Vintage MacArthur: The Rapture (1/7)

this morning we come finally to the great text of 1st Thessalonians 4 13 through 18 please open your Bible to that particular passage of Scripture this is of course familiar to most of us as believers we know it as the rapture passage the passage which describes the catching away of the church it is in many ways the favorite text in this wonderful epistle that we've been studying here for months and months and months and finally we have arrived at the long-awaited time to discuss this great event as we approach the text I've entitled it what happens to Christians who die what happens to Christians who die I'm often asked that even by Christians in fact usually by Christians questions like after we die do we go directly to heaven or what happens to our bodies the details of those kinds of questions are very very important to us and they can be troubling if we don't know the answer we want to know what happens after we die and we would like to know what happens to the bodies of those we love when they go into the grave those are pressing issues and they were equally pressing issues on the young believers in Thessalonica remember now those to whom Paul wrote this letter had only been in Christ a matter of a few months and they had only had just a few weeks really of exposure to Paul's ministry so they were very much babes and they had become very troubled about this issue of what happens to Christians when they died they believed certainly in life after death because it says in chapter 1 verse 3 that they had hope there's no question that Paul had told them about eternal life because he preached to them the gospel and they believed it and they turned from idols and so we know they knew about eternal life they knew that salvation was synonymous with living forever with God in heaven and they also knew about the coming of Jesus that Jesus was going to someday return and gather all his people together and take them to be with him they knew about that great gathering event and so there were some questions in their mind about how that all sort of worked out like if you die now do you miss the gathering apparently Paul had made that gathering event so glorious he had made that gathering event so wonderful that they were very worried that some of them might miss it even though they would be living in eternal life they would still be very concerned if they miss the gathering together in fact it was so much on their minds that when you go back to chapter 1 would you notice verses 9 and 10 as Paul describes them he says they turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven now there you have the three dimensions of their salvation the past turning from the idols of the past the present serving a living and true God and the future waiting for his son from heaven this was a waiting group chapter 2 verse 19 Paul refers to them as his hope and joy and crown in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming so they must have known that the coming was something very special first of all they would meet Jesus and they were waiting for him secondly they would be the crown and joy and rejoicing of the Apostle and they were thrilled about that beyond that they knew a few other things look at chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 Paul says now as to the times and the epochs or seasons brethren you have no need of anything to be written to you for you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night they also knew about the day of the Lord they knew about a time of coming judgment on the ungodly they knew then that when Jesus came he would gather them to be with him and he would also judge the ungodly they were waiting for Jesus to come they were waiting for the gathering time now in their waiting they had become somewhat disturbed some of them probably feared that they had missed it that it had happened without them how so well they were entering into persecution and afflictions and some of them probably thought that they were going to be gathered before that happened so in chapter 3 verses 3 & 4 Paul has to say to them so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this for indeed when we were with you we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction and so it came to pass as you know he reminds them now wait a minute you shouldn't be surprised by difficulty and persecution I told you it was coming but maybe there were some of them who thought they were going to be gathered together before that really took place certainly they were living in immense expectation and would fear that they might miss such a great event in fact in chapter 2 of 2nd Thessalonians Paul says we request you brethren with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and gathering together to him that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come somebody had been spreading the word around either by supposedly an angelic messenger a spirit or some fabricated letter from Paul that the the great event had already happened in the day of the Lord had arrived and so there was an awful lot of concern and loss of composure they were disturbed had the day of the Lord already begun had they somehow missed the gathering together and then the most imminent question was what about the Christians who died will they miss it it isn't that they didn't believe that they would go to heaven it was will they miss this great event will they somehow become second-class citizens in the future will we know them only eternally as sort of disembodied glorified spirits while we go in our glorified bodies so that they are sort of secondary or or maybe we won't even have communion with them at all and there won't even be a reunion with these two kinds of beings all of these questions were in their minds we can't identify anything more specific than that but they were living in expectation of Christ's return they were so excited about it that the best way to describe their hope was they were waiting for his son they wanted the Lord to come they knew it was the climax the culmination the great event that signaled the pinnacle of redemptive history and they didn't want to miss it it's also interesting to note that they loved each other so much they didn't want each other to miss it and so apparently they were feeling grieved as believers were dying for fear that they would therefore miss this great event it is with their grief and their confusion that Paul intends to deal if you look at the text and verse 13 he mentions being uninformed or ignorant and the fact that you are now grieving about it and then in verse 18 he mentions the word comfort his purpose was to eliminate their ignorance thus to eliminate their grief and thus to bring them comfort now summing that up let me say this the passage is more pastoral than it is theological it is more intended to alleviate confusion grief distress and bring comfort than it is to give a theological eschatological delineation of every factor in the gathering together they were agitated they were upset they were confused they were worried they were fearful after all they're baby Christians they don't know very much they're living everyday waiting for the Sun to come and as some of them die in the month since Paul has left their question is what happens to those people do they miss it and their love for each other is so strong chapter 4 verse 9 says as to the love of the brethren you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren they loved each other so much they were grieving because some might miss this great event so Paul writes to alleviate their grief to bring them great measure of comfort their anticipation was very very high about the return of Christ and I believe it is fair to say that Paul had communicated to them that Jesus could come in their lifetime if that was not what they believed then the whole question is meaningless their concern was they were believing Jesus had come at any moment and as some were dying their fear was they're going to miss it the only reason they would have that fear they would have that anticipation is because they believed it could happen soon the major question then is what happens to Christians who die before the Lord returns and since they had the impression that he could come at any moment they were deeply concerned about this issue it may well have been that somebody could have suggested well according to the principle of first Corinthians 11:30 if some Christians fall into sin some are weak and some are sick and some sleep or are dead it may be that these people are dying because of sin in their life that we don't know about and God's just laying them in the grave because of their sin and only the ones who live a pure life are going to make it to the coming of Jesus and maybe if they are resurrected in the future it's going to be some time after and some lesser circumstance and all of that and so Paul pens these verses let's start at verse 13 but we do not want you to be uninformed or ignorant brethren about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope he says I don't want you to be ignorant and as a result of being ignorant grieving I don't want you to worry about those who died having missed the Lord's return you say well how did Paul even know they were thinking like this back in chapter 3 verse 1 you remember he mentions how he couldn't endure any longer not knowing about them and so in verse 2 he says we sent Timothy and then in verse 6 it says Timothy has come back and when Timothy came back it says he brought us good news of your faith and love I like that because back in chapter 1 Paul commended them for their faith and their love and their hope but when Timothy came back apparently he only brought him good news about their faith and their love because their hope was a little messed up and it needed to be straightened out a little bit because they were so confused so Paul writes to deal with that confusion and its consequence grief now would you know at the beginning of verse 13 we're gonna take our time with this will will continue next week and maybe even finish it but I want to do it very carefully because this is a very very important passage and a very important subject you'll note at the beginning he says but we do not want you to be uninformed brethren that opening statement is Paul's favorite way to change the subject that's his favorite way either in a positive or a negative format to change the subject sometimes he says I do not want you to be ignorant such as here and in Romans 1:13 first Corinthians 10:1 etc sometimes he'll also say I want you to understand I want you to know like first Corinthians 11:3 Philippians 1:12 and other places but whether he says I want you to know on a positive side or I don't want you to be ignorant it marks a change in the subject to a new topic with no direct connection to the one previous and it's rather emphatically is a call to attention which signals something they need to give their attention to we're done with that and I'm calling you back again to a new discussion brethren it's a term of affection obviously and and he had immense affection for them as the end of chapter two indicates when it says that he was burdened bereft really because of the great desire he had to see their face and so he he turns the corner with the word but he grabs their attention for the new subject with the word brethren and then he says we would not have you uninformed or ignorant this then introduces a new subject this introduces not only a new subject but in this case new teaching new revelation indicated in verse 15 by the word of the law a revelation that he has received so here he will deal with their ignorance which has led to their confusion and grief restlessness and lack of comfort and what is it that he's going to talk about we do not want you to be uninformed brother about those who are asleep why does he use the word asleep why doesn't he just say dead because sleep is the unique way to speak of Christians in repose in temporary repose by the way the word asleep coma Oh to cause to sleep is the word from which we get our word cemetery which it was the early Christians optimistic name for a graveyard it really meant a sleeping place it really was a synonym for a dormitory a place where people sleep now how is it that Christians are spoken of as sleeping you'll notice as I answer that question first of all that it's in a present tense form this participle here and it has the idea of those who are continually falling asleep that is believers who fall asleep from time to time as a regular course of life in the church they're saying what about these Christians that just continue to die I mean life is like that it ends right and they keep dying and he says I don't want you to be ignorant about what happens to people after they die now the word sleep in the Bible is used of normal sleep a recovery process by which the body goes into rest temporarily John 1112 uses it in its normal sense but the word for sleep is also used uniquely of Christians and it's used a number of times for Christians now listen carefully and it always refers to their bodies it always refers to their bodies the only part of us that goes into any state of unconsciousness at death is the body in John you remember chapter 11 and verse 11 our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep jesus said but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep now everybody knew Lazarus was what he was dead he'd been dead for three days his sister said by this time his body stinketh decay had set in he had been entombed he was dead from Jesus view he was only asleep his soul was alive not bound in the grave we don't know where it was or what it experienced because the scripture doesn't tell us but it does not pass out of existence since it is eternal and it is eternally conscious but his body was at rest and Jesus saw that as temporary that's why he calls it sleep sleep is something you wake up from if you don't wake up you're dead or you eventually will die and so Jesus sees the death of Lazarus as temporary repose of his body look at Acts chapter 7 just to give you a full understanding of this you remember when Stephen was being stoned it says in verse 60 falling on his knees he cried out with a loud voice Lord do not hold this sin against them and having said this he fell asleep he fell asleep it was death from the human viewpoint it was death from the clinical viewpoint it was sleep because it was only temporary repose for his body his spirit didn't go into unconsciousness if you don't think so look at verse 59 he said Lord Jesus what receive my spirit it was only his body that was to be in repose to be asleep asleep by the way from which even his body would awaken and that's the main point that I want you to understand when in first Corinthians 11:30 Paul says of Christians and many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep he again refers to death for a Christian asleep because it is the temporary repose of the physical body in chapter 15 of first Corinthians verse 6 it talks about Christians who saw the resurrected Christ many of them remain until now that is to the writing of this epistle but some have fallen asleep there's that same familiar concept verse 18 those who have fallen asleep in Christ and then in verse 51 I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep again referring to Christians in death second Peter three four mentions it whereas the promise of his coming for ever since the father's fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation there it is the wistful anticipation of unbelievers that those who have died have died only a temporary death but for Christians the term is accurate for it is a temporary thing even for pagans there will be a resurrection there is a sense in which the pagan bodies only sleep for they too will be raised however they will be raised to eternal damnation and death so thus it is not appropriate to speak of theirs as a temporary death therefore asleep but as a permanent death and not asleep at all now let me go a step further the term sleep or the concept of sleep does not refer to the soul there is no such thing as souls sleeping when Stephen was dying he said Lord Jesus receive my spirit and he had the anticipation of entering into the conscious presence of Jesus Christ nowhere does the scripture ever teach that at any time forever the spirit of a person is ever unconscious that's what makes hell so terrible it is consciousness in the absence of God forever that's what makes heaven so wonderful it is consciousness of the presence of God forever you remember in Luke 16 as Jesus told the story of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man that when Lazarus died he was immediately unconsciously in Abraham's bosom and comforted and you remember when the rich man died he was immediately unconsciously in torment and cried out for someone to give him water to touch his tormented tongue you will remember that in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 the Apostle Paul looks at death for a believer and in verse 8 he says to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord there's no purgatory there's no intermediary condition there's no state of unconsciousness or semi-consciousness there's no spiritual coma to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord in Philippians 1:23 the Apostle Paul says far better to depart and be with Christ you're either here or with Christ there's no intermediary condition for the same they go to be received into the presence of Jesus Christ there is no intermediary place for the Damned they go into conscious punishment and torment but while the spirit of that dead Christian goes immediately into the presence of Christ that body is asleep it is in repose it is in rest it is in a dormitory as it were and a Christian in a graveyard is just sleeping in the dorm nothing more now the question comes swell why is Paul so concerned to tell them about these Christians who have died verse 13 says that you may not grieve they were grieving about it you say well now wait a minute anybody grieves when a Christian dies that they know and they love and they care about don't Christians grieve and don't they sorrow and don't they lament and don't they shed tears when loved ones die that's normal isn't it yes very normal and certainly the Spirit of God instructs us in Romans 12:15 to weep with those that weep there's a normal sorrow reasonable sensible release of the pain of separation and loneliness that God is designed for our benefit he's not talking about that follow along in the verse he says I don't want you to grieve like people who have what no hope I don't want your grief to be that dead-end grief that grief that comes to people because there's no contemplation of reunion I don't want you to think that Christians ever say a final goodbye because they don't that's a great thought isn't it you never say goodbye to a believer for the last time there'll always be another time I don't want you to grieve like the hopeless pagans grieve in Ephesians chapter 2 as Paul delineate the character of of being lost the essence of it he says they are separate from Christ they are excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel they are strangers to the covenants of promise they have no hope and are without God in the world among those characteristics of the Lost is that statement they have no hope they have no hope in life after death they have no hope in reunion through the years I've had funerals continue to have funerals of unbelieving people or funerals of believing people where unbelievers are in the family and the hopelessness is terror fine the terrible sense of finality no reunion no future never more the touch of the hand the sound of the voice never again finality to be so consumed in life with a person and then have the curtain drop so totally absolutely and finally is it is a cause for deep despair the greater the love the greater the pain and it is the pain of hopelessness you say well now wait a minute weren't there some pagans who could be numbered among the rest there who taught life after death yes there were some of the mystery religions that might have espoused that some of the ancient cults that would have espoused that there were some philosophers in ancient times who taught there was an afterlife but nonetheless the common teaching was that this was all there was this was it catalyst sort of a road of the common view when he wrote the Sun can set and rise again but once our brief light sets there is one unending night to be slept through end quote people lived with hopelessness for the most part and I might add that even people who were believing philosophers who taught an afterlife or who were into mystery religions that taught an afterlife could never be confident about their wish for an afterlife because they had no indwelling Holy Spirit to vouchsafe that reality to them and so their hope was subject to the whims of their flesh and a whimsical kind of hope that's dependent upon the flesh is no firm hope no sound hope and so it's safe to say they are without hope non believing but religious people who are taught there's a life after death can cling to the wish without having the affirmation of God that it's true in some cases it may be worse than having no hope because it's hope and no hope hope and then no hope and hope and then no hope and it vacillates better to come to finality about no hope and get on with life so people live with hopelessness the hopelessness the fear of never being again together no reunion Paul says look I know you're concerned about those Christians that died from time to time and I I know you're concerned that maybe they're going to miss the gathering together and you love them and you want to see them again and you want them to be there and they're not gonna be there and you're gonna wonder where do they go and where are they and how can we recognize them if they're not there in bodily form and it won't be like it was and will the reunion happen and he says look I don't want you to grieve like the hopeless pagans who have no comfort in the promise of a reunion reunion is here beloved it is it is also in the very terminology of second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1 when it's called our gathering together to him as we are brought to him we are gathered together to each other there will be reunion there will be a gathering together and he says you don't need to fear and you don't need to grieve about it like people who are looking at a dead end we need to get that somehow deeply embedded in our hearts don't we that is our confident hope partings here are just brief now he says I don't want you to be an uninformed people about the Christians who are dying I don't want you to grieve as the rest who have no hope now in order to eliminate that and to comfort you I'm going to tell you about the gathering together and this is what prompts his discussion of this great event by the way this is one of the three passages in the New Testament which are the key passages in delineating this event John 14 first Corinthians 15 and first Thessalonians 4 and we'll be intersecting with all three as we go through this great text by the way each time our Lord gave teaching through the Holy Spirit each time this teaching came on this gathering together event at the coming of Christ it was in response to certain distress in John 14 the disciples were distressed and confused and discomforted why because Jesus was what he was leaving in the middle of their distress they were wondering what is going to happen to us and so jesus said let me comfort you I'm coming back in the case of Corinth some were flatly denying altogether the resurrection and denying that there ever would be a gathering together and the Corinthians were confused will there be one are you ever going to collect us together is there going to be a resurrection and so he writes 1st Corinthians 15 about resurrection and verses 51 to 58 about this gathering together itself and here you have the same thing the Thessalonians are distressed and disturbed maybe because of their lack of information and also because of some misinformation being given to them and so in each case distress doubt confusion even denial has caused the Spirit of God to put this down now I say that to say in all three cases it comes primarily as comfort it comes as a pastoral message rather than an eschatological treatise what is most interesting about it is if you look at the great eschatological passages of the New Testament Matthew 24 and 25 and the book of Revelation you don't find a gathering together this specific event in either one of them it's almost like this is reserved as a as a point of comfort contact it fits into the whole scheme but those books which give you sort of chronological flow eschatological events do not focus on this specific event here it comes in a pastoral way it's almost a very special very private very personal ministry of the Spirit of God to comfort trouble believers about their future so this launches Paul then to discuss this event which we call the rapture you say now where do we get that concept rapture go down to verse 17 the verb there shall be caught up is the verb harpazo snatched snatched it means to snatch up to seize it means to carry off by force and it has the idea of a sudden swoop of irresistible force that just sweeps us up from a latin word connected to this word comes our word rape to give you the idea of the force the seizure the snatching concept and so there is coming a snatching away a seizing by force swooping us off gathering us together to the lord in the future and paul says in order to eliminate your ignorance and your consequent grief and to bring you comfort i'm gonna tell you about all right now you're gonna tell us four things about the pillars of the rapture the participants in the rapture the plan of the rapture and the profit or the benefit of the rapture let's at least look initially at the first one this morning the pillars of the rapture what is it built on we've got to have a foundation for this it isn't philosophical speculation it isn't religious mythology it isn't some kind of fable fabricated by well-meaning people who want to make folks feel good because of their sorrow what is this great promise that Jesus is coming to gather us all together built on it gives us three elements to the three pillars really the death of Christ the resurrection of Christ the revelation of Christ let's look at the death of Christ verse 14 for if we believe that Jesus died stop right there in this case the if could be misleading it doesn't suggest any doubt it's only there to indicate logical sequence the logical sequence of believing if you believe and in this case that condition is fulfilled so you could say since you believe that Jesus died or based on the fact that Jesus died that's just simply laying down a premise since you believe in Christ's death thus and thus and thus and thus and he follows with a statement so if you believe or if we believe that Jesus died that's where it all begins in order to believe in the rapture and in order to understand the coming of Jesus to snatch away his church you have to believe in the death of Christ or what does he mean by that well it was the death of Christ that paid the penalty for our what our sins so it was the death of Christ then that brought us into the possession of eternal life it is because Jesus bore our sins in his own body it is because he became sin for us it is because in his death he fulfilled all the conditions that God required to pay the penalty for sin it is because of that that we can be gathered together by Christ into God's presence right so we have to start at that point it was in his death that he fulfilled all the conditions so when Paul says if we believe that Jesus died he's not simply talking about the death of Jesus in some flat one-dimensional martyr kind of mentality he is summing up in it the whole atoning work if we believe as it were in full implications of the death of Christ then we know that judgment for sin has been satisfied right we know then that we by virtue of that have been made acceptable to God and if we have been made acceptable to God then there is a pillar on which the gathering together can occur if we are not acceptable to God he's not going to gather us to himself if we don't belong to his son by substitutionary death and faith in that person and work then he's not going to gather us together but because in his death we are saved from death we believe in the gathering together in fact Jesus died and he noticed he doesn't referring to Jesus used the word sleep Jesus died feeling the full fury of death in all of its dimensions as he bore in his body our sins in order that he might turn death for us into sleep one writer puts it this way death has been changed to sleep by the death of Christ it is an apt metaphor in which the whole concept of death is transformed Christ made sleep the name for death in the dialect of the church and quote Christ made sleep the name for death in the dialect of the church why because he paid for our sins you say what does that have to do with it the wages of sin is death if the wages are paid then we no longer face death only temporary sleep the sting of death is what sin 1st Corinthians 15 56 it's like a bee and when the bee stung Jesus and he died the stinger was there and there's no sting left and so there's no death we need to say not so and so died but so and so in spirit is alive with Jesus Christ and their bodies asleep waiting for the gathering together that's what happens to Christians when they die their spirit goes immediately be with the Lord fellowship their body goes into repose sleeping that's the first great pillar that hope is provided for us in his death second one verse 14 for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again there's the second pillar when Jesus was raised from the dead by the father it indicated that the father approved the sacrifice of Christ and that in raising Jesus he would raise those who were in him when God the Father raised Christ from the dead he indicated that Jesus Christ had triumphed over death not only for himself but for every Christian and that's why Paul goes on to say if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so now there's the bridge those two words God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus sea our resurrection and our gathering together and his coming is predicated on his resurrection I like what I heard Marshall at Aberdeen Scotland wrote he said this God will treat those who died trusting in Jesus in the same way he treated Jesus himself namely by resurrecting them he will treat us the same way he treated Jesus and when Jesus died where was his soul well it was alive and it was proclaiming victory and triumph and his body was in repose but God raised that body and joined it to that eternal soul of the second member of the Trinity and that's exactly what he's going to do for you when you die your spirit goes to be with the father and with the son and your body into the grave but God will take that body out of the grave in the same way that he raised Jesus he'll raise you to be joined with that eternal spirit into that final form like Christ you'll be like him for you'll see him as he is says John so even so is the link between the death and resurrection of Christ and what happens to Christians when he comes the resurrection of us all is linked to the resurrection of Christ 1st Corinthians 15:20 3 says Christ the firstfruits and afterward they that are Christ's at his coming as God raised him up as it says in Hebrews 13 20 us up also remember John 14:19 Jesus said because I live you shall live also 1st Corinthians 6:14 says it directly God has not only raised the Lord but will also raise us up through his power 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 14 says the same thing he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you that's our hope the pillar of the gathering together the death of Christ the penalty of sin is paid and God is satisfied that we are righteous in Christ and he can receive us to himself the resurrection which is God's guarantee of Christ's perfect accomplishment and the guarantee of our resurrection who are in Christ for he will treat us the same way he treated Christ namely he will raise us from the dead and then Paul specifically says it in verse 14 God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus what's he saying he's saying look dear friends you aren't gonna miss anything even the people who die aren't going to miss it based on the death of Christ and it's perfect work based on the resurrection of Christ and the Father's will God is going to bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus with him means with Christ when Christ comes in his glory to gather his people those who have fallen asleep are to be there that's the answer to the question now what what is this little phrase God will bring with him with him means with Christ but what do you mean God will bring some say it means that God will bring with Christ from heaven down the spirits of dead Christians to join their bodies you know it says later that we meet in the air and so that God will bring down from heaven there are souls to meet the resurrected bodies coming up they'll be a joining together at that point some people say it means no God will bring with Christ back to glory all those gathered together living and dead once they're gathered God will bring them back to glory let me say which is true well probably both I don't think we need to get carried away and be too technical some have even said what it means is God is going to bring the spirits of these believers out of heaven all the way down to earth and they stay on the earth that's one view that view doesn't make sense if you're going to come all the way to the earth why meet in the air that's an unnecessary trip if we're going back secondly that doesn't square with what the Bible says you say well what do you mean look at John 14 for a moment verse 1 let not your heart be troubled believe in God believe also in me the disciples again were troubled because Jesus was leaving and they didn't know what was going to happen to them he says I'm going away that's right in my father's house are many dwelling places if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare what a place for you where in heaven in the father's house and if I go and place for you there is a logical conclusion I will come again and take you there does that make sense does to me I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also I'm going up there to the father's house and I am going to fix a place for you and then I'm gonna come and get you and I'm going to take you to the place I fixed for you where I am it has to be heaven so we conclude then that when Jesus gathers believers together which way are we going up we meet in the air and we continue the heavenward movement yes it's fair to say that our spirits the spirits of Christians who have died come down to meet those bodies but once the meeting takes place we are gathered together to Christ he gathers us to himself and he takes us to where he is which is clearly in the father's house in heaven where he's been preparing a place for us there has to be then some time interval there before it returned to earth for the establishment of the kingdom and so when Jesus comes he says God's going to bring along all the gathered together including those that have fallen asleep God's gonna bring them all to himself along with Jesus Christ that's the gathering together that's the event and he says that those who have fallen asleep aren't going to miss it so don't grieve for those who are dying and for yourself should you die again I remind you it really is clear that they had reason to expect that Jesus could come in their lifetime right or all of these questions wouldn't have existed if they thought it was thousands and thousands of years down the road Paul had given them the impression that it could come in their lifetime one other note that I just mentioned to you the end of verse 14 those who have fallen asleep in Jesus the best way to understand that phrase is a sort of phrase of what you could call a tendon circumstance the use of di here can reflect the idea that they died in a circumstance of being related to Jesus Christ they died in a situation where they were related to Jesus Christ so all who have temporarily gone into repose in the graves as to their physical bodies in relationship to Jesus Christ are going to be there at the gathering I just want to let you know folks that if you're ever in Christ you're always in Christ and you can be spoken of as being in Christ even though you're asleep your body is asleep it's a it's a permanent designation we have fallen asleep in Jesus it says in first Corinthians 15:18 those who died in Christ remain in Christ for ever and ever and will be risen in Christ and collected with the rest who are alive now that's just the first part the good part is yet to come when we see one more of the pillars and then the plan the participants the profit from this but that'll be for next time let's bow in prayer while your heads are bowed for just a moment I was reading this week about a little girl five-year-old girl who was watching her brother die of a very very painful disease he was much older than she and she loved him a lot and after he died and the funeral was over she said to her mother she said mommy where where did brother to which her mother replied while he went to heaven to be with Jesus she said oh and that satisfied her little mind not long after that she heard her mother having a conversation with a friend and her mother was weeping and saying I've lost my son I've lost my son I've lost my son later in the day the little five year old went to her mother and said mommy is somebody lost when we know where they are well the answer to that question is no nobody's lost when we know where they are we don't grieve as those who have no hope those that have died in Christ their spirit is in His presence their body is asleep and they will not miss the great event of the gathering together of the church when Jesus comes that is the promise of Scripture thank you Father for such a promise and such a hope we pray this day that there'll be no one in the hearing of this message who does not live in that hope father we pray for those who have no hope who look at death as a blind alley a dark hallway a dead-end street have no hope of reunion no hope of resurrection no hope of eternal joy God bring them to the Savior this day save them Lord save them with your grace that they might have the hope of those in Christ living and who have fallen asleep that someday we shall all be gathered together to be forever with Christ to go to the dwelling place prepared for us in the father's house to be where our Savior is how we thank you Father but that hope is available to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ or pray in his name amen

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Id: MUDa-aO_qd8

Length: 53min 40sec (3220 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 04 2019