Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
November 7, 2015
Dayton, Texas
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Thesis:The coming of the Lord for us at the Rapture is prior to the onset of the Day of the Lord.
Introduction:In our studies of chapter one we have seen a dominant theme: retribution. It is strongly associated with the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven. Its major impact is that those who are upon the earth in those days will face an outpouring of wrath such as the world has never seen before. In this light, it is very important that those who are looking for "the blessed hope and soon appearing of our great God and Savior" be solidly fixed upon one fact: the "blessed hope" is
not mixed up in the events of "the Day of the Lord". There is only one way that such a fact can stand: the "blessed hope" arrives prior to the beginning of the Day of the Lord.
In the paragraph before us at the beginning of chapter two, we find that the timing of the two events is of significant import.
- I. What is At Stake.
- A. Paul suggests two probabilities.
- 1. The problem of mental instability.
- 2. The problem of an anticipation of a huge disaster.
- B. Underlying both of the probabilities is a direct attack upon the "soul" where our lives are at stake.
- C. If successful, the life of faith will cease and fear will dominate.
- II. What is Involved.
- A. Some sort of contradicting message.
- 1. It may be rooted in the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit within the church when it assembles so that a false spirit is deceptively introduced with a false message.
- 2. It may be rooted in a "theological construct" (a "word") that has, as an inherent aspect of its integrity, the power of "logic" running to an inescapable conclusion.
- 3. It may be rooted in a "letter" that is given out to be from Paul, et. al.
- B. A direct rejection of Paul's major thesis: believers are exempt from the coming wrath.
- III. The Primary Concepts.
- A. The "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" with its attendant deliverance of the saints by way of the "gathering together" declared in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
- B. The "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" with its attendant retribution to the wicked as described throughout the Scriptures as "the Day of the Lord" (darkness; not light).
- IV. The Fundamental Doctrinal Aberration.
- A. The false message is "the Day of the Lord has already begun".
- B. The false concept that the "soul" can withstand the events involved in the false message.
- 1. It is one thing to withstand the persecutions and afflictions of the wicked.
- 2. It is altogether another thing to be able to withstand the outpouring of God's hot anger.