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Will Jesus bring the dead in Christ WITH Him when He comes?
1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.†The first reading of this verse seems to teach that the righteous dead “which sleep in Jesus†will come with Christ when He returns to this earth. But the next three verses make it clear that this could not possibly be the case. Why? Because the “dead in Christ†are raised from their graves when “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven†(verse 16). So it would be impossible for them to come with Christ when He comes to resurrect them. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.†The true meaning of the verse is revealed when in the verse below: 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23: “20But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.†Paul stated that Jesus was raised first as a guarantee that the righteous dead would be raised “at his coming.†John 14:19 (Jesus SAID) “Because I live, you will live also.†His resurrection makes it possible for God to raise us, as He did Christ. And this is exactly what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:14: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring (from the dead) with him (Jesus).†The words “with him†do not mean that the resurrected ones will be brought from heaven with Him at His coming, but that God will “bring forth†(UP) those who will be sleeping in their graves just as He brought Jesus forth from the grave. In Hebrews 13:20, we read that “God … brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.†The text in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 says that God will bring those who “sleep in Jesusâ€â€”an obvious reference to the resurrection. Paul is simply declaring that because God brought Jesus from the grave, we have a guarantee that He will bring sleeping saints forth in the same way at the time of His coming.