SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: Religion cannot give us joy.
SPEAKER_00: Religion can make us forget for about the length of a service, and then we walk out and we get back to the grind.
SPEAKER_00: But joy gives us the perspective of eternity.
SPEAKER_00: So we've come this morning to bask in, to marinate in the joy of Advent, the encouragement that is ours because of the first coming, and the encouragement that is ours because of the second coming.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we live in between the first Advent and the Second Advent.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to occupy that space in fear.
SPEAKER_00: We want to occupy that space in understanding.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, illuminate the scriptures today.
SPEAKER_00: Cause what is on the page.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just words, it's an invitation.
SPEAKER_00: It's this juicy, God-basod life that says, Hey, this is what you're capable of.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I created you for.
SPEAKER_00: Everything else is a pale substitute.
SPEAKER_00: And we reject that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And we accept what we were created for today.
SPEAKER_00: This joy-filled life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Holy Spirit, explain this to us from your word and by your spirit, we ask in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a seat if you got a Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I invite you to take it, open up the 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a Bible, don't sweat it.
SPEAKER_00: It'll come up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: We got here behind me at Jerry Jones's garage sale.
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing this morning?
SPEAKER_00: We good?
SPEAKER_00: That was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: Let's try it again.
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Was that not incredible, those kids right there?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, let that be just a little reminder.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're capable of.
SPEAKER_00: My favorite part is the kid who doesn't know the words, and then the chorus comes and just yells it at us.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, yes, yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you today about the encouragement of the second advent.
SPEAKER_00: It is helpful and historical during Advent to acknowledge that we live between the first Advent, then Jesus comes the first time, and the second Advent when he's going to come the second time, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh and we want to occupy that space out of this reality that the Bible calls joy because we can look back in confidence and we can look forward in joy at the certainty that awaits us, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you you may be, if you're visiting today, like, hey, my grandkid was singing, that's why I'm here.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean by advent?
SPEAKER_00: Advent is the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And so what happens is each Sunday has a theme.
SPEAKER_00: It was hope, peace.
SPEAKER_00: Today's theme is joy.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so Advent is a Latin word, just means arrival.
SPEAKER_00: And so when the Old Testament closed, a lot of people don't understand this.
SPEAKER_00: If you read like the end of the Old Testament, they got that they're called the minor prophets, Habakkuk, Malachi, Zephaniah.
SPEAKER_00: That's where homeschoolers go to get names for their children, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Those last part of the Old Testament, those guys sound angry.
SPEAKER_00: If you read that part, you're like, bro, what is up?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, lighten up.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what's happening.
SPEAKER_00: God's people are not listening.
SPEAKER_00: And so God is kind of getting intense.
SPEAKER_00: He's raising his voice through the medium of these men called the minor prophets.
SPEAKER_00: And it sounds really harsh.
SPEAKER_00: But what happens is God's people don't listen.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does God do?
SPEAKER_00: God stops talking.
SPEAKER_00: And so, from the close of the Old Testament to Jesus coming, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: 400 years of pretty much silence.
SPEAKER_00: And people looked forward in faith to the Messiah that would come.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus comes, he's born in the manger.
SPEAKER_00: That's they call that the Advent, the arrival, the coming.
SPEAKER_00: And we live between the first Advent and the Second Advent because not only did He come in the manger, but He's gonna come again in glory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so we get to live between the first Advent and the Second Advent, the first coming and the second coming.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you this morning from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 about the encouragement of the second Advent because in this little section of scripture, in this faith in this church in this community called Thessalonica, they were kind of upset and worried the Christians were, and they had a lot of questions.
SPEAKER_00: They were like, hey, we they lived with this belief that Jesus could come at any second, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you notice that we've kind of lost that in America?
SPEAKER_00: We're just kind of like, dude, I'm like Christmas shopping, I'm doing my thing, I'm I'm I'm grinding, I gotta get that bonus at the end of the year so I can get that new deniali.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You are like, uh not so much.
SPEAKER_00: Me neither, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but they're kind of worried, and here's they have questions, and they're like, hey, we believe Jesus will come back any moment, and Jesus is gonna come and get us.
SPEAKER_00: We get that.
SPEAKER_00: What's gonna happen to grandma who died 20 years ago?
SPEAKER_00: Am I gonna be in heaven and she's gonna be stuck in the ground?
SPEAKER_00: Is this one of those you have to be present to win?
SPEAKER_00: Raffles, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't know how this works.
SPEAKER_00: And so they're asking Paul questions.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul, right here in the section of First Thessalonians, he says, Let me speak to this with certainty.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing, he he ends with.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see this in just a minute.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I want to, I want to encourage you, and I want you to encourage one another with these words.
SPEAKER_00: So here's my agenda.
SPEAKER_00: I'm laid it down right here.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to walk out here in just a little bit and be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to have a little more clarity about the future.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to wonder, hey, is Hamas in Israel what's going on over there?
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Bible says there'll be wars and rumors of wars.
SPEAKER_00: You got Russia and Ukraine, you got Hamas in Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Is Jesus getting ready to come back?
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of people are kind of like, I'm gonna wait till the last minute to get my act together.
SPEAKER_00: So if Jesus is coming, let me tell you this: he could come at any time.
SPEAKER_00: And that'd be fine with me.
SPEAKER_00: I will have to come to work tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read the Bible, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: He says, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep.
SPEAKER_00: That's a reference to death, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
SPEAKER_00: For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: For the Lord Himself, he's not going to send a representative.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with him, with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
SPEAKER_00: And so we will always be with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
SPEAKER_00: Now, uh there's a few things I want to say from the text.
SPEAKER_00: And the first one is simply this what we believe informs our emotions.
SPEAKER_00: What we believe informs our emotions.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first two verses, verses 13 and 14.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you see here some people that are grieved because they had no hope about their friends and relatives who had died because they didn't believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't believe in Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: And so they grieve and we grieve, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Christians grieve.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like super spiritual when you lose a loved one to be like, well, you know, God's good all the time.
SPEAKER_00: All the time's God's good.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be fine.
SPEAKER_00: No, be sad.
SPEAKER_00: Be sad, but here's what the here's what here's what separates the believer from the non-believer.
SPEAKER_00: Both of them are they grieve and they lose a loved one.
SPEAKER_00: The non-believer grieves.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian grieves, but the Christian has hope and the unbeliever doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Say amen.
SPEAKER_00: So it Christianity is not this emotionless existence where you just cling tighter to the Bible and act like it doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: We grieve.
SPEAKER_00: It does not mean we don't have emotions, but our emotions do not create our reality.
SPEAKER_00: Our reality is determined and established and decided by what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: And what we believe has already existed and established it was true long before we got here.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't alter it according to our preferences, the winds of culture, or the feelings of those around us, okay?
SPEAKER_00: If you can embrace one simple truth that would change your life, yes, you have feelings, but your feelings do not create your reality, nor do your feelings create reality for everyone that lives in the house with you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you want to get up and leave right now, don't you?
SPEAKER_00: You're like, that's a word from the Lord for me, Pastor.
SPEAKER_00: Slip out quietly, we'll dim the lights, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Now, now let me say this as we're talking about feelings, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I tell people this all the time in counseling.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you feel is valid, in that you really feel that.
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Yes, I can't wait to tell my husband.
SPEAKER_00: But everything you feel is not truthful.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where they're like, Oh, what you're talking about, Willis.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, everything you feel is valid, and then you really feel it.
SPEAKER_00: Your mom is that you really think your mom's a jerk.
SPEAKER_00: But does that mean your mom's a jerk?
SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily.
SPEAKER_00: See, the Bible doesn't say to the Christian, don't feel things.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you grieve, but don't grieve as those without hope.
SPEAKER_00: When you feel whatever you feel most consistently, or does it make you more or less hopeful?
SPEAKER_00: That's the question you should think about today.
SPEAKER_00: See, belief has already been established.
SPEAKER_00: What will you believe?
SPEAKER_00: Either you submit to it or you don't, all right?
SPEAKER_00: So what we believe informs our emotions, because he says right there in verse 13, we do not want you to be uninformed.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say we don't want you to grieve.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to be uninformed.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to not know this, brothers, about those who have already died, that you may not grieve as others do, who have no hope.
SPEAKER_00: We grieve, but what we believe informs how we feel.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second thing we see in the text that what we believe is clarifying.
SPEAKER_00: What we believe is clarifying.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds simple, innocuous, almost kind of trite, like, okay, what we believe is clarifying.
SPEAKER_00: I shaved my legs for this.
SPEAKER_00: Are you kidding?
SPEAKER_00: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, until you begin to unpack it, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Just I'm gonna read one verse, verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he says, For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible is so compacted, so dense, so nutrient-rich, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to read that sentence and kind of skip over it, but I want to point to three beliefs that are just baked in to verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is simply this Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, no duh, bro.
SPEAKER_00: That's more Easter than Christmas, but I'll just hang with me just for a second.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: This invites everyone in the world who thinks that they're a good person, because if we're good, then how do you explain the death of the Son of God who was who lived a perfect life?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I would say it like this: you only sacrifice perfection to alleviate imperfection.
SPEAKER_00: You only sacrifice perfection, that would be Jesus, to alleviate imperfection, which would be all of us.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Say amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so you sacrifice, and this is what happened.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the problem with most of us in this room.
SPEAKER_00: You think you've outgrown the death of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's something you believe to get into the Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: And I would want to claw that back and say, no, this is something you need to hold on to so that you enjoy the Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to demonstrate.
SPEAKER_00: My wife has been sick for about the past six weeks, and we finally got a diagnosis.
SPEAKER_00: It's pneumonia.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing okay.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're taking drugs, we got doctors' visits, but it just kind of hangs on.
SPEAKER_00: So my wife has this hacking cough, and some friends invited us to dinner.
SPEAKER_00: And I texted back and said, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00: She said, Can y'all come to dinner Thursday or Friday?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, We really can't.
SPEAKER_00: Marcy's under the weather.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but can we take a rain check?
SPEAKER_00: And she texted back and said, How about if I bring you dinner Thursday or Friday?
SPEAKER_00: And I'll just drop it on the porch.
SPEAKER_00: And I texted back, You are my new favorite church member.
SPEAKER_00: Uh.
SPEAKER_00: And she dropped it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now stay with me because this person may be in this room, like, ah, you're not gonna tell this, are you?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I am.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it dropped delicious.
SPEAKER_00: It was like this chicken rice casserole thing with crunchy onions on top, this fresh salad, and then some brownies.
SPEAKER_00: Here's my favorite part.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why perfect Jesus dies for our imperfection, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And so you can embrace your imperfections today.
SPEAKER_00: When I say you can embrace your imperfections, I don't just stop there because that you say, oh, I'm not perfect, no one's perfect.
SPEAKER_00: God knows we're all human.
SPEAKER_00: See, when we stop there, we don't take it all the way back to the death of Jesus, it fuels our cultural fascination and addiction with authenticity.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just being authentic.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just keeping it real.
SPEAKER_00: That's just the way God made me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not die for you to be authentic or more authentic or just to keep it real.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus died for you to find, he did not die for you to find your true self or your emotional truth.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus dies so you can be forgiven and made new.
SPEAKER_00: Authentic is a cheap substitute for new.
SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself this question.
SPEAKER_00: What would break off of you if you embraced the fact that embraced the fact that you were not perfect?
SPEAKER_00: And that that is only sustained by the fact that Jesus Christ was perfect, lived a sinless life, died in your place on the cross for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: And so you have to stop trying to convince everybody that you are perfect.
SPEAKER_00: What would get broken off of you?
SPEAKER_00: Would you be less defensive?
SPEAKER_00: Men, when your wife pointed out something in your life, would you instead of going, Well, what about you?
SPEAKER_00: Would you be like, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I I want to be defensive right now, but I have no need to be defensive.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna appropriate the death of Jesus, his perfect life and death for my imperfect life.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, somebody snickering going, you've not met my husband.
SPEAKER_00: He is never wrong.
SPEAKER_00: He's the most no, no, no, that that's not true about anybody.
SPEAKER_00: Would you be less defensive?
SPEAKER_00: Would you be less engaged in oppression management?
SPEAKER_00: Would you be less fearful?
SPEAKER_00: Would you be less anxious?
SPEAKER_00: Again, Jesus died for imperfect people.
SPEAKER_00: Stop, try, stop acting like you still don't need his death.
SPEAKER_00: So our friend that brings the meal, comes to the door.
SPEAKER_00: My wife's in bed asleep.
SPEAKER_00: My dog goes crazy.
SPEAKER_00: If you come to my house, my dog does not buy.
SPEAKER_00: I'm holding the door trying to hold him back.
SPEAKER_00: And she's kind of like, hey, and I'm like, come in.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, no.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and then she hands me the stuff, and then she says, The brownies are burnt on the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: Just cut the bottom off.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the great part of that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: That is probably one of the biggest compliments I've gotten all year.
SPEAKER_00: You've got about eight more days.
SPEAKER_00: Hurry, people, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And you say, I don't get the compliment.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the great compliment about that.
SPEAKER_00: Here's this woman who's embracing the fact that perfect Jesus died a perfect death for her imperfect self.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why it's a compliment to me.
SPEAKER_00: What she was saying was, hey, I know that I don't be perfect around you.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the brownies, they're free.
SPEAKER_00: Cut the bottom off.
SPEAKER_00: And I just took them out of the pan like a watermelon.
SPEAKER_00: I just held the rind, the bottom part, and you're like, hang nine, nine, nine.
SPEAKER_00: I brought one to the office.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's like, What is that?
SPEAKER_00: This is the most incredible.
SPEAKER_00: Chocolate and vanilla kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And you got some caramel in there.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you holding the bottom?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's burnt.
SPEAKER_00: Like the bottom eighth inch is like charcoal, but it's good for your teeth.
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Where'd you get that?
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: A lady of our church makes it.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Did that bother you?
SPEAKER_00: No, I was so blessed when she just got said, here, sorry.
SPEAKER_00: And she wrote a sweet note and put it in the bag.
SPEAKER_00: The bottom's burnt.
SPEAKER_00: Cut it off.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: See how liberating it is when you embrace the perfection of Jesus, you can embrace the imperfection of you.
SPEAKER_00: What a gift.
SPEAKER_00: Because what this lady was saying was, Hey, I don't have to be perfect around you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to manage your impression of me.
SPEAKER_00: I got distracted.
SPEAKER_00: I had the oven too hot or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: It's free.
SPEAKER_00: Shut up and eat it.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus, see how consequential what you believe is.
SPEAKER_00: What you believe is clarifying.
SPEAKER_00: So what do you believe?
SPEAKER_00: They believe Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first belief right there in the text.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, Jesus rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection is proof that God has accepted Jesus' death as sufficient payment for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to wonder if you've done enough.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to engage in math.
SPEAKER_00: You can wait to hear the music.
SPEAKER_00: Is we don't try to do enough.
SPEAKER_00: We don't try to do more.
SPEAKER_00: We don't try to do better.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do then?
SPEAKER_00: Look at me.
SPEAKER_00: We do different.
SPEAKER_00: Proof that you've embraced this, not just in your head, but in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection is the receipt.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Happens every time I go to CVS.
SPEAKER_00: I went this week.
SPEAKER_00: I bought one thing and I got six feet of receipt.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, what?
SPEAKER_00: You want me to wallpaper in my bathroom with this?
SPEAKER_00: And the guy's like, ah yeah, man, come on.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: The coupons on there.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: And every time I walk out, I think about the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: It's the receipt, it's the proof of purchase.
SPEAKER_00: When God raised Jesus from the dead, what he's saying to you is, hey, stop fearing your past.
SPEAKER_00: Your worst day is not your last day because this is your best day.
SPEAKER_00: You ain't got to worry about people finding out.
SPEAKER_00: Stop trying to manage their impression.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus died for all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: You're afraid people are going to find out.
SPEAKER_00: And he rose to signify it's paid in full.
SPEAKER_00: End of it.
SPEAKER_00: Stop fearing it.
SPEAKER_00: So when the Bible says simple things like Jesus died, Jesus rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Again, proof that you believe that.
SPEAKER_00: Not just and you've experienced that in your life is that you don't try to do enough or do more, do better.
SPEAKER_00: You do different.
SPEAKER_00: And in doing different, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: You do more and you do better.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the third thing you see in the text.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, the third belief, because what we believe is clarifying.
SPEAKER_00: Christians who have died will be resurrected.
SPEAKER_00: This is Paul is speaking to the question that they have that that that is overwhelming these people.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what's gonna happen, man?
SPEAKER_00: What's gonna happen?
SPEAKER_00: My grandma died, or I lost my wife seven years ago, or we lost a child.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be in heaven, my child stuck here in the ground on earth.
SPEAKER_00: What's gonna and he said, Whoa, whoa, calm down.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, there's two words in verse 14 I want you to underline.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the two words, even so.
SPEAKER_00: Even so.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read verse 14 again.
SPEAKER_00: For since we believe that Jesus died, see how consequential what you believe as a Christian is?
SPEAKER_00: It's not what you feel.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a Christian who's ruled by what you feel, then every Sunday you come to church, you need me to make you feel something.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just love you enough to say that's not fair to me.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not fair to church.
SPEAKER_00: That's why a lot of people get down on church because it doesn't scratch where you're itching every Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Pastor wasn't on today, I know what his deal was.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, look at verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: For since we believe that Jesus died, secondly, that he rose again, then those two little words, even so.
SPEAKER_00: Underline those in your Bible, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Even so.
SPEAKER_00: It's important that you get the cohesive nature of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Allow me to demonstrate this means even so means in the same way.
SPEAKER_00: Because this is true, then by extension, this is also true.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I mean by the cohesive nature in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Uh even so, he says, even so what?
SPEAKER_00: Through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep, those who have died.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what do you mean the cohesive nature in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians chapter 15, whole nother book, whole nother city, right into a whole nother issue.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says this, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Hear it again.
SPEAKER_00: But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Because some of you are like, well, did he really rise from the dead?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I heard that, but is it true?
SPEAKER_00: He says he really did raise from the dead, he was really raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Now, first fruits is a phrase we're not familiar with.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a 2023 word, but here's the law of first fruits, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Get ready to say this after me.
SPEAKER_00: The law of first fruits is simply this is that the law of first fruits means there will be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: The law of first fruits means there will be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Say it with me.
SPEAKER_00: The law of first fruits means there will be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: That's about a C minus.
SPEAKER_00: We'll try again.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, here we go.
SPEAKER_00: The law of first fruits means there will be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is important.
SPEAKER_00: It's really grounded and rooted in the Old Testament with the tithe, because they can they didn't use the word tithe, well, they use the word tithe, but more intimate language was the first fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, they would bring the first fruit of their increase.
SPEAKER_00: They gave first because they believed there will be more to come.
SPEAKER_00: Now, many people nowadays they give last out of what might may or may not be left over, and that's kind of what they experience.
SPEAKER_00: But when they would give their first fruit, uh their offering, their first fruit, and they would say, God, we're giving this in faith because we believe there's going to be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to establish this in the Bible, and then I want to point to it in the it in other places in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I want to point to it in the text.
SPEAKER_00: The law of the first fruits, this is not a sermon about giving.
SPEAKER_00: This is a sermon about understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: The law of the first fruits means there'll be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians that Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if he's the first fruits, then it dictates there's going to be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, see what what in our passage today we see that Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Then the law of the first fruits means there'll be more fruit.
SPEAKER_00: So in verse 14, after he says, We believe that Jesus died and then he rose again, even so, in the same way, just like this is true, this over here is true.
SPEAKER_00: Through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's going to be no separation of the living and the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Because they were afraid that they were afraid that, oh, we're going to go to heaven with Jesus, and my lost, my deceased loved ones who are Christians are going to be left here on the earth and it's going to get really terrible.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I don't want to bo, whoa, whoa, no.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Calm down.
SPEAKER_00: Calm down.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the third thing I want to point to in the text that there's an order to it all.
SPEAKER_00: There's an order to it all.
SPEAKER_00: As you get older and older, you will enjoy the news less and less.
SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed that about yourself?
SPEAKER_00: You're kind of like, I just don't turn that on.
SPEAKER_00: That makes me kind of on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why.
SPEAKER_00: Your psyche can only absorb so much negativity.
SPEAKER_00: And every time, and they lead with every time.
SPEAKER_00: No one says, Oh man, today somebody gave somebody this and somebody blessed this, and the guy donated a kidney to a certain stranger.
SPEAKER_00: It's always, oh, this is terrible.
SPEAKER_00: This, you will not believe what happened today.
SPEAKER_00: As you get older, if it hadn't happened already, you will just become more sensitive to negativity.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, I don't think I can take anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to just step into that culture and say, by the way, there's an order to All of this.
SPEAKER_00: It's verse 15 to 18.
SPEAKER_00: He says, 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.
SPEAKER_00: And then he just goes ahead and he kind of lays out the order.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Well, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Well, remember the question Paul's speaking to here.
SPEAKER_00: What happens to our loved ones who die in the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to leave them here while I'm in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul gives them four words that all start with the same letter.
SPEAKER_00: I learned this from a man named John Stott, okay?
SPEAKER_00: He basically says, Hey, here's how you break it down.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the order.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, there's a return.
SPEAKER_00: There's a return.
SPEAKER_00: That's verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven.
SPEAKER_00: You know he's going to return one day, right?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: If you lose sight of that, then how you live right now will not matter.
SPEAKER_00: You will lie, you will cheat, you will steal, you'll embezzle.
SPEAKER_00: You just have no character because you're like, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Eat, drink, and be merry, for when I die, I'm just going to ground.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a banquet for the worms.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's going to be resurrected.
SPEAKER_00: Some to everlasting life, some to everlasting judgment.
SPEAKER_00: But he will return.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be a return.
SPEAKER_00: So when I say there's an order to it all, here's the first step of that ordered process.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be a return.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, there's going to be a resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: He says, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
SPEAKER_00: And the dead in Christ will rise first.
SPEAKER_00: That's a reference to the Baptist, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It's a joke.
SPEAKER_00: Relax.
SPEAKER_00: We're a Baptist church.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a Christian, but you're a Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: I don't hold it against you.
SPEAKER_00: No, the dead in Christ will rise first.
SPEAKER_00: So there's going to be a return.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be a resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, there's going to be a rapture.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now, verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together.
SPEAKER_00: It's that phrase, caught up together.
SPEAKER_00: That's where we get our English word rapture, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me, it's advent.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to plunge on this, but I do want to point to it.
SPEAKER_00: They both start with a P, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to plunge, but I do want to point to this.
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to the rapture, there's a lot of different schools of thought, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh let me just make this footnote.
SPEAKER_00: Rapture does not necessarily mean escape.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you are listening for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are like, uh keep going.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's a very Western mindset that says it's not God's will that we suffer.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's a lot of other people in nations who suffer all the time for their faith.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not those morbid guys, it's kind of like I'll I'll just point to there's two basically there's two big schools of thought on this.
SPEAKER_00: One says the church will be caught away while there's a seven-year period where all hell breaks loose.
SPEAKER_00: It's called the Great Tribulation.
SPEAKER_00: That happens here on earth and the church, a lot of John 14, I gotta prepare a place for you so that we're and so that he's gonna come, the rapture is gonna be Jesus coming and taking everybody away, and they're gonna go out there, it's gonna get real bad, then he's gonna come back.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: The other school of thought says that Jesus is gonna, he's gonna return.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna meet the we will be resurrected.
SPEAKER_00: He said we will meet the Lord in the air.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, which by the way, Bible fun fact, who don't want one of those?
SPEAKER_00: Um, a lot of people think when the Bible says we'll meet the Lord in the air, uh, that it's kind of establishing his dominion because in Ephesians chapter two, the Bible says of Satan that he is the prince of the power of the air.
SPEAKER_00: And so God is going to resurrect the dead, and those who are alive when he comes are going to meet the Lord in the air.
SPEAKER_00: It's God's way of just kind of saying, see, this is my domain as well.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm reclaiming all of this.
SPEAKER_00: And so the other school of thought on the rapture is simply that Jesus comes, they meet like a meeting, like if you have a meeting tomorrow, a staff meeting tomorrow at 9:30, you meet the Lord in the air, and then they don't go back to heaven, they come to earth and establish the kingdom right there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm not here to decide all of that.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, that school of thought says if you believe the other one, you have a second coming, you go to heaven, then you got to have a third coming.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just here to say this it's going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: It is going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why you could be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be a return, there's going to be a resurrection, there's going to be a rapture.
SPEAKER_00: No one knows all the details of that, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_00: All your charts and your graphs and your, well, I watched this internet preacher.
SPEAKER_00: Go mow someone's yard.
SPEAKER_00: You'll get better better return on that investment.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, don't be the kooky guy who thinks you've got it all figured out.
SPEAKER_00: And stop asking me, like some of you do, hey, when are you going to preach to the book of Revelation?
SPEAKER_00: As soon as I understand it all.
SPEAKER_00: Don't hold your breath.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, so you got a return, got a resurrection, you got a rapture.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: And you have a reunion.
SPEAKER_00: You have a reunion.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17, and so we will always be with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We will always be.
SPEAKER_00: The we here refers to all Christians, those who died years earlier, those who are alive when Christ was returns.
SPEAKER_00: We will always be with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You know the one question I get asked more about the second coming in heaven than anything else?
SPEAKER_00: You know the one question I get asked?
SPEAKER_00: It's almost without fail.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are thinking it right now.
SPEAKER_00: So am I going to know my spouse in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Because in Matthew it says, you know, there'll be no giving and receiving in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to get into this because it's Advent.
SPEAKER_00: But let me just say this.
SPEAKER_00: I think what that Matthew passage means is you're not going to get a do-over and get to marry your old high school sweetheart you didn't marry, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It says there's no giving and receiving in marriage.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you are like, you mean I'm going to be with this Yehoo for all of eternity?
SPEAKER_00: I'll just say this.
SPEAKER_00: He will be, if he's a Christian, he'll be his glorified self.
SPEAKER_00: He'll be everything in heaven that he was never able to be on earth.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think God would punish my wife so much not to let her spend eternity with me.
SPEAKER_00: That would be hell for her.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: She's shaking her head.
SPEAKER_00: Of course he wouldn't.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say this, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I also, in pastoral counseling situations, pastoral care situations, uh, if you have, if you're married to someone, and this is very relevant for our culture, you're married to someone that has dementia, and the last years of your knowing them, they don't recognize you.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes they can be angry and violent towards you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to say that, I am sorry that is happening.
SPEAKER_00: But when there's this reunion and your spouse, whose mind doesn't work properly in this life, is gonna be, that's gonna be redeemed.
SPEAKER_00: Everything's gonna be remembered.
SPEAKER_00: And so you got to take comfort from that.
SPEAKER_00: You should have an eschatology, a robust understanding.
SPEAKER_00: You should be encouraged, and we will always be with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I have friends that are like, well, you know, the Bible says there's gonna be no giving or receiving in marriage.
SPEAKER_00: And I just let them prattle on and I just say this.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I got two things for you.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, in prison, the most uh the harshest form of punishment is solitary confinement.
SPEAKER_00: What joy is there to be derived for the Christian who spends eternity in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna come back and live on earth and it's pre-fallen state, by the way, not in the clouds, eating angel food cake, playing a harp, all right?
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be in a physical existence.
SPEAKER_00: What would it be like to be here and not know anybody or anything?
SPEAKER_00: It would be solitary confinement.
SPEAKER_00: And God's way too loving of a God to subject you to that.
SPEAKER_00: And I got friends that are just they just they know everything.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, well, wouldn't you be worshiping the Lord forever?
SPEAKER_00: The way I love my wife is worshiping the Lord, the way I play golf is worshiping the Lord most days.
SPEAKER_00: Some days it's it's ugly, it's idolatry, it needs help, please.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when you get to the will, I know my spouse in heaven, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just say this.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: God creates a paradise to everything, Adam's in the garden, and God looks down and says, It is not good that man should be alone.
SPEAKER_00: You think God's gonna change his mind?
SPEAKER_00: You're smart people.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's gonna be a return.
SPEAKER_00: I'm encouraging you today.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a return.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to scare you.
SPEAKER_00: You should live every day.
SPEAKER_00: The people in Thessalonians, they were like, it could be at any minute.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a return.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: God's not gonna lose anybody.
SPEAKER_00: Not gonna lose anybody.
SPEAKER_00: He knows right where they are.
SPEAKER_00: It says in Revelation, the sea are gonna give up the dead that is in there.
SPEAKER_00: Death and Hades are gonna give up the dead.
SPEAKER_00: There's nowhere anybody escapes.
SPEAKER_00: Some are resurrected to eternal life, uh uh as the Puritan says, you know, uh uh uh unending felicity.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and then there's gonna be some are resurrected to judgment.
SPEAKER_00: There's a return, there's a resurrection, there's a rapture, and there's a reunion.
SPEAKER_00: There's a reunion.
SPEAKER_00: God, Hebrew says is not so unjust as to forget.
SPEAKER_00: He's not.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to be encouraged with these words today.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray to God.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest, just relax.
SPEAKER_00: We'd like to teach the Bible and then give you some soul space to think about it.
SPEAKER_00: So take a moment even now.
SPEAKER_00: Just to ask yourself what stood out to you, what stood on you.
SPEAKER_00: A voice of prayer and some questions come up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: You can take a picture or you can just memorize one to think about.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, thank you for that.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible is it's just chalked full of goodness.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth today.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us at different points, we just took the exit and said, Okay, I gotta pull off and just think about that.
SPEAKER_00: So I pray for any families here today that are battling dementia.
SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to look at you and go, how could a good God let that happen?
SPEAKER_00: God, we just we understand that's natural emotion, but we live in a fallen world.
SPEAKER_00: Sin, sickness, and disease are a part of the curse.
SPEAKER_00: Not the way you created the world to be.
SPEAKER_00: But you're redeeming all things.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to redeem that person if they have faith in you.
SPEAKER_00: When you come again and there's that reunion, that person's gonna have a glorified body and a glorified mind.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be like, oh yes, of course I remember you.
SPEAKER_00: So don't let people feel punished.
SPEAKER_00: Let them find the energy to keep showing up to somebody that maybe doesn't remember them.
SPEAKER_00: That's just where we live, God.
SPEAKER_00: That's reality.
SPEAKER_00: But what we feel doesn't alter what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: Let what we believe triumph over everything we feel.
SPEAKER_00: Let us bring our feelings in subjection to the truth of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we understand that to be true.
SPEAKER_00: There is going to be a great rejoicing.
SPEAKER_00: We look forward to that day.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to live in this life in fear, but in understanding.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, increase our understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Every time we gather and the word is opened up and it's rightly divided, it's rightly taught, it's rightly preached.
SPEAKER_00: Let our understanding, our joy, our winsomeness increase.
SPEAKER_00: We never want to outgrow childlike faith.
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for that beautiful, tangible reminder this morning in this kid's choir.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: We want to occupy this space between your first coming and your second coming with joy and not fear.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that that's possible.
SPEAKER_00: Encourage these beautiful people with your word and by your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I pray in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen, amen, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your presence today.
SPEAKER_00: If you're our guest, just know that you're always welcome here.
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome here today, and you're always welcome here.
SPEAKER_00: During Advent, we abstain from having announcements.
SPEAKER_00: We want to strip our services down and make them simple.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and when the culture around us is all sped up, we want to slow down.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so take a deep breath.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, some of you may be wondering, hey, where that dementia thing came from.
SPEAKER_00: I saw a Chevy commercial.
unknown: Whew.
SPEAKER_00: A friend of mine sent it to me about a teenage girl that takes her grandma for a ride in this old classic suburban.
SPEAKER_00: And I sobbed like a kitty.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, and then I realized I know people that deal with that.
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's hard.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it is hard.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so there, there you go.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so we'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.
SPEAKER_00: So if you would stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_00: Now, uh, yes, yes, I'll be right with you, little man.
SPEAKER_00: Uh do me a favor and look around before you hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_00: Just look around.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, you're getting out early.
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, put your hand over that little kid's mouth.
SPEAKER_00: Uh look around and see somebody you haven't said hi to lately, or somebody you don't know that's sitting around you.
SPEAKER_00: Because some of you have this, most of you're the people sit over here, you got displaced today.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, I don't know these people.
SPEAKER_00: Just say hey, I don't know you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to meet you.
SPEAKER_00: I go to church with you, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So look around right now, find the person you're gonna say hi to.
SPEAKER_00: Look around, mean stop looking at me.
SPEAKER_00: Kent Mayfield, but I digress.
SPEAKER_00: Not now, not now, when you're dismissed.
SPEAKER_00: Good Lord, y'all are unruly people in here.
SPEAKER_00: All right, hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_00: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.
SPEAKER_00: So by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.
SPEAKER_00: Depart now in this hope and with joy.
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Bless you.