When I was growing up – oh, who am I kidding – still today, I don’t like taking naps. What if I miss something? There might be some fun to be had, some game to play if I take a nap? Who wants to sleep his life away?! I know that I might be in the minority on my nap philosophy, but what about death? Of all the reasons to fear death is “missing out” one of them for you? It was for the fledgling congregation in Thessalonica. They thought that if they died, they would miss out on the end of the world. Jesus would come back, but it would be too late for them, because they weren’t alive. This is, of course, wrong. The Apostle Paul only had – at most – a month with these people before persecution forced him to keep moving. In the short time he was with them he covered the end of the world. When news of the confusion came to him from Paul’s understudy, Timothy, he wrote the letter we call 1 Thessalonians to clear up the confusion about the Last Day. His answer still serves us well today.
God gives us a complete picture on the Last Day in his word. For more information on the Last Day, read 1 Corinthians 15, Matthew 24-25, and 1 Thessalonians 4.
Topic(s): End TimesBook(s): 1 Thessolonians
Tag(s): Last Day, Paul
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg