The parousia; the rapture; the bottom line.
Bottom Line Eschatology:
Whether We Christians are Awake or Asleep, We will Live Together with Him
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:13. This morning we are going to be dealing with a text that has to do with eschatology. Eschatology is the study of last things. For most Christians, the returning of Jesus is what eschatology is all about. When we talk about the coming of Christ, there is another term we should know about. It is the Greek word, parousia. Parousia means; an appearance, arrival, or a coming of someone. In ancient Greece, it was used for the formal arrival of a king. Parousia is used in our 1 Thessalonians passage, in 4:15, to describe the coming of the Lord.
For the first generation church the subject of the parousia had seemingly been a somewhat easy subject for Christians to contemplate. The Christians were looking for Messiah to come back to destroy Jerusalem, and the earthly remnants of the Old corrupt Temple system that had become defunct at the institution of the New Covenant in Christ's blood. Christ's disciples remembered His warning for that generation that Christ proclaimed to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:36, and a few moments later in Matthew 24:34; and so they looked forward to the events, and they taught them. Subsequently, the ancient church of the following generations believed that what Christ foretold would happen in that generation, did happen. It culminated at AD 70--just before the end of one Biblical generation, which started at the advent of Christ's earthly ministry 40 years prior when Jesus turned 30, Luke 3:23. A desolation of the Messiah's enemies who sat on the seat of Moses (the apostate Israelites), occurred in the destruction of Jerusalem. Through the following centuries, AD 70 was believed to have fulfilled eschatological prophecy concerning that age. A future fulfillment of similar eschatological prophecies, along with some double fulfillments, could also be seen in early writings, and creeds, to reflect the basic view of the church over the following generations. Though the nuanced views were not consistent among the writings of the early church patriarchs, the expectation that Christ is coming a final time, was a consistent view over the centuries of the church's history. It may come as a surprise to some of us, but there was no complex systematic theological study of all the pertinent prophecies over the centuries like there is today. Until the protestant church age, the ambition to develop a robust Biblical layout of all the prophecies, wasn't a major concern.
In our time, contemplating doctrines of the parousia is no longer as simple as our first generation roots. It has become a complicated, seemingly endless, work that has turned into more of a relentless debate than an agreement. As a debate, eschatology has taken on aspects of a kind theological puzzle competition, or an intellectual game. Some people love to play; too many people think they are experts; others get weary of playing, and still others don't even care to. But there is another category--A lot of Christians can't agree on what the rules are supposed to be. The big problem today, is that there are too many views of Eschatological prophecies. Add to that, the fact that every player is faced with an infinite number of riddles, seeming paradoxes, strange language barriers, traditions, and basic lack of a consistently agreeable consensus system for bringing it all together. Many people think they have already solved the puzzle, which seems like it should be a blessing for the rest of us, but in reality, this leads to one of the biggest problems facing this fascinating trend. The big problem is that each one, with their own unique view, thinks the Holy Spirit has given them spiritual insight to understand it all according to their view--which, accordingly, must necessarily be the correct view! Each view has it's teams, and each will argue an exact opposite interpretation of passages than the other teams. They have their game plans; their schematics; their charts. They have their own rules. They even have their star players, and coaches. Each one has their own unique reconciliations of so-called problem passages, and believe me, only someone who is not familiar with this subject, would naively say that there are no problem passages--including the so-called experts who fancy themselves to be the winners in the eschatological theory game. Even picking your view does not mean that you are in alignment with your team.
There is the idealism view, with all of its sub theories, alternate allegorical interpretations, and esoteric principle categories. Idealism sees eschatological prophecy as a whole lot of nebulous messages that teach us lessons, like fables, and analogies do. Then there is the historicism view. It has all its sub-theories, and competing historical time lines, and connections. Historicism suggests that all the prophecies concerning the parousia have to do with blocks of time in the long historic timeline from the first generation, through the middle ages, on through now, and beyond. Then there is the fulfillment view, (called full preterism). It has its subgroups, and never ending categories of fully fulfilled theories. Full preterism suggests that every prophecy concerning the parousia was fulfilled in the first generation of the church in some spiritual sense, and in some physical sense, culminating in AD 70 at the destruction of Jerusalem. Then there are the partially fulfilled reconciliations (usually called orthodox preterism, or partial preterism). They see some unfulfilled prophecies remaining, and some see some double prophecies to be fulfilled again, in a final way, in the future. (Every single eschatological view that is not full preterism, is partial preterist, by the way, whether they claim to be; deny this fact, or not.) Then there is futurism. It has millions upon millions of sub-views and categories, of which partial preterism shares some elements. Historicism is a team player with futurism. So is Amillennialism. But, then you have Post-millennialism. It is also in the futurist arena to some extent. Then there is pre-millennialism with its post-tribulational rapture view groups, mid-tribulational rapture view groups, and the pre-tribulational rapture view groups. Eschatology is like thousands of little alluvial rivers that are flowing, with streams breaking off to form other rivers, and some of the others converging and joining still others in an endless waterfall of theory, speculation, a whole lot of brain power, and unfortunately, a lot of pride, confusion, and division permeating the whole streaming process. Of course, God's word is true, and sufficient to express God's view of eschatology. It is all the thousands of competing theories that claim to be THE revelation of the Spirit that are getting in the way. But, the truth is there in God's word, and it used to be rather simple to understand for the early church; though there were some understanding problems back then, which is why Paul writes our passage to the Thessalonians. What I am hoping to accomplish in this introduction this morning is help us recognize, that when it comes to eschatology, it used to be generally simple, but now it isn't. Welcome to reality. And with this fact, I am trying to teach us to avoid a problem. What I mean is that some people who get into eschatology take it so seriously that they divide over it. It becomes their standard for fellowship with other members of the body--with other vessels of the Holy Spirit--with other people that Christ gave his life in torturous sacrifice for. Yes, this is a problem. In fact, if you happen to think a certain eschatological view of Scripture is more logical than theirs, they may call you a heretic and may even suggest that you are not saved. This is the way things are today, and so as we learn from our passage, I want you to keep everything I have said in mind. I am going to attempt to relegate my teaching to the simple early view of the context of Paul, Silvanus, Timothy, and the Thessalonians. In doing so, I trust that God will teach us vital lessons.
You might be wondering,
"What was the early view?"
The early view is that Christ is coming back to destroy His enemies; so, be ready for His arrival, and encourage the brothers and sisters with these things.
Please read our passage with me now, starting in verse 13,
"13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep [dead], so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [died] in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep [died]. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (Chapter 5) 1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brothers, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
Please prepare your heart to learn along with me from the preaching of God's word in this sermon titled,
Bottom Line Eschatology:
Whether We Christians are Awake or Asleep, We will Live Together with Him
[prayer]
There are six things that I want to bring out of our passage this morning to edify us in bottom line eschatology. They are important Christian principles that we all need to learn and live by.
For the first principle, let's take a look at the first couple of verses of our section,
"13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep [dead], so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [died] in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep [died].
@1 We who are saved, should not _____________ about the fact we must die, as do the unsaved who have no hope. (1 Thess. 4:13)
The first principle, is that contemplating the return of the Lord should be an opportunity for hope, and not for grieving. Evidently the Thessalonians had some misunderstanding about Christians who had died before the parousia. Paul wants to comfort them with facts, and so Paul uses the term "asleep" to get the point across that the death of the saints is not like the death of people who have no hope. Though the body is dead, the spirit is still alive in Christ, and so until Christ comes, those who have died in Christ are safe and secure in the bottom line fact that whether we are asleep or awake, we will live together with Christ forever and ever. Whenever you think about Christians who have died in the past, you can be assured that you will see them forever in your resurrected state. This is not the case for the unsaved (for the lost). People who are not saved may believe a false religion that says they might see others in an afterlife, but they are wrong. They have a false hope, and even if they claim a hope, it is not a hope based upon the gospel. They only speculate that when they die there might be a chance that somehow their good deeds will outweigh their bad deeds, and so they think that there may be a chance that they might have eternal life as a reward. It is a false hope, based upon a false belief. Then there are people who do not believe in an afterlife at all. Their only hope is, now. But now fades with every next moment. And so hope fades in the same way for people who hope in this life only. But this is not the case for those who are asleep in Christ. Paul asks,
"19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." 1 Corinthians 15:19
@2 Our _______________ in Christ goes beyond this life only. (1 Corinthians 15:19)
The point is that non-Christians have sorrow for the dead because they are facing the unknown. But you and I should have confidence that both those who are asleep, and us who are alive, have the same glorious eternity with our resurrected Lord. Even Old Testament saints (before Christ established the New Covenant in His blood), have the same eternal spiritual salvation. All of them gained God's approval,
"39 ... through their faith, ... 40 because God had provided something better for us,
["Us" are we who are in the New Covenant in Christ]
so that apart from us
[we who are in the kingdom of God in Christ]
they
[God's elect going back to Adam]
would not be made perfect." Hebrews 11:39-40
In the crucified and resurrected Christ, we, along with they, are all made perfect in the Perfect One forever. So, when the Scriptures explain that there is a time for grieving, or when Paul says that the death of Epaphrodites would have been a sorrow upon sorrow to him, or when we see that Christ grieved at the place of Lazarus' death, we realize that there are natural temporary emotions; but for us, the reasons for such grief is not because of a lack of hope for those we know will be raised up to be with the Lord. Our hope is in the truth. Nevertheless, weeping can happen. Let's consider Lazarus for a moment. The time frame is over 2000 years ago. It is winter, John 10:23. Jesus and His students are outside Jerusalem beyond the Jordan, John 10:40. Someone comes and tells Jesus that his friend Lazarus is sick. After waiting a few days for Lazarus to die, Jesus says,
"11 ... "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.' 12 The students then said to Him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.' 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead,'" John 11
Notice that Jesus uses that same "sleep" language. Jesus knows that Lazarus is dead, but Jesus also knows that He is going to give Lazarus life again. When they finally get to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. His body was rotting, and it stunk. Jesus meets Lazarus' sister, right outside the town. He says to her,
"23 ... 'Your brother will rise again.'" John 11
When she hears this, she says,
"24 ... 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.'" John 11
We can call this Martha's eschatological view. Even before Christ had been crucified and resurrected, Martha has insight into the future hope concerning those who are God's remnant. It is the same hope that Paul is talking about. It is our hope too. It is the bottom line: Whether we are asleep or awake, we, who are His people, will live together with Him forever and ever. Then,
"25 Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die." John 11
@3 Jesus is the life. All who believe in Him will never ____________. (John 11:25)
This a prophetic pronouncement of what was to come when Christ rises from the dead. This, by the way, is bottom line eschatology.
Christ is our resurrection and our life; all who believe in Christ will live even if they die, and everyone who lives and believes in Christ will never die.
Martha goes and gets her sister Mary. Then we read about the weeping that can occur in the midst of being familiar with these great truths,
"33 When Jesus therefore saw her [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, 'See how He loved him!'" John 11
This is an amazing thing. Jesus knows that Lazarus will not perish. Jesus also knows that He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead in a few moments; but Jesus wept anyway. The account shows us that Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and troubled when he saw Mary and the Jews weeping. Jesus was responding to the people around him in respect to their response to the death of Lazarus, and it demonstrates that, though Jesus knew that He was about to make Lazarus come back to life in a miracle action, and that later after Lazarus dies again, He will be resurrected to glory forever, there is still emotion that can come when one of God's children die. It also seems reasonable to think that all the other people know that they will see Lazarus again in the resurrection with the same belief that Martha had, yet they weep. Then some of the Jews, who were weeping, said,
"37 ... 'Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?' 38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb."
Jesus was deeply moved, but Jesus had a predetermined plan all along. So Jesus tells the people to remove the stone. We read,
"41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.'"
The testimony that is necessary to believe is that God sent the Son, and the Son brings life. Then Jesus commanded Lazarus to come out of the tomb, and Lazarus came out alive. All of us have a similar hope. The bottom line is that someday we will experience a glorified, resurrected state, where Christ commands us to rise up to be with Him forever to be in spotless bodies--changed instantly into perfection. So, the first principle for us to consider, is that contemplating the return of the Lord should be an opportunity for hope, and not for grieving. This leads us to glean the next principle. Look at 16-18 with me,
"16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words."
@4 Whether we live or die in the Lord, we shall ____________ be with the Lord. (1 Thess. 4:17)
/2/
The second principle is that we should always comfort one another with the words that we will always be with the Lord someday. Remember, this is what Jesus did with Martha. In our Thessalonian context, Paul is putting the Thessalonians at ease. There will be a trumpet call, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Paul then says that we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and in this respect, we will always be with the Lord forever and ever. The context, and Paul's usage of we for the church of his age as he knew it to be, indicates that Paul expected all of this to take place in that age (aeon in the Greek); but as in the legacy of many Old Testament prophecies, this revelation may have a double fulfillment in view for the future. When Paul says, "then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together, (or snatched away together), with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord," Paul uses the Greek term harpagesometha, for snatched away, or caught up. In the Latin Vulgate Bible, harpagesometha is translated as raptus. Raptus, is where the modern term, rapture comes from. This event, that Paul is talking about, is what is typically called the rapture of the church. In Acts 8:39, the same term explains what happened to Philip directly after he baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch and they came up out of the water. Instantly, the Spirit of the Lord snatched away, raptured, harpagesometha, Philip. Paul uses the word to describe an experience he had,
2I ... whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up [snatched away; raptured, harpagesometha] to the third heaven. ... 4 [Paul] was caught up [snatched away; raptured] into Paradise ..." 2 Corinthians 12:21
The same word is used of Christ being snatched away; raptured to God and His throne in John's vision in Revelation 12:5.
This morning I want to focus on the comforting and encouraging detail, that Paul explains, that has to do with the bottom line--
All Christians everywhere will always, always, always, be with the Lord.
"Always" always means always. This is the blessed hope of eternal security in being once saved always saved in eternal Spiritual salvation. There are some folks who claim to be Christians, who also claim that you can lose salvation like you lose your car keys or something like that. Or you fail to hold onto salvation like letting go of some cosmic life raft, or spiritual rescue boat. Or they say you can have salvation, and then walk away from it, like walking away from the arms of a rescue worker who has saved you from doom. All of these humanistic theories are the curse of the Not Eternally Saved Theory. It is the hope destroying lie of insecurity in Christ, which is based upon philosophy, and wrong interpretations of Scripture. I wrote a book that is currently titled, Biblically Defending Salvation, to correct such error. You can find it on our website. It is free. We believe, like Paul the apostle does. We believe that salvation is a miracle, and is a state of being. Like when water is turned into wine in a miracle, and then the wine can not turn itself back into a non-miracle again of water, God turns us into members of the body of Christ, and we do not turn ourselves into a non-miracle. Salvation is from something. It is from lostness. Salvation is also to something--It is to eternal life in Christ. Salvation is secure for the truly spiritually saved, and secure means that salvation is eternal life, which means that eternal really is eternal. "We will always be with the Lord" means that we now will always be with the Lord then, in the future. Now, when we look at what Paul says here, we see that Paul assumes that people who are in Christ positionally by real grace, through real saving faith, will necessarily be raised up and be with Christ forever. Think about this--for Paul to make such an assertion is assuming a lot. One thing it assumes is that the Christians that Paul is talking to, (including He, Silvanus, and Timothy) must necessarily persevere in Christ, if they have really started out in the miracle of being in Christ, which means that Paul's theology reflects this fact--right? In other words,
a) The dead in Christ will rise first. They can not, not rise.
b) Those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. They can not, not be caught up together with them in the air to meet our Lord.
c) And so they shall always be with the Lord. They can not, not always be with the Lord.
d) Therefore we must comfort one another with these words.
I ask you--How are you going to comfort anyone with these words, if you are not even sure that they will stay saved?
You can not be comforted with these words if you believe the false doctrine of insecurity in Christ.
But, we must have comfort in these words. We are commanded to do so. Further, we must be comforted with these words because this is bottom line eschatology, where whether we are asleep or awake, we will, will, will, live together with Christ forever and ever. So, the second principle, is that we should always comfort one another with the words that someday we shall, will, must, always, forever, eternally, on and on, be with the Lord in the resurrection.
This leads us to consider the third principle. Look at 5:1,
"1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brothers, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape." 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3
/3/
The third principle is that though the lost seem confident, and though they seem like they are prospering, and though it appears as if there is no consequence or justice in this life for rejecting Christ, God's promise is true--destruction will come upon them. In the context of the first generation, "Peace and safety!" is exactly what the apostate Jews were saying. Apostate Jews rejected the Messiah everywhere He was preached. Everywhere, Jews were darkened in prideful sin filled blindness to the fact that destruction was coming upon them. They were pagans who rejected their Messiah, and in doing so, they rejected God. But they claimed to be God's true children according to election. They claimed to be keepers of the covenant, in covenant. They crucified the Lord of glory and it has been many years since his death. They don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus. They think that they are going to rule the world, but in the meantime, they say,
Where is the promise of His coming?
All has continued as before.
We have the temple.
You have a dead man.
We have God's favor.
You have a false message.
We will triumph.
Peace and safety!
They are so blind, that they are about to reap disaster like a robber who takes somebody by surprise. Jesus said this same thing to his students when they asked Him about the Old Covenant temple. He told them that not one stone would be left upon another. In Matthew 24:42-43, He said that He was coming at an hour that would not be expected--like a thief does. The apostates will be priding themselves on what seems like security. Peace, is their inward confidence. Safety, is their false assurance in the way things seem. But, in their blindness, they do not realize that destruction is near. Desolation awaits to wipe away all the apostates who prop up the remnants of a defunct Old Covenant system as they try to point to it as the true way of God. When Jerusalem was being surrounded with armies, there was a chance for escape. The Christians fled, remembering the prophecies. Most of the non-Christian apostate Jews, on the other hand, stayed in the city; they stayed because they believed a false prophecy from the high priest, who kept insisting that Jehovah would deliver everyone, including the priesthood. The high priest was a false prophet who proclaimed "Peace and Safety!" Destruction came upon Jerusalem swiftly and there was no escape. It was one of the most horrifying slaughters recorded in history. Jerusalem was leveled. The desolation was so thorough, that eye witnesses said that you could not tell there had been a city there. Everything was pillaged, and destroyed. No stone was left upon another, (as Jesus foretold). Stiff necked Jews, who continued to reject the Holy Spirit, were slaughtered--anyone still alive, was led away into slavery. The Levitical priesthood was annihilated. Christ's church, as the true people of God, remained thriving through the ages, and has grown through persecution. The body of Christ continues, as the true people of God, till this day. In like manner, men and women today scoff and mock Christians who have there hope in Christ. They mock the promised return of Christ. They mock the exclusive resurrection of the dead in Christ. They mock the fact that all Christians will be changed in an instant into the glorious image of perfection forever. And though the lost seem confident, and though they seem like they are prospering, and though it appears as if there is no consequence in this life for rejecting Christ, God's promise is true, and so destruction will come upon them swiftly without any way of escape.
This leads to the fourth principle. Look at verse 4,
"4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others {the lost} do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation."
/4/
The fourth principle is that while we are living out our Christianity in this world, we need to be excelling much more in our spiritual walk. We are in the world but we are not of the world. We are in the world as lights shining in the darkness. The lost are in the domain of darkness. They are spiritually asleep there. We are sons of light and sons of day. Destruction does not await us, and so you and I need to act like sons of day while walking among the darkened culture around us. We should be spiritually awake. We should care greatly about advancing in the ways of Christ in a daily, awakened from slumber, soberness of mind. The Thessalonians,
"... turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." 1 Thessalonians 1:10
@5 ____________ rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thess. 1:10)
Our job is to serve God as ministers in the midst of the madness we live among. God delivered us out of the domain of darkness, and into the kingdom of light of His beloved Son, Colossians 1:13. We are God's warriors. We have put on Christ's armor of faith, hope, and love already. That is what this is--it is Christ's armor prophesied in Isaiah 11:5, 59:17, 52:7, 49:2, 59:20-21, that Paul also lists in Ephesians 6. The reason that we have this armor is because we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. Faith, hope and love, already abide in us as fruits of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 13:13. All of it is for us to war against the darkness, according to Christ's armor, which equips us for the battle. God is bringing his victory wrath on all the sons of disobedience, but in the meantime, we are in a battle stance. In our warring stance, we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ who is in us. We come against the onslaught of darkness all around us by dispersing it with Christlike godliness, our faithful witness; with manifestations of Christ like, self sacrificial, love, that is our brand mark; and with the hope of our salvation. We do all of this with His armor, manifesting our King who is in opposition to the kingdom of darkness. This is your upward call--to be sanctified, and to be impacting the world for Christ while you are awaiting your glorification when you exit this world.
This leads to the fifth principle,
"9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
/5/
The fifth principle is that our task is to be encouraging one another with our future hope rather than focusing upon the temporal. Yes, God wants us to be focused upon the war, and upon being holy, and all of those kinds of things that manifest the much more of the upward call in the godly walk. But sometimes, in the midst of it all, it is easy for us to take our eyes off our eternal future. What I mean is, we take our eyes off the prize; and the prize is just over the horizon. In the midst of the spiritual war, we must always be conscious of how privileged we are to have a promotion awaiting us. It is a blessing, and our blessing is our confidence. Our confidence is that God has not destined us for wrath like all who are without Christ. We obtain salvation through our Lord, who died for us. He died for us, giving us life, and it only gets better in the resurrection. We live together with Him now, but we live more abundantly later in the resurrection. We must always, daily, be remembering this. We must keep our eyes on the prize in the midst of the pain. Let's encourage one another with this fact because it is the driving force of our hope.
Now, at this point, I want to point out one of the big eschatology argument points that many of the teams will fuss over. We are interested in the bottom line, so I am not going to fuss over it very much. The problem is that awake or asleep, that Paul mentions here in verse 10, seems to have one of two meanings according to the contextual flow. We remember that he said,
"13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep [dead], so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [died] in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep [died]." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15
So we see that in the beginning of the flow, Paul uses the term, "those who are asleep" as a reference to those being physically dead, like Jesus did with Lazarus. But, then later, I want us to recognize that Paul jumps to using the metaphor of asleep another way to refer to the spiritually dull and sinful, yet are still physically alive;
"... you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;
[In other words, Christians should be spiritually alert. Then Paul continues; and I want you to notice how he uses the term, "sleep," in a different way at this point--a spiritually dull way;]
6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
This is interesting, because in the context, the immediate meaning of being asleep, for a Christian, can be understood to be physical death, or it can be understood to be spiritually despondent, unaware, or sinning. Both views are argued by various groups. My own view is that I suspect that Paul is using a purposeful play on words, (inspired by the Spirit) and in so doing, Paul means both. He means that whether we, who are set apart in Christ, are dead, or alive, or whether we are spiritually alert, or not, we definitely will live together with Christ forever and ever. It is a grace truth. You can either take my view, or not. It doesn't matter, because either way, the bottom line is the bottom line. And so this brings us to the last principle, which is part of verse 11,
"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
@6 We should ____________ each other up, instead of tearing each other down. (1 Thess. 5:11)
/6/
The sixth principle is that we should already be encouraging and building up one another, and we should continue to do so. When Paul says just as you are also doing, Paul means that the Thessalonians are already doing mutual Christian ministry of encouragement and edification. Body life, and familiness, and manifested love, and forgiveness, and reminding one another of our blessings in Christ, (especially concerning the fact that we will be with our Lord forever), are all things that God gives for building up. God expects us to be doing this already. There is no excuse for any of us to be tearing each other down in our short stay on this planet. We get enough persecution from the world. Over and over again, we are exhorted to be about building one another up in the faith. This means that we are not neutral. It also means that we must look for ways to do this. So, as we end this morning, ask yourself;
Am I someone who tears down other Christians with my words and actions?
Am I recognizing my brothers and sisters after the Holy Spirit that is actually in them?
Or,
Am I recognizing them after the flesh, and then acting like the flesh in my own assessment of them?
Ask yourself,
Am I doing everything I can to build up the other members of the body of Christ?
The Thessalonians were already doing this. If you are not already doing this, then ask yourself another question:
Why?
You have some real issues with God and His word if you are not building up your brothers and sisters like God tells you to do from His word. which is the much more of the upward call. God's urging to you is to repent and change your ways. God is also urging us to contemplate the return of the Lord as an opportunity for hope, and not for grieving. Comfort one another with the fact that we shall always be with the Lord someday. Recognize that God's promise is true concerning the lost who appear like they are doing just fine in rejecting Christ. Destruction comes to all who reject Christ. In the meantime, while you are living out Christianity in this world, be excelling much more in your walk. Encourage one another with our future where we will meet Jesus in perfection and glory for eternity. It is our blessed hope. Be encouraging and building up one another, Continue to do so till the end. This is bottom line eschatology for daily living. amen.
@1 We who are saved, should not _____________ about the fact we must die, as do the unsaved who have no hope. (1 Thess. 4:13)
@2 Our _______________ in Christ goes beyond this life only. (1 Corinthians 15:19)
@3 Jesus is the life. All who believe in Him will never ____________. (John 11:25)
@4 Whether we live or die in the Lord, we shall ____________ be with the Lord. (1 Thess. 4:17)
@5 ____________ rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thess. 1:10)
@6 We should ____________ each other up, instead of tearing each other down. (1 Thess. 5:11)
