1 Thessalonians 5:1
I Am A Pre Because 2
We continue our study on End Times, specifically me sharing with you
some reasons why I believe the rapture will occur BEFORE the
Tribulation and BEFORE the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, hence
the term, “I am a PRE.”
Reminders:
1. There are five future events that most Bible believers see in the
Scriptures:
a. The rapture (Jesus comes to get His bride)
b. The Tribulation
c. The Advent (return of Jesus to the earth)
d. The Millennial Reign of Jesus (1000 years)
e. Eternity
All five of these events are described in enough statements within
the Bible so that if a person does not believe in all five of them,
they basically do not believe the Bible. I do understand confusion of
end time events. For example, some believe the rapture and the Advent
will happen at the same time, but to deny one of these five events is
to deny the Bible. If you are doing that, you are either very
ignorant of the Bible or a non-believer. If you are ignorant, you
need to learn. If you are a non-believer, you need to be saved.
2. Not all Bible believers are PREs.
1. Some believe the rapture will occur in the middle of the
Tribulation but before the millennial.
2. Some believe the rapture will occur after the Tribulation but
before the Millennial.
3. Some believe the rapture will take place after the Millennial.
(Again, I am not sure I would call these Bible believers.)
3. To my knowledge, there is no single Bible passage that plainly,
clearly, and distinctively states when the rapture will occur.
a. In fact, \\#1Thess 5:1-2\\, make it clear we cannot know the
exact time or even the general season when Jesus will come.
b. But I believe the Bible gives enough teaching so that we can
know the order of those five future events.
(1) And we are not attempting to find the time or the season.
(a) We believe Jesus could come at any moment, but we
have no idea when He will come.
(b) We do not know the day, the week, the month, the
year, or even the century or the millennial Jesus
will return.
(2) As a PRE, I simply believe there is nothing that must
happen before He returns.
c. I have given to you several reasons already:
I. I Am A PRE Because of the blessed Hope \\#Titus 2:13\\.
A. Both the Blessedness and the Hope of the rapture will remain
no matter when He comes.
B. But if His return is not imminent, then both the blessedness
and the hope are diminished somewhat.
II. I Am A PRE Because of the comfort Paul promised \\#1Thess 4:18\\
\\#1Thess 5:11\\.
III. I Am A Pre Because the Day of the Lord is a judgement against
the wicked and the world.
A. At \\#1Thess 5:2\\, Paul changed his topic from the rapture of
the church which he had been discussing to the Day of the
Lord.
B. \\Is 13:9-11\\ among many, many other Bible passages tell us
this day is for the wicked and the world.
IV. \\#1Thess 5:1\\ I Am A PRE Because it is the only way the
rapture could surprise us, as a thief in the night, is for it
to be imminent.
A. That is to say, if Jesus does not come before the Tribulation,
there will be no surprise to his coming.
B. 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.
1. I think this verse, being between the rapture of the
church described in \\#1Thess 4:13-17\\ and the Day of
the Lord mentioned specifically in \\#1Thess 5:2, 4\\.
describes both days.
2. We are told specifically that the Day of the Lord will be
a surprise.
1Thess 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the
night.
1Thess 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as
a thief.
3. A thief comes in the night with no warning, no
announcement, no signs, no hints.
4. And while some might say \\#1Thess 5:1\\ goes with the
Day of Lord and not the rapture, the Day of the Lord
had not been introduced when Paul made the statement.
5. Paul was STILL describing the RAPTURE.
(a) A man put that chapter division there.
(b) Not God.
(c) So it is the rapture that Paul was saying we need no
one to tell us the time and the seasons because
both of these will come as a thief in the night.
C. For both of these events to be a surprise like a thief in the
night, the only order they can occur in is the rapture first,
the Day of the Lord second.
1. The Day of the Lord lasts for seven years.
2. The rapture of the church occurs in less than a second.
3. If the Day of the Lord comes first, the rapture will occur
seven years after the Day of the Lord begins.
(a) That won’t surprise anyone.
(b) For seven years, people will know the time and the
season.
4. But since the rapture occurs in a split second and the Day
of the Lord starts pretty much immediately after it, then
the rapture will not give away the time of Day of the
Lord.
5. Rapture first, Day of the Lord second, is the only order
in which these two events can occur and both be kept a
secret, to occur like a thief in the night.
D. I mentioned last week:
1. Paul teaches about these two events together because they
happen one right after the other.
a. 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 occurs
directly after it.
3. They may not be seconds apart, but the two events are so
close together that Paul considered them one event in
time.
4. So:
a. If you rapture occurs first, we won’t know when either
of them are going to begin until they do.
b. If the Day of the Lord occurs first, not just the
season but the time of the rapture will be known.
V. \\#1Thess 5:1-8\\ I Am A PRE Because if there is no
pretribulation rapture, there is really nothing for the thief
to steal.
A. In other words, if Jesus doesn’t come before the Tribulation,
there is no urgent need for the church to watch.
B. Christians have time to sleep for a while and get busy once
the Tribulation begins.
C. 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.
4. Pre-tribulationists understand the warning:
a. Get busy doing what God has called you to do for
Jesus, like a Thief, could come at any moment.
(1) If He does, you will lose your opportunity to win
those you love and to earn your rewards.
(2) You will also lose your rewards.
(3) Both your loved ones and your rewards are at
stake.
b. So this is no time to be sleeping.
c. Work while there is still opportunity.
d. Witness to the lost, else you will be gone, and they
will be left behind.
5. But if you are a non-PRE, what are you being warned to do?
a. If the saints aren’t going anywhere until half-way
through or after the Tribulation, they CAN wait until
later to witness to their loved ones then.
b. Granted, that is not the teaching of Christ or of the
Bible.
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) However, the Tribulation by itself would not be a
loss for the church.
(a) We would still here.
(b) All the sinners would still here.
(c) We have several more years of time during
the Tribulation do attempt to win them.
(d) The church will just keep doing what we have
been doing for the last 2,000 years.
(e) Without a rapture, the only thing that
changes is the environment will get a lot
worse.
6. I am not saying that is what the church SHOULD do.
a. I am saying that is what the church COULD do and
likely will do if there is no imminent rapture.
b. To be honest, the church’s work should be a little
easier during the Tribulation.
(1) (I, like Paul, am not speaking as a fool speaks
\\#2Cor 11:16\\.)
(2) It should be easier to see people accept Jesus
with the wars, famines, deaths, and other
disasters occurring during those days.
7. Regardless, 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.
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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