Encouraging Each Other (1 Thess. 4:13-18)
In one of Gulliver’s travels, he met a man who had invented a device for extracting sunshine from cucumbers. The inventor could store it away in bottles for brightening the house on dark days. Dark days come to us all. Discouragement is an ever-present danger, and sorrow is the stalker of us all. Like the new Christians at Thessalonica to whom Paul addressed this text, sometimes our hopes fade and doubts rise. Why not try Paul’s prescription for those dark days?
What does he recommend? “Encourage each other with these words” (
v. 18, NIV). And just what words of encouragement are we talking about? In this paragraph are three strong words of encouragement (or “comfort” if you prefer the
King James translation). And these three words are
return,
resurrection and
reunion.
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First, our Lord will return. He will return personally. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven” (
v. 16). He will return in power. The word translated in KJV “with a shout” or in the NIV “with a loud command” is a military commander’s authoritative cry to direct his troops. Jesus will return with such authority and “with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.” (
v. 16). When we are talking about the Lord’s second coming,
return is an encouraging word.
Also, our departed loved ones will return. As Paul wrote, “We believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (
v. 14). The Thessalonians were new Christians, and Paul was not able to stay with them long enough to give them all the instruction a new believer might need. When some of their number died, they wondered if these would miss out on the grand return of Christ. In fact, Paul assured them the dead Christians will return with Christ.
II. Resurrection is a great word of encouragement (vv. 14, 16).Again, in view in this word is both the resurrection of Christ already realized and the promised resurrection of “the dead in Christ.” It is because we do believe “that Jesus died and rose again” (
v. 14) that we can be confident in any other promise God makes even if it violates natural science and human logic. That includes specifically the promise that “the dead in Christ will rise” (
v. 16).