(Isaiah 59-61; 1 Thessalonians 4)

There is much misunderstanding about God’s intent with the church in these latter days, whether ignorant or willful. People seem to forget or disregard that true believers are the Bride of Christ. The truth of the matter is that we are special. God has graciously given us the gift of His beloved Son to be joined with Him forever. We who have freely chosen to place our trust in Him are given certain privileges that no one else outside of Christ has. Scripture declares this again and again.

Most believers accept this and acknowledge that we are the elect of Christ. We have a positional relationship with Him that is absolutely unique and without precedence. God loves us. Jesus is our Savior and Lord. He is our older brother and bridegroom. God has grafted us into His family. We are adopted children in the Lord. Given this understanding, you would think that we would have uniform agreement as to the character of God.

Surely, for those of us walking in obedience to Him, there is no need for His correction or rebuke, let alone for punishment. Why is one punished and receives the wrath of God? It’s because he was disobedient, engaged in sexual immorality, followed idols, or chose any path but the one that leads through the straight gate. This is clearly seen through the witness of Israel in the Old Testament.

Why then, if these are the reasons to be on the receiving end of God’s anger, do New Testament believers think we must go through some or all of the Tribulation? When Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he certainly didn’t believe those saints were destined to endure God’s wrath. He taught them for a limited time, only about three weeks, yet he made sure they knew about the hope of the return of Jesus. For that reason, he urged them multiple times to obey God in all they did. We see this in several verses of 1 Thessalonians 4:

v1 – how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more

v3 – that you abstain from sexual immorality

v4 – that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor

v5 – not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles

v6 – that no one transgress and wrong his brother

v7 – God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness

v8 – whoever disregards this disregards not man but God

v9 – you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another

v10 – we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more

What was Paul’s reason for emphasizing righteousness in this church to the extent that he did? It was because of what he had taught about the promise of hope they had in Jesus Christ. In fact, they were so concerned about this that they asked Paul about their believing loved ones who had died. Did they have the same promise of resurrection and redemption from this earth as the living believers did?

Paul had to remind them that he had spoken of this while there teaching them. Just so they had no doubts, he reiterated that teaching so that they wouldn’t be uninformed (1 Thessalonians 4:13). In this epistle, he declared that all would rise when Christ returned, first those asleep in the Lord (i.e., believers who had died), and then the living.

What an amazing promise! Can you imagine? As 1 Thessalonians 4:17 joyfully says:

“… we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them [the dead in Christ] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Paul was saying to this church: “Don’t blow it! Examine yourselves. Be sure that your heart toward God is pure. He will deliver you from this alien world.”

There is nothing Paul says regarding a faithful church walking in obedience to God that even hints that its congregation of true believers must face God’s wrath. This is the hope that children of God have. Remember, just a few paragraphs earlier in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, what Paul said about our Lord. We are:

“… to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

What does it mean to wait? It means to complete a process that intensifies for the coming of something that is expected (Strong’s #362). That sure sounds like birth pains to me with an anticipated delivery, i.e., the Rapture. Wrath is something that teems or swells. It’s not a sudden outburst; rather, it’s fixed or controlled, a passionate feeling against sin (Strong’s #3709), i.e., the Tribulation.

Are true believers in Christ subject to this rising tide of God’s anger? Of course not. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself. Just as the preceding verse says, He has delivered us from the wrath to come.

And what is that coming wrath? It is a day, as Isaiah 24:6 says, that:

“… a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.”

Does this sound like a time that we who love God will be forced to endure? Surely this is a time of wrath from which the Lord delivers us.

And that’s the point. The pre-Tribulation Rapture is the only position that should make any sense to blood-bought believers in Jesus Christ. While the earth suffers its just punishment for its iniquities, we whose sins have been forgiven will spend the seven years of the Tribulation in the chambers of heaven with the Lord, safe and secure from all harm.

It’s for this reason that Paul can exhort this believing church in 1 Thessalonians 4:18:

“Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

And what an encouragement it is!

[Author Note: Briefly, I want to set the stage for you as to the nature of most of my articles in this season. Each year I read the Bible through completely at least once – that has been my practice since I came to the Lord in 2005. I remain astounded at what God has done in my life because of that discipline! Each day I read from both the Old and New Testaments. I choose a verse from one of those passages and write my commentary and reflection based on that. In the title of my article, you’ll see the verse I chose. In addition, you’ll see the reading for that day if you’d like to follow along with greater context.]

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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and prolific author. His Whirlwind Series comprises three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time. These books are contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus. Gary has been given the Christian Redemptive Fiction award for three novels: The Tattooed Cat, Alien Revelation, and for his collaboration with Terry James in writing The Minion Protocols, the third book in James’ Second Coming Chronicles.

Earlier this year, Gary released a four-volume set of Awaken Bible Study Notes that comment verse-by-verse through Scripture from a Biblical prophetic lens. He is currently editing a sequel to Alien Revelation called Alien Zombie Plague, which he plans to release later in the fall of 2021. Recently, Gary wrote a novella for the new Kindle Vella platform. That story is called Tribulation Rising: Seal Judgments – The Coming Apocalypse. This seven-part short work can be found at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099Z462WD.

Each day this year, Gary has been writing commentary and reflections based on his reading through the Bible in a year. The intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read. You can see all his books and blog articles and reach him at his website:www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390. You can also see his older video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube channel – look for the fish symbol, and more recently on Rumble on his Awaken Bible Prophecy channel: https://rumble.com/c/c-783217.

 

John 20:24-29; “Now Thomas, one of the twelve called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came; so the other disciples told him ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.’

^“Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the door was locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then, He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe!’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord, and My God!’ Jesus said to Him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not yet seen and yet have believed.'” (ESV – all emphasis mine)

And this is the main issue today. All who have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior believe He truly exists; they believe what the Bible says is totally true, that He did die on a cruel cross for our sins and was raised from the dead by the Father, and that all who call out for Him to save them will be saved. His death was to conquer sin and death for us unworthy humans once and for all. He ascended back to the Father and will come again soon to take us out of the path of the wrath.

All who disbelieve or believe He was just another prophet and not really God are subject to missing the Rapture and entering the tribulation period when it actually begins. That time will be worse than anything this earth has ever experienced. The New World Order today is setting the stage for the arrival of the evil leader – the antichrist – and all activity is fulfilling prophecy by the hour. Once Jesus removes His flock from here, it will be at least seven years before He returns to shut down the wrath and to rule and reign from Jerusalem for one thousand years.

There are numerous verses in the Bible that tell us exactly who Jesus is and why it’s critical to believe in Him. We are the ones who have not had the privilege of seeing Him in person as His disciples did; yet, we are the ones who truly believe God’s word. Many people view the Bible as just stories and legends from the ancient past and see it mostly as a work of fiction. For a believer, it’s our lifeline!

After calling out to the Savior to forgive me and add me to His flock about 35 years ago, there were passages in the Bible that opened up for me as I read it completely for the first time. Before that time, I had never read anything in-depth from it. As I began to go cover to cover, I asked the Father to have the Holy Spirit open my heart and mind to receive His truth.

One verse covered what I needed most of all and has become my “life verse.” John 14:6; “And Jesus said to him [Philip], I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” This totally dispelled the “many ways to heaven” garbage that false prophets are putting out today.

How about John 10:30; “I and the Father are One.” This corrects the statement that Jesus never claimed to be God.

Then, of course, John 3:16-18; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” And then, the qualifying verse; “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the only Son of God.” This verse is repeated almost word for word in 1 John 5:10-12.

John 10 is a chapter that is a wealth of information on just how important we are to the Savior and why He was willing to sacrifice Himself for us. By “us,” many have believed that Jesus only came to save the Jewish people, but verse 16 makes it clear that His sacrifice was for everyone who would receive and accept Him as their Savior. That would include every human in the world today.

In John 17, Jesus prays for His disciples as He knows His time here was just about finished. While He specifically prayed to the Father mostly about them, He again included all who would believe in Him through their word. That word has been passed down to us; therefore, we are included in His plea.

One point here: Some organized evangelical churches are saying that the Jews have been replaced by the church. This is absolutely false. God never goes back on a covenant, and His promise to Abraham still stands today. This is not to say He won’t discipline His chosen, and this will be done throughout the Tribulation/Wrath. Today, only about 1% – 2% of the total population of the Jewish people worldwide are Messianic – believe Jesus is their true Messiah. By the end of the tribulation period, 100% will believe this.

Going to Romans 10:9-13, we’re given the steps to Salvation that all must follow, Jew or Gentile. First, Admit (confess) we all are sinners in need of a Savior. Second, Believe that Jesus is that Savior, that He died once for all who would receive and accept His gift given at Calvary, and that God did raise Him from the dead. Jesus was the only human to ever live a perfect, sinless life here so that His blood would be pure, as the Father demands. Finally, all who Call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Prior to Calvary, people had to follow God’s will in order to have an eternal home with Him. From Calvary forward, all must have Jesus as their Savior to have eternity in Heaven. All before Calvary that were out of God’s will, and all who reject the Savior from Calvary to the end of this earth, will be assigned a place in the Lake of Fire at the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15.

Knowing Jesus and receiving and accepting His precious gift means eternal life with Him, with sins never more remembered. No Jesus in your life means His blood does not cover the sins of an unbeliever. Their eternity will be with Satan, and every sin they ever committed, large or small, will be held against them.

Jesus knew while He was on this earth that more would reject Him than receive Him. This is covered by the two pathways in Matthew 7:13-14. However, even so, He willingly went to the cross for all who would be saved (John10:18).

The world today is just as Jesus and the others said it would be just before this age comes to an end. No one knows the exact day or hour that the “twinkling of an eye” will take place, but we are very close to that event. All the signs started just a few years ago, and Jesus advised that would mean He’s coming soon (Luke 21:28).

Today would not be too early to call on Jesus and change your eternal life from condemnation to Salvation. Know Jesus = Heaven. No Jesus = Hell. This is totally each individual’s choice. Personally, my wife and I made a Joshua 24:15 decision that we will serve the Lord.

Hope to see you at Home! Maranatha!

huebshman46@gmail.com