Theological Proposition/Focus: Jesus is coming again to reunite his people with him and with those who have passed before them.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We eagerly wait for the day when Christ comes to take his own out of this word and reunites us with those who have gone before but as we wait we must still live for Jesus.

Introduction:

Image: A meal prepared right is worth the wait.

Have you ever eaten somewhere that was known to be exceptionally good but knew you were going to have to wait in line for a really long time. This summer Emily and I were in Portland Oregon and there is a well-known doughnut shop with a line that stretched around. We figured that we were only going to do this once so we waited in line. When we finally had our doughnut we knew it was worth the wait. There are things that are worth the wait and while the wait might require patience and perseverance, we still need to wait because in the end it will be worth it.

Need: We need to live in light of the Rapture

Subject: The Rapture

Preview: As we close out First Thessalonians we are going to see that there are divinely appointed words worth repeating, there is a coming divinely appointed day of the Lord that is worth the wait, but as we wait we need to continue living for Christ.

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:28.

Setting the Stage:

Remember that in 4:1-12 Paul argued that the Thessalonians needed to live to please God.

Now Paul brings together everything with an emphasis on the ultimate reason for such effort. Because Jesus is coming again.

Throughout the book of First Thessalonians Paul time and time again mentioned the fact that Jesus is coming again. Here starting in 4:13 Paul wraps up by giving extensive details on Christ's return. Details that he wants the Thessalonians to know and to draw upon as they live life in a fallen world.

Body

Divinely appointed words of comfort are worth repeating (4:13-18).

If we truly believe Jesus is coming again then there should be a nagging question in the back of our minds. What about those who do not live long enough to see Jesus come again. This is exactly the question that Paul seeks to resolve in this passage. First Paul reminds his readers that

The grief that comes from loss of a loved one does not need to be without hope (13-14).

Two realities are present here.

First, we all have loved ones who have died. This is a reality, there is real grief.

Second we can have hope!

The reality of grief is important. The greek word κοιμωμένων (fallen asleep) does not mean some theologically complex notion of soul sleep but rather is an idiom for death.

People really do die and when they die they cease to be present with us here on earth. We talk about them sleeping to both highlight the temporary nature of death but I think also to try and comfort ourselves over the horrific event that death is. Remember, we were not created to die, God created us to live but sin brought death. Death is a horrible thing and the grief that is associated with death is real! However, with death there is also hope.

Therefore, we do not grieve as others without hope grieve, i.e. we don't grieve excessively.

Hope for the Christian is not mere wishful thinking but confidence in the resurrection of Christ.

If Jesus died and rose again, then God will bring his people with him.

The resurrection of Jesus is one of the best-attested events in history. We can have confidence because Jesus rose!

The greatest reunion of all time is already scheduled (15-17).

The attendees at this reunion include:

Christians still alive at the time.

This might be you it might be me.

Christians who have died.

We know many people here.

Jesus himself.

The central event is the coming of Jesus from Heaven as He takes his own.

The events associated with the coming of Jesus are significant!

A loud command

The voice of the archangel

The trumpet call of God.

It is impossible to know exactly what these three events represent but what is clear is that when this happens it will be forceful and dramatic!

We are also told the order of events.

The dead in Christ are raised first.

You might be wondering, what about those who have been dead for thousands of years? What about those who are cremated and their ashes scattered? What about those who were lost at sea? The answer is, the God who created out of nothing is not limited and verse 15 tells us that this teaching came from Christ so we should just take it at face value!

Those who are still alive are caught up to heaven

The word ἁρπαγησόμεθα (caught up) is from the verb ἁρπάζω which translates in latin into Rapio from which we get rapture.

Verse 17 ends with the truth that the state of being with Jesus after the rapture is an eternal state.

The anticipation of this reunion should be a source of great comfort (18).

We must understand that death is a most unnatural end. We were not made to die. Our soul was not made to be separated from the body. Death is painful because it is unnatural. However, there is hope. Jesus is coming again to reunite body and soul in a newly transformed body. We need to take comfort in this fact! We need to comfort each other!

MTR: Copy down this passage of Scripture and put it somewhere where you will be reminded and comforted.

The divinely appointed Day of the Lord is worth our patience (5:1-11).

The Day of the Lord is a future time period when God directly and definitively intervenes in the world.

Before I can make any progress in this bullet point I need to clarify a term.

The term "Day of the Lord" is one of the tougher to understand theological constructions in the Bible.

In the Old Testament the phrase occurs 18 times in the prophets. The other phrase "on that day" occurs 208 times in the Old Testament.

There are a few New Testament equivalent expressions such as "day of Jesus Christ."

In the passages where the phrases are used they carry the idea of a day when God directly intervenes in the affairs of the world for the purpose of salvation and judgment.

The use of the phrase is rich with dramatic language

such as hands will go limp

and hearts melt,

or the moon and stars will cease to shine as in Isa. 13:7-10.

If we carefully consider uses of the term Day of the Lord then we begin to see that in fact, the Day of the Lord is not a single point in time but in fact there are several days of the Lord.

The Great Tribulation here is one example,

but also the destruction of the heavens in 2 Peter 3:12 is another example.

Ultimately, here the Day of the Lord is a reference the period of time which will be known as the Great Tribulation.

The Day of the Lord is coming but the specific date is not something for us to know (1-3).

In fact, the Thessalonians would have known that the specific details were unknown.

The Disciples wanted to know when in Matthew 24:3 but Jesus emphasized that no one knows the day or hour 24:36.

The day is described as a thief in the night, a metaphor that suburban Lincoln struggles to understand.

If we grew up in Manaus Brazil we would have a better understanding.

My dad grew up in the jungle in Brazil but he spent summers in the city of Manaus. He would tell us stories about the neighborhood. Instead of a wooden fence the neighborhood was filled with concrete walls. On the top of the walls homeowners would break glass bottles and glue them to the top all in an effort to keep the thief from breaking in. In latin America, as in the Bible times there was a constant threat of a thief breaking in.

We don't need to know the exact time because we won't be there!

Note: the use of Rapture in 4:17 uses "we", while the Destruction of the Day of the Lord in verse 3 uses "them".

Something that is worth noting is that while Paul hoped to be part of the people taken in the rapture in 4:17, here Paul has no intention of being part of the Day of the Lord as evidenced by his desertion of them in verse 3.

What we need to know is that the Day of the Lord is coming!

The world declares peace but lacks peace, we continue to live for Christ knowing He is coming!

Actually there is some irony here. The phrase "peace and safety" was propaganda by the Roman Empire as part of the Pax Romana, or Roman propaganda of peace. The world declares peace when there is none. The Christian declare Christ is coming to take the Christian into peace while the world descends into God's judgement.

Image: Before tracking numbers, then before delivery time tracking

Do you remember what life was like before tracking numbers were a thing? I remember that when I heard a relative or someone had shipped me a package I would eagerly wait in anticipation of the arrival of the package but at the same time I had no idea when it would actually come so while I did wait I also continued with life. Then tracking numbers came on the scene but at first tracking numbers only gave a rough estimate of the day. I remember how I used to plan my week to make sure I was home on the day a package would be delivered. I didn't know when exactly but I wanted to make sure I was present. In some sense I think this is the idea here. We know the Day of the Lord is coming so we need to make sure we are ready, but we don't know exactly when it is coming so we should not drop everything and wait on the front step.

The Day of the Lord is not something Christians should worry about (4-7).

The key to the light darkness metaphor is not that we know the exact date but rather we are not completely in the dark, we know it is coming (4).

Just like the package delivery, we know it is coming so we prepare, but we don't know the exact date so we need to be in a constant state of preparedness.

Don't take the metaphor too far. Paul is not saying you can't sleep, he is saying that you must be vigilant, always ready for the return of Christ.

The coming Day of the Lord should motivate us to live the life God has given us (8-11).

The metaphors of verse 8 teach us how to live the life God has given us

Breastplate of faith and love

Time and time again Paul has called for the Thessalonians to grow in both faith and love while also praising the Thessalonians for their faith and love! Faith and love protect vital Christian organs.

Helmet of the hope of salvation (expectation of salvation)

We look forward to that moment when our faith is made sight and that earnest expectation is a vital component in protecting ourselves.

We can focus on living life for God now because we are guaranteed a future deliverance from God's wrath on the earth (9)

We can focus on living for God because even when we fail we are guaranteed salvation from judgement (10).

While in chapter 4 sleeping referred to death, verse 6 and 7 in chapter five suggest it now means to not be vigilant.

Hence, verse 10 powerfully argues that the Christian is guaranteed to miss God's judgement regardless of if they are spiritually vigilant or spiritually asleep.

The conclusion, invest in each other! (11).

MTR: Ask yourself, what does it look like to be busy in anticipation of Christ's return?

The divinely appointed way of life is worth living (5:12-28).

As we move into 12-28 there is a slight change in tone and emphasis. The emphasis is now on how to live the life God intends. The idea here is that we should not get so caught up in the future that we miss the basics.

God's way of life mandates honor be given to His servants (12-13).

The traits of a spiritual leader are given

Hard working

Care in the Lord

Admonishing

Probably refers to warning away from bad behavior

Three commands are given

Acknowledge (respect or recognize) spiritual leaders

When someone takes on spiritual leadership we as a church need to acknowledge them for that.

Hold spiritual leaders in high regard in love

Loving your spiritual leaders is key!

Live in peace

One way to treat your pastor well is to get along with each other!

God's way of life mandates mutual edification with other brothers and sisters in Christ (14-15).

Warn those who are idle

The christian must be careful not to neglect their daily duties!

Warn those who are disruptive

Unity needs to mark the Christian church.

Encourage the disheartened

We need to encourage brothers and sisters who become disheartened.

Help the weak

A christian who is weak in the faith is not someone to ignore but someone to invest in.

Be patient

Don't take vengeance

Strive to do what is good

God's way of life mandates the continual exercise of three actions (16-18).

Rejoice Always

We need to be reminded to rejoice, we have so much for which we can be thankful but it is nevertheless easy to become downcast.

This does not mean that you always must be happy with life's circumstances but rather you must rejoice in the circumstances.

Pray Continually

=The adverb ἀδιαλείπτως (continually) was used in Greek to describe hacking cough

It is not that every waking moment must be spent in prayer but that prayer is something we are constantly prepared to do and that we do regularly.

Give thanks in all circumstances

While the previous two commands deal with time, this one deals with circumstances. We are to give thanks regardless of our circumstances.

God's way of life mandates the rejection of four actions (19-22).

Do not quench the Spirit

We must recognize that it is possible for us to fight against the Holy Spirit and resist his work.

Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all

In the early church prophecy was something important.

With the completion of the Bible prophecy has ceased

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Cor. 13:8

We however do need to test what we are told against the Word of God. Never valuing the word of man above the Word of God.

Hold on to what is good

When we hear truth we must embrace it!

Reject every kind of evil

We must reject false teaching

God's way of life mandates that we depend on God for real living (23-24).

The requirements Paul has outlined are high requirements but we need not despair because God is able to do it through his people.

MTR: Pick one of the five mandates, pray that God will grow you in this area.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:28, Anticipation: It's worth the wait.

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