THE KING’S BUSINESS
633
■4:13,. 14. “But 1 (we) would not have you to be (omit, to be) ignorant, brethren, concerning them ? which are asleep, (that fall asleep;) that ye sorrow not, even as others (the rest,) which have no hope. For if we ^believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so they also which sleep (that are fallen asleep) in Jesus, will God bring with him." It is not wrong for believers in Christ to miss their loved ones who have fallen asleep, but it is wrong for them to sorrow in the way that those who have no hope sorrow. In view of the Chris tian’s well-founded hope, while he may sorrow, in a measure, over his loved ones who have fallen asleep in Jesus, from a sense of loneliness, his sorrow should be .more than balanced by his joy in the cer tainty of a resurrection and reunion. The grave could not hold Jesus and it cannot continue to hold those who. sleep in Jesus and He is coming again, and when He does come God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Him. I vs. 15-18. “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are. alive and remain (that, are left) ùnto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are (in no wise precede them that are fallen) asleep. 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: then we which (that) are alive, and remain (that are left), shall he caught up together with *them (together with them be caught up) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore com fort one another with these words.” While in Thessalonica Paul’s preaching had cen tered in J qsus the King (cf. Acts 17:7) and His coming kingdom. Since the time that Paul in Thessalonica had declared to them the coming of the King and His kingdom, some in the church had fallen asleep, and a fear had arisen that those who had thus fallen asleep would not be sharers in the glory .of.those who would still be left when the Lord JesUs came.
aries (though seemingly the Christian mer chants that went forth from Thessalonica also played the part of missionaries) but that their life of faith had spoken, sound ing forth far and near. vs. 9, 10. “For they themselves showed of (reported concerning) us, what manner of entering in we had unto you, (;) and how ye turned to (uhto) God from'idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered . (delivereth) us from ’the wrath to come." Paul here sets forth three phases about their conversion: (1) They “turned to God from idols,” that is what a true conversion always means. (2) They not merely turned from idols, but they turned ‘Lto serve the living and true God :” every genuine conversion results in a life of ser vice to God. Conversion means not merely turning from idols, but turning to God. There are many who are called gods, but there is only one who is a real God and a “living God,” a God who not merely lived centuries ago in the time, for example, of Moses and Elijah and Daniel, but a God who lives today. (3) They not merely turned from idols and turned to the true and living God to serve Him, further still, they turned from their idols and turned to serving God in order “to wait for His Son from heaven” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:7, 8 ). Those converted under the full preaching of the gospel will not only give up their idols and begin to serve God, they will begin to wait for Christ (cf. John 14:3; Titus 3:13; Luke 12:35-38). There is a wrath of God coming upon this world (v. 10; cf. Col. 3:6; Rom. 2:5, 11; Rev. chs. 6-21: 8 ). From this wrath the Son of God, who once was crucified and thus made atonement for our sins (1 C ot . 5:21; Gal. 3 :13), and was raised because of our justi fication (Rom. 4:25), and then ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He ever liveth, there to make intercession for lis (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:33, 34), is soon coming again to deliver us (Phil. 3:20; Heb. 9:28),
Made with FlippingBook HTML5