Asleep

1Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESV
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Being asleep takes on a new and different meaning when we consider it from the Christian standpoint. We can be asleep from a spiritual view, even dead, while we still walk around on this earth.

Our bodies can be "asleep" in the ground for years in the earth, yet we are alive with Jesus in that everlasting moment which is eternity. We were transferred into the kingdom of God when we placed our trust in Him. We share in His resurrection if we share in His life. I believe this is the first resurrection, for we are blessed and we do not participate in the second resurrection. The dead in Christ are still alive for we have been reborn, now waiting to join with immortal bodies to fully be like Jesus.

Here Paul says those preceding us in passing will come with Jesus when He returns. Jesus will descend from heaven. The bodies of the dead will rise first into their glorious and immortal bodies. We who are still alive in mortal bodies, who have undergone that same rebirth, will join them in the clouds.

Clouds in the Bible usually are associated with the power and glory of the Lord's presence:
In the desert
Tabernacle
Temple
With Jesus
On the mountain with Moses.

Word Of Truth

Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Colossians 1:5-6
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

The word of truth is our salvation. It bears fruit in our lives and will carry us to our inheritance.

For They Shall Return

Jeremiah 24:5-10 ESV
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8 “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

In Revelation there are four horseman which are called forth by the living creatures. The first is a conqueror followed by a sword, famine, then pestilence. So it was, so it is.

Jesus has taken His place in heaven. The seals have been opened by the Lamb Who is the King of Kings. He alone was worthy.

"I will give them a heart".
A remnant will be saved, a full number from each tribe.

We Will Not Serve your Gods

Daniel 3:16-18 ESV
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

How easy it is to go along with the world, to trade the truth of God to get by, to fit in, to go along the crowd, to call bad good, and what is good to be bad. It has always been that way. These three men did not hesitate to stand with God, and God was with them.
We don't always know the immediate outcome of our actions, but we know the final outcome.

Foreknown

1 Peter 1:19-21ESV
but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

God's plan and purpose was known beforehand. He sees the end from the beginning. He reveals what He is doing in His word and has made it available to us so that we would know.

Take A Scroll

Jeremiah 36:1-3 ESV
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

On a scroll is written what the future will bring and the judgements that will take place, so that the people would repent and be saved.
This is done again in Revelation.

Peace Among Yourselves

1 Thessalonians 5:13b-15 ESV
13...Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

In order to be at peace with one another, we must be at peace with ourselves. This is only truly possible when we are at peace with God. When He is in our midst, peace is among us.
With that peace, we can ourselves labor and tend God's harvest, providing encouragement when needed, admonishment when warranted, an open hand to keep ourselves from stumbling or to help a brother up. We find expression of love in the things we do for each other. We express love for God in that love.