“Come up thither”

I Thessalonians 4:13-18Revelation 4:1

I Corinthians 15: 51-53

I.            THE RETURN OF THE REIGNING SAVIOURA.          The Certainty Of His ReturnB.           The Command At His Return

II.           THE RESURRECTION OF THE RESTING SLEEPERS               A.           The Present State

B.           The Promised SceneIII. THE RAPTURE OF THE REMAINING SAINTS

A. Changed InstantlyB.           Changed Incorruptibly

IV. THE REUNION OF REJOICING SPIRITS               A.           It will be the Largest Family

Reunion Ever               B.             It will be the Longest Family

Reunion Ever               C.            It will be the Loveliest Family

Reunion EverD. It will be the Loudest Family Reunion Ever

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History tell us "look back.” Science tells us, "look around." Philosophy tell us "look within." Christianity says, "look up."

The difference between a lost man and a saved man is simply that the lost man has no hope, and the saved man has a blessed hope.

I know of no other doctrine in the Bible that ought to encourage us more than the second coming of Jesus. It ought to cause us to be optimistic in a world that is going to hell. It ought to cause us to be evangelistic to a world that is lost without Jesus.

Dwight L. Moody once said, "I have felt like working three times as hard since I came to understand that my Lord is coming again."

The end of this age of grace as we know it will end with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two very wonderful truths we need to learn about this return.

A. The Certainty Of His Return

We are told the Lord will return. One sure thing you can count on is that Jesus is

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I. THE RETURN OF THE REIGNING SAVIOUR - “the Lord himself shall descend”

coming again.

How can we be so certain?

1. Certain because of the Past Work of the Lord (14)

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is our assurance that Jesus will return again one day. His death and resurrection shows us that His returning again is possible. His past work is a guarantee that the future work is possible.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundational truth of Christianity. Everything else we

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believe stands or falls on that great truth. We must never compromise this

doctrine. It is entirely non-negotiable.

The certainty of our blessed hope is inseparable from Christ’s resurrection.

A preacher once was told, “You are a fool. Imagine anyone believing in a crucified dead Jew.”

He quickly answered, “I should be a fool if I believed in a crucified, dead Jew. But I believe in the risen and returning again Lamb of God.”

2. Certain because of the Promised Word of the Lord

Paul said it by the “word of the Lord.” One-third of the Bible is about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Three hundred and

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eighteen times in the New Testament, or one out every thirty verses tell us that Jesus is coming again.

Over and over our Lord said, "I will come again." Although if He said it once, it would have been enough. If the only verse in the Bible that referred to the second coming of Jesus was John 14:3 where

Jesus said, "I will come again and receive you unto myself." I believe it because my Lord said it.

See John 14:1-3.

1The purpose of His departure becomes the

assurance and guarantee of His return. The departure had for its purpose

the preparing of a place for us; therefore it is necessarily follows a return for us. He is returning to receive us unto HIMSELF and take us to a place He has prepared for us.

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“The Lord Himself shall descend.” It is His delight to come for us. The Lord isn't going to send

someone else to get us. He will take us home personally. That tells us

how precious we are to Him.

A1 new preacher to a church was so nervous about delivering his first sermon that he'd not gotten much sleep for several nights. Matter of fact, he was so tired he could barely

make it up the steps to his pulpit. Fortunately, he found his text and

began preaching. But nervousness soon overtook him, and the outline flew right out of his mind. Now, in Bible School he'd been taught

that if a lapse of memory occurs, it is wise to repeat your last point. And so he did.

"Behold," he quoted, "I come quickly," but his mind was still a blank. He

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tried one more time, still no memory of what was to come next. Another attempt but still no results. Finally he stepped back and made a lunge toward

the pulpit, shouted out, "Behold, I come quickly," and as he did he tripped and

fell into the lap of a little old lady in the front row. Flustered and embarrassed, he picked himself up, apologized profusely, and started to explain what had happened.

"That's all right, young man," said the kindly old lady. "It was really my fault. You warned me three times that you were on your way down here. I should have just gotten out of your way."

We can be certain He is coming because He said He would. He

said He would come again. He cannot and will not lie!

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B. The Command At His Return

“with a shout”- This a shout for the church to “Come up hither.” This is an order, a command (military command). Christ will come as Conqueror!

There are three times in the Bible that it indicates to us that Jesus shouted. Every time Jesus shouts a resurrection occurs. Here is a shout that commands the resurrection of dead saints and the rapture of the living saints.

The next great event at return of Jesus will be the resurrection of those saints who have died. Jesus will shout "Come up thither," and the graves of God's people everywhere will fly open and the dead in Christ will be raised with their new resurrection bodies. Up from the sea or up from

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II. THE RESURRECTION OF THE RESTING

the sod, all the dead in Christ will arise.

A. The Present State - “which are asleep…..sleep in Jesus….which are asleep”

– these are the dead in Christ.

I Thessalonians 4:13 tells us that those saints who have departed as “sleep in Jesus.” This does not refer to "soul sleep." It refers to the fact that their bodies are asleep. When a saint of God leaves this world, his spirit and soul is immediately ushered into the very presence of the Lord. His body will be buried in the ground.

Paul proclaimed in 2 Cor. 5:8, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

Now, the Bible never uses the term “asleep” when referring to non-Christians, but always uses the term for

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believers. Physical death for believers is nothing more than sleep. “Asleep” is a beautiful figure of speech in the Bible that is used by the Holy

Spirit to refer to the death of a child of God. The Bible never talks about death in terms

of a lost person as sleep, but for Christians the Bible refers to death as sleep.

Presently, all those who have left this world in a saved condition are in the

presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, there is coming a day when that body that is at rest will come forth.

B. The Promised Scene – “dead in Christ shall rise first”

The dead in Christ will be resurrected!

Not just any person will rise from the dead but only those who are “in Christ. It is a selective resurrection. All dead will not be

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raised. The Scriptures make it plain that unsaved people will not be raised until many years later after the millennium.

As one preacher friend of mine has said:

Graves Will Release the Saints Who Are Asleep,

And Gravity Will Release the Saints Who Are

Alive!

Though the word “rapture” is not found in our Bibles, it comes from the words of our text “caught up.” It means to be snatched away, to seize, and to carry off and from it we get our English word "rapture.”

"then we which are alive and remain...” that’s the crowd I want to be in. When this

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III. THE RAPTURE OF THE REMAINING SAINTS – “the “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds”

snatching away occurs we are going to be transformed. We are going to be changed from corruption to incorruption; from mortality to immortality; from death unto life.

The story is told about a man, a farmer, who had never been to a big city. He had lived out on the farm all of his life; he had never seen a building over three stories tall. He went to town for the first time and saw an elevator for the first time. It fascinated him. He didn't even know what it was. He was standing there watching with his half grown son, and he noticed an old lady get on the elevator and the door shut behind her. The dials moved up and then they moved back down. The door opened again and a beautiful young lady stepped off. He couldn't believe his eyes. He said to his son, "Son, stay right here, I'm going to get your mother and run her through that thing."

My dear friend, when Jesus says, "come up hither," we are going to be caught up and transformed.

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“Behold, I shew you a mystery; 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,” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

This new body will not only be a restoration of our present material body, but a resurrection of a new spiritual body. It will come forth from the ground uncontaminated by any stain of sin. No longer will it be plagued by pain, wrecked by wrinkles, and destroyed by death. Though our earthly body is subject to decay, disease, and death, our heavenly body will be imperishable, incorruptible, and incapable of any flaw or weakness.

A. Changed Instantly

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“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”- It will not be a process; it will happen so fast it will be over before we will even understand that it has begun!

B. Changed Incorruptibly

“and we shall be changed” - that word “change” means “to cause one thing to cease and another to take its place.” This old body are going to be changed instantly. One minute we will be here, the next we will be there! One minute we will be in these vile, sinful, dying bodies, and the next we will be have a body of incorruption.

What an event to look forward to. When in the twinkling of an eye, we will receive our immortal and incorruptible bodies.

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IV. THE REUNION OF REJOICING SPIRITS – “caught together with them in the

There is going to be a family reunion the likes of which this world has never seen.

A. It will be the Largest Family Reunion Ever

B. It will be the Longest Family Reunion Ever

It will last forever. We will never be separate again. We will never say “goodbye” again.

C. It will be the Loveliest Family Reunion Ever

It will be held beyond pearly gates, lined with streets of gold, and a crystal sea.

D. It will be the Loudest Family Reunion Ever

The praises for the saints will be heard from one end of heaven to the other. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing

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that will be.

Conclusion

One of these days Jesus is going to come back, and only those people who know Jesus and love Jesus and have Jesus as their Lord, and share his nature, will go up, up, and away and leave the rest of this world behind. I pray to God that you are one of those who know him, or today will be the day of your salvation, so that when that trumpet blows and that angel shouts and the Lord commands, you too will go up, up, and away.

A wealthy woman met a fascinating fellow and fell in love with him. He proposed, and she accepted. He promised to meet her the next morning at ten o’clock, marry her, and take her off on a happy honeymoon. However, he didn’t show up. She waited six hours for him, but he didn’t appear. She returned every day for 37

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years, but he never appeared. "Give him up!" begged her family and friends.

"No!" she would cry. "He loves me. I know he will come for me. He said he would. I’ll wait." She bought a building on that corner. There she lived, waited and died. But he never came. At her request she was buried on that corner. A light was placed on her grave. It burns night and day, revealing the inscription, "I’m still waiting."

  Our Lord won’t disappoint us. He said in John 14:3, "If I go...I will come again." We do not know when He will come, but we know that He will come.

Some golden daybreak Jesus will comeSome golden daybreak, battles all wonHe’ll shout the vict’ry, break thro’ the

blueSome golden daybreak, for me, for you.

A family was packing suit-cases and loading the car for a trip to Grandmother’s house. The

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little girl said, “Daddy, are we going to heaven someday?”

Dad replied, “Why sure, darling, why do you ask?”

“Well”, said the daughter, “when we want to go to Grandmother’s house we get ready to go. But I don’t see us getting ready to go to heaven and the preacher talks about it all the time!”

ARE YOU READY FOR THE LORD’S RETURN?

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