1 Thessalonians Chapter 4, Verse 14
From BibleWiki
14: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
14: For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them
who have slept.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. That is, if we believe this, we ought also to believe that those who have died in the faith of Jesus will be raised from the dead. The meaning is not that the fact of the resurrection depends on our believing that Jesus rose, but that the death and resurrection of the Saviour were connected with the resurrection of the saints: that the one followed from the other, and that the one was as certain as the other. The doctrine of the resurrection of the saints so certainly follows from that of the resurrection of Christ, that, if the one is believed, the other ought to be also. "1Cor 15:12ff".
Which sleep in Jesus. A most beautiful expression. It is not merely that they have calm repose -- like a gentle slumber -- in the hope of awaking again, but that this is "in Jesus" -- or "through" (dia) him; that is, his death and resurrection are the cause of their quiet and calm repose. They do not "sleep" in heathenism, or in infidelity, or in the gloom of atheism -- but in the blessed hope which Jesus has imparted. They lie, as he did, in the tomb -- free from pain and sorrow, and with the certainty of being raised up again.
Will God bring with him. This does not mean that God will bring them with him from heaven when the Saviour comes -- though it will be true that their spirits will descend with the Saviour; but it means that he will bring them from their graves, and will conduct them with him to glory, to be with him. Comp. "Jn 14:3".
