Nuggets
- Jesus will bring back with Him the souls of His disciples who have already passed.
- We are to live for Christ for He is our life.
- The dead would share in the Second Coming of Christ, just as the living would.
We are so excited to see Jesus coming again. But what is this about saints coming with Him?
Let's Put It into Context #1
To read devotions in the On the Day of the Lord theme, click the button below.
Devotions in the The Second Coming of Christ series
The foundation of this series is Gritton’s sermon Christ’s Coming.
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Phil Weber
Let's Put It into Context #2
We have to remember that the Apostles were good Jewish men. They believed as good Jewish men believed in what we call the Old Testament.
The concept of eternal life does not get a lot of ink spots in the Old Testament. In fact, Solomon said, “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecc. 9: 5 ESV).
Really, Danial is the only one to have discussed eternal life in the Old Testament. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12: 2 ESV).
Notice it said many, not all.
So, it is safe to assume that the first-century disciples were being presented with a new concept.
Being Blameless and Holy
“Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (I Thess. 3: 11-13 ESV)
Jesus will bring back with Him the souls of His disciples who have already passed.
Paul was being typical Paul and broke out in prayer in the middle of his writing. It held a standard theme of his – love and unity for the body of Christ. The goal is to be blameless and holy in the eyes of God.
But at the end, Paul hooked on something I am not remembering to have read before. He wrote, “… at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (I Thess. 3: 13 ESV).
What in the world does that mean?
If our goal is to be blameless – i.e., pure – and holy, that will be confirmed when Jesus comes again.
Let’s see if Pope sheds any light on this. He wrote,
“It [The idea of confirmation in unblamable holiness] is supposed to be brought under the more direct scrutiny of God; it is not created by His coming: neither does death destroy the body of sin, nor the appearing of Christ perfect the love of the saints; but then the eye of Supreme Justice will regard the perfect in love as unblamable in holiness.”
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What can get gain from that statement?
- We will be judged in the end.
- Being pure and holy isn’t a result of His coming – we are already that because our love for Him covers our sins.
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (I Pet. 4: 8 ESV).
Hmmm. That last tidbit is something to think about – but not the focus of this devotion.
Let’s hope the next verse sheds some light on the topic.
Appearing with Christ
“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3: 4 ESV)
We are to live for Christ for He is our life.
Hodge started out with a good question. What is life, anyway?
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What we do, of course, is a big part of life. Hodge is right when he said that happiness is, too. Well, happiness does make it a better life.
But our lives are nothing that they can be without Christ.
Yeah, we can have worldly happiness without knowing Jesus. But are lives are so much richer and fuller knowing Him.
When we have ABCDed, Jesus saves us from spiritual death. Accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord gains us salvation and spiritual life.
God’s Word tells us how to live. It gives us laws and commandments and shows us how Jesus put them into practice.
YAY! Spurgeon finally talked about appearing with Jesus. But then, he didn’t say much.
According to Spurgeon, we are to appear with Jesus in person and in splendor. But no one knows when, and it is disrespectful to ask when. It sounds like another thing for the UNR book — understanding not relevant.
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Davies said something that got me thinking. He wrote, “He was so [hid] to the Old Testament Church, before His first coming; He is so to the New Testament Church before His second coming. There is nothing that speaks to our eyes or ears. … As Christ is hid so are His people. The angels know them (Luke 15.; Hebrews 1.) but not the world, and sometimes not one another; and many are hid in heaven.
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We know Jesus’ name was not mentioned in the Old Testament, but there are many prophecies that speak of Him. He was hiding in plain sight.
But then there was 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew.
There have been no more revelations to God’s Word since John’s Revelation.
As disciples, we are sort of hidden, too. No, we aren’t hiding our candles under a bushel.
But then again, when we are out walking on the streets, can we identify other disciples? Sometimes, but not always.
Those Who Have Fallen Asleep
“For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 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” (I Thess. 4: 14-15 ESV)
The dead would share in the Second Coming of Christ, just as the living would.
The Thessalonians were concerned about what was going to happen with those who had already died when Jesus comes back in the Second Coming. Paul was trying to reassure them.
Of course, this is all predicated on them being disciples. They must have ABCDed.
Paul assured the Thessalonians that they didn’t have to wail over their departed loved ones. Yes, life here was over, but there is the promise of eternal life.
The dead won’t miss out on the Second Coming of Christ just because they have died. Christ’s resurrection ensures the resurrection of all His saints, not just those living at the time.
Jesus doesn’t want to be separated from us any longer.
Death has been described as a sleep. It sets up the visual that we go to sleep in this life and wake up in the next. There is some question as to whether it is a state of unconsciousness and how long that state lasts.
Davidson had an interesting definition of sleep. He wrote, “It is only the suspension of direct relations with the sensible; a temporary change from which much advantage is derived.” It is more a resting than a cessation from living.
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How does this mesh with being absent from the body means being present with Christ? Didn’t Paul say that as well?
Well, not specifically. Let’s check it out.
“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (II Cor. 5: 6-8 ESV emphasis added).
Yes, while we are here, we aren’t with the Lord. But I don’t necessarily read that as conclusive evidence that boom, we’re dead, boom, we’re in Heaven. It says we are willing to be absent and present. It doesn’t flat out say to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ.
God doesn’t always give us what we want. There has to be more in God’s Word that we can check out.
- “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecc. 12: 7 ESV).
- “And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Lk. 23: 43 ESV).
- “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil. 1: 23 ESV).
- “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Cor. 5: 1 ESV).
Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him today. Is he asleep or awake? God’s Word really doesn’t say for sure.
However, in Jesus’ parable about Lazarus and the rich man, Abraham is awake and talking. “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us’” (Lk. 16: 25-26 ESV).
I’ve always pictured Mom and Dad strolling down the golden streets holding hands. I’ve always figured they just got an earlier start at eternity than I did.
Even if they don’t have their eternal bodies yet, I picture them with Jesus. Their current status really is something for the UNR book — understanding not relevant.
We just know that the dead have to be with Jesus now in order for Him to bring them with Him then.
Let’s see if we can look at it a more practical way.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2: 12-13 ESV). Working out our salvation is another way of saying we are navigating the Sanctification Road.
We have to work while we can. “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (Jn. 9: 4 ESV).
With night would come sleep. We rest from our duties of working out our salvation.
But in our instance, day is life, and night is death.
What I see this all saying is the soul went to Heaven in whatever state it is in. The souls of the departed will come back to pick up their bodies, which will rise and meet them in the skies at the same time the living rise.
We don’t get preferential treatment because Jesus comes when we are alive.
Making the Connections #1
Paul wasn’t getting on the Thessalonians because they were worried about their dead. Far from it!
Jesus Himself mourned the death of Lazarus – even when He knew He was going to raise Him from the dead. He wants us to comfort the mourning.
The reason Paul wrote to the Thessalonians was to comfort them. He wanted to allay their fears.
A second reason was to show them a new way to live in order to be seen as of the world but not in it. Worldview people would see death as the end. Godview people need to see death as the beginning.
We have a hope that worldview people do not have. If they do not see the hope of eternal life in us, they do not know to want it for themselves.
Making the Connections #2
Maybe it is just me, but I wonder if Paul – even Jesus – did us a favor by calling death sleep. Yeah, when Jesus told the disciples that Lazarus was asleep and they had problems understanding, He immediately told them he was dead (Jn. 11: 11-14).
I can see trying to explain something by associating it with something we already know. That is how we learn.
I can get that death is softened, as Parsons said, for disciples in a way. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (I Cor. 15: 55 ESV).
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Ooo, baby. We still have to die – sometimes painfully, sometimes violently.
What is changed is that we get to spend eternity in Heaven not hell. We don’t have to fear death because we have a Savior.
But does calling something what it isn’t good in the long run? It opens up the number of interpretations, some which are going down the wrong road.
Look at what Manning said. He wrote, “What sleep is to waking, death is to the resurrection — a prelude, a transitory state, ushering in a mightier power of life.”
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Manning makes it sound like sleep and death are two separate things.
I am afraid it also opens us up to compromising with the worldview. Don’t like it that someone has died, and his/her fate is sealed? Just say they are sleeping. Maybe they can wake up and get it right before they really die.
If I am just sleeping, someone else can just pray me out of my sins into full salvation.
Hey, then. If that is going to happen, I don’t need to be saved today. I can just wait and live this life anyway I want.
Wrong moves.
If death is sleep, why wasn’t Jesus even once said to have fallen asleep? It is always death, resurrection, and ascension.
Jesus was to have experienced everything we do.
Most importantly, we don’t want to put off salvation because of an incorrect belief. We have to put our total faith and trust in God today. We don’t know how the Second Coming is really going to shake out.
We have to be ready for Jesus, which means getting our relationship with Him right.
How Do We Apply This?
- Grow our relationship with God through intimate prayer.
- Worship Christ in His sanctuary.
- Watch for Jesus’ return.
- Be sober minded.
- Be prepared.
- Hope for His return.
- Feel our grief for our fallen brothers and sisters but rejoice that we will see them again.
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Father God. Lord, thank You those those disciples who have already died won’t miss out on the Second Coming. Thank You that You will bring them with You to come pick us up. Amen.
What do you think?
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