Live This Day #5 - With Hope (Dr. Kurt Brjorklund)

Senior Pastor Dr. Kurt Bjorklund continues the message series entitled "Live This Day" looking at the book of 1 Thessalonians. Christians take hope trusting in God's plan for eternity.

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Transcript

Good morning. Let's pray together. God, as we're gathered this weekend at Orchard Hill, at different times and different locations, I pray that you would speak to each of us. And God, that each of us would hear exactly what we need today and that our hearts would be receptive to your instruction. And we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

There's a universal experience that doesn't feel universal when you're actually going through it. And what I'm talking about is the experience of having somebody close to you die. Now, if you're in your teens, early twenties, thirties even, sometimes, you can feel as if it hasn't happened to you because maybe you haven't lost anybody yet. But sooner or later, somewhere in your thirties, forties, if not before, you will have the experience of somebody that you love passing away. And even if you don't at that age, you'll start to grapple with your own mortality at some point, because you will say, I'm not going to live forever. 

And so, the question becomes, what happens when somebody dies? Now, there have been a lot of ways people have thought about it over the years. Some say your body goes to the grave, and that is it. It's the end of the story. Billy Joel famously wrote a song about this years ago. His daughter had been asking him the question about what happens when somebody dies. And he said, we live on in lullabies. As I'm singing a lullaby to you, one day you'll sing a lullaby to your child. That's how I'll live on. I don't know about you, but that's pretty hopeless if you ask me. Just saying, hey, I got this little song. That's the extent of it.  

And even for those who say there's something beyond the grave, there is a lot of confusion about what that is, or even questions about if it's any good. Going all the way back to, again, famously, Tom Sawyer kind of saying mythically in his book, when the old spinster told him about the good place, and he was like, I didn't think much of it. Sounded like all a person would have to do there is go to choir practice and listen to harp music for eternity. Wasn't sure it was for me.  

And so, there's a lot that just kind of hangs as a question. And today we're in First Thessalonians, chapter four, verse 13 through 18. And this is addressed directly by the apostle Paul. Now, we've been in this series, First Thessalonians, we've called it Live This Day. And the idea is to live this day in light of that day, that day being the day that Jesus returns. This is what's called in Greek, in this book, the parousia. It's usually the word coming or presence in our English translations. And so, there's a coming, a presence of Jesus Christ. And the book is about how to live today in light of that day. So how do we live with hope when somebody we love has died in light of that day?  

In fact, this is his point. He begins verse 13. He says, brothers, sisters, I don't want you to be ignorant about those who've fallen asleep. The NIV says, those who've fallen asleep are asleep, the sleep of death. And it's a euphemism word for death. And he's saying, I don't want you to be ignorant because we don't grieve like those who have no hope. We grieve differently because there's hope if you're in Christ. In fact, he says it very directly this way. In verse 14 it says this, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. And notice I said if there. The NIV says, for we believe. And in the original language, there is an if. Translations have it, because it's a conditional statement. He's saying, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who've fallen asleep in him. You see, if you believe that Jesus experienced resurrection, then there's this hope of a resurrection which is tied to the parousia of the coming of Jesus. And it is a hope filled statement about what will be.  

And so, what I'd like to do is just give you three reasons today to basically be able to say, if you grieve the loss of somebody, you can grieve with hope. And the first is caught up in verses 14 and 15 in this little phrase with Jesus. And we'll talk a little bit more about that. And then in verses 16 and 17, there's a phrase with them, and then at the end of verse 17, it says forever. So the hope is that the person who passes, who knows Jesus, who's got a relationship with Jesus, is with Jesus. You will be with them forever. That's the hope that you have if you are a follower of Jesus and somebody has passed who is also a follower of Jesus. 

So, let's talk first about this little phrase with Jesus which speaks to our current status. That's what this speaks to. And again, this is verses 14 and 15. And here's what verse 15 says, I read 14. “According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming.” That's the presence, that's the parousia, who are alive until this coming of the Lord will certainly not precede those who've fallen asleep. Evidently, what was happening in the church in Thessalonica, some of the people were saying, well, if there's this coming, this parousia event, what happens to those who fall asleep? How can I have hope if they're not around? And he says, I don't want you to be uninformed. He says he'll bring with Jesus those who've fallen asleep. They are with Jesus.  

Now, this text talks a little bit about that resurrected body, and I'll come to that again here in just a moment. But the clear teaching of the Bible, the whole of scripture, is that when somebody dies who has a relationship with Jesus Christ, and what I mean by that, believes that Jesus died, rose from the dead, and that his death is what pays the price for our sin, that we don't earn our way with God, but it's Jesus’ work on our behalf. If we believe that, he says, then you know that they are with Jesus. And where you see this in other places is in the account when Jesus was on the cross and when he said to the thief, today you will be with me in paradise. It wasn't someday down the road. It was today you will be with me in paradise. 

Now, over the years, people have had different ideas about this inside and outside the church. Some people have believed in what is called annihilationism, that when you die, your body goes to the grave. And that's it. Some people have believed in a thing called purgatory, where it's this idea that you're not quite morally ready for heaven, and so you go to a holding place, purgatory, where you can be kind of perfected over time, and it will be sped up, by the way, if your family prays for you and gives money to the church. And I know some of you are thinking, I can't believe you just said that. I'm just telling you what's out there. Although I've often thought it would be a good fundraising mechanism for the church, but it's not in the Bible, just so we're clear.  

And then there is this idea of soul sleep. Some people talk about people falling asleep, so they're just in a state of, like, lack of consciousness until this resurrection in the future. That's not biblical. Some people believe this idea of universalism, that everyone will come to this place of ultimate belief. And then some people believe in the idea of reincarnation, which is the idea that you just keep kind of coming around until you get morally perfected. So, you start maybe as a frog, and if you're a good frog, you come back as a horse. If you're a good horse, you come back as maybe a person, and then maybe you didn't live a good life as a person. You go back to being a horse type of a thing. Again, not really in the Bible, because the idea is, if you're in Christ, then you are with Jesus immediately upon your passing.  

And theologians use a phrase that they have called the intermediate state. And this is maybe more detail than you need, but it's all part of this passage. And the reason it's called the intermediate state is because your ultimate state is in the resurrection. So, Jesus was resurrected. There's a coming resurrection where your body will be resurrected if you're a follower of Jesus, and your soul, which has been in this intermediate state, will be reunited with your body, and you will live in perfection in the eternal state forever. That is the teaching and the hope of scripture.  

And this is why the apostle Paul says in Philippians one, to die is gain. What does he say? For me, to live as Christ and to die is gain. Why can he say to die is gain? Because he said, to live as Christ. You see, if for you or for me, to live is about money, to die is to be without it. If for you to live is about romance and family, to die is to leave it somewhat behind. If for you to live is about your job and your success, to die is to leave it behind. But if to live is Christ, then to die is gain. And that is the story that is being told here, and the reason he tells this. Verse 18, he says, so encourage one another with these words. Take comfort with this. Understand? This is comforting in the midst of it. This is why you don't grieve like those who have no hope. 

There's an old fable that comes from the Middle east about a merchant and his worker. And the merchant sent the worker into the market one day, and when he was in the market, he had an encounter with the angel of death. And he was terrified because he could see that the angel of death recognized him. So, he went back to his merchant boss and he said, please, let me have your fastest horse. I'm going to go to Samarra to get as far away from Baghdad as I can. He said, go ahead, take my horse. Later that day, the merchant went into the market, saw the angel of death. Again, just a fable. And when he saw the merchant or the angel of death, he said, why did you startle my servant? And he said, oh, I didn't mean to startle him. He startled me. I didn't expect to see him in Baghdad because I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.  

You know, the truth is, you can eat right, do everything right, but death is coming. And the teaching of the Bible is that ultimately, death is a gateway to the promise of ultimate life. So, the question is, are you sure that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Because if you are, then death means you're with him. But that's not all. In verses 16 and 17, there's this little phrase with them. And here's where we see this. Verse 16 says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.” Pretty grand event here. And the dead in Christ will rise first, so the dead will experience this. Resurrection is the idea. “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”  

Now, this is about a future reunion. This is the idea of being with them. And it's an unfortunate thing. And this, I'm going to go down a rabbit trail here for a few moments, because this passage is probably the passage that is most definitive about something that's called the rapture. How many of you heard about the rapture? Now, the rapture is taught variously in different theological systems. And I think it's unfortunate in some ways that it gets the headlines from this passage. And here's why. 

Because this passage tells us why he wrote it, so that you wouldn't be ignorant about those who've fallen asleep. Now, comfort one another with these words. Why is this passage written? So that you'll know about what happens to those who die. They are with him. You will be with them forever. That's why this passage is written. But because it talks about being snatched up into the air, the language of rapture, we get this archangel call voice, we get the trumpet sound and everything else. People say, this is about end times, and this is about this event called the Rapture.  

Okay, now let me just give you some backstory. And by the way, I'm going to do a podcast this week. It'll be on our Orchard Hill Plus feed. It's in our Perspectives feed in which I'm going to go way down this rabbit trail. So, if you hear me talk here for the next few minutes, grant me this. If you're not interested, as this is helpful just with this passage, but if you're interested, we'll go all the way down the rabbit trail in the podcast. This is just going to be a quick, high-level view.  

So, in the history of interpretation, there has been something called amillennialism. I'll just put “AM” here for amillennialism. And the idea of amillennialism, and millennium is a word that means a thousand, thousand years, comes from Revelation, chapter 20, where we're told about this thousand years. Okay, so millennialism is a thousand year reign of Christ. What's talked about in Revelation 20. Amillennialism, “AM” means no, amillennialism, no millennium. So, what you have is you have the church age that basically goes, there's no such thing as a millennium. The parousia happens, Jesus comes back, and you enter the eternal state. So, the millennium, according to amillennialists, is just a figurative idea where there's kind of this reign of Christ that's going on. There's various tribulations all through the church age until this culminating event. And if there is a rapture, which a lot of amillennialists would say, no, it would happen right here, right in this moment with the parousia, with the coming of Jesus. So that's amillennialism.  

Then there's something that is called postmillennialism. And this is the idea that you are living in the church age now, which will lead to this millennium. So, it's church plus millennium, and then you get the parousia, the return of Christ, and you go into the eternal state. And so, this idea is basically that the church is going to usher in the millennium, postmillennialism, because Jesus comes back after the thousand years, and if there's a rapture, it happens kind of in this same little timeframe here. Okay? These have been historic understandings of how end times work throughout history.  

And then there's another view, which is called premillennialism. And there's actually a couple of twists on this. Premillennialism is the idea, and again, there's stuff that happens before this, that we're in the church age, and then there's this tribulation that happens, and maybe it's all mixed through, and then Jesus returns, and the rapture takes place kind of right in one event here. And then you get the millennium and then ultimately another event and the eternal state. Now, again, I know some of you are saying, I thought the podcast was for the weeds. Hang with me just for a moment.  

So, premillennialism, there's another version of premillennialism. This is classic or historical premillennialism. And this is probably what many of you have heard. This is like dispensational premillennialism. And this is new, basically, in the last hundred, 150 years, it was popularized by the Scofield study Bible and some different things like this. And this is, you're in the church age, and then there's this rapture, and then there's a seven-year tribulation, and then Jesus returns, then the millennium, then the eternal state.  

Now, again, if this is way more than you need, here's why I point all of this out here today. This idea and these ways of thinking have created a sense in which people read this passage, and they want to debate what's going on. And the idea of the parousia was a common word where when a dignitary would come to a city, people would go outside of the city, meet the dignitary, and then follow the dignitary in as a welcome.  

Think about Palm Sunday. What happened? The people went outside the city to throw the palms down. And although the word parousia isn't necessarily used there, it was the idea, it was the custom that everybody understood to welcome Jesus in thinking he was going to take over and rule at that time. And so, the idea here of being snatched away to meet the Lord in the air, and I would affirm that there's a rapture because I think it is in this passage. But the idea is that it's in one time. This requires a secret rapture, meaning that people are taken away. This talks about the shout of the archangel, the trumpet of the Lord. This is the culmination of all things. 

Now, again, my point here is to say, even as I've talked about this, here's what's happened in all of your hearts and minds. You were hopefully tracking with what happens to a loved one who dies. And now you're like, whatever. And what happened? We lost the encouragement of the passage because what's the passage about? I don't want you to be uninformed about those who've fallen asleep. Be encouraged. And what does it say? You will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord. You'll be with them. That's the encouragement. They're with Jesus. You will be with them again. 

Now, it's important as we talk about this, that we understand what it means to be with them again, because a lot of people have this kind of mockish notion that says, when I'm with them in the future, it will be like my family and me having family dinners again and some of this. But do you know, in Mark chapter twelve, verse 25, it says that there isn't marriage in heaven. In fact, what happens is you have these people who come to Jesus, and they give them this fancy idea of seven marriages because they're trying to trick them and say, well, who's she with in the coming? And that's when Jesus says, there isn't marriage in heaven. 

Now, I know some of you are thinking right now, I've been married a long time. How could it be heaven if I'm not married to my spouse? Like, how could that be good? And I would guess others of you are thinking, how could it be heaven if I'm married to him or her for eternity? And here's the truth of it, and that is, it isn't that romantic love is insignificant. I believe that the scripture is clear that you will have knowledge of all that happened. You will have memory, you will have feelings and emotion. So, it's not as if it erases everything that's been, but it gives us something better. The sense of joy and community will be so great that the best of what we have in marriage and romance and intimacy here is but a taste. 

I said that last week about sexuality, but it is relevant right here again. And that is, we weren't just created for a family here and now. But the family is a picture and a taste of what will be ultimate one day. It will be better than your existing family. And so that is the picture that's given. 

And I know sometimes when people talk about eternity, their idea may be like Tom Sawyer, is like, well, you know, heaven eternal, choir practice, harps, clouds. I don't know, maybe I want the frat party with all the other people on the other side. And I mean, you can get that, right? I mean, frat party, choir practice. I mean, come on, people, you don't have to act like you don't get that juxtaposition.  

But here's the thing. In Luke 16, there's a story that Jesus tells. It's about a rich man who dies, and he ends up in Hades. If you read the text, it says Hades, not hell. There is a distinction. I will talk about that on the podcast. I'm not going to go in the weeds. But here's the deal. While he's there, he says, can you go to my five brothers and tell them, warn them so they won't come to this place? You see, he was aware. He had knowledge, he had perspective, but he would rather be separated from his brothers than have them come to the place that wasn't with Jesus. And so, there is this sense of saying, yes, you're with Jesus, and then you can be with them once again. And that is part of where the hope is, as you think about this.  

And then there's the permanence of this. And this is verse 17. It says this, the very end. “And so we will be with the Lord forever.“ So, this is a permanent home. First Peter, chapter one, verse four says it this way. I'll start in verse three. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Resurrection, living hope. Live this day in light of that day with hope. And then verse four, talking about this hope, he says, “and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” So, it'll never perish, spoil, or fade. Think about that. The promise of scripture about eternity is that it will never perish, never spoil, never fade. Well, almost everything in this life perishes. It ends at some point. And he's saying there will come a day when what you can hope for is being with Jesus, with your loved ones who are in Christ forever, for eternity. And so, you don't need to live with a sense of saying, this will end.  

But then he says, it will never spoil. Do you know how things spoil when you think about that? You probably think about food. It goes bad. But it isn't just that that gets spoiled. If you've been around kids, you've had kids, you know how this works. When you're with kids as they're growing up, you have these moments. And every now and then, you think this moment's coming to an end. Like, we're going to the park, and maybe this will be one of the last times that the kids all want to play on the playground equipment before they're too big. We're going sledding, and maybe this is one of the last moments. We'll go sledding before they think, I don't want to go sledding with you. I've got other, cooler stuff to do.

Well, what happens? The simple joys of life get spoiled the longer you live. And what he's saying is when you're ultimately with Jesus, you will not become tired with worship. Kind of talked about the choir thing, but you will be thrilled with the presence of Jesus and worship and the joys that will satisfy your soul on the deepest level, and it will never spoil.

But not only that, he says it will never fade. Think about this. What fades in our lives? Everything. I mean, your body is fading. Again, if you're younger, you don't believe this, but live a few years and you will. But not only that, what do we try to do with our lives? What do we do? We buy clothes to try to look a certain way. Well, what happens to all of your clothes at the end of the day? I mean, sooner or later they fade. They don't look nice. You say, ah, that's not so great. What happens? You buy a car, and you think this is the car. What happens to a car no matter how well you preserve it? I mean, I know we have the car show, and some of you keep your cars really nice, but by and large, we live in Pittsburgh. Salt and stuff causes your car to fade. And what about a house project? I mean, I do house projects, but you know what's going to happen? One day, somebody's going to buy the house that I've lived in, hopefully 20, 30, 40 years down the road. But you know what? I can almost guarantee you what they're going to do. They're going to walk in and they're going to go, yuck. We need to do something else here. We got to gut this place. And if you ever stop taking care of your place, do you know what happens to it? It fades.

And so, the promise of scripture is to say, there's an inheritance that will never perish. This is forever. It will never spoil. It will never fade. It's not just eternity. It is this promise of satisfaction. So why can you grieve without the kind of grief that those who have no hope grieve with? Because if you have a loved one in Jesus, they are with him. You will be with them again forever, in an inheritance that will never perish, never spoil, never fade.

Now, I would guess that some of you right now are saying, well, okay, but I have a loved one who died who didn't profess Jesus Christ. How will I have joy in the future when this is directed for those who are in Jesus? You know what Revelation 21 talks about? This is the eternal state, the new heaven, the new earth. But you know what it says? It says that there will be no tears, no pain, and no sorrow. Every tear will be wiped away. I don't know how, but somehow your joy will be so complete in Jesus that it will not be a deterrent to your eternal satisfaction. What did or did not happen here.

Now, one other thing, and that is, if you believe what we're talking about here today, that those who believe in Jesus, his resurrection, his death, have eternal life, and those who don't do not, it is not loving to not tell people about it. You've probably watched with horror, as I have, about the floods in western North Carolina over the last few weeks. If you knew that that flooding was coming and you had some loved ones who lived in a low area and you didn't tell them to evacuate, and you could have stopped the loss of 180 plus lives, and you just said, I just don't want to be the person who tells them. I don't want to get into their business. Either you didn't believe the flood was coming or you didn't care. That's it. And so, if you have this knowledge and this hope, and you say, I'm not going to say anything, either you don't actually believe it or you don't care. Because if you believe it, you will care enough to say this is the hope. Because death is a universal experience. And the hope of the church is that one day you will be with him, be united with them forever.

Let's pray together. God, as we're here, I would guess that there are a lot of different reactions. For some of us, just this moment has crystallized that maybe our hope has just been that, like all good things would just work out. Help us to see clearly that it isn't our goodness, but it's Jesus’ goodness that ultimately gives us a standing before God and a security for our future. And God, for those who maybe are part of today's gathering who haven't believed in Jesus, I pray even now there would be a conviction of a need for a savior and a willingness to turn. And God, I pray that for those who've lost somebody recently and the pain and the grief is still striking, I pray that there would be comfort and encouragement. And God, I pray that there would be an urgency, not just a willingness to sit around and say, I believe this, but, you know, I'm not going to let it drive how I think about things. And we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.

This transcript was automatically generated. Please excuse errors.