I’ll Fly Away

Matthew Allen

Sermon • Submitted a month ago • Presented a month ago

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

Inheritance

Resurrection

Spiritual Inheritance

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Today’s Reading from God’s Word

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 CSB

13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Introduction

Longing for something more.

This month we’ve been talking about our spiritual inheritance. In his prayer in Ephesians 1, Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart will be enlightened so that we know understand what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

And during March, we’ve been discussing that inheritance.

It was given to us upon our salvation.

Galatians 4:5 CSB

5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:6 CSB

6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

Galatians 4:7 CSB

7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

Note the end of v. 7. God has made you an heir. It is a fact.

And it is this fact that drives our hope.

There is nothing here that will last. Everything is temporary and will pass away.

That’s what we looked at last week. You may remember earlier in Galatians where Paul said:

Galatians 1:4–5 CSB

4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

We’ve been rescued or delivered from the present world system.

For us, this world has a diminishing quality to it. We are in the world, but not a part of it.

In fact, we understand the world system’s final destination:

1 John 2:16–17 CSB

16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

So there has to be more. We are all hoping for something better.

Something as Peter said:

1 Peter 1:4 CSB

4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

This is what we hope for.

Hope is a word that we use so often that its meaning can be lost if we’re not careful.

Sometimes it is easy to forget just how integral hope is for our lives.

In any situation in life, the difference between persevering or collapsing is hope. It could be:

a difficult marriage

a time of major change in life

chronic illness

the passing of a spouse, parent, or friend.

Hope:

colors our interpretation of events.

as a story, lends us meaning.

gives the reason to continue striving.

provides the strength to face realities we wouldn’t otherwise.

wakes us when we face apparent meaninglessness.

And it is because of our need for hope that Paul writes what he does in 1 Thessalonians 4.

Hope is the Answer. The inheritance is ours. We will receive it.

This is not a generic hope … it is something very specific.

It is inseparably tied into the return of Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 CSB

We know from reading Paul’s letter that there had been some confusion about the nature of death.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 CSB

13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

Some feared they had missed the Lord’s return.

Many believers in the first century expected Jesus to return in their lifetime. Now, approximately 20 years after His death, some disciples were beginning to die.

What would happen to them, they wondered.

Some felt his return had not come quickly enough.

Others still believed death had the final say.

So what does Paul teach us in these verses?

It is normal and right to hurt when a loved one or friend dies.

Death is an intruder.

It hurts us to see the departed, but that only speaks of our great love and respect for them.

And it hurts us to confront the reality of the impermanence that lies before us.

But notice how Paul says, we don’t grieve as one “who has no hope.”

We don’t have the type of grief that slides into despair or collapses in on itself.

We know that for those who are in Christ, the grave does not have the last word!

For them, have moved on to something better, something eternal. And for that, that is our hope too… one day of receiving the inheritance of being like and with our brother Jesus and heavenly Father.

What Is the Basis of the Inheritance?

Jesus died.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (CSB)

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

We know someone who has actually beaten death. Who came out on the other side.

It was His death that satisfied all the demands of God’s righteousness, holiness, and justice by paying in full the penalty that had been ours.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB)

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

By His death, we have been made acceptable to God and are thus qualified to be in His presence.

Colossians 1:12–14 (CSB)

12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus was raised.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (CSB)

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

The resurrection of Jesus indicates that God accepted His sacrifice.

Romans 3:26 (CSB)

26 so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

It was Jesus’ death that enabled God to be just so that He could justify us by faith.

It was for our justification that He was raised:

Romans 4:25 (CSB)

25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

So, we have hope because Jesus says:

Revelation 1:18 (CSB)

18 I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.

He has the power over death.

So we trust, when it comes our time, that we too will be raised just as He was when He returns again.

Our existence doesn’t end at the grave … it merely transitions into eternity.

Jesus is coming again

1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (CSB)

15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

His coming will be unlike anything you can imagine.

He’s coming back and when he does it will be like:

The Lord descending on Mt. Sinai in fire and trumpets, and all of Israel went forward… or,...

Thousands upon thousands appearing before God, books opened, and the Son of Man coming with the clouds and angels…

But he’s coming back!

Jesus is coming to raise us up with Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (CSB)

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

One day, Jesus will give us what He has.

Jesus being raised from the dead isn’t just some miracle that happened once for Him alone.

It is an image of what God is going to do for all in Christ.

Again, our hope is not something generic ...

....something where we just have to keep our head up …

It is rooted in our belief that something happened in history that is going to happen again for all of those who believe.

Peter called it a living hope, 1 Peter 1.3-4.

Paul called it being set free from decay, futility, and groaning, Romans 8.

John calls it a pure hope … because what awaits on the other side for the son or daughter of God is the experience of His revealing...

1 John 3:1–2 CSB

1 See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.

When we shall be like Him

Seeing Him as He really is...

Philippians 3:21 (CSB)

21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

This will be the day when He transforms our humble bodies to be like his glorious body.

This is the hope that you can die with if only you will believe on the name of the Lord Jesus.

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way.

Jesus is our hope.

There is no other way but through Him.

This is the good news of Jesus Christ. We trust in it. We need to make it the habit of our life to share it.

Romans 1:16 CSB

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

As We Close…

Let us again read Paul’s conclusion at the end of this section in 1 Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 4:17–18 CSB

17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

What a glorious thought! To always be with the Lord.

That is the prize we seek.

That is the glorious inheritance.

To be with Him.

Now, to be with Him in the by & by, you must be in Him today.

Ephesians 1:3 CSB

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

Every spiritual blessing comes only in Christ.

If you are not in Him, you have no hope. You are spiritually dead. You are on your own .. you are under the law, guilty of your sin, awaiting God to bring judgment upon you.

God, by grace, has given you a way out — and that is by choosing to accept the gift of Jesus paying that penalty on your behalf and then surrendering to Him to be made alive, washed pure from sin, and renewed in His image.