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The End of Eschatology · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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We come now to the reading and the preaching
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of God's Word, and I ask then that you would
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open up to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This morning
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will be in verses 13 through 18. We are continuing
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our sermon series through this book, this letter
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from Paul to the Thessalonians. And as we come
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upon What is really a challenging section, this
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is going to deal with eschatology. If you're
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unfamiliar with that word, here's kind of a brief
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definition. Eschatology is the study of last
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things, the study of the return of Christ, the
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study of the resurrection, the study of the new
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heavens and the new earth. This is what we're
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talking about today. And this is indeed a difficult
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section, but we lean upon the help of the Holy
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Spirit. we go about and so we have the word before
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us let us read would you give special attention
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to the reading of God's holy word first Thessalonians
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4 13 through 18 but we do not want you to be
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uninformed brothers about those who are asleep
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that you may not grieve as others do who have
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no hope For since we believe that Jesus died
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and rose again even so through Jesus God will
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bring with him those who have fallen asleep For
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this we declare to you by a word from the Lord
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that we who are alive Who are left until the
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coming of the Lord will not precede those who
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have fallen asleep For the Lord himself will
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descend from heaven with a cry of command with
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the voice of an archangel and with the sound
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of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ
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will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are
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left, will be caught up together with them in
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the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so
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we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage
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one another with these words. The grass withers.
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And the flower fades, but God's word stands forever.
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Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for
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this text. We thank you for the hope that is
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in here, the hope of the return of our savior,
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the hope of the resurrection, Lord. But this
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is challenging for us. And so would you be with
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us and would you help us as we go along? These
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things we pray in Christ's name. Amen. This week,
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I saw a meme or a gif or a jif, whatever they're
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called, I don't know, on the internet. And it
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said this, don't let the guy who really wants
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to teach eschatology teach eschatology. Like,
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subscribe, amen. However, if we don't... let
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the guy teach eschatology, who wants to teach
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eschatology, there is a time when nobody would
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teach eschatology. Because throughout centuries
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of the church, at times, people have really shied
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away from these doctrines. Because it is challenging.
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Because we have so many questions. It's been
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pointed out many times that Luther and Calvin,
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great reformers, great commentators, never wrote
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a commentary on Revelation. Something though
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has happened, really kind of in our lifetimes,
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where there has been extreme zealousness for
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the return of Christ. There has been a thirst
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for this knowledge of the return of Christ, which
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is good. And there are a lot of resources out
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there about eschatology these days. Unfortunately,
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a lot of it's unhelpful. There are a lot of resources
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out there that are unhelpful. Within our lifetimes
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there have been predictions about the return
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of Christ. They have been erroneous. There have
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been works of fiction that were written about
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the return of Christ. They have been erroneous.
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People have written about the return of Christ
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and oftentimes it just doesn't hold up to biblical
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scrutiny. And today, friends, as we look at this
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text, we want to handle this very, very carefully.
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And so I'm not going to cover every eschatological
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angle. I couldn't do that. And I think this text
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compels us not to overdo it. Because as we look
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at 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18, the Apostle
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Paul is hyper focused here. He's not writing
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to answer every single question that we have.
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He has a purpose for writing this. And actually,
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as I look at it, I see two big purposes for this
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text. Paul writes to clarify and Paul writes
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to comfort. Paul writes to clarify and to comfort.
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Let's start with clarifying. What is he clarifying
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here? I see that he's clarifying the saints,
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the sights, and the sounds. The saints, the sights,
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and the sounds. Look in verse 13. He does not
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want them to be uninformed. He does not want
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these Christians there to be ignorant about the
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return of Christ. And he says about those who
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sleep. This is talking about those who have passed
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away. This is a common metaphor. Sleeping is
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a common metaphor. for those who have died. He
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is clarifying what happens with deceased saints,
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with believers. There seems to be trepidation
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in Thessalonica, trepidation amongst believers
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that their loved ones who have passed away would
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somehow miss out on the resurrection, that they
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might miss out on the return of Christ, that
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they would miss out on some of the benefits of
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the resurrection. But maybe we're wondering why?
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Why would Thessalonians think that just because
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people have died that they would miss out on
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the return of Christ? Well, there's probably
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a couple different reasons. One, remember that
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Paul was only in this city for maybe three weeks.
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Acts 17 says three Sabbaths. That's a lot to
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learn in a little bit of time, right? And we
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ourselves are still learning this. I don't know
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of any eschatological experts within our sanctuary.
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We are still learning just like the Thessalonians
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were. However, there could be something else
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going on that they may have stuff to unlearn.
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There is an apocryphal book called Second Estrus.
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And within this apocryphal work, There is in
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about chapter 14, it says those who survive until
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the second coming are more blessed than those
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who died before. Those who survive until the
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second coming are more blessed than those who
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died before. This is what this work says. So
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the Christians here, they need clarification
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on this. They need correction on this. And so
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look in verse 14. What Paul does as he writes
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about what Christ did. and what Christ will do.
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Christ died and rose again, he tells them. What
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Paul is giving the Thessalonians is the good
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news of the gospel. He is telling these believers
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who are upset, who are grieved, who are concerned,
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believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will
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be saved. He's telling them, he's reminding them
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that Christ has died for our sins, that Christ
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was sinless and yet was our substitute. So he
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tells them what Christ did and now he's gonna
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say what Christ will do. Christ will come again,
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he says. And really as they're concerned about
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perhaps missing out on the benefits of the resurrection,
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Paul writes this in such a way that it almost
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sounds like it's a promotion to have gone ahead
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to be with God. He's writing of believers who
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have died who go to Jesus, but then look there
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in verse 15. For this we declare to you by a
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word from the Lord those that we who are alive
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who are left until the coming of the Lord Will
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not precede those who have fallen asleep So rather
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than missing out on the benefits of the resurrection
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what Paul says here is that the dead in Christ
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go first, right? the dead in Christ are raised
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a Friend asked me not too long ago. He said Why
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did Jesus have to be raised? Wasn't it finished
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on the cross? The answer, why did Christ have
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to be raised, is so that we will be. Romans chapter
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six says that we will have a resurrection like
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his. And so the dead and Christ, they go first.
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But after that, then the believers who are alive
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are caught up into the clouds. And these are
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not ordinary cumulus clouds. Perhaps we are to
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think here of the very cloud in which Jesus ascended
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by the Spirit. And so what do they do when they
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get there, when they're in the clouds? Notice
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that it says that in verse 17, we who are alive
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who are left will be caught up together with
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them in the clouds. We have a glorious reunion
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of believers together with Christ in the air.
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This is wonderful, and I think this is a point
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that we oftentimes miss about that because we're
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caught up in other elements of this. We want
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to know when is this going to happen, right?
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And we're going to get there next week, but for
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now, we need to understand that Christ is coming
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back, the dead in Christ rise first, and then
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those who are alive go up to meet him and them
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in the air. However, As we look at this, please
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let's see something else. Let's look at the sites
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here. Verse 16. See the Lord descending. As the
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Lord descends, this should cause us to remember
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how the Lord ascended. If you will, go to Acts
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chapter 1. Acts chapter 1, verses 6 through 11.
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to see how Christ ascended. So, when they had
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come together, they asked him, Lord, will you
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at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And
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he said to them, it's not for you to know the
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times or the seasons that the Father has fixed
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by his own authority, but you will receive power
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when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. and you
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will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea
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and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." And
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when he had said these things, as they were looking
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on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out
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of their sight. And while they were gazing into
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heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them
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in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why
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do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus
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who has taken up from you into heaven will come
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in the same way. as you saw him go into heaven.
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Friends, Jesus will return as he left. And it
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will not be a representative from Jesus either.
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It will be Jesus himself. Again, from verse 16,
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the text says, for the Lord himself. This is
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reflected in your English because it comes from
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the Greek. What Paul wants them to know is this
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is no one else coming to them other than The
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Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ comes
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to them. And friends, I want you to know this,
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that when Jesus returns, his return will be unmissable.
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His return will be unmissable. Some believers
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approach this text and think of a secret rapture.
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That everybody is going about their day, doing
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their thing, and then all of a sudden the believers,
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The problem with that is this text indicates
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a worldwide visible event. The text shows us
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his return will be visible, but not just visible,
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but also audible. Again, verse 16. There are
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three big sounds within verse 16. Let's look
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at these. The first one. the Lord himself will
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descend from heaven with a cry of command. Now
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it's not altogether clear who issues this cry
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of command, at least from our text, but if we
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go to some other texts, we might understand who
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this is, because Jesus talks about himself in
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John chapter five. He says, the hour is coming
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when all who are in their graves will hear his
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voice and come out. So this seems to indicate
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to us that the one issuing the cry of command
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is none other than the one who is coming to them.
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This is Christ. The second sound, it mentions
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the archangel, the voice of the archangel. Again,
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doesn't say who it is, but if we go to the book
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of Jude, we see the archangel is identified as
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Michael. And so this may refer to Michael. The
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third sound is the sound of the trumpet of God.
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In the Old Testament, the trumpet sound often
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signals the very presence of God. I want to take
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you to one scripture in the Old Testament and
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one scripture in the New Testament to see a little
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bit more about this trumpet sound. Zechariah,
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just listen, Zechariah 9 14. Then the Lord will
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appear over them and his arrow will go forth
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like lightning. The Lord God will sound the trumpet.
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and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the
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south. And then from 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
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a chapter that is all about resurrection, 1 Corinthians
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15, or 15, 51 through 52. Behold, I tell you
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a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall
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all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of
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an eye at the last trumpet. for the trumpet will
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sound and the dead will be raised imperishable
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and we shall be changed. Friends, this is very
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audible. This is very vocal. Commentator Ken
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Jones says, to make all of this a secret, all
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of these sounds a secret, turns these sounds
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into something akin to a cosmic dog whistle.
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Friends, there is a genuine ruckus. going on
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in the heavens. And we cannot deny the visible
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audible evidence. If it's supposed to be a secret,
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why does Paul write as though this is the most
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public event of all time? I like how another
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commentator puts this. Daniel Hyde says here,
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let me say this as clearly as I can, but with
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love for you in my words. The hope Paul offers
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is not a secret rapture. There was nothing veiled
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about the birth of the Son of God upon earth.
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There's nothing hidden about what is going to
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happen when the Lord comes again. This hope for
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a dramatic public and visible return of Christ.
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But if you don't like his words, perhaps you'll
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like Revelation 1 7. Behold, he is coming with
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the clouds and every eye will see him. even those
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who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth
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will wail on account of him even so. Amen. Perhaps
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I'm belaboring my point because we're now asking,
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all right, Jesus is coming. He calls the dead
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in Christ and the believers who are alive up
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to himself. But then what? What happens after
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all of this? Well, friends, that's not addressed
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within our text. And so I'm not going to spend
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as much time on it here, but I do want to direct
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you towards the next book of the Bible, Second
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Thessalonians, chapter one. Second Thessalonians,
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chapter one, five through 10. This is lengthy,
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but listen, this is God's word. This is evidence
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of the righteous judgment of God. that you may
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be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for
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which you are also suffering since indeed God
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considers it just to repay with affliction those
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who afflict you and to grant relief to you who
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are afflicted as well to us when the Lord Jesus
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is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
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in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those
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who do not know God and on those who do not obey
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the gospel of our Lord Jesus They will suffer
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the punishment of eternal destruction away from
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the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
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his might. And when he comes on that day to be
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glorified in his saints and to be marveled at
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among you who have believed, because our testimony
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to you was believed. In a word, what comes next,
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friends, is the judgment. What comes next is
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the judgment. Still, there are some who try and
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insert a thousand -year gap in between the return
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of Christ and between judgment. But there are
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so many passages that speak of the judgment occurring
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right after the return of Christ. Consider the
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book of Daniel chapter 12, one through two. At
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that time shall arise Michael, the great prince,
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who has charge of your people. And there shall
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be a time of trouble such as never has been since
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there was a nation till that time. But at that
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time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone
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whose name shall be found written in the book.
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And many of those who sleep in the dust of the
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earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and
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some to shame and everlasting contempt. What
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a premillennious does then is not just advocating
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for a second coming. but advocating for a third
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coming. It's almost as if there's people who
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would say, Christ has died, Christ has risen,
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Christ will come again, and then he'll come again
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after that. Friends, I don't think that's what
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this text is telling us. There's also an assumption
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back in 1 Thessalonians 4 that when Christ comes
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to take believers, he comes to take them to heaven.
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But you'll see within the text that is not stated.
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This is challenging, I know. but it's not stated.
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And so we have to look to other scriptures that
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can help us. Perhaps you remember the parable
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of the 10 virgins and the bridegroom in Matthew
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25. The bridegroom comes and the women go to
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meet him. And then what do they do? They all
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go the rest of the journey to the wedding feast.
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It's the same thing in Acts chapter 28. Paul
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goes to Rome, the believers meet him and they
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accompany him on the remainder of the journey.
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And so this is a possible view that as Christ
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comes and we are called up to him in the air,
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then we descend the rest of the way to be here.
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That is a view, and I think it's a good view.
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It's also a predominant view of the early church.
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Perhaps you've heard of the name John Chrysostom.
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He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 300s.
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He is the one called Golden Mouth because of
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his preaching. And he said this again in the
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300s, if Christ descends from heaven, why will
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we go up to meet him in order to be honored?
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Well, when a king enters a city, those whom he
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honors go out to meet him. And so it is a view
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within the reform camp that as Christ comes,
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we meet him and we come the rest of the way.
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Well, now at this point, maybe you're saying
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this is a lot. We're still wrapping our minds
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around it. What do we do with this? What kind
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of application do we have with a message like
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this? The application is do not delay knowing
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Jesus Don't put him off anymore everybody Every
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human being will be judged the just and the unjust
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But only the just only the believer only those
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who have the righteousness of Christ will be
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safe consider how Hebrews chapter nine, twenty
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seven and twenty eight puts this. And just as
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it is appointed for man to die once and after
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that comes judgment. So Christ, having been offered
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once to bear the sins of many, will appear a
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second time not to deal with sin, but to save
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those who are eagerly waiting for him. Christian,
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are you waiting for the return of Jesus? Are
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you ready? for him to come. Consider how 2 Corinthians
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6 puts this. Behold, now is the favorable time.
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Behold, now is the day of salvation. Friends,
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the day to believe in Jesus is today, not tomorrow,
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not when you get tired of that secret sin that
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you crave, not when you get the right job. Not
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when you have your life all cleaned up. Not when
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you get married and not when you have kids. Today
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is the day of salvation. But friends, our text
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also shows us something else. Today is the day
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of comfort. Today is the day of comfort. You
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all, many of you are in situations where you
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need comfort. You have been in that cemetery
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next door. On some of the heaviest, the hardest,
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the darkest days of your life, you know what
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you needed then. You needed comfort from God's
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Word and Paul richly supplies. Notice here within
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this text, as Paul talks about this difficult
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doctrine of eschatology, he doesn't lead them
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through a systematic theology course on eschatology.
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What does he do? He gives them hope. He gives
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them comfort. Paul writes to help Christians
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grieve. This text helps us know how to grieve.
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We grieve with hope. Notice the text does not
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condemn grieving. There are some of us who think
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it's a virtue to never shed a tear. We're stoic
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like that, right? But if you'll remember, what
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did Jesus do when his friend Lazarus died? Jesus
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wept. He wept even though he knew that he was
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going to raise Lazarus. And so what this text
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helps us to do is to grieve with hope. There's
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no greater pain than losing a loved one. But
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from this text we realize those loved ones who
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die in the Lord, they don't miss out on anything.
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This should help us to grieve the next time something
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sorrowful comes our way. This should help us
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when we have a neighbor, a friend, a family member
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who is grieving to give them this passage and
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to help them grieve. Also, let's recognize who
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this is talking about. This is talking about
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those who die in the Lord. Psalm 116, 15. Precious
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in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
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saints. Friends, we need to share this text with
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others. We need to help others grieve. Why? Because
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verse 17 is so very important. So that they will
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always be with the Lord. Being with the Lord
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is the purpose of resurrection. Being with the
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Lord is the best part of this passage. And friends,
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eschatology without hope completely misses the
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boat. Friends, I want you to know today that
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nothing can separate you from the love of God
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and Christ Jesus. Perhaps you know this passage.
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from Romans chapter 8, 38 and 39. For I am sure
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that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor
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rulers, nor things present, nor things to come,
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nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything
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else in all creation will be able to separate
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us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Friends, that's pretty all -encompassing, isn't
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it? Nothing can snatch you from the hand of Christ.
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When He comes, He will not leave you. I hope
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this is coming through loud and clear, that Christ
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is coming, and He doesn't lose any of His children.
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But also look at verse 18 as we close. This is
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also what we can do with this text. Therefore,
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encourage one another with these words. Paul
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writes to a church. Paul writes to a family of
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believers who are misinformed and grieving as
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a church, as Fairview Presbyterian Church. Let's
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not let others grieve in this way. Have this
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scripture in your back pocket. Commit this scripture
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to memory. Hide it in your heart and hide other
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passages that speak to the glorious resurrection
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and the coming of Christ. that speak to our heavenly
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home, because our Savior, He laid His life down
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and He was raised so that you too will be raised.
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And so be comforted, Church. Christ is coming
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for you. And whether He comes in your lifetime,
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whether you're already with Him in spirit, you
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will always be with Him, because Christ loses
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none. Let's pray.