Aug 2
ROUTE 66 – The End of the Journey
Thessalonians 4:13-18
Welcome to the last leg of our fall journey called
ROUTE 66. We have been looking at the entire
Bible during our weekend services. This is the end
of the road for our series but it’s only the beginning
of your journey! Today we want to look at some
“last things,” or the “end” of the Bible.
I was reminded of the old story about two pastors
standing on a road just before a big turn in the
highway with a big giant sign saying, “The end is
near!” This guy drives by and gets so angry at
their sign, thinking they were a couple of religious
fanatics. He shouts out his window, “Go home you
nutcases! Give it a rest!” He speeds by, goes
around the bend and flies into the river with a big
splash! One pastor turns to the other and says,
“Maybe our sign should have said, ‘Bridge Out’
instead!
There are a lot of voices out there talking about
the “end times.” Sometimes that can be very
confusing. The word “apocalypse” gets thrown
around a lot so the urgency of response can be
pressed. And people cringe when a conversation
even smells like the end times response. And
throw in the word Apocalypse and you’ll see the
eyes rolling.
To clear up some of the confusion around the end
times, I would like to take you to a few verses in a
small book of the New Testament called 1
Thessalonians that addresses some of our
thoughts and concerns.
Apparently Paul had taught on many occasions
that the world was going to have an end point
some day in the future. There were many now
trying to determine what these end times looked
like. Paul addresses these questions in this way:
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be
uninformed about those who sleep in death, so
that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind,
who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, and so we believe that
God will bring with Jesus those who have
fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s
word, we tell you that we who are still alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord, will
certainly not precede those who have fallen
asleep. 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, and the dead in Christ will rise
first. 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. And so we
will be with the Lord forever. Therefore
encourage one another with these words. 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18
Paul wants to confirm the following images of the
end times when Christ returns.
1. There will be a Return. What we saw on the
first week of our Route 66 study is that this planet
had a beginning. We do not know the date, but we
do know that God created it out of nothing. What
we know from the end of the Bible is that this
planet will have an end point. It will end when
Jesus returns. In Revelation 22 Jesus said, Look,
I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I
will give to each person according to what they
have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation 22:12-13
The first-century Christians were absolutely
convinced that Jesus was going to return…maybe
in their lifetime. He had said things like: If I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come back and
take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am. John 14:2-3 They didn’t know when
this was going to happen, but they did live with an
expectancy that it might be like next Tuesday! In
fact, early Christians used to greet each other with
the word Maranatha (Our Lord is returning).
Imagine if you came to Hope and the greeter
holding the door for you instead of saying,
“Welcome,” says, “Maranatha!” There was this
expectancy.
Verse 16 from 1 Thessalonians 4 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,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. Jesus had
predicted it and Paul is reinforcing it. It’s going to
happen. “And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
Who are the dead in Christ? Paul was talking
about those who had already died at that point,
“those who had fallen asleep.”
Let me try to shed some light on something very
important. From what I gather from scripture, there
are going to two resurrections. The first one is this
one. Christians who have died are going to be
resurrected to meet Christ on his return. But
Revelation 20:11-15 talks about a second
resurrection for the purpose of judgment of every
non-believer who ever lived. This is sometimes
referred to as the Great White Throne Judgment.
In my opinion, Christ followers will not be there at
that Great White Throne Judgment. Those who
died “in Christ” are judged very differently from
those who are not. This passage in Thessalonians
refers to believers.
So at some point in the future (Jesus says no one
knows the time except God), He himself is going
to return to claim those who belong to him.
Second…
2. There will be a Rapture. Now, stop right there.
This is probably the most common belief in the
American church, but I’m going to share
something with you that will at least help you to
think differently! First of all, the world “rapture” is
not in the Bible. When this passage from
Thessalonians got translated from the Greek into
Latin, the language of the Roman church, this
phrase “caught up” from verse 17 got translated
from the Greek word harpazo into the Latin word
rapiemur or rapture.
Here’s what the verse actually says: 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. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 The
view of the rapture (which is portrayed in books
like Left Behind) is based on writings in the 1850s
by a man named Darby and later by the Scoffield
Study Bible. In our Christian culture, the word
“rapture” means that when Christ returns,
Christians are going to be whisked away on the
clouds to heaven leaving behind chaos and
tribulation here on earth.
That’s one view. But here is another. It may have
been that Paul was using language of the Roman
Imperial Government. Whenever a Roman official
visited a town or province, he was always
announced with a trumpet sound. And it was the
custom of the day that the leading citizens would
go out of the city to meet the emperor or official
and accompany him back into the city. This same
word is often used to refer to a greeting committee
who goes out to escort a visiting dignitary into
town for an official visit.
If you want to think of it this way, the Rapture will
occur. But one might look like this: an arrow
pointing up (DRAWING), meeting with Jesus and
taking off for heaven; or an arrow initially pointing
up, meeting with Jesus, but then returning to this
earth. The reason people argue about this is that it
is generally agreed that there will be a season of
great trouble on this earth called The Tribulation.
So some Christians argue for a “Pre-trib” return of
Christ so Christians can be whisked away. Others
argue for a “Post-trib” return and that Jesus will
give you the strength to endure. Many people hold
a “Pan-trib” view and that one is: “I don’t know for
sure but I trust Jesus that everything will ‘pan out’
in the end.”
And just like in ancient Rome, the most loyal
citizens might have been chosen to be on the
greeting committee, so the return of Christ will
reveal who truly are “the Righteous.” There will be
no more fooling your church, your family, or your
friends. Jesus will look deeply into the human
heart and the truth will come out.
I’m not going to tell you which one to believe. They
both have some credibility in scripture. But
remember the reason Paul is writing this letter.
He’s not trying to spell out all that will happen at
the end of times. He’s trying to be a pastor and
answer the question that’s being asked: “Will I see
my loved ones again who have died after Jesus
returns?” This is really a “GriefShare” kind of
question. Paul’s pastoral heart is offering some
comfort. That leads to the third thing Paul says…
3. There will be a Reunion. Paul’s main point of
the passage is to assure people that if they are
faithful to God on this earth, there is going to come
a reunion day! This will not be like your high
school reunion where you may or may not want to
go. This one’s going to be awesome! And so we
will be with the Lord forever. Therefore
encourage one another with these words. 1
Thessalonians 4:18
This one is with your loved ones who had died in
Christ and Jesus himself says what? Forever (say
it out loud). You and I will be with the Lord
FOREVER. No more pain, no more sin, no more
heartache, no more loneliness, no more disease,
no more divorce, no more cancer, no more
starving children, no more brokenness, no more
tears or mourning but we’ll be forever with the
Lord. No wonder the early Christians greeted each
other with MARANATHA! THE LORD IS COMING
SOON!
So what should we do if we live with this
expectancy that Jesus can come back at any
time? Should we stockpile food and water? Some
of you probably are still eating the tuna fish from
Y2K! I don’t think it hurts to stockpile but that’s not
the real point. Paul didn’t say this in the text, but
the implication to me is very clear. There is a
fourth “R.” The Return, the Rapture, and the
Reunion are all coming.
Will you be READY? There’s an urgency in this
passage. It could happen any time. Are you ready
for the return of Christ? Are you serious in your
commitment to Christ? Or are you lukewarm and
apathetic and worldly minded? Are you growing in
your discipleship? We are at the end of the 40 day
reading plan. Will you continue reading or drop it
and call it good for the year? Will you have an
urgency for the work of the kingdom of God, for
serving, for worshiping, for witnessing, for giving,
and for being involved with some mission that
requires sacrifice? If Jesus is coming back on
Tuesday, how will you live today?