Lesson 8 for August 25, 2012

1.The doubts of the Thessalonians (4:13) 2.The doctrine of the resurrection (4:14) 3.Those who will see Jesus (4:15) 4.The Second Coming (4:16-17) A personal and resounding Coming. A personal and resounding Coming. The resurrection of those who slept in Christ. The resurrection of those who slept in Christ. The alive and the resurrected believers are caught up together to meet Christ. The alive and the resurrected believers are caught up together to meet Christ. Living forever with the Lord. Living forever with the Lord. 5.Comfort for the Thessalonians (4:18)

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) The Thessalonians knew that they would go with Jesus to Heaven when He would return, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3) Nevertheless, some of them had already died or were dying while waiting for that. Would those brothers and sisters be deprived of seeing Jesus and living with Him? Paul needed to make them clear the concepts about death and resurrection, so they could have hope.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14) Paul began his preaching in Thessalonica by talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 17:3). Now that this believing was deeply rooted in Thessalonica, Paul used it to teach them that those who die believing in Jesus will resurrect just as Jesus died and resurrected. The Bible teaches that death is a dream, the died person waits to be awaken by the voice of Jesus (John 11:11-14) “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29)

“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 by no means precede those who are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15) “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 by no means precede those who are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15) Only those who will be alive when Jesus comes will have the privilege of seeing Him coming on the clouds (there are some exceptions, Rev. 1:7; Dn. 12:2) But God doesn’t want them to have the privilege of being the first to meet Him in the air too. Then they will have to wait for the resurrected to be caught up with them.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

A personal Coming (1Ths. 4:16) “The Lord Himself” A resounding Coming (1Ths. 4:16) “With a shout”. The voice of a general giving orders to his troops. “With the voice of an archangel”. The voice of Jesus that makes the mountains tremble (Psalm 29) “With the trumpet of God”. Isn’t this sound too loud to go unnoticed? Some people teach that the Coming of Jesus that will go –or have already gone—unnoticed for most people. Paul didn’t support that believing at all.

Paul teaches that “the died in Christ will rise first”; that is, before the living believers will be transformed. The faithful believers will resurrect with an already transformed body. Then, the alive will be transformed. 1. The dead are resurrected 2. The alive are transformed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52)

THE ALIVE AND THE RESURRECTED BELIEVERS ARE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER TO MEET CHRIST When all are dressed in immortality “we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”. When Jesus came for first time, He travelled around an Earth corrupted by sin. That won’t happen again. He won’t touch the Earth until it will be transformed (Zechariah 14:4), and that will happen in His Second Coming. That’s why we will be caught up to meet Jesus, instead of Him coming down to us.

We’ll go to Heaven, where Jesus has prepared a place for us (John 14:1-3) We will reign there for “a thousand years”, judging the angels and those who got lost (Revelation 20:4; 1 Corinthians 6:3) We will descend to the Earth on the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2) The wicked will resurrect and Satan will lead them in his last attack against God (Revelation 20:7-10) What will happen after we meet with Jesus in the air? In this text Paul only says that “we shall always be with the Lord”. We must look at other verses in the Scripture to know what will happen after that.

All will know their own sentence and will kneel down before Jesus (Revelation 20:12; Philippians 2:10) The divine fire will destroy Satan, his angels and those who didn’t repent in this life (Revelation 20:9, 10, 15) Jesus will settle on the Mount of Olives, the Earth will be transformed and the Holy City will settle on its place (Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 21:1) Finally, “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.” (Psalm 37:29) What will happen after we meet with Jesus in the air? In this text Paul only says that “we shall always be with the Lord”. We must look at other verses in the Scripture to know what will happen after that.

“The [second] coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope of His true followers. The Savior’s parting promise upon Olivet, that He would come again, lighted up the future for His disciples, filling their hearts with joy and hope that sorrow could not quench nor trials dim. Amid suffering and persecution, “the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” was the “blessed hope.” When the Thessalonian Christians were filled with grief as they buried their loved ones, who had hoped to live to witness the coming of the Lord, Paul, their teacher, pointed them to the resurrection, to take place at the Saviour’s advent. Then the dead in Christ should rise, and together with the living be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “And so,” he said, “shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18)” E.G.W. (Maranatha, January 4)