Good News in Hard Times - 2022-10-02

“Good News in Hard Times”

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Message #10 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

2 October 2022 

INTRODUCTION:

In October 1988 my family and I were living in the 22.5 million megacity of São Paulo in South Brazil. October 12^th is celebrated annually in Brazil as “O Dia da Criança,” meaning the Day of the Child. On that day in 1988 my wife and I made plans to take a carload of donated used clothing and toys to one of the many state-run orphanages, this one in Campinas, the city where we had lived during our first term in Brazil. Campinas is a large city with 3.4 million people located about 1½ hours inland from São Paulo.

To get into the orphanage we needed a permission document from a friend of ours who was the chief prosecutor of the regional juvenile court system. Months earlier he had told us about a little girl who had come into the child welfare system because of repeated abandonment by her biological mother. She was being kept in their Centro de Triagem (Triage Centre), awaiting the final disposition of her case. We had for some time wanted to adopt a little girl, but two previous attempts had fallen through when at the last minute the mothers changed their minds and decided to keep their babies. 

On that day, as we were seated in his office waiting for him to fill out the permission papers, our friend, Dr. João, the prosecutor of the regional juvenile court told us that the little girl he had told us about was now past the one year waiting period and was finally eligible for adoption. He asked, “Would you like to see her today?” We jumped at the chance. The required documents were quickly drawn up, and we went and dropped off the gifts at the orphanage. Then we found our way to the Centro de Triagem where the little girl was being kept, along with about 100 other little children.

She was 23 months old, just a little tiny thing with big brown eyes and a huge mop of shiny black hair. She could not talk but she was beautiful, and we immediately fell in love with her. Two days later, on October 14^th, which happens to be my birthday, we were once again in Campinas, seated in front of Dr. João’s desk signing the final permanent adoption papers for Simoni to become our daughter. 

But I will never forget the emotions I felt as we drove over there to see her for the very first time. And I will never forget the feeling I had as Dr. João told us later that she was ours if we wanted her. That was great good news for us, indeed!

TRANSITION:

What is the best news you have ever received?

·        Was it when the doctor phoned and said the scan had come back all clear and they had ruled out any kind of cancer?

·        Was it when you received that letter saying that you had been accepted into the college or graduate school you had been hoping for?

·        Was it when you got summoned into the boss’ office and were offered a big job advancement with all the perks?

·        Was it when your radio operator got news from headquarters that reinforcements were on their way and that you and your platoon would be relieved soon?           

The sweetness of the good news is often directly proportional to the danger and darkness of our immediate circumstances. By that I mean, when we are in a big mess and help arrives it is even more wonderful and more appreciated. 

The Christians in Thessaloniki were passing through some dark days. They were being persecuted for their faith and were suffering for no other reason than that they had chosen to follow Christ. When Paul was with them, he had taught concerning future events, including the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming but they had gotten confused on some of the fine points. As a result of their present trials some of them were worried that maybe Christ had already returned, and that they had perhaps missed the boat, or maybe that He was not really going to come back at all.  Some were also worried about their loved ones that had already died, fearing that they might be forgotten and left behind if Jesus came back.

To ease their fears and explain what would happen to them Paul writes these words in

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, our text for today.

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

¹⁷ Then, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words. 

MAIN BODY:

Verse 13: But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

·        It is clear from 2 Thess. 2:5 that the apostle Paul had taught much about this subject while he was in the city, but the main point of his teaching had evidently concerned the advent of Christ and not the resurrection. In the meantime, perhaps some of the believers had died, and the question arose, “Have their premature deaths caused them to lose all hope of sharing in the glorious reign of Christ?”

·        “I would not have you to be ignorant” is a phrase that Paul uses frequently in his writings when he wishes to explain some new point (cf. Rom. 1:13; 11:25; 1 Cor. 10:1; 12:1; 2 Cor. 1:8). By the way, “ignorant” is not a pejorative like “stupid” or “dimwit.” It simply means, “lacking information or uninformed.”

·        “…about those who are asleep.” Here Paul uses a present participle construction to show ongoing action, “who are lying asleep.” This Greek word for sleep is used in the NT of natural sleep as well as death, but only the death of a Christian (cf. 1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Peter 3:4, etc.).

·        “…so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope” – Without Christ the people of the world grieve endlessly, with no hope of seeing their loved ones again. “The rest” are the same people he referred to up in 4:12 as “outsiders.” 

Verse 14: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

·        “If we believe” – this Greek construction does not open the door to doubt. The meaning is, “since we believe.” In Greek it is called a first-class conditional clause. It is a rhetorical construction expecting the positive response, “…and we do believe.” Believe what? The Gospel that he lays out clearly in 1 Cor. 15:1-4.

·        Our future resurrection is based on Christ’s successful death, burial, and resurrection and His promise to come back and take us to be with Himself forever. 

Verse 15: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

·        Here we have Paul’s promise, his positive declaration that the Christian dead will be raised first and will therefore undoubtedly have a share in the Kingdom. The statement is made as authoritative as possible by stating that it is “the word of the Lord.” There are two possible explanations of this. It could be an otherwise unrecorded saying of Christ (cf. Acts 20:35) or it may have come to Paul by direct revelation (cf. Acts 16:6; 18:9). In any case, the Thessalonians need not be worried. Paul assures them that the dead will have a foremost place, for the living, he says, “shall in no wise (= emphatic negative, meaning “will not, no way, no how”) precede those who are asleep” at the Lord’s return. Notice that Paul included himself among that living group and evidently expected to live until the return of Christ (cf. Phil. 4:5 and Titus 2:13 written later in his life). One of the wonderful things about the hope of the Rapture is that it burns brightly in the hearts of each generation of Christians regardless of how long His return is delayed.

Verse 16: For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

·        Paul now fills in the details of the picture of what will happen when the Lord returns. Christ Himself will return. The word “Himself” is in the emphatic position in the sentence and emphasizes that no intermediary, but indeed the Lord Himself, will usher in this great event. Because it will be He Himself who comes, the attendant circumstances will display all the grandeur due His personal presence. There will be “a shout.” It is a word of command used in classical Greek for the shout with which an officer gives the order to his troops or his crew.  “Hoist the sails, full-speed ahead, run out the guns, fire on my command.” That kind of thing. There is in the word a ring of authority and a note of urgency. It is not said who utters the shout, whether it is the Lord or an archangel. However, “a voice” (indefinite article) of “an archangel” will be heard. Michael is the only archangel specifically mentioned in the Bible (cf. Jude 9), but it is not impossible that there are other archangels. Notice the absence of the definite articles here— a voice, not the voice, and an archangel, not the archangel. Although Gabriel is mentioned as a high-ranking angel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26) he is not specifically designated as an archangel. Jewish tradition listed seven chief angels together. “The trumpet of God” will also sound when He comes. This is also referred to twice in 1 Corinthians 15:52.

·        Again, the priority of the dead is mentioned, for they shall be raised first, that is, before those who are alive at the Lord’s coming are changed. “Dead in Christ” is, of course, an alternative description of those who “sleep in Jesus.”

Verse 17: Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

·        Next in order there will be the change in the living. “Then,” epeita, implies order of events and not necessarily any lengthy interval between. We shall be “caught up.” The word means, “to seize” or “to snatch” and the Latin translation of this verb uses the word from which we get “rapture” in English. Thus, the translation of living believers is often called the Rapture of the Church. Rapture means the act of quickly conveying a person from one place to another and thus is properly used of this transport of the living believers to Heaven. Paul also used this word to describe his own experience of being caught up into the “third Heaven” (cp. 2 Cor. 12:2-4; w/ Rev. 12:5). It would appear from these other occurrences of the word that Paul had in mind being taken into Heaven and not just into the mid-air to turn around suddenly and return to the earth He also implies in this idea of rapture the necessary change in mortal bodies to fit them for immortal existence in Heaven. This is stated in greater detail in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53, and while the method of this change is never revealed, Paul clearly believed that it is possible to have a metamorphosis without the dissolution caused by death.

·        The reunion is two-fold. It is first with loved ones who have died, for we shall be caught up together with them. Second, it is a meeting with the Lord in the air, in the clouds (with a view to proceeding on into Heaven, not returning to the earth immediately, as stated above). The natural consequence of this wonderful meeting with the Lord is that there will be no subsequent parting. After His return there will be uninterrupted union and communion with our Lord.

·        One more thing… this event will come with no warning and will not even be seen or heard by unbelievers. It will happen in the twinkling of an eye and be over and accomplished without the world even being aware. “Done and dusted” as the Irish say. Before anyone even notices we’re gone we will be in Heaven with the Lord. 

Verse 18: Therefore comfort one another with these words.

·        As a result of what has been stated there should be no sorrowing but rather comfort concerning those who have died. Notice how Paul sticks to the subject—the dead in Christ.  He says nothing in this passage about the resurrection of the wicked, the intermediate state, judgment, the means of translation, or our reign with Christ. In this passage our hope is centred on the assurance of the resurrection of the dead in Christ, the change in the living, and the eternal union with our Lord. Repeating these truths often will bring assurance to our hearts. 

CONCLUSION:

For the Thessalonian believers, this letter must have sounded like great Good News. They were going through some hard times—times that made them have doubts about things they had come to believe. But Paul’s letter with this wonderful explanation about what awaited them, and their dead loved ones, must have brought them great comfort and encouragement.

I do not know what trials and tests you are facing right now, but I know that in the Gospel there is good news for you and for your present situation. The God of Paul and the Thessalonians is our God too. And He has never changed. He is still able to save all who call on Him, and He is still ready to rescue us when we pray to Him.

FEEDBACK:

What does this passage mean to you personally? What impact does it have on your daily life? In verse 18 we find one of the many NT “one another” commands: namely, “comfort one another with these words.” How can we do this specifically?