1 Thessalonians 4:16

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: HIMSELF - in all the majesty of His personal presence, not by deputy. DESCEND - even as He ascended (Acts 1:11). WITH - Greek, 'in:' one concomitant circumstance attending His appearing. SHOUT, [ keleusmati (G2752)] - 'signal-shout.' Jesus, as a victorious king, will give the word of command to SHOUT, [ keleusmati (G2752)] - 'signal-shout.' Jesus, as a victorious king, will give the word of command to the hosts of heaven in His train for the last onsl...

16_For the Lord himself_. He employs the term κελεύσματος, (_shout_,) and afterwards adds, _the voice of the archangel_, by way of exposition, intimating what is to be the nature of that arousing shout — that the archangel will discharge the office of a herald to summon the living and the dead to the tribunal of Christ. For though this will be common to all the angels, yet, as is customary among different ranks, he appoints one in the foremost place to take the lead of the others. As to the _trumpet_, however, I leave to others to dispute with greater subtlety, for I have nothing to say in addition to what I briefly noticed in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. (583) The Apostle unquestionably had nothing farther in view here than to give some taste of the magnificence and venerable appearance of the Judge, until we shall behold it fully. With this taste it

13-18 Here is comfort for the relations and friends of those who die in the Lord. Grief for the death of friends is lawful; we may weep for our own loss, though it may be their gain. Christianity does not forbid, and grace does not do away, our natural affections. Yet we must not be excessive in our sorrows; this is too much like those who have no hope of a better life. Death is an unknown thing, and we know little about the state after death; yet the doctrines of the resurrection and the second coming of Christ, are a remedy against the fear of death, and undue sorrow for the death of our Christian friends; and of these doctrines we have full assurance. It will be some happiness that all the saints shall meet, and remain together for ever; but the principal happiness of heaven is to be with the Lord, to see him, live with him, and enjoy him for ever. We should support one another in ti...

Verse 16. _THE LORD HIMSELF_] That is: Jesus Christ _shall_ _descend from heaven_; shall descend in like manner as he was seen by his disciples to ascend, i.e. in his human form, but now infinitely more glorious; for _thousands of thousands shall_ _minister unto him_, and _ten thousand times ten thousand shall stand_ _before him_; for _the Son of man shall come on the throne of his_ _glory_: but who may abide the day of his coming, or stand when he appeareth? _WITH A SHOUT_] Or _order_, ενκελευσματι. and probably in these words. _Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment_; which order shall be repeated by the archangel, who shall accompany it with the sound of the trump of God, whose great and terrible blasts, like those on mount Sinai, _sounding louder and louder_, shall shake both the heavens and the earth! Observe the order of this terribly glorious day: 1. J

FOR THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN - notes, Acts 1:11. WITH A SHOUT - The word here used (κέλευσμα keleusma), does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It properly means a “cry’ of excitement, or of arging on; an outcry, clamor, or shout, as of sailors at the oar, Luc. Catapl. 19; of soldiers rushing to battle, Thuc. 3:14; of a multitude of people, Diod. Sic. 3:15; of a huntsman to his dogs, Xen. Ven. 6:20. It does not mean here, that the Lord would himself make such a shout, but that he would be attended with it; that is, with a multitude who would lift up the voice like that of an army rushing to the conflict. WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL - The word archangel occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, excep

EXPOSITION CONTENTS.—With this chapter the second portion of the Epistle—its practical application-commences. The apostle exhorts and entreats the Thessalonians to make progress in the Christian life, and to practice those commandments which, when he was with them, he gave them by the authority of Jesus Christ. God had called them to holiness and to the renunciation of their heathen practices. They must especially be on their guard against impurity, to which as Gentiles they were formerly so prone. He who rejected his injunctions rejected, not man, but God, whose commands they were. As they were already taught of God in the active practice of Christian love, so they must abound therein. They must not allow themselves to be led away by excitement, as if the day of Christ were at hand, but with quietness and honesty perform the duties of their earthly calling, and so commend the gospel to...

FOR THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN,.... Not by proxy, or by representatives; not by the ministry of angels, as on Mount Sinai; nor by the ministers of the word, as under the Gospel dispensation; nor by his spirit, and the discovery of his love and grace, in which sense he descends in a spiritual manner, and visits his people; but in person, in his human nature, in soul and body; in like manner as he went up to heaven will he descend from thence, so as to be visible, to be seen and heard of all: he will come down from the third heaven, whither he was carried up, into which he was received, and where he is retained until the time of the restitution of all things, and from whence the saints expect him: and this descent will be WITH A SHOUT; the word here used is observed by many to signify such a noise or shout as is made either by mariners, when they pull and row together; and...

1 Thessalonians 4:13. _But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope._ You cannot help sorrowing, for you miss your dear ones so much; but you do not sorrow like the heathen who believe their departed friends to be extinct and annihilated. You have a glorious hope concerning those who have fallen asleep in Christ, you believe that they are still live, and that, by-and-by, their bodies will rise again. 1 Thessalonians 4:14. _For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him._ There is such a union between Christ and his people that they never can be divided from him. In life, they li

IV. THE SEPARATED WALK AND THE BLESSED HOPE CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The separated walk 1 Thessalonians 4:1)_ 2. The coming of the Lord for His saints 1 Thessalonians 4:13) 1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Furthermore, then, brethren, we beg you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, even as ye received from us, how ye ought to walk and please God, even as ye also do walk, that ye would abound still more. For ye know what charges we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor (not in passionate desire, eve

THE CONDITION OF THE DEAD. This paragraph is written to allay a misgiving which had arisen among the Thessalonian Christians that certain of their friends who had died would be deprived of their share in the glory of the promised Parousia. Paul dispels the doubt by asserting that the dead would be raised at the Parousia, and so would be at no disadvantage compared with the living. _Cf._ 1 Corinthians 1:5 *. 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13. NO HOPE: the hopelessness of the ancient world in the presence of death is indicated by the characteristic inscription on the graves in pagan cemeteries, Farewell. ASLEEP IN JESUS: the original reads, through Jesus, and we must either translate those who have been put to sleep by Jesus, or connect the phrase with the following clause: