Dear Friends,
Last week, Paul ended Chapter 3 this way:
….To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 3:13
If Jesus is going to return with all his saints, He will have to take us out of the world first, before He comes back. Only then could He return with all of us. That is the main theme of the chapter before us, the rapture of the church.
1 Thessalonians 4 contains a clear prophecy warning us to prepare as well as information about how to do so. Father, give us understanding as we read thy word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 4
1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God [not men], so ye would abound more and more.
2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication [Gk porneia]:
When Paul wrote this letter there were only a few rules for Christians: [1] That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, [2] and from blood, [3] and from things strangled, [4] and from fornication [Gk porneia]: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:29) Paul later modified these rules slightly in some of the epistles he wrote, but basically, if we love people and love God we are keeping the rules. Using porneia and/or fornicating is not loving others. It is loving yourself. Jesus said we are to deny ourselves. In our day and age, the dirtiest and most horrible things that would be a shame even to speak of are only a click away. As in Paul’s day, in our day there is the strange woman that flatters with her words, luring her victim to her as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. There is grace and forgiveness for anyone who comes to the Lord Jesus and if you cry out to Him for help, He can give you the strength to overcome any addiction. It is time for the bride to make herself ready. (Rev 19:7) Considering we are only given a few simple rules to follow, it behooves us to follow them. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter [like stealing his wife or fiancée]: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Solomon wrote An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked. The world considers it an abomination not to engage in sexual sin but once one receives the Holy Spirit it makes perfect sense. Holiness is not a topic that is often discussed anymore in churches, but that is what we are called to.
9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
John 15:12-17
10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
According to the Bible love is not something you feel, but something you do.
11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
In Paul’s day, the Jews felt that manual labor gave one dignity. The Greeks looked down on manual labor as something for slaves to do.
13 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.
Paul is trying to teach us something, so that we sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. If we can comprehend what he is telling us it will be a tremendous comfort that gives us hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 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 [come before] them which are asleep.
16 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:
Revelation 1:10 and 4:1 give us clues into what Paul is telling us in verse 16. Jesus’ voice is is like a trumpet. In the Old Testament, Jesus was sometimes called the angel of the LORD. (I personally believe there may be instances in the New Testament as well where this term refers to Jesus.) We know from Daniel 10:13 there is more than one archangel, but Jesus is above them all. Therefore, He can be called the archangel. There are many commanders in the military, but the president is commander-in-chief. Paul is simply describing Jesus’ voice.
17 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 with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:8 says that when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. Therefore, there are many in heaven now who have not received their glorified bodies as of yet. They are absent from their bodies. The Lord Jesus Christ is the first begotten of the dead. Jesus has already received his glorified body, while the rest of us are still waiting to receive ours, even those of us who have gone on to be with the Lord. The dead in Christ will be the first to receive their glorified bodies (v 16), then those of us who are alive and remain will receive ours, ie we will be translated. (v 17) We have tended to imagine that those who are raptured will disappear, but it doesn’t say that. What if somewhere they will be having an open casket funeral when suddenly the dearly departed wakes up and then ascends through the ceiling while everyone is watching? Elisha saw Elijah get raptured. When Jesus was raptured from the Mount of Olives the disciples all saw it happen. The world is going to watch the two witnesses get raptured. (Rev 11:12) Even if it is only a disappearance, disappearing cadavers and people will cause quite a stir. Satan is preparing. Some, like QAnon cult leader Parinya Champ, for example, are already saying that the people who get taken are going to be the bad ones while the good ones will be left behind; they are the ones ready to make the ‘evolutionary leap’ to the ‘next plane of consciousness’. (But then why will some of the dead be taken? Hopefully, people will ask themselves that question.) We can see they are preparing the strong delusion as the Pentagon recently revealed its UFO department to the public. They are going to say we were beamed to a remedial planet because we weren’t ready to coexist with the one world religion. You would think something like the dead rising and ascending or mass disappearances would cause everyone to repent but Jesus said If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:31) However it is that it takes place, it is going to be awesome. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor 15:52)
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4
The chapter ends with Paul telling us that we should comfort one another with these words. This is one of the many reasons I believe in a pre-trib rapture. To begin with, if we have to go through the great tribulation period, a rapture at the end of it all would not be much of a comfort, considering I would probably already be beheaded by that time. (Rev 20:4) It isn’t in God’s nature to make us go through all that. Abraham asked if God would destroy Sodom if there were still ten righteous there and God said no. (Gen 18:32) Abraham did not press the issue any further, but it appears that the real number was one. Lot was the last righteous person left in Sodom and God had angels drag him out by force before He destroyed the city. That is good news because Jesus cited this story when talking about his second coming. It’s also good news because if there was hope for Lot there is hope for anyone.
….This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
— The apostle Paul
In closing, if you carefully study the Coronavirus Update below, you will see that all of the fear surrounding COVID-19 is unnecessary. If our governors and other leaders would simply listen to the truth, we would have nothing to worry about. The same can be said for the New World Order and the Antichrist. There are a lot of Christians who live in fear when there is no reason to. If you carefully consider what Paul is saying in this chapter and study what I have written below, you will see that we as Christians have nothing to be afraid of. As long as we are walking with Jesus, we can be sure that we will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air before the Antichrist is even revealed.
One of the key chapters to unlocking the Bible is Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23 lists the Jewish feast days. There were three particular feasts for which attendance was mandatory for Jewish males (Ex 23:14ff): Passover, Pentecost and the feast of Booths. Each of these three feasts has a prophetic meaning.
Passover – the Crucifixion. (Fulfilled on the exact day.)
Pentecost – the birth of the church. (Fulfilled on the exact day.)
Booths – the millennial reign of Christ. (Not yet fulfilled.)
Another one of these feasts is called Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets. The prophetic meaning of this feast is the rapture of the church. The ‘last trump’ in 1 Corinthians 15:52 is a reference to the Tekiah Ha’Gadola, which is blown on the last day of the Feast of Trumpets. Paul’s readers would have readily understood this to be the plain meaning. A good rule to follow is when the plain sense makes good sense don’t seek any other sense lest it be nonsense. It cannot be a reference to the last trumpet judgment in the Book of Revelation because Revelation was not written yet. Since the prophetic meanings of Passover and Pentecost were fulfilled on the exact day of the feast, it follows that the rapture will likely occur on Rosh Hashanah at the last trump, just as Paul said.
Those who teach the ‘post-trib’ view mainly rely on one passage in Matthew 24 to prove their point:
….Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, […]
….And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:29a, 31
If you read this carefully it says the elect will be gathered from one end of heaven to the other. The church is in heaven during the tribulation period. This second gathering at the end of the tribulation period will include the tribulation saints who managed to survive and those who were martyred during the great tribulation period. (Mk 13:27) Consider:
1. Jesus said there was a way to escape the coming judgment. (Luke 21:36)
2. Jesus pointed to the days of Noah and the days of Lot to explain his second coming (Luke 17:26-29). In both cases, God’s people were spared from God’s wrath. Enoch was raptured before the flood (Gen 5:24), and Lot and his family were dragged out of Sodom by angels before the judgment of Sodom.
3. 2 Peter 3:10 says that the judgment will come like a thief in the night. Jesus said He will come as a thief (Rev 15:16), and in such an hour as we think not (Matt 24:44). However, Daniel 12:11 says that those who are alive during the great tribulation period will be able to calculate the day of the Second Coming. Therefore, the rapture must be separate from the Second Coming.
4. In Matthew 24:38-42, Jesus said it will be ‘business as usual’ when He comes back, not an ultra-chaotic time of epic catastrophes and judgments. Again referring to the days before the flood, He said they will likewise be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. After that, He said, Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
5. In Revelation 13:7, it says power was given to the Antichrist to make war with the saints and overcome them. Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. (Matt 16:18) Therefore, the saints in Revelation 13:7 are tribulation saints, not the church. The church is no longer on earth at this point.
6. In 2 Thessalonians 2, the Bible says he who now letteth [hinders] will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed... In tennis, when a serve is hindered by the net it is called (from the old English word) a ‘let’. He who now letteth is the Holy Spirit working through the church. When the church is gone the Holy Spirit will no longer be acting as a restraining force in the world, but the Holy Spirit will never be removed as a witness convicting the hearts of men and comforting the saints. (Matt 28:20) He is omnipresent (Ps 139:7f)
7. Paul prefaced the verses in Chapter 4 concerning the rapture by stating that Jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thess 1:10) This verse is dismissed by post-trib folks because it is written in the past tense. However, the prophetic tense often is the past tense (eg Isa 50:6).
8. Again, after 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 where Paul describes the rapture, he underscores the doctrine of a pre-trib rapture by stating, For God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation. (1 Thess 5:9a)
9.) Those who believe that the church will go through the tribulation period have been robbed of the blessed hope (Tit 2:13) that all believers should have.
10). In both the Gospels and the Revelation, Jesus says exactly eight times, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear… In the Gospels, the church was not born yet,* and therefore not mentioned in this phrase. In the Revelation, the first seven times we see this statement in chapters 2 and 3, it says He that an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. The eighth time in Chapter 13, church is omitted, because the church is no longer on the earth after chapters 2 and 3.
11.) I often hear people claim that John Nelson Darby invented the pre-trib view in 1830 AD. This is not true. Not only did Jesus and the apostles teach a pre-trib rapture, but so did Pseudo-Ephraem, 1000 years before Darby (Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem); Justin Martyr, in the second century (Dialogue With Trypho); Irenaeus, also second century (Against Heresies); and others as well.
12.) In Genesis 18, Abraham asked God, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (Gen 18:23b) The dialogue that followed proved the answer to be no. That is why Lot and his family were rescued.
13.) The first time Jesus came people were confused by the fact that there are two parts to his coming. They wanted Him to set up his kingdom at that time. Therefore it makes sense that people are confused by the fact that there are two parts to his Second Coming.
14.) After the letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, John hears a voice as a trumpet, saying Come up hither, which signifies the rapture as John is caught up. After that, the church is not mentioned in the Revelation again, except in heaven. (Rev 5:9, 10)
To recap, in Luke 17:26-28 and Matthew 24:38-42, Jesus showed that His people are saved from his wrath and that He can come at any moment. In other words,
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
—The Lord Jesus Christ
Lord, thank You for the comfort of the blessed hope. Please draw us closer to your Son. Direct our paths. Fill us daily with your Holy Spirit. Please count us worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before your Son. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
*All mainline scholars agree that the birth of the church occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, fifty days after the crucifixion.
Coronavirus Update: With all of the corroboration and affirmation mounting that Hydroxychloroquine is a cheap, safe, and very effective way to treat COVID (just as I posted four months ago) Twitter has taken the unprecedented step of completely removing the president’s tweets about Hydroxychloroquine and has suspended Don Jr’s account. In the link above there is a video of a press conference where Dr Simone Gold references americasfrontlinedoctors.com where she says she has a “compendium” of scientific studies that have been published proving the safety and efficacy of Hydroxychlorquine. Not surprisingly, the website was immediately taken down by Squarespace. If everyone finds out there is a cheap drug that is safe and effective then they won’t want an expensive vaccine that is unsafe and ineffective. The NWO can’t have that.
