重要消息：基督将要再来！
帖撒罗尼迦前书四章13至18节
13论到睡了的人，我们不愿意弟兄们不知道，恐怕你们忧伤，像那些没有指望的人一样。
14我们若信耶稣死而复活了，那已经在耶稣里睡了的人，神也必将他与耶稣一同带来。
15我们现在照主的话告诉你们一件事：我们这活着还存留到主降临的人，断不能在那已经睡了的人之先，
16因为主必亲自从天降临，有呼叫的声音和天使长的声音，又有神的号吹响；那在基督里死了的人必先复活。
17以后我们这活着还存留的人必和他们一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇。这样，我们就要和主永远同在。
18所以，你们当用这些话彼此劝慰。
信息分享
帖撒罗尼迦的信徒显然因着某些挚爱亲人的离世而非常伤痛。他们可能以为，基督应该很快再来，信徒应该无须经历死亡的伤痛。
保罗在信中勉励他们，他们所爱的人只是先离去，将来必与基督一同再来；而且，还会像基督一样，复活的时候会有一个新的身体。
我们现在读到的，是新约描述基督再来的其中一段重要经文。让我们慢慢诵读，仔细领悟当中的意思。在神的时间表中，它是下一件要发生的大事。首先，那些在基督里已死的人会一下子复活，身体也在瞬间改变；然后，还在地上活着的信徒将被提到天上。
保罗把死了的人称为「睡了」，但那只是指躺在坟墓里的身体而言——那是一个睡觉的地方。因为保罗曾在腓立比书一章21节表示，若将今生与来生相比，他认为死了对他更是益处。如果灵魂只是在埋葬的身体中沉睡，便没有甚么得益可言了。
因此，对基督徒而言，死了便会立即与基督同在。基督若在我们死前再来，我们便可以立即被接到主面前。这真是一个极大的盼望！
但愿我们的教会讲坛及我们的内心，都能再次重视基督再来的信息，它能带给我们极大的盼望。我们绝不能忽视这个重要的真理。
GREAT NEWS - CHRIST IS COMING BACK!
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.[b]
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.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Message
Apparently several deaths had occurred in the church at Thessalonica. The Christians there thought Christ would return long before anything like that could happen.
Paul assured them and us that our loved ones have only gone on ahead of us and will return with Christ. When they do, they will receive a new resurrection body like Christ's.
These verses are one of the greatest passages in the New Testament, regarding the events at Christ's return. Read it aloud and slowly to help you grasp the wonder of it all. It is the next event on God's calendar. Instant resurrection for the dead in Christ will be followed by instant change and instant transfer from earth to heaven for those believers still on earth.
Paul did use the word "sleep" as some teach. But it refers only to the body which is often laid away in a cemetery - literally, a sleeping place. Paul said in comparing life here and the life beyond, that death would be a gain (Philippians 1:21). He would hardly speak of it that way if it only meant the soul would stay asleep in the buried body.
For us Christians, dying means going to be with Christ. And if He comes before our death, we will still go directly into His presence. What a future for us all!
Can we pray for a renewed emphasis in our pulpits and in our hearts concerning the return of Jesus Christ? It is the one truth we must never lose sight of.