Expounds on Christian conduct in three spheres: personal purity, assembly love, and secular work, drawing from 1 Thessalonians 4. It emphasizes the importance of increasing brotherly love within the church, citing historical examples of Christian affection. The message then transitions to the believer's responsibility in the secular world, urging diligence, quietness of spirit, and honest work to maintain a good testimony. Finally, it introduces the previously unrevealed doctrine of the rapture, explaining the Lord's descent, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the translation of living believers to meet Him in the air, offering comfort and hope.
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meditated upon verses one through eight of First Thessalonians chapter four in our preceding message concerning the personal purity of life which the beloved apostle Paul admonished his converts to live. How pertinent is this teaching for believers in our Lord Jesus Christ today? May the Holy Spirit convince us of this fact And by his grace may we who are God's dear children seek to consecrate our bodies to live for his glory in this scene. As we continue in our fourth chapter of First Thessalonians, in verses nine and ten, the Spirit of God through his servant considers the believer's conduct in the assembly of the church sphere of life.
Beloved Apostle writes to say, But as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you, forgive yourselves our thought of God to love one another. And indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more. Though the saints at Thessalonica were manifesting the flow of brotherly affection toward each other, the beloved Apostle still stresses the need of increasing affection for the saints one to another as members of the body of Christ and children in the family of God.
In the early days of Christianity, it has been reported from secular sources that when the world observed the conduct of the Christians toward one another, many people said, Behold, how those Christians love one another. There was such a testimony to this fact, and there should be today, the practice and the increase of brotherly love should always be manifested. A love which we know from God's word is not earthly love in character, but the flow of divine love. For the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us according to Romans five and verse five.
In every local gathering of saints, this love should be practiced, and it should increase. It is worthy of attention that in the second epistle of the Thessalonians, chapter one and verse three, the faith that Thessalonica were commended by Paul for their love toward each other being in an abundant increase. What a commendation. But let us go further as we continue to verses eleven and twelve. Here the beloved apostle touches upon their conduct, not in the assembly life, but in the secular sphere of their life, saying, and that she studied to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that she may walk honestly towards end of the without, and that she may have lack of nothing.
It is not only important to know how to live in the fellowship of things, and manifest love one for another. It is also as important to live as God would have us in relation to the secular calling of life each day in business as it were. I trust my beloved listeners have carefully noted that thus far in Chapter Four, the Spirit of God touches on three spheres of life regarding the Christian's conduct. First, as we have noted, the personal sphere of Christian living. in regard to the personal purity of the believer. And then, as we've already seen, second the church or the assembly sphere of Christian conduct in love toward fellow believers and fellow members in the local testimony of God.
The third, as we have already just noted, verses eleven and twelve, we now find instruction relating to the outside world. the responsibility of Christian behavior toward the world of unsaved people, and particularly the important necessity of bearing a good testimony in the secular occupation which the saints may have working within this scene. Please consider carefully the Apostle's words, and particularly, first of all, those four words. Study to be quiet. What does he mean? Well, let me ask you, my friend, is the world you and I are living in?
Is it a quiet? Is it a restful place around us? And I'm confident you will answer negatively, for the world is filled with everything that speaks of its hustle and bustle, its fleshly ambitions, and particularly its constant strife and unrest. In the midst of all of its turmoil and strife, God desires that the believers should diligently seek to possess, when I believe the text means, quietness of spirit or quietness of heart. Oh, how neat for this is.
One readily confesses, in the restlessness of the age we now live in, it is so difficult for even the best of believers to have that quietness of heart. I'm reminded of the words of the Lord Jesus. When in John, fourteen, twenty-seven he said, Peace. I leave with you. My peace. Give I unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. He uses the word peace twice in John fourteen, twenty-seven. A peace that he gives, which I think would be the peace of salvation.
But then he says, there's a peace that I give. I've left peace for the whole world if they'll take it. But there's a peace I'd like to give my children. My peace. What was that peace that he called my peace? May I point out, that when he spoke those words, Jerusalem was humming and buzzing around. And the Sanhedrin and the leaders of the Jews were plotting The crucifixion and death and the trial and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. He knew it. The cross was facing him. He was going home to the Father. He well knew by the way of the cross. But he knew it was a painful journey. And that it would end with an ignominious death upon the tree.
And yet, knowing the future that was before him so quickly, he had an inward peace. Beloved, in a world of sorrow, In a world of trouble, in a world of pain and sickness and woes, God wants us to have his peace. And the Apostle says, Study to be quiet. And what do you mean? Give the heart to seek quietness. Long ago the psalmist wrote in Psalm forty-six, verse ten, Be still and know that I'm God. Surely we can recognize this is blessed quietness and this is peace of heart so greatly needed. can only be found as we fellowship with God.
For there is a, thank God there is, a quiet resting place near to the heart of God. And may we learn more of this and study to be quiet. But then second, the apostle goes on to say, attend to your own affairs. He literally means, now mind your own business. This is certainly a practical exhortation, is it not? To interfere with another person's business or affairs is not Christ-like. This can often take place when men, particularly maybe idlers, and they like to meddle in other men's matters, and perhaps even sponge upon them.
For the next admonition would indicate this. But how solemn and how true the admonition we should take? Mind your own business. Don't go meddling in somebody else's business as none of your own business. And now he goes on to indicate what to do in the next exhortation. Work with your own hands as we commanded you. How the Word of God sanctifies the ordinary occupation of life. May I suggest to you, you'll never find the Word of God commending a lazy Christian. You'll never find the Word of God encouraging a believer to be lazy, to not work. Oh, beloved, work with your own hands as we commanded you.
Let us not forget that these Thessalonians saints were very actively witnessing, preaching the gospel. But they had their secular occupation. It was not to be discarded. Do believers today realize the importance of their conduct and testimony in their everyday occupation in working? I thank God very personally. I'm happy to thank God for the business life, the experiences in business for many years it was my privilege. was not always a happy experience, but I thank God for it, and the knowledge I was able to witness and to give testimony that I belonged to him.
And thus one may realize the importance of working with your hands, whether you work with your hands or your head. My beloved, please, let us realize the importance of our conduct and testimony in our daily occupation of work. And then you find forth and finally... You have the reason for all this. In verse twelve, Paul counsels, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have need of nothing. The unbeliever can appreciate the difference between a man of Christians as idle and one that's diligent, between sponging and between independence. It is of great importance that a Christian has a good testimony toward the world.
And also the Christian has got to realize he has a responsibility to provide the necessities of life for his own family. How grateful we should be that the Word of God sanctifies work. Now let us take this section and summarize the outline concerning Christian conduct. We should realize that in three spheres of life God requires his believing children to glorify him. There is the personal purity of one's life, where the body is sanctifying, the sanctifying of the body in clean living, and avoiding all moral and evil impurity.
How important this is. God helps us to do that. And it's a bad world we're living in morally we well know. And it's a shame and a disgrace of some of the open immoral things that are so condoned and publicly exposed even today. that God helped the believers to manifest personal purity of life in the sanctification of the body in clean living. And then second, we have noted that even in the assembly relationship, the relationships of believers one to another in the church, and that toward all fellow believers, we should be abounding as well as increasing in love toward one another.
And then, of course, in the secular calling of life, How precious the Word of God and careful the Word of God is to cover every daily responsibility, and in the secular calling of life which many and the majority follow, one's daily work within this world is certainly one that should be honoring to God, and not dishonoring God by a life that perhaps would be lazy, as well as one of unworthy conduct. These are certainly three important particular spheres. for the conduct of the believer. How precious to realize it. May God help us indeed the fulfillment to his honor as well as to his glory.
Now we approach a section in this first epistle of Thessalonians where the beloved apostle touches upon another matter of importance concerning them. We have noted carefully his concern regarding their conduct. In this fourth chapter, verses one through twelve, Now the beloved apostle begins writing in verse thirteen to the end of the chapter and even continued even on in the fifth chapter. Concerning their hope. It goes down to chapter five, verse eleven, from chapter four and verse thirteen. Concerning their hope. Oh, my beloved, may I remind your heart as well as mine? Tis the Christian that has a hope.
The world has no hope, according to the word of God in Ephesians chapter two. It has no hope, but the believer has the hope. Now we must read, therefore, the verses that are found in verse thirteen through eighteen of chapter four. This is the introduction of a new subject. May I emphasize that this is a subject that has never before been revealed in the word of God. Not revealed until these words were written by the beloved apostle Paul to the church of Thessalonia. None had ever known these words before, that really bring before us the Blessed Hope of the Church. I'm not forgetting either the words of the Lord Jesus in John fourteen, verse three, telling of his return to take us to the Father's house, as I made the preceding statement.
A careful student of the Word of God will know that the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians was written Before John the Apostle ever wrote the Gospel of John. Yes, when Paul wrote these words, which we now read in First Thessalonians four, thirteen through eighteen, he introduces a new subject that had never been revealed before, what we sometimes call the rapture of the saints. Now here are his words, but I would not have you to be ignorant brethren. concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent properly, meaning precede or go before, Then which armeth we, for the Lord himself, shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be, always be with the Lord, wherefore comfort or encourage one another with these words.
Now let us first recognize the definite reason for this new subject being introduced. It was brought because some of the Thessalonian believers had gone to be with Christ in death. This had produced a question of great importance to the hearts of God's people. If some died, then how could they ever be able to meet the Lord when He returned if they were lying in the grave? The answer to this they were totally ignorant of. Therefore Paul, by divine inspiration writes, We would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep.
He uses a blessed expression for a believer's death. Fall asleep. Our English word cemetery, which we know we often use, means a sleeping place. This word was used by the Greeks as a rest house for strangers, and the word sleep is very appropriate because of the similarity in appearance between a sleeping body and a dead body. Paul is writing to reveal the fact that the death of a believer will not cause him or her to be missing when the Lord comes. we find the comforting purpose for this new revelation in verse thirteen that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope the unbeliever has no hope according to Ephesians two twelve they are without God they are without hope in this world and this is tragic and sad the believer may be sorrowful and is when a Christian companion dies But not as an unbeliever would be.
Yes, the believer can mourn over the loss than done. But he can and she can rejoice that the loved one who has died in Christ is far better, having gone to be with Christ, as Philippians one, twenty-three declares. But a double sorrow is the portion of any unbeliever. For they not only feel their loss, but the dead unbeliever has to suffer eternal loss. One of the most terrible things in tragedy that could ever happen to a person is to die in unbelief and go to an eternal hell. How awful it must be to an unbeliever to have such an experience. But how comforting is the hope for the believer?
Now listen to what we find following. The third fact. The assurance of the believer's reunion with a departed believer. If And may I translate the word, and the word could, can often be translated, since we, meaning Christians, believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so then that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Death was not the final experience for Christ, and neither is death the final end for the believer. Praise God. Death can never deprive the departed believer.
from having part in the glory, the coming glory of Christ's kingdom. All believers are assured of this because of faith in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. They have believed the gospel by which they were saved. Christ died for our sins, and he was buried and rose again according to the Scriptures. This is the ground of our assurance if a Christian that we shall meet our loved ones who have come to be with Christ. These departed loved ones will be brought back to be reunited with the believers who remain when Jesus comes.
My beloved, let me repeat again. This is a mystery that had never before been revealed, but was now revealed by God the Holy Spirit through the beloved Apostle Paul. Now let us know very carefully the Apostle's authority. For what follows? The opening words of verse fifteen. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord. What the Apostle further reveals is a new revelation of divine truth that was given to him in order to meet the perplexity that had arose that had arisen at Thessalonica regarding the departed saints.
We emphasize once again that our Scripture is revealing an event that never before has been written of or known about. It concerns not the Lord coming with His saints, but the Lord coming for His saints. Please let us understand the distinction. The Lord coming with His saints was not a new revelation. The Old Testament record show and indicate, and as Jude the Apostle has written, regarding the testimony of Enoch long before in the days of Adam. Enoch also the seventh from Adam prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.
Careful analysis of the generations of Adam, if you took the time to read and carefully make note of those generations in Genesis chapter five, will give you an amazing revelation that while Enoch was preaching, Adam also was living, an astounding fact that is easily proved in that chapter. And if I may recall correctly, Adam lived two hundred and forty-three years during the life of Enoch. Did why mean it was making known the word of the Lord so that even Adam heard the message of his great-grandson regarding the coming of the Lord with his things? But our chapter has to do with the coming of the Lord for his things.
And it's by divine revelation that the beloved apostle declares this. This we say unto you, by the Word of the Lord. I wonder how many of my friends really believe the Bible is the Word of God. And that these eternal truths that we touch upon from the Word of God, they have the divine assurance, as you may read hundreds of times in the Old Testament, the expression of the prophets again and again. Thus set the Lord. Thus set the Lord. Thus set the Lord. For all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God.
Write Paul in Second Timothy chapter three and verse sixty. Yes, our beloved apostle is insisting that the authority for this revelation This revelation of this great mystery never revealed before concerning how the Lord will come for his sake and the authority of the Word of the Lord. My beloved, when you look at the Bible, please just don't call it a Bible. It is the Word of God. The Word of the Living God. The Word of God endures forever, said the prophet Isaiah in chapter forty. And how true it is. And it gives the authority of heaven, the authority of the throne of God, the authority of God himself, as thus the word of God is revealed.
And this which the apostle now writes about is something that had never been known before, nor ever revealed before. Let me repeat again. The Old Testament was replete with prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah to reign upon the earth in an earthly kingdom. But you only get Beginning in the Thessalonian epistle, the first revelation of the Lord coming to gather saints out of the earth, from the great some, others of the living, and bring them together, and take them upward to meet him in the air, to be forever with the Lord. This is the authority of the Lord. But please let me summarize, and let me try to consolidate the truth, as well as the distinction of the Lord coming for his saints.
Is it not plainly reasonable? that he must gather his saints first together before they can possibly come and share in the glory of his coming when they come with him in the power of his kingdom. It is absolutely necessary he must come for them. And before I close, there's a pertinent question I would like to ask my beloved friend. Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning death? that he suffered for you upon the cross of Calvary on the behalf of your sins? Have you any assurance that you'll be a part of this great imminent event that we shall speak further about?
The coming of the Lord for his sake? Or will you be missing when that occasion takes place? It is eternally solemn. Can you honestly and confidently sing? When we do, we sing that old hymn. When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. What an important thing. When that bright and glorious morning dawn, bright and fair, and the saints of God shall be gathered, will you indeed, my beloved friend, will you be there? God grants it your will. For may I say unto you that this message of the coming of the Lord for his sake is only for those who know him as their failure.
And as we shall see, every believer shall be taking part in that wonderful event. He's coming. And may you and I be able to say, I'm waiting for thee, Lord. Thy beauty to see, Lord. I'm waiting for thee, for thy coming again. Yes, Lord Jesus, I'm waiting for thy coming. What an expectation. My beloved Lee, I say to you, you don't have to wait for the end of the world. It's coming. But the believer has a prospect far better to be taken out of this world. May I remind you that God took two men out of the world without dying? One was Venus himself, and the other was Elijah, as you may well know.
They have the joy of going into heaven without going through death. What an experience. And then may I also be reminded and remind you, as we shall see further, there's going to be a day of resurrection for the dead in Christ, and what a day of resurrection that's going to be. I'd like to be at the sanitary if the Lord would ever permit it. And thus see the saints come out of the grave, be united to the living saints who shall rise together with them and meet the Lord in the air. But let's emphasize this, this divine authority by the word of the Lord. Paul says, I didn't cook it up. It's not my own manufacture. It's not from my own ingenuity and my imagination.
This is the word of the Lord. And whatever you think about it matters not. It's going to happen. Because the Lord said so. And God long ago said to his earthly people that when he spoke of judgment upon them, he said, when it happens, then you'll know whose word was right. Yours or mine. And may I say, God will have the last word. We continue our epistle in First Thessalonians chapter four and consider the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ will come for his name. This will be an event of unparalleled magnitude in human history, affecting heaven and earth, but an event that will not be witnessed by the world.
It will be kept secret from the gaze of this ungodly world, and neither shall the satanic host of evil be allowed to interfere with that meeting with our Lord Jesus Christ and his redeemed saint when they are gathered together unto him in the heavens above. The secrecy of the rapture will be protected by divine power from the gaze of the ungodly citizens of the earth. How will it ever be accomplished? First, there will be a movement of descent from the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory. For we read, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
Attention is directed to the blessed person in whom will be centered all the power of the occasion. The Lord himself. Did he not say, if I go away, I will come again, and receive you unto myself in John fourteen three? He is the most blessed person in all the universe. He himself, not a body of angels, not a delegation of saints, He himself will descend from heaven. The circumstances of his descent are described with a shout, which will be a voice of command for the saints to assemble, together with the voice of the archangel, perhaps indicating the character of the voice in which the shout is uttered, as such as being like an archangel, together with the trump of God.
The last trump, which is spoken of in First Corinthians fifteen and verse fifty-two. And with its sound, the word of the Lord Jesus in John five twenty-eight begins to be fulfilled. They that are in the grave shall hear his voice. How can a dead person in the grave hear the voice of the Son of God? Beloved they will. But second, there's not only a movement of descent from heaven above, there is a movement of resurrection from earth below. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Not even death can change that vital union which is expressed by the word. They are dead in Christ. What joy to know from nothing at any disadvantage at all. They shall be raised even before the living saints are changed. Please note that it is not all the dead that are raised. It is a selective resurrection. The dead in Christ. Their ashes of dust may have been scattered to the winds. They may have been violently distributed by their enemies who had slain them. Their dust may have been lying in the grave for untold centuries.
Perhaps lying in the very depths of the sea. It matters not where the ashes are. The God of resurrection knows. And his power will raise from the dust the new resurrected bodies of the saints. What a stupendous miracle. One of divine omnipotence. This certainly is going to be. From one end of the globe, north to south and east to west. the dead in Christ will arise. The God who said, dost thou art, and to dost thou shalt return, is the same God whom we call the God of resurrection to. Jesus said when he was upon the earth, I am the resurrection and the life.
He is, and the dead that shall hear his voice will come forth. It has been well stated that at the grave of Lazarus, As Jesus stood and commanded the stones to be removed away, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. It has been well stated, if he had not named the person, the whole cemetery would have been shoot forth. But oh, at the resurrection of the dead in Christ, it will not be just one believer, it will be all believers having died in Christ, who will be raised. What a moment of expectation. What a realization of great importance. And then there's a third great movement associated with this event.
It is going to be one of translation. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the cloud to meet the Lord in the air. Not necessarily a long interval is indicated between the living saints being changed. and the dead saints resurrected to be caught up together with them, and thus to go ascending heavenward? Beloved, let us realize, use the imagination to the greatest extent that you can. Let us realize it will not be a solitary Elijah. It will not be a solitary Enoch, but myriads, untold numbers of redeemed saints, rising in the clouds of heaven, caught up a way for one great purpose to meet the Lord.
What a meeting that will be. Oh, beloved, let me say this is going to be the greatest gathering of saints ever convened. You can't get them together on the earth. The living and the dead saints could never gather together. We well know that. But oh, what a gathering it will be when Christ in his mighty power, calls the dead saints from the grave, changes the living, and together they rise. Please note the purpose, to meet the Lord. My beloved brother and sister, are you ready to meet the Lord? Oh, the meeting with the Lord.
It doesn't say to meet with one another, though we'll all be there, but to meet the Lord. Every eye will be upon the Lord. Every saint will be looking toward the Lord. The one who will be the center of the gathering will be the Lord. And what a prong he will have around him. How precious that even now he has said, Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the center, there am I in the midst. But oh, what a meeting that will be when all saints shall be called and meet him, yonder above, in the air. May we refer to First Corinthians chapter fifteen and verse fifty-two.Regarding this great change, particularly of the living saint, in a moment it sends, in the twinkling of an eye, the rapidity of it is expressed by the word moment.
It is the Greek word atom, meaning the word atom. The only place the word atom is found in the New Testament Greek, a word that has been of constant reference in our present century. The twinkling of an eye, This also expresses the rapidity of the change. The Better Vision Institute of America, as said, the quickest automatic action of the human body is the twinkling of an eye, and it has been timed by them as being one-twentieth of one second. Oh, what a quick change. But what an anthem a song the saints will possibly sing. The living saints who were changed will sing, though death Where is thy sing?
The resurrected saints will sing thy grave. Where is thy victory? First Corinthians, verse fifty-five. Oh, beloved, what a grand anthem that's going to be. But then again, let's consider once more the place of meaning. Where is it? It is not on the earth. It is in the air. No definite heavenly locality is designated. But definitely it does attract our attention upward. Not to reach the moon or any other planet, but I think even far more distant than that, to meet the Lord in the atmosphere of the heavens above, in the air.
Could any planet of our solar system hold the myriads of saints, resurrective bodies by the millions, change bodies by the millions? made eternally suitable to dwell, not upon the earth but in the heavens above. No state suit will be necessary. All will be raised and changed into the likeness of Christ. We shall be fashioned like unto his own glorious body, according to Philippians chapter three and verse twenty one. May I remind my listeners the fascinating truth regarding those words in the air. So Walter Scott wrote in one of his poems, Lockfield's Warning, regarding an old couple sitting by the fire sign, and they were evidently ruminating in their minds, considering that their end of the journey on earth was near, and he used the words, coming events cast their shadows before.
And he speaks in the poem of this old couple, man and wife, realizing their days were numbered. they would soon depart out of this scene into eternity. And the shadow of it was over them. Here are the words. We shall meet the Lord where? In the air. Have you ever noted the wonderful thing about those words in the air in the present century? In the closing part of the last and the opening of this century, I remember seeing my first airplane that was taken through the streets of the city where I lived, and an attempt made unsuccessfully to fly it. What tremendous strides men have made in the air to fly? We remember the original radios with their crystal sets.
What tremendous strides men have made as voices carry through the air? We think of the radio, not only radio, but the television coming in, radar coming in, nuclear physics coming in, and all the nuclear realm of invention. Beloved, listen. These should remind us the next great important event in the purpose of God and the program of God prophetically is this meeting in the air. But what is it all for? So shall we always be with the Lord, writes the Apostle. This is the promised joy. This is the believer's heavenly hope. What can equal it? Nothing can excel it, nor even equal it, and all who partake in it.
though they were once guilty how deserving sin is bound for eternal doom, they were saved by the grace of God when in repentance and faith they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and received him as their Savior. That alone is the reason for meeting the Lord in the air. God's matchless grace alone will bring it to pass. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, It's the condition of being at that meeting. Don't you ever say, you've got to be a faithful Christian. You ought to be. But that's not the reason you'll be meeting the Lord in the air.
You'll be there only because you had put your trust in the finished work of Christ upon the cross of Calvary and received him as your Savior. That alone is the reason. My beloved friend, let me ask, will this be for you? Is it your hope? It is mine, praise God. It can be yours, and it will be yours, when you pass from death unto life through faith in the Savior's redemptive work at Calvary. Do you have the comfort of this blessed hope? Wherefore comfort one another, says Paul, with these words. What a comfort it is. The joy of knowing the Lord's coming. He's going to gather his own together.
May I say I'm one that's certainly anxious. and anticipating the joy of going to meet him in the air. We'll not go down to Cape Canaveral to take off. No, no. No space center. We won't need that. It's going to be a divine miracle of God above and of Christ in resurrection power. Oh, the joy of knowing. This is our hope. May God make it clear and emphasize it to the hearts of us all. But we come to the study of First Thessalonians chapter five, verses one through eleven, where we will find the doctrine of Scripture concerning not the rapture, but the day of the Lord, a subject that is referred to thirty to forty times in the Old and New Testament.
This chapter five of First Thessalonian deals with the day of the Lord, not in relation to the church, but in relation to the world. Now, permit me to present the contrast between the rapture and the day of the Lord, for it is essential that their distinctions be carefully understood. The doctrine of the rapture of the saints, which we have studied in First Thessalonians for, was published for the first time in this letter to the Thessalonians. A new revelation when Paul wrote of it. This did not change any previously revealed prophetic truth. regarding the second coming of Christ.
And what Paul wrote supplemented what the Lord himself said in John fourteen three, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. Let me emphasize the fact that the revelation concerning the rapture had never been revealed before the apostle wrote to the church of the Thessalonians. But The doctrine of the Day of the Lord is found in great detail in the Old Testament particularly, as well as in the New, so that we must recognize it was not a new revelation of truth. Furthermore, this teaching of the Day of the Lord is found to be associated with specific developments upon the earth before the Day of the Lord commences.
This day of the Lord is definitely associated with the coming of the Lord to the earth, coming in power, coming in judgment, and its imminence will be marked by certain visible signs. Some of those signs are quoted by Peter in the second chapter of the book of the Acts on the day of Pentecost. Those words that he spoke were taken from the prophecy of Joel. And you'll find in verse nineteen through twenty of Acts chapter two, he mentions it. Let me break of some of those words. God says, In that day I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and terrible day of the Lord shall come.
We should certainly recognize the vivid contrast between the rapture and the day of the Lord. Whatever you do, my radio friend, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, lay hold of this distinction clearly. Let nothing move you from away from its truth. There are no signs, specific signs, preceding the rapture, but there are definitely many signs to precede as well as to attend. the coming of the day of the Lord, when in judgment, when in power, when in glory, the Lord will return to the earth. The day of the Lord and its effect upon the world we would like to consider in verses one through three.
Let us read verses one through three in First Thessalonians five, where we find the day of the Lord is described and its effect upon the world. But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. Paul now begins to describe the effect of Christ's coming glory when it will be revealed to the world.
After he has assured us, it will be after the saints have departed to be with Christ. After assuring the saints of their departure, in the rapture he now takes up the day of the Lord. But note, first of all, Paul indicates that it was not necessary to inform them about the day of the Lord. For he writes, But of the times and seasons, he begins by saying, which if you will refer to Acts chapter one, verse seven, you will find this phrase is in connection with Christ's coming kingdom, when it will be set up upon the earth. Even following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and just before he ascended back to heaven, The disciples of the Lord asked the Savior if he was going to set up his kingdom then.
But he answered them in the negative. They little realized the program he had for the church, that this must be accomplished before the kingdom would ever be set up, and its time of setting up the kingdom was in the Father's hand. This knowledge of the coming of the day of the Lord was certainly accurately imparted by the apostles to the Thessalonian believers. For they taught them the word of God and his teaching from the word of God by the apostles. They were not ignorant of the day of the Lord, as they had been ignorant regarding the rapture. Now let us ask the question.
What did the saints of Thessalonica know about the day of the Lord? Paul says you know all about it. But he told him in the preceding chapter, you don't know about the rapture. You're ignorant about it. Now he says, you do know about the day of the Lord. First of all, they knew the certainty of it. He says, you know it. How and why? Beloved, look, in the Old Testament, as we have said, it is mentioned from thirty to forty times by the prophets. May I point out to you when Paul taught he used the Old Testament. He didn't have a New Testament. But he had a lot of scripture in the Old Testament, and he had all the prophets to refer to about the day of the Lord and the coming judgment of God upon the earth and the setting up of Christ's kingdom.
Second, he says, you know the character of that coming day. It's going to be a time of darkness. Sorrow, trial, trouble, anguish, wrath, wickedness, destruction. These are the words that describe it in the Old Testament. These Thessalonian believers knew that the day of the Lord was not a time of joy and happiness for the world. The day of judgment. Then they also knew the reason for it. There was an objective. From the prophecies of Isaiah, name them all, Daniel and all the minor prophets. They were taught that the future day will see God's final victory over all the Gentile nations.
and God's deliverance of his ancient people, Israel, and the establishing of God's kingdom upon the earth, when he places his king, the Lord Jesus' son, upon his holy hill of Zion. They knew that. The Old Testament taught him, and you can depend upon the fact these beloved apostles didn't minimize, but they emphasized the truth of that coming kingdom in power and in great glory. Then also if you know, they knew the manner in which Christ the Messiah, when God's King, they knew the manner in which he would come in verse two and three. You find it revealing that he would come as a thief in the night.
He would come suddenly according to verse three. To the world it will be not announced. To the world it will be unexpected. To the world it will be a sudden and a complete surprise. Please let me say. When he's coming to the world, he's going to catch them unawares, as a thief comes in the night without telling of his approach. And he's coming suddenly in great judgment. So to the world, they knew the coming of the Lord to the earth was unannounced, and would be unannounced. And then to the nations. This period, please note, Following the rapture, we'll find the nation possessing a false peace.
When they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them. May I point out the meaning of those words, peace and safety? Don't think for one moment that there's going to be peace before the Lord comes. Isaiah the prophet well wrote, and he said it three times. There is no peace, said my God, to the wicked. The wicked are like the restless sea. And thus we can realize there is no peace that the world can ever, ever invent. It doesn't know peace. It never will know peace. Oh, you say, will they not have some measure of peace?
Well, now let me please say, I think there's something particular in this expression that we need to realize. The nations will have a false sense of security in that day. May I point out what will be their false sense of security, according to my humble opinion. They will be firmly convinced that there is no possible intervention of divine persons from heaven. May I point out to you, and you may read of it in chapter two of second Thessalonians and verse three, two and three, there's coming to be a great apostasy. There's going to be the driving gout of all that can be driven out of this world that pertains to God.
There's going to be a denial of Christianity universally. There's going to be a denial of Judaism universally. And as the second Psalm indicates from Psalm chapter two, you may read the first three verses. Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? And the kings and the rulers take counsel together against the law and against his anointed saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from it. My beloved, let me please say, the devil has got a movement going, and it's going stronger today than ever, and that movement is to drive God out of the human family, away from human knowledge. Believe you, me, in doing a successful job even now, that according to the word of God, there's going to be a universal denial of God, and in that day one can recognize They'll think they're going to be saved from divine intervention.
They'll say there is no God. There is no God. There is no God. Let me quote the words of Peter in second Peter three. When he said, They'll say, Scopus, in the last day shall say, where is the promise of his coming? For since the Father solace me, all things continue as they are from the very beginning of the creation. Men are going to say in that closing day, God can't touch us. God can't touch us. There is no God. and they say, we are safe and at peace from any divine interruption. Well, beloved, that just a moment they're going to find out different. For when they shall say peace and safety as the Scripture states, then sudden destruction shall come upon them as a woman in travail.
One can recognize the suddenness of it. Please let me say, To summarize the doctrine of the day of the Lord, it is clearly teaching us. It is not a wonderful, it is not a joyous event like the rapture. But it is an inevitable visitation of divine judgment and of inescapable destruction for the whole world, as Paul declares it. Then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. My beloved, please let me say, The world of sinners in that day will never escape from the doom that God will pour out on them.
They may call to the rocks and to the mountains, saying, Paul, honor, hide us from the face of him and the wrath of the Lamb, and from the face of him who sits upon the throne. Yes, they may indeed cry out, but they'll not be able to escape the sudden destruction, the inevitable power. of the judgment coming from heaven above. Oh, beloved, these are solemn words. Please let me emphasize again the distinction between the rapture and the day of the Lord. What a difference. What a happy event. The other solemn and destructive.
God judging the earth, cleansing the nations of the earth from their ungodliness, visiting the judgment of his wrath upon every ungodly person. destroying them, casting them into eternal perdition as he will, and saving but a remnant, as the word of God reveals, both for Israel and even for the Gentile nations in that day. Oh, may God cause us to realize, this is certainly to be done, but oh, I do pray humbly and earnestly that every one of us listening to the message can say with joy and gratitude, thank God I am waiting not for judgment, Not for the day of law of the Lord, but I'm waiting for thee, Lord, thy beauty to see, Lord.
I'm waiting for thee for thy coming again. For amidst the darkness, storm, and sorrow, one bright gleam I see, well I know the blessed morrow. Christ will come for me. My friend, can you say Christ will come for me? Oh, I trust if you cannot, you'll come to Christ so that you will. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, Please enable any friend who may not be sane, to make certain that they shall be caught up. Meet the Lord in the air when he comes, and not be let for the terrible judgment of that great and terrible day of the Lord. For we ask it in the Savior's name. We ask it also for the Savior's glory.