go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and stand with me as you turn. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 13. Familiar passage of Scripture, excuse me, familiar passage and really the theme of this book. Each of the chapters, each five chapters here of 1 Thessalonians concludes with a reference to the Lord's coming. And here's probably the high point of it here in verse 13 through verse 18. You know this passage of Scripture, but it says, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain in the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 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. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. Lord, I love you. I thank you for this promise of scripture, and Lord, that one day you're coming back for us, that the trumpet's gonna sound, we're gonna be caught up to be with you. I thank you for this promise. Lord, remind us, Lord, of what is coming, And Lord, encourage and comfort our hearts tonight as was the point of the scripture. Lord, I love you and I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. This passage of scripture concludes there, wherefore comfort one another with these words. God specifically wrote these words for comfort. You know, especially in the face of the loss of a loved one and the importance of being able to look to the promise of the Lord. And I like what it says in verse 13. It says, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, and that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. You know, that verse contains three of the biggest problems with our world. One of them is that which have no hope. There's a hopelessness out there in our world. You know, this time of season, it's a wonderful time of season, you know, thinking about Christmas. But for many people, it's one of the roughest times of year. As a matter of fact, there are more suicides around Christmas than any other time of the year. For some, it is a hopeless time of year, as they may look around and see empty places, or they see hardship in their life, and they see joy on others' faces, but it's not in their heart. But our world is filled with hopelessness. You can see it in hospitals, you can see it in the lives of people. This world has cultivated this hopelessness. It teaches people that they're here by accident, that somehow nothing exploded into something, and over a period of many millions of years you slowly and devolved into what you are here and you're no higher life form than anything else. You just are a little bit smarter or faster or quicker or whatever it may be. But they steal hope right out of young people. They steal it out and they hand them right out into the world facing the hardships of life without hope. And it's a it's a hopeless world. It's a hopeless world. We see not only do you see a lack of hope, but you see a lot of sorrow. It says there that you sorrow not. Boy, this world sorrows at loss. They have no answer for loss. When you lose a loved one for the world, for a lost person, there's there's just really no there's no hope. It's sorrow, it's heartache. Sooner or later they're gonna face it. But the answer and the reason for it is also here, which is another one of the problems. It says in verse 13, but I would not have ye to be what? Ignorant. You know, the root of this sorrow and the root of this hopelessness is ignorance. And our world, a lost world, is ignorant of the wonderful gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The death, burial, and the resurrection. The Lord looked here and he said, I'll tell you what the key is to this hopelessness and to this sorrow. It is that you are not ignorant concerning the promises of God. And because we live in a world that is ignorant of the promises of God and the things of God, it is filled with hopelessness and sorrow. But for the Christian who has, if you will, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, they have received the knowledge of God from the Word of God, and they have placed their faith in Him, the ignorance is gone, and in its place, rather than sorrow, there's a hopefulness. Matter of fact, Titus would refer to this promise here in Titus or Paul would say to Titus in Titus chapter 2 verses 11 through 13, for the grace of God that bring us salvation has appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope. and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, looking for the blessed hope. Boy, there's a hope that comes when you think about the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a joy that comes. A Christian shouldn't just be looking back. They should be looking forward. You know, Christmas season is a wonderful time to look back at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and look back at the manger and look back at how He loved us and how He came. to look back, if you will, at Calvary and then look back at the empty tomb and be reminded to look forward at the fact that that God who left the tomb empty is one day coming again. And it puts a blessed hope in the heart of a Christian, a hopefulness in what is coming. This world lacks a hopefulness for what is coming because of biblical ignorance. You know, when a Christian lacks a biblical knowledge, it'll rob them of hope. begin to not understand who God is, you can lose hope and joy. I think it just some of his attributes, the fact that he is almighty, that he's all powerful, that he's the omnipotent one. There's, there's nothing bigger than God. He spoke this world into existence. You know, there's hope when you come to a need, that's a whole lot bigger than you, but you know, it's a whole lot smaller than God. the omniscience of God. And you think about who he is and that he always has been and always will be. There's nothing that's a surprise to God. And when you're faced with a struggle in your life that you don't know the answer, there's one that you can turn to that, you know, has the answer. You know, when you have a biblical knowledge, you began to gain a hope and a joy in the face of struggle. And Paul is writing to this church. If you remember the story, he was only in Thessalonica for a short time, and I'm kind of thankful for the Lord's providence in that, because Paul would get that church up and going, but he wouldn't have enough time to really get it established, and he'd have to be forced out by persecution, and he'd have to head off to Berea. And then he would send Timothy back to give some more instruction. But because of their lack of instruction in the Word of God, the Holy Spirit lays on his heart to write this letter right here. And imagine, just think for a moment, if God had let him stay in Thessalonica and ground that church, possibly, maybe, into God's providence. We know what he would do. But we might not hold this letter with these hopes and these promises. But God let him be run out by persecution out of Thessalonica. And as he was going, he said, I've got to write back to these folks and give them some encouragement and some hope for what is coming. And so the Holy Spirit moves him to write these words and said, I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. You need to have some hope. This world is filled with sorrow, it's filled with hopelessness, but you can have hope. And as a result of it, God gives comfort and gives hope for a whole many generations of Christians through His Word. And some of the things that I think stand out to me, the first thing in this passage of Scripture is the proof of this hope, or the proof of our hope. Look at verses 13 through 15. But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. And then this statement, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. He said, just in case you have any questions as to whether he's coming, whether these folks are gonna rise again, look backward at the empty tomb. Proof that he can do it again. Here's the proof of this promise, is that we can look back and see the empty tomb, that we can look backward and know that our Savior rose again. He said, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, look, if He did it once, He can do it again. If He did it for Himself, He can do it for the rest of us. 1 Corinthians 15, 1-4 says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory that I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scripture, the gospel story. The end of that, toward, well, midpoint of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in verses 20 through 23, it says this. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order Christ the first fruits afterward they that are Christ's of this coming there's two feasts around the harvest time in in the Old Testament for the Jews and the first one was the feast of the first fruits and what they would do is come harvest time when they would have that harvest that first that first bit of harvest that that first little bit of the crop that would come in they would go out and they would harvest that and they would take it to the temple as a as a first fruit offering And they would offer up that first fruit, and it would be a wave offering, and it would be given to the temple, and it would be a wave offering, a first fruit offering. It was a giving, almost, if you will, a tithe, but also a step of faith, because they knew more was coming. And then there was the feast of the harvest. And the feast of the harvest was at the conclusion of the harvest. When they came in and they harvested all that crop, they would have that time of rejoicing over the harvest. And what was being stated here in 1 Corinthians, what Paul was talking about Christ being the first fruit, he's saying he was the first one, but he was not the last one. He was the first, if you will, resurrection. He was the first fruit. He was the wave offering. He was the one that was in that tomb for three days and rose again. And he would say in that verse, Christ the first fruits, and afterward would come that harvest. Afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. He said he did it then. He's going to do it again. He said here is the proof of what he's going to do. Look backward at an empty tomb. And he was just the beginning. Paul was saying there's coming a time when that trumpet's going to sound and just like he rose again, then the dead in Christ are going to rise again. Then those that are alive and remain will be caught up to be with him. He said, we have some proof that this is going to happen. And the proof is what he already did for us back there in that little in that little tomb there in Jerusalem. We see not only if you see the proof of his work, but we see the word of the Lord. Look at verse 15. I like this one for this. We say unto you by the, what the word of the Lord, Paul wasn't saying, this is my opinion. He was saying this is the word of the Lord. Daniel 7, 13 through 14 says, I saw in the night vision and behold one like as the son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away in his kingdom. that which shall not be destroyed. Old Testament Daniel, looking forward to that, if you will, second coming of the Lord. Now, the majority of the Old Testament looks towards the millennial reign, but you get glimpses of this. Jude 14 says, And Enoch, also the seventh from Adam, prophesied these sayings, Behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints. Matthew chapter 16 verse 27, for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. You know there are over a third, almost over a third of your Bible has a reference to the second coming of the Lord. It is stated that one, if you were to take them all, one in 26 verses would reference the fact that he is coming again, would point to its teachings. He said, this isn't my word, this is the word of the Lord. See, we've been given an inspired, preserved word of God that we might look here and say, here is where my hope rests. This isn't a crazy hope. This isn't a hope like the world has. A hope for the world is, well, I hope it might maybe happen, but for the Christian is a sure thing hope. A blessed hope. It's wrapped up in a person who's already done it. And what he'll do isn't going to be no big thing for him. And he's promised it in his written word. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God. He's given us an inspired word, a preserved word. And he said, I'm coming again so that you and I can have hope. that not only can we look back at Bethlehem, not only can we look back at his crucifixion, but we can look ahead and say he's coming again. Just like he promised he was coming the first time, he has promised he's coming the first, second time, and he will fulfill it. He said there is the proof of it. This world is hopeless. It is sorrowful. It is ignorant of the promises of God. Many, if you will, infallible proofs, as Paul would say in first Corinthians 15 of the resurrected Lord. I think not only do we see the proofs of his of his of his coming, but we see the promise of our hope. Look at these verses here. Look at verse verse 15 through 17. For this, we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain in the coming of the Lord shall not prevent an old English word for proceed. shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. What I love about verse six, and I've underlined it here in my Bible, is for, and then the three words, the Lord himself. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven. There's a glorious revelation. He's coming himself. We'll see him face to face. 1 John 3, 2 said, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 2 Corinthians 5, 6 through 8, therefore, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord, where we walk by faith and not by sight, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord one way or the other, we are going to see him face to face. God doesn't send an angel down to this earth to get us. He doesn't, so isn't it amazing, in this world, God uses Christians to spread the good news of the gospel. In this world, he's made us his ambassadors to a lost world so that they wouldn't be ignorant, hopeless, and sorrowful. There's coming a day when we're going to see Him face to face. We'll see Him as He is, and we will be as He is. He said, I want you to know, here's your hope. One day, you're going to see your Savior. What's that song? It will be worth it all when we see Christ. He said, that is a sure thing. It's wonderful. I love reading my Bible. Picking it up and reading the stories, and I can almost picture it in my mind sometimes. I try to picture in my mind that Christmas story. I try to picture how it would happen. I try to picture the different points of the life of Christ, or what it must have been like, the feeding of the 5,000, and all of those things. But one day, I won't be waiting on some picture in my mind. I'll see my Savior face to face. And he said, the Lord himself. For now, I have the wonderful approach to his throne. Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I can bow my head as we did a few minutes ago and know for a fact that I am in the throne room of heaven. But one day I will see him face to face, the Lord himself. He said, not only the Lord, not only glorious revelation, but look at this, an amazing resurrection, a little bit of this already, but verse 16, it says for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. First Corinthians 15, 40 through 45. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in corruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown in natural body, it is raised in spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first Adam was made a living soul and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. He said there's coming a day when we'll see him face to face. The resurrected bodies will go on. You know the Bible talks about two resurrections. There's not a general resurrection. But he says in Revelations 20 verse 6, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power. For they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. 11 through 15 of that same chapter says, And I saw a great white throne and him that sat upon it from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God. And the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." You know, everybody gets resurrected. Lost or saved, there's a resurrection. This one talks about the first resurrection. Well, that's the resurrection of those who are asleep, if you will, the dead in Christ who've gone on before. That trumpet's going to sound and their bodies are being caught up out of that grave to go on to be with the Lord. But there is a resurrection of the dead. And he said the sea would give up, death and hell would give up. Those old lost sinners will be resurrected so they can stand before the great white throne. and see their name not written in the book, and hear the words, depart from me, for I never knew thee. To be resurrected, to be condemned. Condemned already, but to face it. But for those of us who are Christians, we have a wonderful resurrection in knowing that second death, I have no part in it. May of 1995, in Madera Baptist Church, I put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and death has lost its sting, because there's a resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ proved it was going to happen in an empty tomb. And friend, one day if I leave, if I die before he returns, this body's coming out of the ground as well. I'll mention it at funerals, but the only time the word coffin is mentioned in the scripture is found in the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 50. And it says, Joseph said, there's coming a day, I'm going to paraphrase for him. So you can read it later if you want a clear explanation. All right. But Joseph said, I know the promise of God. He said he was going to bring you out of this land. So When you go, don't leave my body here. And they embalmed him, and they put him in a coffin. Only time the word coffin is used, right there. Some 400 years later, when the people of Israel, when the time came, God said 400 years, they would go to leave Egypt, and they would grab the bones of Joseph, and they'd carry him out of Egypt, and they'd carry him all the way to the promised land. Egypt, the picture of the world. It was temporary. See, the saints leave this world behind, temporary because the resurrection of the Lord. There is a wonderful revelation when we will see Him face to face. There is a wonderful resurrection that gives us hope and gives us joy. That one day we will see our Savior and the loved ones that have gone on before us will know Him. There is a mysterious rapture. Verse 15 says, 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. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God. and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. 1 Corinthians 15, 51 through 55 says, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 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. He said, Behold, I show you a mystery. It was referred to as a mystery because it was a mystery in the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, the word rapture is never found in your Bible. As you know, the premise of being caught up is found in your Bible. Old Testament emphasis of prophecy was the millennial reign of Christ. The overabundance of it, it still referenced some other things, but that thousand-year reign, that's what the Jews were looking for, the Messiah to come and set up His kingdom and rule and reign for a thousand years. The emphasis of the Gospels was the second coming of the Lord. That was after the Tribulation. They were looking for that. The emphasis of Revelation, obviously, is the Tribulation period, the seven years. But the emphasis of the Gospels is on the rapture of the church. Why? Because the gospels were written directly to the New Testament or the the epistles were written directly to the New Testament church. The mystery. It had been a mystery in the Old Testament, but God, Paul would say, behold, I show you a mystery. One day that trumpets going to sound. One day we're getting caught up to be with him. seven years of tribulation to follow, but there is a wonderful or mysterious rapture that takes place. How about a wonderful reunion in verse 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. But to meet the Lord in the air, I like how it says, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. That's the dead in Christ who've gone on before. David would say, after a sin with Bathsheba, and how God would take his young child home to be with him as judgment for sin. David would say, but now he is dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. David knew I'll go see him. He can't come here, but I can go there. Hebrews 11, 13 through 16. These all died in faith, not having received the promise. But having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is a heavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are come past about with so great a cloud of witnesses, We've been overpassed by a bunch of people that have gone on before. We can look back at the Old Testament Saints, what a reunion that will be. I've got some questions to ask. But I'll also look up and I will see some of my loved ones who have gone on before me. The reunion. A promised reunion. That one day I will see my Savior. Not only will I see my Savior, but I'll see every loved one who has gone on before me. That is the promise. It is a promise. And then we see this, after that we see a the prospect of our hope. I look at these last few things here. Familiar passage of scripture, but verse 17 says, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. And then this phrase, to meet the Lord in the air. It's a wonderful meeting. The word meet here is a very, the Greek word, it's an interesting word in that it's not just, it has kind of two meanings that kind of come along with it. It's the meeting of friends, but it's also maybe used as an official meeting. In other words, maybe between an ambassador when he comes home from a foreign country and then he meets with, in our own country, the president. And he gives a report. He gives a report of what has happened in that country where he came from. The Bible says this in 2 Corinthians 5, 19-20, To the wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. We're ambassadors of Christ. Earlier in that same chapter, he would say, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. There's the meeting of friends and seeing our Savior, but there's also this meeting that he had put us here as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. representative of the throne of heaven, a representative of God. And one day this ambassador goes home to see the king who gave him a commission and gives an account of his life and his time on earth. Every Christian one day gets caught up to be with him. We've been set out with a commission to represent him to a lost world that is sorrowful, hopeless, and ignorant. So I've given you the word of reconciliation. Go represent me to a lost world. And one day that King leans over and says, blow that trumpet, shout, make a shout. And all his ambassadors leave this world behind to give report before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. of how we represented Him here on this incursed earth. He said, we'll give an account. It's a wonderful thing. It's a fearful thing. Matter of fact, the very next verse after that would say, therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But it's a meeting. It's a meeting of hope. It's a meeting of accountability, if you will. And then He offers us, no matter the circumstances, an eternal home. Look what he says here in verse again, verse 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 then this statement. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. John 14, one through three. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you if I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you into myself. that where I am, there you may be also an eternal home. He said, I gave you my word and I will one day and I will fulfill that word. Whosoever for whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He said, I've given you a promise and I'll keep my promise. There's coming a day this holiday season, this Christmas time, we look backward. We look backward to a manger scene. Or maybe you look back a little bit further to that, back to Mary as an angel appears before her and tells her she's going to have the Christ child. She goes to tell Elizabeth what has happened, and Elizabeth recounts her story of how an angel appeared before Zacharias. And then we would see an angel in a vision in the night come to Joseph and tell him the same thing, and they would have that child in the little town of Bethlehem and all that would follow. His growth, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his promise. Acts chapter 1, verse 8, as he looks down, he said, and his disciples says, and the angels would look at him as he ascends up into heaven and says, go ye therefore into all the world, or go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the outermost parts of the world. And he would ascend up into heaven, and they would look at him and say, he's coming again in like manner. Look backward, and let that backward look make you look forward, because he is coming again. Sure as you and I can sit here and celebrate this fact, he came, and he died, and he rose, we can sit here and look forward and say, he is going to come again. It is just as sure as his first coming. It is just as sure. As much as I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he came the first time, I know this, that trumpet's gonna sound. And he's gonna call us home. We will spend all of eternity before him. And I will be held accountable for my life here of representing him on this earth. But no matter what, no matter what, he's prepared a place for me. And I will see my loved ones who've gone on before me, and I will see them, and I will see my Savior, and I will see him face to face. I can't imagine that moment. I've tried to picture it, but I wonder what it will be like in the moment when all that I have looked for and hoped for is right there in the present. You ever try to think about that? The one you believe in and you hope for, you will see him face to face. That it will no longer be something you're looking for, Lord, but he will be in your presence, standing there before you, the King of Kings. and the Lord of Lords. It won't be this thing. I'm sitting here looking forward to something. It will be what is happening in the moment. And he said, I'm giving you my promise. It will happen. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I love you and I thank you