According to the Lord's Word
According to the Lord's Word
Daily Reflection: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - 12/1/2023
13 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. 14 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.15 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. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. — 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
In a sermon preached on Good Friday, Alistair Begg reflected on the thief on the cross who heard the pardoning word from Jesus, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
He remarked that when most people are asked the old evangelistic question, “If you were to die tonight and were trying to gain entry into heaven, what would you say?” The way most people answer that question is by highlighting something they did.
Because I believed. Because I have faith. Because I am this. Because I am continuing. Because I _________.
This is incorrect. It grounds our salvation in something we have done. The correct answer is the only answer the thief on the cross could’ve given. He had no time to do all the religious stuff that we do. He never got baptized, never took communion, never sang in the choir, never even prayed the sinner's prayer—God help him!
Upon what basis, then, would he “get in”?
When pressed, he might respond, “The man on the middle cross said I can come.” This is the only hope that any of us have; it is the word of the man that hung on the middle cross.
In his letter to the church in Thessalonica, when helping them understand how history would wrap up, Paul wrote,
"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."
It would begin with his word, a loud command, then a bunch of glorious activity will begin taking place.
If he will bring the dead back to life with a loud command then, how much more will those who hear his voice now begin to experience the life of the hereafter, now?
Almighty God, with a word from your mouth creation popped into being. And with a Word sent into creation, it was redeemed. Enable us to be hearers of your word always, and doers of it. That the life it imparts might become ours now, and not only in the hereafter. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
