NavNight Talk: April 13th. 2010

Notes from my talk

Title: Exposition of I Thess. iv.13-18

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.

I. Division of the text

A) A Danger is Exposed

Vs. 13--Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

--Early in the church, the return of Christ was thought of as imminent, so when people began to die, doubt entered.

Two ways of thinking:
1. "ignorant" --and thus filled with false hope, superstitious ideas, fear, etc.
2. "grieve...no hope" --A despairing grief, a grief that says the dead are gone forever, the view of death that the atheist must have.

False, foolish hope, or hopeless grief. Both are wrong and dangerous.

B) A Statement of Grounding Belief

Vs. 14--We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

This is what all our thoughts on the future and on the resurrection are founded upon. The resurrections is at the heart of it. "Jesus died and rose again"
--This has happened. It is a historical event. What the resurrection communicates is laid out in the following passage:

I Corinthians 15:20-23-- But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

This idea of Christ as firstfruit from among the dead is echoed in Romans 8:29.

In each case we not that Christ's resurrection is the sign, that he is the firstborn, meaning that all that belong to him will experience the same thing-- his our head, in our baptism we are baptized into him, so that what happens to Christ also happens to us. Thus his obedience is ours, the merits of his death also, and finally, at the last day, his resurrection will also be ours. Those that have fallen asleep in him will also be raised with him.

Note that though we are said to "die with Christ," that we are called "new creations" in Christ, etc. we don't actually observe these changes in our physical flesh. When we are saved, there is no external change (see John 3). But the Word speaks to us the change, and by placing faith in it, the Holy Spirit seals us, preserving us for the great day still to come when these promised, spoken things will be reality. This gap between what is spoken to us and what we see is connected through faith. Hence my definition of faith, that principle that connects the spoken Word into our present experience. Faith is "being sure of what we hope for." And Christ's resurrection confirms to us that "in the right time" we also will be raised from the dead.

C) A recitation of facts

Vv. 15-17--According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

--Note how this speaks against the ignorance of the men of the earth. Here is a very specific description of what will happen. Do you have any false ideas from culture or whatever about what will happen? Destroy them. Here is fact.

D) An application

Vs. 18-- Therefore encourage each other with these words.

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II. Application

[First], Application to our MIND

1. We must get rid of silly, sentimental ideas we have about heaven.

In the Scriptures, heaven is considered the realm of the angels, in other words, non-physical beings. We also have a non-physical component, and perhaps in some sense, upon death we enter "heaven." Evidence for this includes Jesus's words on the cross to the thief and the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

But even in this heaven, it is merely a waiting area, a place of rest while awaiting our real hope. We are not waiting to escape this earth, but for the New Earth that is promised, the renewal of all creation. We are physical beings, made as a part of creation, inseparable from it. Our hope is the new earth and the new creation.

2. Our hope for a new body and a new earth imply the HOPELESS CORRUPTION of this flesh and this world.

Our bodies are dying. Our world is dying. Your body, no matter how healthy it is (sometimes this is hard for young people like ourselves to conceive), will one day betray you. The earth is a dying place, awash with violence, death, hatred. Entropy is the law of the world.

3. We wait for a new body and a new earth. What is wrong with this one is the way it has been corrupted and weakened THROUGH SIN.

Our enemy, here as in all things, is sin. Salvation is primarily about escape from sin and death. The cross speaks forgiveness to us, here all our sin is dealt with, once and for all. The consequences of them are destroyed at the cross. But what the resurrection speaks to us is the final expulsion of sin from our bodies. For though we stand in Christ forgiven, we still are beset on all side by sin and Satan, still live in sin-weakened flesh that will eventually decay. This is what Paul means when he says that "we groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." The cross alone is useless as long as we still face death. The resurrection communicates to us our final escape from sin and death-- His resurrection and the same hope of resurrection that it holds out to us is the great joy and hope of every soul made alive by Christ.

4. Now we understand somewhat our position, for we live in the time of the great gathering, when God is assembling his church from among all the nations, gathering up his people and putting them into Christ. When it is complete, then and only then, the trumpet will sound, and all the church of God will be raised from the dead, freed for all time from the effects of sin, our final victory! The earth will then be remade, heaven and earth will be joined, and we will live before the Lord for eternity.

This, then, is your thinking, your mind as you consider your future hope.

[Second], apply this to your heart

Heart: as it is the seat of desire and feeling

When you think about the return of Christ, what emotions do you experience?
1. A sense of dread, or hope that it is still a far way off?
2. Nothing?
3. A thrill, a hope, a stirring of desire?

Story:

When I first became a believer, I had little desire for Christ's return. Recognizing this as a problem, I began to pray daily that God would fill me with a hunger for him to return.

One day, several years later, I was on a hike with my cousin Todd in the mountains of Colorado. As we were walking along, we began to talk. Now, my cousin Todd is an intense man. At one point in the conversation, he turned to me and asked, "When do you think Christ is going to return?" Slightly taken aback, a mentioned something about the elect all coming into the fold, or something.

"Do you know what I think?" he said. "I think he will return when his bride is shuddering with desire for him to return.

Let us wait then, as a bride waits for her husband. How does a bride wait?

a) Filled with longing
b) Patiently
c) Chastely, or purely

If we are not waiting with our hearts filled with longing for our husband, something is wrong in the relationship. If the bride does not long for her bridegroom, there are a few explanations for it:

--She is not acquainted with him
--She is not confident of his love for her
--Her heart goes out to another

Question 1: Are you confident of the love of Christ for you? Do you fear anything from him?

--Perhaps you have some secret sin in your life, some secret thing that you both hate and love, some secret that you feel a need to get rid of before he returns. Well, he may come at any moment! Do not delay!

--Perhaps you are conscious of some deficiency in your performance, and feel you need to be more lovable, more righteous, more holy before Christ can return, that when he comes he will be disappointed in you. To this I reply, first, that you have no conception of the depth of your sin, if you think that you need to work to be in God's favor. Second, abandon such thoughts, repent, and know that Christ's death is sufficient to cleanse, for he is the one who "cleansed his bride through the washing with water through the word."

Question 2: Are you acquainted with Christ? Why would you be excited about the coming of someone who you do not know?

As your acquaintance with Crhist increases, your longing for his return will also increase. Know him! Spend time with him! Think on him often! Memorize Scripture that you can recall!

Question 3: Does your heart go out to someone else?

Unfaithful Gomer! In truth, all our hearts are adulterous, but God in Christ woos us back to himself, speaking love to us, calling us to himself. Is this present in your life? Or do you like the bulk of men expend your affections on the dead things of this world? When you think of the future, what do you look forward to? Success? Comfortable life? Family? Fun? Pleasure? Position?

Those things are empty, meaningless, low, worthless! You desire the fallen treasures of the dead world over the unconquerable pleasures of his presence! For shame! Repent man, of your sinful adulterous hearts!

[Third], application to the will

--By which I mean, your actions, the things that you do.

1. First, the application Paul himself gives: "Encourage each other"
--Speak of Christ, remind each other of our hope, consider him together, pray together, seek his return together. This is especially important in times of uncertainty, doubt, mourning.

2. Second, participation in activities that will hasten his return.

A) Prayer for the nations
B) Participation in evangelism

Both, in my experience, have sharpened my longing and desire for Christ's return and our resurrection from the dead.

3. Finally, keep a jealous watch over our hearts.

This is hard, and a lifelong process. Remember the parable of the sower, and the seed who started out full of life but was choked by the earthly desires. Nay, remember man that such things fade. Watch your heart, be jealous for it. God is jealous for it, he wants it for himself because it is his, it belongs to him.

Maintain and nurture your intimacy with Jesus all the days of your life.

Watch over each other's lives, be jealous for each other, all the days of your life.

Cultivate a hatred of worldly things.


Fix your eyes, your heart, and your whole life on the hope of the future resurrection, represented to us by Christ, and so in the viewing of him in his revealed glory we are ourselves transformed, until the day when this body will be like his.

Amen.