1stThessalonians4

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12(ESV)
¹Finally, then, brothers,^£ we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live^£ and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 
²For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 
³For this is the will of God, your sanctification:^£ that you abstain from sexual immorality; 
⁴that each one of you know how to control his own body^£ in holiness and honor, 
⁵not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 
⁶that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 
⁷For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 
⁸Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
⁹Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 
¹⁰for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 
¹¹and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 
¹²so that you may live^£ properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

 

V.1-2 – Finallythen, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to ^cwalk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.  2- For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

“Finally”  (loipos)– The teaching section concludes with this admonition.  Exhort (parakaloumien) means to come along side and encourage.

“Excel still more” –    They were not to be content with their spiritual growth to date and to excel still more.  It would be a continuous process.    A spiritual extraordinary level as noted in 1 Corinthians 14:12 –NASB –    So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.   

It was to be a spiritual progress motivated by a desire to know God described at Psalm 42:1 (NASB95)  –  As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 

In order for spiritual growth to occur one needs what?   What does one’s actions of reading the Bible, attending Church, and inviting others require?

The graining of more information about the bible and participating in additional spiritual activates (praying, witnessing, and serving)  are NOT linked to the desire to know God better, they will not bring spiritual growth to those who profess faith in Christ.

Hosea 6:6 (NASB95)  –  6      For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,   And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

John 15:4–5 (NASB95) –   4      “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.   5      “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 (NASB95) –           1      If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.     2      If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.    3      And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Philippians 2:13 (NASB95)13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Colossians 3:17 (NASB95)  Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

V1b – “…in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God.

Key:  is “in the Lord Jesus”  –  It is Him through the Holy Spirit that can regenerate ones’ spiritual power and insight to accomplish the objectives of spiritual growth.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB95)

          14      But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 

So the saints already knew the fundamentals of Christian living. They knew what they needed to do to please God (literally, “to strive to please” Him) and glorify Him in everything:

1.        they needed to confess their sins regularly (cf. Ps. 32:5; Isa. 1:18–19; Matt. 6:12; 1 John 1:9);

2.        to pray continually and trust Him (cf. Ps. 27:8; Phil. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 2:8; Heb. 4:16; 10:22; James 1:6);

3.       to pursue humility (cf. Matt. 20:26–28; Eph. 4:1–2; Phil. 2:3–4; Col. 3:12; James 4:6);

4.       to be content with God’s will (cf. Ps. 37:16; 1 Tim. 6:6, 8; Heb. 13:5),

a.       as it is revealed in His Word (cf. Ps. 119:105; Prov. 6:23; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:19);

5.       to be willing to suffer for His name (cf. Matt. 5:10–12; John 15:20; Acts 5:41; 2 Tim. 3:12);

6.       to evangelize the lost (cf. Matt. 4:19; 28:19–20; Mark 16:15; 2 Cor. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:5);

7.       to celebrate the Lord’s Table (cf. Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23–28);

8.       to care for one another (cf. Acts 2:44–46; Gal. 6:2; Phil. 2:3–4; 1 Thess. 5:11, 14; Heb. 13:1–3; James 1:27; 2:15–17);

9.       to honor God in their marriages and families (cf. Eph. 5:22–6:4; Col. 3:18–21; 1 Tim. 5:3–16; Titus 2:1–8; Heb. 13:4); and

10.   to be diligent and fruitful in all avenues of service (cf. Matt. 3:8; Eph. 2:10; Col. 1:10; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; Titus 3:8, 14; Heb. 10:24; 13:21).

Paul, Silas, and Timothy had taught the Thessalonians how they ought to live as Christians, and they were already obeying what they had heard.  (Quote J MacArthur Comm.)

 

V.1c  “(just as you actually do walk)…For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

As they walk in daily obedience, believers gradually but surely become more and more like Christ.    

1 Corinthians 9:24-27  “..run the race so as to receive an imperishable wreath…”

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (NASB95)  – 24      Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.  25      Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  26      Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27      but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Christians who seek to know God better, to love Him more, and to obey Him more thoroughly, must live according to the commands of Scripture. Such believers will then experience growth toward spiritual excellence, through the power of the indwelling Christ and by their obedience to the truth of the Word.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NASB95)

          18      But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

This occurs when with “unveiled face”—undistracted, unhindered—the child of God looks into the magnificent mirror of Scripture, which reflects the Lord’s glory

 

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 – Abstaining from Sexual Sins

³For this is the will of God, your sanctification:^£ that you abstain from sexual immorality; 
⁴that each one of you know how to control his own body^£ in holiness and honor, 
⁵not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 
⁶that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 
⁷For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 
⁸Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

John MacArthur Quote: 
Since the 1960s, when the modern sexual revolution really accelerated, Western society has had fewer and fewer rules governing sexual attitudes and behaviors. Freedom of sexual expression has in many ways become the cultural god that rules over all the other idolatrous gods of postmodern culture. People want the right, for themselves and others, to express their sexual desires at any cost, even if that means aborting the unwanted child resulting from a sexual union or risking a sexually transmitted disease.

Several obvious tenets constitute the world’s immoral, unscriptural outlook regarding sex.

1^st – people are basically good and all but the most heinous activities should be tolerated. Therefore, virtually any kind of consensual sexual activity is good (except for child molestation), especially if one views sex as merely a way to personal gratification.

2^nd – since sexual activity is only a biological function (cf. 1 Cor. 6:13), it is normal and necessary to engage in it without placing on it any moral restrictions.

3^rd – since “casual” sex is just another form of fun and pleasure, it is permissible to enjoy sexual activity recreationally, any time with any consenting partner.

4^th – fulfilling one’s sexual desire is a major goal in life, more important than developing meaningful personal relationships.

5^th – instant gratification is more important than delayed satisfaction. Therefore, having premarital sex is legitimate and preferable to waiting until marriage to have sex.

6^th – enjoyable sexual intercourse is the most important factor in establishing a good marital relationship. Therefore, the early stage of every romantic relationship should include sex. The couple should live together to determine sexual compatibility and fulfillment before they marry.

Thessalonica was part of the debased “Greco-Roman culture” that was filled with a wide variety of erotic perversions and done with little or no accompanying shame or guilt.  Pagan Greek society apparently did not have civil laws to prohibit immoral behavior.  Whereas we grew up in Western nations that had Christian tradition to support laws and standards that forbid the grosser manifestations of immorality. 

Mystery religions advocated ritual prostitution and that to participate was the transcendentally with the deity the prostitute represented.   The temple of Aphrodite employed one thousand priestesses that were essentially religious prostitutes.  Thus people did not consider fornication and adultery illegal or immoral; the idolatrous religions actually condoned them.

God requires them to break from their pagan backgrounds and old habits with the pressures from a wicked culture that would seek to draw them away from their new life.  Even if the society around them lowered their standards, the Thessalonian believers abstained from sexual sin and did not involve a relative morality.  Instead they established an absolute standard of sexual purity.

 

 

 

 

Understanding why verse three states:
³For this is the will of God, your sanctification (hagiasmos) LN53.44 :^£ that you abstain (apecho) LN85.16  from sexual (porneia) LN88.271 immorality; 

Your ‘sanctification’ – (hagiasmos) LN53.44 though in certain contexts ἁγιάζω^aand ἁγιασμόςsuggest resulting moral behavior, the emphasis is not upon a manner of life but upon religious activity and observances which reflect one’s dedication or consecration to God. Accordingly, in 1 Cor 1:2 one may translate ἁγιάζωas ‘who have given themselves to God’ or ‘who serve God with a whole heart.’

Sanctification is the process of being separated from sin and set apart to God’s holiness.  God wants believers to separate from all that is evil, fleshly, and impure. 

‘that you abstain  (to forbear) from sexual (porneia) (LN88.271)  immorality’  –  abstain (apecho)  LN85.16 – 85.16ἀπέχω^b: to be at some distance away from—‘to be away from, to be off from.’ ἔτι δὲ αὐτοῦ μακρὰν ἀπέχοντος ‘he wa still a long way from (home)’ Lk 15:20.

Sexual (porneia) LN88.271 – 88.271 πορνεύω; ἐκπορνεύω; πορνεία,ας f: to engage in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution—‘to engage in illicit sex, to commit fornication, sexual immorality, fornication, prostitution.’

Matthew 5:27-28 – ²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ^£‘You shall not commit adultery.’    ²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Ephesians 5:3 – ³But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 

 The word “Impurity” (akatharsia)   is from the same Greek word meaning it extends beyond acts of sexual sin to include unclean thoughts and intentions.    (akatharsia  LN88.261   –  88.261ἀκαθαρσία^a,ας f: the state of moral impurity, especially in relationship to sexual sin—‘impurity, immorality, filthiness.’…‘God has given them over to do the immoral things their hearts desire’ Ro 1:24.

Total abstinence from sexual sin is a duty of the utmost importance for all believers. 

 

1 Thessalonians 4:4 –  The Body Should not Control the Believer…

V.4 – ⁴that each one of you know how to control his own body^£ in holiness and honor, 

Believers must maintain self-control over the desires of their flesh. Hence Paul exhorted the Thessalonians that each of them had to know how to control their body’s appetites. Each believer had the same personal responsibility to control his body. Know is from oida, which carries the idea of having the knowledge or skill necessary to accomplish a desired goal. Every Christian needs to know himself well, so as to understand his weaknesses and evil propensities and, thereby, know how to possess (“gain mastery over”) his own vessel.  (John MacArthur)

We are to be led by the Spirit –Romans 8:13(ESV)
¹³For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 

We are to kill the flesh – Romans 7:18(ESV)
¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 

The key to being filled with the Spirit is for believers to let God’s Word dwell within them… 
Colossians 3:16  – ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

The Believer Should Not Act Like the Unbeliever:
V.5– ⁵not in the passion (pathos)  of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 

V.5NASB:- not in ^alustful(epithymia)- LN 25.20 (out of control behavior) –  passion (pathos) LN 25.30 (uncontrollable desires, compelling feelings, overpowering urges), like the Gentiles who do not know God.

LN25.20 – 25.20ἐπιθυμέω^b; ἐπιθυμία^b,ας f: to strongly desire to have what belongs to someone else and/or to engage in an activity which is morally wrong—‘to covet, to lust, evil desires, lust, desire.’…‘I have not coveted anyone’s silver, gold, or clothing’ Ac 20:33; …anyone who looks at a woman lustfully’ Mt 5:28. …many foolish desires’ 1 Tm 6:9; ‘youthful desires’ 2 Tm 2:22; …‘the former desires when you were ignorant’ 1 Pe 1:14; …‘do not gratify the desires of the body’ Ga 5:16.

LN25.30– 25.30πάθος,ους n; πάθημα^b,τος n; καταστρηνιάω: to experience strong physical desires, particularly of a sexual nature—‘passion, lust, lustful desire, to have lust.’ …Ro. 1:26, 1 Tim. 5:11…

 

V.6a – The Believer Should Not Take Advantage of Others:

V.6a – andthat no man transgress (hyperbaino) (to overstep) (take advantage of) (to sin against)   and defraud (pleonekteo) (to exploit)   his brother in the matter

Defraud meaning not to selfishly, greedily take something for personal gain and pleasure at someone else’s expense.  It also means in the manner of sexual sin where a believer would satisfy their physical desires and gain sexual pleasure at the expense of another believer.    (Matthew 18:6-7)

 

1 Thessalonians 4:6b-8 – Why Should a Believer be Sexually Moral?

    6      andthat no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matterbecause the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.

    7      For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

    8      So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

 

 

“Lord is the avenger” –  Sexual sin by a believer will certainly result to some degree in the loss of eternal reward… (Prov. 11:18, 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2John 8)  (John MacArthur)

V.7 – For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

 

Quote by John MacArthur:
That Christians should strive to be sexually moral is in complete accord with God’s general plan for their lives. Therefore, a second reason Paul gave for abstaining from sexual immorality was because that command fit God’s purpose for the Thessalonians. For the third time in this passage, Paul used a form of the word sanctification, which emphasized to them that when God effectually called them to salvation, He also called them to holiness. A life of impurity was inconsistent with believers’ high calling (Eph. 4:1).
The phrase in sanctification indicates that the believer’s position of holiness is the direct result of God’s effectual call. God’s purpose in salvation was to produce a holy people who would walk worthy of the divine call into His kingdom and glory (cf. Eph. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:12). The call to salvation is inseparable from the call to holy and pure living. Ephesians 2:8–10 says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

 

V.8 – So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

The Greek word “gives” denotes timelessness.  God gives believers the timeless gift of His Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:14)

 

1 Thessalonians 4:9–12–  Shoe-Leather Faith

          9      Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;

          10      for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,

          11      and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

          12      so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

 

 

Christians are to carry on with their everyday lives and responsibilities until Christ returns.

Love to the Brethren….V.9-10 

Love to the Brethren (Philadelphia) originally affection for blood relatives but is always used in the NT in reference to Christian affection. 

They were already taught by God  (theodidaktos)  (Literally “God taught”)  about the love of the brethren.   At conversion they receive the Holy Spirit who indwells them and teaches them to love. 
John 14:26(ESV)
²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 

Romans 5:3-5(ESV)
³More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 
⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 
⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

 Love (verb: agapao) related to the noun (agape)  it is the purest, noblest form of love which is volitionally driven, not motivated by superficial appearance, emotion attraction, or sentimental relationship. 

“…to excel still more…”   (Super abound).

 V.11a – “and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life…”  

Make it your ambition (philotimeomai) meaning to be zealous and strive eagerly, even to consider it an honor. 

Romans 15:20(ESV)
²⁰and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 

“Lead a quiet life (hesuchazo)-  meaning to be silent(Luke 14:4 – ⁴But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 

 V.11b – and attend to your own business  –  not be ‘busybodies and meddling into everyone’s problems.

V.11c-12 – “and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. “

Perhaps some were depending on others’ resources to sustain themselves for what they thought would be a briefs interlude.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18(ESV) – What Happens To Christians When They Die?
¹³But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 
¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 
¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^£ that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 
¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 
¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 
¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This young church had questions about the timing of the resurrection of the saints.  Due to their sufferings in persecution, they feared they had missed the ‘day of the Lord’.

They feared that when some of their brother’s died, they had missed the ‘rapture’.  Their love for their brothers was such that they were in stressful condition over not being with them.  They missed the point about the ‘immanent return of Christ’.

The rapture:   John 14:2-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-58

John 14:2-3- Jesus speaks of the place He is preparing for them…
²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 

1 Corinthians 15:51-58(ESV) – Provides comfort and encouragement for believers not to fuel their prophetic speculations.
⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
⁵²in 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 shall be changed. 
⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 
⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:      ^£“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵    “O death, where is your victory?      O death, where is your sting?”
⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 
⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  
⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 This fear implies that they believed in a ‘pretribulational Rapture’.  There would be no such confusion if the Rapture precedes the Tribulation. 

 V.14 the phrase:  “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers,”

Paul 1^st addressed the question of ‘those who are asleep’.  The word “sleep” applies that only the body was asleep, but the soul was alive.  2 Cor. 5:8 and Phil. 1:23 teach that believers go consciously into the Lord’s presence at death.

2 Corinthians 5:8(ESV)
⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 

Philippians 1:23(ESV)
²³I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 

THUS, after death the redeemed go consciously into the presence of the Lord.  Whereas the unsaved go into conscious punishment.  Luke 16:19-31 –  The prodigal son…

Luke 15:19-31(ESV)
¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 
²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 
²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^£ 
22But the father said to his servants,^£ ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 
²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 
²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
²⁵“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 
²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 
²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 
²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 
²⁹but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 
³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 
³¹And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 

   William Barclay writes,

In the face of death the pagan world stood in despair. They met it with grim resignation and bleak hopelessness. Aeschylus wrote, “Once a man dies there is no resurrection.” Theocritus wrote, “There is hope for those who are alive, but those who have died are without hope.” Catullus wrote, “When once our brief light sets, there is one perpetual night through which we must sleep.” On their tombstones grim epitaphs were carved. “I was not; I became; I am not; I care not.” (The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, rev. ed. [Louisville: Westminster, 1975], 203)

 

Even those pagans who believed in life after death did not have that hope confirmed by the Holy Spirit; they merely clung to it without affirmation from God. But Christians do not experience the hopeless grief of nonbelievers, for whom death marks the permanent severing of relationships. Unlike them, Christians never say a final farewell to each other; there will be a “gathering together [of all believers] to Him” (2 Thess. 2:1). Partings in this life are only temporary.  (Quote NAC)

 

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15(ESV)
¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 
¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^£ that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

14a “For if we believe that Jesus died”…..

Significantly, Paul did not use the metaphor of sleep to refer to Jesus, but says that He died. Jesus experienced the full fury of death in all its dimensions as He “bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). His death transformed death into sleep for believers.

T. E. Wilson notes, “Death has been changed to sleep by the work of Christ. It is an apt metaphor in which the whole concept of death is transformed. ‘Christ made it the name for death in the dialect of the church (Acts 7:60)(Findlay)’ ” (What the Bible Teaches: 1 and 2 Thessalonians [Kilmarnock, Scotland: John Ritchie Ltd., 1983], 45). When believers die, their spirit goes immediately into conscious fellowship with the Lord, while their bodies temporarily sleep in the grave, awaiting the Rapture.

 

Death for Christians is really “Sleep”!

V.14b – “…and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”

The phrase “even so” links resurrections to the resurrection of Christ.  John 14:19 “Because I live, you will live also.”

The phrase:  “God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” 

The fellow believers that have died will NOT miss out on the Rapture but will return with Christ in glory at that time.  Those asleep in death will be resurrected first and then those alive will be brought into Christ’s presence.  Thus, at the Rapture, God will bring all believers, living and dead, back to heaven with Christ.

Quote NAC: The different application of this text is done if one wants to take the position of applying when the resurrection of the dead saints would be.  Would it be at the time of Christ 1^st coming or His 2^nd at Armageddon.    The Question:  Would the saints be removed from the earth before the tribulation 7 year period of after?  Thus believing either what is termed:   “pre-trib” or “post-trib” concept of what the Bible is teaching. 

The passage does not teach is that the spirits of dead believers immediately return to earth with Christ for the establishing of the millennial kingdom. That view places the Rapture at the end of the Tribulation and essentially equates it with the Second Coming. It trivializes the Rapture into a meaningless sideshow that serves no purpose. Commenting on the pointlessness of a posttribulational Rapture, Thomas R. Edgar asks,

What can be the purpose for keeping a remnant alive through the tribulation so that some of the church survive and then take them out of their situation and make them the same as those who did not survive? Why keep them for this? [The] explanation that they provide an escort for Jesus does not hold up. raptured living saints will be exactly the same as resurrected dead saints. Why cannot the dead believers fulfill this purpose? Why keep a remnant alive [through the Tribulation], then Rapture them and accomplish no more than by letting them die? There is no purpose or accomplishment in [such] a Rapture ….

With all the saints of all the ages past and the armies [of angels] in heaven available as escorts and the fact that [raptured] saints provide no different escort than if they had been killed, why permit the church to suffer immensely, most believers [to] be killed, and spare a few for a Rapture which has no apparent purpose, immediately before the [Tribulation] period ends?… Is this the promise? You will suffer, be killed, but I will keep a few alive, and take them out just before the good times come. Such reasoning, of course, calls for some explanation of the apparent lack of purpose for a posttribulational Rapture of any sort.

We can note the following:

(1)  An unusual, portentous, one-time event such as the Rapture must have a specific purpose. God has purposes for his actions. This purpose must be one that can be accomplished only by such an unusual event as a Rapture of living saints.

(2)  This purpose must agree with God’s general principles of operation.

(3)  There is little or no apparent reason to Rapture believers when the Lord returns and just prior to setting up the long-awaited kingdom with all of its joyful prospects.

(4)  There is good reason to deliver all who are already believers from the tribulation, where they would be special targets of persecution.

(5)  To deliver from a period of universal trial and physical destruction such as the tribulation requires a removal from the earth by death or Rapture. Death is not appropriate as a promise in Rev. 3:10.

(6)  Deliverance from the tribulation before it starts agrees with God’s previous dealings with Noah and Lot and is directly stated as a principle of God’s action toward believers in 2 Pet. 2:9. (“Robert H. Gundry and Revelation 3:10, ” Grace Theological Journal 3 [Spring 1982], 43–44)

 

The view that the raptured saints return to earth with Christ also contradicts John 14:1-3…  
John 14:1-3(ESV) – ¹“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;^£ believe also in me. 
²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 
³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 

Jesus promised to take believers back to heaven with Him when He returns to gather His people.  There is to be a time interval between Christ’s return to gather His people (the Rapture) and His return to earth to establish the millennial kingdom (the 2^nd coming). 

During the interval between the Rapture and the Second Coming, the believers’ judgment takes place…  1 Cor. 3:11-15says:
1 Corinthians 3:11-15(ESV)
¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 
¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
¹³each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 
¹⁴If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 
¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

2 Corinthians 5:10(ESV)
¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

 If one has the concept of a post-tribulational Rapture then there would be no time for the Judgment to take place. 

The phrase “in Jesus” is best understood as describing the circumstances in which the departed saints fell asleep.  They died in the condition of being related to Jesus Christ.  Paul used essentially the same phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:18 when he wrote those “who have fallen asleep in Christ”…

1 Corinthians 15:18(ESV)
¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 

V.15a – “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord.”   This is an expression of authoritative tone of an inspired writer revealing what God has disclosed to him.   He was not going to un veil the mystery of the events in the ‘Rapture of the Church’.  The new thing here, apart from what Jesus taught, was the order of the resurrection.  Compare:  Matthew 24:30-31 with 1 Thessalonians 4:15

Matthew 24:30-31(ESV)
³⁰Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 
³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:15(ESV)
¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^£ that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

Two groups of people will participate in the Rapture!  1) those who are alive at the coming of the Lord and 2) those who have fallen asleep. 

Christ warned that no-one knows the day or hour of this event except the Father.  Matthew 24:36  –  ³⁶“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^£ but the Father only. 

Our responsibility till that time was illustrated in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.  This showed the foolishness of not being constantly prepared for the Lord’s return…  Matthew 25:1-13

We will be changed in a moment of an eye:  1 Cor. 15:51-52 says:
1 Corinthians 15:51-52(ESV)
⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,   ⁵²in 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 shall be changed. 

This is fulfilled in our day for when we fall asleep in death we are immediately taken to the presence of the Lord to await His return.   

Proof:  1 Cor. 6:14 says:
1 Corinthians 6:14(ESV)
¹⁴And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 

Paul lived in constant expectation of Christ’s return.  2 Timothy 4:6-7 says:
2 Timothy 4:6-7(ESV)
⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 
⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

 

V.16-17  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17(ESV)
¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 
¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 

   Quote from the John MacArthur Commentary:

 First, the Lord Himself will return for His church. He will not send angels for it, in contrast to the gathering of the elect that takes place at the Second Coming (Mark 13:26–27).

Second, Jesus will descend from heaven, where He has been since His ascension (Acts 1:9–11). Earlier in this epistle, Paul commended the Thessalonians because they were waiting “for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus” (1:10). At his trial before the Sanhedrin, Stephen cried out, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). The writer of Hebrews said of Christ, “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

Third, when Jesus comes down from heaven, He will do so with a shout. Keleusma (command) has a military ring to it, as if the Commander is calling His troops to fall in. The dead saints in their resurrected bodies will join the raptured living believers in the ranks. The Lord’s shout of command will be similar to His raising of Lazarus, when “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth’ ” (John 11:43). This is the hour “when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). The righteous dead of the church age will be the first to rise—a truth that must have greatly comforted the anxious Thessalonians.

Fourth, the voice of the archangel will sound. There is no definite article in the Greek text, which literally reads, “an archangel.” In Jude 9, the only other passage in Scripture that mentions an archangel, the archangel is Michael. Scripture does not say whether or not he is the only archangel (there were seven archangels according to Jewish tradition). Thus, it is impossible to say who the archangel whose voice will be heard at that Rapture is. Whoever he is, he adds his voice to the Lord’s shout of command.

Fifth, to the Lord’s command and the archangel’s voice will be added the sounding of the trumpet of God (cf. 1 Cor. 15:52). Trumpets were used in Scripture for many reasons. They sounded at Israel’s feasts (Num. 10:10), celebrations (2 Sam. 6:15), and convocations (Lev. 23:24), to sound an alarm in time of war (Num. 10:9) or for any other reason it was necessary to gather a crowd (Num. 10:2; Judg. 6:34) or make an announcement (1 Sam. 13:3; 2 Sam. 15:10; 20:1; 1 Kings 1:34, 39, 41). The trumpet at the Rapture has no connection to the trumpets of judgment in Revelation 8–11. It seems to have a twofold purpose: to assemble God’s people (cf. Ex. 19:16–19) and to signal His deliverance of them (cf. Zech. 1:16; 9:14–16).

Sixth, the dead in Christ will rise first. As noted above, the dead saints will in no way be inferior to those alive at the Rapture. In fact, they will rise first, their glorified bodies joining with their glorified spirits to make them into the image of Christ, as the apostle John wrote: “We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). Those who were in Christ in life will be so in death; death cannot separate believers from God (Rom. 8:38): “therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8).

Finally, those believers who are alive and remain will be caught up together with the dead saints in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Harpazō (caught up) refers to a strong, irresistible, even violent act. In Matthew 11:12 it describes the taking of the kingdom of heaven by force. In John 10:12 it describes a wolf snatching sheep; in John 10:28–29 it speaks of the impossibility of anyone’s snatching believers out of the hands of Jesus Christ and God the Father; in Acts 8:39 it speaks of Philip’s being snatched away from the Ethiopian eunuch; and in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4 it describes Paul’s being caught up into the third heaven. It is when living believers are caught up that they are transformed and receive their glorified bodies (Phil. 3:21). “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” believers “will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52), rescued from the grasp of Satan, the fallen flesh, the evil world system, and the coming wrath of God.

 

 

Rapture texts: 

John 14:3

Rev. 3:10

1 Cor. 15:51-52

Phil. 3:2-21

Judgment Texts:

Matt. 13:34-50

Matt. 24:29-44

Most of the following material is a Quote from John MacArthur Commentary:

Supporting factors for believing in the return of Christ and the rapture to be prior to the tribulation period, termed:  “pretribulation” belief.  Quote by John MacArthur:
Again, no solitary text of Scripture makes the entire case for the pretribulation Rapture. However, when one considers all the New Testament evidence, a very compelling case for the pretribulational position emerges, which answers more questions and solves more problems than any other Rapture position. The following arguments present a strong case in favor of the pretribulation Rapture.

First, the earthly kingdom of Christ promised in Revelation 6–18 does not mention the church as being on earth. Because Revelation 1–3 uses the Greek word for church nineteen times, one would reasonably assume that if the church were on earth rather than in heaven in chapters 6–18, they would use “church” with similar frequency, but such is not the case. Therefore, one can assume that the church is not present on the earth during the period of tribulation described in Revelation 6–18 and that therefore the Lord has removed it from the earth and relocated it to heaven by means of the Rapture.

Second, Revelation 19 does not mention a Rapture even though that is where a posttribulational Rapture (if true) would logically occur. Thus, one can conclude that the Rapture will have already occurred.

Third, a posttribulational Rapture renders the Rapture concept itself inconsequential. If God preserves the church during the Tribulation, as posttribulationists assert, then why have a Rapture at all? It makes no sense to Rapture believers from earth to heaven for no apparent purpose other than to return them immediately with Christ to earth. Further, a posttribulational Rapture makes the unique separation of the sheep (believers) from the goats (unbelievers) at the return of Christ in judgment redundant because a posttribulational Rapture would have already accomplished that.

Fourth, if God raptures and glorifies all believers just prior to the inauguration of the millennial kingdom (as a posttribulational Rapture demands), no one would be left to populate and propagate the earthly kingdom of Christ promised to Israel. It is not within the Lord’s plan and purpose to use glorified individuals to propagate the earth during the Millennium. Therefore, the Rapture needs to occur earlier so that after God has raptured all believers, He can save more souls—including Israel’s remnant—during the seven-year Tribulation. Those people can then enter the millennial kingdom in earthly form. The most reasonable possibility for this scenario is the pretribulational Rapture.

Fifth, the New Testament does not warn of an impending tribulation, such as is experienced during Daniel’s seventieth week, for church-age believers. It does warn of error and false prophets (Acts 20:29–30; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1–3), against ungodly living (Eph. 4:25–5:7; 1 Thess. 4:3–8; Heb. 12:1), and of present tribulation (1 Thess. 2:14–16; 2 Thess. 1:4; all of 2 Peter). Thus it is incongruous that the New Testament would be silent concerning such a traumatic change as Daniel’s seventieth week if posttribulationism were true.

Sixth, Paul’s instructions here to the Thessalonians demand a pretribulational Rapture because, if Paul were teaching them posttribulationism, one would expect them to rejoice that loved ones were home with the Lord and spared the horrors of the Tribulation. But, in actuality, the Thessalonians grieved. In addition, with a posttribulational teaching one would expect them to sorrow over their own impending trial and inquire about their future doom; however, they expressed no such dread or questioning. Further, one might expect Paul to instruct and exhort them concerning such a supreme test as the Tribulation, but Paul wrote only about the hope of the Rapture.

Seventh, the sequence of events at Christ’s coming following the Tribulation demands a pretribulational Rapture. A comparing and contrasting of Rapture passages with Second Coming passages yields strong indicators that the Rapture could not be posttribulational. For example: (a) at the Rapture, Christ gathers His own (vv. 16–17 of the present passage), but at the Second Coming, angels gather the elect (Matt. 24:31); (b) at the Rapture, resurrection is prominent (vv. 15–16 of the present passage), but regarding the Second Coming, Scripture does not mention the resurrection; (c) at the Rapture, Christ comes to reward believers (v. 17 of the present passage), but at the Second Coming, Christ comes to judge the earth (Matt. 25:31–46); (d) at the Rapture, the Lord snatches away true believers from the earth (vv. 15–17 of the present passage), but at the Second Coming, He takes away unbelievers (Matt. 24:37–41); (e) at the Rapture, unbelievers remain on the earth, whereas at the Second Coming, believers remain on the earth; (f) concerning the Rapture, Scripture does not mention the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, but at His second coming, Christ sets up His kingdom; and (g) at the Rapture, believers will receive glorified bodies, whereas at the Second Coming, no one will receive glorified bodies.

Eighth, certain of Jesus’ teachings demand a pretribulational Rapture. For instance, the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24–30) portrays the reapers (angels) removing the tares (unbelievers) from among the wheat (believers) in order to judge the tares, which demonstrates that at the Second Coming, the Lord has unbelievers removed from among believers. However, at the Rapture, He takes believers from among unbelievers. This is also true in the parable of the dragnet (Matt. 13:47–50) and in the discussion of the days of Noah and the description of the nations’ judgment, both in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24–25).

Ninth, Revelation 3:10 teaches that the Lord will remove the church prior to the Tribulation. In the Greek, the phrase “I also will keep you from” can mean nothing other than “I will prevent you from entering into.” Jesus Christ will honor the church by preventing it from entering the hour of testing, namely Daniel’s seventieth week, which is about to come upon the entire world. Only a pretribulational Rapture can explain how this will happen.

Thus, the Rapture (being caught up) must be pretribulational, before the wrath of God described in the Tribulation (Rev. 6–19). At the Rapture, living believers will be caught up together with the believers raised from the dead as the church triumphant joins the church militant to become the church glorified. Clouds are often associated in Scripture with divine appearances. When God appeared at Mount Sinai, “The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days” (Ex. 24:16). Clouds marked God’s presence in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), the temple (1 Kings 8:10), and at Christ’s transfiguration (Matt. 17:5). At His ascension Christ “was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).

Some argue that the word meet suggests meeting a dignitary, king, or famous person and escorting him back to his city. They then argue that after the meeting described in this passage, believers will return to earth with Christ. But such an analogy is arbitrary and assumes a technical meaning for meet not required by either the word or the context. As noted earlier in this chapter, that explanation also renders the Rapture pointless; why have believers meet Christ in the air and immediately return to earth? Why should they not just meet Him when He gets here? Gleason L. Archer comments, “The most that can be said of such a ‘Rapture’ is that it is a rather secondary sideshow of minimal importance” (Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Paul D. Feinberg, Douglas J. Moo, and Richard Reiter, The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational? [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984], 215). As was also noted earlier in this chapter, a posttribulational Rapture contradicts the teaching of Christ in John 14:1–3 that He will return to take believers to heaven, not immediately back to earth.

The final step in the plan of the Rapture is the blessed, comforting truth that after Christ returns to gather us (believers) to Himself, we shall always be with the Lord.

 

1 Thess. 4:18  –  The Profit of the Rapture being “Comfort”.

1 Thessalonians 4:18(ESV)
¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

Information:

LN = Louw Nida Dictionary

G – Strong’s Dictionary