1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
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How many of you know who Rayford Steele is? Have you ever heard that name? How about Cameron Buck Williams? Keim Rosenzweig? How about Nikolai Karpathia? Maybe that one. If you know who these people are, then like me, you read or watched the fictional Left Behind series. I admit it, when I was in high school, I loved these books. Not only did I read those books, but I also read Tim LaHaye's book, Are We in the End Times? In that book, he lays out all the reasons why Jesus is definitely coming back in our lifetime. The world wars of the 20th century, the sudden and definite increase in natural disasters. Well, I'm not here to convince you of a position on the end times, but there are some savvy individuals out there who are taking advantage of this situation. If you haven't heard of this already, when you get home, don't do it right now.
when you get home, Google, after the rapture pet care. That's right, after the rapture pet care. One website says, you've committed your life to Jesus. You know you're saved. But when the rapture comes, what's to become of your loving pets who are left behind? Eternal earthbound pets takes that burden off your mind. Our network of atheist animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus. All joking aside though, tonight we're going to talk about the return of our king.
That's what this passage is about that we're going to look at. It's not in your bulletin, so we had a little mix up there, but if you want to turn in your Bible to page 987, Red Pew Bible 987, you'll find 1 Thessalonians, the first letter that Paul wrote to this church. We're going to be in chapter four, looking at verses 16 and 17. Here's what Paul tells the Thessalonians. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. So what's going on with the Thessalonians? Why is Paul reminding them about the second coming of Jesus? Well, if you're not familiar with these letters, the Thessalonians
were in the midst of difficult suffering, and perhaps some of them were even being killed for their faith. And Paul wants to assure them, in the midst of suffering, your faith is not in vain. the king is coming back. Those who have died already will be resurrected to be with the Lord, and everyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus will live with God forever. So here's what I want to talk about tonight and focus on. Here's our main idea for this evening. Jesus, our king, the one Mac preached about from Psalm 2 this morning, he's coming back. He's coming back soon.
So be encouraged and wait expectantly for him. Jesus, our King, is coming back soon. So be encouraged and wait expectantly for him. The fact that Jesus is coming back soon is supposed to be an encouragement. All you have to do is look at the next few verses. Paul says it right there. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. It's meant to be an encouragement. Jesus is coming back, And those who are his will be with him forever.
For Christians, this is the great hope of the entire Bible, of all of human history. To be accepted back into the presence of God. We were separated from God in the garden. But for those of us who are in Christ, in the future, we will live with him forever. Face to face, never to be separated again. The dwelling place of God will be with man once again. Well, if you've lived on this planet for very long, then you know that that's not where we're at right now.
Something about this world is not right. You learn this gradually over the course of your life. The longer you live, people get sick. We hurt one another. We see horrible things down inside in our own hearts. Even when we try to do the right thing, we still mess it up. Nothing lasts, there's sadness, there's sickness, there's death. And as Paul says, even the creation itself is groaning and longs for redemption.
But when Jesus returns, when our king comes back, then redemption will come. He will completely renew the creation. All things will be made new. Our greatest enemies, sin, Satan, and death, they'll all be destroyed. Jesus will break them with his rod of iron. This is our longing. Encourage one another with these words. No more pain. No more suffering. No more sickness.
No more sadness. No more death. We pray for Jesus to come quickly. Jesus also promised that on the last day, he will raise everyone from the grave. Everyone who has ever lived will be raised, some of them to everlasting life and some to everlasting judgment. Christians will have their lowly bodies transformed into glorious bodies. But those who do not believe will be condemned for eternal punishment.
So if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian, this ought to serve as a warning to you. Mack warned you this morning with Psalm 2. Jesus is coming back and he will judge every person who has ever lived. Death is not the end. Caesar will be raised. Hitler will be raised. Muhammad will be raised. You will be raised. One day, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God the Father.
What will the standard be when he judges us? Will there be scales? Will he weigh our good and our bad deeds? Will he line us all up from the greatest sinner to the least? And if you're in the top 50%, you'll get through. No, no, no, none of that. God has told us what the standard is. It's absolute perfection. Never sinned. always did the right thing, and if that's the standard, then we've all failed, except for one person, Jesus, the Son of God, our King, the only one who ever lived a perfect life, and for those of us who trust in Him, you can exchange your life, your record, for His. He'll take the punishment that you deserve. He'll stand in your place. That's the good news. Do you believe that?
If you don't believe that, why? If you're not a Christian, what keeps you from diving in and being a Christian? Do you think that your sin is hidden from God? Friend, it's not. He sees. God knows the thoughts, the things inside of your heart. Do you assume that because God is loving that he must forgive you, that he has to? that he really won't judge?
Or is it just plain disbelief? Does all this sound kind of silly? We're just making things up. Friend, it's not made up. Take time to investigate. Get your questions answered. As Christians, we don't claim to be better than you. We don't claim to somehow earn God's favor. No, we have a Savior who earned our salvation. Jesus, our King. And he's offering it to you. But you have to repent and ask for mercy.
You have to bow the knee and he will abundantly pardon. These are sobering thoughts. Things that should warn you. But be encouraged. If you're believing in Jesus, then we will be with him forever. So when is Jesus coming back? Soon. That's all we have. That's all we know. He's coming back soon. We don't know exactly when he's going to return. And anyone who claims that they know exactly when Jesus is going to return is wrong.
Many times we're told that it's going to be like a thief in the night. That's to represent that it's going to be sudden. It's going to be unexpected. This is true for those who are not expecting his return. However, for Paul, Paul says to the Thessalonians here in 1 Thessalonians, you're not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. So for us who are Christians, we know he's coming soon. We don't know exactly when, but we're not going to be caught off guard because we're patiently waiting for him, which leads to my second point. Jesus is coming back soon, so wait expectantly for him. What does wait expectantly mean? Well, first, let's talk about what it doesn't mean. When I think of waiting, the first thing I think of is just sitting around. You're waiting to get on your plane. I did some of that last week. You're just sitting there waiting for them to call the next row. But Paul says in Thessalonians that we're not supposed to
be idle. We're not supposed to be just sitting around waiting. That's the problem that they had in the church at Thessalonica. Instead of being idle, we're supposed to be showing love to other Christians. We're supposed to be working hard and aspiring to live quiet lives so that we're not dependent on others. We're supposed to be minding our own affairs. In short, we're supposed to live obedient lives to God. I wonder if you've ever had this question pop up in your mind.
Why does it matter what I do if Jesus is coming back and he's going to make all things right? Have you ever had that thought? This is a demonic question that Satan loves to use. One way he tempts us is by getting us to think that what we do doesn't matter. But it does matter, friend. Everything you do matters, all of it. So when you're tempted with this question, you should have your answer ready. Choosing sin is the same as choosing sides with the losing side.
Sin loses in the end. God is going to wipe away sin completely. Sin, Satan, death, the world, all of its desires will be utterly defeated when the king returns. So when you sin, you're teaming up with a losing side. They're going to be utterly humiliated by our king. He holds them in derision. He will dash them to pieces. Maybe on the other hand, though, you're a perfectionist. And if so, Satan will tempt you to think like this.
I can't do this because I can't do it perfectly. So it's not worth doing. Friend, if that's you, no, no. God wants you to obey him and he wants you to work hard. He wants you to provide for your family. Of course, you're not going to do it perfectly. You're going to make mistakes. But we're to obey him. We're to wait for him expectantly. He's gonna come back any moment now. Jesus and the authors of the New Testament make this abundantly clear.
He's coming soon. But we often wonder, just like our brother was praying earlier, when is soon? Well, time is relative. And by that, we mean something like time flies when you're having fun. Time slows down in the last hour of work. When you get older, Everything seems to go by faster because you've lived longer. We compare different events in our life. The older you get, the more your perspective changes. And that's just for us, for finite beings.
But have you ever imagined what it would be like to live forever? That's God's experience. He's always existed. So when we're told by God that something is going to happen soon, what does that mean? Well, it depends who you're talking to. For God, soon could mean 1,000 years because he's existed forever. Yet from our perspective, soon could mean a few days, maybe a few weeks, surely not more than a year.
It's been over 2,000 years since Jesus ascended. And with each passing day, our hope can grow more and more faint. Instead of being encouraged by the promise of his coming, We start to doubt that he's going to come back at all. And then suffering comes. And then temptation comes. And this is where the idea that time being relative really comes into play. Because when suffering hits, from our perspective, time slows down. Hours are like days.
Days are like a lifetime. Even in the small things, like getting sick. Remember the last time you were really sick? When you're really sick, you can't even remember what it's like to be healthy. What does good food taste like? What is it like to get a good night's sleep? It seems like it's never going to end. And these are just the little things. For some of us, we'll have financial difficulties. We'll get cancer. Chronic pain. You'll lose loved ones.
All of these forms of suffering will come into our lives. and suffering is going to be even worse until Jesus comes back. During these times, it's right to grieve and be sad, but even in the midst of suffering, you're going to be tempted to doubt in God's goodness. You're gonna be tempted to sin, to believe that he's not good to you. If you sin, you're doing the opposite of what God wants. Do you wanna know what God's will is for your life?
We ask ourselves that all the time. What is God's will for my life? I wish he would just tell me what he wants me to do. What am I supposed to be doing? Well, he tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4, 3. Look at that verse. For this is the will of God. You wanted to know the will of God? Finally, here it is. Your sanctification. That's it. God wants you to be sanctified. He wants you to be more like the king. That you would strive after holiness.
so when suffering comes you'll be tempted to grieve as those who have no hope but we do have hope our hope is in Christ the king who will come back and make all things right are you suffering right now brother sister does it seem like it's never going to end and trust yourself to God he is good remember he's coming back listen to what Peter the apostle Peter wrote in first Peter and remember in this verse he's talking about your entire life. After you've suffered a little while he will restore you. Remember Peter's talking about your whole life here and he calls it a little while. Compared to eternity that's what it is. I pray that you'd be able to cultivate this perspective. For now though as we wait expectantly for his return we encourage one another with these words. And I'll close with the last line of the Bible itself, Revelation 22, verses 20 and 21.
He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. Encourage one another with these words. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for being the God of patience. You are patient with us. You have been patient with us. You have loved us. Father, you loved us by sending your son to die in our place.
Jesus, we thank you and we praise your name. Jesus, you are our hope. You are the king. We're trusting in you. Without you, we'd be lost. We'd be gone. We don't have anything to stand on. And we long to see you, Jesus. We long to be with you. So we pray that you would come quickly. But until you do, God, we pray that you would help us to live lives that are pleasing to you. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.