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Rightly Dividing the
Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
WWW. 2Tim215.Net
Established November
2008 Published: July 24,
2020
“For this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
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Welcome to HBS.
We covered a lot of
material last week and I ask that you review it at your leisure in preparation
for studying this Bible lesson.
I ended the previous
lesson at 1 Thessalonians 1:10, so we’ll start there. If you recall, this is where Paul mentioned the
third wonderful grace virtue “hope.”
But what were the Thessalonians
hoping for? The answer lies just ahead.
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Please
open your Bible at 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.
“For
they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and
how ye turned to God from idols (this is faith) to
serve the living and true God (this is love); And to
wait for his Son from heaven (this is hope), whom
he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come.”
Here
again we find the three grace virtues Paul refers to as, faith, love,
and hope and they appear several times in his writings in this same
manner or a combination of the three (1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:3,
5:8). When the saints at Thessalonica “turned
to God from idols,” they demonstrated faith. When they considered God’s great love for
them and His saving grace, the natural response was, “to serve the living
and true God” and that’s love.
When they chose to patiently wait for His Son from heaven, they
demonstrated “hope.”
From
a chronological perspective this is the first written statement from our
apostle Paul re: the imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds
(the first heaven) for the Body of Christ.
It demonstrates the fact that the Rapture of the Church is part of the
special message committed to him by the risen Lord (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) and
proclaimed by him only during his earlier ministry.
The
O.T. prophets predicted the return of Christ to judge and then to reign on
earth as Israel’s King. His coming for
the Body of Christ, however, will not be associated with judgment, but with God’s
amazing grace. The Church will not be
here when the bowls of God’s righteous wrath are poured out upon the ungodly, for
before that time arrives we will be “caught up” to be with Christ for He
has “…delivered us from the wrath to come.” It is this “blessed hope” we are told
to “wait for” (1 Thessalonians 1:10), and to “look for”
(Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:13), while we continue “serving the living and true
God.”
There’s
a flip-side to almost every topic and the Rapture is no exception to this rule. Although, you’d be hard-pressed to find this
term in the KJ Bible, Paul clearly teaches the catching-away of
the Body of Christ will take place in accordance with God the Father’s purpose
and plan for His Church, but many people in the church oppose this teaching. Please know the hostility toward the doctrine
of the Pre-Tribulational Rapture is increasing.
Some of the resistance comes from
non-Christians, which is understandable. But sadly, most of the opposition to this
divine truth comes from those who claim to be Christians. When all is said and done, ultimately, the
source of this hostility is Satan - the father of lies. Increased antagonism to this key church
doctrine indicates the Lord’s return grows nearer for Satan’s purpose is to confound,
sow discord, and deny Believers of their blessed hope.
The
fact that some of the Christian churches teach something other than the
Pre-Tribulational Rapture is largely the result of a misinterpretation and
misapplication of certain Bible verses from the gospels and the Book of Acts, particularly
the following:
”…the
one shall be taken and the other left.” (Matthew 24:40-42)
The
parable of the Ten Virgins (See Matthew 25:1-13)
“If
I go… I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (John 14:3)
“This
same Jesus… shall come again…” (Acts 1:11)
But
as you’ll soon see these folks have taken their arguments and beliefs for the
Rapture from the wrong part of Scripture, meaning, they have failed to rightly
divide the Scriptures, for Paul distinctly declared the truth of the Rapture
was a “mystery,” (secret is a better term for God is not
mysterious), until revealed through him.
First
we should note that it is in connection with the Rapture that Paul refers to
our Lord as the One who has, “delivered us from the wrath to come.” Next, we should determine what “the wrath
to come” truly is. I mention this
because I know a pastor or two who won’t even venture into the Book of
Revelation. One said he didn’t think this
book should be in the Bible. Another
called it, “sheer fantasy.” So, let’s be
clear “the wrath to come” is not the Great White Thone Judgement or the
Lake of Fire, and we know this because of what Revelation 20:11-15 says: “And I saw a great white throne, and him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;
and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according
to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second
death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Reading
that Bible passage carefully, it’s clear the emphasis is not upon “God’s
wrath” but upon prophecy being fulfilled re: punitive justice toward the
ungodly .i.e., the unsaved. The Tribulation
and the Great Tribulation (the final 3.5 years of this period) are consistently
associated with “the wrath of God” in such phrases as, “the
day of his wrath,” “the time of his wrath,” “his
fierceness and wrath,” and “the wrath to come.” (See also
Psalm 2:5; Isaiah 9:19, 13:9; Jeremiah 10:10; Zephaniah 1:14-15; Revelation
6:15-17, 14:10, 15:1, 16:1, 19:15). Therefore,
the members of the Body of Christ will be “caught up” in the
clouds to be with the Lord Jesus Christ before the prophesied Tribulation take
place, and it is with this fact in mind our apostle Paul wrote: “And to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,
which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1:10).
For
those of you who still think this subject is as clear as mud, I offer the
following.
The
Pre-Tribulation Rapture is as sound a doctrine as Paul’s gospel (1 Corinthians
15:1-4). The Scriptures provide
overwhelming evidence of it. The reason
for opposition centers around: 1) ignorance of the Scriptures (particularly
Paul’s letters) and 2) a lack of faith, i.e., unbelief. Most refuse to accept it because they do
not want to. For them, tradition
and religion is dearer than the Scriptures. I know this to be true because I’ve met more
than a few of these people over the years and they are adamant re: what they
choose to believe. Because of this they could
be likened to the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 10:11, 14-45)
who refused to enter Canaan, i.e., the promised land or “God’s rest” (Hebrews
3:11, 4:3). In like manner these folks
refuse God’s rest of the Rapture.
While
many verses affirm the Pre-Tribulational Rapture, only a couple are needed to
prove it: 1 Corinthians 15:51 and our present verse, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, will
suffice. 1 Corinthians 15:51 proves the
fact of the Rapture. Paul stated the Lord’s
return and our resurrection (the Rapture) was a “mystery” from the Greek
word musterion; Strong’s Greek #3466, or a secret. In contrast, the birth of Christ was not a
secret. Throughout the O.T. the Jewish
prophets taught it. What’s more, the
Lord taught it in His earthly ministry (Matthew 24:30, 44). His resurrection was not a secret. Jesus taught it and the Pharisees believed it.
Martha knew about it and believed it (John
11:23-25). If Paul declared the Lord’s
return and our resurrection was a “secret,” it can mean but one
thing: it was a secret kept hidden in the mind of God since before
the foundation of the earth. In other
words, Paul’s teaching revealed something new, something God had kept hidden
until He revealed it to Paul. 1 Thessalonians
1:10 provides the timing of the Rapture: it occurs before
the Tribulation.
What
did Jews understand theologically? Jewish
theology was based upon two great revelations proclaimed by the prophets. One was the earthly Messianic kingdom God
promised to the nation of Israel. Most Christians
pray for it (whether they realize it or not) every Sunday when they recite the
Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:10). The other
was “the Day of the Lord.”
The Day of the Lord
Technically,
the Day of the Lord is composed of three elements:
1)
God’s wrath upon the whole earth
2)
The Coming One Thousand Year Messianic kingdom on the earth
3)
The creation of a new heavens and earth
However,
God’s wrath is the subject most associated with the Day of the Lord. God revealed to David (circa 1,000 BC) that He
would pour His wrath out upon Israel and the nations (Psalm 2:5, 9). Notice Israel and the Gentile nations were
the subjects of God’s wrath not the Church. There is not one Bible verse that teaches God
will in righteous anger pour out His wrath on the Body of Christ; not one!
Every
Jew knew the prophecies related to the Day of the Lord and Israel’s kingdom. The
apostle Peter proclaimed them on the day of Pentecost. He recognized that God’s gift of the Holy
Spirit was a sign of the long awaited kingdom. He fully expected all of Joel’s prophecy to be fulfilled
shortly which included God’s wrath also known as “the time of Jacob’s
Trouble” (Jeremiah 30; Matthew 24:15-31).
This is why he quoted the prophecy from Joel to the men of Israel on the
day of Pentecost (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-21; Luke 3:16-17).
The
Day of the Lord (the Tribulation and God’s wrath) is something no Believer of
Paul’s gospel (Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 15.1-4) will experience. Paul stated clearly that the Lord will rescue Believers
from God’s wrath. The Lord’s return that
Paul taught was not the Lord’s advent revealed by the prophets of Israel. It was a new and previously unknown event,
which was why he called it a “mystery.”
The
purpose of the Rapture is twofold:
1)
The salvation of the Believer’s body with a new resurrection body or the Believer’s
glorification (Philippians 3:20-21).
2)
To rescue those Believers who are still alive at that time.
Perhaps
you’re beginning to understand why Paul referred to this event as the Body of
Christ’s “blessed hope.”
Therefore,
all those who errantly use certain scripture passages from the four gospels and
early Acts to teach the Rapture have failed to “rightly divide the Word of
truth” (Romans 2:15). Whether
knowingly or unknowingly they have played a prominent role in bringing about the
Post-Tribulation theory and in turn have frightened sincere Christians
instead of “comforting” them with the blessed truth that the Body of
Christ will be “delivered from the wrath to come” by the coming of
Christ Jesus in the first heaven to catch-away the members of the Body of
Christ before God pours out His wrath on this unbelieving, lost world (1
Thessalonians 1:10, 4:16-18, 5:9-11).
(To
be Continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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