Sermon Tone Analysis

*1 Thessalonians 4:13-18*

* * 

13  But

 we do not want you

       to be uninformed, brethren,

       about those who are asleep,

       that you may not grieve,

as

       do the rest who have no hope.

14 For if

we believe

that Jesus died

and

rose again,

  even so

God will bring with Him

 

   those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

15 For this

 

we say to you

 

        by the word of the Lord,

 

        that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord,

 

        shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For

the Lord Himself will descend from heaven

with a shout,

with the voice of /the /archangel,

and

with the trumpet of God;

and

the dead in Christ shall rise first.

17 Then

      we who are alive and remain

shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,

and

thus we shall always be with the Lord.

18 Therefore

comfort one another with these words.

\\  

THE REST OF THE STORY

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Exegetical Idea: Paul writes to the believers at Thessalonica to inform them that those who have died in Christ will not miss out on the glorious return of the Lord

Theological Idea:  All believers will experience the glorious return of the Lord

Homiletical Idea:  The best is yet to come for those who believe.

*I.                   **Your responses in life are related to your expectations for the future (v 13)*

*II.

**Your expectations for the future are tied to what you believed in the past (v 14)*

*III.

**What you must believe is that the best is yet to come (vv 15-18) *

Introduction:

In searching through my file of old news paper and magazine articles for possible sermon illustrations or introductions, I came across a USA Today news paper dated June 2006.

I had saved it because of the cover story of two young ladies who had been involved in an automobile accident where one was pronounced dead and the other survived.

And as I was reading this article and finding out that after five weeks they had come to realize that the one that was pronounce dead was really the one who had survived and the one who they thought had survived was really the one who had died.

And just as I was getting into this article, wanting to find out what happen and what was the response of the family members, at the bottom of this cover page story read, “For the rest of the story” see page 3.

But I soon realized that didn’t have page 3, so my hopes of getting an understanding of what happen was gone.

My expectations of learning how the families would respond where gone.

My  desire to want to read any more was gone.

All because I didn’t have the The Rest of the Story.

Friendship, many of you under the sound of my voice have lost hope for a better tomorrow.

Many of you under the sound of my voice have come to expect nothing from yourself, nothing from others, nothing from the church, and nothing from God.

Many of you under to sound of my voice have lost all desire to serve in, stand up for, live sanctified in anything affiliated with Jesus.

All because you don’t know or can’t find, or haven’t read The Rest of the Story.

*/Transition:/* Paul pens this text that you may know the rest of the story concerning those who die in Christ.

*I.*

The church of the Thessalonians was established on Paul’s second missionary journey.

It was composed of both believing Jews and Gentiles who had received the word through “much tribulation” (1:6).

They were under intense persecution from the Jews of the synagogue for placing their faith in Jesus.

Paul and Silas were sent out by night to Berea and on to Athens.

But while in Athens, Paul was concerned about how they were doing so chapter 3 tells us that he decided to send Timothy “to strengthen and encourage” their faith.

The report back from Timothy was good concerning their faith but in the first part of chapter 4 Paul exhorts them in their practical walk of sanctification and love that they should continue pressing on and progressing in being set apart from the power of sin and seeking always to increase in their love for one another.

But in our text, Paul moves from our practical walking before God to our living in the promises of God.

They had a concern and Paul knows that it is the promises of God that keep you and me walking right before God.

We need both to be instructed in the practical and to be encouraged by the promises.

·        The reason that you can make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching is that Jesus promises you that when you do, “lo, I am with you always.”

(Mat.

28:18-20)

·         The reason that you can endure the ridicule and the laughter and the mocking from the world about your belief in Jesus Christ is because 1 John 4 says that you have the Spirit of God and promises that “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

·        The reason that you don’t have to lose your mind when a pink slip hits you desk is that Jesus promises you that if you would “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mat.

6:33)

·        The reason you don’t have to worry about trying to get somebody back when they do you wrong, stab you in the back, mistreat you and try to do you harm is because the Bible says over and over that the Lord says, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.”

·        Hebrews 13:5 says that the reason that you can let your character be free from the love of money and be content with what you have is that the Lord promises that He will never desert you, nor forsake you.

·        The one I have come to bank on the most, when life’s journey gets too hard, the marriage ain’t quite right, the kids know more than you do, the career becomes just a job, the money is funny and change is strange and the tears well-up on the inside, and the pain seems to be more than I can bear, then the Spirit of God reminds me of Romans 8:38-39 where Paul writes, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, shall be able to separate “me” (us) from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul knows that: *Your responses in life are related to your expectations for the future*

Explanation: They were concerned about the believers who had died.

But more than anything, there level of expectation had dropped to that of an unbeliever.

What do I mean?

·        An unbeliever is not sure whether God really exist or Jesus is the reason for the season.

·        An unbeliever is not sure whether there is a heaven or a hell.

·        Therefore, an unbeliever believes, thinks, and lives like life on earth is all there is.

Go to a funeral and you will find the unbeliever trying to get into the casket, jump in the grave, and fighting over the stuff that is left behind because they think that life on earth is all there is.

·         Therefore, the unbeliever is always distressed, sadden, and sorrowful because they don’t have any expectation of seeing their love one again.

The Thessalonians were grieving for their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ like the unbelievers not just because they had died but because they thought because they were dead they would not experience the glorious return of Jesus.

Chapter 5 verse 2 tells us that they had knowledge that the day of the Lord is coming and that it will come as a thief in the night but they were uninformed or as the King James puts it, ignorant about those Christians who had fallen asleep before it comes.

Maybe that’s why Paul had to address their walking before God before he dealt with their waiting on God.

Maybe because their level of expectation had sunken to that of an unbelieving world they begin to behave like unbelievers.

Verse 3, getting involve in sexual immorality in lieu of pursuing sanctification and verse 5, letting their lustful passions run wild, verse 6, sinning against and swindling another brother, verse 9-11, not loving like they should be but being loud, noisy, and lazy.

So Paul says that I am writing that we can change the level of your expectation so that you will respond to the difficulties of life correctly.

Your expectations are too low therefore you are living lowly and lowdown like an unbelieving world.

Let me ask, how’s your expectation?

What are you expecting God to do in your marriage or your singleness?

What are you expecting God to do with your family, finances, and friends?

What are you expecting God to do with your company, career, or co-worker?

What are you expecting God to do with your health, wealth, and worship?

Maybe you are living like you are living, going to the places you have no business going, hanging out with the wrong crowd, fussing and cussing with those who love you, behaving like a child of the world, all because your level of expectation is that of the world.

The Bible says,