Oct 24, 2021. I Thessalonians 5:9-11

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WRATH WAIVER.  I Thessalonians 5:9-11.  10/24/2021.  #13.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 [New King James Version]

⁹ For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

1. The next event
   1. Paul continues answering the question from chapter 4 – what happens to the dead in Christ?
   1. Three great facts about the dead in Christ:
      1.  II Chronicles 5:8 they are immediately with the Lord
      1.  Hebrews 4:10-11 they enter into their rest from labor, pain, temptation, trials, and worldly concerns
      1.  I Corinthians 15:12-26 they await their glorification at the return of Christ for his church (Romans 8:29-30)
   1. The Reformers did not exegete Revelation, finding is confusing and full of odd imagery
   1. Several schemes about the End Times have developed:
      1.  A-millennialism  – there is no Great Tribulation or Millennial Reign of Christ (things will just end after Christ defeats the Antichrist)
      1.  Post-millennialism – the church will go through the Tribulation or the Tribulation is merely symbolic of the entire church age and then the church will triumph, setting the stage for Christ’s return
         1.  Dominion Theology – the church will exercise dominion over the earth (a typical Pentecostal approach)
         1.  Dom. Theol. songs = Rise Up, O, Men of God, The Holy City, Majesty
      1.  Pre-millennialism – the church will be raptured before the Tribulation and return with Lord at its end
         1.  Pre-Trib. = raptured before the Trib. starts (we have no part in Trib.)
         1.  Mid-Trib. = the church goes through 1st half of Trib. (Period of False Peace) and is raptured before the Seals are opened)
   1. Paul emphasizes that the church will not be the recipients of God’s wrath (either now or in eternity)
      1.  As God pours out his wrath upon the earth, the church is not on the earth
      1.  Only those who come to Christ during Trib. will experience the Great Tribulation (many martyred)
      1.  I Thessalonians 4:17-18 the living are raptured after the elect deceased (“we which are alive…”), so what the church awaits is Christ’s return for her, not wrath poured upon the earth by God
      1.  I Corinthians 15:50-54 – elect will be changed at the last trump when we will meet the Lord in the air,  The promise of the Lord is a victorious exit; not a wrathful end from punitive judgment
2. Temporal state is immaterial
   1. Paul states that it does not matter if a believer is alive or deceased since all are glorified in the Lord
      1.  Whether a believer died young or lived a long life does not matter in eternity
      1.  If someone comes to Christ as a child or as an elderly person is immaterial to salvation status
   1. There are no second class saints in heaven
      1.  The only distinction is the kind and amount of the rewards among the saints (II Timothy 2:19-21)
      1.  The Lord judges our works based upon what he has given to us (Matthew 25, I Corinthians 3:11-15, Romans 12:4-6, Luke 12:48)
3. Comfort, hope, and encouragement of the promise
   1. The Lord gives us End Times details as an encouragement, motivation, and info to warn the lost
   1. The comfort of the return supersedes the pains of life
   1. Philippians 3:14 call for pressing-to-the-mark believers

Key verse:  I Corinthians 15:12-26

¹² Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! ¹⁸ Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. ²⁰ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. ²³ But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.