The Rapture Special Lesson 3  Notes

	Review:

	We have been answering the big question about the rapture-- When is it?  And answering other questions along the way we started comparing passages that described the Second Coming and in the Old Testament and then the New and now we are in the epistles of Paul.
	In our last lesson we compared 2 Thess. 1:3-10 with Luke 17:24-30 where we saw that they were very comparable and in fact actually complemented each other describing the conditions and mentality of the general unbeliever population, when Christ returns.  

	We now turn to 2 Thess. 2 where we seen another passage on the parousia of Christ. 

	2 Thessalonians  2

	2Th. 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the
	coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ and our 	gathering to him, (2) that you not be quickly shaken from 	your mind or disturbed either by a spirit or a message 	or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the 	Lord has already come.
	
	The opening two verses tell us why Paul is writing this section of the letter. The subject is the coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to him.

	The major concern here is the coming and gathering in relation to the day of the Lord. Apparently some spirit (teacher), message or letter was saying that the day of the Lord had already come. In other words, the false teaching was saying that they had missed the Lord’s coming which would include the “rapture.” Paul does not want this wrong information to quickly shaken saleuo-- disturbed inwardly 
them. This is the kind of news that believers would react to quickly.  
	Missing the day of the Lord and gathering to him would
mean that they missed that change of body and being with the Lord forever-- that something was wrong with their faith. They had been deceived. That meant that the only thing left for them was the final judgment and the wrath of God  (Is. 13:9; Lam. 2:22; Ezek. 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1,11;3:14; Amos 5:18,20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:8,14,18).

	Is. 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
			cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
		 to make the land a desolation
			and to destroy its sinners from it.

	Paul is going to prove how this teaching that the day of the Lord had come--was wrong. 
	
	Paul gives two unmissable events that happen before the day of the Lord. No one can miss this -especially believers. 

	2:3  Let no one deceive you in any way. For the apostasy 		comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son 	of destruction, (4) who opposes and exalts himself above 		every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his 	seat in the temple of God, displaying himself that he 			is God.

	You cannot miss these two big events that happen before the day of the Lord. 
	This tells us something about the day of the Lord. Before it, the apostasy and antichrist show up.  In other words, the day of the Lord occurs after the apostasy and the man of lawlessness is revealed. 
	So what has happened to the Thessalonians or possibly some of them. 

	Let no one deceive you in any way. 	
	
	deceive exapataō to cause someone to accept false ideas 
They were deceived into thinking that the day of the Lord had already come. 
	Think about it. Do they think Paul missed it too? How could their thinking be so off on this? 
	Do not miss the point that believers get deceived. Their thinking gets way off. Remember this was believers showing good signs of spiritual growth. 
	So Paul will teach how they can’t have possibly missed the day of the Lord because before it two things come. 

	2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For the apostasy 		comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son 	of destruction, (4) who opposes and exalts himself above 		every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his 	seat in the temple of God, displaying himself that he 			is God.	

	For the apostasy  apostasia is the abandonment of 				established authority. Specifically for the believer, it is 
	defiance of God, Christ, and the word of God--truth. It is 		rebellion against Christ, abandoning the faith.  

	1Tim. 4:1  Now the Spirit expressly says that in later 			times some will depart from the faith by devoting 				themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
	
	Matt. 24:9 ¶ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation 		and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations 		for my name’s sake.

	Matt. 24:10 And then many will fall away and betray one 		another and hate one another.
	Matt. 24:11 And many false prophets will arise and lead 		many astray.
	Matt. 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the 	love of many will grow cold.

	The first obvious event is that the apostasy comes first--before the day of the Lord. 
	 Many believers will turn away from Christ, probably up to a third at this time. (See the section on apostasy in lesson 10 on “The Saints” in the Tribulation Special)  Because of the deception, false teaching and persecution, many believers will betray the Lord Jesus and other Christians (Matt. 24:9-11), including family members to follow the antichrist (cf. Matt. 10:21). 	

	2 Thess. 2:3  Let no one deceive you in any way. For the 		apostasy 	comes first and the man of lawlessness is 				revealed, the son of destruction, (4) who opposes and exalts 	himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so 		that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying 			himself that he is God.

	The second obvious event is that the man of lawlessness is revealed. This is the antichrist. He will not just be revealed but he will publically oppose any god or God himself and take his seat in the temple of God displaying himself that he is God. 
	How can you miss all that?

	Neither of these events can be missed. The day of the Lord will not come until both of these big events occur. The order of events is clear. 

	First the apostasy and the antichrist is revealed               
	-- then the Day of the Lord. 

	This presents a real problem for the pre-trib. position which holds that the “day of the Lord” is the tribulation period. 
	Paul states clearly that the day of the Lord is after the apostasy and the revealing of the antichrist. The scripture is clear that the antichrist is present and active, even taking his seat in the temple at the mid-point of the tribulation. 
	To work around this problem, the pre-tribbers have to create an interpretation trying to prove that this plain reading of the scripture is not saying what it says. 
	Let me add that his plain reading of the apostasy and antichrist then the day of the Lord is in complete agreement with our Lord’s Olivet discourse in Matt. 24, where Jesus speaks of the 
	1. falling away in 24:10
	2. then the Abomination of Desolation in 24:15-16
	3. then the great tribulation-- 24:21, which is the second 		half of the tribulation 
	4. then after the tribulation of those days -sun darkened, 		etc.  24:29
	5. then the Son of Man appears is coming on the clouds of 	the sky with power and great glory. 24:30
	6. he has angels gather up his elect  24:31
			
	I think it is interesting that if those who hold to the pre-trib. position are present when the antichrist is revealed will be in a similar position to some of the Thessalonians. Will they think they have missed the rapture?  
									                                    
	Avoiding Wrath
	
	One of the major arguments that pre-tribbers use is that the Bible teaches that the bride, the church does not go through the tribulation because that is the wrath of God being poured out. “God would not pour out his wrath on the bride of Christ. The wrath is only poured out on the unbeliever including the Jew who refused to accept Christ. So the church cannot be present. Therefore the church is raptured before the tribulation.” 
	There are two issues here: wrath and the bride of Christ. 
First, it is true the wrath is not poured out on believers, including the bride (Mt 3:7; Lk 3:7;Eph 5:6; Col 3:6;1 Th. 1:10;Rev. 6:16;11:18;14:10; 16:19;19:15).
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	But avoiding wrath can come in different ways. One can be protected while nearby as did the Israelites in avoiding the plagues of Egypt, even having the Lord pass over their houses because they put blood on their doorframe and side post (Ex. 12:23). 
	
	However there is direct teaching on this subject of avoiding the wrath during this period in the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah prophecies of the day of the Lord. It is one of the clearest OT passages on wrath and resurrection. 

	In chapter 26, Isaiah writes of a song sung by believers when the Lord establishes his Millennial kingdom. 
	It speaks of resurrection. 

	Is. 26:19 	Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
			You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
 		For your dew is a dew of light,
			and the earth will give birth to the dead.
	
	Vv. 20-21 pictures the wrath of God pouring forth while the remnant is preserved. 
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	Is. 26:20  Come, my people, enter your chambers,
			and shut your doors behind you;
		 hide yourselves for a little while
			until the fury has passed by.
	Is. 26:21 	For behold, the LORD is coming out from his 					place
			to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their 						iniquity,
	 		and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
			and will no more cover its slain.
									ESV

	The second issue in this argument is the bride will be raptured away to avoid the wrath. 
	 The problem with that view is that Paul taught that all believers, whether Jew or Gentile are members together as the church, the bride of Christ. 
	That is at the heart of Paul’s teaching in Eph. 2.

	Eph.2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were 	far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
	(14) “For he is our peace, who made the both (Jew and 	Gentiles) one and who destroyed the middle wall of 	partition, the hostility, (15) in his flesh by having rendered 	inoperative the law of 	commandments in decrees, in order 	that he might create in himself the two into one new 	person, so making peace, (16) and that he might reconcile 	them both in one body (of Christ) to God through the cross, 	by which the hostility has been killed.
		
	Both believing Jew and believing Gentiles are one new person. They are one body in Christ (Rom. 12:5). There is no difference in relation to Christ. Both are together as one body under the New Covenant, based on the blood of Christ (Matt. 26:27-28).

	1 Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one 	body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and 
	we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

	Another problem with this view is what about all those tribulational believers who die as martyrs during the tribulation Rev. 7:9-10 cf. 7:13-14). Are they not members of the body of Christ, the church ?  

	One more passage that often enters the debate between pre-trib. and other views. 

	John 14:2-3 is frequently used to support the pre-trib. rapture. Even though at first reading, it may sound like it supports that view, if examined closer, it doesn’t.

Background
	Jesus is speaking in the upper room where the disciples have gathered to have the last supper, the very night of his arrest before the trials and crucifixion. Jesus had just spoke of Peter’s denying him three times. (Lu. 22:34;Jn. 13:38). The supper is completed and they share the cup for their last supper together (Lu. 22:17-20).  
	A discussion follows-- 
	 Jesus speaks-- 

	14:1  “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, 		believe also in me.
	14:2  “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it 	were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a 		place for you.
	14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 		again and take you to myself, so that where I am you will 		be also.
	14:4  “And where I am going, you know the way. 
		
	Jesus is going to leave and prepare a place and come back and take them to be with himself and be with them always. 

		Summary:
	1. The disciples are not to be troubled. Tough times are 		coming. Christ is about to be arrested, and crucified the 		next day. 
	2. What do they need to do? V.1 “believe in God, believe 		also in me.” They need to believe in God and his plan and 		believe in Jesus. Everything is under control. 
	3. There is a dwelling place for them with the Father, in 		his house. 
	4. Jesus is going to go and prepare it. He will do this 			through his death, burial and resurrection. Jesus will 			prepare an eternal dwelling place for this disciples. 
	5. If he goes and he will, he will come back and take them 		to himself so that he wherever he is, they will be. 

Let’s broaden the context. 
	
	14:5  Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where 		you are going, how are we able to know the way?”

	Thomas is confused. Jesus had just said in v. 4 that you (pl.) know the way. They actually did know how to follow Jesus and get to the Father’s house. 
	Jesus clarifies--
	
	14:6  Jesus said to him, “I Am the way, and the truth, and 	the life; no one comes to the Father except through 		me.  
		
	Jesus is not talking about a dwelling place in heaven, or even the new heavenly Jerusalem. He is talking about the way to the Father and dwelling with him is through Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. To go to the Father one must go through Jesus Christ. 
	The point is that if you want to be with the Father and dwell with him then believe in God and Jesus Christ. Jesus elaborates on this in vv. 7 ff. If you know me, you know the Father (7). Philip ask to see the Father. Jesus answers if you have seen me you have seen the Father (8-9). Then Jesus elaborates on the believing he called for. 

	14:10  “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the 	Father is in me?  The words that I say to you I do not speak 
	from my own but the Father abiding in me does his works.

	Then Jesus relates how he and the Father work together including in prayer. Now listen to v. 19 ff.

	14:19  “After a little while the world will no longer see me, 	but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. 
	14:20 “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, 		and you in me, and I in you.
	14:21 “He who has my commandments and keeps them is 		the one who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by 	my Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to 		him.”
	14:22  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has 		happened that you are going to disclose yourself to us 			and not to the world?”
	14:23  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves 		me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, 		and we will come to him and make Our dwelling place 		with him.

	Note the Our--both Father and Jesus will dwell with the believer. How does this happen?  Through the Spirit.

	14:26  “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 	will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and 		bring to your remembrance everything that I said to you.

	The way we dwell with the Father and have fellowship with Jesus Christ is through the Spirit. Jesus had to go --die, be buried and resurrect-- go the Father and then send Spirit and through the Spirit we dwell with the Father and the Son. He is with us-- they are with us always. 

	So this verse has nothing to do with a pre-tribulation rapture or the Second Coming of Christ. It has to do with the future indwelling of the Godhead with the believer through the Holy Spirit.