EASTER SERVICE THANK YOU JESUS2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Easter Service Thank You Jesus

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021.

Well, this morning, as we consider the resurrection, you know, for me as a pastor, there's always a little bit of a challenge when it comes to Easter Sunday or, you know, some of those annual services that we could just look at the same passage every year. And there, of course, would be value in it. But at the same time, I want to hear from the Lord as far as what is it that he wants us to focus on. And for this Sunday, for today, here's what the Lord impressed upon my heart.

Thank you, Jesus. And I want to encourage you to have a heart of gratitude this morning as we consider the resurrection. In fact, I want to encourage you to a different degree perhaps than I usually do. I'm going to do something a little bit different today that may make you a little bit uncomfortable because I don't actually do this very often. But let me assure you, many other pastors do it all the time. So we'll be okay. Okay, everybody okay?

Here's what I want you to do. I want you to say out loud, thank you, Jesus. I think you can handle that. And I think it's something important. It's something the Lord impressed upon my heart that we need to out loud express our thanks to the Lord for who he is and what he's done for us. And so we're just going to give it a shot and throughout the service, we'll give you opportunity. But

How about right now, on the count of three, you just say, thank you, Jesus. Okay, so one, two, three. Thank you, Jesus. Great, that was awesome. Okay, now, live streaming crew, we couldn't hear you. So you're gonna have to say it louder next time. No, I'm just kidding. But whether you're at home or whether you're here, I would encourage you as we have opportunity that the Lord wants us today to really just stop and say thank you to the Lord for what he has done for us.

for us. And so I want to give you this morning five good reasons to say thank you, Jesus. Five good reasons to say thank you for what he has done for us. And we're going to start out here in Matthew chapter 28. And here's the first reason to say thank you. Point number one this morning, thank you, Jesus, for always being with me. Thank you, Jesus, for always being with me. In this passage we just read in Matthew chapter 28,

Jesus is about to ascend up into heaven. So he has resurrected at this point. He has spent some time, about 40 days, with the disciples and been, you know, continuing to disciple them after his resurrection. But now he's about to go to the Father and leave the disciples with the great commission to go and make disciples of all the rest of the world.

And as he prepares to leave, as he goes out, he gives them this command, go and make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them. But the part that stood out, the part for us to consider this morning is at the end of verse 20 there in Matthew chapter 28, Jesus said, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Jesus left his disciples with this word, with this reminder that he was always with them.

Now, this exhortation to the disciples is one that is not just for those guys who were there with him on the Mount of Olives as he ascended up into heaven, but it is for the disciples of Jesus. Or another way to put that, it is for believers in Jesus. You and I as believers in Jesus today are called to be disciples of Jesus, and these things extend to us.

And so as we have this account of Jesus encouraging his disciples about his presence, it is an encouragement to you and I this morning as well. The Lord is saying, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Think about the end of the age. As Jesus was speaking this to his disciples, he was speaking to guys who would live for a few decades more, but then they would die and enter into eternity.

And so when Jesus says, I will be with you to the end of the age, he's clearly not just limiting it to those guys, but he's including all disciples of Christ up until the return of Jesus Christ, the end of the age.

And so here we have the opportunity for you and I to be refreshed and reminded that as disciples today, we haven't reached the end of the age. And so the promise of the Lord is still there. He says, I will be with you always. It means that Jesus is still with us. It means that Jesus is with us now, this very day. Now for Jesus to be with us, I think there's two aspects of that that you could consider that would be helpful and encouraging to you.

First of all, when he says, I am with you, it means that he's present. He's always reachable. He's always within reach. He's always accessible. You know, there's some people in your lives that, you know, you would want to have with you at all times, but...

circumstances, you know, maybe careers, workplaces, you know, responsibilities that pulls us away and we're semi-accessible, maybe by phone, by text, you know, that kind of thing. But we don't have that person necessarily always with us. But when it comes to the Lord Jesus, we have this great and awesome promise and truth that

that he is present with us. Right now, right here, anytime, anywhere, Jesus is present with you until the end of the age. And so there's never a moment, there's never a time where you are truly alone. There's never a moment, there's never a time where you truly are left all by yourself because Jesus has promised to always be with you. But there's another aspect of the Lord being with us that I'd like to consider as well.

And that is that Jesus is with you in the sense that he is for you. He is with you, meaning that he is on your side. He's on your team. He's got your back and he is working for your good. This is always the case for the disciples of Jesus.

This is always the case. In every moment of every day, in every situation, in every scenario that we face, Jesus is always with you in that he is for you. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 that God is working all things together for good to those who love him and to those who are called according to his purpose. Another way to put that is for his disciples.

The Lord is working out all things together for good for his disciples because he's for you, because he wants what's best for you, because he's on your side, he's on your team, and he's going to work out the situations and circumstances with eternity in mind for what is best for you. And we have this promise of the Lord, I am with you, he says. I'm present, I'm accessible, I'm there, I'm also on your side.

And I'm going to work out every situation, every scene, every scenario for good in your life. That's true wherever you're at and whatever you're experiencing. If you're at a season of life where you're experiencing great victories, it's important to remember the Lord is with you.

the nation of Israel would experience great victories and then they would forget that the Lord was with them. They would think about themselves and how they accomplished all these things and then it would cause them great trouble because they would wander from the Lord, forgetting the Lord. Hey, if you're experiencing great victories this morning, as we celebrate the resurrection, thank Jesus for his presence in the midst of those victories, for working out good for you in the midst of those victories.

Maybe you're in a different season and maybe it's not a season of great victories in your life, but it's a season of, well, you've been making some bad choices and the repercussions and the fallouts from those decisions are what you're experiencing now. Listen, you need to know in that season, the Lord says, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. I'm still accessible. I'm still present and I'm still for you.

I'm still working out good on your behalf. I'm still accomplishing good for you as you seek me and walk with me. Maybe you're facing difficult circumstances or you know there's a season of new challenges ahead. There's a great variety to the things that we experience in this life. And the Lord wants us to know whatever that is, whatever season it is, whatever mountain or valley, you know, something high, something low, whatever.

The Lord says, I'm with you. I'm present, I'm accessible, and I'm for you. Pastor Thomas Constable says this, the expression to the end of the age literally means the whole of every day. Jesus promised to be with us every day forever. The whole of every day. That's not just, you know, 15 minutes of each day. That is the whole of every day. I am with you.

To the great degree that every second, every millisecond, every nanosecond, I don't know what's less than that, but even those details, those moments, the Lord is with us. He's present, accessible, and working on our behalf. Jesus resurrected from the dead. And so you are never alone. There is nothing that you have to face all by yourself.

You always have the Lord with you. The author of Hebrews addressed this a little bit in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. He said, That is, I'm always going to be present and I will never forsake you. That is, I'm always going to be working for your good.

And so the author of Hebrews applies that to our attitude towards the things of this life. Don't be covetous. Don't be coveting other people's things because you know that the Lord is with you and the Lord is on your side. And so if you needed those things, he would be providing those things. So be content, he says, with the things that you have. That's an example of how we can apply these things in our lives.

It impacts the way that we live. If I needed that, if that relationship was good for me, if this career or this scene or this scenario or this answered prayer was good for me, the Lord would be working that out because he's always for me. If it's good for me, he's going to be working it in my life. Jesus says, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

The Lord encouraged Joshua with this as he was about to head into the promised land with the children of Israel. In Deuteronomy chapter 31, the Lord through Moses told Joshua, be strong and of good courage. Do not fear for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

And what's interesting about that is first the Lord told Joshua that privately. Moses and Joshua were having a private conversation. And the Lord speaking through Moses tells Joshua, be strong. I'm with you. I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. But then Moses gathers the whole nation together and once again tells Joshua in front of everybody, God says, I'm with you.

I will not leave you nor forsake you. Sometimes we need that double encouragement because of the things that we face and because of the seasons that we go through in life. And so this morning, let's be reminded, let's be refreshed. The Lord is with us. And so we can thank him. He has resurrected. He is alive, which means, first of all, when we say thank you to him, we're not just speaking words into the air.

But we're actually talking to him because he's present. He's with us and he's on our side. And so we can say, thank you, Lord, for always being with me. He's always reachable. He's always for me all day, every day. So let's say thank you, right? On the count of three, say thank you, Jesus, for always being with me. You guys ready? You got your outside voices on? You ready to go? All right.

Just remind you what we're saying again. Thank you, Jesus, for always being with me. All right, one, two, three. Thank you, Jesus, for always being with me. God is good, and he's with us. Well, there's more things to thank the Lord for. Let's jump now to John chapter 20.

John chapter 20 this morning gives us another thing to thank the Lord for and understand a little bit more about his work in our lives. And here in John chapter 20, we're kind of rewinding a little bit in the account. It's actually the day of his resurrection here in John chapter 20. And Jesus is going to show up with his disciples and spend a few moments with them and encourage them, again, encouraging us at the same time.

In John chapter 20, we're looking at verses 19 through 22. Here's point number two this morning. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the Holy Spirit. John chapter 20, starting in verse 19, says this. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you.

Here in this occasion, we see Jesus meet with his disciples on the day of his resurrection.

And they're still freaked out. They still haven't figured out what's going on. You know, there's been reports of his appearance and some of them have seen him and some of them haven't. And they're still freaked out about the Jews. They're in a locked room. But Jesus shows up in the midst of them because he's always with them, right? He's always present. He's always accessible. He shows up right in their midst and he says, you need to have peace. I'm giving you peace and I'm sending you out, but I'm also free.

imparting to you the Holy Spirit. It says there that he breathes on them and says, receive the Holy Spirit. This was not something limited to those disciples on that day, but the scriptures are quite clear. Every believer has the Holy Spirit. Everyone who has believed in Jesus Christ and been born again has the Holy Spirit dwelling within.

A few days later at the day of Pentecost, when Peter stands up to preach that famous message in Acts chapter 2, he gives an invitation at the end. Acts chapter 2 verse 38 and 39, he says this, then Peter said to them, repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Understand, very clearly in the scriptures, God has promised every believer, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and receives him as their savior, receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.

There is what we call the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That is, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. It's part of the salvation process because we are born again by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is working in our lives as we walk with the Lord in what we call sanctification. That is, conforming us and transforming us into the image of Christ as we walk with him. The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In John chapter 16, Jesus in promising this and foretelling this, tells his disciples, it's to your advantage that I go away because then I will send the Holy Spirit to you. The Holy Spirit in your life is a great advantage that you have. Now you and I do not always take advantage of the advantages we have. We don't always capitalize on the advantages we have.

That is possible in regards to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Whether or not we are interacting with the Lord and seeking the Lord and really pursuing Him is kind of a different subject and something to consider on your own or a different day. But the point I would like to refresh us in and remind us in this morning is that we have the Holy Spirit. He's right there within us.

He is at work within us. The advantage of the Holy Spirit is that we have communion with God. We have a strong connection to God, a direct line of fellowship with God because we have the Holy Spirit who is God dwelling within us. And so we have this real personal and real connection to God.

The Holy Spirit advantage is also that we have him present with us, teaching us, leading us, and guiding us in our lives. The Holy Spirit advantage is that he is at work producing fruit. Remember the fruit of the Spirit? That's the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, producing love and joy and peace and patience and long-suffering and goodness. The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, and

accomplishing these things. And then of course, the Holy Spirit empowers us to serve the Lord and to do the things that God calls us to. The advantage that we have, it's such an advantage, it's so helpful. Earlier, Jesus called the Holy Spirit the helper. In John chapter 14, again, preparing his disciples for his departure, he says, "'I will pray the Father, "'and he will give you another helper "'that he may abide with you forever.'"

He goes on to say, it's the spirit of truth. You will have a helper. Again, you're not on your own, not just because the Lord Jesus is present with you, but because you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. And so those things that are happening internally, those things that need work internally, those changes that need to take place in your life, those habits that need to be broken, the things that God wants to do in your life, the Holy Spirit is there within to help you

with all of those things. And so we can say, thank you, Jesus, for giving me the Holy Spirit. You have the Holy Spirit as a believer in Jesus. And so you have this help. And so we can say, thank you. You're not alone. You have a great advantage. And so let's say thank you. Say, thank you, Jesus, for giving me the Holy Spirit.

Ready? Got your outside voices on? All right, one, two, three. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the Holy Spirit. Amen. We're going to move now to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Here's another good reason to say thank you, Jesus. Point number three this morning, thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my sins.

Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my sins. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, you're going to turn over a few chapters or a few books to the right. And here is a letter of the Apostle Paul to the Church of Corinth. The whole chapter of chapter 15 is about resurrection. And there's great truths that are found in there if you want to meditate more on resurrection later. But here in this chapter, Paul the Apostle is refuting some bad doctrine that's going on where people are trying to say that there is no resurrection.

And so they're trying to embrace Christ, but reject the resurrection. And there's some real problems with that. And so Paul is correcting that and reaffirming the truth of the resurrection of Jesus, which also means then that you and I as his followers will be resurrected. But we're going to zero in on verses 16 through 19 here of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Here's what it says. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. Here is Paul is laying out the argument for the resurrection and refuting the bad doctrine that there is no resurrection. He says, let's assume this bad doctrine is true for a moment. If Christ is not risen...

Your faith is futile. There's no value in believing in Jesus if he's not resurrected. It's worthless to believe in Jesus if he didn't rise from the dead because the resurrection of Jesus is the confirmation, the permanent seal that proves that Jesus is who he claimed to be, the son of God, that Jesus has the ability to forgive sins by faith in him.

The whole gospel is built around the resurrection of Jesus. And that's the case that Paul makes at the beginning of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And so here he's making the point here, the resurrection is the very core of the gospel message. It's the very center of the gospel. In fact, there is no gospel without resurrection. And if there's no resurrection, then, well, there's no future. And there is no hope.

And there's no power to forgive sins. If Christ is not risen, he says, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. There is no power for forgiveness without resurrection. Now, usually when we think about forgiveness, we kind of attach it to the cross, right? Good Friday, the crucifixion of Jesus. He shed his blood for the remission of sins, right?

And so we usually in our minds, we connect, you know, these two things that the blood of Jesus Christ being shed for us is what gives us the opportunity for forgiveness. And so we have, you know, the songs, what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, right? Now that is true. But at the same time, the death of Jesus Christ and the blood being shed by Jesus would be meaningless and worthless anyway.

if he didn't resurrect from the dead on the third day. It would have been of no value, the fact that he died, if he didn't resurrect, if he didn't prove that he is God, that he has the power to forgive, that he is able to present us holy and spotless before God. It was proven by the resurrection. Forgiveness is only possible because Jesus rose from the dead.

If he died but did not rise, there's no cleansing by his blood. There's no forgiveness. There's no removal of guilt. Again, if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins because that means the whole rest of the message is bogus. If Christ did not resurrect from the dead, it means that he is not who he claimed to be. It means that there is no power for forgiveness.

Now Paul goes on in verse 20 to say, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus did rise from the dead. The disciples went that morning to the tomb and found it empty. The Roman soldiers and Jewish leaders had to come together to make up a story to tell everybody because they had no explanation for where the body of Jesus went.

And they refused to accept the reality of resurrection. Here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul talks about the different eyewitnesses that saw Jesus. It's not just a theory. It's not just a hope. It's not just a story, but it's a fact. Jesus rose from the dead. And that means you and I have forgiveness by believing in him. It means we do have a future.

It means our sins are washed away. All of them, past, present, future, all of our sins covered for and cleansed by the blood of Jesus at the cross. You do stand before God as a holy child because Jesus rose from the dead. You do have the promise of eternal glory because you are found faultless in Christ. And so God relates to you.

As a believer in Jesus, God relates to you as if you had never sinned, not even once. And that's such a crazy, unfathomable thing to consider. God relates to you. Going back to point number one, Jesus is for you, right? He's on your side. He's working out for your good because he relates to you as if you never sinned, not even once, because you've been forgiven.

And so it's a reason for us to say thank you to Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my sins. Can you say that? Let's try it. Put your outside voice on. On the count of three, thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my sins. One, two, three. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my sins. Well, the next thing to thank the Lord for is going to be in 1 Peter 1.

Now we're going to jump ahead quite a few more books, more towards the end of the New Testament there. First Peter chapter one, here's a letter from the apostle Peter. And here we get the fourth reason to say thanks. Here's point number four this morning. Thank you, Jesus, for the hope of heaven. Thank you, Jesus, for the hope of heaven. We're going to look at verses three through five here of first Peter chapter one. Here's what it says.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter chapter 1 is a really powerful chapter, and there's a lot of meat here about our eternity that we're not going to get into this morning. But just to kind of catch a couple highlights here, Peter says, Now, this is another way of expressing joy and gratitude for the Lord's work in our lives, right? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter is saying, thank you, God, for this work that you have done. God, I rejoice and I'm celebrating in this work that you have done. And what is that work? He says, according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again. That is, we've been born again as believers in Jesus. There is this new spiritual life that we have in Christ. But that's not all. He goes on to say, to a living hope again.

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As we consider the resurrection of Jesus, what we are considering is a living hope. Again, we don't just remember Jesus upon the cross and his death. That's not the end of the story. But he rose again, which gives to us not a dead hope, but a living hope.

Because Christ is alive, the hope that we have is alive. And the way that the scriptures use the word hope is not like there's some element of uncertainty. That's the way that we use hope a lot of times. But hope biblically is a guarantee. It's a guarantee that just has not yet been fulfilled. And so we have a living hope because the fullness of all that God has promised to us has not yet been fulfilled.

There's so much more that God plans to do in your life and for eternity that you will experience, but just has not come to pass quite yet. We have this living hope because our Savior lives. I like the way that Pastor Warren Wiersbe explains this. He says, a living hope is one that has life in it and therefore can give life to us.

Because it has life, it grows and becomes greater and more beautiful as time goes on. Time destroys most hopes. They fade and then die. But the passing of time only makes a Christian's hope that much more glorious. There's a lot of things that you have hoped for, and those hopes have faded with time.

A lot of things that you had imagined, things that you wanted to accomplish, and even if they are accomplished, the amount of time that it took for those things to accomplish reduced and diminished the excitement, the joy over that hope that you had. But when it comes to what Christ has promised to us, it's a living hope. It's not a hope that diminishes, that grows less and less as time goes on.

Or even as we enter into eternity and experience all that God has for us, it will not diminish the gratitude and the excitement and the joy over those promises of God. But these things will continue to grow and to flourish. It's a living hope that is promised to us. And so Peter says, thank you. I'm so thankful. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has given us this living hope.

He goes on to describe it a little bit in verse 4. He describes it as an inheritance. As a child of God, you receive an inheritance. And this inheritance, he says, is incorruptible. That means it cannot be corrupted. There's nothing that can ruin it. There's nothing that can destroy it. There's nothing that can diminish it. It's undefiled. That means it can't be stained or cheapened in any way. And it doesn't fade away.

It lasts for all eternity. And notice what he says. It's reserved in heaven for you. You have a reservation in heaven for something that is incorruptible, undefiled, and does not fade away. Not only do you have this reservation in heaven, but he also goes on to say, and you are reserved forever.

for this inheritance. In verse 5, he says, you're kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. Not only did God make a reservation for you and say, all right, here in eternity, I have these incredible promises, this living hope that is incorruptible, that is not going to fade away, that is undefiled, and I'm preserving it for you. But God also says, all right, and now I'm going to preserve you

for that hope, for that reservation. I'm keeping you by faith. I'm keeping you for the eternity that I've promised to you. And so it's reserved on both ends. You're reserved for it. It's reserved for you. It's sure. It's certain. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a living hope or a living guarantee of eternity with God.

He's working out his plans and purposes for you so that you get to spend eternity with him and all the glory that he has in store for you. Thank you, Jesus, for the hope of heaven. You ready to say thank you for that? Thank you, Jesus, for the hope of heaven. On the count of three. One, two, three. Thank you, Jesus, for the hope of heaven.

One more thing to say thank you for. Of course, there's many more that we could consider. But for the last one for us this morning, let's turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Here we're looking at a letter from the Apostle Paul to the Church of Thessalonica. And the Church of Thessalonica is a little bit torn. They're walking with the Lord. They're serving the Lord. They're excited about the things of the Lord. But they don't really understand eternity all that well. And they're very concerned about those things

who have been within the church but have died. And they're really concerned about what that means for those who have died and where they're at. And did they miss out then on the plan of God? The Thessalonians were focused on the fulfilling of God's promises and the things that God was going to do in their lives more in the present life. And they didn't have a good understanding of eternity and what was to come. And so although they're excited about the Lord, they're kind of saddened

by those who have passed away already, wondering if they had missed out. And so Paul brings some understanding to them here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and I want to read to you verses 13 through 18. Here's what it says. "'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.'

Verse 17. Verse 18.

and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. The final thing to say thank you about to the Lord, thank you, Jesus, for eternal reunions. Thank you, Jesus, for eternal reunions. Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul says, "...in regards to those who have fallen asleep..."

He's not talking about taking a nap. He's not talking about, you know, at night you go to bed, you wake up in the morning. He's talking about Christians who have died. And many times in the scriptures, believers in the Lord who die, it's referred to as them falling asleep. He says, look, for those who have fallen asleep, Paul says, I want you to understand they didn't miss out. They haven't missed out on God's plan for them and purposes for them.

No, we're going to still inherit eternity and all the promises of God will be fulfilled for them and for us who are alive together, he says. He says in verse 14, God will bring with him those who are asleep in Jesus. When Jesus returns, he will bring with him those who have gone before us into eternity. They haven't missed out.

In fact, those who have gone before us into eternity are experiencing the presence of the Lord to a greater degree than we get to in this life. Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, being absent from this body means that we are present with the Lord. And so when the Lord returns, he will bring with him those who are present with them. The rapture of the church that Paul is addressing here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 pictures the church being caught up to meet the Lord in the air, right?

But here's the whole picture. Sometimes we just picture Jesus by himself in the clouds and we're caught up to meet him. But no, no. With Jesus in the clouds is those who are with him. All the believers who have gone before. So that when we unite with Jesus in the air, when we're caught up, verse 17, when we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

When we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air, we're not just meeting the Lord in the air, we're meeting all of those who have gone before us. Notice he says, together with them, caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord. It's a great reunion that's going to take place, that not only are we going to be united with Christ, but we are going to be reunited with those that we have known and those that we have loved who have gone before us into eternity.

He finishes verse 17 saying, thus we shall always be with the Lord. And again, that's not just me and Jesus always together forever. That's true. But also me, Jesus, and all of you, and all of those that have believed in Jesus and entered into eternity before us. We have this great promise of reunion with those who have known the Lord and walked with the Lord.

this great promise of reunion with believers in Jesus, our friends, our family. Now, it's not hard for us to begin to think through, list out in our minds perhaps, some of the people that we're looking forward to seeing. In John chapter 11, Jesus is ministering to Mary and Martha. Their brother Lazarus has just died. And Jesus tells Martha, your brother will rise again.

In words of comfort to Martha, Jesus points her to the future, the resurrection, and he says, your brother will rise again. This isn't the last time you'll see him. You haven't seen the last of him. You will be reunited in eternity is what Jesus is saying. Now, Jesus is about to raise him from the dead right then, but that was a temporary resurrection. You could refer to that as really a resuscitation because Lazarus would then go on and die again and enter into eternity for real.

But the point that Jesus is making still stands, and that is, Martha, you've lost your brother. He's died, but you haven't seen the last of him. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even if they die, yet they shall live. And so there is this reunion that will take place for us as believers in the Lord. In the book of Matthew, Jesus talks about

People coming from the east and the west in eternity and sitting down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Many times in the scriptures, the idea of eternity is pictured as, demonstrated as a great feast. And so you could picture this, you know, humongous feast. And there's all these saints who are participating in it. Some of the greats of old. And you'll have opportunity to hang out with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

Have opportunity to hang out with the Apostle Paul. Have opportunity to hang out with Peter and John and perhaps your grandma, perhaps your parents, perhaps your children. Those who have gone before you into eternity, they're not gone. You haven't seen the last of them. You will have this great reunion. It's a great opportunity for us to say thank you to Jesus, to have this great hope to be reunited again with those that we love.

And so maybe we need to say thank you one last time. Thank you, Jesus, for eternal reunions. Can you say that on three? One, two, three. Thank you, Jesus, for eternal reunions. Some incredible reasons to say thank you. Incredible things that God has done for us. Thank you, Jesus, for being with me always. He's with you. He's for you. He's on your side. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the Holy Spirit.

giving me this great advantage, everything that I need for the life that I'm facing, for the issues that I'm working through. It's a great advantage for all the things that I face. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving my sins. We all need forgiveness. And because of the cross and because of the resurrection, because of what Christ has done for us, we experience the forgiveness of the Lord. And we stand before God clean and spotless as if we had never sinned, not even once.

Thank you, Jesus, for the hope, the promise, the guarantee of heaven and all the things that he has promised that will not diminish, will not fade away, but will only grow more and more for all eternity. And then finally, thank you, Jesus, for eternal reunions. So much to thank the Lord for. His work on our behalf is so great and we get to rejoice and celebrate that today as we remember the resurrection.

I'm going to invite the worship team up for one last song and let's just rejoice and celebrate and say, blessed be the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your work. Let's take joy at all that has been accomplished for us through the cross and through the resurrection of Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your promises to us and your work on our behalf. Lord, we are lost and hopeless without you.

We are wretched, Lord, and sinful. We cannot on our own approach you in any way. But Lord, because of what you have done for us, because of your cross, because of the resurrection, we have the invitation and the opportunity to come to you, to know you, and to experience the fullness of your work for us. And so, Lord, we're so thankful. Help us, God, to be mindful of these things continually.

Lord, that we would rejoice and celebrate your work for us continually as we go forth this week. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's rejoice and celebrate that together in worship. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.