Sermon Devotional: Sealed for the Storm
Sermon Title: Sealed for the Storm
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (ESV)
One of the primary purposes of the book of Revelation by John the Apostle was to provide comfort and encouragement to the Seven Churches during times of persecution and tribulation. We have seen that the same messages apply to us today. We live in a broken, fallen world characterized by persecution, tribulations and death. This week in our text from 1 Thessalonians 4 we get an amazing, frankly overwhelming, glimpse of what is in store for us as believers in Christ.
First we need to ask the question –What happens when we die? What happens to our loved ones when they die? Apparently, that is the question many in the first century church at Thessalonica had for Paul and he gave them a beautiful and helpful description. Take a moment and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I want to focus on his use of the word sleep as his description of Christian death. Death is also frequently referred to as sleep elsewhere in the Bible. In Psalm 13, David prays to the Lord, “Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death” (Ps 13:3). In John 11, Jesus tells his disciples that their friend Lazarus slept. “‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep” (Jo 11:11-13).
How is this helpful to us today? First, it signifies the temporary nature of the grave. Just as we wake up from sleep, the physical body will awaken at the resurrection. Second, we know that sleep is often the best prescription when we are ailing from sickness or fatigue. Sleep helps restore our body. Similarly, the sleep of death restores the soul. When we are in Christ, the sleep of death transforms us into glory and removes every vestige of sin and sorrow.
It is important to note that this sleep only refers to the physical body. The Christian soul does not sleep. Instead, we are transported to the presence of the Lord. Paul wrote that being “absent from the body” means being “present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43).
Regarding those who have fallen asleep, Paul tells us that when Jesus Christ returns, the dead in Christ will receive their new bodies first and “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” (1Thes 4:17). Thanks be to God.
Consider—
╬ Paul says not to grieve “as others do, who have no hope.” How does the promise of eternity in the presence of the Lord and the view of death as sleep encourage you as you consider your own death and eternal home?
╬ Each of us has lost loved ones to the sleep of Christian death. I would like to dedicate this devotional to our good friend and brother Eric Victor who recently is ‘sleeping’ physically, while his soul is in the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How does the reality of physical sleep alongside the promise of being always with the Lord help you process the loss of a loved one?
╬ Father, thank you for the promises in Your Word. Thank you for the promise that all who trust in You will be caught up together with You and will always be with You. Because Jesus died and rose again, we know that death is not the end. It is in His name we pray. Amen.
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (ESV)
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. 1 Thessalonians 4:13
One of the primary purposes of the book of Revelation by John the Apostle was to provide comfort and encouragement to the Seven Churches during times of persecution and tribulation. We have seen that the same messages apply to us today. We live in a broken, fallen world characterized by persecution, tribulations and death. This week in our text from 1 Thessalonians 4 we get an amazing, frankly overwhelming, glimpse of what is in store for us as believers in Christ.
First we need to ask the question –What happens when we die? What happens to our loved ones when they die? Apparently, that is the question many in the first century church at Thessalonica had for Paul and he gave them a beautiful and helpful description. Take a moment and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I want to focus on his use of the word sleep as his description of Christian death. Death is also frequently referred to as sleep elsewhere in the Bible. In Psalm 13, David prays to the Lord, “Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death” (Ps 13:3). In John 11, Jesus tells his disciples that their friend Lazarus slept. “‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep” (Jo 11:11-13).
How is this helpful to us today? First, it signifies the temporary nature of the grave. Just as we wake up from sleep, the physical body will awaken at the resurrection. Second, we know that sleep is often the best prescription when we are ailing from sickness or fatigue. Sleep helps restore our body. Similarly, the sleep of death restores the soul. When we are in Christ, the sleep of death transforms us into glory and removes every vestige of sin and sorrow.
It is important to note that this sleep only refers to the physical body. The Christian soul does not sleep. Instead, we are transported to the presence of the Lord. Paul wrote that being “absent from the body” means being “present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43).
Regarding those who have fallen asleep, Paul tells us that when Jesus Christ returns, the dead in Christ will receive their new bodies first and “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” (1Thes 4:17). Thanks be to God.
Consider—
╬ Paul says not to grieve “as others do, who have no hope.” How does the promise of eternity in the presence of the Lord and the view of death as sleep encourage you as you consider your own death and eternal home?
╬ Each of us has lost loved ones to the sleep of Christian death. I would like to dedicate this devotional to our good friend and brother Eric Victor who recently is ‘sleeping’ physically, while his soul is in the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How does the reality of physical sleep alongside the promise of being always with the Lord help you process the loss of a loved one?
╬ Father, thank you for the promises in Your Word. Thank you for the promise that all who trust in You will be caught up together with You and will always be with You. Because Jesus died and rose again, we know that death is not the end. It is in His name we pray. Amen.