1 Thessalonians 4:14; 5:10
As a father of two, I find that I must occasionally yell, “Wake up!” to my children when they seem a bit lazy getting out of bed on a school morning. Every parent knows that feeling, and every child loathes those words. We want to sleep a bit longer because we are so comfortable, but there are things that need to be done, and they will not get done lying in bed.
One of the things that must be accomplished in our Christian walk is the spreading of light to a dark world. In this final hour, more than ever, saints need to shine as light, and flavor as salt, a world that is in the dark and has no flavor. To do this, we must wake up to who we are in Christ. When you fall asleep as to how God views you, you fall back into the habits that you formed when living for the world. It is for this cause that Paul said to the church at Corinth, “Awake to righteousness and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:34).
There are two Greek words for sleep that are used in the New Testament. One is ‘koimao’ which means “to fall asleep or to die”. It can only be interpreted within the context of the scriptures surrounding it. For instance the word is used to describe the death by stoning of the Apostle Stephen (Acts 7:60), and it is also used to describe the sleeping disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:45).
The other Greek word for sleep is ‘katheudo’ which means “to fall asleep” and this one never means “to die”. For instance, this word is used when Jesus says of Jairus’ daughter, “She is not dead, but sleepeth” (Matthew 9:24).
When Paul writes of the resurrection at the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4, he speaks of those who “sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). He uses, ‘koimao’ and we know that he means that they are dead, because the next verse says, “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 them which are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This context proves that the ‘sleep’ is death; as ‘alive’ never means ‘awake’.
When Paul furthers his sermon into the 5th chapter, he makes this statement, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:6, 7). Here, ‘sleep’ is ‘katheudo’ meaning, “to fall asleep”. Paul is warning us to stay awake as to who we are in Christ. The previous chapter is speaking of death, but this one is speaking of life.
It all comes to a head in the next two verses, as Paul explains that the church must be removed by Rapture in order for God’s wrath to be poured out. Look closely as he describes the kind of people that are going to make it:
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, 10).
‘Sleep’ here is ‘katheudo’ meaning “to fall asleep”. This is not a statement about Jesus taking us whether we are alive or dead, it is a statement about Him taking us whether we are awake to our righteousness or not!
Wake up to who you are, not so that you can make heaven for that is already your inheritance, but rather wake up because you are children of the day, and not of the night (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Walk in the light today!
As a father of two, I find that I must occasionally yell, “Wake up!” to my children when they seem a bit lazy getting out of bed on a school morning. Every parent knows that feeling, and every child loathes those words. We want to sleep a bit longer because we are so comfortable, but there are things that need to be done, and they will not get done lying in bed.
One of the things that must be accomplished in our Christian walk is the spreading of light to a dark world. In this final hour, more than ever, saints need to shine as light, and flavor as salt, a world that is in the dark and has no flavor. To do this, we must wake up to who we are in Christ. When you fall asleep as to how God views you, you fall back into the habits that you formed when living for the world. It is for this cause that Paul said to the church at Corinth, “Awake to righteousness and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:34).
There are two Greek words for sleep that are used in the New Testament. One is ‘koimao’ which means “to fall asleep or to die”. It can only be interpreted within the context of the scriptures surrounding it. For instance the word is used to describe the death by stoning of the Apostle Stephen (Acts 7:60), and it is also used to describe the sleeping disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:45).
The other Greek word for sleep is ‘katheudo’ which means “to fall asleep” and this one never means “to die”. For instance, this word is used when Jesus says of Jairus’ daughter, “She is not dead, but sleepeth” (Matthew 9:24).
When Paul writes of the resurrection at the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4, he speaks of those who “sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). He uses, ‘koimao’ and we know that he means that they are dead, because the next verse says, “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 them which are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This context proves that the ‘sleep’ is death; as ‘alive’ never means ‘awake’.
When Paul furthers his sermon into the 5th chapter, he makes this statement, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:6, 7). Here, ‘sleep’ is ‘katheudo’ meaning, “to fall asleep”. Paul is warning us to stay awake as to who we are in Christ. The previous chapter is speaking of death, but this one is speaking of life.
It all comes to a head in the next two verses, as Paul explains that the church must be removed by Rapture in order for God’s wrath to be poured out. Look closely as he describes the kind of people that are going to make it:
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, 10).
‘Sleep’ here is ‘katheudo’ meaning “to fall asleep”. This is not a statement about Jesus taking us whether we are alive or dead, it is a statement about Him taking us whether we are awake to our righteousness or not!
Wake up to who you are, not so that you can make heaven for that is already your inheritance, but rather wake up because you are children of the day, and not of the night (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Walk in the light today!
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