Sermon on Minneapolis 13.02.2011

We will continue our services yet this evening on this sixth Sunday after Epiphany. And the sixth Sunday after Epiphany only occurs very occasionally. In the Church Handbook, it says that the texts for this Sunday are always the same texts as the 24th Sunday after Trinity.

One of the epistle texts for this day is from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 18. We will hear these words as follows, in Jesus' name:

"For I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Amen."

Paul had left the city of Thessalonica and had moved on to Athens and Corinth. Then he wrote this letter to the Thessalonians and later a second letter. Scholars say that the oldest writings in the New Testament are Paul's letters to the Thessalonians.

We remember that some of those in the city of Thessalonica thought that the second coming of Christ was so imminent that they dropped their work. They went to sit out in the fields and began to gaze into the eastern horizon. They went to just watch and wait for the second coming of Christ. Paul had to address them and say that those who don't work, neither should they eat. Thus, he was saying, get off your laurels, get back to work, for we don't know when that second coming will occur.

Here, the Apostle Paul in this section of the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians is also referring to, first of all, the topic of death. We know that death is a democratic experience. Everyone will equally experience it in just the same manner. As in the book of Ecclesiastes, it says, "As there is a time to be born, there is also a time to die. There is a time to be happy, there is a time to be sorrowful. There is a time to be sick, a time to be well."

So likewise, there is a time to be born and a time to die. In the Bible, it also says that the life of a human being is like a vapor. It's here at one moment and gone the next. One friend of ours called during one of those bitterly cold days and said, "Do an experiment. Heat up some water to boiling temperature. Go outside and take that pot of boiling water and toss it into the air. It will vaporize."

Sure enough, we tossed it into the air, and a good portion of it just turned to vapor and disappeared. That which didn't vaporize came down as icicles and hit the ground. An amazing little experiment. But the Bible says the life of a human being is like vapor. It's here one moment and it's gone the next.

Or it's like the flowers of the field and grass of the meadows during the summer months. For a moment, the flowers bloom and the grass is green. A little while later, the flowers wither and die, and the grass turns brown and is lifeless.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that man must die, and after that, there is judgment. When we think in the natural sense, we as human beings make many kinds of preparations. If we're going to have a Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving dinner, there are many preparations that we must do in the home before that feast or festival is ready.

Or if we're going to go on a camping trip or a hunting trip before embarking on that journey, there are many preparations. Much packing needs to be done. Many supplies need to be procured before we leave on that trip.

Most of us are still during or living our working years of life. Some are still in middle school, grade school, or some of you haven't even started school. But for us parents, many of us are still in the workforce. As we are working, at the same time, we are preparing for retirement, setting money aside, putting it into our 401(k)s or 403(b)s or into our IRAs, not knowing if there will be any Social Security left when we reach retirement age.

We need to prepare for the future. We need to put money into savings so we have something to live off when that time comes. Many of us parents have written up wills to have something secured for our children once we pass from this life.

Now, until April 15th, many of us are preparing for our tax returns, something that needs to be done annually, mandated by the federal and state government.

So we can see from many of these examples that in our natural life, there are many kinds of preparations that we are doing daily, yearly, or maybe even thinking about momentarily. But the greatest preparation that should be done and needs to be done—and I'm sure we've thought about it and we constantly or often think about it—is that preparation for before the end of life, before leaving from this world.

And so here, the Apostle Paul is referring to these events. He begins, "But I would not have you be ignorant." There's a difference between the word ignorant and stupid. A person who is ignorant has no knowledge about something. For example, if the parents tell you children to do something, before that you had no knowledge of what your parents wanted you to do. But after your parents told you to do it, and you don't do it anymore, before you didn't know what they intended until they vocalized it—you were ignorant of the situation. But after they told you to do it, and if you still don't do it, you knew what you're supposed to do, didn't do it—isn't that foolish? Or even you could say it's stupid on your part for not obeying.

So here, the Apostle Paul is using the word ignorant. "I don't want you to be ignorant. You haven't known this truth before, so I'm going to reveal this truth unto you." And what is this truth? "But I would not have you be ignorant. You didn't know it before, now I'm going to tell you, brethren, concerning them which are asleep."

So the situation in Thessalonica, and not only there but elsewhere in that world at that time, there were many people who thought that the person who was alive when Christ returned the second time—as I mentioned, many of those in Thessalonica were sitting out in the field, they had quit working, and they were just gazing at the eastern horizon, waiting for that moment to come. They would be the happy and fortunate ones who could be alive and be taken up when Christ returned.

How unfortunate for those people who had already died before Christ's second coming. Their fate was different. They were like second-class citizens, and they would be treated in a way which was not as good as those who were still alive. So that was the false notion that many of the people had at that time.

And so, here he says, "I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." So those that died in Christ were not the same as those who died in unbelief and had no hope. Some people were equating the two to each other—that anyone who died, whether in faith or in unbelief, were just the same. They were basically hopeless.

Yet, at that same time, there was a pagan or a heathen thought that there was no afterlife. Basically, when a person died, it was the same as a tree falling over in the woods or in the field or wherever. It would just basically decay, disappear, and it would be no more, and that's it. There was no concern or such thing in the pagan world as the hereafter.

So Paul needed to clarify and dispel such false notions and understandings and teach them what is the truth. "For we believe that Jesus died and rose again." Just as Jesus was on the cross, he gave up the ghost, he died, and was buried into the bosom of the earth. Three days later, he was brought back to life again.

That's the example, the analogy, the comparison that the Apostle Paul is using. "For we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Even so, they also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with them."

We remember when the first adult martyr of the New Testament, whose name was Stephen, was stoned to death. The moment he died, it said that Stephen slept away. For us as believers, our departure is like a sleep. The Apostle Paul uses this word "sleep" three times in these few verses that we read.

When we think of sleep, sleep is nothing that we fear. We go to sleep every night, and many of us welcome going to sleep. We know that it's temporary. We will wake up again the next morning. We know that we are still alive and still existing.

At the moment of death, the spirit is separated from the body. As James writes in his epistle, "The spirit without the body is death." So, if our human body doesn't have the spirit of life, it is death.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it says about the moment of death that our physical body will turn to dust and return to the earth, but the spirit will be given unto God. So the spirit is still alive, but the remains of our corpse, our human body, is buried into the bosom of the earth.

We remember when Jesus was on the cross, his last words were, just before he gave up the ghost, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." He gave up the ghost, the spirit left the body, and he died. Or as Stephen said, just before he took his last breath, "Lord, receive my spirit."

That is what happens at death. But then, there is the second coming. In the New Testament, it mentions the second coming 318 times. For every one time that the first appearing or the first coming of Christ is mentioned, the second coming is mentioned eight times.

So, eight times more is the second coming of Christ mentioned in the Bible than the first coming when he was born in Bethlehem, there in the manger.

Here the Apostle Paul says, "Be not ignorant." He didn't want there to be any miscommunication or misunderstanding. We know that there are many types of communication, and sometimes there can be miscommunication, resulting in misunderstanding.

Two hundred years ago, on the continent of Europe, the Battle of Waterloo occurred, and England was embroiled in battle. Here we have instant messaging, email messaging, and cell phones, and communication is instantaneous. But at that time, communication was not very good. It was sending some sort of signal from one mountaintop to another mountaintop, word by word, or even letter by letter.

It was a foggy day, and the message was coming through. England was waiting for the result of the battle, and the message was "Wellington defeated." Communication broke down. England was in turmoil, disarray, and in a state of hopelessness that they'd lost the battle. But later on, the sentence was completed: "Wellington defeated the enemy."

We can see how miscommunication easily can change a situation. So Paul didn't want there to be any misunderstandings or miscommunication regarding death, resurrection, and the second coming.

Now he's going to clarify point by point, detail by detail. Let's analyze and look at this text as we read forward.

"For we say this unto you by the word of the Lord." It's all based on the Holy Scripture, the word of the Lord, God's holy word.

"For we believe by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."

Basically, he's trying to dispel this thought or false notion that there's any difference at all between those who are still alive when Christ returns the second time versus those who already passed away and are in the grave when Christ returns to earth the second time.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." He's not going to send any delegation. He's not going to send his deputy. But Christ himself, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, will himself return when that second coming occurs.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, and it will happen with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And those that are dead in Christ shall rise first."

Those that have already passed away, those that are in the bosom of the earth, there in the grave, they shall rise first.

Then we which are alive and are still remaining shall be caught up together with them.

It's interesting that the Apostle Paul uses this word "caught up," and in some other translations or interpretations of this verse, they use the word "rapture," a very common term used for the events of the second coming. Even though the word "rapture" doesn't appear in the Bible, the doctrine of the rapture is in the Bible.

Just as the word "trinity"—the word itself "trinity" is not in the Bible, but we know that the doctrine of the Trinity is in the Bible. It's very clear that God is a triune God. He's one God, but at the same time, he's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

So he's wishing to say that we are not those who have no hope, but we have hope. As he begins writing in the first chapter of this letter to the Thessalonians, he says, "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope."

We are those who have hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God our Father. So we are not hopeless.

As we mentioned already, the common pagan or heathen thought was that after this life there is no hereafter. In fact, on many of the tombstones back in those days, there was a common inscription that was written, and it was this:

"I was, I was not, I didn't exist; then I became, I was born and I lived here on this earth; and then I am not, I died; and then lastly, I care not."

So, "I am not, I became, then I am not, and then I care not." A very common pagan thought: who cares? There is no hereafter. There is nothing to worry about.

But we know that that is wrong. That's a false notion. Jesus assured his disciples when he was on the Mount of Olives, when he was ascending back into the glory of heaven after being with his disciples for 40 days and 40 nights after Easter, ascending, taken up in the clouds back into heaven.

It was the angel who came to comfort the disciples who were downcast and forlorn, and they said, "Don't be mournful, don't be sorrowful. Jesus, who you just saw be taken up and disappear into the clouds, in like manner he will return again. Be of good cheer and don't be in despair."

"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, and he will come with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And then the dead in Christ shall rise first."

But when will this event happen? There are many people who have tried to predict this event. During the last century or during the 1800s, there was a religious group who concluded that the second coming and the end of the world was going to happen within the next year. So they sold all their cattle and all their animals that they owned, got rid of their farms, and began to wait. Of course, the second coming didn't happen.

Also, there was a group of Jehovah's Witnesses who concluded that the second coming of Christ was going to happen in the spring of 1874. Well, the spring of 1874 came upon them and nothing happened. So they moved out the date 18 months into the future, or they said, "We made a miscalculation."

We could find example after example after example. As Jesus said, no human being knows when that second coming is going to be. Not even the angels of heaven, not even the Son of Man himself. Only God knows when that moment will be, and only God knows when he's going to take his finger and push that button. When he pushes that button, then the second coming of Christ will occur. But he hasn't told anyone when he will decide to push that button.

Here in the next chapter, the Apostle Paul, when he's talking about the second coming, compares it to a thief. We know that a thief isn't going to send a postcard or leave a voicemail message that says, "Be ready, I'm going to break in and rampage your house, pillage your house on such and such a day." Of course not. But the thief always comes suddenly and unexpectedly.

Another analogy that's used to compare to the second coming is the pain and pangs of childbirth that an expecting mother experiences. We know that when she begins to experience labor pains, they often start up and begin suddenly. But we know that from this moment on, the end result is unavoidable. We don't know when the labor pains will begin, but when they begin, they will be unavoidable.

Using these two examples, we don't know when Christ will come. It will happen suddenly and unexpectedly, and it's something which can't be avoided.

"And they which are alive and remain shall be caught up." That's where the word "rapture" is used.

We remember when Philip was there in that chariot visiting with the eunuch of Ethiopia. After the events were over and after the conversion had happened, and the eunuch of Ethiopia was baptized, it said that Philip was caught up by the Spirit and he disappeared. So the same word is used.

We remember when the Apostle Paul came into Jerusalem. Was he already a prisoner? No. He came into Jerusalem and was captured. They were kind of waiting for him to come, and then they violently took hold of him and were going to tear him apart. They began to treat him violently, but then the soldiers came and snatched him away. He was caught up out of the grip of the violent masses there in Jerusalem.

Here the Apostle Paul is using this same term. At the end of the world, when Christ comes the second time, we are going to be as if snatched up quickly and almost in a violent way—not a harsh way, but in a quick, strong manner—to be snatched up to go up and meet the Lord.

Then we which are still alive and remain shall be caught up to be together with them in the clouds.

It's interesting that he uses the word "in the clouds." We remember when Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law of the Ten Commandments and conversing with God, he was in the clouds.

Then when Jesus was on Mount Transfiguration and took three of his disciples—Peter, James, and John—with him, two Old Testament saints appeared with them: Moses and Elijah. He was in the clouds.

So it will be at the second coming, the events of the second coming, that we will be snatched up to be in the clouds.

Then it says it's amazing that it will be in the air. It's the same term that the Apostle Paul uses when he's writing to the Ephesians. It was the understanding that the devil or Satan was in control, and his area of control was in the air.

He writes in the second chapter to the Ephesians, verse 2: "Wherein in times past you walked according to the course or the ways of this world, you were walking according to the prince of the power of the air."

So when Christ comes a second time, he will snatch us up into the clouds and into the air. That will be the final consummation, the final conquering over the power of the enemy of souls, who has power even in and over the air.

We will be snatched up through the air and off into heaven's glory. The reign of the devil will be gone forever and ever.

We will be caught up to be together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall be forever with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

In the previous sermon, we heard spoken about that text from Revelation 7. Those were the events there in the glory of heaven. John on the Isle of Patmos was able to see that great cloud of witnesses, greater than any person can number, and they were all dressed in white robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb and washed in the gospel word.

That will be that great event at Christ's second coming when we can be forever and ever with Christ in heaven's glory.

Here the Apostle Paul is referring to these same events. We have no need to fear that when we die, our mortal corpse will be buried into the bosom of the earth, and it will be said to us there at the committal of our funeral, "From dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return."

But our spirit, our soul, is still alive. Where it goes until that second coming, we know not. Only the words of Jesus do we have, where it says when Lazarus died, his soul was taken to the bosom of Abraham.

When Christ comes a second time, then that soul which is in the bosom of Abraham, wherever that bosom of Abraham is, will then be restored and joined again to our same mortal body, which was buried in the earth, which has turned to dust, and it will rise. It will rise again just as a seed is put into the ground. It is immortal seed, but it rises in immortality.

That seed is sown in sickness, but it rises in power. Paul gives a few other explanations.

Those that are blind will no longer be blind. Those that are lame will no longer be lame. Those that are sick with cancer or some other illness will no longer be inflicted with such sickness, illness, or pain.

We will rise with a new body, a body likened to that body which was Christ's body of resurrection when he rose from the grave and appeared behind locked doors. They were able to still see the print of the nails in his hands and in his feet and the wound in his side where the spear was put.

But it rose in power, it rose in glory. He didn't have to open up the door or unlock the windows. He suddenly appeared behind locked doors to the fearful disciples there in that room.

"Fear not, I'm not a ghost, I'm not a spirit. Give me some bread, give me some fish," and he began to eat.

The second time when Thomas was there, he said, "Thomas, come, take your fingers and put them into the print of the nails in my hands and in my feet, and thrust your fist into that wound in my side, and do not be doubting but believe."

So it will be for us that great day of resurrection on the second coming of Christ. We will be caught up into the cloud and into the air to be with the Lord forever there in heaven's glory.

We will have a new body, one with power, one with glory, one which will be immortal, will never die, and it will not be weighed down by the sins of this journey.

We have much to look forward to. The goal is bright. So remain encouraged and even now believe. Sins, doubts, trials, faults, and cares forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood.

The power of the gospel will lift us, will carry us, and will bring us footstep by footstep and one day translate us to the glory of heaven in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us his peace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.