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A Year in the Word · 3 min READ

Comfort one another with this hope

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”1 Thessalonians 4:16 · KJV

Read in your Bible: 1 Thessalonians 1–5.

Paul encourages a young church toward holy conduct, mutual care and hope for believers who have died. He describes Christ's coming, the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the gathering of His people. Readiness is then expressed in alert, loving community life.

The passage offers a public, personal return of Christ rather than a date to calculate. Death is pictured as sleep awaiting His call, consistent with Adventist resurrection hope. Comfort should honour grief instead of implying that believers must not mourn at all.

Remember a person who has died and entrust the loss to Christ. Offer practical support to someone grieving. Let hope in His coming strengthen a present responsibility rather than become a reason to withdraw from work or care.

READ DEEPER · ELLEN G. WHITE

Related reading and source notes.

Read the Bible passage first. These notes identify related Ellen G. White chapters; a related reading is not a claim that she wrote this interpretation. Any direct quotations are marked separately. The explanations and applications are The Earl Project’s own.

1The Acts of the Apostles · Chapter 25—The Thessalonian LettersAA, chapter 25

White's chapter on the Thessalonian letters is related reading on Paul's instruction about Christ's return and hope for those who have died.

Read alongside: 1 Thessalonians 1–5

Read the original chapter on EGW Writings ↗

A question to sit with

How could I offer resurrection hope without silencing someone's sorrow?

AN EVERYDAY ACT OF LOVE

Give a bereaved person practical care and share a biblical promise only in a way that respects their needs.

Let us pray

Returning Saviour, comfort those who mourn with Your promise of resurrection. Help me remain alert in faith and love, faithful in present duties and patient with the grief that hope does not make unreal. Amen.

Your quiet reflection

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An original interpretation from The Earl Project, written from an Adventist understanding of Scripture. It is not an official church publication. Read alongside the beliefs that inform these reflections. Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Ellen G. White sources are cited separately from The Earl Project’s original interpretation.

THE EARL PROJECT · A QUIET MOMENT