1 Thess. 4:13-18 “Grieving with Hope”

2:14As our passage opens, we find the Thessalonians in a very precarious situation. One that's understandably causing the church a lot of stress and anxiety. Because of Paul's abrupt departure from the city, it seems that he has forgotten to mention or he simply hadn't gotten around to telling them about what happens to those in the church who die before Christ returns. While we can't be sure, it seems like a member or perhaps multiple members in the church had died unexpectedly, and the members in the church were very upset. They were very grieving and anxious over what it meant for those who had died.

3:00I mean, you can imagine not knowing what happens to believers who die before Jesus returns. They were just upset. They were wondering, did this mean that perhaps they will miss out on the resurrection? Will these brothers and sisters who died, will they have a less than experience when Jesus returns? All of these unknowns was simply causing their grief to increase and to intensify. And in the midst of their grief, Paul, just like Linus with Lucy, he wants to offer the Thessalonians some sound theology with the goal that it will take a great load off of their mind, with the goal that it will bring them comfort and encouragement. But we know this morning that it's not just the Thessalonians who need this sound theology, who need this comfort because it's you and me. This morning in this passage, God, in his great love and care, desires to take a great load off of our mind as we consider and as we think about how are we to respond to the death of those who we love, who trusted in Christ. And we need this sound theology because the truth is, we are just really bad at thinking about and responding to the reality of death in the 21st century.

4:23There are a number of reasons for this, but perhaps the biggest is that our culture has done everything it can. To remove death from our day-to-day lives. For most of us, if you've ever encountered death, it might have perhaps taken place in a hospital or in a funeral home or perhaps a nursing home, and that is just not how it's been for most of history. And because the reality of death is not in front of us, most of us just aren't sure how to process the death of someone we love or even how to care for those who are walking through this experience. We wonder: are we supposed to grieve? Are we supposed to feel relief? I mean, we know the Bible says something about hope. Where in the world does that fit into my experience or to how I meant to encourage other people? Well, it's into these questions that God wants to offer us some sound theology as He shows us how we are to respond to the death of a believer and as He shows us the reasons why we can respond in this way. Specifically, in our passage this morning, God shows us that we can grieve with hope because of Jesus' resurrection and His promised return. We can grieve with hope because of Jesus' resurrection and promised return. So we continue this morning as we unpack this passage, answering these two questions here, looking at our response to the death of a loved one and why we. can respond that way is going to be our outline. We're going to look at the response and then we're going to look at the reasons. So first, our response. As Paul opens this passage, he shows us the proper Christian response to the death of a believer. Read with me in verse 13. Paul says, but we do not want you to be uninformed brothers, better translated brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep. Let's stop there.

6:33Here again, we see that Paul is addressing an issue that he didn't get around to teaching on during his brief time in Thessalonica. And that's why he begins by saying that he doesn't want them to be uninformed about those who are asleep. Asleep being a common euphemism in the ancient Near East and in the Bible for someone who has died for death. We see that all over the Bible. Jesus even talks about Lazarus, even though he had died. He just says that he has fallen asleep. So this verbiage here of sleeping refers to death. And as he continues, we see why Paul doesn't want the Thessalonians to be uninformed about those who have died. Because as he goes on to say at the end of verse 13, the reason he doesn't want them to be uninformed is because he doesn't want them to grieve as others do who have no hope.

7:30It's in these words right here that Paul shows us how we are to respond to the death of a believer. We are to grieve with hope. We grieve with hope knowing that death is not the end. See that there at the end of verse 13? He doesn't want them to grieve as others do, that is, those who are not Christian, because they have no hope. But instead, he wants them to grieve as those with hope. We grieve, yes, but not like the world, because we have a sure and certain hope that fundamentally changes how we grieve the death of a believer. For those who have grown up in or around the church, this idea of grieving with hope is certainly a familiar one, but at least, or at least, unfortunately, at least in my experience, it's been largely misunderstood. It seems that for most people, this idea of to grieve with hope means that you experience a little bit of grief, and you experience a lot of hope in light of the death of a loved one.

8:46A little bit of grief, and a lot of hope. We see this in the common things that we say, or the common things that are said to us after someone we loved died. Things like, God just needs to be. Him or her in heaven more than we needed them here. We say things like, well, at least they didn't suffer, or at least their suffering is over, or, well, at least you know where they are. Pretty much any statement that starts with the phrase, well, at least, is a common phrase, it should be a telltale sign to us that we've missed what that means to grieve with hope. Because as well-mentioned, as well-intended as these statements might be, and many others like them, they all implicitly send the message to those grieving that they really shouldn't be as sad as they are.

9:41That hope should be greater than their grief. That because of the hope we have, knowing that death isn't the end, that we really shouldn't grieve at all, or at least we shouldn't grieve that much or that long. But to think of our response in this way, is really to fundamentally misunderstand what Paul's saying here. In 1 Thessalonians 4, before Paul speaks one word of hope, he affirms the goodness of grieving. And this makes sense because grieving is what love looks like in light of loss. We're to grieve because this is what love does in response to loss. In fact, as we consider not grieving. The death of someone we loved would be completely unloving. Loss hurts, and so we grieve. We weep, we cry, we sob sometimes uncontrollably. We sit in silence, we wonder, we ask why.

10:50We miss the person. We feel the physical ache and pain of this person's absence. We mourn. And we do all of this not sinfully, but faithfully as a sign of our love for the person we've lost. The Lutheran pastor Harold Sankbiel has beautifully written: The proper response of God's people in the face of death is to weep. Even though we do not weep as those who have no hope, we weep nonetheless. Love and grief go hand in hand. It's God's own way this side of the resurrection. Grieving is our holy calling. I just love that. Grieving is our holy calling. Sisters and brothers, it is very important that we understand this point because all too often our default reactions to our own grief, but especially The grief of others is to see their grief as either a sin at worst or perhaps a sign of spiritual immaturity at best. But this just shouldn't be the case, especially not in the church. Of all people, we should be the quickest to comfort those who are grieving, to weep with those who weep, to sit silently and just be present with those who are hurting. So, for those of us, those like me, who perhaps are tempted to want to move people beyond, to move people along in their grief, to want to push them over the hump of sadness into joy and hope, let's allow this passage to shape us into people who are patient with those who are hurting, to understand the grief, to understand that grief is what love looks like. Because the absolute worst thing that we can do is to create a culture where people who are suffering, people who are grieving, feel like they have to put on a happy face when they come to church. This verse will not allow that. So, let's be a people that come alongside others in their grief and gives them space to grieve, whatever that looks like for them. So, for those of you here this morning who have experienced loss, perhaps. This past year or many, many years ago, there is no timeline on our grief. I hope this morning that the Spirit is ministering to your heart, perhaps giving you the freedom that you might have never felt that you had to grieve. To weep and to mourn the loss of those you've loved. It is good and right and loving to grieve. In fact, as you do so, you are simply imitating Jesus, who has the very same response to the death of his dear friend Lazarus in John 11. He weeped uncontrollably at the death of his friend. And as one who has grieved the loss of a loved one like Jesus has, he can sympathize and empathize with you in your grief. He knows what it's like, so take your grief to him this morning. So how do we respond to the death of a believer? We grieve, but as Paul shows us here in verse 13, it's a different kind of grief. It's a hopeful grief because for those who have trusted in Jesus, we know that death is not the end.

14:47We do not grieve as the others do who have no hope, Paul says. To better understand what Paul means here, I think it's helpful for us to see that in the first century, in the first century Roman world, The majority of people believe that after you died, you simply ceased to exist. There was no afterlife. There was no nothing. You died, and that was the end of it. The only exception to this belief were the Jewish people who believed in a future resurrection at the end of the age. Though as we see in the Gospels, not even all of the Jews believed in an ultimate resurrection. So it's into this cultural context here that Paul speaks this word of hope, making it clear that while we do rightly grieve the death of a believer, this grief is joined, this grief is mixed with hope. Because for those who've placed their trust in Jesus, this life is not all there is. Especially, this life is, yeah, this life is not all there is. There is more to our stories than what happens here in this life. I mean, can you imagine how encouraging this would have been to those Christians who had, to those, would have been to those Christians, especially those Greek and Roman Christians who came out of this background that believed that death was the absolute end. But to now be told that because of Jesus, they can have this hope. They can grieve the loss of their loved ones with great hope, knowing that this isn't the end. It would have been incredibly transformative for them. And in the same way, it's meant to be incredibly transformative. Transformative for you and for me as we consider our experiences of grief. It's meant to encourage our hearts that while we do grieve, we grieve with hope. We grieve with hope not that minimizes our grief, but a hope that reminds us that it's only temporary. We grieve, we weep, we cry now. That is good and right, but we do so knowing that it's not permanent, but knowing it's only temporary. Because as we are going to see in just a minute, our grief for our sisters and brothers in Jesus will not have the final word. One day we will all be together again, never to experience grief or sorrow.

17:14But before we turn to verse 14 and see the reasons that we can hope, I want to speak to a pastorally difficult topic to address here. As you may have picked up on throughout the sermon, I have been, or at least I have tried to be, very intentional about how I have phrased my comments about hope. I've talked about the hope that we have when those who have trusted in Jesus or those who have believed in Jesus die. And I've said it like this because the Bible is clear that for those who've died who did not place their faith or trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life, we do not grieve for them with hope.

18:00As much as we might want to believe that after someone dies, there remains an opportunity for them to believe in Jesus, the reality is that that is just not the case. The Bible does not talk about that, and the Bible leaves no room for that possibility. When Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, those who have not looked to him, those who have not trusted in him alone for salvation, will not receive the promise of eternal life. And so, for those of you here this morning who have yet to trust in Christ, this morning I want to urge you to turn to Jesus, trusting in his life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and for the promise of life with God forever.

18:54This is an opportunity that is held out in this life alone. So this morning I urge you to turn to Christ, trust in him, turn from living your own way and turn to Christ, looking to him for the forgiveness that you desire, the forgiveness that is found only in him. And in that, receive the promise of eternal life. Receive the promise of resurrection. Receive hope. I think for those of us here this morning who have trusted in Jesus, I think this passage should serve as a reminder. to the weightiness of this reality and to prayerfully consider what impact this passage might have on your and my interactions with the non-believers in our life. I mean, the truth is this promise of hope should stir in us a desire to share this hope with those who do not yet know Jesus, those that God has placed into our lives in our streets, in our communities, in our workplaces, in our classrooms. We have an opportunity to share this great hope of life after death with those who do not yet know Christ. And so, brothers and sisters, let us sense where the Spirit might be convicting us or urging us all the more to reach out more faithfully to those in our spheres of influence.

20:18So we've seen this morning, we've seen our response to the death of a believer. Let's now look at the two reasons why we can grieve with hope. In verse 14, we see the first reason, and that is that Jesus' resurrection guarantees the believer's future resurrection. Follow along as I read verse 14. Paul writes, For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. In these words here, we are given the first and the most important reason. That we can grieve with hope for those who have died in Christ, and that is because of Jesus' resurrection. Because Jesus died and rose again, all of those in Christ who die will be raised again in the resurrection. The Thessalonians need not worry or fear that those who've died will miss out on anything, because as Paul says here, God will bring with him, that is Jesus, those who have fallen asleep. Jesus' resurrection guarantees their future resurrection. This here is just one of the many reasons why the doctrine of the resurrection was so important to the early church. Certainly, because it proved that Jesus was the Messiah, that all that he said and taught were true, but also because of the great comfort that the doctrine of the resurrection is meant to give all those who trust in Christ. You see, the hope that we have that we will once again be with those who've died, it's not a wishful thinking. We're not crossing our fingers hoping that it will come about. This hope isn't like my hope that my beloved Padres will make the playoffs this year. Or perhaps for some of you, as you look forward to Aggie football this coming year, it's not like your hope that they're going to have a good season. It's not like that. No, our hope is. the future resurrection is sure and certain because it's based on Jesus's resurrection. Because he was raised, we too will be raised. And just like Christ, one day we will be raised and we will be given resurrected bodies. The reality of Jesus's and our future resurrection gives us a sure hope. a hope that changes how we grieve as we can look forward knowing that once again those who have died in Christ will have bodies, will be raised from the dead, will be with us as we are in Christ's presence. We can grieve with hope. This reality of Jesus's and our future resurrection, it also offers us a helpful corrective for how we can often think about death in the afterlife. You see, for many of us, we can think that going to heaven when we die is our ultimate hope. We offer words of comfort to those who are grieving by pointing out that the person who died is in heaven now with Jesus. And while it is true that those who die are in Jesus' presence, this is not what should bring us the most comfort because it's not what we ultimately place our hope in. You see, however comforting it is to know that the souls of the world, Those who've trusted it in Jesus are in his presence right now. It should be even more comforting to us to know that one day our loved one will be raised from the dead, given a transformed and a glorified body, and will physically be with Christ forever. That right there is our ultimate hope. So, first, we see that we can grieve with hope because Jesus' resurrection guarantees the believer's future bodily resurrection. But in verses 15 to 17, Paul gives us a second reason that we can have this hope. And that is because when Jesus returns, all will be raised and will be with him forever. Beginning in verse 15, Paul doubles down on his effort to comfort the grieving Thessalonians by once again reminding them that those who have died will not miss out on anything when Christ returns. Hear what he says. He says, 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. Hear the comfort and encouragement in these words? Those who are alive have no advantage when Jesus returns. They will not even precede those who fall asleep. Have fallen asleep. In other words, here, Paul's saying, you're grieving with no hope because you think that their death means that they are going to miss out on something. But the truth is, they're actually, those who have died in Christ will actually go before you. So grieve with hope for them and for yourself. In verses 16 and 17, here, Paul gives us the play-by-play on how Jesus's return, his second coming, will go down. Follow along as I read verse 16. He says, For the Lord 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. When Jesus returns, it will be to great fanfare. There's going to be a cry of command, the voice of an archangel, the sound of the trumpet of God. The Thessalonians would have instantly recognized that in using this loud language here in verse 16, that Paul was describing the type of activities that would have accompanied the coming of a king or an emperor or any dignitary or political leader to town. All of this noise, all of this fanfare here would have signified that someone very important was approaching town. And brothers and sisters, this will be a good thing. Never be more true than on that day when Jesus returns. As we see at the end of verse 16, when Jesus comes, the dead in Christ will rise first. As the first order of business, all of those who've trusted in Jesus and died before his return will be raised from the dead. Their resurrected bodies will be transformed and reunited with their souls as they come face to face with the risen and returning Christ. And after this takes place, Paul says in verse 17, 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. After the dead in Christ are raised, Paul says that we who are alive will be raised. That is, our bodies will be transformed and glorified, and we will be together with all those who've died as we meet the Lord in the air. Now, this phrase here, in the air, has caused a lot of confusion for folks over the last 200 years or so. As you may know, this passage is proof text number one for those who believe in a rapture, the belief that Jesus will come and take all Christians out of this world. Before a seven-year tribulation takes place on the earth, perhaps no one has made this view more popular than one of the founders of the college I attended, Tim LaHaye, in his Left Behind series. Now, I want to be clear that this position, one that I grew up hearing in church, one that I was taught in Iwana and at college, is not an unbiblical one. This position, the belief in the rapture, is an orthodox Christian belief. If you believe that this morning, you are not wrong in doing so. There are a lot of godly women and men who love God, who love his word, who believe in the rapture. However, I do not believe that that is what this passage nor the rest of God's word teaches. Instead, I think it's best for us to read this passage the way the Philippians or the way the Thessalonians would have. As I mentioned earlier, when talking about the sound of the trumpet, the language Paul is using here in this passage, and especially his use of the word coming in verse 15, it's frequently used to describe a royal visit to town. You see, when a person of high rank or status made a visit to a subject state, it would have been extremely disrespectful to have that king or that emperor arrive at the city gates by himself as though. His subjects couldn't be bothered to greet him properly. So, not wanting to offend the king, what would happen when the citizens of the city would hear that this king or this emperor was coming, what they would do is they would meet him a great distance out from the city. And after meeting him, they wouldn't just stay out there in the open country with him, but they would then escort him royally into the city with much fanfare, sounding trumpets, shouting with loud cries. I mean, you can just picture something like the Oscars or another award show, or perhaps even an official state visit where a leader of another country comes to visit the United States. When these things happen, what do we do? I mean, we literally roll out the red carpet when these things happen. We send advanced convoys to prepare for the grand entrance. When they arrive, the cameras are clicking and the people are shouting. Images like this are what would have come to mind for the Thessalonians as they read Paul's words here. They wouldn't have thought of some secret rapture, but they would have thought of a very loud and recognizable arrival of King Jesus coming to town.

31:18That's what is happening here. This is the picture of Jesus returning, of the saints who have died being raised from the dead, of those who are still alive being raised to meet Christ in the air to return and accomplish. Him to earth as he comes, bringing his kingdom. On that day, the dead in Christ will rise first. All those who are alive will be raised to meet Christ in the air, and then we will all royally escort him back to earth where we will physically rule and reign with him forever. And if this hadn't been comforting enough, what Paul says next at the end of verse 17 would have knocked their socks off. See what he says at the end of verse 17. He says, And so we will always be with the Lord. We will always be with the Lord.

32:11This right there, the phrase right there, always being with the Lord, is the ultimate hope of all of God's people. This is what all of salvation history has been pointing to, and this is what all of God's actions are leading to. They're leading to this glorious moment when we will all, with transformed and glorified bodies, will be in God's immediate presence forever. We will see him face to face. He will be our God. We will be his people. Oh, brothers and sisters, this is the ultimate happily ever after that Disney could never dream of. This is the day when Sam Gamwise, Sam Gamgee, Sam Games, Gamge's question will finally be answered. This is the day when everything sad will come untrue. On that day, there will be no more grief or sadness, there will be no more death or dying, there will be no more sin, sickness, or cancer, there will be no more depression, there will be no more mental illness. Instead, we will all be with Christ forever. What a glorious day this will be. What a great hope it is meant to give all of us right here, right now, especially those of you who are grieving. We have a great hope to look forward to. Our grief is temporary. We have hope that one day Christ will return. We will be with him. We will be with those who have died in Christ. We will be in Christ's presence, seeing him face to face, and seeing him, we will become like him.

34:07This is our great hope. This is why we can grieve with hope. No wonder Paul ends this passage by saying, Therefore, encourage or comfort one another with these words. Well, it turns out that Linus was right. Sound theology. Really can take a load off. As we question and we wonder how we should respond to the death of a believer, God has shown us here in this passage that we can grieve with hope because of Jesus' resurrection and promised return. Thanks be to God.

34:53Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.