 Will come just like a thief in the night while they are saying peace and safety then Destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape But you brethren are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness So then let us not sleep as others do but let us be alert and sober For those who sleep do their sleeping at night and those who get drunk get drunk at night But since we are of the day, let us be sober Having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation For god has not destined us for wrath But for obtaining salvation through our lord jesus christ who died for us So that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him therefore Encourage one another and build up one another just as you also are doing amen Let's pray briefly Heavenly father Lord I know that apart from you I could be of no benefit to your people So I pray that you would be here by your spirit to help me teach them and We also know lord That apart from you Your word could not be understood properly So help your people understand In christ's name. I pray amen All right, so this week remember we basically overviewed the chapter We discussed the high points and the structure of the text itself last week and we wanted to come back This week and take a look in particular in verse two Paul's reference First Thessalonians 5 verse 2 the reference to the day of the lord And then in verse 9 Paul says god has not destined us for wrath and we wanted to examine That's going to be a lot briefer. We wanted to examine that phrase there by paul So just to recap then Or that was just a brief recap But what I want to do this morning Um, all of you know a pastor mark has the that there's a printout That deals with I believe all of the text in the new testament that make reference that makes reference to the day of the lord That handout is on our website if you want to look it up So you could look that up print it out and look at all those texts in 30 minutes. There's no way I was thinking let me try to do that, but I'm not going to do that I think that what I'm going to do will be just as convincing And it's look at first and second a second thessalonians and look at paul's the language paul uses To describe that day and we'll see that the terminology is synonymous And the events are simultaneous What he's describing in these books and um So let's begin first with this text listen to what paul says In verse 3 While they are saying Peace and safety What does paul actually say? Does paul actually say that this the The state of affairs at that time will be one of peace and safety That's not what paul says Paul says That they will be saying So to infer That there must be peace and safety at that time Is not taking paul so literally He's making a statement Regarding what is going to be said and jesus says a similar thing In the oliva discourse he says that That time is going to be similar to the time of noah people were getting married married and being given in marriage and then The judgment of god comes so what paul literally says is That while people are saying he does not say that the actual conditions At the time of the lord's coming will be peaceful and safe times. That's not what paul says Second Second Peace and safety safety The fact that people in general believe That peace and safety are upon them when in fact god is judging them Is part of israel's history This is part of the history of israel is them believing that there was peace and they were safe And god was not judging and god would not judge but god was judging them It's the uh, it's the toad in the hot water right Add to this the fact that in the old testament and in the new But particularly i want to look at the old testament that in the old testament false prophets served to soothe those who were Experiencing god's judgment by proclaiming peace and safety Look at ezekiel chapter 13 verse 10 i'm gonna i'm gonna read from verse 8 Ezekiel 13 verse 8 therefore Thus says The lord god Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie Therefore behold i am against you Declare the lord god So my hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and other lying divinations They will have no place in my counts in the council of my people Nor will they be written down in the register of the house of israel Nor will they enter the land of israel That you may know that i am the lord god It is definitely Because they have misled my people by saying peace When there is no peace And when anyone builds a wall behold they plaster it over with white wash So tell those who plaster it over with white wash That it will fall and this was common if you read the old testament You know this the constant proclamation of peace when god's judgment was hanging over the people for their sins So If we just take a look at the language of the text what paul says is this is what people will be saying during this time And the fact that this proclamation is made doesn't mean that it conforms to reality People can be have been we see it in the history of israel People can be deceived and believe there is peace when the judgment of god is being poured out Clearly from these texts we can see that in the midst of god's judgment At times when there is no peace men can be deceived into believing that there is peace that quote there by Robert gundry is helpful. You can read it For yourselves And this is very important for the church then Because if if we are a people living in times of tribulation And the world is asleep While god is pouring out judgments Our responsibility is to awaken men and women Who are under such faulty delusions Nothing but prayerful spirit powered Evangelism from the pulpit and from the pew Has the power to awaken those who are slumbering And it is our responsibility to do this Particularly in the times that we now live Okay, so now um With regards to the day of the lord Specifically now know this phrase. Let's look at 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2 and verse 3 let no one in any way deceive you For it will not come The day of the lord unless The apostasy comes first And the man of lawlessness is revealed The son of destruction So in in the Distantional scheme when does the day of the lord occur? This is when god is pouring out his judgment during the period of tribulation Right seven-year period of god's judgment This is the day of god's wrath and vengeance on earth But what does paul tell us must happen before the day? Things What are the two things The apostasy must come first And the lawless The man of lawlessness is revealed first The son of destruction before The day of the lord Where does that put the day of the lord? After the tribulation After the tribulation of the days now So that's that's that's a matter of sequence right when do these events occur? They come after day of the lord comes after And um Let's continue to read the text who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship So that he takes the seat in the temple of god displaying himself as being god Do you not remember that while I was with you I was telling you these things And you not you know what restrains him now So that in his time he will be revealed for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way Then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will slay with the breath of his mouth Bringing to an end Excuse me and bring to an end by the appearing of his coming So when is the antichrist defeated or the man of lawlessness? When the lord comes at the second coming with the appearing of the lord And now What I want to take a look at in tessalonians with with that in mind And I know you probably have a lot of questions about who's there one restraining and but we'll take a look at this text More thoroughly another week. I want to deal specifically with the day of the lord now Let's look at some of the terminology This similar terminology if you look at first tessalonians chapter 4 Verse 15 Listen to what paul is is talking to us about For this we say to you by the word of the lord That we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep remember He's talking about the coming of christ and he's saying Believers who have passed away Believers who have passed away when the lord returns They will rise from their graves and Join their glorified, but I don't know how that happens, but they will be glorified They're going to go before us and then will be caught up With them as the lord is descending to earth This is the coming of the lord and again we as we saw last week. It's visible And audible. It's not secret Now look at second tessalonians chapter one second tessalonians chapter one and remember There's the Trumpet sound. There's the voice of the arch angel At the coming of the lord for his saints that are on earth and for the dead saints in First tessalonians 415 and following Now here this passage is speaking about god coming in judgment first tess Excuse me second tess one verse six for after All it is only just for god to repay with affliction Those who afflict you And to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well When This is when god comes to bring relief and refreshing to his people and to inflict judgment When the lord jesus will be revealed from heaven With his mighty angels in flaming fire. You see the synonymous language, right? First tess when he comes for his saints Right and the dead rise and believers are caught up with the lord jesus. What's going on? He's coming and you hear the sounds of angels and trumpets and here what does he do? He comes in judgment Those same mighty angels Are in flaming fire and what are they doing? They're dealing out retributions to those who do not know god and to those who do not obey the gospel of our lord Why is he coming? He's coming for judgment The appearing of christ The coming of the lord the day of the lord all of these events are the events that be they Um, they begin at his appearing And you could say that they began before that but that'll Take us a while to develop but for the sake of of of our discussion here Next look at First Thessalonians 4 16 For the lord himself will descend from heaven With a shout with the voice of an archangel with the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first Exactly what's happening In first Thessalonians excuse me second Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7 he's coming In judgment. He's coming to pour out his wrath on his enemies and before that. What does he do? He catches up his people Look at 5 2 Look at 5 2 1st Thess 5 2 For you yourselves know fully well that the day of the lord will come Just like a thief in the night Right unexpectedly the lord will appear he will come He will come for his people Now look at second Thess 2 1 now Now We request you brethren with regards to the coming of our lord jesus christ and are gathering together with him Or to him that you Not be quickly shaken From your composure Or be disturbed either by a spirit or a messenger or a letter as it If from us to the effect that the day of the lord has come In this text, what does uh, what is synonymous with the coming of our lord jesus christ? That's in verse 1 The day of the lord in verse 2 It's the same event The coming of the lord jesus christ And the day of the lord Very same event and in that day what does jesus do? He gathers together his people Gathering together Believers So you have a synonymous language there and again at his coming look at what happens verse 3 Second Thess 2 3 Let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come the day of the lord The coming of our lord jesus unless the apostasy comes first And the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction You have This synonymous language, but in 513 the five excuse me five three five three Five three on the day of the lord what happens? Destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child This is when the lord appears It is a day Of sudden destruction Look at 523 In chapter 5 first that's 523 Now may the god of peace and this is the benediction. This is at the end of the epistle now May the god of peace himself Sanctify you entirely And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved completely without blame At the coming of our lord jesus christ. What does that sound like? That's the end Right. May you be saved Sanctified kept by god So he appears To the lord jesus appears that that is if we are considering the times and epochs of gods dealing with men The last event In this age is the coming of the lord when jesus christ appears to raise the dead To gather those who are living to himself and then to come With his angels and with those saints to destroy the ungodly There are several other texts there, but you can look at those texts yourselves if if you turn over the page 417 is indent should be indented a little farther over In that text you have this terminology of being caught up And then into one the the gathering together I provided a an excerpt from kittles theological dictionary, and if you take a look the They view the Terms gathering together And caught up as synonymous So you could read that at your leisure. I'm not going to read that here. There's A bunch of greek that most people won't understand, but if you take your time you could figure it out But that's provided there for you. So it's the same event the gathering together the The catching up of god's people this is the same event and it occurs at christ's coming and it's not a it's not a secret catching up It's audible Right, it's visible He's coming with angels and fire to execute judgment It's not a secret rapture. It's a very visible manifestation of the glory of god Look at look at second Thessalonians to 10 110 second that's 110 So I remember the setting we read a few verses out of here, right? He's coming to pay to give retribution to those who Have afflicted his people. He's coming In verse nine I'll start from verse nine. He says these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction Away from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power Right, so he's coming in the judgment that he's going to inflict upon them. It's eternal When he comes Now if When he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day What is he doing on that day according to Paul? He's pouring out wrath, right? And where are his saints? They're here And his saints are aren't they're here on earth He comes to be glorified in them and to be marveled at among all Who have believed They're going to be we're going to be seeing All of that why because we're going to be here we're going to be raptured in heaven somewhere else Right The events are all together It's a it's he returns once There's not a secret coming and then a visible coming The way that paul explains it in first Thessalonians these the terminology is synonymous and the Event is simultaneous He comes Raises the dead Glorifies them glorifies his saints. He's with his angels In flaming fire and glory and he exacts judgment upon the earth Okay Now the last Peace here Is god has not destined us for wrath This is in first Thessalonians 5 verse 9 and I I know that if I was a dispensationalist and I believe that this passage clearly taught That the church would not suffer the wrath of god, but if we just read Which is true. We do not suffer the wrath of god, but we are here when he is pouring it out This was first that the second test 110 says but for the sake of Those who struggle with this which I did for a while trying to get my head wrapped around it But so for god has not destined us for wrath But for obtaining salvation through our lord jesus christ I think Well, is this fallacious thinking So here's the argument since the great tribulation Is to consist in part of the outpouring of god's wrath upon a decadent and sinful society And since god has not appointed his people to experience wrath Then we must conclude that the church is to be removed before god's wrath is poured out on earth That's dispensationalist thinking about this time. Is that fallacious? Is there a fallacy in there? There's a fallacy in there I'm going to read to you a funny story This is from one of my favorite books on fallacies The amazing dr. Ransom's bestiary of adorable fallacies While vacationing In the lake district with my friend hg wells It must have been 80 years ago now. We employed a robotic servant woman of his invention for a time It must be said she was a a wondrously simple machine She came back from the market one monday and while unloading her basket She commented awkwardly that if the price of apples went down She would save six pence And since she had found six pence on the road on the way to the market The price of the apples must have gone down I looked at herbert and wagged my eyebrow and meaningfully his robot woman needs a lesson in implication And that's what most dispensationalists need when they're studying this text is a lesson on implication Because um, here's where the mistake is Here's where the mistake is and since god has not appointed his people to experience wrath Then we must conclude that the church is to be removed But there are more options How about preserved through judgment? You see that's where the fallacious thinking is they they um are their instances When god judges the world and preserves his people in judgment Noah We immediately go to egypt and say israel, but Noah God flooded the entire world He drowned the world And he preserved Noah and his family in the midst of judgment and even the people of israel if we go there We see that while god was pouring out the plagues on egypt What happened People were safe He preserved his people And in the same way The people of god will suffer during this time they there are many christians We there is a sense where we're blessed to be here in america where we really don't suffer much Right and get some ridicule. Maybe our family members don't like us Maybe we go out preaching and we get cussed out or or treated roughly, but it's very minimal What we face here, but we have brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who die For the gospel Daily are dying are in prison are starving Are mistreated? so God's people Are here of second test 110 is clear when the lord returns When he comes to pour out his wrath And I believe it's fallacious. It's a fallacy To say that this text proves that point. No, this text is just saying that what christ came to do on the cross Will be effectually applied to his people. We will not suffer the wrath of god But we will go through tribulation and when he comes to judge his enemies if we're still alive Will marvel at his glory if we're in the grave will be raised first Glorified and then return with him in judgment. Let me briefly read them I think the best description of this period in history And that it's yet future you look at revelation 19 and verse 11 And I saw heaven open and behold A white horse And he who sat on it is called faithful and true And in righteousness he judged and wages war His eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diathems And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood And his name is called the word of god And the armies which are in heaven Clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses From his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations And he will rule them with a rod of iron And he treads the wine press of the fears fierce wrath of god the almighty And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords Then I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven Come assemble for the great supper of god So that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men And the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men both free and slaves and small and great And I saw the beast And the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army And the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence Of which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast And those who worshiped his image these two were thrown Alive into the lake of fire Which burns with brinstone and the rest were killed with the sword Which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh Amen and let's pray Heavenly father we thank you for your word and we thank you for paul's teaching on this subject I ask that you would uh continue to grant this clarity as we study these things and help us lord god to Rightly interpret your word Amen