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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Burkitt Notes and Observations - 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 4:16
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These words give us the assurance of the certaninty of Christ's second coming, and of the solemn manner of it, and of the consequence of it.
Observe, 1. The certainty of our Lord's coming; the Lord himself shall descend from heaven; that is, the Lord Jesus, the Mediator; he will not depute an angel, but descend himself to finish that last part of his mediatorial office. Christ will come personally, for the judgment will be managed visibly; and for the recompense of his abasement, it is requisite that he that was judged by the world, should come and judge the world. Reason says, he may come and judge the world, for he made it; faith says, he must and shall come to judge the world, for he has promised it, Joh_14:2. Let us then keep up our faith, and our faith will keep up our hearts.
Observe, 2. The awful and solemn manner of our Lord's coming, and that is threefold:
1. He shall descend with a shout; the original word signifies such a shout as is heard among seamen when they descry the haven, and with united voices cry out, "A shore, a shore."
2. With the voice of an archangel; probable it is, that Christ himself shall give the word of command, both to the quick and dead, to appear before him, and that this command shall be proclaimed by an archangel.
3. With the trump of God: the angel's proclamation shall be confirmed by sound of a trumpet, which will be heard far and near, even by those who are in the graves, and in the depth of the sea.
Learn hence, that our Lord's second coming at the great day, to judge the quick and the dead, shall be attended with such solemnity, that all the terror, majesty, and dreadful reverence, which has been ever seen upon the earth, shall fall infinitely short of it. Great was the terror on Mount Sinai, at the giving of the law, but far greater will the terror be at the day of judgment; when Christ comes to punish the transgressors of that law, and the disobeyers of his gospel.
Observe, 3. The blessed consequence of his coming, namely, the resurrection of his saints: the dead in Christ shall rise first; the saints shall rise with the very same bodies which they laid down in the grave; and they shall rise first, that is, before those who are alive shall be changed: though it is very probable that there will be no considerable difference of time between the glorification of the raised saints, and those that are alive at Christ's coming, yet it seems evident that the dead saints shall be raised, and in their bodies be glorified, before them that are alive shall be changed.