Resounding Faith | Generating Hope
November 3, 2024
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Purpose
To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst
To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships
To participate in God’s mission to the world
Opening Prayer
God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, hear the devout prayers of your Church: and grant that what we ask in faith we may surely obtain; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Responsive Prayer — Psalm 16
I have set the Lord always before me;
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
My flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
Or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Summary and Connection
This study explores the topic of death and the coming of the Lord. Timothy brought a letter to Paul from the Thessalonians, and in it Paul is responding to the questions that the believers in Thessalonica had concerning sex, work, and death. Today’s passage concludes chapter 4 and ends with the ethical teaching of death. The Thessalonians misunderstood the Second Coming, which caused some to stop working altogether and left others completely unprepared for the experience of bereavement. Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that as Jesus was raised to life, they too will be resurrected. He explains that when Jesus returns, Christians will rejoin him again. Paul exhorts the church in Thessalonica to hold on to this hope and to encourage each other with this truth. We are in the midst of a sermon series called Resounding Faith, and we want to explore how we can have hope in spite of death.
Discussion Questions
1. Looking at the Bible
Observation: Read the passage privately. What does the text say? What is the theme of this passage? Do you notice any keywords?
- What is the intent of Paul’s instruction? What is his purpose for teaching about death and the coming of the Lord?
- Notice what Paul wrote on grief in verse 13. What is he prohibiting, and what is he allowing? What importance does that have for us as Christians today?
2. Looking at Jesus
At Central we believe that all of Scripture points to Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the theological center of the Bible. Every passage not only points to Jesus, but the grand narrative of the Bible also finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus.
- Where is our hope? Have we misplaced our hope in other things?
- How has Jesus proven himself as the reason for our hope in the Bible and in our life?
3. Looking at Our Hearts
- The eschatology (theology of death, judgment, and the afterlife) of the Thessalonians either led them to become idle or to grieve without hope. How does our eschatology shape how we live today? What would a gospel-centered eschatology look like in the life of the believers?
4. Looking at Our World
- Benjamin Franklin famously quipped that nothing is certain in this world except for death and taxes. How does the world view death? What is Paul saying in today’s passage to the church in Thessalonica, and what should our attitude be, as Christians, toward death?
- How can we share this hope regarding death and resurrection with unbelievers?
Sending
God’s word is a lamp to our feet. Christ’s teachings are a light to our path. May God’s word take root in our lives. May Christ’s love nourish and sustain us. Amen.
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View Study Guide Notes
Question 1: Paul’s overall tone throughout this letter to the Thessalonians is instructional and pastoral, in contrast to his sarcastic and rebuking tone in the Corinthian letters or his angry and frustrated tone in his letter to the Galatians. Paul repeatedly mentions his past teachings when he was with the Thessalonian church (4:1, 2, 6, 11) and often uses parental language when referencing his relationship to them (2:7, 11). In this passage, Paul again wants to instruct them in truth (“we do not want you to be uninformed” [verse 13]), with the end goal of encouragement. His desire is that they don’t grieve hopelessly. Paul isn’t forbidding all forms of grief; sadness is a natural response to death, and even Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35). The Bible does not trivialize human emotions; rather, it instructs us to express them toward God, who hears us and comforts us (Psalm 34:18; Philippians 4:6).
Much of the Thessalonians’ confusion around death and the Second Coming was answered by Paul’s reminder of their faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Notice the credal language used by Paul: “we believe that…” (verse 14) and “we declare…” (verse 15). The simple gospel provided the answer to their questions, and it continues to be the answer for our lives today. The believers in Thessalonica had a misunderstanding in their eschatology (theology of death, judgment, and the afterlife) which led to laziness and sudden grief. However, Paul instructs them in accordance with gospel-centered theology, encouraging them to love others through their work (4:9-11) and to comfort each other in their bereavement. Good orthodoxy leads to good orthopraxy, and sound doctrine leads to godly living (1 Timothy 1).
Question 2: Most Greco-Roman philosophers, especially Epicureans, viewed death simply as an end of existence without any hope. The Jewish religious leaders called the Sadducees also didn’t believe in the resurrection (Mark 12:18). Unlike the Jews or Gentiles of the day, Paul is exhorting the Thessalonians to not “grieve as others do who have no hope” regarding death and afterlife (verse 13). He explains in the following verses (14-18) that the reason for hope is Jesus’ resurrection and second coming. The gospel story — Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection — is what gives us hope as Christians; Jesus himself is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1). The New Testament lexicon describes elpis (hope) as “a joyful and confident expectation of eternal life through Jesus Christ.” Like the pagans at Thessalonica, we too had no hope, but “in Christ Jesus we who were once far off have been brought near” (Ephesians 2:12-13). The resurrection of Christ gives believers hope that they too will one day be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). The apostle Peter praises God for “causing us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Jesus’ resurrection gives us new birth and new life, and Jesus the Living Hope, dwelling within us, becomes our glorious hope (Colossians 1:27). John writes in his gospel:
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Question 3: The Thessalonians — and probably Paul as well — thought that the Parousia (the Second Coming of Christ) was going to happen very soon in their lifetime. This apocalyptic eschatology led to some Thessalonians quitting their jobs, idly waiting for Jesus’ return (4:11). There was another group that thought man had to remain alive to witness and participate in the Second Coming. As some of the members died, the church in Thessalonica was worried that the dead members had “missed out” on the return of Christ. Paul sought to console and encourage the confused Thessalonians with hope rooted in correct theology.
Jewish apocalypticism was prevalent throughout the New Testament period, from the time of Jesus’ ministry to Paul and the early Church. There were also some cults whose radical beliefs led them to idleness (as we see in Thessalonica), or even to violence (as in the Zealots). The Thessalonians represented two extremes in eschatology: one put too much emphasis on the spiritual matter, which led to unemployment and an unhealthy lifestyle; the other forgot about the spiritual hope, which led them to grieve ignorantly and hopelessly just like any unbeliever. As Christians, it is important to keep a balanced view on theological matters. The modern Church can also fall into the same eschatological pitfalls. Misunderstanding holiness and spirituality, some Christians view everything in this world as evil and strive to be detached from civilization. Some even believe in popular doomsday theories. Other Christians have forgotten about the coming Kingdom and have placed their hope in this life only. Like the rich fool, they have stored up things for themselves in this world, forgetting that their life is but a vapor (Luke 12:18-21; James 4:14).
Jesus taught that although we are not of this world, he has sent us into the world (John 17:14-19). The Church is called to serve as salt and light in the world, and we have a mission to love our neighbors and to point them to the Father’s love. We should take heed not to love the things in the world — the desires of the flesh and the eyes — lest we shrink in shame at the Lord’s coming (1 John 2:15-17, 28). But also, we shouldn’t be led astray with erroneous eschatology (Matthew 24), carried about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). Rather, we must be rightly equipped “to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us, in gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
Question 4: The purpose of Paul’s instruction on death was so the Thessalonians wouldn’t grieve “as others do who have no hope” (verse 13). Paul is saying that the rest of the world, when faced with death, has no hope. In one of his letters, C.S. Lewis wrote that there are only three approaches to death: to desire it, to fear it, or to ignore it. The natural response is to fear it, and along with fear, the emotions of anger and sadness are often present in conjunction with death and bereavement. Among the Greek philosophers, the Stoics had an indifferent attitude toward death. Shutting down their emotions, they would claim to be fearless of death, accepting it as a natural part of life. Tim Keller, in his sermon about death, explained that the modern view of most New Yorkers is similar to the indifferent approach — they deny that there is anything terrible about death. The dead body decays, and the human conscience simply ceases to exist. However, Keller rightly points out that this too is an act of faith, as no one is certain of what happens after death. Another Greek philosopher named Epicurus said, “What men fear is not that death is annihilation, but that it is not.”
On the other hand, we as Christians not only have hope in the face of death, but even moreso, as C.S. Lewis wrote, we can desire it. Lewis wasn’t writing about having a death wish, but rather echoing Paul’s attitude of “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). While we eagerly await reuniting with Jesus, we do so in diligent obedience to the vocation (calling) we have in this world. Paul wrote in Romans 14:8: “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”