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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Appearing of Christ, #5
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (II Thessalonians 1:6-10)
According to much current Christian teaching, the deliverance of the saints will come in the form of a "rapture" that will occur before they suffer persecution and tribulation.
It is evident in the first chapter of II Thessalonians that Paul is pointing toward the coming of the Lord to destroy Antichrist as the time and means of saving the Lord's flock from persecutions and tribulations.
The current teaching is that there will be a removal of the saints while Antichrist continues to reign on the earth for seven years. But the Scripture indicates that our release from tribulation will come as a result of the destruction of Antichrist by the brightness of Christ's appearing.
Do you perceive the difference in the two concepts?
Paul understood that the Lord would come and rescue the Thessalonian believers by taking vengeance on those who were persecuting them. Paul qualifies the sense of urgency by showing them, in the second chapter, that a falling away from the faith and the revealing of the man of sin must take place before the Lord comes and saves them by the radiance of His Glory.
Paul held out to the saints in Thessalonica the hope that Christ would come and destroy their persecutors. Paul never once, anywhere at any time, suggested to the Christian saints that they would be lifted out of the world to prevent their being exposed to tribulation, and after they were lifted from the earth the Antichrist would rule over the world for seven additional years.
A simple, unbiased, straightforward study of the first chapter of II Thessalonians will confirm what we are teaching. In order to derive another interpretation it is necessary for force the text to mean something other than what it states.
What appears to be an innocent disagreement of theologians concerning the events of the end-time is not nearly as harmless as it seems; for the manner in which the Christian addresses himself to his discipleship depends, at least in part, on his vision of the coming of the Lord.
If we believe Christ will come and catch us away in our immaturity, and after that judge us at a sort of sports-awards banquet in which no believer is seriously rebuked or punished, we will not seek after our personal transformation and union with the Lord with the sincerity, integrity, and diligence necessary for its accomplishment.
We will not understand the purpose for our sufferings. We will trust that we shall see Him and be like Him because we have assented mentally and verbally to the facts of the atonement and resurrection of Christ. No prior preparation will seem to be necessary.
To be continued.