While We're Waiting for Christ's Return
Tom Shrader works through 1 Thessalonians 4:9-18, addressing two concerns Paul had for the Thessalonian church: believers who had quit their jobs expecting Christ's imminent return, and grieving Christians confused about what happened to those who died before His coming. On the practical side, Shrader calls believers to pursue a quiet life, mind their own business, and work diligently so that their witness to the outside world remains intact. On the theological side, he expounds Paul's teaching on the resurrection and rapture, assuring the church that the dead in Christ will rise first and that all believers will be gathered together with the Lord forever, a certainty meant to comfort rather than merely inspire curiosity.
“We don't want you to grieve like those who have no hope — our future is bright because this will happen; it is the cause of our certain hope.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: 1 Thessalonians
Recorded: 2000 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 40 min
Themes: second coming, grief, hope, work ethic, waiting, resurrection, comfort, witness, grieving a loved one, feeling anxious about the future, struggling with idleness, new believer, questioning what happens after death, worker, young adult, dealing with loss
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-18, John 14:1-3, John 5:25, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12, Colossians 4:5, 1 Timothy 3:7
Theological Themes: eschatology, rapture, resurrection of the dead, parousia, sanctification, brotherly love, dead in christ, imminence of christ's return
Full Transcript
Loving One Another
To the book of 1 Thessalonians and to the fourth chapter and the ninth verse is where we pick up today. Let me remind you of the context. Paul is writing to this church, and at the beginning of chapter 3 he said he could not stand it anymore — it was killing him because he did not know what was going on there at Thessalonica. So he sent Timothy to do a little reconnaissance work and then report back on what he discovered. When Timothy came back, his report was glowing. The church was continuing, thriving, and growing. Paul writes back to share the joy that brought to them, to encourage them, and to deal with a couple of issues of concern.
One issue we look at today is very practical; the other is more theological in nature. They both flow out of the same idea: Paul had effectively communicated to this church the impending return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was with these people in Thessalonica just a few weeks, but one of the things he seemed to really impress upon them was that Jesus is coming again. That point was made over and over again to them. As they listened, there were two reactions that Paul deals with here.
First, the practical. So convinced were many of these Christians that Christ was coming again that they had literally stopped work. They had put their lives on hold. They thought Jesus was coming, that His return was imminent, that He was to be there any day, so they literally quit work — they simply stopped. As time passed, there were some practical ramifications of that.
Then there was a theological issue that arose. As Paul had taught and as they had understood, Christ was coming again. But since Paul's departure, there were now Christians who were dying. That raised all sorts of questions. What happened to those who died since he left? What about us? Is there something we missed in this teaching? So in 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 9 and ending with the close of the chapter, Paul addresses these two issues.
Taught by God to Love
Here is what he says first. Verse 9: "Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need of anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. For indeed, you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more."
Paul says he does not really need to write to them about love. They have been taught that by God. Almost a reflex reaction of Christians should be to begin the process of loving one another. We love God because He first loved us, and because He loves us and we now love Him, we begin to love one another. There is a change in the way that we respond to and interact with one another. He said, "You have that. In fact, you have already started to practice it. When it comes to love, you really have that figured out." But then he adds: "I want you to excel still more." The idea is that there is a definite measurement already in place, and he wants them to exceed it — to go beyond what is expected.
When we talk about love, we are talking about the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in our lives, and how do we know it? We see the fruit of that Spirit. What is that fruit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. There is no way to know whether we have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives until we come up against difficult circumstances. There is no way to know if we are patient until we are in circumstances that try our patience. There is no way to know if we have joy — not happiness, but joy — until we are in a situation that tests it. The same is true of love.
One author writes this: "Loving people is about the most difficult thing some of us can do. We can be patient with people, even just and charitable, but how are we supposed to conjure up in our hearts that warm, effervescent sentiment of goodwill which the New Testament calls love? Some people are so miserably unlovable — the person with the nasty cough who sat next to you in the train shoving his newspaper in your face, those crude neighbors with those barking dogs, the smooth liar who took you so completely last week. By what magic are you supposed to feel toward these people anything but revulsion and distrust and resentment and a justified desire to have nothing to do with them?"
How do you love the unlovable? The only way to do it is when you are in love with God — it flows from that. There ought to be in our lives a sense of love, and that is going to become most evident when we come up against those who are unlovable. Paul says, "I do not need to write to you about that. I am not chastising you; I am encouraging you. You are doing a great job — excel even more."
Make It Your Ambition
But there is something Paul does want to address. Verse 11: "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands just as we commanded you." The New Living Translation puts it this way: "This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we commanded you before."
You may be a goal-oriented, ambitious person. Paul says this should be the ambition of your life. He is writing to people who have literally walked away from their jobs, and he says there should be three things visible in their lives. Number one, they should lead a quiet life. What he is talking about there is a sense of peace, calmness, and tranquility in their hearts and minds. He is not talking about peaceful circumstances — he has already spoken to them about suffering, expecting it, and knowing it is going to come. What he is saying is that as the suffering comes, as the circumstances rise and fall, we know they are going to do that.
A Life of Peace While We Wait
If you are here today and your life is the best it has ever been, or you are here today and your life is the worst it has ever been, I have the same word for both of you: this too shall pass. Either way, it is going to change. What he is talking about is a peacefulness, a calmness, in the midst of this. Your life, to the best of your ability and as you control your environment around you, should be free of conflict. You should not be at war.
Now, I know we cannot control everything out there, but you can control your home. I personally love our home, and what I love about it is that Susan has primarily set the tone and created an environment where there is peace and harmony. You are not allowed to be a jerk in that place. With two daughters eighteen and nineteen months apart, you do not see them going at each other. You see them get along. You see peacefulness, calmness, and tranquility.
That ought to be the mark in your home. There should not be constant conflict — not if you are believers. What this means is that you are yielding to one another. It does not mean that everybody gets along perfectly or conducts themselves perfectly all the time.
The Sandwich Illustration
Let me give you a great illustration of this. Years ago, the kids were small. It was a Saturday — a football Saturday, my favorite kind of Saturday. My routine on Saturdays is to get up, put on my fat pants, get in my chair, and watch football all day. Starting about ten in the morning and finishing up with some West Coast game around eleven or twelve at night, dozing a couple of times, waking up, not doing a lot — just watching.
On this particular Saturday, Iowa had a big game. I do not remember who they were playing — it was Ohio State, it was a loss, I knew that — and I am early in the morning watching the first game, Akron and Bowling Green, just getting settled in. Susan came in and said, "Are you hungry?" I said, "Yeah, I'm hungry." She said, "How about those submarine sandwiches down the street? Why don't I get those for everybody?" I said, "Okay, that's perfect."
So she came back, set everything out on the counter, and I went over, got my submarine sandwich, sat down, and ate it. When I went over to get a little more, she said, "Tom, shh." You could hear the girls in the dining room — they had some friends from the neighborhood over. Susan said, "I didn't know these girls were going to be here, so I don't think I have enough sandwich for everybody. That's for the girls."
So I went into the dining room and said, "Hey, how's everybody doing? Good? Why don't you drink some pop and fill those bellies up?" I said, "Have you had this sandwich yet? I tasted mine — I think it was bad mayonnaise or something." Well, one of them — I think it was Sarah — had heard what I said, and she said, "Oh Dad, I could eat a horse." So I went back in and said to Susan, "Take me through this. This cannot be this hard. I am not asking you to put a man on the moon. I am not asking you to cure cancer. I am asking you to get a sandwich. You need money — look, I've got ones, I've got credit cards. You know I'm going through a growth spurt. You know I'm growing and developing. How hard can it be? I'm hungry." And I sat down.
So there we were. The girls ran out through the house — "We're going, we're going!" — and Susan went over, picked up a sandwich, put some chips around it, brought it over, and set it down on my lap. Then she went and sat on the other side of the room. Those of you who have been in these kinds of moments in a relationship know this: the next one who speaks loses.
Then Susan said to me, "Tom, I know the Iowa game is on and I know it's a big deal for you. So I'm going to take the girls to the mall so that nothing is bothering you while that game's on. Can I get you anything before I go?" And you could just feel the situation deflate entirely. She had every right to stand up for herself. She had every right to say, "You want a sandwich? I'll give you a sandwich." But she did not. She was right and I was wrong. She was the offended party, and yet she did not stand on her rights. Why? Because as far as it depended on her, she was going to live at peace with everyone.
If you do not have that sense of calmness in your life, it is probably your fault. The life we should be living while we wait for the Lord to come again — the first mark of it is that it should be a quiet life.
Mind Your Own Business
Here is the second thing: mind your own business. I add the word "stinking" to that — get your nose out of everybody else's business. Paul writes to this church and says he wants them to attend to their own business. One of the things that troubles me deeply is gossip and people constantly in everybody else's affairs.
Why are you a busybody? Is it because you are an insecure person who needs to stir things up? As long as there is a crisis around, somebody wins and somebody loses, and you feel validated by coming in and rescuing the situation? Or are you one of those people who say, "Well, I don't really like to get involved, but everybody just comes to me"? Why do they —
Mind Your Own Business and Work Hard
Is it because they get a welcoming ear from you? Because you love to get in there and stir things up? Mind your own business. Maybe it's because you are like these people and don't have anything to do.
That leads to the third point: work hard. Literally, the text says to work with your hands. That society — and I have to think ours as well — looked down on people who work with their hands to make a living. Yet that is a noble way to live. Paul says you are to work hard.
In the letter that follows this one, 2 Thessalonians chapter three, Paul writes: "We offer ourselves as a model for you that you might follow our example, for even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, acting as busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in a quiet fashion and eat their own bread."
You see, that is what had happened. They thought Jesus was coming again, so they quit work. They are minding everybody else's business, their own life is in turmoil, and now it is affecting the lives of those around them. The longer Christ delays in His coming, the more depleted their resources become, and now they are turning to the church and asking to be fed.
The principle Paul lays down is this: if you are capable and you choose not to work, you ought not eat. So do you think Jesus is coming again? Do you get this? They had been saying this since 51 AD. Now look at the practical side of it.
Behaving Properly Toward Outsiders
Paul says he wants them to live this way so that they may behave properly toward outsiders and not need anything from them. Apparently their reputation was beginning to be marred as the outside world observed this segment of believers who had quit working, withdrawn, and become isolated — and were now coming to the outside world in need.
Paul's admonition throughout his writing is very clear on this point. Colossians 4:5 says, "Conduct yourself with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity." 1 Timothy 3:7, speaking of the qualifications of elders, states, "He must have a good reputation with those outside the church." It is very important how the world looks at us and what they see.
So if you are here and you believe Jesus is coming again, here is what you should do: quiet your life, mind your own business, and work hard. That is the practical response.
The Theological Question: What About Those Who Have Died?
Now we come to the theological issue, beginning in verse 13. John MacArthur writes of this passage: "They knew Christ's return was the climactic event in redemptive history and didn't want to miss it. The major question they had was what happened to Christians who died before He comes? Do they miss His return? Clearly they had the view of Christ's return being at hand. Paul had left the impression it could happen in their lifetime. Their confusion came as they were persecuted and experienced things they thought they would be delivered from before the Lord's return."
There was all sorts of wondering going on. Let me say it again — this church at Thessalonica clearly understood that Jesus was coming again. And here is what Paul says: "We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope."
That word "hope" is an interesting word. Webster defines it as a feeling that what is wanted will happen — to want very much. When most people talk about hope, the idea is that something may or may not happen. If you are a Blazer fan, you say, "I hope the Blazers will win," meaning they may win or they may not, but you hope they will. That is not the way Scripture speaks about the return of Christ. It is not said with the idea that He might come but maybe He won't. It is something that happens with certainty. It is the cause of our certain hope in the future. Our future is bright because this will happen.
Grief With Hope Versus Grief Without It
Paul says he does not want believers to grieve like those who have no hope. Who are the people who have no hope? Those who do not know Christ.
One of the great privileges I have in this position is to stand here and preside over funerals and memorial services. I love it. But there is a subset of that work which is the toughest thing I do, and that is presiding over a memorial service for someone who did not know Christ. You can just see it in those gatherings. I will stand and say, "Tell me about Pete — I didn't really know him," and they will say, "Well, he was a heck of a guy. Could he barbecue! And he loved to go out on the boat." Or, "Here's Barbara — oh, her potato salad was to die for." That is all they have.
Contrast that with the memorial service for someone who knew Christ. All of a sudden you hear someone say, "Let me tell you about Pete. Pete was my second grade Sunday school teacher. I know he thought I was never listening to him. But fifteen years ago he told me about Christ, and I heard it. One night I responded, and I had the joy before he died of telling Pete that God used him to change my life."
While We're Waiting for Christ's Return (Part 4 of 6)
Paul wants us to understand this matter of end times — not necessarily to know dates and hours, but to clear away the cloud of ignorance as it relates to what happens to people who are already dead, what about people who are alive, and how does this whole thing come about. Beginning in verse 14, it is an expansion of what Jesus taught. The night before Jesus died, He was with the disciples, and here is what He said to them in John 14:1: "Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, you believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you." And in John 14:3: "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." What He is saying is this: I am going to prepare a place for you, and I am coming back one day.
Now Paul says, let me tell you about that day. The word "if" is better translated "since" or "because." Because we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so — also we believe — that God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Christ Jesus. He is talking about people who are dead, and they are dead Christians. They are in Christ. They have been identified with Christ. He says, let me talk to you about people who know Christ — who believe that Jesus is who He said He was, that He rose from the dead, who have put their faith and trust in Him. See how he is dealing with the question that is in their mind?
The Word of the Lord on the Coming Day
In verse 15, Paul says: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord." That phrase gives us reason to believe this may be new teaching to them. He has spoken to them about the second coming, but not about these specific details. Here is what he says: "We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep."
Note the language and the grammar. Paul uses the phrase "we who are alive," indicating he may even have expected to be alive when Christ came again. People have been appearing on television and saying Christ is coming in this year or that year since 51 AD. For nearly two thousand years they have been saying He could come at any time. Why? So that you would live as though it were to be today. Are you ready? What Paul is describing here is the rapture — that moment when the church is gathered together, when the elect, the redeemed from all of history come together. That is what he is talking about.
The Descent of the Lord
He begins to describe that great moment in verse 16: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout." Jesus is doing this. Jesus said in John 5:25: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live." When Jesus calls His church, it will be exactly what we saw at that moment when He stood outside the tomb of Lazarus and said, "Lazarus, come forth." Several commentators make the point that if He had not said "Lazarus," there would have been bodies flying everywhere. That is precisely what you have described here.
He comes with a shout, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The trumpet of God was used throughout the Old Testament to signal deliverance. When Moses was on Mount Sinai, God's trumpet sounded loudly. The prophets Zephaniah and Zechariah both spoke of the trumpet being sounded, and in that sounding, God's deliverance came. The trumpet announced that deliverance had arrived.
The Resurrection and the Gathering
So there is the shout of the Lord, the voice of the archangel, the trumpet blast — and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Those bodies will come first out of the ground, out of the sea. Then those who are still alive and remain will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord. The word "meet" carries the meaning of welcoming a dignitary. They meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall be with Him forever.
This is the very same event the Apostle Paul later describes in 1 Corinthians 15: "Behold, 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. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" That is what he is talking about — that moment in the future that we have read about and studied, when all the church is gathered together.
A Vision Beyond Words
As I prepared for this message, I found my thoughts and my words totally inadequate. I do not even know how to fully describe it. One author writes this, speaking of the occasion highlighted for us in 1 Thessalonians 4:
Think of the millions of people who have died in the faith down through the centuries — their bodies dust, most of their names long forgotten, even the headstones over their graves crumbled to sand and blown by the wind into oblivion. Suddenly the shout is heard, and unnumbered millions rise from the tomb in resurrected bodies. From every nook and cranny of the world they will be gathered. From the vast plains and the hills and the valleys they will rise. The bodies of the saints who have been drowned in the sea, their dust mysteriously preserved by the almighty hand of God, will be raised again.
The Comfort of Reunion
He who is the master of the universe, whose mighty power first created the noble being called man from the dust of the ground, is perfectly capable of gathering the scattered remains of His beloved people from the depths of the sea, from the caverns of the earth, from the desert hillside, from the river bottom, from the mountaintop. How does all this end? All the church gathered together. All the church caught up to meet the Lord, and thus we will always be with the Lord. This is the beginning of eternity with Christ — forever. We are there with Him, worshiping, praising, rejoicing.
Paul writes the next verse with a pastor's heart: "Therefore comfort one another with these words." There were people in the church saying, "I don't get it. My husband has died — what will happen at the end? My sister is gone. What about her? What about us? How does it work?" Paul said, "Here is the comfort: we will all be together. We will all be united." This is the idea of the ultimate family reunion, coming together for eternity.
A Church Gathering Together
Think about what it would mean for this church alone to gather together. Next year is our tenth anniversary. In many ways we mark time by when we moved into this building two and a half years ago, and that has certainly been part of the growth of the church. There are on average about 800 to 1,000 more people on campus this year than last year.
But there was a hearty group of souls that preceded you — people who were over on Dobson, who worked in the children's ministry, who worked in the student ministry in junior high and high school when we could not get ten kids together. They were there faithfully week after week after week. They were the people who gave the money to build this building so you could enjoy it. One of the things I would like to do for this ten-year celebration is get everybody together. We have not had everybody together since we moved into this building.
Can you imagine what that will be? You will be sitting there looking at people and saying, "I haven't seen you — where have you been?" All of a sudden, all those things taking place at once.
Grief and Hope
I know what that kind of reunion feels like, because there is not a week that goes by that somebody — most often with tears in their eyes — tells me about a father or a mother, and sometimes painfully a son or a daughter, a co-worker who is sick and going to die. I spoke with a man this week who said his dad's heart is failing and they do not think he will make it a month. What do you do there? I want you to have hope. I want you to understand that it is going to be okay.
Is it okay to grieve? Absolutely. When you sit and look at the body of someone you love, you will feel an emptiness in your heart. No matter how old you are, when your mother and father die, you will feel like an orphan. When someone you love leaves, there is a hole in your life that is never going to be filled again — and that is good. That is a natural grief to have. But there is a day when we will all be together again.
Thinking About What Lies Ahead
I think about these things all the time. I think about dying. I remember when I was 35, I said, "God, I am halfway there. I want You to really make this second half count for something." When I turned 50, I prayed the same prayer: "God, I am halfway there. I really want You to make this second half count for something." You can hear me at 70 saying, "God, I am halfway there."
I think especially about my girls — and this is not unique to me; this is any parent. I do not know if God wants them married or not married, but I want to see them grow up. Tomorrow, Haley starts her first day of work at the hospital. We were laughing last night because they mailed her a raise before she had worked a single hour. I want to see how she does. If God wants it, I cannot wait until they have children of their own. My girls just spent a week back with my mom and dad, and I would love to have their kids come and be with us when they are 18 or 20.
The Future of This Church
I think about the future of East Valley Bible Church all the time as well. We are at a very important juncture. It is time for us to plant another church — we need to get that done. And simultaneously, we need to build out this campus. You are doing what God called you to do: you are sharing the faith, people are responding, and you are bringing them here. In the fall we start a fifth service, and we simply cannot keep doing things as they are. We need to expand.
We also have an obligation to the young men God is raising up. One of them came into my office and said, "All I know is this — God has called me to the mission field. I want to go, I want to be ordained, and I want to be sent out by this church." This church has an obligation to prepare him for that. We are at a very important time, and we have to get this thing moving.
How does it all end? I think about it. I picture it like Founders Week, where they wheel me out and say, "Okay, say something — say it fast. Amen. We'll miss you." I know that is coming, and it will be okay. But don't you wonder about all of this?
Living in Light of What's Real
As I get a little older, I find myself saying, "Going to be with Him — how sweet that will be." When you are around people who are clearly at the end of their life and they understand it, especially if they know Christ, there is a grief, and I know that. There is a desire to see the end of the things I have talked about, but in their heart there is a joy that overwhelms the grief — a joy that says, "I am going to be with Him forever."
Men and women, students, children, we are not just making this stuff up. This is not simply "I wish, I wish, I hope, I hope." This is real. Every once in a while, somebody from the business world will say, "You don't know the real world." I deal with more of the real world in a week than I used to in a month, in a year. This is the real world.
Are You Ready?
And so I suppose this is the appropriate moment to ask: are you ready for this? I want to speak to those of you who call yourselves Christians. Are you living a life that is going to please God at that moment?
I look at this list of graduates, and I know that as they look at this world, this is not the first and utmost thing on their minds. Where am I going to go to school? Am I going to have fun? What is going to happen? I will get around to the other stuff later. Let me tell you — that is a foolish way to live. There is nothing more important in your life than preparing for death. And you are not ready to die until you are ready to live, and to live for Him.
A Wedding and a Different Kind of Conversation
I had a wedding yesterday — one of the guys from C2 and Gal, Eric and Wendy. I sat at that wedding, and there were older folks and then there were us younger guys. I looked around, and it was so wonderful — just to see the people God has brought together at the head table. James and Kenny, all those guys God has brought together, and all the young women I have met. I think there were four or five couples there who are engaged to be married over the next year.
I am telling you, this is not a normal group of young people. Do you know what they were talking about? Christ. One of the young men — tomorrow is draft day for Major League Baseball, and I am fairly confident he will be drafted — do you know what his conversation was about? He said, "I want to do what God wants me to do, and if that means not playing baseball, I have no problem with that. I want to glorify Him." I also sat and talked with a young man who was quite involved in ASU baseball, and I asked him what he was going to do this summer. He spent fifteen minutes talking about what God has done in his life and what God has put together for him this summer.
Do you live that way? Is that happening in your life? This is real. The other stuff is make-believe. Getting that new car — make-believe. Getting that job and career — is it important? Sure, it is important. But this is the stuff that will last.
A Challenge to Students
To you students, let me challenge you, because I know what the world says: climb to the top of the ladder and all that. And that is fine. If there is anything we need, it is Christians. Do we need more Christians in business? No — we need the ones who are already there to stand up and be counted. There is something noble in that.
But younger men and women, maybe God is calling you to something deeper. Maybe God is calling you to live for Him completely. When we were talking about the mission field, someone said, "Where do you want to go?" And the answer was, "I do not need to know that yet. I am not ready to go yet." That is exactly right. Do you have it that way?
Letting God Work
Are you one of these people who looks around, sees God working everywhere, and wonders why He is not working in your life? I will tell you why — you are not letting Him. You are letting the other things of life crowd in, and you are letting them push out what is really important.
Men, have you given up leading in your home? Maybe it has been a long time. This is something you might never expect to hear, but I meet women all the time — here for the women's study or around campus — and when I ask how things are going, do you know what they say? "I so want my husband to lead. I want to submit to this man — just lead." Guys, lead. And ladies, do you know what a leader needs most? A follower. Are you following? This is what God has prescribed for His people. This is what God says life is all about. This is the essence of life.
A Closing Prayer
Father, help us see that. Help us understand that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. Father, for many in this room the future is bright, for when we pass from this earth we will be with You forever. But for some, that is not the case. Maybe they have been around church all their life since they were little children. They have learned all the verses and all the words. They can fool mom and dad and others, even coworkers. But in their heart, they know they have never been converted.
If the rapture came today, they would still be here — to usher in a service, to sing in a choir. God, I pray that if there is anybody here who does not know You as Lord and Savior, You would put in their heart the desire to speak to the person who brought them or invited them today — to ask what it means to be a Christian. Father, bring them to the church. Have them talk to us about what it means to be a follower of Christ. God, thank You that we can be comforted with these words, for we are ready to die. We pray this to You in Jesus' name. Amen.