1 Thessalonians 4

A Life Pleasing to God

1 Finally, then, brothers, 1 we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you d received from us e how you ought to walk and f to please God, just as you are doing, that you g do so more and more. 2 For h you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, i your sanctification: 2 j that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own k body 3 in holiness and l honor, 5 not in m the passion of lust n like the Gentiles o who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and p wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is q an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For r God has not called us for s impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore t whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, u who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

9 Now concerning v brotherly love w you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been x taught by God y to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what z you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to a do this more and more, 11 and to aspire b to live quietly, and c to mind your own affairs, and d to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may e walk properly before f outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, g that you may not grieve as others do h who have no hope. 14 For i since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him j those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you k by a word from the Lord, 4 that l we who are alive, who are left until m the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For n the Lord himself will descend o from heaven p with a cry of command, with the voice of q an archangel, and r with the sound of the trumpet of God. And s the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be t caught up together with them u in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so v we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

  1. Cross References
    Philippians 4:9
    What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
    Colossians 2:6
    Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
  2. Cross References
    Ephesians 4:1
    I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
  3. Cross References
    Colossians 1:10
    So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
  4. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 3:12
    And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you.
  5. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 11:2
    Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.
  6. Cross References
    Romans 6:19
    I am speaking in human terms, because of your n...
    Romans 6:22
    But now that you have been set free from sin an...
    1 Corinthians 1:30
    And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who...
    2 Thessalonians 2:13
    But we ought always to give thanks to God for y...
    1 Timothy 2:15
    Yet she will be saved through childbearing - if...
    Hebrews 12:14
    Strive for peace with everyone, and for the hol...
    1 Peter 1:2
    According to the foreknowledge of God the Fathe...
  7. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 6:18
    Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
  8. Cross References
    1 Peter 3:7
    Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
    2 Corinthians 4:7
    But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
  9. Cross References
    Romans 1:24
    Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.
  10. Cross References
    Romans 1:26
    For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.
  11. Cross References
    Ephesians 4:17
    Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 79:6
    Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!
    Jeremiah 9:3
    They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
    Jeremiah 10:25
    Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
    Galatians 4:8
    Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
  13. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 6:8
    But you yourselves wrong and defraud - even your own brothers!
  14. Cross References
    Romans 13:4
    For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
    Romans 12:19
    Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
    Hebrews 13:4
    Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
  15. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 4:3
    For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.
    1 Peter 1:15
    But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
  16. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 2:3
    For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive.
  17. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 2:13
    And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
    Luke 10:16
    "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
  18. Cross References
    1 John 3:24
    Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
    1 John 4:13
    By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
  19. Cross References
    Hebrews 13:1
    Let brotherly love continue.
  20. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 5:1
    Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
  21. Cross References
    John 6:45
    It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me -
    1 John 2:27
    But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie - just as it has taught you, abide in him.
  22. Cross References
    John 13:34
    A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
  23. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 1:7
    So that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
  24. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 3:12
    And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you.
  25. Cross References
    Proverbs 17:14
    The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
    Proverbs 20:3
    It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.
    Proverbs 25:8
    Do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?
    2 Thessalonians 3:12
    Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
  26. Cross References
    2 Thessalonians 3:11
    For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.
    1 Peter 4:15
    But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.
  27. Cross References
    Acts 18:3
    And because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
    Ephesians 4:28
    Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
  28. Cross References
    Romans 13:13
    Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
    Colossians 4:5
    Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
  29. Cross References
    Mark 4:11
    And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables.
  30. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:28
    You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
    Deuteronomy 14:1
    You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.
    2 Samuel 12:20 - 23
    Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
    Mark 5:39
    And when he had entered, he said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.
  31. Cross References
    Ephesians 2:12
    Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
  32. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:13
    But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
    2 Corinthians 4:14
    Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
    Revelation 1:18
    And the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
  33. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:18
    Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
  34. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:17
    For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'
  35. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:51
    Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
  36. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 2:19
    For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
  37. Cross References
    Matthew 16:27
    For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
  38. Cross References
    2 Thessalonians 1:7
    And to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
  39. Cross References
    Joel 2:11
    The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
  40. Cross References
    Jude 1:9
    But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you.
  41. Cross References
    Matthew 24:31
    And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
    1 Corinthians 15:52
    In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
  42. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:23
    But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
    2 Thessalonians 2:1
    Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers.
    Revelation 14:13
    And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!
  43. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 12:2
    I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
  44. Cross References
    Daniel 7:13
    I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
    Acts 1:9
    And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
    Revelation 11:12
    Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.
  45. Cross References
    John 12:26
    If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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