“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”(1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
Could any man have written these words? Could Matthew, John, Peter, or Paul have written them? Not apart from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit! Read the words once more, and note their simplicity, conciseness, and heartwarming power. Let us study them piece by piece.
“The Lord Himself.” Not Michael, not Gabriel, not anyone in heaven, or even the hosts of heaven, but “Himself.” He will be the first to welcome all His own. What a moment of triumph that will be, to hear that Voice we have never heard, to see that Face we have never seen, to be in the immediate presence of the Man who died for us. It will indeed be glory for me.
“Shall descend from heaven.” Did He not come “out of the ivory palaces” for our salvation? Did He not “become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8) for our sakes? With what joy must He come out of heaven the second time, to secure the full fruition of salvation of all His own.
“With a shout.” The word used for “shout” is keldsmo, the cry of the helmsman or boatman, only used here. It will not be a mere whisper, but a loud cry, to call saints out of the deepest depth of ocean and remotest corners of the land to be with Him.
“From the deepest depth of ocean,
From the mountain and the plain,
From the desert rock and valley
Countless throngs shall rise again.”
No matter what the mode of burial–those quietly laid to rest in God’s acre, those lost in the desert, torn to pieces by the lions, lost on some lonely mission field, or left fathoms below in a mine shaft–these shall hear the Voice and come forth (Jn 5:28-29).
“With the voice of the Archangel.” His own voice will be joined with angelic fervor. Those heavenly servants to the saints on earth will see them “changed in a moment of time” (1 Cor. 15:51). You feel you sadly need to be changed; so do I. That will be a revolutionary change into His own image, the image of the Heavenly, as we have borne the image of the earthly.
“And with the trump of God,” or “last trump.” The Roman Army had three trumps. The first was the call to get ready, to prepare oneself. The second, to fall into line, to get ready for marching. At the third trump, every soldier went marching forward.
The first trump has long sounded: “Be ye also ready”; the second trump is sounding loudly now–“Stand together, march in step, a united band,” “one body” (1 Cor. 12:20). The third trump may sound any moment, and not one saved one will be left on earth. As in Egypt when redeemed Israel marched out, “not a hoof” was left behind (Ex. 10:26), so when the Redeemed of the Lord “arise,” not a particle of one of the Redeemed will be left to the devil and his angels.
“And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Sweet thought! Sympathetic Lord! That sweet babe, sorrowfully laid to rest, will be resurrected before one living soul is touched. Before ever He takes in hand the loving son, that loved mother will be raised. The great masses of the dead, whom we have loved and lost and laid to rest, will receive first attention.
“Then we which are alive and remain.” Not “them,” but always “we,” implying that the living state is the constant hope of His own. Look at a map of the world, think of the saints in all these lands, a mighty remnant indeed. What a host on earth, with even a mightier host in heaven!
“Shall be caught up together with them.” Two sweet words: “caught up” and “together.” Down long enough on earth, “up” to the realms of light and glory. Artists picture Elijah the prophet seated in a chariot of fire in stately magnificence, drawn by fiery horses, riding triumphantly to heaven. But Elijah did not go to heaven in a chariot of fire, he went the way that I and all the living hope to go “in a whirlwind”–one breath here, the next there (2 Ki. 2:1). Like Elijah, one moment traversing the dusty lanes of earth, the next moment impelled by heavenly power away from earth
“Together.” The dead shall not get to heaven first. All competition will be gone, for together saved dead and saved living will go triumphantly forward at His return.
“In the clouds.” Some read this as “in clouds” or in massive companies of saints. Such may be, but I think it simply indicates the cloudy heavens as the assembling place of those masses as they rise “to meet the Lord in the air.” As a cloud received Him at His ascension, so His people shall leave the world behind.
“To meet the Lord in the air.” The best is left to the last. Not to meet with archangels or angels, not to meet with patriarchs and prophets, not to meet with apostles and elders, nor with Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or even, in one sense, with loved ones gone before. It is to be “with the Lord,” to see Him face to face, to be like Him, to be with Him forever. Oh, consummation of bliss! and that may take place today. Well may this marvelous moment be called “that blessed hope” and the “glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” No wonder we are exhorted to be “looking for” that event.
“And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This is not for a day, not for a year, not for a holiday, nor for a while, but “forever.” All works of time are past. We reckon now “yet a little while” (Heb. 10:37). Such is unknown then. Peter speaks of “after that you have suffered a while” (1 Pet. 5:10), but then, neither suffering nor a while. Oh, blessed eternal state, and it is to be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be with Paul and Peter and John, to be with loved ones gone before, and even better than all these, “with the Lord.”
For obvious reason, the Divine author adds: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Not frighten one another, not ever threatening the Judgment Seat, but “comfort” one another. Say to your brothers and sisters: “The way may be rough, but it cannot be long; the trials may be great, but they will soon be past–the Morning cometh.”
On reading or meditating on this blessed hope, so graphically foretold, only one cry comes from our hearts–the last words of the Blessed Book–“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”