Not Disappointed
Dearly beloved of God, I and II Thessalonians contain the joyful proclamation of God concerning our hope of glory in Jesus Christ our Lord.
I Thessalonians 4: 13-18 WTJ
13⌄ Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who fall asleep, so that you are not grieved as the others who have no hope.
14⌄ Moreover, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so we believe that God by means of Jesus will bring those who have fallen asleep to be with him.
15⌄ Moreover, we say this to you by the Word of the Lord that we who remain alive until the coming of the lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep,
16⌄ because the lord himself will descend from heaven with a summoning shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17⌄ After that, we who remain alive will be snatched up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the lord.
18⌄ Wherefore encourage one another with these words.
This is “THE WORD OF THE LORD.” It is not what someone supposes the hope to be. It is not a someone’s opinion about our hope. This is the Word of Lord Himself.
Why would anyone want to argue with Him about it? He is the One that determined it ahead of time; He planned for it, and He will bring it to pass by the good pleasure of His Will.
No one knows any more about our hope in Christ than God, and it was the good pleasure of His Will to reveal it to us in the Word of truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s return for the Church of the Grace of God will be publicly announced by the Lord himself when he descends from heaven with a summoning shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
His coming will not be secretive; it will be impossible to miss it.
From the time of our gathering together up to meet him in the air, the members of his body, the Church, will forever be with the Lord.
His coming for the Church will be in the air, but when he later comes to the earth in the Day of the Lord, we will accompany him.
I Thessalonians 5: 1 and 2
1⌄ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you,
2⌄ because you yourselves accurately know that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.
There is no need to know about signs and seasons concerning the Day of the Lord because the Church will not be present on the earth when it unfolds.
The Day of the Lord will take place after the Church has been gathered up to meet the Lord in the air.
Although the Lord’s coming for the Church will be announced, the Day of the Lord will not be. It will come as a thief in the night; unannounced and unexpected.
The Day of the Lord will be characterized by the wrath of God in the day of His fierce anger. Beloved of God, fear not; we have been delivered from the wrath to come.
By the accomplishments of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:23
Romans 5:9 and 10
9 Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved [from the wrath of God] by His life.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…. [the rest of the verse is not in any of the MSS].
God judged us in Christ as righteous. We will never again come unto condemnation. We have passed from death unto life. Only glory awaits us at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, Which delivered us from the wrath to come.
I Thessalonians 5:9
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church will not go through the wrath of God; it will have obtained the salvation for which we hope today. We will have been gathered together before the wrath of God breaks forth on the earth in the Day of the Lord.
Colossians 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Every member of the Church has Christ in them, the hope of glory. How much glory will we receive when Christ returns for the Church?
II Thessalonians 2: 14
Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God called us to His kingdom and glory, and we will take acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. Oh, what a joyful proclamation!
What began for us in grace will end in glory, and that forevermore.
No one in the Church will be disappointed in their expectation of glory when the Lord Jesus Christ gathers us up to meet him in the air.
Rejoice!
Thank God for His great love, grace and mercy to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. The gospel of God is a joyful proclamation indeed.