“The Comfort of the
His Coming”
1 Thess. 4:13-18
The event
that kicks off end time events, is the rapture of the church- called the
heavenly home going, the blessed hope, the catching away, the snatching of the
saints, the resurrection of the just, or resurrection unto life.
The great
hope of the church is that Christ will come and rapture us to heaven before
death intervenes, but even if death comes first, we will be resurrected and
given glorified bodies like His.
The fact of
our hope is that Jesus Christ coming in the air to take His bride to heaven. Rapto is Latin
for “caught up,” the English
word is rapture. Those asleep when Jesus comes will be
resurrected, those alive will be raptured.
TT: In the rapture we see the comfort of our Lord’s coming
[vs. 13, 18]. What brings us comfort can be found between these two verses.
1. The Revelation [
A. The
Problem of the Revelation [v. 13]. The burning question for the church at
Thessalonica expecting the Lord’s soon return, was this, “What happens to our
loved ones who put their faith in Christ, but died before Jesus comes?” and
“Are they left behind when Jesus comes?” Paul writes to answer their questions:
1. His first
reason for writing was to remove their ignorance by
Biblical
insight. To be
ignorant means to be uniformed or
without understanding.
2. His second
reason was to give hope based on the truth of the resurrection of Christ [v.
14], and then the truth of the rapture.
Paul reveals
the mystery that gives the believer hope. Mystery
hidden in the O.T. and now revealed in the
N.T. thru Paul’s
teachings from revelations he received in
3. His third
reason was that this hope would remove grief. Paul’s point is not to grieve,
but don’t grieve as those who have no hope.
We sorrow
over our loss and separation, but never for their loss. We rejoice that they
are with the Lord.
B. The
Promise of the Revelation [v. 14-15].
1. Note the
phrase “sleep.”
This phrase
describes the nature of death for the believer. Death to the believer is only
sleep.
Sleep is as a
figure of speech for death. Just as the one who is sleeping does not cease to
exist, so the dead believer continues to exist. The grave is a bed for the
body.
The
immaterial part of man still functions while asleep, so the
believer is awake and enjoying the presence of
the Lord.
Sleep is
temporary, so is death of the body. This figure of
death anticipates resurrection.
2. “In Jesus”
This means we
are eternally joined with him in an inseparable
relationship. If we die before He comes, then our
bodies that are asleep will be raised before those who are alive because we earned
that right.
2. The Return [4:16a].
A. The
Delay of His Return. Jesus said, “I will come again to receive you unto
myself.”
Just as he
entered history and time at is first coming after 400 years of silence, he will
do the same at the rapture of the church. One day his patience will be over, he
will break the silence again.
B. The
Difference of His Return. the rapture and the
second coming [return]- [Matt 24. and Rev. 19].
At the
rapture we ascend in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, at the second
coming the Son of Man comes on the clouds and touches earth.
At the
rapture he comes himself for his bride before the
tribulation
to take us to the Father’s house, at the second coming we come with Him as the
angels gather his elect Israel after the tribulation to enter the millennial
kingdom.
At the
rapture there is a resurrection, at the second coming in
Matt. 24, it
says nothing about a resurrection.
At the
rapture he comes 7 years before the tribulation to rescue His bride, while at
the second coming he comes after the tribulation to the earth with his saints
to reign in the millennial kingdom.
At the
rapture he comes as a bridegroom, and at the second
coming He comes as “the wrath of the Lamb.”
At the
rapture his people witness his return while the world sleeps in darkness. At
the second coming every eye shall see him and mourn over the one they pierced.
At the
rapture we go to the Bema Seat Judgment, at the second coming we are arrayed in
fine linen having been through the judgment seat.
At the
rapture we are rewarded, at the second coming we reign.
Paul’s goal
was to bring these believer’s comfort. They had no
comfort if they were to look for the Antichrist.
If
the Antichrist was coming first and the church would go thru the tribulation,
then Paul lied to them [1 Thess.
3. The Resurrection and Rapture
[4:16b-17].
A. The
Sounds of the Rapture [vs.16b-17].
Shout, voice, and
trumpet.
1. Shout is for the church- 3 shouts of
Jesus in the N.T. Every
time Jesus shouted there was a
resurrection.
He shouted at
the tomb of Lazarus and Lazarus was resurrected.
He shouted at
the cross [Matt. 27:5-53]. Selected O.T. saints were resurrected after His
resurrection.
He shouts at
the rapture and calls for the church to come up
here. The body of Christ that was injected
in history at Pentecost, will be supernaturally
ejected out of history at the rapture.
2. Voice is for the angels to assemble them
to carry out the
tribulation judgments and for Armageddon.
3. Trump is for
Lord’s return and kingdom.
Trumpets for
After the 4th
feast of Pentecost [birth of Church] there was a
gap before the last 3 feasts. After the
gap, followed the feast of
Trumpets [
B. The
Sights of the Rapture.
1. Resurrection of those who are asleep [v.
15-16].
Paul here
answers the concern of the living Christians who had concerns about their dead
loved ones. They had not missed the rapture, they had priority. All those who
died in faith earn the right to go first.
The
resurrection corresponds with the Jewish harvest. There
were 3 stages- 1] the first-fruits were
those at Christ’s
resurrection,
2] the harvest will take place at the rapture, 3] the
gleanings will be tribulation and O.T. saints
in the tribulation.
2. Rapture of those who are alive and remain
[vs. 17-18].
Paul lived in
eager expectation of the Lord’s return “we.”
The word
“caught up,” means to “snatch away,” “to pluck,”
“to seize by force.” Paul used the same word when he was
caught up to heaven [2 Cor. 12: 2, 4].
Ex of magnet- if you were to place iron, silver, gold,
lead, and
copper on the ground, which one would a
magnet pick up?
Why? Iron has
the same nature as the magnet.
We will have
a double reunion- with our loved ones and the
Lord. The word
“meet” means a delegation of citizens who meet a visiting dignitary.
4. The Reassurance [v. 18].
A. The
main purpose of the passage is comfort not grief “as others who have no
hope.”
Without
comfort thru the Scriptures and the resurrection of Christ, how can we have
comfort? We are told to wait for Him and set our affections on things
above.
B. Thank
God we have hope.
We will not
face eternal condemnation from God. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus,
and the second death will not touch us.
We will be
resurrected at Christ’s return if we die before he
comes. Should he come before we die we will
be gloriously
transformed like him and be with him forever.
Con:
This is the
rapture that preludes the tribulation and second coming. Christ comes in the
air and resurrects those who died in faith and raptures all living believers
who remain on the earth.
There are three
groups of people in our passage- Those who have no hope, those who sleep in
Jesus, and those who are in Jesus and live and remain.
We have only
two groups here this day- those who have no hope and those who are in Jesus and
are live and remain.