1 Thessalonians 4:13

Order of Service

• Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
• Call to Worship — 1 Peter 2:4-5
• Hymn — Come, Christians, Join to Sing (#379)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Heidelberg Catechism — Question and Answer 1
• Hymn of the Month — Sing Aloud to God Our Praise (#881a)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
• Sermon
• Hymn — I Know Whom I Have Believed (#517)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Hope and Comfort for the Believer in the Face of Death

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

I. Hope in Death Comes from the Doctrine of Christ's First Coming

A. Paul addresses the Thessalonians' uninformed grief over believers who have died

1. Their concern: will Christians who die before Christ's return miss out on the resurrection?
2. Paul's correction: they should not grieve as those without hope — grief itself is not forbidden, but hopeless grief is

B. Pagan epitaphs reveal the hopelessness of death apart from Christ

1. "I was not, I was, I am not, I care not"
2. "We are nothing" — apart from the resurrection, human dignity dissolves
3. Christianity restores human dignity: mankind is the image of God, the crown of creation (Psalm 8)

C. Hope is bound not in vague spiritualism but in the concrete historical reality of Christ's death and resurrection

1. 1 Corinthians 15:14-19 — if Christ has not been raised, faith is futile and the dead have perished
2. Christ's individual resurrection inaugurates the new age in which the dead are raised
3. As Christ goes, so go those united to him by faith — his death and resurrection are theirs corporately

D. The bodies of believers in the grave are spoken of as asleep, not dead, because Christ has fully borne the curse

1. Christ truly died, tasting the fullness of the curse (Genesis 2:17)
2. The bodies of believers remain united to the resurrected Christ even in the grave
3. Westminster Larger Catechism, Answer 86: the bodies of believers "rest in their graves as in their beds, till at the last day they again are united to their souls"
4. Funerals are prime time to preach the gospel — our only comfort is belonging body and soul to Christ

II. Hope in Death Comes from the Doctrine of Christ's Second Coming

A. Paul introduces his teaching with apostolic authority: "by a word from the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:15)

1. This likely refers to an agraphon — a saying of Jesus not recorded in the Gospels
2. It is a reminder of prior teaching, not a new revelation

B. The dead in Christ will not be left behind or disadvantaged at the return of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:15)

C. Christ's descent will be loud and cosmic — not a secret rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

1. The Lord's cry of command — as Christ called Lazarus from the tomb, he will cry out on a cosmic scale
2. The voice of an archangel
3. The sound of the trumpet of God
4. These elements together depict the final judgment throughout Scripture
5. 1 Corinthians 15:50-52 — at the last trumpet the dead will be raised imperishable
6. John 5:28-29 — all in the tombs will hear his voice and come out

D. Believers alive at Christ's coming will be caught up together with the raised dead to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

1. The Greek word for "meet" (apantēsis) was a technical term for citizens going out to escort a dignitary into their city
2. Used of Paul's arrival in Rome (Acts 28:15)
3. Used in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) — the virgins go out to meet the bridegroom and follow him back
4. The picture: believers escort Christ in the remainder of his descent to Earth for final judgment and the inauguration of the new heavens and new earth

E. Paul's pastoral purpose is not to fuel prophetic speculation but to quell fear

1. Believers who have died and believers who are alive will be reunited with one another
2. The greatest family reunion in history — every believer from Adam to the last saint, united with all the giants of the faith (Hebrews 11)

III. Hope in Death Comes from the Doctrine of Christ's Permanent Presence

A. The capstone of hope: "we will always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

1. Reunion with loved ones is sweet, but the crescendo of hope is being with Christ forever
2. The accent is on physical presence — full bodily union and communion with the glorified Christ

B. The intermediate state is real and glorious, but still incomplete

1. The souls of believers who die immediately go to be with the Lord — made perfect in holiness, beholding his face
2. Yet their full union with Christ awaits the resurrection of the body
3. Analogy: like a child already on vacation in the car, joyful but not yet at the destination — the dead in Christ are already rejoicing, but the fullness of the resurrection has not yet arrived

C. Living believers now are like workers marking the calendar for vacation — laboring as disciples in the sure and steadfast hope of Christ who has come, died, risen, and will come again

D. Christians have every reason to face their own deaths and the deaths of loved ones with courage

1. We will become like the firstfruits of the resurrection harvest — Jesus Christ himself
2. 1 Corinthians 15 — our present suffering is momentary compared to the eternal weight of resurrection glory