The Aim of Eschatology Part 2 | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Scripture

• 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

About this sermon

Introduction: The aim of eschatology is the same aim as the goal of all our instruction. What are we aiming at, FOR OUR LISTENERS, is what the Bible tells us MUST BE OUR GOAL. NAS 1 Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. The aim is love. Love for God, love for His people, love for His truth, love for His cause in the world. The kind of love that belongs to a kind of SOUL CONDITION. Pure hearts. Good consciences. Sincere believers. This is the aim for eschatology as surely as it is the aim for everything else we teach. Eschatology matters, but ONLY in the pursuit of the kind of knowledge that exists in the worship of God. The aim for the teaching of eschatology cannot differ from any other subject in the Word of God. This morning, we considered why the Thessalonians were troubled when they thought about their deceased loved ones. They have already been taught about the return of Christ. They will soon be reminded of what they had already been taught about the “day of the Lord” (chapter 5). ESV 1 Thessalonians 5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. We know that these people know the gospel. They have been taught about the death, burial, and RESURRECTION of Jesus. They have been taught about the forgiveness of sins, the gift of justification, and the reality of eternal life. SO WHY ARE THEY CONCERNED? What does Paul understand their concerns (and I would argue their confusion) to be centered on? As I mentioned this morning, I think we gain insight into this from his second letter to this church. It seems that what he is beginning to address in this letter HAS PERSISTED when he writes to them shortly after. ESV 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? It seems that their concerns have to do with confusion about the day of the Lord. Someone, it seems, has troubled SOME of them, with the thought that they were already in the time that belongs to the “day of the Lord.” We demonstrated this morning that “the day of the Lord” includes a series of events. It culminates in the second coming of Christ to the earth, and the judgement of the earth, but includes the events of the 7-year tribulation period — THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE. IF YOU THINK YOU ARE IN THE DAY OF THE LORD — false teaching taking advantage of your current sufferings as evidence — AND IT TROUBLES YOU, THEN IT MUST BE BECAUSE THAT SCENARIO DIFFERS FROM WHAT YOU HAD EXPECTED. You are troubled because what you are hearing, and what you believe you are experiencing, differs from what you had been taught by Paul. AND IF THAT TEACHING INCLUDED AN EXPLANATION ABOUT A PROGRAM OF RESURRECTION, THEN IT ALSO TROUBLES YOU ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE PRECEDED YOU IN DEATH. What would all this mean for their loved ones who had already died? PAUL’S ANSWER — BOTH IN 1 AND 2 THESSALONIANS — TAKES THEM BACK TO WHAT HE HAD ALREADY TAUGHT THEM AND EXPANDS ON WHAT HE HAD ALREADY TAUGHT THEM. “Here is God’s program for the coming of Christ for His church.” “Here is what will happen when Christ returns for His saints.” You are safe.