First Thessalonians 4-5

The exhortation continues in the fourth chapter with instruction as to their walk. The chapter closes, however, with important details concerning the Lord’s coming for His saints. Those that had died would rise again and would, furthermore, precede those that were alive and remained (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Given the persecution that the Thessalonians suffered and their apparent confusion on this point, this was, without a doubt, a great comfort.
Chapter 5 speaks of the times and the seasons of which they were quite familiar—the day of the Lord is extensively detailed in the Old Testament (1 Thess. 5:1). They were not children of the night; they were of the light (1 Thess. 5:4, 5). We do not sleep, for those that sleep sleep in the night, “but let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8). The book closes with various exhortations.