Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 4:15

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.

15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord ] Lit., in a word of the Lord, in the character of a message coming from “the mouth of the Lord;” comp. 1Co 7:10, “I give charge, not I, but the Lord;” and ch. 1Th 2:13 above, “not men’s word, but God’s.” The “word” that follows ( 1Th 4:15-17) can hardly be explained as a traditional saying of Christ, unrecorded in the Gospels, like Act 20:35; nor as an inference from the teaching of Jesus on the subject of His return. St Paul claims to have received this communication directly from Christ, “the Lord” of His Church, as a revelation to himself (comp. Gal 2:2, Eph 3:3 for similar instances), given to him expressly in order to allay the fears of his readers. The Lord is manifestly Christ, as it is four times in the immediate sequel. St Paul applies to Christ’s word the same august phrase that in the O. T. denotes “the word of God” Himself; comp. note on ch. 1Th 1:8.

that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord ] This should be: we that are alive, that remain (or survive) unto the coming of the Lord. The second designation qualifies the first, “those (I mean) who survive till the Lord comes.” St Paul did not count on any very near approach of the second Advent: comp. 2Th 2:1-2. At the same time, his language implies the possibility of the great event taking place within his lifetime, or that of the present generation. This remained an open question, or rather a matter on which questioning was forbidden (see Act 1:7; Mat 24:36). “Concerning the times and seasons” nothing was definitely known (ch. 1Th 5:1, see note). The Apostles “knew in part” and “prophesied in part” (1Co 13:12); and until further light came, it was natural for the Church, ever sighing “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!” to speak as St Paul does here. The same “we” occurs in this connection in 1Co 15:51-52. But from the time of the dangerous illness recorded in 2Co 1:8-9, the prospect of death occupied the foreground in the Apostle’s thoughts of his own future, and he never afterwards writes “ we that remain.”

shall not prevent ] “Prevent” is obsolete in this sense: comp. the Collect, “ Prevent us in all our doings with Thy most gracious favour.” Better, shall in no wise precede (or anticipate) those that fell asleep. The shadow which the event of their premature death had cast over the fate of the sleeping Thessalonian believers was wholly imaginary, and should be dismissed at once from the minds of their sorrowing friends. Instead of their having no place, they will have, as Christ now reveals to His Apostle, the foremost place in His triumphant return. Though dead, they are “dead in Christ” (1Th 4:16), departed to “be with Christ” “absent from the body” but “at home with the Lord,” as St Paul subsequently teaches (2Co 5:6-8; Php 1:23). So it cannot be that those who are found in the flesh when He comes again, will be beforehand with them in this reunion. “God will bring them with Him,” for they are with Him already.

The Apostle proceeds to support this assurance by a description of Christ’s coming, derived from the revelation, or “word of the Lord,” to which he has just appealed. This was one of the most remarkable of the many “visions and revelations” which St Paul experienced (comp. 2Co 12:1-5).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord – By the command or inspired teaching of the Lord. Prof. Bush (Anastasis, p. 265) supposes that the apostle here alludes to what the Saviour says in Mat 24:30-31, And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, etc. It is possible that Paul may have designed a general allusion to all that the Lord had said about his coming, but there cannot have been an exclusive reference to that passage, for in what he says here there are several circumstances mentioned to which the Saviour in Matthew does not allude. The probability, therefore, is, that Paul means that the Lord Jesus had made a special communication to him on the subject.

That we which are alive – See this fully explained in the notes on 1Co 15:51. From this expression, it would seem, that some of the Thessalonians supposed that Paul meant to teach that he himself, and many of the living, would survive until the coming of the Lord Jesus, and, of course, that that event was near at hand. That this was not his meaning, however, he is at special pains to show in 2Th 2:1-10.

And remain unto the coming of the Lord – Those Christians who shall then be alive.

Shall not prevent them which are asleep – Shall not precede; anticipate; go before. The word prevent with us is now commonly used in the sense of hinder, but this is never its meaning in the Scriptures. The word, in the time of the translators of the Bible, was used in its primitive and proper sense (praevenio), meaning to precede, or anticipate. Job 3:12, why did the knees prevent me? That is, why did they anticipate me, so that I did not perish, Psa 79:8, Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us; that is, go before us in danger. Psa 119:147, I prevented the dawning of the morning and cried; that is, I anticipated it, or I prayed before the morning dawned. Mat 17:25, Jesus prevented him, saying; that is, Jesus anticipated him; he commenced speaking before Peter had told him what he had said; compare Psa 17:13; Psa 59:10; Psa 88:13; Psa 95:2; 2Sa 22:6, 2Sa 22:19; Job 30:27; Job 41:11 The meaning here is, that they who would be alive at the coming of the Lord Jesus, would not be changed and received up into glory before those who were in their graves were raised up. The object seems to be to correct an opinion which prevailed among the Thessalonians that they who should survive to the coming of the Lord Jesus would have great advantages over those who had died. What they supposed those advantages would be – whether the privilege of seeing him come, or that they would be raised to higher honors in heaven, or that they who had died would not rise at all, does not appear, nor is the origin of this sentiment known. It is clear, however, that it was producing an increase of their sorrow on the death of their pious friends, and hence it was very important to correct the error. The apostle, therefore, states that no such disadvantage could follow, for the matter of fact was, that the dead would rise first.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

1Th 4:15

This we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain

The waiting congregation of the redeemed

It is important here to observe that the apostles language is not to be pedantically restricted as if we were necessarily to be taken literally.

It is the broad, emotional, imaginative, not the restricted and historical we–the we not of him who associates himself with some accidental and arbitrary class, but of him who believes in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints–the we of a true member of the supernatural community. He writes as a living man to living men, from the point of view of intimate communion with them; with that prophetic sympathy with the Church of the future which makes his pulses throb in unison with the waiting congregation of the redeemed. He puts himself in the same attitude with those who shall be alive at the Great Advent, All who are alive on earth as we now are. Speaking as the mouthpiece of a generation which, like each of its successors, represents those who shall be alive at the Lords coming, he says, We–we, the living, the left over–a word which is not without a tinge of sadness, in subtle harmony with the purpose Paul had in view. The fear which the Thessalonians had for their beloved ones was lest they might have suffered loss. They pitied them because they were taken. By this twice-repeated word, the pathetic refrain of this wonderful dirge (1Th 4:15; 1Th 4:17), the apostle seems to say–not that they are to be pitied; rather we who are left over, left without them in the world. If there is any leaving out in the case, it is we who are left out, not they. (Bp. Alexander.)

The Second Advent of Christ

Among the words of consolation in the valedictory discourse of Christ is the promise that He would come again and receive His people unto Himself. Time has sped noiselessly along. For nearly nineteen hundred years the Churchs eyes have been strained with intense expectancy; but it has not lost confidence in the promise. Faith in the Second Advent of Christ is more widely spread and firmly held than ever. Long waiting has sharpened the longing, brightened the hope, and clarified the vision. Observe–

I. That the second advent of Christ is the subject of Divine revelation. By the Word of the Lord. In a subject of such vast moment Paul was anxious to show that he spoke on the most incontrovertible authority. He had a special revelation, and spoke under the immediate inspiration of the Divine Spirit. The Second Advent is emphatically taught in the Scriptures.

II. That the second advent of Christ will be distinguished by signal tokens of terrible majesty.

1. There will be the triumphant shout of the Divine Redeemer (1Th 4:16). Just before Jesus expired on the cross He cried with a loud voice, and, though there was the ring of victory in that cry, it sounded more like a conscious relief from unutterable suffering. But the shout of Jesus on His second coming will be like the battle shout of a Great Conqueror. It will break the silence of the ages, startle the universe into attention, raise the dead, and summon all people to the presence of the victorious Messiah. Formerly He did not cry (Isa 42:2). But now is the revelation of His power (Psa 50:3-4).

2. There will be the voice of the archangel (1Th 4:16), the chief of the heavenly multitude. In response to the majestic shout of the descending Lord, he lifts up his voice, like the loud cry of a herald, announcing the glorious advent, and the sound is caught up and prolonged by the vast hosts of celestial attendants.

3. There will be the trumpet blast. With the trump of God (Mat 24:31; 1Co 15:52). Among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins it was the custom to summon the people with the trumpet. In this way God is said to gather His people together (Isa 27:13; Jer 4:5; Jer 6:1). The whole passage is designed to show that the Second Advent of King Messiah will be attended by the most imposing evidences of pomp and regal splendour.

III. That the second advent of Christ will be followed by important consequences to the people of God–living and dead.

1. The pious dead shall be raised (1Th 4:15-16). The living at that day shall have no advantage over the dead. Before any change takes place in the living, to fit them for the new condition of things, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and be clothed with immortality and incorruptible splendour. Whatever disadvantages may be the lot of some of Gods people over others, they are ever recompensed by some special privilege. The best state for us is that in which God places us. And yet every man thinks anothers condition happier than his own. Rare, indeed, is the man who thinks his own state and condition in every respect best for him.

2. The living and the raised shall unite in a simultaneous greeting of their descending Lord (1Th 4:17). The living, after passing through the wondrous change, shall not anticipate the newly-raised bodies of the pious dead, but together with them–in one reunited, loving, inseparable company–shall be caught away in the chariot of clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and greet Him in the descent. He comes to fulfil His promise (Joh 14:3).

3. All believers in Christ shall be assured of eternal felicity with Him. And so shall we ever be with the Lord (1Th 4:17)–in familiar companionship, in rapturous communion, in impending glory, in ever-enchanting revelations. With Him, not occasionally, or for an age, or a millennium, but uninterruptedly, forever. How great the contrast with the brightest experiences of this changeful life! There are three things which eminently distinguish the heavenly life of the soul–perfection, perpetuity, immutability. The exact locality is not mentioned. It is enough to be assured that we are to abide with Jesus in some place where parting is unknown.

IV. That the contemplation of the second advent of Christ is calculated to minister consolation to the sorrowing (1Th 4:18). The best consolation is that which is drawn from Gods Word. The bereaved were sorrowing for their loved ones, and were full of uncertainty about the future. The teaching of inspiration assures them that their departed relatives shall be rescued from the power of death, that they shall meet again in glory to be forever with each other and with the Lord. The wants and distresses of certain individuals may be the occasion for the revelation of given truths, and the truths once revealed remain in the Church forever. Lessons:

1. The Church is justified in looking for the Second Advent.

2. That Advent will bring an everlasting recompense for the sorrow of the present life.

3. The record which reveals that Advent should be prized and pondered. (G. Barlow.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 15. This we say unto you by the word of the Lord] This I have, by express revelation, from the Lord: what he now delivers, he gives as coming immediately from the Spirit of God. Indeed, human reason could not have found out the points which he immediately subjoins; no conjectures could lead to them. Allowing even the general doctrine of the resurrection to be believed, yet what follows does not flow from the premises; they are doctrines of pure revelation, and such as never could have been found out by human ingenuity. In no place does the apostle speak more confidently and positively of his inspiration than here; and we should prepare ourselves to receive some momentous and interesting truth.

We which are alive, and remain] By the pronoun we the apostle does not intend himself, and the Thessalonians to whom he was then writing; he is speaking of the genuine Christians which shall be found on earth when Christ comes to judgment. From not considering the manner in which the apostle uses this word, some have been led to suppose that he imagined that the day of judgment would take place in that generation, and while he and the then believers at Thessalonica were in life. But it is impossible that a man, under so direct an influence of the Holy Spirit, should be permitted to make such a mistake: nay, no man in the exercise of his sober reason could have formed such an opinion; there was nothing to warrant the supposition; no premises from which it could be fairly deduced; nor indeed any thing in the circumstances of the Church, nor in the constitution of the world, that could have suggested a hint of the kind. The apostle is speaking of the thing indefinitely as to the time when it shall happen, but positively as to the ORDER that shall be then observed.

Shall not prevent them which are asleep.] Those who shall be found living in that day, though they shall not pass through death, but be suddenly changed, shall not go to glory before them that are dead, for the dead in Christ shall rise first-they shall be raised, their bodies made glorious, and be caught up to meet the Lord, before the others shall be changed. And this appears to be the meaning of the apostle’s words, , which we translate shall not prevent; for, although this word prevent, from prae and venio, literally signifies to go before, yet we use it now in the sense of to hinder or obstruct. signifies the same, according to Hesychius, as , to go before, , to anticipate, be before. Those who shall be found alive on that day shall not anticipate glory before the dead in Christ; for they shall rise first, and begin the enjoyment of it before the others shall be changed. This appears to be the apostle’s meaning.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The apostle here sets down particularly the manner of the Lords coming, the method and order how all the saints shall then meet with him and with one another, which we find not so distinctly in any other scripture; and whereby he further prosecutes the argument he is upon.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord; that they might not think that what he speaks was either by some tradition from others, or an invention of his own; and that is ground enough for faith, to which our judgment and reason ought to be captivated.

That we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep: that which he saith here about the resurrection, Christs coming, the ministry of angels, the sound of a trumpet, the voice of Christ at that day, we have it in the evangelists; but the method and order of all the saints meeting together, and meeting the Lord in the air, we find not in any express words before written; the apostle speaks it here by extraordinary revelation, which is the word of the Lord, though not then written. And this order is expressed:

1. Negatively. The saints then living upon earth shall not be with Christ sooner than those that were fallen asleep, and be caught up into the air while the others are in the grave; and the apostle speaks as if he should be one of that number: surely he could not think the coming of Christ should be in the age wherein he lived; he speaks otherwise, 2Th 2:2; or that his life should be prolonged to that day; for the time of his departure, he saith, was at hand, 2Ti 4:6. But he looks upon the whole body of saints together, and himself as one of that number, and so speaks, we which are alive and remain, & c.; as in 1Co 15:51; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

2. Affirmatively. The dead in Christ shall rise first, that is, before they that are alive shall be caught up into the air; they shall stay till the rest be risen: as 1Co 15:51; We shall not all sleep, but be changed, and in a moment; which the apostle calls clothed upon, 2Co 5:2, and which he rather desired than to be unclothed, 1Th 4:4; and then they that are dead in Christ shall rise, and be united to these in one visible body.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. by the word of the LordGreek,“in,” that is, in virtue of a direct revelation fromthe Lord to me. So 1Ki 20:35.This is the “mystery,” a truth once hidden, now revealed,which Paul shows (1Co 15:51;1Co 15:52).

preventthat is,”anticipate.” So far were the early Christians fromregarding their departed brethren as anticipating them inentering glory, that they needed to be assured that those who remainto the coming of the Lord “will not anticipate them that areasleep.” The “we” means whichever of us arealive and remain unto the coming of the Lord. The Spirit designedthat believers in each successive age should live in continuedexpectation of the Lord’s coming, not knowing but that theyshould be among those found alive at His coming (Mt24:42). It is a sad fall from this blessed hope, that deathis looked for by most men, rather than the coming of our Lord. Eachsuccessive generation in its time and place represents the generationwhich shall actually survive till His coming (Mat 25:13;Rom 13:11; 1Co 15:51;Jas 5:9; 1Pe 4:5;1Pe 4:6). The Spirit subsequentlyrevealed by Paul that which is not inconsistent with the expectationhere taught of the Lord’s coming at any time; namely, that His comingwould not be until there should be a “falling away first”(2Th 2:2; 2Th 2:3);but as symptoms of this soon appeared, none could say but that stillthis precursory event might be realized, and so the Lord come in hisday. Each successive revelation fills in the details of the generaloutline first given. So Paul subsequently, while still looking mainlyfor the Lord’s coming to clothe him with his body from heaven, looksfor going to be with Christ in the meanwhile (2Co 5:1-10;Phi 1:6; Phi 1:23;Phi 3:20; Phi 3:21;Phi 4:5). EDMUNDSwell says, The “we” is an affectionate identifying ofourselves with our fellows of all ages, as members of the same body,under the same Head, Christ Jesus. So Ho12:4, “God spake with us in Beth-el,” that is,with Israel. “We did rejoice,” that is, Israel atthe Red Sea (Ps 66:6). Thoughneither Hosea, nor David, was alive at the times referred to, yeteach identifies himself with those that were present.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,…. The apostle having something new and extraordinary to deliver, concerning the coming of Christ, the first resurrection, or the resurrection of the saints, the change of the living saints, and the rapture both of the raised and living in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, expresses himself in this manner; either in allusion to the prophets of old, to whom the word of the Lord is said to come, and who usually introduced their prophecies with a “Thus saith the Lord”; or in distinction from his own private sense, sentiment, and opinion of things; signifying, that what he was about to say, was not a fancy and conjecture of his own, the fruit and produce of his own brain, but what he could assert upon a sure foundation, upon the best and greatest authority, even the word of the Lord; and has respect either to some particular word of Christ, as some think, such as Mt 24:30 or rather to a particular and peculiar revelation, and special instruction in these things, he had immediately from Christ; and it may be when he was caught up into the third heaven himself, and had an experience in himself of somewhat of that which both the living and raised saints shall feel, when they are caught up together in the clouds; since the change of the living saints, at the time of the resurrection of the dead, is a mystery which seems to have been first made known unto, and discovered by the Apostle Paul; see 1Co 15:51.

That we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord: not that the apostle thought that he and the saints then in the flesh should live and continue till the second coming of Christ; for he did not imagine that the coming of Christ was so near, as is manifest from 2Th 2:1 though the Thessalonians might take him in this sense, which he there corrects; but he speaks of himself and others in the first person plural, by way of instance and example, for illustration sake; that supposing he and others should be then in being, the following would be the case: and moreover, he might use such a way of speaking with great propriety of other saints, and even of those unborn, and that will be on the spot when Christ shall come a second time; since all the saints make up one body, one family, one church and general assembly; so that the apostle might truly and justly say, “we which are alive”; that is, as many of our body, of our family, of our church or society, that shall be living at the coming of Christ; and he might choose the rather to speak in this form, person, and tense, to awaken the care, circumspection, diligence, and watchfulness of the saints, since it could not be known how soon the Lord would come: however, from hence it appears, that there will be saints alive at Christ’s second coming; he will have a seed to serve him till he comes again; he always had in the worst of times, and will have, and that even in the last days, in the days of the son of man, which are said to be like those of Noah and of Lot: and these are said to “remain”, or to be “left”, these will be a remnant, the residue and remainder of the election of grace, and will be such as have escaped the fury of antichrist and his followers, or of the persecutors of the saints: now these

shall not prevent them that are asleep; that is, that are dead, so the Ethiopic version; the reason why the dead are so called, see in the note on the preceding verses: the sense is, either they “shall not come up to them that are asleep, or dead”, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render the words; they shall not come into the state of the dead, they shall undergo a change equivalent to death, but not death itself; see 1Co 15:51 or rather they “shall not go before” them; they shall not get the start of them, and be in the arms of Jesus, and enjoy his presence when he comes, before the dead in Christ, which might be thought, but this will not be the case; for the dead saints will rise before the living ones are changed, and both will be caught up together to meet the Lord, as is said in the following verses; so that the one shall not come or go before the other, or come at, or into the enjoyment of Christ first, but both together.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

By the word of the Lord ( ). We do not know to what word of the Lord Jesus Paul refers, probably Paul meaning only the point in the teaching of Christ rather than a quotation. He may be claiming a direct revelation on this important matter as about the Lord’s Supper in 1Co 11:23. Jesus may have spoken on this subject though it has not been preserved to us (cf. Mr 9:1).

Ye that are alive ( ). Paul here includes himself, but this by no means shows that Paul knew that he would be alive at the Parousia of Christ. He was alive, not dead, when he wrote.

Shall in no wise precede ( ). Second aorist active subjunctive of , to come before, to anticipate. This strong negative with (double negative) and the subjunctive is the regular idiom (Robertson, Grammar, p. 929). Hence there was no ground for uneasiness about the dead in Christ.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

By the word of the Lord [ ] . Or in the word. Logov of a concrete saying, Rom 9:9; Rom 13:9. We do not say this on our own authority. Comp. 1Co 7:10, 12, 25. No recorded saying of the Lord answers to this reference. It may refer to a saying transmitted orally, or to a direct revelation to Paul. Comp. Gal 1:12; Gal 2:2; Eph 3:3; 2Co 12:1, 9.

Remain [] . P o. and only in this Epistle. The plural we indicates that Paul himself expected to be alive at the parousia. 26 Shall not prevent [ ] . The A. V. misses the force of the double negative – shall in no wise prevent. Prevent in the older sense of anticipate, be beforehand with. See on Mt 17:25, and 1Th 2:16. The living shall not share the blessings of the advent sooner than the dead in Christ.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord” (touto gar humin legomen en logon kuriou) “For this we say to you all by a word of the Lord”; by what word or pre-disclosure of the Lord is not clear to scholars. Some suggest it came to Paul through a wisdom, 2Co 12:1-4.

2) “That we which are alive and remain” (hoti hemeis hoi zontes hoi perileipomenoi) “That who are living (and) remaining”; Let it be remembered that in the specific, exact, restricted, and definitive persons addressed Paul was writing to, and concerning, the church we”, not all the “saved we.” See 1Th 1:1; 1Th 2:14.

3) “Unto the coming of the Lord” (eis ten parousian tou kuriou) “to the body presence (coming) of the Lord”; The royal, kingly, resurrected, glorified bodily presence of the Lord in his return is here considered, Act 1:10-11.

4) “Shall not prevent them which are asleep” (ou me phthasomen tous koimethentas) “may by no means precede the ones having slept”; or go up to meet the Lord ahead of or before those formerly redeemed and having passed through death; 1Co 15:52-57; Php_1:20-21.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15 For this we say unto you. He now briefly explains the manner in which believers will be raised up from death. Now, as he speaks of a thing that is very great, and is incredible to the human mind, and also promises what is above the power and choice of men, he premises that he does not bring forward anything that is his own, or that proceeds from men, but that the Lord is the Author of it. It is probable, however, that the word of the Lord means what was taken from his discourses. (579) For though Paul had learned by revelation all the secrets of the heavenly kingdom, it was, nevertheless, more fitted to establish in the minds of believers the belief of a resurrection, when he related those things that had been uttered by Christ’s own mouth. “We are not the first witnesses of the resurrection, but instead of this the Master himself declared it.” (580)

We who live. This has been said by him with this view — that they might not think that those only would be partakers of the resurrection who would be alive at the time of Christ’s coming, and that those would have no part in it who had been previously taken away by death. “The order of the resurrection,” says he, “will begin with them: (581) we shall accordingly not rise without them.” From this it appears that the belief of a final resurrection had been, in the minds of some, slight and obscure, and involved in various errors, inasmuch as they imagined that the dead would be deprived of it; for they imagined that eternal life belonged to those alone whom Christ, at his last coming, would find still alive upon the earth. Paul, with the view of remedying these errors, assigns the first place to the dead, and afterwards teaches that those will follow who will be at that time remaining in this life.

As to the circumstance, however, that by speaking in the first person he makes himself, as it were, one of the number of those who will live until the last day, he means by this to arouse the Thessalonians to wait for it, nay more, to hold all believers in suspense, that they may not promise themselves some particular time: for, granting that it was by a special revelation that he knew that Christ would come at a somewhat later time, (582) it was nevertheless necessary that this doctrine should be delivered to the Church in common, that believers might be prepared at all times. In the mean time, it was necessary thus to cut off all pretext for the curiosity of many — as we shall find him doing afterwards at greater length. When, however, he says, we that are alive, he makes use of the present tense instead of the future, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom.

(579) “ Prins des sermons de Christ;” — “Taken from the sermons of Christ.”

(580) “ L’a affermee et testifiee assureement par ses propos;” — “Has affirmed and testified it with certainty in his discourses.”

(581) “ Commencera par ceux qui seront decedez auparauant;” — “Will commence with those who shall have previously departed.”

(582) “ Ne viendroit si tost;” — “Would not come so soon.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1Th. 4:15. We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.We must recognise that Paul here includes himself, along with the Thessalonians, among those who will be alive at the advent of Christ. Certainly this can only have been a hope, only a subjective expectation on the part of the apostle (Huther). Shall not prevent.The meaning of prevent is to go before. But the connotation came to have more prominence than the meaning, so it came to signify to stop (by standing in the way). R.V. gives, shall not precede. It is the same word as in 1Th. 2:16 (in another tense). The apostle says, We shall not arrive before them.

1Th. 4:16. With a shout.Like the ring of command heard over the noise of battle. We must not look for literal exactness where things are depicted beyond the reach of sense (Findlay). With the tramp of God.The trumpet here, like that in 1Co. 15:52, is the military trumpet.

1Th. 4:17. Shall be caught up.The idea conveyed by the word is that of sudden or violent seizure, as when the fiery messengers carried off the prophet Elijah, or as when St. Paul was caught up to the third heaven.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Th. 4:15-18

The Second Advent of Christ.

Among the words of consolation in the valedictory discourse of Christ to His disciples was the promise, after His departure, He would come again and receive them unto Himself. Time has sped noiselessly along; events of vast magnitude have rapidly succeeded each other, and left their lessons for the ages to ponder; nations have passed through the throes of suffering and revolution; generation after generation has gone down to the grave; for nearly nineteen hundred years the Church has been strained with profound, intense, and anxious expectancy: but still the promise remains unfulfilled. Will He come? Are the hopes of the Church doomed to be for ever unsatisfied? Must the bodies of the pious dead be for ever shut down in the sepulchres of land and sea? Will the wrongs of the universe never be redressed? If questions like these flit for a moment across the mind, it is not that the Church has lost confidence in the promise. Faith in the second advent of Christ is more widely spread and more firmly held to-day than ever. Long waiting has sharpened the longing, brightened the hope, and clarified the vision. In these words the apostle assures the Thessalonians of the second coming of Christ, furnishes some important particulars of the event, and points out the bearing of the glorious doctrine in consoling the sorrow of the bereaved.
I. That the second advent of Christ is the subject of divine revelation.For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord (1Th. 4:15). In a subject of such vast moment the apostle was anxious to show that he had the highest and most incontrovertible authority for the statements he uttered. He had a special revelation from heaven, and spoke under the direct and immediate inspiration of the divine Spirit. The second advent of Christ is emphatically taught in the Holy Scriptures (cf. Mat. 24:3; Mat. 25:31; Mar. 8:3; Joh. 14:3; Act. 1:2; Act. 3:19-20; Rom. 8:17; 1Co. 1:8; 2Ti. 4:1; Tit. 2:13; 1Pe. 1:5; 2Pe. 3:12; Jud. 1:14).

II. That the second advent of Christ will be distinguished by signal tokens of terrible majesty.

1. There will be the triumphant shout of the divine Redeemer. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout (1Th. 4:16). Just before Jesus expired on the cross He cried with a loud voice, and though there was the ring of victory in that cry, it sounded more like a conscious relief from unutterable suffering. But the shout of Jesus on his second coming will be like the loud, clear, joyous battle shout of a great Conqueror. That shout will break the silence of the ages, will startle the universe into attention, will raise the dead, and summon all people into the presence of the victorious Messiah. Formerly He did not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street (Isa. 42:2). But now is the revelation of His power. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence (Psa. 50:3-4).

2. There will be the voice of the archangel (1Th. 4:16).The angelic hosts are arranged in an hierarchy of various ranks and orders. The archangel is the chief of the heavenly multitude. In response to the majestic shout of the descending Lord, the archangel lifts up his voice, like the loud cry of the herald announcing the glorious advent, and the sound is caught up and prolonged by the vast hosts of celestial attendants.

3. There will be the trumpet-blast.With the trump of God, with trumpet sounded by the command of Godsuch a trumpet, perhaps, as is used in the service of God in heaven. Besides the shout of Jesus and the voice of the archangel, the sound of the trumpet will also be heard in the host. It is called in 1Co. 15:52 the last trumpet; and in Mat. 24:31 we read, He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect. Among the Hebrews, Greeks, and ancient Latins it was the custom to summon the people with the trumpet. In this way God is said to gather His people together (Isa. 27:13; Jer. 4:5; Jer. 6:1). The whole passage is designed to show that the second advent of King Messiah will be attended by the most imposing evidences of pomp and regal splendour.

III. That the second advent of Christ will be followed by important consequences to the people of God, living and dead.

1. The pious dead shall be raised. We which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. And the dead in Christ shall rise first (1Th. 4:15-16). The living at that daywho, it would seem, would be spared the necessity of dying and seeing corruptionshall, nevertheless, have no advantage over the dead. Before any change takes place in the living to fit them for the new condition of things, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and be clothed with immortality and incorruptible splendour. Whatever disadvantages may be the lot of some of Gods people over others, they are ever recompensed by some special privilege or prerogative. The best state for us is that in which God places us. And yet every man thinks anothers condition happier than his own. Rare indeed is the man who thinks his own state and condition in every respect best for him.

2. The living and the raised shall unite in a simultaneous greeting of their descending Lord.Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1Th. 4:17). The living, after passing through the wondrous change from mortal to immortal, shall not anticipate for a single moment the newly raised bodies of the pious dead, but together with them, in one reunited, loving, inseparable company, shall be caught away in chariots of clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and greet Him in the descent. He comes to fulfil His promise (Joh. 14:3)

3. All believers in Christ shall be assured of eternal felicity with Him.And so shall we ever be with the Lord (1Th. 4:17). For ever with the Lord in familiar companionshipin rapturous communion, in impending glory, in ever-enchanting revelations. With Him, not occasionally, or for an age, or a millennium, but uninterruptedly for ever, without the possibility of separation. How great the contrast with the brightest experiences of this changeful life! There are three things which eminently distinguish the heavenly life of the soulperfection, perpetuity, immutability.

IV. That the contemplation of the second advent of Christ is calculated to minister consolation to the sorrowing.Therefore comfort one another with these words (1Th. 4:18). A community in suffering creates a community in sympathy. If a thorn be in the foot, the back bows, the eye is busy to pry into the hurt, the hands do their best to pluck out the cause of anguish; even so we are members one of another. To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend (Job. 6:14). The best consolation is that which is drawn from the revelations of Gods word. There are no comforts like Scripture comforts. The bereaved were sorrowing for their loved ones who had been smitten down by death, and were full of anxiety and uncertainty about the future. Shall they meet again, or are they parted for ever? The teaching of inspiration on the second coming of Christ assures them that their departed relatives shall be rescued from the power of death, that they shall meet again, meet in glory, meet to part no more, to be for ever with each other and with the Lord.

Lessons.

1. The Church is justified in looking for the second advent of Christ.

2. The second advent of Christ will bring an everlasting recompense for the suffering and sorrow of the present life.

3. The record that reveals the second advent of Christ should be fondly prized and constantly pondered.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Th. 4:15-18. The Second Coming of Christ and Sorrow for the Dead.

I. The final period of the world the apostles left undetermined.

II. Though ignorant of the final period of the world, they were confident it should not come till the prophecies respecting the destiny of the Church were accomplished.

III. The Church, being ignorant of the day in which Christ should come to judge the world, should be always ready for that event.

IV. Sorrow for the dead is compatible with the hope of a Christian.

1. When it proceeds from sympathy.

2. From the dictates of nature.

3. From repentance.Saurin.

1Th. 4:18. The Duty of comforting One Another.

I. We must observe a rule and method in this duty.

II. This method is taught not in the school of nature, but of Christ.

1. In general we must comfort one another with the word of God.

2. We must comfort one another with the Scripture teaching on the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead.Farindon.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Text (1Th. 4:15)

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.

Translation and Paraphrase

15.

For this we tell you (not by our own guesses or hopes, but) by the (very) word of the Lord, that we which are living (and) remaining (alive on earth) until the coming of the Lord, (that) we shall most certainly not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.

Notes (1Th. 4:15)

1.

If we had only Pauls hopes or opinions as support for our hope that the dead will be raised, it would not be very solid assurance. But Paul informs us that what he speaks is the very word of the Lord. Since the Lord Himself informed Paul about this matter, we place our total reliance upon it.

2.

The expression, word of the Lord, is often used to describe the prophetic messages which God gave to various men. See Mic. 1:1; Hos. 1:1; Jer. 1:2; Luk. 3:2, and many other such references.

3.

Paul uses the phrase, We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord. But the we in this verse does not indicate that Paul expected to be living when Christ returned. In 2Co. 4:14, Paul used the word us in such a manner that indicates that he expected to be resurrected: Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus.

Neither here, nor elsewhere in the New Testament is the coming (parousia) of the Lord stated to be very soon (by human standards of time). Some people in New Testament times assumed that it would be that way, but Paul never said so.

4.

Concerning the word coming (parousia), see notes on 1Th. 2:19, par. 7.

5.

What did Paul mean when he said that we which are alive when the Lord comes back shall not prevent them which are asleep? The word prevent now means to hinder or restrain. But in 1611, when the King James version was translated, it meant to go before or come before. It is from the Latin wotd praevenio, meaning to come before, to get the start of.

David said in Psa. 119:147 : I prevented the dawning of the morning and cried. David did not keep the morning from dawning. What he meant was that he got up before the dawning of the morning to pray.

Paul meant, then, that those who are alive when Christ returns will not go ahead of, or have a head start on, those who will have died before that time.

6.

Paul uses a very strong negative (ou me) to affirm that we who are living will most certainly NOT go ahead of those who have died before the Lords coming.

8.

For the significance of the word sleep as applied to the dead, see notes on 1Th. 4:13, par. 4.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(15) By the word of the Lord.Literally, in. A most direct claim to plenary inspiration (see references). It does not mean According to certain words which Christ spoke, nor yet By means of a revelation from the Lord to me, but By way of a divine revelation: I tell you this as a message straight from God. In what way apostles and prophets became conscious of supernatural inspiration we cannot tell; but elsewhere also St. Paul speaks of possessing the consciousness sometimes and not at others. (See 1Co. 7:10; 1Co. 7:12; 1Co. 7:25; 1Co. 7:40.) He means this declaration here to hold good of the details, which are such as no one would invent and teach with such solemnity; at the same time it must be remembered, with regard to the details, that it is the very idiom of prophecy (which St. Paul here uses) to express by material imagery spiritual facts.

We which are alive and remain.Literally, We, (that is) the quick, those who are left over. There is not the least necessity for supposing from these words that St. Paul confidently expected the Advent before his death. Very likely he did, but it cannot be proved from this passage. Had the we stood alone, without the explanatory participles, it might have amounted to a proof, but not so now. His converts are strongly under the impression that they will be alive at the Coming, and that it will be the worse for the departed: therefore, St. Paul (becoming all things to all men) identifies himself with themassumes that it will be as they expectedand proves the more vividly the fallacy of the Thessalonians fears. It would have been impossible, on the contrary, for St. Paul to have said we which are dead without definitely abandoning the hope of seeing the Return. Besides which, St. Paul is only picturing to imagination the scene of the Advent; and for any man it is far easier to imagine himself among the quick than among the dead at that moment.

Shall not preventi.e., be before, get the start of. If it were not for these words, we might have fancied that the Thessalonians had not been taught to believe in a resurrection at all; which would have been a strange departure from the usual apostolic gospel (1Co. 15:1, et seq.). We here learn what was the exact nature of the Thessalonians anxiety concerning the dead. They were full of excited hopes of the coming of that kingdom which had formed so prominent a part of the Apostles preaching there (Act. 17:7); and were afraid that the highest glories in that kingdom would be engrossed by those who were alive to receive them; and that the dead, not being to rise till afterwards, would have less blessed privileges. This would make them not only sorry for their dead friends, but also reluctant to die themselves. The negative in this clause is very emphatic in the Greek, and throws all its force upon the verb: We shall certainly not get the start of them that sleep; i.e., if anything, we shall be behind them; they will rise first.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. Word of the Lord Some understand the words of Christ in Mat 24:31. Others refer the phrase to the meeting of the bridegroom by the sleeping virgins. Others, to a tradition of Christ’s declaration. Lunemann parallels it to “the word of the Lord” in 1Ki 20:35, and interprets it, correctly, of a special revelation to St. Paul. So Gal 1:12; Gal 2:2; Eph 3:3; 2Co 12:1. We Lunemann and Alford utter more forcible protest than argument in behalf of the supposition that this word demonstrates St. Paul’s expectation to be one of the alive at the Parousia. Note on 1Co 15:51.

Shall not prevent Shall not go before. The old English meaning of the word; which comes from pre, before, and venire, to go. One may go before another, either to stop him, or to lead him. The latter sense of the word has been lost in modern times; so that preventing grace would now mean the grace that stops a man, and not, as properly, the grace that leads him forward. St. Paul means that the living shall take no precedence of the raised dead; the latter shall have an equal entrance; in fact, their resurrection shall be first; that is, shall precede the resurrectional change of the living.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and are left to the Parousia of the Lord, will in no way precede those who are asleep.’

Paul assures the Thessalonians that there is no way in which Christians living at the time of Christ’s coming and divine presence will have precedence over those who have died in Christ.

‘By the word of the Lord.’ This may be seen as signifying a literal word of the Lord of which Paul was aware, or it may be signifying that, as with the prophets of old, the word of the Lord came to Paul. Some have seen in Mat 24:31 one ‘word’ that may have been in mind with ‘His elect’ meaning all, both dead and living. It certainly contains the idea of the trumpet and the gathering together in a miraculous way of His people.

‘We who are alive and are left.’ At this time Paul was still hopeful of being alive when Jesus came and states this position on that basis. He wanted to make the words personal and link himself with the Thessalonians in their faith, and not just make a doctrinal statement. Had Jesus come at that moment Paul would have been among those alive, and that was his earnest hope. It was only later that he learned that that was not to be and that it was to be his privilege to die for Christ (2Ti 4:6).

‘To the Parousia of the Lord.’ ‘Parousia’ means ‘presence’, but it was used of royal visits by which the presence of the royal person would be among them. It indicated that He was on an official visit in order to fulfil some purpose. Many see it as including the carrying out of His judgments (e.g. Mat 24:50 to Mat 25:46). ‘Of the Lord’. This confirms what we have just said. It was ‘the Lord’ Who was here, He Who bore the name above every name and was sovereign over the Universe, to Whom one day every knee shall bow (Php 2:9-11). And the Lord was coming in triumph and victory to exert His royal right.

‘Will in no way precede those who are asleep.’ The fears of the Thessalonians had not been about precedence, however Paul here assures them that not only will the dead in Christ rise, but they will also not lose anything or any privilege by having died. They will join in the royal procession.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

1Th 4:15. That we which are alive, &c. Because here and elsewhere St. Paul speaks in the first person plural, and thereby seems to join himself with those who should be alive at Christ’s second coming, when the dead are to be raised, and the living transformed,some have too hastily concluded that he thought the day of the Lord to be just then at hand; and that he, and several of the Christians of that age, should be of the number of those who should (not die and be raised again, but) be transformed: but they are great strangers to St. Paul’s stile and manner, who have not observed in what a latitude he uses the word we; sometimes thereby meaning himself, and at other times himself and his companions; sometimes the Apostles, and at other times the Christians in general;in some places the Jewish, and in other places the Gentile Christians. Besides, how often are all Christians considered as one church, one family, one kingdom, one city, one building, the members of one and the same body, whether they be in heaven or on earth, in what age or nation soever they live! Further, to confirm this interpretation, it is evident that St. Paul expected not to escape death, but that he should die, and rise again, 2Co 5:6; 2Co 5:8. Php 1:23; Php 3:10-11; Php 3:21. And, finally, when the Thessalonians, by the means either of some weak or some designing persons, were led into this mistake, St. Paul himself wrote them a second Epistle, in which he assures them, that he did not design to say any such thing as that the day of the Lord was at hand; for a grand apostacy was first to happen in the Christian church. See the notes on 2Th 2:1-12. Dr. Heylin renders the latter part of this verse thus: “That we who remain alive until the coming of the Lord, shall not enter [into bliss] before those who are departed.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Th 4:15 . A solemn confirmation of the comforting truth , by bringing forward the equality between those living at the advent and those already asleep. Koppe, Flatt, and Koch erroneously assume a reference to 1Th 4:13 , making the in 1Th 4:14 parallel to the in 1Th 4:15 , and finding in 1Th 4:15 a new reason for comfort.

] refers not to the preceding, but is an emphatic introduction to what follows the first : this, namely, we say to you , , that we, the living, etc.

] in or by means of a word of the Lord (comp. , Est 1:12 ; , 1Ki 20:35 ), that is, the following statement on the relation of the living to those who are asleep at the advent does not rest on my (the apostle’s) subjective opinion, but on the infallible authority of Christ. Comp. 1Co 7:10 ; 1Co 7:12 ; 1Co 7:25 .

Pelagius, Musculus, Bolten, Pelt, and others have regarded this , to which Paul appeals, as the words of Christ in Mat 24:31 (comp. Mar 13:27 ); whereas Hofmann is of opinion that Paul might have inferred it from the promises of Christ in Mat 26:25 ff.; Joh 6:39 f. But the expressions found there are too general to be identified with the special thought in our passage. Schott’s statement, that Paul might justly appeal to the prophecy in Mat 24:31 , because it contained nothing of a prerogative of the living before the dead, but on the contrary represents simply an assembling of believing confessors with a view to the participation of the Messianic kingdom, is subtle, and does not correspond to the expression , which points to positive information concerning the definite subject in question. Also Luthardt’s (l.c. pp. 141, 57) view, that in a reference is made to the parable of the virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom (Mat 25 ), and for which view (1Th 4:17 ) is most arbitrarily appealed to, is evidently erroneous. Others, as Calvin and Koch, have thought that Paul referred to a saying of Christ not preserved in the Gospels, but transmitted by tradition. (So, recently, also v. Zezschwitz, l.c. p. 121, according to whom the apostle thought “on a word” which is “to be sought for in the peculiar and intimate communications of our Lord to His disciples, such as He would have given them during the forty days, when He spoke with them concerning the .”) This supposition may certainly be supported by the analogy of Act 20:35 ; but it must always remain precarious, the more so as there was no inducement to Christ, in His intimations concerning the period of the fulfilment of the Messianic kingdom, to make such special questions, arising only in consequence of concrete circumstances, the subject of an anticipated instruction. It is best, therefore, with Chrysostom, Theodoret, Hunnius, Piscator (who, however, arbitrarily supposes the fact described in 2Co 12:2 ; 2Co 12:4 ), Aretius, Turretin, Benson, Moldenhauer, Koppe, Olshausen, de Wette, Gess (die Lehre von der Person Christi, Basel 1856, p. 69 f.), Alford, Riggenbach, and others, to suppose that Paul appeals to information concerning the matter in hand which had been communicated to him in a direct revelation by the heavenly Christ; comp. Gal 1:12 ; Gal 2:2 ; Eph 3:3 ; 2Co 12:1 .

] we, the living, who remain unto the presence (or return) of the Lord. From the construction of these words it undoubtedly follows, that Paul reckoned himself with those who would survive till the commencement of the advent, as indeed the same expectation is also expressed in 1Co 15:51 f. Comp. besides, 1Co 7:26 ; 1Co 7:29-31 ; 1Co 1:7-8 ; Rom 13:11-12 ; Phi 4:5 . See also Dhne, Entwickel. des Paulin. Lehrbegr. pp. 175 f., 190; Usteri, Paulin. Lehrbegr. p. 355; Messner, Die Lehre der Apostel, Leipz. 1856, p. 282. This expectation is not confirmed by history: Paul and all his contemporaries fell a prey to death. What wonder, then, if from an early period of the Christian church this plain meaning of the word was resisted, and in its place the most artificial and distorted interpretations were substituted? For that Paul could be capable of error was regarded as an objectionable concession, as an infringement upon the divine authority of the apostle. It has therefore almost universally [57] been maintained by interpreters, that Paul speaks neither of himself nor of his contemporaries, but of a later period of Christianity. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, John Damascenus, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, Castalio, Calvin, Musculus, Bullinger, Zanchius, Hunnius, Balduin, Vorstius, Cornelius a Lapide, Jac. Laurentius, Calixt, Calov, Joach. Lange, Whitby, Benson, Bengel, Flatt, and many others. Whilst Calvin and Cornelius a Lapide, in order to remove difficulties, do not scruple to charge the apostle with a pious fraud; supposing that he, although he was convinced of the distance of the advent, nevertheless represented himself as surviving, in order in this way to stimulate believers to be in a state of spiritual readiness at every instant; Oecumenius, after the example of Methodius, interprets . . . of the souls , and of the bodies of Christians; , , , , , , , , . Usually, however, in order to remove the objectionableness of the words, an appeal is made to the fact that by means of an “ enallage personae ” or an , something is often said of a collective body which, accurately taken, is only suited to a part. Then the sense would be: we Christians, namely, those of us who are alive at the commencement of the advent, i.e. the later generation of Christians who will survive the advent. But however often or is used in a communicative form, yet in this passage such an interpretation is impossible, because here . . . , as a peculiar class of Christians , are placed in sharp distinction from , as a second class. Accordingly, in order to obtain the sense assumed, the words would require to have been written: . . . , apart altogether from the fact that also in 1Th 5:4 the possibility is expressed, that the day of the Lord might break in upon the presently existing Thessalonian church. Not less arbitrary is it, with Joachim Lange, to explain the words: “we who live in our posterity ,” for which an additional clause would be necessary. Or, with Turretin, Pelt, and others, to understand , in a hypothetical sense: we, provided we are then alive, provided we still remain. (So, in essentials, Hofmann: by those who are alive are meant those who had not already died.) For then, instead of , , it would necessarily require , (without an article). The same also is valid against J. P. Lange ( Das apostol. Zeitalter , I., Braunschw. 1853, p. 113): “The words, ‘the living, the surviving,’ are for the purpose of making the contrast a variable one, whilst they condition and limit the in the sense: we, so many of us (!), who yet live and have survived; or (?) rather, we in so far as we temporarily represent the living and remaining, in contrast to our dead.” Lastly, the view of Hoelemann ( Die Stellung St. Pauli zu der Frage um die Zeit der Wiederkunft Christi , Leipz. 1858, p. 29) is not less refuted by the article before and : “The discourse, starting from the and rising more and more beyond this concrete beginning, by forming, with the next two notions , , always wider (!) and softer circles, strives to a generic (!) thought namely, to this, that Paul and the contemporary Thessalonians, while in the changing state of (being left behind), might be indeed personally taken away beforehand; although the opposite possibility, that they themselves might yet be the surviving generation, is included in the with which the thought begins, and which always echoes through it.” Every unprejudiced person must, even from those dogmatic suppositions, recognise that Paul here includes himself, along with the Thessalonians, among those who will be alive at the advent of Christ. Certainly this can only have been a hope, only a subjective expectation on the part of the apostle; as likewise, in the fifth chapter, although he there considers the advent as impending and coming suddenly, yet he supposes the indefiniteness of the proper period of its commencement (comp. also Act 1:7 ; Mar 13:32 ). That the apostle here states his surviving only as a supposition or a hope, is not nullified by the fact that he imparts the information (1Th 4:15 ) . For the can, according to the context, only refer to the relation of those who are asleep to the living; but does not refer to the fact who will belong to the one or to the other class at the commencement of the advent. Only on the first point was the comforting information contained which the Thessalonians required.

The present participles and are not to be taken as futures (Calvin, Flatt, Pelt), but denote the condition as it exists in the present, and stretches itself to the advent.

] shall by no means precede those who are asleep , so that we would reach the end (the blessedness of the advent), but they would be left behind us, and accordingly lose the prize. The apostle speaks in the figure usual to him of a race, in which no one obtained the prize who was forced half way to interrupt his running.

On the emphatic , see Winer, p. 449 [E. T. 634].

[57] Exceptions in early times are very rare. They are found in Piscator (yet even he hesitates), Grotius, and Moldenhauer. To bring the correct view to more general recognition was reserved for recent times.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

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.

Ver. 15. By the word of the Lord ] Or, in the word, &c., in the self-same words that the Lord used to me, probably, when I was rapped up,2Co 12:22Co 12:2 ; 2Co 12:4 , and heard wordless words.

Shall not prevent them ] They shall rise ere we shall be raptured, and as they have been before us in death, so shall they be in glory; now priority is a privilege.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

15 .] Confirmation of last verse by direct revelation from the Lord .

this which follows: taken up by .

. , in (virtue of: an assertion made within the sphere and element of that certainty, which the word of the Lord gives) the word of the Lord , i.e. by direct revelation from Him made to me. , , , Chr.: , Thdrt. That St. Paul had many special revelations made to him, we know from 2Co 12:4 . Cf. also Gal 1:12 ; Eph 3:3 ; 1Co 11:23 ; 1Co 15:3 , and notes.

] Then beyond question, he himself expected to be alive, together with the majority of those to whom he was writing, at the Lord’s coming. For we cannot for a moment accept the evasion of Theodoret (cf. also Chrys. and the majority of ancient Commentators, down to Bengel, and even some of the best of the moderns, warped by their subjectivities: cf. Ellicott here), , : nor the ungrammatical rendering of Turretin and Pelt ‘we, if we live and remain’ ( , ): nor the idea c., al., that are the souls , the bodies : but must take the words in their only plain grammatical meaning, that . are a class distinguished from , by being yet in the flesh when Christ comes, in which class, by prefixing , he includes his readers and himself. That this was his expectation, we know from other passages, especially from 2Co 5:1-10 , where see notes. It does not seem to have been so strong towards the end of his course; see e.g. Phi 1:20-26 . Nor need it surprise any Christian, that the Apostles should in this matter of detail have found their personal expectations liable to disappointment, respecting a day of which it is so solemnly said, that no man knoweth its appointed time, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son ( Mar 13:32 ), but the Father only. At the same time it must be borne in mind, that this inclusion of himself and his hearers among the and , does not in any way enter into the fact revealed and here announced, which is respecting that class of persons only as they are, and must be, one portion of the faithful at the Lord’s coming; not respecting the question, who shall , and who shall not be among them in that day.

. ] Dr. Burton, doubting whether . . can mean ‘ left to the coming ’ (but why not? as defining the terminus temporis is surely common enough, cf. Phi 1:10 ; Act 4:3 , Joh 13:1 al. fr.), puts a comma at , and takes . with , rendering, those who are alive at the last day will not enter into the presence of the Lord before those who have died . But 1) is never used locally , of the presence of the Lord, but always temporally , of His coming : and 2) the arrangement of the sentence would in that case be . . . . .

] shall not (emphatic ‘there is no reason to fear, that ’) prevent (get before, so that they be left behind, and fail of the prize).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Th 4:15 . . On the tendency of the N.T. writers to reserve , with its O.T. predicates of divine authority, for Jesus, cf. Kattenbusch, op. cit. , ii. 522. Paul’s use of the term goes back to Christ’s own claim to in the higher sense of Mar 12:35 f. . Contrast the of 1Th 5:2 and the language of 1Th 4:1 . Evidently Paul had not had time or occasion to speak of such a contingency, when he was with them. may mean either ( a ) a quotation (like Act 20:35 ) from the sayings of Jesus, or ( b ) a prophetic revelation vouchsafed to Paul himself, or to Silvanus ( cf. Act 15:32 ). In the former case (so, among modern editors, Schott, Ewald, Drummond, Wohl.), an is cited (Calvin, Koch, Weizscker, Resch, Paulinismus , 238 f.; Ropes, die Sprche Jesu , 153 f.; M. Goguel; van der Vies, 15 17; O. Holtzmann, Life of Jesus , 10; von Soden) but it is evidently given in a free form, and the precise words cannot (even in 1Th 4:16 ) be disentangled. Besides we should expect to be added. Unless, therefore, we are to think of a primitive collection (Lake, Amer. Journ. Theol. , 1906, 108 f.) or of some oral tradition, ( b ) is preferable. The contents of Mat 24:31 (part of the small apocalypse) are too dissimilar to favour the conjecture (Pelt, Zimmer, Weiss) that Paul was thinking of this saying as current perhaps in oral tradition, and the O.T. analogy of (= God’s prophetic word), together with the internal probabilities of the case (Paul does not remind them of it, as elsewhere in the epistle) make it on the whole more likely that Paul is repeating words heard in a vision ( cf. 2Co 12:9 ; so Chryst., Theod., etc., followed by Alford, de Wette, Ellicott, Dods, Lnemann, Godet, Paret: Paulus und Jesus , 53 f., Simon: die Psychologie des Ap. Paulus , 100, Findlay, Lightfoot, Milligan, Lueken). Cf. the discussion in Knowling’s Witness of the Epistles , 408 f., and Feine’s Jesus Christus u. Paulus , 178, 179. Later in the century a similar difficulty vexed the pious Jew who wrote Fourth Esdras (5:41, 42: I said, But lo, O Lord, thou hast made the promise to those who shall be in the end: and what shall they do that have been before us ? And He said to me, I will liken my judgment to a ring; as there is no slackness of those who are last, so shall there be no swiftness of those who are first ). His theory is that the previous generations of Israel will be as well off as their posterity in the latter days. Further on (13:14 f.) he raises and answers the question whether it was better to die before the last days or to live until they came (the phrase, those that are left , “qui relicti sunt,” 7:28 = Paul’s ). His solution (which Steck, in Jahrb. fr prot. Theol. , 1883, 509 524, oddly regards as the . of 1Th 4:15 ; see Schmidt’s refutation, pp. 107 110) is the opposite of Paul’s: those who are left are more blessed than those who have died . If this difficulty was felt in Jewish circles during the first half of the century, it may have affected those of the Thessalonian Christians who had been formerly connected with the synagogue, but the likelihood is that Paul’s language is coloured by his own Jewish training ( cf. Charles on Asc. Isa. , iv. 15). The misunderstanding of the Thessalonians, which had led to their sorrow and perplexity, was evidently due to the fact that, for some reason or another, Paul had not mentioned the possibility of any Christians dying before the second advent (so sure was he that all would soon survive it), coupled with the fact that Greeks found it hard to grasp what exactly resurrection meant ( cf. Act 17:32 ) for Christians.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

the. Omit.

word. App-121.

remain. Greek. perileipomai. Only here and 1Th 4:17. Is this subsequent to Php 1:3, Php 1:11?

coming. Compare 1Th 2:19.

prevent = anticipate. Greek. phthano. See Rom 9:31. “Prevent” meant “go or come before”. Now it only means “stand in the way of”.

asleep = fallen asleep.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

15.] Confirmation of last verse by direct revelation from the Lord.

-this which follows: taken up by .

., in (virtue of: an assertion made within the sphere and element of that certainty, which the word of the Lord gives) the word of the Lord,-i.e. by direct revelation from Him made to me. , , , Chr.: , Thdrt. That St. Paul had many special revelations made to him, we know from 2Co 12:4. Cf. also Gal 1:12; Eph 3:3; 1Co 11:23; 1Co 15:3, and notes.

] Then beyond question, he himself expected to be alive, together with the majority of those to whom he was writing, at the Lords coming. For we cannot for a moment accept the evasion of Theodoret (cf. also Chrys. and the majority of ancient Commentators, down to Bengel, and even some of the best of the moderns, warped by their subjectivities: cf. Ellicott here),- , :-nor the ungrammatical rendering of Turretin and Pelt-we, if we live and remain ( , ):-nor the idea c., al., that are the souls, the bodies:-but must take the words in their only plain grammatical meaning, that . are a class distinguished from , by being yet in the flesh when Christ comes, in which class, by prefixing , he includes his readers and himself. That this was his expectation, we know from other passages, especially from 2Co 5:1-10, where see notes. It does not seem to have been so strong towards the end of his course; see e.g. Php 1:20-26. Nor need it surprise any Christian, that the Apostles should in this matter of detail have found their personal expectations liable to disappointment, respecting a day of which it is so solemnly said, that no man knoweth its appointed time, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son (Mar 13:32), but the Father only. At the same time it must be borne in mind, that this inclusion of himself and his hearers among the and , does not in any way enter into the fact revealed and here announced, which is respecting that class of persons only as they are, and must be, one portion of the faithful at the Lords coming; not respecting the question, who shall, and who shall not be among them in that day.

. ] Dr. Burton, doubting whether . . can mean left to the coming (but why not? as defining the terminus temporis is surely common enough, cf. Php 1:10; Act 4:3, Joh 13:1 al. fr.), puts a comma at , and takes . with , rendering, those who are alive at the last day will not enter into the presence of the Lord before those who have died. But 1) is never used locally, of the presence of the Lord, but always temporally, of His coming: and 2) the arrangement of the sentence would in that case be . . . . .

] shall not (emphatic-there is no reason to fear, that ) prevent (get before, so that they be left behind, and fail of the prize).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Th 4:15. ) To you, who are worthy of knowing this.- , we say by the word of the Lord) The Lord, the Christ, has spoken to us; we have spoken to you: comp. 1Ki 20:35, , , by the word of the Lord. Phrases such as these are used in respect of a matter which is now for the first time opened up (disclosed), [Many matters connected with an altogether extraordinary subject, which would be in vain sought for elsewhere, are here discussed.-V. g.]-, we) The saints, by speaking thus in their own age, have greatly added to the obligation resting on those of following ages to look for the Lord. The we is presently explained by the following words, who are alive, and further on, who remain.- , who live, who remain [who live, surviving]) So also 1Th 4:17. This is equivalent to an apposition. Who live, is an antithesis to, who sleep. There is at the same time intimated the small number of those who live, compared with the multitude of the dead; likewise the good condition of those who are asleep, so that the living may desire to be gathered to them. Men of all ages conjointly have a lively anticipation of [realize to themselves the immediate fulfilment of] some one thing;[20] and so believers, who are now long waiting, and who regard themselves in the light of persons who are to live at the coming of the Lord, have spoken in accordance with this their character (spake in the manner that became the character they represented, viz. those who shall be alive at the Lords coming). Those who live, and those who remain till the coming of the Lord, are the same, and these are denoted by the pronoun we. Each generation, which lives at this or that time, occupies, during that period of their life, the place of those who are to live at the time of the coming of the Lord.[21] So the we is put here, as elsewhere the names Cajus and Titius,[22] and that, too, with the greater propriety, because believers of that age [i.e. of each successive past age] have not yet been allowed distinctly to know the vast period of time to elapse till the end of the world. The present tense in both participles is in reference to [i.e. in order to suit] the coming of the Lord itself, as in Act 10:42 [ ], and elsewhere frequently. Hence Paul has not hereby asserted that the day of Christ is so near; see 2Th 2:2-3. A similar phrase is found at Rom 13:11; 1Co 15:51; Jam 5:9; 1Pe 4:5-6; Mat 24:42, note.- , of the Lord) Jesus Christ.- , we shall not [prevent] get before or anticipate) This assurance sweetly counteracts the fear of the survivors regarding the dead, and reckons the advantage of the former, including himself, not to be greater than that of those who are asleep.

[20] Or reprsentant means, Men of different ages aiming conjointly at some one object (for instance, the House of Commons in successive ages seeking civil liberty and good government) are joint representatives of that one idea: and so the men of each particular age might regard themselves as the representatives of it in their particular age.-ED.

[21] That is, they are called on to live in daily and hourly expectation of the Lords coming in their time, since the time of His coming was left uncertain for that very purpose, Mat 25:13. Such watchers in each generation are representatives of those who shall actually be found alive when He comes.-ED.

[22] Imaginary persons put in law as representatives to exemplify some principle.-ED.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

1Th 4:15

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,-Paul now gives the authority for this statement and shows how the dead in Christ shall share in the glorious coming of the Lord. By the word of the Lord, he evidently means a revelation from the Lord direct to him. In what way prophets and apostles became conscious of supernatural inspiration is not revealed; but elsewhere also Paul speaks of the consciousness of thus being moved. (Act 18:9; 1Co 7:10; Gal 1:12; Eph 3:3-12.) [The things to which reference is made are such as the eye has not seen, or the ear heard, or had entered into the heart of man; they are out of range of the natural man. The words of Paul assert that we say unto you by the word of the Lord, and thus revealed them to him who spoke them, and certainly in the same words the Lord taught him to use. Evidently the Lord guided him to use these words, not because they were unfamiliar, but perhaps for the very purpose of preventing him from using words that were not familiar.]

that we that are alive,-At the coming of the Lord Jesus, believers will be divided into two classes, even as they were then at Thessalonica, the living and the dead. But the time of that coming has not been revealed; it is among the secret things concerning which Jehovah has kept his own counsel. (Deu 29:29.) As a consequence in speaking of the coming of the Lord, Paul sometimes associates himself with those looking forward to resurrection (2Co 4:14); sometimes to those looking forward to change (1Co 15:51-52.) It is clear, therefore, that no conclusion can be drawn from Pauls language as to his personal expectations. He certainly shared in what should be the attitude of every generation of Christians-the desire for, and the expectation of, the coming of the Lord Jesus. Throughout his life, as his Epistles clearly show, he maintained the same attitude toward the great alternatives. His example and his words alike teach us to be prepared to meet death with unflinching courage, but, above all things, to look for the coming of the Lord.

that are left unto the coming of the Lord,-These words are intended to show what is meant by the living. They were not necessarily the then living, though there was a reasonable hope that the Lord might come again during the lifetime of those who would read this Epistle, but those who will be upon the earth when the Lord comes.

shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.-This discloses that believers at the time of the Lords second coming shall have no precedence of those that sleep. The dead in Christ shall rise before any change of the living saints shall take place. If there is to be any priority at all, it will be in favor of the sleeping saints; these will be raised before anything is done for the living; they are to have the foremost place in the glorious events of the Lords coming. Though dead, they are dead in Christ-departed “to be at home with the Lord. (2Co 5:8; Php 1:23.)

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

by the: 1Ki 13:1, 1Ki 13:9, 1Ki 13:17, 1Ki 13:18, 1Ki 13:22, 1Ki 20:35, 1Ki 22:14

which are: 1Co 15:51-53, 2Co 4:14

prevent: Job 41:11, Psa 88:13, Psa 119:147, Psa 119:148, Mat 17:25

asleep: 1Th 4:13

Reciprocal: Gen 24:67 – comforted Job 14:12 – awake Psa 59:10 – prevent Isa 26:19 – dead men Joh 11:11 – sleepeth 1Co 15:6 – are 1Co 15:23 – every Phi 3:10 – and the power 1Th 3:13 – at the 1Th 4:17 – we which 2Th 2:2 – nor by letter 2Ti 4:1 – at Rev 20:12 – I saw

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1Th 4:15. Paul, speaking on authority of the word of the Lord, takes it for granted that there will be Christians living when the resurrection day arrives. The same is taught in 1Co 15:51, and hence we have the assurance that no matter what may happen among the people of the world, true Christianity “shall not perish from the earth” while it is permitted to exist. Prevent is from PHTHANO, which Thayer defines, “to precede.” The faithful disciples who are living when Christ comes will not precede the ones in their graves in going up to meet Him to be taken to heaven.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

1Th 4:15. By the word of the Lord. The account of the Lords Second Advent which follows is one of those revelations which human reasoning could not even help the apostle to predict. It must be revealed directly. Some spiritual truths Paul reached by the growth of his own experience; the Spirit worked imperceptibly along with and sustained his own inquiry and knowledge; but there were also some matters which could not be so discovered or discerned, and these could only be revealed by a wholly and directly supernatural enlightenment. Among these was the Lords Epiphany. The occurrence of this expression here, reminds us that the possibility of mistake is precluded in what follows.

We who are living, who are being left over, i.e. we, whoever we may be, who are alive at the coming of the Lord. Is St. Paul speaking here of his own generation only? or are the living at a particular time put for the living in general, these being spoken of in the first person by way of contrast with the dead from whom they are parted? We may consider we who are living as a figure of the living in genera], just as they that are asleep, though primarily referring to the dead in the Thessalonian Church, is also put for the dead in general (Jowett). The we embraces along with the apostle all the Christian Thessalonian at that time alive; if, therefore, the expression implies that Paul expected that he would live till the reappearance of Christ, it equally implies that he expected that all the Thessalonians would survive till that time; which no one is hardy enough to maintain. That the words Paul uses are susceptible of a meaning which would imply that he expected to live till the Lord came, is evident from the circumstance that some of the Thessalonians, with whom Greek was the mother tongue, did so understand his words. But that Paul himself did not mean them to be so understood is evident from his distinct affirmation to this effect in the Second Epistle; which apparently was written chiefly for the purpose of correcting this false impression, and the disorders occasioned by it. What the words do imply is the possibility, but not the expectation, that some or all of them might see the day of the Son of man before dying. The beginning of the following chapter shows that Paul was unwilling to speak definitely of the times and seasons; and the Second Epistle shows that the one point on which he was confident was that other events must occur before the second coming. A living man naturally classes himself with the living, in contradistinction to those who are dead. We do not read it as an express assertion that St. Paul himself would certainly be among the living at the Advent of Christ. At present he belonged to that division of the human race; he knew not but that he might still be so at that great epoch, of which the day and hour are known only to the Father, but which each generation of the Church ought to be constantly expecting. The Second Epistle expressly corrects the false inference that St. Paul here predicts an immediate return of Christ; and, by implication at least, the idea that he himself presumes upon living to behold it (Vaughan).

Shall in no wise precede, i.e. shall not anticipate or be beforehand with; shall not arrive into the presence of the Lord, and share the blessings and glories of His advent, before others (Ellicott).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

In this verse St. Paul obviates an objection: Some might say, that the saints found alive at the last day might be sooner happy than the dead saints; no, says the apostle, they that are alive, shall not prevent them that sleep, they shall not prevent their rising, nor shall they get the start of them, or get to heaven before them, or have any advantage above them; the living saints shall not be made happy without them, nor one moment before them.

Learn hence, that the resurrection which the saints that sleep in Jesus shall be made partakers of, shall put them into as full a capacity of the glory of Christ’s coming, as if they had remained alive in the body till that blessed hour. Nay, the dead in Christ shall rise first, that is, the saints who sleep in the grave at Christ’s coming, shall be so far from being made less happy, or later happy, than the saints who shall be found alive, that they shall be first remembered. Christ’s first care will be about his dead saints; they that have slept so long in their bed of dust shall be first awakened, before any thing be done about them that never slept; if there be any privilege, any joy, any triumph, greater than others, such as sleep in Jesus, and especially such as have suffered for Jesus, shall be partakers of it at that great day.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

1Th 4:15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord By a particular revelation from him. No words, as Dr. Doddridge observes, can more plainly assert that, in what follows, the apostle declares precisely what God revealed to him, and consequently that there can be no room for any such interpretation of this passage, as supposed him to be at all mistaken in any circumstance of the account he gives. That we who are alive and remain This manner of speaking intimates the fewness of those who will be then alive, compared with the multitude of the dead. It is well observed, says Whitby, by the Greek scholiasts, that the apostle speaks these words, not of himself, but of the Christians that should be found alive at the second coming of Christ: so Chrysostom, Theodoret, cumenius, and Theophylact; for he well knew that he was not to live till the resurrection: yea, he himself expected a resurrection, saying to the Corinthians, He that raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and present us with you, 2Co 4:14. He laboured that he might attain to the resurrection of the dead, Php 3:11. Yet some divines have inferred, from this and some other places in the epistles, that the apostles themselves thought and taught, that they might live until the second coming of Christ; and that St. Paul afterward changed his opinion on this subject, and admonished the Thessalonians of it, 2Th 2:2-6. But this certainly is a dangerous mistake, and highly prejudicial to the authority of the apostles, and therefore to the Christian faith. Indeed, if the churches of Christ had once received this doctrine from them, and afterward had understood, even from their own confession, that it was a mistake, this would naturally have led them to conceive that the apostles might have been mistaken also in any other doctrine, and to suspect the truth of all that was contained in their epistles. This the apostle seems to insinuate, 2Th 2:1-2. But that this apostle taught no such doctrine in either of his epistles to the Thessalonians, will be exceeding evident, 1st, From the following words in that chapter, 1Th 4:3, Let no man deceive you by any means, declaring them deceivers who either taught this doctrine, or imposed it on them as taught by the apostles; and also having said, in opposition to such an opinion, that day was not to come till there was a falling away first, adding, Remember you not that when I was yet with you I told you these things? He therefore had taught them the contrary before he had written either of these epistles, and, of consequence, cannot rationally be supposed to contradict himself. 2d, From the very words used in proof of this opinion, which are introduced with this solemn declaration, This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, &c., in which words he most plainly vouches the authority of Christ for the truth of what he says; and therefore, if he were mistaken, either our Lord himself must have erred with him, or the apostle must vouch Christs word, and his authority, when Christ had spoken no such word, and given him no authority to declare such doctrine in his name; both which assertions overthrow the certainty and truth of all St. Pauls epistles. And hence it follows that the apostle could not deliver this assertion in any other of his epistles, for all the learned agree in this, that these epistles to the Thessalonians were the first epistles St. Paul wrote; whence it must follow that he could not deliver, in his following writings to that church, or any other churches, that doctrine which he had so industriously before confuted, and declared very dangerous, in his epistle to the church of Thessalonica.

The truth is, such expressions as these, we who are alive, (1Th 4:15,) we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, &c., (1Co 15:51,) are not to be understood of the writers themselves: they are mere figures of speech used by the best authors to draw their readers attention, or to soften some harsh or disagreeable sentiment; without intending to represent themselves either as of the number, or of the character, of the persons with whom they class themselves. Thus Hosea says, (Hos 12:4,) God spake with US in Bethel; and the psalmist, (Psa 66:6,) WE rejoiced, namely, at the Red sea, when divided; and, (Psa 81:5,) I heard a language I understood not, that is, in Egypt, though neither were in existence at the times when the facts referred to happened. This figure in the mouth of Christs disciples has a singular propriety, because all of them making but one collective body, of which Christ is the Head, and which is united by the mutual love of all the members, individuals may consider every thing happening to the members of this body, as happening to themselves. We shall not prevent Or anticipate; them who are asleep Shall not receive our glorified bodies before them.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. [The facts here set forth were revealed to the apostle by direct revelation, as at 1Ki 20:35; and he had many such revelations (1Co 11:23; Gal 1:11-12; Gal 2:2; Eph 3:3; 2Co 12:1). Paul declares that the living shall not go before the dead to meet the coming Lord. The “we” in this verse has led many to think that Paul expected to be alive when Jesus came, but conversely the “us” at 2Co 4:14 proves that he expected to be then dead, and the schedule of events which at 2Th 2:1-5 he says must take place before the coming, favors the latter view. The truth is, Paul uses “we” as a mere word of classification, as we might do in a sentence like this: “We of the United States now number eighty odd million; a century from now we will number–” etc. This would not imply that the writer expected to be then alive.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Verse 15

We which are alive and remain; those who shall be alive at the coming of Christ.–Prevent; precede; that is, go before them in entering into glory.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

4:15 {13} For this we say unto you by the {f} word of the Lord, that {g} we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

(13) The manner of the resurrection will be in this way: the bodies of the dead will be as it were raised out of sleep at the sound of the trumpet of God. Christ himself will descend from heaven. The saints (for he is referring to them) who will then be found alive, together with the dead who will rise, will be taken up into the clouds to meet the Lord, and will be in perpetual glory with him.

(f) In the name of the Lord, as though he himself spoke to you.

(g) He speaks of these things, as though he should be one of those whom the Lord will find alive at his coming, because the time of his coming is uncertain: and therefore every one of us ought to be in such a readiness, as if the Lord were coming at any moment.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Paul further stressed the truth of his teaching (cf. 1Th 4:14 a) by explaining that it was a revelation from the Lord, not just his opinion. Paul expected to be in the company of the living when Christ returned. He believed in an imminent Rapture, one preceding the Tribulation. Even some amillennialists acknowledge this. [Note: E.g., Morris, The First . . ., p. 136.] (Amillennialists and postmillennialists are typically also posttribulationists, though not all posttribulationists are amillennialists or postmillennialists. Some are premillennialists.) The "coming" (Gr. parousia, lit. "appearing") of Christ is His appearing in the clouds (cf. Act 1:11). It is not His second coming following the Tribulation, the coming at which time He will remain on the earth, set up His earthly kingdom, and reign for 1,000 years (cf. Rev 19:11-21). The differences in the descriptions of these comings present them as separate events (cf. Mat 24:30-31 and 1Th 4:15-17).

Some posttribulationists have asserted that the "word of the Lord" referred to in this verse is what Jesus taught in the Olivet Discourse (Mat 24:30-31; Luk 17:34-35). That was His revelation concerning His second coming, which they believe will follow the Rapture immediately. [Note: E.g., J. Barton Payne, The Imminent Appearing of Christ, p. 68; and Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ, p. 140, cf. pp. 267-68.] Pretribulationists, on the other hand, believe "the word of the Lord" is not a reference to what Jesus taught in the Olivet Discourse. Most pretribulationists see no reference to the Rapture in the Olivet Discourse. We take "the word of the Lord" as referring to revelation Jesus gave Paul that the Gospels do not record, as did some posttribulationists. [Note: E.g., Ladd, pp. 72-73; and Gundry, p. 102.] In short, we cannot identify "the word of the Lord" certainly with Jesus’ teaching concerning His second coming recorded in the Gospels.

This leads to another question. Are there any prophesied events that must take place before the Rapture occurs? Posttribulationists say there are, namely, the events of the Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week) and preparations for the second coming of Christ (Dan 9:27; Matthew 24; Revelation 4-18). Pretribulationists say there are no events that God predicted would take place before the translation of the saints in the passages that speak of that translation (i.e., the Rapture).

The fact that the living will have no advantage over the dead when Christ returns makes excessive sorrow for dead Christians, beyond the sorrow connected with their dying, unjustified.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)