BETWEEN GRACE AND HOPE
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, September 3, 2023
(1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, NLT) “Dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”
1. GOD MAKES AN ANNOUNCEMENT
(1 Thessalonians 4:16a, NLT) “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God”
(John 16:4a, NLT) “Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning.”
2. THE RAPTURE STARTS A PROCESS OF EVENTS
(1 Thessalonians 4:17, NLT) “Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.”
a. The resurrection of the dead in Christ.
(1 Thessalonians 4:16b, NLT) “First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:13–15, NLT) “We want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. … when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. … We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.”
(2 Corinthians 5:8, NLT) “Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”
b. The living believers will be caught up to meet the Lord.
(1 Thessalonians 4:17, NLT) “Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.”
c. A time of great tribulation will follow upon the earth.
(1 Thessalonians 5:9, NIV) “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
3. GOD WANTS THE RAPTURE TO GIVE ME HOPE, NOT ANXIETY
(1 Thessalonians 4:13, NLT) “We want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.”
(Romans 8:23, NLT) “We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”
(Titus 2:13, NIV) “We wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,”
(1 Corinthians 15:51–52, NLT) “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.”
GROWTHWORK
1. Think carefully about this question, “What will happen to me when I die?”
(Romans 8:24, NIV) “For in this hope we were saved.”
2. The Rapture is about relationship.
(Romans 8:24, NIV) Then we will be with the Lord forever.”
3. Death is not the end of life; it is to be home with the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 5:8, NIV) “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
4. The Rapture is meant to make me an encourager now!
(1 Thessalonians 4:18, NIV) “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”