1 Thessalonians 4
4
A Life that Pleases God
1Finally, our brothers and sisters, you learnt from us how you should live in order to please God. This is, of course, how you have been living. And now we beg and urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to do even more. 2For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3God wants you to be holy and completely free from sexual immorality. 4Each of you men should know how to live with his wife#4.4 live with his wife; or control his body. in a holy and honourable way, 5not with a lustful desire, like the heathen who do not know God. 6In this matter, then, no man should do wrong to his fellow-Christian or take advantage of him. We have told you this before, and we strongly warned you that the Lord will punish those who do that. 7God did not call us to live in immorality, but in holiness. 8So then, whoever rejects this teaching is not rejecting a human being, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9There is no need to write to you about love for your fellow-believers. You yourselves have been taught by God how you should love one another. 10And you have, in fact, behaved like this towards all the brothers and sisters in all Macedonia. So we beg you, our brothers and sisters, to do even more. 11Make it your aim to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to earn your own living, just as we told you before. 12In this way you will win the respect of those who are not believers, and you will not have to depend on anyone for what you need.
The Lord's Coming
13Our brothers and sisters, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him.
15 #
1 Cor 15.51–52
What we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. 16There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; 17then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18So then, encourage one another with these words.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
1 Thessalonians 4
4
A Life That Pleases God
1Brothers and sisters, now I have some other things to tell you. We taught you how to live in a way that will please God. And you are living that way. Now we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live that way more and more. 2You know all that we told you to do by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3God wants you to be holy. He wants you to stay away from sexual sins. 4God wants each one of you to learn to control your own body. Use your body in a way that is holy and that gives honor to God.#4:4 Or “God wants each of you to learn to live with your wife in a way that is holy and that gives honor to God.” 5Don’t let your sexual desires control you like the people who don’t know God. 6Never wrong any of your fellow believers or cheat them in this way. The Lord will punish those who do that. We have already told you this and warned you about it. 7God chose us to be holy. He does not want us to live in sin. 8So anyone who refuses to obey this teaching is refusing to obey God, not us. And God is the one who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9We don’t need to write to you about having love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. God has already taught you to love each other. 10In fact, you love all the believers in Macedonia. We encourage you now, brothers and sisters, to show your love more and more.
11Do all you can to live a peaceful life. Mind your own business, and earn your own living, as we told you before. 12If you do these things, then those who are not believers will respect the way you live. And you will not have to depend on others for what you need.
The Lord’s Coming
13Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about those who have died. We don’t want you to be sad like other people—those who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died, but we also believe that he rose again. So we believe that God will raise to life through Jesus any who have died and bring them together with him when he comes.
15What we tell you now is the Lord’s own message. Those of us who are still living when the Lord comes again will join him, but not before those who have already died. 16The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the people who have died and were in Christ will rise first. 17After that we who are still alive at that time will be gathered up with those who have died. We will be taken up in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever. 18So encourage each other with these words.
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