To be a Christian is to hold a particular understanding of history. This point was made by Augustine of Hippo in his great book The City of God. The Greco-Roman world in which Augustine lived viewed history as a circular process without end. Most non-Christians in the ancient world believed that the same things would happen over and over without any ultimate meaning. Augustine pointed out that the incarnation of God’s Son and His atoning death on the cross were nonrepeatable events showing that history moved forward according to God’s redemptive plan. Today, the secular humanist believes in “progress,” trusting man’s ingenuity to solve problems and open up new horizons of opportunity. Instead, the Bible-believer holds that history is racing toward the second coming of Jesus Christ, after which the Lord will judge the world and God’s eternal purposes of salvation will be fulfilled. These differing views of history produce different kinds of lives, a point that highlights the importance of biblical eschatology to the Christian.

The Greek word eschatos means “last,” so eschatology is simply the study of the last things. According to the Bible, believers need to know where history is going, in terms of both our personal histories beyond the grave and God’s plan for the future of the world. Christians are pulled forward, Paul said, by “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

The importance of understanding Christ’s return is seen in the example of the apostle Paul. It is evident that Paul highlighted teaching about Christ’s return during his short stay in Thessalonica. When news reached Paul that the new believers were confused on this subject, he provided extensive information in both of his letters to them. “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers” (v. 4:13), Paul wrote. Likewise, there is no reason for believers today to be uninformed about Christ’s second coming.

At the heart of Paul’s eschatology are his statements regarding the “coming of the Lord” (v. 15). Focusing on the event itself, Paul highlights three features of the second coming. The first feature is the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth. Paul writes, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven” (v. 16). The Bible teaches a literal, bodily return of the same Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, rose from the grave, and then ascended into heaven. Acts 1:9 relates that two angels appeared to the disciples who had watched Jesus ascend. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,” they said, “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Paul tells us that this promise will be fulfilled when Jesus physically returns on the clouds to the very world He departed.

Paul’s second emphasis regarding Christ’s return is the visible manifestation of His glory. He writes: “For 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” (v. 16). This description rules out any idea of a hidden or invisible return of Christ. In Paul’s clearest teaching of what is often called the rapture – a word that describes God’s people as being “caught up” – Christ’s return is anything but secret: “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (vv. 16-17). This visible nature of this event is amplified in related descriptions of Christ’s return. Revelation 1:7 explains, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.” And Jesus taught: They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30).

Paul’s description in verse 16 emphasizes not only the visible but also the audible nature of Christ’s coming: “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.” It is clear in Paul’s description that when Christ comes to take His people forever (he concludes: “so we will always be with the Lord,” v. 17), this event involves the visible, audible display of Christ’s glory to all the earth. Jesus taught, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:27).

It is clear from Paul’s teaching that Christ’s return will conclude and culminate all of history. In addition to being a personal, visibly glorious return, the second coming will be Christ’s history-concluding return. We should note that the coming and appearing of Christ in glory is not an event that precedes the final episode of God’s plan for history but is rather an event that brings about the end of history. This rules out, again, an idea of the rapture in which Christ returns only to depart so that more history can be played out, since the return that Paul describes actually ends history. It also rules out the premillennial view of eschatology, the view that there will be a thousand-year period after Christ returns, during which God fulfills His purpose for the people of Israel, and after which occurs the final crisis of history. Instead, the return of Christ is the final crises of history and the last day of which Scripture so frequently speaks. The return of Christ does not usher in additional phases of history, but is simultaneously the end of this present age and the consummation of the eternal age that is to come.

What are the final results of history that are brought about by the coming of the Lord? The first is the judgment of all people who have ever lived. Paul’s description of Christ’s return includes a summons to this judgment, as the Lord descends “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God,” as Christ appears “in the clouds” (vv. 16-17).

The second result of Christ’s return may be regarded as the reverse side of the final judgment, namely, the deliverance and vindication of those made righteous in Christ. The blowing of trumpets in the Bible signals not only God’s judgment but also the gathering of God’s people for salvation. Just as Leviticus 25 called for the sounding of trumpets on the Day of Jubilee, signaling release from bondage and liberty for God’s people, so also this final trumpet-blast, the signal for the dead to arise, for the living to be changed, and for all the elect to be gathered from the four winds (Matt. 24:31) to meet the Lord…, proclaims liberty throughout the universe for all the children of God.

Third, Christ’s return culminates history by fulfilling God’s sovereign purpose in the eternal kingdom of Christ. This purpose was revealed to Daniel when he saw Christ as “a son of man” who came “with the clouds of heaven” to the “Ancient of Days” in order to receive “dominion and glory and a kingdom.” The angel told Daniel that this begins and eternal reign: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13-14).

The purpose of this study has been to introduce Paul’s teaching on Christ’s second coming in his letters to the Thessalonians, which we will examine in greater detail as we continue working through the apostle’s text. Paul will make his own applications to the particular situation of his readers, starting with their need to understand the death of believers in light of Christ’s coming. In concluding this introductory study, however, we can make a few applications that flow generally from Paul’s teaching on the second coming of Christ.

The first application is that we should receive and teach the second coming as a message of comfort for all who have trusted in Jesus for salvation. It is true that when our Lord returns, there will be a final judgment of all sin. But having trusted in Christ for our forgiveness and justification, we rejoice that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Christ’s return should not be taught to frighten Christians but to comfort us regarding the glorious salvation that will soon arrive in the coming of the One who loves us. It is true that the New Testament warns believers to be awake and ready, but Paul asserts that by trusting in Christ, all believers can be confident in the day of His coming (1 Thess 5:9-10).

Second, since the coming of Christ will bring us into His presence in order to share His glory, Christians should begin glorying in Jesus now. One of the chief problems with so much end-times fervor today is that attention is devoted to practically everything except to Christ Himself. Paul sums up his message of Christ’s return with these words: “and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (vv. 17-18). Encouraged with the thought of being with Christ, let us treasure our present communion with Him, the One who is near to His people in His Word, in the secret place of prayer, and at the communion table of His covenant meal. Let Christ’s presence through the Holy Spirit be the glory of our church and our dearest treasure while we await the greater glory of His coming with the clouds.

Third, the return of Christ calls Christians to readiness in the midst of this “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). Hebrews 4:3 warns us that there is no salvation apart from following Christ, since only “we who believed [will] enter that rest.” Meanwhile, believers who might be tempted to despair because of persecution, or led astray by the temptations of sin, or distracted by the siren songs of this world, “are encouraged by the prospect of Christ’s return, when He will grant them relief from their present distress and victory over their enemies, who are also His enemies.

Finally, the coming of the Lord presents a fearful prospect of judgment and condemnation for all whose sins have not been forgiven through the blood of Christ. The Lord will return, Paul warns, “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8).

Knowing this, Christ’s people urgently pray and tell others the good news of salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. We declare the return of the great Judge, whose sword is sharp and whose books document every deed. We hold forth the grace and mercy of Christ for all who repent and believe, declaring His own words that “whoever…believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). Therefore, we appeal to all who have not believed and thus face the prospect of eternal judgment in the coming of the Lord. Paul wrote: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation…We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God…Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 5:19-6:2).

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Study Questions:

Along with sex and money, the third practical issue that Paul discusses with the young Thessalonian church is this chapter of death. What are the issues that the Thessalonians are concerned about in verses 13-18?

How is the grief of Christians still truly grief but grief with hope instead of hopelessness?

Verse 14 repeats one of the earliest Christian creeds, “Jesus died and rose.” Because we know He has defeated death and now has a new, resurrected body, we can have the same hope. How should this knowledge of the future make a difference in the way we live now?

In his exhortation, Paul first challenged the Thessalonians to lead holy lives, especially as it concerned sexual purity. Then he reminded them that Christian holiness is never a cold formalism but is always joined to the virtue of Christian love. To chastity, he wrote, they must add charity. Regarding the teaching on Christian love, Paul wrote: “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love on another” (v. 9).

Seeing the priority that Paul places on love should prompt us to consider our own hearts. Have our hearts been “framed for love” by God? Have we felt God’s love poured into us as we believed the gospel? If not, we might still be seeking to approach God by our own works instead of relying on the finished work of Jesus Christ, God’s chief gift of love. If we think little of the cross of Christ, we are likely to feel little love from God and have little love for Him and others. But if we stand before the atoning sacrifice of God’s perfect Son, seeing how Jesus gave Himself in love so that we might be saved, it is simply impossible that we would be inmoved and unchanged by love. This is why Paul does not need to say that God taught Christians “concerning” love but has taught us “to love one another” (v. 9).

Paul is comforted to know not only that his readers have been taught to love by God, but also that they have a strong track record of brotherly love: “for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia” (v. 10). Since theirs was the leading city of a highly populated region, the Thessalonian Christians had frequent contact with merchants, farmers, and traders. They had taken advantage of opportunities to spread the gospel and had prayed for friends and acquaintances. As the gospel advanced, they had shown hospitality to fellow believers and helped to provide for their needs as they became known. In this way, God had used their fervor for Jesus Christ to set an example for other new converts and to cause the gospel message to sound forth throughout their region.

When studying Paul’s letters, we are frequently reminded that they were written to actual people with real problems. Therefore, while Paul’s teaching is grounded on universal truths about God and salvation, the letters apply the gospel in particular ways that fit the local needs of Paul’s readers. His exhortations in 1 and 2 Thessalonians are prime examples of this principle. In the final chapter of 2 Thessalonians, Paul highlights a concern about some who were “walking in idleness.” Either such persons had entered into the church community or else some members of the church had fallen into this vice. It is possible that this happened as a self-serving response to the generosity of Christians who possessed means, so that the very love that Paul commended was being taken advantage of.

Anticipating this problem, Paul amplifies his teaching on Christian love by urging his readers “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs” (1 Thess. 4:11). Paul sees Christian love as a quiet love that avoids meddling in and disturbing the lives of others. Christians should have a great ambition to lead steady, sober, useful lives that call attention not to themselves but to the grace of God in Christ. To be sure, there is an important place for ambition in the Christian life! We are to have “ambition to preach the gospel” (Rom. 15:20) and be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). We should be eager in service (Phil. 2:28) and in spiritual attainments (1 Cor. 14:12). Yet we can do all this within a quiet life that avoids making difficulties for others.

In calling Christians to brotherly love, Paul envisions a quiet love that is also a busy love. In addition to living quietly and minding their own affairs, the Thessalonians should “work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (vv. 11-12). This verse has played an important role in developing a Christian view of work. Most Greeks thought that manual labor was unworthy of a cultivated person. Physical work was what slaves were for! In contrast, the Bible endorses the nobility of honest work of all kinds. Paul’s example as a tentmaker underscores this point, since the hands that held the apostolic pen were calloused with the daily hard work by which Paul met his own needs.

Paul cites two reasons why it is important for Christians to work hard. The first is “so that you may walk properly before outsiders” (v. 12). For Christians to be lazy or wrongly depend on others only disgraces the gospel that we proclaim to the world. This is why Christians who run businesses should make a special point of providing high-quality goods and services and treating customers with honesty and care. By contrast, able-bodied men who are not working hard to provide for themselves and their families are a disgrace to God’s people.

Paul’s second reason for Christians to work hard is so that they can “be dependent on no one” (v. 12). Believers should provide for themselves so as not to burden other believers. This exhortation does not apply to those who are unable to work because of illness, injury, or honest unemployment. The New Testament makes it plain that Christians are to provide for fellow Christians in legitimate need. But because there will often be many such needs, Christians should do their best not to burden the church and to contribute to the assistance of others. Love does not take advantage of Christian generosity but works hard so as to contribute to those with true needs.

It is obvious that Paul considered the love of God at work in His people to be an important witness to the world. We may therefore conclude that the apostle urged the Christians to increase in a love that not only was quiet and busy but also bore witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our love is thus to be a revealing love. According to church history, this is precisely what happened. Not only did the early Christians display love for one another, but as they were sprinkled throughout society in their various workplaces, they also spread the same love to the world. Our witness to Christ in the world requires a verbal testimony to His gospel and obedience to His command: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

The mark of the Christian is not worn on our lapels or hung on chains around our necks. The mark of the Christian before the world is the love that God has spread into our hearts, starting with our Christian brothers and sisters. We know that we can never be saved by our own loving works, but are forgiven only by the love of Christ, who died for our sins on the cross. But as we tell the world about God’s love for sinners in Christ, remembering the important testimony of Christ’s love working in and through us, what an incentive we have to take up Paul’s exhortation concerning brotherly love: “we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more” (v. 10).

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 Study Questions:

How does Paul say love or charitable concern is to be expressed within the church and outside of it?

How does Paul hold together love, which is expressed through financial giving, and responsibility within the family of the Thessalonians in verses 9-12?

Think about your Christian community. What are the outsiders seeing as they witness the lives of your community?

In what concrete and practical ways can you show your love through financial giving personally and corporately?

The famous first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” and answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” It is seldom appreciated that the point of the second part of that answer – “to enjoy him forever” – pertains to sanctification. In other words, we might say that our chief end is “to glorify God and to enjoy pleasing Him forever.” Paul made a similar point “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more” (v. 4:1). As Paul states it, sanctification is not aimed primarily toward our own well-being or glory. Rather, the first goal of our sanctification, as with all other things, is to give God pleasure and to manifest His glory.

Sanctification denotes the process of becoming holy. Sanctus, being the Latin word for holy, is joined to the Latin verb facare, which means “to make.” Therefore, sanctification is the process by which believers in Christ are made holy. Paul describes this process in verse 1 as a walk, by which he means an entire lifestyle: “how you ought to walk and to please God.”

God is holy in that He is utterly different from and higher than any other being. God’s holiness especially involves His moral purity. It is because of His holiness that we take pleasure in pleasing God by being holy. God’s holiness defines our method as well as our goal in sanctification. As God is separate from sin, we also separate ourselves from sin and sinfulness, having different values and desires from the nonbelieving world around us. Sanctification has not only a goal and a method, but also an attitude. Our attitude in pursuing holiness is to oppose sin and evil and to pursue godliness. The Bible describes sanctification as a process, a progressive work by which our lifestyle becomes more and more pleasing to God: “that you do so more and more” (v. 4:1).

Paul’s exhortation to purity provides an example of how sanctification involves both a negative abstention from sin and a positive exhibition of godliness. The apostle does not merely tell believers to abstain from sexual sin but also asserts that “each one of you [should] know how to control his own body in holiness and honor” (v. 4:4). This self-control extends to every area of life: our sexuality, our treatment of others, our use of money, our conduct in the workplace, and so forth. Not only are we not to fall into worldly patterns of sin, but we are also to honor God with conduct that will please and glorify Him in every aspect of life. Paul states this positive approach to sanctification in verse 7: “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.”

Finally, note that sanctification is expressed physically. Holiness is rooted in our hearts, but always expressed in our actions. Notice how concrete is Paul’s view of holiness and how bodily is its fulfillment. The problem with the pagans was their sensual outlook toward everything. By contrast, Christians are to live “not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (v. 4:5). In every way, the unbelievers’ lives were idolatrous, in service of debased passions and lusts. As Christians, knowing God, we are to use our bodies in honorable ways in accordance with God’s law, with self-control and purity.

With this biblical introduction to sanctification – that its goal is to take pleasure in pleasing God, its method is to be separate from impurity and sin, its attitude is both negative toward sin and positive toward godliness, and its expression is concrete and physical – we may now consider Paul’s link between sanctification and the sovereignty of God. Some complain that a high view of God’s sovereignty stands in the way of holy living. Just as people wrongly complain that the doctrine of predestination discourages evangelism, they also argue that God’s sovereignty cuts off our motivation to holiness. “If God is sovereign and has chosen me to salvation,” they argue, “then why should I bother living a holy life?”

Verses 1-8 sets forth three responses, each of which shows that divine sovereignty in fact promotes rather than deters sanctification. The biblical view centers holiness on God’s sovereign will, which Paul explains in these words: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (v. 3). Because God has ordained our sanctification, Christians therefore know that we will and must be holy. A humble believer asks, “How can someone like me expect to be holy?” The Bible answers, “Because it is God’s sovereign will for you. In Christ, you have a new identity: you are a holy one.” Realizing God’s calling and God’s will, we are emboldened to a more active faith that is energetic in sanctification.

There is a second way in which a high view of God’s sovereignty aids in the pursuit of holiness. We tend to think of God’s sovereignty in terms of His ultimate control of all things. Yet we should also think of His complete reign as our Lord. God is sovereign over His kingdom, so that to be saved is to become His willing subject and to submit in everything to His rule. To know God as sovereign is to acknowledge His rights as King, including our duty to obey His Word. When we realize that Christ is sovereign, and that we are humble servants of His glorious kingdom, then the last thing we will seek is to transgress His royal laws. Obedience to God’s Word will then be the watchword of our ministries and our lives.

Paul’s third reason why God’s sovereignty promotes rather than deters sanctification is: “Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (v. 8). This mention of the Holy Spirit as a divine gift assures us that God’s sovereignty provides us with the resources we need for sanctification. It is because of God’s sovereign resource that Paul warns that to disregard God’s call to holiness is to disregard “not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (v. 8). Since God has made such rich provision for our sanctification, what an affront it is to Him when we refuse His mighty aid, relying on earthly techniques and continuing to serve our sinful desires.

Do we live with a commitment for God to be pleased through our holy lives? Have we committed ourselves to Christ’s sovereign reign, as our Master and Lord? Do we rely, with expectant faith, on the sovereign power of the Spirit of holiness? By regaining not mere doctrinal assent to God’s sovereignty but an actual vision of glorifying and pleasing our sovereign God, we may learn anew His will for our lives. For, as Paul declared, “this is the will of God, you sanctification” (v. 3).

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Study Questions:

Paul urges the Thessalonians to behave in a manner that pleases God. What kind of a life do verses 1-8 say is pleasing to God?

What is the connection in verses 1-8 between pleasing God and being sanctified or holy, which is mentioned three times?

The first practical area of a holy life that Paul discusses is sexual sin. In verses 3-8 what are the instructions that Paul gives to the Thessalonians regarding this area of life?