Sermon Tone Analysis

Paul’s Purpose in Writing About the Coming of The Lord

After Timothy returned from his visit to the church in Thessalonica, he would have told Paul how things would have gone.

One of the things he would have done is bring up some of the questions the Thessalonians had.

Timothy would have told Paul these questions, which he seeks to address through his letter.

In this section of the letter, we find out there were questions about those who had died.

The Thessalonians knew that Jesus was going to return, but meanwhile, were facing persecution and suffering.

In the midst of this suffering some of their brothers and sisters in the Lord had died, and their fear was that somehow those who died before the coming of Jesus would miss out on that glorious day.

It may also have been that they thought they missed out on the day of the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

Let no one deceive you in any way.

For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,”

Bad information, or bad teaching, leads to confusion, worry, and frustration.

Knowing that the Thessalonians have these questions and concerns, Paul desires to write to them to correct their misunderstanding, and instruct them according to God’s Word.

He begins in 1Thessalonians 4:13 and says…

As Paul begins his exhortation, we see his purpose in writing about the coming of the Lord.

First…

Paul wants to teach them

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers,”

There’s a saying that goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know.”

This is the meaning of the word, ignorance: The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

The truest desire of a teacher is to inform students.

To pass on valuable information, with the hope that their lives will be better for it.

This is what Paul is seeking to do.

He realizes the Thessalonians are lacking knowledge, so he wants to inform them.

Paul wants to teach them.

What does he want to teach them about?…

Paul wants to teach them about those who have died

“we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep,”

Paul wants to teach the Thessalonians specifically about those who have died.

The Thessalonians had friends/family/brothers/sisters in Christ who had died, and they were concerned that they were going to miss out on the second coming of Christ.

Paul does not want them to be uninformed, so he seeks here to teach them about it.

Paul uses the word “sleep”.

This is a word commonly in the NT, and it is a euphemism for death.

A euphemism is a word or phrase that is less harsh, and is used in place of another word that is also true, but more blunt.

Examples

Rather than saying… You’re fired — you’re being let go.

Rather than saying… Someone died — someone passed away

Rather than saying… You’re an idiot — you have an interesting point of view

This particular use of the word sleep rather than death has a much greater purpose than simply softening the blow.

As Paul is going to describe, believers in Christ have a hope that goes beyond the grave.

Death is not the end.

So sleep then refers to the temporary nature of death.

Though we die, and our bodies are buried in the grave, that is not where they remain.

This is not to say that believers are asleep until the Lord returns.

This belief is known as “soul sleep”, and is believed by Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others.

They believe that after someone dies, their soul is asleep until the coming of the Lord or the Day of Judgement.

This is not a biblical concept.

The Bible teaches us the moment we die we face judgement.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord for the believer.

For the unbeliever to be absent from the body is to be in hell.

Until the final resurrection, though, there is a temporary heaven—paradise

We know that there will be a new heavens and a new earth.

So this paradise that believers go to is temporary.

There is also a temporary hell—Hades

As can be clearly seen in Luke 16:19-31 (the account of the rich man and Lazarus) neither in paradise nor in Hades are people sleeping.

It could be said, though, that a person’s body is “sleeping” while his soul is in paradise or Hades.

At the resurrection, this body is “awakened” and transformed into the everlasting body a person will possess for eternity, whether in heaven or hell.

Those who were in paradise will be sent to the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1).

Those who were in Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

These are the final, eternal destinations of all people—based entirely on whether or not a person trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Paul wants to teach/inform the Thessalonians about those who have died.

The reason Paul wants to teach them this is because…

Paul wants them to grieve with hope

1 Thessalonians 4:13 “that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

In those days it was commonly understood that after death there was nothing.

This is similar to our day.

Ancient grave markers often bore the words, “I was not, I was, I am not, I care not.”

What amazing hope right?!?

Not really!

Notice that Paul doesn’t say so that you may not grieve.

Death brings grief, but for the Christian there is hope.

Paul is going to explain why in the next few verses.

Does anybody have any questions or comments about anything in we’ve talked about so far?

As we talked about the Thessalonians and their lack of knowledge which resulted in unneccessary fear, and worry, did it bring to mind a time in your life where you had fear, worry because of a lack of knowledge?

Maybe you received the wrong information, or didn’t have all the facts and acted on it and made a fool of yourself.

Can you remember a time when you lacked knowledge, or were given false information?

What happened as a result?

Maybe you acted on this false information and ran into trouble, or maybe it caused you unneccessary worry or fear.

Think of an example to give

Paul is going to correct the Thessalonians misunderstanding and ignorance regarding those who have died…

Is it important for us to correct misunderstanding or ignorance in others?

Why or why not?

We need to correct wrong beliefs if we know about them.

We can save them from unneccessary fear, worry, or even more importantly from hell.

We’ve seen that Paul purpose was to teach the Thessalonians about those who have died so that they have hope.

Now he is going to point them to…

Our Hope is in Jesus

1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

Paul points them back to the foundation of their faith.

Jesus’ death and resurrection.

This is the basis of their hope for the future.

Notice first…

This hope is available through faith

“For since we believe”

Paul is assuring the Thessalonians that they can have hope because they believe.

Because they have faith in this truth.

We have to admit that this sounds crazy, but that’s what faith is.

This hope is founded on Jesus

“For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again”

Paul affirms the truth of the Bible’s claims about Jesus.