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Christ Community Chapel is a church in Hudson, OH, that invites people to reimagine life because of Jesus. Learn more about us at ccchapel.com.
first
Thessalonians
4:3 through
5:1 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 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 now concerning the times and the
seasons Brothers you have no need to
have anything written to you for you
yourselves are fully aware that the day
of the Lord will come like like a thief
in the night while people are saying
there is peace and security then sudden
destruction will come upon them as labor
pains come upon a pregnant woman and
they will not Escape but you are not in
darkness Brothers for that day to
surprise you like a thief for you are
all children of light Children of the
day we are not of the night or of the
darkness so then let us not sleep as
others do but let us keep awake and be
sober for those who sleep sleep at night
and those who get drunk are drunk at
night but since we belong to the day let
us be sober having put on the
breastplate of faith and love and for a
helmet the hope of salvation for God has
not destined us for wrath but to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us so that whether we are
awake or asleep we might live with him
therefore encourage one another and
build one another up just as you are
doing well welcome to the weekend
Gathering of Christ Community Chapel my
name is Zach I'm one of the pastors here
and I'm so glad that you are here with
us this weekend as we continue our fall
sermon series through first and 2
Thessalonians uh in fact if you have a
Bible would you take it out phone uh
device tablet and get to first or second
Thessalonians to join me in the reading
and if you're new here if you don't come
from a church background not super
familiar with the Bible at first I'm so
glad that you're here it's probably a
really big step for you and I want you
to know that everything that happens
this weekend is as much for you as is
for anyone else and so if you want to
read along you don't have to the verses
will be on the screen behind me but if
you want to follow along we do make
Bibles available to you here in the west
service in the Pew in front of you in
the East service in the back of the room
and today's reading is on page
928 in those Bibles as you're getting to
first Thessalonians uh I do want to let
you know two things uh one is that we're
going to start pretty low this weekend
okay we're going to start with some some
tough things some some difficult things
uh you are going to wonder why you came
for the first point okay but we're
starting low but we're going to end in a
good place that's my promise so hang in
there with me as we deal with some heavy
stuff uh the second thing is that I'm
going to use an outline to guide our
time together uh three points very
simple and they go like this I want to
talk about this will all end you can see
what I mean about heavy this will all
end here's here's what you need to know
and here's why you need to know it this
will all end here's what you need to
know and here's why you need to know it
all right let's start with the first one
this will all end this is a passage
about endings it's a passage about all
things coming to an end so the passage
looks at the last uh part of chapter 4
and then the beginning of chapter 5
we'll we'll look at them in Reverse uh
the begin of chapter 5 deals with the
end of the universe now I should say
that science is pretty unequivocal that
the universe will end at some point
there are a lot of theories about how
the universe will end and take it from
me Googling them doesn't take you to a
happy place okay some people say the
universe is expanding and it's just
going to keep on expanding until we all
freeze to death that'll be nice others
say the is Contracting and it's just
going to keep on Contracting and we
might either burn to death or just
collapse in on ourselves some people say
We'll become light and evaporate other
people say a black hole or many black
holes will open up and swallow us up so
you see they disagree on the methodology
but everybody agrees the universe is
going to end but when the Bible talks
about the end of the universe it does
not present it in purely science
scientific terms and it does not present
it as the end of some kind of scientific
process it doesn't present it as a kind
of biological or
physiological reality when the Bible
talks about the end of the universe it
talks about it in such a way that we
know however the universe ends it will
end when God wants it to because God
wants it to look with me at our passage
here at verse 16 and then uh verses 2
and 3 verse 16 in uh chapter 4 and then
verses 2 and 3 in chapter 5 here's what
it says uh verse 16 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 chapter 5: 2 and 3 uh
for you yourselves are full fully aware
that the day of the Lord will come like
a thief in the night while people are
saying there is peace and security then
sudden destruction will come upon them
as labor pains come upon a pregnant
woman and they will not escape the point
the writer is making here is that
eventually everything you know will come
to an end this universe has a stopping
point it has a a moment a a a point in
time in which God will say no more
that's it the universe as we know it is
over the Bible actually refers to this
moment as the day of the Lord and that
title is intended to imply
ownership that it isn't going to happen
because of anything other than this the
universe will end when God wants it to
because he wants it to but it is going
to end
now you might be saying H that's that's
kind of out there and esoteric and
theoretical that's hard to conceptualize
and most of us If we're honest would say
yeah okay maybe the universe is going to
end but probably not today and probably
not tomorrow right so that's someone
else's problem down the road well let me
hit you with this bit of good news not
only will the universe end you will
end for most most of us the more
pressing reality is not that the
universe is going to end but that our
universe will end because everyone in
this room is headed towards their
death everyone in this room is going to
die when I say it that way it sounds
like a threat not tonight not here at
Christ Community Chapel but everyone
here is going to die that's a reality
that's a reality look at what the writer
says here in our passage in verse 13 He
says this but we do not want you to be
uninformed Brothers about those who are
asleep and he means here those that are
dead that you may not grieve as others
who have no hope what's implicit in that
verse is that people around the
Thessalonians are dying and if people
around them are dying then of course
they will die and if they're dying and
going to die then so also are are we the
Bible is unrelenting in telling us this
everything we know will come to an end
you and I will come to an end this will
all end and as much as we try not to
think about
that as much as we try to put that out
of our minds to to busy ourselves and in
entertain ourselves so that we don't
have to think about death whether you
think about it or not whether you want
to think about it or not it is coming
this will all
end that's my first point here's my
second Point here's what you need to
know about that the Bible isn't telling
us that we're going to end just to bring
us down it isn't telling us we're going
to end because it wants us to feel
depressed or to be anxious about the end
when the Bible speaks of the end it's
always for a reason and the Reason God
wants you to know that the universe is
going to end and that you are going to
end is because there are some things he
wants you to be ready for about that
ending and here's the first thing the
first thing that God wants us to know
about the fact that we're going to end
is that no matter what the end will come
as a
surprise no matter what the end is going
to surprise us whether that's the end of
the universe or whether it's our own end
look at what he says in verses 1
through3 in chapter 5 he says now
concerning the times and the seasons
Brothers you have no need to have
anything written to you for you
yourselves are fully aware that the day
of the Lord will come like a thief in
the night while people are saying there
is peace and security then sudden
destruction will come upon them as labor
pain come upon a pregnant woman and they
will not Escape what the writer is
saying is that when he says now listen
I'm not going to write you about how
it's going to happen or when it's going
to happen he says because it isn't meant
to be understood or seen coming it is
going to be a surprise and this is
really important because throughout the
history of Christianity different people
have claimed the ability to predict the
end of the universe there have been all
kinds of moments my favorite story is
about a guy in the early 20th century
who said that Jesus was going to come
back and the universe was going to end
he picked a date on the calendar he put
it in the newspaper he advertised it and
of course it didn't happen so then he
said oh I might have had it wrong and he
went public again with a second
prediction and it didn't happen and then
he went public a third time with a
prediction and it didn't happen and he
was probably smart enough to know you
don't get a fourth time so after the
third time happened he took out another
ad in the paper saying it did happen but
when Jesus came back he was invisible so
you couldn't see him points for
creativity points for creativity right
but people have always done this when I
was a kid growing up in the church there
was a guy named Hal Lindsay who wrote
books about how the Soviet Union was
going to usher in the end of the world
and when that didn't happen it was
Saddam Hussein and people kept buying
the books somehow convinced that he had
learned from his
mistakes in fact I remember sitting in a
Sunday school class when I was a kid in
church and they were assigning every
letter of the alphabet a numeric value
and they said if if your name added up
to
666 then you were the evil ruler of the
world who was going to usher in the end
this was our Sunday School
curriculum and it might sound funny to
you except for for my name is Zachary
wrock that's a lot of letters and I
remember sitting there my dad was the
pastor of the church at the time I
remember sitting there thinking this is
going to be awkward if I have to tell my
dad at lunch that I'm the Antichrist and
there's nothing I can do about it I'm
going to bring about the end of the
world right people have always been
infatuated with this but I want you
friends please hear me on this no matter
what YouTube rabbit hole you go down no
matter what book you read no matter what
podcast you listen to the writer of this
passage inspired by the holy spirit says
no one will see it
coming no one so only thing you can be
sure when someone tells you and predicts
it is that it won't happen on that day
because no one will see it coming it'll
be like a thief in the night it's going
to surprise us and by the way he's not
just talking about the end of the world
the context of the passage is the end of
the world and the end of our Lives I
don't know if you've thought about this
but your own death is going to sneak up
on
you some of us will die suddenly and
quite literally death will sneak up on
us but others of us will sit in a
doctor's room and be told that we have
six months to live we will not have seen
it
coming it's going to surprise us in fact
the best metaphor for this I can think
of is we all know we're going to die and
yet somehow we're still going to be
surprised for it's like watching a
horror movie do you know what I mean you
know it's a scary movie when you turned
it on you knew it was going to scare you
but when the killer jumps out of the
closet you still jump because even
though you knew something scary was
coming you still weren't ready for it
listen you and I know we're going to die
but God is telling us you're going to be
caught off guard by it but here's the
other thing he wants you to know he
won't be
you will be he won't be either by the
end of the world or by the end of your
life look at what it says in verses 15
and 16 of chapter 4 he says 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 prede
those who have fallen asleep for the
Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a cry of command and with the voice
of an archangel and with the sound of
the trumpet of God and the dead in
Christ will rise first Paul says there's
a lot we don't know about the end of the
world there's a lot we don't know about
what is coming but there are some things
we do know and we do know them because
God told us because God
knows he isn't surprised God knows the
exact minute the universe will be
done God knows the exact minute that you
will be done done it surprises you it
sneaks up on me but it does not surprise
him in fact go back to the horror movie
example when you're watching that movie
it's like watching the movie with a
friend who's seen the movie and the
killer jumps out of the closet and you
jump and your friend goes you're such a
wimp well the only difference is they
knew the guy was coming out of the
closet God is like that God knows your
end he knows the universe's end you
don't he does I will be surprised he
won't be that's what God wants us to
know and here's my third Point well why
why does he want us to know
that and you might notice I've rushed to
this third point and that's intentional
because I want you to know that
overwhelmingly God In this passage has
good news for you even though he's
talking about your death even though
he's talking about the end of the
universe even though he's telling you
you could never be ready for for it
you'll never see it coming it's going to
catch you by total
surprise even in all of that God has
good news for you in fact I want you to
see that the whole point of this passage
is in verses 18 of chapter 4 and then
verse 11 of chapter 5 is encouragement
listen to what he says chapter 4: 18
right after he's talked about death this
is what he says
therefore encourage one another with
these words then verse 11 of chapter 5
right after he's talked about the end of
the universe he says this therefore
encourage one another and build one
another up just as you are doing you see
the whole reason God is speaking to us
in these passages about death and the
end of the universe is because he wants
us to be encouraged he wants us to
encourage each other in other words God
is saying something in this passage
about death and about the end of the
universe that he wants me to use to
encourage you and then he wants you to
use to encourage me now how could that
possibly be well the answer to that I
think is in three different Ministries
that these passages are calling us to
three different Ministries that I think
God wants to call you to in light of
your understanding that the universe
will end you will end you won't see it
coming but he will three Ministries here
they are first the ministry
of death the ministry of death listen to
what he says in verses 13-1
17 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 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 proceede those who have fallen
asleep for the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command with
the voice of an archangel with the sound
of the trumpet of God and the dead in
Christ will rise first and 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 so that we will
always be with the Lord you see what
he's saying is that the good news that
God has for us is that we are all going
to die and we will not see it coming but
after death comes only good things for
us have you ever thought about that that
what this passage is saying is that
Death is certain and death is surprising
and death is sad he says when you grieve
I want to grieve not like you don't have
any hope he's not saying he doesn't want
us to grieve death is sad death is
surprising death is awful but death is
only the beginning of the best part of
your life because to die is to await
Resurrection with Jesus and Eternity in
the Kingdom that is to come now when I
say the ministry of dying I mean two
different things the first is I want you
to hear this that what God is calling us
to In this passage is to see death as a
mission
field I don't know if you've thought
about this but the most powerful
testimony you may ever
have the most powerful witness you may
ever have the most powerful moment that
God uses you may just be
your process of
dying that's because if you think about
it this way for those who do not know
Jesus life right now is as good as it's
ever going to
be that's because this life will end and
after this life ends becomes death and
after death comes judgment and after
judgment comes the Lord's anger but for
those of us that are in Christ at the
end of this life comes death and after
death resurrection and after
Resurrection glory and what Paul is
saying is that we should face death not
just with courage but with an
anticipation that good things are
waiting for us that doesn't mean that if
tomorrow I go to see my doctor and my
doctor says Zach you have six months to
live that I walk out saying
awesome or that I call my wife and I say
great news honey I've got 6 months to
live
no death is sad death is awful death in
that circumstance would be tragic I I'd
have to tell daughters I wouldn't walk
them down the aisle tell Sons I couldn't
help them grow into full manhood there's
all kinds of sad things that I would
have to reckon with but what what the
writer of first Thessalonians is saying
is that on the other side of all of
those painful things is good
news and it's in our moment of death
it's in our process of dying that we
testify to our hope that just as Jesus
was raised from the dead so also with
will we be Brothers and Sisters in
Christ could we even now consecrate our
death to God to say to God help me die
well help me point to My Hope in you my
trust in you my confidence in you in the
moment or moments of my death but of
course the second thing he's call
calling us to in the ministry of death
is to help each other with
death I don't know if you have ever lost
anyone but there's this cultural
phenomena that when you go through grief
people tend to shrink back from
you they don't know what to
say they don't want to make you
uncomfortable they don't want to be
uncomfortable and so everyone shows up
initially attends the funeral offers to
help in any way that we can but
eventually there's a retreating that
happens there's an uncomfortableness but
here Paul is saying that in the church
we should be leaning into each other
weeping with each other for sure
grieving with each other to be certain
but also pointing one another to this
good news that death is awful and tragic
but it is also a doorway into life
Everlasting with Jesus it's the ministry
of death
the second Ministry Paul is calling us
to is the ministry of waiting the
ministry of waiting look at what he says
here in verses 4-9 and chapter 5 when he
says this but you are not in darkness
Brothers for that day to surprise you
like a thief for you are all children of
light Children of the day we are not of
the night or of the darkness so then let
us not sleep as others do but let us
keep aake and be sober for those who
sleep sleep at night and those who get
drunk are drunk at night but since we
belong to the day let us be sober having
put on the breastplate of faith and love
and for a helmet the hope of salvation
for God has not destined us for wrath
but to obtain salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ see what the writer is
saying is that in some ways all of us
are between now and the end we are
waiting for the universe to end or for
our lives to end we're in the waiting
room of life and in the midst of that
waiting room is all kinds of things good
things and bad things there's marriage
and divorce there's love and there's
hate there's pleasure and there's pain
but also there's anxiety because the end
is looming over us and the writer is
saying that one of the ways we encourage
each other is with the consistent
refrain that we are headed towards good
things between now and Heaven there's
infertility between now and Heaven
there's
depression between now and Heaven There
is poverty bankruptcy shame
guilt but even as we push through those
things even as we walk through those
things we are always only walking to
Hope
because the way we're walking is towards
life
Everlasting with God one of the ways you
and I are meant to encourage each other
is not by minimizing depression or
poverty or divorce or pain no that's not
the point it's not saying to someone get
over it don't you know there's good news
it's reminding each other as we cry as
we grieve as we struggle that our faces
are appointed to
Glory it's the ministry of waiting
together for the
end and then third the third Ministry
he's calling us to is the ministry of
sharing look at what he says verses 9
and 10 of chapter 5 for God has not
destined us for wrath but to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us so that whether we are
awake or asleep we might live with him
Paul says we know that even though we
die we will get back up because that's
what Jesus did but of course he's
speaking there to Christians those who
have placed their faith in Jesus those
who have asked God to forgive them on
the basis of Jesus's life and death and
Resurrection I want you to understand
what he's saying here is that you have
hope but the implication is not everyone
does
you see when the universe ends it ends
for
everybody death is a reality for
everybody but it is not good news for
everybody so what's rattling around in
this passage is not just that we have
hope but that our desire would be that
so does everyone else around
us it's impossible to read this passage
message without saying but what about my
dad what about my mom what about my
brother what about my friend what about
my neighbor what about my coworker and I
think in that way the spirit is saying
to us through this passage what about
them because it's calling us not just to
think about our death but about
Theirs to find the courage to invite
them to ch Church to find the en the
courage to talk about our own
relationship with Jesus to find the
courage to ask them if they've thought
about what comes after this life because
the end of the universe is certain the
end of all people is certain and after
that comes judgment
unless they turn to
Christ and friends that's you and I's
responsibility to point them there
which is why I'm ending in this way if
you're here this weekend and you are not
yet a Christian here in this passage yes
the universe will end you will end you
won't see it coming no one really ever
does but God does and in seeing your
death coming God is saying to you it is
not too late to turn to
Jesus to be forgiven heav to have the
hope of Heaven this will all
end but today if you turn to Jesus that
might be the best possible news you
could
hear let me pray for us father
God thank you that you love us enough to
interrupt our comfort to interrupt our
autopilot to interrupt our living as
though this life will never end the
universe will never end we will never
end we don't think that consciously
we're smarter than that we're scientific
enough to know that isn't true but but
dayto day functionally we put it out of
our mind holy spirit my prayer this
weekend is that you might bring it into
our
minds that we might Ponder our own end
that we might those of us in Jesus might
set our face to die well to testify to
the hope that is available in Christ to
doctors and nurses and EMS and and and
police and anyone who's around us in the
moment or moments of our death that we
would grieve but with hope in such a way
that would cause them to wonder how they
might find that hope too for those here
this weekend who have yet to find that
hope that this would be the moment where
you begin a curiosity in them that will
not let them
sleep until they meet
Jesus in his name we pray amen