Grieving As Those With Hope - 1 Thessalonians 4

1. A Prayer for the People of God
Lord God Almighty, who has made
all the peoples of the earth for your glory,
to serve you in freedom and in peace:
Give to the people of our nation a zeal
for justice and the strength of forbearance,
that we may use our liberty in accordance
with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

2. 1Thessalonians 4:13-18
GRIEVING as THOSE with HOPE

3. NOTES on THESSALONICA

4. NOTES on THESSALONICA

5. 1. Earliest letter we have from Paul
2. Christians’ allegiance to Jesus led
to charges of treason against Caesar
3. Paul & Silas flee the persecution there
NOTES on THESSALONICA

6. 1. Addressing questions and fears
Jesus hadn’t returned yet, so…?
2. Giving hope for the future
Giving a sketch based on a number
of Biblical images, not an exact blueprint
for prediction/identification
PAUL’S MAJOR CONCERNS…

7. Now concerning those who have fallen
asleep: we don’t want you to remain in
ignorance about them, my dear family.
We don’t want you to have the kind of
grief that other people do, people who
don’t have any hope. For, you see,
if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
that’s the way God will also, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen
asleep.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-14 (KNT)

8. Let me explain. (This is the word of the
Lord I’m speaking to you!) We who are
alive, who remain until the Lord is present,
will not find ourselves ahead of those who
fell asleep. The Lord himself will come
down from heaven with a shouted order,
with the voice of an archangel and the
sound of God’s trumpet. The Messiah’s
dead will rise first…
1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-16 (KNT)

9. …then we who are alive, who are left,
will be snatched up with them among
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
And in this way we shall always be with
the Lord. So comfort each other with
these words.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:17-18 (KNT)

10. 1. Our hope is not in “the rapture”
because “the rapture” isn’t a thing
RELEVANT OBSERVATIONS…

11. Paul’s explanation of Jesus’ return combines
scriptural, political, and apocalyptic images,
describing Jesus
like a king who visits a city and is met
by a delegation of people who greet
him and then accompany him back into
the city itself. Paul is not talking about being
taken away from earth, but using Daniel’s
imagery, in combination with
the idea of a royal arrival, to say
(what he says elsewhere in his writings.)

12. 1. Our hope is not in “the rapture”
because “the rapture” isn’t a thing
2. Our hope is about the returning King
and all that he will do to put all things
right and make all things new
RELEVANT OBSERVATIONS…

13. 1. Our hope is not in “the rapture”
because “the rapture” isn’t a thing
2. Our hope is about the returning King
and all that he will do to put things
right and make all things new
3. Our hope is about God being present
with us, and us being present with God,
and us being present with God together
RELEVANT OBSERVATIONS…

14. Closing Prayer
You let us choose, O God,
between you and the false gods of this world.
In the midst of the night of sin and death,
wake us from our slumber
and call us forth to greet Christ,
so that with eyes and hearts fixed on him,
we may follow to eternal light.
Amen.