“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words”

(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB).

Uninformed

The Greek word behind “uninformed” is agnoia, a noun meaning to be ignorant, to not have information about, to not know, to be unaware of. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to what happens when a believer dies.

Their concern for those who had died shows that the Thessalonians believed the return of Christ was imminent and could happen in their lifetime. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for their concern.

The Thessalonians’ fear that their fellow believers who had died might miss the Rapture also implies that they believed in a Pretribulation Rapture. If the Rapture precedes the Tribulation, they might have wondered when believers who died would receive their resurrection bodies. But there would have been no such confusion if the Rapture follows the Tribulation, because all believers would then receive their resurrection bodies at the same time. Further, if they had been taught that they would go through the Tribulation, they would not have grieved for those who died. They would have been glad to see them spared from that horrible time.

Why “Soul Sleep” Is a False Teaching

Paul wrote, “For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:7-8 NASB). And again: “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23 NASB).

Paul preferred to be absent from the body and at home with the Lord. He desired to depart and be with Christ, because that is very much better. At the very least those statements teach that believers go consciously into the Lord’s presence at death. How could unconsciousness be “very much better” than conscious communion with Jesus Christ in this life?

Jesus promised the repentant thief on the cross, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” And Paul writes of one “caught up into Paradise” who “heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak” (2 Corinthians 12:3-4 NASB).

Remember also that Moses and Elijah were not asleep. They appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3).

And consider the Tribulation martyrs: “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” (Revelation 6:9-10 NASB).

Who is awake and able to speak to God? They are. After death the redeemed go consciously into the presence of the Lord, while the unsaved go into conscious punishment. “And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also” (Revelation 6:11 NASB).

Homework: Read the account of the certain rich man and the poor man named Lazarus, who both die and end up in different compartments of Hades, the temporary abode of the dead. (Luke 16:19-31).

Their Question, and Ours

Even though Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica was brief, it is clear the people had come to believe in and hope for the reality of their Savior’s return. They were living in expectation of that coming, eagerly awaiting Christ.

“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 NASB).

This indicates they were agitated about some things, unpleasant things happening to them that they feared might affect their participation in His return. Like us, they knew Christ’s return was the climactic event in redemptive history, and they did not want to miss it.

The major question they had was this: What happens to the Christians who die before He comes? Do they miss His return? Clearly they had an imminent view of Christ’s return, and Paul had left the impression it could happen in their lifetime. Their confusion came as they were being persecuted, an experience they thought they were to be delivered from by the Lord’s return.

A Living Hope, a Blessed Hope

The certainty of Christ’s return at His glorious Second Coming is a living hope.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3 NASB).

And it is a blessed hope.

“Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13 NASB).

Paul did not write this passage to satisfy curiosity about the end times. He wrote it so that the Thessalonians would not grieve as the rest who have no hope. Their question was born of love and fear, and Paul answered it with certainty: the dead in Christ will rise first, we will be caught up together with them, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Always. That is the word that ends the grief. Not temporarily reunited, not briefly glimpsed, but always with the Lord and always with those who have gone ahead of us.

So do not be uninformed. Ignorance is not bliss here. Know what happens when a believer dies, because that knowledge is not cold doctrine. It is the very thing Paul hands you to hold when you stand at a graveside. Therefore comfort one another with these words.