Sunday, July 10,
2016, 5:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “You Never Let Go.”
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 (ESV).
Together With Them
(vv. 4:13-18)
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, 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.
We read in this passage of scripture that the “dead in
Christ will rise first,” so I believe we need to first of all understand what
it means to be “in Christ.” If we do not understand what it means to be “in
Christ,” according to God’s word, we may read this passage and find ourselves holding
on to hope, for sure, but a false hope, based on a lie.
Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him, he
must deny self and take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and
follow (obey) him. He said that if we want to save our old lives (of living for
sin and self), we will lose them, but if we lose our lives for him (die with
him to sin), we will save them, i.e. we will have eternal life with God (See: Lu.
9:23-25). Paul, when called of Jesus to the ministry, was called to open
(spiritually) blinded eyes, to turn them from darkness (sin, wickedness) to
light (truth, righteousness, Jesus), and from the power of Satan (his control
over our lives) to God (to faith in Jesus Christ), so that they might receive
forgiveness of sins, and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in
Jesus Christ (See: Ac. 26:16-18).
When Paul taught the gospel of our salvation, he taught what
Jesus taught. He taught death to sin, i.e. that when we come to faith in Jesus
Christ that we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are resurrected
with Jesus Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6:1-23). When we are “in
Christ” by faith in him, we count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus. Sin no longer has mastery over us, but we are now slaves to
righteousness; to God. The benefit we reap leads to holiness, and the result is
eternal life (See: Ro. 6:1-23). In other words, God’s grace to us is not a free
license to continue in sin without guilt and remorse. His grace teaches us to
say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live godly, upright and
self-controlled lives while we wait for his return (See: Tit. 2:11-14).
We also read that if Christ is in us, our bodies are dead
because of sin, yet our spirits are alive because of righteousness. Therefore
“we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according
to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by
the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because
those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (See: Ro. 8:1-14;
cf. Lu. 9:23-25). Peter said that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live
to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24). Paul said that Jesus died that we might no
longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (2 Co.
5:15). He also said that Jesus died, “in order that the righteous requirements
of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful
nature but according to the Spirit” (See: Ro. 8:1-14).
So, if you want to hold on to the hope that your loved ones,
who have died physically, are with Jesus, and that Jesus will bring them with
him when he comes again to take us who are still alive (in Christ) to be with
him, then you need to know that “in Christ” means crucified with Christ in
death to sin, and resurrected with Christ in newness of life, created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness. And, the same applies to us who
are still alive, and who profess to be “in Christ,” and who are purportedly
waiting his return.
Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
He did not die merely to give us an escape from hell and the promise of heaven
when we die. People are not with Jesus just because they lived a “good life,”
by human standards, or because they were “nice” to people, and so everyone
liked them. We are “in Christ” only by faith in him, because of his grace to
us, but that faith entails being crucified with Christ so that we no longer
live, but Christ now lives within us (in the person of the Holy Spirit), and he
is now Lord of our lives.
Times and Seasons
(vv. 5:1-11)
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 sudden destruction will come upon them as 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 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, are drunk
at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the
breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God
has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who died for us so 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.
Nonetheless, there are many, many people today who are
preaching “peace and security,” rather than teaching the righteousness of God
in our lives. They are preaching or are saying what itching ears want to hear,
in order to make people feel good about themselves, right where they are, doing
what they are doing, even if it means they are walking according to the flesh
and not according to the Spirit. They are telling people that nothing bad will
happen to them, and that God is pleased with them no matter what they do, even
if they are bound in sin. They are even preaching the blessings of God over
these people, many times fully knowing that they are walking in sin’s
deceitfulness. These deceitful teachers’ consciences are seared. They have no
fear (awe, respect, honor) of God. And, they are not teaching the fear of the
Lord, but are presenting God as not much different from them.
Don’t listen to them! They are preaching lies! God’s word is
real clear. If we walk according to the flesh we will die without Christ, not
in Christ. If we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk (conduct our
lives) in darkness (wickedness), we are liars, and the truth is not in us. If
we hold on to our old lives (of living for sin and self), we will lose them for
eternity. The righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in those who walk
not according to the flesh, but who conduct their lives according to the
Spirit. Only those being led by the Spirit are the children of God. “Whoever
says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth
is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is
perfected” (1 Jn. 2:4-5). “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one
who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 Jn. 3:6) - speaking
of continuous sin, i.e. walking according to the flesh, and not according to
the Spirit.
So, don’t believe the lies. Turn your life over to Jesus
Christ today, and make him Lord (owner/master) of your life. Cooperate with the
Spirit’s work of grace in your life in putting sin to death and in raising you
to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. Holiness is not optional. We
can’t “believe” in Jesus Christ and have nothing change in our lives, or have
only superficial changes. This is not saying that belief in Jesus means we will
live in sinless perfection from this point forward, but that sin should no
longer be our master, and we should now be servants of righteousness. Daily we
should be putting sin and self to death and we should be walking in the Spirit,
following our Lord Jesus in obedience and in surrender to his will for our
lives. This is why he died, that we might follow him wherever he leads us in
doing what he has called us to do and to be.
One day Jesus Christ is going to return to judge the world
and to receive his bride to be with him forever. Don’t get caught asleep and
unaware so that you do not escape the coming wrath. Our God is a loving God,
for sure, but he is also a just God, and a righteous God, and he will judge,
and people will have to face eternal punishment in the lake of fire. Yet, for
those who are truly “in Christ,” by God’s grace, through faith in Christ Jesus
- who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who have been
resurrected with Christ in newness of life - they will have the hope of eternal
life with God. And, our Lord will see them through every trial and tribulation
until he takes them home to be with him. So, they never have cause to fear.
Even though Satan may threaten us, and his servants may reject and persecute
us, we have no reason to ever be afraid, because our hope in Christ is secure
forevermore, and no one can take that away from us. Amen!
You Never Let Go / Matt Redman
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is
casting out fear
And even when I’m
caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back
I know You are near
And I will fear no
evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with
me
Whom then shall I
fear?
…
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