The Church in Noble - Cornerstone
July 19, 2026
      • Bible Trivia
        Loading...

      • 1 Thessalonians 4:13NASB95

  • Praise The King
  • Doxology
  • Song Of The Saints
  • Awesome God
  • How Great Thou Art
  • ILLUST: What brings comfort (dry socks)
    A known future comfort (sofa, rest, “hard work, walking beans - this will be done”

    The Relationship Between Believers and Hope

    1) Grieve with Hope

    (v. 13)
    Let me speak truth to you…
    Everyone has reason to grieve, to mourn
    We were created with emotions
    Ecclesiastes 3:4 NASB95
    A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
    Mourning is appropriate, understood
    We don’t “brush it off” or “get over it”
    In Thessalonica, loved ones had “gone to sleep” (died, physically)
    Death brings sadness
    So, everyone mourns, grieves
    Some grieve without hope
    Believers grieve WITH hope - big difference
    The Thessalonicans, worried that their departed loved ones, believers, would miss the excitement of Jesus’ return
    They were acting as though uninformed, seemingly ignorant, and Paul reminds them of the knowledge they have
    “those who are asleep” - great word choice, why?
    2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB95
    we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
    The body is “asleep” when the soul/spirit leaves it - we call that death
    But there is a conscious presence of being with the Lord - “soul sleep” is false teaching
    (SDA, JW)
    The soul of the believer is alive, with the Lord
    Awaiting the body to rejoin, be renewed, glorified
    Do not grieve as one with no hope
    Departed believers are with the Lord
    Believers are IN CHRiST
    And Christ is not dead, neither are the souls of believers who have departed
    You who have hope - don’t grieve without it

    2) Basis of Hope

    (vv 14-17)
    IF - IF we believe…
    If we believe Jesus resurrected - which He did (said He would)
    Then He will resurrect the bodies of those who have fallen asleep (said He would)
    IN JESUS!
    They have not ceased to exist - they are with the LORD
    And God will bring them, with Him, physically
    This is the reason for the hope
    1 Peter 3:15 NASB95
    but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
    You have hope, because of the certainty of the resurrection
    Because of the certainly of Jesus’ own resurrection
    He resurrected to show death its defeat, and to show us what we can hope in
    BIG QUESTION - What will happen next - prophetic “Calendar”
    According to the prophetic Word of God, shared with them, and us
    First to be bodily resurrected - believers who are “asleep” - physically dead
    Next to go - we who are alive and remain physically alive
    (Paul writes this as it is imminent in his lifetime, very true)
    See…here’s what will happen (any time)
    The Lord descends
    SHOUT - VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL
    TRUMPET
    And those bodies of deceased believers rise
    Then we, alive believers, “caught up together” to meet the Lord
    He is bringing them, and us, with Him (see v. 14)
    And we shall, SHALL, always be with the Lord, ALWAYS
    This did not happen in Paul’s lifetime
    He wrote as though he believed it would
    Does not mean Bible is wrong
    It means Paul was ready, knowing it could happen…any…time
    Don’t fault Paul for not knowing, and for not promising a date
    Mark 13:32 NASB95
    “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
    Mark 13:33 NASB95
    “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
    The date, the time, is not important
    The FACT that it WILL happen, is…important
    You want to be with all those believers, trust me (no, trust the Word)
    I want you to be with all of us believers

    3) The Words of Hope

    Comfort each other with these words, with this Word
    God’s Word
    This is not isolated to this letter, either
    1 Corinthians 15:52 NASB95
    in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
    1 Corinthians 15:53 NASB95
    For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
    COMFORT…one another with these Words
    Comfort = ease, relaxation, freedom from anxiety
    Compare this world with eternity - where you believers are eternal citizens
    World - hard, stressful, temptation to anxiety
    Eternity - ease, relaxation, with the Lord
    No more sorrow, tears, pain, anxious ways
    How do believers endure this world?
    By living for the next…
    How can I possibly find comfort here?
    Focus on the eternal life to follow
    1 Peter 1:4 NASB95
    to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
    If anyone needed this comfort, it is PETER!
    (Notice, after John 21, Peter restored, hsi denial of Jesus is never mentioned again)
    Peter knows the hope, lives with this hope leading the way
    HOPE is a powerful motivator
    How can you have this hope? This eternal hope of eternal salvation through Jesus?
    Stop expecting to find lasting comfort and ease of life here
    He is returning to bring you with Him - WITH HIM - to let that faith become sight
    But you have to trust Him with your life
    You have to trust Him with your very eternal soul
    The Words of Hope - the source, THE source, of Hope
    Because of the Resurrection of Jesus
    He died, physically, really
    Your debt is paid
    If you trust Him with all of you
    Though your body may die, He will resurrect and glorify it, forever
    The resurrection is true - if it is not, then our faith is useless
    ILLUST: We told our boys every year we’d go to Hershey Park
    (not the date, just in case, but they new)
    (We never threatened NOT to go in order to coerce behavior)
    And every year we did
    They trusted that, and if it was not true, that trust was useless
    The resurrection is true - if it is not, then our faith is useless
    1 Corinthians 15:13 NASB95
    But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
    1 Corinthians 15:17 NASB95
    and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
    BUT
    1 Corinthians 15:20 NASB95
    But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
    Jesus already won
    He already overcame this world that stresses us out
    John 16:33 NASB95
    “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
    Be comforted
    Those beloved believers, who died IN CHRIST
    Will be resurrected
    And you will be gathered together with them - WITH them
    And share eternity with them and with Jesus
    Do not act or live as though you are uninformed
    know the Word that has been provided you
    And when you grieve the loss of a believer - grieve with hope
    And share with others the reason for that hope
    We have a powerful Savior, alive, just waiting to come bring us home!

      • Ecclesiastes 3:4NASB95

      • 2 Corinthians 5:8NASB95

      • 1 Peter 3:15NASB95

      • Mark 13:32NASB95

      • Mark 13:33NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 15:52NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 15:53NASB95

      • 1 Peter 1:4NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 15:13NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 15:17NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 15:20NASB95

      • John 16:33NASB95

  • Amazing Grace
  • O Praise The Name

      • 1 Thessalonians 4:18NASB95

The Church in Noble - Cornerstone
cornerstone@wabash.net
618-723-2779
https://cccnoble.faithlifesites.com
7 members • 1 follower