- From 1 Thessalonians 4
The word "Therefore" should always have a very important significance. It should be the concluding statement to a set of premises. What are the premises of Thessalonians 4, which lead to the "therefore?" Well here are a few of them:
- Jesus died and rose again
- God will bring the dead with Christ at His return
- The living will be part of this
- This sequence:
- God will give a command
- The archangel will call out
- A heavenly trumpet will sound
- Christ will descend from above
- The graves will cast out the resurrected dead
- As they rise up to meet the Lord, the living will be carried up with them
- We will live forever
...THEREFORE...
"...Encourage one another!"
There are so many things that church people (including pastors) will say to people to cheer them up, or give them hope. But how frequently do you hear anybody today, when wanting to boost someone's morale, say "Jesus is coming back!"?
In these times, you'd have to go over the sequence listed above, all over again. People just have no reference point for the Return of Christ. But since the days of my youth I have known exactly what it means: "Jesus is coming back!" This means that the dead will be raised, too, and we will live forever!
Eternal life!! With everyone else that has died!! This is Very Good News! This is the essence of the Gospel. When the Apostle Paul wanted to encourage people, what were his premises?
Jesus is coming back!
The dead will be raised to live forever!
That's it!
Not happiness now. Not health care. Not equality. Not housing. Not a college education.
As important as those things are . . . none of them have anything to do with what should really encourage us.
Crazy, right?
Of all the things in the sixty-six books of the Bible, that should give us focus and commitment, this is it:
"Jesus is coming back."
Therefore, encourage . . .
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