Key Verses 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”I have been blessed thus far in my life in regards to having to deal with death in my family. All four of my grandparents are still living and I haven’t had to deal with the death of any immediate family members. However, I know that this will not last. Time continues to tick on by. I along with those I love get a little older each day. The most difficult death I dealt with in my life was the death of my great grandfather, Hardy White Sr. He was a WWII veteran and he was my hero as a kid. I lived next door to him for 9 years and I visited him every day. We took walks together, sat on the couch together, ate ice cream together, and did a great number of other things together. I loved him, and he loved me. He died when I was 11 maybe 12 years old. It was hard. Most of you reading this have dealt with the death of loved ones much more than I have. You have grieved and mourned and you have hurt and are still hurting. However, there is hope. The church at Thessalonica wasn’t sure how to deal with the death of their loved ones. There were some false teachers in the area who were teaching that if you died before the return of Christ then you missed out, you missed heaven. Paul writes to reassure them that this not true. He wants us to understand the hope that we have. He doesn’t want us to live in sorrow like those without Christ and without hope. Those who have placed their faith in Christ have victory over death. They will also experience the second coming of Christ, and Paul says God will bing with Him those have ‘fallen asleep.’ Fallen asleep was a culturally acceptable way to talk about death. Friends in heaven not only will be united with God and see Him face to face, but we will also be reunited with family and friends who believed in Jesus but died before us. That should bring us great encouragement and hope. I can’t wait to see my great grandfather in heaven, and walk with him once more. It will be a great reunion. I want to encourage you to praise God this morning for the victory we have over death through Jesus, and praise Him for allowing us to one day be reunited with those we love!
