The Rapture and the Second Coming

Main idea: Take heart Christian, when Jesus returns, you will be re-united with all believers who have died.

1. Grieve with Hope
   • Philippians 1:21
2. Anchor your soul in the coming of the Lord
• God’s grad plan: Psalm 2:9
• 2 Thessalonians 1:10
• 1 Corinthian 15:22-25

• John 11:25
• 1 Corinthians 15:52
• Philippians 3:20-21
3. Encourage each other with these words
   • Loved ones who have died …
     • With great faith
     • With weak faith
     • In conflict or division
       

• Automated Transcription

• 0:14
  Goodmorning, everybody. It is so good to see you all. A couple things want to say as we start, if you are new with us, I just add my welcome to to you. We're so glad you're here. I'd love to meet you. You can come down, or I can meet you in the foyer. I'd love to meet you. I am so thankful for the laborers at Faith Bible Church. If you were here last Sunday night where the choir and orchestra led us in a night of worship, it was phenomenal. So make sure, if you see somebody who is involved in that, you say thank you for that. Family updates. You know people we do, we do little announcements for people who've had their 50th wedding anniversaries. And I'm not going to announce it because they weren't here today in Hawaii. So I'm not going to say their names in a couple weeks. We're going to give one then somebody else is engaged with a child, so I have to say in a couple weeks, but I have one that I can say today, like there's so many good things. Sam, Sam kuzner, check asked Ella post of it to be his wife on Cannon Beach old this week, and she said, Yes. So exciting. We're so happy for them. They were at first service. You can applaud anyway. It was so exciting. We love to do that. If you want me to announce it first, you need to be part of the church like we're not just doing everybody's like, I have an aunt. She's getting remarried, and could you announce it? Does she go here? No, you know, we can do that. But if you want to John or I need to find out. So the family needs to tell John or me that we do this, because somebody will say to them, so and so has a wedding anniversary, we should announce that, and then they're not here. So just this, how to do it? Just very practical thing. We can do it. So that's life in a family. It's good. Finally, we are turning our attention to the return of Christ, the second coming. We're in part three of our series in First Thessalonians, 413, through 18. You can turn your attention there. And here's what the Apostle Paul answers in this and it's about the resurrection. Like, when does the resurrection stuff kick in for everybody? Like, when do we see resurrection happening? Jesus has risen. When are we going to rise? And Paul answers that. He answers that, and he answers kind of related questions, if a Christian I know dies, will I see her again? Does she miss out on the glorious realities of the Second Coming? Like he's going to answer these questions for us, and the answer is rooted in a more important reality, with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the victor over death and everything that separates us from each other and us from him for him. So we're gonna look at that today. It's a glorious passage. Turn to First Thessalonians, 3413 through 18. Stand with me for the reading of God's word, and be prepared to say Praise be to God. You know, for like this, this word, it's glorious, but we do not want you to be uninformed brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this, we declare to you, by a word from the Lord, that we, who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep, 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Indeed God, we thank you for the precious promises that are ours in Christ. And this is one of the mainstays this life as we know it, will end and new bodies are coming, loved ones that we have, that we know and love have who have died if, if we're here at your coming they're going to get new bodies too, and we will always be with you at this center of our lives and worship. How we long for the day? I pray that it would renew our hope and encourage us as we do grieve at death. It is. Is right and good to do that, but we grieve as people with hope. I pray for those who don't yet have this hope, this hope could be theirs. So do a work in their hearts today that they would call out to you to be saved, that they would experience this, not the coming wrath, Father. We pray for churches in our city that they would be faithful to this full gospel, announcing the cross, the resurrection, the reign of Christ and His return. Pray that You would help forth Memorial Church, whether it's Scott or one of his other brothers, preaching there this morning, they're in our five minute circle, and they join the labors reaching this part of the city, as well as wherever their members are. Pray that you would be at work. We would pray for an awakening, for a dissatisfaction with the world, its pleasures, its hopes. We pray for a massive dissatisfaction among the unbelieving. And I pray for us to have a joyful a joyful message of true hope, and do an awakening to bring many to yourself to receive glory now and forever. Christ's name. Amen, you may be seated. So let's begin right away with the big idea, and it's about those who are alive at the Second Coming. It's from the last verse in our chapter about encouraging one another. And this big idea goes something like this, take heart, Christian. When Jesus returns, you will be reunited with all believers who died. Take heart. Be encouraged. Be encouraged. Christians grieve the loss of their Christian loved ones. It's natural. Death is an enemy. Death is not a friend. We grieve the loss of a Christian grandparent, a Christian aunt or uncle, a Christian friend, a parent, sibling, spouse. Death is an enemy until the eternal state, but death is not the story. Death is not the story of us. Emphasis on the US. Death is not the end of our story. We have a hope in Christ for a relationship with our Christian loved ones who die ahead of us, we will live together in bodies, worshiping and centered around the Lord Jesus Christ. What a joy. What a promise. Now I want to be clear as we begin this this hope only applies to those who are converted, those who are genuine followers of Jesus Christ, those who've counted the cost of discipleship and said, Yes, I trust him so much. I will give my life. There has been a repentance from sin and idolatry a turn to the true and living God, as we looked at last week. If that does not apply to you, if you have not repented or sought the Lord for forgiveness, there will not be a joy joyous reunion with Christ. There will not be a joyous reunion with other believers. Christ won't be the center for you. And if you have a loved one that's also not a believer, not a follower, this hope isn't for them either. So as you listen today, if you haven't called on Christ to save you, I can't think of something better to compel you to do it. But did you know that you can not only be restored to a relationship with God, but this, this body that's wearing out, will be resurrected and renewed to live with God forever. You should do that. It's not brilliant. It's obvious. You should do that. I can't I can't believe it's just a better promise that be sitting in front of you than this. And if you have a loved one that you're not sure about where their eternal state is. This is just a reason to bring up the conversation again. It's a reason to bring up the conversation again.
  
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  I wish we had time to go into the common Greek and Roman myths about the afterlife. I don't have time to do that, Paul's speaking into that we should at least talk about some of the common beliefs of the afterlife today. There is not a Hollywood depiction of life after death that puts Christ at the center. There isn't one. There may be. Joy. There may be warmth. There may be comfy clouds. Dumbledore might be there talking to you in the Hollywood after a life scene, but there's no Christ, yeah. Michael Landon might be there to talk to you in the Hollywood scenes that only applies to the old people. Nobody, nobody, but the people who watched Highway to Heaven will remember that we have to take captive any thought of a heavenly existence without Christ being the center. We have to take captive that thought, along with all of the saints of the ages, we have to be able to say heaven would be held to me if Christ were not there. Christ is the center. Paul is not envisioning an eternal class reunion.
  
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  What he is envisioning is Christ stepping out in glory from heaven to call his own. That's what he is envisioning to begin the process of retaking Heaven and Earth from the rebels and the idolaters of the world,
  
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  the different train of thought. So many saints act as if long life on Earth is a heaven in itself, or in the process of aging, there's there starts to become a greater and greater resistance to death. Yes, the separation is grievous. Death is still an enemy. Paul won't say, Don't grieve. He's not going to say that, but he says in Philippians, 121 to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Death is an enemy. It's also a doorway for the believer. Take heart Christian. When Jesus returns, you will be reunited with all believers who have died. It's a glorious reality, or take it three parts. They just follow the text. Paul tells us to grieve with hope if we say it positively, he calls us to anchor that hope in the promise of the resurrection, and then he calls us to encourage each other with these words. The scene, there are believers in Thessalonica. They have come to faith knowing that their family, the city, the government might turn hostile with them. They receive the gospel in much affliction. It's possible, in the short months between Paul's leaving and sending Timothy back, that they've even had loved ones die, Paul's writing to them today to know what to do with those realities. So I know Jesus rose from the dead, and there's a promise of His coming back. I know I have loved ones that died in Christ. How does this work? What's next? This is what he wants to tell us. So let's just start with that first one, right out of verse 13. We need to be people who grieve but with hope. Grieve with hope. It is hard enough to grieve the death of unbelievers, who are now in hell, now separated from God. We don't need to add to that, a hopeless grief about believers. Death is grievous, but it's not the end of a believer story. Resurrection and a role in Christ's kingdom is the end of the believer story. So he says this in verse 13, we do not want you to be uninformed. Brothers. Again, he's talking about the Christian community. The positive way to say that is, I want you to know. I want you to know and be certain about those who are asleep. Whenever Paul uses the phrase asleep, he's picturing death and a body either lying prepared, being prepared for a tomb or a grave, and that body looks asleep, for the Christian, he calls it asleep. It's the only way he uses the asleep metaphor for a Christian, because he knows that at the resurrection, God will awaken that body, rejoin it with a soul, and it will be awake, body and soul, permanent. Ly, I don't want you to be uninformed. I want you to know brothers about those who are asleep.
  
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  There is probably a concern that those people who died before Christ's return would exist in some kind of separate state from their state, Paul. Paul's saying, in a very straightforward way, death is not the Victor. He's not the victor. It's not the victor over the body. It's not the victor over our relationships. Christ is, I don't want you to grieve. He says that you may not grieve as others do. The word grieve here is deep pain, distress. In some passages, it's translated as very sorrowful. He's not prohibiting grief. It's okay. It's okay to cry when a loved one dies. You know, a child might ask his parent, is it okay if I cry that grandma or my aunt or so and so has died. Yeah, it's okay. It's death is an enemy. The loved one that you enjoyed isn't with you for a long time. It's okay to grieve. But then he says, as others do, who have no hope. I mean, I think of the perfect example of the Lord Jesus, when He comes to Lazarus tomb, and he sees Lazarus in the tomb, and he weeps because Lazarus is dead. And people say, Well, how could Jesus weep because Lazarus is dead? I mean, he's going to raise him in about three minutes, because Lazarus is dead, it's sorrowful, it's grievous. Israel had a 30 day mourning period for Moses when Moses died. Grief is normal. Grief is an appropriate response, but we are people who grieve with hope, with hope, because there's going to be a there's a confidence that a reunion is coming. There is a reunion coming. Now, I think it's important to say this here. I've been around Christian families who have, perhaps false hopes about a non Christian family member or or when their loved one dies, they engage in a revisionist history. I've had people say to me, would you would you pray for my husband? Would you pray for my dad? Would you pray for so and so they're not a believer. They're getting close. They're they're dying of cancer, and I meet them for the memorial, and all of a sudden, all the same people act like that person's now a believer. I mean, did they did they make a profession? I mean, did they tell you something? Did what happened? Well, I mean, he was really good. And how could you be really good unless you had a new heart and a new life. So the person had to be a believer. Why do we do that? I know exactly why we do that. Who can bear the thought of a loved one, eternally separated from God? So we want to tell ourselves things. We want to tell ourselves things like they were okay, you
  
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  the grief of separation, the realities of hell are very great to bear. When my father died, who, as far as I know, never made a profession of Christ. I had Christians come to the memorial service, and they just, they just wanted to comfort me and said, I know your dad is in heaven. I mean, they knew I was a pastor, so they'd want me to hear that my dad was going to be in heaven. And what am I supposed to tell them with my dad's casket? Like, right there?
  
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  You know, when I when I got saved, my dad was like, That's great for you. I don't believe any of it. He'd always been an atheist. He had been a proud atheist. He liked to, like, spout out his atheism. He got chemotherapy, or got chemo. He got leukemia. He got leukemia, and he was starting to get sick. There. Became a point where he was finally allowing gospel conversations. We could pray at the kitchen table, which, for decades, he didn't let us do that at his house. So there was different things going on. We were on a long trip to Canada, and I was in the front seat of the of the f2 50 pickup that he was driving, and he finally let me share the gospel with him. Walked through the storyline of the Bible. I walked through the gospel, and he said, I want to have your faith. I. Just don't shared with him another time, tried to keep the conversation going through the weekend. By the time we got back four days later, he was in a coma, and I didn't hear anything about a profession of faith. Here's how I had to think about it on the fly when somebody's telling me your dad's in heaven, this is not the time I'm going to do a theological conflict with the person at the memorial. Certainly the time between Friday night, when we got home and Wednesday, when he went into a coma was plenty long enough for him to cry out to the Lord. Certainly that's possible. And given the fact that he was finally open to talking about it, I have more hope than I ever did.
  
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  But no one heard a profession of faith. I didn't hear a profession of faith. So I really can't say he's in heaven. I can't say he's in hell. So I would say to very kind well meaning people, no one will be happier than me. If I see my dad in heaven, no one will be happier if I see my dad worshiping Jesus, no one will be happier than me. I mean, I don't have the same hope as I have for George Weber, one of our elders who went to be with Lord Fred Williams or Phil Campbell. I mean, I have incredible hope about seeing brothers in the Lord My father had ample opportunity to respond. He's going to stand accountable before God, and if he's there, that will, that will be something to rejoice in. But you have to be careful to take this passage and a thin emotional hope for something that's true. And it begs us to say this, if you have someone that you're not sure about, try to have the conversation again. Get the conversation again. Have it again. You're not sure. Have it again. It's hard enough grieving the death of unbelievers. What Paul is giving us here is a hope for believers. You have friends family here, I might get run over by a bus, although, apparently, doesn't happen very much here. Happens all the time in London, doesn't happen very much here. And I could go in glory, and you could grieve with hope.
  
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  Remember Paul's words, to live is Christ, to die is gain. So let's, let's just review this, since we were looking at it, because we're right in the middle there, Paul's got this encouragement that the fellow believers, we're going to see them again. What happens between death now and this return of Jesus? Just to review, when Paul says to die is gain. He is adding on to second Corinthians, five, eight, which says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord our believing loved ones who have died are in the direct presence of the glory of God. They are consumed with the majesty of God. Their tears are wiped clean, and they're welcomed by the Lamb of God who was slain for their sin. Their souls are immediately transformed and perfected. Sin goes to the ground. Righteousness goes with the soul to heaven. What I mean? Sin goes to the ground. It gets laid in the grave. Righteousness goes with the soul to heaven. Sight is perfected. Faith is obsolete. You know, when you get there, you will only have energy. We will not have weariness when you get there. We will only have obedience, never disobedience. We will love loving God first. We will love loving God first. One of the tours Brian and Michelle and I were at. We're in front of Thomas Watson's church. He said this in that pulpit. Here, we have no rest. And he's the master of the word picture. Picture a tennis racket as a ball turned and tossed on a racket. We have no rest. Second, Corinthians, 48 says we are troubled on every side. How can a ship rest in a storm? But after death, the saints get into their haven and everything is quiet at the center. End quote. That's what's your believing. Loved ones are in their haven, and they are quiet at rest. There will be a company of holy angels. There will be his mighty messengers. And here's another one. I'm just going to add one more thing in here. So sweetly, there will be a harmony and a singing of believers who were divided here, divided in doctrine, divided in conflict. Over church history, there have been believers in armies that clashed believers on both sides in heaven, Calvin and Luther agreed, we will join together in concert, loud praises to the king. I mean that that is a comfort of of that. But there's more. There's more we don't grieve as those have who have no hope because we're separated from them. There's more grieve as those who have hope second anchor your soul in the coming of the Lord. This is what he's getting at. At the second coming. Something's happening at the second coming of Christ. Satan's power, the nation's power, death's power, will all be destroyed. That's what he's coming back to do. We should step back and ask some big questions, what is Jesus coming back to do? Well, Psalm two, nine gives us one of these great pictures. It is to enact justice on his enemies, wrath. Psalm two, nine. God the father says to God the Son about those who rebelled and killed him, he says, You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. There's a picture big clay pot smashed First Thessalonians 110, and we looked at that last week it's called the wrath to come. Paul says that all believers will be delivered from the wrath to come. So before Jesus lets loose his wrath on his enemies, he will deliver his own. This is what the start of the Second Coming is all about. If we think of the whole storyline of the Bible from the beginning, after Adam and Eve sinned, Death introduced, Satan is promised one day his head will be crushed. This is pointing to the final conquest of the devil, of the nations that oppose God of the religious institutions that oppose God of all individual idolaters. All of this is coming to an end where Jesus will institute righteous, just, loving reign on earth. He's coming to be glorified in His saints, Second Thessalonians, 110 says, just a couple pages to the right, the full glory of God and the redemption of His saints will brilliantly be displayed. He's coming to reclaim the earth for the glory of the Father. You want a timeline like, how's this going to unfold? Turn to the left, a couple of books to a couple of letters to First Corinthians, 15. We looked at it a little bit last week, but I want to draw out the order so you can see where Paul's placing. First Thessalonians, chapter four. He says this verse, 22 this is 1522. For as in Adam, all die, so also in Christ, shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. So we're talking about the order of the resurrection. Paul is concerned First Corinthians 15 about life. When is life going to win? So first Christ, the firstfruits that happened on the third day. Then at His coming, those who belong to Christ, here's the coming. First, Thessalonians, 414, is the coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power, For he must reign until he has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Now with the brilliance of Seth Weber, our graphic design hero, just here's the timeline order. Look at it. It's in your notes. When does this resurrection of our beloved saints happen? When does our transformation happen? Verse 23 at His coming those who belong to Christ. So when does resurrection happen at His coming to those who belong to Christ? Now, if you kept just looking at 20. Three he says, Then comes the end, when He delivers over the kingdom. But you notice that there's an after and a rain until so on the timeline, there is at his coming those who belong to Christ, and Jesus is going to be destroying every rule and reigning until he has put all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy to be defeated is death. Then comes the end. What is happening at the resurrection? What is happening at what is called the rapture? I'll get that to in a moment. Is Jesus is stepping out of heaven to gather all of his saints, living and dead in bodies, to join with him in the destroying of every rule and putting all enemies under His feet. There is, there is no counter offensive in a war that doesn't involve some stages. And this is clearly portrayed as Jesus, the warrior, coming to exercise victory with the saints. So at His coming, he destroys every rule. He reigns until all enemies are put under his feet. The last enemy is death. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom over to the Father, so that God can be all in all. So there is a period between the rapture, that resurrection and the handing over of the kingdom to the Father as a church, as a theologian, that's where I put a day of the Lord and a millennial reign of Christ, because there is going to be this rain, but this is a glorious hope. Here's what's in store for you, saint. Not only is there a reunion, but you will be perfected. Your loved one will be perfected, that is, unless you die first, and you'll be that loved one, and somebody else will be waiting for you. But there is this reunion, this rejoicing, a wedding supper and strap on the swords. We're coming in an army like but that's glorifying war. No, it's conquest over injustice. Do you want injustice to go on forever? Of course, you don't. Eventually it has to end. We ought to strap on our swords. Apparently we never take them out, and Jesus just does the job, but we get to watch revelation 19, the why and when is important to anchor your soul in the hope of Christ and the reunion of loved ones.
  
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  That is a glorious time. God will be glorious in his victory over the nations, over governments, over Satan, over sin and even death. Sight of loved ones and glorified bodies will be a glorious proof of Christ's victory. So jump back now to first, Thessalonians, 414, for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. God will bring with Him, they're coming with him. Souls are coming. Remember Jesus made the statement John 1125 where Jesus said to Mary and Martha, I'm the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live? Then he walked over to Lazarus, to him, and says, Lazarus, come out. I want you to this is what it's going to look like. Somebody resurrected. Notice the direction through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Remember, the dead in Christ are never anywhere but with Christ. They're with Christ. They're never anywhere else but with Christ. The dead in Christ are with Christ, and they're coming with Jesus at His return. And this is proven by the resurrection. Now to make it emphatic, Paul says, I got this by direct revelation. This isn't sound logical deduction, prone to human misinterpretation. This is revelation. He says, verse 15. For this, we declare to you by a word from the Lord God has revealed it. It's a divine message that we, who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. It will happen at His coming. If we're alive, when Jesus returns, we will see our loved ones in his armies for the Lord. Himself will descend. I mean, notice this, Jesus will see to the resurrection. Personally, he's not sending emissaries. The Lord Himself will descend. He will descend from heaven with a cry of command. It could be a military kind of command. It's a loud cry. He did use the same kind of word at the tomb of Lazarus. Lazarus come forth. He will call all the bodies of dead believers to life. Notice, this is with the voice of an archangel. We don't know which Archangel. We don't know how many Archangels there are. I don't know if it's Gabriel. Somebody says it's Gabriel, cool. I'm so committed to the position. We don't know which ones. But to amplify the significance an archangel after the cry of command, and Jesus calls it, the Archangel, is going to go to and fro over the face of the earth, opposite of the angel of death. The Angel of Death came in Exodus. This angel is coming, calling to life. And just in case you missed Jesus voice, just in case you missed the archangels voice, there's a trumpet. And this, this is emphasis with the the sound of the trumpet of God. Trumpets were used in the ancient world to gather an assembly, gather an army, gather a city. It is a trumpet for gathering. Will it be loud? Yes, if you have tinnitus, will it hurt your ears? Probably, but you will love it. It will be unmistakable and awesome beyond description. So it's to say you haven't missed it. If it had come, you would know. You would have heard Jesus, you would have heard the archangel, and you would have heard the trumpet. You won't miss it and hear it. Look at it. And the dead in Christ will rise first. They're going to get the reward first. They're going to rise first. Body Soul will be reunited. Right now we die, our souls go to be with the Lord at this moment, out of the grave, out of the urn, out of whatever it is, out of the tomb. Bodies are called reformed and perfected, joining souls forever. Now if, if you're there, then you will be changed. I'll get to that in a second. But from your body, your first sight. Who will it be the Lord? You're going to see the Lord in all glory. And I don't know how many seconds it takes for your eyes to adjust to glory, blinding, brilliant, magnificent glory, but they will adjust and surrounding him. Surrounding him is this vast array, this army, this host of believers in their glory. And apparently Paul means here you're going to recognize them. Will we recognize our loved ones when they when we see them in heaven, or when we see them at Christ's return? Apparently, because that's part of the hope. You don't have to go around forever saying, Are you? Are you aunt so and so I've been looking for you for 1000 years. You're not gonna you're gonna know. I mean, that's part of the hope. How can I say that? From the Bible? Well, a witch recognized Samuel in First Samuel Saul recognized Samuel, and Samuel that was just a soul. Peter James John recognized Elijah and Moses were recognizable before the resurrection, they're going to be recognizable after the resurrection. I mean, what a sight Christ and your brother or sister in the Lord in glorified bodies. I'm going to see Christ like George Weber and Doreen Weber. Christ like Fred Williams. Christ like Brian vihauser, I'm going to see Christ like Marilyn Clark. Christ like Annie Stilson, Christ like Polly feriante, Christ like Carlo feriante. I mean, it's going to be glorious. You're going to recognize them, and they will be glorified. What a you. What a picture and what are they going to see in us, we get glorified bodies too. We who are alive, who are left. Remember Paul thought he was going to be alive at Christ's return. Paul just believed Jesus' words that he should not be setting dates. He could come at any time, just like the parable that we learned in Luke 1235, through 48 he could come at any time we, who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This this word, caught up, was translated and used in the Latin Vulgate for 1000 years. The word was rapturo, where we get the idea of Rapture. This is the, this is the anchor passage for the doctrine of the rapture, the great catching up. It's the central text. Now, it's implicit here that our bodies are going to be transformed. But Paul is explicit in two places. First, Corinthians, 1552, he says, in a moment in the twinkling of eye at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, imperishable, and we shall be changed. We'll be transformed. We read it in our liturgy readings this morning. Philippians, 320, through 21 our citizenship is in heaven. From it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him, even to subject all things to himself. He will subject death and the division that death causes, and the conflict that death causes the god conflict that sin causes. When is this going to happen? Any time? Do you want a confident date assertion? I'll tell you exactly when Jesus is going to come any time. I'm not dodging. I read about 50 theologians in the 1600s who predicted the dates of Christ's return in the in the 1600s and they were all wrong. I'm not stepping in that. I've watched people be wrong forever. Any time Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect, but the coming of Christ is initiated by a trumpet sound. You'll hear the Lord, you'll hear the archangel. It's going to happen
  
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  next week. We're going to look at the day of the Lord, because this second coming of Christ is the first phase in what we call the second coming, because he has to come in the air to rapture His saints. We know he is going to come with saints in Revelation 19 in between that time, there is a period called the day of the Lord. It emphasizes God's judgment on the world in which, during that time of judgment, he's still going to offer salvation to many, many, and many will get saved in between that rapture and that final end read the book of Revelation, to watch a full number of Jews, a myriad of Gentiles, all kinds of people are going to get saved in that time, but it'll be a very difficult time. This initiates this process. We'll talk about it more next week, but I know we have interest about how all the details work out, but come back here to the encouragement and zero in on it. And so we will always be with the Lord. This is why Paul's telling us this, you're going to be with the Lord. We are going to be together with the Lord. It's going to be us. It's going to be our at that point, death will never separate us from God or the saints again, Christ will always be the center. Always be the center. Our pride and ego will never be the center. Our conflict and controversies will never be the center. Every wrong that you've ever had, wrong thought that you've ever had about God, His will, His plan, it's going to be corrected. Godly saints have been trying to tell you things, to convince you of truths, and you'll finally see them. The reverse will be true. You've been trying to tell people biblical things, and they have been unwilling to see them, and they will finally be convinced. Let's just take it a step further. I've been part of church splits. I've known about persecutions, national wars that have pit one Christian against another on the battlefield. All of that will permanently evaporate. There's an Old Testament phrase used sword will be beaten into a plowshare. It's going to be turned into farming implements living on the edge of the Palouse. We will say. Day, tanks will be melted down and turned into combines. We will always be with the Lord. There will never be competition over anything, except maybe who has the best golf handicap, but that'll be in fun. I thought I was supposed to have a perfect body. Yeah, there might be somebody better than you in Heaven. It's okay. All right, let's let's zero in number three, encourage each other with these words, therefore, encourage one another with these words. So let's set up the full teaching, grieve. You have a loved one that dies. You grieve. Death is an enemy. There's a real separation. The loved one that you've loved for your whole life, perhaps, is gone and you're not going to see them until you go to glory, or they come back with Jesus, and it could be a very long time grieve, but not as those without hope, not as those without hope. There are some who you know that have had very strong faith at death, very strong faith at death. You're going to mourn their loss. You're if this is a friend of yours, a family member of yours, and their loved one who's gone is leaving a gaping hole, you're going to grieve with them, but you're also going to be able to talk about the reward your loved one will see at the end. I'm so sorry for your grief, but God will finish his word and reward their faith and faithless faithfulness. You will see him again. You will see her again with a crown of righteousness that is unfading.
  
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  There are some that are weak in faith, faltering in faith. Describe described as escaping judgment as through fire. First, Corinthians chapter three, escaping judgment as through fire. Some Christians die in sin. Some die through sinful choices. Encourage any brother or sister, if this is the case, that if there was a clear, genuine profession, an overall life that demonstrated saving faith, they'll see the loved one perfected, perfected. Christians that get dementia and the end isn't faithful or pretty. Do you realize when they get perfected bodies, they will be in full, clear minds? I remember John MacArthur telling the story of visiting his hero, Feinberg, president of his seminary that he went to. He was a converted Jew. He got dementia. By the end of his time, he didn't recognize his sons, who were believers and seminary professors too, and all he remembers was his Orthodox Christian roots as a young boy, like his mind just deteriorated so far. What are you supposed to say? Jesus keeps his own Dr Feinberg will be so passed to Jesus, perfected soul, sin stays in the ground, righteousness goes to the soul, and a new body comes. If you've had a family member that, through physical decline, has not ended on top in their faith, but ended with real faith, they will be perfected, encourage each other with these words. I'm also aware that some have massive divisions over family matters, doctrines and choices. The loved one that died died, divided or separated, if they were truly saved. All sin will be removed. Perfect Understanding, given, a reunion, a restoration, an embrace, a fellowship, a wonder at the grace of God is in store. Encourage each other with these words, because pride, bitterness, jealousy, ignorance, it's all going to be removed. Only. Humility, love, thankfulness, will remain, encourage each other with these words, and then we will have worship and work to do together again. There are those who have strong faith, there are those who have weak faith. Those are who are divided and we won't see the resolution till glory, but it says plainly, we will be together with the Lord, not in our separate denominations. I mean, the new heavens and new earth is going to be big, but you're going to see people that you didn't get along with in earth, and now you will get along with them gloriously well. I came across this as I was studying Thomas Cranmer 10 years ago. He sought to reform the church of England, and in the Book of Common Prayer, there is something that, something to be said at graveside services. I copied and pasted this out of the graveside service for Doreen Weber, dear saint who has gone to be with the Lord as much as it is pleased Almighty God, from His great mercy, to take the soul of Doreen to himself, we say goodbye to the body, Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, He will change our decayed bodies that they may be like his glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. Isn't that a hope he will do this? Let's give thanks, Father, thank You for this hope. As we look at this, there's been some equipping today for us to encourage each other, encourage our own hearts, looking forward to what is to come, and we would pray that You would help us in grief, still press on and serve in hope, and I pray that there would be some today who would see this hope cry out in repentance and take hold of eternal life in Christ. May we all the more resolved to do the very same thing. There are many problems in this world that we cannot untangle, weak faith, division. You will untangle it. We can hope in that, and in that day we'll give you glory Christ's name. Amen.

Dan Jarms

Dr. Dan Jarms is teaching pastor and team leader at Faith Bible Church in Spokane Washington, as well as associate dean at The Master's Seminary in Spokane. He has been married for over 30 years to Linda, and has three adult children. He earned his B.A. in English at the Master’s College, B.Ed. at Eastern Washington University, M.Div and D.Min in Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary. His other interests include NCAA basketball, woodworking, and art.

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