1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:10 - Encouragement that Deals with Discouragement

Hey, I'm going to invite you this morning to turn with me to first Thessalonians chapter four. It was we're at together today. First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13. In fact, we're on week five of a six week series we're going through in the book of Thessalonian Thessalonians, which is an incredible book of the Bible we've been studying together. Thessalonica represents the second church the apostle Paul established on his second missionary journey in the continent of Europe. So this is the second church he established in Europe. The first was Philippi, second Thessalonica. And then it goes on from there. But this church was established on the backdrop of persecution, if you remember, as we looked at Paul's life as he began his missionary journeys, Paul really faced persecution nearly everywhere that he went. There was a few places that were rare, but that became the norm that he would go through persecution. In fact, the town he was at just before Thessalonica and Philippi, he was beaten. He was thrown in prison. And when he was released, he then went on to the town of Thessalonica, Thessalonians or Thessalonica, and he established the church of the Thessalonians. And within just three weeks of him preaching in Thessalonica, he persecution breaks out again. And in this particular scenario, rather than the Apostle Paul enduring that persecution, he realized it was going to be better for the church if he moved on. And he goes on from there to Berea, faces persecution again, then on to Athens, then on to Corinth.

And adversity followed him wherever he went. But this particular church, the church in Thessalonica, Paul had this growing concern for this church because he knew he was there for just a minimal amount of time. And so he actually sends Timothy back to this church to report to him what he discovers. And when Timothy comes back to the Apostle Paul, it is overwhelmingly encouraging. What Timothy discovered there, this church. Not only did this church find their faith in Jesus deeply enriched, it began to make an impact in the city and even beyond that, into what we refer to as modern day Greece. The gospel is going throughout all of Greece and even beyond. And the Apostle Paul is ecstatic to see how the gospel has moved in their life to transform their life and the world around them. And so he writes this book of Thessalonians, to continue to encourage this church. But not only is it an encouragement to them, it's becoming an encouragement to us here a couple of centuries later, to see how God worked in their midst, to challenge us in the 21st century and what it means to follow God. And so you see, when you read First Thessalonians chapter one, verse six, they were they birthed this church out of much affliction. It tells you. And in chapter two, chapter two, verse two of the same book, the Apostle Paul talks about his own struggles in being able to preach the gospel to them.

So in this tremendous adversity, they had deep roots in Jesus, which, if we're being honest with life, that tends to be what makes us as individuals a lot more sturdy in the foundation, but beneath us as being challenged in that, especially in your own relationship with Christ, you finding out who Jesus is in the midst of trials, you're really challenged to discover why Christ really matters to you and therefore living in light of that, know that no matter what the circumstances of the world might throw at you will be faithful in Jesus, because what you have in Christ transcends anything this world can offer. And as we looked at this church, we discover what it means to find transformation in Jesus and living for him. In fact, last week when we got to the beginning of chapter four, we talked about what it means to live God's will. What is God's will for my life? And we discussed, some so many times we approach this as if we've got to find that dot, that one thing that God made me to do. And if I do that one thing, then God's going to be happy with me. But it really challenged us to think in terms of what God's will is not.

Not in so much in what you're doing, as much as a relationship with him. And the reason for that is because there's nothing you're going to do in this world that's going to impress God. Not that God doesn't want you to do good things. He certainly does. But there's nothing you're going to do in this world that God can't do for himself. And he can't. He's going to do it better than you could ever think of doing it, right. I mean, God's not dependent on anything. He is sovereign. And so the purpose for which God has created you is not primarily established on what you do, but rather the primary reason for which God has created you is for relationship with him and through that to glorify him. In fact, that's what we discussed as God's will for your life. It's not it's not about religious performance. It's about a genuine relationship with Jesus. And out of that relationship then flows beautiful things in your life and the way that you live for him. In fact, when God created us in the beginning, the Bible tells us in Genesis one he made you in his image, which is distinguishing you from anything else God created in this world. Nothing else. God has created us in his image. But you are. And what that means is that you're connected. You're created to be connected to God in relationship. And then it's through that relationship.

You represent him in this world, in fact. God created us all to be royal priests, your royalty in the sense that you belong to a king, your priest, in the sense that you get to connect to God. That's the position of a priest. They're connected in relationship with the Lord. They represent people to God. And so as God's people, he calls you even in first Peter chapter three, if you read the chapter, Peter says you are a royal priesthood in Jesus, meaning God has called you in this world to represent him. But now as we get into first Thessalonians 413 to 510, this is the biggest chunk of scripture we're going to cover together in this book of Thessalonians. What we're going to discover is that while we come to know the Lord, it doesn't guarantee that everything's going to go well. Right? The church of Thessalonica is proof of that. And so as we get to see the challenges of this church, we're really going to look at a. But today Paul starts off this section with the word but this is a big but actually he's what he's going to talk about. We're going to start this section with a big but. And as we look at this what he's what he's going to encourage us in is saying, look, even when you theologically understand the reason for what you're created, you've got to also understand that there's going to come challenges in your own faith journey.

And how you respond to that is critical. There's a way God wants us to put all that in perspective in how we live for the Lord. In fact, Paul is going to focus on this word called grief. He wants us to realize that in this world, we're going to experience a grieving. And that's completely normal, in fact. Romans chapter eight talks about this. Romans eight verse 22 tells us all of creation is groaning. And in Romans chapter eight verse 23, even our soul groans within us. And the reason it groans is because the curse of sin that we experience in this life, you see the destruction of sin and the decay of life, whether whether it's things around you falling apart or relationships and figuring, finding unhealthy relationships that you have or ultimately even in death, we experienced the destruction of life. And because of that, our soul grieves. You don't even have to tell us to be sad about those things. We just naturally experience it that way. And it's a way our soul is crying out to us to recognize who you grieve because you're made for so much more. But it's helpful for you to put that grief into perspective. Your life is made for so much more than than the decay of this world. And so how do we discover that hope? And this is what the Apostle Paul is encouraging us in.

We're going to look at this together today. Paul's encouragement that deals with discouragement. And this is really an undersell, because we're going to talk about it in terms of death. Like how do we how do we do that in terms of death? Because death for all of us is the ultimate enemy. And that's where we really understand that the curse of what this life is by death. Because you and me, we weren't made for that. It's why we grieve at the loss of life. Where we grieve at the loss really, of anything because. Because we weren't made for the loss of things. We were made for life. That's why Jesus says in John 14 six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And God doesn't just give life. He's life itself, and he made you to belong in him. Unfortunately, what humanity chose from the beginning is ultimately other than that. In the Garden of Eden, when God made Adam and Eve right? God says to Adam and Eve, don't eat of the fruit, because in the day you do it, you shall surely not die. God didn't make you for death. Death is what we choose when we reject the Lord, and rather choose to put ourselves in the position of Lord of our own life, thinking we know better than God. And ultimately it separates us from him. And it produces death. Not just physical death, but spiritual death.

It brings death to our life and we experience the, permeating effect of the curse of sin and the decay of life around us all the time. And the ultimate piece of that is seen in real death. And so when you think in terms of grieving, we can grieve in life for all sorts of reasons, but it's ultimately related to the loss of things. And the greatest extent of loss is experienced in death. And Paul here is going to talk to us about this. He's not he's not going to pretend like life isn't hard. He's not going to tell you to stuff your feelings, but he really wants to help us put it into perspective in light of what we have in Jesus and the hope that is to come. So encouragement that helps us deal with discouragement. Let me give you a point. Number one, we should read some verses here in order to deal with discouragement. Here's what we need. Discover a greater hope. Discover a greater hope. It's not to say what you've gone through isn't important. It is important. But rather than let that define us, we need something that transcends it in order to be able to move forward. We need a greater hope. And you discover this idea, this theme over and over again in Scripture and in fact, in the book of Philippians chapter one.

And shalom, can you hold on? I'm not on. There we go. Philippians chapter one. The apostle Paul here is really describing life, sort of like a blueprint and really looking at your own life in this way, as if there's a building being built here and there's a blueprint. And sometimes when you look at a blueprint, some people look at a blueprint and they can't even imagine what that's going to look like because, well, they really need to see it in hand. Like, let me it's nice to see it on paper, but I really need to see it in person or sometimes you might go through the building process and you're thinking, man, I don't know that this is going to happen. Like, what confidence do I have? Especially when that blueprint your own life, right? And Paul says like this in Philippians verse six, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. I mean, he's really writing this to remember a church in Philippi where Paul was imprisoned because of his faith. This is a church that endured persecution. And sometimes when you're going through adversity in life, it has this tendency of rocking you and you think to yourself, is this really going to work itself out? And Paul is saying, look, you keep entrusting yourself to the one who has proven all things, the one that will work it out.

This will culminate in exactly what Jesus said trust the blueprint or in the book of Philippians or excuse me, Hebrews. He. He describes the idea of really a marathon runner here. And I don't know how many of you are runners in our congregation this morning. I don't describe myself as a runner, but sometimes I run like and sometimes depends how much I ate five minutes before that. But this in September, I'm going to go to Yosemite. I'm going to hike Half Dome and I found out it's like a 15 mile round trip hike. And I thought to myself, rather than suck, win the entire time and not appreciate the beauty around me, I should probably jog a little bit so I can I can soak in the beauty of life around me as I'm doing this hike. And so this summer I've been running, and every time I run, this is what happens to me. And maybe this is true for all runners. I could be the exception, I don't know, but I think about quitting in the midst of those runs. Like I'll set a goal for myself. I'm like, yeah, you should probably quit. And when I the moment I start thinking about quitting honestly, is when I take my first step. Like, I start immediately trying to talk myself out of this. Are you sure? You know, are you sure that you want to do this? And one of the things that helps is trying to put the next goal in front of me.

What's the next goal if I can just get to the next hurdle? Because if I try to think about that entire journey all at once, I'm like, yeah, let's, let's not do this. Do you know, how do you know how much how much muffin top you got around your waist? And like, whatever you one mile is good. You don't need two. You know, you just start thinking through that. And Hebrews, it's encouraging that way in a spiritual sense. It's saying, therefore, since we've been surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus. I mean, here's what he's saying. The idea of marathon runner and a coliseum performing. And he's saying you've been surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, and they're really not a witness of you, but rather a witness to you saying, you can do this. And here's how you know you do. You can do this because the people that have gone before, you have done this faithfully in the Lord. Hebrews chapter 11 list those people. But here's the key. It's not about looking to those people. Rather it's about looking to Jesus.

That's your ultimate goal. Trusting in the sufficiency of who Christ is in your life. This is how you know, in the midst of the struggle of this world, you can move forward. If I gave it to you in another illustration, I don't know how many of you have ever seen the back of a tapestry. You know I don't. It's not something. Lately I've been walking around saying I need myself a good tapestry. So maybe there's some of you that are not familiar with tapestry here. But if you ever take time to look at the back of a tapestry. Sometimes they look like you've allowed a five year old to go into your craft room and do whatever they want, like. Or maybe me. Let me. Same result. They can do the same thing, right? For those that have craft rooms, I don't even know what I'm talking about. I don't have a craft room. But. But if you let a if you let a kid loose on a craft in a craft room in the back of a tapestry sometimes looks like that until you until you turn it over. And then you see this incredible work of art. And sometimes in this world, in the brokenness of sin, life can feel that way. Thank God I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. Lord, how in the world do I know this is going to work itself out? And the Bible has passages that we looked at.

And let me give you one more that just reminds you over and over again of the faithfulness of the Lord. Trust the master craftsman, right? You may not be able to see the light of the tunnel, but you know. You know what? Who holds tomorrow. You may not know what it holds right, but you know who holds it. And so therefore, it's this encouragement to continue to trust your life in him. Second Corinthians 417 for this is light, momentary affliction. Putting it all in perspective. It's preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen or transient, but the things that are unseen or eternal. And this is what the Apostle Paul is encouraging us to. In this passage, first Thessalonians 413, he says it like this. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as those who do not have hope. Let me say a couple of things as we look at this passage, because what Paul is doing here, he's saying like this world is it's got difficulty and I don't I don't want to take away from that. So if you're going through adversity like it's important as the body of believers and the brokenness of this world to learn to grieve in a healthy way, and we should grieve.

In fact, we should grieve better than anyone because we understand where this grieving comes from. It's in the destruction of sin because we alienated ourselves from God by choosing a different path. And so the curse of sin is upon this world, and so we better than anyone should have a true perspective of what grief, what drives grief, and why we grieve. And when people are going through difficult times to weep with those who weep. But at the same time to not leave it there, to put it into perspective of the greatness of who God is. And this is what Paul is saying. In fact, he's doing it like this. He's saying I don't want you to be uninformed, brother. Meaning here in the early church, you got to remember the New Testament is still being written. All right. And Paul was only three weeks with this church. You know, I think as a as a follower of Jesus, we live in the best time period you could ever live in order to be a follower of Jesus. And the reason for that is because the resources that you have as a Christian in order to follow Jesus. And they didn't have the full New Testament at this time. You hold it in your hands today. For much of church history, that was impossible for Christians.

But now you have the entire Bible. And so he's writing to the church of Thessalonica. He's saying you're uninformed and he's not saying, look, you're being stubborn or you're just foolish. He's saying, look, you haven't learned this in your faith journey yet, and you need to learn this. And I would say it's the same true for you and for me. Like they're not being stubborn and fighting against the Lord. They have this willing heart to really want to learn and soak it up. And Paul's saying, look, this is your next step right now. This is this is where you could really learn and grow. That's going to help you exponentially in your faith journey in the struggles of this world. And it's the same for you and for me. But here's my fear. Like there's a part of us where we're uninformed sometimes and we just need to learn. But I think more in this century, it's not so much that we're uninformed because we have a lot of information. It's a matter of just taking the time to learn about the God who's made himself available to us. Maybe I could say it like this. It's laziness. It can really impact our own relationship with the Lord. And what Paul is really essentially saying here is good theology is critical for the life of the believer because it dictates how you respond to the circumstances. You find yourselves.

And the church of Thessalonica. They've come to Paul with a question. Timothy's reported to Paul, and this is where the church. Is this what they're doing? It's so great. But in this particular area, they're struggling right now. So, Paul, could you speak into this? And so Paul's saying it's you're all struggling, but it's not because you're rebellious. It's just because you're still learning. And here's where you need to learn, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep and they're not literally sleeping. This is this is the word for death. They're saying for those who have died, there's this concern that they have the Church of Thessalonica. They're paying a consequence for their faith in Jesus, and some might even be paying the ultimate consequence of becoming a martyr. And they're worried about what does that mean then for them? And so he's saying, look, there's a there's a place to grieve in that because, well, your soul wasn't made for death. It was made for life. And you should understand that more than anyone. But at the same time, it doesn't end there for you and for me, because we as God's people, we have a greater hope, and that's what we need to carry us through the day. Yes, the circumstances are real, but the circumstances don't dictate who you are. There's something that transcends it. It's a hope that goes beyond. Which is why when you read the rest of the Bible, this is critical for us.

Like you look at Romans 822 and 23, creation groans, our soul groans. Genesis two verse 17, don't eat of the fruit, because the day you do, you shall surely die. But then when you get to Genesis three, you see the promise of redemption, the fact that a messiah has promised to come, who will come from the seed of a woman, born of a virgin, who will suffer a hill wound, but he will also crush the head of the serpent. And we come to see that as Jesus, who is ultimately our substitute. He takes our place on the cross so that we can be liberated in him. We can find freedom in him. So the Old Testament is this prophetic statement of the ultimate Messiah who would come for us to liberate us and bring freedom, so that when you turn to the New Testament, you discover this in the Gospels. Then when Jesus is made flesh, he goes and preaches this kingdom of liberation for you and for me, so that we can discover that life in him for which we were created. And so when you see the stories of the gospel, you can only see Jesus proclaiming that he redeems your soul, he rescues your soul, but he demonstrates the work of that kingdom by also doing miracles in the lives of people. He heals them. In fact, Jesus said it like this the word that we often use to reflect this idea as the word ransom or redeemed in the New Testament.

That word is a slave word. It's saying you were. You belonged to the slave market and you need to get this rescued or saved salvation. And there is one who ultimately came. Who ransomed you? He. He purchased you off the slave market. He redeemed you from the curse of sin ultimately demonstrated through death. Jesus bought you from that. And so that word redemption is the salvific word for you and for me. Recognizing we all need this. That's why Jesus said in Mark ten verse 45 of The Son of Man came not to not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. There's this random story in the in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13, starting in verse ten, of this woman who had an ailment for 18 years that kept her hunched over, she couldn't stand up straight and she was in tremendous pain. And after 18 years, Jesus comes to her and says in verse 12 he says, woman, you have been made free. And that word free is that word for redemption, ransomed. And it tells you. And immediately she stood up, and as soon as she stood up, the religious leaders started arguing with Jesus. I can't believe you did this on a Sabbath, you know? And it's like how it's to get us to recognize in the Gospels how stupid we can be sometimes that when redemption is made known in our lives, we'd rather argue over technicalities and religion than to let the liberation of Jesus be made known in our life.

And this woman has been made free, and that physical freedom is the indicator of the ultimate freedom that Jesus would bring for you and for me. That salvation, that rescue, and the ultimate destruction of this life around us is seen in death. This is why in first Corinthians 15 verse 55, the apostle Paul says, oh, death, where is your sting? And it's really saying, you're no longer master over me as if I was your slave. Because while we may die in this world, that's not the end of us. We have redemption in Jesus, who is our great rescuer. And that hope puts it in perspective that we can still grieve in the brokenness of this world because we recognize as people we weren't created for this. We were made for something so much more. And that life is found in Jesus Himself. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And that Jesus didn't give up on us, but rather he pursued us by offering his life for us so that we could be liberated from the brokenness of sin, which ultimately separated us from God and brings the destruction of our soul and body.

But Jesus brings liberation to all of that, which then helps us put the grief of this world into perspective, the greatness of who he is. We need a hope that transcends. I got 15 minutes left for the rest of these points, but point number one is really important, right? So as you think about this idea of ransom, salvation and death, I mean, those are themes in Scripture, and I hope you're seeing the significance of those even as you read in your own Bible, like when you read that word like that. I hope you see the grand story of all of that being told, because this is particularly important to your own life and the hope that you carry in this world. So that let me give you a point. Number two, we recognize the greater hope is found through the resurrection. It's found through the resurrection. And this is where Paul goes is saying, don't grieve as though you don't have hope. It's okay to grieve when someone dies. Grieve. You should grieve better than anyone because you know we weren't made for death, but grieve knowing that there's also a greater life. Verse 14 for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again can I just tell you how foolish the first half of the gospel story is? That's why the Bible says in first Corinthians chapter one, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, and to the world that looks so stupid that you would follow someone that died and especially call him, calling him your King and God.

And the cross is the most humiliating way to go. And yet you say the one you follow died that way. How foolish are you? All right. The preaching of the cross. First Corinthians one is to them that perish foolishness. I believe it's verse 18. But to us who are saved, it is the power of God made known. It's why it's the anthem of Christianity. Because we see in the darkest day of history where our God dies, became the symbol of resurrection, hope that the grave didn't defeat him. The greatest enemy we have is people didn't overcome him. And because he lives, we can live too. And so this is the hope of the resurrection. This is why it's important for you and for me to see the significance of this in all of the Bible. When you look at the Old Testament, you see the prophetic statement of one who will come. I mean, Isaiah 53 we read in Scripture last week, it's a prophetic passage, an entire chapter, Isaiah 53, declaring how the Messiah would suffer for us and that we would find freedom in him. And then when you get to the New Testament, you discover Jesus preaching that message, and he was ultimately executed by professional executioners. If anyone in history died. He certainly died. Thrown in a grave for three days.

I mean, he was dead beyond dead. And even the disciples gave up on him. But yet they returned back to Jesus with such a passion that they willingly gave their life as martyrs. Why? Because they couldn't deny they had seen a dead man walking. And for this purpose, this truth claim it changed everything for them. And it's the same for you and for me. The resurrection of Christ is paramount to our identity, what we have as God's people and the hope that we walk with in this world. It helps us put everything into perspective that no matter what the circumstances of this world may bring, I have a greater hope that transcends it all because of what Jesus has done for you and for me, so that we can get to point number three. How about that? We'll move faster. Rejoice that resurrection gives unending hope to all of God's people rejoice. That resurrection gives unending hope to all of God's people. And this is what Paul says. Look, he says, even so, through Jesus. God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. That's the that's the way of saying it again. Those who have passed away. And so he's writing to the church, and they're really worried that, they really strongly believe Jesus is going to return at any moment. Church at Thessalonica believes that. So they're passionately going around saying, Come to Jesus because he can come back at any moment, and they're just sharing what Jesus has done, the liberation from sin and the Messiah.

But then here comes their concern is that before Jesus comes back, some of them are dying. Now they're worried what's going to happen to us, right? God, what is what is my future? And so the Apostle Paul is explaining this to them, is that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. So? So when people have passed away, don't fret over that. Don't lose ultimate hope over that. And instead he encourages you this way. He says. Verse 15, for this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left unto the coming of the Lord, will not proceed 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 rise first. Now, theologically, I want you to know, as Christians, we believe the moment you pass from this world, you go straight to the presence of God, right? So like in Luke 23, the thief on the cross is promised by Jesus. You will be with me this day in Paradise. He put his faith in Christ. And Jesus promises in Luke 23, you will be with me this day in Paradise.

I think it might be verse 43 in that chapter, but the thieves promise Paradise. And Paul tells us in second Corinthians chapter 12, verse 1 to 4, that Paradise is the same as the celestial presence of God. It's the third heaven. It's straight into the presence of the Lord, which, as followers of Jesus, that is what we all believe in, right? As Christians, biblical Christians, we believe in one heaven, which is the celestial kingdom and the promise. Just as the thief received that the moment we leave this world, we go straight to the presence of the Lord. The Bible says in Second Corinthians five eight, to be absent from the body is to be present with the present with the Lord. Paul says a similar thing in Philippians chapter one, verse 21 to 23. To be straight in the presence of Jesus. So we pass in this world. We're straight in the presence of the Lord. But in this passage, what Paul is also saying is, and there's also the resurrection of your body to be with the Lord. Meaning, when God made you in his image, he made you both physically and spiritually. That makes up the entirety of who you are. And we think about the world that is to come. God reunites your spirit and body together to be with him forever. And the Apostle Paul is saying, not only those who are alive when Jesus returns, experience that.

But even those who have passed away to the point with those who have passed away will be resurrected from the grave first, their body united with their spirit. And then he goes on and says it like this. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with him 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. So this idea of a cloud is similar to the thought of a glory cloud. When you read throughout Scripture, God is covered in cloud, and that's the Shekinah presence of the Lord. And here's what he's saying. Whether you've passed away or you're still alive, here's the comfort that you get. You're never outside of Jesus. If you're in Jesus, Jesus is always aware of where you are, and Jesus desires for you to be with him. In fact, when you pass in this world, that's the promise in this passage of the end of verse 17, so will always be with the Lord. And so whether you think of a loved one who's gone on before you or yourself today. Here's the promise. It's the same promise you have today that you would know Christ and walk with him. And as you enter into eternity, you would continue to have the intimacy of that relationship with the Lord. And he says, use that to encourage one another.

And the same thing that determines my future determines right now, right? Today I wake up and follow Jesus. That's the best thing I can do with my day and tomorrow. I don't have to worry about tomorrow because I know who holds tomorrow. And when I get to tomorrow, I'm going to wake up and just follow Jesus. And when I'm entering into eternity, I'm going to still be with Jesus. And so he's encouraging whether. Whether it's someone that's passed on or it's you today, if you're in Christ, you're in Christ forever. And continue to use that to put into perspective the difficulties that you might endure today. But because it allows not the circumstance to dictate who you are, but rather your identity in Christ that transcends it all so that we can move as people with hope. Though in the momentary affliction we might have grief in the brokenness of this world, we have a greater hope that transcends who we are. So that let me get to this last next point here. Let live out. Excuse me. Your resurrection hope. Live out, then your resurrection hope. And I'm going to do this in like five minutes. We're going to cover ten verses in five minutes. But here he explains to us, what does that look like in our life if we're to live out that resurrection hope? And in verse one, 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 suddenly destruction will come upon them with 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 he's encouraging you to how to live in light of this. Let me let me say it like this. If I go back for just a minute to verse 17 when it talks about in verse 17 that you're going to be caught up with the Lord, this is where Christians might use the word rapture, right? There are going to be rapture. The Latin word rapture or the Greek word. I think it is or is what it is that you're going to be caught up together with the Lord in him. And some people like to put this in a timeline, right? Like I want to tell you exactly how it breaks down and every detail that you need to know, and you know, that can be a good thing to go through and try to discover how the end of life is going to play itself out.

But here's what Paul wants you to know how it really what really ultimately matters is that you're going to be with Jesus. And in light of that, and then how to live. And here's what he's saying for you and for me. This is the next couple of points in your notes. First is to be thankful that you have the light of day. Be thankful that you have the light of day. What are you saying? Is this. There are some people walking in this world that don't understand what God's doing. In fact, they may not have any faith in the Lord at all. And when they die, that's it. And how terrible a way to live your life. There is no ultimate weapon that death gets the final victory over you. But. But you and understanding who Jesus is and what he's done for you, that's not where you have to stay. And so, in the brokenness of this world, thank God that you don't have to let brokenness be the end, that you get the beauty of the light of day. To understand that and to put that into perspective. So Paul is saying, walk with that perspective in this world. Understand what that means for you and for me. And then he goes on in verse six and says, 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 or drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober. Having put on the breastplate of faith and love for the helmet of the hope of salvation, for God has not destined us to wrath, but obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, who died for us, 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. So here's what he's saying. You have the hope of the future of knowing. No matter what happens, you're with Jesus. But. But here's what Paul wants us to know. Like, it's great to talk about the future of a resurrection, right? That one day you'll be with Jesus forever. But that resurrection power when you come to Christ happens in you. Now, you get life in Jesus now. So it's not about, well, one day, we'll look to the future. It's saying, no, you get to live in light of that. Now that not only does God care about your future, God cares about you now and that resurrection life in you now. You get to live through that now. So you see not only a God who is concerned for tomorrow, for you and what you have in him, but he also cares about where you are right now. And so Paul is encouraging us because of that walk with this breastplate of righteousness and this faith that is strong meaning don't waste your life, but use it for his glory.

And he compares us the idea of drunkenness. He does the same thing in Ephesians five where he says, don't be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit of God. And what he means is this your life is like a cup, and when you're drunk with wine, which is dissipation, you're just wasting. You're just spilling it out. But when you're filled with the spirit, it's the power of God made known in you to make a difference in this world. When you think in terms of death, yes, there's death, there's grief, there's suffering, there's struggle. Those things are true. We should bear one another's burdens. Galatians chapter six. But that doesn't define us. Something far more powerful, something far greater. And it's personal. It's tangible, made known in the flesh of Christ as he gave his life for you, so that you could experience the joy of a life giving relationship with him now and forever, so that no matter what happens, you're always with Jesus. If I ended this way just a couple of minutes and be done. You know, when I look throughout church history, some of the most powerful people in church history that made tremendous impact were people that never let go of this truth that we talked about today.

The guy on the top right who has an impressive beard that I hope to grow one day is a man named Polycarp. Polycarp was an individual who was born the same year. I believe the apostle Peter was martyred, and Polycarp went on to give his life. When he was 86 years old. He was martyred for his faith in Jesus in the middle of the second century. But the thing that compelled Polycarp was to know that death was not his last defeat, or had no ultimate authority over him, but rather it was just an usher to something greater. A Perpetua and Felicity in the bottom right. They were martyred in the third century. They were in their early 20s. Felicity was a very wealthy woman who gave up her wealth to follow Jesus, and ultimately led to the end of her life, or even on the far left. So you see early church history on the right, but on the on the far left. You have a guy on the bottom left by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The same thing. Who? Nazi Germany. He was a pastor. Nazi Germany tried to silence him, but he refused to continue to preach the gospel, which led to his death in a concentration camp or in the top. Top left is a is a couple by the name of John and Betty Stam. John and Betty Stam were missionaries to China that ultimately met their martyrdom in there in their mid 20s.

They followed after Jesus and people asked them, like, you're going to a country that could martyr you for your faith. And ultimately communistic soldiers arrested them, marched them in the streets in a shameful way, and beheaded them. But being asked about their concern, Betty responded this way. Before she left, she said, afraid of what to fill the Spirit's glad release, to pass from pain to perfect peace, the strife and stain of life to cease. Afraid of that, even John, the year that they were executed for their faith. He said this. He wrote this to a students in a Bible college. He said. What does it matter what men think or say? We have the resurrection life of Christ in us. Death can only be the gateway to glory. When you have no concern about the struggles that this world might throw at you become a powerful individual for the sake of Christ in this world. When what you have in Jesus matters more than anything, the glory of Christ is made known through your life. This is what Paul is encouraging the church in Thessalonians to think of a greater encouragement in the midst of the discouragement in this world, because no matter how dark the days may be, the greater the light you have in Christ.