 All right, here we are, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We're going to be looking at verses 13 through 18 as we continue our verse by verse series through the book of 1 Thessalonians. And we've arrived at a place where the apostle Paul is about to share concerning an event that we're all looking forward to. And it's an event that is known as the rapture. And so we'll be looking at the subject of the rapture. I chose to entitle this particular study, ready or not, here I come. Because you need to be ready because Jesus is gonna come at any moment. So we're gonna look at a lot of details concerning that and preferably some practical application and exhortation as we go through these verses. So let's begin reading together here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 at verse 13 and I'll read to verse 18, we'll get into our study. 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning at verse 13, reading to verse 18. Paul writes, but I do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord and therefore comfort one another with these words. So I'm gonna lay a foundation. It's gonna take a while for us to do that, but we're moving up into the subject of the rapture. And so in order to understand this, it's gonna take a while for me to remind you of a few things and then develop a foundation and then we'll move into the practical application. This portion of scripture that we find here in First Thessalonians is intended to communicate to Christians who are going through hard times. And what is intended to be communicated is hope. Remember that the church has been going through persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. And several times in First Thessalonians, the apostle Paul has already spoken concerning that. He began to speak about that in the beginning, in chapter one, when he said in verse six to them that they had become followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit. And so they're a church that's going through persecution. They're a church that's enduring affliction. And so with that in mind, he intends to bring hope and comfort to their troubled hearts. Now part of what has been troubling them is related to a question that they have concerning the future. You need to remember that at this time, this church is really a young church. They've only been saved for a short time. And yet even as they have only been saved for a short time, they still have received a lot of teaching, especially as it pertain to events that would take place in what are called the end times. And Paul has been speaking about this throughout the letter. We saw it from chapter one and we saw it in chapter two. We've seen it in chapter three. We'll see it in chapter four and he's gonna continue into chapter five. In chapter one, verse 10, he had said that they were waiting for God's Son from heaven. In chapter two, he spoke to them of being in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. In chapter three, verse 13, he spoke of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. So he's been speaking concerning the return of Christ throughout the letter. When we get to chapter five, he's gonna continue and he's gonna speak concerning the times and seasons and the day of the Lord. So he speaks concerning these last days events throughout the entire book. And so they're ready to receive more in-depth instruction and that's what he's gonna be doing right now. You see, they had been taught well, but there were details that were concerning them. It appears that they might have been thinking that they missed the rapture because they're going through affliction. They didn't expect to endure the kind of persecution that they're enduring and they thought perhaps we're in the tribulation. You see, in chapter three, notice with me, verses two and three, notice what Paul had said. He had said that he had sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. And so they were going through persecution and affliction and he was concerned for them. Now, you don't see this clearly in first Thessalonians, but when you get to second Thessalonians, you're gonna see that second Thessalonians reveals that false teachers were adding to their anxieties. They were telling them that they were in this period of time called the tribulation. And so Paul writes a second letter to them and he refers to what is occurring in chapter two of second Thessalonians because there he says in verses one and two, now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us as though the day of Christ had come. So they're already concerned about the last days, the events that are taking place and they're wondering about its timing. The fact that they're confused reveals that they expected the rapture to occur before tribulation. If they thought the rapture was after the tribulation, they wouldn't have been so concerned. So it's obvious that they're thinking maybe we misunderstood. Do Christians go through the tribulation and all of that? And so Paul is about to address that. Now, these were serious questions, but there was something else bothering them. They had a more pressing concern and it related to their loved ones. Some of them had believing relatives who had already died. So it brought up a question. They were wondering, well, what happens to those who died before Jesus returns? When do they receive resurrection bodies? Do they receive them at the rapture? Do they receive them after tribulation? Is the rapture only for those who are alive? And if so, what happens to the dead in Christ? So his desires to answer their questions, to comfort them, to give them hope, he's concerned that they not sorrow as those who have no hope for the future. Now notice with me as we go through this, instead of directing their attention to their troubles, he directs them to their future. He begins to speak concerning the return of Christ for the church. He speaks of the return of Christ. Now, here's some information for you. If you take notes, it's valuable. The return of the Lord Jesus is referred to throughout the New Testament. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, his return is mentioned 318 times. That means that one verse in every 25 specifically mentions the return of the Lord. The only New Testament books that do not mention his return are Galatians and 2nd and 3rd John. As Christians, the anticipation of being with Jesus is intended to fuel our lives. It's one of the promises that is to motivate us in order that we'd be prepared. It's what is supposed to provoke us to live openly for him before the eyes of the world. If the Lord is returning, then how should we live is the question. You see, often in scripture, his return is presented as being something that is occurring soon. Paul was writing to the church in Philippi in chapter four, verse five. He said to them, let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. When the apostle Peter was writing in chapter four, verse seven in 1 Peter, he said, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. James in chapter five, verses 89 said this. James said, you too be patient, stand firm because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you'll be judged. The judge is standing at the door. So you see this intensity in the early church, this anticipation, this exhortation. The Lord is at the door, he's coming soon. Now the reason that you see this is to provoke us to good works, to live for Christ. And the reason we're told this is to remind us that we ought to live in anticipation of seeing Jesus and to live lives that befit our faith, that demonstrate that we really know him. When Paul was writing to the Romans in chapter 13, verses 12 and 13, he said, the night is almost gone, the day of salvation will soon be here, so don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds, shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living as those who live in the light. We should be decent and true in everything we do so that everyone can approve of our behavior. Don't participate in wild parties and getting drunk or in adultery and immoral living or in fighting and jealousy. And so there is a constant encouragement for us if we really believe that Christ is returning to live as if we do. It's one thing for me to say, yes, he's returning. It's another thing for me to live as if he could be here at any time. When Paul wrote to Titus in chapter two, verses 11 through 13, he said, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. When John was writing in first John three, two and three, he said, beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. If we really believe that Christ is returning, what manner of life ought we to be living? We're to remember that Jesus promised to return. The promise that he gave was intended to comfort us and encourage us to remain faithful as we serve him. And Jesus was speaking on the night that he was betrayed. It was a night prior to his death on the cross. And in John chapter 14, he said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 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 to myself that where I am there, you may be also. So throughout the scriptures, you see his promise of returning. And he's saying this to us so that our heart will not be troubled. He says it to us so that we'll be prepared, living in a righteous way, being an example to other people. And that's something that we should understand. You see, when Jesus ascended, two angels reminded the apostles that Jesus would return in Acts one, nine through 11. It reads, after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hit him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them, men of Galilee. They said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? The same Jesus who was taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Throughout the scripture, so many verses written for us to be prepared, anticipated the return of Jesus Christ. So Jesus had promised that he'd returned. The Thessalonians were aware of the promise, but he hasn't returned. They're believing friends and relatives are now dying. And that could have caused them to lose heart, to sorrow over the death of their friends. So Paul wants to free them from sorrow, a sorrow that's associated with death. And he does this by reminding them of God's word and God's promises. And he wants to answer their questions, to comfort them, to give them hope for the future. Again, some were concerned about their relatives. They're wondering what is going to happen when Jesus returns? Will they be left behind? Will they be with them? What's going to happen to them? And so he begins in verse 13 by saying, I don't want you to be ignorant. The word ignorant is, some people get upset when we use that word today, don't they? Don't be so ignorant. They get upset. The word simply means without knowledge or uninstructed. He wasn't writing, calling him a bunch of ignorant Thessalonians. He was saying, I don't want you to be without instruction. I want you to understand. I don't want you to be without knowledge. He's saying, I want you to be free from the sorrow that is associated with loss. So I'm directing your attention to something. I want you to keep your eyes on this and to be aware of this. Jesus is returning. I don't want you to sorrow. Now notice in verse 13, I don't want you to sorrow in the manner of those who have no hope. This is not saying that sorrow is something that believers don't experience. Let me talk to you about that for just a moment. He's not saying sorrow in and of itself is wrong. There are believers who seem to think so. They think that showing any grief or having any sorrow of heart must mean they don't have any faith. That's just not true. Sorrow is normal. Pain is part of the process of mourning. And when you grieve, it reveals the depth of your human emotions. And I happen to believe that Christians mourn even deeper than those in the world. And it's a simple reason why, because Christians love deeper than those in the world. When you have a person that you've walked together in the Lord, when you've got somebody that you've had fellowship, you've gone to church with, you serve together. When you have somebody that was very dear and very close to you and they go to heaven, you're not gonna pull out a little hat and get a little party favor and start blowing the, yay, what you're gonna do is you're gonna cry and you're gonna miss them and you're gonna miss them deeply because that's how important they were to you. There's so many Christians who seem to get so guilty over weeping over the loss or the sense of departure that you have when somebody you love very deeply has died. Well, the bottom line is that they're with the Lord and we know that and we don't lose them because only when you lose something, it means you don't know where it is and we don't lose them because we know where they're at. They're with the Lord. But at the same time, there's a grief, there's a sorrow that we go through. So I want you to notice this because notice how he put it. He says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. He's not saying that you can't sorrow. He's saying those who have no hope have a different kind of sorrow. The difference is our sorrow is enfilled by hopelessness. It's not fueled by despair about the future. When Jesus raised up a man by the name of Lazarus, Lazarus had died. He was in a tomb and Jesus had come and Lazarus had been dead now for some time. And when he came and Lazarus' sister, if you'd only been here, my brother would not have died and Jesus said, where did you place him? And he goes to the tomb and in Luke, rather John chapter 11 verses 23 through 27 as he's speaking to Martha, Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she told him, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world. There is the sorrow she had, but he also replaces that with hope. And that's what happens. Jesus himself weeps at the tomb of his friend, but it wasn't a hopeless weeping at all. You see, of all people, we believers have hope for the future. And now Paul begins to present a clear picture of this hope. He says in verse 14, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Those who sleep in Jesus, he's speaking about some of you right now who are asleep, wake up. Those who sleep in Jesus is another way of speaking concerning those who have died, those who are dead. He says in verse 14, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will bring with him. So we have hope for the future because we believe that Jesus died and rose again. The Bible teaches very clearly how that Jesus conquered the grave. And in doing so, he gave us hope for our eternity. The grave couldn't hold him. And the grave will not hold the believer. And when he conquered the grave, he gave us hope for our loved ones who died in faith. He also gave us hope because we know that this life is not all there is. He conquered the grave. It gives us confidence for our own personal future. And yet still, in verse 14, they wonder, well, what about those who fell asleep before Jesus returns? Notice his answer in verse 14, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. That's another way of speaking of Christians who have died. Again, like in the case of Lazarus, in John 11 and 11 through 14, he said to them, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. His disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was speaking about taking rest and sleep. Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. So Paul is not saying that their souls are asleep. He's saying they have died in faith. You see, at death, the spirit leaves the body. James 2.26 says the body without the spirit is dead. The result is that the body itself appears to be sleeping. And that's why he speaks of him falling asleep. Now, what happens when a believer dies? Well, first, the spirit goes to be with the Lord and the body appears to be asleep. Ecclesiastes 12.7 says the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. In 2 Corinthians chapter five verses six through eight, Paul said, we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. You close your eyes here only to have them open there. So your body is planted, but you are with the Lord. Now, at the rapture, we who are alive and the dead in Christ receive glorified bodies. In 1 Corinthians 15 verses 42 through 44, it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable. It's raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It's raised in power. It's sown in a natural body. It's raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body. There's also a spiritual body. And so these are things that will be taking place. So when our loved one dies, we don't sorrow as those who have no hope. He says in verse 14, again, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Since Jesus conquered death, we have hope based on what God has already done. That's why the Psalmists could say, Psalm 16 verse nine, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. Now notice how the scripture says in verse 14, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. God will bring all believers living and asleep back to heaven with Jesus. In Philippians three, 20 and 21, our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he's able even to subdue all things to himself. And so this is nothing but words of hope absent from the body present with the Lord body planted as a seed awaiting him to call you. And so he says in verse 15, for this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. Paul gives him comfort and hope by drawing their attention first to God's word. But I want you to notice something. Notice how Paul included himself in those who will see this event. Notice how he said in verse 15, this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. He anticipated being one who was taken to be with the Lord. He anticipated the rapture in his lifetime. He expected that to happen. He lived as if it would. My own pastor Chuck Smith lived that way too. I can use him as an illustration. From the earliest days that I can remember being under his ministry until he went home to be with the Lord. This was a man who lived in anticipation of return of Jesus Christ. Every year he would give a New Year's Eve message and it would include his hope for this to be the year that Christ returns. And that's how Chuck lived. He actually did. My pastor lived as if he expected Christ's return. He really believed that he wouldn't die until Jesus came back and he lived as in that way. It wasn't like anything weird or superstitious. It was just that he believed that the Lord was returning. And he was even in the process of repairing another Bible study when he went home to be with Jesus. He was still busy faithfully preparing the word of God to give it to people. And so Paul himself included those who would see this event. Now it's interesting how he mentions two groups. He speaks of those who are alive at that time and those who have died. And notice how he says it. We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. So that comforts them. He's telling them that the dead in Christ will participate in this rapture. And now he speaks about it in verse 16. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first. The Lord himself. Jesus is going to gather his church. It's not the angels doing that. It's Jesus himself gathering. The Lord himself will descend. When it says will descend, it speaks of him descending from where he has been since he has ascended into heaven. He'll descend from heaven with a shout. The word shout is a signal. It's given to soldiers by a commander. It's a loud summons. It speaks of the voice of an archangel. We don't know what the voice of the archangel is. Perhaps he'll say something like come up here. It'll say, and he says, and with a trumpet. The trumpet was used in Israel to gather the congregation. So we have a shout, we have a voice, we have a trumpet. These all emphasize immediate departure. And what happens when this takes place? Well, notice verse 16. The dead in Christ will rise first. Redemption for them is not yet complete. Their bodies have yet to be raised. But their glorified bodies will be joined with their glorified spirits. And at that time, they'll be fully conformed to the image of Jesus. And then he says in verse 17. We who are alive and remain, again including himself, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Here we go. We'll talk a little bit about this. The word caught up, words caught up verse 17. A Greek word, harpotso. The word harpotso, it speaks of something that's, it's like a sudden and something irresistible. It's even got a tone of something that could be violent. It's an action that's very quick. We're gonna be taken quickly is the point that he's making. It's gonna happen. It'll be happening in any moment. It'll happen sometimes in a time that we're not completely expecting perhaps, but it's gonna happen. It could happen here. It could happen when you're driving home. It could happen any time, any place. There's only one prophecy left to be fulfilled. And that is the rapture of the church. That's the next prophecy to be fulfilled is the rapture of the church. You know, when I first got saved, I'd never heard of something called a rapture. I was raised in a religious environment, but I never was taught that the Lord Jesus was gonna take us out, that we would suddenly disappear. And all, I'd never heard that before. But then when I got saved, I began to hear the teaching coming from Chuck Smith and a fellow by the name of Lonnie Frisbee and others who were saying, you know, this next event that's gonna take place is the rapture of the church. And I had no clue what that was. And you look up the word rapture and you can't find it in the Bible. The word rapture isn't there. And so there are those who will say, well, see, the word rapture's not even in scripture. There isn't a word rapture. That's something that people have made up. While the reason it's referred to as the rapture is very simple. The Greek word is harpatzo, but the Latin word is rapturo. And the reason it's referred to as rapture is we're simply transliterating the word rapturo, Latin, for rapture, rapture being, rapturo being the same basic word as harpatzo. It's speaking of the sudden violent taking. And so that's why we refer to it as the rapture of the church, the violent sudden taking of the body of Christ from planet Earth. There's no other prophecy that needs to be fulfilled this is the next one. And this is the one on God's prophetic calendar that is about to be fulfilled. And prayerfully, I look forward to it taking place in my lifetime. I want that day to come. I want to be with the Lord. I look forward to that. And it's not to escape. You know, when I first got saved, there were bumper stickers. They were actually starting to use something called bumper stickers. They would put them on the back of your car. I had like six of them on my car. And the Bible is so good. You hate to put it down, things like that. But there was one that I didn't put on because they didn't agree with its sentiment. It was the rapture, the great escape. I never have seen the rapture as a great escape. Something to escape from this earth. No, we're supposed to be armed and dangerous until Jesus takes us. We're in war. And we ought to be living as if we are. We ought to be aware that there's an enemy who's deceiving people and stealing souls, if you will. We ought to be aware of that. And the church is militant. The church is supposed to be marching on its knees but carrying the sword, right? That's what we're called to do. And we're supposed to be taking people and encouraging people to know the Lord Jesus Christ. So I never liked the term the great escape, but it is something I'm looking forward to because one of these days, and it won't be long from now, there's gonna be the shout. There's gonna be that voice. And we're gonna be out of here. We're gonna be with the Lord Jesus and be with him forever. And I look forward to that. That is the event I look forward to. It's being with him, the one who is my blessed hope. And it's going to happen. It's going to happen. And that's why we need to live as if it's even at the door. That's why we need to realize the Lord is even at hand. That this moment is coming. We need to be aware of that. You see, those who are alive, the Bible says we'll be instantly changed. In 1 Corinthians 15 verses 50 through 54, Paul said, I tell 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 trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. When this corruptible has put on incorruption, this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory? You don't have it because Jesus Christ died on the cross and he took the sting from me, and I have life because of him. And so you live in anticipation to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. You live as if he's coming at any moment, and you look forward to him coming to be with us. Death causes sorrow, yes. But we don't sorrow as those with no hope. When I was a little boy, my dad, I'll put it this way, my grandmother on my dad's side, my grandmother had 13 children. 12 of those children survived childhood. Every one of them had many children, and then many children, and then many children. So that when my grandmother died at the age, I believe she was 92, when my grandmother died at the age of 92, when they give you the information on survivors, I had, she had at that time, I think the number was 118 great and great, great grandchildren, not just grandchildren, great and great, great grandchildren. I have hundreds of cousins, several hundred I've never even met, hundreds of them all over the place were taken over. Well, one of my uncles, his name was Ray, and when I grew up, my uncle Ray was kind of loud. He had a loud voice and he is kind of a booming voice. It was an intimidating kind of voice. He didn't speak softly, he spoke with passion. That was my uncle Ray. So when I would walk in at the age of three, four, five, six years old, and Ray would greet me, my uncle would greet me, he used to scare me, and I would tell my mom, I don't wanna be around my uncle Ray, why not? Cause he yells at me, and my mom would say, he's not yelling, papa, he just talks loudly. Well, I got to realize that all of my brother, rather all of my dad's brothers spoke loudly, all of them did. They all had real booming voices. My dad, when you spoke to him on the phone, it sounded like he was mad, he'd be yelling, cause my dad would raise his voice. That's just a trait in my family. See, I didn't realize that. So, my uncle used to yell. I found out later when I got onto the military, he went to go see him. I saw him in a different light. Now I see my uncle is warm. I mean, he was the only uncle that hugged me, that would love me. And I grew to love my uncle Ray very much, very much. And he came to faith in Christ. And when my uncle came to faith in Christ, he got very sick. He got cancer. And he was about 190, 200 pounds, powerfully built man. He had black, black hair and a very black mustache. Beautiful green eyes, very handsome man. And I got a phone call from my aunt, my aunt, Billy. And she said, can you come and see your uncle? He's about to go home. And I'd like to come and pray for him. They were in a hospital, he was in a hospital in Riverside. So I went to see him. I remember walking into the waiting room. The whole waiting room in this particular area was filled with people. And I go walking in, I look at him. They say, for me to go in, Pastor David, could you go in? I walk in, my aunt Billy says, did you see her cousins? The whole room was filled with my cousins. I didn't know them. I'd never seen them. They tried to rob me. No, I didn't see them. I didn't know they were my blood, but they were, they were all Rosalesans. I didn't. So I walk up to the bed and there is the shell of my uncle. Now you need to understand again, I mentioned it, he weighed about 200 pounds and it was powerful. He had thick black hair and a very thick black mustache, but they had given him all this treatment. He no longer had any hair. He weighed 115 pounds, just a shell of my uncle. I have this terrible ability to re-experience things. I hate it. When I talk about it, I feel what I felt. Forgive me, but there's my uncle. And I'm looking at him and my aunt said, he hasn't spoken all day. He's been in like a coma, semi-comatose. But could you pray for him, Miho? Could you pray for him? And I said, of course. And as I was looking, she says, you gotta pray like. She said, talk like a Rosales. Which means loud. I laughed. I said, so that's where I got it from. So I remember reaching over and touching his hand. He was comatose. He's about to die. And I took him by the hand and I said to him, Uncle Ray, I'm here to pray for you. This is David. And he hadn't been awake all day, but he said, his lips formed the word and he said, pray. And I held him by the hand, Uncle. Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. If my father's house or many mansions, I go and prepare a place for you. If it were not so, I would have told 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, you shall be also. I still remember holding him by the hand and praying with him, realizing that this body, this shell, this torn up and ravaged by cancer, that he'd have a new body, glorious, fashioned in the image of Jesus Christ. That gives me hope because God is gonna make us like unto himself. We're gonna have bodies, in other words, that have been specially prepared for heaven. And one of these days, and it's not long from now, the Lord Jesus Christ is gonna shout with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet. I don't know what he's gonna say. It could be your name. It could be just come up here, but you're gonna hear it. And instantly you're gonna be gone in the twinkling of an eye, and you will see him face to face. And that's worth living for. That's worth living for. That's worth living for. This mortal will put on immortality. Our bodies will be instantly made suitable for heaven. And so he's saying, you're concerned for your loved ones. No, they will come. We will also together with them. And we will be with the Lord forever. And then he says this, verse 18, comfort one another with these words. These are words of comfort. And so remind each other, though mama has died, daddy is gone. If they knew the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be brought back together again one day. One day. Comfort one another. We will forever be with the Lord because we trusted in him. But we need to know where we stand with him for us to have comfort. Somebody was walking through a cemetery and he looked upon a headstone and it had the epitaph. And as he read the epitaph it said, pause my friend as you walk by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be. Prepare my friend to follow me. But under this was added these words. To follow you is not my intent until I know which way you went. We need to know which way we're gonna go.