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What in the World is Happening
- April 2007
A series of articles by Brian Papworth,
our PWMI Representative in New Zealand.
Much of the Bible's coverage of the end times prophetic
Scriptures are in the Old Testament books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Zechariah, Jeremiah, The Minor Prophets, and of course Revelation in the
New Testament, plus the Matthew 24 and Luke 21 passages. However in the
letters to the Thessalonians, Paul has quite a lot to say regarding the
calling home of the Church and other matters surrounding the event.
The Church at Thessalonica was having a few difficulties
on the question of the Lords return. Paul had visited Thessalonica for
three weeks and many Greeks believed, but the Jews in the city had made it
necessary for Paul to leave in a hurry without spending very long
expanding the new believer's Christian knowledge. What is inevitable with
a completely new young church, with not much teaching and lots of new
found enthusiasm, and in the face of persecution, all sorts of ideas were
creeping in concerning the Lords return prompting Paul's corrective
teaching in these letters written to them.
Paul opens his first letter encouraging the believers, and
assuring them that the Lord would rescue them when He returned, and as
Jesus had risen from the dead so they would be raised and rescued from the
coming wrath and judgement of God [1 Thess 1:10]. One of the concerns of
some of the Thessalonian believers was that those of them, who had died,
would miss out on Christ's second coming. He then goes on to explain that
when He comes "God will bring with Jesus, those who have fallen
asleep in Him, according to the Lords own word" [1 Thess 4:14-15].
"The dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever" [1
Thess 4:16-17].
When will we meet our loved ones again? We are not told.
There is nothing in the Bible to state when this will occur. This has led
to some confusion among Bible students. The only indication is one or two
Scriptures that point to its position in the sequence of Prophecy. This is
a subject all on its own and was dealt with in detail in "What in the
World is Happening for November 2003" and can be seen on our website here.
Paul goes on to say that "the day of the Lord will come like a
thief in the night" [1Thess 5:2].]. Many people here are a little
confused as Paul says in Chapter 4 that Christ will come with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. Either the call of the
archangel and the trumpet are for born again Christian ears only and the
rest of the world will not hear it or the thief in the night is just an
indication that it will happen suddenly or unexpectedly. In those days
sometimes theft was not at all quiet. Thieves galloped in on horseback
burning and pillaging and carrying off all they wanted. It happened
noisily and suddenly; if Hollywood and books are true to historical fact,
the thieves were far from silent or quiet. Whatever form it will take
however, makes no difference we must be ready. It's no good leaving our
commitment to Christ and forgiveness of our sins until tomorrow. We are
not promised tomorrow and are exalted that "Now is the day of
Salvation" [2 Cor 6:2], while the opportunity exists and the gate
of Heaven stands open. Not when I am older, not next week, or even
tomorrow, but now.
The reading of Paul's first letter must have raised some
further questions regarding the second coming of Christ. In the second
letter probably written only a year or two after the first, Paul goes on
to answer some of the questions that were being presented. They must have
wanted to know what was to happen to those who hated and persecuted them
for their love and faith. Paul said that God would judge them when the
Lord came in "the majesty of His power" [2 Thess 1:5-10]. He
then goes on to describe some of the events that will take place in the
closing stages of the world before Christ returns. He warns them not to
follow after every prophecy, report or letter, supposed to have come from
him or his companions. We today are seeing all sorts of teaching on the
return of our Lord. Always test it against Scripture. There is, if you
fully study Bible prophecy, a solid and consistent sequence of events that
become clear if the Bible is taken literally and details are linked with
other relevant Scriptures. There is no confusion or contradiction in the
Bible, and if completely put together the sequence of events as indicated
in the Scriptures become very clear.
One of the things Paul pointed out is in this context is
the appearance of the Man of Sin or the Antichrist. This will not happen
until after the Rapture occurs and to avoid the coming wrath the Church
[all born again believers] is taken from the earth. The Church was sent
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and He will ever be with every believer until
He is removed with the Church. The Holy Spirit is holding the Antichrist
back from his purpose [2 Thess 2:5-6], but we ever increasingly see the
signs of the preparation for the rule of the Antichrist. "The
coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in
every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" [2 Thess
2:9-10]. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of Salvation. "For
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through Him. [John 3: 16-17].
Yours in His Service
Brian D Papworth
Secretary for Prophetic Witness Movement International for New Zealand,
Australia and South Pacific.
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