In a time when believers were in need of encouragement, the apostle Paul wrote letters of encouragement to believers in Thessalonica.  Many were concerned that they had missed the rapture, thus Paul specifically referenced the Second Coming in each chapter of 1 Thessalonians.  I want to share that same encouragement…not because there is fear we have missed the rapture, but because we are closer to the rapture than we have ever been, and we are told to be ready for His return!  Take courage, dear friends!

In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul reminded believers of God’s choice of them (verse 4), and the power of the Holy Spirit (verse 5).  Then, he encouraged the Thessalonians to be imitators of the Lord and examples to believers in other lands (verses 6-7).  As believers, we too are chosen and have the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are also to be imitators of the Lord!

The crowning exhortation in chapter 1 is found in verses 9-10: For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Have you turned to God, and are you serving a living and true God?  Are you awaiting the arrival of King Jesus, who has rescued us from the wrath to come?

Chapter 2 ends with similar encouragement.  Paul praises the Thessalonians for being the hope, joy and crown of exultation in the presence of the Lord Jesus at His coming.  Again, Paul harkens to the Second Coming of the Lord and reassures them that they will be included in that event!

Are you the glory and joy that Jesus will find when He returns?

But Paul wasn’t done encouraging those believers about the return of Christ!  After acknowledging the comfort given by the Thessalonians to Paul and his traveling companions, chapter 3 closes with Paul’s admonition for believers to love one another so that their hearts are without blame in holiness when our Lord Jesus returns with His saints.  That’s the Glorious Appearing of the Lord after the tribulation…and believers will return with Him!  (See God’s Plan of the End.)

Are we abounding in love toward one another?  Are our hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father?  That is a sign of preparedness!  Jesus is coming!

Let’s move to chapter 4 where Paul specifically addresses the idea of those who have died in Christ (beginning in verse 13).  Believers are encouraged once again, as Paul relates our “rising again” (rapture) to the risen Christ (verse 14).  The chapter closes with perhaps the most encouraging words any believer will ever hear:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
~1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Then, Paul tells us to “comfort one another with these words.”  Christians, be encouraged!  The rapture is coming soon, and we will go to meet Jesus in the air, and will always be with the Lord!  We’ve got a lot to look forward to!

Finally, we come to 1 Thessalonians 5, concerning the Day of the Lord and how we should conduct ourselves.  Will you pause right now and read that chapter?  (Go ahead….I’ll wait for you!)

Did you notice how the chapter ended, just before Paul’s sign-off?  Here it is:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
~1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Yes, God is faithful!  Jesus is coming soon, and He expects us to turn to Him and serve Him (chapter 1), to be the glory and joy that awaits His coming (chapter 2), to abound in love with blameless hearts (chapter 3), to comfort one another (chapter 4), and to be sanctified and without blame at His coming (chapter 5).  All that is IMPOSSIBLE in our humanness!  Is He some cruel God who demands more of us than we are capable of giving?

Of course not!  He is faithful, and when He calls us to live supernaturally, He also brings it to pass in us!  Let’s get out of His way and let Him live out His faithfulness through us!  In doing so, we will prepare for His coming!  I want to be ready for His return…how about you?