For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.
That we that are alive ... Paul used the editorial "we," not meaning at all that he personally intended to survive to the Second Advent; but, as in Lightfoot's paraphrase, "When I say `we,' I mean those who are living, those who survive to that day."[29] Nothing could be more flimsy than the postulations of scholars built upon Paul's famous "we."  It was his constant habit to identify himself with the readers, even those involved in sin  (Hebrews 2:3; 6:3).  Here Paul identified himself with those who would survive to the Second Advent, but on other occasions he identified himself with those who would rise from the dead (1Cor.  6:14,2 Corinthians 4:14). Deductions based on Paul's "we" are most undependable.  See "Speedy Return of Christ" under  1 Thessalonians 1:10.