But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. 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. So we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Parallel Translations
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But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. 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. So we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
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I wolde not brethren have you ignoraunt concerninge them which are fallen aslepe that ye sorowe not as other do which have no hope.
For yf we beleve that Iesus dyed and rose agayne: even so them also which slepe by IeIesus will God brynge agayne with him.
And this saye we vnto you in the worde of the Lorde that we which live and are remayninge in the comminge of the Lorde shall not come yerre they which slepe.
For the Lorde him selfe shall descende from heven with a showte and the voyce of the archangell and trompe of God. And the deed in Christe shall aryse fyrst:
then shall we which live and remayne be caught vp with them also in the cloudes to mete the Lorde in the ayer. And so shall we ever be with the Lorde.
Wherfore comforte youre selves one another with these wordes
Show all 3 translations
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I would not, brethren, haue you ignorant concerning them which are a sleepe, that ye sorow not euen as other which haue no hope.
For if we beleeue that Iesus is dead, and is risen, euen so them which sleepe in Iesus, will God bring with him.
For this say we vnto you by the worde of the Lord, that we which liue, and are remayning in the comming of the Lord, shall not preuent them which sleepe.
For the Lord himselfe shall descende from heauen with a shoute, and with the voyce of the Archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then shall we which liue and remaine, be caught vp with them also in the clouds, to meete the Lord in the ayre: and so shall we euer be with the Lord.
Wherefore, comfort your selues one another with these wordes.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (110)
- 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (v16) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last…
- 1 Corinthians 15:52 (v17) 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…
- Revelation 1:7 (vv16–17) Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn…
- Matthew 24:30-31 (v16) and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man…
- Revelation 11:12 (v17) I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them.
Show all 100 cross-references
- Romans 8:11 (v14) But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life…
- 1 Corinthians 15:23 (v16) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
- Daniel 12:2 (v13) Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (v15) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last…
- John 14:3 (v17) If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
- Matthew 16:27 (v16) For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
- Philippians 3:20-21 (v14) For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our humiliation…
- Isaiah 26:19 (v14) Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the…
- Matthew 25:31 (v16) “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
- 2 Corinthians 4:13-14 (v14) But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15 (vv13, 17) For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede…
- 2 Thessalonians 1:7 (v16) and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
- Revelation 7:14-17 (v17) I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.They washed their robes, and made them…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (v14) But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have…
- Isaiah 27:13 (v16) It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who…
- Daniel 7:13 (v17) “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10 (v13) who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1 (vv14, 16) Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you
- John 17:24 (v17) Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you…
- 1 Corinthians 15:18-19 (v13) Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (v14) to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (v14) 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. So we will be with…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (v18) Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.
- 2 Peter 3:4 (v13) and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the…
- Revelation 20:5-6 (v16) The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has…
- Matthew 26:64 (vv16–17) Jesus said to him, “You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power,…
- Psalms 47:5 (v16) God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
- John 12:26 (v17) If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
- Acts 1:9 (v17) When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
- 2 Corinthians 4:14 (v15) knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with you.
- Revelation 14:13 (vv14, 16) I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they…
- Zechariah 9:14 (v16) Yahweh will be seen over them; and his arrow will go flash like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with…
- Acts 7:60 (v13) He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
- 1 Corinthians 15:6 (v13) Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
- Ephesians 2:12 (v13) that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the…
- Revelation 1:18 (v14) and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Acts 1:11 (v16) who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come…
- Acts 8:39 (v17) When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his…
- 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (v17) I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I don’t know, or whether out of the body, I don’t know; God knows), such a…
- Jude 1:14-15 (v14) About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute…
- Revelation 12:5 (v17) She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.
- Exodus 19:16 (v16) On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an…
- Isaiah 25:8-9 (v16) He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away…
- Matthew 24:31 (v14) He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one…
- Mark 14:62 (v17) Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.”
- Luke 21:28 (v18) But when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:12-23 (v14) Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (v18) We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all.
- 2 Peter 3:10 (v16) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be…
- Psalms 16:11 (v17) You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
- Isaiah 60:19-20 (v17) The sun will be no more your light by day; nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting…
- Ezekiel 37:11 (v13) Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is…
- John 11:11-13 (v13) He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out…
- Revelation 8:13 (v16) I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe for those who dwell on the earth, because of…
- Revelation 22:3-5 (v17) There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face,…
- 1 Kings 18:12 (v17) It will happen, as soon as I leave you, that Yahweh’s Spirit will carry you I don’t know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he…
- 2 Kings 2:11 (v17) As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
- 2 Kings 2:16 (v17) They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps Yahweh’s Spirit…
- Job 19:25-27 (v13) But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth. After my skin is destroyed, then I will see God in…
- Zechariah 4:7 (v16) Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’ ”
- Zechariah 9:9 (v16) Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation;…
- Matthew 27:52 (v13) The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
- John 11:24 (v13) Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
- Acts 13:36 (v13) For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
- 1 Corinthians 10:1 (v13) Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
- Jude 1:9 (v16) But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive…
- Revelation 21:3-7 (v17) I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his…
- Exodus 20:18 (v16) All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they…
- Numbers 23:21 (v16) He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among…
- 1 Kings 1:21 (v13) Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.”
- 1 Kings 2:10 (v13) David slept with his fathers, and was buried in David’s city.
- Psalms 17:15 (v17) As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.
- Proverbs 14:32 (v13) The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
- Romans 1:13 (v13) Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some…
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 (v13) For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down…
- 2 Corinthians 5:8 (v17) We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
- Philippians 1:23 (v17) But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
- Hebrews 10:24-25 (v18) Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but…
- Revelation 1:10 (v16) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet
- Leviticus 19:28 (v13) “ ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.
- Psalms 49:15 (v17) But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.
- Ezekiel 24:16-18 (v13) “Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall…
- Joel 2:11 (v16) Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is…
- Acts 8:2 (v13) Devout men buried Stephen and lamented greatly over him.
- 2 Peter 3:8 (v13) But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
- 2 Peter 3:13 (v17) But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
- 2 Samuel 12:19-20 (v13) But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is…
- Psalms 47:1 (v16) Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
- Isaiah 35:10 (v17) Then Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain…
- Isaiah 40:1-2 (v18) “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that…
- Luke 8:52-53 (v13) All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, “Don’t weep. She isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was…
- 1 Corinthians 12:1 (v13) Now concerning spiritual things, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:19 (v15) For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- Revelation 21:22-23 (v17) I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for…
- Genesis 37:35 (v13) All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son,…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (110 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13–18 13 But I would not have you ignorant. It…
13 But I would not have you ignorant. It is not likely that the hope of a resurrection had been torn up among the Thessalonians by profane men, as had taken place at Corinth. For we see how he chastises the Corinthians with severity, but here he speaks of it as a thing that was not doubtful. It is possible, however, that this persuasion was not sufficiently fixed in their minds, and that they accordingly, in bewailing the dead, retained something of the old superstition. For the sum of the whole is this — that we must not bewail the dead beyond due bounds, inasmuch as we are all to be raised up again. For whence comes it, that the mourning of unbelievers has no end or measure, but because they have no hope of a resurrection? It becomes not us, therefore, who have been instructed as to a resurrection, to mourn otherwise than in moderation. He is to discourse afterwards as to the manner of the resurrection; and he is also on this account to say something as to times; but in this passage he meant simply to restrain excessive grief, which would never have had such an influence among them, if they had seriously considered the resurrection, and kept it in remembrance.
He does not, however, forbid us altogether to mourn, but requires moderation in our mourning, for he says, that ye may not sorrow, as others who have no hope. He forbids them to grieve in the manner of unbelievers, who give loose reins to their grief, because they look upon death as final destruction, and imagine that everything that is taken out of the world perishes. As, on the other hand, believers know that they quit the world, that they may be at last gathered into the kingdom of God, they have not the like occasion of grief. Hence the knowledge of a resurrection is the means of moderating grief. He speaks of the dead as asleep, agreeably to the common practice of Scripture — a term by which the bitterness of death is mitigated, for there is a great difference between sleep and destruction It refers, however, not to the soul, but to the body, for the dead body lies in the tomb, as in a couch, until God raise up the man. Those, therefore, act a foolish part, who infer from this that souls sleep.
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We are now in possession of Paul’s meaning — that he lifts up the minds of believers to a consideration of the resurrection, lest they should indulge excessive grief on occasion of the death of their relatives, for it were unseemly that there should be no difference between them and unbelievers, who put no end or measure to their grief for this reason, that in death they recognize nothing but destruction. Those that abuse this testimony, so as to establish among Christians Stoical indifference, that is, an iron hardness, will find nothing of this nature in Paul’s words. As to their objecting that we must not indulge grief on occasion of the death of our relatives, lest we should resist God, this would apply in all adversities; but it is one thing to bridle our grief, that it may be made subject to God, and quite another thing to harden one’s self so as to be like stones, by casting away human feelings. Let, therefore, the grief of the pious be mixed with consolation, which may train them to patience. The hope of a blessed resurrection, which is the mother of patience, will effect this.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13–17 The third part of the Epistle, which is interlaced…
The third part of the Epistle, which is interlaced among the former exhortations (which he returneth unto afterward) wherein he speaketh of mourning for the dead, and the manner of the resurrection, and of the latter day.
We must take heed that we do not immoderately bewail the dead, that is, as they used to do which think that they are utterly perished.
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A confirmation: for death is but a sleep of the body (for he speaketh of the faithful) until the Lord cometh.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–18 13 But I would not have you to be…
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Ver. 13. But I would not have, &c.] Ignorance is the mother of mistake, and of causeless trouble, of error and terror; as the Roman soldiers were once much frightened at the sight of the moon’s eclipse, till the general had undeceived them by a discourse of the natural cause thereof.
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That ye sorrow not] Non est lugendus qui moritur, sed desiderandus, saith Tertullian. Abraham mourned moderately for his deceased wife, Gen 23:2, as is imported by a small caph in the word libcothah, to weep. {Hebrew Text Note} So did David for the child born in adultery, though for Absalom he exceeded. It is one of the dues of the dead to be lamented at their funerals. {a} But Christians must know a measure, and so water their plants, as that they drown them not.
Even as others, which have no hope] Lugeatur mortuus, sed ille quem Gehenna suscipit, quem Tartarus devorat, &c. Let that dead man be lamented whom hell harboureth, whom the devil devoureth, &c. But let us (whose departed souls angels accompany, Christ embosometh, and all the court of heaven comes forth to welcome) account mortality a mercy; and be grieved that we are so long detained here from the company of our Christ, saith Jerome.
{a} Νομιζομενα. Iusta defunctorum
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–18 The apostle now proceeds to a new discourse, about…
The apostle now proceeds to a new discourse, about moderating of their sorrow for the dead, not for all, but the dead in Christ. He had either observed their sorrow in this kind excessive, while with them; or else by Timothy, or some other way, he had heard of it. Wherein observe in general, he doth not condemn their sorrow, but the excess of it. Grace destroys not nature, but regulates it; nor reason, but rectifies it; nor takes away the affections, but moderates them; doth not make us Stoics, or stocks. Affections are good when set upon right objects, and kept within due bounds, and this Christianity doth teach, and grace doth effect. And to mourn for the dead, especially the dead in the Lord, is a duty that both nature and grace teach, and God requireth; and the contrary is reproved by God himself, Isa 57:1, and to die unlamented is reckoned as a curse, Jer 22:18,19. It is only then immoderate sorrow the apostle here means; and to prevent it, or remove it, gives many instructions and arguments. And he supposeth their ignorance might be a great occasion of it, and so instructs them about the doctrine of the resurrection, and Christ’s personal coming again, which by the light of nature, while Gentiles, they knew nothing of, or were very uncertain in. And the apostle, because of his short stay among them, had not had opportunity to instruct them about these things, and therefore doth it here distinctly and fully; as he doth the Corinthians, hearing there were some among them, even of the church itself, that said there was no resurrection, 1Co 15:12. It is such a mystery to reason, that it is hard to believe it; and the most learned of the heathen doubted of it, and some exploded and scoffed at it, as we find, Act 17:18, even such as yet held the immortality of the soul. And hereupon in this verse the apostle doth assert two things in general to relieve them against immoderate sorrow.
1. He calls the death of the saints a sleep., {see Dan 12:2; Luk 8:52; Joh 11:11; 1Co 15:20,51} whether referring to those that are already dead, or do die, or that shall afterwards die; and why should they then excessively mourn? After sleep we know there is awaking, and by sleep nature is revived; and so it shall be with the saints in death. Hereupon the grave is called a bed, Isa 57:2; and the burying place, cemeterium, a place of sleep. And:
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2. There is hope in their death, as Pro 14:32; there is hope concerning their happy state after death, and hope of their resurrection, and seeing them again at Christ’s coming; it is not an eternal farewell. This the apostle here intends. And they will be then seen in a more excellent state, and probably so seen then as that their Christian friends may know them; else the apostle’s argument would not have so much strength, and so well suit the present case. The heathen and infidels buried their dead without this hope, as they are said to be without hope, Eph 2:12; and so were excessive in their sorrows, which they expressed by cutting their flesh, making themselves bald, doleful songs, and mourning ejulations, expressed sometimes upon instruments: and which the Jews had learned from them, as appears by God’s often reproving it, and Christ’s putting out the minstrels, Mat 9:23,24; and as that which he forbade them, Lev 19:28; Deu 14:1. And the apostle may refer to this in the text, as that which is not only grievous to nature, but dishonourable to a Christian’s faith, hope, and profession. We are hereby the betrayers of our faith and hope, and the things we preach will seem false and feigned. Cypr. de Mortalitate. And though man is said to die without hope as to a return to his former state of life here, Job 14:7-10; yet not with respect to the life at the resurrection, in them that die in Jesus.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv13–18 Our apostle, from this verse to the end of…
Our apostle, from this verse to the end of the chapter, exhorts the Thessalonians to moderate their grief and sorrow for their friends who died in Christ, many of which, no doubt, were martyrs for the truth in those days of persecution: he lays down many consolatory arguments, as so many sovereign antidotes against immoderate sorrow for the death of pious relations; and, first, he acquaints them, that such sorrow as is excessive, would be more like Pagans than Christians, who mourn without hope of any life after this, that is, of a resurrection from the grave, and a future state of immortality. Our apostle doth not forbid sorrow for the dead absolutely, which Christ shewed for Lazarus, and the church for Stephen, but it is excessive sorrow only that is here condemned.
Learn hence, 1. That all sorrow for the death of friends is not unlawful, or forbidden to Christians; the Christian religion doth not destroy natural affections, but teaches us to moderate them.
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Learn, 2. That there is a mighty difference between the Christian’s sorrow for the dead, and theirs who are strangers to Christianity: the sorrow of the heathen was extravagant and excessive in the measure, foolish, cruel, and impious in the manner; they tore their hair, beat their breasts, cut their flesh, and ran howling up and down in the most desperate manner: but the Christian’s sorrow is sober, moderate, silent, free from ostentation, under the government of reason and religion.
Learn, 3. That the belief of a future state, and the hope of a joyful resurrection, is the cause of this great difference: it is the ignorance of the happiness of glorified saints in heaven, which is the cause of our immoderate sorrow for their death here on earth.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v13 In these words the apostle comforts the Thessalonians who…
In these words the apostle comforts the Thessalonians who mourned for the death of their relations and friends that died in the Lord. His design is to dissuade them from excessive grief, or inordinate sorrow, on that account. All grief for the death of friends is far from being unlawful; we may weep at least for ourselves if we do not weep for them, weep for own loss, though it may be their fain. Yet we must not be immoderate in our sorrows, because,
I. This looks as if we had no hope, Th1 4:13. It is to act too much like the Gentiles, who had no hope of a better life after this; whereas we Christians, who have a most sure hope, the hope of eternal life after this, which God who cannot lie hath promised us, should moderate all our joys and our sorrows on account of any worldly thing. This hope is more than enough to balance all our griefs upon account of any of the crosses of the present time.
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II. This is an effect of ignorance concerning those who are dead, Th1 4:13. There are some things which we cannot be ignorant of concerning those that are asleep; for the land they are removed to is a land of darkness, which we know but little of and have no correspondence with. To go among the dead is to go among we know not whom, and to live we know not how. Death is an unknown thing, and the state of the dead, or the state after death, we are much in the dark about; yet there are some things concerning those especially who die in the Lord that we need not, and ought not, to be ignorant of; and, if these things be really understood and duly considered, they will be sufficient to allay our sorrow concerning them.
1. They sleep in Jesus. They are asleep, Th1 4:13. They have fallen asleep in Christ, Co1 15:18. Death does not annihilate them. It is but a sleep to them. It is their rest, and undisturbed rest. They have retired out of this troublesome world, to rest from all their labours and sorrows, and they sleep in Jesus, Th1 4:14. Being still in union with him, they sleep in his arms and are under his special care and protection. Their souls are in his presence, and their dust is under his care and power; so that they are not lost, nor are they losers, but great gainers by death, and their removal out of this world is into a better.
2. They shall be raised up from the dead, and awakened out of their sleep, for God will bring them with him, Th1 4:14. They then are with God, and are better where they are than when they were here; and when God comes he will bring them with him. The doctrine of the resurrection and the second coming of Christ is a great antidote against the fear of death and inordinate sorrow for the death of our Christian friends; and this doctrine we have a full assurance of, because we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Th1 4:14. It is taken for granted that as Christians they knew and believed this. The death and resurrection of Christ are fundamental articles of the Christian religion, and give us hope of a joyful resurrection; for Christ, having risen from the dead, has become the first fruits of those that slept; and therefore those who have fallen asleep in him have not perished nor are lost, Co1 15:18, Co1 15:20. His resurrection is a full confirmation of all that is said in the gospel, or by the word of the Lord, which has brought life and immortality to light.
3. Their state and condition shall be glorious and happy at the second coming of Christ. This the apostle informs the Thessalonians of by the word of the Lord (Th1 4:15), by divine revelation from the Lord Jesus; for though the resurrection of the dead, and a future state of blessedness, were part of the creed of the Old Testament saints, yet they are much more clearly revealed in and by the gospel. By this word of the Lord we know, (1.) That the Lord Jesus will come down from heaven in all the pomp and power of the upper world (Th1 4:16): The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. He ascended into heaven after his resurrection, and passed through these material heavens into the third heaven, which must retain him till the restitution of all things; and then he will come again, and appear in his glory. He will descend from heaven into this our air, Th1 4:17. The appearance will be with pomp and power, with a shout - the shout of a king, and the power and authority of a mighty king and conqueror, with the voice of the archangel; an innumerable company of angels will attend him. Perhaps one, as general of those hosts of the Lord, will give notice of his approach, and the glorious appearance of this great Redeemer and Judge will be proclaimed and ushered in by the trump of God. For the trumpet shall sound, and this will awaken those that sleep in the dust of the earth, and will summon all the world to appear. For, (2.) The dead shall be raised: The dead in Christ shall rise first (Th1 4:16), before those who are found alive at Christ's coming shall be changed; and so it appears that those who shall then be found alive shall not prevent those that are asleep, Th1 4:15. The first care of the Redeemer in that day will be about his dead saints; he will raise them before the great change passes on those that shall be found alive: so that those who did not sleep in death will have no greater privilege or joy at that day than those who fell asleep in Jesus. (3.) Those that shall be found alive will then be changed. They shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, Th1 4:17. At, or immediately before, this rapture into the clouds, those who are alive will undergo a mighty change, which will be equivalent to dying. This change is so mysterious that we cannot comprehend it: we know little or nothing of it, Co1 15:51. Only, in the general, this mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies will be made fit to inherit the kingdom of God, which flesh and blood in its present state are not capable of. This change will be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (Co1 15:52), in the very instant, or not long after the raising up of those that sleep in Jesus. And those who are raised, and thus changed, shall meet together in the clouds, and there meet with their Lord, to congratulate him on his coming, to receive the crown of glory he will then bestow upon them, and to be assessors with him in judgment, approving and applauding the sentence he will then pass upon the prince of the power of the air, and all the wicked, who shall be doomed to destruction with the devil and his angels. (4.) Here is the bliss of the saints at that day: they shall be ever with the Lord, Th1 4:17. It will be some part of their felicity that all the saints shall meet together, and remain together for ever; but the principal happiness of heaven is this, to be with the Lord, to see him, live with him, and enjoy him, for ever. This should comfort the saints upon the death of their friends, that, although death has made a separation, yet their souls and bodies will meet again; we and they shall meet together again: we and they shall meet together again: we and they with all the saints shall meet our Lord, and be with him for ever, no more to be separated wither from him or from one another for ever. And the apostle would have us comfort one another with these words, Th1 4:18. We should endeavour to support one another in times of sorrow, not deaden one another's spirits, nor weaken one another's hands, but should comfort one another; and this may be done by serious consideration and discourse on the many good lessons to be learned from the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and the glory of the saints in that day.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–18 But I would not have you to be ignorant,…
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,.... As they seem to have been, about the state of the pious dead, the rule and measure of mourning for them, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and the future happiness of the saints; wherefore the apostle judged it necessary to write to them upon these subjects: the Alexandrian copy and others, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "we would not have you to be ignorant", &c.
concerning them which are asleep; that is, dead: it was in common use among the Eastern nations, when they spoke of their dead, to say they were asleep. This way of speaking is used frequently both in the Old and the New Testament; see Kg1 2:10 Co1 15:20 and very often with the Targumists; so the Targum on Ecc 3:4 "a time to weep", paraphrases it,
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"a time to weep , "over them that are asleep":''
and in Ecc 4:2.
"I praised , "those that are asleep",''
the dead: the reason of this way of speaking was, because there is a likeness between sleep and death; in both there is no exercise of the senses, and persons are at rest, and both rise again; and they are common to all men, and proper and peculiar to the body only. The apostle designs such persons among the Thessalonians, who either died a natural death, or were removed by violence, through the rage and fury of their persecutors, for whom their surviving friends were pressed with overmuch sorrow, which is here cautioned against:
that ye sorrow not, even as others that have no hope; the apostle's view is not to encourage and establish a stoical apathy, a stupid indolence, and a brutal insensibility, which are contrary to the make of human nature, to the practice of the saints, and even of Christ and his apostles, and our apostle himself; but to forbid excessive and immoderate sorrow, and all the extravagant forms of it the Gentiles ran into; who having no notion of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, had no hope of ever seeing their friends more, but looked upon them as entirely lost, as no longer in being, and never more to be met with, seen, and enjoyed; this drove them to extravagant actions, furious transports, and downright madness; as to throw off their clothes, pluck off their hair, tear their flesh, cut themselves, and make baldness between their eyes for the dead; see Deu 14:1 practices forbidden the Jews, and which very ill become Christians, that believe the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead: the words are to be understood not of other Christians, who have no hope of the eternal welfare of their deceased friends; not but that the sorrow of those who have a good hope of the future Well being of their dear relatives, must and ought to be greatly different from that of others, who have no hope at all: it is observed by the Jews (b) on those words in Gen 23:2 and "Abraham came to mourn for Sarah", &c. that
"it is not said to weep for Sarah, but to mourn for her; "for such a woman as this, it is not fit to weep", after her soul is joined in the bundle of life, but to mourn for her, and do her great honour at her funeral; though because it is not possible that a man should not weep for his dead, it is said at the end, "and to weep for her":''
but here the words are to be understood of the other Gentiles that were in a state of nature and unregeneracy, who had no knowledge of the resurrection of the dead, or and hope of a future state, and of enjoying their friends in it: they are called , "the rest"; and the Syriac version renders it, "other men".
(b) Tzeror Hamnaor, fol. 23. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv13–17 Now - Herein the efficacy of Christianity greatly appears,…
Now - Herein the efficacy of Christianity greatly appears, - that it neither takes away nor embitters, but sweetly tempers, that most refined of all affections, our desire of or love to the dead.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 18 Verse 13. I would not have you to be…
Verse 13. I would not have you to be ignorant] Instead of εχομεν, have, θελομεν, wish, is the reading of ADEFG, many others, besides the Arabic, AEthiopic, Armenian, some of the Slavonian, the Vulgate, and Itala, with many of the Greek fathers. This is undoubtedly the true reading: Brethren, I would not wish you to be ignorant; or, I would not that you should be ignorant.
This was probably one of the points which were lacking in their faith, that he wished to go to Thessalonica to instruct them in.
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Them which are asleep] That is, those who are dead. It is supposed that the apostle had heard that the Thessalonians continued to lament over their dead, as the heathens did in general who had no hope of the resurrection of the body; and that they had been puzzled concerning the doctrine of the resurrection. To set them right on this important subject, he delivers three important truths:
1. He asserts, as he had done before, that they who died in the Lord should have, in virtue of Christ's resurrection, a resurrection unto eternal life and blessedness.
2. He makes a new discovery, that the last generation should not die at all, but be in a moment changed to immortals.
3. He adds another new discovery, that, though the living should not die, but be transformed, yet the dead should first be raised, and be made glorious and immortal; and so, in some measure, have the preference and advantage of such as shall then be found alive. See Dodd.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13–16 1Th 4:13. I would not have you ignorant, brethren…
1Th 4:13. I would not have you ignorant, brethren — The apostle had intimated, (1Th 3:10,) that he desired to make them another visit at Thessalonica, in order to perfect that which was lacking in their faith. Perhaps what he now proceeds to say was part of what he wanted to teach them, as not having seen it proper when he was with them to enter into such discoveries as are here made. But having been informed that they lamented over their dead with immoderate sorrow, and perhaps that they hired mourners on such occasions, and were even apt to repine at the divine providence for taking their pious friends and relatives from them, he here proceeds to give them information well calculated to support and comfort them in such circumstances. Concerning them who are asleep — Των κεκοιμημενων, who have slept; who have departed this life. The death of the body is termed its sleep, because it suspends the exercise of all the animal functions, closes all its senses, and is a cessation of all motion and feeling in it; and because it shall be followed by a reviviscence to a more vigorous and active life than it now enjoys. That ye sorrow not — Immoderately: herein the efficacy of Christianity greatly appears, that it neither takes away nor imbitters, but sweetly tempers, that most refined of all affections, our desire of, or love to the dead. As others — Who are unacquainted with the truths of the gospel. It was the custom of the heathen, on the death of their relations, to make a show of excessive grief, by shaving their heads, and cutting their flesh, (Lev 19:27-28,) and by loud howlings and lamentations. They even hired persons, who had it for a trade to make these howlings and cries. But this show of excessive grief, as well as the grief itself, being inconsistent with that knowledge of the state of the dead, and with that hope of their resurrection, which the gospel gives to mankind, the apostle forbade it, and comforted the Thessalonians by foretelling and proving Christ’s return to the earth, to raise the dead, and carry the righteous with him into heaven. Who have no hope — Many of the heathen entertained a kind of belief of a future state, but that belief being derived from nothing but an obscure tradition, the origin of which they could not trace, or from their own wishes, unsupported by any demonstrative reasoning, could scarcely be called belief or hope, and had very little influence on their conduct. See note on Eph 2:12. Add to this, none of them had any knowledge or expectation that the righteous, or virtuous, would be raised from the dead with glorious, immortal, incorruptible bodies, and taken to heaven; neither had they any conception of the employments and enjoyments of that immortal state. St. Paul’s discourse, therefore, concerning these grand events, must have given much consolation to the Thessalonians under the death of their relations, as it assured them that if they all died in Christ, they should all meet again, and spend an endless life in complete happiness, never more to part. In this light death is only a temporary separation of friends, which is neither to be dreaded nor regretted. Concerning our knowing one another after the resurrection, see on 1Th 2:20.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv13–18 But I would not have you to be ignorant…
But I would not have you to be ignorant - I would have you fully informed on the important subject which is here referred to. It is quite probable from this, that some erroneous views prevailed among them in reference to the condition of those who were dead, which tended to prevent their enjoying the full consolation, which they might otherwise have done. Of the prevalence of these views, it is probable the apostle had been informed by Timothy on his return from Thessalonica; 1Th 3:6. What they were we are not distinctly informed, and can only gather from the allusions which Paul makes to them, or from the opposite doctrines which he states, and which are evidently designed to correct those which prevailed among them. From these statements, it would appear that they supposed that those who had died, though they were true Christians, would be deprived of some important advantages which those would possess who should survive to the coming of the Lord. There seems some reason to suppose, as Koppe conjectures (compare also Saurin, Serm. vol. 6:1), that the case of their grief was two-fold; one, that some among them doubted whether there would be any resurrection (compare 1Co 15:12), and that they supposed that they who had died were thus cut off from the hope of eternal happiness, so as to leave their surviving friends to sorrow “as those who had no hope;” the other, that some of them believed that, though those who were dead would indeed rise again, yet it would be long after those who were living when the Lord Jesus would return had been taken to glory, and would be always in a condition inferior to them.
See Koppe, in loc. The effect of such opinions as these can be readily imagined. it would be to deprive them of the consolation which they might have had, and should have had, in the loss of their pious friends. They would either mourn over them as wholly cut off from hope, or would sorrow that they were to be deprived of the highest privileges which could result from redemption. It is not to be regarded as wonderful that such views should have prevailed in Thessalonica. There were those even at Corinth who wholly denied the doctrine of the resurrection 1Co 15:12; and we are to remember that those to whom the apostle now wrote had been recently converted from paganism; that they had enjoyed his preaching but a short time; that they had few or no books on the subject of religion; and that they were surrounded by those who had no faith in the doctrine of the resurrection at all, and who were doubtless able - as skeptical philosophers often are now - to urge their objections to the doctrine in such a way as greatly to perplex Christians. The apostle, therefore, felt the importance of stating the exact truth on the subject, that they might not have unnecessary sorrow, and that their unavoidable grief for their departed friends might not be aggravated by painful apprehensions about their future condition.
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Concerning them which are asleep - It is evident from this that they had been recently called to part with some dear and valued members of their church. The word sleep is frequently applied in the New Testament to the death of saints. For the reasons why it is, see the Joh 11:11 note; 1Co 11:30; 1Co 15:51 notes.
That ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope - That is, evidently, as the pagan, who had no hope of future life; compare notes on Eph 2:12. Their sorrow was caused not only by the fact that their friends were removed from them by death, but from the fact that they had no evidence that their souls were immortal; or that, if they still lived, that they were, happy; or that their bodies would rise again. Hence, when they buried them, they buried their hopes in the grave, and so far as they had any evidence, they were never to see them again. Their grief at parting was not mitigated by the belief that the soul was now happy, or by the prospect of again being with them in a better world. It was on this account, in part, that the pagans indulged in expressions of such excessive grief. When their friends died, they hired men to play in a mournful manner on a pipe or trumpet, or women to howl and lament in a dismal manner. They beat their breasts; uttered loud shrieks; rent their garments; tore off their hair; cast dust on their heads, or sat down in ashes. It is not improbable that some among the Thessalonians, on the death of their pious friends, kept up these expressions of excessive sorrow. To prevent this, and to mitigate their sorrow, the apostle refers them to the bright hopes which Christianity had revealed, and points them to the future glorious re-union with the departed pious dead. Hence, learn:
(1) That the world without religion is destitute of hope. It is just as true of the pagan world now as it was of the ancient pagans, that they have no hope of a future state. They have no evidence that there is any such future state of blessedness; and without such evidence there can be no hope; compare notes on Eph 2:12.
(2) That the excessive sorrow of the children of this world, when they lose a friend, is not to be wondered at. They bury their hopes in the grave. They part, for all that they know or believe, with such a friend for ever. The wife, the son, the daughter, they consign to silence - to decay - to dust, not expecting to meet them again. They look forward to no glorious resurrection when that body shall rise, and when they shall be reunited to part no more. It is no wonder that they weep - for who would not weep when he believes that he parts with his friends for ever?
(3) It is only the hope of future blessedness that can mitigate this sorrow. Religion reveals a brighter world - a world where all the pious shall be reunited; where the bonds of love shall be made stronger than they were here; where they shall never be severed again. It is only this hope that can sooth the pains of grief at parting; only when we can look forward to a better world and feel that we shall see them again - love them again - love them forever - that our tears are made dry.
(4) The Christian, therefore, when he loses a Christian friend, should not sorrow as others do. He will feel, indeed, as keenly as they do, the loss of their society; the absence of their well-known faces; the want of the sweet voice of friendship and love; for religion does not blunt the sensibility of the soul, of make the heart unfeeling. Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, and religion does not prevent the warm, gushing expressions of sorrow when God comes into a family and removes a friend. But this sorrow should not be like that of the world. It should not be:
(a)Such as arises from the feeling that there is to be no future union;
(b)It should not be accompanied with repining or complaining;
(c)It should not be excessive, or beyond that which God designs that we should feel.
It should be calm, submissive, patient; it should be that which is connected with steady confidence in God; and it should be mitigated by the hope of a future glorious union in heaven. The eye of the weeper should look up through his tears to God. The heart of the sufferer should acquiesce in him even in the unsearchable mysteries of his dealings, and feel that all is right.
(5) It is a sad thing to die without hope - so to die as to have no hope for ourselves, and to leave none to our surviving friends that we are happy. Such is the condition of the whole pagan world; and such the state of those who die in Christian lands, who have no evidence that their peace is made with God. As I love my friends - my father, my mother, my wife, my children, I would not have them go forth-and weep over my grave as those who have no hope in my death. I would have their sorrow for my departure alleviated by the belief that my soul is happy with my God, even when they commit my cold clay to the dust; and were there no other reason for being a Christian, this would be worth all the effort which it requires to become one. It would demonstrate the unspeakable value of religion, that my living friends may go forth to my grave and be comforted in their sorrows with the assurance that my soul is already in glory, and that my body will rise again! No eulogium for talents, accomplishments, or learning; no pegans of praise for eloquence, beauty, or martial deeds; no remembrances of wealth and worldly greatness, would then so meet the desires which my heart cherishes, as to have them enabled, when standing around my open grave, to sing the song which only Christians can sing:
Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb,
Take this new treasure to thy trust;
And give these sacred relics room.
To seek a slumber in the dust.
Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear.
Invade thy bounds. No mortal woes.
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.
So Jesus slept: God’s dying Son.
Pass’d thro’ the grave, and blest the bed;
Rest here, bleat saint, until from his throne.
The morning break, and pierce the shade.
Break from his throne, illustrious morn;
Attend, O Earth, his sovereign word;
Restore thy trust - a glorious form -
Call’d to ascend, and meet the Lord.
Watts.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v15 With commandment.[3] God’s command will in a moment raise…
With commandment.[3] God’s command will in a moment raise and bring all to judgment. --- And the dead, who are in Christ, in the grace of Christ, shall rise first, not as to time, but in dignity. (Witham) --- Shall rise first. Not in order of time, for all shall rise in the twinkling of an eye, but first in order of dignity. St. John Chrysostom, however, thinks that the elect rise before the reprobate, to go before the Lord; whereas the latter shall come behind him, only to appear before the tribunal of justice. (St. John Chrysostom)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
In jussu, Greek: en keleusmati, from Greek: keleo, in celeusmate, in voce simul clamantium.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v13 1Th_4:13 to 1Th_5:11
III
1Th_4:13 to 1Th_5:11
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Instruction and Exhortation in regard to the Coming of the Lord
1Th_4:13-18
1. They who have fallen asleep will rise again, and so at the Lord’s Advent will suffer no loss
13But I would [we would]43 not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [those who are falling asleep],44 that ye sorrows45 not, even as others [the rest also]46 which [who] have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [arose],47 even so them also which sleep in Jesus [so also those who fell asleep through Jesus]48 will God bring with Him. 15For this we say unto you by [in, ἐν] the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain [who are living, who are being left over]49 unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep [shall in no wise precede those who fell 16asleep].50 For [Because, ὅτι] the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God [with voice of arch., and with trumpet of G.],51 and the dead in Christ shall rise [arise] first; 17then we which are alive and remain [who are living, who are being left over]52 shall be caught up together with them [shall together with them be caught away].53 in the clouds [in clouds],54 to meet the Lord55 in the air [into the air];56 and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. (1Th_4:13.) But we would not have you to be ignorant, &c.—This or some kindred phrase is frequently used by Paul, when he would introduce coma new and important instruction (1Co_10:1; 1Co_12:1); Col_2:1; Php_1:12); occasionally also in communicating something personal, in which he feels a special interest (Rom_1:13). Here in particular he now begins to supply their deficiencies (1Th_3:10) in respect of knowledge; in a very kindly spirit, in a way not of rebuke but of encouragement, there being no occasion for him to censure any deliberate perverseness. With a lively transition (as in 1 Corinthians 5, 12 and frequently) he leads in medias res. The Thessalonians perhaps had asked a question, or Timothy may have given information respecting their uneasiness about some of their number who had died. Whether these were many or few, or even none at all, so that they were, troubled merely by the imminent peril of death, they had no clearness of view as to their fate. On the connection with what goes before, see on 1Th_4:9-12 the Exegetical Note 4. Formerly Hofmann likewise so understood the matter; now (since what follows is not instruction generally respecting Christ’s return, but merely a consolatory addition with regard to those asleep) he rather assumes as the connecting thought their brotherly love in its anxiety about the departed. That ye sorrow not, he says; not: that ye be not excited. Ch. 5, however, adds still another admonition to sobriety. In questions of this sort no decision of exclusive validity can be hit upon.—Those who have fallen asleep (perfect), or those who are falling asleep (present; who are continually going to sleep;—as afterwards: the living, who are being left over, continually); so he calls the dead, by a gentle euphemism, 1Co_11:30 (present); 1Co_15:20 (perfect). Comp. Soph. El. 509; then the Septuagint Isa_43:17 for שָׁכַב; Job_3:13, for יָשֵׁן; Dan_12:2, Septuagint καθεύδειν. But it is more than merely an expression to veil a terrible reality, nor does it denote merely the refreshment of rest, deliverance from earthly trouble; on the contrary, it is the promise of an awaking, now especially that there is an Awakener (Joh_11:11). We are not to think of a sleep of the soul, an entire unconsciousness. The figure is taken from the body, a dead man resembling one asleep. Zwingli, Calvin and others oppose with reason the Psychopannychians, whose dogma expressly contradicts other passages—the parable, Luk_16:19 sqq.; the promise, Luk_23:43 (To-day!); the apostolic statements, 2Co_5:8; Php_1:23; Rev_14:13 (Blessed from henceforth—with the Lord). Even here the circumstance that Paul opposes to their sorrowfulness the resurrection, and only with this connects the being with Christ (1Th_4:17), by no means implies that those asleep in Christ are not yet blessed, or are not with Christ, as Philippians 1 expressly teaches. He looks beyond the intermediate state, because he would offer the entire fulness of consolation, and that with reference to the anxieties of the Thessalonians, of which Note 4 will speak.
2. That ye sorrow not, even as the rest (of men, those not Christians) also (in comparisons, see 1Th_4:5) &c., λυποῦνται; who have no hope. Here he speaks not exclusively of the heathen, as in 1Th_4:5 who know not God. In Eph_2:12, indeed, it is specially the heathen whom he describes as strangers to Israel’s promises, having no hope (in the widest sense, with reference to all Messianic promises), and without God in the world. Israel, on the contrary, had promises and therefore also hopes, and if the Sadducees rejected these, there is yet in that place no thought of them. There is indeed, however, still a difference between having the promises and the actual living holding fast of the hope, and it is not merely among the heathen that the latter is wanting. Even supposing that he has them especially in his eye, it is yet not without reason that the expression is kept general. But the Apostle does not require that Christians shall not sorrow at all (Lünemann: because the phrase is not, μἠ τοσοῦτον ὡς57, but simply: their sorrow should not be of the same sort as, etc. (καθώς, as in Eph_4:17. Hofmann [Wordsworth, after Augustine; and so most.—J. L.]).
3. (1Th_4:14.) For if we believe, &c.—He thus gives the reason why they should not sorrow in a heathenish way; εἰ is not used in the sense of siquidem, but the hypothetical turn just so much the more challenges their assent: if, as we at least have no difficulty in believing (1Th_1:3; 1Th_1:10; 1Th_2:13); if we not merely hold it to be true, but build thereon with confidence (the meaning of πιστεύειν), making it the foundation of our life;—from this he then draws the conclusion, from which we in our ready despondency hang back.—That Jesus (he uses the human name) died (here not, fell asleep, but without any disguise he speaks of death). And did not every one believe that? Certainly we are not to assume here (with some Greek interpreters) a caution against a Docetic denial of the bodily death. Christ’s death and resurrection are really to him the two inseparable pillars of the faith: He died (for us, 1Th_5:10), and what more? did he remain in death? no! died and arose; as the Firstfruit (1Co_15:20), He brought to light a victorious life. But he arose out of death, was not glorified without passing through death; not even Christ.—So also those who, &c. Οὕτως is not simply a sign of the apodosis (Olshausen), any more than it is so at 1Th_4:17, but: so, as the Crucified arose (Rev_11:5); or: so, as the consequence of that (Rom_5:12); still better: so, as made like Him in death and resurrection;—God will bring them with Jesus; it is not said: He will awake them.58 The turn which the apodosis takes is concise and forcible, the clause, if we believe, being followed, not by another of the subjective kind: so we believe also, but objectively, by a matter of fact: so God will do thus and thus. If this faith of ours is the truth, if on this truth of God we firmly rely, then it follows, &c. Otherwise Koch and Hofmann; if we believe expresses, they think, a condition: then, in that case, so will God—that is, bring with Jesus those who in this faith have fallen asleep. But this is a harsher incongruity than what Hofmann censures in the other explanation; it must then have been said: So will He, when we fall asleep, awaken us.—It is still disputed, to what διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ belongs. Almost all the moderns (De Wette, Lünemann, Hofmann, and others) refer it to ἄξει, as being unsuited to κοιμηθέντας, which would require ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, as at 1Th_4:16 ἐν Χριστῷ, and so 1Co_15:18; and because to say that ἐν stands for διά [διά for ἐν. So Jowett still.; also Webster and Wilkinson.—J. L.], and both for בְּ, is obsolete. But ἄξει has already its more precise specification in σὺν αὐτῷ, and with κοιμηθέντας it is desirable to find their Christian character, not merely indicated by the context, but expressly declared (opposed to the view of Koch and Hofmann). The meaning, moreover, may well be this: those who fell asleep through Jesus, whose falling asleep is through the mediation of Jesus [Webster and Wilkinson: τοῦ Ἰησοῦ—the article referring emphatically to Jesus as presented in the first member, Jesus who died and rose again.—J. L.]; so Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Bengel, Hilgenfeld, and others.59 He will bring them with Him (Jesus)—this many take as pregnant for (awaken and) bring. (Through Jesus as Mediator God effects the work of quickening, John 5, 6) But it is still simpler, if we understand οὕτως as above explained: so He will bring them, when conformed to Jesus in death and resurrection, along with Him (as the Shepherd, whither He goes)”; Luther: thither, where Jesus abides; Roos: to glory, to rest, to the goal of their hope; Starke; with Him, when He shall come to judgment; Hofmann: when He brings Jesus into the world again (Heb_1:6), He will bring them, cause them to come, along with Jesus, will let them share in His heavenly manifestation. How he comes at this ἄγειν, is shown 1Th_4:16-17.
4. (1Th_4:15.) For (to explain) this we say unto you, etc.—He thus illustrates what was said in 1Th_4:14, first negatively (1Th_4:15), then positively (1Th_4:16-17). This (what follows) we say unto you in a word of the Lord; ἐν, as in 1Co_2:7, marks the medium in which the discourse moves; not in my words do I speak; my statement confines itself within the sphere of a word of the Lord; comp. for the matter 1Co_7:10; 1Co_7:12; 1Co_7:25, and for the expression 1Ki_20:35, בִּדְבַר יְהוָֹה, 70. Pelt supposes him to refer to Mat_24:31; to which Ewald adds Luk_14:14; Hofmann, Mat_16:27 sq.; Zwingli and others, Mat_25:1 sqq., Joh_5:28 sq. Theophylact and Calvin think of a word orally utered by Christ, and so probably a λόγος ἄγραφος, like Act_20:35. But such a one is in that place introduced differently; and not one of the texts cited makes the special disclosure that here follows, respecting the relation between the dead and those still living. It is therefore more correct to think (with Chrysostom and other Greeks, Bengel, Olshausen, De Wette, Lünemann) of a revelation from the exalted Lord, an ἀποκάλυψις τοῦ μυστηρίου (Chrysostom, it is true, adduces not only 2Co_13:3 on one side, but also Act_20:35 on the other). At 1Co_15:51 also Paul says something similar on a similar occasion; comp. Gal_1:12; Rom_11:25.—That we who are living (here: in the earthly body), according to the more precise explanation: who remain over (are left over by God) unto the coming (return) of the Lord (that is: who live to see that coming), shall in no wise precede those who fell asleep: οὐ μή in the New Testament indifferently with the aorist subjunctive or the future indicative; Winer, § 56, 3. This coming (1Co_15:23) is coincident with Mat_24:31; Rev_19:11 sqq.; Rev_20:5 (not Rev_20:11 sqq.). Here we learn to understand the trouble of the Thessalonians. They sorrowed on the supposition that whoever does not live to see the Advent suffers loss (in the Fourth [in the English Apocrypha, the Second] Book of Esdras, Ezr_6:13, we meet with such ideas; see Wieseler, Chronol. des apost. Zeitalters, p. 250). But how did they conceive of this loss? Evidently Lünemann goes too far, when from the words: Ye are not to sorrow as they who have no hope, he (as Calvin and others before him) draws the inference that they believed in no life at all after death, and supposed that the dying were absolutely excluded from the kingdom. That does not lie in the comparison, any more than 1Th_4:5 : “Indulge not in lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God” charges them with not knowing God; rather, Because ye know Him, be not like those who know Him not.” And so here: “Sorrow not as those who have no hope; ye do have a hope.” He then reasons, as in 1 Corinthians 15, from the connection between Christ and believers, the Head and His members, as an indissoluble unity: “The Head cannot forsake His members.” He does not in this imply the existence of any deniers of the resurrection, as at Corinth; what we allow is simply that they suffered from dimness of apprehension. To the Greeks generally the resurrection was a difficult topic (Acts 17). The Thessalonians, indeed, expected with firm faith the coming of the Lord (1Th_1:10; and in 1 Thessalonians 4 also it is presupposed). But the significance and operation of that event they did not duly perceive. They seem with Grecian fancy to have taken up the idea of the outward splendor of the appearance, without considering with sufficient earnestness that the Crucified One, who arose from the dead, will come again; the Conqueror of sin and death. Paul therefore reminds them of this fundamental truth, and thence infers that we shall not precede those fallen asleep, shall not be admitted to the Lord earlier than they. It is only by ingenuity that Lünemann can here hold fast to his idea: Paul, he thinks, is engaged with the figure of a race, where those who are outstripped, and have to lay behind in mid course, do not reach the goal at all. But Paul does not intimate that he has here any thought of this figure; and besides, such a preoccupying of salvation, as would deprive others of it, is not within the compass of truth. This were a one-sided pressing of the figure of a race, that would turn it into an untruth. Rather, in saying: We shall not anticipate the dead, he lets us see that the Thessalonians cherished such an idea; but that this leaves open all the while an undefined prospect at least for the later comers. But what prospect? On this point their view is not clear to us, perhaps was not so even to themselves. Olshausen, De Wette, Hofmann and others suppose that they had no doubt about the resurrection at the final consummation, only they did not distinguish between the first and the second resurrections; that, in fact, they knew nothing of the first resurrection (of the just), of the hailing of the returning Lord by His risen ones, and of their fellowship with Him during the glorious period preceding the general judgment; that their idea was, that in the kingdom just at hand the dead would have no part; that, however, they really believed in the remote, final resurrection after the kingdom of glory, but found in that no living consolation. Still it is by no means clear how they should have mastered and believed in such a precise arrangement of all the stages of the last things (Advent, Kingdom of glory, Last Resurrection) with only the single exception of the First Resurrection at the Advent; nor yet how the Last Resurrection should have been of so little consequence in their estimation. Are we, then, to be driven back on Lünemann? Not that either; but we suppose that Paul had powerfully preached in Thessalonica the coming of Christ to set up His kingdom, but had not had time to enter into all questions of detail. Now the Thessalonians, with a lively impression of this message, had yet a rather dim, worldly understanding of it, from their conceiving of every miraculous occurrence as rather simply an exhibition of power, and not duly considering that the path lies through death to resurrection, through decease to the new life. To be gathered unto the Lord (as even in Mat_24:31 the resurrection is not expressly named)—for them this desire absorbed everything. Whoever lives not to see that, he suffers loss—such was their thought. They did not, like the Corinthians, deny the resurrection of the dead, for the Apostle certainly does not reprove them as he does those; and quite as little perhaps can it be asserted so positively as Olshausen assumes, that they believed only in the last resurrection; but whether there was anything, and what, still to be expected for the dead, this was to them an obscure matter; their whole hope and aspiration was bent or the one point, to remain exempt from death;—the thing that Paul likewise desired (2Co_5:4), but not so partially. This anxiety was such as could be felt only in the first period of instruction still imperfectly apprehended. (See the Introduction, p. 12. On we who are living, see Exeg. Note 7.)
5. (1Th_4:16.) For He Himself, the Lord60 [Because the Lord Himself], &c. For, not that (Koch);61 he shows how there is no such thing as φθάνειν. De Wette and Hofmann would here, as at 1Th_3:11, understand merely: He, the Lord; but here, as there, the Apostle makes an emphatic antithesis both of subjects and predicates; not: “We shall first come to Him,” but: “He Himself will descend,” otherwise no one at all would come to Him. Ἐν signifies in, with, attended by, as 1Co_4:21; Rom_15:29. Κέλευσμα (another form, κέλευμα) Luther translates Feldgeschrei [war-cry], and understands by it the joyful exclamation of the angelic host, “the Van and guards; “English Bible: with a shout; but more correctly the Vulgate: in jussu; for the word signifies a shout of command, proceeding from the leading huntsman, or from the pilot of a ship, requiring the rowers to keep time, or from a charioteer, or a general; Pro_30:27, Sept.; also Thucydides ii. 1Th 92: ἀπὸ ἑνὸς κελεύσματος ἐμβοήσαντες, where κελ. does not denote the battle-cry of the combatants, but the meaning is that at a word of command they shouted. Christ is, therefore, described as a victorious Captain, whose order summons to battle, for the destruction of His enemies and the extermination of the antichristian power (2 Thessalonians 2; Rev_19:11 sqq.). To this is added: with the voice of an archangel, summoning the other angels, the great hosts of heavenly spirits, who sympathize in man’s salvation, cooperating at the giving of the law (Act_7:53; Gal_3:19) and afterwards at the judgment (Mat_13:41; Mat_24:31; Mat_25:31); which last event brings a consummation also for themselves (Eph_1:10). In canonical Scripture the archangel Michael appears again only at Judges 9; Gabriel is not so called, nor the seven angels before God (Rev_8:2=Tob_12:15). Yet to the name archangel, prince of angels, corresponds the designation שָׂרִים, ἄρχοντες Dan_10:13; Dan_10:20; and already Jos_5:14, שָׂר־צְבָא־יְחוָֹה, Sept. ἀρχιστράτηγος δυνάμεως κυρίου. By the archangel Ambrosiaster [Jeremy Taylor] and Olshausen would understand Christ, the Lord of angels; others still more unsuitably, the Holy Spirit; but he must be an angel, the highest amongst the angels, answering to the high priest as compared with the priests. Lastly, with a trumpet of God (the last, 1Co_15:52); this is not merely a nota superlativi, the very great, though it is indeed the Divine, and not a human, majesty that is antithetically described; but, besides that, we are to understand it thus: which is used by God’s command, in God’s service, which belongs to Him; De Wette compares κιθάρας τοῦ θεοῦ, Rev_15:2. What should it be? How will it sound? is not to be searched out. The future reality is depicted in images of present reality. It will be heard, as the sign will be seen, Mat_24:27; Mat_24:30. As to its import, it is the conclusive echo of Sinai, the highest form of all the signals, whereby the people are called together before the Lord, that by which the enemy’s stronghold, mightier than Jericho, falls (Numbers 10; Isa_27:13; Zec_9:14; Rev_4:8. Seven trumpets). This is not a mere notion of Jewish Rabbis, but the prophetic word receives apostolic sanction. Lünemann and Hofmann would understand the archangel’s voice and the trumpet as in apposition to κέλευσυα,62 but without reason. [Witsius, after Grotius, identifies the archangel’s voice with the trumpet as blown by him.—J. L.] We have rather to recognize three particulars, following each other in rapid succession: the Commander’s call of the King Himself; the voice of the archangel summoning the other angels; the trumpet, which awakes the dead, and collects the believers. [Dr. John Dick: “Three sounds are distinctly mentioned, but I do not pretend to know what they are.”—J. L.]
The descent from heaven presupposes the ascension thither (Act_1:11). And the dead in Christ shall arise first; ἐν Χριστῷ, though without the article, belongs to οἱ νεκροί (Winer;, §20, 2). He speaks here only of the resurrection of the just (Luk_14:14), τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ at His coming (1Co_15:23), who have died in the Lord (Rev_14:13), qui in Christi corpore continentur (Calvin); not of all without distinction arising in Christ. The correction in Codd. F. G., οἱ νεκροὶ is not at all necessary. The same Codd. together with D.1 road (instead of πρῶτον) πρῶτοι; Itala and Vulgate, primi, which is altogether unsuitable, for the contrast here is not (as Theophylact and others suppose) between such as rise first and others who do not rise till afterwards; but between what will take place first (the resurrection of those who fell asleep in faith), and what next (ἔπειτα) occurs in the case of the living.
6. (1Th_4:17.) Then we &c. shall together with them be snatched away, caught away; hastily, swiftly, irresistibly, by the overpowering might of God; this lies in the expression (also 2Co_12:2, though in a different application); in (on)63 clouds, as one received the Lord (Acts 1); not into the clouds (εἰς), but in the clouds (inwrapped), or on them (throned, as on chariots of God; Chrysostom); comp. Mat_24:30; Mat_26:64; Rev_11:12; Rev_14:14; unto meeting of the Lord, לִקְרַאת; instead of ἀπάντ. τοῦ κυρίου others (weaker authorities) give ὑπάντ. τῷ Χριστῷ. Both words, ἀπάντησις or ὑπάντησις, govern the genitive (Mat_25:1) or (like the verb) the dative (Act_28:15). Chrysostom and other Greeks: “to meet Christ, as persons of distinction meet a king to salute him, while others must wait for him, as criminals for the judge.” For the matter, 2Th_2:1 is to be compared. It is a description, so to speak, of the Church’s Ascension, in which the Head brings His members to Himself. Possibly the clouds here, as in Acts 1, indicate a veiling of the transaction. But at any rate this rapture necessarily presupposes the previous sudden change (1Co_15:52; 2Co_5:2 sqq.), which is here only not expressly mentioned, but without which a soaring away into the air were not conceivable. Only by means of the glorified corporeity (Php_3:21) can such an event take place. Luther (appealing to Heb_9:27) insists that all men must once die, that is, leave this life and enter another. For those left over, therefore [die “Ueberlinge,” as if we should say, the overlings.—J. L.], the change would be their death. These shall not sleep, but in a twinkling will die and live again.—And, so (as those who have been caught away into the air, the risen and changed ones, or, still better: as those who have thus met Him) shall we ever be with the Lord; Hofmann: continually, not meeting with Him merely in transient or occasionally repeated salutation; σύν expresses the intimate union, μετά simply outward companionship. This is the main point of comfort which he had in view: to be with the Lord, inseparably united to Him. Thus we reach the ἄγειν σὺν αὐτͅῷ (1Th_4:14), the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev_19:7-9). But it is not in the air that this being over with Christ takes place (as Pelt, Usteri, Weitzel think, with a quite mistaken appeal to Eph_2:2 : the air as the region of spirits, but of evil spirits!). Only the meeting takes place in the air, not the abiding. Already Augustine (De Civ. Dei, xx. 20, 2) saw the truth: Venienti ibitur obviam, non manenti. The Lord is come from heaven, but not quite to the earth, so that a rapture into the air leads to His presence. He comes to fetch them (Joh_14:2-3) into the heavenly kingdom (2Ti_4:18), which is so called, not merely because it is of a heavenly quality, and even the earth receives a heavenly glory, but because at the coming it really transports the glorified into heaven; they shall be with Him, as Bengel says, non modo in aëre, sed in cælo unde venit. Others think of a coming with Him to the earth to judgment. Hilgenfeld thinks that the meeting is followed by the coming with Him to the glorified earth. But that may even be reserved64 for a later date. In fact, the description is not one that exhausts all particulars; it is carried only so far as is necessary to make it clear, that the dead shall be in no way inferior to those who survive. (See the Doctrinal and Ethical Notes, 5.)
7. (1Th_4:15; 1Th_4:17.) We who are living, who are being left over.—Here Paul evidently reckons himself among those of whom he considers it possible, and a thing to be desired and hoped for, that they may live to witness the Advent; just so 1Co_15:51 sqq. (according to the correct reading of the text. rec., and also of the Cod. Vat.).65 The strange evasions, by means of which the Fathers and others sought to make out, that Paul nevertheless is not speaking of himself, are justly set aside by Lünemann. (To this class belongs the explanation of Œcumenius, that the dead are the bodies, the living are the souls; &c.) Nor ought it to be imput to him, that he uses ἡμεῖς merely in the way of communicatio (Theophylact: representing in his own person all who shall then be living), though knowing that he will not be present; of this knowledge we see nothing, rather a hope inconsistent with it. But it were just as inconsiderate to say bluntly, that the Apostle’s expectation has been plainly convicted by the event as erroneous; as if thus the whole eschatological prediction collapsed. In that case, indeed, Paul would be a false prophet (Deu_18:20 sqq.), and his appeal to the Lord’s word an untruth. This word of the Lord, as even Lünemann allows, told him only generally in what relation the dead would stand to those surviving, not who belongs to each of the two classes; it was, therefore, not: “Thou, Paul, shalt be of the number;” otherwise he could not again have spoken doubtfully on the point at Php_1:21 sqq.; 1Th_2:17; 2Co_5:9, and in still a different tone at 2Ti_4:6. Altogether, just as here, in speaking of those who live to the Advent, he says ἡμεῖς by communicatio in the sense of hope (Grotius: putavit fieri posse), he elsewhere says as freely by communicatio on the opposite side: “God will raise us up,” 1Co_6:14 (this alongside of 1Co_15:51); 2Co_4:14; comp. 1Th_5:10; Act_20:29. He expressly reminds us at 1Th_5:1 sqq., that we know not the times and the seasons, and were not to know them; as the Lord declares even of Himself in his condition of self-denial (Mar_13:32), and as He represents to his Apostles (Act_1:7). Had he meant to set it down as certain: I shall not die, that would really have been at least a knowledge of the χρόνοι; and not less so, had he asserted: I shall die before that, it will not happen in my time. Moreover, if ἡμεῖς expressed the definite expectation: I shall yet be there, it must equally follow that to all his readers of that age included with himself in ἡμεῖς he makes the promise, that they shall live till the Advent; which were indeed utterly absurd. Rather, he opposes the two classes to each other; here those asleep, and on the other side the living, those remaining over; he himself, of course, is among the living; but both classes are in a state of constant flux. What did not come to pass in the case of Paul and his cotemporaries, then holds good for those who follow after, and shall actually live till the Advent. Certainly the Apostles do all of them ex press often enough the expectation of the Coming as near; e.g., 1Pe_4:1; 1Jn_2:18; Jam_5:8; and Paul, 1Co_7:29 sqq.; Rom_13:11-12; Php_4:5; this, however, not as a dogma whereby the ignorance of the χρόνοι would be removed, but merely as a living hope and longing expectation. See Hölemann, Die Stellung St. Pauli zu der Frage um die Zeit der Wiederkunft Christi, Leipzig, 1858; and the Doctrinal and Ethical Notes, 6.
8. (1Th_4:18.) Wherefore comfort one another with these words; ὥστε with a following imperative also at Php_4:1; and so διό, 1Th_5:11. The comfort should check the sorrowing (1Th_4:13); with these words, which rest on the word of the Lord, not rationibus, argumentis, but simply the words of the evangelical message.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. (1Th_4:13.) It is not sorrow altogether for the dying that Paul forbids; he rather takes it for granted that they will have to sorrow; only let it not be as the sorrow of the hopeless. Nowhere does Scripture overstrain unnaturally its demand, as if death should cause no pang. It merely rebukes despondency, as if God were not God, and home were not home. But strength of faith is not a thing to be commanded, nor can its triumph be enforced.66 Christ Himself shed tears, and Paul knew what it is to sorrow even for the dying (Php_2:27). On the whole (Starke): The believers of the Old Testament and of the New wept and sorrowed, but within such limits as the law already prescribed (Lev_19:28; Deu_14:1), and the light of faith illustrates. The Apostle requires no Stoic insensibility, no icy hardness. Calvin: “aliud est frænare dolorem nostrum, ut subjiciatur Deo, aliud abjecto humano sensu instar lapidum obdurescere.” And for this reason hope is an important element of the Christian life; 1Th_1:3; Rom_5:2-5; Rom_8:24 sqq.; 1 Corinthians 13.
2. The rest, who have no hope, are in the widest sense all who stand not in Christ, the only Source and Guarantee of true life. In the Old Testament is the sound of many lamentations over the life in the shadowy realm, as being no life, but as gloomy as in the Homeric songs (Isa_38:18 sq.; Psa_6:6 [Psa_6:5]; Psa_88:11-13 [Psa_88:10-12]; Psa_115:17; Job_10:21 [and Job_10:22]; &c.); not because the right conception is still wanting, but because the actual curse of death is not yet broken. The gleams of prophetic hope (Psa_16:9 sqq.; Psa_49:16 [Psa_49:15]; Pro_14:32; Pro_15:24; Pro_23:14; Isa_26:19; Hos_13:14; Dan_12:2) are first realized through Christ. But it is especially the heathen, of whom the Apostle’s judgment holds good. It might, indeed, be a question here, as at 1Th_4:5, whether he does not assert too much. For do we not find among all nations some hope of immortality? and among the philosophers, as Socrates, Plato, &c, elevated thoughts on that topic, and arguments in its favor? True; but, measured by the full resurrection-life, what a state of death is that which the heathen call the other life! And how isolated is the more cheerful hope, how slender its thread, how feeble its knowledge, for the very reason that it is founded, not on the actings of God, but on disputable, more or less problematical arguments, accessible only to the refined thinker. How weak are the Consolationes of a Cicero, Seneca, Plutarch! nothing but probabilities. Even now observation shows how those who do not rely on the written word, and, inquiring merely about the immortality of the soul, would thus simply recognize a permanent separation of soul and body (though this would be a permanent reign of death),—how these persons with all their arguments never get the better of their doubts; nay, how more and more the most decided amongst them no longer have or allow any hope. It were easy to bring together a number of disconsolate sayings from the classics; for example, Æschylus, Eumen. 638 (648): ἅπαξ θανόντος οὔτις ἔστ’ ἀνάστασις. Theocritus, Idyll. 4, 1Th 42: ἐλπίδες ἐν ζωοῖσιν, ἀνέλπιστοι δὲ θανόντες. Catullus, 5, 1 Thessalonians 4 : Soles occidere et redire possunt: Nobis, cum semel occidit brevis lux, Nox est perpetua una dormienda. Starke: In Plutarch’s time people mocked at the ἐλπιστικούς. It was an affected witticism of the dying Vespasian: væ, puto deus fio. And this is as it should be; it is proper that we should not get to be certain of our personality, until we are sure of our God and Saviour. On this true basis, however, Scripture regards as normal the undivided life, when the spirit and the body are together; being equally remote from materialism, which seeks in matter for the root and strength of all spiritual life, and from idealism, which sees the most perfect spirituality in being released from the body. The glorified body as the perfect organ of the ruling spirit—this is the reëstablishment and consummation of the condition originally designed by God (Php_3:21). Luther: We shall again receive enriched and improved that which we lost in Adam; for we should have had it in Paradise (Works, ed. Walch, xii. 2628).
3. Death a sleep; Starke: (1) Because in both the body rests, the soul remains alive; (2) because from both the body also awakes; (3) because both are a desirable release from trouble and toil; (4) because after both we again joyously salute and wish one another good morning.—Still the likeness exists only for faith, not for sight. According to what is visible, the word of triumph: “O death, where is thy sting?” sounds frequently like a scoff. Diedrich: The death of those dear to us still confronts us often as a frightful mystery.—Not only does the Old Testament call him the king of terrors [Job_18:14], his name in the New Testament also is still the last enemy. A natural horror in the presence of death is expressed by the Apostle himself in 2 Corinthians 5, and is seen in Gethsemane.67 Corruption wears a different aspect from sleep. So much the greater must the Awakener appear to us.
4. (1Th_4:15.) Paul appeals to a word of the Lord, like the old prophets (1Sa_3:21; Isa_1:10; Jer_1:2); not as one who steals and deceitfully gives out the Lord’s word (Jer_14:14; Jer_23:30); not as one who has merely adopted rabbinical opinions. (Whence, indeed, have the Rabbins the substance of their doctrine?) Nor does he speak in heaped-up images of a transcendental vision (when he really had such a one, with what modest reserve does he speak of it! 2 Corinthians 12); but his words have a clear and sober import. From the most intimate converse with the Lord he gives forth his explanations respecting the course of the kingdom of God, the crises of Divine providence, and its final issues: Eph_3:3; Eph_3:5 sqq.; Rom_11:25; 1Co_15:51 sqq.; and here. It is a weighty problem, and, God be praised! it is also a privilege vouchsafed in ever larger measure to our times, to bring one’s self into living communion with the prophetic word. Our very reverence for it should, indeed, restrain us from precipitate conclusions.
5. (1Th_4:15-17.) Our passage furnishes no complete doctrine of the last things. In Scripture generally there remains over for curiosity a multitude of unanswered questions; and even the legitimate desire of knowledge must acquiesce. Whatever is necessary to salvation, and serves to further the process of sanctification, is nowhere wanting. In this spirit should the doctrine of the Christian hope be dealt with (Luthardt, die Lehre von den letzten Dingen, Leipzig, 1861). Our passage says nothing beforehand of the condition that immediately follows death; nothing beyond calling it a sleep. A preliminary judgment, an introductory stage of blessedness, is indicated by the passages cited in Exeg. Note 1. A being with Christ is there promised to such as die in Christ; yet must it be inferior in fulness and power to the life of the resurrection (comp. Rev_6:9-11), without our being able to define precisely the difference. Paul takes the less notice here of this topic, from his having to correct the anxiety of the Thessalonians in regard to the disadvantage which the dead might be under at the Advent. What is of use to this end he holds up to their view. Nor does he in our passage go further. But it easily admits of being combined with other passages into a general representation. Now what Paul says of the Coming was understood by the Reformers altogether of His Coming at the Last Judgment; as by Calvin, in express opposition to the Chiliasts, though under the supposition, to be sure, that they teach the wild doctrine of a resurrection for only a thousand years. But even in the Apocalypse there is no mention of any such thing. If we take into view the passage in the Rev_20:1-6, the question is, whether and in what way it may be reconciled with the doctrine of the Apostle Paul. An obvious expedient apparently is to identify the Advent here, 1Th_4:15, and 1Co_15:23, with the return at the setting up of the (millennial) kingdom, and in like manner the first resurrection of the Apocalypse with the resurrection of the just (Luk_14:14) or the gathering together of the elect (Mat_24:31), but positively to distinguish this from the final judgment on the whole world (Mat_25:31; Rev_20:11 sqq.);68 this last judgment, including the general resurrection, would then be comprehended in the end of which Paul, after making mention of the resurrection τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, says: εἶτα τὸ τέλος (1Co_15:24). More closely examined, however, the passages do not quite so readily admit of mutual adjustment. In the first place, at the text last mentioned no one without the Apocalypse would think, that this εἶτα embraces a thousand years.69 And for this reason, accordingly, the Reformers, disregarding the Apocalypse, conceived of the raising of the dead as occurring at one and the same time, and supposed that such passages as Joh_5:28-29; Act_24:15; 2Co_5:10 speak of a simultaneous resurrection of the just and the unjust, and that Matthew 24 likewise refers to no other coming of Christ than Matthew 25. In like manner, and this is the second point, Matthew 25 shows us the saved alongside of the lost, and says nothing of a first resurrection which had already, a thousand years before, brought the elect to glory. In our passage, indeed, and just so in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is entirely silent about those who are lost Calvin: The object here is, not to alarm the ungodly, but to heal the immoderate grief of the pious. The resurrection to judgment, therefore, might be thought of as contemporaneous with that of the pious, or on the other hand as following at a later date. Only it is to be noticed that 1 Corinthians 15 represents the raising of those who belong to Christ as something done once for all; then follows the end, when He shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, after He has abolished all hostile rule. This does not sound as if still another host of those belonging to Christ would not share in the salvation till a later and final judgment, as must yet be the case, if Matthew 25 speaks of this final judgment. On the whole, as it is important to fulfil the condition on which alone we can be sure of salvation, so it is difficult, if not impossible, to set up unexceptionable tests, according to which some are made partakers of the first resurrection, others only of the second, who are nevertheless saved. After all, the relation might rather be this, that the Pauline statements, as well as the passages which speak briefly of the last day, the last hour (Joh_6:39-40; 1Jn_2:18; comp. 2Pe_3:10; 2Pe_3:12), comprehend the coming of the Lord in one view, which the Apocalypse then distributes into various stages. But as the day of the Lord divides itself in the later revelation into a series of steps, so also the resurrection of those belonging to Christ, since the first resurrection by no means merely passes by the raising of the lost to judgment, but shows likewise a later resurrection to life as still possible. To the end belongs the glorification also of the terrestrial world (Romans 8; Rev_21:22); and after that the saved have reigned together with Christ in the kingdom (2Ti_2:12), and have co-operated with Him in the judgment (1Co_6:2-3). That is to say, from their heavenly thrones (Rev_20:4) the kingdom will pass into its stage of highest fulfilment, when God shall be all in all (1Co_15:28). In many places, however, these stages are viewed together indiscriminately. Such a comprehension of details, which are only kept apart by later prediction, meets us also elsewhere in all prophecy.
6. The last remark affords us light also in regard to the hope of the nearness of the Advent (see Exeg. Note 7). From the patriarchs down through the entire line of the prophets every one contemplates the future salvation as one whole, with all its details, without any one being able to say: There is here a want of perspective, an optical illusion. Rather, the living fulness of the future is conjoined with the varying standpoint of the present in one bud. The certainty, that the Lord is coming with His salvation, is so stirring, bright, overpowering, that the man who is full of it says: Quickly! The Assyrian period is Isaiah’s horizon, into which he sees Immanuel enter, bringing salvation (Isaiah 7; Isa_29:17). And again there was a delay of four hundred years, before the promise in Malachi (1 Thessalonians 3) began to be fulfilled. Prophecy is not the knowledge of the history of the future, but a contemplation of the essential steps of development. Instructive is such a passage as Eze_12:22 sqq.; especially even because it is there shown to us, how long-suffering delayed the judgment, and how contempt of the long-suffering accelerates it. Thus there came to pass finally what for so long a time the prophets had promised and threatened, and the scoffers had scoffed at; it came, according to human reckoning, later than had been supposed, yet not too late for any one, rather too soon for many. And as the New Testament time came, so will come the final term promised by Christ and the Apostles. Yea, they declared with truth that it had already arrived. With Christ began the world’s last hour, and there comes none later, to establish another and higher relation between God and humanity. If the period of waiting for the revelation of the Lord has reached much further than the Apostles supposed, and even than the words of Christ gave them reason to expect (Mat_10:23; Mat_16:28; Mat_24:29), it is to be considered, first, that in this very way scope was afforded for the development of the series of stages in His coming; and, secondly, that it behoves us to recognize long-suffering in the fact that, after the first step of the judgment (on Jerusalem), the second was deferred (2Pe_3:8-9; 2Pe_3:15). But, while acknowledging His sparing long-suffering, we acknowledge also that His government is so arranged as to admit of modification according to the faithfulness or unfaithfulness of men; that we are wrong, therefore, in taking, much more than we are aware of necessitarian views of prophecy. So much the more short sighted were it to say, that a disappointment respecting the date is proof that such last things are not to be expected at all. A denial of the world’s end would require us also to assert that humanity has never had a beginning; and this would imply that the life of humanity has no aim, and that the establishment of a perfect, holy reign of God is not to be looked for. But he alone is a Christian, who directs his life toward this mark. Of the time and the hour he knows nothing. “The Lord delayeth His coming!”—that he leaves the wicked servant to say; that the Bridegroom may tarry, he is well aware. There are also things that must still precede; not the conversion of the nations, but the preaching of the gospel among all nations (Mat_24:14); along with this, the universal security of those who believe in no Advent, and by means of their unbelief are witnesses for the truth (1Th_5:3; Mat_24:37 sqq.; Luk_18:8); the apostasy of Christendom from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2). All these signs are perceptibly growing. The life of humanity, including the individual life, goes forward on the brink of eternity and to eternity. It is readily conceivable that the experience of a longer duration of the world, according to man’s measurement, has modified in some degree our views of the last things, and turned the eye chiefly toward the death of individuals. But only too frequently does this way of thinking assume such a form, that the longing for the coming of the Lord and the glory of His holy kingdom, as well as sympathy in the fortunes of the Church at large, is too much impaired. At times, on the other hand, and amongst the pious, when the life of faith rules in due force, we again meet likewise with the apostolic hope and aspiration in living freshness. That watching and hoping are so unfamiliar to us, is a defect. The more we become heavenly in our character and thoughts, the more also does the stream of human history appear to us as a hasting towards the coming of the Lord.
7. (1Th_4:17.) The being caught away to meet the Lord is in the Irvingite70 interpretation erroneously explained in a manner that seems to bear the dignity of an inviolable dogma. Comp. the work, which otherwise contains many good practical exhortations, by E. L. Geering, Mahnung und Trost der Schrift in Betreff der Wiederkunft Christi, Basel, 1859. It is there taught (p. 55) that, previous to the coming tribulation, the company of disciples, who are witnessing for Jesus and waiting for Him, is brought into a condition of safety. Indeed, the saints will with Him judge the world (1Co_6:2); their deliverance, therefore, through being taken away, precedes the Lord’s return; and on p. 60 mention is made of servants of Christ who are not, it is true, recklessly profane nor yet hypocrites, but still are not looking out for the coming of the Lord, nor striving towards it, and, as their punishment for this, have no part in the rapture of the faithful servants, but must undergo the rule of Antichrist’s reign. They have forfeited their title to be kept from the hour of temptation, of the great tribulation, which comes on all (Rev_3:10). They might have been preserved and taken away from it.—This whole interpretation has at least no sort of foundation in our text. The German word entrücken (to snatch from) might give the impression that it refers to the taking away from a threatening danger. But Paul speaks of a swift-coming to meet the Lord, without regard to the question whether this is before or after the endurance of tribulation. To the view of Christendom in general he holds up, as prior to the coming of the Lord, the coming of the apostasy, and the tyranny of the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2). The keeping which the disciples need is not necessarily a being kept from the experience of this persecution, as if to be kept in the midst of it, to be kept while in the world from the evil—the thing which the Lord seeks in prayer for His disciples (Joh_17:15)—were a penal condition. There are various ways in which the keeping may rather take place: 1. by a previous death (Isa_57:1-2; Rev_14:13); 2. by endurance of martyrdom without renouncing the faith (Mat_10:28 sqq.; Matthew 10 :2 Thessalonians 2; Rev_11:7; Rev_13:15; Rev_20:4); perhaps also, 3. by remaining hidden, in the case especially of the humble class, like the seven thousand in the time of Elias (Rom_11:4). There may be a participation in the judgment by those caught away to the Lord (as assessores judicii, Bengel), without the interpretation which we oppose. Altogether it is possible to love the coming of the Lord Jesus, without adopting the peculiar Irvingite exegesis. To represent the two things as inseparable, and to determine accordingly the reward of being caught away or the penalty of being left—this Isaiah , 1. in itself a wrong, as in every case where a human dogma is set up, and salvation connected with the acceptance of it; 2. it misleads to a groundless confidence, and is a sort of illusory promise, that is not free from an effeminate fear of suffering. Comp. Luthardt, l. c. p. 37 sqq.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Th_4:13. It is a heathenish ignorance of which a Christian must be ashamed, when he knows nothing of hope for the dead.—He who does not believe is ignorant; faith is not opposed to knowledge.—Zwingli: When we fear death, it is a sure sign that we have no love to God.—In so far as there is still selfishness in our love, and for that reason discomposure at the death of our friends, to the same extent are we not yet duly taught of God.
Death a sleep, but only through Christ; and only for faith, which knows the Awakener.—Roos: Death has an entrance, and also an outlet. We must and we desire to go the way that Christ went.
Scripture does not forbid us to mourn, but only to mourn as those without hope.—Rieger: By the examples of others, that nearly concern us, the thoughts of our hearts are revealed to us—our own dying agony.—Luther: Holy Scripture not merely indulges, but commends and praises those who are sorrowful, and lament for the dead (Abraham, Joseph, the people at the death of Aaron and Moses). The Apostle simply distinguishes between the mourning of the heathen and that of Christians.—The same: It is an artificial virtue and fictitious fortitude of heathens and schismatics, when they pretend that we must entirely extract what is creaturely in us, and hold no terms with nature. Such a hard heart has never truly loved, and would fain dissemble before people. He is a Christian, who, while experiencing sorrow, yet so restrains himself therein that the spirit rules over the flesh.—We are allowed to weep for death. It is one thing, when Christ, who wept Himself, dries our tears, and another thing, when men would forbid them to flow. But we have no occasion to weep for the lot of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord. Whoever laments without measure or restraint, acts as a heathen acts.—Bengel: The effect of the Christian faith is neither to abolish nor yet to aggravate grief for the dead, but gently to moderate it.—Diedrich: We need not be in a state of fearful uncertainty about any Christian, whether living or dead.—Heubner: Christianity teaches men to rise superior to natural sorrow, yea, to rejoice therein.—The ancient Christians called the day of the believer’s death his birthday.
[Ignorance of the truth and purposes of God, so far as these have been revealed, injurious to our spiritual comfort and edification. “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren”—a common scriptural formula.—Doddridge: Let us charge it upon our hearts, that we do honor to our holy profession in every circumstance, and particularly in our sorrows as well as our joys.—M. Henry: All grief for the death of friends is far from being unlawful; we may weep at least for ourselves, if we do not weep for them; weep for our own loss, though that may be their gain. Yet we must not be immoderate or excessive in our sorrows.—J. L.]
1Th_4:14. Luther: Our death Paul calls not a death, but a sleep; Christ’s death he calls a real death, which has swallowed up all other deaths. [So Burkitt: Jesus died, the saints sleep. ... I do not find that Christ’s death is called a sleep; no, His death was death indeed, death with a curse in it.—J. L.]—Luther: If Christ is risen, that must surely not be in vain and without fruit.—[The text of Archbishop Tillotson’s Sermon on “The certainty and the blessedness of the resurrection of true Christians.”—J. L.]
1Th_4:13-14. Rieger: The two main sources of all comfort, and of all resignation in dying, lie in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Rev_1:18) Whatever is trying and severe in death comes either from attachment to the visible from which we are separated, or from the uncertainty in which we stand in regard to the invisible. The former trouble is relieved by the death of Jesus, the second by his life.—Stähelin: If thou thyself wouldest not, or if thy friends are not to sorrow, see that thou fall asleep through the Lord Jesus.—Hast thou hope? 1. On what is it founded? on the belief that Jesus died and rose again; 2. To what does it impel thee? to a life in Christ, that we through Christ may fall asleep; 3. Of what does it assure thee? that God will bring us with Jesus.—[Bishop Wilson has a Funeral Sermon on these verses.—J. L.]
1Th_4:15. Luther: God has spoken the word, not Paul out of his own head.—It is with the Apostle a great certainty: The Lord speaks through me. It is a folly that we find it so much harder to trust to the word of the Lord with our whole heart than to that of men, who are yet but dust, and liars to boot. As disciples of these men of God, we should endeavor, in what we say of Divine things, to say it as the word of God in the assurance of faith (2Co_4:13).—Luther: The voice or word of all teachers, who preach the gospel pure and simple, is not their word or voice, but God’s (Luk_10:16).—Starke: Man’s words have little power, but God’s word penetrates the heart, is strong to comfort, and endures in sorrow and death (Rom_15:4).
The experience, that the coming of the Lord has been delayed longer than the Apostles hoped and desired, is indeed a severe discipline for us while waiting. It is nevertheless a weakness, when watching and longing are relaxed, and drowsiness seizes even the wise virgins.—Rieger: In the unbelieving world the feeling of security is diffused from one generation to another, and comes to its height amongst the last scoffers; and so, on the other hand, in the communion of saints readiness for the coming of Jesus spreads from one generation to another.71—Berlenburger Bibel: The word is prophetic, and goes through all times.—Vietor (zwei Osterpredigten, Bremen, 1859, p. 24): In the world there is derision and laughter, when a man would say, that he knows not whether the Lord will not come during his lifetime. The world can conceive of nothing wilder or crazier. Passing on in unbelief, the world says: “The Lord comes not at all.” Passing on with a show of faith and a half-faith, the world says: “My Lord comes not yet for a long time.” Oh, see to it, that thy heart consent not to either speech.
1Th_4:16. The Lord comes to take us to Himself; only thus can we come to Him.—Luther: What the trumpet is, I know not; we would not gloss Paul’s words, but let them stand just as they are. In another place: These are merely verba allegorica. He would fain represent the matter, as one must represent it to children and simple people.72
[J. Lillie: No phantom, nor providential sub stitute, nor even the vicarious Spirit; but the Lord Himself—the personal Lord—this same Jesus.—Vaughan: Not a mere amelioration, gradual or sudden, of the condition of the Church or the world; not a mere displacement of evil and triumph of good; not a mere crisis of human affairs issuing in times of universal blessing and happiness: it shall be a personal coming. Mat_24:30; Act_1:11.—J. L.]
They who are asleep in the Lord are still, even as dead persons, always in Christ (Luk_20:38).—Starke: Whoever is found to the last in the holy life of Jesus, falls asleep through Jesus.—Comp. Psa_116:15, and Luther’s comment, Werke, ed. Walch, xii. 2652 sqq.
1Th_4:17. Starke: If we would one day be caught up to Christ, we must even now follow His gracious guidance, and lift up our heart to Him. If we would be, with body and soul, ever with the Lord, we must with our spirit be with Him even now (Col_3:1-2).—The same: All believers shall one day be near and with Christ, because, 1. such is His promise to them (Joh_14:3); 2. He has asked this for Himself from the Father (Joh_17:24; Isa_53:10-12); 3. He, the Head, and they, His members, are inseparable (Eph_1:22-23; Rom_8:38-39).—Rieger: To be forever with the Lord is a brief but comprehensive description of eternal life. When kept as seed-corn in the heart, not stowed away as knowledge in the head; when fruitful in love to Jesus and in patience under suffering, not directed to glorying over others, these truths will evidence their consolatory power, and may also be suitably applied in mutual exhortation. Oh, the preciousness of communion with Jesus, and of that boast of faith: Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s!
[M. Henry: It will be some part of their felicity, that all the saints shall meet together, and remain together forever: but the principal happiness of heaven is this, to he with the Lord, to see Him, live with Him, and enjoy Him forever.—Dr. Donne has a sermon on this verse.—J. L.]
1Th_4:18.—Zwingli: This is a quite different consolation from: Provide for so many soul-masses; Call in so many priests.—But (Berlenburger Bibel): It is also a false consolation to suppose it to be a settled matter, that every one through death enters heaven.—It is not death that saves us, but Christ through death, and at last from death. They who have died through Him unto sin, and have spiritually risen with Him, may be sure that they shall also live with Him in the body. So likewise the talk about meeting again, when we do not rely on Christ, and are not united in Christ with them that are His, is a very weak and delusive consolation. We should indeed maintain a union in heart with our dead, but in Christ the Lord; as those introduced into connection with the unimpaired Bible order of salvation and the kingdom, in which hope rests on a living faith in Christ, and holds out to every individual member the prospect of the higher stage of blessedness only in union with the entire body.—Comfort one another with these words; with that, which will cause the kindreds of the earth to wail.—Heubner: The gospel is the true book of consolation. Entering this sanctuary, we enter a quite different world. We learn that our own personal concerns are far from equalling in interest the holy concerns of the kingdom of God. We enter a circle of people, who, leaving all personal interests aside, only serve the Lord.—The consolation of the gospel consists in teaching us to save our life by giving it up for the Lord’s sake. In Him we find again also our loved ones, who are become members of Christ. (Concerning those who had no opportunity of learning the knowledge of Christ, comp. Apologetische Beiträge by Gess and Riggenbach, Basel, 1863, p. 168 sqq.; p. 234 sqq.)—Starke: Since in this vale of tears no one is wholly free from affliction, and we have frequent need of comfort and encouragement, every believer, even if not a teacher, should regard it as his Christian obligation to comfort others. One Christian ought to be the priest and comforter of another.—It is not said merely: You teachers or preachers, comfort the common people.
On the whole section: 1Th_4:13-18 is the Epistle for the 25th Sunday after Trinity. Heubner: The Christian revelation on the future life: 1. It gives us, a. a consolatory hope, which lifts us far above the hopelessness of such as are not Christians, because, b. it rests on the sure foundation of Christ’s death and resurrection, and therefore, c. embraces those who through all time belong to Christ. 2. It gives us, moreover, special disclosures, c. respecting the visible Advent, and revelation of the glory of Christ; c. respecting the manner of our participation therein, and thus opens to us, c. the richest source of consolation.
The same: The ground of the Christian’s comfort in the death of those he loves. Jesus the bond between the living and the dead.—Looking by faith toward the coming of the Lord helps us to look on our brethren with hallowed love.
The passages from Luther are taken from his sermons on this section, delivered by him on occasion of the death of the Electors Frederick and John, 1525 and 1532; see. Werke ed, Walch, xii. p. 2578 sqq.
Footnotes:
[43]1Th_4:13.—All the uncials [and all the recent editors] give θελόμεν instead of the Recepta θέλω.
[44]1Th_4:13.—A. B. Sin. give the rarer κοιμωμένων; the other majuscules, the more frequent κεκοιμημένων; only one manuscript of a late date has the aorist, as in 1Th_4:14-15. [κοιμωμἐνων=are falling asleep from time to time, comp. περιλειπόμενοι of 1Th_4:15; 1Th_4:17;—or simply, are sleeping; so Am. Bible Union, Alford, Ellicott. Alford quotes the epitaph: ερὸν ὕπλον κοιμᾶται—J. L.]
[45]1Th_4:13.—The subjunctive λυπῆσθε is given by B. Sin. and others; but λυπεῖσθε by A. and others. On ἵνα with the present indicative, see Winer, p. 259. Formerly all such places were corrected; at present we begin to recognize a carelessness in the later speech, the only question being, whether it shows itself as early as the Apostle’s time, or is chargeable on the copyists.
[46]1Th_4:13.—[καὶ οἱ λοιποί. The καὶ belongs to οἱ λοιποί as one member of the comparison, not, as might be inferred from our Common Version, to καθώς.—J. L.]
[47]1Th_4:14.—[ἀνέστη]. Only in a few instances out of a large number is ἀνίστημι. in our Version “to raise up again” “to rise up again.” Comp. 1Th_4:16; Rom_14:9; &c.—J. L.]
[48]1Th_4:14.—[οὕτως καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Revision: “The aorist here and at 1Th_4:15 implies a backward look from the time of the resurrection, when of each one of the departed it may be said, as of Stephen (Act_7:60): ἐκοιμήθη. Comp. also E. V. Act_13:36 and 2Pe_3:4.—For the connection of διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, see the, Exegetical Notes.—In this verse Sin.1 has ἐ περιλειπόμενοι, but this is corrected in Sin.2—J. L.]
[49]1Th_4:15.—[οὶ ζῶντες οὶ περιλειπόμενοι—comp. the temporal import of κοιμωμἐνων, 1Th_4:13, in Note 2 above. Here, in questionable, but convenient, modern English phrase: are being left over, as our brethren in Christ successively depart.—περιλειπ; in the New Testament only here.—J. L.]
[50]1Th_4:15.—[οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας. For the double negative, see E. V. Mat_5:18, and often elsewhere. German: durchaus nicht.—For the force of the aorist participle, see Note 6 above.—J. L.]
[51]1Th_4:16.—[These nouns are anarthrous in Greek; and the indefiniteness is just as allowable and as expressive in English.—Worthy of note also is the Greek arrangement of the whole clause: “Because the Lord Himself with a shout, with voice of archangel, and with trumpet of God, shall descend from heaven.”—J. L.]
[52]1Th_4:17.—[The same phrase as in 1Th_4:15 (though Sin. has here περιλιπόμενοι). See there Note 7.—J. L.]
[53]1Th_4:17.—[ἅμα σὺν αῦ̓τοῖυ ἀρπαγησόμεθα. Revision: “The direction is determined, not by the verb, but by εἰς.” Comp. Mat_13:19; Act_8:39; &c.—J. L.]
[54]1Th_4:17.—[ἐν νεφέλαις, as in Mar_13:26.—J. L.]
[55]1Th_4:17.—[Literally: unto meeting of the Lord; German, zur Begegnung des Herrn.—J. L.]
[56]1Th_4:17.—[εἰς ἀέρα—connected with ἀρπαγησόμεθα. Riggenbach follows the modern German versions in changing Luther’s in der Luft into in die Luft. And similarly Alford, Ellicott (the Commentary—to which, however, the Translation, as occasionally happens, is not conformed), Vaughan, &c.—J. L.]
[57][Alford, Ellicott, Webster and Wilkinson, agree with Lünemann; of course, without denying the lawfulness of such sorrow as is spoken of in Joh_11:35, Php_2:27, &c. They understand the Apostle to be thinking solely of a sorrow occasioned by the apprehension that death is in some way a calamity to believers, and that sorrow he forbids absolutely.—J. L.]
[58][Alford errs in making the bringing of departed saints—“their being raised when Jesus appears.” Their resurrection is implied in their being brought.—J. L.]
[59][Several, as Musculus, Aretius, Hammond, Tillotson, &c., unduly restrict the reference, as if martyrs only were meant: who fell asleep on account of Jesus, for Jesus1 sake. Others, as Michaelis, Scott, Barnes, Alford, Wordsworth, Ellicott, Vaughan, &c., make the idea to be that through Jesus the death of Christians is rightly accounted a sleep. Ellicott, however, allows that which of the two connections is the right one “must remain to the last an open question.” It is in favor of that with ἄξει, that both in the Bible, and in profane literature, classical is well as modern, the figure of sleep is used for death in general; and that the other connection would rather have had: τοῦς διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κοιμηθέντας. See my note in the Revision.—J. L.]
[60][Denn er selbst, der Herr;—so Riggenbach and others after Luther; but erroneously.—J. L.]
[61][Who connects with λέγομεν of 1Th_4:15.—J. L.]
[62] [And so Bishop Hall, Olshausen, Jowett, Alford, Ellicott. I do not perceive why this view should be reckoned “more plausible” (Ellicott) than the other. It might much rather be said to be inferior in martial precision and grandeur. See the note of Webster and Wilkinson. In favor of ascribing the κέλευσμα to the Lord Himself, they refer to the parallel of the delivery of the law, where, besides the ministry and voice of angels, the sound of the trumpet, and the fire, we have also the voice of God (Exo_19:16; Exo_19:18-19; Exo_20:18-19; Deu_4:12; Deu_4:15; Deu_4:33; Deu_5:4; Deu_5:22-26; &c.); likewise to Joh_5:28-29; Heb_12:19-20; Heb_12:25-27; Job_14:12-15; Psa_1:1-6; Mat_13:30; Mat_13:41; Mat_24:31. So Milton:
“The Son gave signal high,
To the bright minister that watch’d; he blew
His trumpet, heard in Oreb since perhaps
When God descended; and perhaps once more
To sound at general doom.” Par. L., B. 11—J. L.]
[63][auf—a useless variation, not justified here by the ἐπί, in a similar connection, of other texts.—J. L.]
[64][Of course, this is quite compatible with the previous idea, of a coming with Christ to judgment, and that the latter is a scriptural representation there can be no doubt; comp. Isa_32:1; Dan_7:9-10; Zec_14:5; 1Co_6:2-3; Rev_2:26-27; Rev_3:21; Rev_20:4; &c. It is also worth noting that, as I remarked in the Lectures, “there are only three other places in the New Testament where the phrase here translated to meet occurs; and in all of them (Mat_25:1; Mat_25:6; Act_28:15) the party met continues after the meeting to advance still in the direction in which he was moving previously.”—J. L.]
[65][Whereas Sin. agrees with A. C. F. G. πάντες μὲι κοιμηθησόμεθα, οὐ πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγ.—J. L.]
[66][Whatever is matter of duty is properly matter of precept; Eph_6:10; 1Th_5:16. Faith’s brightest triumph is amidst the tears and struggles of nature; Psa_23:4.—J. L.]
[67][A statement strangely erroneous in both its members. The Apostle expresses no horror whatever of death. His groans are forced from him, not so much even by the pressure of present suffering, as by the earnestness of his longing for the heavenly state. And still more objectionable is the reference to Gethsemane, in so far as it overlooks the supernatural elements in our Lord’s passion.—J. L.]
[68][It should not be hastily assumed that Mat_25:31-46 refers, at least exclusively, to the same process of judgment as Rev_20:11 sqq. See Bickersteth’s Practical Guide to the Prophecies, 17; Brooks’ Essays on the Advent and Kingdom of Christ, Part 2 Essay 4; Wood’s Last Things, 1 Thessalonians 3. Prop, 8—J. L.]
[69][And yet there can he no doubt that the ἔπειτα of 1Th_4:13 embraces the longer interval between Christ’s resurrection and that of his followers.—J. L.]
[70][The reference is to that in many respects remarkable body of Christians, which chooses to call itself the Catholic Apostolic Church. The other name of Irvingites they expressly disclaim as a misrepresentation at once of the origin and the spirit of the movement.—J. L.]
[71][The parallel would be more complete, if, as has sometimes been inferred from Mal_4:5-6 and Rev_19:7-8, as well as from the analogous work of John the Baptist before the first appearing of the Lord, the last generation of the Church is to witness a special work of preparation for the marriage-supper of the Lamb.—J. L.]
[72][This, it must be confessed, is nothing more than a somewhat venturesome gloss. I prefer the caution of the previous remark. See my Lectures on the Thessalonians, pp. 264–265.—J. L.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv13–18 The leading topic of Paul's preaching at Thessalonica having…
The leading topic of Paul's preaching at Thessalonica having been the coming kingdom (Act 17:7), some perverted it into a cause for fear in respect to friends lately deceased, as if these would be excluded from the glory which those found alive alone should share. This error Paul here corrects (compare Th1 5:10).
I would not--All the oldest manuscripts and versions have "we would not." My fellow labourers (Silas and Timothy) and myself desire that ye should not be ignorant.
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them which are asleep--The oldest manuscripts read present tense, "them which are sleeping"; the same as "the dead in Christ" (Th1 4:16), to whose bodies (Dan 12:2, not their souls; Ecc 12:7; Co2 5:8) death is a calm and holy sleep, from which the resurrection shall waken them to glory. The word "cemetery" means a sleeping-place. Observe, the glory and chief hope of the Church are not to be realized at death, but at the Lord's coming; one is not to anticipate the other, but all are to be glorified together at Christ's coming (Col 3:4; Heb 11:40). Death affects the mere individual; but the coming of Jesus the whole Church; at death our souls are invisibly and individually with the Lord; at Christ's coming the whole Church, with all its members, in body and soul, shall be visibly and collectively with Him. As this is offered as a consolation to mourning relatives, the mutual recognition of the saints at Christ's coming is hereby implied.
that ye sorrow not, even as others--Greek, "the rest"; all the rest of the world besides Christians. Not all natural mourning for dead friends is forbidden: for the Lord Jesus and Paul sinlessly gave way to it (Joh 11:31, Joh 11:33, Joh 11:35; Phi 2:27); but sorrow as though there were "no hope," which indeed the heathen had not (Eph 2:12): the Christian hope here meant is that of the resurrection. Psa 16:9, Psa 16:11; Psa 17:15; Psa 73:24; Pro 14:32, show that the Old Testament Church, though not having the hope so bright (Isa 38:18-19), yet had this hope. Contrast CATULLUS [Carmina 5.4], "When once our brief day has set, we must sleep one everlasting night." The sepulchral inscriptions of heathen Thessalonica express the hopeless view taken as to those once dead: as AESCHYLUS writes, "Of one once dead there is no resurrection." Whatever glimpses some heathen philosophers, had of the existence of the soul after death, they had none whatever of the body (Act 17:18, Act 17:20, Act 17:32).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13–18 3. Exhortation to composure in regard to lately deceased…
3. Exhortation to composure in regard to lately deceased brethren—since they will not be overlooked at Christ’s coming, 1Th_4:13-18.
13. But—This is the earliest written part of St. Paul’s apocalypse. See notes on 1 Corinthians 15. The commentator needs search for no occult connexion between this and the previous paragraph, for St. Paul here introduces an entirely new topic. It was suggested, we suppose, by information derived from Timothy, or some other comer from Thessalonica, of the state of feeling among some mourning Christians there who feared that their lately deceased Christian friends would lose their blessed share in the glorious advent of Christ.
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One is tempted to ask in surprise, Could it he that the apostle preached there more than three weeks, and gave glowing descriptions of the coming of Christ, (Act_17:2-4, and notes,) and never described the resurrection? Were those Thessalonians really ignorant of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead? Olshausen vainly supposes that they understood the final resurrection of all mankind, but feared that none but living Christians would share the glorious first resurrection one thousand years earlier than the final. But, first, There is no mention ever made by St.
Paul of two bodily resurrections, or of any intervening thousand-year period, nor any indication that he ever held any such doctrine. Second, It is difficult to conceive how they could have imagined any such first resurrection without including, what is held to be its very purpose and essence, the glory of all believers therein.
But it is not so easy to fix in the mind and memory of a series of miscellaneous audiences of pagan hearers an entire new system of Christian doctrine in a brief time. Some will hear a particular doctrine explained, others not. Some will remember; others not. So that important blanks will remain. And St. Paul preached to the living; and many would forget that the dead were concerned. And it is remarkable that some of the most vivid and extended descriptions of the last day in the New Testament omit the resurrection. Such is the case in our Lord’s great discourse in Matthew 24, 25. Such in 2Th_1:7-10. The resurrection, as Auberlen remarks, was a difficult thought for the Greek mind to take in. It is possible, also, that these doubting mourners were but a small part of the Church, and many of them even new converts from heathendom who had never heard St. Paul. We can easily conceive, therefore, that there should be those who feared that a scene like 2Th_1:7-10, might concern the living only, and not the dead.
Have… ignorant—Paul’s habitual formula in negative or positive shape of starting a new topic. “I would that ye knew.” Col_2:1. “I would not that ye should be ignorant.” 1Co_10:1. So 1Co_11:3, and Php_1:12.
Are asleep—More literally, “have fallen asleep,” as if alluding to the lately deceased. The idea of sleep is vividly impressed upon the imaginations of all persons who gaze upon the face and form of one lying in the stillness of death. This impression, however pertains properly only to the body, and the word in Scripture, authorizes no belief of “the sleep of the soul.” In fact, even in our natural sleep, the soul may be in one sense unsleeping. While the body is lying in perfect stillness, the mind may be roaming the world in dreams. And that striking fact has served to keep alive among barbarous tribes the belief in the separateness and immortality of spirit.
Sorrow not… as—He does not forbid sorrow, but would prevent that sorrow of despair rising from no hope of immortality.
No hope—In the most primitive ages the Egyptians retained, probably from original tradition, a vivid belief in a resurrection of the body. It was this belief that largely inspired the practice of embalming the body, as if thereby the resurrection would be facilitated. The mission of Moses seemed to be to draw out the doctrine of God and reconciliation with him by atonement for sin, and even the doctrine of immortality was left in the background. The earlier classic ages believed in Elysium and Tartarus. But as speculation grew powerful, tradition grew dim, and faith declined and left no hope. See notes, 1 Corinthians 15. Nothing in all poetry is more pathetic than the lines of the Greek Moschus, ending with “we shall sleep the long, limitless, unawakable slumber.” Theocritus says, “There are hopes in the living, but hopeless are the dead.” AEschylus, “Of the once dead there is no resurrection.” And the pagan epitaphs are often sentences of everlasting extinction. Says Mr. Withrow in his work on the Catacombs:
“Domus aeterna, an eternal home, and Somno aeternali, in eternal sleep, are written on their tombs, frequently accompanied by an inverted torch, the emblem of despair.” So also “Infanti dulcissimo quem Dii irati aeterno somno dederunt—To a very sweet child, whom the angry gods gave to eternal sleep.” And so, with a sad gayety, “While I lived, I lived well. My play is now ended, soon yours will be. Farewell and applaud me.”— Catacombs, pp. 435, 438.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–18 13. But I would not have you to be…
13. But I would not have you to be ignorant] True reading, we would not,—consistently with the first person plural (“Paul and Silas and Timothy”) in which the Epistle commenced (ch. 1Th_1:1). This impressive phrase (“would not—ignorant”) the Apostle employs, as in Rom_11:25 and elsewhere, to call attention to a new topic on which he is especially anxious to have a clear understanding with his readers.
concerning them that fall asleep (R. V.), or are falling asleep: are asleep (A.V.) represents a different and faulty Greek reading. The Greek participle is present, and denotes what is now going on. The Apostle had not been long absent from Thessalonica, and apparently this question had now arisen for the first time. There were members of the Church who were evidently dying; in some instances death had already supervened (1Th_4:14-15), in others it was impending. So vivid was the expectation of the Lord’s return, that this contingency had not been thought of till it arose; and it seemed as though these dying men would miss the great hope that had been so precious to them, of seeing Christ return to reign in His glory. The “brotherly love” which St Paul has just commended in the Thessalonians, would make this apprehension intensely painful.
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Death is “sleep” to the Christian. Occasionally it bears this title in pagan writers, but only by way of poetical figure. Jesus Christ made it the standing name for Death in the dialect of His Church (Luk_8:52; Joh_11:11, &c.). This expression indicates the restful (and perhaps restorative) effect of death to the child of God, and at the same time its temporary nature. The use of the word by our Lord in connection with the raising of Jairus’ daughter and of Lazarus brings out strikingly this latter truth. So the early Christians called their place of burial (in Greek) koimçtçrion (cemetery),—i.e. dormitory, sleeping-chamber.
that ye sorrow not, even as others] More precisely, in order that: the Apostle corrects the ignorance of his readers “in order” to remove their sorrow; he would give them “words” with which they may “encourage one another” (1Th_4:18).
Lit., as the rest: synonymous with “those without” (1Th_4:12), and occurring in the same sense in Eph_2:3; the expression has a note of sadness, as of those who are left to sorrow and darkness.
Even before Christ came and “brought life and immortality to light” (2Ti_1:10), the Church had attained hope in view of death. See the noble passage in the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom (c. 100 b.c.), ch. 1Th_3:1-4 : “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.… Their hope is full of immortality.” But of “the rest”—the unconverted Gentiles—it is sorrowfully added, which have no hope. Comp. Eph_2:12, “having no hope, and without God in the world.” Hopelessness was a prevalent feature of the world’s life at this time. The more enlightened and thoughtful a Greek or Roman citizen might be, the less belief he commonly had in any existence beyond death. See, e.g., the speeches of Cato and of Cæsar given in the Catiline of Sallust. The loss of Christian faith in modern times brings back the old Pagan despair, and throws over us again “the shadow of a starless night.” Amongst many sorrowful examples, the Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff, recently published, supplies one of the most touching. Dying at 24, with her splendid gifts wasted and hungry ambition unappeased, this Russian girl writes: “O to think that we live but once, and that life is so short! When I think of it I am like one possessed, and my brain seethes with despair!” Against this great sorrow of the world the word sleep, four times in this context applied to Christian death, is an abiding protest.
The specific hope which the Thessalonian Christians had embraced and which those they had left behind in heathenism were without, was “hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,” centring in the prospect of His glorious return from heaven (ch. 1Th_1:3; 1Th_1:10). This hope, the Apostle will show, belongs to all who are “in Him;” and the circumstance of their having fallen asleep before His coming makes no difference in this relationship. “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom_14:8; comp. ch. 1Th_5:10): to be “the Lord’s” is the essential thing.
We gather that it was not their personal resurrection, but their share in the parousia about which the Thessalonians were anxious on behalf of their departed friends. Probably they had sent enquiries to St Paul, through Timothy, upon the subject.
Section VI. The Coming of the Lord Jesus
Ch. 1Th_4:13 to 1Th_5:11
This solemn topic, as we have already seen (note on ch. 1Th_1:10, and Introd., pp. 18–21), is the principal theme of the Epistles to the Thessalonians. It is not treated by way of argument or indoctrination, but as a matter already familiar to the readers; on which, however, further explanation and admonition were needful. The Apostle’s teaching about this event had been on some points misunderstood, while new and anxious questions had arisen respecting it. Death had visited the Christian flock at Thessalonica since St Paul left them; and this had aroused in the survivors a painful fear lest those who were thus snatched away should have lost their place and their share in the approaching advent of Christ. This apprehension the Apostle proceeds to remove; and we may entitle the remaining verses of the chapter: Concerning them that fall asleep.
St Paul (1) bids his readers be assured of the safety of their departed fellow-believers, 1Th_4:13-14; and he makes the revelation (2) that these will have the first place in the assembling of the saints at Christ’s return, 1Th_4:15-17. He goes on to remind them (3) of the uncertainty of the time of His coming, ch. 1Th_5:1-3; and (4) exhorts them to be always ready for the event, like soldiers on guard and fully armed, 1Th_4:4-9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–18 (13) But.—We pass to the third clearly marked point:…
(13) But.—We pass to the third clearly marked point: the share of the Christian dead in the Coming of Christ. Possibly an association of ideas may have caused St. Paul to join these two subjects, of quietude and the Advent, so closely (see Note on 1Th_4:11). “You need have no distress about your dead: when Christ comes, they will be there too; they will come with Him, and we shall be caught up to meet them.”
I would not have you to be ignorant.—The right reading is we. St. Paul is still speaking in the name of his companions as well as his own. The phrase is very weighty, and marks how lamentable such a piece of ignorance would be. (See references in the margin.)
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Which are asleep.—The best reading is rather, which fall asleep; the grief renewed itself over each successive death-bed. The image of sleep is a mere metaphor, drawn from the outward phenomena of death, and is used as an euphemism for death; therefore no doctrine can be deduced with precision from it. It cannot be said (for instance; on the strength of such passages alone, that only the body sleeps, and not the soul; or, again, that the soul sleeps while the body remains in the grave. That the soul, or at any rate the spirit, still retains consciousness after dissolution is clear from other places; but when the metaphor of sleep is used, it is used of the whole man (e.g., Joh_11:11, “Lazarus”—not” Lazarus’ body”—“sleepeth”), the explanation being either that stated above—i.e., that the word is simply picturesque, describing the peaceful appearance of the dead—or that the reference is to rest from labour (Rev_14:13). At the same time, the metaphor suggests (otherwise it would be misleading, and St. Paul would not have used it) a continued (even if partly unconscious) existence, and the possibility of a reawakening: Again, for the same reason—i.e., because the word is metaphorical, not doctrinal—it cannot be limited to the Christian dead: when the writers need to mark specially the departed Christians they annex qualifying words, as in 1Th_4:14. Of course, on the mention of “the dead,” the Thessalonians will at once think of their own brethren departed, so that there is no ambiguity.
That ye sorrow not.—The words express St. Paul’s object in wishing them to know the truth. He wants them not to sorrow at all over the dead; sorrow is only fit for Gentiles who have no hope. He does not mean that they are not to sorrow to the same degree as those outside the Church, but that to Christians, who have a hope, and such a hope, death ought to have no sorrows. The Office of Burial in the Prayer-book is as joyous as the Eucharistic Office itself.
Others.—The Greek word is “the others, those who have no hope,” and includes all who were not members of the Church: “That ye mourn not like the rest, which have no hope.” The having no hope does not mean that there is no hope for them, but that they are not cheered by hope.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13–18 With this verse the apostle proceeds to another subject,…
With this verse the apostle proceeds to another subject, namely, to comfort those who were mourning the death of their friends. It would appear that the Thessalonians were in perplexity and distress concerning the fate of their deceased friends, fearing that these would miss those blessings which they expected Christ to confer at his advent. Their views of the time and nature of the advent and of the future state in general were confused. They expected that Christ would come immediately and establish his kingdom on earth; and consequently they feared that those who had died would be excluded from it. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren; a phrase often used by the apostle, when he makes a transition to new and important matters. (comp. Rom_1:13 Rom_11:25; 1Co_10:1 1Co_12:1; 2Co_1:8) Concerning them which are asleep; or, are fallen asleep. The death of believers in the New Testament is frequently called "sleep." "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth". (Joh_11:11) Of Stephen it is said that "he fell asleep". (Act_7:60) "Many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep". (1Co_11:30) "Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished". (1Co_15:18) "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed". (1Co_15:51) "He fell asleep" is a common epitaph on early Christian tombstones. It is to be observed that it is not of the dead generally that the apostle speaks, but of the dead in Christ, and especially of those members of the Thessalonian Church who had died. That ye sorrow not. Some suppose that sorrow for our deceased friends is here utterly prohibited; inasmuch as if we had a firm belief in their blessedness we would rejoice and not mourn. But the sorrow here prohibited is a despairing and an unbelieving sorrow; we are forbidden to sorrow as those who have no hope, no belief in a blessed resurrection. The tears of Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus have authorized and sanctified Christian sorrow. "Paul," observes Calvin, "lifts up the minds of believers to a consideration of the resurrection, lest they should indulge excessive grief on occasion of the death of their relatives, for it were unseemly that there should be no difference between them and unbelievers, who put no end or measure to their grief, for this reason, that in death they recognize nothing but destruction. Those that abuse this testimony so as to establish among Christians stoical indifference, that is, an iron hardness, will find nothing of this nature in Paul"s words." Even as others; literally, as the rest; namely, the heathen. Which have no hope; no hope of immortality beyond death, or no hope of the resurrection. The heathen, with very few exceptions, had no hope of a future life, and hence they mourned over the death of their friends as an irreparable loss. This disconsolate feeling is apparent in their writings (for examples, see Lunemann, Alford, and Jowett, in loco).
The death of friends.
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1. The Christians sorrow for the death of friends. All sorrow not here forbidden; only commanded not to sorrow as those who have no hope. The Christian sorrow is a submissive sorrow, which discerns the hand of God; a holy sorrow, which improves the affliction; a disinterested sorrow, which, whilst it mourns over the loss, is comforted at the thoughts of the happiness of the departed; an enlightened sorrow, which looks forward to the future, and regards our separation from our departed friends as being neither final nor complete.
2. The Christians improvement of the death of friends. It teaches us the vanity of the world, the power of religion, and the necessity of preparation for our own death. Sorrow for the dead.
The apostle next refers to the share of the Christian dead in the coming of Christ, respecting which some misapprehensions seem to have existed at Thessalonica.
I THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IS A CAUSE OF DEEP SORROW TO SURVIVORS. Such sorrow is instinctive, and is not forbidden by the gospel: for "Jesus wept" at the grave of Lazarus, and the friends of Stephen "made great lamentation over him." True religion does not destroy, but restrains, natural affections.
II THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHRISTIAN AND HEATHEN SORROW. That of the heathen is extravagant, because there is "no hope" in the death of their relatives. It is the sorrow of the world," which is utterly uncheered by hope. The sorrow of the Christian is sober, and chastened by the hope of the gospel.
III THE CAUSE OF THESSALONIAN SORROW.
1. It was not that there was a denial or doubt of the resurrection from the dead, such as existed at Corinth.
2. Nor was it that the resurrection was regarded as past already, according to the heresy of Hymenaeus and Philetus.
3. But it was that it was feared the Christian dead would not be raised to share with the living in the coming glories of the advent.
IV THE RESURRECTION HAS CHANGED DEATH INTO A SLEEP. "Those that are asleep.
1. There is nothing in the word to justify the idea of the souls unconsciousness in the period between death and resurrection.
2. Sleep implies an awaking. This will occur at the resurrection. Thus the hope of the Church is the hope of the resurrection.
V THE IMPORTANCE OF EXACT KNOWLEDGE RESPECTING THE FUTURE DESTINY OF THE SAINTS. "I would not have you ignorant." Ignorance of the truth mars our spiritual comfort. T.C.
Vers. 13-18.
The resurrection.
I COMFORT FOR THE SORROWING.
1. The dead in Christ sleep. The Lord Jesus Christ hath abolished death; he has changed it into sleep. "She is not dead, but sleepeth," he said of the little daughter of Jairus. The sting of death is sin, but the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. The Lord died and rose again. He died; he encountered the king of terrors in all his awful power; but by his death he hath abolished death to his saints. Stephen fell asleep under the crushing shower of stones. So is it with believers now; they are laid to sleep through Jesus. Through his atonement, through his loving care, through his gracious presence, death is but sleep to them. They die in the Lord; they rest from their labors. They are not unconscious; they do not "sleep idly," for they are blessed; they are "with the Lord, which is far better." Yet that quiet rest of the holy dead in Paradise is as a peaceful slumber compared with the entrancing joy of the glorious resurrection. Yes, they sleep; they have not yet attained unto that perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul which shall be theirs in God"s everlasting glory. There the redeemed of the Lord, perfected in strength and gladness, entranced in the contemplation of the beauty of the Lord, the beatific vision, need rest no longer. "They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." But now they rest. They are in peace; they are happy, for they are with Christ.
2. Therefore the Christians sorrow is full of hope. We must sorrow when our loved ones fall from our side. The Lord wept over the grave of Lazarus. Not to sorrow would be the hard stern temper of stoicism. The Christian sorrows over the grave, but it is a sorrow chastened by faith, cheered by hope. The heathen might envy the very flowers of the field. They die, indeed, but it is to spring up again with renewed life and beauty; while man, when he dieth, sleepeth on for ever a still, silent sleep; he waketh nevermore." Such was the wailing of the heathen poet. It is not so with the Christian. He finds comfort himself, he comforts others, with the blessed words of Holy Scripture. His sorrow is not hopeless, like that of the heathen: he looks for a happy meeting in that blessed place where there is "no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying.
3. That hope springs out of faith. We believe that Jesus died and rose again. The resurrection of Christ is the earnest of our resurrection. He is the Firstfruits, the First-begotten from the dead; they that are his shall follow him. The resurrection of Christ was one principal topic of the apostolic preaching; it is now one of the most precious articles of the Christian faith, the very center of our most cherished hopes. He was seen by many, by Mary Magdalene, by the other holy women, by the apostles, by more than five hundred brethren at once. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
II THE COMING OF THE LORD.
1. Its solemn accompaniments. He shall come, the Lord Jesus himself, with his holy angels. He shall descend from heaven with a shout. His voice will pierce through the universe; all they that are in the graves shall hear it. The trumpet shall sound. The voice of the trumpet, exceeding loud, filled the people of Israel with trembling at Mount Sinai. More awful by far will be the voice of the archangel and the trump of God that wakes the dead. What that trumpet may be we cannot tell; but sound it will, "for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord.
2. Its end and purpose. The dead in Christ shall rise first. They shall hear his voice, though they have lain in their graves, some of them, almost from the beginning. They shall come forth, and that first. Then follows the assumption of the living. Those who are found alive, who have not entered into the deep, quiet rest of Paradise, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We shall meet one another; we shall meet him; we shall be for ever with him. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
LESSONS.
1. Let sorrow in bereavement be Christian sorrow, softened by faith and hope.
2. The holy dead are at rest. Do not call them "poor;" they are blessed.
3. Let us strive to walk with God now, that we may be ever with the Lord. B.C.C.
Vers. 13-18.
Anxiety about the state of the Christian dead.
I STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN DEAD NO CAUSE FOR SORROW. "But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, which have no hope." Paul (the principal writer) sets himself here to administer consolation to the Thessalonians. In doing so he practices the duty he lays down in the concluding words of the paragraph. Himself in possession of comfort about the state of the Christian dead, he could not leave them in ignorance of it. As his Christian brethren, they must be sharers with him. Timothy had probably communicated to him the occasion of their anxiety. It was in the Thessalonian Church as in other Churches there were those who, from time to time, were falling asleep. The change in the translation extends the scope of the language beyond the actually dead. How did it fare with their dead, and how also would it fare with those whom death would yet overtake? Christians are distinguished from the rest of mankind. It is said of the latter as a class, that they sorrow having no hope. What did the men of the old heathen world think with regard to their dead? Theoeritus says, "The living have hopes, but the dead are without hope." Aeschylus says, "Of the once dead there is no resurrection." Lucretius says, "Nor does any one stand forth awaked, whom once the cold pause of life has found." Catullus says, "Suns may set and return; when once our brief day has set we must sleep one everlasting night." It is a sad thought that some modern thinkers have given expression to the same blank hopelessness. Strauss has said, "A life beyond the grave is the last enemy which speculative criticism has to oppose and, if possible, to conquer." The whole hope of John Stuart Mill was an earthly future, not for the individual, but for the race, created by science "when all the greater evils of life shall have been removed." If such were our creed, or want of creed, we might well sorrow when our friends have been taken away. Our only feeling could be that we had seen the last of them. Their memory might remain (John Stuart Mill, writing after the death of his wife, said, "Her memory is to me a religion"); but that cannot lift the gloom from the extinction of personal existence. Let no rude hand rob us of the comfort which our Christianity brings. It tells us here that we are not to sorrow for the state of our Christian dead. We may indeed sorrow for our being deprived of their earthly society. The Master himself gave relief to his nature in weeping, even in view of a speedy resurrection. Paul tells us that the removal of his friend Epaphroditus would have been to him sorrow upon sorrow. But, as for the state of our Christian dead, we are here told that they are fallen asleep. The description is in respect of the body, and contains three ideas.
1. Continued existence. A man continues to exist, though he is in a state of sleep. The body is still, but the mind may be active in dreams. And so, when the bodies of our Christian dead are in the stillness of the grave, there is no cessation of their existence. All doubt on this subject must be put to rest by the words of our Savior on the cross to the dying penitent at his side, "Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise." The souls of the departed are not in a state of sleep; but they are wakened up to a higher life.
2. Repose. In sleep we lose our hold upon the world; we forget its cares and pleasures; we are being calmed and soothed in our feelings. And so we are to think of our Christian dead as for ever released from the work and toil, the pain and sorrow, of this life, and as now calmed and soothed in the presence of God. "And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow with them.
3. Wakening. We think of sleep as followed by a waking. And so we are to think of a wakening for our Christian dead, though it may be after long years. They are awake now in respect of their souls; our fuller comfort is that they shall yet be awake in respect of those bodies which we have sorrowfully laid in the grave. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.
II REASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN DEAD BEING ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR LORD AT HIS COMING. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him." The apostle goes back to the cardinal facts of Christ"s death and resurrection. These are facts for which those who reject our continued existence after death have little respect; but they are dear to the Christian heart, and the more firmly our faith lays hold upon them, the more animated is our hope for our Christian dead. We believe that Jesus died; thus briefly does the apostle state the fundamental article of our Christian faith. "Such is the historical and supernatural basis of Christianity its very definition, its breath of life, the source from whence springs allits greatness, strength, and uniqueness." The apostle states the fact plainly, Jesus died," which is all the more observable that it is followed by a statement not plain but consolatory our Christian dead are fallen asleep. We believe in a God who, in infinite love, became man, that he might verily (not in semblance) die, and who was not less truly God than man when he was nailed to the cross. We believe in a God-Man who came under the broken Law, and endured death as the curse due for sin. And our faith follows him beyond his death. We believe that Jesus rose again. That is the second great article of our Christian faith. Having in his death made full atonement for sin, he could not be holden of death. He rose victoriously out of the state of insensibility and lifelessness in which his body lay in the tomb. He rose with the same body, but changed to a nobler quality. We further believe that he died and rose again, not for himself, but for those whom he represented. He experienced death and conquest as Jesus Savior, Leader of his people. United to him, his people are not to be separated from him in destiny. He is here associated with their death. They are laid to sleep by Jesus, as the preposition should be. There is called up the image of Jesus himself caring for his own when the life departs laying them to rest in the grave, and watching over them there with his omnipotent love. And, as he is associated with their death, so they are to be associated with his coming. Them that are laid to sleep by Jesus wilt God bring with Jesus. We are brought in view here of what distressed the Thessalonians. It was not a question simply of the resurrection; in that case the language would have been, "them will God raise up. " But we are carried a point beyond that, to their being brought as raised with Jesus. We may, therefore, understand that what distressed the Thessalonians was the bearing of the coming of Christ on them who did not live to see that event. Would they not stand at a great disadvantage? Would they have any share at all in his coming? Were they not to be sorrowed over as those who had missed the great object of their hope? For the relief of the Thessalonians Paul tells them this, to begin with, that the Christian dead are to be brought with Jesus. We are not to think of them as brought from heaven, for they are viewed in respect of their being in their graves. But we may think of them as joining their descending Lord, and brought with him to earth.
III REVELATION MADE TO PAUL THAT THE CHRISTIAN LIVING ARE NOT TO HAVE THE PRECEDENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN DEAD AT CHRIST"S COMING. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep." It is true that in all he says in this Epistle he is under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord. In what he is now to say he proceeds on a word of the Lord such as there is in the Epistles to the seven Churches. He was privileged to announce directly from the heavenly Christ what had hitherto been concealed. The heavenly Christ was so interested in the Thessalonians that he had given his servant this revelation for them. The apostle divides Christians into two classes that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord," and "they that are fallen asleep." He includes himself in the former class, and from this it has been very confidently inferred that he had a definite expectation of living unto the coming of Christ. But he includes, not only himself and Silas and Timothy, but also the Thessalonians, about whom he has said that there were those among them who from time to time were falling asleep. Did he, then, having a definite expectation for all, believe in all being saved from death by an immediate coming of Christ? Is it not more reasonable to suppose that he thought of the living and left as in a continual flux? This is borne out by the use of the present instead of the future who are for the present the living and left, who have no certainty that we will not remain unto the coming of Christ, but have also no certainty that another moment will not transfer us to the class of them that are fallen asleep." The revelation made to Paul related to a question of priority of time. It is strongly denied of the Christian living that they will come into the presence of the Lord at his coming before the Christian dead. This was further relief to the distressed Thessalonians. Their departed Christian friends would not only be brought with Jesus; it was also true that this bringing would not be deferred until after the Christian living had taken their places in nearer relation to their Lord.
IV GREAT DRAMA OF THE FUTURE. Here we are supplied more particularly with the contents of "the word of the Lord.
1. Prelude: The Lord descending in majesty. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." The central Figure is the Lord himself. He now sits enthroned in heaven, Lord over all. But he shall yet descend from heaven. There is thus confirmation of the announcement made by the heavenly visitants to the disciples gazing after their vanished Lord: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." We are left to think of the majesty of our descending Lord chiefly from the accompaniments of the descent. He shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump. The shout is such a shout of command as is given by a leader to his host. There are some who think of the shout of command as given by Christ. This is the view which is adopted by Milton in his conception of another scene.
The Son gave signal high To the bright minister that watched: he blew His trumpet, heard in Oreb since perhaps When God descended; and perhaps once more To sound at general doom.
There is this consideration which tells against that interpretation, that God has been introduced as bringing them that are asleep with Jesus. We are thus led to think of God as the Actor behind the scene, which is confirmed by the expression following trump of God." This makes it more natural to think of the accompaniments of the scene as arranged by God. Are we, then, to think of God as giving the shout of command? The objection to that view is, that the shout is represented not as preceding (as befitting God) but as accompanying the descent. It seems better, then, to think of the shout as given by the archangel in the Name of God, and as comprehending the two things which follow. First, the moment that the Lord descends from his heavenly throne, the archangel, apprised of what is to happen, marshals his innumerable host. The shout of command he gives in this case with the living voice the voice of the archangel. The angels are an orderly multitude. "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth" (with whom the idea of orderliness is not associated). We read of "twelve legions of angels." The angels are led by an archangel. We read in Scripture of the angel Gabriel, and also of the seven angels that stand before God, but only in another place of an archangel who is there named Michael. Our Lord prepared us himself for this glorious accompaniment of his coming: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him;" "When he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels;" "When he cometh in his own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels." Au army associated with royalty gives an impression of power and grandeur. So how mighty and glorious a Personage must he be, in whose honor all the legions of angels are marshaled! They are mighty angels, and holy angels, and especially are they in sympathy with the work of honoring Christ. As they sang over his birth on earth, so do they accompany him in his triumphal descent to earth, having this to rejoice their hearts, that they also are to share in the glorious consummation. The archangel, having marshaled his host to move in harmony with the descending Lord, at a subsequent stage is to give another shout of command, this time not with the living voice, but with the trumpet put into his hand by God. Milton thinks of the trumpet that was used "when God descended" in Horeb, calling the congregation of Israel, as being the same trump of God. Very vividly in 1Co 15. is it associated with the resurrection: "At the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound.
1. First act: Resurrection of the Christian dead. "And the dead in Christ shall rise first." "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." The trumpet is simply the instrument; it is the power of God, communicated through the trumpet, that raises the dead. A trumpet supposes a faculty of hearing; but this trump of God has miraculously to supply the faculty of hearing. The remains of our Christian friends which we lay in the grave soon mingle with the dust. They hear not any sound of earth that passes over them. But there is a trumpet-call, with Divine, all-penetrating power in it, that one day they shall hear in their graves, and hearing they shall start up as once they were, and yet how changed! It was beside the purpose of the revelation to bring into view the resurrection of others than Christians, or the nature of the resurrection-body. The Thessalonians were so taken up with the coming, that the resurrection was thrown out of view. It did not enter, or did but little enter, into their understanding of the last things. Therefore their attention is concentrated upon the simple fruitful fact of the resurrection. It meant the presence of their departed Christian friends in the body on the earth ready to meet Christ. And that all fear of their being anticipated might be removed, it is stated not only that the dead in Christ shall rise, but that they shall rise first, i.e. to say, they shall rise before the assumption of the Christian living. The Christian dead now in the resurrection-body, and the Christian
2. living, will be on the earth at the same time, equally ready for the approach of Christ.
3. Second act: Assumption of the Christian living. "Then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." The Christian living are to be swiftly, irresistibly caught up. This implies their transformation in their bodies. They are to be caught up at the same time with the Christian dead who have been raised. The two classes will form one great blessed company, between whom what distinguished them has passed away. How they will be marshaled does not appear. We do read of leading places being assigned to the twelve apostles. That they will be as orderly in their multitudinousness as the innumerable company of the angels, we do not doubt. Caught up in the enveloping upbearing clouds in one body, they are to meet their descending Lord with the marshaled army of angels in the air. As persons of distinction go forth to meet their prince, so they now, all of them glorified persons, are caught up to meet their Lord in his triumphal descent.
4. Finale: Perpetual enjoyment of the society of Christ. "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." There is a blank here, which it did not lie within the purpose of the revelation to have filled up. That the Lord actually descended to earth may be regarded as certain. The air was his pathway to earth. When it is said that the fallen asleep God will bring with Jesus, the meaning plainly is (taken in connection with the language which has just been used) that, joining our Lord in the air, they will be brought with him to earth. We may think of the earth as transformed, in preparation for the Lord"s coming. Some would interpose here a lengthened personal reign of Christ on earth with his saints. We are only on sure ground when we think of Christ as coming for judgment. "But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats." All that is here passed over, and we are presented simply with the final state of the two classes that have been united. "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." The meeting referred to shall be followed by no parting. It is Christ"s wish and promise that we should be with him. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." Christ has prayed to the Father that we should be with him. "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am." And when we have been brought into his presence, in spite of death and all opposing powers, separation will be impossible. As members, we must be with our Head; as loving, we must be with the great Object of our love. To be with the Lord is to be in the most favored position for the enjoyment of his love, for the comprehension of his mind, for the reception of his Spirit, for the accomplishment of his plans. To be with the Lord is also to be with that great and blessed company who shall be gathered round him, comprehending the eider sons of creation, the great and good of all ages, and those Christian friends we have "loved ere since and lost awhile." What is the position we shall be carried forward to through the course of eternal ages is more than tongue can tell, more than heart can conceive.
V MUTUAL COMFORTING. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." We might read "exhort one another." But in view of the sorrow of the Thessalonians we rightly read "comfort one another." We might even read "cheer one another;" for the words are not only of a comforting, but of an inspiriting nature. It is not Christian teachers, but Christians generally, who are addressed. Knowing what comfort is, let us not selfishly allow our Christian brethren to be ignorant of it. Even in our ordinary partings in the world there is an element of sadness that calls for comfort. As Shakespeare has it
So part we sadly in this troublous world To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem.
How thankful ought we to be that we are not in the position of those who have no hope; that we can tell those who have lost Christian friends of the sweet and cheering truth of Christ"s coming! It is sad to think of them sleeping in the dust of the earth; but, laid to sleep by Christ, then they shall awake. They shall rest and stand in their lot at the end of the days. They shall hear the resurrection-call, and stand in the body as once they stood upon this earth. They shall be present as witnesses and actors at the most glorious event the universe shall ever have seen. They, and we too, shall be borne up in the clouds to meet and welcome our descending Lord. And from that first united meeting of him in our embodied, completed state, we shall be forever with the Lord. R.F.
Vers. 13, 14.
Sorrow for the dead transfigured by the resurrection of Christ.
In the neighborhood of Thessalonica Salonica it is now called there may be seen at the present day ancient tombs on which are to be read inscriptions expressing hopeless regret for the dead. The Church addressed by St. Paul was a little community which had learnt to enjoy a strange, new view of the state and prospects of the departed, planted in the midst of a great pagan populace that held the melancholy sentiments of these epitaphs. Contrasting the Christians with "the rest" of the people, the apostle reminds them that they should not give way to the despairing sorrow that was natural to men who had no hope.
I OUTSIDE CHRISTIANITY SORROW FOR THE DEAD IS HOPELESS.
1. History and experience establish this fact. Pagan tombs everywhere express themselves with various degrees of despair, but never with cheerful hope. Nations like the Egyptians that had a firm faith in a future life can scarcely be said to have enjoyed any hopes respecting that life. A general dream of immortality pervades our race; but it is everywhere dim and cheerless. Many men at all times have broken away from it altogether, and have said with Catullus, "When once our brief day has set we must sleep one everlasting night.
2. Reasoning cannot conquer the common hopelessness of sorrow for the dead. The arguments outside Christianity may be divided into two classes:
(1) Naturalistic; e.g. from the nature of consciousness, from the indestructibility of all known existences, from the general instinct of immortality, from analogies of sleep, transformations of insects, succession of winter, spring, etc. Less and less weight is being ascribed to all such reasoning. It will not bear the strain of anxious doubt. The mourner turns his eyes in vain to nature for comfort.
(2) Theistic.
(a) In the wisdom of God. Man"s life being but imperfectly developed here, the Divine idea of humanity would be vain and futile without a larger world for realizing it.
(b) In the justice of God the necessity of a future judgment.
(c) In the goodness of God. A father would not mock his child by creating him so that he has a great hunger for a future which is unattainable. Nevertheless even these arguments do not satisfy, for who can venture to speak with assurance of the high counsels of the Almighty? and, moreover, they presuppose a knowledge of the character of God which only Christianity clearly furnishes.
II CHRISTIANITY DRAWS THE STING OF HOPELESSNESS FROM SORROW FOR THE DEAD.
1. It does not destroy that sorrow. To do so would be impossible. We must grieve at parting from those who are dear to us. Indeed it would be unhealthy for us entirely to conquer natural sorrow. We should have to conquer natural love first. A softening, subduing, purifying mission comes
2. with this grief, and is one of the best means of helping us to receive Christian truth.
3. But Christianity removes the sting from this sorrow by depriving it of hopelessness. The hope which St. Paul refers to is plainly the hope of receiving back those who have been taken from us by death. They are gone, but not gone forever. Every weary year as it passes bring us nearer to the happy reunion. The words of St. Paul plainly show that he believed in the mutual recognition of friends in the future life.
III THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST ARE THE SECRET OF THIS CHRISTIAN TRANSFIGURATION OF SORROW FOR THE DEAD.
1. The strongest argument to convince men generally of a future life is to be found in the resurrection of Christ taken in connection with his life and teaching. He spoke of judgment and of eternal life. He confirmed his words by rising from the dead. The confirmation is twofold.
(1) The resurrection is a Divine authentication of the claims and mission of Christ.
(2) It is an instance, a crucial test, a proof that a future life is possible.
2. For Christians the death and resurrection of Christ are grounds for enjoying the hope of a reunion of all the dead who die in the Lord.
(1) The triumph of Christ is here shown. Now, the object of his death and resurrection was to redeem the world. But this redemption would be vain if there were no resurrection. "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable." The resurrection of Christ proves that the object of his death was obtained, it must therefore be followed by the resurrection of his people in order that the redemption thus accomplished may be fully realized in them.
(2) The union of Christians with Christ secures their resurrection. His experience becomes the experience of his people, because he lives in them and they live in him. W.F.A. (1Co_15:22)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13–16 But I would not have you to be ignorant,…
1Th_4:13
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren
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Sorrow for the dead
Observe--
I.
That sorrow is a merciful relief to a soul bereaved. Sorrow is nowhere forbidden. It may be an infirmity; but it is at the same time a solace. The religion of the Bible does not destroy human passions. We do not part with our nature when we receive the grace of God. The mind that is capable of real sorrow is capable of good. A griefless nature can never be a joyous one.
II. That sorrow for the dead is aggravated by ignorance of their future destiny. The radius of hope is contracted or expanded in proportion to the character and extent of intelligence possessed. The heathen who have no satisfactory knowledge of the future life, give way to an excessive and hopeless grief. It was the dictum of an old Greek poet--a man once dead there is no revival; and these words indicated the dismal condition of unenlightened nature in all lands and ages. What an urgent argument for missions.
III. That sorrow for the dead in Christ is soothed and moderated by certain great truths concerning their blessedness.
1. That death is a sleep: i.e., to the body; as to the soul, it is the birth into a progressive life; a departure to be with Christ.
(1) Sleep is expressive of rest. When the toil of lifes long day is ended, the great and good Father draws the dark curtain of night and hushes his weary children to rest. They enter into rest.
(2) Sleep is expressive of refreshment. The body is laid in the grave, feeble, emaciated, worn out. Then a wonderful process goes on, perceptible only to the eye of God, by which the body acquires new strength and beauty, and becomes a fit instrument and suitable residence for the glorified soul.
(3) Sleep implies the expectation of awaking. We commit the bodies of the departed to the earth in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection.
2. That the dead in Christ will be roused from their holy slumber and share in the glory of His second advent. Will God bring with Him. The resurrection of the dead is a Divine work. I will redeem them from the power of the grave. Christ will own His people in their persons, their services, and their sufferings. They shall receive His approval, be welcomed and crowned by Him.
3. That the resurrection of Christ from the dead is a pledge of the restoration and future blessedness of all who sleep in Him. For if we believe, etc. Christ Himself is the Resurrection, not only as revealing and exemplifying it, but as effecting it (Joh_5:25; Joh_6:39). The Word of God sheds a light across the darkness of the grave, and opens a vista radiant with hope and immortal blessedness. A vital knowledge of Christ silences every murmur, and prepares for every emergency.
Lessons:
1. An ignorant sorrow is a hopeless one.
2. To rise with Jesus we must live and die to Him.
3. Divine revelations regarding the future life greatly moderate the grief of the present. (G. Barlow.)
Ignorance concerning the dead
Having given his converts golden counsel respecting the treatment of the living, both Christian and heathen, St. Paul turns abruptly in thought to the holy dead, and informs the Thessalonians how they ought to think concerning them which are asleep. His design was to comfort the bereaved. He does not say to them, as Jesus said to the widow of Nain, Weep not; but he will limit their grief, and have their tears to fall in the sunshine, like the raindrops which fall when the thunderstorm is over. Moderate grief is lawful; immoderate grief is sinful. But there are reasons for it, which we now examine.
I. It is as if the mourners had no hope concerning the holy dead. It is to act too much like the Gentiles, who have no hope of a better life after this; whereas we Christians, who have a most sure hope--the hope of eternal life after this, which God, who cannot lie, hath promised us--should moderate all our joys on account of any worldly thing. This hope is more than enough to balance all our griefs over any of the crosses of the present time.
II. It is the effect of ignorance concerning the holy dead. There are some things which we cannot but be ignorant of concerning them that are asleep; for the land they are removed to is a land of darkness, which we know but little of, and have no correspondence with. To go among the dead is to go among we know not whom, and to live we know not how. Death is an unknown thing, and of the state of the dead, or the state after death, we are much in the dark; yet there are some things anent them especially that die in the Lord that we need not, and ought not, to be ignorant of; and if these things are rightly understood and duly considered, they will be sufficient to allay our sorrow concerning them; namely--
1. The dead sleep in Jesus. They are fallen asleep in Christ. Death, therefore, doth not annihilate them. It is their rest, undisturbed rest. They have retired from this troublesome world, and thereby put an end to their labours and sorrows. Being still in union with Jesus, they sleep in His arms, and are under His special care and protection. Their souls are in His presence, and their dust is guarded by His omnipotence; so that they cannot be lost; nor are they losers, but infinite gainers by death; and their removal out of this world is into a better, even a heavenly one.
2. They shall be awaked out of their sleep, and raised up from their grave, for God will bring them with Jesus. They, then, are now with God, and are ineffably better where they are than they could possibly be down here. Through virtue of that union betwixt believers and Christ, it cometh to pass that whatever hath befallen Christ, as He is the Head of all believers, shall in Gods own time be verified in believers themselves, due proportion and distance being alway kept which is between Head and members; for He inferreth that we shall be raised because He arose, and this because of our union with Him. Hence the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are fundamental articles of the Christian religion, and give us golden hope of a joyful resurrection; for Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of them that sleep, and therefore, they who are fallen asleep in Him are not perished (1Co_15:18-20). His resurrection is a fall confirmation of all that is said in the gospel by Him who hath brought life and immortality to light. (D. Mayo.)
The state of departed saints
I. Collect the information which the passage offers of the state of the departed.
1. As to the body. Sin entered into the world and death by sin. But what was originally intended for a punishment is transformed into a blessing. Death is now, through the mercy of God, only the unrobing of a Christian before he retires to rest, and the short repose he takes while the Redeemer is making ready the eternal mansions to receive him. The figure of our text involves the idea of--
(1) Repose. The body in its present state of deterioration is incapable of enduring many years of active existence. It grows weary of its necessary exertions, and requires its exhaustion to be repaired by rest. To die is to terminate the conflict, finish the race, reach the goal, and then, as a successful competitor, having gained the prize, to retire from the scene of competition.
(2) Security. It is to sleep in Jesus. His eye watches their bed, and His arm protects it. The bodies of the saints belong to Christ not less than their souls by redemption (Joh_6:39). Death consequently is not annihilation,
(3) Hope. Christ is rosen and become the first fruits of them that sleep. The sleep of death implies waking on the morning of the resurrection.
2. As to the soul. Reason asks many questions which revelation does not answer; but all that it is necessary or beneficial to know the Bible declares. Sleep does not apply to the soul, for the soul never sleeps, and there is not a text which lends a sanction to the doctrine that the soul shares the death of the body. When the body returns into the dust, the spirit returns to God who gave it. Death is rather the arousing of the soul from her drowsiness into heavenly vitality. Dives and Lazarus were both conscious immediately after death; and Paul desired death because it was to be with Christ. In what part of the universe the departed dwell we know not; but it is sufficient to know that they are with Christ.
3. As to the ultimate glory awaiting both. If we believe, etc. The period of Christs coming is that to which all Scripture points, all Providence tends, and all time conducts. The saints will be brought to judgment, but, unlike the wicked--
(1) For acceptance and reward.
(2) To be the crown of the ministers rejoicing.
(3) To swell and share the triumph of the Redeemer.
II. Enforce the topics of instruction and comfort the text suggests.
1. It ascertains what is the character in which we must die to be made partakers of this glory. Those only who fall asleep in Jesus, which implies being in Him before they fall asleep. Scripture carefully distinguishes between those who die in the Lord and the common dead.
2. It exhibits the death and resurrection of Christ as of infinite importance. All the hopes we entertain of a joyful resurrection are built upon them.
3. It suggests the only adequate source of consolation under bereavements (1Th_4:18). (E. Steane, D. D.)
Reasons for comfort concerning them that die in the Lord
Of whom does the apostle here speak? Of them that sleep in Jesus.
1. To term death sleep was usual with the inspired writers (Psa_76:5; Dan_12:2; 1Co_11:30; 1Co_15:51; 1Th_5:10). The figure is appropriate, for in sleep the senses are locked up, the members are motionless, we rest on our beds (Isa_57:2) from toil and pain, and awake (Dan_12:2); so in death.
2. It is not, however, of all who die that the apostle speaks (Rev_14:13). Those who die in the Lord are first in Him, not by being baptized and professing Christianity, not by merely attending ordinances, not by moral blamelessness, not by orthodox opinions, but by faith in Christ. This faith secures freedom from condemnation (Rom_8:1); a new creation (2Co_5:17; Gal_6:15); obedience (Joh_14:21), in which obedience we must persevere if we would sleep in Jesus.
II. What are the things concerning such of which we ought not to be ignorant?
1. That being in Him, they belong to Him, and are precious in His sight. He is their God; their Shepherd who knows, acknowledges, and takes care of them (Joh_10:14-15; Joh_10:27-29): they are His disciples, His family, His spouse, His members. Hence not only in life but in death they are precious to Him (Psa_116:15). For this, like all other things, is under the direction of His providence, and shall promote their good.
2. That as He is not the God, the Shepherd, etc., of the dead, but of the living, they shall not die, but only sleep, and shall certainly awake (Dan_12:2; Isa_26:19; Joh_5:25-29; Rom_8:10), and be most gloriously changed (Php_3:21). Of all this Christs resurrection is an assurance. This sleep is not insensibility: for the soul does not sleep even here, much less when disunited from the body.
3. That death is gain, having many advantages over life--freedom from labour, care, temptation, sin, sickness, death, and presence with Christ and saints and angels.
4. That we shall meet our departed friends again, and know them, and be with them and the Lord forever (1Th_4:14-18).
III. The end for which we ought not to be ignorant of these things.
1. That we sorrow not as those who have no hope. Sorrow we may and must. Grace was not meant to destroy but to regulate our affections. Nay, not to mourn would be sinful and lamentable (Isa_57:1; Jer_22:18-19). But we must not sorrow as heathen or unbelievers.
2. Moreover, sorrow is needless--
(1) On their account, for theirs is not loss, except of things which it is desirable to lose, but gain.
(2) On our own account, for the loss is but momentary (Heb_11:10). (J. Benson.)
Consolation for the bereaved
I. It has pleased God to subject the righteous as well as the wicked to the dominion of death. In their death we see--
1. The offensive character of sin in the sight of God.
2. The power and sufficiency of Divine grace.
3. Instruction for the righteous in the certainty of their death. They are admonished--
(1) To be diligent in doing good.
(2) To be patient in suffering.
(3) To improve their sacred privileges.
II. Sorrow for the death of the righteous is not inconsistent with piety. It is allowable--
1. As an expression of nature and friendship.
2. As a tribute due to excellency of heart.
3. As an acknowledgment of the loss sustained by their removal--
(1) To society;
(2) to the Church;
(3) to the world. (W. Naylor.)
The coming of the Lord
I. In relation to the dead in christ (1Th_4:13).
1. Intelligence concerning this relation important.
(1) Because of its bearing upon the resurrection of believers.
(2) Because ignorance on this subject cast the Thessalonians into deep sorrow in respect to their departed friends.
2. Intelligence concerning this relation an all-sufficient consolation (1Th_4:14).
(1) Because Christs resurrection ensures the resurrection of His saints.
(2) Because of the inseparable relation between Christ and all His followers in His glory (1Th_4:14; Col_3:4).
II. In relation to the living saints (1Th_4:15; 1Th_4:17).
1. The living saints will be glorified, together with the resurrected ones (1Th_4:17; 1Co_15:51-52).
2. The change of the living saints into their glorified state shall not precede the resurrection of the dead in Christ (1Th_4:15).
III. In its accompaniments (1Th_4:16; Act_1:11).
1. Christ will come in person.
2. Christ will come in person and in great glory (Mat_24:30; 2Th_1:7-12).
IV. In the encouragement it should afford believers (1Th_4:18).
1. In the case of the Thessalonians this was peculiarly necessary.
2. Is not this exhortation now timely?
V. Practical lessons.
1. The importance and glory of the coming of the Lord demand more earnest study than is now generally given (Col_3:4).
2. Christians should so live that they may be ready at any time to enter, into the presence of the Lord. (Preachers Monthly.)
The second coming
I. The coming of the Lord (1Th_4:13-18). What was that coming; when it would take place; the attending circumstances; why it was so earnestly looked for; and the comfort they found in it.
II. How we should live in view of this coming (1Th_4:1-8). Watch; be sober; be wakeful; be armed; be ready; be hopeful. (Christian Age.)
Concerning them which are asleep--
The Christian view of death
I. The transformation of death.
1. From all the ancient heathen, and even, in part, from the Jewish world, there was a loud wailing of the bodies of the departed as over an utter ruin of life. Christianity teaches us that the dead are only asleep, and therefore in Christian grief there is no excess or despair. There is in this a whole revolution of the faith and hope of the world. The ideas of destruction, loss, unconsciousness, King of Terrors, cruel mower, prison keeper are gone. There is an evening of life as well as a morning. Man goeth forth unto his labour until the evening, and so He giveth His beloved sleep.
2. There has been much perplexity through forgetfulness of what sleep is. Men do not cease to live in sleep. It is only the suspension of direct relations with the sensible; a temporary change from which much advantage is derived. Death is sleep--
(1) as it is a cessation of conditions and escape from circumstances which waste power and wear and tire faculty. The wicked cease from troubling, etc. They rest from their labours.
(2) As there is in it the gain of fresh power for future use. So far from suspending spiritual power, the change in our dependence upon the sensible and material increases and intensifies it. This is proved from dreams; and so is it in the thing signified.
(3) As its separations are to be followed by the resumption of holy fellowship--as its evening withdrawal is to be followed by a morning return.
II. Consequent on this transformation there is a change in the feeling of the believer regarding death. We sorrow not, etc. The wail of the heathen was a wail of despair; and the wail of the Hebrew saints, under the light of their imperfect economy, was often heart breaking. And there is much bitter grief in Christian homes arising partly from yielding to the susceptibilities, and partly from ignorance. But it is benumbing to faith, and dishonouring to the Lord of Life. But there is a natural human emotion tempered and directed by the light and grace of the Gospel. Sorrow is natures tribute to her own weakness and dependence. When Jesus wept He sanctified our griefs. Christianity puts no undue strain on our nature. We may weep for our selves, but it is not to be absorbing, and is not to be wasted upon those who are present with the Lord.
III. The glad anticipations which Christians are encouraged to cherish. Mark--
1. Its glorious and stable foundation of fact. What Jesus did and suffered is the ground of a new future for humanity. Despair died when He died, and hope was born when He rose. Because I live ye shall live also.
2. Complete resurrection glory and escape from helps power. It is impossible to fully explore the abundance of this revelation given by the Word of the Lord. It was given to meet the actual need of those who mourned that through death their friends would be excluded from the triumph of Christs second coming. The living will not take precedence, for the dead in Christ shall rise first.
3. The reunion of the dead and living with each other and the Lord (1Th_4:17).
Conclusion;
1. What an attraction the glad and certain future should have for Christian hearts.
2. How glad and calm should our hearts be in anticipation of that future. (W. H. Davison.)
The sleep of the faithful departed
One great miracle in the new creation of God is that death is changed to sleep; and therefore in the New Testament we do not read of the death of the saints (see Joh_11:11; Mat_27:52; 1Co_15:51; Act_7:60; Act_13:36). Christians were wont to call their burial grounds cemeteries, or sleeping places, where they laid up their beloved ones to sleep on and take their rest.
1. We know that they shall wake up again. What sleep is to waking, death is to the resurrection--a prelude, a transitory state, ushering in a mightier power of life.
2. They whom men call dead do really live unto God. They were dead while they lived this dying life on earth, and dead when they were in the last avenues of death. But after they had once died death had no more dominion: they escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; the snare was broken and they were delivered. Once dead, once dissolved, the unclothed spirit is beyond the power of decay. There is no weakness, nor weariness, nor wasting away, nor wandering of the burdened spirit; it is disenthralled, and lives its own life, unmingled and buoyant.
3. Those whom the world calls dead are sleeping, because they are taking their rest (Rev_14:13). Not as the heretics of old vainly and coldly dreamed, as if they slept without thought or stir of consciousness from the hour of death to the morning of the resurrection. Their rest is not the rest of a stone, cold and lifeless; but of wearied humanity. They rest from their labours; they have no more persecution, nor stoning, nor scourging, nor crucifying; no more martyrdoms by fire, or the wheel, or barbed shafts; they have no more false witness nor cutting tongues; no more bitterness of heart, nor iron entering into the soul; no more burdens of wrong, nor amazement, nor perplexity. They rest, too, from the weight of the body of our humiliation--from its sufferings and pains. They rest also from their warfare against sin and Satan. Above all, they rest from the buffetings of evil in themselves. The sin that dwelt in them died when through death they began to live. The unimpeded soul puts forth its newborn life as a tree in a kindly soil invited by a gentle sky: all that checked it is passed away, all that draws it into ripeness bathes it with fostering power. The Refiner shall perfect His work upon them, cleansing them sevenfold, even as gold seven times tried; and all the taint and bias of their spiritual being shall be detached and corrected. Theirs is a bliss only less perfect than the glory of His kingdom when the new creation shall be accomplished.
Lessons:
1. We ought to mourn rather for the living than for the dead, for they have to die, and death is terrible.
2. It is life, rather than death, that we ought to fear. For life and all that it contains--thought, and speech, and deed, and will--is a deeper and more awful mystery. In life is the warfare of good and ill, the hour and power of darkness, the lures and assaults of the wicked one. Here is no rest, shelter, safety. Wherefore let us fear life, and we shall not be afraid to die. For in the new creation of God death walks harmless. (Archdeacon Manning.)
The sleep of the faithful departed
It seems a strange opinion, entertained by some, that the souls of the faithful during the interval between death and the resurrection are in a profound sleep and devoid of all power of perception. This opinion appears to be grounded upon such expressions as to fall asleep in Jesus, a phrase which probably represents nothing more than the well-known resemblance between the appearances of death and of its cousin sleep--the eyelids closed in darkness, the face in calm repose, the voice hushed in silence. How could St. Paul (Php_1:23) think it better for him--yea, far better--to depart from the body than to remain in it, if on his departure from the body he should sink into the lethargy of an unconscious sleep? Is it not better to have the use of our reasoning faculty than to he deprived of it? Is it not better to praise God in the land of the living than to be in a state in which we can have no knowledge of God at all, nor any capacity of praising Him? Besides, the apostle does not express a desire to die, merely that he may be at rest and freed from persecutions and the anxieties of his apostolic office, but chiefly or solely with this object--that he may be with Christ. Now, surely we are more with Christ while we abide in the flesh than when we depart from it, if, when we have departed this life, we have no perception of Christ at all. In 2Co_12:2-4 St. Paul speaks of visions and revelations of the Lord, which he had seen and heard in the third heaven and in Paradise; whether he was then in the body or out of the body, he professes ignorance: he could not tell: God knew. But the inference is obvious, that of the two alternatives he thought one quite as likely as the other; that neither of them was impossible or unreasonable, and therefore that the soul when it is out of the body is as capable of seeing and of hearing as when it is in the body. From what the same apostle says in 2Co_5:8, we may argue that as absence implies separation, so presence implies conjunction. But surely there is no need of this argument; the very phrase to be present with the Lord intimates a consciousness of that presence. In addition, is there not much weight in the consideration that in the state of separation from the body our souls have the same condition that the soul of Christ then had, because He took upon Him all our nature; and it is certain that His soul, during its separation, neither slumbered nor slept, but visited the souls of the fathers and preached the gospel to the prisoners of hope (1Pe_3:18-20). These several considerations all tend to one conclusion--that the death of the body is by no means the sleep of the soul. How, indeed, the spirits of departed saints are employed is not recorded. We are told that they rest from their labours; but the rest here specified means a refreshment, a delightful repose from earthly trials and troubles; it does not exclude a blissful activity in a new and heavenly sphere. St. Paul speaks of visions and revelations and angelic utterances transcending all human utterance. That departed saints in their new home are in the saving Presence seems certain; that they are therefore blessed is equally certain. But in what their blessedness consists is known to God and it is known to themselves. (Canon T. S. Evans, D. D.)
Christ died that saints might sleep in death
In Scripture, the book of life, the death of the saints is called a sleep. It is observable how the apostle varies the expression--Jesus died, and the saints sleep in Him; He sustained death with all its terrors, that it might be a calm sleep to His people. They enjoy so perfect a rest in the beds of dust as even in the softest down. (W. Bates, D. D.)
Death a sleep
I. For whom death is so mitigated and softened as to be represented as a state of sleep? Those who believe in and are thus spiritually united to Christ. To these death is softened because Christ has died, and thus deprived death of its sting by being pierced with it, and because Christ has risen, robbing death of its terrors by spoiling its principalities and powers. There is, therefore, nothing in it now to fear.
II. What illustration does this representation afford as to the condition of the departed? It is not designed to represent it as a state of unconsciousness, as some affirm. Apart from philosophical reflections this is refuted by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, by the promise of Christ to the dying thief, and by Pauls confidence in and desire for the gain of dying and being with Christ. The figure illustrates--
1. The repose of the saints. We know that Tired natures sweet restorer, balmy sleep, is a season of quiet repose, when faculties which have been wearied and worn by exertion are at ease and at rest. Death to the believer is as the beginning of repose after the labour of the day (Joh_11:9-11).
(1) Life is a day of toil. We walk, run, plant, sow, reap, watch, wrestle, fight, etc. Ours is a hard, toilsome course. The task of resisting indwelling sin, of enduring affliction, bearing the obloquy of the ungodly, contending against the powers of darkness, of acquiring the attainment of Christian character, and of extending Christs kingdom--these constitute a work which we are to do with all our might.
(2) When we have finished, as hirelings, our day, the body rests in the grave, the soul in the paradise of God. Are we labourers? Then we leave the field and lay down our tools. Are we travellers? Then we terminate our long and wearisome journey and cross the threshold of our Fathers mansion. Are we soldiers? Then we take off our armour. Are we mariners? Then we heave over the last ocean billow and enter into the desired haven. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, and how sweet is the slumber of those who rest in Jesus!
2. Their security. The season of slumber is assumed to be the season of security; and no man in ordinary cases would commit himself to the one unless he could calculate on the other. The Christian would not be at rest if he were not secure.
(1) When the time has come for his spirit to enter into immortality it is safe forever. They are with Christ, and you might as well talk about His insecurity as theirs.
(2) The body also is safe, for it also has been redeemed. The dust of every Christian is sacred; it may be scattered, but Christ watches it and protects it.
3. Their prospect of restoration. When men lie down to sleep it is with the prospect of waking again in recruited vigour. So the resurrection of the saints will--
(1) Invest their bodies with ineffable dignity and splendour.
(2) Communicate higher and more ecstatic pleasures to the soul.
III. What influence should these representations produce on the living?
1. We ought not to indulge excessive grief on account of those Christian friends whom it has been, or whom it may yet be, our lot to lose.
2. It becomes us as Christians not to dread the arrival of death for ourselves. Do you tremble when, at the hour of midnight, you go to the couch of repose?
3. It should impress upon us the propriety of desiring the same consolations for ourselves. (J. Parsons.)
Death a sleep
The death of the Christian may be so called because of--
I. Its peaceful nature.
1. He lies down to die calmly as the tired labourer to take his nightly rest: not like the man who dreads the hour of rest because of the recollection of sleepless nights.
2. The approach of death is often silent and soft as the approach of sleep. As the weary man sinks imperceptibly into a state of slumber, so the Christian sometimes without a struggle passes into Gods presence. It is like the sinking of day into night, or more properly the rising of the night into day.
II. Its attactiveness. How the labourer, toiling beneath a burning sun, will sometimes long for the shades of evening when he may stretch his tired limbs! So does the Christian, only with an intenser longing, look for his sleep. Not that earth is without its attractions; but it is the place of his exile, strife, pilgrimage. Ponder is his home radiant with immortal glory, and thronged with bright multitudes, and death is attractive because it is the vestibule to that.
III. It is to be followed by an awakening. The heathen might have no hope of a resurrection. Their poets might bewail the fleetingness of life and the unknown condition of the dead. Even the Jew might see but dimly the shadow of the resurrection. But to the Christian it is the object of sure and certain hope. We are apt to speak of the dead as lost; but that they cannot be, as they are under Christs care. They sleep only till He bids them wake.
IV. Its repose. It is that state of rest which remaineth for the people of God. Lifes fitful fever is over: they sleep well. Death is not a state of unconsciousness; the very figure of sleep forbids that. They rest from--
1. Their labours: all that makes work laborious will then be unknown. Work they will, but in congenial employment and with unweariable faculties.
2. From persecution, false witness, wrong, disappointment, etc.
3. From pain, mental and physical.
4. From warfare against sin. Satan and the world can tempt no more.
5. From the buffetings of evil in themselves.
V. Its refreshment. The difference between the labourer who rises in the morning refreshed by the nights repose but faintly shadows forth the difference between the wearied wasted body which sinks into the grave and the renovated body, blooming with immortal youth, exempt from infirmities, endowed with unknown strength which shall come forth on the morning of the resurrection. Conclusion: The subject should lead us--
1. To moderate our grief over the loss of those friends who sleep in Jesus. When they so sleep we have no mourning as regards them.
2. To contemplate death with much less fear and aversion.
3. To devote ourselves with increased earnestness to our present labour.
4. But there are some to whom death is a very different kind of sleep. The poet says, To die, to sleep. To sleep! perchance to dream! Ay, theres the rub. The sleep of the ungodly is disturbed by fearful dreams--nay, realities, from which there is no escape but by being in Christ now. (W. Landells, D. D.)
Sleeping in Jesus
Unbelief in immortality existed generally before the Christian era. About that time implicit belief in the after life became a conviction with multitudes. We ask any unbeliever to account for that. What produced this result? There is no effect without a cause. Was there not some grand event that gave the truth that we are immortal such vital power that even the lowly, the poor, the humblest--not the learned, not the philosophers only--became thoroughly convinced of it? Walk through the Roman catacombs; mark the difference there is between the epitaphs of the Epicureans on the one side, and the Christians on the other. One of the Roman tombs has this inscription, While I lived, I lived well--my play is now ended, soon yours will be;--farewell, and applaud me. Another says, Baths, wine, and love ruin the constitution, but they make life what it is--farewell. Then comes the tender stroke of a mothers grief--O relentless fortune, that delights in cruel death, why is Maximus so early snatched from me? Then turn and see the epitaphs of the early Christians--Zoticus laid here to sleep. The sleeping place in Christ of Elipis. Yaleria sleeps in peace. Is not that an echo of those wonderful words that were uttered at the tomb of Lazarus: He is not dead, but sleepeth, or, when He said of the rulers daughter, The maid is not dead, but sleepeth? Is not that an echo of that wonderful teaching of Christ that death is sleep--that the cemetery is what the word literally means, a sleeping place? What can have brought about such a change in the world? Intuition failed utterly to do more than faintly discern that such a thing as immortality might be. Philosophical reasoning produced nothing but Epicurean carelessness and Stoical contempt for death. But here we see a poor mother lay down her daughter, slain it may be by the arrows of persecution, but she says, She sleeps in Jesus. It is sleep that knows an awaking, a short night that breaks into a glorious morning. Immortality is not now a dubious opinion, it is positive conviction. Whence comes it? Only from Christ. His life, His death, and especially His resurrection unfold it with marvellous clearness.
Sleeping in Jesus
I. Those who sleep in Jesus die confining in his protection. We all know how pleasantly one goes to sleep when he enjoys the friendship, and can confide in the protection of those about him. In such circumstances the mind is unbent, the spirit soothed and tranquillized, and we give ourselves up to rest with peculiar confidence and satisfaction. We know that however profoundly we may slumber, however completely we may be wrapped in insensibility, our safety will be secured. As a familiar illustration, place a child in the arms of a stranger, and however inclined to sleep it may have been before, it becomes instantly aroused; discomposed and terrified, it cannot trust itself to sleep in such a situation. But transfer it to the arms of its mother; let it lay its head on the familiar bosom, and feel itself under the reassuring smile of maternal tenderness, and ere long its fears subside, and its eyes calmly close in the consciousness of safety. We are all children thus when we come to die. Every child of God has a long sleep to take. When the short wintry day of life is over, the night of death closes in and darkens around us. But the Christian knows with whom he is to take his rest: he falls asleep in Jesus. He is not in the hands of strangers, whose dubious character and unknown intentions might fill him with alarm, but in the sweet custody of a fast and faithful friend. He has long trusted his soul to Jesus, and now, in the hour of death, he is not afraid to trust his body to Him. He may not depart singing a song of victory; but as he has lived by faith, and not by sense, so now he dies in faith.
II. Those who sleep in Jesus enter into a state of perfect repose. There is something revolting to nature in the associations of the house appointed for all living; but the grave wears no aspect of gloom or horror to the believer in Christ Jesus. To him it is simply the tabernacle for a night of that flesh in which, at the latter day, he shall see God; a tabernacle, moreover, endeared and hallowed by the fact that his Redeemer occupied it before him:. There laid they Jesus; and though the sepulchre did not permanently retain Him, He was yet long enough its tenant to strip it of every gloomy association--to season it, if we may so speak, and render it a sweet and grateful resting place for the dust of his sleeping saints. When the Christian is laid in the grave he is consigned to consecrated ground; he occupies the place where the Lord lay; and the marshalled hosts of heaven are the guardians of his rest. But where is his soul while his body thus rests in sacred and dignified repose? Absent from the body, it is present with the Lord.
III. Those who sleep in Jesus rest in hope of a joyful resurrection. When a man of sound body and mind retires to rest with a good conscience, and with his heart full of a great event which on the morrow is to crown him with honour and happiness, how light and airy his slumbers are! how vivid and lifelike the pictures which his buoyant fancy paints for him of the joys which await his waking! Thus it is, so far as the illustration is apt and adequate, with the man who sleeps in Jesus. He commits himself to the grave full of glorious anticipations; and exulting in the assurance, that as certainly as morning succeeds night in the natural world, so the morning of resurrection shall succeed the night of the grave; and then this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality. It is this glorious prospect, set before the saint in the act of dying, and contemplated by his living spirit after death, that lights up the darkness of the narrow house, and reconciles immortal man to his present mortal destiny. He fixes his eye upon this, till his soul realizes it in all its interest and grandeur, and with his heart swelling with triumph and overflowing with joy, he exclaims--I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God! (J. Young, D. D.)
The sleep of death
Slept in the New Testament is a word sacred to the dying of the righteous; hence that sweet inscription found upon hundreds of slabs in the Christian catacombs of Rome, Dormit, he sleeps; while on Pagan monuments of the same age, spared as if on purpose to furnish a contrast, we read again and again the rebellious and plaintive inscription, Abreptas, snatched away. In the one case a violent disruption of the tenderest ties, in the other a slumber falling as softly as the evening dew. (R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.)
The soul does not steep in death
When a person is asleep what is it that rests? It is simply the muscles and the nerves and the wearied limbs; the heart goes on beating, the lungs respiring and expiring; and what is remarkable in sleep, the soul never sleeps at all. It seems that when one is asleep, the soul often travels to far distant lands, or sails upon the bosom of the deep, amid the blue hills and green glens of other parts of the land; exploring, thinking, searching, studying. The soul is never literally dead (though it may sometimes forget) to every thought and object, to all that enters by the avenues of the senses. If sleep be the metaphor of death, it does not prove that the soul is insensible, but only that the body, the outward garment only, having been worn and wasted in the wear and toil of this present life, is folded up and laid aside in that wardrobe--the grave--a grave as truly in the keeping of the Son of God as are the angels of the skies and the cherubim in glory. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
Pilgrims at rest
Our first thoughts have to do with the difference between the living and the dead.
1. In being. There is a natural body and a spiritual body. We shall never be without a vehicle, a covering. Paul speaks about being clothed upon.
2. In place. The place of the departed may not be far from us, if, as some have held, they are our guardian angels. The angel told John that he was his fellow servant. As to the size of the place, what circumscribed, narrow, cramped notions we have! Dont speak of it as if it were not larger than Rutland, and of our meeting with each other there as if we were neighbours in the same street. The region is measureless, and the inhabitants no man can number.
3. Those who have gone thither were once among the living here.
I. How described. Them which are asleep. This means more than is usually supposed. It means much about this life.
1. Not conscious of sin and sorrow, but wholly freed from them--asleep. There can be no sleep where there is great pain: if he sleep he shall do well. What consolation this for the bereaved! The last sigh breathed, groan uttered, pang felt.
2. Watched and protected by the heavenly Father as children asleep. How easily and comfortably children go to sleep knowing that they will be cared for! So with them that sleep in Jesus.
3. Without recurrence of pain and anxiety. Continuous sleep, undisturbed by roar of battle or tremor of earthquake.
4. But we cannot say of the lost that they are asleep. There is no peace to the wicked.
II. What our knowledge is about them. Concerning.
1. In engagements. Not continual feasting and hymn singing. Variety of work. Tastes and capabilities find suitable spheres here: and surely in the other world we shall be ourselves, and every want will be met.
2. In powers. Present powers improved, memory more accurate, judgment more sound, perception more vivid. And from altered conditions of being, new powers will be developed.
3. In intercourse. Sit down with Abraham; know as we are known. Similarity of view, thought answering to thought, feeling to feeling. Many here never seem to meet with their likes. Then face to face. The mentally great drawn together, and others grouping according to their kind. (J. S. Withington.)
Different ideas of immortality
Each hopes to find that which for him is the best thing, eternized in the future. The Indian looks for a boundless war path, with victories ever new over animals and men. The Mohammedan desires, as a good beyond all which earth can offer, the utmost reach of sensual pleasure; where wines shall be quaffed from diamond cups, and the beauty of houris be enjoyed without stint; where the soul shall be dissolved, yet forever rejuvenated, in the utmost attainable physical luxury. The philosopher craves a vision of truth. And the artist looks for terraces of beauty and majestical structures; where the pillars shall be worlds, and the pediments milky ways; where colours more brilliant, lines more light, and proportions more perfect than here have been imagined, shall forever surround and instruct the fine spirit. Each people, and each person, according to the different attainments of each, and their several characteristics, delights to anticipate the possession in the future of that special good which to each is supreme. And in nothing is the progress of refinement and virtue more evidently shown than in the higher ideas which are entertained, in successive epochs and by different nations, of what may be thus aspired to and expected. Men differ in their estimate of the goods of the present life. But when they transfer that estimate to the future, as it becomes colossal and transcendent, so the differences between them, which are indicated and gauged by it, become most conspicuous. (Dr. Storrs.)
That ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Having no hope
We need hope to cheer us all along in life, and to sustain us at the end of it. A sustaining hope, in view of the inevitable, must look forward to a life, beyond the present, of permanent good and joy. It must be founded on sufficient reasons: such as
(a) the promise of God, and
(b) the earnest of the fulfilment of that promise in our experience.
They can have no such hope who have--
I. No God, whether they are atheists in belief, or are living atheistic lives in mere carelessness.
II. No Bible; who do not practically receive and rest on a revelation.
III. No Saviour; do not rest on Christ.
IV. No preparation for the future. Nothing but the gospel offers such a hope. Have you laid hold on this hope? Are you giving diligence to the full assurance of it? (C. W. Camp.)
Sorrow without hope
The mother of poor Tonda led me to the house where the body was laid. The narrow space of the room was crowded; about two hundred women were sitting and standing around, singing mourning songs to doleful and monotonous airs. As I stood looking, filled with solemn thoughts, the mother of Tonda approached. She threw herself at the foot of her dead son, and begged him to speak to her once more. And then, when the corpse did not answer, she uttered a shriek, so long, so piercing, such a wail of love and grief, that tears came into my eyes. Poor African mother! she was literally as one sorrowing without hope, for these poor people count on nothing beyond the present life. (Du Chaillu.)
Hopeless death
The dreary and cheerless aspect which the state of the dead presented to Homers mind, even in the case of Achilles, his prime hero, and Agamemnon, king of men, and Ajax, whose peculiarly unhappy fate and brilliant services on earth would have entitled him to consolation, if there had been any to be found, hardly needs a comment. The first of these bitterly contrasts his shadowy primacy with the lot of the meanest hireling on earth. The dead have no prospect; they only look back to the past, or seek to snatch a glimpse of the present. They dwell on the triumphs, or on the wrongs and sufferings, of this mortal life, and sympathize, after a forlorn and bereaved fashion, with those whom they have left behind. The picture is one of such blank desolation as came spontaneously to the poets mind, on whom neither faith nor philosophy had yet dawned, but who yet could not so far renounce mans birthright of immortality as to conceive of the utter extinction of personality in what had once been a human soul. The dead of Homer have pride, they cherish grudges and curiosity, affection and resentment, but they have, in a later poets phrase, left hope behind. The casual exceptions of the few favoured heroes who were by birth or marriage connected with Zeus himself, only prove more pointedly the dismal universality of the rule by which the rest are bound. (H. Hayman, D. D.)
Without hope
Mr. Robert Owen, the sceptic, once visited a gentleman who was an earnest Christian. In walking out they came to the gentlemans family grave. Mr. Owen, addressing him, said: There is one advantage I have over Christians--I am not afraid to die. Most Christians are afraid to die; but if some of my business were settled, I should be perfectly willing to die at any moment. Well, said his companion, you say you have no fear in death; have you any hope in death? After a solemn pause, he replied, No! Then, replied the gentleman, pointing to an ox standing near, you are on a level with that brute; he has fed till he is satisfied, and stands in the shade whisking off the flies, and has neither hope nor fear.
A suggestive contrast
Mirabeau, the infidel, who was the hero of the French nation, died as a Frenchman might be expected to die, with a great deal of show and talk about the grandeur of his own genius and the loss to his country, and his last words were, Crown me with flowers; I am about to sink into the last sleep! In the same month there died in London one upon whose lips thousands had hung, whose name was a household word in the towns and villages in this country; he had lived till his white hairs were the joy and reverence of all classes of society, and as John Wesley fell asleep in Jesus, among his last words were:--
Ill praise my Maker while Ive breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers.
Let any one trace the effects of those two lives; mark the progress of revolutionary principles in France, and notice the influence of that great revival of religion, of which John Wesley was the means, in the subsequent history of the English nation, and you will be constrained to say that it was the influence of that revival that maintained the principles of freedom and constitutional government among us, besides extending true religion among the masses of the community. (Handbook to Scripture Doctrines.)
Hope in death
The old custom of using rosemary at funerals is thus explained by Wheatley, on the Common Prayer: To express their hopes that their friend is not lost forever, each person in the company usually bears in his hand a sprig of rosemary; a custom which seems to have taken its rise from a practice among the heathens, of a quite different import. For they have no thought of a future resurrection, but believing that the bodies of those that were dead would forever lie in the grave, made use of cypress at their funerals, which is a tree that being once cut never revives, but dies away. But Christians, on the other hand, having better hopes, and knowing that this very body of their friend, which they are now going solemnly to commit to the grave, shall one day rise again, and be reunited to his soul, instead of cypress, distribute rosemary to the company, which being always green, and flourishing the more for being crops (and of which a sprig only being set in the ground, will sprout up immediately and branch into a tree), is more proper to express their confidence and trust.
Hope in death
Helen Founleson, one of six Scottish martyrs executed at Perth in 1543, being denied the privilege of dying with her husband, kissed him at the foot of the gallows on which he was to suffer, and took leave of him with these words, Husband, rejoice, for we have lived together many joyful days, but this day, in which we must die, ought to be the most joyful to us both, because we must have joy forever. Therefore I will not bid you good night, for we shall suddenly meet with joy in the kingdom of heaven. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
Gone before
The Rev. J. Newton once said to a gentleman who had lately lost his daughter, Sir, if you were going to the East Indies I suppose you would like to send a remittance before you. This little girl is just like a remittance sent to heaven before you yourself. I suppose a merchant in charge is never heard expressing himself thus: Oh, my dear ship, I am sorry she has got into port so soon! I am sorry she has escaped the storms that are coming! Neither should we sorrow for children dying. (Whitecross.)
The victory of hope in sorrow
One of the lessons which our Master enforced was that there should be a marked contrast between His disciples and worldly men. If a Christian differs in no important respect from a man without Christian faith, wherein is he better? Christians were not to be saved from the casualties of men, but there was expected to be in them, under the influence of Gods Spirit, something that should enable them to endure the various experiences of life in a way that common men could not. They were to regard life and death with a marked difference from the world. It was in this spirit that Paul wrote these words. There is to be a difference between death in the Christian and death in the unchristian household. If you bow your head or are overborne as others, how are you any better? If in anything one might be left to his own way we should suppose it would be in the sorrows of bereavement. But no: even here we are to be Christians.
I. It is no part of Christian teaching that men should not sorrow; but it is a part of Christian teaching that men should not sorrow as others who have no hope. Christ suffered and shed tears; but both stood in the reflected light of the other world. The apostles suffered, but they gloried in the fact that if they suffered they would reign. Suffering is good if it arouses in men their divine rather than their lower human nature; it is to be such as does not exclude joy and is in the light of joy.
II. Neither is it the teaching of Christ that he affections and relationships of men are trivial and unworthy of regard. Indeed, we have no guides to go by except these. Who would know the love of God if we did not know the love of man? To say that human affections are nothing, and that to love one another is to love dust, is to destroy the potency and value and use of those very ordinances of the household and friendship by which God means to develop our spiritual nature. Some teach that we are to let all the relationships of life seem so little in comparison with Christ that it will make no difference to us whether they go or stay. I could not respect a religion which made love a mere currency for good in this world alone. The spirit of Christianity sanctifies the love of husband and wife, parent and child, etc.; so that we may be sure if we love right here we shall love forever.
III. Least of all does Christ teach that pain is unworthy of manhood and is to be strangled. Any such violence is to destroy what He elaborately created. The teachings of the Bible, and the example of Christ and of His apostles and saints has inculcated anything but the stoical doctrine. The Christian idea is the great power of victory over suffering, the bush burning but unconsumed.
IV. But Christ did require that we should look upon our sorrow as surrounded by considerations derivable from his life and truth.
1. A wanton and ungovernable sorrow is a violation of Christian duty. It acts as if there were no God or Christ. There is a great difference, of course, between the first burst of sorrows and a continuous state. When one has been worn out physically, the gracious God finds no fault with the uncontrollable sweep of anguish. Let the cloud burst, but do not let the waters become a deep flowing river. When the first rush of feeling is over there should be that in the believer which will bring him back to Christ.
2. It is not right sorrow that seeks every aggravation, employing memory as a dragnet to bring back refuse experiences, to create unhappiness, and recount miseries as if proud of them. Blessed are they who can shut the door on the past and not open it again unless to bring some fairer joy and better hope.
3. A true Christian bereavement ought not to narrow the disposition and take men away from active affairs. The same Christian instinct which seeks consecration to the Masters service should find in it an antidote to sorrow. If you suffer you will often find comfort in ministering to some ones affliction. Dr. Spurzheim used to say that no woman was fit to be wife and mother till she had been educated in suffering. I say that no man or woman is fit for the highest offices of friendship and life without it.
4. Every man that suffers bereavement ought to make it manifest that it is grace not nature that heals. It is true that grace employs nature, and that time is a good nurse; but a Christian ought to be ashamed if nothing can cure him but time. How many there are who wait until their griefs are worn out before they get over them. But the man who knows how to apply the promise and realize the presence at the right time, has not only comfort in himself, but is a living and powerful witness to the power of Christ such as refutes infidelity as nothing else can, and wins to the Gospel as no preaching can do. (H. W. Beecher.)
Christian mourning
I. The sorrow which Christians may lawfully indulge for departed friends. Feel your griefs, bereaved and desolate believers; you are permitted to sorrow. Away with the sentiments of those who teach that we should evidence an utter insensibility, a stupid unconcern, under affliction! Such is not the command of that God, who knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are dust: nor of that Redeemer who, in all the afflictions of His people was afflicted. Look at the Scriptures, ye who cruelly chide those tears that relieve the wounded heart, and say if Abraham violated his duty when he came to Kirjarth-arba to mourn for Sarah, and weep there. The lustre of Josephs character was not obscured when he grieved for his father at the threshing floor of Atad with great and sore lamentation. Jeremiah was not forgetful of his elevated office when his prophetical harp sounded such mournful tones over the corpse of the good Josiah. We do not feel less attached to the Christians of Asia because they wept sore on parting from Paul, most of all, because they should see his face no more. We sympathize with the pious widows who stood by the body of Dorcas weeping, and showing the coats and garments which she had made for the poor while she was yet with them. Those devout men were not less devout when they carried Stephen to the grave, and made great lamentation. There is nothing inconsistent with the high character of that Mary who sat delightedly at the feet of Jesus, and yet poured out big bitter tears at the door of her brothers sepulchre. But why mention inferior cases? Behold Jesus--our law giver and model, authorizing a submissive grief by His emotion and tears at the tomb of Lazarus. An unlamented death is divinely represented as a judgment and a curse (Jer_16:5-6; Jer_12:17). But we may mourn as Christians over our departed; and where can the soul that is bowed and overwhelmed better flee than to its Father? Where find more comfort than in the bosom of its God? Christianity does not destroy our nature; it only regulates it. In giving us a heart, God has permitted us to exercise its emotions, and sensibility, instead of being a weakness in the Christian, is one of his noblest prerogatives, since it is one great source of his virtues. No; it is not the soul of a Christian which can be callous and insensible while standing by the corpse or the grave of a departed friend.
II. The sorrow which Christians are forbidden to exercise.
1. When in their hearts, or by their lips, they murmur against the disposals of God, and blame Him for unkindness and cruelty to them. Jacob was faulty in this respect when, on the reported death of his favourite son, he exclaimed, All these things are against me! In our severest griefs we must be persuaded that God acts not only with infinite wisdom, but also with infinite goodness; and that not only are His general dispensations merciful, but the particular dispensation which has afflicted us is the fruit of covenant love.
2. When the grief of Christians unfits them for holy duties, and prevents the exercise of religious devotion. What, because one we loved is dead, shall our heart also become dead and lifeless in all spiritual employments, and as cold as is his inanimate body? What, shall our tears be ever flowing over a mouldering form, and our affections never be raised to a living God?
3. When sorrow does not lead Christians to inquire what was the design of God in afflicting them. As Christians, instead of being swallowed up in over much sorrow, we should study by each bereavement to feel more deeply the vanity of earth, the importance of eternity, and the preciousness of Christ.
4. When Christians follow not their departed friends beyond the grave. They are not in the grave, their bodies only are there; they, as emancipated spirits, are with the spirits of just men made perfect. Sorrow is criminal, therefore, if it relates only to the outer covering laid aside for a little while.
5. Sorrow is also criminal when Christians have no well-grounded hope of reunion and fellowship with their departed in heaven. Heaven is the glorious rendezvous of all saintly men (Joh_14:1-3). (H. Kollock, D. D.)
Consolations accompanying the death of saints
I. There are some who have no hope in their sorrow.
1. As far as we can, we should see that no relative passed away out of our home and left us in unmixed grief.
2. Are there any who would so treat a relative as to leave him in doubt as to their salvation?
II. There are those who have good hope mixed with their grief.
1. Even when there is the strongest hope of salvation, there will be sorrow.
2. Sorrow mixed with hope is full of comfort.
3. This comfort depends upon acquiescence in the will of God disposing us as His own.
4. This hope draws its consolations amidst sorrow mainly because it is full of immortality.
III. The grounds of this consolation as here laid down. Death is compared to a sleep as indicating--
1. The calm repose of a dying believer.
2. The security of the saints in Christs hand.
3. The certainty of the resurrection.
4. The beauty and glory of the redeemed Church.
5. Recognition of the saints in heaven. (J. Walker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v13 Chapter 11
Chapter 11
THE DEAD IN CHRIST
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1Th_4:13-18 (R.V.)
THE restlessness of the Thessalonians, which caused some of them to neglect their daily work, was the result of strained expectations of Christs second coming. The Apostle had taught them that the Saviour and Judge of all might appear no one knew when; and they were consumed with a feverish anxiety to be found ready when He came. How terrible it would be to be found unready, and to lose ones place in the heavenly kingdom! The Thessalonians were dominated by such thoughts as these when death visited the church, and gave rise to new perplexities. What of the brethren who had been taken away so soon, and of their part in the glory to be revealed? Had they been robbed, by death, of the Christian hope? Had the inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and imperishable, passed forever beyond their grasp, because they had died before Christ came to take His people to Himself?
This was what some of the survivors feared; and it is to correct their mistaken ideas, and to comfort them in their sorrow, that the Apostle writes the words we are now to study. "We would not have you ignorant," he says, "concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, which have no hope." The last words refer to those who are away from Christ, and without God in the world. It is a frightful thing to say of any man, and still more of the mass of men, that they have no hope; yet it is not only the Apostle who says it; it is the confession, by a thousand voices, of the heathen world itself. To that world the future was a blank, or a place of unreality and shades. If there were great exceptions, men who, like Plato, could not give up faith in immortality and in the righteousness of God, even in the face of death, these were no more than exceptions; and even for them the future had no substance compared with the present. Life was here, and not there. Wherever we can hear the pagan soul speak of the future, it is in this blank, heartless tone. "Do not," says Achilles in the Odyssey, "make light of death to me. Rather would I on earth be a serf to another, a man of little land and little substance, than be prince over all the dead that have come to nought." "Suns," says Catullus, "may set and rise again. When once our brief light has set, one unbroken night of sleep remains." These are fair specimens of the pagan outlook; are they not fair enough specimens of the non-Christian outlook at the present day? The secular life is quite avowedly a life without hope. It resolutely fixes its attention on the present, and avoids the distraction of the future. But there are few whom death does not compel, at some time or other, to deal seriously with the questions the future involves. If we love the departed, our hearts cannot but go with them to the unseen; and there are few who can assure themselves that death ends all. For those who can, what a sorrow remains! Their loved ones have lost everything. All that makes life is here, and they have gone. How miserable is their lot, to have been deprived, by cruel and untimely death, of all the blessings man can ever enjoy! How hopelessly must those who are left behind lament them!
This is exactly the situation with which the Apostle deals. The Christians in Thessalonica feared that their brethren who had died would be shut out of the Messiahs kingdom; they mourned for them as those mourn who have no hope. The Apostle corrects their error, and comforts them. His words do not mean that the Christian may lawfully sorrow for his dead, provided he does not go to a pagan extreme; they mean that the hopeless pagan sorrow is not to be indulged by the Christian at all. We give their proper force if we imagine him saying: "Weep for yourselves, if you will; that is natural, and God does not wish us to be insensible to the losses and sorrows which are part of His providential government of our lives; but do not weep for them; the believer who has fallen asleep in Christ is not to be lamented; he has lost nothing; the hope of immortality is as sure for him as for those who may live to welcome the Lord at His coming; he has gone to be with Christ, which is far, far better."
The 14th verse (1Th_4:14) gives the Christian proof of this consoling doctrine. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." It is quite plain that something is wanting here to complete the argument. Jesus did die and rise again, there is no dispute about that; but how is the Apostle justified in inferring from this that God will bring the Christian dead again to meet the living? What is the missing link in this reasoning? Clearly it is the truth, so characteristic of the New Testament, that there is a union between Christ and those who trust Him so close that their destiny can be read in His. All that He has experienced will be experienced by them. They are united to Him as indissolubly as the members of the body to the head, and being planted together in the likeness of His death, they shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Death, the Apostle would have us understand, does not break the bond between the believing soul and the Saviour. Even human love is stronger than the grave; it goes beyond it with the departed; it follows them with strong yearnings, with wistful hopes, sometimes with earnest prayers. But there is an impotence, at which death mocks, in earthly love; the last enemy does put a great gulf between souls, which cannot be bridged over; and there is no such impotence in the love of Christ. He is never separated from those who love Him. He is one with them in death, and in the life to come, as in this life. Through Him God will bring the departed again to meet their friends. There is something very expressive in the word "bring." "Sweet word," says Bengel: "it is spoken of living persons." The dead for whom we mourn are not dead; they all live to God; and when the great day comes, God will bring those who have gone before, and unite them to those who have been left behind. When we see Christ at His coming, we shall see also those that have fallen asleep in Him.
This argument, drawn from the relation of the Christian to the Saviour, is confirmed by an appeal to the authority of the Saviour Himself. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord": as if he said, "It is not merely a conclusion of our own; it is supported by the express word of Christ." Many have tried to find in the Gospels the word of the Lord referred to, but, as I think, without success. The passage usually quoted: {Mat_24:31} "He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, andthey shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," though it covers generally the subject with which the Apostle is dealing, does not touch upon the essential point, the equality of those who die before the Second Advent with those who live to see it. We must suppose that the word of the Lord referred to was one which failed to find a place in the written Gospels, like that other which the Apostle preserved, "It is more blessed to give than to receive": or that it was a word which Christ spoke to him in one of the many revelations which he received in his apostolic work. In any case, what the Apostle is going to say is not his own word, but the word of Christ, and as such its authority is final for all Christians. What, then, does Christ say on this great concern?
He says that "we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep." The natural impression one takes from these words is that Paul expected himself to be alive when Christ came; but whether that impression is justifiable or not, it is no part of the truth which can claim the authority of the Lord. Christs word only assures.us that those who are alive at that day shall have no precedency over those that have fallen asleep; it does not tell us who shall be in the one class, and who in the other. Paul did not know when the day of the Lord would be; but as it was the duty of all Christians to look for and hasten it, he naturally included himself among those who would live to see it. Later in life, the hope of surviving till the Lord came alternated in his mind with the expectation of death. In one and the same epistle, the Epistle to the Philippians, we find him writing, {Php_4:5} "The Lord is at hand"; and only a little earlier, {Php_1:23} "I have the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better." Better, certainly, than a life of toil and suffering; but not better than the Lords coming. Paul could not but shrink with a natural horror from death and its nakedness; he would have preferred to escape that dread necessity, the putting off of the body; not to be unclothed, was his desire, but to be clothed upon, and to have mortality swallowed up of life. When he wrote this letter to the Thessalonians, I do not doubt that this was his hope; and it does not impugn his authority in the least that it was a hope destined not to be fulfilled. With the Lord, a thousand years are as one day; and even those who are partakers in the kingdom seldom partake to an eminent degree in the patience of Jesus Christ. Only in the teaching of the Lord Himself does the New Testament put strongly before us the duration of the Christian era, and the delays of the Second Advent. How many of His parables, e.g., represent the kingdom as subject to the law of growth-the Sower, the Wheat and the Tares which have both to ripen, the Mustard Seed, and the Seed Growing Gradually. All these imply a natural law and goal of progress, not to be interrupted at random. How many, again, like the parable of the Unjust Judge, or the Ten Virgins, imply that the delay will be so great as to beget utter disbelief or forgetfulness of His coming. Even the expression, "The times of the Gentiles," suggests epochs which must intervene before men see Him again. But over against this deep insight and wondrous patience of Christ, we must not be surprised to find something of impatient ardour in the Apostles. The world was so cruel to them, their love to Christ was so fervent, their desire for reunion so strong, that they could not but hope and pray, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." Is it not better to recognise the obvious fact that Paul was mistaken as to the nearness of the Second Advent, than to torture his words to secure his infallibility? Two great commentators-the Roman Catholic Cornelius a Lapide, and the Protestant John Calvin-save Pauls infallibility at a greater cost than violating the rules of grammar. They admit that his words mean that he expected to survive till Christ came again; but, they say, an infallible apostle could not really have had such an expectation; and therefore we must believe that Paul practised a pious fraud in writing as he did, a fraud with the good intention of keeping the Thessalonians on the alert. But I hope, if we had the choice, we would all choose rather to tell the truth, and be mistaken, than to be infallible, and tell lies.
After the general statement, on Christs authority, that the living shall have no precedency of the departed, Paul goes on to explain the circumstances of the Advent by which it is justified. "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven." In that emphatic Himself we have the argument of 1Th_4:14 practically repeated: the Lord, it signifies, who knows all that are His. Who can look at Christ as He comes again in glory, and not remember His words in the Gospel, "Because I live, ye shall live also"; "where I am, there shall also My servant be"? It is not another who comes, but He to whom all Christian souls have been united forever. "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." The last two of these expressions are in all probability the explanation of the first; the voice of the archangel, or the trumpet of God, is the signal shout, or as the hymn expresses it, "the great commanding word," with which the drama of the last things is ushered in. The archangel is the herald of the Messianic King. We cannot tell how much is figure in these expressions, which all rest on Old Testament associations, and on popular beliefs amongst the Jews of the time; neither can we tell what precisely underlies the figure. But this much is clearly meant, that a Divine summons, audible and effective everywhere, goes forth from Christs presence; that ancient utterance, of hope or of despair, is fulfilled: "Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee." When the signal is given, the dead in Christ rise first. Paul says nothing here of the resurrection body, spiritual and incorruptible; but when Christ comes, the Christian dead are raised in that body, prepared for eternal blessedness, before anything else is done. That is the meaning of "the dead in Christ shall rise first." It does not contrast the resurrection of the Christian dead with a second resurrection of all men, either immediately afterwards, or after a thousand years; it contrasts it as the first scene in this drama with the second, namely, the rapture of the living. The first thing will be that the dead rise; the next, that those that are alive, that are left, shall at the same time, and in company with them, be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The Apostle does not look beyond this; so, he says, shall we-that is, we all, those that live and those that are fallen asleep-be ever with the Lord.
A thousand questions rise to our lips as we look at this wonderful picture; but the closer we look, the more plainly do we see the parsimony of the revelation, and the strictness with which it is measured out to meet the necessities of the case. There is nothing in it, for instance, about the nonChristian. It tells us the blessed destiny of those who have fallen asleep in Christ, and of those who wait for Christs appearing. Much of the curiosity about those who die without Christ is not disinterested. People would like to know what their destiny is, because they would like to know whether there is not a tolerable alternative to accepting the gospel. But the Bible does not encourage us to look for such an alternative. "Blessed," it says, "are the dead who die in the Lord"; and blessed also are the living who live in the Lord; if there are those who reject this blessedness, and raise questions about what a life without Christ may lead to, they do it at their peril.
There is nothing, again, about the nature of the life beyond the Advent, except this, that it is a life in which the Christian is in close and unbroken union with Christ-ever with the Lord. Some have been very anxious to answer the question, Where? but the revelation gives us no help. It does not say that those who meet the Lord in the air ascend with Him to heaven, or descend, as some have supposed, to reign with Him on earth. There is absolutely nothing in it for curiosity, though everything that is necessary for comfort. For men who had conceived the terrible thought that the Christian dead had lost the Christian hope, the veil was withdrawn from the future, and living and dead alike revealed united, in eternal life, to Christ. That is all, but surely it is enough. That is the hope which the gospel puts before us, and no accident of time, like death, can rob us of it. Jesus died and rose again; He is Lord both of the dead and the living; and all will, at the great day, be gathered together to Him. Are they to be lamented, who have this future to look forward to? Are we to sorrow over those who pass into the world unseen, as if they had no hope, or as if we had none? No; in the sorrow of death itself we may comfort one another with these words.
Is it not a striking proof of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we have, on the express authority of His word, a special revelation, the exclusive aim of which is to comfort? Jesus knew the terrible sorrow of bereavement; He had stood by the bedside of Jairus daughter, by the young mans bier at Nain, by Lazarus tomb. He knew how inconsolable it was, how subtle, how passionate; He knew the dead weight at the heart which never passes away, and the sudden rush of feeling which overpowers the strongest. And that all this sorrow might not rest upon His Church unrelieved, He lifted the curtain that we might see with our eyes the strong consolation beyond. I have spoken of it as if it consisted simply in union to Christ; but it is as much a part of the revelation that Christians whom death has separated are reunited to each other. The Thessalonians feared they would never see their departed friends again; but the word of the Lord says, You will be caught up, in company with them, to meet Me; and you and they shall dwell with Me forever. What congregation is there in which there is not need of this consolation? Comfort one another, the Apostle says. One needs the comfort today, and another tomorrow; in proportion as we bear each others burdens, we all need it continually. The unseen world is perpetually opening to receive those whom we love; but though they pass out of sight and out of reach, it is not forever. They are still united to Christ; and when He comes in His glory He will bring them to us again. Is it not strange to balance the greatest sorrow of life against words? Words, we often feel, are vain and worthless; they do not lift the burden from the heart; they make no difference to the pressure of grief. Of our own words that is true; but what we have been considering are not our own words, but the word of the Lord. His words are alive and powerful: heaven and earth may pass away, but they cannot pass; let us comfort one another with that.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv13–18 13–18. But we would not have you ignorant. It…
13–18. But we would not have you ignorant. It seems that the Thessalonian brethren, expecting the speedy coming of the Lord, mourned over some of their number who had died, counting it a great loss that they did not live to meet Jesus. Them which are asleep. What we call death is only falling asleep in the arms of our Lord.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 1Th_4:13. Them which are asleep.—The R.V. reading changes the…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Th_4:13. Them which are asleep.—The R.V. reading changes the perfect participle (“them who have fallen asleep and continue to sleep”) unto the present, “them that fall asleep,” as they drop off one after another. See on the expression our Lord’s beautiful words, Luk_8:52; Joh_11:11 f.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Th_4:13-14
Sorrow for the Dead.
The Thessalonians who cherished a vivid expectation of the near approach of the second advent of Christ appear to have fallen into a misconception as to the relation of their deceased friends to that glorious event. While believing that the pious dead would ultimately be raised again, they feared they would not be permitted to share in the joy of welcoming Him back to His inheritance of the redeemed earth and in the triumphant inauguration of His reign. “It was just as if, on the very eve of the day of the expected return of some long absent father, a cruel fate should single out one fond expectant child, and hurry him to a far distant and inhospitable shore.” But all their fears and perplexities were dissipated by the sublime disclosures contained in this epistle.
I. That sorrow is a merciful relief to a soul bereaved.—Sorrow is nowhere forbidden. It may be an infirmity, but it is at the same time a solace. The soul oppressed and stricken by the weight of a great calamity finds relief in tears.
“O ye tears! O ye tears! till I felt you on my cheek,
I was selfish in my sorrow, I was stubborn, I was weak;
Ye have given me strength to conquer, and I stand erect and free,
And know that I am human, by the light of sympathy.”
The religion of the Bible does not destroy human passions. We do not part with our nature when we receive the grace of God. The mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good. A griefless nature can never be a joyous one.
II. That sorrow for the dead is aggravated by ignorance of their future destiny.—“I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1Th_4:13). The radius of hope is contracted or expanded in proportion to the character and extent of intelligence possessed. Ignorant “sorrow is a kind of rust to the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life, and is remedied by exercise and motion.” The heathen, who have no satisfactory knowledge of the future life, give way to an excessive and hopeless grief. Du Chaillu describes a scene of wailing for the dead among the Africans. “The mother of poor Tonda,” he writes, “led me to the house where the body was laid. The narrow space of the room was crowded; about two hundred women were sitting and standing around, singing mourning songs to doleful and monotonous airs. As I stood looking, filled with solemn thoughts, the mother of Tonda approached. She threw herself at the foot of her dead son, and begged him to speak to her once more. And then when the corpse did not answer she uttered a shriek, so long, so piercing, such a wail of love and grief that tears came into my eyes. Poor African mother! She was literally as one sorrowing without hope, for these people count on nothing beyond the present life.” It was the dictum of an old Greek poet—a man once dead there is no revival; and those words indicated the dismal condition of unenlightened nature in all lands and in all ages. What an urgent argument is here for increased missionary efforts among the heathen!
III. That sorrow for the dead in Christ is soothed and moderated by the revelation of certain great truths concerning their present and future blessedness.—
1. That death is a sleep. “Them also which sleep in Jesus” (1Th_4:14). The only part of man to which the figure of the text applies is the body. As to the soul, the day of death is the day of our birth into a progressive and eternal life. It is called a departure, a being with Christ—absent from the body, present with the Lord. Sleep is expressive of rest. When the toil of life’s long day is ended, the great and good Father draws the dark curtain of night and hushes His weary children to rest “They enter into rest.” Sleep is expressive of refreshment. The body is laid in the grave, feeble, emaciated, worn out. Then a wonderful process goes on, perceptible only to the eye of God, by which the body acquires new strength and beauty, and becomes a fit instrument and suitable residence for the glorified soul. Sleep implies the expectation of awaking. We commit the bodies of the departed to the earth in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. They wait for “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body.”
2. That the dead in Christ will be roused from their holy slumber and share in the glory of His second advent.—“Will God bring with Him” (1Th_4:14). The resurrection of the dead is a divine work. “I will redeem them from the power of the grave.” Christ will own His people in their persons, their services, and their sufferings. They shall receive His entire approval, be welcomed by Him into His everlasting kingdom, and crowned by Him with glory and the affluence of incorruptible bliss.
3. That the resurrection of Christ from the dead is a pledge of the restoration and future blessedness of all who sleep in Him.—“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1Th_4:14). Christ Himself is the resurrection, not only as revealed in His word and exemplified in His own person, but as specially appointed by the Father to effect it by His own power (Joh_5:25; Joh_6:39). The word of God sheds a light across the darkness of the grave, and opens a vista radiant with hope and immortal happiness. “Let me penetrate into Thy heart, O God,” said an afflicted saint, “and read the love that is there. Let me penetrate into Thy mind, and read the wisdom that is there; then shall I be satisfied—the storm shall be turned into calm.” A vital knowledge of Christ silences every murmur and prepares for every emergency.
Lessons.—
1. An ignorant sorrow is a hopeless one.
2. To rise with Jesus we must live and die to Him.
3. Divine revelations regarding the future life greatly moderate the grief of the present.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Th_4:13-14. The Sleep of the Faithful Departed.
I. The dead are said to be asleep because we know they shall wake up again.
II. Because they whom men call dead do really live unto God.
III. Because they are taking their rest.
IV. Death is changed to sleep, so that it becomes a pledge of rest and a prophecy of the resurrection.
Lessons.—
1. We ought to mourn rather for the living than for the dead.
2. In very truth it is life rather than death that we ought to fear.—H. E. Manning.
1Th_4:14. The Resurrection of the Body.
I. The heart seeks it.
II. The Bible declares it.
III. The redemption of Christ secures it.—A. F. Forrest.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v13 This wonderful argument opens with the thirteenth verse of…
ARGUMENT 7
THE RAPTURE
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This wonderful argument opens with the thirteenth verse of the fourth chapter, and closes with the eleventh verse of the fifth chapter, unfortunately severed in twain in the middle by the insertion of the fifth chapter. Of course, by this time you know that the divisions into chapters and verses, and insertion of italicized words, and the postscripts, are all postapostolic, and without authority.
13. “But we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as those having no hope.” The sleep here is that of the body, as the immortal soul never sleeps. This is confirmed by the allusion to the heathen, who have no doctrine of the resurrection to comfort them, burying their dead with no hope of ever seeing them. It can not refer to the soul, because the heathen all teach the soul’s immortality, but not that of the body, which is alone peculiar to Christianity.
14. “If we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus.” Of course, the souls of the saints will descend with Jesus in the rapture, and receive their risen bodies. But this same word “sleep,” here occurs as in preceding verse, referring to the body, as the souls of the saints do not sleep. This confirms the rapture, as he must come for them, in order to bring them with him when he descends on the throne of his glory.
15. “For I say this to you in the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain till the coming of the Lord, may not go before them that are asleep;” i.e., the buried saints will rise before we living saints shall be translated. This still confirms the reference to the body, as our bodies will be transfigured.
16. “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” The adverb, first, here has been misconstrued, contrastively with the second resurrection, which is untrue. The simple fact revealed is, that the sainted dead will rise before the living are translated.
17. “Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall be forever with the Lord.” It does not state here that the Lord comes to the earth; but we, with all the risen of the bridehood, “will be caught up to meet him in the air.” “Shout” is keleusma, defined as the shout of a hunter to his dogs, a sea captain to his sailors, and a general to his soldiers. Remember, the saints are sleeping in the dust on all sides of the globe. Hence, it He were to come very near, the mass of the earth would intervene between him and the saints on to other side. Hence, the probability that he will call from a great distance in the firmaments, thus obliterating the earth’s diameter, as they will simultaneously rise from all parts of the earth’s surface. Every member of the bridehood, living and dead, will hear that call, the latter rising promptly and flying up into the firmament, and the former waiting a short time. The rapture is the first great miracle in the revealed catalogue of latter-day wonders. This must take place preparatory to the descension of our Lord on the throne of his millennial glory, and before the great Tribulation. The prophecies have already been so fulfilled, that we need not be surprised at any moment to hear the trumpet of our Savior roar from the skies, summoning his saints to meet him in the air. Then the first resurrection will take place, including the members of the bridehood; i.e., the sanctified. (Rom 10:6). Modern theologians have obscured these Scriptures by explaining the first resurrection as spiritual, and thus doing away with it altogether. In that case, they are forced, by their logic, to do away with the second resurrection, thus spiritualizing and utterly doing away with the resurrection of the body. and plunging headlong into Swedenborgianism. Nearly all of the heresies Originate either from spiritualizing the literal Scriptures or literalizing the spiritual. Do not tinker with God’s Word, but believe it as he gives it. The Bible teaches that the bodies of all will he raised. The New Testament declares a special resurrection, “out from among the dead.” (Php 3:11.) This was the beau ideal for which Paul and his comrades were running, disencumbered of every burden, that they might take no risk. The translation, which will be the glorious privilege of all the sanctified who are living on the earth when he comes and calls his Bride to “meet him in the air,” will simply consist in the elimination of all ponderous matter out of our bodies, so we will not weigh anything (as nothing but the weight of our bodies keeps us on the earth now). This done, our bodies will rise, responsive to the impulses of our spirits, and of course fly away to meet our Savior. When the trumpet sounds, the glorified bodies of the rising saints all round the world will flood the firmament; the splendor which eclipsed the mortal eyes of Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration will illuminate the entire firmament with a glory so bewildering, that we who are alive would be lost in contemplation. In the midst of the unearthly glory, before we are aware, we will find ourselves flying and commingling with the enraptured millions of risen saints. We should not only have constant faith in justification and sanctification, but for translation, as we know not what moment our Lord will call. If we are sanctified wholly, we re ready for translation, responsive to our faith like Enoch (Heb 11:5). The transfiguration of the Holy Ghost is the climax of mediatorial restitution. Glory to God I am looking for my Lord and the transfiguration.
18. “So exhort one another in these words.” The Church has lost power and glory unutterable by the delinquency of the pulpit on this commandment. O how she needs this inspiring truth this day to raise her out of worldliness and apostasy, to plunge beneath the cleansing fountain, wash, and be clean, put on her white robes and get on her watchtowers, waiting with glowing expectancy for the coming of her Lord!
1. “Concerning the periods and epochs you have no need that I write unto you.”
2. “You know well that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night.” Time is a parenthesis in eternity, interjected for the accommodation of the mediatorial kingdom, and divided up into periods and epochs. We are living in the sixth dispensation—i.e., that of the Holy Ghost; the Edenic, Antediluvian, Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Messianic have come and gone in their appointed times, each winding up with a signal revolutionary epoch. These times and seasons—i.e., epochs and periods of revolution and development—are ordered and determined by the sovereign and discriminating wisdom of the Father only. Hence, since the inauguration of the Holy Ghost dispensation on the day of Pentecost, the Son has been sitting on the right hand of the Father, awaiting his time for his coronation King of the nations, having been crowned King of saints at his ascension. Meanwhile the Bride has been waiting in constant anticipation the return of the Bridegroom. A thief always comes suddenly and unexpectedly to the parties from whom he steals. As the coming of our Lord to the earth to steal away his Bride is unknown, both to the Church and her Divine Spouse, is known only to the Father, therefore it will be the greatest surprise that ever fell on a slumbering world and an apostate Church.
3. This describes the terrible anguish and awful pall that shall come to the godless millions of a fallen world and a slumbering Church, when awakened by the trump of the archangel and the shout of the descending Christ, calling all the members of his bridehood, living and dead, to meet him in the air. The institutions of the old dispensation all focalized in the first advent of Christ, like rivers flowing into the sea. That great and notable event was the exchange station, where all changed cars for the glorious new departure of the gospel dispensation. In a similar manner all the institutions of the new dispensations focalize and have their fulfillment in the second coming of Christ, when the gospel dispensation will wind up, and the glorious kingdom usher in, Satan, the present king of the nations, having been arrested, taken out of the world, and locked up in hell. (Revelation 20.)
4. “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day may overtake you as a thief.
5. “For all you are the sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness.
6. “Therefore let us not sleep as the rest, but watch and be sober.” Sin is the only thing that ever made the human soul drunk. Entire sanctification is absolutely necessary to the complete sobriety of the soul. The smallest amount of sin intoxicates you to the extent of its power. The two great commandments prominent in the Pauline battle-cry are, “Watch, and be sober;” i.e., be on the constant lookout for your coming King, and wholly sanctified as a qualification to receive him. His coming as a thief in the right is only applicable to the fallen world and slumbering Church, and not to his true people, who are watching and waiting his arrival.
7. Spiritual slumber and intoxication are peculiar to spiritual night. When the bright day of Eden passed under the eclipse of Satan’s black wing, the dismal night of sin supervened upon the whole world, and will continue till relieved by the glorious millennial day, whose auspicious dawn methinks I see in the present holiness movement, gilding every land with the fair- fingered Aurora of the coming kingdom.
8. “But let us, being of the day, be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith an love, and the helmet, the hope of salvation.” The apostle exhibits the powerful antithesis of a debauched world and a slumbering Church on the one hand, panic-stricken with the most terrible surprise in the world’s history, and the faithful few on the other, washed in the blood, filled with the Spirit, and on the tiptoe of thrilling anticipation, anxiously watching and waiting their Lord’s return, and consequently not taken in the surprise of the midnight cry, destined to come upon all the world as a “thief in the night.”
9,10. “That whether we may watch or sleep, we shall live along with Him.” Here is evidently an allusion to the bodies of the saints, in (ontradistinction to their souls, as the great multitude sleep in the dust, and only the present generation are living upon the earth, and watching with mortal eyes to see their coming King. Hence, the admonition of the apostle that, whether we live to behold his glorious coming or fall asleep with our predecessors, we shall enjoy spiritual and eternal life with him.
11. “Therefore exhort one another and edify one another, as you also do.” Paul had so faithfully preached to those people the Lord’s return to the earth, that he now affirms in their behalf that they are exhorting and edifying one another with these inspiring truths. How strange the contrast of the modern pulpit, silent on the Lord’s coming; with the apostle Paul so positive, explicit, and importunate, night and day, by speech and pen hammering this great truth into the minds of the people, so as to perfectly familiarize them with it, till they can all preach it to one another in their daily conversation. This verse closes that celebrated paragraph on the Lord’s second coming, which opens with the thirteenth verse of the preceding chapter, and so unfortunately interrupted by the division of the fifth chapter coming right in the middle. God help us all to be true to the commandments, winding up this memorable paragraph on the coming of the Lord and the rapture of the saints; i.e., “exhort and edify one another by these inspiring truths.” Let it be said of us, as of the Thessalonians, “as ye do.”
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v13 Division 3. (1Th 4:13-18; 1Th 5:1-11.)
Division 3. (1Th 4:13-18; 1Th 5:1-11.)
The resurrection of the saints at the coming of the Lord.
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The Christian hope is prominent in this epistle from the first. The Thessalonians had been converted to wait for God’s Son from heaven, and this became the light for them upon a path which ended in the glory already revealed. Important it surely was that there should be no cloud upon the prospect thus before them in which the opened heavens claimed them constantly; while for the earth also was seen the end of Satan’s power and of the curse, and the regeneration of the earth itself. What power for sanctification this, which made of those possessing such a hope pilgrims indeed; encompassing them continually with the atmosphere and light of heaven and the world to come!
For the Thessalonians, however, there was in fact a cloud which shadowed this glorious expectation; and the apostle proceeds to dispel it by the announcement of a new "word of the Lord," a new revelation, which declares the participation in it of the dead, for whom they were sorrowing as cut off from that which was the hope of the living. On the contrary he shows that the dead will be raised up to share with the living all that was before them. There would be no division of this sort between those alike the people of Christ. And he goes on to remind them that they were not to be (as Israel rightly will be) calculating times and seasons, which would have their place in connection with the day of the Lord, yet to come upon the world as a thief in the night. For the children of the day, suddenly as it might come, it could be no such unwelcome surprise. Let them not, therefore, sleep as others, but clothe themselves with the light as with an armor which would be their defence in a hostile place; assuring themselves that, whether living or dying, they were alike to live with their Saviour-Lord.
1. The apostle does not reprove them for the want of knowledge which they had; and which, if not inevitable, yet at least was not to be wondered at. There was, in fact, as his speaking by the word of the Lord implies, as yet no definite statement of Scripture with regard to that which troubled these young disciples. The, opposite has indeed been asserted; and the phrase itself even taken as a direct appeal to Scripture. But he does not produce any scripture; nor, had he done so, would it seem like Paul to affirm his speaking by it after this manner. The sufficient answer is, however, that no passage has been brought forward which could justify this view; and we may be confident none can be brought forward. The texts which have been referred to (Mat 16:27; Mat 24:31; Mat 25:1 sq.; Luk 14:14; Joh 5:28 sq.) are wholly incompetent; so that others have been obliged to imagine an unwritten word of the Lord which had come to Paul’s ears; but why not, then, a fresh communication from the Lord in glory, such as we know he received on other subjects, and others also beside himself received? True it is, indeed, that one might well believe, apart from any positive statement, that the Lord would not, in the way they feared, leave any Of His own in the day of His manifestation under the power of that death which He had Himself passed through, -deprived, not by any fault of their own, of the full participation in the glory which that death of His had entitled them to. The lack of assurance in this respect on the part of the Thessalonians may well show us our dullness in spiritual things. Yet for this the Lord has now made special provision. It is like Him, and we have all of us cause to be thankful for it. No! "if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also those who have fallen asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him."
Let us notice a little exactly the expressions here: for we may be assured that they are themselves exact, as always in Scripture. "Jesus died;" His saints but "fall asleep." With Him indeed it was death, and in all its reality and severity as the judgment upon sin, -the sign and type of a deeper judgment. With them it is but "sleep," -rest and refreshment, from which they rise to a day that knows no ending and suffers no decline, -a rest too, but in the full activity of life, where life is never dormant, but the joy of the Lord is strength indeed.
For, if Jesus died, He rose again; and this is what gives His death itself its full power in blessing for our souls. Thus the apostle puts the two together, as the full argument of faith as to its portion from God. It is God who raised up Jesus again. He has answered the cry, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" by putting the Sufferer where all the meaning of His death can now come out. Righteousness sorrowing gave Him up to die; but righteousness joyfully raises Him from the dead. Had He suffered on His own account, He could not have come out of it; His coming out is the testimony of personal righteousness in Himself, and thus of a work done for others, and of its acceptance also in their behalf. He rises their Representative, even as He died their Substitute; and the honors so acquired He, whose wealth could not be increased, acquired as treasure that He could pour out upon them. Thus His resurrection is full argument for their own; and if God bring Him again into the world, they too shall come with Him; God shall bring them with Him. In the day of His manifestation all must do Him honor: so He comes in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels; and how shall the dominion of death which He has broken keep from Him those who show the value of the work which has set it aside?
The apostle here announces only the truth concerning those on whose account they are bearing so needless a burden of sorrow. "God shall bring them with Him," -His own, from whom He cannot needlessly be separated. Not, as some strangely imagine, bring them as spirits to rejoin the bodies left behind on earth: it is merely the simple and blessed fact, that they will not be wanting in the company that God brings with His Son. Then he goes on to explain how it shall be, and brings in here the assurance of their previous resurrection. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord are in no way to anticipate those who have fallen asleep. Because the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught away together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord."
Thus we can realize the tenderness of the expression, "those who have fallen asleep through Jesus," or I think, better "those who have been laid asleep by Jesus," -by Him who has the keys of death and hades, and their Saviour. Taken in the first way, the meaning would be that "through Jesus," -through His work for them, -death had become to them merely a sleep; but it would seem a strange manner of expressing this. Taken in the second way, the Lord’s rule over death and His tender care of His people are both implied.
To us, for whom the great body of Christians are already among the dead, it cannot be a question that those remaining to the coming of the Lord will not precede the apostles and the multitude of the departed in their entrance into glory; yet, for all that, how little is the significance of this rising "first" of the dead in Christ realized by believers still. The common thought (thank God, less common than it was) of a single day of judgment in which saints and sinners rise together, necessarily destroys it entirely. Here a resurrection of the dead is shown to take place before the living saints are changed even; and then both are caught away together, to meet the Lord in the air. When He appears, therefore, they appear with Him (Col 3:4). Here is no promiscuous crowd, clearly: they that are ready go in with Him to the marriage and the door is shut." There is no need for our present purpose to consider what or where this marriage is. This consideration belongs elsewhere, and is to be found where it belongs (Mat 25:1 sq., notes); but we see at once that here is the company from which the Thessalonians thought their dying brethren might be excluded. It is not the dead who wait and watch with their lamps trimmed and burning; and they are in fact left out of the picture that our Lord has given us there. The apostle, speaking by the word of the Lord, now adds them to the company of those who thus go forth. As with the living so with the dead, they are not the whole number of those dead, but, as the apostle elsewhere says, they that are Christ’s at His coming" (1Co 15:23). Those who compose this company are distinctly specified: they are, according to the language of the epistle to the Philippians, the "out-resurrection from among the dead" (Php 3:11).
Scripture is a perfectly consistent whole; and the faithfulness and love of God shine out in it. Christians may lose sight of what they are to Christ, but it is impossible for Him to deny Himself. They can mingle themselves with the world; but He who has redeemed them out of it can never mingle them. They will come with Him to the judgment of the world -not be judged with it by Him; and this is what the doctrine of the "resurrection from among the dead" decisively bears witness to. But all the details and manner of it are in full harmony with this. Even the prodigal, according to the Lord’s own picture, must be met outside the father’s house, with the father’s arms; and where it is the gathering of Christians finally to their Lord, the "Lord Himself" must come to claim them: "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command," as in supreme authority. This, although question has been made of it, is His own voice; and thus the "voice of the archangel" follows and is distinguished from it. The highest among angels -those "ministers of His that do His pleasure," -in sympathetic obedience gives the word (as it would seem) to the angelic host, and the trump of God sounds. "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we" (the living) "shall be changed" (1Co 15:52). Thus the trumpet here is no call to battle, as some have thought it, but answers to the call of the assembly, in Num 10:3-4. In Mat 24:31, the Son of man sends His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. This, as has been shown in the consideration of the passage, is the gathering of dispersed Israel. In our present epistle it is rather what would answer to the gathering of the princes (Num 10:4); for the company gathered is that of those who are to reign with Christ over the earth. The announcement here is exactly as in Corinthians: the dead in Christ rise first; then "we who are alive and remain" are "caught away together with them," -which involves, of course, the change of which Corinthians speaks. We are "caught away in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord."
It is not perhaps remarkable, and yet we may do well to notice, how throughout this word of comfort that title "Lord" comes in; "the word of the Lord," "the coming of the Lord," "the Lord Himself," "to meet the Lord," "be ever with the Lord." It is, no doubt, the time when His lordship will be manifest to all; and that may seem sufficient reason for it. What a joy it will be beyond expression, to see all power put into the Hands alone competent to wield it! to have every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! But "so shall we be ever with the Lord" sounds somewhat in a different line of thought; and here we perhaps rather expect the sweet familiar "Jesus," His name on earth, but far from excluding the thought of His divine personality. To fulfil the prophecy that He was to be called Emmanuel, He was called Jesus; and that, too, because He would save His people from their sins. It is a name wonderfully complete therefore in what it expresses. Yet in the thought of eternity, as the apostle realizes it in the passage before us, he does not say, we shall be ever with Jesus, nor even, the Lord Jesus, but simply, "for ever with the Lord." Some even seem to deem it too cold and distant a title for heaven; but they can hardly have noticed how it is used by the inspired writers. While, of course, speaking of authority, it is an authority under which they delight to be putting themselves, as it were, continually. With him who, though most free, would ever be known as the "bondservant of Christ," they are ever proclaiming and exulting in His Lordship. And for those who have realized the bitter bondage of sin, how blessed the deliverance which could only be achieved by the strong hand of this glorious Master. For them this is not the language of distance, but of joyous worship. Released from such authority, to what would they be released? Will eternity make any difference in this respect? Will they need deliverance from that which wrought deliverance for them? The apostle answers that there, when we reach the end which all before has been hastening on to, -"we shall be ever with the Lord." It is the answer of heart to Him who has come forth "Himself" in joy of heart to meet them, to Him whose own words were, to those fearing soon to be made orphans by His absence, "I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am there ye may be also."
2. This is, of course, but the coming of the Lord in one aspect: as it bears upon the condition of the sleeping saints. The apostle goes on now to what is most closely connected with it, but yet not synonymous, as many take it. The "day of the Lord" is, in fact, ushered in by the coming of the Lord: it cannot be before Christ has risen from where He is now seated, on the Father’s throne, to take that which is His as Son of man. In this character it is that all judgment is committed to Him (Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27); and thus it is that as the Son of man He comes in the clouds of heaven and sits upon the throne of His glory. But before He thus appears, He has first of all to gather His associates upon the throne of His Kingdom; and this it is which we have been just looking at. When He appears, we shall appear with Him in glory (Col 3:4); and when He reigns we shall reign with Him over the earth. But for this we must be either raised or changed; and more than this, we must "appear," or better, "be manifested," before the judgment-seat of Christ (2Co 5:10). As to acceptance of our persons, that is already accomplished; we are "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph 1:6). Thus, personally, as He Himself has told us, he that has heard His word, and believed on Him who sent slim shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life (Joh 5:24). But the appraisal of our works is another thing, and that there shall be this we are as definitely assured. "We shall be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ." It is the triumph of divine grace that everything can be brought out thus, and we can "give account of ourselves to God," without the least sullying of divine holiness; even under the scrutiny of the light of God, "made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col 1:12). Yet so "shall every one receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." The appraisal is for reward; and we receive reward or suffer loss accordingly. This therefore must be settled before His saints can come forth with their Lord, each in his apportioned place according to the judgment of divine holiness, as well as in manifestation of divine grace.
We are to meet the Lord in the air; and then, according to what the tenor of Scripture generally implies, that apportionment of reward takes place. With this also there will necessarily be another thing of incalculable value for the soul, -wisdom gathered for eternity as to sin and holiness, good and evil, and the perfect ways of God’s government as to each. What lessons for the judges of the new Kingdom, who have themselves passed under the searching of inflexible holiness before they come to fill that place! How suited that they should do this; and this accounts on the one side for that which perhaps no single text, but the combined force of many prophetic scriptures assures us will be the case, that between the taking away of the saints to meet their Lord and His coming with them in the clouds of heaven there will elapse a considerable time -in fact some years. This is a matter much in dispute even yet among those who have devoted themselves more than others to the study of prophecy. It would be impossible to take it up in any adequate way here; nor is this the place in which to consider it. The full unfolding is in the book of Revelation; while the Lord’s own prophecy upon the Mount of Olives, as Matthew has recorded it, is an important link between this and Daniel, the Old Testament revelation. The second epistle here, with its warning as to apostasy from Christianity threatening, and the coming of the man of sin, almost completes the scriptures relating to this subject.
But thus it is plain that the day of the Lord begins for the earth as it may be said, secretly, and is characterized in its beginning by judgment, more and more descending upon a world ripening more and more in its iniquity. The true saints in Christendom being removed to the presence of their Lord, it becomes a mere corrupt mass, lapsing into open and defiant infidelity. And now it is that, the Gentile branches being cat off, (because they abode not in the grace received) the natural branches are to be graffed again into their own olive-tree; this too for final and full blessing to the world at large (Rom 11:16-26). A remnant awakened by the Spirit of God to the sense of their national guilt in the rejection of Christ, and purified by the trials through which they pass, in the midst of the apostasy of the mass who receive Antichrist, are prepared for the coming of the Lord, not now into the air, as when He takes away the saints of the present and the past, but to the earth, to judge it. (See the notes on the book of Psalms, passim).
It is in connection with Israel that all the Old Testament prophecies find fulfilment; and its history moves in accord with prophecy. For with the blessing of the earthly people comes the blessing of the earth; and when Israel loses her position as a nation, the history of the earth is for the present closed.
The interval has indeed the most wonderful history of all; but it is that of a people called out from the earth -from Israel and from the nations both, and destined for heaven.
Thus it is plain why the apostle says to the Thessalonians here, that of the times and seasons they had no need that he should write to them. In fact, the Lord had at the beginning told His disciples that it was not for them to know the times and the seasons, which the Father had placed under His own authority (Act 1:7). Their question, to which this is an answer, shows that, as we know, the heavenly calling of the Church was yet unrevealed. Even now they might not know all that this involved in the way of separation from Jewish and earthly prophecy; but they knew perfectly well that the day of the Lord was to come as a thief in the night. This was evidently the common Christian knowledge, and made it plain that its coming could not be calculated from Daniel’s prophetic periods, for instance. In these, in fact, are found incalculable elements which, until the time comes when they will speak out, will necessarily defeat all attempts at a right estimate. Had it been possible in the apostle’s days to predict the centuries of delay that have, in fact, elapsed, disciples might indeed still have waited for their Lord, but watched they could not, and no "thief in the night" could have troubled their slumbers. But for the heart expectancy was needed; and they were to watch because they knew not. Thus for these watchers the times could not speak; and in fact when they do it will be for another people than the present Christian Church, and when this is already removed to be with the Lord in the manner which we have just had before us.
For mere formal and worldly Christendom, the coming of the thief will then in a sense have taken place. Shut out in the outside darkness, when others have entered the chambers of light, no place of repentance will be left for the despisers of God’s present grace. In a world which, having rejected the true King, will be left for that awful time to experience fully what Satan’s rule is, they will fall under the power of his deception. Not having received the love of the truth that they might be saved, they will believe a lie; and comforting themselves with the cry of "Peace and safety," sudden destruction will come upon them as upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape!
They have chosen darkness, alas, with the light all round them; and for such the darkness is appointed. Impossible is it for the true Christian to be thus overtaken as a thief. A son of the day, the darkness has no title or claim with regard to him. The night is the period when darkness reigns; but the Christian is not of it, -not of the present "age" at all: it is characterized by a rejected Christ, gone from the earth -the Light of the world withdrawn. But the Holy Spirit is come, and the light is restored to faith: faith receives the light from heaven, though the night is unchanged by that; and the sons of light have to be armed against the darkness, which is all around them. Upon those who are in the light it can only come as a spirit of slumber, or as intoxication from the world’s siren cup. But in the light itself is the remedy for this; and Christ as apprehended in the soul is its armor of defence from both snare and open assault: faith and love cover the citadel of the heart, -are its breastplate, therefore, -while the hope of salvation (the full deliverance at hand) is as a helmet for the head against all stunning of discouragement. We must brace this armor to us, says the apostle, that we may find its full sufficiency; and the expectation speedily of the Lord’s return is cheer indeed, both as to the dead and in the daily conflict of the living: "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ; who died for us that, whether we wake or sleep, we may live together with Him." With this hope we may well encourage one another, as with a hope with which we ourselves are comforted of God. The apostle could, indeed, thank Him as to the Thessalonian Christians, that they were doing this.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v14 1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians
SLEEPING THROUGH JESUS
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1Th 4:14.
That expression is not unusual, in various forms, in the Apostle’s writings. It suggests a very tender and wonderful thought of closeness and union between our Lord and the living dead, so close as that He is, as it were, the atmosphere in which they move, or the house in which they dwell. But, tender and wonderful as the thought is, it is not exactly the Apostle’s idea here. For, accurately rendered--and accuracy in regard to Scripture language is not pedantry--the words run, ‘Them which sleep through Jesus.’
Now, that is a strange phrase, and, I suppose, its strangeness is the reason why our translators have softened it down to the more familiar and obvious ‘in Jesus.’ We can understand living through Christ, on being sacred through Christ, but what can sleeping through Christ mean? I shall hope to answer the question presently, but, in the meantime, I only wish to point out what the Apostle does say, and to plead for letting him say it, strange though it sounds. For the strange and the difficult phrases of Scripture are like the hard quartz reefs in which gold is, and if we slur them over we are likely to loose the treasure. Let us try if we can find what the gold here may be.
Now, there are only two thoughts that I wish to dwell upon as suggested by these words. One is the softened aspect of death, and of the state of the Christian dead; and the other is the ground or cause of that softened aspect.
I. First, then, the softened aspect of death, and of the state of the Christian dead.
It is to Jesus primarily that the New Testament writers owe their use of this gracious emblem of sleep. For, as you remember, the word was twice upon our Lord’s lips; once when, over the twelve-years-old maid from whom life had barely ebbed away, He said, ‘She is not dead, but sleepeth’; and once when in regard of the man Lazarus, from whom life had removed further, He said, ‘Our friend sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.’ But Jesus was not the originator of the expression. You find it in the Old Testament, where the prophet Daniel, speaking of the end of the days and the bodily Resurrection, designates those who share in it as ‘them that sleep in the dust of the earth.’ And the Old Testament was not the sole origin of the phrase. For it is too natural, too much in accordance with the visibilities of death, not to have suggested itself to many hearts, and been shrined in many languages. Many an inscription of Greek and Roman date speaks of death under this figure; but almost always it is with the added, deepened note of despair, that it is a sleep which knows no waking, but lasts through eternal night.
Now, the Christian thought associated with this emblem is the precise opposite of the pagan one. The pagan heart shrank from naming the ugly thing because it was so ugly. So dark and deep a dread coiled round the man, as he contemplated it, that he sought to drape the dreadfulness in some kind of thin, transparent veil, and to put the buffer of a word between him and its hideousness. But the Christian’s motive for the use of the word is the precise opposite. He uses the gentler expression because the thing has become gentler.
It is profoundly significant that throughout the whole of the New Testament the plain, naked word ‘death’ is usually applied, not to the physical fact which we ordinarily designate by the name, but to the grim thing of which that physical fact is only the emblem and the parable, viz., the true death which lies in the separation of the soul from God; whilst predominately the New Testament usage calls the physical fact by some other gentler form of expression, because, as I say, the gentleness has enfolded the thing to be designated.
For instance, you find one class of representations which speak of death as being a departing and a being with Christ; or which call it, as one of the apostles does, an ‘exodus,’ where it is softened down to be merely a change of environment, a change of locality. Then another class of representations speak of it as ‘putting off this my tabernacle,’ or, the dissolution of the ‘earthly house’--where there is a broad, firm line of demarcation drawn between the inhabitant and the habitation, and the thing is softened down to be a mere change of dwelling. Again, another class of expressions speak of it as being an ‘offering,’ where the main idea is that of a voluntary surrender, a sacrifice or libation of myself, and my life poured out upon the altar of God. But sweetest, deepest, most appealing to all our hearts, is that emblem of my text, ‘them that sleep.’ It is used, if I count rightly, some fourteen times in the New Testament, and it carries with it large and plain lessons, on which I touch but for a moment. What, then, does this metaphor say to us?
Well, it speaks first of rest. That is not altogether an attractive conception to some of us. If it be taken exclusively it is by no means wholesome. I suppose that the young, and the strong, and the eager, and the ambitious, and the prosperous rather shrink from the notion of their activities being stiffened into slumber. But, dear friends, there are some of us like tired children in a fair, who would fain have done with the weariness, who have made experience of the distractions and bewildering changes, whose backs are stiffened with toil, whose hearts are heavy with loss. And to all of us, in some moods, the prospect of shuffling off this weary coil of responsibilities and duties and tasks and sorrows, and of passing into indisturbance and repose, appeals. I believe, for my part, that, after all, the deepest longing of men--though they search for it through toil and effort--is for repose. As the poet has taught us, ‘there is no joy but calm.’ Every heart is weary enough, and heavy laden, and labouring enough, to feel the sweetness of a promise of rest:--
‘Sleep, full of rest from head to foot, Lie still, dry dust, secure of change.’
Yes! but the rest of which our emblem speaks is, as I believe, only applicable to the bodily frame. The word ‘sleep’ is a transcript of what sense enlightened by faith sees in that still form, with the folded hands and the quiet face and the closed eyes. But let us remember that this repose, deep and blessed as it is, is not, as some would say, the repose of unconsciousness. I do not believe, and I would have you not believe, that this emblem refers to the vigorous, spiritual life, or that the passage from out of the toil and moil of earth into the calm of the darkness beyond has any power in limiting or suspending the vital force of the man.
Why, the very metaphor itself tells us that the sleeper is not unconscious. He is parted from the outer world, he is unaware of externals. When Stephen knelt below the old wall, and was surrounded by howling fanatics that slew him, one moment he was gashed with stones and tortured, and the next ‘he fell on sleep.’ They might howl, and the stones fly as they would, and he was all unaware of it. Like Jonah sleeping in the hold, what mattered the roaring of the storm to him? But separation from externals does not mean suspense of life or of consciousness, and the slumberer often dreams, and is aware of himself persistently throughout his slumber. Nay! some of his faculties are set at liberty to work more energetically, because his connection with the outer world is for the time suspended.
And so I say that what on the hither side is sleep, on the further side is awaking, and that the complex whole of the condition of the sainted dead may be described with equal truth by either metaphor; ‘they sleep in Jesus’; or, ‘when I awake I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness.’
Scripture, as it seems to me, distinctly carries this limitation of the emblem. For what does it mean when the Apostle says that to depart and to be with Christ is far better? Surely he who thus spoke conceived that these two things were contemporaneous, the departing and the being with Him. And surely he who thus spoke could not have conceived that a millennium-long parenthesis of slumberous unconsciousness was to intervene between the moment of his decease and the moment of his fellowship with Jesus. How could a man prefer that dormant state to the state here, of working for and living with the Lord? Surely, being with Him must mean that we know where we are, and who is our companion.
And what does that text mean: ‘Ye are come unto the spirits of just men made perfect,’ unless it means that of these two classes of persons who are thus regarded as brought into living fellowship, each is aware of the other? Does perfecting of the spirit mean the smiting of the spirit into unconsciousness? Surely not, and surely in view of such words as these, we must recognise the fact that, however limited and imperfect may be the present connection of the disembodied dead, who sleep in Christ, with external things, they know themselves, they know their home and their companion, and they know the blessedness in which they are lapped.
But another thought which is suggested by this emblem is, as I have already said, most certainly the idea of awaking. The pagans said, as indeed one of their poets has it, ‘Suns can sink and return, but for us, when our brief light sinks, there is but one perpetual night of slumber.’ The Christian idea of death is, that it is transitory as a sleep in the morning, and sure to end. As St. Augustine says somewhere, ‘Wherefore are they called sleepers, but because in the day of the Lord they will be reawakened?’
And so these are the thoughts, very imperfectly spoken, I know, which spring like flowers from this gracious metaphor ‘them that sleep’--rest and awaking; rest and consciousness.
II. Note the ground of this softened aspect.
They ‘sleep through Him.’ It is by reason of Christ and His work, and by reason of that alone, that death’s darkness is made beautiful, and death’s grimness is softened down to this. Now, in order to grasp the full meaning of such words as these of the Apostle, we must draw a broad distinction between the physical fact of the ending of corporeal life and the mental condition which is associated with it by us. What we call death, if I may so say, is a complex thing--a bodily phenomenon plus conscience, the sense of sin, the certainty of retribution in the dim beyond. And you have to take these elements apart. The former remains, but if the others are removed, the whole has changed its character and is become another thing, and a very little thing.
The mere physical fact is a trifle. Look at it as you see it in the animals; look at it as you see it in men when they actually come to it. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is painless and easy, and men sink into slumber. Strange, is it not, that so small a reality should have power to cast over human life so immense and obscuring a shadow! Why? Because, as the Apostle says, ‘the sting of death is sin,’ and if you can take the sting out of it, then there is very little to fear, and it comes down to be an insignificant and transient element in our experience.
Now, the death of Jesus Christ takes away, if I may so say, the nimbus of apprehension and dread arising from conscience and sin, and the forecast of retribution. There is nothing left for us to face except the physical fact, and any rough soldier, with a coarse, red coat upon him, will face that for eighteenpence a day, and think himself well paid. Jesus Christ has abolished death, leaving the mere shell, but taking all the substance out of it. It has become a different thing to men, because in that death of His He has exhausted the bitterness, and has made it possible that we should pass into the shadow, and not fear either conscience or sin or judgment.
In this connection I cannot but notice with what a profound meaning the Apostle, in this very verse, uses the bare, naked word in reference to Him, and the softened one in reference to us. ‘If we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, even so them also which sleep.’ Ah! yes! He died indeed, bearing all that terror with which men’s consciences have invested death. He died indeed, bearing on Himself the sins of the world. He died that no man henceforward need ever die in that same fashion. His death makes our deaths sleep, and His Resurrection makes our sleep calmly certain of a waking.
So, dear ‘brethren, I would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope.’ And I would have you to remember that, whilst Christ by His work has made it possible that the terror may pass away, and death may be softened and minimised into slumber, it will not be so with you--unless you are joined to Him, and by trust in the power of His death and the overflowing might of His Resurrection, have made sure that what He has passed through, you will pass through, and where He is, and what He is, you will be also.
Two men die by one railway accident, sitting side by side upon one seat, smashed in one collision. But though the outward fact is the same about each, the reality of their deaths is infinitely different. The one falls asleep through Jesus, in Jesus; the other dies indeed, and the death of his body is only a feeble shadow of the death of his spirit. Do you knit yourself to the Life, which is Christ, and then ‘he that believeth on Me shall never die.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv13–18 But we would not have you ignorant [This is…
But we would not have you ignorant [This is Paul's habitual formula, used either negatively or positively, with which to start a new topic ( Rom_1:13 ; Rom_11:25 ; Col_2:1 ; 1Co_10:1 ; 1Co_11:3 ; 1Co_12:1 ; 2Co_1:8 ; Phi_1:12 ). It shows us that what he is now about to say has no connection with what precedes. It seems that Timothy brought Paul word that many Thessalonians entertained the crude notion that only the living would participate in the joys of Christ's coming, and that all those who were so unfortunate as to die before that event, would thereby forfeit their share in it. It is not strange that such a doctrine should spring up among those who had been so hastily instructed as the Thessalonians, especially when we may safely surmise that many new converts had been added to their number since Paul's departure], brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest [the pagans], who have no hope. [Paul speaks of the dead as sleeping, employing the beautiful New Testament metaphor ( Joh_11:11 ; Act_7:16 ; 1Co_15:18 ; 1Co_15:51 ), in which the grave becomes a couch wherein the body rests until it is wakened at the resurrection. Those grossly pervert the metaphor who use it to prove that the soul also slumbers. The apostle does not forbid sorrow over our departed ( Act_8:2 ; Joh_11:35 ), but that despairing grief which characterized the pagan of that day who had no hope of a resurrection. Alford gives such quotations as these from pagan writers. Theocritus: "Hope goes with life; all hopeless are the dead." Æschylus: "Once dead there is no resurrection more." Cetullus: "Suns may set and may return; we, when once our brief life wanes, have eternal night to sleep." Lucretius: "None ever wake again whom the cold pause of life hath overtaken." To these might be added the pathetic lines of Moschus: "We shall sleep the long, limitless, unawakable slumber," and the citation of Jowett as to "the sad complaints of Cicero and Quintilian over the loss of their children, and the dreary hope of an immortality of fame in Tacitus and Thucydides." The Christian should stand in contrast to all this, assuaging his sorrow by a blessed hope.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v17 caught up
caught up
Not church saints only, but all bodies of the saved, of whatever dispensation, are included in the first resurrection. (See Scofield "1Co 15:52") as here described, but it is peculiarly the "blessed hope" of the Church (cf) Mat 24:42; Mat 25:13; Luk 12:36-48; Act 1:11; Php 3:20; Php 3:21; Tit 2:11-13.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v13 Information about the Resurrection of the Dead.
Information about the Resurrection of the Dead.
v. 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
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v. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.
v. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
v. 16. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
v. 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
v. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
It seems that the Thessalonian Christians, in their excessive eagerness concerning the second coming of the Lord, had stumbled into various misunderstandings. Their solicitude for their dead, for instance, caused them to fear that the latter would occupy a position secondary to that which they themselves, who would live till the second advent of the Lord, hoped to attain. This anxious concern incidentally tended to plunge them into a grief which came dangerously near being like that of the Gentiles. Therefore Paul combines admonition with instruction: But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those that have fallen asleep, lest you grieve for them as do also the others that have no hope. It is true indeed that the faith of the Christians does not stifle and eradicate the natural affections. Christ Himself wept at the grave of His friend Lazarus. But even in this opening verse the apostle brings out two points that show the wide difference between the sorrow of the Christians and that of the unbelievers. In the first place, if Christians die, they fall asleep in the Lord Jesus, 1Co 11:30; 1Co 15:20. Their death is like a gentle sleep, from which there will be a glorious awakening. For that reason, in the second place, the sorrow of the Christians at the death of their loved ones is altogether unlike that of the rest, of the outsiders, of the unbelievers, whose condition is aptly described by the words: They have no hope. When their friends and relatives die, they are gone, they are taken from them definitely, never to be seen again. Such a memory of a happiness lost beyond recovery, of a parting without the hope of meeting again, produces a hopeless, a terrible state.
But the Christians are in an altogether different position: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so also those who fell asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him. That is the belief of all Christians, that Jesus truly died on the cross, but that just as truly He rose again on the third day. The believers in Christ, however, belong to Christ, they are partakers of all His work of redemption and of all the blessings which He earned through His vicarious suffering. Therefore the Christians, all those that have fallen asleep in Christ, trusting in His complete salvation, will pass through death into life. Just as surely as we believe in the crucified and resurrected Christ, just as surely as we are united with Christ in life and in death through faith, just so surely the Lord will lead us and all believers that have fallen asleep in Jesus with our Savior into the realms of eternal glory. That is the comfort of the Christians with regard to those friends and relatives whom they have laid to rest in the grave. They are at rest, they are asleep in the Lord; even in death they are the Lord’s. When Christ, therefore, who is our Life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory, and all believers with us, Col 3:4.
The apostle now adds a word of instruction regarding those that will be living on earth at the coming of the Lord: For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living ones, that remain over for the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede those that fell asleep. This was a word, a saying, of the Lord which had been preserved by the disciples and is here recorded by the apostle. When the last day comes, there will still be some believers living on earth, having been left over by God unto the return of Christ. But these believers will have no advantage over those that fell asleep in the Lord, whose bodies are lying in the grave. Both they and those that fell asleep in the Lord will be made partakers of the glory of their Lord and Savior. The Thessalonian Christians were evidently worrying lest their sleeping relatives and friends would not be present to see and receive Christ, the Victor, when He returns in the clouds of heaven for the Day of Judgment. They themselves, in the fervor of their first love, were so intensely eager for His coming, were so sure of His speedy advent, that this thought filled them with great anxiety. Paul therefore showed them that their fears were groundless.
He now also explains the sequence of events on the last day: Because the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud summons, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will arise first; thereupon we, the living ones, that remain over, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord. The events of the last day are here unfolded before our eyes as successive acts. The first is that the Lord Himself, the exalted Christ, will appear in the clouds of heaven, visible, as He ascended up on high. With great power and might He will come down from heaven, Act 1:11. With a loud summons, with a shout of command, as a victorious captain going forth to the destruction of His enemies, with the voice of an archangel summoning the great host of the heavenly spirits, with a trumpet of God, a majestic note that will strike terror into the hearts of His enemies and cause the hearts of the believers to beat higher with exultant joy, the great King will descend from His throne. It will be, as Luther writes, like the coming of a great and powerful king or emperor in full battle array, filling the air with the clamor of battle-cries and trumpets. The shouting of the victorious Conqueror of death and hell will reach the dead in their graves, the believers will hear the voice of their Savior, and they will come forth from their graves with glorified bodies, ready to join Him in His triumphal pageant, 1Co 15:42-44; Php 3:21. That will be the first event of interest in this connection. But immediately afterwards the believers whom the Lord has left over till this day, who are still living in the flesh, will experience the power of Christ’s majesty in their own bodies. They will suddenly be caught up into the clouds to join the retinue of the King of kings. The mortality of their bodies will then also be left behind, this corruptible having put on incorruption, 1Co 15:52-53. In the company of their exalted Savior the believers will then appear in glory before the whole world, to be forever with the Lord, wherein the essence of eternal bliss consists, to be in His presence, to see Him face to face, world without end. With the certainty of such joy before us, the admonition of the apostle surely ought to find willing ears and ready obedience: So, then, encourage one another with these words. There is a world of consolation and comfort in this short passage, which can barely be indicated in a brief explanation.
Summary
The apostle issues a warning concerning sexual vice and covetousness, as sins of uncleanness, he urges brotherly love and industrious frugality, and gives information about the events of Resurrection Day, with a view of comforting the believers of all times.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 16 General Information:
General Information:
Paul talks about believers who have died, who are still alive, and those who will be alive when Christ returns.
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We do not want you to be uninformed
This can be stated in positive form. AT: "We want you to be informed" or "We want you to know"
brothers
Here "brothers" means fellow Christians.
those who sleep
Here "sleep" is a euphemism for being dead. AT: "those who have died" (See: Euphemism)
so that you do not grieve like the rest
"because we do not want you grieve like the rest"
grieve
mourn, be sad about something
like the rest who do not have hope
"like people who do not confidence in the future promise." It can be stated clearly what those people do not have confidence about. AT: "like the people who are not sure that they will rise from the dead"
if we believe
Here "we" refers to Paul and his audience. (See: Inclusive "We")
rose again
"rose to live again"
those who have fallen asleep in him
Here "fallen asleep" is a polite way to refer to having died. (See: Euphemism)
by the word of the Lord
"Word" here is a metonym for "message." AT: "by means of understanding the teachings of the Lord" (See: Metonymy)
at the coming of the Lord
"when the Lord returns"
translationWords
brother
asleep
hope
Jesus
God
word of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13–18 4:13 the believers who have died (literally those who…
4:13 the believers who have died (literally those who have fallen asleep; also in 4:14): Sleep was a common euphemism for death in Greek, Jewish, and Christian literature (Dan 12:2; Matt 27:52). Personal existence continues after death (Luke 23:40-43; Acts 7:55-60; 2 Cor 5:6-10; Phil 1:20-24; Rev 6:9-11); those who have died await the resurrection (1 Cor 15:23). • grieve like people who have no hope: Ancient letters of comfort exhorted mourners not to be overcome with grief because they could do nothing to avert death. Paul does not prohibit grief (cp. John 16:6, 20; Phil 2:27) but calls Christian mourners to abandon the kind of grief typical of those who have no hope in God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.