Encouragement for Those Living. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

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2 Encouragement for Those Living 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

3 1 st Thessalonians 4:13-18 [NASB] But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen

4 1 st Thessalonians 4:13-18 (cont.) asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice

5 1 st Thessalonians 4:13-18 (cont.) of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

6 1 st Thessalonians 4:13-18 (cont.) Therefore comfort one another with these words.

7 Encouragement for the Those Living Thesis: We can grieve with hopeful confidence for those who have preceded us in death because of Christ s resurrection and His revelation about our future.

8 Encouragement for the Those Living I. Our grief is not like that of the hopeless. (4:13-14)

9 Encouragement for the Those Living I. Our grief is not like that of the hopeless. (4:13-14) A. Because Christ died and rose again.

10 1 st Corinthians 15:16-22 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all

11 1 st Corinthians 15:16-22 men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

12 Encouragement for the Those Living I. Our grief is not like that of the hopeless. (4:13-14) A. Because Christ died and rose again. B. Because those who have died are already with Him.

13 Encouragement for the Those Living I. Our grief is not like that of the hopeless. (4:13-14) II. We shall all be together again with Christ. (4:15-17)

14 Encouragement for the Those Living II. We shall all be together again with Christ. (4:15-17) A. These truths are by way of revelation from the Lord.

15 A Few Items of Importance: Eschatology: the theological study of last things. ODF s Statement of Faith, final item: The Return of Christ - The Lord Jesus Christ will return soon, and there will be a resurrection of the saved to eternal life, and of the lost to eternal and conscious judgment.

16 A Few Items of Importance: Eschatology: the theological study of last things. ODF s Statement of Faith Paul apparently fully expected Christ s coming in his lifetime.

17 A Few Items of Importance: Eschatology: the theological study of last things. ODF s Statement of Faith Paul apparently fully expected Christ s coming in his lifetime. He therefore viewed it as imminent.

18 Encouragement for the Those Living II. We shall all be together again with Christ. (4:15-17) A. These truths are by way of revelation. B. Christ Himself will come to get the bodies of those who have died.

19 II. Encouragement for the Those Living We shall all be together again with Christ. (4:15-17) A. These truths are by way of revelation. B. Christ Himself will come to get the bodies of those who have died. C. Christ Himself will come to get us who remain alive until then.

20 Encouragement for the Those Living II. We shall all be together again with Christ. A. These truths are by way of revelation. B. Christ Himself will come to get the bodies of those who have died. C. Christ Himself will come to get us who remain alive until then. D. We all, with transformed bodies, will meet Him and remain with Him forever.

21 Zechariah 14:4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley.

22 Encouragement for the Those Living I. Our grief is not like that of the hopeless. (4:13-14) II. III. We shall all be together again with Christ. (4:15-17) These words are designed to comfort us. (4:18)

23 Encouragement for the Those Living Thesis: We can grieve with hopeful confidence for those who have preceded us in death because of Christ s resurrection and His revelation about our future.