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Introduction
Tonight we are going to pick back up in our study through 1 Thessalonians in 4:13-14.
You can go ahead and turn there. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
As you do, I want you to try and imagine the situation in Thessalonica.
Paul came and preached the gospel to them.
They believed the word of the Lord and were eagerly awaiting Jesus’ second coming.
As they waited, though, they had to endure persecution and affliction.
So did Paul, and they knew about it.
Remember Paul had gone on to Berea after he left Thessalonica, but some Jewish Thessalonians had run over there to stir up trouble too.
After leaving Berea, Paul and his companions traveled through Athens to Corinth, where they stayed for a year and a half.
Once they got settled, Paul sent Timothy back to check on the Thessalonians.
He was anxious to know what had happened to them after they had to bail in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, Timothy came back with good news and a few questions, so Paul replied in this letter.
This all happened very quickly.
Most commentators agree that the church of Thessalonica was probably planted in the fourth quarter of 49 AD and that this first letter to them was written in the third quarter of 50 AD, give or take a few months.
That is remarkable!
In less than a year, the Thessalonians had already become what Paul praised in 1:6 as “a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”
That short timeline also provides helpful context for our text tonight.
Let me read it for us, and then we’ll pray and dive in, 4:13-14:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
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.
Pray with me before we begin.
As you can see from our text, the Thessalonians were concerned about believers who had died.
Remember, though, that the church was probably still less than a year old.
It was probably smaller than our church too.
Let me ask you, how many people at Anchor have died in the last year?
How about in the last five years?
Not very many right?
Conditions were worse back then and early death was more common, but it is still unlikely that many people had died in Thessalonica during the few months since Paul had been gone.
That’s not to say that nobody died, though.
Maybe the Thessalonian church had just experienced their first death in the congregation, or maybe they were thinking about the possibility of Paul dying when they heard how he was being persecuted.
Apparently someone got hung up on it and started asking questions.
Then everybody else realized they didn’t know either.
But what were their questions?
What were the Thessalonians worried about?
The answer is actually pretty murky. 1 & 2 Thessalonians read like a recorded lecture.
You’ve probably heard one like this before.
The kind where the professor opens it up for Q&A at the end, but there’s no mic for the audience.
So all you hear is Wa-Wa Wa-Wa, and then professor launches off into his answer.
And there you are, still trying to figure out what the question was in the first place.
Sometimes you can piece it together as you listen to the professor.
Other times, though, the professor’s answer is so clear and so helpful you realize the question doesn’t really matter anymore.
You’re just glad the student got the professor talking!
That’s the kind of situation we’re dealing with tonight.
It’s not super important that we figure out exactly what the Thessalonians were wondering, though there are some hints in the text.
What we do have, though, is a really clear and helpful answer from Paul.
So that is where we will focus our attention this evening, and along the way we’ll try to piece together a little bit of their concerns.
We’re just going to look at the first part of Paul’s answer in verse 13-14.
This section runs through the end of the chapter, and it concludes in verse 18 where Paul commands the Thessalonians to comfort one another with his words.
On the front end in verse 13, Paul explains that he wanted to inform them “about those who are asleep.”
I hope to do the same thing tonight.
I want to give you four instructions that will lead you to comfort when you think about Christians who have fallen asleep.
The first pair of instructions show us what we should not be, and the second pair show us what we should believe.
Let’s look at them now.
Do not be uninformed
The first instruction is “do not be in uninformed” and it is in the first half of verse 13, let me read it for you,
13a But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep,
Notice that it begins with the phrase, “we do not want you to be uninformed.”
This is the first time Paul uses this phrase in his New Testament epistles, and he repeats it in his letters to the Corinthians and Romans a few years later.
Each time, he uses it to introduce a section of new or expanded theology, often in response to a question or concern.
That is exactly what is happening here.
The phrase is pretty straightforward in meaning, but it is a very countercultural opinion.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the axiom that “ignorance is bliss.”
Paul is saying that’s a terrible idea!
He is warning us against the dangers of ignorance.
One of the Puritans, Cotton Mather, took it a step further saying that “ignorance is the mother, not of devotion, but of heresy.”
Yikes!
That’s rough!
It’s true, though, that being uninformed can bring terrible consequences.
Ignorance is dangerous.
For example, in Romans 11:25 Paul cautions us that ignorance usually leads to being incorrectly “wise in our own estimation.”
And in 2 Corinthians 2:11 he teaches that if we are ignorant of Satan’s schemes, then we are giving Satan an opportunity to take advantage of us.
Often times our pride and Satan’s schemes will join forces.
We’ll end up doing the wrong thing while thinking that we’re doing the right thing.
Or the opposite.
We might be doing the right thing but then stop because we get stuck thinking that maybe we were wrong and it was a bad idea.
Look back at our text, though, and see how gentle Paul is with the Thessalonians.
He doesn’t criticize them for their ignorance and tell them to stop it.
He doesn’t lecture them for leaving the door unlocked at night.
He just reminds them that continuing to be uninformed is not good and encourages them to pay attention.
Regardless of the past, he wants them to be informed moving forward.
The same is true for you too.
If there are areas of theology where you are uninformed, start thinking about how you can learn more in those areas.
Try to write down or explain what you believe about something and see where you struggle.
Listen to sound teaching and pay attention to the things that are new to you.
Talk with people about what you’re learning and try to piece it all together.
We grow in community, and that’s why Paul refers to them as “brothers.”
He doesn’t demean them by saying, “We do not want you to be uninformed, you morons.”
He relates them to himself and puts them on an equal footing.
And it fits so well here.
Most brothers grow up in the same house with the same parents and go through the same things as kids.
They share a common bond of knowledge and experience.
Paul is explaining that we should be the same way.
He is sharing his knowledge and wants us to do the same.
Specifically, he says he wants them to be informed “about those who are asleep” in verse 13.
He also refers to “those who have fallen asleep (in Jesus)” in verses 14 and 15.
But then he defines this phrase for us in verse 16 when he refers to the same group as “the dead in Christ.”
That’s the key.
Falling asleep is a euphemism for death, a polite and tactful way of talking about it.
Interestingly, even the Greeks and Romans used this phrase.
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