| The Best Is Yet To Be Pastor Don Baron |
THE BEST IS YET TO BE—I Thess. 4:13-18
Jogger: “I’m doing my best to prolong my life.
After all, some day I may find out what my life is for.”
What’s YOUR life for?
What are you prolonging your life for?
What is in your future that makes living worthwhile for you?
Basically, there are two views of life.
Which view you hold will have a tremendous effect on you.
(chart)
2 VIEWS of the WORLD
Practical Atheism Practical Christo-centrism
1. God is 1. Jesus Christ is the focal
irrelevant. point of existence.
2. No unified 2. Unified
understanding world view.
of existence.
3. No absolute 3. Abolute
truths/morals. truth/morals revealed by God.
4. No ultimate 4. Deep
meaning to meaning,
your life: “do goal, mission:
your own thing” “to glorify God & enjoy
Him forever"
Now if you were to go to someone who holds View #1 and ask them:
“What is in your future that makes living worthwhile?”
If they’re honest, they will say, “Well, actually, there IS no future.”
In a beautiful valley in New England, USA, there was a very neat, pretty
little town.
The people took pride in their community and their homes and it was
admired by folks from miles around.
Then the fateful announcement came from the government.
The valley was to be turned into a hydro-electric dam.
It would be quite a few years before the dam would be completed.
But the entire town was going to have to be relocated…
because when the dam was completed, the town would be submerged.
Between the fateful announcement and the completion of the dam,
the town changed.
The homes fell into disrepair and went unpainted.
Weeds grew everywhere.
It became a depressed town.
No one cared anymore.
You see, where there is no future, nothing is worthwhile.
- Is that why so many youth suck it up, shoot it up, and give their bodies
away indiscriminatingly—because they believe there’s no future?
- Is that why a huge number of adults seldom think beyond what the next
TV program will be—as a way of escaping the reality that there is
no future to look forward to?
- Is it because, deep down, our society has bought the beer ad lie of some
years ago that went, “You only go around once...so do it with gusto”
The implied message being, “There’s no future, so drink our beer and
forget it.”
Now ask someone who seriously holds View #2 the same question: “What is
in your future that make living worthwhile?"
The answer will probably be something like this:
"WOW! This is only the beginning!
Look where I'm headed!
I'm getting ready!
I've got work to do!
I want my loved ones with me!
I'm motivated!
I'm joyful!
That's what our Bible text today is all about: I Thess. 4:13-18
V.13 The Christians in Thessalonica were new believers.
But they seriously believed Jesus' words, "He who believes in me shall
never die."
And now some believers in the Thessalonica church had died!
How were they to understand Jesus' words that "He who believes in
me shall never die"?
They were troubled.
Paul is writing them this letter to help them understand.
Paul says, No, brothers & sisters, they're not dead.
Their spirits are with Jesus.
Even their bodies are not really dead, but have fallen asleep - because they
will one day rise again.
(It was the early Christians who coined the word "cemetery" to replace
the word grave-yard.
The word "cemetery" comes from a Greek word that means place of
sleep.")
And then Paul contrasts the Christians who have fallen asleep with those
"who have no hope."
How awful to see some one you love go thru the door of death, with no
assurance that you'll ever see him again!
Not that Christians don't grieve at being parted.
Paul doesn't say, "don't grieve"
He says, "just don't grieve in the same way that people who have no hope
grieve."
Martin Luther's 14 year-old daughter, Magdalena, was dying.
He cried out, "O God, I love her so."
He held her in his arms as she passed away.
At the graveside, Luther spoke these words:
"O my dear Magdalena, you will rise and shine like the stars and the sun.
How strange to be so sorrowful, and yet to know that all is at peace, that all is well."
V. 14: Now Paul lays out the facts that are the ground for the Christian's
hope.
"One day," he writes, "God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen
asleep."
If that's true, then those who have died in Christ are with Him this very
moment.
Where else would they be - He died and rose for them, didn't He?
They put their trust in Him.
They were baptized into Him.
Their eternal destiny is tied to Jesus.
They will return with Him on the world's last day.
V. 15: I wish I could be privileged to be alive when Jesus appears again,
and to be spared the death and burial of my body.
But in any case, says Paul, that privilege would be no greater than for those
who are already with the Lord Jesus.
Why? What's going to happen?
Jogger: “I’m doing my best to prolong my life.
After all, some day I may find out what my life is for.”
What’s YOUR life for?
What are you prolonging your life for?
What is in your future that makes living worthwhile for you?
Basically, there are two views of life.
Which view you hold will have a tremendous effect on you.
(chart)
2 VIEWS of the WORLD
Practical Atheism Practical Christo-centrism
1. God is 1. Jesus Christ is the focal
irrelevant. point of existence.
2. No unified 2. Unified
understanding world view.
of existence.
3. No absolute 3. Abolute
truths/morals. truth/morals revealed by God.
4. No ultimate 4. Deep
meaning to meaning,
your life: “do goal, mission:
your own thing” “to glorify God & enjoy
Him forever"
Now if you were to go to someone who holds View #1 and ask them:
“What is in your future that makes living worthwhile?”
If they’re honest, they will say, “Well, actually, there IS no future.”
In a beautiful valley in New England, USA, there was a very neat, pretty
little town.
The people took pride in their community and their homes and it was
admired by folks from miles around.
Then the fateful announcement came from the government.
The valley was to be turned into a hydro-electric dam.
It would be quite a few years before the dam would be completed.
But the entire town was going to have to be relocated…
because when the dam was completed, the town would be submerged.
Between the fateful announcement and the completion of the dam,
the town changed.
The homes fell into disrepair and went unpainted.
Weeds grew everywhere.
It became a depressed town.
No one cared anymore.
You see, where there is no future, nothing is worthwhile.
- Is that why so many youth suck it up, shoot it up, and give their bodies
away indiscriminatingly—because they believe there’s no future?
- Is that why a huge number of adults seldom think beyond what the next
TV program will be—as a way of escaping the reality that there is
no future to look forward to?
- Is it because, deep down, our society has bought the beer ad lie of some
years ago that went, “You only go around once...so do it with gusto”
The implied message being, “There’s no future, so drink our beer and
forget it.”
Now ask someone who seriously holds View #2 the same question: “What is
in your future that make living worthwhile?"
The answer will probably be something like this:
"WOW! This is only the beginning!
Look where I'm headed!
I'm getting ready!
I've got work to do!
I want my loved ones with me!
I'm motivated!
I'm joyful!
That's what our Bible text today is all about: I Thess. 4:13-18
V.13 The Christians in Thessalonica were new believers.
But they seriously believed Jesus' words, "He who believes in me shall
never die."
And now some believers in the Thessalonica church had died!
How were they to understand Jesus' words that "He who believes in
me shall never die"?
They were troubled.
Paul is writing them this letter to help them understand.
Paul says, No, brothers & sisters, they're not dead.
Their spirits are with Jesus.
Even their bodies are not really dead, but have fallen asleep - because they
will one day rise again.
(It was the early Christians who coined the word "cemetery" to replace
the word grave-yard.
The word "cemetery" comes from a Greek word that means place of
sleep.")
And then Paul contrasts the Christians who have fallen asleep with those
"who have no hope."
How awful to see some one you love go thru the door of death, with no
assurance that you'll ever see him again!
Not that Christians don't grieve at being parted.
Paul doesn't say, "don't grieve"
He says, "just don't grieve in the same way that people who have no hope
grieve."
Martin Luther's 14 year-old daughter, Magdalena, was dying.
He cried out, "O God, I love her so."
He held her in his arms as she passed away.
At the graveside, Luther spoke these words:
"O my dear Magdalena, you will rise and shine like the stars and the sun.
How strange to be so sorrowful, and yet to know that all is at peace, that all is well."
V. 14: Now Paul lays out the facts that are the ground for the Christian's
hope.
"One day," he writes, "God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen
asleep."
If that's true, then those who have died in Christ are with Him this very
moment.
Where else would they be - He died and rose for them, didn't He?
They put their trust in Him.
They were baptized into Him.
Their eternal destiny is tied to Jesus.
They will return with Him on the world's last day.
V. 15: I wish I could be privileged to be alive when Jesus appears again,
and to be spared the death and burial of my body.
But in any case, says Paul, that privilege would be no greater than for those
who are already with the Lord Jesus.
Why? What's going to happen?
V. 16 Strange, there are thousands of paintings that depict the events in
Jesus' life.
But there are few, if any, of this awesome event.
In this verse, we are standing on the edge of eternity.
The supernatural world, always there but invisible, is suddenly breaking
through and has become visible.
At the center of the noise and brilliance of this mind-boggling scene is
Jesus Christ Himself -
- this time coming, not as a baby, but as the God-man who rules His
universe.
There's the noise of celebration.
After all, here's a universe, infected & polluted by powers of evil and
by our sins,
…being freed right before our eyes.
…evil obliterated once and for all.
…God and good finally triumphing.
Don't YOU want to be there to see that sight? I do!
By God's grace, I will - and so will you.
The first impact of that awesome scene is this: "The dead in Christ will rise
first."
Their spirits, returning with Jesus, are reunited with now-perfect, restored
bodies.
No more sickness,
death,
crying,
separation.
That awful stuff is once and for all deleted from God's universe.
And then V. 17:
Two astonishing facts here:
1. We will meet the Lord, face to face. What will THAT be like?
Book of Rev. tells us that He will personally wipe every tear from our
eyes.
The one I've been reading about, singing about, talking about,
communing with by faith will be standing before me, my faith replaced
now by sight...
…all doubt gone now.
…perhaps a excited shout from my heart, "It's all true!"
2. The second stupendous fact is this: I'll be "together with them," that is,
my loved ones, never to be torn apart again.
And that includes not only my immediate loved ones, but my brothers
and sisters whom I've never met, but whom I've prayed for and
given for, in PNG, in Kyrgyzstan, in China, in Africa.
And here's the almost incredible heart of a future that will so totally transform
our present - contained in the words, "With The Lord"!
Add to that the words "together with them" - loved ones and new friends
from the 4 corners of the earth.
The best friend I've ever had next to my wife was Pastor Fred Illick of
Maryland, who died of cancer several years ago.
In our last phone conversation, his final words were, "See you in the
morning."
I knew what he meant.
When you know that you can say that as death approaches, it changes the
way you go at life.
So after Paul finishes his description of that coming great Day, he adds
this in V.18: "Therefore, encourage each other with these words."
You see, we're in a world where the pressures of life make it normal to "look
out for #1."
We scurry about to establish a standard of living dictated by our society…
…and then exhaust ourselves scrambling to maintain it.
We get stressed out by competition in the work-world, trying to get to the top
of the totem pole.
We are driven by a clock deep inside that tells us that life is short and time is
running out.
But if Jesus IS coming again and I'm going to walk on forever with Him and
my loved ones, then:
I don't need a certain standard of living to establish my worth.
I don't need to be on top of the totem pole to prove my value to myself
and others.
And the clock isn't going to run out.
I've got better things to do, than to play those games.
And what's that?
Let me walk with my God, deeply, personally…
…His concerns first
…His assignments first.
And let me walk with others - let me be an encourager.
- Let my life be a ministry.
- Let me deny myself and give myself away.
Let me be an active part of those crazy people who meet on Sunday
mornings to practice not looking out for #1.
- who don't come to church just for themselves, but come to build one
another up.
- they come to encourage each other - after all, Jesus is coming!
- they are ministers all, reaching out to the wide world, as well as to their
extended family in Tauranga.
That's what the Great Reunion is all about -
- impacting all of life, from here to eternity.
Will you be there at the Great Reunion?
Don't examine yourself to see if you're good enough.
You're not.
There will be no one there who is good enough.
The millions who will be there from across the ages will be those who went to
the crucified Saviour and repented over how they'd failed God & others…
…and how they'd wasted so much of life on trivia.
…the Reunion people are those who had transferred their trust from
themselves to the Son of God.
…they knew that He died under the load of their own failures to live
positively for God - that He literally went through hell for them.
…they knew that He arose to assert His mastery over death & the grave.
Perhaps this is the time for you to commit to Him - or to recommit to Him.
If you are moved in that direction, I invite you pray like this:
Father God, I have failed to be all You planned for me to be.
I have lived too much of my life far from You.
In my scramble to survive, I have abused others - if not in
action, then in thought.
As I look at myself through Your eyes, I realize I have lived an
unproductive, self-seeking life.
Lord Jesus, in your love You permitted the hellish consequences of my
ego-centered life to fall on Your head.
Forgive me, Lord. Move into my life and take the wheel.
Until that thrilling Victory Day when I meet You face to face, I want to use
what I am and have, for Your purposes, not my own.
Welcome to my life, Lord - and come soon.
Jesus' life.
But there are few, if any, of this awesome event.
In this verse, we are standing on the edge of eternity.
The supernatural world, always there but invisible, is suddenly breaking
through and has become visible.
At the center of the noise and brilliance of this mind-boggling scene is
Jesus Christ Himself -
- this time coming, not as a baby, but as the God-man who rules His
universe.
There's the noise of celebration.
After all, here's a universe, infected & polluted by powers of evil and
by our sins,
…being freed right before our eyes.
…evil obliterated once and for all.
…God and good finally triumphing.
Don't YOU want to be there to see that sight? I do!
By God's grace, I will - and so will you.
The first impact of that awesome scene is this: "The dead in Christ will rise
first."
Their spirits, returning with Jesus, are reunited with now-perfect, restored
bodies.
No more sickness,
death,
crying,
separation.
That awful stuff is once and for all deleted from God's universe.
And then V. 17:
Two astonishing facts here:
1. We will meet the Lord, face to face. What will THAT be like?
Book of Rev. tells us that He will personally wipe every tear from our
eyes.
The one I've been reading about, singing about, talking about,
communing with by faith will be standing before me, my faith replaced
now by sight...
…all doubt gone now.
…perhaps a excited shout from my heart, "It's all true!"
2. The second stupendous fact is this: I'll be "together with them," that is,
my loved ones, never to be torn apart again.
And that includes not only my immediate loved ones, but my brothers
and sisters whom I've never met, but whom I've prayed for and
given for, in PNG, in Kyrgyzstan, in China, in Africa.
And here's the almost incredible heart of a future that will so totally transform
our present - contained in the words, "With The Lord"!
Add to that the words "together with them" - loved ones and new friends
from the 4 corners of the earth.
The best friend I've ever had next to my wife was Pastor Fred Illick of
Maryland, who died of cancer several years ago.
In our last phone conversation, his final words were, "See you in the
morning."
I knew what he meant.
When you know that you can say that as death approaches, it changes the
way you go at life.
So after Paul finishes his description of that coming great Day, he adds
this in V.18: "Therefore, encourage each other with these words."
You see, we're in a world where the pressures of life make it normal to "look
out for #1."
We scurry about to establish a standard of living dictated by our society…
…and then exhaust ourselves scrambling to maintain it.
We get stressed out by competition in the work-world, trying to get to the top
of the totem pole.
We are driven by a clock deep inside that tells us that life is short and time is
running out.
But if Jesus IS coming again and I'm going to walk on forever with Him and
my loved ones, then:
I don't need a certain standard of living to establish my worth.
I don't need to be on top of the totem pole to prove my value to myself
and others.
And the clock isn't going to run out.
I've got better things to do, than to play those games.
And what's that?
Let me walk with my God, deeply, personally…
…His concerns first
…His assignments first.
And let me walk with others - let me be an encourager.
- Let my life be a ministry.
- Let me deny myself and give myself away.
Let me be an active part of those crazy people who meet on Sunday
mornings to practice not looking out for #1.
- who don't come to church just for themselves, but come to build one
another up.
- they come to encourage each other - after all, Jesus is coming!
- they are ministers all, reaching out to the wide world, as well as to their
extended family in Tauranga.
That's what the Great Reunion is all about -
- impacting all of life, from here to eternity.
Will you be there at the Great Reunion?
Don't examine yourself to see if you're good enough.
You're not.
There will be no one there who is good enough.
The millions who will be there from across the ages will be those who went to
the crucified Saviour and repented over how they'd failed God & others…
…and how they'd wasted so much of life on trivia.
…the Reunion people are those who had transferred their trust from
themselves to the Son of God.
…they knew that He died under the load of their own failures to live
positively for God - that He literally went through hell for them.
…they knew that He arose to assert His mastery over death & the grave.
Perhaps this is the time for you to commit to Him - or to recommit to Him.
If you are moved in that direction, I invite you pray like this:
Father God, I have failed to be all You planned for me to be.
I have lived too much of my life far from You.
In my scramble to survive, I have abused others - if not in
action, then in thought.
As I look at myself through Your eyes, I realize I have lived an
unproductive, self-seeking life.
Lord Jesus, in your love You permitted the hellish consequences of my
ego-centered life to fall on Your head.
Forgive me, Lord. Move into my life and take the wheel.
Until that thrilling Victory Day when I meet You face to face, I want to use
what I am and have, for Your purposes, not my own.
Welcome to my life, Lord - and come soon.
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