The Second Coming and Them Which Sleep
For the introduction to this series click here. This will explain why I am on chapter four for the second week of Advent!
1 Thessalonians 4
13 But 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.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For 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 them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 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.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
This is a wonderful passage full of truth and comfort in which he answers the question from chapter 3, “When Jesus comes, and all his saints with him, what about us who are alive and remain to that day? Where will we be?”
13 But 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.
It would seem that Paul’s emphasis on the soon coming of Christ was so strong that when some of the brethren died, the Thessalonians were perplexed, bewildered, confused, even disconcerted.
concerning them which are asleep – notice how the gospel softens even death, when a believer dies he merely falls asleep, awaiting the day when he shall be awaken in resurrection.
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope – when you have no hope, death is the end, they’re gone and that’s it. But the gospel speaks of life, life after death; there is a resurrection from the dead, so we are not to sorrow because we have this hope...
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Amen. I know brothers and sisters in Christ who have fallen asleep, well, here’s the promise - when Jesus comes again they will come with him! They will be among the saints accompanying Jesus when he returns.
15 For 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 them which are asleep.
His teaching on the soon coming of Christ was so strong that they were convinced that the living were in a better position than the dead, which was a misunderstanding.
unto the coming of the Lord – coming is our word parousia, coming, arrival, advent, resulting in his presence with us
shall not prevent them which are asleep – today, prevent means hinder, so this looks like a terrible translation, but the word prevent comes from a Latin word which means “come before” and originally meant “act in anticipation of or go before”
So, we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. Actually, it is quite the opposite!
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Amen! Here is an actual description of the parousia of Jesus. What a day!
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven – he will appear in the sky and descend to the earth. Who? The Lord himself. This same Jesus who was born of a virgin, walked among men, healed the sick, preached the sermon on the mount, crucified, dead, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, this same Jesus shall descend from heaven!
with a shout – what will he shout? "Come forth"? I’m not sure but it will raise the dead!!
with the voice of the archangel – probably crying, “Behold the Lord!”
with the trump of God – is this not awesome!
Listen, people have tried to tell us that this will be a secret coming, but this looks loud enough to wake the dead...
and the dead in Christ shall rise first – which is exactly what happens! The resurrection of the dead takes place first. Jesus is coming and the dead will be raised to life. What a day that will be!
17 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.
we which are alive and remain – Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds - caught up; believe it or not this is where the word rapture comes from. But not from English (caught up), or Greek (αρπαζω arpazo). No, it is from the Latin translation which reads:
deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur
Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together at the same time
That word rapiemur, the first person, plural, future form of rapere, which means to ‘snatch, grab, take away’, is the source for rapture. However, caught up is not a separate coming, it is one part of the resurrection at the parousia: when the Lord comes, the dead are raised, and the living are caught up with them to
meet the Lord in the air – Jesus appears in the sky, the dead are raised and the living are caught up with them to meet the Lord, to appear with him in his glory, and to return in glory with him. How long will all this take? Not long, 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.
This is a public event. The Lord is not going to slink back in and steal us away. He’s not ashamed of us. He will come back boldly, personally, in power, with glory, and claim us as his own.
and so shall we ever be with the Lord – no more faith, no more valleys of despair, or the valley of the shadow of death, we shall see him and ever be with him! Amen!
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words – these are comforting words indeed. Jesus endured the cross thinking of us. When he ascended to heaven he didn’t forget us, no, he ever liveth to make intercession for us. When he comes again in power and glory, he won’t forget us then either, He is coming so that we may ever be with him!
“This entire passage contains the most comforting and tender picture of the Lord’s coming in the Scriptures.” (A.B. Simpson)
He who testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
So, when will all this happen? On to chapter 5...
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