By The Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

“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 [precede] them which are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15).

The Rev. Ron Purkey

First, dispelling the believers’ ignorance: He says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant, brethren.” Whenever Paul says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant,” it’s because his readers are lacking knowledge or information about an important truth. He wants the Christians at Thessalonica (and us today) to be filled with truth and with hope about their believing loved ones who had died.

Second, explaining the believers’ death: Notice in the second part of verse 13 he speaks of those who have “fallen asleep.” The word asleep comes from a Greek word that does not mean to sleep in a natural way. Instead, it is used here to describe the physical death of Christians — how the body of a believer “sleeps” in death. There are a number of passages where this word is used to refer to death. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Third, revealing the believers’ hope: That is why in the third part of 1 Thessalonians 4:13 he says, “lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.” Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians so that they would not be sad — he wanted them to understand what would happen to their believing loved ones who had died.

The Bible says that when you know Jesus Christ and your loved one goes into the place where the body stays until Jesus comes back, there is hope! We still sorrow, of course. I cried at my parents’ funerals; but I didn’t despair. My tears were tears of sorrow mixed with joy. I knew they were with the Lord, waiting for the day when their bodies would be reunited with their spirit.

This truth keeps us from mourning as those who have no hope when we stand at the gravesides of our loved ones. The Bible says: “…to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is really a great commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. It explains how Jesus Christ took the sting out of death. “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” Jesus Christ changed death to sleep; he told us that death isn’t final. At death our body will go to the grave but our spirit will go to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Death is simply reclining, falling asleep, and waiting in the presence of the Lord for the day when our body will be resurrected. The dead will not be left out. In fact, they are assured a prominent place when Christ returns in the air. Yes! Jesus is coming again.

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines free at rcpbibleoutlines.com. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.