Strathalbyn Church of Christ

On our calendars or in our diaries we might have some special future dates - anniversaries, birthdays etc.

There’s a special future date on God’s calendar too - the coming of his Son Jesus.

“They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”. Matthew 24:30

“……Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time….." Hebrews 9:28

Over recent weeks we have been focusing on the cross, the resurrection, the ascension of Jesus, and his sending of the Holy Spirit. And now I’d like to focus on his second coming, his appearing a second time.

Like the previous subjects this too is a big one, and so in this message I will focus on one main matter.

In the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 9 verse 28 we are told “Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

And in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “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 wake or sleep we might live with him." Also in Romans 13 :11 “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed."

We notice in all the above verses that there is a future dimension to our salvation - “he will appear a second time …… to save those who are eagerly waiting for him”; “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation…"

“For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." And so, trusting in the Lord Jesus, you can say, ‘I have been saved, and I will be saved’.

This salvation will include resurrection and reunion In 1 Thess. 4:l6,l7 “the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord."

Let’s notice how Paul describes “the dead in Christ." He says,

“But we would not have you, ignorant, brethren, concerning 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” 1 Thess 4: l3,l4

Death, as far as our body and life in this world is concerned, is falling asleep; you go to sleep and you wake up with Jesus.

“Fallen asleep” is a phrase that refers to the event of death. But does that mean, as some I believe have wrongly thought, that you will be unconscious, perhaps for centuries, until Christ comes?

Well, if it does mean that, I find it hard to understand why Paul would say elsewhere “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” Philippians 1:23.

Would Paul, a Christian so ‘alive’ in Christ and who lived for Christ, think that an unconscious state was “far better”?

And in 1 Thess 5:10 he says “Jesus died for us, so that whether we wake or sleep, we might live with him”.

“far better” - how? This suggests a closer, richer, fuller experience of Christ than we are already enjoying It would seem then that “to depart and to be with Christ" would be a fully conscious relationship with Christ.

Notice also “We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Cor. 5:8

Sometimes we use the word “hope” in a ‘weak’ sense - I hope my investment will get a good return, I hope it will be good weather for camping etc. But there’s a strong sense of the word hope.

“Hope” in its ‘full-blooded’ sense, in the way the Bible means, is a sure and confident expectation We have a “blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." 1 Titus 2:13.

As believers in Jesus we do not “grieve as others do who have no hope” 1 Thess 4:l3. Why? Because we do have hope - a

“blessed hope”!

Paul had preached the gospel to them and that included Christ’s cross, resurrection, and coming again. They had hoped that he would come back in their life time - don’t we?

But since Paul had gone from them, some of their members had died. This had upset and disturbed them. It appears they wondered whether these people would miss out. Maybe we can understand why they had doubts - after all, when a person dies, he/she appears to be right out of things and can no longer share in what we do.

So Paul comforts them - “God will bring with him (i.e. with Jesus) those who have fallen asleep” 1 Thess 4:l4. In other words, they won’t miss out! “The dead in Christ shall rise first” - someone said, ‘they shall have front seats’!

“For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,shall not precede those who have fallen asleep." 1Thess 4:l5

Resurrection and reunion - that’s why Paul says “we do not grieve as others do who have no hope” 1 Thess 4:l3.

Yes, we do grieve - for ourselves really, because we are temporarily separated, but we do not grieve hopelessly, or despairingly, for we believe “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep."

A little girl whose father had just died asked her mother where her father had gone. ‘To be with Jesus’, replied the mother. A few days later, talking to a friend, the mother said, ‘I am so grieved to have lost my husband’. The little girl heard her and, remembering what she had told her, asked, ‘Mother, is a thing lost when you know where it is?’ ‘No ofcourse not’, her mother said. ‘Well, then, how can Daddy be lost when he has gone to be with Jesus?’

“to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” Philips 1:23

The Christian’s hope is in Jesus. When he comes the Christian dead will come with him, and the Christian living will join them.

God will raise the Christian dead as he raised Jesus, and he will bring them with him.

And so, the Christian dead will neither be separated from Christ - for they will come with him, or from the Christian living - for they will be joined by them. And so there is an unbreakable solidarity which the people of Christ enjoy with him; and one day with each other. “and so we shall always be with the Lord.” 1Thess. 4:l8.

When we think of the Return of our Lord - “the Lord himself will descend from heaven.” 1 Thess. 4:l6.

Jesus himself will return, not one of his deputies! - we can think of four ‘R’s -

The resurrection, the “rapture”, the reunion and the resemblance.

The Resurrection - of those “who have fallen asleep”, and those still “alive” on earth. And this will mean a new body for us.

On Benjamin Franklin’s epitaph were the following words:

‘The body of B Franklin, Printer.

Like the cover of an old book its contents torn out

And stript of its lettering and gilding lies here.

Food for worms.

For, it will as he believed appear once more,

in a new and more elegant Edition

corrected and improved by the Author’ !

Yes, as Paul teaches “For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality." 1 Cor l5:53 That’s resurrection.

The “Rapture”

“we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." 1 Thess. 4:l7.

Rapture - caught up, snatched up, swept up. The Christian living will be caught up, raptured, together with the Christians who have departed this life.

It appears that before this coming of the Lord and this being caught up together, there will be a period of “great tribulation” on earth. Matthew 24:21._ But Jesus says _“he who endures to the end will be saved."_ Matt 24:l3.

The Reunion

“and so we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thess 4:l7.

Notice the little word “always”. This will be an everlasting fellowship. “We” - that is, the living and departed Christians.

The resemblance

In John’s first letter we read “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1John 3:2

Let’s notice “when he appears (i.e. Jesus) we shall be like him…." That’s resemblance! In character, we shall be just like him- perfect. In glory, we shall shine like him. “Then the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matthew 13:43

Also, let’s notice in passing - “when he appears” 1Jn 3:2 - not “if” he appears! It is certain he will appear. “When he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” “we shall see him as he is” - “is”, not as he was when he travelled the roads of Galilee with his disciples. We will see him as he is now in glory. Indeed as Paul says “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory”. Col. 3:3 Notice the “in glory”.

This message is then followed up by Paul teaching “You yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thess 5:2.

In other words, for some whom Paul describes as “sleeping”,

1 Thess 5:6. the day of the Lord, his coming, will be a surprise and catch them out - they won’t be expecting it.

However, “But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness." 1Thess 5:4,5

Why aren’t we “in darkness”? Because “the Father has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1: l3,l4

Jesus says “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” John 8:12

And so, “But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief." Then there is an exhortation to us -

“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. “ 1 Thess 5.6.

And “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." 1 Thess 5:8.

This is an image of being a Christian ‘soldier’ on sentry duty - alert, awake, on guard.

There is a story of an army soldier on sentry duty in a sentry box, and he was leaning against the side of it. It was the early hours of the morning and he dropped off to sleep. Suddenly he heard the sergeant, ‘Hmmmph!’ He jumped to attention, and the sergeant said, ‘What are you doing - sleeping?’ He replied, ‘No, just saying my prayers!’

A Christian ‘sentry’ watches and prays. “Watch and pray” said Jesus to his disciples “that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matt 26:41

A Christian ‘sentry’ is to be on guard and armoured - “and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” 1 Thess 5:8

Faith and love keep the heart intact, and the helmet, “the hope of salvation” helps us to ‘keep our heads’ as it were. “hope” of salvation - hope in the strong sense of confident expectation.

Salvation includes resurrection, rapture and reunion and resemblance.

“Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." Hebrews 9: 28

“eagerly waiting for him”.

When a scheduled jet comes from a major city to another airport, the controller knows all the details of the flight pattern. He knows exactly where it will be at various stages in the flight, when it departed, and when it will arrive.

On the other hand, a young lady whose fiance is on the flight knows only the approximate time of arrival, but she is still overjoyed at the prospect of his coming!

Someone has said, ‘I’d rather know very little about Christ’s coming and have a heart full of anticipation, than know many of the details about his return and be indifferent.

Ofcourse it might be better to have both, but the important issue is a joyful hear that is waiting in hope.

“Christ will appear a second time….to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

Let us pray