Jump Start # 444 

1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uniformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”

  Yesterday, we looked at those who grieve without having hope. Today, we will consider the other side, those who have hope. That hope is Jesus Christ. That hope is available to all. God wants you to live with that hope.

  Here in this passage, Paul is talking about the death of Christians. The living were grieving the dead. Some things do not change. We do that today. Death is ugly. Death steals. The grieving of these Christians was done in hope. They were sad yet they had hope.

  How is it that Christians can grieve in hope?

First, they realize that death is not the end of the road. The separations they feel now will not last forever. Paul reminds them that when Christ comes, He brings with Him those who have departed. The souls of the departed live on.

Second, not only are the righteous dead living, living with God, there is the hope of seeing them again. The grand reunion in Heaven—what a wonderful time that will be! It is a very common question that folks ask often, “Will we recognize each other in Heaven?” I believe the answer is YES. The rich man and Lazarus still had their identity after death. For a moment, think about the opposite—they we won’t recognize each other. Can you imagine being somewhere in a large crowd, Revelation says the number is so large that it could not be counted, and you didn’t know anyone? I’ve been in a few settings like that. Very awkward. No one to share things with, everyone a stranger. Is that the concept of Heaven? Heaven is fellowship, closeness, love and being with God. Will I recognize family members? I believe yes. Will I recognize the heroes of the Bible, such as David, Paul, and Abraham? I believe yes. Will I recognize fellow Christians that I have worshipped with? I believe yes.

  This is why Paul was comforting these Christians in our passage. They were grieving. Paul assures them that they will come with Christ. What’s the point, if I won’t know who they are? For Christians, it is never “good-bye,” but rather, “see you later.”

Thirdly, there was hope in that all the suffering would end. Much of the suffering we read about among the Christians was in connection to their faith. They were persecuted and tortured. For the departed righteous that page of their lives was finished. No more. Revelation reminds us that there are no tears, no death in Heaven. All of the problems stop at the death. That’s comforting. Just hang on and this stuff that bothers you will soon be over. Not so, for the unrighteous. Living without Christ, living to themselves, only adds more burdens, remorse and problems AFTER death for them. The illustration of the rich man and Lazarus shows that. What ever health problems Lazarus had, covered with sores, possibly leprosy, ended at death. He was in comfort. He was in the care of God. The rich man, was just the opposite. His selfishness, stubbornness, and stinginess caught up with him and after death, his problems multiplied.

  Hope—there is hope, even in death for the Christian. This is why we must stay with the Lord and not be weary. As the hymn goes, “We are marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion…”

Roger

Jump Start # 443 

1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uniformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”

  This is a difficult passage—not from the standpoint of understanding what is meant, but rather, from experiencing this in life. Paul is writing about death. He uses the expression, “those who are asleep.” In older cemeteries it was common to see R.I.P. on gravestones—Rest In Peace. That term, “asleep” for death, seems to be an expression used only of the righteous. Jesus said that our friend Lazarus is asleep. He said the young daughter of the synagogue official was asleep. Those in the room even laughed when Jesus said that. He spoke this of the death of the righteous. We don’t read of the wicked dead referred to as asleep, nor do we see Jesus using a miracle to bring the wicked back to life.

  Paul is writing to Christians. He is writing about the death of fellow Christians. In doing this, he makes a contrast—between those who have hope in death and those who do not. This passage is not intended to answer all questions about life after death, nor is it addressing every angle involved. He will go on to comfort the righteous by telling them where the departed Christians are and what will happen to them when Jesus comes. This passage is comfort, assurance, and hope—the very thing those without Christ do not have.

  To die without Christ is the worst type of death. It is to be thrown into eternity without grace, without a Savior and as Paul says here, “without hope.”

  I want to look at both sides of this passage—comfort for those with hope and comfort for those without hope. From my perspective as a preacher, it is much easier to preach the funeral of someone who was a Christian than it is for someone who wasn’t.

  How do we comfort someone who “grieves without hope.” Maybe they don’t believe in God. Maybe they never followed God, worshipped God, thought about God, or even cared about God. Their life was here. Their world was what you see. They lived, loved and died. Their family grieves. It is a sad, sad situation. I’ve had strangers call me to preach the funeral for their loved one. Families that have no connection to God. They don’t know a preacher. Somehow, somewhere, in the family connections, through someone at work, I’m found. I’m called upon to preach a funeral for someone who most likely never opened the Bible in his life. They want me to preach the funeral and offer hope for someone who chose to ignore God his entire life. I hate those situations. Difficult. They are reaching for hope. They are looking for a divine loophole. They want God in death but not in life.

  How do you comfort in those situations? What do you say?

1. Understand, they grieve hard. The loss of any loved one is hard, even among Christians, but without God as an anchor, without the teachings of the Scriptures, all they see is that it’s not fair. They may be angry. Tears at these funeral are often uncontrollable.

2. They want their loved one in Heaven. They are hoping for what may not be there. Everyone wants their loved one in Heaven. They will believe it. They will talk about their loved one dancing with angels, fishing with Peter, laughing with the saints. I’ve heard some very blasphemous ideas such as the loved one cursing in Heaven, drinking beer in Heaven and other dumb ideas that illustrate that they do not know the Holy God nor do they understand Heaven at all.

3. Nothing can be done for the departed. They are in the hands of God. It’s not our place to judge nor to determine their fate—God has already done that. In fact, the departed already did that by the choices in their life.

4. Comfort is needed to the family. This is where you can help. Take them to Scripture. Try to connect them to God. They need to see the importance of worshipping God, walking with God and having the hope of God in their hearts.

  Years ago I bought a set of books because they were stuffed with old newspaper clippings. I wanted those clippings, so I bought the books. One of the clippings was from the late 1800’s. It was a newspaper report of the funeral of Robert Ingersoll, the great agnostic. That report alone was worth thousands of books. The reporter who attended the New York funeral said it was the most solemn and eerie thing he ever witnessed. There were no hymns sung. There were no prayers offered. There were no reading of Scriptures. It was all secular—as Ingersoll had lived. Two days after the funeral, his body still wasn’t buried. Ingersoll’s wife and daughters refused to stop clinging to his remains. They couldn’t bury him. This is grieving without hope.

5. The most important thing I tell people is that their loved ones are in the hands of God. God loved them. God cared and had blessed them. There are no other hands that we’d want them in than God’s. He is just and He is merciful. I remind them that nothing more can be done. Burning candles won’t change things. Offering money won’t help. What can be done is for us to live with Christ in our hearts. He wants us to walk with assurance so we don’t die in fear or without hope.

  It doesn’t have to be that way. We can live with Heaven deep in our hearts. It’s hard to comfort those who don’t know God. I don’t know if I do any good. Follow up a few days after the funeral will remind them. Invite them to church services. Don’t give up on them. It is to the living that we must do our work.

  Tomorrow: The hope that the Christian has

Roger