Christian confidence in Death.

Here is an excellent sermon giving the good news that those who believe in Jesus can be assured of going to heaven. And the bad news that non-believers won't.

1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 verses 13-18

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Transcript prepared from the YouTube video

The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has moved all of us so very deeply. It has been astonishing to see the flow of folk coming into the cathedral to sign a condolence books and to read some of the messages with queues sometimes out the door and even across the square. Just one of those times I think I'll never forget.

One of those interviewed said "she's a rock that's always been there, you know politicians change wars have happened but the queen is always been there. It's the end of an era." And her face kind of collapsed as she finished speaking. And Her Majesty is no longer there and the extraordinary outpouring of grief and affection tells me many are searching for stability time in a time of change. Many are searching for hope in the face of mortality and many also I believe, are searching for a foundation for the virtue of the kind displayed by the queen which now seems so uncommon. So we've spoken much of the Queen and will do so in days ahead but today I address the hard questions death raises.

• What’s happened to the person who died?
• Will we see them again?
• What is there to encourage is in this tim

For death will come our way too and we don't know where. And everyone has to face those questions at some stage so this morning we speak of hope professed by her late majesty through the King she served the Lord Jesus Christ and I've chosen 1Thessalonians. Chapter 4 there to explain why we do not need to grieve without hope. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13.

Brothers and sisters we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope.

And that very first sentence of our reading shows there's a lot we feel unsure about. A lot we are ignorant of when a person dies. But one thing is sure that's the grief always flows. And Paul says it's OK to grieve. When a Christian brother or sister dies, verse 13 doesn't forbid grief. Death brings an inevitable sorrow. Mourning is natural and emotionally necessary.  It’s so right to ache the loss of a loved one, you will miss them, sometimes desperately, but a believer will wake up again to life eternal.

Three times in verses 13 to 15 the author describes dead people as having fallen asleep. Paul uses this metaphor of sleep to express the idea that physical death is only temporary. As sleep is followed by waking so death is followed by resurrection So what Paul forbids is grief, like the rest that is the non Christian world around. Paul, and you might think it's rather pointed, says they have no hope. And it’s true.

Mid 1st century around the time he wrote, Pliny the elder Roman historian philosopher and military commander said God and I quote, "cannot even if he wishes bestow eternity on mortals or recall the deceased". That’s Roman religion. Today materialist atheists typically say all we are as a bunch of cleverly arranged organic chemicals. When you die you rot and that's it. And you know, unless you had a titanium knee replacement, your chemicals aren't even worth much more than 5 bucks and the best you can hope for is that they’ll say nice things about you and maybe enjoy a good wake.  

The SMH cartoonist Cathy Wilcox this week provoked people, and I guess that's a cartoonist job, with her image of a man sitting bolt upright in bed - I know the feeling - with this caption "Bill woke in the middle of the night and realised that as his God clearly failed to save his gracious queen, he would perhaps need to take responsibility for his own destiny."

Apart from the silliness of thinking salvation means God leaving you stuck in an ever ageing weak body, at least the atheist belief is brutally honest at this point. On your own. Because many other Aussie’s who barely give God the time of day, vaguely expect they've been good enough to be up there in heaven beyond the clouds. But there is no substantial hope. That's just wishful thinking. And besides that, it's just not true because the Bible says if you die without a right relationship to God, you face judgement for your sins. Too many people avoid responsibility for their actions in this life and many do escape the bar of human justice but all of us will account to God for our lives.

In the face of that, Christians have a sure hope. So Paul says don't grieve like others without hope. At a Christian funeral like the Queens, there will be tears but this should also be celebration not so much just for the good things the person did which we are thankful for but of the decisive victory Christ one over death for them. And so our sadness is for those left behind but not for the dead person. As Paul famously wrote elsewhere "she's gone to be with Christ which is better by far".

And this passage says, verse 14,  believers who have died are not suffering but asleep with him that is in Jesus. And that's why I'm bold to say all the best funerals I've been to have been for believers Christian funerals just have a different feel. And that feel comes from the underlying hope emerging up through the grief. Aand verse 14 gives the reason for the certainty of our hope.

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so believe that God will bring with Jesus those who fallen asleep in him.

This verse in really one of the very first documents of the New Testament, is like a little creed a little summary of the core of Christians belief and that core is that Jesus died and rose again. Therefore he’ll come again that's the reason for our hope if God did not abandon Jesus to death, then he won’t abandon us either. We will also be raised just like Jesus. His death and resurrection guarantees the eventual resurrection of those who sleep in Christ.

Earlier in the letter, Chapter 1 verse 10 says it's Jesus whom God raised from the dead who rescues us from the coming wrath. That's why he died for us. To bear the wrath we otherwise face for our sins. As the other great apostle Peter put it, Christ suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. So that's why when we die physically, instead of fearing judgement our soul goes to God while our body awaits the resurrection when Jesus returns. And that return is what the rest of the chapter describes. verses 15 to 17 - the return of Jesus.

We don't have time to go into it all today except to focus on what's clear. Firstly Christ’s return will be an awesome event. The loud command, the angels shout, the trumpet blast. All emphasise that. I imagine it will make even the pomp and ceremony and dignity of a royal wedding or funeral pale in comparison. And we have on the good authority of multiple repeat testimonies from the mouth of Queen Elizabeth herself, not least over decades of Christmas broadcasts, that the Queen believed this hope.

Now, cathedral music director Ross Cobb, with his English origins and British church Connexions, tells me that it was well known that morning and evening prayer and often their musical versions - the choral matins or evensong - where among Her Majesty's favourite services to attend. And it's noteworthy that every time she attended such a service the Queen would have stood and affirmed that she believed inJesus Christ God's only son our Lord who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried, he descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and from there he shall come to judge that living in a dead. And that is why the creed ends with belief in the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life ever lasting.

Now friends. I'm not just saying this is a polite nod towards religious tradition. Some kind of sentimental hope to try and jolly us along to feel a bit better.  This week I'm preaching dependence on Jesus who died for people like you and me and rose again to bring us to heaven, because I believe it is a fact of history from all my head and heart. And I believe there's good evidence that it was not mere religious formal sentiment from the Queen either. I’ve quoted her majesty's one and only Easter broadcast many times, made from the height of the first wave of the corona virus pandemic. she said

The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose. And we can all take heart from this. As dark as death can be, particularly for those suffering with grief, light and life are greater.

I quote it this time to note her words are implicitly pointing to one key strand of evidence. The early testimony. discovery of the risen Christ eye witnesses, seeing Jesus alive after death. And I never tyre of saying the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus is far better than so many people realise when they're only relying on vague childhood religious education memories. Or Hollywood and social media’s unsourced conspiracy and unqualified opinions. Or the plain scepticism of moderns who prefer to do it my way.

It's too important not to give the evidence deep consideration and if you want help with that this week please use the cathedral connect form via the QR code which is normally in the bulletin. I hope you find it so you can let us know or just get my e-mail from inside the front cover.

But for now, the other lovely thing to note in 1 Thessalonians 4 is it'll be the Lord. Jesus himself, not some assistant or delegate. You do know, don't you, that if you happen to clock up 50 years of marriage or 100 years of life and you get that note from the Queen, it wasn't written personally by her. You do know that it wa some courtier assisting. But it's Jesus himself who will come and reunite all believers again with those who have died and those are still alive at the time. And so verse 17 says we will be with the Lord forever, not in ageing bodies wracked by illness, but in spirit transformed bodies, raised imperishable, immortal, never to die again

 Are you ready for death? Are you prepared, do you know where you're going when you die?

Chapter 1 verse 10 says Jesus can rescue us from the coming wrath.

Chapter 4 verse 16 says the dead in Christ will rise. But unless the person has put their own trust in Jesus,they will face the righteous judgement of God all on their own

And I just want you to be totally clear on that. Therefore, says verse 18, encourage one another with these words. That’s what I want to do. I want to encourage you.

I'm saying that in a world of change decay immortality there’s a basis for stability here’s a basis for hope and here is a foundation for virtue. And it all begins and ends with believing in verse 14. Believing that Jesus died and rose again. Notice that it's these words we’re to encourage each other with.

It's not just about belonging. although it is so very well known that the Queen was a very regular church attender, albeit in her case in different congregations throughout the realm in Britain and around the world she visited.

And it's not just about behaving, although the Queen testified in her words and demonstrated by her deeds how the teaching and example of Jesus transformed her life in terms of duty and fidelity. And in intolerance respect and love for enemies, in service and in peace making.

But it's fundamentally, first and foremost, about believing. Believing in a personal way as I've shown Her Majesty did.

And now I’m not just thinking of her but all my brothers and sisters at the many funerals I've attended and conducted over the years. Like her, all who believe in the one who died and rose again for them, can die safe in the arms of Jesus. And with the peace that passes all understanding.  

So I know of no greater comfort than to quote verse 14 once more as I close.

We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus, those who have fallen asleep in him.