Today we finally get to the passage of scripture that I had in mind when I chose to study 1 Thessalonians a while back. I came to that decision as we were going through the book of Revelation on Wednesday nights. And as you have discovered by our scripture reading, the subject of this passage is the second coming of the Lord. Now we say second coming to distinguish it from the first, but that designation is not given in the scriptures. In vs 15 it’s just the “coming of the Lord,” or as it is referred to in chapter 5 vs 2, “the day of the Lord.”
I suppose the day of the Lord is more helpful, because there are a lot of other things that happen concurrently with the second coming. I suppose that there were some questions that the Thessalonians had concerning death and the resurrection that had been delivered to Paul by Timothy after his visit. And so Paul wants to answer those questions, and reassure them concerning their own death and resurrection as well as comfort those who had lost loved ones.
But understanding exactly what Paul is talking about here Is very important. Because this passage is often used as a proof text to support the pre tribulation rapture of the church. When I say “rapture” I am referring to the premillenial, pretribulation view of eschatology that says there will be a secret coming of the Lord at the beginning of the tribulation for the Christians. But I believe that if you look closely at the text, there is nothing to support that view over our view that it’s referring to the second coming of the Lord at the end of the age, and the end of the tribulation period.
So let’s begin by looking at this passage as Paul gave it, in the hope that he will address some of these concerns as we go along. Paul begins by saying in vs13; “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” He doesn’t want them to be ignorant of what had been promised concerning the resurrection. Ignorance concerning spiritual things is not good for the faith of a Christian. For one, it leads to a lack of comfort. And secondly, ignorance can be harmful for one’s faith. As I have said many times before, faith is not blind, it’s not wishful thinking. Faith is founded on the knowledge of God’s promises and believing them. And so to know the truth is to be strengthened in the faith, which results in being comforted.
Diane asked as question the other night as we were reviewing Revelation. Her question was in effect, what difference did it make if someone believes in a pre tribulation rapture and someone else believes in an amillenial view of tribulation which has the Lord’s second coming at the end of it? My answer was that I know good men on both sides of that debate. And so it should make very little difference in terms of our fellowship as brothers and sisters in the Lord. We both are looking forward to the Lord’s return. What separates us is a matter of timing for the most part, though there are a lot of other factors involved.
But on the other hand, I do believe it is more comforting to understand the truth concerning such things. After all, our faith and hope are in the second coming and the resurrection and our eternal life with Christ. And so to me, it is much more comforting to know for certain all that the Bible teaches us concerning these things and not just base our eternal destiny on inaccurate speculation. And Paul wants the Thessalonians to take comfort from what he has to say on this subject as well, especially concerning those who have died in the Lord.
Now I said it that way on purpose - “those who have died in the Lord” - in order to explain what is meant by the expression he uses in vs 13, “those who are asleep.” The death of believers is often referred to in scripture as having fallen asleep. Sometimes that phrase is used, and then it is clarified as in John 11:11-14 Jesus said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.”Believers are spoken of as having fallen asleep, whereas unbelievers are referred to as dead. Fallen asleep is not a reference to soul sleep, but the idea that the body has fallen asleep but the spirit still lives.
Now this idea of where the spirit of a believer goes when he dies is what prompted me to start to really look intently into what the Bible really teaches concerning death and resurrection. When my dad died about 32 years ago, I wanted to know where he was right then, at that moment. I wanted comfort in his death, but I wanted to know the truth. Paul said he was writing these things to comfort them, so that they would not be ignorant. He says in vs 18, “therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The Greek and Roman world of Paul’s day was a world with little hope in the afterlife. At the most, they believed that there was some sort of existence in the soul, but not in the body. The Greek philosophers taught the immaterial nature of the soul, but they held out no hope for the body at all.
But for the Christian Paul says there is hope after death that is based on the promises of God. He says in vs 14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” Now to be a Christian is to believe that Jesus died and rose again. Believing in that is the basis for our salvation. But there is much more that Paul is indicating in that sentence than just a creed. He is saying that Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection. And if Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection, then we can expect to be resurrected as well.
Paul speaks of this resurrection of Christ as the first fruits in 1Cor. 15:20-24 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man [came] death, by a man also [came] the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then [comes] the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.”
So you see there is more indicated in this phrase “Jesus died and rose again” than simply a reiteration of our creed. But it is a promise to those that die in Christ, that just as Christ died and rose again, so they that are in Christ who die will rise again in the same manner. Notice the timing indicated in 1 Cor. 15; “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” Then “But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming.” What that tells us very clearly is that those who are asleep will remain in that condition until Jesus comes again.
Now what exactly happened when Jesus died and rose again? Where did Jesus go during that three days? First of all, after His death on the cross, Jesus went to what He called Paradise. He said to the thief on the cross who believed in Him, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Where is Paradise? Well, it is a figurative name that is used to refer to a number of things. But in this case, I believe He is referring to the upper chamber of Hades which was also known as Abraham’s bosom. You remember the story Jesus told of Lazarus and the rich man who both died, and the rich man went to a place of torment, while Lazarus was being comforted ( notice the use of that word) in Abraham’s bosom. And Jesus went on to give a description of that place in which He said there was a great gulf dividing the two that no man could cross over. Lazarus was with his father Abraham, he was being comforted, he was resting from his labors, he was cognizant, conversant, aware, and alive. The Jewish rabbis taught that this place was Paradise which is in the heart of the earth, which coexists in what is known in the OT as Sheol, and in the NT as Hades. (Very early Christian theologians St. Augustine, Hippolytus of Rome, Tertullian believed in the righteous abode of the dead in a separate part of Hades)
I believe Jesus indicates that this place where He was before His resurrection was not heaven - as in the abode of God. You remember that when Jesus was raised from the dead He appeared first to Mary Magdalene and He said, ““Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” So we know that Jesus had not yet entered into heaven and in fact it was 40 days before He ascended into heaven.
Furthermore, Peter writes about where Jesus went in His death in 1Peter 3:18-19 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, [the] just for [the] unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits [now] in prison.” So Jesus, though dead in His flesh, but alive in His Spirit, preached to those who were dead in prison. That prison is Hades, the place of torment. So Peter agrees that Jesus was in Hades, albeit the place He referred to as Paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom, from which He preached to those spirits in prison.
The Apostle’s Creed says the same thing. It’s not scripture, but it is a creed of the early church which attests to this doctrine that Christ went to Hades. It says, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”
Now I show you all of that to say that if Christ is the first fruits of those that are asleep, then we shall follow suit. When we die in the Lord, I believe nothing has changed from when Christ died and rose again. We still descend into the Paradise of Hades, a place where we reunite with our loved ones in the Lord, where we are comforted, where we have rest from our labors, and where we await the resurrection.
So Paul says “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” So those that are in Paradise are not forgotten about at Christ’s second coming. But actually they are the first to rise. He says in vs15 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
Now let’s look at the order of the resurrection from this passage. First the Lord Himself will descend from heaven. Jesus is coming back, physically, visibly, majestically. Other scriptures tell us that it will be as the lightning flashes from east to west. The day nor the hour anyone knows. But Jesus said it will be at a time when you do not expect Him. In 1 Cor. 15:52 it says it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. In the blink of an eye. There will not be time for conversion at that point. When Jesus comes you are what you are, and you will be judged for what you are. Either in Christ, or without Christ. Christ comes to deliver those who are His, and judge those who are not. Paul says He will come with a shout, with the voice of the archangel. Not much is known about archangels. There are only two places where this term is used, here and in Jude. In Jude we are told the archangel is Michael. In Daniel 10:13 the angel Michael is called one of the chief princes, so that we might suppose there is more than one archangel. Perhaps Gabriel is another, but there could be seven, as in the seven angels before God’s throne. We simply don’t know too much about them. But regardless, here we learn that the archangel who is at the top of the hierarchy of angels shouts at the return of Christ. I suppose the whole earth will hear it. I can’t imagine an archangel shouting and no one hears. I can’t imagine a secret rapture happening with an archangel shouting and a trumpet blasting.
In the OT, when Moses wanted to prepare the people for God descending in the clouds to meet the Israelites, it was with a loud trumpet blast. In the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation 19:7, the event culminates with a loud trumpet blast. And so this is the last trumpet. 1Cor. 15:52 says, the Lord will come, “in 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 will be changed.”
Then notice in our text Paul says the dead in Christ will rise first. There are some who believe that when Christ rose from the dead He took with Him those who had died in the Lord and they are now in heaven. But there really isn’t any scripture to back that up, Ephesians 4 not withstanding. It says in Eph 4:8-10 “Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." (Now this [expression,] "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)”.
I think the better interpretation of that passage is that when we were in sin, we were held captive by Satan to do his will. But when Christ rose from the dead, He released those who were held captive by Satan and transferred them to the kingdom of God. That’s speaking of a spiritual condition, not a physical one. There is no indication that verse is teaching that Christ delivered all the dead in the Lord to heaven. Besides, there is an interval of 40 days between Christ’s resurrection and His ascension. But there is in that verse a further support for my claim that Christ first descended into Hades, or as it says there, into the lower parts of the earth.
So I believe our text indicates that the dead in Christ are still in Paradise awaiting the resurrection. Paul speaking some 30 years after the resurrection of Christ says in Rom 6:5 “For if we have become united with [Him] in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [in the likeness] of His resurrection,” He is speaking of the resurrection as something future, not something that has already happened.
So when Christ descends and the shout and the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ will rise first. They will meet Christ in the air. Paul speaks of Christ coming in the clouds. So we are talking about the sky above us. That is what is commonly referred to in scripture as the heavens. Peter said that the earth and the heavens will be burned up at the second coming of Christ. So in those heavens, in the clouds, Christ will appear, and the dead will rise first and meet Him in the sky above earth.
And Paul adds to that in 2 Cor. 15 that at their resurrection, the dead will receive a new body. 1Co 15:42, 52-54 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable [body,] it is raised an imperishable [body;] ... 52 in 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 will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.” The resurrection brings about the immediate glorification of the body as the spirit is raised from the dead so that we will be immortal, imperishable.
After the dead are raised, then those who are still alive on earth who are Christians will be raised. Vs17 “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” Those who believe in the rapture have a little difficulty with this verse, because according to them, the church will have already been raptured out at this point. But they solve that problem by saying that a few people will be saved in the tribulation because they will finally understand the truth of the gospel when they recognize that all the Christians are gone. But I find that to be not in keeping with the teaching that at the second coming there is no more opportunity to be saved. In the split second that Christ returns, your eternal fate is sealed.
According to the amillenial view though, the church will persevere to the end. Some will be martyrs for the faith. Some will escape persecution unto death. In fact, it would seem that Revelation teaches that for the most part, God will preserve His church during the tribulation. If you read carefully the plagues that come upon the earth, they are intended for the ungodly, to bring them to repentance, not those who are sealed by Christ. But nevertheless, things will get worse and worse until the end, until the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. And those that are alive on the earth who are Christ’s will rise to meet Him and the departed saints and they too will receive an imperishable body. Paul says in 1 Cor. 15, “we shall all be changed.” And so all receive a glorified body.
And bear in mind what we learned in our study of Revelation 20-22. The second coming of Christ results in this earth being burned up as Peter also said in 2 Peter 3:12 “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” So John sees in his vision in Revelation Jesus descending to earth, the saints being raised to meet Him in the air, and then the world and it’s works being burned up and remade as a new heavens and new earth in which we will dwell forever with the Lord. Heaven comes down, not we go up into a place called heaven somewhere in outer space. But we remain on earth, though it is a new earth.
You know with all that is known today about cloning, it’s apparent that a body can be made from just a cell. So the Lord doesn’t need our entire body in order to raise it, and change it to an immortal, glorified body. God can recreate our glorified bodies out of thin air if He desires to. So we don’t know exactly how our resurrected body is going to look. There are millions of Christians who have died in the last 2000 years whose bodies have been scattered to the four corners of the earth by now. Think of those who died at sea, or who were eaten by animals. But the Lord is able to keep track of whatever cells there are left, and He promises to raise us up as indestructible, immortal, and glorified.
Paul speaks of that glorified body in 1Cor. 15:35-49 “But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one [flesh] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the [glory] of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable [body,] it is raised an imperishable [body;] it is sown in dishonor, 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body.] So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.”
John told us in 1John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” We will have a body like Christ. A body that doesn’t know sin, that is righteous as He is righteous. We will be eternal. And in that glorified state, Paul said in our text, “and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
That is a comfort, isn’t it? I hope you have found comfort in these words. Jesus said, “he that lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” I hope that you do believe and your faith is in Jesus who died and rose again, so that we might have life in Him. Even eternal life.
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