“13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety”, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

The best way to use the Bible is the way it is intended. We are coming into a section that many would say deals with prophecy and they are partly right. But Paul is not considering this teaching in prophecy. Rather, he is teaching on encouragement.

This passage we are looking at today falls into two parts. The first part is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Notice how this passage ends. It ends with the purpose. “Encourage each other with these words.”

The second part is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. Notice in verse 11 how this ends. “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…”

This passage is considered prophecy and it is. But Paul is not teaching prophecy, he is giving the Thessalonians the raw materials they need to build encouragement and spiritual maturity.

This first section highlights the need for encouragement. 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

Paul sees encouragement as one of the major needs we all have. The writer to the book of Hebrews says, Heb 10:25 “25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” And also, Heb 3:13 “13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” We need encouragement. Encouragement is meant to be one of the results of you and I meeting together. It is meant to be the side effect of Christian fellowship. The encouragement is the encouragement to live for Christ, to honor God, to keep on keeping on. So Paul writes this to encourage the Christians about death.

Notice what he does not say. He does not say that Christians don’t die. He does not say that Christian don’t grieve. He does say that when we die we go in a different direction and when Christians die, we grieve differently than those around us who are not Christians.

The major difference is hope. Anytime we bring hope, we bring encouragement.

We are encouraged when we know what happens to Christians who die. The Thessalonians wanted to know what happened to Christians who die before Jesus comes again. And so do we.

So what happens to Christians who die?

Christians who die go to be with Jesus (vs. 14)

14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Do you see where those who have died are? They are with Jesus. God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

What does it mean that they have “fallen asleep?” This is a euphemism for death. We say people have “passed away.” It doesn’t sound as hard as saying that someone “died.” But it means the same thing.

Those believers who died as Christians are coming back with Jesus. They are not coming on beds nor are they sleeping. Their spirits may be absent from their bodies, but they are present with the Lord.

Every Christian who dies finds that their spirit goes to be with God. What is not clear to me is if these spirits are given temporary bodies. Moses and Elijah certainly seemed to have bodies on the Mount of Transfiguration, so it may be so.

When the resurrection comes, what we call the rapture of the church, we are not going to be resurrected ahead of believers. It will be simultaneous.

15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

We will not precede those who have died as Christians according to the Lord’s own word.

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

So what does this mean, “the dead in Christ will rise first?” Because those under the ground have further to go than those above the ground, those under the ground will rise first.

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.

The major teaching of Paul centers around “together.” In the communion service, people were criticized for eating all the food before others even showed up. It was rude. Here, Paul is making the point that the dead will rise first so that we can be together in the clouds when we meet the Lord. Who will be first to rise? Those who have further to travel. What will be the result? We will be caught up together.

Some of us may get too technical, more technical than Paul is intending in his statement. You might ask, What about those who are buried at 10,000 feet. Will those who are alive and walking the seashore show up later than those who are dead on higher ground? We ruin the beauty of scripture when we try to make the author say more than they are saying.

What is especially great is that we will meet the Lord in the air. We will be with the Lord forever. All of us. The living and the dead. Every Christian will meet the Lord. The spirits of those who come with Jesus will be reunited with Jesus. At the exact same moment, those of us who know Christ and are alive will be there so we can greet the Lord together. And we will be with him forever.

I don’t know if that encourages you, but it encourages me. And God wants us to know this passage of scripture and use it to encourage other Christians. I have had people say to me when I was getting ready to leave their presence these words: “I’ll see you here, there or in the air.” What an encouragement.

When will this happen?

1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Do you know when you will be robbed? Some in our community have experienced the awful feeling of violation when they discovered someone broke into their home while they were away. You don’t know when you will be robbed. You do have a pretty good idea when it will not happen. Unless it is a home invasion, a scenario that Paul was not considering in the text, you know it will not happen when people are awake and in the home.

The fact is we don’t know. So also we don’t know when the day of the Lord will come, for it will come like a thief in the night.

Paul does give us one sign. When you look at the news, look for news that sound like this. The news will come out of the middle east, from Israel. You will hear them say, “Peace and safety.” The Lord is not going to come in the middle of a war. He will come at night, when people are asleep. They are thinking that everything is rosy. But they will wake up to find out that 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety”, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But Christians will not be surprised. Why? 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

The bottom line is that we will not be fooled by stories of peace in the Mideast. We understand that when the world is rejoicing, the Lord is coming. We will be alert to this and we will be self-controlled.

7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

As Christian people, three traits should guide our lives. First, we should be self-controlled. This is contrasted with people who are asleep or drunk. They do it at night. Their judgment is blurred. Their awareness is compromised.

We are to be self-controlled, sober, having clear heads and clear judgment.

Which means secondly, we walk by faith. When things are bad we trust God. When things are good, we understand that destruction may be just around the corner. Why? Because the word of God says so and we believe it.

Not only do we put on faith, but we also dedicate ourselves to love. Throughout this letter, Paul has encouraged them to love one another. When we face the truth that Jesus is coming again, we are to dedicate ourselves to love.

Third, we hold on to hope. No matter what life gives us, it is only temporary. We are looking back at the time when we passed from darkness to light. We look forward to the coming of Christ. For Jesus is coming for us. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is our hope. We will not suffer wrath, but receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus took God’s wrath for us. When we receive Jesus, we are reconciled to God.

10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

This is our hope ,that we will live together with Jesus.

Will you be there with us? Those who live with Jesus are those whose faith is in Jesus. Will you be there with us? Are you someone whose faith is in Jesus?

Ìf so, this will encourage you. If not, Jesus wants you to trust him. Trust him to pay for your sins. Trust him to help you live for God. Trust him to come back for you.

11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Jesus is coming. We need to connect with one another, encourage one another and build one another up. The Thessalonians were doing it. I pray that you are listening, are encouraged and are building and being built up in the Lord Jesus.