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1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 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: 17 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. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

On October 10, 2025 there was an explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant in Hickman County, Tennessee. Sixteen people died in that catastrophic explosion. The explosion was so powerful it registered as an 1.6 magnitude earthquake with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) – it was felt as far away as 155 miles. The sixteen people are presumed dead, and no bodies are recovered at this time. The question is,

What of those who were believers in Christ (assuming there were) among the sixteen? Are they with Jesus now, or do they somehow wait on the earth for the resurrection?

This past Sunday in Sunday School we studied and discussed the verses we opened with. Well, not all of the verses. It caused a problem in some of the Sunday School Classes, so I wanted to quickly address this tonight. One of my problems with Lifeway Studies is that it often leaves out significant Scripture in the Sunday School Lessons. The lesson did explain that verses 16-18 were about the Rapture of the Church. And they are. But the confusion I have heard from our members is, “I thought that Christians, when they pass from this life, immediately go to Heaven. So why do these verses seem to teach that Jesus is resurrecting people who are sleeping on the earth? The answer is simple. The Lifeway material DID NOT SHOW VERSES 13-15, which give us CONTEXT.

Omitted From The Sunday School Material

1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 (KJV) 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. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 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.

So let’s break it down tonight, because proper understanding of where you go when you leave this life is necessary to a proper understanding as to what happened to those 16 poor souls in Hickman County. It also explains what happens to those believers in Christ:

Who died (and die) at sea, and were eaten by fish;
Who died in nuclear blasts (like Hiroshima or Nagasaki);
Who died (and die) in house fires, and cannot be found;
Who died (and die) in forests, and were eaten by animals

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to be morbid. What happens when we die – and WHY IS THE CONTEXT OF SCRIPTURE SO VERY IMPORTANT?

Why Did God Direct Paul To Write
This Section Of Scripture?

The devil will do everything he can to stall or disrupt the function of the Church of Christ. If he cannot get someone to reject the Gospel, he will push confusion into the membership of the Church. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 14:33 (KJV) For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

When confusion is evident, God is not in it. It is the devil who tries to throw a wrench into God’s Work. In the case of the Church at Thessalonica, people were told that “The Day of the Lord” was passed, and that those who died before Jesus came would miss His coming. Christians began to fret and worry that their loved ones would miss out on the glory of Jesus’ coming. So let’s read the Scripture in context. The Apostle writes:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, CONCERNING THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Who is Paul talking about “THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP”? When a believer in Christ dies, the Bible says “they fall asleep”. For instance, when Stephen was stoned to death for preaching Christ, the Bible says:

Acts 7:59-60 (ESV) as they {the Pharisees} were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, HE FELL ASLEEP.

Two things happened in this text. Stephen cried out “LORD JESUS, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT”. His soul went to be with Jesus. But then “HE FELL ASLEEP”. His body “slept”. When you see a person in a casket, it appears as if they “sleep”. Their body does “sleep”. Sleep is a temporary state. The body sleeps, but the soul is elsewhere. When Jesus’ friend Lazarus died, our Lord said:

John 11:11 (ESV) Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I GO TO AWAKEN HIM.

Lazarus was “dead”, passed from this life. But Jesus was going to awaken him, just as He did with Jairus’ daughter in Luke 8:52.

Sleep is a metaphor for the physical death of the body.

The Prophet Daniel wrote:

Daniel 12:2 (ESV) And many of those who SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH shall awake, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, and SOME TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT.

When you die, your earthly body “sleeps” in the dust of the earth. The wicked will be resurrected one day and cast into a lake of fire. The righteous, however, will be re-created, and given glorified bodies. This is what we call “The Rapture”.

What about the Soul?

The Soul does not sleep, only the body. The Bible says:

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Upon death, the soul leaves the body and returns to God Who made it. If you are a Christ follower, your soul returns to where Jesus presently is – PRAISE HIM! The Apostle wrote in:

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NKJV) So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be ABSENT FROM THE BODY AND TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD.

Though God is everywhere, and God hears our prayers (for He has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” – Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; Matthew 28:20; John 14:18; Psalm 94:14), we are not literally in Heave with Him until we leave this life. When we leave this body, our souls go to be with Jesus. What did Jesus tell the repentant thief next to Him on the Cross?

Luke 23:43 (ESV) Truly, I say to you, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep are ALWAYS TOGETHER, in life or in death.

Your body sleeps in the dust of the earth – but your SOUL goes to be with Jesus. There are some who believe that, upon death, you are in unconscious sleep until the resurrection. Our Lord Jesus didn’t believe this. In the story He told of The Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus said:

Luke 16:22-23 (NKJV) {Lazarus died} was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And BEING IN TORMENTS in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

When the Rich Man died, he was “IN TORMENTS”, awake and suffering in hell. But Jesus said that “Lazarus was COMFORTED” (Luke 16:25). Both Lazarus and the Rich man were AWARE of where they were. They were not sleeping, that is, their souls were awake. Their BODIES were sleeping in the dust of the earth.

Our souls do not sleep after passing from this life. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah stood talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:3). What were they talking with Jesus about? The Bible says:

Luke 9:31 (ESV) {Moses and Elijah} appeared in glory and SPOKE OF HIS DEPARTURE {the crucifixion}, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

When the Apostle John was allowed to look into Heaven, what did he see? The Bible says:

Revelation 6:9-10 (KJV) I saw under the altar THE SOULS of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

SOULS – not bodies but SOULS – are gathered around the Throne of God. They are crying out for vengeance on those who martyred them. God gives them rest, and encourages them that judgment is coming!

The Rapture Is The Uniting Of The Believer’s Soul
With A Glorified Body

Jesus told Martha:

John 11:25 (NKJV) I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, HE SHALL LIVE. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me SHALL NEVER DIE.

The body dies – it sleeps in the dust of the earth. But the soul goes to be with Jesus. This is why CONTEXT matters, Lifeway!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (KJV) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP, {those whose bodies sleep in the dust of the earth} that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which SLEEP in Jesus WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM.

When Jesus returns to Rapture His Church, those which “SLEEP IN JESUS”, that is, those whose bodies sleep in the earth, “WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM”. Those who departed this life prior to the Rapture, we are told, Jesus will bring them with Him. The Bridgeway Bible Commentary notes:

“Among the Thessalonians, some were worried that those in their church who had died would not share in the return of Christ and the final triumph of his kingdom. Paul assures them that they will share in his return just as they share in his death and resurrection. (13-14). Believers who have died, far from being at a disadvantage, will be raised to life first. Believers still alive will join them, and together they will meet Christ and be with him for ever (15-17). Christian faith should give people hope and encouragement. They should see death not as a tragic end but as a glorious entrance into something new (18; cf. v. 13b).”

In the previous chapter Paul wrote:

1 Thessalonians 3:13 (NKJV) so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

When He comes, He comes “with ALL HIS SAINTS”. When Jesus returns with the Saints who have departed this earth:

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:

This is a reference to the making of the glorified body. The body of the saint will be recreated from the dust of the earth. Those who were destroyed physically, who were eaten by animals, who were burned up in fire or cremated, whose bodies cannot be found, God doesn’t care. What is impossible for man is possible with God. God will, at Rapture, give those believers whose souls have been in Heaven their glorified bodies first. We are told:

THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST

Rise from where? The grave? The sea? The woods? The dust of the ground? It doesn’t say, nor should we care. The point is, our God is faithful! What He has promised, He will do.

When God made Adam, He made him from the dust of the earth. He will make our bodies PERFECT from the dust of the earth.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 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.

The Good Shepherd shall have all His sheep. We will be reunited forever with Him in glory. Following the Rapture, there will be a Great Tribulation. And that is a lesson for another day.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Let’s pray!