I have read passage that many times. This is the context:
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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. 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: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up 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." (1 Th 4:13-18 KJV)
It appears Paul was expecting to be alive when it was fulfilled. Notice how many times he said "we", as in "we which are alive and remain." Also, an evaluation of the underlying Greek indicates that the word "so" in verse 17, as in "so shall we ever be with the Lord", meant that once they met the Lord in the air, they were not coming back to earth. That is, they are forever in heaven with the Lord.
Besides, that is the "first resurrection" of AD 70, appropriately named in Revelation 20: not the second or general resurrection, also mentioned in Revelation 20. The second, general resurrection is where every knee, including mine and yours, shall bow:
"But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom 14:10-12 KJV)
Certainly you can come up with a better argument than that in your pretense that I am not a Christian.
Philip
“That is, they are forever in heaven with the Lord.”
Ah, remember, we have gone over this point before. You’re a literalist, so you can’t read “in heaven” into those verses. They’ll be with the Lord, but the verses don’t specify where that will be. Better be consistent with your interpretive principles, because if you insist on being wrong, at least you can aspire to be consistent.
“Besides, that is the “first resurrection” of AD 70, appropriately named in Revelation 20: not the second or general resurrection, also mentioned in Revelation 20.”
I agree, that is the first resurrection, when all dead Christians are resurrected, and all living Christians are transformed and go to the Lord as well. You say that happened in 70 AD, yet nobody bothered to record this event, and somehow there has never been an interruption in the presence of Christians on Earth.
“Certainly you can come up with a better argument than that in your pretense that I am not a Christian.”
You’re the one making the argument, when you say the first resurrection has already happened. You are still here, so you must have missed the boat on the first resurrection, and therefore, you are not a Christian. If the first resurrection has happened, then as you have told us in your last post, the Christians are with the Lord forever.
Revelation tells us that, for those who are part of the first resurrection, the second death (the lake of fire) has no power over them. The converse then must be true. Those who are not part of the first resurrection are at risk of hellfire. Do you believe that Christians are at such risk?