Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 | Date: March 24, 2019 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

I was happy to hear that Kamen and Pam are considering another one yet. I think with one or two more, the post office will assign them their own zip code. And I have to say that when one of the ladies was praying this evening and giving thanks to God for the pastors of the church, I was very appreciative, but I have to admit that when she said, and began to itemize this, “Pastor Boyd, Pastor Fred,” the thought occurred to me: wouldn’t it be poetic if she forgot Pastor Greg’s name? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t think like that, but there it was.

Open your Bibles with me, if you will, please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where we were last week. And then we’ll move from there to 1 Thessalonians 4. But I want to go back to 1 Corinthians 15 just briefly. Someone asked me afterwards last Sunday evening—and I thought it was a good question that really should have been addressed here in 1 Corinthians 15—and the question was: what about preterism? This is a teaching that has become somewhat popular in our day. It’s not new, but it’s become popular in our day. The word “preterism” comes from a word that means “past.” And the idea is that all prophecy has been fulfilled; there’s no more yet to be fulfilled.

Now, there are degrees of preterism, and some are not complete preterists, but the idea in this is that all prophecy was fulfilled, even with regard to the second coming of Christ and the resurrection—all of that has taken place already in the past. The resurrection is explained in terms of the spiritual resurrection; the second coming of Christ is explained in terms of the events of 70 AD, with the judgment upon Israel and the destruction of the temple and the destruction of Jerusalem. This was the judgment of God upon Israel, and that is the coming of God in judgment, and that kind of language, of course, is used in the Scriptures. Well, the idea of it, then, is that these prophecies are fulfilled already in the past and we are not to look forward to them. I’m not going to get into a long history interaction with the preterist idea, but I do want to deal with it in terms of what we saw last week in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

The Problems With Preterism

Just briefly, one of the problems I see with preterism is that it just ignores the pattern of biblical prophecy. And what I mean by that is what we have seen here many times together: that very often a biblical prophecy is fulfilled, and then it is fulfilled, and then it is fulfilled, and in a climactic way, fulfilled in the eschaton. Preterism just allows no room for that at all, and that is standard issue in biblical prophecy. I could demonstrate that at length, and that’s something I think that’s missed altogether.

Another thing that’s missed with preterism is God’s purpose for creation. God’s purpose for creation was not just to create and then let it fall and then someday stop it or whatever. His purpose is to restore creation and to bring history about even into redemption as well. And it misses all of that.

Now, in particular, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it misses that God’s saving purpose for the individual is not just spiritual; it is physical. And God’s saving purpose will not be complete for us until the body itself has been raised and we enter what we call the glorified state—the state that Jesus rose to in His resurrection. And that’s Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

A couple of remarks to that effect here in 1 Corinthians 15: the specific question that Paul has in focus in 1 Corinthians 15 is that there are some false teachers in Corinth who are denying the resurrection of the body. That’s specifically the issue in focus. We know that in verse 12: “If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, then how can some of you say that there’s no resurrection of the dead?” Now, the first part of Paul’s answer, in brief, is that the doctrine of the resurrection is something that every Christian has embraced on the way in. Christ was raised from the dead. And the resurrection that Christ was raised in was that eschatological resurrection. He was the first one to enter into that.

Now, and I mentioned this just briefly last time, someone might respond to that and say, “Yeah, yeah, Jesus rose into that resurrection, but we’re not talking about Jesus’ resurrection. We’re talking about the resurrection of all the rest of us. That’s just spiritual. Jesus is the one that rose bodily, and it’s not true then of the rest of us.” To argue that, seems to me, is to fail to recognize the whole burden of Paul’s argument here—the whole burden of his argument in 1 Corinthians chapter 15—and that is that Christ’s bodily resurrection is the proof and guarantee of our bodily resurrection. That’s the whole scope, I think, of his argument here: that Christ was raised from the dead, and because He was raised from the dead, we will be raised from the dead with Him as well.

And throughout, it is a bodily, physical resurrection that is in view. So in verse 20, for example: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” That is, He’s the head, the first and the forerunner of a larger group of people who will come with Him. And then to explain it further, in verses 21 and 22, He gives us some of what we call Adam Christology: just as the first Adam brought death, so now the last Adam will reverse all of that; just as in the first Adam we died, so in the second Adam we will be raised from the dead. That problem that was brought about for Adam the first, namely physical death, will be remedied by the second Adam as we participate in His resurrection.

And then, verse 23, he explains it: “But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” We will be caught up with Him in His resurrection, but each in turn. And our turn comes when He returns for us. And that’s Paul’s sustained focus then throughout the chapter. Through all of chapter 15, because Christ was raised from the dead, we will be raised with Him.

We will be also raised to be like Him. That’s another point that Paul stresses here that pinches on the question of the bodily resurrection. Verses 35 and following is a sustained discussion here on the nature of the resurrection body. It’ll be a body that’s raised suited to that day and to that time. It’s sown—it is planted in the ground—a perishable body. It’s raised an imperishable body. But there is some continuity, and in fact, verse 49 tells us our body that we will have in resurrection will be like Jesus’ body in His resurrection. “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [that’s Adam], we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” That is, just as Jesus rose from the dead bodily—think about it, just as Jesus rose from the dead bodily, the tomb was empty, the marks were there—just as Jesus was raised from the dead bodily, so also we will be raised in His likeness.

I don’t know how things can be much more plain than that: to say that this will be a bodily resurrection to come. If you want more, we come to the climax of the argument in verses 54 and following, and this is Paul’s insistence on the reversal of death. And here he cites Isaiah chapter 25 and 26, where the emphasis there is on death being reversed and the tombs being spoken of as a womb that will give birth to the dead. These dead will come back to life again. Your bodies will rise. That’s the language Isaiah uses. Paul is citing that here. He said death is swallowed up in victory; it is gone. Death will be reversed.

There are so many other passages that confirm the same. John chapter 5: those that are in the tombs will be raised, and so on it goes. God’s purpose is to restore the entire created order and us with it. We have been redeemed by Christ; we will be redeemed body and soul, and all of us in fullness brought to be like Christ. It seems to me 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is a real problem passage for preterism. I don’t see how anyone—any preterist, anyone anywhere—can read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and come away saying, “Oh yeah, what that means is the resurrection’s passed and it’s spiritual.” I just don’t see that anywhere in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It’s very plain, I think, that there will be this bodily resurrection, caught up to share in Christ’s resurrection and to be made like Him. That’s the short version from 1 Corinthians 15.

The Resurrection Of Christ In 1 Thessalonians 4

Turn with me, if you will, then, to 1 Thessalonians 4. A marvelous passage on the resurrection of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15 is the fullest discussion of the passage that we have in the Scriptures; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is close with it. Familiar passage of Scripture, and I’ll take time to read beginning with verse 13.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus [now notice here again, we have our union with Christ in His resurrection so that we share with Him in His resurrection], for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede 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. Then we who are 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Marvelous passage. In verse 13, Paul begins the discussion expressing something of his concern with the people at Thessalonica—a concern that they had: what about those believers who have already died? Will they miss out on the excitement of the Day of the Lord? What about them? And the short answer is: death is very different for believers. It is not without hope, and that’s the difference. Death will not have the last say. That, in a nutshell, is what Paul has to say.

Now he explains that, what he means by that, in verse 14. What is the hope that we have? Well, he begins to explain it in verse 14. When Jesus returns, He’ll bring them with Him. “Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.” God will bring them with Him. Isn’t that a wonderful expression? The souls of the believers who have died over the centuries. This is the doctrine of the intermediate state that we’ve talked about. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We may die, but when we die, we’ll be with Christ, which is far better. This is what we’ve seen in our studies on Sunday evenings about the intermediate state. And Jesus is saying here that “when I return, I’ll bring them with Me.”

Well, then what? Verses 15 and 16: “For this we say to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left unto the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” Verse 16 at the end tells us something that’s really very interesting: “The dead in Christ shall rise first.” The dead in Christ shall rise first.

Well, first of all, the dead in Christ shall rise. There’s the answer. This is answering the concern that they have. What about those who have fallen asleep? I’ll bring them with Me. I’ll reunite them with their bodies and they will rise. But what’s interesting here is it says they will rise first. That is, we who are still living—now here we are talking just like Paul talked back in his day, assuming we are still alive when Jesus returns—we who are still living will not have any priority over those who have died. In fact, they will have some priority. Jesus will bring them with Him, reunite them with their bodies, and they will rise first.

And evidently, this is going to be a very public event. It says there’s going to be a cry of command, the voice of the archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God. It’s an unmissable event. This always reminds me of Matthew chapter 24, when Jesus is speaking of His return. And you remember, He gives those warnings, as if somebody says to you, “Hey, the Christ has come. Here, let me show you to Him. He’s in this room over here.” Or if someone says, “Come out here in the field, I’m going to tell you Jesus has come, and there He is.” Don’t bother going, Jesus says. And the long and short of what Jesus has to say is: when I come, you’ll know it. They’re not going to be missed. And that seems to be what’s going on here as well. There’s going to be lots of noise. The cry of command, the voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God—one can only imagine what that day will be like.

We Who Are Left

And then what about the rest of us? The others shall rise first. What will that be like? And then we have in verse 17 the rest of us. “We 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.” Caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The idea there is that we will then be transformed just as they have been transformed in resurrection. So we will be transformed in resurrection without having died. And we will have glorified bodies just as they.

Now this expression here in verse 17, “we who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds,” that’s where we get the word “rapture.” The Latin term here is where we get our word rapture. “Caught up,” and that’s what the word means—caught up together, raptured up with Him. The point of it here is not just “caught up,” but the point of it here is transformation. The rest of us who are alive and remain at the coming of Christ—the dead in Christ will be raised first. We then will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

Now, one of the curious questions about this passage is: why the priority of the righteous dead in resurrection? Why the dead in Christ shall rise first? Evidently, the resurrection of the righteous and the transformation of the righteous is not a simultaneous event. How much time between? I don’t know. And no other information is given us here or anywhere else that I know. How much time between? We might imagine. What would that be like? The dead in Christ rise and there they are. Now how long before we are transformed with them? Is it more or less instantaneous? We’re not told. We are told that they have this priority and they will be raised first, and then we will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air and transformed with them.

Notice again Paul’s purpose in writing all of this. Verse 13: “I want to explain this to you,” he says, “so that you will not grieve as those who have no hope.” I want to give you encouragement. I want to give you comfort. That’s the point of this passage. And then he tells us what he tells us between 14 and 16: that Christ will bring them with Him. He’ll reunite them with their bodies. It’ll be a noisy event. The angels will shout and the trumpet will blow. Christ will come. They’ll be reunited with their bodies. They will stand there, be raised, and then we’ll be caught up together with them. All of this, he says, is to comfort you and to allay your concerns.

And then he comes around again at the end of the passage in verse 18 to say the same thing: “Therefore, encourage one another with these words,” which is precisely what the Christians and the Christian church have been doing with these words for all of the centuries since. A believer dies and we encourage one another with these wonderful words and the wonderful hope that Jesus Christ will come and death will not have the last say. Christ will defeat it all and bring His people with Him and all of us transformed to be like Him.

So all of our loved ones who have died in Christ—the first one who was close to me who died was my grandfather many years ago. He was a wonderful saint. I think I mentioned something about his conversion in Sunday school a few weeks ago. The first believer in the Zaspel family. Brought up his family for Christ. Served the Lord in the church for years. Served as a deacon, I think, for 40 years in the church. Wonderful, wonderful grandfather. Lots of fun for us grandchildren. When he died, that was the first loss of a close loved one that I had, and I learned to hate death. After that, my grandmother, my other grandmother, and of course, finally, our daughter as well. Others in the church here have lost children, people close, and all in between—lots of friends.

And what Jesus says here is that: don’t worry, I’ll bring them with Me when I come. I’ll bring them with Me. I’ll reunite them with their bodies and they’ll be raised in glorified bodies and there they will stand, God’s saving work in them perfected. And then He’ll catch up all of us with them to meet them with the Lord in the air, and we’ll experience a kind of resurrection without death. And God’s work for us and in us will then finally be complete, and no more sickness, and no more dangers, and no more dying, and death itself has been reversed. And so we will always be with the Lord.

Paul says, “I write this for your comfort. I write this for your encouragement.” And in fact, he says, “I want you to use this with one another. Comfort one another with these words.”

Well, I got through this a whole lot faster than I expected to. Any questions this evening before we close? You might mark the calendar when you hear a preacher say, “I got through with this more quickly than I planned.” That’s unusual. All right, let’s stand and be dismissed in prayer. Jeremy, would you pray for us, please?

Our great and wondrous Father in heaven, we thank you for the encouraging words that we have heard this night, that Your Son will return one day and with Him will come all the saints that have gone before us. And we will be joined with Him and they in the resurrection. Lord, we thank You for Your promises, for Your truths. We thank You for Your word unto us and Your instruction. We pray that as we go from here, we will take with us the encouragement we need for this week and for the time to come. Lord, we praise Your name, for You are good to us always. We thank You for Your mercy and Your grace, for Your faithfulness. We thank You in Jesus’ name for all of these. Amen.