Victory Over Death and Discouragement

1THESS. 4:15-17

Subject: The Rapture

Theme: Our Rapture Hope gives believers assurance of victory over death and discouragement.

Introduction:

Our Christ-filled hope thrills, cheers, and comforts us for the entire course of our lives and not even death can extinguish it. As we trust God’s promise of the Rapture, we are encouraged and strengthened as we face death; and we are powerfully filled with the anticipation of our coming Lord Jesus—HOPE. Our lives are marked with real hope. 

Spiritual Hope is presented as the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in the well-documented faithfulness of Almighty God. In our culture, “hope” is commonly nothing more than wishful thinking or earnest desires. The Word of God; however, portrays the confident expectation based on the promise of God. The word hope refers to both the act of hoping (Rom 4:18; 1 Cor 9:10) and the thing hoped for (Col 1:5; 1 Peter 1:3). Hope does not arise from the individual’s desires or wishes but from God, who made the promise.

Four times “Hope” appears in this letter (1Thess. 1:3; 2:19; 4:13; 5:8). All of these references point to complete salvation with the coming of the Lord Jesus. Hope is our glorious anticipations because of salvation in Christ. This compelling assurance of the Rapture is one of the greatest blessings for every Christian. Victory over death and discouragement is realized when we place absolute confidence in our Rapture Hope. Comfort replaces despair about the death of saved love ones. Beloved, when the trumpet sounds whether we are still alive or asleep in Jesus, we will be made completely alive and fully united with our Lord and each other forever. This is the Hope that Thrills, Cheers, and Comforts!

Lesson:

Note how Specifically and Clearly God Declares our Rapture Hope (1Thess. 4:15-17)

This is the clearest explanation in Scriptures regarding the order of events related to the Rapture of believers. It is here that Paul gives the sequence of these interconnected epics of the Rapture.  Let’s study the details to realize the full comfort and encouragement of our Hope.

A REVELATION: The Living Believers Will Not Have Any Advantage Over the Sleeping Believers When Our Lord Returns. 1Thes 4:15, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, [This is the Direct Revelation] that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede, come before] them which are asleep.

This is significant because….

                    1.   They Will Not Miss the Rapture! Those who have died in the Lord will not miss the great events of the return of Christ, the Rapture, and they will have a part in the Lord’s Millennial Kingdom. The living will not have any advantages! Those who sleep in the Lord will not miss the Lord’s coming!

                   2.  The Lord’s Return is Also Imminent!  He could come at any moment!

1Thes 4:15, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (Read 1Cor. 15:51-54; Phil. 3:20-21)

Paul fully expected the Rapture in His day, and so much the more should we! The point is to be READY, RIGHT, RESTING, AND WORKING when He comes!

A RETURN: The Lord Jesus Will Come Down from Heaven. Vs 16

1Thes 4:16, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout….

                   1. It’s A Return of the Lord Himself.

This is a Literal, Physical Return of the Lord Jesus Christ to our atmosphere. He is not a spirit or phantom.  The Day of Pentecost nor salvation is synonymous with Christ’s Return. This is a separate event on God’s prophetic calendar—Christ’s Return in the Rapture. What makes the rapture thrilling is the Lord Jesus!

Morgan To Be Interrupted

G. Campbell Morgan, said, “I never begin my work in the morning without thinking that perhaps He may interrupt my work and begin His own. I am not looking for death. I am looking for Him.” –Tan, Paul Lee: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations

                   2.  It’s A Return with The Lord’s Shout

By this Shout Christ will call the Sleeping Believers to Life Again. John 5:25-27, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27, And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

John 11:25-26, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26, And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

During the Resurrection of Lazarus in Jn. 11:43-44 “....He [Jesus] cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” The next time he will call His ‘Christians’ to Himself, the "Resurrection and the Life!"

                   3.  It’s A Return with The Voice of Michael the Archangel

This call will summon the angelic host as a Military Escort to accompany the Lord and His people through enemy territory back to Heaven (See Matt. 24:31; 25:31; 2Thess.1:7; Jude 9). Some believe this angel is Gabriel because he is more closely associated with the Christian Age than Michael.  I believe the Bible only refers to Michael as ‘the archangel.’

                   4.  It’s A Return with The Blowing of the Trumpet of God

This is the ‘Last Trump’ of the Christian Age, which has to do with the resurrection of believers at the time of the Rapture. 1Cor 15:52, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair— When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.—James M. Black; When the Role is Called Up Yonder

This is not the seventh and last trumpet of the Tribulation period in Revelation 11:15-19. The Seventh Trumpet of the Tribulation Period is a Trumpet of Judgment not Rapture.  Christians will not go through the tribulation period.  The Tribulation is for the Lost World and to prepare Israel for her Messiah, not the Christian (1Thess. 5:9-11)!  We must realize that God is not done with Israel! (Dan. 9:24)

A RESURRECTION: The Dead “In Christ” Shall Arise First (Vs 16)

1Thes 4:16 … and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

                   1. Not all of the Dead, but Only “the dead in Christ” will Arise.

This excludes O. T. Saints who will be raised after the Tribulation Period according to Dan. 12:2.   

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise and the glory of His resurrection share— When the chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies, and the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there. –James M. Black; When the Role is Called Up Yonder

       2. Obviously, the Christian Dead will Arise “First”—before the Living Christians are Raptured!

A RAPTURE: The Living Believers Will Be Caught Up Next (Vs 17)

1Thes 4:17, Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them ….

                  1.  The Phrase “Caught Up” is where we get our word ‘rapture,’ and it means to carry off. Thus, the Rapture means snatching away or catching up. The Greek word is ‘harpazo’ (har-pad'-zo); means to seize, catch (away, up), pluck, pull, and take (by force). The space travel of today with all its wonders will not even compare to the Space traveling we’ll experience in the twinkling of an eye!

                  2. Believers will be wonderfully Changed and Glorified in a Moment (1Cor. 15:50-53)!  Body and Soul will be perfected; this will be a first in the experience of the Christian. No more sin nature, sickness, disease, cancer, heart attacks, or strokes to contend with!

A REUNION: We All Will Be Reunited with The Lord In The Air (Vs 17)   1Thes 4:17, Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (A Revelation, Return, Resurrection, Rapture)

                1. Our Reunion with Deceased Believers (family, friends, church family) of the Christian Age. Those of our loved ones that died in the Lord are not lost we know where they are, and we will be with them again.  Now that is real comfort to the bereaving heart!

                2.  Our Complete Union with Our Lord Forever! Finally, we will see and be with our Lord Jesus! For some the concept of heaven is a place of peaceful resting. Others envision it as filled with golden streets and sounds of beautiful music. For most of us the thought of reuniting with loved ones is comforting. However, the most thrilling anticipation for every believer when he reflects on heaven is surely the moment of seeing our Savior “face to face.”

Face to face with Christ, my Savior, face to face—what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me!Only faintly now I see Him, with the darkling veil between; but a blessed day is coming, when His glory shall be seen.What rejoicing in His presence, when are banished grief and pain, when the crooked ways are straightened and the dark things shall be plain.Face to face—O blissful moment! Face to face—to see and know; face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ who loves me so.Chorus: Face to face I shall behold Him, far beyond the starry sky; face to face, in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by!

     

Anticipate the joy it will be to greet our Savior and to fully “see and know”—when the “crooked ways are straightened” and the “dark things shall be plain.” Share this hope with someone. –Osbeck, Kenneth W.: Amazing Grace

                3.  Who Can Describe the Combustible, Boundless, and Spontaneous Joy We ALL Will Experience at this Grand Reunion Occasion.  We will see our loved ones again, never to say goodbye again. We will finally see Jesus our Lord, Savior, King, and Salvation! 

Conclusion:

So, there you have it. Our Christ-filled hope thrills, cheers, and comforts us for the entire course of our lives and not even death can extinguish it. As we trust God’s promise of the Rapture, we are encouraged and strengthened as we face death; and we are powerfully filled with the anticipation of our coming Lord Jesus—HOPE. Our lives are marked with real hope. 

How can we respond correctly to such clearly defined hope? Perhaps we all could do a lot more to give God praise for the certainty surrounding our eternal home and destiny. Through this passage, God answered all of our questions and quieted all of our doubts. We know where we are going through death, and we know where our loved-ones (in the Lord) are presently. Yes, and some of us may never experience physical death! These are matters or certainty to us. Our great heavenly Father wanted all of His children to enjoy such assurance. Beloved, let us also live this day in that confidence. Share this Rapture Hope with others, that no one you love will be left behind!