“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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 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. 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. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

1 Thessalonians chapter four gives us the mode and sequence of events of the rapture [removal] of the church, which is restricted to and means all who have accepted Christ as their Savior.

Then, in chronological order chapter five goes on to give information on the “the day of the Lord”. “The day of the Lord” is always a reference to the seven year tribulation period and should be understood that way when you read those words.

Christians who are saved before the rapture will not go through the tribulation, the wrath to come.

“…you turned to 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 who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10.

However those who are saved after the rapture will go through the tribulation, unless they are killed or die in it first, as many will be martyred.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands…” Revelation 7:9.

“…These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14b.

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.

It is the pitiful truth that all the heathen, all the ungodly, all who have rejected Christ as savior, have no hope for their loved ones, only the hope that they went to a better place, nirvana, annihilation, or some sort of heaven they have conceived in their own mind; more than anything, they have no hope of seeing them ever again.

“…lest you [Christians] sorrow as others who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13b then means all who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

“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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15.

“…by the word of the Lord” here means that the apostle received these words directly from Jesus Christ and that this is a mystery hidden from ages past.

A mystery in Scripture is not some mystical thing; it is something that was not revealed in the Old Testament. Unlike the mystery religions, Biblical mysteries are to be taught, not kept secret, as occult mysteries are in some secret societies and occult practices.

“Behold, I tell 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

The words “…in a moment” means, in the smallest fraction of a second; perhaps the word nanosecond would describe the words “in a moment”.

The phrase, “…in the twinkling of an eye”, does not mean, in the blinking of an eye, nor does it mean, in the glistening of an eye; it has the meaning, in the moment of recognition.

We have all met someone we have not seen for a very long while somewhere, and for a moment or two we do not recognize them. It is that moment of recognition that is meant by this phrase.

Christians, when raptured, will in an instant, realize, “This is it!”

The trumpet that will sound, is the same one mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, so we will examine that when we get there.

Getting back to 1 Thessalonians 4:15, it is stated that during the rapture we will not precede those who are asleep; the word asleep is a reference to those who are dead in Christ, God sees those who die in Christ as being asleep; those who die in their sins are dead.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:12-15.

Understand that the words, “…the dead small and great” means the small – poorest of the poor, lowest of the low, and the most worthless of individuals; the great – the greatest king, richest of industrialists, or the most powerful of politicians, all standing on a level playing field and in the worst of poverty before the wrath of God.

Notice too that even though the Book of Life is opened up, it is a mere formality to show that their name is not in it. No one standing before God on that day will be found innocent, for all would have, in one way or another rejected Christ as their savior, whether born B.C. or A.D.

“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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

It is the Lord Jesus Himself who descends from heaven as He promised, He does not send another, and all believers will see Him with their own eyes.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3.

There are two distinct points that should be made here, the first is that, as seen earlier, “…the Lord Himself will descend from heaven” and it is Jesus’ intent to take us to heaven, “…that where I am, there you may be also”.

John 14:2-3 is speaking of the many mansions in His Father’s house, which is in heaven, not on earth.

The Lord will descend with a shout, an order much as a king or general would call out. It is then repeated by an archangel, as one under Him who repeats and participates in carrying out the orders.

This is accompanied by a long blast from the trumpet of God; not to be confused, as it often is, with the seventh trump in the book of Revelation.

“Then the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” Revelation 11:15.

Just as when the seventh seal is broken and introduces the seven trumpet judgments, Revelation 8:1-2.

So the seventh trumpet introduces the seven bowl judgments, Revelation 11:15 quoted above.

And Revelation 16:1; records the beginning of the bowl judgments, not the rapture.

The bowls come late in the last three and a half years of the tribulation and they are planet killers.

The seventh bowl is poured out and along with more horror it brings the glorious appearing of Christ at the battle of Armageddon after which He sets up His kingdom.

“And the dead in Christ will rise first.” This last sentence in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is in the same order as the quote from 1 Corinthians 15:52, “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

The corrupt, or decaying, dead will put on incorruption and we who are alive shall be changed from mortal to the immortal. There are those who would give all they possess to become immortal, yet they refuse the free gift of Christ, immortality.

“Therefore, as through one man’s [Adam’s] offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” Romans 5:18.

“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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18.

Again we see the order, the dead in Christ are resurrected first, and then, “we who are alive and remain” are caught up together with them in the clouds.

It is fascinating to think of all Christians from the cross on until the rapture gathering together in the clouds; the living reuniting with long departed relatives, mothers, fathers, grandparents (in some cases for generations back), brothers, sisters, and many others, the entire body of Christ on earth, gathered together and greeting one another.

All of these will be caught up in the clouds, just as Jesus was when He departed this earth, so will He honor us by taking us in the same manner.

Have you ever wanted to float on a cloud and drift away over earth? It is going to happen just as it did for Christ, and those who will be there will know at that moment that there will be no more pain, hunger, cold or heat, misery, and uncertainty; only that, “…we shall always be with the Lord.”

“Now when He [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Acts 1:9.

“…to meet the Lord in the air.” This is the last stage; we will finally see the One who died to make all of this possible, we will see Him as He is.

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3.

“Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:18.

Having described the rapture of the church, the Apostle Paul then describes the events that will take place afterward in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

Comfort One Another, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-18-13, updated on 1-15-21.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.