(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

I. The death of a Christian (4:13-14)

A. The metaphor of sleep (4:13; cf. John 11:11; Acts 7:60)
B. Sorrow is not prohibited, but sorrow without hope (4:13; cf. Acts 8:2; John 11:35; Philippians 2:25-27)
C. Just as Jesus died and was raised, so those who died in Him will be raised (4:14)

II. The Second Advent (4:15-17)

A. In this passage, Paul deals exclusively with the faithful; other Scriptures deals with the disobedient (John 5:28-29; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
B. The living saint will not precede the sleeping saint at His coming (4:15)
C. When the Lord descends, the dead in Christ will rise (4:16)
D. Then those who are still alive, along with those who had died, will meet the Lord in the air (4:17)
E. “Thus we shall always be with the Lord” (4:17; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:24)

III. Comfort one another (4:18)

A. Death is not the end of one’s existence, but a time of rest from our labors (cf. Revelation 14:13)
B. The Lord will not abandon the faithful, whether living or dead – those “asleep in Christ” will not miss out on the Second Advent!
C. We will be reunited with our departed loved ones in Christ – “together with them in the clouds”
D. It is not the where but the with whom that is important – “we shall always be with the Lord”