1 Thessalonians 4 - Summary

Paul exhorts them to abound more and more in pleasing God, specifically regarding sanctification by abstaining from fornication and possessing one's vessel in honor, not defrauding a brother, since God calls to holiness and gives His Holy Spirit. Regarding those who have fallen asleep, he provides the classic teaching on the parousia: the Lord will descend with a shout, archangel's voice, and God's trumpet; the dead in Christ rise first, then living believers are caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, forever with the Lord.