When we started Northern Hope back in the Eisteddfod
Hall, who remembers the Eisteddfod Hall? Remember
the Eisteddfod Hall? Yes. Well, we're in a much
better place now, aren't we? With more room for
the children. I've seen the children continue
to grow here. But it was a great congregation.
I remember we had to put out more chairs because
more people were coming than we'd expected on
that day. And I met at the end of the service
a lady whom I'm sure you remember, a lady called
Monica. And she was in her 90s, I believe, when
I met her. And I talked to her at the door, and
I said, oh, how long have you been going to the
Good Shepherd? She said, oh, over 60 years. I
remember I said to her, that must have been hard
to leave the building. And buildings are important,
but to leave the building and all the associations
of marriage and baptism and children and weddings
and funerals. and then to come here. And I never
forget her words to me. She said, look, when
I heard about Northern Hope and Trevor was going
to lead us, I was in like a shot. And I thought
that was just an extraordinary thing. Because
we know the buildings and congregations and at
one stage we were going to buy the building from
the Diocese and the whole congregation was going
to come, for those of you who remember those
days, but there were certain legal impediments
for that, but that's in the past now. I remember
when Trevor told me that Monica had died and
gone to be with the Lord. I thought, what a great
aspect that I think Trevor and the elders chose
the name Northern Hope. because hope is what
binds us together. And you're pretty far north,
so it's Northern Hope. And that sense in which
hope is what holds us together. And this passage
from 1 Thessalonians, I thought, is very helpful.
I think, talking to Jen, that you've had about
three funerals in the last three years. And I
guess that's going to continue to happen. And
in many ways, part of life is also preparing
for our death. We know it's a reality that we're
going to die. Benjamin Franklin said there were
two certainties, death and taxes. And we all
know the second. But the first is a reality,
too. And of course, sometimes death comes in
old age. Sometimes death comes in middle age.
Sometimes death comes in infancy. or even in
stillborn children. I'm sure we've all had experience
of loved ones who've died, whether it's a parent
or a grandparent, and possibly even a spouse
or a child. And the great difference that Christ
makes is that we have hope. Look at the way in
which Paul expresses it. Brothers and sisters,
we do not want you to be uninformed about those
who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve
like the rest of humankind who have no hope.
Paul had been to Thessalonica. This was really
the first time he'd come in out of Asia and into
Europe. As we know, Thessalonica is in the northern
part of Greece, and he was there for about three...
weeks or so, and had a ministry after he'd been
in Philippi just before that, and then he moved
on a way down to Athens and Corinth. He writes
this letter from a lower part, Achaia, in Greece.
And because he'd heard words and Timothy had
been bringing him messages back, Timothy had
stayed there whilst he went on his journey south.
And what obviously had happened is that some
people had died in the congregation. Paul had
been preaching a message that Jesus had died
and been risen from the dead. That in that three
days of his experience of death and all the darkness
of death that Jesus experienced, on our behalf,
but he was raised from the dead. And actually
Jesus was a participant in his raising himself
from the dead. We don't always realize that because
he is God, it wasn't just that he was passive
in his resurrection, but actually he was active
in his resurrection. And that of course was the
hope that Jesus was gonna come back and draw
all people to himself. There were some in the
early church who thought that Jesus would come
back in their lifetime. And in a sense, that's
always a good way to live your life, to think
that Jesus could come back tomorrow. He'd rather
come back after school holidays, but nonetheless.
I'll never forget when I was in America, I proposed
to my wife in America because I was studying
there. She'd come across, we got engaged, and
then there was a 12 -month period before we actually
got married. So it was a long engagement. And
she said, it sounds awful, I just hope that Jesus
doesn't come back before we get married. It was
very selfish of her. But nonetheless, but you
understand the experience. And of course, we
should always live in the light that we know
the sun will shine tomorrow. But Jesus' return
is more certain than the sun rising tomorrow.
But there was those who had died and there was
obviously some uncertainty, a letter had come
back from the Thessalonians to Paul. And so he
writes this particularly with regard to the question
of death and how I thought this was a great opportunity
for us as Northern Hope to understand what happens
when you die. It's one of those questions that
you sort of think, we always went, well, what
happens when, if you go to a funeral and you
see the casket there? In America, of course,
they have open caskets, which is not our custom
in Australia, for which I think I'm pleased.
And I remember a family was going and they'd
have a viewing of the casket before the actual
funeral. And it was a grandmother and the granddaughter
who was about six or seven. came along and her
parents encouraged her to say goodbye to grandma.
And she stood up or was held up because she was
small, looked in the coffin and there she saw
a lifeless corpse. And she said to her mother,
that's not grandma, that's not the grandma that
I know. She was alive and full of life and there
that sense in which there was something missing
in that corpse. because even the very word corpse
is such a cold, dark, sort of ugly kind of word,
isn't it, really? It's a lifeless body. When
God created Adam and Eve, he created them as
body and soul. There are two aspects to our lives.
The Greeks had a dualism of body versus soul.
So Plato would say, The body is just a prison
house for the soul to be released from and the
body is of no importance. But the Bible makes
it very clear the body is important and is part
of the image of God. It's not a dualism but a
duality. Remember Jesus' words to the Jews of
his days, fear not him who can kill the body
but not the soul. But fear Him who can cast both
body and soul into hell. I remember when I was
young, I thought, oh, that must be the devil
we should fear. But of course, Jesus is talking
about His heavenly Father. Fear Him who has judgment
in His hands. We don't fear Satan who can kill
the body or humans who can kill the body. Death
actually is not the end for us. But death. everlasting
death, the second death as the book of Revelation
describes it, that is something to be feared
when body and soul are cast into everlasting
damnation. So body and soul are actually there.
Now listen to the words again if I can repeat
them though they were read to us so well. Verse
14, for we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
And so we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him. Notice the
ground of Paul's hope. It's Jesus' resurrection
from the dead. He's the first person to be raised
from the dead, raised incorruptible, raised never
to die again. Now, of course, you know that in
Jesus' ministry, he did raise people from the
dead, Lazarus, for example, and the widow of
Nain's son. But of course, the raising of Lazarus
was back into this life, only to die again. I
always felt sorry for Lazarus' family to have
two funeral costs. Have you ever thought about
that? And to think possibly at his second funeral,
do you think he might rise again? but if Martha
or Mary were there, yes, he will rise again,
but at the day of resurrection. The very words
she spoke to Jesus. And Jesus gave a foretaste
of that. It was in a sense, It wasn't a resuscitation
because Lazarus was truly dead for four days,
as we know, but it was a resurrection back into
this life. It was a revivication, if you like,
a better word than resurrection. If we use the
word resurrection to be breaking the bonds of
this earthly coil, so we might live in resurrection
glory with new bodies, with changed bodies. That's
the hope that God holds out for us. Isn't it
wonderful? I mean, if you look at your neighbor,
or perhaps if they look at you, they can see
those wrinkles in the face and those crow's feet
and that graying hair. And yes, our bodies are
aging, aren't they? We see these young people.
Wouldn't it be great to be young again, but to
have all the wisdom of older age. That's what
we'd really like. But resurrection bodies, our
bodies are going to be perfected and resurrected
like Jesus' body. It doesn't yet appear what
we shall be like, but we know we shall be like
him. But notice the way in which Paul expresses
this. He says because of Jesus' resurrection,
God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen
asleep in him. In other words, Jesus is going
to bring with him all the saints who have died.
all those who have put their trust in Jesus,
all those who have known God's mercy and forgiveness
and repented of their sins and become members
of his family. But he then goes on in verse 15,
according to the Lord's word, we tell you that
we who are still alive and left until the coming
of the Lord, we will certainly not precede those
who have fallen asleep. What does that mean?
How can we proceed if Jesus is gonna bring with
him those who have fallen asleep? For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trumpet call of God and the dead in
Christ will rise first. So here's the conundrum
as you read this passage. How is it that Jesus
is bringing with him those who have fallen asleep
but the dead in Christ rise first and we who
are left on earth we will then meet the Lord
in the air and be forever with the Lord? Well
of course the best way to understand that is
that Jesus is bringing the souls of those who
have died. Their bodies are in the grave. So
the resurrection will take place at that last
day when body and soul are reunited but with
resurrection body. Whatever body goes into the
ground where it's consumed, ashes to ashes, dust
to dust, whether in cremation with ashes or whether
in a body buried in the ground, that body will
decay. and waste away, but God in his mercy is
going to revive that body, resurrect that body,
and bring new life into it. Like in Ezekiel's
vision of the valley of dry bones, where the
bones are stood up and flesh were added to the
bones, and a whole army of God's people arose
from the dead. That picture of the resurrection
of Israel as the nation of God has its application
towards us too. Some people have found this difficult
to understand because as one philosopher said,
well if the souls are in heaven, how can they
speak? Because their bodies are the organ for
speech. I remember I read a philosopher once
when I was in university. He said, oh, people
often have these visions of being in the hospital
bed and then their spirit rises up and they look
down and see their body. And the philosopher
said, their eyes are in their body. He said,
what are they looking with if they're in their
souls? Well, it's interesting. In the Book of
Revelation, there's a passage there where the
saints, the souls of those who've died cry out,
how long, oh Lord? How long oh Lord and that
in Revelation 6 that tells you a couple of things
It tells you that heaven is temporal Time still
continues in heaven because you can't say how
long oh Lord Unless you're in time only God's
outside of time. We will always be time bound
as created beings God is timeless He knows the
end from the beginning, but we're always in time.
Now, to the answer to the question, well, how
can souls cry out? How long, O Lord? My answer
is simple, in the same way in which God, the
Father, who has nobody, can speak. He's got it
solved. We don't need to worry about that philosophical
conundrum. If God can do it, he can allow his
souls to do it. Remember the very first aspect
of God we know of is that God spoke, let there
be light. Well, he's got power over voice control
and a voice box and all the rest of it. And so
these souls, but why are they crying out, how
long, oh Lord? They're crying out, how long,
oh Lord? How long before you end this old earth
and bring in the new heavens, the new earth?
How long before we get our resurrection bodies?
How long before we see justice upon the earth?
Because the prayers are going up of the saints
in heaven like incense before the throne of God.
They're actually praying for us. God's people
are one. And then you might remember the very
last verse of Hebrews 11. where the writer of
the Hebrews gives this catalog of all the people
of faith from Adam right through the Old Testament
saints. And he says, they were not made perfect
because they're awaiting us. They'll only be
made perfect when we join them. The perfection
of the people of God is gonna come place at the
last day. And you know, that's exactly, that
separation of body and soul is exactly what Jesus
experienced. When you celebrate Good Friday and
Easter Eve, the Saturday, and then Easter Day,
the Sunday, we know where Jesus is on Good Friday.
He's on the cross, isn't he? We know where Jesus
is on Easter Day. He's risen from the dead. Where
is he Easter Eve? Where is he on the Saturday?
Well, we know that his body's in the tomb, sealed
with a stone. Soldiers taking place. Joseph Arimathea
had been there and Nicodemus to actually help
make sure it was secure. The women were coming
with embalming ointments and things like that
on the Sunday morning only to be surprised that
the tomb was empty. But where was Jesus? on Easter
Eve. His body was in the tomb, but his spirit
was with his heavenly father. What were the last
words of Jesus on the cross? Into your hands,
I commend my spirit. Spirit and soul meaning
the same thing, different perspectives. What
did he say to the thief on the cross? Today,
you'll be with me in paradise. But that thief's
body was still in the ground or in the tomb wherever
he was buried. His body was there. After the Day of
Pentecost, they talk about the coming of the
Messiah. The Messiah had to be David's son. And
of course, Peter says, well, we've got King David's
burial plot here in Jerusalem. His body's there.
It's fit for corruption. but David's greatest
son is going to overcome corruption and then
all God's people will be raised from the dead.
So if you look at it that way, have a look at
these verses again you see. So in verse 14 we
have, we believe that Jesus died and rose again
and we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him and that
in him is very important because the souls of
the saints are in Christ. Death does not separate
us from Christ. Isn't that a wonderful thought?
Death will not separate us from Christ. But according
to the Lord's word, that we who are left alive,
if Jesus was to come back today or tomorrow,
then we would see Jesus bring the souls, then
we'd see the dead rise in Christ, and then we
would join him. So therefore he says, for the
Lord himself will come down from heaven, verse
16, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel, with the trump of call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first. And after
that, we who are still alive and are left will
be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord. forever. Northern Hope. You're
about giving hope to Australians or even foreigners
who may be living in Cairns, to bring them into
the hope that only the Lord Jesus can do. Only
He has conquered death. Every other religion
has all kinds of strange views about reincarnation
or what happens after death, but none of them
have that combination of body and soul, that
sense of the unity that God created in the very
beginning, that unity which reflects the image
of God so that our bodies are important. That's
why sexual sins are so important in the New Testament
because don't just think you can be freelance
with your bodies as if your soul is pure. No,
it's body and soul which has made us. Remember
when Paul writes to the Philippians and he says,
I'd rather be away from the body and at home
with the Lord? That sense in which he recognizes
that separation, but he'd rather be further clothed,
that is, to have that resurrection body. And
the word further clothed is like a double, it's
like a pullover. You know, we think of a jumper
as like a pullover. You pull it over something,
that body will be, that resurrection body will
be pulled over, if you like, that naked soul.
That's the glory for which the saints in heaven
are now waiting. They continue to call out, how
long, oh Lord? And they're waiting for us. They're
waiting for us to join them. You've all seen
the difference between the funeral of a non -Christian
and the funeral of a Christian, haven't you?
It's so palpable. It's so sad. Because those
who die outside of Christ die without hope. But
those who die in Christ die with hope. They're
much far better off. It's we who are left behind,
but we don't need to worry about that. So dear
Monica, she's with the Lord. She is there. And
all the other saints that you have put to rest,
and you yourself, when the time comes, your hope
is in Jesus. who alone has conquered death. Therefore,
our trust in him is there. So what are Paul's
last words? Therefore, encourage one another
with these words. Where to encourage one another
as we gather together week by week or in our
growth groups as we seek to learn more of the
Lord Jesus through his word. We encourage one
another to say, yes, fear not. Death is not the
end. It's just a new beginning and the resurrection
that will bring even a whole new phase of God's
recreated order with a new heavens and new earth
where every tear we wiped away where death itself
will be no more and all the agonies and pains
and horrors of this world will disappear and
we shall be in the presence of the Lord resurrection
bodies forever. May God strengthen us with that
hope. May He encourage one another with these
words and may we invite others to join us in
that hope for Jesus sake. Let's pray. Father
God we thank you for your word, for the certainty
of the word that breaks the fears of death and
gives us that wonderful encouragement that you
are sovereign over life and death, and that you'll
bring us one day before your presence, and one
day in your mercies and in your timing, you'll
give us those resurrection bodies which we'll
share with the Lord Jesus, and so be able to
serve you forever. And we ask this in his name.
Amen.