1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 · Small Group Bible Study
① The Biblical Text
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (NKJV)
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
② Devotional
“Therefore comfort one another with these words.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:18
There is a difference between grieving without hope and grieving with it. Paul is not telling the Thessalonians — or us — to stop feeling the loss of the people we love. He is telling us what is true on the other side of that loss. The body sleeps. The soul is with the Lord. And one day the Lord is coming back, and what was separated will be joined again.
This passage was given for a reason that is more personal than theological. Someone in your life is grieving right now — or you are. And the instinct when someone is grieving is to say something wise, or to stay quiet, or to bring food. All of those things have their place. But Paul gives us something more durable: a word. A true word. A word that does not pretend the loss is small, but tells you where the person has gone and when you will see them again.
The rapture is not an escape hatch. It is a reunion. It is the moment when every grave empties, every distance closes, and every believer who has ever lived is together with the Lord — always. That word always, at the end of verse 17, is the whole point. Not for a while. Always.
Go this week carrying a word that is stronger than grief — the word of the Lord about what comes next.
③ Commentary
Teacher preparation resource — full text organized under outline headings.
④ Self-Study Guide
For use during the group meeting.
| Verse | Greek Word (Lexical Form) / English Translation | Strong's # / Transliteration / Grammatical Form | Definition & Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| v. 13 | κοιμάω those who are asleep | G2837 kekoimēmenōn Perf. Ptc. Pass. Gen. Pl. Masc. | STR: To sleep, to fall asleep — used euphemistically of the physical death of believers. VINE: Used consistently across the NT for believers' death (John 11:11–13; 1 Cor. 15:51) — cross-passage usage confirms this is a settled euphemism, not a poetic one-off. Significance: The body rests; the soul is immediately with the Lord. This word carries implicit hope — sleep ends with waking. |
| v. 13 | ἐλπίς hope | G1680 elpida Acc. Sg. Fem. | STR: Hope, confident expectation. THAY: Thayer distinguishes this from ordinary uncertain wishing — NT hope denotes a confident expectation grounded in a specific promise, not a vague optimism about the future. Significance: The pagans have no elpis because they have no revealed word about what lies beyond death. Believers do. |
| v. 14 | ἄγω will bring | G71 axei Fut. Ind. Act. 3rd Sg. | STR: To bring, to lead. ATR: The future indicative expresses simple, certain futurity — grammatically this is a flat prediction, not a hope or possibility. Significance: God will bring (lead) with Him those who have fallen asleep. The souls of dead believers are already with the Lord; He will bring them with Him when He descends — active, purposeful motion. They are not left behind. |
| v. 15 | παρουσία coming | G3952 parousian Acc. Sg. Fem. | STR: Coming, presence, arrival — the technical term for the return of Christ. VINE: Used across the NT in both rapture and Second Coming contexts — cross-passage usage shows the word's consistent sense of arrival and abiding presence, not a passing visit. Significance: Literally means arrival and presence — not a passing visit, but a permanent coming to be with His people. |
| v. 15 | φθάνω will by no means precede | G5348 phthasōmen Aor. Subj. Act. 1st Pl. | STR: To precede, to arrive before, to anticipate. MRV: Classically used in racing contexts of arriving first or getting ahead of a competitor — Vincent's background note sharpens the picture of one group not getting a head start on another. Significance: The living saints will not precede (go ahead of) those who have died. The reassurance is precise: no believer gets there first. They will all be gathered together. |
| v. 16 | κέλευσμα a shout | G2752 keleusmati Dat. Sg. Neut. | STR: A shout of command, a battle cry — found only here in the NT. MRV: Outside the NT used of a hunter calling to hounds, a shipmaster to his rowers, a horseman to his horses — Vincent's classical background note shows this is a commanding shout directed at a specific audience, not a general exclamation. Significance: This is not a gentle call — it is a commanding shout directed by the Son to the dead in Christ: Come forth. |
| v. 16 | ἀρχάγγελος archangel | G743 archangelou Gen. Sg. Masc. | STR: Archangel, chief angel. LXX: Later Jewish and intertestamental usage building on Daniel 10 and 12 names Michael specifically as the chief prince over Israel — background that stands behind the NT's naming of only one archangel. Significance: Scripture names only one archangel: Michael (Jude 9; Rev. 12:7). The title means ruler of angels — the highest rank in the angelic order. |
| v. 16 | σάλπιγξ trumpet | G4536 salpingi Dat. Sg. Fem. | STR: Trumpet. LXX: In the Greek OT the trumpet consistently signals a divine summons — the gathering of the assembly at Sinai, the announcing of Jubilee, the call to war or worship — inherited weight that carries into this occurrence. Significance: Throughout Scripture, the trumpet signals a divine summons, a call to assembly, or the announcement of a king. Here all three converge: the dead are summoned, the church is assembled, and the King arrives. |
| v. 17 | ἁρπάζω shall be caught up | G726 harpagēsometha Fut. Ind. Pass. 1st Pl. | STR: To seize, to snatch, to catch up forcibly — the word behind ‘rapture’ (from the Latin raptus). VINE: Used elsewhere of Philip being ‘caught away’ (Acts 8:39) and Paul being ‘caught up’ to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2–4) — cross-passage usage confirms this is a sudden, forcible removal, not a gradual ascent. Significance: Not a gentle ascent but a sudden, powerful taking. The force of the word underscores the certainty and speed of the event. |
| v. 17 | ἀπάντησις to meet | G529 apantēsin Acc. Sg. Fem. | STR: A meeting, a formal reception. MRV: Used in the Greco-Roman world for citizens going out of a city to formally welcome and escort a visiting dignitary back in — Vincent's background note reframes the rapture as an honor-guard reception, not a departure. Significance: At the rapture, the church goes up to receive the Lord and be escorted — into eternity with Him. The image is honor, welcome, and permanence. |
| v. 18 | παρακαλέω comfort one another | G3870 parakaleite Pres. Imp. Act. 2nd Pl. | STR: To encourage, comfort, exhort. VINE: The same root gives the Holy Spirit's title Paraclete (John 14:16) — cross-passage usage links this command to the very purpose for which the Spirit was given. Significance: The doctrine of the rapture is given for the express purpose of mutual encouragement — the same purpose for which the Holy Spirit was sent. Comfort each other with this truth. |
| Category | Abbreviations |
|---|---|
| Cases (Nouns / Adjectives) | Nom. (Nominative) · Gen. (Genitive) · Dat. (Dative) · Acc. (Accusative) · Voc. (Vocative) |
| Number | Sg. (Singular) · Pl. (Plural) |
| Gender | Masc. (Masculine) · Fem. (Feminine) · Neut. (Neuter) |
| Verb Mood | Ind. (Indicative) · Imp. (Imperative) · Subj. (Subjunctive) · Opt. (Optative) · Inf. (Infinitive) · Ptc. (Participle) |
| Verb Tense | Pres. (Present) · Imperf. (Imperfect) · Fut. (Future) · Aor. (Aorist) · Perf. (Perfect) · Plpf. (Pluperfect) |
| Verb Voice | Act. (Active) · Mid. (Middle) · Pass. (Passive) |
| Verb Person / Number | 1st Sg. / 1st Pl. · 2nd Sg. / 2nd Pl. · 3rd Sg. / 3rd Pl. |
Review the outline as a group before moving to the discussion questions.
| Outline Point (Commentary) | Commentary Summary |
|---|---|
| I — The Theological Setting | Israel and the Church are distinct entities; the Church, and the rapture within it, is a mystery hidden in God until revealed through Paul. |
| II.A — A Preview (4:13–14) | |
| II.B — A Promise (4:15) | |
| II.C — A Picture (4:16–18) |
Leader answer boxes are drawn from the Commentary and Greek Word Study above.
1. Paul says the Thessalonians should not grieve ‘as others who have no hope.’ What specifically is the hope that distinguishes believers' grief from everyone else's? What makes this hope credible rather than merely comforting?
The hope (elpis) is a specific, revealed promise — the dead in Christ will rise, and living and dead believers will be reunited with the Lord together. It is credible because it rests on the historical death and resurrection of Jesus (v.14, a first-class condition assuming the premise is true): if He rose, they rise. This is not wishful thinking but a conclusion drawn from an attested fact.
2. Verse 14 says God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus, and verse 16 says the dead in Christ will rise first. How can the dead be both coming down and going up? What does this tell us about the distinction between the body and the soul at death?
The souls of dead believers are already with the Lord and come down with Him at His descent, while their bodies — resting in the earth — are resurrected and rise to be reunited with those souls, presumably in the air. The body sleeps; the soul does not. Death separates body and soul temporarily; the rapture reunites them permanently.
3. The Greek word keleusma (shout) describes a commanding order — a hunter calling hounds, a shipmaster calling rowers. What does this image add to your understanding of the resurrection of the dead at the rapture? Who is commanding whom, and why does it matter?
The shout is the Son commanding the dead in Christ directly — not the Father to the Son, not the Son to angels. Like Lazarus at the tomb, the dead respond immediately to Christ's voice. Unlike Lazarus, this shout carries no single name — it is addressed to every believer who has ever died, all at once. The image underscores both the authority of Christ's word and the comprehensiveness of the resurrection.
4. Paul says he expects to be alive at the rapture (‘we who are alive’). The sermon noted there are no signs for the rapture — it could have happened in any generation. What is the practical effect of living with that expectation? How does it differ from idle speculation about dates?
Expectation without date-setting keeps believers alert and hopeful without becoming preoccupied with calculation. Paul's own confident ‘we’ shows this is not idle speculation but a lived posture — every generation is meant to hold the same expectancy, since nothing must occur first. The practical effect is readiness and comfort, not anxiety or obsession with timing.
5. Verse 18 commands believers to ‘comfort one another with these words.’ The Greek word parakaleō is the same root as Paraclete (the Holy Spirit). What does it mean that God gives us doctrinal truth specifically for the purpose of comforting each other — not just knowing it, but using it?
Doctrine in the New Testament is never given merely to be understood in the abstract; it is given to be shared, spoken, and applied in relationship — especially in grief. Using the same word tied to the Spirit's own ministry shows that comforting one another with this truth is, in a real sense, doing the Spirit's own work among believers.
| Verse | Key Truth | Key Greek Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| I | Israel and the Church are distinct — the Church is a mystery hidden in God until revealed | — |
| 4:13 | Don't be ignorant or grieve without hope — believers' dead are asleep, not lost | Koimaō · Elpis |
| 4:14 | Since Christ rose, God will bring with Him those who have died in Him | Agō |
| 4:15 | The living will not precede the dead — all believers are gathered together | Parousia · Phthanō |
| 4:16 | The Lord Himself descends with a shout, an archangel's voice, and a trumpet — the dead rise first | Keleusma · Archangelos · Salpinx |
| 4:17 | The living are caught up together with them to meet the Lord — and are with Him always | Harpazō · Apantēsis |
| 4:18 | The purpose of this doctrine is to comfort one another, not to frighten or merely inform | Parakaleō |
⑤ Application
1 Thessalonians 4:13 — “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.”
Commentary §II.A.1 (Our Feelings) and Greek Word Study — κοιμάω, ἐλπίς
Paul's pastoral instinct in this passage is to inform, not to protect. He does not soften the subject of death — he addresses it with the most specific revelation he has. The antidote to grief shaped by ignorance is knowledge shaped by the Word. And the knowledge Paul gives is not vague comfort but doctrine: the body sleeps, the soul is with the Lord, and the body will be raised. This is not wishful thinking. It is a revealed promise from the One who has been there and come back.
Personal Reflection: When someone close to you dies, or when you think about your own death, what is your instinctive emotional posture — and how much of it is shaped by Scripture versus by cultural assumptions? What do you actually believe happens the moment a believer dies?
Practical Step: Read 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 and Philippians 1:21–23 this week alongside 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14. Write down in your own words what happens to a believer at the moment of death. Then ask: does the way I grieve — or the way I speak to others who are grieving — reflect this?
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 — “...we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep... we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
Commentary §II.B (A Promise) and §II.C.2 (The Rapture) and Greek Word Study — παρουσία, ἁρπάζω
The rapture is a signless event — nothing has to happen first. It could have happened in Paul's day. It could happen today. Every generation of believers is meant to live with this expectation before them — not as a distraction from daily faithfulness, but as the horizon that gives meaning to it. Paul expected to be alive when the Lord came. He said ‘we.’ There is nothing wrong with sharing that expectation. The question is whether it shapes the texture of your daily life.
Personal Reflection: On a typical weekday, how often does the return of Christ cross your mind? Does the answer reflect how the New Testament says we ought to be living — expectantly, prepared, hopeful? What would it look like to hold this truth more consciously without becoming idle or escapist?
Practical Step: This week, begin each morning with one sentence: ‘The Lord may come today.’ Not as a formula, but as a genuine orientation. Notice what it changes about how you speak to people, how you prioritize your time, and how you respond to discouraging news.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 — “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Commentary §II.C.3 (The Reassurance) and Greek Word Study — παρακαλέω
The doctrine of the rapture was not given primarily for debate or for system-building. Paul ends this entire passage — the theological background, the careful argument, the vivid picture — with a single practical command: comfort one another with these words. The Greek is parakaleō — the word used for the Holy Spirit Himself. God gives the truth, and then He tells us to give it to each other. Doctrine in the New Testament is always meant to land somewhere — in a conversation, in a relationship, in a moment of grief or fear.
Personal Reflection: Is there someone in your life right now who is grieving, afraid, or losing hope — someone to whom you could bring the specific comfort of what Paul says here? What has kept you from bringing it?
Practical Step: Identify one person — inside or outside your group — who is currently grieving or discouraged. This week, reach out to them specifically with the hope of this passage. You do not need a full theological explanation. You need a verse and a personal word. Write down what you plan to say before you go.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 + 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 — “Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye...”
Commentary §I (The Theological Setting)
The theological background Paul provides before verse 13 is not a detour — it is the foundation. Understanding that the Church is a distinct entity from Israel, that it began at Pentecost and will be removed at the rapture, and that the rapture is itself a mystery not revealed in the Old Testament — all of this shapes how we read prophecy, how we interpret current events, and how we encourage one another. Confusion about Israel and the Church leads to confusion about almost everything else in eschatology. Clarity here produces confidence.
Corporate Reflection: As a group, how well do you understand the distinction between Israel and the Church? Where does confusion about this distinction show up in how members of your group talk about prophecy, current events, or the end times?
Practical Step: As a group, read Ephesians 3:1–10 together this week — Paul's clearest statement of the mystery of the Church. Discuss: what was hidden, what was revealed, and what it means that Jew and Gentile are now ‘fellow heirs, fellow members, fellow partakers.’ Let that understanding inform how your group prays for Israel and for the Church in the weeks ahead.
For further study on the dispensational framework distinguishing Israel and the Church and its bearing on end-times prophecy, see J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1958; repr. Academie Books, 1980) — FGR Category ⑧.
Introduction
Paul had taught the Thessalonians about the rapture of the church. He taught them future things — he taught them prophecy. People sometimes wonder why you would teach new converts prophecy. But Paul's answer was simple: people who are only looking for the undertaker ought to be looking for the upper-taker instead. And the problem in Thessalonica was specific: some believers had died since Paul left, and the church was worried. Paul had said the Lord is coming to take us out of here. But now some have died. Have they missed it? Will they be left out? That is the question Paul is going to answer here.
In Second Thessalonians, they still did not fully have it — they needed a second round of instruction. But this passage — 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 — is the first and clearest statement of the rapture of the church in all of Paul's letters.
I. The Theological Setting
A. The Two Testaments
1. The Old Testament
The time: approximately 1500 BCE, from Exodus through Malachi. Genesis is the general history of mankind before Israel becomes a nation — but it plants the seeds of what is coming:
Genesis 12 — the call of Abraham: I will make you the father of many nations, and especially the father of the nation Israel
Genesis 15 — the 400-year Egyptian bondage foretold. The reason given is striking: the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. God gave them opportunity. They would not hear. In about 400 years, He told Abraham, your descendants will come back and take the land.
Genesis 21 — the birth of Isaac
Genesis 25 — the birth of twins, Jacob and Esau. Jacob's name was changed to Israel at Bethel, and his twelve sons became the twelve tribes.
The people of the Old Testament are Israel. Their covenant is the Old Covenant — the Law. Their promises are physical: a land, a kingdom in this world, a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ on this earth. When someone says we are in the millennium now, the answer is simple: this does not sound like the millennium to me. And it is not. God promised Israel a literal kingdom on this earth, and they are going to get it.
2. The New Testament
The time of the church runs from Pentecost to the Rapture. The people are the Church — not Israel, not a continuation of Israel, but a distinct entity. Their covenant is the New Covenant, seen most fully in Hebrews 7–10. Their promises are spiritual.
B. The Relationship between Israel and the Church
This distinction matters enormously for understanding the rapture:
Israel is not — in any way — the Church.
The Church is not — in any way — Israel.
The Church is not in the Old Testament — not in statement, not in institution, not in figure. It is simply not there.
The Church is a mystery — and in the New Testament, a mystery is not something puzzling. It is something that was previously unrevealed and is now being disclosed for the first time. Colossians 1:26 identifies the mystery: ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ In the Gospels, Jesus told His disciples the Holy Spirit is with you — He shall be in you. That indwelling of Christ is the mystery: Jew and Gentile together, side by side, in one body. Ephesians 3:4–9 spells it out — Gentiles are ‘fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.’
And where was this mystery hidden before it was revealed? Verse 9 of Ephesians 3 answers: ‘hidden in God, who created all things.’ Not hidden in the Old Testament, even in shadowy form. Hidden in God. It was God's purpose, in God, until He chose to disclose it.
Everything about the church is a mystery — including the rapture. First Corinthians 15:51: ‘Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.’
The practical implication: there was no church on earth before Acts 2 at Pentecost. And there will be no church on earth after the rapture. People in the Tribulation period are not the church. The church began at Pentecost and will be taken out at the rapture. It is a unique entity in the plan of God.
II. The Scriptural Statement — 4:13–18
A. A Preview — 4:13–14
1. Our Feelings — 4:13
a. Don't Be Ignorant — 4:13a
The word ignorant here is not demeaning — it simply means uninformed. Paul uses this expression often. He does not want them to be uninformed, and that is what the Word of God is for. Sunday morning instruction is valuable — but it is not enough on its own. There needs to be more, on your own, during the week. Otherwise you will remain uninformed, and an uninformed believer is a worried believer.
The word sleep is used here for physical death. Jesus used it the same way in John 11:11–13. He said, ‘Our friend Lazarus is sleeping.’ The disciples responded, ‘If he is sleeping, he must be doing well.’ Then Jesus told them plainly: ‘Lazarus is dead.’ Sleep, in this context, always means physical death of a believer. Paul's subject is believers who have died.
b. Don't Grieve — 4:13b
Paul's concern is not that believers never grieve. We miss people. We have sorrow about that — and that is right. But behind the sorrow of a believer is something the pagans do not have: hope. Not vague optimism, but a specific, revealed promise of a meeting in the sky with the Lord. We sorrow some, but we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. The difference between their grief and ours is not the absence of tears — it is the presence of a future.
Where are those dead believers right now? Their bodies are here on the earth — in the grave, in an urn, in the ocean, wherever they left them. That body sleeps. But the soul lives on. Two passages establish this clearly:
2 Corinthians 5:8 — ‘We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.’
Philippians 1:23 — ‘...having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.’
And the evidence is right here in this passage. Verse 14 says God will bring with Him — with Jesus — those who sleep in Jesus. They are coming down. They are with the Lord, and they will descend with Him. Then verse 16 says the dead in Christ will rise first. They just came down — and now they are going up? How can both be true? The answer is the only one that makes sense: the souls are with the Lord and come down with Him, while the bodies in the earth are resurrected and rise up to be reunited with those souls — presumably in the air. The soul does not sleep. The body sleeps. The soul is with the Lord.
2. Our Faith — 4:14
a. The Condition — 4:14a
The word ‘if’ here does not introduce doubt. There are four classes of conditional sentences in New Testament Greek, and this is the first class condition — it assumes the premise is true. It could and should be translated: Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are among the best-attested facts of ancient history. People dismiss them, but the historical evidence is substantial.
b. The Conclusion — 4:14b
Based on that very fact — the death and resurrection of Jesus — you can be equally certain that when Jesus comes for His living saints, He will bring the souls of those believers who have died with Him. The resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of ours. If He rose, they rise. The logic is airtight.
B. A Promise — 4:15
This revelation came from the Lord Jesus Himself — probably a direct revelation to Paul. The Thessalonians were worried about their dead friends and family: have they missed the rapture? Will the living go up first and leave them behind? Paul's answer is an emphatic no. Not only will they be part of the resurrection — they will be the first part. ‘The dead in Christ will rise first’ (v.16). They are not going to miss it. They are going ahead.
Someone put it simply: the dead are going first because they have six feet farther to go. But the real point is the reassurance: we will not precede them. We will all go together.
C. A Picture — 4:16–18
1. The Resurrection — 4:16
Three sounds accompany the Lord's descent. All three apparently occur at the same moment:
a. The Shout — κέλευσμα
The word keleusma appears only here in the entire New Testament. Outside the New Testament it is used of the hunter calling to his hounds, the shipmaster calling to his rowers, and the horseman calling to his horses. It is not merely a shout — it is a shouted order, a command directed at a specific audience. And to whom is this shout addressed? Not the Father to the Son. Not the Son to the angels. The Son to the dead in Christ: Come forth.
There was one person in the Gospels who heard a command like this. His name was Lazarus. He had been dead four days when Jesus came and said, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ He used the name first. Why? Because if He had simply said ‘Come forth’ without the name, He would have emptied every grave in the region. That shout at the rapture will have no name attached. It will be addressed to every believer who has ever died: come forth. The whole church, come out.
b. The Voice of the Archangel
Scripture names only one archangel: Michael (Jude 9; Revelation 12:7). The voice of the archangel apparently accompanies and reinforces the shout of the Lord.
c. The Trumpet of God
All three — the shout, the voice, the trumpet — sound at the same time. This is the signal of the resurrection of the church. The dead in Christ rise first.
2. The Rapture — 4:17
Notice the ‘we.’ Paul says we who are alive and remain. He expected to be alive at the rapture. Why not? The Lord said He was going to come. There are no signs for the rapture — nothing that must occur before it happens. It could have happened in Paul's day. It could have happened in Wesley's day, in Luther's day. It could happen right now.
Every generation should have this blessed hope always before them. We should be living with that kind of expectation — not frozen, not idle, but expectant. The rapture is a signless event. Nothing has to occur first.
3. The Reassurance — 4:18
Therefore — because of everything just stated. Use this doctrine for its intended purpose, not to scare one another with it, but to encourage one another. Comfort one another.
When someone says, ‘How are things going?’ and the answer is ‘Not so well’ — one of the most genuinely encouraging things you can offer is this: there is a blessed hope. There is a glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. No matter how bad things get, the Lord is coming. That is where it all goes. That is the end of the story.
John Phillips identified five characteristics of this truth that make it suitable for exactly this purpose:
Positive truth — shall. It is not a possibility; it is a certainty.
Personal truth — we, us, I, you. This is not abstract theology; it is addressed to individuals.
Pivotal truth — the word but in verse 13 marks a turn. Don't be ignorant. Turn around.
Progressive truth — for, linking each verse forward to the next, each truth building on the last.
Practical truth — wherefore, therefore. The doctrine is given its application immediately.
Some preachers say, ‘I don't preach on that — it is too controversial.’ Find out what it says. Preach it like you mean it. Preach it like you know it. Because it is the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Lord, thank You.