Just a reminder – that Paul’s epistles are arranged in the Bible according to length rather than in chronological order.  Paul’s first and second letters to the Thessalonian believers were written around AD 50-52 from Corinth during Paul’s second missionary journey.  He and his companion missionaries had recently been driven out of Thessalonica, in what is known today as northeastern Greece, by an angry mob of Jews (See Acts 17:1-15).  After they were driven out, they journeyed to Berea, then to Athens and from there to Corinth – where they met Silas and Timothy.  Timothy was then sent back to Thessalonica to check on the church.  After a time, Timothy returned to Corinth and reported conditions among the Thessalonian believers to Paul.  Paul then wrote First and Second Thessalonians to them.  These were the first letters written by Paul which are included in our New Testament.  And most scholars say they preceded the writing of the gospels.   Paul begins this letter by introducing the names of two men who labored with him as missionaries – Silvanus (also known as Silas) and Timotheus (or Timothy) – “unto the church of the Thessalonians.”  As I have pointed out in previous lessons – there were many references for the primitive church.  There was not one true name the church was called.  In fact, the Greek word for church is “ekklesia” meaning “assembly.”  These people were part of the church – or ekklesia – or assembly in Thessalonica that belonged to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul discusses the missionary work he and his companions have done and some of the persecutions they endured in the process.  Paul complements the believers in Thessalonica as he speaks of their faith and charity.  He will warn them against getting caught up in sins accepted by the culture in which they lived.  Let’s pick up where Chapter 4 ends.  Verses 13-18 “ But I would not have you to be ignorant (uninformed), brethren, concerning them which are asleep (those who have died), that ye sorrow not (don’t mourn for them), even as others which have no hope (like others do who do not believe as we do).  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus (those who died who were faithful to Jesus) will God bring (to heaven) with him (Christ).  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (have any advantage over) them which are asleep (have died already).  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven (at the Second Coming) with a shout, with the voice of the archangel (possibly Michael the archangel), and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ (the righteous dead) shall rise (be resurrected) first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (some people call this the rapture) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  The primary purpose of this passage is to provide encouragement to those Christians whose loved ones had died before the Lord was to return.   They seemed to fear that their dead brothers and sisters were going to miss out on everything the church was expecting to receive when Jesus returned.   Paul was reassuring those Thessalonian believers that not only would some of THEM still be living when Jesus returned – but that the dead in Christ would rise first – and those saints who are living will be “changed,” all “in the twinkling of an eye.”  (See 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).  Paul made these promises nearly 2,000 years ago.  They were promises to the Thessalonians – not to us, today!  All the New Testament scriptures point to the Second Coming of the Lord in AD 70.   Peter, James, John, and Paul proclaimed the same messages that Jesus preached.  The harmony of the Bible is beautiful!  You can compare what Jesus taught in Matthew 24 with what Paul taught here in 1 Thessalon