Well, good evening. It's lovely to be here again. My name's Tim. I am one of the trainees here, or the interns here at Brunsfield, and it's great to be with you in this fantastic bit of the Bible that we're about to get stuck into.
Sleeping Beauty is one of the many fairy tales which were written down by Charles Peralt in the late 1600s. I hadn't realised it was such a modern notion.
Thanks to Disney and the Brothers Grimm, I'm sure we all know a rough sketch of the plot of how a princess is cursed to sleep for a hundred years, only to be woken by a prince who discovers her in the long since overgrown castle.
In many versions of the tale, the princess was meant to die, but her sleeping is the best attempt to save her.
In other versions, on top of this intervention to make her sleep rather than die, there's also a sleep cast upon all the residents of the castle, so that she will not awaken alone and be distraught at the loneliness of her existence.
While this work of fiction is nothing but a children's story, yet it's a fascinating little illustration of what happens to Christians when they die.
Rather than truly dying in the sense that we think of, they will merely be temporarily resting, awaiting the coming of the one who will bring them back to life.
And not only will they come back from their rest, but with their awakening will come the awakening of their communities, of their church families, and those whom they love who have all similarly slept.
But in the fairy tale, notice the one discrepancy.
It's the wrong way round.
Rather than the body remaining alive and the person going to sleep, in true Christian theology we have the body dying and the soul going to be alive with Jesus.
Notice the time when we are in the spirit of Jesus, conscious, conscious, awaiting the time when it will be brought back through the coming of the hero and it will be reunited with its body back into a state of wholeness.
We're going to be thinking particularly about that time when the hero comes this evening, when Jesus returns.
And we're going to be looking at that time when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening.
When the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening, when the hero comes this evening.
If you cast your eye to chapter 4 verse 1 and verse 9 and verse 13 and then into 5 verse 1 and verse 12.
Each of these verses introduces a new topic or a new section.
And when I was reading it last week in preparation, I noticed that the phrasing was very, very similar to in Corinthians,
where Paul takes issues that have arisen in the letter that the Corinthians have written.
And it seems that the report that Timothy gave in chapter 3 was very good, but it wasn't just a whitewash.
It wasn't just they're doing great.
It seems that Timothy brought back questions and issues which were arising among the Thessalonian church.
And the question which Paul is addressing for them and for us this evening is,
what about our brothers and sisters in Christ who have died?
The scenario seems to be that some of the Christians in Thessalonica have died.
They've only been Christians for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, and they're already gone.
With the incredible persecution which Paul faced while he was there,
the possibility races to our minds, doesn't it?
Maybe they were martyred for the sake of their newfound faith.
Perhaps some of these now deceased folks, they were the folks who were prominent in their community.
They were the people who you would look to for leadership.
Perhaps they were the ones who were bolder in their evangelistic fervor.
And they paid the greatest price for it.
But as we get into this topic, I want to lovingly and carefully say that many of us have lost loved ones.
And as we look at these verses, the first objection sometimes is that we think it says that we shouldn't grieve.
But that's not what it says.
Grief is very normal.
Not only is it normal, but it's both healthy and it's a necessary process.
And it's a proper response to death.
Death is an aberration within this world that our Father created for us.
And we long for the day when it is finally recreated, when death is finally crushed as the world is recreated by our Savior.
Paul here is saying that our grief should be different to that of the world around, but not that we shouldn't grieve.
And these deaths that the Thessalonians were thinking of, they've stirred the people there into a state of profound grief and perhaps even of panic.
And Paul isn't just going to go, oh, too well.
And buy a little card from the faith mission and scribble in a wee verse from Psalm 23.
No, he's going to teach these young Christians what the truth is.
So that they can be comforted in this time of pain and grief and loss.
And so the question is what will come of our loved ones.
And his first response is to take them right back to what they've been already taught.
And he says that the creed is the basis for our comfort.
If you notice verse 14, the phrasing's quite formulaic.
It seems that this is a common Christian creed of the time.
A summary of Christian teaching.
Perhaps it's one that Paul taught them.
And Paul takes them right back to the man, to Jesus.
At the very centre, the very core of their faith.
The one who we've been singing and worshipping this evening.
We believe that Jesus died and rose again.
This is the beating heart of the Christian faith.
If you take this out, everything else is useless.
If Christ is still in the grave somewhere in the Middle East,
then we better find a good developer and get this place sold off quickly.
If Jesus died and stayed in the ground,
we have no hope.
No amount of grief would be sufficient to make up for the loss of our believing relatives.
Because they would have wasted their lives believing in fairy tales.
No more profitable than Sleeping Beauty.
If Jesus is not now in heaven,
we're wasting our lives.
But,
Jesus did live on this earth.
Jesus did die and he rose again.
And if that sounds pretty wacky to you here this evening,
perhaps you've never heard that message before.
I want to agree with you a little.
People don't normally come alive after being dead.
If it were normal or even an irregular occurrence,
believe you me,
I wouldn't be talking so much about Jesus doing it.
And perhaps you aren't sure of that tonight.
And it would be fantastic to talk to you afterwards.
And I would highly recommend,
if you wanted a resource,
to go and find The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.
He's an excellent writer.
And he was an atheist who pursued the truth
to try and find out if these things were true.
In fact, he tried to prove that they were wrong.
And in his investigation,
he changed his mind and came to know Jesus for himself.
It would be a fantastic place to start reading.
And it would be brilliant to start discussing
some of the evidence around this matter.
But we believe that Jesus died
and that he rose again.
But it isn't just an interesting historical fact.
It's a personally applied to all those
who are united with Christ.
We said that death was an aberration in this world
and so it is.
But notice that in the first couple of verses here,
only Christ is described as having died.
For those of us who are in him,
who are united to him,
who own him as Lord,
Paul deliberately avoids using the word die or death.
Some translations have it in there,
but it's an insertion to make the meaning clear.
And he's hinting this idea to the Christians.
Death is now a temporary state,
almost as if we merely fall asleep.
Paul's giving us a metaphor
for the reality changing effects of the cross.
For those of us who die as Christians,
death has been robbed of its power.
It's no longer the last enemy.
Instead, it's become merely the end of a day.
And though for us who are left behind,
it can be so hard to see it that way.
But this is the reality
because of the death,
defeat and crucifixion of Christ.
And we need to be careful here.
We ought to realize when Paul talks of sleep,
it's only an illustration that Paul is using.
From what we read elsewhere in the Bible,
those who die aren't unconscious or asleep,
but their soul, their consciousness,
it goes immediately to be present with Jesus
while they await his return to the earth.
And those who are with Christ in death,
they'll return with him
when he comes back to this earth.
They don't do the crazy things
that we read about in secular materials.
They don't turn into angels.
They don't turn into stars.
They don't strum harps on clouds.
But they are with God,
eagerly waiting,
as also should we for the time
when they will be given their resurrection bodies
and they will be whole again.
This is the creed that Paul takes them back to.
This is the basic teaching
that Paul now goes on to expand
in the next few verses.
And Paul then changes his tack
and goes from the creed
to the word of the Lord
as our comfort.
Paul's raising the stakes here.
Did you notice when we read it together?
From verse 15 to 17,
he claims that this is a word of the Lord.
It reminisces us of the Old Testament prophets,
doesn't it?
Thus saith the Lord.
But let's not misunderstand what's meant here.
It's not that the rest of this letter
isn't God's word.
The whole Bible is true and trustworthy.
Paul is calling his readers here
to pay careful attention.
And Paul seems to be indicating
that what he's about to teach
is something that Jesus actually said.
It has similarities to what Jesus teaches himself
in Matthew 24, verses 30 and 31,
if you want to look those up later.
And they talk about the Son of Man
arriving on the clouds with glory
and of the angels being sent
to gather God's elect
and the trumpet being sounded.
And this seems to be where Paul
is basing his teaching.
But as we have it here,
he gives us three main elements of comfort
from this word,
which we're going to look at
in the remainder of our time.
Firstly, those who have died won't miss out.
Those who have died won't miss out.
And we see this in verses 15 and 16.
The first point is that we won't go on ahead
without our fallen brothers and sisters.
It seems that the Thessalonian Christians
had understood that Jesus was coming back soon.
It was only a reminder that they needed of that.
They'd already understood it,
but they didn't expect Christians
to die in the intervening time.
And they were worried
that their fallen friends
were going to miss out
on the joy of Jesus' return.
But Paul's emphatic
that these dead Christians
will definitely not,
it's as strong as he can make it,
definitely not miss out
or be second-class citizens on that day.
In fact, he begins to use
a common cultural image here
to explain how the Lord's return will work.
And this image underpins
the rest of our passage.
Back then,
if the governor was coming,
the victorious general
or even the emperor himself
was coming to your city,
he would come in splendor.
And all his servants
and all his entourage
would come with him.
And the citizens of the city
would go out
to meet him.
And it would be
an absolutely triumphal celebration.
all of the worthy people
of the city would be there.
And the procession
would then come back
into the city
with great joy
and celebration.
This is something similar
to what we see
in Jesus' triumphal entry
in Matthew.
And when he comes
into Jerusalem,
you see the crowds come out
and they come
and they strew his way
and they cry praises
to him.
And we have similar accounts
of things happening
with Roman emperors
and governors
and generals.
And this happened
all the way through
the Middle Ages as well.
And the dead in Christ
make up his entourage
as Jesus comes back
as the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords,
as reigning emperor
of all things.
And even the very trumpet
of God calls.
And the archangel's voice
is heard.
I don't know about you,
but that sounds like
it's going to be
a noisy day.
It's going to be
unmistakable,
unmissable,
and it's going to mark
the moment
in all of its glory.
And it seems
this command
that's talked about,
this is going to be
the command
for the Christian dead
to be resurrected again.
Much like the command
that Jesus uses
to call Lazarus
out of the grave.
Remember that?
A temporary resurrection,
one who was brought
back from the dead
only to die again
years later
and only for one person.
But this summons,
this summons will gather
from every grave,
from every seabed,
from every scattered molecule,
the remains of those
who have died in Christ.
and their bodies
will be reunited
with their souls
which have come
with Jesus
and they shall be
fully,
gloriously alive
as they have never
been alive
until that point
and never again
to die.
With so much
of the speculation
and so much
of the talk
around the return
of Jesus,
we have what
the teenagers
of today
would call
FOMO,
fear of missing out.
It's an acronym
I use often.
This is the fuel
which keeps alive
so much
of the false
teaching about
Christ's return
that there's a fear
of missing out
but Paul is clear
that neither we
nor they
will miss out
and we'll see
this in the second
note of comfort
as well.
We are going
to be reunited
with them.
Notice verse 17,
the start of it.
We will be caught
up together
with them.
They and their
recreated
resurrection bodies.
We presumably
transformed into
ours at the same
time we find
that elsewhere
and together
we will go
out to meet
our King
and Saviour.
No longer
will we suffer
the pain of
separation from
them.
And we can
look forward
to an eternity
of being in
perfect community
not just with
the ones who
we knew
and who we
loved
but of all
those who are
likewise in
Christ
forevermore.
No more
separation.
no more
departure.
No more
death.
No more
see you later.
We cannot
fathom life
like this.
And don't we
long for that
day.
Then when we
get to that
day
we will
finally be
able to see
the whole
body of
Christ.
Every member
of his church
together.
Many of us
were probably
at origin
at Easter
and it's
incredible to
see a
big place
filled with
Christians
singing together.
And that's
not going to
be even the
slightest drop
in the ocean
compared to
this day.
From every
tribe,
tongue,
people and
nation,
from every
time and
every era,
whether we're
from Europe
or Asia
or America
or anywhere
else.
And we
will be
together
forever more.
Isn't that
such an
incredible
thought?
And what a
sweet moment
it will be
when we see
them again.
The old
ladies who
encouraged us,
who maybe
sat in front
of us and
slipped us
the sweets
as we were
sitting maybe
bored in the
meeting some
night.
The men and
the women who
spent evenings
and weekends
teaching us
and urging us
on.
Those of our
peers and
friends and
family who
walked faithfully
by our sides
until they
too went
home.
We'll see
them all.
We will be
together again.
But as
wonderful as
the reunion
will be,
the third
comfort will
outstrip it
far beyond
and with
room to
spare.
We are
going to
be reunited
fully and
finally with
Jesus.
We see it
at the start
of 16 and
we see it
at the end
of 17.
The Lord
is coming.
Not a
general,
not a
governor,
not the
first minister.
It's not
going to be a
representative.
It won't be
an angel or
an apparition.
Jesus
himself is
coming for
us.
And when
he comes,
he will
finally establish
his perfect
rule and
perfect reign.
We are going
to finally
see with
our very
own glorified
eyes the
very person
of Jesus
Christ,
our
Savior.
All of the
theories,
all of the
thoughts,
all of the
emotions,
all of the
abstract ideas
we've had
in our
head as
we've
walked here
down below,
all of
them will
find their
completion,
their
perfection,
their
fulfillment
right in
front of us
physically in
him.
All of the
yearning of
all of our
Christian lives
to hear his
very own
voice speak
to us
directly,
it will all
be fulfilled.
all of the
desire to
be able to
stand before
him and
to worship
him and
to bow
before him
and to tell
him how much
we love him,
it will all
be possible
on that
day.
We're
finally going
to be with
Jesus in
the presence
of the
God-man who
died and
rose again
so that we
could be in
relationship with
him and
could be with
him forever.
How can we
not look
forward to
that day?
But perhaps
for some of
us this
evening,
perhaps for
some of us
actually we
look forward
to that day
with dread
and rightly
so because
we see the
depths of
our sin
and our
brokenness
and we know
that we can't
deal with it
and we
realize that
we don't
deserve to be
in that
delegation which
will go
and meet
Jesus in
the air
but we
deserve to
be in the
prison cell
waiting fearfully
for his
judgment.
If you
aren't sure
if this
day will be
a good day
for you,
can I urge
you to look
again to the
cross of
Jesus,
to see
Jesus dying
for you,
taking the
wrath that
you deserve
for your
sin and
mine so
that we
together can
know forgiveness
of our
sins,
if only we
welcome him
and accept
him,
become citizens
of his
kingdom and
turn our
backs on
our sin.
Some of us
are Christians
but even with
that we still
worry about
this day.
We still
struggle with
our sin and
we wonder if
this day will
be a day of
joy or of
shame.
I wonder if
you find
yourself in
that position.
Perhaps it's
time to talk
to somebody
about it.
I realise
that we
all find it
uncomfortable
to talk about
our weaknesses,
don't we?
But that
day is the
most certain
thing of
all the
future and
it must be
top of our
priority lists
to ensure
that that
day is a
day of joy
and celebration,
not of fear
and uncertainty.
It's possible
to be sure
and if you're
not, there
are many of
us here
tonight that
would love to
talk with
you, to
pray with
you, whether
after the
service or
during the
week.
And as we
think of the
certainty of
our being with
Jesus and
returning with
him,
we have an
incredible fresh
spurring on.
We need
not fear
death, nor
need we fear
the day of
Jesus' return.
And so as we
go about our
day-to-day
lives, as we
seek to follow
Jesus here and
now, we no
longer need to
play it safe.
We know that
we will not
miss out on
our eternal
reward.
so we can
live with
boldness in
the face of
every temptation
to waver and
to wave the
white flag.
And it
doesn't matter
whether we
live or die
because we
are so sure
that he is
coming back
for us.
And notice
one final thing
before we get
to our
conclusion.
he meets
us in
the air.
Through the
Bible, sometimes
we see the
air as
Satan's
dominion.
He's called
in another
place the
prince of the
power of the
air.
And yet that
is the very
place where
the ultimate
victory will be
proved.
Where all of
our longing and
hoping, where
all of our
struggles will
finally come to
an end.
It's as if
Paul is
screaming from
the rooftops.
This is it.
This is the
signs, seal, and
utter conclusion
of the matter.
Satan will be
vanquished.
His control of
our lives will
be over.
And everything
that we have
struggled with,
and everything
which we have
doubted, and
everything which
we have been
tempted by, it
will all be
over in that
day.
Because Jesus
is going to
come to that
very place and
turn that place
into the center
of jubilation.
salvation.
He's coming
back.
But as we
finish, notice
that Paul knows
that sound
theology from
afar is not
enough for
these grieving
Thessalonians.
Comfort without
these truths would
be utterly
impossible.
But even with
this knowledge,
we are all
going to face
grief.
If we haven't
done it yet,
we soon will.
And we're all
going to be in
the dark place,
whether that's
sooner or
whether that's
later.
And in those
moments, we are
going to need
our brothers and
sisters around
us to encourage
us.
We're going to
need our good
understanding of
the future to
come with a
face and
with a box
of Kleenex
and with a
cup of
coffee.
Paul doesn't
say to the
Thessalonians,
here we are,
here's the
facts, now go
and debate
endlessly about
what I haven't
said.
No.
He says to
them and to
us, there are
hurting people who
need to hear
these truths
from us and
it's our
responsibility to
go and to
sit and to
listen and to
grieve and to
care for and
to remind.
These truths
were not given
to the
Thessalonians so
that they could
know the future.
These truths
were given to
the Thessalonians
to comfort
them and the
explicit, the
only explicit
command in
this is that
we comfort
one another
with these
words.
And that's
going to be
hard.
To meet
folks, to
have them
round for
dinner over
the course of
weeks and
months and
maybe even
years.
To be open
and free
enough with
each other
that they can
call us when
they need a
shoulder to
cry on.
To encourage
them to get
out the house
to take
them to
some events
that maybe
aren't our
own cup of
tea.
And in
amongst all
of this
living,
normal life,
to find the
right opportunities
to keep on
reminding them
of the truth.
To point them
back to
Jesus.
Certainly not
trivialize their
grief, but
with wisdom to
show them their
hope.
people.
And so we
are to keep
on reminding
one another of
these truths,
to keep on
encouraging each
other to look
forward to the
sure return of
Christ and to
live our lives in
the light of
these core truths
of the gospel.
These core truths
of the gospel that
sound like this.
we believe that
Jesus died and
rose again.
Can we pray?
And then I'll
hand back over to
Gary and the
band.
Father God,
thank you so
much that as we
look to the
future, we look
not to
uncertainty, but
to an event that
is utterly
certain, to an
event that is
completely out of
question, to a
time that is
beyond any
suspicion.
You are coming
back for us,
Jesus.
And as we live
here below, as
we long for that
day, as we live
in this broken
world, would you
continue to
spur us on, to
keep our eyes
fixed on you, to
remember these
core truths and
to comfort one
another.
Lord, thank you
for this church.
And we pray that
as we make it up
and as we live
lives together, that
you would bless
us.
You would give us
compassion for
one another, that
our love for one
another would
abound and that
we would live
wholly before you.
Lord, we praise
you and we thank
you and we pray
these things in
Jesus' name.
Amen.