Dearly loved by God in Christ
Jesus,
Wanted Dead of Alive. You may have seen that
poster in a movie about the old West. It means the sheriff doesn’t care how you
bring in the bad guy. It would even be possible to bring in two bad guys; one
dead and one living at the same time. The same thing is true when it comes to
the saints receiving our final triumph. God does not care how Christ finds us
to bring us into heaven; dead or alive.
The believers in northern Greece were learning
more details about their new faith in Jesus Christ. One of those details
involved the second coming of Christ in judgment, which we talked about last
Sunday. Another question in their minds was what about those who had died prior
to Jesus’ appearing. As all Christians are to do, they fully expected the Lord
to return at any moment.
We want to keep growing in our knowledge as
we expect the Lord to return at any moment. Whether the Lord finds us living or
already dead, We Will Be Forever with
the Lord When He Comes. First, Jesus will bring with him those who have
fallen asleep; second, Jesus will take up to be with him and them those who
remain alive.
The apostle Paul follows Jesus’ example of
calling the death of a Christian sleep. It is sleep because after the soul
returns to God who made us, the body rests in the earth until the resurrection
of the dead on the Last Day. “Asleep in
Jesus, blessed sleep, from which none ever wakes to weep,” countless
Christians have sung at the funerals of loved ones who have died in Christ.
Paul assured the Thessalonians of this truth about their now departed brothers
and sisters in Christ.
Paul did not want the Thessalonians or us to
remain “ignorant” or unknowing about
the future of those who have died prior to Judgment Day. He did not want us to
grieve over our dead “like the rest of
men who have no hope” because they do not trust in Christ and his
resurrection from the dead. That is the basis for our hope, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again…”
Certainly, we have grieved over our dead in Christ as Jesus wept at
Lazarus’ tomb. However, even as we grieved we have the certain hope of their
resurrection to new life in heaven.
We will be forever with the Lord, as Jesus
will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Already the souls of those
who have died in faith in Christ are enjoying the perfect righteousness and
peace of the heavenly realms. They are at the Savior’s right hand and see Jesus
face to face as they await the day in time “when
the Lord himself will come down with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God.” Jesus’ voice of authority will call their
bodies from graves, or mausoleums, or the sea, or the air, or wherever they
are. The archangel’s voice will call their risen bodies together from the four
corners of the earth in their final triumph over sin and every result of sin.
The trumpet will sound the victory.
When Jesus returns he will not be alone. He
will bring with him the saints already triumphant and dressed in the white
robes of his righteousness and holy blood. Today, we remember our fathers and
mothers, brothers and sisters, children, dear members of our congregations and
friends we have grieved over at their deaths but with hope. We hope for that
day when they come with Jesus.
Perhaps we will be among them. We will be if
we die before the day the Lord has determined will end the world’s time of
grace. For the sake of the elect, after the gospel has been preached to every
creature, the living and reigning Christ will bring with him the souls of those
in heaven. They will return to reclaim their bodies at that time glorious as
Christ’s body in glorious. Those bodies no longer will have a sinful nature.
They no longer will be subject to the results of sin; weakness, grief, pain,
and death. Then we will be together with the Lord in body and soul.
What about those who still are alive when as
Peter writes in his second epistle, “That
day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements
will melt in the heat.” We will be with the Lord forever, as Jesus will
take up to be with him and them those who remain alive.
Paul wrote to the living believers in Christ
for their comfort and hope, “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.” This
is not the false rapture of the millennialist, when
believers suddenly disappear from daily life and all the heathen are left
behind for another chance.
We can’t think of “after that” as being a long period of
time either. The Holy Spirit is describing events that take place suddenly,
simultaneously and after time has ceased. If we are still alive Paul wrote to
the Corinthians in his first epistle, chapter 15, “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-in a flash, in the
twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead
will be raised, and we will be changed.”
God wants us believers dead or alive. We will be with
Christ forever. There is the greatest joy and peace of heaven. Yes, it will be
wonderful no longer having the hurtful things we must currently endure. How
much more wonderful to be able to see Jesus, to see God, for we will be holy
like him for eternity.
One of the purposes for congregational
worship is to encourage one another. Paul has given us something to be
encouraged about not only as we approach the end of the current church year
next week, but as Jesus prepares the final triumph of his saints. “Therefore encourage each other with these
words…we will be with the Lord forever,” whether we are dead, no, asleep in
Jesus, or alive waiting for Jesus. Amen <SDG>