Study 6, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5-11

1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 ESV

But 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. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For 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. For 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. Then 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 4:

Up until this part, Paul’s letter has been about praising the church in Thessalonica and defending himself.

Yes he’s instructed them and pointed out the differences between him and the false teachers, but he hasn’t talked about Jesus’ 2nd coming, outside of referencing it in chapter 1

So, it would seem this section comes out of nowhere.

More than likely, as Timothy gave his glowing report on how the church was doing, this in one area where they needed further instruction.

Now, before we look further at what Paul wrote, I want to take note of something.

When you study the Bible, there are always things we should pay attention to, things to look out for.

Like repeated words, or verb tense. Well another thing to pay attention to is the use of pronouns.

So, here, that is what we are going to look at, pronouns.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-

1 Thessalonians 4:13–15 ESV

But 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. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For 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.

“But we” who is the we? Paul, Timothy, Silas and Luke.

You—who is the you? The members of the church

Those—members of the church who have passed away

You, again—the members of the church

Others, or like people—the non-believers in the community

Let’s skip ahead to chapter 5

1 Thessalonians 5:1–10 ESV

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-

You—the members of the church

People— the non-believers again, how do we know?

Them—the non-believers because destruction comes

They—they will not escape, the non-believers

You—believers

We—Paul included

Us—Paul included

Others—the non-believers

Those—the non-believers

We and Us—the members of the church, contrasted with those

So clearly Paul is drawing a stark contrast between the members of the church and the non-believers when it comes to Jesus 2nd coming.

Why is this so important? Doctrine

What is Paul’s message or the point of his writing this?

Clearly the people were confused, but also, we are not to get all caught up on when Jesus is coming back, but to get extremely caught up on whether or not we are a We, an Us, a you, and make sure we are not a those, a them, a they, an others,

Let’s now go back and look at

1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 ESV

But 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. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For 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. For 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. Then 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.

What is 4:13-17 about? Those who have died and what will happen with them. Potentially the rapture

What is 4:13-17 about? Those who have died and what will happen with them.

Why is this an issue? Maybe they were expecting to not die, maybe they were scared that because they died before Jesus returned, which they believed was imminent, the dead would miss out.

Regardless, where does Paul point them? Jesus’ resurrection

Why does his resurrection give us hope? If we are in Him, if He rose then we can have confidence we will rise.

Why would our “grieving” look different?

Where does Paul say he got his info on this matter? Taught by Jesus for 3 years in Arabia

The dead in Christ will rise first? Those who placed their faith and trust in Jesus and have passed away

Now let’s look at

1 Thessalonians 5:1–10 ESV

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

What is this section about? Let’s look at 2 verses

1 Thessalonians 5:2 ESV

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:2

and

1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

It would seem that Paul is now writing about judgement, the day of the Lord when God will be pouring out his wrath on the earth and on mankind.

I’m not trying to influence your eschatology, end times theology, but it seems as if believers are still on the earth when it starts. I’m just saying.

There’s an Old Testament story that is similar to this? Jesus references it in the Gospel according to Matthew when asked about the end times.

Matthew 24:36–39 ESV

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:36-

Paul uses simile to convey a message,

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

1 Thessalonians 5:2–3 ESV

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Thief in the night—what does this help us to understand.

For those who are not in Christ, His return, or the Day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly and those again who are not in Christ will be unprepared. It will be too late and they won’t see it coming.

Labor pains come upon a pregnant woman—conveys intense pain, and the inability to reverse the course, once it’s started that baby is coming, and so it will be when the Day of the Lord begins.

They-those unbelievers, will not be able to escape, it will be too late.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-

1 Thessalonians 5:4–8 ESV

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

But, the believers will not be surprised because we are in the light.

Let us not be as those who are of the dark, asleep, drunk, let us keep awake, alert, ready, and sober, clear judgment and thought.

Breastplate of faith and love—righteousness, or right living

Helmet of salvation—minds confident and protected

1 Thessalonians 5:9–10 ESV

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-

This is a promise—God has not, but has destined us to obtain salvation, which part of salvation, part 3 glorification

So whether we live or die, we will be with Christ, we will live eternally with Him.

There is 2 verses we didn’t look at yet, the last verse of chapter 4 and the last verse in this section.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 ESV

Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

This message is good news, it is comforting, it should be encouraging, it should give us hope and a desire to look to the future.

We must live in the present, not be so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use,

But not earthly minded that we miss out on our heavenly calling.

We need not worry about those who have passed on, as long as they were in the Lord, followers of Jesus.

This is the point of this section, are you in Christ?

Study 6, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5-11

He’s coming back