Week of Meetings 02 Return of the Lord — Benard Fell

The Lord’s Return and the Thessalonian Hope

If you please turn with me to the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, chapter 4. We'll read from verse 13, 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. I do not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even of others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which are asleep.

With the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Prayerful comfort one another with these words. I want to speak a little tonight concerning the personal return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's a great event on God's program, prophetic program, because as far as I can see, dear friends, the church is not subjects of prophecy, subjects of revelation.

They are termed as mysteries in the New Testament, the mystery of the church and the mystery of the rapture. As we should know, it is a truth hitherto unrevealed, and therefore we should make this clear distinction between prophecy.

It's when we begin to apply prophetic scriptures, which really have to do with the nations, to the rapture that there is enough of this truth. We must keep a clear distinction between the arising of the Morning Star for his church, and the arising of the Son of Righteousness for his earthly people Israel.

We must keep a clear distinction between the Lord's coming and the Lord's coming with his people. We must keep a clear distinction between the day of Christ and the day of the Lord. As I have just said, it's most important that we should keep a clear distinction between revelation and...

Signs of the Times and the Imminent Return

Now, people are talking about the signs of the times. Perhaps we're called upon, but we certainly can look at them. There are surely enough around to indicate that the Lord's coming is very, very near.

It's imminent. The door. I remember that when Dr. Tarry was preaching once, that an infidel went up to him. You preachers are always talking about the second coming of Christ, and you are also referring to the signs of the times.

He said, I consider it to be nonsense. He said, I challenge you to show me one sign of the times. Dr. Tarry was a very gracious man, yet a very faithful one in the service of the Lord. He looked the man straight in the face, and he said, my friend, you are one of the greatest signs today.

What he said? He declared that in the last days, poppers would arise, walking after their own lusts. And he said, my friend, you are one of them. Isn't it true? We look around, and we see the increase of infidelity, blasphemy, these so-called religious circles, men being lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, children disobedient to the rules, living in a day of truth breakers, and so on.

All those characteristics mentioned in the word of God in connection with the perilous times in which we live are to be seen all around us, dear friends, indicating without a question of a doubt that the Lord might come even to an end.

Reassurance for Believers Who Have Died

So, in connection with this subject, I want to refer to, to put it very simply, five great remember the point under the letter R, and we'll begin, first of all, with the thought of reassurance. Well, we know that the Thessalonians were absolutely thrilled with the hope of the Lord's return, and they were daily expecting him to come.

But there was one thing that troubled them, and I think one of the purposes of the writing of this dictatorial was to reassure the Thessalonian believers in connection with this matter. They were thinking of those who had passed from this scene, those who sleep in Jesus, and while they were looking forward to the Lord's return during their lifetime, they were concerned about those who had gone but away of the grave.

Would they not be cut off, shall we say, of this wonderful prospect of meeting the Lord in the air? Will they lose out in the day of glory at the Lord's return? Oh no, says the apostle, I want to assure you that that is not the case.

Verse 13,. For I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. They passed from this scene, they died with a blessed hope that is untouched by death, and goes beyond the grave.

A wise man said, you remember, the righteous have hope in his death. That is the reason why we who are the Lord, we can look the King of Terrors fearlessly in the face, because we know we have a hope that is eternal, and a hope that has been implanted in our souls from the very moment we put our faith and trust in the Savior of sinners.

A Testimony of Hope in the Face of Death

This reminds me of a dear brother, an aged brother in Nassau. He was a Methodist lay preacher in his day, and a very faithful one too. A man who bore a wonderful testimony for his God in the city. Everybody knew him.

Then the time came when he was afflicted with arthritis and other troubles. Unable to continue with his service of the Lord, he was confined to his house, and I often used to go and visit him. I found that in visiting him I got the blessing.

I went in order to refresh his soul, but always came away to refresh myself in the full enjoyment of his faith in Christ. Whenever the doctor went to see him, and by the way the doctor was an infidel, he always had a message straight to the point for his physician.

And he told me on one occasion, he said, you know Dr. Rosen, that was his name, came to see me, and I was troubled about certain purple patches appearing on my skin. So he said to the doctor, Doctor, what is the reason for it?

He always called him by his Christian name. The doctor said, I must tell you it's the beginning of the end. And the old man looked at him with a shining face. Doctor, he said, you've given me some good news.

He said, I've got a dear one in glory who was my companion for many, many years, and the prospect of seeing her again thrills my heart. And more than that, Doctor, I'm going to see the one who saved my precious soul face to face.

He said, you've given me some good news today. So, when he told me this story, I said, well Captain Aubrey, who is an old retired sea captain, I'm going to reverse what the doctor said. The doctor told you it was the beginning of the end.

Actually, it was the end of the beginning, because when you put your faith and trust in the Savior, you enter into a life that's untouched by death and goes beyond the power of the grave. And if death should knock at your door, it'll only be the end of the beginning, because you're going to continue throughout the ages to come in the realms of immortality, with the rest of the redeemed rejoicing in the knowledge not only of sins forgiven, but of a friend that's thicker than a brother, and one who, indeed, is going to receive the praise and homage and worship and adoration of the redeemed hosts throughout eternity.

And he said, Hallelujah! Praise the Lord. So, it seems to me that the Apostle is seeking to reassure the Thessalonian believers concerning those who have departed this life. Then, we have the thought of resurrection.

Resurrection and the Believer’s Present State

The dead in Christ shall rise. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven to the shelves, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. The wonderful truth of resurrection, we know, of course, that sleep is a term connected with the body, and only with the body, and never with the soul.

We know what happened to death, of course. With reverent hands, the body is laid into mother earth. But, what about the spiritual side? From the body with the Lord. There's no intermediate statement. There's no poetical sentiment when we sing, as we often do, Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast.

For the departed one, although the body is in mother earth, is at home with the Lord, with Christ, which is very far better. And, let me tell you, friends, in the hour of sorrow, earth's loss is naught to be compared with heavenly gain.

To be with Christ is emphatically very far better. So, after all, it's only the house that's laid aside. Where is the tenant? The tenant is of far more value than the house. The tenant is triumphing in the realms of immortality, in the presence of the Lord himself.

For we know that if this earthly house of our tabernacle were dissolved, we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. Paul, in that wonderful scripture, is pointing out that it's not the disembodied state, or the naked state, as he refers to there, that our goal, looking forward to the day when this house would be clothed upon us, which is from heaven, one day to enter into the very presence of the Lord in glory with a body like unto himself.

For our citizenship is in heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change these bodies of our humiliation, that they may be conformed unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.

That means to say that the same power that has formed the universe is the same power that's going to take these poor bodies of humiliation that have gone into death, corruption, and into dust, and conform them unto the body of his glory.

The Two Distinct Resurrections

You can see what a wonderful truth this is, the truth of resurrection, and what a comforting thought it is. The dead in Christ shall rise. The Thessalonian believers who were troubled about those who had come down before, why we are in no way going to precede them.

The dead in Christ shall rise even. Let me speak about resurrection, friends. There's no teaching in the New Testament of a general resurrection, is there? You very often hear that expression used in certain circles, but it's an unscriptural one because there's no such thing as I have said.

I want to repeat it as a general resurrection. There are two distinct resurrections, at least a thousand years in between, and one is called the resurrection of life, and the other is called the resurrection of judgment.

One is called the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust. And as it is with prophecy and revelation, so we should keep a distinction between these two resurrections. The Lord Jesus, the grave shall come forth, the dead have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation, or judgment.

So there are two distinct resurrections. Don't let us go away of the idea that the Lord is suggesting there that we are saved on the basis of being good and doing good. We know that that's not true, because by grace are ye saved through faith, and that's not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Not of work, as any man should boast. It's to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His works accounted for righteousness. Praise God, when we rest our soul's salvation on the work of Christ, then we should be careful to maintain good works.

A dead man cannot walk, a dead man cannot run, and a dead man cannot work. We must have life, and life in order to do good works in the sight of God. It was not teaching that. It seems to me that the best thing a man can do in life is to trust the Savior and put his whole confidence in him.

Those who have done so will take part in that first resurrection. On the other hand, the most evil thing a man can do in God's sight, surely, is to reject that blessed one and to despise unto the Spirit of God who has done so marvelously for his God and for us at the place called Calvary.

There are two resurrections, and we must keep a clear distinction with regard to these truths. I remember I was called upon, therefore, to conduct the funeral of Dr. Beaux of Duland, probably known to many of us here tonight.

Resurrection, Judgment, and the Great White Throne

In course of conversation afterwards with Mrs. Beaux, she told me that she'd attended a funeral in Duland just previously, and of a certain preacher who had stood by the graveside, and he started to wax very, very eloquent concerning the departed.

He said something like this, "'Meetings, I can see our dear departed brother stand before the great white throne.'. And our dear sister was very quick to notice the error. I said, well, if he was a dear departed brother, he'll never stand before the great white throne.

And if he stands before the great white throne in that day, he certainly was not a dear departed brother. Let us be clear with regard to these truths. It's true that we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and I think that's a very solemn truth, and we should serve the Lord in the light of the judgment seat of Christ.

But to think that we should stand before the last greater size, the supreme court of the universe? Nay, Beverly, but alas for those who die in their sins. For them it will be the resurrection of Christ.

I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the heaven and earth fled away, and there was no apparent room for them. I saw the dead's mourning grave before God. Here they are, standing before the resurrection.

And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged after those things which were written in the books according to their works. Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This is the second death, a most solemn scripture. And you're going to take part. If you're going to take part in the resurrection of life, then we can rejoice, and we can say with the poet, On the resurrection morning, soul and body meet again.

No more weeping, no more parting, no more pain. Here they are, they must be parted, while the flesh, it shall be, Waking in a holy stillness, wrapped in sleep. Soul and body reunited, then forth nothing shall divide.

Reunion at the Coming of the Lord

Waking up in Christ's own likeness, the dead in Christ. Then, please notice the reunion. We shall be caught up together with Debbie Macout to meet the Lord of the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.

What a wonderful meeting that's going to be. It seems to me that the Lord is going to allow these dear ones who have gone on before, whose presence we miss in this scene, the fragrant funeral services in the Bahamas.

It'll be such and such a time in such and such a place. And friends can come along and pay their last respects. The last respects, as I think of the dear ones who have gone on before, I do not claim, but I have a lasting regard as we think of those dear ones.

Isn't it a wonderful prospect to think that we're going to see them again? There's no question about it, friends. And is this that gives us strength in the hour of trial? Is this that comforts our hearts during the period of adversity, as we pass through the veil of tears?

Then we which are alive and remain to be caught up together with them, these dear precious ones, to meet the Lord. I often think when we gather around the Lord's table to show forth the Lord's death that he'd come.

I think of the dear ones who used to be with us. Their seats are now empty. They're now in heaven, but we're still on earth. All the joy that fills our hearts as we think of those glad parts, those glad moments that we spend in his presence with these dear ones, a revered memory.

And to me, it seems that the Lord's going to allow us to meet them first, as we met together here on earth to meet the Lord, in order that together we might meet him in the skies. To me, then, we which are alive and remain should be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wonderful words of comfort, aren't they? No wonder the apostles said, Therefore comfort one another with these words. So look, I often think of that scene, you remember, when Jesus came to the house of God.

Seeing Christ in His Glory

And he went into the death chamber, and there was that little girl lying still in death. That tremendous word went forth, For life I chew mine, Damned will I say unto thee, Arise! Or to give her something to eat.

Your life has to be fed. I wonder what passed through her mind when she gazed around that room. There she would see strangers, for Peter, James, and John were there. Then she would see those she loved nearest and dearest on earth.

Mother and father were there. I think there would be one that would attract her attention, would hold her gaze, the lovely face, the glory nearest and dearest to us on earth, our loved ones. But the one who will claim our attention, and rivet our gaze, will be the altogether lovely one, the lover of our soul.

I shall know him, I shall know him, when redeemed by his side I shall stand. I shall know him, I shall know him, by the print of the nails. In our skip to this morning, we were not able to reach that far, you remember.

Though he does not yet appear what we shall be, we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. And as he was. Now that I have picked a tree, we think of him as he was.

His face so marred more than any man, his form and the sons of men. It seemed that through his suffering and anguish, he was unrecognisable as it were to the people. He was never more lovely, friends, never more beautiful.

When he honed upon those nails of Calvary, the sight of God, he was truly fair to God. But we are not going to see him as he was. His time of suffering is over, and over forever. Never more will God, Jehovah's might, be shepherded with us, O Lord.

Never more will cruel sinners set at naught our glorious Lord. We are going to see him as he is. In his altogether loveliness, in his transcendent majesty and glory. And one look upon his altogether lovely face will be enough to rubbish our hearts, and bow them in worship and praise before him the endless ages of eternity.

The reason why we sometimes sing, soon with joyful glad surprise, we shall hear that word arise mounting upward to the skies. Glory, glory, glory. A wonderful reunion. Then we come to the thought of the rapture.

The Joy and Meaning of the Rapture

Well we know that this word has two meanings. First of all it means excessive joy. And what a moment that will be when we see him face to face. Whom having not seen me love, in whom though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

I'm seeing face to face with Christ my Saviour, face to face. What will it be? When the rapture I behold him. We are joyful tonight, aren't we, if it's said by God's grace. We've been having a wonderful time today in the courts of the Lord.

Can it be expressed, fully felt, as the old Scottish lady said, better felt than felt. But what a joy will fill our hearts and flood our souls when we see him face to face without a cloud between in the pattern of loved ones now departed.

It'll be rapture. But then I understand another meaning of the word is the conveying of persons from one place to another. Won't it be a joy, too, to be transported from the presence of sin to the presence of his glory.

We're going to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Why is it stressed here, in the air? Well, here's what I think. You know, the air seems to be the domain of spiritual wickedness.

Even Satan himself is called the prince of the power of the earth, of the air. The principalities of powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places seems to be the enemy's territory.

And what better proof could a conqueror give of a complete, decisive victory than to lead his own through the enemy's territory? That's what the Lord is going to do, friends, and that's why he's going to meet us in the air.

Christ’s Victory and Welcome in Glory

We'll go sweeping through those everlasting doors. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? Strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Well, that was the first welcome he got, friends, when he returned after his wonderful victory. At Calvary he met the greatest foe of all time and fought the greatest battle of all time and won the greatest victory of all time.

And when he went through those everlasting doors, all heaven welcomed the one who was rejected by all earth. There seems to be a double welcome for me. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.

Who is this King of Glory? It isn't the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, but because the battle is fought and won. It's a victory, friends. It's a fight that, why, it needs no second trial.

It needs no second fight. It's the Lord of Hosts He Christ is going to take in when he receives that second welcome through those everlasting doors. The goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs, a multitude that no man can number, with the accompanying angels, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.

My right host will be sweeping through those everlasting doors when the Lord returns, and he's going to take us right through the enemy's territory in order to do so and give a proof to a wandering world of a complete, decisive victory over hell and death and woe and sin.

The Last Trumpet and Victory over Death

And this is a marvelous truth because it is connected with the thought of the resurrection. Listen to the mattress words of the apostle. Behold, I show 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 trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on incorruption.

Immortality, rather. So when this corruptible hath put on incorruption and this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is followed up in victory.

Now comes the note of triumph. O death, where is thy sting? O great, where is thy victory? The answer to those two questions is different. Thank ye unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Glory, friends, and there we see death robbed of its sting and its glorious resurrection. What a marvelous truth, then, is the repassion, because we are going to be made like unto the Christ. We are going to bear his image for whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate that we should be conformed unto the body of his Son.

The glory of the body of his Son. Oh, but the skeptic cries out, and the apostle anticipates this, Hell that is raised, in what body do they come? How is it possible for a body that has gone down into death and into corruption and dust, how is it possible for that body to be raised?

Do you answer me? Or a body that has been drowned at sea and swallowed by the big fishes of the sea and become part of the fishes? Hell are the dead raised, and in what body do they come? Sneers at skeptics and infidels.

But the apostle has a sharper point of reply for the critics. Thou who, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. Take a lesson from the field of botany. You've got ten thousand of them. That seed that you put into the ground is not made alive until it die.

Well, isn't that true, friends? We put the seed potato into the earth, and that seed potato must go into corruption, into dust, before there can be resurrection or new fruit or a new form. And whilst it goes into death and corruption, we feed the carcass, that's all.

But there is the germ of life there. There must be. In order for resurrection to take place. And the apostle in a masterly way applies the truth of resurrection, dear friends. The mortal remains of our dear ones, we put them into Mother Earth.

Think of a burial, but it's more than that. Bodies have to be buried. You remember there's a whole chapter taken up with a burial. The purchase of a burying place. Edmund says that I might bury my dead out of my sight.

It wouldn't be necessary, because unless that took place, it would be a danger to the living, even from a hygienic point of view. It seems to me that when we come to this marvelous fifteenth of Corinthians, the apostle is looking beyond the fact that it's a burial, and the body is just put out of sight.

It's a blankie. And why? Because another body is coming out of the earth. Not the same body, but one that is closely related to the body that's put into the earth. So he makes it perfectly clear by saying it's sown in corruption, but it is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. Isn't that wonderful? A spiritual body. And, as I have said, a more wonderful body, because it's going to be like the person, the Lord Jesus himself.

Resurrection Illustrated by the Bulb and the Stars

Let me illustrate it very simply like this. Sometimes when I go over to Miami, this is when we were living in Nassau, of course, my wife would say, now don't forget, before you come back, bring me some bulbs.

My wife is passionately fond of flowers. In fact, she's a gardener. She has green fingers. And since we can't obtain these bulbs in Nassau, before I return back, like a dutiful husband, I go into Cressy's store and buy perhaps a dozen or so of these bloody old bulbs.

And I look at them, why they're dirty looking, unshapen, anything but a thing of beauty. And it takes up all the space that I can sum to see in them a wonderful gladiolus. All right, I take them. My wife would be pleased to receive them, and she gets to work and she puts them in the garden.

Then she calls me up a little later on, and she says, Bernard, come here. And I look, and there are those faintly flowers with the sword-like leaves, all these are the rainbows, a sight to behold without a doubt.

And she says very simply to me, those are the bulbs you brought me from Miami. Do I doubt it? No, but that is the truth of resurrection there, dear friends. She put the body, shall I say, into the earth, but she's got a more wonderful body out of it.

Not the same body, but one that was closely related to the one that she put in. So is the resurrection of the dead. I believe that's just what the apostle meant when he spoke about the stars of heaven, when he said there's one star different from another star in glory.

So is the resurrection of the dead. While there are billions of stars in the heavens, and the marvel of it all is this, that he has a name for every one of them. He calls them all by name, so his own.

He calls his own sheep by name, too. And it seems to me the apostle is attracted to this wonderful thought, that although there are billions of stars in the heavens, yet they are individual stars. And it means that they stand within the glorious resurrection of the dead, and when the living are changed, why are we going to retain our individuality, our own personality, identity?

William Jennings Bryan and the Limits of Human Understanding

Although we're going to be like Christ, we're going to be with him. I understand why people think it's an incredible thing for God to raise the dead. If they'd only take a walk down their own garden and see all these wonderful illustrations in nature.

I think it was William Jennings Bryan, he was a very devoted Christian, wasn't he, if I remember right. A champion for the truth, especially when evolution lifted up its ugly head in this country. He was a man who took a stand even in the courts when an action was brought.

He was a champion for God's truth. I think he put up three terms for the presidency. Although he never got to the White House, he occupied the exalted position of Secretary of State. And on one occasion, he was going through the city of Colombo.

Being a very hot day, he felt thirsty, so he went into a restaurant and he called for a slice of watermelon right off the ice. What nicer than a piece of cold watermelon when you are very, very thirsty.

But before that man would take that watermelon and consume it, his great mind began to work, and he went back into the history of it. He said, I can see a little sea taking off its coat and beginning to work.

And with ten gathered from where, he said, I don't know. He gathered material from where I don't know hundreds of times his own weight, and pushed all that material through a little stem and built a watermelon.

On the outside, he put a covering of green. Inside that, a rind of white. And inside that, a core of red. And inside that, dozens of seeds capable of doing that same work over and over again. He said, who was the architect that drew the plan?

Where did the watermelon get its flavoring extract? Where did it get its coloring matter from? Then he came to the conclusion, the wisest man in the world cannot explain a watermelon, but the most ignorant man can enjoy one.

Enjoying the Truth We Cannot Fully Comprehend

Isn't that true? And he said, until you can explain even the watermelon, he said, do not dare to limit the limitless God. So, I take comfort from this thought tonight, friends, that although my poor mind cannot grasp the fullness and the immensity of these truths that we have barely touched upon tonight, after all, we have a very limited capacity, and how can we possibly take in the infinite of our finite minds?

Although we may be able to fully understand and to fully explain these wonderful truths, there's one thing we can do, friends. We can enjoy them. And why? We say unto you, by the word of the Lord, the greatest authority in the universe, and because he says so, I stand upon the incredible rock of holy scripture that can never, never be shaken.

And although I might tumble upon that rock, thank God that rock will never tumble under me. All these wonderful truths, in connection with the Lord's coming, friends, are ours. But you'll notice it's all based on two fundamentals and the two cardinal points of the gospel.

Jesus died, and Jesus rose again. As much to say, unless you are resting your soul's eternal welfare upon these two fundamental realities that Jesus died and rose again, then you shall have no hope. But if you can say, upon a life I did not live, and upon a death I did not die, another's might, another's death, I take my holy for the thing, then you can go out tonight rejoicing in the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord, draw it nigh.

And when he comes, we shall all be caught up to meet him if we are saved by the grace of God and found on the finished work of Christ, for all will be caught up. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in the moment, in the twinkling, in closing in, may I appeal to any who may still be strangest to God's grace, put your faith and trust in the Savior and stand upon the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus for your soul shall be blessed.