A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on April 20, 2025.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:13–18).[1]
In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy contemplating whether the U.S. Constitution would be “durable” enough to last, Benjamin Franklin surmised, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”[2] While I wish the latter were not true, I know the first is. Death is, Solomon says, “the same for all” (Eccles. 9:2). And yet, its arrival always seems untimely for everyone under the allotted 120 years.[3]
Despite its certainty, as Western-culture moderns, we have a hard time thinking and talking about death. Such talk seems to our ears, well, morbid (which may make you wonder why I am talking about it today on Easter Sunday of all times!). Perhaps part of our perception of death is owing to our age of distraction, where it seems we are, as Neil Postman put it, ironically, amusing ourselves to death.[4] Of course, our multitude of amusements doesn’t change death’s imminence, despite its portrayal in our entertainment or reported in our news, but it seems to numb us to its reality. For some, death happens to people on screens, not to us or the ones we love.
We also seem to distance ourselves from its reminders. Once upon a time, not too long ago, graveyards surrounded the church building, a consistent reminder of our dearly departed and life’s transience. Now our cemeteries are on the outskirts of town, as if burying our dead out of sight keeps death at bay. Even funerals or memorial services at churches have gone out of vogue, and if a service is held at all, it is rebranded a “celebration of life,” as if throwing a party will make us forget the loss of life. Theologian Carl Trueman rightly deduces, “if life has meaning, then death is an outrage; if death is not an outrage, then life has no meaning. In either case, what is there to celebrate?”[5]
We can try to disguise death’s sting by calling it “natural,” but when actually faced with death, “natural” sounds like nothing more than a semantic spin. Intuitively, we know that death is unnatural, and it is, because it’s contrary to our creation. We were created to live, and but for the Fall, everyone would, forever. But “the wages of sin,” as Paul calls it, “is death” (Rom. 6:23), and as Adam sinned and we in him, then “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). And so death, though not natural, is certain (and maybe taxes, too!). And this is bad news.
While we’re on the topic let me take it a step further, from bad to worse. Apart from saving faith in Christ, what awaits you when you die is what the Bible calls the “second death, the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14), an eternal place of torment apart from God’s grace. If there is something worse than bad news, that’s it. But it’s part of the bad news that makes the gospel of Jesus Christ so good.
Have you ever wondered why Christians gather in worship on Sundays, the first day of the week, rather than the Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day of the week? The reason is that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead on the first day of the week. And in his resurrection, he conquered our mortal enemies, sin and death. By God’s grace given through faith in the righteous life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, all who trust in him as Savior are granted what the Bible calls “eternal life” (John 3:16), the gracious guarantee of life “perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.”[6] And while this life, here and now, ends in death, eternal life does not. When this life ends, for all who trust in Christ alone for salvation, our soul is present with the Lord, enjoying the beginning of the eternal life and awaiting the final consummation of our salvation, the reunion of body and soul, what we call glorification, in the new heavens and earth.
Therefore, when the Christian contemplates death, it is with the understanding that what Paul calls “the sting of death”[7] has been defeated, specifically through Christ’s resurrection. He who died for our sin could not be held by death but victoriously triumphed over it, giving us likewise the victory over its sting, and ultimately over it completely and eternally.[8] And we are here on Easter Sunday, and every Sunday after his resurrection, to celebrate it, but also to apply it to real, everyday life, especially when it comes to death.
Resurrection Grief
Even we who believe the gospel, grieve the loss of life, especially the death of a loved one. As death is the result of our sinful state and not part of the original creation order,[9] we grieve in part because death has taken the one we love. This is neither wrong nor shameful, nor to be avoided. In his humanity, Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died, even knowing he would raise him from the dead.[10] Rejoicing when others weep is not only poor judgment and disrespectful, but it also reveals a lack of love. “Rejoice with those who rejoice,” Paul counsels, and “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).
To grieve then is to be human, but there is a distinction: Christians do not grieve “as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). This is not to say we put on a figurative mask, a superficial front of stoicism and fake it ‘til we make it. No, but we do see the death of a fellow Christian through the lens of Christ’s resurrection and the promise of our own. What informs our view of death is what we believe: “Jesus died and rose again,” and as he died and rose again so will all who trust in him (1 Thess. 4:14).
For this reason, Paul, refers to believers who have died as “asleep,” an ancient euphemism for death, and used repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments.[11] Paul’s use of the word does not connote that our beloved brethren are literally asleep or resting in some kind of “soul sleep.” No, Scripture is clear: to “be away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Though their bodies rest in their graves, the souls of our dearly departed in Christ are very much awake, and in better company there than here! But the word “sleep” helps serve as a reminder that our separation from one another is not final but only through the night of what is left of this life. Indeed, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5).
This is not the case for the unbeliever, those “who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Whatever they believe, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whatever they believe, it does not rest on the certainty that Christ tasted death for us,[12] experienced it, conquered it, and abolished it, bringing life and immortality through faith.[13] Whatever they believe, it is not the truth Jesus told Martha, when he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Whatever the unbeliever believes, it rightly results in a grief that is never informed by the resurrection hope of Jesus Christ.
Resurrection Hope
The essence of the gospel, the good news, is simple, as Paul reminded the Corinthians, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures … was buried … [and] was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). By God’s grace through the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, we believe this gospel and so are, as Peter puts it, “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). The gospel may be simple but also life-transforming, including what Peter calls a “living hope.” It is a living hope, because our Savior is not dead but resurrected, ascended, and will return. It is a living hope, because just as he resurrected, so will we when he returns. But what specifically comprises this living hope?
First, according to Romans, Christ was “raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25), meaning our righteous standing before God and our eternal destiny depend upon the reality of Christ’s resurrection. Because he rose from the dead, we have hope for eternal life. Second, according to 1 Corinthians, all that plagues us here and now, sin and misery, sickness and death, Christ conquered in his resurrection.[14] He resurrected not to a body of misery and death but to a glorious and eternal body, and so will we. Third, we will resurrect from the dead to eternal life not alone but together with all believers. Those who are alive at Christ’s coming will be transformed and joined with those who died before, as their souls are reunited with their glorious, resurrected bodies.
Christian hope then rests squarely on the resurrection, which is not only a theological accuracy but essential for living the Christian life. Think about it: We don’t all sit around staring at the sky waiting for that glorious moment that may or may not come in our lifetime. Rather, the resurrection informs how we live our day to day lives. For example, in 1 Corinthians, after writing fifty-seven verses on Christ’s resurrection and ours to follow, Paul then concludes: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). Because this world is not the eternal kingdom of God, what we do today is not an end in itself but of eternal significance. Freed from the condemnation of Satan’s kingdom, we live our lives “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” regardless of our age, or profession, or our socio-economic status. But if we lose sight of the victory we have through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our sinful flesh easily lulls us into unfaithfulness. We begin to think this world is all there is, an end in itself.
Countering this temptation, in his letter to the Colossians Paul counsels, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4). Christ’s resurrection and our future resurrection, teach us to not only get our minds (and mouths!) out of the gutter but to see our life today through the lens of eternity. If you find yourself discouraged, it could very well be because you are not seeking or setting your mind “on things that are above.” While all hope is never lost for the Christian, the world can weigh us down to the point of feeling hopeless. Refocusing our hearts and minds on the resurrection renews our hope, reminding us that the work that God is doing in us and through us is a victorious work. You need to hear this, and I do too; we need to encourage one another with resurrection encouragement.
Resurrection Encouragement
Paul concludes, saying, “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). So, let me attempt to do this very thing, in conclusion, using three rememberable words: believe, expect, and anticipate. First, believe that Jesus died and rose again. This is the essence of the Christian faith and there is no eternal encouragement outside it. Believe that in his death, he paid the penalty for our sin, bore the wrath of God in our stead, and conquered death for us forever. Believe he resurrected from the dead by the power of Holy Spirit to a glorious and eternal body and has given us his Spirit in preparation for the same. This we believe, as a matter of fact, according to Scripture, the Word of God. Never forget it; never get over it.
Second, expect to be reunited with beloved believers who have gone to be with the Lord before us. If the Lord comes before we die, expect those who have died in Christ before us to return with the Lord on the last day. Expect that as their souls are reunited with their glorious resurrection bodies, so will we. Expect that when they come with him, we will join them in a grand reunion of the saints in the sky, worshiping of Christ the risen King.
Third, anticipate Christ’s return and eternal life in the kingdom of God. While death separates us from our beloved in this life, we will one day enjoy eternal fellowship, body and soul, together in the literal presence of Christ. For the Christian, death does not get the victory. Christ has won it, a truth that we will celebrate for eternity.
You need to hear from me, and I need to hear from you, when I am sick and suffering, that this is not all there is, that there will be a day when our Lord will “wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). You need to hear from me, and I need to hear from you, that until that day God is at work conforming us to “the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29), and this sanctification though painful at times is leading to glory. You need to hear from me, and I need to hear from you, as we grow old and our bodies grow weary, should you sleep before I do, that we will be united first in his presence and then together, body and soul, with him forever. And one day, we will hear, making these encouraging reminders a reality, “the voice of an archangel” and “the sound of the trumpet of God,” and the Lord himself will descend from heaven “with a cry of command” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). And then, “we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/benjamin-franklins-last-great-quote-and-the-constitution
[3] Gen. 6:2
[4] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (New York: Penguin Books, 1986).
[5] https://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/celebrating-the-death-of-meaning.php
[6] “The Shorter Catechism” Q. 38, The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (Lawrenceville: PCA Christian Education and Publications, 2007), 378.
[7] 1 Cor. 15:56
[8] 1 Cor. 15:55-57
[9] Rom. 5:12
[10] John 11:35
[11] For example, see Gen. 47:30; Deut. 31:16; Luke 8:52; John 11:11.
[12] Heb. 2:9
[13] 2 Tim. 1:10
[14] 1 Cor. 15:5-57
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