This is the Truth Network. Forever thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119, verse 89. I'm Stu Everson. Welcome to this special Wednesday in the Word Leader podcast, where we prepare and equip our leaders of this special Bible study outreach breakfast.
Every week to teach through the scriptures. Thirteen Dario locations. There's a men's group meeting and several of the Locations host the women on Thursday morning. Stay tuned. Be encouraged as we jump into this week's Wednesday in the Word.
It's been said a human being can live a few weeks without food, maybe a week or so without water. But not a second. without hope. What is the hope? of The believer.
We have that laid out for us. This week, Wednesday in the Word, of course, the great resurrection. Real, and so many folks are celebrating this time of year. But Dr. Horn, you can't.
Ignore the next great event in history, the return of the king, and Paul elucidates this in. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Verses 13 through 18. He comes front and center. It's in every chapter, the return of Christ is in every chapter in 1 Tess.
But he goes More detail. but words of comfort as well. To set this chapter up, we had Dr. Horn with a little bit of review how we got here. Yeah.
Stu, thank you so much. Always a blessing to be with you. I've been praying for our Bible study leaders and many, many people that are blessed by their ministry each week. And as we've been going through 1 Thessalonians these many weeks now, We are coming to that section in the book. That the old pastors, the old soul care watchers over the body of Christ used to call the blessed hope of the church.
And it really is. And by the time we get here. We need that hope. You know, 1 Thessalonians started off. In chapter one, with this immense, intense power, the gospel.
that was unleashed by Paul. and his fellow workers when they came into the city. and looked across the bay and there was mount uh you know the mount where zeus supposedly lived And all the pagan deities, and man, that gospel just arrested people. It transformed their life. The text says they turned from their idols.
to worship and serve the living God. and to wait for the coming of his son from heaven. And then we kind of left that idea and we went on in chapter two for where Paul talked about his love for these people, his care for them, his ministry to them. He talked about being a nursing mother and the tenderness that went with that. He talked about being an instructing father and the responsibility and the gracious love that went behind that.
And then we got into chapter three. And if you remember in chapter three, we find the Apostle Paul yearning in his heart. To be with these believers, he had to flee Thessalonica because of the persecution that had come his way. And he says to them, I told you about this. When I was with you, I told you there would be persecution for anyone who would live godly in Christ Jesus.
I told you that it would not be an easy path. I told you it would be a glorious path. It would be a wonderful way to live, but it would be a way of distress and affliction. And the same affliction that you see in me. you're going to experience and so may the lord make you increase and abound in your love for him and for each other.
And may the Lord establish your heart blameless. in holiness. Before God and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
So there's the second reference. To the coming, actually, the third, because in chapter two, he ends with, You are our joy and our crown of boasting before the Lord Jesus at his coming.
So, chapter one: waiting for the coming, chapter two, you're going to be our joy at the coming. And at the end of chapter three, I want you to be presented blameless with established hearts until the coming of the Lord with all of his saints.
Now, As we got into chapter four. You remember in those first 12 verses, Paul is really going to sit down across the table and talk straight. And he's going to say to them, you have got to flee fornication. You have got to do the will of God in your life with regard to your moral life. And he just goes at this, and we spent the time talking about that last time we were together.
Now he comes to the end of the chapter. And what he discovers at the end of the chapter. Is that literally there are people who have suffered real losses? This young persecuted church. had begun to experience something.
that they didn't expect to experience.
Now that they had become Christians. When they came into the gospel, uh and paul started talking about the coming of the lord They thought that was going to be next week. Or maybe next month. And it had been now a number of years. And moreover, beyond that, some of them had started to fall asleep, which is Paul's way of saying they had died.
And they had died before the Lord's return. And so this. That created a lot of questions. Ignorance about what happened to them produced hopelessness and grief. the very same kind of grief.
That was going on in the pagan culture around them when somebody who wasn't a Christian lost their loved one. And so literally. Paul is going to help them understand what good grief looks like. How does the gospel shape our grief? And how does it sustain our hope?
even when the end we are are looking to is delayed. And so that's what you have going on here. And the whole point of this chapter. is that the coming of the Lord is our hope. And the coming of the Lord.
uh even more than the resurrection it's the coming of the lord That is our hope. The Lord Himself is going to come. And then he is going to change us from our. Earthly worn-out bodies. that are not fit they're not They're not designed for eternity.
They're going to be retrofitted so that they can actually live forever. in an environment where there is no perishing.
So it's not that our souls have to be retrofitted. That's already happened. but our bodies have to be changed. And so Paul says that is That is the encouragement that we're to use.
So some incredible things in this in this text.
Well, and each week we try to do a bit of a review of kind of what's happened. We are over, we're past halfway point in the book, and we're really getting into some of this rich eschatological teaching and doctrine. That word simply means the study of end times. A huge chunk of scripture from Old to New Testament in both sections is dedicated to eschatology, the return of the king, what's happening in the future. Prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
Paul jumps in, but he's told him, hey, Work with your hands. Don't be lazy. Don't just quit the job because you just heard a powerful message on the rapture yesterday. Go work. But be expectant and have hope.
And Dr. Horne, as we go into the passage, you know, we got six verses here. It's a shorter passage, but man, it's power-packed. Like verse 13, lest you sorrow as those who have no hope. I mean, that's quoted at all kinds of funerals.
You know, hey, we don't sorrow like unbelievers. I mean, what do they have to look forward to? What do they have to celebrate? Maybe some shallow, hollow, religious anecdotes, maybe some clever stories, maybe the song, you know, I did it my way, but there's nothing for them. We don't hope.
We don't.
Sorrow Experience grief like they do. Like you said, it's good grief. It's it's it's It's hope that's that's in something that's real. And then verse four, you know, verse 14. Of these six verses, and I want you to expand and break these down for us.
There's not a lot, but it's rich. He connects. Our future Resurrection. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He says, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
even so God will bring with him Those who sleep in Jesus.
So take us in how we just break these verses down by way of previewing this coming week for our leaders. And we have a lot, we have the momentum because the timing of this is right around the celebration. Of the resurrection.
Some groups may be a week behind us, so they're going to get the whole meal deal with this podcast, even more prep. But this is a reality. If Christ didn't raise from the dead, like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, then We have no hope. This is all a joke. This is, you know, why are we recording this?
You know, why are all these groups getting together? Why are you in your pulpit Sunday? But the fact he did, that's our anchor. That's bedrock truth.
So, Dr. Horne, take that anchor and take us in these verses, reminding us that these are not necessarily a timeline schematic that's. Perfectly knit together as much as it's a lot of just big-time comfort.
So let me give you a couple of quick thoughts and then five. Big ideas around these six verses.
So, the two quick thoughts, or three quick thoughts, are: one, this passage. was not written by Paul. to satisfy our curiosity about the future. A lot of people that, you know, get into the rapture and the timing of the rapture. They spend an inordinate amount of time in this chapter and others like it.
trying to figure out prophetic timelines. But that's not why Paul wrote this chapter. He wrote this chapter to real people who were going through unimaginable grief. because they had just buried A wife or a son or a daughter or a mom or a dad. And they were grieved.
And Paul says, look. When you grieve, death hurts. But when you grieve, don't grieve like people who don't have hope.
So the point to the passage is not to satisfy Our prophetic curiosity about the future. It's to give us real life hope. in our present sorrow.
So that's the first thing I would say. The second thing I would say is that this hope is grounded in The gospel And it comes to us by an authoritative word. from the Lord, right? Listen to how Paul said it. We believe that Jesus died and rose again.
There's the gospel, right? And we declare this to you by a word from the Lord.
So what Paul is giving to us here. Is rooted in the gospel. But its authority comes in the fact that It is a direct word from the Lord about death. And so when you think about that. That's a pretty stunning thing.
It's not intended to satisfy our curiosity. about future prophecy, it's intended to comfort us. In the difficult moment, in the most difficult moment of life, and that's when we lose earthly life. Whether it's our own or that of somebody that we love. And it's coming from a hope that is rooted in the gospel and grounded in an authoritative word.
from the Lord himself. And then the final thing is. that death is essential. And it's essential. Um because Our current earthly bodies are not capable They're not designed.
to live forever. When when we fell when we fell when adam brought about the fall and we were born into a sin-cursed world. our bodies began the process of decomposition. And so that's what Paul means when he says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. There is a realm.
And in order for us to have a physical presence in that realm, we have to have a remade body. We have to have a re- reformatted, retooled, refurbished body. And so those are the three ideas I want to make sure we put out there. And then there are five simple ideas here. Paul says in verse 13: reject.
Hopeless grief. When you think about What happens when death comes for a believer? There is grief. It hurts. But but reject hopeless grief.
The way Paul says it. is we don't want you to be uninformed. We don't want you to be ignorant, right? Uh ignorance. uh breeds uh a a hopelessness And so what we don't want you to be ignorant about.
is what's going on with the people who've fallen asleep. And we mentioned earlier that that's a euphemism. Good for someone who's died. And the reason that we don't want you to be ignorant. Is because the ignorance that you are living in now.
is producing A hopeless grief. That is just like the grief of the pagans. And and the gospel. should change The way you live. and it should change the way you die.
And that's the idea here.
So reject. hopeless grief that's verse 13. When you get to verse 14, it's anchor your hope in the gospel. And the hope of the gospel. was accomplished Through somebody's death, right?
The death of Christ. You can see that. Right in the text, you anchor your confident expectation about the future. in the death of Christ. and in the resurrection of Jesus.
Obviously, there are Very important salvific. salvation related ideas to that. But I think in this touch Paul is actually saying Somebody else died just like your loved one. And that was Jesus. And what you know about Jesus is that when he died, he didn't stay dead.
And your loved one isn't going to stay dead. If your loved one is in Christ. It shouldn't surprise you that they're going to die. Because Christ died. You believe that, right?
That's what verse 14. You believe that Christ died, so it shouldn't shock you that your friend, your parent, your brother, your husband, your wife. Your child. Time. But here's what you know.
Just like Jesus died, they died, but just like Jesus didn't stay dead, just like he rose again. Your loved one is going to rise again. Uh Even so, through Jesus. God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep, right? In other words, When fear starts to whisper, What if death separates me forever?
From the one that that i just buried The gospel answers back, no. to be absent from the body. is to be present with the lord in other words Let me tell you exactly. what's happening in the life of that loved one you just buried. They're not in that body.
They're with the Lord, right? I will oftentimes, as a pastor, comfort people. who are grieving over the loss of a family member. And somebody will come up and say, I'm sorry for your loss. And I get it.
I understand what they mean by that. But I'll always whisper at some point to that person. You know? You haven't lost them. You know exactly where they are.
They are with the Lord. And when the Lord comes. They're going to come with it. Wow. And if you die before the Lord comes, you're going to go to them.
So, there is this amazing effort here. That um In essence, We ground our hope in the gospel. And then the third thing is that the Lord himself guarantees this, right? We receive the Lord's own assurance. This is not just empty hope.
We anchor our hope in the gospel. and we can rest in that hope because the lord made a promise And that promises. Paul describes it this way, we declare to you. By a word from the Lord. And here's what the Lord wants you to know.
We who are alive. who are left unto the coming of the Lord. will not perceive those who have fallen asleep. In other words, there's apostolic authority here. Right, that Paul is saying, I'm going to give you revelation that hasn't been given to anybody else, and it's not coming from me, it's coming from the Lord.
And the revelation is this. that if we're alive, like if we haven't died. By the time, by the time the Lord comes, when that moment happens, if we're still alive. There's a group of people who are going to rise up before us. And it's the very people that you just buried.
Right, there is this. idea that You know, I don't know what's going to happen to my loved one. Paul says, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen to your loved one. They're with the Lord. And if we're still here when the Lord comes.
You are going to see. Those loved ones rise up. And they are going to proceed. you in meeting the Lord. And uh it you know it's an incredible thing that you see there because Uh I've you know There's a little, there's a cemetery where I regularly go and bury people that die.
in the ministries you know here in greenville that i've been a part of And there's a little section. of that cemetery. where children are buried. And I've had the The the sad but very difficult. privilege of walking through several families in our church.
who've had to bury little children. That were born and lived for a little bit and died, or they died in the womb, or they died shortly after birth. And I've been over there. And I'll always ask the parents, would you like me to stay? until they lower the coffin and the parents always say yes That would be wonderful.
And everybody leaves and I stay there. and watch it go down and i pray And then I just stand there. And I've often thought this, you know, if the rapture were to happen. This little section of the cemetery. would be the most active part of the cemetery.
Because every one of those graves would open and all of those infants would be immediately resurrected. and taken up to be with the lord their souls are there but their bodies would be And I've often wondered what that would be like. That's the hope, right? The Lord Himself. Um will do this now.
Verse sixteen and seventeen. Give us the fourth big idea, and that is there is a glorious return. And when Christ returns. There is a purpose. The Lord himself will descend with a shout.
Right? A command. With the voice of an archangel and the sound of a trumpet. and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we were alive.
We'll be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
So will we always be with the Lord.
So there are four things here. There's a return. The Lord Himself will descend. There's this personal, visible, glorious return. It's not delegated to angels.
You know, it's not. Sending out a representative, the Lord himself is coming to get us. And then there's a resurrection. The dead in Christ, those who have been buried, or you say, what if I wasn't buried? What if I was cremated?
Or what if, you know, what if I drowned in an ocean and my body was, you know, was buried in sea? Or what if I burned up in a fire? The resurrection is not, you know, it's not just for people who were buried. It's for anybody whose body has been destroyed by death. And the dead in Christ We'll rise first.
And then we who are alive will be caught up together. The word is snatched away. We will be caught up. There's this instantaneous. simultaneous corporate snatching away From the earth.
And we will be with the Lord. That's the fourth thing. There is this amazing reunion. We will always be with the Lord. And, you know, it's interesting when you stop and think about these four things, the return.
the resurrection, the rapture, and the reunion. John, John, the Apostle of John, says, when you have this hope. It does something. It causes you to live in joyful anticipation and you purify yourself. Remember back in the first part of the chapter, he's been talking about Purification.
Uh not compromising sexually or ethically. or spiritually He is saying, you need to, the will of the Lord is your sanctification.
Well, here he is giving one of the most powerful reasons. To live that way, we live in the constant anticipation that we're going to be with the Lord.
So there's one more thing, but I've been doing a lot of talking, Stu, and I know you. You're ready to jump in. I'm always ready to jump in, but you're, I'm still, I'm still processing that beautiful cemetery scene because really. We we're looking forward. Man, we are looking forward to something and This is exciting.
And I think we get caught up in the weeds of Pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, and then all these other constructs of the millennium. And we forget. To man look forward to this, man. I'm I got vacation next week, man. I'm so excited.
I don't know where I'm stopping on the way. I don't know if I'm going to get there at this exact time, but we're heading towards something that's exciting. And we're not talking about a vacation, we're talking about. Our eternity With Jesus, Dr. Horn.
So I don't want to get in the way of you driving home this final point, especially with the verse 18, but. I do want to make sure. That there's freedom in our groups, pastors that are preaching this passage, and leaders that are part of our Wednesday Word group that are teaching. There's freedom to discuss and and vigorously Uh d you know, graciously debate different eschatological timelines and differing views. but by all means let's not lose the heart.
of The resurrection of Christ in our future. glorious resurrection when we're reunited with Christ. Those four R's are so good. Yeah, so let's just let's remind ourselves. Of the five big ideas.
Number one, verse 13: there's a problem. Do not grieve like those who have no hope. And Paul's going to address that problem. In verse 14, he gives a foundation. Anchor your hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
There is gospel hope. and authoritative word from Jesus. And so there's this amazing reality there, right? And then number three, there's assurance. The dead in Christ will not be left behind.
That's verse 15. And then we just said in verses 16 and 17: there is this glorious sequence: there is a return, there is a resurrection, there is a rapture. And there is a reunion, which brings us to the end of the passage. And that is the idea. that there is now a responsibility.
There is a command. We're supposed to do something with all of this information. the cemetery scene. the problem of grieving like the Gentiles grieve. the reality of our grief, the loss of a loved one.
The question, the wondering. I don't know where they went. I don't know what happened to them. I don't know what's going on. I don't know where they are.
All of this ignorance. that we started off with in verse 13 has been settled. by an authoritative word from the Lord. All of our fears sort of have been blown away. By the gospel.
You believe that Jesus died and he rose again. And that is exactly what's going to happen to you and to your loved one. And so. There is this command now that shows up in verse 18. We're supposed to do something with this, and it's not to try to figure out the timing of the rapture, although that's a fascinating question.
Right.
Well, I can remember as a kid. Um, I always saw it. Uh boy, if the rapture's coming, I better go out and look. And if there's no clouds, I'm good. I can do whatever I want today.
because it says we're going to be caught up in the clouds. And so, if there's no clouds, then that's not the day.
Well, I was a kid, I didn't have a clue. But that's the level at which I thought.
Well now that I'm older. And I know a little more about the scriptures, I still do those kinds of things. I take a passage like this that is so powerful and it's so awesome. It's the whole point to Easter that we're celebrating on Sunday. And I make it about, I wonder: you know, is it going to be seven years or three and a half years?
Are we doing the U-turn at the end? Is there even going to be one? And Paul's like, can you put that on the shelf for a minute? I actually wrote this for a very different reason. You see those people over there that are weeping at the grave of the son they just buried?
They really don't care about the timing of the rapture. They got bigger questions than that. You see that husband that just buried his wife? And doesn't know how he's going to go home and raise those two kids that are holding on to his leg and just crying into his pant leg. He doesn't need a prophetic timeline.
He needs to know. that he's going to see that wife again. That that son that just buried his mom. And his dad, after that horrific. Car crash, and he doesn't know what's going to happen to him in the future.
He needs something more than a discussion on the timing of the rapture. And that's why he comes back in the end of the text. And he says this, here's the command, encourage one another with these words. The word encouraged there is the word for strengthen. It's the idea, it's not just sort of patting somebody on the shoulder and saying, they're there, it'll be okay.
You know, have a tissue, have a good cry, go home and have a nice hot cup of tea, and time will heal your wounds. That's not what's going on here. The idea is There is something that will put hope. in your heart. There is something that will put strength.
So you can get up tomorrow morning. In your grief, there will be this unquenchable joy. And the pagan world around you will look at you and go, what in the world? How are you doing that? You just buried your wife last week.
How are you doing that? How have you not lost hope? How have you not despaired? And the answer to that is something. gave me strength.
So what is it? that is going to give people strength. In this dark moment. And Paul says, the words I just wrote you. The words I wrote you in verse 13, all the way down to verse 17, if you use those words.
And you put them deep into the heart of a believer, it will strengthen them. It's not just going to make them feel better. It's not just a little thing that we say at funerals. and everybody goes home and forgets them. This is going to get them up.
The next morning and the morning after that and the morning after that It is what is going to give them the strength not just to go on and endure, but to thrive spiritually in this grief. And the hope is that when Jesus comes. Their loved one is going to come, and we're going to be together in bodies that will never suffer death again. And that's why. The very last phrase in the Bible is Maranatha.
And most of us won't know what that word means. But it simply means this. Come quickly, Lord. It's like I want you to get here. I I want I I want this.
And there is this anticipation. And so sorrow. Turns to joyful anticipation when these words strengthen a believer. And that's what's going to happen on Sunday. You know, we say this all the time.
Friday's here. Good Friday is here. But Sunday's coming. Right.
We know. that we can grieve on Friday. With a different kind of grief. And we can joyfully grieve because Sunday's coming. That's right.
And when you. Go to a funeral and you bury your dad. My dad's 94. or 93 rather and and probably not too long from now. If the Lord doesn't carry, I'm going to have that difficult moment.
Where I'm going to have to be a part of Burying My Dad. And when that happens, I'm going to stand at that grave and I'm going to weep. And I'm gonna say my heart. Mayor Natha. Sunday is coming.
And it's true for all of us, whether it's your dad or your mom or your wife or. Your husband, he just got diagnosed with stage four cancer. And you don't know what's going to happen? Or that little boy that was nine years old and was so healthy and All of a sudden he started feeling bad and you find out he's got leukemia and it's incurable. And you don't know what to do.
And you don't wait. You don't wait till the funeral to use these words. You bring these words in deep. You anchor these words into the very marrow of your soul. You weave them into the DNA of your bones.
So that when you need them, they are there. Yeah. It's so rich. And you know, you think about the great, one of the greatest evangelistic opportunities is at a funeral. Death is a reality.
Death is there. You're looking at it, it's all over our culture. It people die every day. And when you're at that funeral, How are you pointing to life? How are you inviting people into life?
Because really, it's too late for the person there. They're gone, they're dead.
So hopefully, they're in Christ. But for those there, it's a great opportunity to talk about the resurrection and some possible questions, Dr. Horne, as we look at this passage: how do I? How am I making sure that I'm talking about the resurrection and giving the gospel at my loved one's funeral? Another question might be, how expectant am I and how truly comforted am I in?
The return of Christ. And This is heavy, this is deep, but these folks in Thessalonians, in Thessalonica, the church of Thessalonians, they were. They were struggling. They lost loved ones. They're like, did we miss the coming?
What's going on here? And Paul says, hey, look, don't be ignorant. about those who fall asleep. But here is the truth Anchored in the resurrection of Jesus. And it's fascinating.
I love the statement. I've heard bandied around now, and I just used it on a commentary recently. Because the tomb is empty. Our lives don't have to be. because the tomb is empty.
We can be full of Jesus in his life. And the empty tomb changes everything. And Dr. Horn, Paul's saying, hey, one day, all of your tombs. And all of your Christian relatives who died in Christ, every stinking one of those tombs is going to be empty.
because we are going to be with the Lord and that event is coming. We're hitting it this week. We're going to hit it again next week. and cap it off by all these amazing imperatives later on in our study. Of pray without ceasing because Christ is returning, rejoice evermore because He's returning, give thanks and everything.
You know, all these great imperatives, and the based on the indicative of Christ's life, His death. His resurrection and our new birth. And I love this quote. And I want you to pray us out of here, Doc, and pray for our folks as they get ready to teach this great passage on the return of Christ. And the comfort we find in that, but in the hope that we find in that great hope.
But my mom always sings this little song at our birthdays. She always sings a song, Happy Birthday to You. Only one will not do. Take Christ as your Savior, and then you'll have two. And then she says this little poem, which many of you have heard: if you're born once, you'll die twice.
But if you're born twice, You will only die once. That's amazing. That's such a great thing. She does it. I mean, we're all singing, and everyone's happy.
We're about to get into the cake, and she jumps in with this. Spiritual song, and it was so cool.
So now we kind of do it second nature, even when she's not around or she's out of town. It's so cool, you know.
So, but that idea of the new birth, and what a great way to say, Hey, listen, do you know about your relatives? Do you know about those that are we don't know that we have tomorrow? You know, I counseled a man. Uh right after w the that last week's Wednesday in the Word. And he said, Well, you know, I've been witnessing to this family member, but she's got a lot of time.
And I stopped him, I said. Brother? We don't know that. Yeah, we don't know that she has a lot of time.
So there's an urgency. What we can't control is when Christ returns. What we can't control is when we pass away in death. But what we can do is we can share the gospel with people. We can share the good news of the resurrection and how that changes, has changed my life, how it can change your life.
And so, this is a call, really, a call to that. Let me give us one thought on the way out and then I'll pray off of your comment. Yeah. Scriptures talk about 70 years being allotted to us. And if by reason of strength, we might get 10 more, so 80.
And maybe we'll live longer than that, but. you know if you take 80 and you multiply that out by 365 that's 29 200 days That's the days we have. And I've got about 6,500 of those days left. And so it's real easy if you don't know the Lord. To start really having regrets, and you start looking at that diminishing amount of time.
and you start trying to fill it up with everything Because you don't know what's coming in the future. I got to do it all now, I got to go out. And I got, you only love once and on you on you go and. And there's this sort of hopeless. Frenet hopelessness and frenetic activity that just fills up your life.
And then you look over at a guy. who's your same age and he is just I mean, there is this peace, and you're like, what's going on with you? He goes, man, the bus is yet to go. Does he have to come? I'm enjoying every one of the 6,500 days I got left.
or however many of those I have. But I am eager because when those days are done, the best is yet to come. And that's how we encourage one another. in the Lord and that's really What I want to do is we pray.
So let me pray. And uh And as we pray, I want to wish you and Julie and all the Truth Network. co-laborers. A very, very wonderful. Good Friday and Easter weekend and Resurrection Sunday.
Lord, we love you. We're thankful that you died. And you rose again. And that's our story. We died with you and we will rise again because you rose again.
And so, Lord, we thank you. We pray as we go into this weekend that our hearts would be filled with joy. And Lord, we know that many, many people are going to be in church. On Sunday, because it's the thing to do. Many of them Really don't know you.
They don't have this hope. and Lord all over this country. May faithful pastors get up. And may your spirit be upon them. and may the words out of their mouth.
Bring this truth home. The Son of God came. He died in our place. He rose again from the dead. and we will one day rise with him.
If we put our faith and trust In Him and repent of our sins. And so, Lord, I pray that you would bring a great harvest. of souls on Sunday. And that Lord, next week, as our Bible study leaders teach this wonderful passage, that it would put Iron in our lives and fire in our bones so that we would stand. hope-filled people making a difference for the gospel in Jesus' name.
We pray to be met. Thank you, Dr. Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and all social media, including in Stu Graham.
And be encouraged, stay in the Word. Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and... Meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure.
He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30 verse 5.
