Bible Studies for Life: October 12

The Greatest Return • I Thessalonians 4:16-5:8

By Melody Mercer

“When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh, may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne.” 
“Cornerstone” – Hillsong Worship

Music can speak and say things we want to say when we can’t find the right words: the trumpet sound, finally dressed in His righteousness, what a GLORIOUS day that will be. The last lesson this week for The Greatest Truths of all Time, is the greatest return, and I’ll be sharing more song lyrics as we go along.  We know how the story ends. We’ve read the back of book, and WE WIN.  I don’t know if you’re like me, but sometimes I look at this world and wish Jesus would come on back. 

Paul didn’t spend a lot of time in Thessalonica, but he did establish a church. He may have had little time to instruct the new converts, so he needed to send a letter and address some questions. Timothy reported to Paul that the church was suffering affliction, but was holding fast to the faith. One of the main things Paul addressed with the believers was the second coming of Christ (CSB Study Bible). Paul, in fact, mentions Jesus’s return in every chapter of 1 Thessalonians.  1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians (Ch. 15) are the only books of the Bible that explicitly mention that Christians who are alive at Christ’s return will be changed and will meet Christ in the air without dying (CSB Study Bible). In Acts 1:11, Jesus is taken into heaven as the disciples watched. The two men (angels) told the “men of Galilee” that He would return in the same way that they saw him go. That means we should be always looking to the sky. 

“And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.” 
“It is Well With My Soul” – Horatio Spafford, 1873

Being an English teacher, I always appreciate figurative language in the Bible. I have heard my entire life that when Jesus does come back, it will be like a “thief in the night” (5:2b). Paul’s comparison is a simile. It compares Jesus’s return to a thief breaking into your house in the middle of the night. It is something you are totally not expecting.  People throughout history have claimed that they knew when Jesus was coming back, even as recently as last month, September 2025. I’ve always found that humorous since Jesus himself said, “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows — neither the angels of heaven nor the Son — except the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36). I can just imagine God looking at Jesus and saying, “Ok, it’s time. Go get them.”    

“Soon and very soon we are goin’ to see the King,
Soon and very soon we are goin’ to see the King,
Soon and very soon we are goin’ to see the King, 
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We’re goin’ to see the King.” 
“Soon and Very Soon” – Andrae Crouch, 1976

We know that Jesus will return, even though we don’t know the exact time it will happen.  Paul tells the believers that they need to be ready. He reminds us that we are “children of light” even though we live in a world of darkness. Self-control is a main ingredient of Christian character. We have the responsibility to do what is right and reject the wrong. “The day of the Lord” often signifies a time of God’s wrath and judgment poured out on an unbelieving world (CSB Study Bible). “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation” (5:8 CSB.) Paul uses the imagery of a soldier’s armor to compare how Christians should be prepared and ready for life’s daily battles and the coming of the Lord’s Day. 

“In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.” 
“My Jesus I love Thee” – William R. Featherston, 1864

Mercer is a member of First Church, Jackson.