1 Thessalonians 4

0:09 So we explain the Bible verse by verse, every chapter, every book. This is Expound. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 Okay, we've got 18 verses in this chapter. You think we can pull it off?

0:31 I've heard no and yes all at the same time. Thank you for your vote of confidence. We are going to, in this chapter, deal with some marvelous truths. Groundbreaking truths about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm glad that we sang some of those songs. There's a day coming. There's a king that is coming. And of course, we're talking about the coming king, Jesus, who will establish his kingdom on this earth. And then after that, a new heaven and a new earth.

1:09 In the Old Testament, future events and what happens after death for Old Testament believers was a bit sketchy. That is a bit hazy. What I mean is that revelation of what happens after a person dies and what heaven is going to be like and then the plan of things like the rapture and the second coming in the tribulation. There were bits and pieces of those truths, but not in a coherent fashion that was generally received in Old Testament times. That is because revelation is progressive. God revealed certain things at certain times, like Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 tells us, God who at different times and in different ways spoke in times past to our fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his son.

2:14 So Revelation was progressive. The average person in the Old Testament believed that when you die, you go to a kind of a catch-all place called Sheol, the grave. And even Job asked, If a man dies, will he live again? the psalmist David was asking God to preserve his life and he asked God a question shall the dead praise you in other words here I am on this earth I have life I have breath of course I'm going to praise you but if you don't let me live can the dead praise you so Old Testament believers did not have the fullness that we understand as Revelation progressed and the Old Testament finished and on into the New Testament the Old Testament believer believed that a person dies goes into the grave at the very end there will be one general resurrection and final judgment.

3:34 And that belief seems to come out even in the words of Martha, one of the followers of Jesus who lived in Bethany with her brother Lazarus after Lazarus had died and Jesus came to that house. You remember she said, yes, I know my brother will live again in the resurrection at the last day. kind of one general resurrection, one final judgment. Now we know that that is not how it is going to be. There are going to be different stages and even different resurrections.

4:13 And all of this kind of leads us into this great teaching in chapter four. Paul is writing to the Thessalonian church, a church that I told you before was a very young group of believers. Paul only spent three consecutive Sabbath days teaching in their synagogue. I've told you before he may have spent more time in Thessalonica, but we don't know how long, not very long. But whatever time Paul spent with them, he told them the basic truths of death, burial, resurrection, the gospel of Jesus, but also that he is coming again. And that he could come at any moment and they should be waiting for that event to happen. Look forward to that event. So Paul in every chapter of this book closes each chapter. We're not going to look at it again. We did last time with some reference to the coming of Jesus Christ.

5:16 so they're pretty amped up they're pretty stoked they're looking forward for jesus coming back but there's a problem the problem is life in thessalonica is getting harder and harder to be a believer they're getting more persecuted more hassled not only that but their loved ones friends and family members are dying and paul said that jesus is going to come back and establish his kingdom, but their relatives are dying. So they're wondering, are they forever consigned to the grave when Jesus comes back? Is there no place for my dying relatives in the kingdom that is going to come? What happens to those who have died when the Lord comes back? These are questions that are on their minds and Paul will allude to them in this chapter. And I love his answers. They provide some great, great resources. I've always loved that little story of the boy who wanted a new puppy dog. He went to the store with his dad, the pet store. I don't even know if they have pet stores anymore, but went to this pet store and there was several dogs in there and the little boy was looking around and he walked up to one of the little cages and the dog started wagging its tail ferociously as the boy came forward and he said, I want that one, daddy. I want the one with the happy ending.

6:41 we all want the story with a happy ending. And that's why there's so much prophecy in the Bible to tell us what the end will be like from the beginning. Jesus told his disciples, I'm telling you these things in advance before they happen so that when they do happen, you'll be assured, you'll know that I have spoken. You'll know these promises are legitimate.

7:16 And so prophecy gives us the ability to see eventually the happy ending for believers, those who have died and those who will remain when the Lord comes back. Chapter three ends with a doxology of sorts, a prayer, really. If you remember, will just draw your attention. Verse 11, now may our God, Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. He's making that a prayer. We want to see you again in Thessalonica. We want to come and visit you again. That's his prayer. But there's three words as he ends chapter three that form for us a preview of chapter four. He says, And may the Lord, verse 12, make you increase and abound in love, that's one word, to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness, that's word number two, love, holiness, before our God and Father at the coming.

8:32 That's the third word. The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of his saints. Holiness, love, and coming. That's the outline for chapter 4. Look at those verses that we just read as a trailer, like a movie trailer. You get a little preview of what's coming. That's a preview of what's coming in chapter 4. The first part of chapter 4 is a plea for holiness. Second part of chapter 4, a plea for love. Third part of chapter 4, all about the coming of Jesus Christ. So in chapter 4, verse 1, Finally then, brethren, stop right there.

9:22 Don't be misled by the word finally. He's barely halfway done with the book. You sort of should be used to this by now with Paul the Apostle. When he says finally, he doesn't mean in closing. And I don't know why the New King James decided to translate that word as finally. I think the Old King James is a better translation. It says furthermore. That's more accurate. He's going to give further information. More information is coming. So it's not like the end of the book when he says, finally, it's better to look at it as, oh, and there's something else. Furthermore. So furthermore, brethren, or brothers and sisters, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you received from us how you ought to walk and please God.

10:31 Paul's going back to when he was there with them in Thessalonica and spent time discipling them and taught them truths. And he just is now saying, you remember that. Keep doing it. Abound more and more. On how you ought to walk and to please God.

10:55 I have a theory about chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians. my theory, and I can't prove it, but it's just a theory, that when Paul wrote this book, the man Enoch came to his mind, the Old Testament figure of Enoch. Because it says in the book of Genesis concerning that man Enoch, Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for the Lord took him. Enoch walked with God and he was not for the Lord took him. He just took him off the earth, took him directly into glory. Now there's a commentary on Enoch. You don't have to turn there, but let me read this to you. This is out of Hebrews chapter 11.

11:44 By faith, Enoch was translated. You might translate that raptured. Same difference. Enoch was translated so that he did not see death and was not found because God translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. Now follow my thinking. Enoch walked with God. Enoch pleased God. And God took Enoch to heaven. he's going to tell the Thessalonians walk with God please the Lord and he will take you translate you to heaven at his coming so my theory is that he has in his mind this man Enoch who walked with God and lived to please God and he says to the Thessalonians okay we were with you We taught you this. Abound more and more. Walk with the Lord. Please the Lord. Live your life to please the Lord, and then you'll be taken by the Lord.

12:58 Abraham Lincoln, I remember this as a kid hearing that he said this, at least it was attributed to him. He said, you can please some of the people some of the time, and you can please some of the people all the time, and you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. And I remember hearing that, and then I thought immediately, so why should I ever want to please people? If that's true, I don't want to be a people pleaser because they won't be pleased no matter what you do. And I've discovered it's far better to please God. He's easier to please. All it takes is faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. But he who comes to God must believe that he is.

13:52 So faith, pleasing the Lord is the motivation for life. If you make that your motivation, everything else will fall into place. Did you know that? If you make pleasing God your aim, and you don't have to make life complicated. If you want to sort of boil life down to its irreducible minimum, live, make decisions to please the Lord. You ask yourself before you do anything, would the Lord be pleased if he found me doing this? If the Lord came back while I'm doing this, would he be pleased?

14:27 Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God. All these things will be added unto you. Live to please the Lord. Everything else will fall into place. I remember when my son Nate got all A's on his report card as a little kid. He was so proud of that report card. he pasted it in public on the refrigerator in the kitchen. He wanted everybody who came to our house and went into the kitchen to see his report card. and the idea is that he knew that it pleased us. That was his motivation.

15:08 Living to please the Lord is the best motivation you can have, and when you live in the light of his coming, it's the most purifying way to live. So Enoch had this testimony. He walked with God, he lived to please God, and God took him. Now Jesus said, I always do those things that please him. skip cannot say that jesus said that i i make it my aim but i don't always do those things that please him it is my aim like paul the apostle said we make it our aim whether absent or present to be well pleasing to him and so he writes i exhort you finally in the lord that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God. For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Okay, I know I'm poking my way through this and I'm going slow, but as I was reading this chapter this week, this verse jumped out to me.

16:25 It indicates that Paul, when he was with them and he gave them commandments, he knew that he was speaking with the authority of heaven. It wasn't his opinion. He was speaking the principles, the word, the truth of God. Now remember, after Paul's conversion on the Damascus Road, how many years did he spend in Arabia? Anyone know? Three years. He went down to Arabia, down to the desert in seclusion, probably. Three years spent in Arabia. What on earth was he doing there? It's my belief that he was going through all the things he learned as a Jewish rabbi. The Old Testament, Messianic prophecy.

17:19 He had come to believe in Jesus, that he's the Messiah. Let me reread that. Let me see how that all fits in. What is the eschatological truth, the soteriological truth? He just got all of those ducks in a row, so to speak. So that when he's establishing these churches, New Testament churches, he is speaking from the Word of God, but with the full authority of the Spirit. which is important because we wonder at what point in church history did people start regarding the letters of Paul as scripture. Now, you remember back in chapter 2, in verse 13, he said, for this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe.

18:24 and then, without turning to it, in the book of 2 Peter, toward the end of that little letter, Peter, the apostle, talks about the writings of Paul, and he said, you know, our brother Paul wrote some truths that are hard to understand, and it's true. They are, in some cases, hard to understand. And he said, because of that, unstable men have twisted what Paul has written. as they do, listen, as they do with other scripture, very important verse. What that means is already in Peter's mind, the words of Paul were considered as scripture, other scripture.

19:19 So this verse, verse two is very important to me for, you know, what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Very early on in church history, the writings of Paul the apostle were considered to be holy writ or scripture revelation from God. He continues verse three, for this is the will of God. I love verses like this because I have so many people that go, I want to discover what the will of God for my life is. Don't you love it when you have a verse in the scripture says, okay, I'm glad you asked. I'll tell you exactly what the will of God for your life is. Now it's more than this, but here's a good start. This is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality. Sanctification is a word that means holiness. Here's God's will for your life, be holy. The Bible says, be holy for I am holy, says the Lord. Sanctification was a word originally ascribed to the vessels in the tabernacle that were used for a very specific purpose and only that purpose. They were considered sanctified, holy. It's a word that just means set apart for a particular use. So for instance, a vessel in the tabernacle was used only in the tabernacle. The priest couldn't grab a gold vessel and go out to the well and get water in it and drink to assuage his own thirst.

20:56 That was a holy vessel. It was a dedicated vessel. It was set apart for one particular purpose only. So you and I are to be holy. We are set apart by God. Now, when it comes to sanctification, there's two senses of sanctification, two types of sanctification. You ready? The first type, the first sense is positional sanctification. The second sense is progressive sanctification. Now let me explain those. Positional sanctification, you are sanctified. Done deal. Completed fact. It's a package deal. You've been set apart by God the moment you gave your life to Christ. Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian church, hardly getting straight A's on their report card when it comes to holiness.

21:55 Very lacking church. But Paul begins by saying to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. That's positional sanctification. You're set apart by God at your new birth. But you progress in sanctification. That's the second part. That's your responsibility.

22:21 Where you cooperate with the positional sanctification, you say yes, more and more to God, and no, more and more to sin. Yes, you turned and repented of your sin the moment you received Christ. Yes, we know that, but now keep doing that. progressively become holier and holier and holier. the writer of the book of Hebrews says that we should be at peace, seek peace with all men and holiness without which no man will see the Lord. So this is the will of God. Your holiness, your being set apart, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality. That was a big sin in the modern, the Greco-modern Roman world.

23:19 very loose, very immoral, very much like modern America. People didn't think twice about sleeping with somebody they had an affinity for. but that's for the pagan world. This is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel, probably referring to your body, in sanctification and honor. God's given you a body. Now that you're a Christian, what do you do with that body? What you should do with that body is what Paul said in Romans chapter 12. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

24:19 And don't be conformed to this world, but be, tell me, transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might prove it is that good, perfect, and acceptable will of God. Thank you. So we are to keep our vessel, our body. Now some might ask, well, you know, the body isn't as important as the spirit. The spirit is what's most important. The body is secondary. Why would the body be considered all that important? Very simply this. Your body is a what of the Holy Spirit? Temple of the Holy Spirit. A temple wasn't just a place where God was worshipped. a temple was seen as the base of operations for that God to work. So your human body, hands, feet, mouth, eyes, ears, could be the base of operations for God to work in your community.

25:20 At one time, your body was the base of operations for Satan to work. but now you give your body to God it becomes the new base of operations in which God works and touches your family your friends your relatives the people around you the power and the excitement of living a life where you give your body to God. Think of all the people in history who presented their bodies to God to great effect.

25:50 Moses' mouth. God said, Moses, I'm going to make you a spokesperson to the Pharaoh. You're going to be able to speak to the king of the world. And Moses said, I'm not really good at speaking. I'm a man of uncircumcised lips. In other words, I stutter a lot. This is not my gig to go talk to Pharaohs. Oh, God said, don't worry about that. I'll be with your mouth.

26:20 Just present your body to me. Think of David's hands, rugged shepherd's hands, youthful hands. But he dedicated his body to God. He put a sling in his hands and he killed a giant named Goliath, presenting his body to God. Think of Paul's feet, rugged feet, maybe even gnarly looking feet, callous feet. But those feet walked about 10,000 miles on three missionary journeys bringing the gospel. People who devoted their bodies to God. It can be a base of operations. So each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.

27:23 That no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also forewarned and testified. This idea of taking advantage and defrauding your brother is probably a reference to having an affair with another man's wife. He said, look, you don't practice sexual immorality. The heathen do that. You're called to sanctification, to be holy. Keep your vessel in honor and don't defraud somebody's, your brother in this matter. And in those days, as in these days, the world thinks nothing of having an affair. You don't get prosecuted in a court of law for having an affair.

28:18 I think the law just says consenting adults. So, according to our world, you could have an affair with another man's wife, you as a married man or woman, and it wouldn't be against the law. It was at one time. but it's against God's law, and you'll pay for it. According to Paul, the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned and testified.

28:54 Be not deceived, Paul said. God has not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. and you think of all the heartache, the mental stress, the physiological problems that have come from a loose sexuality, not to mention if that is continued and unrepentant of and eternity forever in hell. The Lord is the avenger of all such. God will not be mocked. And again, Paul is making reference to the fact that this is stuff he went over with these young believers in the time he was there. We also forewarned and testified, but God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. So that's the theme of this first part of the book, holiness. Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us his what?

29:59 Holy Spirit. Now he's talking about holiness, live a holy life. Why? Because you're filled with the Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit is living in you, you ought to be holy. it makes sense. He's drawing that conclusion. Something else. In this paragraph, Paul has mentioned all three members of the Trinity. He's mentioned God the Father. He's mentioned Jesus the Son in verse 2, the Lord Jesus, and now the Holy Spirit. There's a constant Trinitarian undergirding in the entire New Testament. Remember last week, I'm not going to go over it again, we talked a little bit about modalism, civilianism, monarchianism. I don't know if you even remember that I shared those terms, but the idea that God isn't three distinct persons in a Godhead, but there's just one person that puts on three different masks at different times.

31:01 and the new testament is just about every single place cuts against that and here's another place the trinity is definitely mentioned as distinct and separate one god three co-eternal co-equal persons now he talks about love after holiness he talks about love that second word but concerning brotherly love you have no need that i should write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

31:35 Now where were they taught by God to love one another? Well anybody who just read the Ten Commandments would walk away with that we should love one another. The first table of the law is all about your relationship with God. The second table of the law is all about your relationship with mankind, each other. You shall not kill. You shall not covet. You shall not steal. You shall not lie. If you love somebody, you don't kill them. If you love someone, you don't lie to them. If you love someone, you don't commit adultery, etc., etc. So that's sort of the basis of the law. In fact, when they came to Jesus and they said, the religious leaders, what is the first and greatest commandment? Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

32:30 But the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these, he said, hang all the law and the prophets. All summed up in those two commandments. And then he gave what we call the golden rule. Do unto others as you want them to do to you, for this is the law and the prophets. So Jesus takes ten commandments. that are articulated in two different tablets of the law, tables of the law, the first four, the second six. He takes all ten commandments and boils them down to two commandments. And he doesn't put them in the negative, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, but thou shalt in the positive. You shall love the Lord your God. You shall love each other. So he takes that which is negative in the old covenant and places it in the positive in the new covenant.

33:29 Takes 10 and gives us two. So all of that to say concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. And indeed, you do so toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. Turn it up. You're doing good. Now turn it up a little more. Keep on doing it. Keep on doing it. Don't stop now. The Bible says the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And I've said many times, if the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by God, if God is the source and sheds his love to us, that means you and I have an unlimited supply from which to love others. Because that spigot doesn't run out. If he's loving, loving, loving, and it never runs out, then I have plenty of love to give. So if somebody says, I just don't have any more love to give. You need to get in touch with the spigot.

34:39 He has shed his love abroad in our hearts. That means you and I have an unlimited supply from which to work. So you're doing it already. You love those in Thessalonica and all of Macedonia, all the brethren, but we urge you increase more and more.

35:01 Love leads to unity. Unity leads to blessing. Psalm 133, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the oil that run down the beard, the beard of Aaron. You know, it's just a beautiful psalm encapsulating that.

35:22 And verse 11, that you aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business. Just I don't want to beat the same drum, but when I read Mind Your Own Business, I immediately think of almost all social media. it's as if people have been paid by somebody and have so much time on their hands to get involved in everybody else's business and to poke their nose in everybody's business and then carry on diatribe conversations back and forth. Who has that time? I'm glad I don't have that time.

36:22 Aspire to lead a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your own hands as we have commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, that you may lack nothing. Now, I see three commands in those two verses. Number one, don't seek the limelight. Don't look for it. Don't seek the limelight. Don't seek to be famous. Lead a quiet life. Be content with where God has you. Second, don't butt into other people's affairs. number three don't mooch off other people work with your own hands work with your own hand don't be beholding to anybody else as we commanded you now he's going to launch in the rest of this chapter the next few verses to the coming of the Lord and this is very important when it when it comes to the coming of the Lord we should never see the soon return of Jesus, the imminent return, which is a doctrine I hold to.

37:31 I believe that the Lord can come back at any time, that there is nothing prophetically holding us up for that event to happen, that the next event on the prophetic calendar is the catching away of the church. That doesn't mean that I should become irresponsible while I wait. I remember back in the Jesus movement days of the 1970s when everybody was so excited, prophetic Bible studies all the time, and Jesus is going to come back like tonight.

38:06 If not tonight, tomorrow night. But he's coming. And I saw the effect it had on some people. They grew irresponsible. Well, if the Lord's coming back, I guess I could call in sick this week and usurve if the Lord's coming back. I got nothing to lose. Or I can go to the store and I can buy a lot of things on my credit card that I won't have to pay off if Jesus comes back tonight or tomorrow night. And it wasn't stated like that, but there was a growing sense of irresponsibility. So lead a quiet life. Don't seek the limelight. Don't butt into other people's business. Don't mooch up of other people and become irresponsible. That you may walk properly to those who are outside. That you may lack nothing. What that means is the world is watching us, watching our, how we handle our responsibilities, how we work. If you work hard, I remember talking to people who, they were Christian business owners who said, I don't want to hire Christians. They're the laziest people I've ever hired.

39:23 Give me a hardworking pagan any day. And these were Christian business owners. I said, what do you mean? They're not hardworking. He said, well, when they discover that I, their new boss, am a brother in Christ, I see that they want to take advantage of that. Come on, brother. Give me a break. I'll give you a break.

39:45 No. Not very Christian to think that way. You may not want to apply for a job here at the church, though. You might want to give pause to that thought. Unless you're a hard worker. Verse 13, we launch into it. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus for this we say to you by the word of the Lord don't worry we're going to go back over all those phrases that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

40:52 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. I wanted to read to the end so that I could technically say no matter when we stop tonight that I have finished the chapter it's my little cheetah moany thing that I do. Okay, so back to verse 13, I do not want you to be ignorant. I've discovered whenever Paul uses this terminology, I don't want you to be ignorant about something. It's generally an area that Christians are the most ignorant of. and certainly eschatology the coming of the lord is one of those areas and sadly i find even among clergy men pastors bible teachers they are very very sketchy sometimes don't even want to touch it at all but so he says i don't want you to be ignorant now this again very young church He didn't spend long with them, but he has taught them some of this stuff before.

42:15 How much, we don't know. But he, at this point, says, I don't want you to be ignorant concerning those who have died, fallen asleep. It's a reference to those who have died. Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Now, when the Bible speaks of sleep, it refers to the body, not the soul. it's simply the physical appearance of the body if we believe Jesus died and rose again he'll bring us with him those who have died with him those who sleep in Christ you know every every night you go to bed and you go to sleep I don't know how much sleep you get some of you not nearly enough but you wake up every day you sort of are acting out death and resurrection. In fact, my wife tells me that she'll look over sometimes at me sleeping. I always sleep on my back, and she says, sometimes you usually have your hands folded like this. You look like a dead man in a casket.

43:21 I've just fallen asleep, sweetheart. but sleep never refers to the soul. There's a doctrine called soul sleep. The Bible does not teach that, that when you die, your soul goes into suspended non-existence until the coming of the Lord. That's not true. You are very conscious when you die. So it's a reference not to the soul, but always to the body. The word sleep is a Greek word, koimano, and it is a reference to the body resting in sleep. In fact, Christians coined the word koimaterion, which we get our word cemetery from, which means the resting place. and it was simply a way of describing a Christian who had died. They've fallen asleep.

44:26 They've fallen asleep in Christ. So it's a reference to the body, not to the soul. So here's an example. When Lazarus was sick in John chapter 11, Jesus sent back word to Martha and Mary, he said, this sickness is not unto death. He waited a few days to make sure Lazarus died. He turned to his disciples and said, we're going to go to Judea now. And they said, oh, don't go to Judea, Lord. They tried to stone you last time. They want to kill you in Judea. and Jesus said, no, we need to go to Judea. Our friend Lazarus is sleeping.

45:09 I need to wake him up. The disciples said, well, if he's sleeping, he'll get better. He'll get well. John then adds a commentary. He said, this Jesus was speaking of about Lazarus's death. And then Jesus plainly said to his disciples, Lazarus is dead. So he said, Lazarus is sleeping. Lazarus is dead. It's referenced to the physical body. When Stephen was stoned, and I mean... not that kind of stoned but had rocks thrown at him till he died in the book of acts that kind of stoned when he was stoned to death it says he looked up and he said lord jesus do not lay this sin to their charge and it says and he fell asleep so it's speaking of death so concerning they were all concerned about their loved ones who had died in Thessalonica.

46:13 Are they going to miss the kingdom? I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For we believe. that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Okay, we're about to uncover the doctrine of the rapture of the church, which appears not only here, but a few other places in the New Testament. This is the classic passage. You probably know, if you don't, I'll inform you, that there are three basic views of when that event happens. Some believe that happens before a period of judgment on the earth called the tribulation. Happens before the tribulation. It is called the pre-tribulation rapture. That is my view.

47:08 The second view is the mid-tribulation rapture, like it implies right in the middle of that tribulation. There is even the belief that it happens at the end of the tribulation. That would be called the post-tribulation rapture. I like to call that the post-toasties view of the coming of the Lord. You have to suffer and get toasted during the tribulation. So you have pre, mid, and post. Then there are hybrid views of the rapture, a partial rapture theory. There's the pre-wrath theory. We're going to go through tribulation, even part of the hell on earth that is promised, but not the real bad part, the great, great tribulation. So let's call it the pre-wrath theory. I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture. The pre-tribulation rapture has been criticized by some saying it's a new theory. It's nothing that the early church believed in. It's a new theory back started in the 1830s under John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. That's the argument. It's wrong, by the way, but it's the argument that it's a new theory. My rebuttal to that is simply this. Just because something is older than something else doesn't make it truer than something else. One of the oldest belief systems in the world was called Gnosticism. It was a heresy in the early church that John writes against, Paul writes against, and even Peter. Just because something is old and ancient doesn't make it right. You can be in error for a long time or a short time. You can be in truth for a long time or short term. Longevity of belief is no criterion for belief. It is certainly to be weighed in the balances, but it's not the only. My second rebuttal is that it actually is quite a bit older than 1830

49:22 John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. Back to the second and third century, we have writings. The Shepherd of Hermas is one of the writings where it alludes to a pre-tribulation rapture. Irenaeus in the third century. Ephraim the Syrian, 300 AD, are a few different sources that point to believing that the Lord could come back at any time and before that time of wrath. So, back to verse 14. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain, Paul seemed to believe that he himself would see the coming of the Lord.

50:18 For we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. So there's two groups when the Lord comes back. Those who are alive when that happens and those who are not physically alive when that happens. Whether you are physically alive when he comes back, or you've already died, everyone who's a believer will be changed.

50:51 That's when an incredible change, transformation, metamorphosis takes place. Now I'm going to read to you out of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It's a parallel passage. And I'm reading out of 1 Corinthians 15. if you're taking notes, verse 50 down to verse like 52. This I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we will all be changed. Somebody suggested they put that as a sign over the nursery. get it we will not all sleep but we will all be changed i kind of like that but that's not what he's talking about just came to my mind behold i tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, that's resurrection, incorruptible, and we shall be metamorphosized, changed, physically altered. So two groups, alive, one alive, one dead. At this event, change, twinkling of an eye. So this we say to you by the word of the Lord, we are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. Remember these guys, the Thessalonians, were all worried about their loved ones who had died. For the Lord himself, he's not going to send an angel to do this, the Lord himself will descend from heaven.

52:42 three auditory phenomenon are mentioned. A shout, voice of an archangel, the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ, those who are asleep, the dead in Christ, your dead loved ones that you're all worried about, freaked out about, will rise first.

53:05 You will be reunited with them. this is when the resurrection happens the rapture of the church the gathering together of the church is when physical resurrection takes place if you die tonight hope you don't if you do your body is going to decay turn to dust until the rapture of the church. Everyone who has died as a believer in the past at the rapture of the church will be changed, along with those who are alive.

53:48 At that point of resurrection, of rapture, your physical body and your soul, your spirit, will be reunited. So that in eternity you will have your physical body. The reason I'm saying that really slowly is people just sort of don't get that. It's like we're floating on a cloud. And you know kind of I see through you and you're going to have a real physical body like you have one now. Jesus when he rose from the dead after his resurrection had a real physical body. He ate. He could touch. He could speak. He could walk. He could talk, etc. Now your body is going to be much better. The new model ain't like the old model. There's no decay. There's no corruption. It is eternal. You will be at your physical peak. We've done several in-depth studies on what your resurrection body would look like elsewhere. But this is the time of resurrection. It's the rapture of the church.

54:59 The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout. the voice of an archangel. Don't know which one. Michael, Gabriel, take your pick. Maybe another. And with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Now, Jesus ascended into heaven. After he rose, he ascended into heaven with his physical body, right? And the disciples were on the Mount of Olives and they were doing what? They were looking up at his physical body going up into heaven. An angel said, you men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus will come back in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven.

55:38 So he has ascended into heaven. He's been waiting there ever since. The physical resurrected body of the Lord Jesus, the physical human resurrected glorified human body of the Lord Jesus has been in heaven for 2,000 years, waiting for the time of the shout, the voice, the trumpet. Jesus said in John 14, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am, there you will be also. the dead in Christ will rise first. Look, we're finishing this chapter.

56:18 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up. People say the word rapture isn't even in the Bible. Well, that all depends which Bible you're reading. Is it in the English translation of the Bible? No. Is it in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible from 400 AD? Yes. Which was the main Bible until the time of the Reformation. Translated by Jerome into Latin. And he uses the word here, rapio. He uses the word or a derivative of it, raptured, caught up. The word is harpazo in the Greek, and it means to be snatched immediately, even violently by force.

57:13 It's translated to pluck, to snatch in several different places in the New Testament. So the concept of the rapture is New Testament. The word rapture, oh, you know, who cares if the word is in the Bible? The word millennium isn't in the Bible. Yeah, but the word's thousand years.

57:38 Is that good enough for you? And it's mentioned a half a dozen times in one chapter, just so you know, it's a thousand years. The word Bible isn't in the Bible. the doctrine, the teaching, the truth is important. The word, if you're reading a Latin Vulgate, it's there. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Such a comforting thought. Jesus could come back tonight. Maybe not tonight. Maybe he'll wait for tomorrow night or the next night, or maybe we'll die and he'll come in the next generation.

58:40 But the Bible teaches the imminent return of Jesus. Now there is a difference between his rapture, the coming for the saints, and his second coming, which we're going to go into detail more time next time as we, by God's grace, finish this book next week. Let's pray.

59:01 Lord, what a blessed hope this is for us as believers. Thank you, Lord, that the death, the burial, the resurrection, that which we are celebrating during this special season, that we familiarly call Easter. Thank you for those truths that are just so transformative. Jesus died. He died in our place. He died so we wouldn't have to die. He died so we could live. He was buried to prove he was dead, to prove that when he rose, he conquered death. Then on the third day, he indeed conquered death by physical bodily resurrection. And that same Jesus who died and rose and ascended is coming back. And it has been our hope ever since.

59:57 I pray that we would walk and live to please you in all things. In Jesus' name.