“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, 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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead! We confess this in our creeds and we hear it in our Scripture readings. Jesus said, “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27; cf. Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew’s Gospel). We are to be ready by repenting of our sinful ways and looking in faith to Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross.

The believers in Thessalonica “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). They had come to believe the Gospel and to trust in Christ Jesus for their salvation, and they were awaiting His glorious return to take them to be with Him forever in heaven.

But what of those who have died in the faith before the coming of Christ Jesus? If a believer dies before the return of Jesus, have they lost out? St. Paul tells us the answer in chapter 4, beginning at v. 13.

We do not have to sorrow when a fellow believer falls asleep, or dies, trusting in the Lord Jesus. We do not need to sorrow as others do, who have no hope. Why? Consider the inspired words of Paul’s letter: “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.”

This is no secret rapture or snatching away of believers as some suggest. The apostle says: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (cf. Matthew 24:29ff.; 25:31ff.; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Matthew 13:47ff.).

Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3ff.), will bring with Him the souls of all the saints who have gone before us, the souls of all who have trusted in His name. This, of course, means that when believers die, their souls are taken to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Consider poor Lazarus, whose soul was carried by angels into the “bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:19ff.), or the thief on the cross whose soul was that day taken to paradise (Luke 23:43). Consider the Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 1:21ff. He desired to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

When Jesus returns, all who have died in the faith will be raised up. It won’t matter whether the body is preserved through embalming, decayed to dust or turned to ashes, all the dead will rise and stand before the LORD God. The Bible says: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works” (Revelation 20:12-13).

How will we be judged? According to our works. The Bible says: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10; cf. Matthew 25:31ff.). But our works do not measure up! According to God’s Word, we’ve all sinned and come short of what God requires of us to enter into His glory (cf. Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

So, how is it that we sinners can be acceptable and righteous in God’s eyes? We read on in the chapter (2 Corinthians 5:19-21): “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” It is through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus! It is by fleeing to the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus in our stead. It is by washing our robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1; cf. v. 34). Or, as Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

Believers who are living in this world when Jesus returns will not go before those who have died. The Word of God says: “that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] 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.”

It is as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54: “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. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

And, “so shall we ever be with the Lord”! When Christ returns, the dead are raised up and we are changed, we will be forever with the Lord. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” ( John 14:2-3).

It is described this way in Revelation 21:3-4: “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” It is then that we will serve our God “in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness” (Luther’s Small Catechism, Second Article; cf. Third Article and Luke 1:75).

So, why do we have hope when a fellow believer dies? And, why can we face our own deaths in hope and confidence? It is because of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again! By His death He made full atonement for all our sins – indeed, for the sins of all (cf. 1 John 2:1-2) – and by His resurrection, we have the assurance that His sacrifice for sins was acceptable to God and that all who place their faith in Him are also justified and forgiven and acceptable to God (cf. Romans 4:23 – 5:2; Ephesians 1:6-7). And we have the assurance that, as Christ was raised from the dead on the third day, so we also will be raised from the dead to spend eternity with our God and Savior!

We have the confidence of Job, who confessed: “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).

O gracious Savior, grant us faith in You and Your cross that we might have a certain hope of forgiveness, life and eternal salvation. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

Every one of us has, at one time or another, been infected by a virus. I’ve never actually seen one because of their tiny size. I’ve been told it takes an electron microscope to view them, but I’ve had a good number of viral infections over the years.

From what I’ve read, a virus does its dirty work by attaching itself to a healthy cell and replacing the cell’s genetic makeup with its own. When enough cells have had their genetic makeup altered or replaced by the virus, an infection occurs — whether it be a cold, the flu or some other sickness.

Thankfully, our bodies usually fight off those infections and we recover. When our bodies don’t or can’t, even the smallest viral infections can lead to serious illness or death.

The way in which a virus does its work is much like the way in which Biblical truth is undermined in churches. The father of lies (John 8:44) comes with little falsehoods, small doctrinal errors, subtle compromises of the Scriptural doctrine. And like a virus, these errors are injected into and replace the “genetic” makeup of sound Biblical words and doctrine. Thus, infected churches may appear to have a solid confession of the truth and use all the right words, but the inner meanings of those words and the message have changed.

Should we be surprised? Jesus said (Matt. 7:15-16): “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

A doctrinal error doesn’t come with a poison label attached or a warning that it may cause spiritual illness or death. It comes appearing as the truth. Outwardly, it appears to be the same truth taught in the Bible; but inside, it’s different and damaging to our soul’s health!

To diagnose a viral infection, doctors have to look deeper than what they can see with their eyes, or even with an office microscope. So also, Christians need to look deeper than the outward appearance.

What do I mean? In any Christian church, you will hear words like God, Christ, gospel, resurrection, life, repentance, faith, etc. But Christians need to look under the surface of these words to determine what is meant when they are spoken. Is it the Biblical meaning, or has a new meaning been injected into the old terminology?

As a Lutheran, I could attend almost any Lutheran church and see and hear many of the outward forms of the Biblical Christian Faith; but if I keep listening and examining things more deeply, I may learn that the god being worshiped is not necessarily the one true God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — revealed in the Bible. I may hear preachers speak of Christ but later learn that the Christ of the Bible has been replaced by a less-than-divine Jesus who never claimed to be the Son of God and really didn’t work mighty miracles or rise bodily from the dead on the third day. I may hear a minister speak of preaching the gospel but find out that the gospel he (or she) is preaching is none other than what Jesus says are the greatest commandments of the law — love for God and love for neighbor (Matthew 22:35-40). I may hear of the resurrection and later learn it only refers to some sort of spiritual awakening or resurrection experience. I may hear Bible words like propitiation and atonement but later discover that something other than Jesus’ sacrificial death for the sins of the world is meant.

To some, what I’m saying may sound far-fetched, but I’ve encountered it again and again and even in what many consider a very conservative synod or church body. And this “viral” infection is not only found within Lutheran churches and synods; it has spread to almost all Christian denominations and church bodies.

It’s no longer enough to be satisfied if we hear sound words being spoken; we need to look underneath the “sheep’s clothing” and find out if a wolf is hiding behind the “good words and fair speeches” which “deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:18). To let this viral infection go unchecked can quickly result in death for our souls.

What should we hear in Christian churches? We should hear the clear and plain teaching of the Bible, the very Word of God — nothing more and nothing less. We should be taught of the one God of the Bible who is three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We should hear of our failures to keep God’s law and the condemnation God’s law lays upon us because of our failures to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And we should hear the true gospel — that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son to become true man that He might fulfill all that God’s law demands of us and bear the just punishment for our sins and the sins of the whole world by His innocent sufferings and death upon the cross. We should hear and be assured of the fact that God reaches out to us and offers us mercy solely because of Jesus’ death and glorious resurrection on the third day. We should hear that God forgives, justifies and accepts us as His own dear children, not by our own works and religious service, but through faith alone in the shed blood of Jesus. And we should hear that Jesus is coming again to judge this world and will receive all who trust in Him to the eternal joys of His everlasting kingdom but will also condemn all who do not repent and believe in Him to the eternal torments of hell.

The devil will seek to inject a new understanding and a different doctrine into the life-giving words of the Bible; but we must expose his lies, fight off his infections and “hold fast the form of sound words” which we have learned from God’s book, the Bible (2 Tim. 1:13).

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100

It is sad how few truly know and recognize the truth expressed by this ancient psalm.

In spite of what we may think, Jehovah is God. He always has been and always will be.

He made us; we did not make ourselves, nor are we the product of some chance evolutionary process. Not only did the Almighty God create the first man and woman (Genesis 1-2), He caused each and every one of us to be conceived in our mothers’ wombs and He created and formed us there (cf. Psalm 139:13-16). Our lives are not our own. We are indeed “His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

We have every reason to “enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” – every reason to “be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Why? Because “The LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.”

Think about it! Are we deserving of His care and blessing? Does He owe it to us to give us our families, our jobs, our food and our health?

When we consider how we have rebelled against Him and so often set aside His commandments, we truly deserve only His wrath and eternal punishment! Yet, He is merciful to us and continues to give us all that we need to support our bodies and lives.

In His mercy, God also gave us His own Son, Jesus Christ, to obey His commandments in our place, and to suffer and die for our sins and then rise again from the dead on the third day. For Jesus’ sake, the LORD God reaches out to us in the Gospel with mercy. He graciously calls us to repent and turn to Him for forgiveness and life everlasting through faith in Christ and His blood which was shed on the cross to atone for the sins of all (cf. Isaiah 55:1-7; 2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 11:28-30).

And we can be thankful, too, that “His truth endureth to all generations.” His Word, the Bible, has not been lost or corrupted through the ages as some assume (cf. Matthew 24:14,35; 1 Peter 1:25). He has preserved it as a witness to all people of all time of His goodness and mercy toward us in creating and redeeming us. His Word continues, even yet today, to teach us to know and trust in the LORD God who made us and sent His Son to die for us and redeem us (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Psalm 119:105). Through the Bible, we learn who the true God is. We learn His holy will for us, and we see our utter sinfulness. But we also learn of His love and mercy toward us for the sake of Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death in our stead. We learn of forgiveness of sins and life everlasting through faith in Jesus’ name (cf. Romans 1:16-17; 3:19-26).

This Thanksgiving and every day, let us do as the psalm enjoins us: “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

We thank You, dear heavenly Father, for Your goodness and mercy toward us for Jesus’ sake. We praise and bless Your holy name. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]

Since we will gather for worship and to partake of Christ’s body and blood given and shed for the remission of our sins, it is indeed good and right that we examine ourselves in accord with 1 Corinthians 11:28-29: “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”

We do so this week on the basis of Psalm 139.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Is there anything about us that the LORD does not see and know? Can we hide from His presence or keep anything hidden from His sight? All such attempts are futile since He is present everywhere and knows every detail about each of us, including our thoughts and desires, words and actions.

David prays: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (v. 23-24).

So also, we pray that we would not attempt to hide or cover up our sinfulness but that God would reveal to us our sins and shortcomings that we might repent of our sinful ways and look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for pardon and forgiveness and then seek God’s help to amend our ways. And God, through His Word does so, showing us our sins and pointing us to Christ Jesus, our Savior, and giving us His Holy Spirit to teach us, lead us and guide us in His ways.

Again, if we are honest, we must admit that none of us is without sin. Under God’s law, we are all guilty and deserving of His wrath and punishment.

But Jesus Christ “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), and He took our sin and guilt upon Himself and suffered our just punishment when He shed His blood and died upon the cross for our sins (cf. Isaiah 53:6).

Therefore, we who are guilty and condemned under God’s law flee to Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross that we might receive God’s pardon, forgiveness and life eternal through faith alone in Jesus’ name!

I ask you before God: Do you acknowledge that you are a sinner and have sinned in thought, word and deed? Do you confess and agree with God that you are guilty and deserving of his wrath and punishment? Do you trust that Christ Jesus has truly redeemed you from the curse of God’s law? Do you also believe that Jesus, in the Sacrament, gives you to partake of His body and blood which was given and shed that your sins might be forgiven you? As a fruit of your faith, do you truly desire and seek God’s help to amend your life and live it in accord with God’s Word?

If you are truly sorry for your sins and look to Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for pardon and forgiveness, I announce unto you the grace of God and, in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]