1 Thessalonians 04 Round Two: The Future Is Bright

A lot of people hear “end times” and immediately think arguments, timelines, and fear. We go the other direction and open 1 Thessalonians 4 to find what it actually offers: steady encouragement, clear ethics, and a hope that can carry real grief without pretending it doesn’t hurt.

We talk through Paul’s very practical call to live in a way that pleases God: holiness, sexual purity, honor, and love that keeps growing. Then we slow down on a line that feels almost rebellious today: make it your goal to live a quiet life, mind your own business, and work with your hands. We connect contentment, integrity, and everyday faithfulness to a public witness that even non-believers can respect.

Then we step into one of the most hope-filled promises in the New Testament about the second coming of Christ. What happens to believers who die before Jesus returns? Paul says we don’t grieve like people with no hope because the dead in Christ rise first, and then those who are alive are caught up to meet the Lord, and we will be with the Lord forever. We also explore two common interpretations of “caught up” and why, either way, the core message stays the same: Jesus is coming again, and the future is bright.

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Transcript

Welcome And How To Join In

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Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and today's title is The Future is Bright. The Future is Bright. I love this chapter. There's one of the most hope-filled verses in the entire New Testament about the second coming of Christ, no matter how you try to interpret it, in this chapter today. So we're going to get to it in just a moment. But as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel and to the podcast. Leave us a five-star review on the podcast. You are always my favorites. Leave us a comment on the YouTube video, and always we gather together at the Facebook discussion group. Bible breakdown discussion. I can't wait to get into this. The more we dig, the more we find. And this is one of those I would love to hear in the comments what you have dug out for

Encouragement And End Times Framework

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yourself. So while you're opening up to First Thessalonians chapter four, I want to revisit with you the first thing we said when we first got into this. First of all, remember that the overall theme of First Thessalonians is be encouraged. Jesus is coming. And in every chapter in First Thessalonians, Paul talks about the second coming of Christ. And one of the reasons for this is because he's discovered that there'd been some misunderstanding with what was going on. Like they were saying, well, what happens if Jesus is coming again? What happens if he comes back in our lifetime? What happens if someone dies before he comes back? I mean, they just owe it for them. I mean, you've got to remember, he didn't stay there very long. So there was still a lot of gaps in their theology that he wanted to go back and fix. He wanted to go back and tell them. And so they're like, okay, so if I'm alive when Jesus comes back, what happens? If I die, what happens? Wait a minute. My great uncle's aunt's nephew, he died. Does he not see Jesus? I mean, there's all these questions. So Paul is trying to fill these gaps in for them because he didn't want them to not be encouraged, right? So he's going to start this chapter with talking about living to please God. And the reason why we live to please God is because we're so encouraged, because Christ is coming again. Now, if you also remember when I said at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, I personally hold to what I call pan theology, which means it'll all pan out in the end. And the reason for that is I am not interested in arguing with anybody over certain types of eschatology. Now, eschatology, by the way, is the study of the end time. So sorry about that. That's one of those ridiculous words that helps us try to encapsulate a whole bunch of stuff into one word. But here's the reason why. Whatever you grew up with is what's normal to you. There are some people I know who believe beyond any shadow of the doubt. They believe that one day there's going to be a rapture of the church. And they think that the verse in here holds to that. It proves there's a rapture. Rapture is a secret catching away of God's people, leaving everybody else on earth. And then there's a secret catching away of God's people, seven years of tribulation, and at the end of it, there's a second coming of Christ where he judges the living and the dead and enters into a millennial reign. Very interesting, right? I know other people, they were raised in a faith tradition, and they believe beyond any doubt that there is a tribulation that begins, and halfway through it, there's a rapture of the church, that secret catching away. Then there's the second half of the tribulation, second coming of Christ, and then it all goes up, goes, goes away. Then there's a third group of people. There's a fourth one too, but there's a third group of people. They don't believe there's a tribulation. They believe there's a second coming of Christ. And that the rapture and the second coming is the same thing. And it happens, and then it goes into that. And then there's all kinds of other ones. There's some people that think that none of that's true. And then it's just so I'm not interested in arguing that because here's the thing I've noticed about most people who like to argue these things. They haven't really read much of this right here. They've listened to somebody on YouTube, and someone on YouTube told them that, or someone on a stage told them something. So I haven't actually read this because one of the things I've learned is I've started to read this and I've studied eschatology end times a lot over the years. What I've started to understand about the Bible is that the Bible's goal is not to tell us exactly how it all ends. The Bible's goal is to tell us who is at the end, and that it's Jesus. And he wants us to be there with him. And if you notice, many times in the Bible, people didn't know what a prophecy meant until after it had been fulfilled. And then they go, Oh, that's what he meant. Got it. Wow, God sure is faithful. And then move on. I think a lot of prophecy is like that because the book of Revelation, according to many people, it's all about future things. I got a feeling a lot of these things we're going to look at and go, oh, so that's what the 144,000 meant, or whatever. I think the same thing with this particular chapter right here. But what's so encouraging is no matter how it happens, what we do know for sure is that Jesus is coming. If it's in a rapture, that's separate from a second coming. If it's the same thing, all we know is Jesus is coming. And that should fill us with great joy. So we're going to read this together. Just for the sake of interest, I want to share with you two ways to interpret this last scripture. And I hope we leave it with a great sense of joy together. You ready? Here we go.

Holiness Love And A Quiet Life

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First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 1 says this. Remember, it starts off with this is how we live free and clean. Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember that we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus, God's will is for you to be holy and to stay away from all sexual sin. Then you will control your own body and live in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat fellow believers in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching, but is rejecting God, who gives us his Holy Spirit. But we don't need to write you about these important things about loving each other, for God Himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more. Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands just as we have instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live and you will not need to depend on others. Wow. We could just finish the podcast right there, right? Because first thing he said is, is hey, listen, love each other. Don't sleep around, don't mess around with that man's wife. Put your hands back. You know what I mean? He's like, stop it. And he's like, I know you love each other, but love each other the right way and make sure that you're doing the right thing. And then I love what he says. Make it your goal to be content. Live, live a quiet life, minding your own business, working with your hands just as we instructed you before. What would it look like in our lives if we made one of our highest goals? Not to see how many followers we could get on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or whatever, but what if we made one of our highest goals to live a quiet life? Hey, I am content. I'd be glad to have more, but I'm content because God is enough in me. Why am I content? Because I'm encouraged about what comes next. Here's the part we're gonna read and we're gonna finish up for today.

Hope For The Dead And Christ’s Return

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And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We will tell you this directly from the Lord. So we're saying, this is what God told me. So I'm telling you, we who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven with a commanding shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with him, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words. Well, first of all, we get the word rapture from this verse in verse 17. Caught up, the word is harpezo, harpezu, it's not saying that really right, right? But it is a form of where we eventually get the word rapture, raptured, caught up to be with the Lord. And so what Paul is saying is, because remember, they have been taught this avarant theology that said, well, if you die, I guess you're gonna miss getting to see Jesus. And they were terrified by this. And so Paul is saying, no, no, no, don't worry about those who have died. It's not about being alive or dead or whether or not you get to be with Christ. So actually, when Christ returns, remember, because Christ's returning, no matter how you divide that up, when Christ returns, the dead will rise first, and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air. Now, there's two ways of look at this. I'm sure there's a thousand other ways, but two main ways to look at this scripture. One, what Paul could be saying is the rapture of the church is that we will be here occupying until the Lord comes. And then when the time is right, the archangel Gabriel will stand at the edge of heaven, blow the shofar, and when he blows the shofar, it will be a spiritual signal and that there will be a rapture, a catching away of the Lord's people. And the dead will rise first, and then in the air, those who are alive and remain will meet them in the air and go be with Jesus, and then God will judge the earth. And he's saying, Be encouraged, because that day is coming. And whether you're alive or you're dead, you get to see that. And that's the rapture of the church. That's one way of looking at it. The second way of looking at it is just as awesome. And that is that during the Roman times, when the Roman emperor would come and visit a city, what he would do is, is before as he was approaching the city, they a herald would go ahead of him and shout out the call, the emperor is coming, the king is coming. And what would happen is this the all of the city would come out to meet him at the city gates. And as they would meet him, they would usher him into the center of the city, set up a throne for him, and he would begin to rule, cast judgments, give accolades, and rule together. And what an amazing picture. And it fits this picture as well. They go out and they meet him and they bring him into his kingdom. Either one is awesome. Either way you look at that, if we are raptured out and go away for seven years, or if we're raptured out to come with Jesus and come right back then again, be encouraged. Jesus is coming again. And if you die before it happens, and there's been many people over the past 2,000 years who have died, they did not die in vain. One day they are going to see Christ. Their bodies, their spirits are already with the Lord, but their bodies will rise, we'll be caught up together with the Lord, and we will be with the Lord forever, ever, whether he takes us on or we usher him into his earthly kingdom. Either way, we're going to be with him. And the reason why that's so important is because in this world, we will have trouble. But the future is bright, whether it happens in our lifetime or if it doesn't. I've had people who try to give dates for when the Lord is going to come back. And can I tell you, for 2,000 years, people have been trying to give dates. And Jesus

Two Readings Of “Caught Up”

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has said, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet. It is the kindness of the Lord that causes him to be so long-suffering because he doesn't want anybody to perish, anyone to die. So every single day the Lord doesn't come back, it's not because he's mad at you. It's because he's thinking about your neighbor. He's distracted by those who are lost. So can I tell you, do you want to hasten? You want to hurry up the coming of the kingdom? Be part of sharing the gospel with as many people as you can. When you help them find Christ, disciple them so then they can go be gospel spreaders to everybody else. Because spiritual warfare is spreading the kingdom. Because the more people that come to Christ, the closer we are to the second coming of Christ. And I'll be honest with you, I don't know. I don't know if he's gonna come back in my lifetime, your lifetime, or not. I hope so. I think it'd be really cool to see. But here's the thing I trust the Lord that whenever he comes, he will come. And it will be the perfect time. And if I'm dead, my body is gonna rise up and I'm gonna meet maybe you, maybe our great grandkids in the air. If we're alive, we're gonna meet them in the air. Jesus is coming again. So be so very encouraged. The future is bright. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you that our future is bright. And Lord, I'll be honest, just like John in the book of Revelation, he says, even so come, Lord Jesus. Lord, I want everybody to hear the gospel. I I have friends and I have family that don't know you, they've turned from you, they've never known you. I want them to know. But God, I can't wait for that heavenly kingdom. I pray for that joy and that encouragement to flow in us today. The more we know you, the more we want to know you. We celebrate you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, God's word says in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16, always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ. God's will for you is to always

Live Encouraged And Share The Gospel

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have joy, never give up, and always be thankful. Jesus is coming again. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow in First Thessalonians chapter five.