MSB 1 TH Chapter 4

Living to Please God

Finally brothers, we ask and encourage you in [the] Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God just as you have received from us.[fn] So you should do so all the more. 2 For you know [the] instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; 4 each of you must know [how] to control his [own] body[fn] in holiness and honor, 5 not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who vvv do not know God; 6 [and] no one should {ever} violate [or] exploit his brother in [this] regard,[fn] because [the] Lord will avenge all such [acts], as we have already told you and solemnly warned [you]. 7 For God {has} not called us to impurity, but to holiness. 8 Anyone, then, who rejects [this command] {does} not reject man but God, the very [One who] has given[fn] you His Holy Spirit.

Now about brotherly love, you do not need [anyone] to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. 10 And you are indeed showing this [love] to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more 11 and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own [matters], and to work with your own hands,[fn] as we instructed you. 12 Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, [without] being dependent [on anyone].

The Return of the Lord

Brothers, vvv we do not want[fn] you to be uninformed about those who sleep [ in death ],[fn] so that vvv you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, vvv we also believe that God will bring with [Jesus] those who have fallen asleep in [Him].

By [the] word of [the] Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive [and] remain until the coming of the Lord vvv vvv will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with [the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise 17 After that, 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 will always {be} with [the] Lord.

Therefore encourage one another with these words.