Dead in Christ

A look at 1Th 4:13-17. Are the dead in Christ Literal OR Spiritual?

SLEEPING IN JESUS: UNSAVED STATE OF THE BODY IN TRIBULATION?

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are ASLEEP, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have NO HOPE.

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which SLEEP in Jesus will God bring with him.

1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive {} remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are ASLEEP.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMP OF GOD: and the DEAD IN CHRIST shall rise *FIRST*:

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all SLEEP, but we shall all be changed,

DEAD IN CHRIST: MANY MEMBERS, ONE BODY – DELIVERED AT THE REVELATION OF CHRIST?

Eph 5:30 For we are members of HIS BODY, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Ro 8:21 Because the CREATURE itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Ro 8:22 For we know that the whole CREATION groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

1Co 12:26 And whether ONE MEMBER suffer, ALL THE MEMBERS SUFFER with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Col 1:18 And he is the head of THE BODY, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Joh 15:5 I am the VINE, ye are the BRANCHES: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that **they without **us** should not be made perfect.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

TRUMP OF GOD: SALVATION VOICE OF GOD?

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMP OF GOD: and the **dead in Christ** shall rise first:

1Co 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall **all** be changed,…In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST TRUMP: for the TRUMPET shall sound, and the **dead** shall be raised incorruptible, and **we** shall be changed.

Isa 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the GREAT TRUMPET shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Joh 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the **dead** shall hear THE VOICE of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Mt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great SOUND OF A TRUMPET, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Re 18:4 And I heard another VOICE from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

ALIVE, REMAIN: LIVING BELIEVERS COMING OUT OF BABYLON?

1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are ALIVE {} REMAIN unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

1Th 4:17 Then we which are ALIVE {} REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Re 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of LIVE from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

Ho 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall LIVE in his sight.

RISING FIRST: REDEMPTION OF THE BODY IN CHRIST?

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall RISE *FIRST*:

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be RAISE incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Re 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the FIRST and the LAST.

Re 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the *FIRST* resurrection.

Re 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the FIRST resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the FIRSTfruits of them that SLEPT.

THE GATHERING: SEPARATION OF WHEAT AND TARES?

1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive {} remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to MEET THE LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Mt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall GATHER TOGETHER his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE **all things in Christ**, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Eze 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will GATHER THEM on every side, and bring them into their own land:

Eze 34:13 And I will bring them out from the people, and GATHER THEM from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive {} remain shall be caught up together with *HIM* in the clouds, to *meet the Lord* in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Mt 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to *meet HIM*.

SUMMARY CONCLUSION:

1Th 4:15 and the related verses on sleeping in Christ appear to be focusing on the redemption of the Body at the revelation of Christ. Although believers that have passed are in Heaven with Christ, the BODY itself is not complete until the redemption of Christ at the appointed time and Babylon Is judged. God also extends His grace to the believers living at that time. The dead in Christ seems to be speaking of the whole body that is the great multitude.