But this morning we're going to be looking at the last few verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, beginning verse 13. I'd like to read that, then open with prayer. Paul writes to this young church. He'd only been gone for about a year after he had founded and planted this church. And he says in verse 13, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, or those who have passed away, 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. Let's open with prayer. Father, you've given us these words here this morning to comfort us. And Lord, we live in a world full of sin, filled with problems, filled with diseases and filled with death. So, Father, even though we're faced with this time after time, every single day, pretty much every every single moment, we pray that we might come to your word this morning and find the comfort that you intend to give us through these words. We thank you, Lord, that you've given to us your Bible. We thank you, Lord, that we can be confident in what it says, because as you are perfect, so is your word. And we can believe every single one of them. So, Father, we ask that you might comfort us. no matter what we face, because you are the God of comfort. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'd like to start this message out by asking you a question. Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared to die? Now, who would ask such a question? Of course, we would expect a pastor to ask that kind of a question, wouldn't we? We would expect perhaps an evangelist or a missionary to go out and when they're witnessing and telling people about Jesus, they would ask that question. Are you prepared to die? Sometimes we would even expect a friend or a family member that is close to us. And we know that we're getting close. We're getting on in years and they want to make sure that everything's prepared. So are you prepared to die? These all probably do ask that question and they probably should. What about others that maybe you wouldn't expect to hear that phrase, that question from? What about a funeral director? Funeral directors have asked this question. Are you prepared to die? And of course, they have a reason for asking that question. Their reason is, because I want to sell you a prearranged funeral package so that you don't have to worry your heirs or your family after you die. So why don't you come before you die and prepare for the day that you do die? You can select the casket. You can select the color of the casket. You can select how plush and how cushiony it's going to feel for you when you're dead. Can't understand that. You can select how you want your funeral service to be. You can select the songs. You can select the people. And you can select your own final piece of property. You can select all that before you die. So a funeral director might ask you, are you prepared? And then try to sell you something. What about insurance salesmen? Not too long ago, they started asking that same question. Are you prepared to die? Why? Because they're wanting to sell you insurance in order to pay for what the funeral director is trying to sell you. Because it costs money, right? Average funeral today is about $10,000 and they want you to have the money to pay for that funeral. And so they want to sell you insurance. And I know this first hand because as I was finishing up at the bank, they started introducing a new sales method and a new product to sell. And that product was insurance for people that are preparing to die. And I'm thankful I didn't have to do that because I don't like to ask that question unless it has a spiritual reason, spiritual answer. But that phrase has become a sales pitch in recent years. You can see it on TV because final planning is a huge market. Why? Because death is a huge market. Are you prepared to die? Who would ask such a question? That situation was faced no differently 2,000 years ago in the city of Thessalonica to whom this letter was written. The Thessalonians were faced with death, but they had an even greater despair than some of the people that we would ask that question to. Because the Thessalonians, before they were saved, they believed in the annihilation of the soul. They believed that this life was all you had. And they believed that once you died, that was it. There's nothing beyond that. So you might as well live this life to its fullest because this is all you have. Now, there's some people that believe that today, but most people, if you ask them what's going to happen to you when you die, they think that there is something beyond this life. They hope that there's something beyond this life because this life hasn't been all it's cracked up to be, some of them think. But the Thessalonians had a deep despair over death. They did not know that there was a future, either a bright future in heaven or an even gloomier future in hell apart from God. But the fact is, you can even look at the inscriptions of some of the tombs from thousands of years ago in Thessalonica, and they basically said, this is it. This body that's here, that was it. They lived a good life, they lived a bad life, but that's all their life. That's it. But in the middle of this kind of despair of death, Paul writes to the Thessalonians and gives them a ray of light and a ray of hope to this young church. That's what they used to believe. But now they have an understanding that there is a future beyond death. There is something beyond that grave. It was a young church. They didn't know all the truth. They were growing. They were learning, as we all ought to be growing and we all ought to be learning. But it was also a persecuted church. And I would imagine that at this time, just a year after or so, that Paul had left and then was writing this letter to encourage them. I would imagine through that persecution, some of the Thessalonian Christians might have been killed. They might have been martyred. Of course, many of them may have already passed away just from natural causes like old age and disease, but perhaps there may have been some persecution and perhaps some of them were martyrs. And so against this backdrop of opposition and persecution, Paul says, I would not have you to be ignorant in verse 13, brethren. I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." He was referring to the other Thessalonians who did not belong to this church. The other Thessalonian believers who did not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. They didn't have hope because they didn't think anything was beyond this grave. But he said, you do have hope. So don't be sorrowful. Don't grieve about death like others do. because there is hope from death. Now, why is this important? Because they were persecuted. They were opposed on every side. We don't face this kind of opposition. We don't face people trying to kill us or imprison us because of our faith. But that's what they experienced. And this message that there is hope from death was very important. But Like us, they also understood the labor that it takes to be a Christian is following after the Lord, doesn't it? It takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of hard work. We've already looked in some passages in the very first part of chapter four. It talks about how you need to be holy. To be holy as a Christian takes hard work. And then like we saw last week, it talks about loving one another, and especially other Christians. And loving one another is hard work. And so they, like we, have these same labors and we strive hard. And the Bible says there is hope from death. Because even though you're working hard, trying to please God, trying to serve God, trying to be holy, trying to love one another the way you should, and fail, There is hope from death. If you are born again Christian, the reason for this passage here is that there is hope for you, a hope that the world does not have, a hope that only belongs to someone who is a child of God, who doesn't have to worry about the opposition that they will face, who doesn't have to worry about how hard it is to be a Christian because something is going to happen in the future. And that future is bright. and that future is our hope. And so we see, first of all, in verse 14, for a born-again Christian, your hope is coming. Your hope is coming. Paul says, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. We've already seen in 1 Thessalonians a brief taste of the Lord's coming. If you've got your Bibles open, turn back with me in chapter 1. And in every single chapter of Thessalonians, Paul gives a little glimpse. of what a Christian's hope really is. In chapter 1, verse 10, what does Paul say? He says that he was commending them because you are waiting for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. He said, you are waiting for His Son from heaven, which implies Jesus is coming. And then in chapter 2, verse 19, just a page over, Paul says, for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ? When? At His coming? Again, a little glimpse of this ray of hope for believers. Jesus is coming. And then in chapter 3, verse 13, He says, I'm writing this to the end, that he may establish your hearts, unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, when? At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. Again, chapter 3, he says, Jesus is coming. This is a little glimmer of hope. And now, even after these small glimpses, He is now going to expand upon them and expound them because Jesus' coming is your hope as a Christian. He's already said in chapter 1, Jesus is coming. He already said in chapter 2, Jesus is coming. He already said in chapter 3, Jesus is coming. And now in chapter 4, He says, Jesus' coming is your hope. This is that light that will shine into the darkness of this world, into the gloominess about death and grieving. We've heard about some people that passed away just recently and the funeral services where people gather together to remember their life and they grieve and it's a difficult time for them. They sorrow. But Paul says, You as a Christian don't have to sorrow about other Christians who have died, because Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, and now Jesus is coming is your hope as well. Why is it our hope? Because we see that the coming of Jesus Christ is all a part of God's gospel for His people. What is the Gospel? Many times we've just believed that it's the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we see this in verse 14. Paul says, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. That is part of the Gospel. But the fact is, he also says in verse 14, even so, them which also sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. We have here the fact that God will bring with Him those children who have died in His arms. He's going to bring with Him. That means He's going to return. Jesus is going to come and that is all part of the Gospel. It's not just His death. It's not just His burial. It's also His return. This is the glorious hope of the Gospel. We don't have to worry because Jesus who was alive and who died and who rose again hasn't just forgotten us for 2,000 years. He is in heaven, as it says in the Gospel of John. He is preparing a place for us, and He will come again and receive us unto Himself, so that where He is, we may be with Him also. The Lord's return in the content of the Gospel is just as important as His death and resurrection, because since He is alive, He can and will return. You know, I noticed this last night when we were pledging during our kids night out. We had a great group of kids and we had a blast. But at the very beginning, we say our pledges. We say our pledges to the American flag, then the Christian flag and then the Bible. And as we were saying the pledge to the Christian flag, I realized that in that pledge, It shows to us the completeness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news. It's not just that He died for your sins so you don't have to. It's not just that He rose again to release the power of sin over us, but it's also that Jesus Christ is going to come back for us and will bring us to be with Him forever. This is our hope. What is the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands. And listen. One Savior, crucified, risen, and what? Coming again! That's all part of the Gospel. With life and liberty to all who believe. If you believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, your hope is coming. It's coming. But also, the coming of Jesus Christ is part of God's goodness to His people. Especially toward other Christians who have already died. This was written about that in mind. They were grieving. They were sorrowing because some of their fellow Christians, some of their church members passed away and they didn't know if they were going to receive all the benefits of Jesus's coming back to earth. They didn't know that. And so Paul was reassuring them that even though someone dies before Jesus comes, That does not mean that they are second class citizens. That doesn't mean that they are not going to receive all the benefits of the gospel, but rather it means that they will be resurrected first. Even though their souls are in heaven with God right now, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Yet there will come a day when the body itself will be raised Not the bodies that we're living in now that decay, but it will be raised an incorruptible body, a glorified body, and it will be reunited with our spirit and our soul. And then we will forever be with God. So everyone who's alive in Christ and everyone who's dead in Christ has this hope that is coming. The coming of Jesus Christ is all part of God's goodness because those who have died in Christ are not separated from Christ at death. This is something that we need to remember, especially when we have someone who we love who's a Christian and they pass away. They are not separated from Christ at death. Paul writes it this way in Romans 8 38. He says, For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Death cannot separate a Christian from their Savior. That's God's goodness to you. So not only do we have to sorrow at another Christian's death, but we don't have to fear death either, because death will never separate you as a Christian from your Savior. But in fact, these who have passed away are just sleeping in Christ at death. This is an unusual phrase in verse 14. It says, even so them also went sleep in Jesus. That's an interesting phrase because It teaches that as a Christian, death is not a finality. Death is more like a body that is sleeping and will eventually be awoke the next day in order to live their life. And that's the truth about Christians. Death is more like a sleep. In fact, I was reading this at my son's basketball practice, and I was telling this to my daughter, and she just was kind of nodding, and, uh-huh, Daddy, uh-huh, uh-huh, if you really think so, okay, this is really interesting, because I was excited about something that I read. Where we get the word cemetery from is from the Greek word cemeteria, which means a sleeping place. And the churches back then, Christians, made these cemeteries, not as a place where they would inter their dead without any hope, but it was just another resting place, it was another bed, so that when Jesus would come, he would awake them, awaken their bodies, and they would live forever to be with God, both soul and body. And that was exciting to me, and my daughter was like, uh-huh, that's really neat. And you might be saying the same thing, but it's fascinating because when you die and when a Christian dies, you know what's going to happen? This body will be sown in corruption, but it will be raised a glorified body. It will be raised incorruptible. And that is your hope from death. You don't have to fear it. You don't have to fear what has happened to others because a Christian death is just asleep. And if you've received God's goodness, Your hope is coming. There is hope because Jesus Christ's return is coming. We know that death is everywhere. We see cemeteries everywhere, which again, based on the etymology, is a place where people go to sleep. We see large cemeteries and we see small cemeteries. Every time I drive up 300 from Mount Comfort, I see that one cemetery, and I don't remember the name on it, but there's a name, you remember what that is? It doesn't really matter, but it's a small cemetery. And every time I drive by there, it catches my eye. I don't know why. Perhaps because it's a small cemetery and I'm used to these big cemeteries, but they're everywhere. You can just drive down the middle of nowhere and you'll find a cemetery because death is everywhere. You see public cemeteries and then like the small one, you see private cemeteries because death is everywhere. You see city cemeteries and then you see country cemeteries. Some of them that are overgrown with weeds. When we lived up in Indianapolis, We were just a few, maybe a block or so away from a cemetery that sat right off I-465. And I remember we were over some friends houses there in the neighborhood and we went back there and they showed us some cemetery, which I had no idea was there. And some of the tombstones you couldn't read anymore. It wasn't really being taken care of. I think someone who owned the property would go and mow the grass every once in a while. But it was run down. It wasn't taken care of. And the people that were buried there were all but forgotten. And yet that was in the middle of a big city because cemeteries are everywhere. Death is everywhere. There's even human cemeteries and animal cemeteries now, right? You can pay to have your pet buried in the cemetery. We have the third largest cemetery in the United States right here in Indianapolis, Crown Hill Cemetery. Or imagine living in the city of Colma, California. I read this, it's fascinating. It's a town, very small town, of 2.2 square miles. But nearly 75% of its land is zoned for cemeteries. The mayor, according to Mayor Helen Fiscaro, the city has, this is what she says, 1,500 residents above ground and 1.5 million residents underground. Wouldn't you like to live in a city like that? Death is everywhere. But through Jesus Christ, even though death is surrounding us everywhere, there is hope. because your hope is coming. And secondly, your hope, as we see in verse 15, is certain if you're a child of God. Your hope in Jesus' coming is certain, he says in verse 15, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. We know that Jesus is coming. We know that our hope is certain because of His word to you. It says in verse 15, he is speaking this by the word of the Lord. It's the same as saying, thus saith the Lord. Used to be when a man would give his word, you could count on everything that they say to do or to do. You could count on it. Well, when God says something we can count on what he promises, he is able also to perform. And when Jesus says that I am going to come again for you and receive you unto myself, we can bank on those words. He has promised that he will perform it. And it's by that word that he gives to us that we know our hope is certain. Because his word is to you, you can be confident that if you're a Christian, He will not leave you in death. He will not leave your loved ones who are Christians in death. He will bring you to Himself, and we can be confident of that. But also, not only is our hope certain because of His Word to you, but also because of His will for you. Now, these verses have been much debated, especially in the study of eschatology, which is the study of the last things. And what I believe here that we have in these verses is an illustration and a teaching of the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ. But I don't believe that His will is in these verses to give you and to give me the exact timing of His return. We don't know when Jesus will come. The Thessalonians believed that it could be at any moment, and that was 2,000 years ago. So we know that Jesus Christ has not returned for at least 2,000 years. But the fact is, Every church since the founding of the Thessalonian church and other churches have always looked for the coming of Jesus Christ. In other words, it is imminent. It is just around the corner. It is something that can happen at any moment. Jesus Christ's promise to come back could happen right now, as I'm speaking. We could, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, be raised up into the sky and meet Jesus in the air. That could happen. It could happen now. But the timing is not what is being taught here, because the timing is not that important. Nor is His will to give you the identity of the remnant of those who will be here. Some believe that when Paul said, we who are alive and remain, he was talking about something that would happen in his lifetime. But I believe when he uses that term, he's describing that he didn't know for a fact that he would be part of the remnant that would be raised up. Nor did the Thessalonians. But he's saying there will come a time in history, or at his point, in the future, when Jesus comes, there will be Christians on earth that will experience this rapture. That will experience being caught up together with God in the clouds. So we know this is going to happen, even though the timing is uncertain, even though the identity of who that church will be is uncertain. His will ultimately is to give you the promise that he has made, and that promise is for you to be with him forever. He says, We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. His will is that no one gets left behind. whether you are alive in the Lord or you've died in the Lord. It's God's will that no one gets left behind. And he says, in fact, those that are alive are not going to prevent or precede the ones that are dead. So he actually gives a priority to those that have died. We know from the Bible that blessed in the eyes of the Lord is the death of the saints. He loves those who have passed away. And so he is going to bring them up first and then those that are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds and no one will be left behind. That's a motto of some of the armed forces. No one gets left behind. It's the motto of our savior first. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, no one will be left behind. There's been a series of books out called Left Behind. Some of you have read some of those books. Who are the ones left behind? The ones who don't know Christ. And that entire book starts with a rapture of the church and a rapture of all those who are dead in Christ. And at the very beginning of all that book series, not a single one of those people are saved because no one of God's people will be left behind at this time. That's his will for you. His will for you and for me is that we be with him forever. That's his promise. And because of this will for you, you can be certain of your hope. There is hope because Christ's return is certain. Not only did we know that death is everywhere, but death also affects everyone. At the third largest cemetery in the United States here in Indianapolis, Crown Hill Cemetery, you will find famous people. You will find famous authors. The Hoosier poet is buried there. You will find famous bank robbers there. You will find 11 Indiana governors buried at Crown Hill Cemetery. You will even find one United States president buried there. But the fact is, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. Death is going to affect every single person. It's going to affect me, unless the Lord returns and brings me home. apart from death. It's going to affect you. It's going to affect others that you know. Death affects everyone, but only through Jesus Christ there is hope, because as we see third in verse 16, your hope is clear. Your hope will be crystal clear, because what's going to happen is the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. You and I will not doubt that Jesus Christ has come when he comes. It's not going to be a question of whether he did or didn't, because it will be crystal clear in the eyes and the hearts and the minds and the experience of life of every single child of God. Every person will know when he has come. because it's going to be a personal return. It says that the Lord Himself, the same Jesus that saved you, the same Jesus that you have committed your life to, the same Jesus that you believe, the same Jesus that you love, this same Jesus will return for you personally, no matter how long it seems. Even if it seems that He's forgotten you, and it has been thousands of years, but we need to remember that God's idea of time isn't like ours. To God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. So if we add that up in a mathematical formula, it's as if two days passed in the eyes of God. But that's just an illustration for us to realize that God doesn't measure time the same way we do. He will come at any moment, and death may come at any moment, But when He does come at that moment, whenever that is, He will come personally. And the fact is, is that when we are raised up, we will see Him for who He is. We will see Him face to face. And we will know Him. We will be able to see the scars on His hand and on His feet. We will know Him even though these pictures that we see that have been painted, they're not what He's going to look like. I mean, we don't know what He's going to look like. But when He comes, we will know Him. We will see him face to face and we'll know him because we've loved him all along. We believe in him all along. We've trusted him all along and he. Will come for us. It'll be crystal clear because it'll also be a promise return. Many times Jesus promised that he would return. Listen to a few verses. John 14, 3. Jesus says, If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am ye may be also. Acts 1.11, if you remember, after Jesus was dead and buried and then rose again, He stayed in the world, stayed on earth for about 40 days, and then He was ascended into heaven. And the angels, as the disciples were gawking, looking up at the sky, the angels said this, Ye men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. It is a promised return. Jesus has promised to come back to rescue and redeem and restore his church. This is why it will be crystal clear to you when he has come. It's also going to be a powerful return. He will signal his coming with a cry, with a voice of an archangel and with a trumpet of God. And this signal will be loud enough that you and I can hear it and we will know distinctly what it is. I've heard some people say when they hear the tornado sirens going off, they think it's the trumpet, the last trumpet. When you hear the last trumpet, you're going to know what it is. There's going to be no doubt because at the moment you hear it, you know what's going to happen. You're going to be in the sky. You think, now I know what's happening. I'm going to be with God forever. And all the people that have died before me that are in Christ are going to be up there with me. And we're going to have a great reunion because His powerful return will do that. He will summon His church in a very loud, verbal and authoritative way. And I believe that what is listed here is not just symbolic. I believe there will be a literal trumpet, a literal cry, a literal voice of an archangel because it happened at earth once before. You don't need to turn there, but I want you to think about this. It's on your message guide. In Exodus 19, when all the people of Israel gathered around Mount Sinai, God was going to summon his people to hear the reading of the law of God. And there were earthquakes and there were lightnings, but there was also something that was unmistakable. And it caused great fear and trembling amongst the people of Israel. There was a great trumpet. There was a great trumpet. And the trumpet was loud and kept getting louder and louder and it was consistent. This was the trumpet of God at Mount Sinai. It wasn't somebody blowing a trumpet. Because if it was just blowing a trumpet, they would have to take a breath. This was a trumpet that sounded continually and it was unmistakable to them. They knew it was the trumpet of God. They were summoned together and they were challenged by God to keep his commandments. The fact is, at the last trumpet, it'll be so distinctive. It'll be so clear. We will not have to doubt what has happened. The fact is, it can happen any moment. So not only should we look for the coming of Christ, we ought to listen. We ought to listen. And when we hear that trumpet, we will know that Jesus Christ's promise has been fulfilled because it will also be a perfect return. It's going to be a personal return. It is a promised return. It will be a powerful return and it will be a perfect return because his purpose and his plan will be completely fulfilled. It says there that the dead in Christ shall rise because they were always his. Romans 14 says, whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. This is your hope. This is your hope. Christ's coming will be clear. You will know it when you see it and when you hear it. And if you are Christ's, whether you're alive or dead, you won't miss it. Not only does death affect everyone, but also death can arrive at any time. The Greenfield Reporter that I read or looked on the online version later this week, the Greenfield Reporter lists nearly 50 obituaries for February. It's almost over 50 obituaries. The ages didn't matter. It's from age 20 to age 97. Those are just the ones that I count. According to the World Health Organization, almost two people die in the world every second. As of right now, about 90,000 people would have died today. Age doesn't matter. Geography doesn't matter. Death can arrive at any time, and at every moment in time, it does occur. The fact is, we don't have to be sorrowful like those who have no hope, because through Jesus Christ, our hope is complete. We find in verse 17, Paul says, what's going to happen to the rest? The dead in Christ will rise first, but then we which are alive and remain, those who will be the remnants at that time, 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. This is going to be a complete rapture of this church. Somebody once told me that the word rapture is never mentioned in our Bibles. And in our English Bibles, that's very true. We don't see the word rapture in this context translated in our English Bibles. But there is a Bible that is translated where you would find the word rapture, and that is the Latin version. It comes from the Latin word rapturo, from which we get our word rapture. But the Latin word rapture is translated that from this phrase, caught up. So if someone asks you if rapture is in the Bible, you say absolutely. It may not be translated in our English versions, but it was certainly translated as rapture in a Bible. But the idea of being caught up, that's a rapture. The rapture is in the Bible and it is going to be a complete rapture. Not only the dead in Christ, but all who are alive and remain shall be raptured, caught up together to be with the Lord forever. It's going to be a complete reunion. All the other Christians, whether dead or alive, will be with you at that meeting in the air. It will be a complete reward because who are we going to meet? We're going to meet the one who saved us, the Lord himself. He is our reward. God Himself told Abraham, I am your exceeding great reward. In Revelation 22, 12 it talks about Jesus. Jesus saying, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Jesus Christ is our reward, and when we are raptured, whether dead or alive, we've got it. This is all we've been hoping for. This is all we could have ever asked for. This is what we now are receiving. And we will be with him forever. It is a complete result. We will be in his presence forever. There's no need to sorrow, as it says, even as others which have no hope, because there is hope, because Christ's return will be complete. This is your hope if you're a Christian today. It is coming, it is certain, it is clear, and it will be complete. So, as we come to verse 18, Paul says this, Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. You know, I hope this message has been a comfort to those who know Christ, because His coming is our hope. Now, this message is for you to share as well. Now you, like me, are able to go out and to comfort one another with these words. I think of some people that are missing here today that could use these words. Don't you? Maybe there's some people in your family that could use these words. Maybe there's some people that you know that are grieving from loss of loved ones that could use these words. Jesus Christ is coming again. He provides that hope. So when you're faced with death, he says don't grieve like unbelievers. Don't grieve like unbelievers. We don't have to be grieving, throwing, as they did in the past, ashes on our head and wearing black all the time and having a downcast look, because if our hope is in Christ and their hope was in Christ, there's going to be a meeting, a meeting in the air. And we don't have to grieve like unbelievers, because our great hope is in the return of Christ. But also, when you're faced with difficulty, don't give up. If you are struggling in your efforts of holiness, don't give up because there's a hope that this mortal body will take on immortality. This imperfect body will take on perfection. You have a great hope in the returning of Christ, because as we read earlier this morning, I want to close with a few more verses that we that we started the service with. If you got nothing else, I want you to listen. When faced with death, don't grieve like unbelievers. When faced with difficulty, don't give up, because we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God. which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you prepared to die?