2 Thessalonians 3

2 Thessalonians 3:1

V. PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS (3:1-15) A. For Mutual Prayer (3:1-5) 3:1 Paul felt the need for the prayers of the saints. This chapter opens with his request for prayer in three areas: (1) for the dissemination of the message; (2) for the triumph of the message; (3) for the preservation of the messengers. He desires that the word of the Lord may run swiftlya graphic picture of the gospel sprinting from place to place in spite of obstacles (see Psa_147:15). He also desires that the word will produce the same marvelous spiritual and moral revolutions elsewhere that it did in Thessalonica. 3:2 The third request is that the apostle and his co-workers might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. He seems to be referring to some specific opposition, probably from Jews in Corinth (Act_18:1-18). The choice of the word unreasonable was appropriate; there is nothing more irrational than people’s opposition to the gospel and its messengers. It is something that baffles explanation. They may talk reasonably about politics, science, or a host of other subjects, but when it comes to the gospel, they lose all sense of reason. 3:3 Don’t miss the beauty of the contrast between verse 2: not all have faith and verse 3: But the Lord is faithful. This teaches us to look away from faithless men to our never-failing God. He is faithful to confirm us to the end (1Co_1:9). He is faithful to deliver us out of temptation (1Co_10:13). He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jo_1:9). And here He is faithful to establish and to guard us from the evil one, i.e., Satan. 3:4 Not all have faith … the Lord is faithful … we have confidence [faith] in the Lord concerning you. As Denney has remarked, In the Lord you may depend on those who in themselves are weak, unstable, willful, foolish. Now Paul reminds the saints of their responsibility to do the things he commands them. Here again we have the wonderful and curious mingling of the divine and the human: God will keep you; now you keep the commandments. It is the same thought in 1Pe_1:5 : Kept by the power of God [His part], through faith [our part]. We also see it in Phi_2:12-13 : Work out your own salvation [our part], … for it is God who works in you [His part].3:5 In times of persecution it is easy to develop bitter thoughts toward others and to give up because of the duration and intensity of the suffering. It is for this reason that the apostle prays that the Thessalonians will love as God loves, and will be steadfast as Christ is steadfast. The KJV’s the patient waiting for Christ is translated the patience of Christ in the NKJV. In the 1611 version it would mean steadfastness while waiting for Christ’s Return. In the NKJV, it means showing the same patience or endurance which Christ showed as a Man on earth and which He still shows as Man in heaven. The Lord in this verse may refer to the Holy Spirit, and thus all three members of the Trinity would be mentioned, as they are in 2Th_2:13-14.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

B. For Dealing with the Insubordinate (3:6-15) 3:6 It seems clear that some of the saints at Thessalonica had stopped working for a living because they were so intently waiting for the Lord’s return. Paul does not encourage this as a spiritual attitude, but proceeds to give definite instructions as to how to deal with such brethren. His instructions are in the form of a command to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly, that is one who does not keep in step with the others, but who refuses to work, and who sponges off others (see vv. 10, 11). Believers should show their disapproval of such a brother by refusing to mingle with him socially. The offense is not serious enough to warrant excommunication from the church, however. The tradition which the Thessalonians received from Paul was one of tireless industry, hard work, and self-support. 3:7 He did not abandon his tent-making just because he knew the Lord Jesus was coming again. He was indeed expecting Christ to come at any moment, but he was serving and working with the realization that the Lord might not come during his lifetime. 3:8 No one could accuse him of planting himself in someone’s home and eating the food which someone else’s toil had earned. He earned his own living while he was preaching the gospel. This meant long days and weary nights, but Paul was determined that he would not be a burden to any of them. 3:9 As a preacher of the gospel, the apostle had a right to be supported by those who were converted through his ministry (1Co_9:6-14; 1Ti_5:18). But he preferred to forego his right in order that he might be an example of noble independence and unwearied diligence. 3:10 The Thessalonians had already been commanded not to support shirkers. If an able-bodied Christian refused to work, neither should he eat. Does this conflict with the fact that believers should always be kind? Not at all! It is not a kindness to encourage laziness. Spurgeon says, The truest love to those who err is not to fraternize with them in their error but to be faithful to Jesus in all things.3:11 Now the apostle uses a delightful play on words to bring out the inconsistency of the pseudo-spirituality of these disorderly brothers. His words have been paraphrased variously as follows:

1. Some who don’t attend to business but are busybodies.2. Some that are not busy people but are busybodies.3. Some that are not busy in their own business but are over-busy in other people’s business.4. Minding everybody’s business but their own.3:12 All such are commanded and exhorted through our Lord Jesus Christ to work without fanfare and earn their own living. This is a good testimony and glorifies God. 3:13 Those who have been working faithfully are encouraged to press on. It is the end of the race that counts, not the beginning; so they should not grow weary in doing the right thing. 3:14 But what about a man who refuses to obey the apostle’s instructions? The other Christians should discipline him by refusing to have social fellowship with him. The purpose of this discipline is to shame him for his behavior and constrain him to mend his ways. 3:15 However, this discipline is not as strong as excommunication. Here the offender is still looked on as a brother. In excommunication, he is counted as a heathen and a tax-collector (Mat_18:17). The discipline of a believer always has in view his restoration to the Lord and to the people of God. It should not be carried out in a spirit of bitterness or enmity, but rather in Christian courtesy and firmness. He should not be treated as an enemy, but rather as a brother. It seems strange to us today that Christians in Thessalonica were so ardently looking for the Lord’s return that they abandoned their daily duties. That does not seem to be a peril to the church today! We have gone to the opposite extreme. We are so taken up with business and money-making that we have lost the freshness and thrill of the hope of His imminent coming.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

VI. BLESSING AND GREETING (3:16-18) 3:16 This verse has been called a peaceful close to a stormy Epistle. In it Paul prays that the suffering saints at Thessalonica may know the peace of the Lord of peace at all times and in every way. The Christian is not dependent on anything in this world for his serenity. It is based entirely on the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. The world cannot give it or take it away. But we must appropriate it in all the circumstances of life. Peace is not cessation from persecution, but is the calm of heart that comes from faith in God and that is independent of circumstances.3:17, 18 At this point Paul apparently took the pen from the hand of his amanuensis (secretary) and wrote the closing salutation. He speaks of his greeting as being the sign in every epistle he writes.

Some have understood this to mean that Paul’s own handwriting at the end of each Letter proved it to be genuinely his. Others believe that the sign is the characteristic Pauline benediction: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all (Rom_16:24; 1Co_16:23; 2Co_13:14; Gal_6:18; Eph_6:24; Phi_4:23; Col_4:18; 1Th_5:28; 1Ti_6:21; 2Ti_4:22; Tit_3:15; Phm_1:25; and, if Paul wrote Hebrews, Heb_13:25). From these references, we see that all his Epistles end on a grace note.

EXCURSUS ON THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH The truth of the Lord’s return appears in each chapter of 1 Thessalonians and in the first two chapters of the Second Epistle. It is the unifying theme, the golden thread throughout the pattern. But we must always remember that prophecy is not designed to intrigue our intellect or challenge our curiosity. Its purpose is to exert a transforming influence on our lives. For believers the hope of the imminent return of Christ has practical implications of vast significance.

1. It should have a purifying influence on our lives (1Th_5:23; 1Jo_3:3).
2. It should burden us to pray and work for the salvation of the lost (Gen_19:14; Eze_33:6; Jud_1:21-23).
3. It should encourage us to persevere in spite of persecution and trial (Rom_8:18; 2Co_4:17; 1Th_4:13-18).
4. It should make us reduce our holdings of material possessions; their value declines as His coming approaches (see Lev_25:8-10, Lev_25:14-16).
5. It should constrain us to apologize to anyone we have wronged and to make restitution where necessary (Mat_5:24; Jam_5:16).
6. It should inspire us to diligent service knowing that the night is coming when no one can work (Joh_9:4; 1Th_1:9-10 a).
7. It should keep us in the attitude of expectancy (Luk_12:36) and abiding in Him so we will not be ashamed before Him as His coming (1Jo_2:28).
8. It should make us bold to confess Christ (Mar_8:38; Luk_9:26).
9. It should prove to be a comforting hope (Joh_14:1-3, Joh_14:28; 1Th_4:18; 2Th_1:7; 2Ti_2:12).
10. It should be an encouragement to moderation, gentleness, and sweet reasonableness (Phi_4:5).
11. It should be a motive for unity and love (1Th_3:12-13).
12. It should encourage an other-worldly attitude (Col_3:1-4).
13. It should be a reminder of coming review and reward (Rom_14:10-12; 1Co_3:11-15; 2Co_5:10).
14. It should be used as a powerful appeal in preaching the gospel (Act_3:19-21; Rev_3:3). For those who are not believers, the truth of Christ’s return should lead them to repent of their sins and make a full commitment of their lives to him as Lord and Savior. Only those who are in Christ will go to be with Him at the Rapture. The rest will be left behind for judgment. What if it were today? Because of the importance of Christ’s coming in Thessalonians and in the Christian life, we add the following summaries:

Arguments for the Pretribulation Rapture

1. The first argument is based on imminency. There are many Scriptures that indicate that Christians should be looking for the Lord to come at any time. We should be watching and waiting, not knowing the time of His coming. If the church has to go through the Tribulation, then we cannot be looking for Him to come at any moment. In fact, He could not come for at least seven years, since we are not in the Tribulation now, and when it comes, it will last for seven years. The pretribulation view is the only one you can hold and still believe that Christ may come at any moment. Here are some of the verses that indicate that we should be constantly looking for the Lord to come since we do not know the time of that event. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body (Rom_8:23). For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes (1Co_11:26 Written to the Corinthians, this implied that the Lord might come in their lifetime.) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven (2Co_5:2 Believers will be clothed with their glorified bodies at the Rapture.) For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal_5:5 The hope of righteousness is the coming of the Lord and the glorified body which we will receive at that time.) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (Phi_3:20-21). Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand (Phi_4:5). For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1Th_1:9-10). Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Tit_2:13). So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (Heb_9:28). For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry (Heb_10:37). Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (Jam_5:7-9). But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers (1Pe_4:7). And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1Jo_3:3). Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jud_1:21. Here the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ is His return to take His blood-bought people home to heaven). Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown (Rev_3:11). Behold I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book (Rev_22:7). And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work (Rev_22:12). He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Rev_22:20). There are other texts which, while they might not refer directly to the Rapture, yet add to the general impression that the coming of Christ is imminent. Throughout its history, the believing church has held that the time of Christ’s coming is unknown and that therefore it could occur at any moment. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect (Mat_24:42-44). But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is comingin the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morninglest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mar_13:32-37). And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately (Luk_12:36). So that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Co_1:7). Christ Jesus, who is about to judge living and dead (2Ti_4:1, JND). Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour (1Jo_2:18). Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you (Rev_3:3 b). Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame (Rev_16:15).
2. The second argument is based on the promise that the church will be delivered from the wrath to come. In Rom_5:9, Paul says that we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 1Th_1:10 describes the Lord Jesus as our Deliverer from the wrath to come. And in 1Th_5:9 we learn that God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. The word wrath may refer to the wrath of the Tribulation Period, or it may refer to God’s eternal judgment on unbelievers. In the Thessalonian Epistles, the context favors the wrath of the Tribulation (see 1Th_5:2-3; 2Th_1:6-10; 2Th_2:10-12.
3. In Rev_3:10, Christ promises to keep His people from (Greek ek, meaning out of) the hour of trial, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
4. The structure of the book of Revelation bears out the teaching of the pre-tribulation Rapture. In chapters 2 and 3 the church is seen on earth, but after chapter 3 it is never mentioned again as being on earth. In chapters 4 and 5 the saints are seen in heaven, wearing victor’s crowns. Then follows the Tribulation on earth in chapters 6-19. The church saints are already in heaven.
5. The Tribulation Period will not begin until the man of sin has been revealed (2Th_2:3). But the man of sin will not be revealed until first the restrainer is removed (2Th_2:7-8). The Holy Spirit certainly answers to the name of restrainer; He hinders or restrains the full development of evil as long as the church is in the world. He will be removed as the Indweller of the church at the time of the Rapture. In one sense the Holy Spirit always was in the world and always will be. But there was a special sense in which He came at Pentecost, i.e., as the permanent Indweller of believers and of the church. It is in that sense that He will be removed at the Rapture. This does not mean that the Spirit of God will not carry on a ministry during the Tribulation. He will still convict and convert sinners. But He will not permanently indwell them and He will not incorporate them into the church. His ministry will be somewhat comparable to what it was in the OT period.
6. In 1Th_4:18 the Rapture is spoken of as a comforting prospect. The Day of the Lord does not come as a comforter but as a thief in the night (1Th_5:2). It is a time of sudden destruction (v. 3) and wrath (v. 9) from which there will be no escape (v. 3). In contrast, the Rapture is an ever-brightening hope, not an ever-frightening hope.
7. There must be an interval of time between Christ’s coming for His saints and His coming with His saints. When Christ comes for His saints, all believers will be taken out of the world and will receive their glorified bodies (1Co_15:51). Yet when Christ comes back to reign, there will be saved people who are still in their natural bodies, as is seen by the fact that they will be raising children (Isa_65:20-25; Zec_8:5). If the Rapture and the Revelation take place at the same time (the post-tribulation view), then where do these latter people come from? There is a second reason why there must be an interval of time between the Rapture and the reign. The Judgment Seat of Christ must take place in heaven following the Rapture, when the Lord will judge the faithfulness of His saints and reward them accordingly (2Co_5:10). The rewards given at this time will determine the extent of rule given to individual saints during the Millennium (Luk_19:17, Luk_19:19). If the Rapture and the coming to reign occurred simultaneously, there would be no time for the Judgment Seat of Christ to take place.
8. The only way the Day of the Lord will overtake anyone is as a thief in the night (1Th_5:2). Yet Paul distinctly states that it will not overtake believers as a thief in the night (1Th_5:4). Therefore it will not overtake believers at all. Why not? Two reasons are given: (1) Believers are not children of the night but of the day (1Th_5:4-5). (2) God has not appointed believers to wrath (1Th_5:9).
9. At the time of the Rapture, believers go to the Father’s house (Joh_14:3), not straight back to the earth, as post-tribulationists affirm.
10. The Tribulation is distinctly Jewish in character. It is called the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer_30:7). Note the Jewish references in Matthew 24: Judea (v. 16), the Sabbath (v. 20), the holy place (v. 15). These terms have nothing to do with the church.
11. Several of the OT types point to a pretribulation Rapture. We do not build doctrine on types, but these types do fit the pretribulation view. Enoch, a type of the church, was translated before the waters of God’s judgment fell, whereas Noah and his family, types of the believing Jewish remnant, were preserved through the flood. Lot was delivered from Sodom before the fires of judgment fell. Abraham’s offering of Isaac prefigures God offering His Son on Calvary. The first time Isaac is mentioned after that incident is when he went out to meet his bride and to take her back to his home. So Christ’s first appearance after His Ascension will be when He comes to take His bride home to heaven. Elijah was translated to heaven before judgment was meted out to the wicked Jezebel.
12. The first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy (9:24-27) extend from the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 b.c. to the crucifixion of Christ. They have nothing to do with the church. Why then should the church be found in the seventieth week, which is the Tribulation Period? (Actually the Church Age occurs in an unmentioned parenthetical period between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks.)

Arguments against the Pretribulation Rapture and in favor of a Post-tribulation Rapture.

1. The promise in Rev_3:10 is not that saints will be saved out of the Tribulation but that they will be kept through it (compare Joh_17:15). Answer: The words translated keep you from in this verse literally mean keep out of. The preposition in Greek (ek) means out of. So the thought is not that the church will be preserved in or through the Tribulation, but that it will be kept out of it altogether. The same words are used in Joh_17:15 where Jesus prays, I do not pray that you shall take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. Plummer comments, Just as Christ is that in which his disciples live and move, so the evil one is that out of [ek] which He prays that they might be kept. The prayer has been answered; believers have been kept out of Satan’s dominion, and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
2. The Greek of Rom_5:3 says, … the Tribulation works patience.Answer: Paul is not saying that the only time that tribulation works patience is during the Tribulation Period. His argument clearly is that the tribulation that believers undergo in this life develops patience. Also, in Greek, as in French and Spanish, abstract nouns often have the article, hence the translation tribulation is correct.
3. Christians have always been promised Tribulation (Joh_16:33). There is no reason why we shouldn’t go through it. Answer: No one denies that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God (Act_14:22). But there is a vast difference between the tribulation that is the portion of every believer and the Tribulation Period that awaits a Christ-rejecting world.
4. 2Th_1:7 shows that the saints will not obtain rest until the Lord Jesus returns to earth at the end of the Tribulation. Answer: The Thessalonians to whom this was written have already received their rest in heaven. But the doom of their persecutors and the vindication of the saints will be manifested to the world when the Lord Jesus returns in power and great glory.
5. According to Act_3:21, the heavens will hold the Lord Jesus until the times of restoration of all things, that is, the Millennium. Answer: These words were spoken to the men of Israel (v. 4). As far as the nation of Israel is concerned, the statement is true. It agrees with the Savior’s words to Jerusalem in Mat_23:39, You shall see Me no more till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! That will take place at the end of the Tribulation Period. But the church will have been Raptured to heaven seven years earlier.
6. Psa_110:1 says that Christ will sit at the right hand of God until all His enemies are destroyed. This will be at the end of the Tribulation. Answer: In Rev_20:8-9, we read of some who will be enemies of Christ at the end of the Millenniumthat Isaiah 1000 years after the close of the Tribulation. The right hand of God may describe a position of honor and power as well as a geographical location.
7. In Tit_2:13, the blessed hope is the same as the glorious appearing. Therefore the Rapture takes place at the same time as the Revelation. Therefore, we do not look for a pretribulation Rapture but for Christ’s coming to reign. Answer: This argument is based on a rule of Greek syntax called Granville Sharp’s rule which says: When two nouns connected by and (Greek kai) are in the same case, and a definite article precedes the first noun but not the second, the second noun refers to the same person or thing the first noun does and is a further description of it. To give an example, Tit_2:13 says, the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. The words God and Savior are connected by and; they are in the same case (objects of preposition of); the definite article (part of Greek for our) precedes God but not Savior. Therefore, according to Granville Sharp’s rule, the word Savior refers to the same person as God and is a further description of Him. This proves, of course, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is God. Now in the same verse, it says in the Greek, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing. Thus it is claimed that, according to Granville Sharp’s rule, the blessed hope is the same as the glorious appearing, and since the glorious appearing is generally understood to be Christ’s coming to reign, the believer’s hope is not a pretribulation Rapture but Christ’s coming in glory to the earth. There are two answers to this. First of all, like all good rules, Granville Sharp’s rule has exceptions. One is in Luk_14:23 where the Greek reads, Go out into the highways and hedges. If the rule holds, then we must believe that highways are the same as hedges! A second exception is in Eph_2:20 : the foundation of the apostles and prophets. But no careful student would say that apostles and prophets are the same. But even supposing that the blessed hope is the same as the glorious appearing, what is to prevent us from looking on the Rapture as Christ’s glorious appearing to the church whereas the Revelation is His glorious appearing to the world? The words apokalupsis (revelation) and epiphaneia (shining forth or appearing) could refer to the Rapture as well as to Christ’s coming to reign.
8. Other Scriptures which show that the believer’s hope is Christ’s coming to reign are 1Co_1:7; 1Ti_6:14; 2Ti_4:8; 1Pe_1:7, 1Pe_1:13; 1Pe_4:13. Answer: The words revelation and appearing used in these passages apply both to Christ’s coming for His saints and to His coming with His saints. First, He reveals Himself and appears to the church, then later to the world. But even if all the verses quoted did refer to Christ’s coming to reign, it should be clear that the believer’s hope embraces all the blessings of the prophetic future. We look forward to the Rapture, Christ’s coming to reign, the Millennium, and the eternal state.
9. The traditional hope of the church has not been the pretribulation Rapture. This only began in the last 160 years or so through the teaching of J. N. Darby. Answer: The NT church was waiting for God’s Son from heaven. The saints did not know when He would come so they watched for Him at any time. Arguments directed at what any person did or did not teach are called ad hominem (to the person) and are regarded as irrelevant to an issue. The question is What does Scripture teach?, not What did so-and-so teach?10. The last trumpet of 1Co_15:52 and the trumpet of God (1Th_4:16) are connected with the Rapture and are the same as the seventh trumpet of Rev_11:15. Since the seventh trumpet sounds at the end of the Tribulation when the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, the return must be post-tribulational. Answer: These trumpets are not all the same. The last trumpet is the same as the trumpet of God. It announces the Rapture and signals the resurrection of believers and their translation to the Father’s house. It is the last trumpet for the church. The seventh trumpet in Rev_11:15 is the last in a series of judgments during the Tribulation. It is the last trumpet for unbelieving Israel and unbelieving Gentiles. The last trumpet of 1Co_15:52, also called the trumpet of God (1Th_4:16), takes place before the Tribulation. The seventh trumpet takes place at the end of the Tribulation.
10. The first resurrection of Rev_20:4-5 takes place at the end of the Tribulation, and not seven years earlier, as the pretribulationists state. Answer: The first resurrection is not an isolated event but a series. It began with the resurrection of Christ (1Co_15:23). The next stage will be the resurrection of believers at the Rapture. The third stage will be the resurrection of Tribulation saints at the time of Christ’s return to the earth (Rev_20:4-5). In other words, the first resurrection includes the resurrection of Christ and of all true believers, no matter when they are raised. All unbelievers will be raised at the end of the Millennium to stand before the Great White Throne (Rev_20:11-15).
11. In Mat_13:24-30, the wheat and tares grow together until the end of the age, that is, until the end of the Tribulation. Answer: True, but this parable is speaking of the kingdom of heaven and not of the church. There will be true and false people in the kingdom until the end of the Tribulation.
12. The Rapture couldn’t be secret because there will be a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God (1Th_4:16). Answer: The teaching that the Rapture will be secret is based on the fact that it will take place in the twinkling of an eye (1Co_15:52). It will be all over before the world has a chance to see anything or to know what has happened.
13. George Mfcller, Samuel Tregelles, Oswald Smith, and other noted men have held the post-tribulation view. Answer: The argument proves nothing. There have been great men on both sides of the question.
14. Most references in the NT to Christ’s coming refer to His coming to reign. Answer: This does not deny the truth of the Rapture. Just because there are more references to heaven than to hell in the NT does not mean that there is no hell.
15. The church will not endure the wrath of God in the Tribulation, but it will endure the wrath of the Antichrist or the wrath of Satan. Answer: Six times in the book of Revelation the wrath of the Tribulation Period is identified as the wrath of God: Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (Rev_14:9-10). So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God (Rev_14:19). Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete (Rev_15:1). Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever (Rev_15:7). Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth (Rev_16:1). Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath (Rev_16:19).
16. When Jesus says, I am coming quickly (Rev_22:7, Rev_22:12, Rev_22:20), it does not mean at any moment. Rather it means that His coming will be sudden. Answer: It is a debated point. Even if it does mean sudden, there are still verses like Heb_10:37, For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.18. The restrainer in 2Th_2:6-8 is not the Holy Spirit but the Roman government or the power of God. Answer: This has been discussed in the notes on that passage.
17. Christ’s coming couldn’t have been imminent in the apostolic days because Peter and Paul both knew that they would die (Joh_21:18-19; 2Pe_1:14-15; 2Ti_4:6). Answer: Paul sometimes spoke of himself as being alive when the Lord returns (1Th_4:15) and sometimes as being among those believers who would die and be raised (Phi_3:10-11). That is the proper attitude for all of us. We expect the Lord to come in our lifetime, but we realize that we may die before the Rapture. Peter believed that the end of all things was at hand (1Pe_4:7), and he condemned those scoffers who denied the Lord’s coming by saying that all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation (2Pe_3:4).
18. The Lord’s coming cannot be at any moment because the gospel must go out to all the world before He comes (Mat_24:14). Answer: This refers to the gospel of the kingdom (v. 14) which will go out to all the world during the Tribulation Period. The terms of this gospel are, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and when Christ comes, you will enter the Millennium with Him. It is the same way of salvation that we preach, but ours looks forward to the Rapture. In other words, we say, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and when Jesus comes, you will go to the Father’s house with Him.21. Passages like Mat_28:19-20 and Act_1:8 speak of the gospel going out to all the nations and to the end of the earth. This being so, it was not possible for the Lord to come during the lifetime of the apostles. Answer: In Col_1:6, Col_1:23, Paul states that all the world and every creature under heaven had heard the gospel. In Rom_10:18, the gospel is said to have gone to the ends of the world. Of course, we understand that these passages refer to the known world at that time, the countries adjacent to the Mediterranean.
19. Paul’s long term missionary plans, as given in Act_18:21; Act_23:11; Rom_15:22-25, Rom_15:30-31, show that he did not expect the Lord to come in the immediate future. Answer: Paul’s plans were made, subject to the will of God (Act_18:21; Rom_1:10; 1Co_4:19). He worked as if the Lord would not come back in his lifetime, but waited and watched as if He would return at any time.
20. Paul spoke of perilous times in the last days (1Ti_4:1-3; 2Ti_3:1-5). This presupposed a time lapse during which the Lord would not come. Answer: Paul also said the mystery of iniquity was already working (2Th_2:7), and John said it was the last hour in his day (1Jo_2:18). These men did not see any problem here that made the hope of Christ’s imminent return impossible.
21. Parables such as Mat_25:14-30 and Luk_19:11-27 presuppose that a long period of time would elapse before the Lord returned. Therefore the early believers could not have been looking for the Lord to come at any moment. Answer: Apparently the early believers did not base their doctrine on parables because they were looking for the Rapture! (1Th_1:10). But quite apart from that, the long time of Mat_25:19 is too indefinite to rule out imminency. The parable in Luke teaches that the kingdom would not appear immediately (Luk_19:11), but this does not preclude an any-moment Rapture of the church.