1 Thessalonians 4:14 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again Namely, 1st, In attestation of the truth of his doctrine, in which he taught expressly the immortality of the soul, Matthew 10:28; Luke 23:43; and the resurrection of the body, John 5:28-29. 2d, For the expiation of sin, and the procuring of justification and peace with God for the penitent that should believe in him, however guilty they had before been, Hebrews 9:26; Romans 4:24-25. 3d, That he might procure and receive for us the Holy Spirit, to work that repentance and faith in us, assure us of our justification and of our title to that future felicity, and to prepare us for it by inward holiness; and, 4th, That he might ascend, take possession of it in our name, receive our departing souls, and raise from the dust our fallen and corrupted bodies, and so exalt us to that immortal, glorious, and blessed state; even so them also which sleep in Jesus Who die in the Lord, (Revelation 14:13,) in union with him, and possessed of an interest in him; will God bring with him They will be found in the train of his magnificent retinue at his final appearance, when he comes to judge the world, and reward his faithful servants.