1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14
Many years ago, I had a preacher tell me that one of the greatest things that you can do when you minister to people is to give them hope. I was a bit too young at the time to understand what that meant and why that was important, but now I believe that man was right. People need hope!
As Paul walked through the streets of Thessalonica, he no doubt saw the large mausoleums, housing the dead. On the tombstones in many Greek communities, the words, “no hope” would often be chiseled. For as great as the Greek mind was with philosophy and the meaning of life, they felt that when man drew his final breath, all hope was lost.
Paul did not want the people of the Thessalonian church to think the same way that the sinners did. He wanted them to have a confidence, that those who had died were not really gone. Only their bodies had died, but that they were at rest in Jesus and they would live again.
Paul once said that if we had hope only in this life, we would be, of all men, most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). It was his message that there is a heaven, and it is our hope (Colossians 1:5). He did not preach that men died and then just lay in the ground, sleeping away eternity until Jesus come to get them. This message is preached by many even now, and it removes the hope of heaven for your loved ones who have gone on before. Be encouraged that those that you have loved and lost, who were redeemed by Christ’s blood, are in heaven, waiting for you. The scriptures bear this out.
First, Paul said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8), meaning that whenever your body dies, your spirit man lives on in the presence of the Lord.
Secondly, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him”. In the next few verses, Paul relates to us that God is going to descend from heaven to come back and get both the sainted dead and His living church, in that order. Now, if verse 14 tells us that God is going to bring the saints with Him when He comes, and then in verse 16 those saints will come out of the grave in new bodies, how can He bring them back if they are still in the ground? The answer is one of great hope; only their bodies are there now, but their spirits have been with God since they died. This is great hope!
Finally, I do not believe that Paul is condemning the church for weeping over the dead when he tells them to “sorrow not” in verse 13. Rather, he wants them to “sorrow not as others which have no hope”. Crying and hurting over the loss of a loved one is natural, but to feel as if they are completely gone, never to be seen again is to discount the power of the resurrection. You have a blessed assurance that Jesus is coming again, and He is bringing your loved one with Him.
I comfort you today with these words, whether you have lost someone or not. If you have, take comfort in knowing that they are at rest in Christ, in a land where they will never hurt, nor grow old. If you have not lost someone, then take comfort in knowing that He is coming back to get His own. As John the Revelator heard Jesus say, “Surely I come quickly”, he responded with, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelations 22:20).
Many years ago, I had a preacher tell me that one of the greatest things that you can do when you minister to people is to give them hope. I was a bit too young at the time to understand what that meant and why that was important, but now I believe that man was right. People need hope!
As Paul walked through the streets of Thessalonica, he no doubt saw the large mausoleums, housing the dead. On the tombstones in many Greek communities, the words, “no hope” would often be chiseled. For as great as the Greek mind was with philosophy and the meaning of life, they felt that when man drew his final breath, all hope was lost.
Paul did not want the people of the Thessalonian church to think the same way that the sinners did. He wanted them to have a confidence, that those who had died were not really gone. Only their bodies had died, but that they were at rest in Jesus and they would live again.
Paul once said that if we had hope only in this life, we would be, of all men, most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). It was his message that there is a heaven, and it is our hope (Colossians 1:5). He did not preach that men died and then just lay in the ground, sleeping away eternity until Jesus come to get them. This message is preached by many even now, and it removes the hope of heaven for your loved ones who have gone on before. Be encouraged that those that you have loved and lost, who were redeemed by Christ’s blood, are in heaven, waiting for you. The scriptures bear this out.
First, Paul said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8), meaning that whenever your body dies, your spirit man lives on in the presence of the Lord.
Secondly, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him”. In the next few verses, Paul relates to us that God is going to descend from heaven to come back and get both the sainted dead and His living church, in that order. Now, if verse 14 tells us that God is going to bring the saints with Him when He comes, and then in verse 16 those saints will come out of the grave in new bodies, how can He bring them back if they are still in the ground? The answer is one of great hope; only their bodies are there now, but their spirits have been with God since they died. This is great hope!
Finally, I do not believe that Paul is condemning the church for weeping over the dead when he tells them to “sorrow not” in verse 13. Rather, he wants them to “sorrow not as others which have no hope”. Crying and hurting over the loss of a loved one is natural, but to feel as if they are completely gone, never to be seen again is to discount the power of the resurrection. You have a blessed assurance that Jesus is coming again, and He is bringing your loved one with Him.
I comfort you today with these words, whether you have lost someone or not. If you have, take comfort in knowing that they are at rest in Christ, in a land where they will never hurt, nor grow old. If you have not lost someone, then take comfort in knowing that He is coming back to get His own. As John the Revelator heard Jesus say, “Surely I come quickly”, he responded with, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelations 22:20).
