<p>4:14 <i>For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again- </i>As noted on :13 and elsewhere, Paul had only taught the Thessalonians very basic theology; most of his teaching during his three weeks with them had been about practical issues of the Christian life. He is now drawing out an implication of the basic belief that &quot;Jesus died and rose again&quot;. 1 Cor. 15:1-4 likewise defines the Gospel Paul preached as being this thing- the death and resurrection of the Lord.</p><p><i>Just as surely those that have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring up with him</i>- We can read this as meaning that those baptized into the Lord will share a resurrection like His. &quot;Bring up with him&quot; would therefore refer to the resurrection. The Lord's resurrection is the basis for ours. Despite the emotion and hardness of death itself, our belief in resurrection is rooted in our faith that our Lord died and rose. When comforting those who had lost loved ones in the Lord, Paul doesn't simply remind them of the doctrine of the resurrection at the Lord's coming. His focus instead is on the fact that &quot;if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him&quot; (1 Thess. 4:14). The reality of the resurrection must mean something to us in the times of death which we face in life. Jesus and the New Testament writers seem to me to have a startling disregard of death.</p><p>But &quot;bring up with him&quot; can also mean just as well &quot;bring with him&quot;. It could be that the idea is that the Lord Jesus will &quot;bring with Him&quot; from Heaven &quot;them also which sleep in Jesus&quot; (1 Thess. 4:14) when the Heavenly Jerusalem (the believers) comes down from Heaven at Christ's return (Rev. 21:1). However, we know that the Lord Jesus will bring the Angels with Him. Being the guardians of those who have died, in this sense those people come with Christ from Heaven, although of course literally and personally they cannot seeing they &quot;sleep in Jesus&quot; in the dust of the earth. See on Dan. 5:23. Or perhaps there is in view the Lord's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem to save Israel with the resurrected believers with Him.</p>