Let us open our Bibles to the New Testament to Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4. Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4, and we will read the entire chapter. Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." Thus far, the reading of Holy Scripture. If you open up your Bible to the passage that we read together, I will direct you to the text for this evening sermon from 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17b. the last seven or eight words. We'll look at it in its context, of course, but especially these words, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Dear flock of Dundas, the clock is ticking down to the end of another year. Others' clock, other clocks tick down too. There are clocks in games that we play around our kitchen tables, hourglass clocks. There are sports game clocks. There is also the doomsday clock, a clock which is overseen by scientists that represents a countdown to a possible global catastrophe such as a nuclear war other matters, climate change, for instance. This doomsday clock is now at five minutes to midnight, according to scientists. It's a clock that promotes fear and it's a clock that promotes anxiety in our world. But someone has said that while the world has a doomsday clock, the church has a deliverance day clock. And that clock is ticking, too, towards the church's final deliverance. And it is meant to give encouragement, and it is meant to give comfort to the church. For it says, the time is drawing near when His people will be forever with the Lord. That's the prospect. And that's what you can write over this sermon, too. The prospect of eternal communion with Christ. the prospect of eternal communion with Christ. Yes, Paul has taken up his pen to write a letter to the church in Thessalonica. Paul had labored in this city for a short time. Acts 17 tells us this. He labored there for three weeks. And the ministry of the Word was blessed there. And there were conversions, but there was also opposition. after a short time of only three weeks, had to leave this young church. And Paul was concerned for them. They were young in the faith, and Paul knew that there was opposition and that there was persecution, and so he sent Timothy to them. And Timothy returned with a good report, that they were standing firm in the faith, But they also needed further instruction, and so with a pastoral heart, Paul takes up his pen and writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to instruct them in the truth of Christ, in the life with Christ, and the return of Christ. And that third subject of the return of Christ is the subject that he turns to in these verses that we have open before us tonight. For this church in Thessalonica, this small church, this young church with these new Christians, were waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 1 verse 10 says that that is what marked them. And that was part of the message that Paul had also brought to them when he was in their midst. And they had taken that message to heart. and they longed for His return, and they believed that Christ would return in their lifetime. But then some of them had died. And now this young church is filled with questions. Will those who have died miss out when Christ returns? Will they then not experience the glory of the second coming of Christ, the transformation that will happen at the second coming of Christ? And Paul wants to instruct them and he wants to comfort them. And he says in verse 13, you can see it for yourself if you have your Bible open, he does not want them to be ignorant. No, for the apostle, the solution to their questions and struggles that they're having is not that they should receive a nice card in their loss from him saying, I'm sorry for your loss and it is all very confusing about what happens after death. No, Paul says you need instruction. Verse 13, I would not have you to be ignorant. Ignorance is not bliss. Young people being a clueless Christian and hoping that someone else will have the answer is not commended at all. Truth is needed. And how much do we not need that? Is that also what you've sought for in this past year? Young people, have you sought that biblical teaching? Is that how we have gone to our Bibles and have gone to the Lord saying, teach me, O Lord, thy way of truth? You see, we need the truth. Truth is given to transform our thinking. Truth is given to set us free, Jesus says. The truth will make you free. Truth, blessed by the Spirit, transforms our living. William Gurnall, that great Puritan, said, Godliness is the child of truth and it must be nursed by its own mother. Desire the sincere milk of the word that she may grow thereby. You see, it shows the importance of information, the importance of the scriptures which are meant to impart wisdom to our minds that are by nature darkened. And that information of the Scriptures, blessed by the Holy Spirit, is meant to give transformation. Soul transformation, heart transformation, life transformation. But it's also meant to give consolation. And Paul addresses that too. Yes, in verse 13, Paul acknowledges that Christians grieve. And Christians can grieve about many things. They can grieve about hard providences in their lives, loss of a job, or sickness, or disease, or pains. A Christian grieves especially over his sin. There's also something that causes grief, deep grief to a Christian is the death of a loved one. Yes, and something is wrong when someone says, maybe feeling pious when they say it after a loved one has died, no, I don't really miss him. That spells trouble, that something is wrong. A Christian grieves when a loved one is taken out of this life. Paul knew that. The thought of losing Epaphroditus, which Paul tells us about in Philippians 2, that the thought of perhaps losing him broke Paul's heart. And Jesus, in John 11, by the grave of Lazarus, He wept. Yes, He shed genuine tears at the loss of a friend. And of Jesus it is said that he is the man of sorrows. And he's acquainted with grief. And he felt the pangs of sorrow. And so does the Christian, even when the loved one who has been taken out of this life knew the grace of God and knew communion with Christ. But you see, knowing that our loved one is with the Lord changes our grief. There is hope then in our grief. There is perspective in our grief. Not when a loved one who is unconverted dies. David grieved over Absalom and he was heartbroken. There was no hope. in that grief because it wasn't well with Absalom, my son, my son. But for a child of God who has fallen asleep in Jesus, for those who remain behind, there is sorrow mixed with hope. And that's what makes it so different from the sorrow of the world That at the death of a loved one, a friend, a parent, it leaves them callous and bitter. But not for the Christian. The child of God falls asleep in Jesus. That is what is said of Stephen. That was what is said of Lazarus. The child of God, at death he may rest. from his labors. He may put his head on the pillow of Jesus and may fall asleep in Jesus. And the body has fallen asleep. No, not the soul. The soul is immediately taken up to be with Christ its head, our catechism says. Taken to be with Him in paradise, as Jesus said to the thief on the cross. Today thou shalt be with me. But they're falling asleep. Their soul being taken up to be with the Lord. Their body going to rest and its final resting place here below. But that's not the end. God will bring about the great resurrection, the final resurrection. Someone has said He will do for His dying children what He did for His dying Son. And just as He raised Christ, so He will raise His people. They will be raised. They will be raised. But how? And when? And that's what Paul speaks of here. And he says four things. First of all, he writes about the return. Verse 16. The return. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven. That's where the Lord Jesus now is, in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. But one day that curtain will be torn away, and He will descend from heaven, and He will come not in humiliation as He came in His first coming, but He will come in great exaltation. He will come personally. The Lord Himself will come. He will not send a representative in His stead, an ambassador in His stead, a messenger in His stead. He will come personally. He will come physically. He will come gloriously. He will come suddenly. He will come publicly. One day, people will look. Maybe you'll see it. You'll be standing by your kitchen window, maybe, and you'll see heaven open, and the Lord Jesus descends. And it will be Him, unmistakably Him. And every eye shall see Him. And there will be no mistaking what is happening. The church will know it. The world will know it. And the Lord Jesus will descend. And there will be this majesty about it all, this unhurried as befits majesty, step by step, sound by sound, He will come. Yes, three sounds will be heard, awe-inspiring sounds. Verse 16, there will be, first of all, His voice. His voice. He will descend with a shout. It was one of the last things he did before he gave up the ghost on the cross. Matthew 27 verse 50. He cried with a loud voice. He gave up the ghost. And it's the first thing he does when he descends. He shouts. You see, this will not be something done quietly somewhere in a corner just for a few people to witness with just a little whimper. No, he will descend with a shout. It's a word used here that is used as a military command. A command will be shouted. A voice of authority will be heard. That voice that Psalm 29 speaks about, the voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars. That voice will be heard. And what will He say? Paul doesn't tell us here, Jesus tells us in John 5 verse 28, marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. It will be a voice that will echo into the graves and into the sea and the dead will rise. that voice that spoke in the beginning and the universe came into existence, into being, that voice that spoke at the grave of Lazarus, that voice will reverberate throughout the world, piercing to the graves and the earth, and the dead will rise. That's the first sound. The second sound will be the voice of an archangel, verse 16 says. the voice of the top angel, the commanding angel, will then be heard. Maybe Gabriel or maybe Michael. After all, the Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 25, verse 3, that He will come accompanied by all His holy angels. The first voice will be the voice of Christ Himself, and then the voice of the archangel. It's as if there's things happening that happen in a military parade. For in a military parade, commands are repeated. And the Lord is after all, the Bible tells us, is the Lord of hosts. He's the Lord of armies. He's the Lord of our angelic armies. And this second cry confirms the first cry that the second coming of Christ is taking place. then it will be too late to be converted. Then it will be too late to be saved. Then it will be too late to cry for mercy. It will be too late if on that day you are still in your sins. Today is the day of grace. And while He speaks in the gospel now, and while He speaks to your heart in a still, small voice now, let us hear His voice and harden not our hearts. And then there's a third sound, the trump of God. What a piercing sound. That is the Trump of God. That was what was used to summon the people together, the trump of God that sounded at Sinai, at that mountain and was saying, the Lord is coming, God is coming. And that trump that was used as the city of Jericho was surrounded by the people of Israel announcing to the inhabitants of Jericho, God is coming. The trump that was used in the year of Jubilee every 50 years when debts were canceled and captives were set free. It now announces Christ is coming and it's an impressive sound to call the people to gather together. It's the trump that says it's the year of jubilee for the people of God. Look up for your redemption draweth nigh. It's a sound that will terrify and frighten the enemies of Christ. What will that day be for you? Will it be the day of deliverance for you? Or the day of doom? And you need to be sure, don't you? That you belong to His people. You don't want to go into that great day with just a vague hope I hope that it will be okay with you. You want to be sure that you belong to Him, don't you? He is coming. Christ is coming Himself. There's the return. Secondly, the resurrection. The last words of verse 16, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. The dead. Also those who died from our midst, and we grieve when a loved one dies. But those who knew union and communion with Christ, who lived in Christ and who died in Christ, and while their bodies return to the dust and their soul has returned to God who gave it on this day, soul will be reunited with their body. And their body will be raised from the dust, and they will rise first, Paul says, before those who are alive are taken up. Those who died in Christ will rise first. You see, their having died before does not mean that they will miss out on the glory of Christ's second coming. No, that's the answer that Paul's giving to the Thessalonian church. They won't miss out on the glory and on the transformation and on the majesty of Christ's second coming. They'll be raised in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 52. But how can that be? That's what they said also at the grave of Lazarus where Jesus stood The crowd gathered and Jesus cried, Lazarus, come forth! And then there were people probably in the crowd that said to themselves, but Lazarus is dead. He cannot hear. And then suddenly they see Lazarus coming out of the tomb, still bound with his grave clothes. See, is anything too hard for the Lord to do? And some have said that, yes, Jesus He specified Lazarus. He called Lazarus. He called him by his name. If He had not done that, all the dead would have been raised. You see, He has all power in heaven and on earth, and nothing is too hard or too wonderful for Him to do. Not then, and not now. He can quicken your dead soul. He has power to do that. He can make you alive, spiritually alive to Him. He can make it so that you begin to breathe after Him and pant after Him as the heart panteth after the water brook, so that you begin to miss Him and you begin to seek Him. And you come to know by His grace the drawing power and love and that union and communion with Him, so that when it comes time to die, you may die in Christ and you can sleep in Christ. You know, there are two possible ways to die. Either in the Savior, or it's possible to die in your sin. And Jesus says to those who die in their sin, in John 8 verse 21, you shall die in your sin, and whether I go, ye cannot come. If we die in our sins, We will not go to heaven. We cannot go to heaven. Will you die in your sin or in the Savior? Friends, on that great day of the resurrection, will it be doomsday or will it be deliverance day? speaks of the return. Secondly, of the resurrection. Thirdly, Paul speaks of the rapture. The rapture. Verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The rapture. Yeah, that's how the Latin translation of this passage translated the Greek word. caught up. It's true. These words have been misunderstood by many in recent history to speak of some kind of a secret rapture. Sometimes you see cars with bumper stickers on their cars and it says something like this, that in case of the rapture this car will be without a driver. With the idea that they've been taken up in some kind of a secret rapture. But there is nothing secret here. This is a public event. This is not a quiet event. This is a noisy event. There's the shouts and the piercing sounds. Bodies will be raised all over. All the bodies of the saints will be reunited with their souls coming down on the clouds. And it will be seen and visible. And the Christians that are alive shall be caught up. It's a strong word. They will be seized. They'll be taken up. And here the children of God are so often dragged down. Here they stumble. Here they fall. They're not as heavenly minded as they want to be. But on that day, God will take them up in the clouds. The clouds. that speaks of the glorious presence of God, that cloud that overshadowed the Lord Jesus with His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration that said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him, that cloud, that pillar of fire by night, that pillar of cloud by day as the people of Israel traveled through the wilderness, that cloud. They will go to meet Him in the air. The picture here is of a king who is to enter into the capital city and the citizens going out to greet him and to meet him and to accompany him into the city. Yes, his people will go out to meet him as he is coming to rule over heaven and earth. Where will you be on that day? Taken up or left behind? left behind to await your doom, or taken up to be with him, be it deliverance day, or will it be doomsday? And then the last thing that I wanted to come to especially, it's not just the return, the resurrection, the rapture, but lastly, This reunion. A reunion. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And that's how these Christians were to comfort one another. A reunion. I don't know how it is for you, but one of the hardest things can be to say goodbye to a loved one. Maybe at the airport. And when will you see this loved one again? Or at a deathbed to look into the eyes of a loved one and to know this is the last time you're going to see them in this life. But there will be a reunion. There will be a day when a Christian wife and a Christian husband will be together again. Where a converted parent will be reunited with a converted son or daughter. where the minister may be reunited with those of the flock that knew him. There are painful separations in this life, that's true. But these separations will only be temporary, for the reunion will be everlasting. But that's actually not the greatest thing that Paul is writing about here. It's not the reunion of the children of God so much. The greatest thing is, and so shall we ever be with the Lord! You see, let me say several things about this. It is a Christ communion. It's a Christ communion. It's with Him who came to have a people with Him. That's what Mark says when he chose the twelve to be His disciples. It is that they might be with Him. He chose them to be His companions. It's this Jesus. whom His people will be with, the One who has made Himself precious unto our souls if He has worked in His grace, the One who has bought His children, who has sought His children, who has taught His children, who has loved His children with an everlasting love. Is that not what God's people long for? To be with Him so that a wife on her deathbed, corrected her husband, this Christian wife who lay on her deathbed, and her husband was speaking with her, that this time would come too when he could be with her in heaven. And she said, but heaven is not about being with me. It's about being with Him. And I'll be too busy, taken up with Him, than to look for you. That's it. He will be all in all everlasting communion with Him. That's it. And it's not just that His people may have the privilege of being in the palace of the King, and it's not just that they may walk on the streets of gold, and it's not just that they will never be sick, and that they will never be sad, and that all tears will be wiped away, and that they'll never hunger and thirst, Ah, they may be in the same city with Him, and they may dwell in the same place with Him, and they know themselves unworthy of that, but He doesn't just want them in the same city. He doesn't want them just in the same place. He wants them near Him. He wants them with Him. It will be Christ communion. Secondly, it will be continued communion. Continued communion, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. It will be a continued communion. Here, communion is interrupted. It's true, the Lord never leaves His people, but His people leave Him. And sin hides him from view. And we're sometimes taken up with the things of this earth, and we lose sight of Him. And now God's child at times says, Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, like Job says in Job 23 verse 3, or like Peter. We take our eyes off of Him in the storm and we begin to sink. There are times of darkness in the soul. We struggle with doubt, dear child of God. Am I His? And is He mine? But not hereafter. Nothing will come in between then. Sin will not come in between. Doubts will not come in between. Lovelessness will not come in between. He never will have to say to you or me, I wish that you were hot or cold. And there will be no more declension, and there will be no more strife, and there will be no more assaults of Satan, and there will be no more confessing, I am carnal, sold under sin. We will not grieve Him anymore by our backsliding and sin. All things have become new, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. A Christ communion. It's a continued communion. Thirdly, it will be a Christian's communion. A Christian's communion. That's what Paul means when he says, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Who are the we? You can say they're the saved. Paul has really described them in chapter 1 verse 10 as those who have been delivered from the wrath to come. They've been saved. They've taken refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, found salvation in Him. They're saved. Or you can say they're siblings. Paul repeatedly calls them brethren. There is a relationship between them. They belong to the same family as children of God, having been born again and having the Lord Jesus as their elder brother. And you can say that they are students, for Paul says, I would not have you to be ignorant. They're students, if it's right, in the school of grace and also wanting to know how to grieve. But that's maybe how you can describe them most of all, by their sorrow. That's what Paul's addressing here, their sorrow. They know sorrow. Of course, sorrow that brings pain, like at the passing of a loved one, and they know a particular kind of sorrow, but it's not like the sorrow of the world that leaves them bitter and that leaves them callous, but grace has made them know another sorrow. Sorrow for sin. That's the reason why death comes. Sin has come into the world. And as in Adam all die, so we not only are spiritually dead, but we all must return to the dust. Sin is the cause of death, and that's the burden that they have received. They've been made to feel pain for their sin by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and that's broken them because they see that by their sin they've separated themselves from the Lord. But that sorrow the Lord gives is mixed with hope. That's exactly how Paul is describing it. A sorrow that's mixed with hope, for the Lord convicts by His Holy Spirit, not in order to drive the soul to despair while He despairs of Himself. True, but not of the Lord. The Lord drives him out. to seek deliverance and to taste forgiveness there is sorrow but it's not without hope as Paul puts it in Romans 5 verse 5 hope that maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost and so love is drawing the soul even while he's grieving and he may not even know what's happening but drawing him out to the Lord And those who know true sorrow for sin also know something of that joy in their soul, and that hope in their soul, with that sorrow because of the drawing love of the Father. For them there is a prospect, this prospect, being forever with the Lord. You see, it's not just for people who have been in church, who seem religious, and who seem Christian. and who talk Christian, and who act Christian, but it's for those who are true Christians, who have been born again, and who have a place to go with their sorrow, to Him, who's been made precious unto their souls, a people who know something of this union and communion with Him. It's a Christian's communion. It's a certain communion. A certain communion. And so, shall we ever be with the Lord? Paul does not say, I hope we will ever be with the Lord, and maybe it will happen, and there is a possibility, and a pretty good possibility. No, it is not just a possibility, it is a certainty. Why? Well, not because of Paul. And that Paul can see to it that this is carried out. And it's not because of the people of God. What can they do? They're weak of themselves. They cannot bring heaven down. They cannot bring themselves up. It's not because of them, but it's because of Him. Because of who He is and what He has done. The One with whom they will be together forever is the Lord, the Kurios, the Mighty One who has all power in heaven and on earth. And He has gone to the cross as that mighty Savior to purchase a complete salvation. And He will not rest till His church is with Him. And He longs for it too. And He said it in His high priestly prayer, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world." He has paid for it, and he is praying for it. It's a certain communion. Friends, what are you certain of? Are you certain that you'll be spared and brought into another year? Are you certain of that? Are you certain that you will be able to attend a school reunion? Are you certain that you will not get sick? Are you certain that you'll retire in comfort? Are you certain that you'll make it home tonight? The Christian cannot be certain of that, but he can be certain of this. this reunion, this heavenly reunion with the Lord forever. And it begins in this life, that the soul is restored into the favor of God in this life. And it's something that should mark the child of God more and more. communion with Christ. That is heaven below. And John Flavel, that Puritan preacher, said, heaven must be in us before we can be in heaven. When Christ comes, when the graves open, And all these Christians will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Where will you be? Will you see the meeting, but from a distance, still on the earth as an unconverted person? seeing them meeting from far, but you may not partake of it? Or will you be outside? Will you be left behind, awaiting your doom? You see, time is ticking. How many minutes are left? Where will you be when that day comes? Will you be filled with terror or filled with joy? It's not too late to seek Him and to call upon Him. The clock is ticking and He's here. He's here tonight saying to those who are just like the foolish virgins, and don't have oil in their lamps, but I can give you oil, and you can buy of me oil. The market of free grace is still open, and I can let my still small voice be heard in your soul, and I can show you heaven can be your prospect, because I came to this earth, and I took the hell that someone like you deserves. I was forsaken of my Father so that you might be accepted and never be forsaken and taken to heaven on that day. That's what heaven's clock is ticking towards. How sad it would be if you would be outside gnashing your teeth when today you may kiss the Son and taste His love and mercy. That's what He loves to do. He loves to give it so that you might have the prospect of heaven. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Can you sing along? Ever, O Lord, with Thee, all shall be well with me. held by thy hand, and thou wilt guide my feet by thy own counsel sweet, till I in glory stand, till I for glory meet in glory stand. Amen. Let us give thanks and pray. O most good-doing and gracious Lord of heaven and earth, what consolation Thou hast for Thy poor and needy church, often tossed and tried. Yet to make them look up in the midst of this weary life, this valley of tears, to Him who ever lives and who will not stop till His church be saved to sin no more, O Lord, grant Thy children something of that comfort of what awaits, and also to be those who are comforting one another with these words of whom we know it's a prepared place for a prepared people. And Lord, wilt Thou do Thy work of conversion to, so that we may begin perhaps for the first time to seek Thee in this very night, in secret and in silence already now, for that mercy which Thou dost delight to give to an undeserving people. Bless Thy Word Apply it to our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit. Help us to end this year in Thee. And as individuals, maybe, or as families, to go on our knees to pray, to read, and to sing. Thou wilt spare us into a new year. And help us, Lord, in everything, for we are a needy people. Forgive our sins and shortcomings in preaching and in listening. Bring us safely where we are expected. Take none out of this life unprepared. Prepare us to meet Thee. And we ask it in Jesus' name alone. Amen.