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The Daily Word of Righteousness
A Destructive Concept of Divine Grace, continued
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (II Thessalonians 2:8—NIV)
The next passage blows away the teaching of the "rapture." The rapture is presented as God's way of delivering His saints from Antichrist and the Great Tribulation.
Look carefully at the following verses and you will see that God will deliver His saints, not by bringing them to Heaven (totally unscriptural) but by coming and destroying those wicked people who were troubling the believers in Thessalonica and all others who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel. This is how God will bring relief to troubled believers.
The Lord Jesus will bring relief to troubled and suffering believers, not by carrying them off to Heaven but by the power and majesty of His coming. He will destroy the wicked and establish the righteous in His Kingdom.
Don't you think the coming of the Lord to establish His people in victory on the earth is a better, more godly hope for the future, than that of removing people from the earth for fear of the Devil? The vision of Divine victory in the midst of dangerous circumstances certainly has much more scriptural precedent than that of a massive retreat from the field of battle. I thought the Lord said that nothing of Satan could by any means hurt us!
Instead of confining us in Heaven the scriptural vision gives us both Heaven and earth to enjoy at our pleasure.
If these believers were to be delivered from trouble by being brought to Heaven before the Lord returned, it is clear Paul was totally ignorant of this.
When will the Thessalonians receive relief? "This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels."
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you And give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power On the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. (II Thessalonians 1:6-10—NIV)
The next seven verses portray the wonderful peace and joy that will come to the earth with the return of the Lord Jesus with His saints and holy angels. They reveal the answer to the Lord's prayer: "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven."
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah. That your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah The peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (Psalms 67:1-7—NIV)
To be continued.