Come to Judge the Living and the Dead (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:6, Exodus 12:1-13)
Rev. William L. Barron, April 14, 2024Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
The return of Jesus Christ is a cardinal doctrine of the Church. His return is a certainty, in the fullness of time. What would you do if you happened to know the time of Jesus' return? Church fathers when asked this question answered that they would keep on doing what they had been doing, serving the Lord. The Thessalonian Church was puzzled, because many thought that no one would die before Jesus' return, and yet some had already died. Paul wrote to them about this misunderstanding. He exhorted them not to grieve at death, as those with no hope did. These pagan unbelievers thought they would face either annihilation (therefore, carpe diem), reincarnation, or the need to appease "the gods." Christians believed they would be resurrected, just as Jesus was, when He would return in judgment. Doctrines about the end times is known as eschatology. There is some uncertainty in the minds of many about end times, brought about largely by the apocalyptic nature of the Book of Revelation, which was written in symbols. The facts are that Jesus said He was going and then He was coming back. We may ask how, when and why He is coming back. At the Ascension, He went in a visible way, and the angel said He would return in the same, visible way, accompanied by a shout and the trumpet of God. As for when, no one knows, and we are told that we will not know. Only God the Father knows when, as with Noah and Lot. Thus, we must always be ready for His return. It will not be secret; the whole world will know. As for why, Jesus' return will usher in God's eternal kingdom and the resurrected life of believers. God will judge the living and the dead, all of them. There will be wrath and destruction for nonbelievers. Believers' salvation is secure, yet we will be judged for what we have done for God, including keeping His commandments and doing the works He has laid before us. We work for the Lord in these days because we believe in Him.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Ascended To Be Seated | None | I Believe in God: The Holy Spirit » |
1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:6 (Listen)
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. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 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. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
(ESV)
Exodus 12:1–13 (Listen)
12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
(ESV)