1Thessalonians 4:18
I Am A Pre Because
I. Introduction:
A. in \\#1Thess 4:13-17\\, Paul just described the rapture of the
church.
1. It is described in most every detail except for the WHEN.
2. Something about the time is mentioned in the first verse
of the NEXT chapter, but it only tells us we cannot know
the exact WHEN.
1Thess 5:1 But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
3. And we are not trying to find out the exact WHEN.
4. There are five major future events: rapture, Tribulation,
return (advent) of Jesus, the millennium, and eternity.
5. We are attempting to see if there is enough Bible evidence
to determine the ORDER of those five events.
6. Most who believe the Bible are agreed that the last four
occur in the order I listed them: Tribulation, Advent,
millennium, then eternity.
7. But there has been, is, and I think, will be much
disagreement about where in that list that the rapture
may take place.
B. There are four major positions:
1. I am a Pre:
a. Pre-tribulationists - The belief that the rapture will
occur BEFORE the Tribulation.
b. Pre-millennialist - The belief that the rapture will
occur BEFORE the millennial.
2. Mid-Tribulationist - The believe that the rapture will
occur in the middle of the Tribulation but still before
the millennial.
a. A few years ago, a new name was made for this old
belief.
b. Some took to calling it Pre-Wrath rapture of the
church.
c. I did not study it in detail, but it looked to me like
Mid-Tribulation doctrine re-packaged.
3. Post-Tribulationist - The belief that the rapture will
occur after the Tribulation but before the millennial.
4. Post-Millennialist - The belief that most Bible prophecy
is a story.
C. Although we cannot know exactly when the rapture will occur,
for the Bible does not tell us, I believe the Bible gives us
enough hints that we can at least know the order of what is
going to happen.
D. So tonight we continue with the thought begun last week, I Am
A PRE Because….
1. Last week, I AM A PRE Because of the blessed hope.
2. This week….
II. \\#1Thess 4:18\\ I Am A PRE Because it gives comfort to those who
have lost a loved ones.
A. After describing the rapture, Paul declared that it should
comfort the hearts of the saved whose loved ones had died.
1. That is a sentiment that is repeated in the next chapter:
1Thess 4;18 Wherefore comfort one another with
these words.
1Thess 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye
do.
2. A truth being repeated so close together gives it
additional emphasis.
3. Paul thought the truths he was revealing were going to
give the Thessalonians instant comfort.
B. Some have asked how could the rapture give comfort it before
the rapture will happen, we must go through the Tribulation.
1. To be honest, I see how it could.
a. To know that we will see those we love again would
comfort the heart of anyone grieving no matter how
long away it might be or what they might have to go
through to get it.
b. I get that, but I would say the same thing about this
comfort that I said about the blessed hope of
\\#Tit 2:13\\; that is, having to go through the
Tribulation get it would diminish the comfort of
being offered.
(1) Knowing that reunion would be delayed by whatever
time some might want to put between now and the
rapture:
(a) 3 1/2 years for the mid-tribulationist.
(b) 7 years for the post-tribulationist.
(c) 1007 years for the post-tribulation, post-
millennialist.
(2) …would diminish the comfort that I think God
is giving, but there would be still be comfort
to be had just knowing that a reunion was
coming.
2. BUT it is not just the mandatory time that would diminish
the comfort, so would the mandatory pain, suffering, and
the likelihood of death by going through the Tribulation.
a. If I have to go through the Tribulation, the comfort I
would claim would not be in Jesus and my loved ones
coming to me, it would be in me going to Jesus and my
loved ones.
(1) If the rapture is on the far side of the
Tribulation, few—very, very few—people that
are alive when it begins will be alive when it
ends.
(2) No one should believe or expect that they will
live through the Tribulation to experience the
rapture.
b. Rather, as David took comfort in going to see his
child, so should we—if the rapture is on the far
side of the Tribulation.
2Sa 12:23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I
fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to
him, but he shall not return to me.
(1) This was how David comforted himself when his
child died.
(2) If the saved must go through the Tribulation to
see their loved ones, this is how we should
comfort ourselves.
3. But Paul was offering the rapture of the church as a new
and different comfort.
a. There is nothing that must happen before the rapture.
b. Jesus COULD come at any moment.
c. We may not even have to die earth’s death to see our
loved ones; but in an instant, in the twinkling of
an eye, we may be with Jesus and with our loved ones.
III. \\#1Thess 5:2\\ I Am A PRE Because "the Day of the Lord" is a
judgement against the wicked.
1Thess 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the
night.
A. Immediately after talking about the rapture of the church,
Paul began to talk about the Day of the Lord.
1. The Day of the Lord is a different day than the rapture of
the church but they are very, very close together.
2. The Day of the Lord is described throughout the Old
Testament as a time period of judgment from God on the
whole earth for its sin, and that includes Israel.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh,
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay
the land desolate: and he shall destroy the
sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going
forth, and the moon shall not cause her light
to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will
cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and
will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
3. \\#Is 13:10\\ Before seeing anything else, please notice
THE sign God gives to let people know when the
Tribulation will begin.
a. The sun, the moon, and the stars will cease to give
their light.
b. Jesus tells us in \\#Matt 24:29\\ that this will also
be the sign that the Tribulation has ended.
Matt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of
those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken:
c. The altering of the lights of heaven, even as John
described one of the earlier judgments:
Re 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the
third part of the sun was smitten, and the third
part of the moon, and the third part of the
stars; so as the third part of them was darkened,
and the day shone not for a third part of it,
and the night likewise.
a. Wars and famines are common occurrences on this
planet.
b. So much so that as many as 1/4 of the world’s
population being killed in the first four
judgments the Tribulation \\#Rev 6:8\\ will not
be a sure sign the Tribulation has begun.
c. But when the sun, the moon, and the stars are
begin to fail, the whole world COULD know then
this is the judgment of God.
4. God is very specific in His intent for bringing the Day
of the Lord:
a. \\#Is 13:11\\ It is punishment of the world for their
evil.
b. It is punishment of the wicked for their iniquity.
c. \\#Is 13:9\\ It is to be cruel as God pours out His
wrath and fierce anger.
d. God’s purpose will be to destroy sinners out of the
land.
5. Do these sound like judgments of intended for God’s
people, either the Jews or the church?
a. No.
b. The reason Israel will be caught up in this punishment
is because they have rejected God’s Son as their
Savior, counting themselves among the sinners.
c. But the church is NEVER mentioned as going through the
Tribulation, not in the New Testament or the Old.
(1) The book of Revelation mentions the church 18
times in chapters 1-3, but not once is it
mentioned during the description of the
Tribulation.
(a) Is that a coincidence or a lesson?
(b) I believe it is a lesson.
(2) In Revelation 4:1, John was commanded to come up
into the heavens and left this earthly plane.
(3) I have always believed John is a picture of the
church being raptured off of the planet just
before the Tribulation begins.
d. In addition, the church fundamentally different from
Israel.
(1) The church is NOT a nation of people joined
together by a physical birth.
(2) The church is a nation of people joined together
by a spiritual birth.
(3) That means the church can never be wicked or even
belong to this world.
(4) It is uniquely Christ’s and radically different
from anything God has created on this planet
before.
6. The rapture of the church and the Day of the Lord are two
separate events for two separate people.
a. The rapture is for the church.
b. The Day of the Lord is for the wicked.
B. However, Paul does mention them together, one right after the
other.
1. Paul spoke of the rapture FIRST; the immediately after, he
spoke of the Day of the Lord.
a. Why?
b. Because as soon as the church is removed from this
planet by the rapture of the church, the Day of the
Lord will begin.
(1) By "as soon as," I do not mean it must be the
very next second.
(2) It might be the very next second, but God may
take a few days or even weeks to set things up
before the Day of the Lord.
(3) I believe the Day of the Lord will officially
begin not with the rapture but with the signing
of a treaty between the anti-Christ and Israel.
(4) That might be a few weeks after the rapture of
the church, but we will talk about that later.
2. So in chapter 4, we have one distinct event for one
particular people, the rapture for the church.
3. And in chapter 5, we have another completely different
event for a completely different group of people, the
judgment for a wicked world.
a. Neither the church nor Israel are the intended targets
of God’s judgment.
b. Israel falls into this judgment because they have
rejected Jesus and so numbered themselves with the
world.
c. By the way, if you are a member of a local church but
are lost, you will be left behind and judged for the
very same reason.
Do these Bible passages declare that the rapture will occur before
the Tribulation? No. But this passage, and others, indicate that
the people of God are not the targets of God’s wrath in the Day of
the Lord. That the only way for both the rapture and the Day of the
Lord to be a surprise is for the rapture to occur first. And that
without a pre-tribulation rapture, there is no greater urgency to
win the loss for no thief is coming.
III. \\#1Thess 5:1\\ I Am A PRE Because it is the only way the
rapture could happen as a thief in the night.
A. Notice that the timing of the Day of the Lord will not be
known until it starts.
1Thess 5:1 But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
B. What does this mean?
1. It means that no one will know when either of these two
events (the rapture already spoken of or the Day of the
Lord which Paul was about to speak of) are going to
happen, at least not until they DO happen.
a. No one will know the exact TIME or even the
approximate SEASON until it is upon us.
b. \\#1Thess 5:2\\ says it will come like a thief in the
night; no warning, no announcement, no signs, no
hints.
2. Friend, how then can the rapture of the church occur AFTER
the seven-year Tribulation and still be surprise?
a. Doesn’t the Bible tell us what will happen during the
Tribulation?
b. Yes.
(1) Remember the sure sign the Tribulation has
started?
(2) \\#Is 13:10\\ The sun, moon, and stars cease to
shine—at the very least, they cease to shine as
they are supposed for a time.
c. Those who are not pre-tribulationists might object by
saying, "But we still won’t know the exact time!"
(1) Perhaps not but you would know the exact SEASON,
which is why Paul included the broader term of
time.
(2) By placing the rapture after either the
Tribulation or the millennial, you give a sure
time period for the event to occur.
3. There is just NO WAY the rapture could be a secret if it
happens AFTER the Tribulation.
B. But, the non-Pres might say, "If the rapture occurs first,
then the Day of the Lord cannot come as a thief in the
night."
1. Paul mentioned these two events together because they
happen one right after the other.
a. Notice that the only thing that separates Paul’s
teaching about the rapture from his teaching about
the Day of the Lord is a man-made chapter break.
b. Conjunctions are joining the two teachings together
because the two events go TOGETHER.
2. Once the rapture has occurred, the Day of the Lord is
directly after it.
3. As I said, they may not be seconds apart, but the two
events are so close together that they are considered one
event in time.
a. If you don’t know when the rapture is to happen, you
won’t know when the Day of the Lord is.
b. But once the rapture has happened, the Day of Lord has
virtually begun as well.
4. By putting a mandatory 3 1/2 years or 7 years or 1007
years in between these two events, you create a situation
where it is not possible for both the rapture AND the Day
of the Lord to come as a thief in the night.
a. In essence, both mid and post-tribulationists create a
contradiction in the Scripture.
b. Any doctrine that creates a contradiction is a WRONG
doctrine.
IV. \\#1Thess 5:1-8\\ I Am A PRE Because there is nothing for the
thief to steal.
A. Paul was warning the Christians not to fall asleep but to be
busy doing God’s work.
1. That is the point of this section of Scripture.
2. It is a warning from Paul to the church.
3. Something is going to happen that has bad overtones, like
a thief is going to surprise you and steal something of
value from you.
B. Pre-tribulationists understand the warning:
1. Get busy doing what God has called you to do for Jesus,
like a Thief, could come at any moment.
a. If He does, you will lose your opportunity to win
those you love.
b. You might lose them forever.
2. So this is no time to be sleeping.
3. Work while there is still opportunity.
4. Witness to the lost, else you will be gone, and they will
be left behind.
C. But what are the non-Pres being warned to do?
1. If the saints aren’t going anywhere, they CAN wait until
AFTER the Tribulation begins and witness to their loved
ones then.
2. Granted, that is not the teaching of Christ or of the
Bible.
a. No matter when Jesus comes, a spirit of delusion is
coming, a falling away is coming, hearts will
continue to harden, sin will continue to increase,
and so forth.
b. But if the church is not leaving until after the
Tribulation, then the only sudden and bad thing that
will happen is the Tribulation will begin.
c. However, the Tribulation by itself is not a loss for
the church.
(1) We are still here.
(2) All the sinners are still here.
(3) We just keep doing what we have been doing.
d. If the church doesn’t leave BEFORE the Tribulation,
then we have 7 more years to serve the Lord, seven
more years to win our loved ones, seven more years
to win our neighbor, seven more years to win our
friend; so—what’s the rush?
e. If the church will still be here in the Tribulation,
we would actually be in a BETTER position to win the
world than we are now because we will know—-least in
a general way—the next judgments that God is going
o bring.
f. Maybe it will be our warnings that will win them?
3. I am not saying that is what the church SHOULD do.
4. I am saying that is what the church COULD do.
5. And I am saying that no matter if that is what the church
does or not, there would be no greater urgency to win the
lost now than there would be to wait and attempt to win
them later.
a. No thief would be coming, and nothing would be lost by
the Tribulation beginning.
b. In fact, since we know what is going to happen during
the Tribulation, we will be better off to just wait.
6. Paul’s call for the Christian to stay awake and to stay
busy for Christ because something sudden and bad is about
to happen would have no purpose.
V. \\#1Thess 5;3\\ I Am A PRE Because the world will be proclaiming
"peace and safety" when the Day of the Lord begins.
1thess 5:3 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.
A. I am referring only to the Day of the Lord here because Paul
mentioned it most recently \\#1Thess 5:2\\; however, I still
believe Paul was speaking about BOTH days (rapture and the
Day of the Lord) as one.
VI. I Am A PRE Because God’s children are not appointed to wrath.
1Thess 5;9 For God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ,
A. It dawns upon me that I have been looking at this verse wrong
my whole Christian life.
1. I have looked at this verse and wondered, "Is it talking
about the wrath of the Tribulation or the wrath of hell."
a. The answer is YES.
b. It is talking about both of them and any other event
where the wrath of God is being pour out.
2. God NEVER pours His wrath out on those who "have obtained
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."
a. Why not?
b. Because all of God’s wrath for the saved was poured
out upon His Son, Jesus Christ.
c. For God to pour His wrath upon us again would be to
charge two parties for the same sins.
B. God’s deliverance of the righteous is illustrated in the
Bible:
1. It is first evidenced at the flood:
Ge 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made
man on the earth, and it grieved him at his
heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I
have created from the face of the earth; both
man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the
fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have
made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
a. God used the Ark to save the righteous from His
judgment.
b. Of course the Ark was also being used to preserve the
human race, but we should not overlook the fact that
the righteous were the ones who were spared.
2. God’s nature of delivering the righteous was the basis for
Abraham’s interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah:
Ge 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt
thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within
the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare
the place for the fifty righteous that are
therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after this
manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked:
and that the righteous should be as the wicked,
that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of
all the earth do right?
26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all
the place for their sakes.
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I
have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which
am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the
fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city
for lack of five? And he said, If I find there
forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said,
Peradventure there shall be forty found there.
And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be
angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall
thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do
it, if I find thirty there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall
be twenty found there. And he said, I will not
destroy it for twenty’s sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry,
and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure
ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not
destroy it for ten’s sake.
33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had
left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned
unto his place.
a. Notice what the angel of judgment told Lot when he balked
at fleeing to the mountains:
Ge 19:22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I
cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
b. It is obvious that God was NOT going to judge those wicked
cities as long as Lot was there.
3. When God brought Nebuchadnezzar against Israel, He commanded
the people to surrender to Babylon rather than face the full
fury of the judgment of God.
Jer 38:17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus
saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of
Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the
king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall
live, and this city shall not be burned with
fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of
Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given
into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall
burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out
of their hand.
a. This was also the message that Jeremiah preached to the
people:
Jer 38:1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and
Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of
Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard
the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the
people, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this
city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and
by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the
Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life
for a prey, and shall live.
b. Surrendering to the enemy was not complete deliverance,
but this nation had passed that opportunity long ago.
c. God was giving and commanding them to take the best
deliverance that was still available to them.
d. The best and only deliverance available to the church is
to be removed before the Tribulation begins.
4. John the Apostle is removed from the church to watch the
Tribulation unfold on earth from heaven in \\#Rev 4:1\\.
a. I believe he is a picture of WHAT God will do with the
church and WHEN He will do it.
b. God will call the church off this planet to be with Him
just before the Tribulation begins!
c. Why? Because God has not appointed "US to WRATH!"
\\#1Thess 5:9\\.
Do these Bible passages declare that the rapture will occur before
the Tribulation? No. But this passage, and others, indicate that
the people of God are not the targets of God’s wrath in the Day of
the Lord. That the only way for both the rapture and the Day of the
Lord to be a surprise is for the rapture to occur first. And that
without a pre-tribulation rapture, there is no greater urgency to
win the loss for no thief is coming.
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