Spiritual home
And so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17, ESV).
Paul begins 1 Thessalonians 4 by exhorting his fellow believers to live sanctified lives for God. Holiness was to mark them as Christians, and, as Paul writes in Philippians, they were to be “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). The apostle is very direct in warning them about immorality and its damaging effects.
Paul bears testimony to the evidence that they had been taught by God to love one another. This was seen locally and throughout Macedonia. It was something the apostle urged them to continue in and to develop more and more. Interestingly, Paul encourages them to “aspire” to lead a quiet life, to mind their own business, and to work with their own hands. He highlights the powerful testimony before God of peaceful, discreet, hard-working Christians as something to be pursued and a vital part of our witness as the people of God: “And what does the Lord require of you / But to do justly, / To love mercy, / And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). In the first section of today’s chapter, the apostle encouraged them to continue in their “work of faith and labour of love”, referred to in the opening chapter. Then he turns to the subject of the “patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3).
Paul wanted them to be clear about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord speaks of this in John 14:3: “I will come again…” and the angels announce it in Acts 1:11: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” In the final section of our chapter today, the apostle describes this event in greater detail. He does this to comfort the hearts of those concerned about Christians who had died. We believe that Jesus died for us and rose again for our salvation. He is the resurrection and the life. Paul teaches, “by the word of the Lord” (v. 15), that, when Jesus returns for His people, His first act is to raise the bodies of the vast company of those who have died in Christ. The dead in Christ rise first (v. 16). These are then joined by Christians alive on earth. Together they meet the Lord in the air. Paul then adds those beautiful words, “And so we will always be with the Lord” (v. 17, ESV). The Lord prayed in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
This week I spoke at the graveside of a dear old friend, Hazel, whom I had known for over 50 years. There was a freezing wind and it was raining as we stood around the open grave. But we were not sad. Instead, a deep joy filled our hearts because our sister was already with the Lord: “to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:23). One of the Scriptures I read was Revelation 4:1, where the apostle is invited into heaven with the words, “Come up here.” The Lord came down here so that one day He could say to us, “Come up here.” This is our hope in Him, and we believe it with all our hearts. God’s love will not be satisfied until we are brought by our Saviour into His Father’s home: “And so we will always be with the Lord.”
