Joey's Journal - September 9, 2006 - 1 Thessalonians 4 (Part 2)
My Reading - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Part 2 : The Coming of the Lord
(13)Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. (14)We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (15)According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16)For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17)After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (18)Therefore encourage each other with these words.
My Reflection - In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, we see that the early Christians were wondering what would happen to many of their fellow believers who have died when Christ returned. Paul wanted them to know that death is not the end of the story. When Christ returns, all believers - dead and alive - will be reunited, never to suffer or die again. Paul confirms that during the Lord’s second coming, those believers who have died will rise up first and those believers who are still alive will be caught up together with the dead and meet the Lord. He speaks of these events to challenge believers to comfort and encourage one another when loved ones die. Therefore, we as believers need not despair when our loved ones die or world events take a tragic turn. God will turn our tragedies to triumphs, our poverty to riches, our pain to glory, and our defeat to victory. All believers throughout history will stand reunited in God’s presence, safe and secure. We as believers should comfort and reassure each other with this great hope as the Apostle Paul did to the Thessalonians.
My Prayer - Father, thank You for Your impartation of Your Word through the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians. We have read and understood Your call to live our lives to please You. Lord, sends us Your Holy Spirit to strengthen us to be godly and pure. Helps us to avoid the temptation of the devil with regard to sexual desires and actions. We long to have Your grace of self-control and rebuke the traps are set by the evil one. What we long for Father, is the hope to be standing in Your Mighty and Holy Presence when Jesus comes the second time. I pray these in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
This is the part 2 of 2.
See the part 1 of this Article here.
By Joey B.
Part 2 : The Coming of the Lord
(13)Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. (14)We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (15)According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16)For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17)After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (18)Therefore encourage each other with these words.
My Reflection - In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, we see that the early Christians were wondering what would happen to many of their fellow believers who have died when Christ returned. Paul wanted them to know that death is not the end of the story. When Christ returns, all believers - dead and alive - will be reunited, never to suffer or die again. Paul confirms that during the Lord’s second coming, those believers who have died will rise up first and those believers who are still alive will be caught up together with the dead and meet the Lord. He speaks of these events to challenge believers to comfort and encourage one another when loved ones die. Therefore, we as believers need not despair when our loved ones die or world events take a tragic turn. God will turn our tragedies to triumphs, our poverty to riches, our pain to glory, and our defeat to victory. All believers throughout history will stand reunited in God’s presence, safe and secure. We as believers should comfort and reassure each other with this great hope as the Apostle Paul did to the Thessalonians.
My Prayer - Father, thank You for Your impartation of Your Word through the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians. We have read and understood Your call to live our lives to please You. Lord, sends us Your Holy Spirit to strengthen us to be godly and pure. Helps us to avoid the temptation of the devil with regard to sexual desires and actions. We long to have Your grace of self-control and rebuke the traps are set by the evil one. What we long for Father, is the hope to be standing in Your Mighty and Holy Presence when Jesus comes the second time. I pray these in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
This is the part 2 of 2.
See the part 1 of this Article here.
By Joey B.
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Joey's Journal
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