ to come? Or do you just want to escape? Do you want to be with Jesus so much that you spend time praying to Him? Worshiping Him? Reading and meditating on His Word? Do you want to be with Jesus that much? Henry Grattan Guinness once said that it doesn’t show much evidence that you love Jesus if you don’t long for His return. [i] But it also isn’t much evidence that you love Him if you don’t love to pray, worship, read His Word, and fellowship with His people now. It was Jesus who invited all believers, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me,” (Rev. 3:20 ESV). Paul wrote this to help these people be ready for Christ’s return at any time. But do you really want Him when He comes? Just like Jesus said: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect,” (Mat 24:44). Tonight I want to remind you to be ready; to stir up your love for your Lord so that your happiest day will be the day you see Him coming. In these verses, Paul reminds them of two great doctrines that fill the gaps in your faith. I’ve worded them as things you need to do. First…

Remember Jesus died and rose again (14-15)

On February 8, I sat with a dear friend and held his hand as he died. I’ve seen others die before but never someone so close. There’ve been a lot of times since then when, for a moment, I forget he’s gone. But then I remember seeing him die and I know he’s gone. For all but the original group of Christians, the most important death you need to remember is not a death you witness first-hand, but a death you heard about when you heard the Gospel. The first thing you need to remember is that Jesus really died. “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep,” (1 Thess. 4:14 ESV). The Gospel starts with this amazing news that Jesus really died and really rose again. The eye-witnesses saw Him die, and they saw Him alive again. The Gospel is built on these facts. But what it means is that because Jesus is alive, God will also raise everyone who believes in Jesus from the dead, when Jesus comes back. That’s what Paul means “through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” Paul says the same thing another way in 2 Cor 4:14, talking to people who believe in Jesus: “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence,” (2 Cor. 4:14). In other words, when the Kingdom comes, Jesus will bring everyone who believes in Him into it—whether they are alive when he comes, or whether they’ve been dead for a long time. If you belong to Jesus Christ, your resurrection is guaranteed by His. Because He lives, so will you. In 1 Cor 15:22-23 Paul links the future resurrection of all dead believers to the past fact of Christ’s resurrection as cause and effect: “So also in Christ shall all be made alive,” adding, “first Christ… then at his coming those who belong to Christ,” (1 Cor. 15:23).

The second thing to remember is that the resurrection is the great hope all Christians look forward to. “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,” (1 Thess. 4:15 ESV). Notice three details here. 1) Paul says this isn’t only his teaching; it’s what Jesus taught. 2) Paul says “we who are left behind” (lit.; which sounds like what Jesus said about the second coming, “one will be taken and the other left”). 3) Paul says that “we will not precede” Christians who die. What does that mean? It means living Christians won’t reach the finish line before dead Christians. It means there is no big advantage to being still alive when the Lord returns that Christians who’ve already died will miss out on. They were afraid those who died won’t get to enter the Kingdom: Paul replies, “No! Actually they'll be raised just before us!” (We’ll come back to that.)

That fits the Lord’s own teaching in Matthew 24. “…The one who endures to the end will be saved,” (Mat 24:13). To what end? Jesus had just told his disciples many of them will be put to death. So he can’t mean “whoever avoids death will be saved.” He means whoever keeps on following Him, whoever never falls away from him, whoever keeps the faith will be saved. Any believer who dies believing in Jesus has exactly the same hope as believers still alive when He comes. And that also is what Jesus taught saying He will send His angels to gather His elect from the four winds (Mat 24:31—I don’t think He was referring specifically to the rapture but He is talking about the larger context of His second coming). Like the days of Noah, His coming will separate forever the wicked from the righteous—the wicked will be swept away, taken, and the righteous remain. So “stay awake,” He says (Mat 24:42); “you must be ready,” (Mat 24:44), because you don’t know when he’s coming and you won’t expect it when He comes. There is just one day, a single day on God’s calendar, that every Christian waits for—one day when dead Christians and surviving Christians are all resurrected and transformed and enter the Kingdom that is coming. It’s what Jesus taught. It’s what Paul saw was missing in their faith. The first doctrine Paul gives that fill the gap in their faith is to remember Jesus died and rose again, therefore so will those who believe in Him. The second doctrine Paul gives them is to…

Remember Jesus went up and will come down again (16-17)

I think it is good to notice here that Paul grounds his teaching here on the teaching that was passed down to him. In verse 14 he says “since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,” talking about the most basic truth made known in the Gospel. Then Paul says, “this we declare by a word from the Lord,” grounding his teaching on the teaching of Jesus. It is very much like what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, that he is giving them what he received, that Christ died, was buried, was raised, and appeared to many. What I’m suggesting is that this next doctrine Paul gives in verses 16-17 is also grounded on a well-known promise.

“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,” (1 Thess. 4:16 ESV). First, he says, the Lord Jesus will descend Himself. What does that mean? Come down. From where? From heaven. To where? Well, to here of course. Exactly what the angel promised the apostles on the day when Jesus ascended from earth to heaven: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven," (Acts 1:11 ESV). That’s what Jesus does—the main verb in this sentence is “descend/come down”, they saw Him ascend to heaven, and at the rapture everyone will see Him come down from heaven. But there’s more. Paul says Christ will come down making a lot of noise. His descent is accompanied by three great noises: by “a cry of command,” by “an archangel’s voice,” and by, “the trumpet of God.” All three noises underline the fact that Christ is coming back to fight. At a battle. To Conquer. To Rule. Now this again is what our Lord Himself taught:

·         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 (Matt. 16:27 ESV)

·         they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matt. 24:30 ESV)

·         you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matt. 26:64 ESV)

And Revelation says, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him…” (Rev. 1:7) But there’s more. Paul says Christians who have died will come to life first. “The dead in Christ will rise first.” The scene reminds me of a giant magnet coming down. As it comes down, everything it attracts is drawn to it. As the Saviour descends, the ones He saved ascend to Him. Not dead but alive. As the Lord of Life comes down, the dead in Christ can’t stay dead—they come alive and rise first. But there’s more.

“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,” (1 Thess. 4:17 ESV). As Christ is coming down, with a lot of loud noise, and every eye on Him, dead Christians come to life, and living Christians are “caught up” with them in the clouds, to met the Lord in the sky as He comes. (The Greek word is ἁρπάζω but the Latin word is rapio where we get “rapture” from.)[ii][iii] So we will always be with Him, in His Kingdom, forever. What a day! What a moment! What a transformation! “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed,” (1 Cor. 15:52). “…and so we will always be with the Lord,” (1 Thess. 4:17 ESV). How this sings to souls who love Jesus! The Lord Himself! (verse 16); we will meet Him as He comes (verse 17); we will always be with Him (verse 18)! Paul reminds them of two great doctrines that fill the gaps in your faith. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ died, was buried, and was raised. So if you believe in Him, even if you die, He will raise you up when He comes. And remember Jesus ascended to heaven in the clouds, and will come again just as they saw Him leave. Remember and wait for that day. That is the great day and hour of our Lord’s second coming. That is the day the church is raptured, caught up to meet our Lord in the sky as He is coming down from heaven to earth. Two implications of this have comforted grieving Christians for centuries: 1) Those who die believing in Jesus Christ are not lost forever. There is a great reunion coming. But even more comforting, 2) the Lord Jesus Christ is not gone forever. He is coming. His coming is the great hope of His people. You miss those you love when they’re gone. But how much more should you miss Jesus? Resurrection Day is Reunion Day! That’s what you need to wake up and wait for. It will be noisy. Everyone will see it. Jesus said, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man,” (Matt. 24:27). So if you love each other, remind each other to wait, to be ready, to confess sin, to pray, to share the good news, and eagerly look forward to being with our Lord forever: “Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” (v18)