Be Still And Know

1 Thessalonians 4:15,18 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died…So encourage each other with these words. The Thessalonian church lived with the expectation that Jesus might return at any moment. This inevitably triggered lots of questions. It did so then and has done so ever since. The particular issue that Paul addressed in this chapter is what would happen to those who had already died. He made it clear that they will rise from their graves, while those who are still alive when Jesus returns will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then “we will be with the Lord forever” (v17). He doesn’t go into any more detail than that. The important point to recognise is that Paul saw his words as an encouragement. In truth, they didn’t need to know exactly what the programme or timetable of events for that day would look like, and neither do we. What we do need to know is that God has it all in hand, an