He Is Coming

Theme: Waiting in faithfulness

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

Notes and questions:

B1 Objectives (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)

C1 Know: Christ will return to gather His saints. In that day, the wrath of the Lord will be unleashed upon the earth. Christians should be ready for His return.

C2 Think: Let consciousness of the Lord’s return guide my daily living.

C3 Do: Anticipate and be ready for Christ’s return, and encourage each other with that hope.

B2 First questions:

C1 Are you anticipating the return of the Lord Jesus? Why?

C2 Christians have been waiting for nearly 2,000 years. Why should we still wait?

C3 If we knew for sure, that He is coming tomorrow, would we change anything about our life?

C4 When our loved ones, who are believers, die, is there any hope to see them again? Why?

B3 After death--What happens? Conscious or not conscious?

C1 Not conscious (soul sleep). Technically, it is called Christian mortalism, or simply mortalism. Seventh Day Adventist and Jehovah Witness are among those that believe this. The Seventh Day Adventist believes that the believer with be raised (bodily) from death and live forever, while, the unbeliever’s body and soul are destroyed forever, that is, annihilated. The main arguments for this is

D1 Seventh Day Adventist--Their view: The unconscious nothingness of death separates us from the God of life, yet Jesus’ defeat of death means the saved can look forward to resurrection and living forever. The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people. When Christ, who is our life, appears, the resurrected righteous and the living righteous will be glorified and caught up to meet their Lord. The second resurrection, the resurrection of the unrighteous, will take place a thousand years later. (Job 19:25-27; Ps. 146:3, 4; Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10; Dan. 12:2, 13; Isa. 25:8; John 5:28, 29; 11:11-14; Rom. 6:23; 6:16; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 20:1-10.)

D2 A reason given is “The words most commonly translated as “spirit” in the Scriptures of both Old (Hebrew: ruach) and New (Greek: pneuma) Testament are also the words for “wind” and “breath.” When someone dies, the “spirit” (breath, life-force) returns to God who gave it (Psalm 104:29-30; Acts 7:59).”

D3 There is a number of answers. I realize they have answers to what is below, but the problem is they do not take the Bible in its plain, normal sense, in grammatico-historical (grammatical-historical) understanding, context, and cross references.

E1 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:32, NKJV). No soul sleep, only consciousness and life.

E2 Then the Lamb broke open the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they had proclaimed God's word and had been faithful in their witnessing. They shouted in a loud voice, “Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until you judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?” Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the complete number of other servants and believers were killed, as they had been. (Revelation 6:9-11, GNB92). It seems a little hard for someone to be shouting, when they are unconscious.

E3 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4, NKJV)

E4 The sun sets and rises, a person sleeps in death are examples of phenomenological language. This means the language of appearances. It appears, looks like, the sun sets and rises and the dead person sleeps.

E5 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:59-60, NKJV). If humans possess no immaterial spirit, what is the point of Jesus receiving (welcoming) Stephen’s spirit? It would be meaningless.

E6 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”– (Mark 9:4-5, NKJV). Moses and Elijah are dead, they are not raised, so how can this be if not their conscious spirit?

E7 Having said these things He says to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going in order to awaken him.” His disciples said to Him, “Lord, if he is sleeping he will get well.” But Jesus had spoken of his death, while they thought He was talking about natural sleep. (John 11:11-13  (WPNT). Sleep is just a term for death depending on the content.

E8 For further study see Don Stewart--Are People Unconscious at Death? (Soul Sleep)

C2 Conscious--We believe that a human has material and nonmaterial substance, so even if the material turns to compost, the nonmaterial lives. The material is the body, the vessel, the container, for the nonmaterial.

B4 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,

C1 Who has fallen asleep in this passage?

C2 Give one reason of the importance of the resurrection?

C3 What is the worry of the living believers in Thessaloniki?

C4 What is the importance of believing, that is, faith?

C5 1 Thessalonians 4:14 has two interpretations of where the souls are.

D1 The first is they are not with Jesus in heaven, and the second is the souls are with Jesus. One translates it:

E1 We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14, GNB92).

E2 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:14, NKJV)

D2 Consider: So 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. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8, NKJV). The word with is pros, that is, near, with, close to, etc.

C6 What is meant by the phrase by the word of the Lord? (Either Paul received this by revelation, or it refers to his authority as an apostle).

C7 Note the idea of Imminence. Imminence is something to happen soon or at any time. The Rapture can happen at any time. For the Second Coming seen by all, various events have to happen before He returns. See here, here, and here for more information. Some other verses on imminence:

D1 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. (James 5:8, NASB).

D2 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:5, NKJV)

D3 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20, NKJV)

C8 Who descends?

C9 Who is the archangel? (It is not mentioned. The only archangel mentioned in the Bible is Michael (Jude 1:9, Daniel 10:13, Revelation 12:7). Archangel is some type of high ranking angel who has more authority and power than others).

C10 Who goes first to be with the Lord Jesus?

C11 The word caught up is the Greek word, ἁρπάζω harpazo. It means to jerk up or snatch.

C12 Where do we meet the Lord?

C13 How do these words comfort?

B5 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11,

C1 Is there any warning or sign of this coming?

C2 How would you explain thief in the night?

C3 The term The Day of the Lord refers to special days that God intervenes in earthly affairs usually judgment. For the believer, it will be a day of joy. For the unbeliever, it will be a day of terror. Here it refers to the beginning of the end time events--the rapture, the tribulation, the Millennium, and the final judgment.

C4 Who are the one’s preaching a message of peace and safety? (These are false prophets as in "For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals [fn] falsely. "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:13-14, NASB).

C5 Why shouldn’t that day surprise believers?

C6 What kingdom are those of the light and day? What kingdom are those of the night and darkness?

C7 What do the words watch and sober mean? The word for watch is γρηγορεύω gregoreuo and means to be vigilant and alert. The word for sober is νήφω nepho and it means to not be drunk or having judgment, awareness, clouded.

C8 In 1 Thessalonians 5:7, what is to be our behavior? (Sober). What are we to put on? (A breastplate of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation).

C9 In 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9, who is appointed to wrath, and who is to obtain salvation? Another translation has But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8, NLT).

C10 Our salvation comes through whom? Can we obtain our salvation of ourselves?

C11 Who is going to live together with Him?

C12 How can we help and encourage one another?

B6 Did Paul know the date of the coming of Jesus Christ?

B7 Is the return of Jesus Christ an important doctrine to believe and teach?

B8 How are we to live knowing this doctrine?

B9 Next week:

C1 Stay on Track

C2 Theme: Practical Christian Living

C3 Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Death is sure

Death, in the Bible, is called

• Sleep
  
  • These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” (John 11:11, NKJV)
    
  • Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60, NKJV)
    
  • and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:4, NKJV)
    
• Putting off
  
  • For we know that if our earthly house, [this] tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1, NKJV)
    
  • knowing that shortly I [must] put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. (2 Peter 1:14, NKJV)
    
• Requiring the soul
  
  • “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ (Luke 12:20, NKJV)
    
• Going into silence
  
  • The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence. (Psalms 115:17, NKJV)
    
• Yielding up the spirit
  
  • Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying [her] out, buried [her] by her husband. (Acts 5:10, NKJV)
    
• Returning to dust
  
  • In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you [are,] And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19, NKJV)
    
  • You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. (Psalms 104:29, NKJV)
    
• Departing
  
  • For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, [which is] far better. (Philippians 1:23, NKJV)
    

Regarding the term sleep

• A cultural term of Jews ( Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; 2:10; 11:21,43; 14:20, and others). For example, And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2, NKJV)
  
• Appears as sleep. When the body is in the casket, it appears to be sleeping.
  

We are more than a body. We are body, soul, and spirit. If one cannot accept this, we have a physical part and a spiritual part.

• Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, [Yes,] my soul and my body! (Psalms 31:9, NKJV)
  
• Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn [for] my transgression, The fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul? (Micah 6:7, NKJV)
  
• And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, Both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away. (Isaiah 10:18, NKJV) Even if the word body is translated creature, the word body means flesh. It would make no sense to translate this as both creature and flesh. Many modern translations simply interpret soul and body as person.
  
• “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28, NKJV)
  
• Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV)
  

People are seen living, thinking, and doing after the flesh is in the grave.

• Luke 16:18-31. Even if one takes this as a parable, the parable shows consciousness after death.
  
• For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, (1 Peter 3:18-19, NKJV)
  
• And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on [God] and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59, NKJV). It would make no sense for Stephen to pray, “Lord Jesus receive my breath.” The Lord Jesus also had a spirit: And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46, NKJV)
  
• For we know that if our earthly house, [this] tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in [this] tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:1-4, NKJV)
  

Jesus and the thief of the cross: Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43, NKJV). It makes no sense to tell someone that you are talking today. They are not stupid. So, “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise” is totally nonsense. What sense it is to tell someone that you are talking to them today, when they already can figure that out. Also, where Jesus will be, the thief will also be. If Jesus went to Paradise at death, so will the thief.

Sunday School Lesson—The compassionate Savior

The wait was worth it!




Theme. The compassionate Savior


Text. John 11.1-44


A1 Outline

B1 Lazarus dies John 11.1-16

B2 Jesus comforts sisters John 11.17-37

B3 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead John 11.38-44

B4 The Jewish authorities want to kill Jesus John 11.45-57

A2 Notes and questions

B1 Bethany

C1 2 miles east of Jerusalem

C2 East side of the Mt of Olives

C3 Home of Simon the leper

C4 Home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus

C5 A favorite place for the Lord Jesus

C6 Today is called al `Azareyeh (the place of Lazarus)

B2 Lazarus (source here).

C1 Brother of Mary and Martha

C2 Died and buried twice

C3 Resurrected once and will be again

C4 Was a tourist attraction (people wanted to see the man who was dead but resurrected). John 12.10

B3 Mary (source here).

C1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus was at dinner with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus at Simon the leper's house.

C2 Mary poured very expensive perfume on Jesus's feet and wiped them with her hair.

C3 Judas became outraged at this. John 12.1-3

C4 Sat at the feet of Jesus to learn.

C5 Not the

D1 Mary the mother of Jesus

D2 Mary Magdalene

D3 Mary, the sinful woman of Luke 7.36-50

B4 Martha (source here).

C1 Owned the home where Mary, Lazarus, and her lived in. Luke 10.38

C2 Was burdened in preparing the meal.

C3 Was reminded by the Lord Jesus that other things are more important than physical food. Luke 10.39-42

C4 Some have suggested that Martha was either the wife or widow of Simon the leper.

B5 Lazarus dies John 11.1-16

C1 John 11.3. The word "love" is the Greek word φιλέω phileō. It means to be a friend. Being a friend is another person whom you like to be with, enjoy, due to many common interests.

C2 Why do people get sick? Answer according to the Christian idea. (The universe and world is cursed because of sin).

C3 Why wasn't the message, "Lazarus is sick"?

C4 According to many famous modern day "apostles and prophets," a person is never to be sick. How do we reconcile this? (Modern day apostles and prophets are fake and false. Reality shows us this).

C5 Why wasn't Lazarus chosen to be an apostle? He was loyal, faithful, a man who was raised from death. One would think this is a great qualification.

C6 John 11.4. Jesus says that this sickness does not result in death, but Lazarus died. Is this a contradiction?

C7 John 11.5-6. Why did Jesus wait 2 days before leaving to go to Lazarus? Wouldn't this disappoint the sisters? Why would Jesus increase their sorrow and distress?

C8 John 11.7. Where did Jesus want to go? They are in Perea, on the eastern side of the Jordan.

C9 John 11.8. Why are the disciples worried? Does this show foreknowledge and wisdom?

C10 John 11.9-10. What is the meaning of this verse? What is He referring to when He says "day" and "night"? What light is Jesus speaking of in John 11.10?

C11 John 11.11. Why did Jesus use the word sleep, when He knew the Lazarus was dead? Is this a proof text for soul sleep? (See here for more information).

C12 Are you afraid to die? Consider, for those who trust in Jesus Christ...

D1 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints. (Psalms 116.15 NKJV)

D2 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. (Luke 16.22 NKJV). Most likely we are too.

D3 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1.21 NKJV)

D4 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11.13 NKJV)

D5 The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. (Isaiah 57.1-2 ESV) The righteous (those, whom God made righteous through the death of the Lord Jesus and their trust in Him, never have anything evil, bad, sad, depressing, pain, etc. again).

D6 The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing, but the righteous finds refuge in his death. (Proverbs 14.32 ESV)

D7 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff--they comfort me. (Psalms 23.4 NRSV)

D8 but we are confident and prefer rather to be away from home from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5.8 EMTV)

D9 For I am hard pressed by the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. (Philippians 1.23 EMTV)

C13 John 11.15. Why would Jesus say, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there?"

C14 John 11.16. Was Thomas an optimist?

B6 Jesus comforts sisters John 11.17-37

C1 John 11.17. Why 4 days? If it would have been the same day as Lazarus died, would there be a difference? Jesus and the disciples traveled approximately 40 miles in 2 days.

C2 John 11.18. Bethany was about 2 miles from Jerusalem. So it would have been accessible to people in Jerusalem to come and comfort the sisters.

C3 John 11.20. Why did Martha come to see Jesus, but Mary stayed inside? (It was common for Jews to be in a sitting position when mourning. Mary may still be in shock and not wanting to meet anyone).

C4 John 11.20. Jesus could have healed Lazarus and not allowed all this grief. Does this make Jesus evil? Why did He allow them this emotional pain?

D1 Possibility 1. If Jesus had resurrected Lazarus the same day, many would have said that Lazarus had not really died. To have this resurrection after 4 days of burial, when many people saw it and knew of the death and burial of Lazarus, would definitely show Lazarus to be truly dead.

D2 Possibility 2. Their faith needed to grow. They had enough faith that Jesus could have healed Lazarus but not enough that Jesus could raise Lazarus. We learn that Jesus can heal and also can resurrect from the dead.

C5 Why did Jesus wait? How do we react to waiting?

C6 John 11.23. Would it have been easy for Martha to have missed the meaning of "...your brother will rise again?"

C7 John 11.25. What is Jesus teaching Mary, Martha, and us? Why did Jesus say, "I am the resurrection and the life," instead of saying, "I will raise up Lazarus?" What does "I am the life" mean? (Only Yahweh has life in Himself and can give life. See John 5.21.

D1 The Seven "I Ams" of Jesus

E1 "I am the bread of life" John 6.35, John 6.48

E2 "I am the light of the world" John 8.12

E3 "I am the door" John 1.7-9

E4 "I am the good shepherd" John 10.11, John 10.14

E5 "I am the resurrection and the life" John 11.25

E6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life" John 14.6

E7 "I am the vine" John 15.1 and John 15.5

C8 John 11.25. Why does Jesus say, "Those who believe in me will live, even though they die"? Is belief simple? (Yes, it is just accepting what Jesus says as truth).

C9 John 11.26. People die, so why does Jesus say, "those who live and believe in me will never die"? (He is speaking of spiritual and eternal death. The believers will have a resurrection).

D1 Clarke in his commentary on this verse states,

"Though he die a temporal death. he shall not continue under its power for ever; but shall have a resurrection to life eternal."

D2 Some translate the verse as "and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever. Do you believe this?" (John 11.26, LEB). Compare "Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never experience death forever." (John 8.51, LEB).

C10 John 11.27. This is a very strong statement of belief. Jesus accepts it.

C11 John 11.28-31. How long did it take for Mary to get up and go to Jesus?

C12 John 11.32. Is Mary angry at Jesus for not coming sooner? (No, she is simply making a statement).

C13 John 11.33. What did Jesus see Mary doing? (Crying). Does He know these things about us?

C14 John 11.34. The word translated "groan" or "deeply moved" has the idea of snorting with anger. Does Jesus like death? (No! It was in intention of His for people or creation. Death is a punishment for sin. The word for "troubled" conveys "passionately stirred up" in emotions. The calmness of our minds is disturbed. Jesus is not angry at Mary, Martha, or the people, for we see Him weeping, not rebuking).

C15 John 11.36. Are the people angry at Jesus? (Maybe, but they are more likely just venting their feelings in ignorance. They were sincere, not sarcastic. Mary and Martha had the same question).

B7 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead John 11.38-44

C1 John 11.38-40. Was Martha asking a question of doubt (You can't do this. It is scientifically impossible.) or curiosity (I believe you, but how). Mary the mother of Jesus asked the angel a question from curiosity ("Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (Luke 1.34, EMTV). Zacharias asked the angel a question from doubt ("And Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years." (Luke 1.18, EMTV). Mary asks, "Huh, how can this happen? Zacharias asks, "I don't think you know what you're talking about."

C2 John 11.41-42. Why did Jesus pray?

C3 John 11.43. Why did Jesus shout, instead of speaking in a still, small voice like He did to Elijah? (After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. (1 Kings 19.12, HCSB)

C4 John 11.44. What did Jesus do, and what did the people do? (The people moved the stone and unwrapped Lazarus).

B8 What have we learned today?

B9 If Jesus showed care and compassion, so should we.