Scripture has become my lifeline these days. Even so, I often feel heaviness in my soul as I witness the response to COVID-19 in my state and nation. I see so much unnecessary suffering and loss.

I find myself returning again and again to God’s Word and its precious promises that we need for the time in which we live. I mentioned Psalm 46:10 in an earlier post; I go to Psalms 46 and 47 at least a couple times each week.

For this article, however, I want to focus your attention on two particularly encouraging promises from 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

1. Our Blessed Hope

The first promise, from verse 9, assures us that the rapture will happen before the Lord’s wrath overwhelms the earth. Jesus will come for us before the start of the tribulation.

The “wrath” Paul refers to in verse 9 is not that of hell, but of the day of the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3-8, Paul’s topic is the “sudden destruction” that will overtake the world at the beginning of this time of God’s wrath described by many prophets in the Old Testament. They repeatedly warned that this day would be a prolonged time in which the Lord would severely judge sinful humanity.

The prophet Isaiah, for example, tells us this day will be a time when much of the earth’s population will perish (13:9-12). Zephaniah says this about the coming day, “A day of wrath is that day, / a day of distress and anguish, / a day of ruin and devastation, / a day of darkness and gloom, / a day of clouds and thick darkness (1:15).

This day of the Lord includes all of the tribulation which the apostle John wrote about in Revelation 6-18 about forty-five years after Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians.

Even though the horrors of the tribulation seem ever so close, we have this reassuring promise: the rapture will happen before the Lord pours out His wrath on the unsuspecting world during what Scripture refers to as the day of the Lord.

This is our blessed hope: the rapture will happen before the seven-year tribulation begins.

2. Our Blessed Assurance

There’s a second wonderful promise in these verses that is often missed because the English language does reflect the differences between the words Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and those he uses in verse 10, “. . . who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

In chapter 4, the apostle distinguishes between living and dead saints. In verse 10, he differentiates between those who are spiritually awake and those who are not. Let me explain how I arrived at this conclusion.

The Greek verb Paul uses for “awake” in verse 10 is gregoreo, a word that denotes moral alertness. In 5:4-8, Paul uses the word along with that of being “sober” to portray the idea of temperance in our walk with the Lord versus that of drunkenness or carelessness. “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (v 6).

Jesus used the word gregoreo in Matthew 24:42 and Mark 13:35 as that of watchfulness for his return. It’s this same sense of watchfulness and sober living that the apostle characterizes believers as being “awake” in 1 Thessalonians 5:6-10.

What about those whom Paul characterizes as being “asleep” in verse 10? Who are these people?

The word Paul uses for believers who are “asleep” in in 5:10 is katheudo. This word refers to someone who is physically asleep, not dead. Of the 22 times this word appears in the New Testament, it only once refers to someone who had died, and then Jesus used the word to refer to the girl He intended to raise from the dead. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul uses the Greek word zao to refer to living saints at the time of the rapture.

In the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8, Paul uses katheudo with moral implications, applying the word to believers who are asleep in their walk with the Lord (v. 6); it’s the opposite of someone who walks in the light of Scripture, i.e. the sober saint or the one who is gregoreo.

Based on the context and Paul’s change of words from chapter 4, we know that the sense of 1 Thessalonians 5:10 is that when Jesus come for His church, He will take those who are alert spiritually as well as those who are asleep in their walk with Him as evidenced by their lack of watchfulness for His return or their care about the way they live.

This is incredibly good news as well as an amazing promise. Our inclusion in the rapture does not depend upon our behavior at the time Jesus’ appears; it depends solely upon whether or not our sins are covered with the blood Jesus shed on our behalf.

1 John 5:10-12 spells out the only condition for your inclusion in the rapture. If you belong to Jesus, you are going up regardless of your behavior at the moment! If Jesus is not your Savior, your feet will remain earthbound.

This is our blessed assurance!

Please know I am not saying that our behavior does not matter. It absolutely does! What I am saying is that those who teach the doctrine of a partial rapture advance a doctrine that not only contradicts the heart of the Gospel, but Paul’s specific promise in 1 Thessalonians 5:10.

The New Testament teaches that all believers will give an account of their lives to Jesus (Rom. 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 4:12-13). Faithful service will be rewarded (1 Cor. 15:58); saints who neglect their spiritual gifts and opportunities to serve the Lord with those provisions will suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ, but they will not lose their salvation, nor will they miss out on the rapture.

So yes, our behavior matters; but our good deeds do not merit our salvation nor do they merit our rapid heavenward journey when Jesus appears to take us home. Those whom God justifies, He also glorifies (Rom. 8:30); this is an unbroken chain. Once God justifies us, it becomes an absolute certainty He will glorify us at the return of His Son. That is the promise of Romans 8!

You see, when Jesus gives us eternal life based on His work on the cross, it means we will never perish (John 10:27-29). The Lord forever seals our fate, eternity in paradise, the moment He brings us into His forever family.

Why do I emphasize these promises from 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10? It’s because so many churches err on one side of the other. They either ignore our blessed hope or they ignore our blessed assurance. Both represent grievous errors in these last days.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, the apostle Paul assures us of two precious promises in regard to our eternal hope. Jesus is coming for us before the tribulation, and our inclusion in our trip to His Father’s house in heaven depends solely on His blood shed on our behalf, not our behavior.

Jonathan Brentner

Website: Our Journey Home

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E-mail: Jonathanbrentner@yahoo.com

Hi All, I hope that all is well with your spirits in spite of the goings-on of the past few months. It has been a challenge, for sure.

Today, I am not going to touch on the merits, legalities or rationale surrounding the lockdown that came about as a result of the Covid-19 “plannedemic” and so on. That subject has been written about enough by individuals far more equipped to do so; and, to be honest, there is, to my mind, so much (mis)information and so many differing opinions about this subject, that adding more commentary to it will not achieve anything.

What I would like to touch on is much closer to home, so to speak, that appears to have much less written about it, seemingly due to the fear surrounding Covid-19. I must admit that the sparse writing on this subject concerns me greatly, from a Born-again Christian point of view. Yes, these are strange times never before experienced, for sure, but amidst the doom and gloom that we are experiencing, an opportunity exists. And this is what bothers me at the moment, that I have seen very few, if any, exhortations for the Bride-of-Christ to approach the Throne of Grace, the very Mercy Seat of our Heavenly Father for help in this period. Why is that?

To remind everyone, when I contribute these columns, I speak to myself as much as I speak to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. To my mind, our Heavenly Father has, in His Grace, provided us all with an opportunity to diligently search for Him, by His removing ALL the things that may have distracted us and stood between ourselves and Himself in the past.

With the absence of our “social idols” (sporting events, work, gatherings, shopping et al.), we have an opportunity to draw close to our Father, as it always should have been.

This is an opportunity to dust off the Bible and read our Fathers’ words. This is an opportunity to be a Berean and to “check-up” on past sermons heard, to determine whether the Preacher has been feeding his flock spiritual meat, or some form of diluted gruel. This is an opportunity to spend time with our Father, in prayer, to draw close to Him. As it always should have been.

This is an opportunity to share the Gospel with people looking for answers, with those who have not heard it, or may have rejected it because “they were too busy.”

Should the message be rejected, shake the dust off of your feet like Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:51. You have done what you can. It is difficult to “let it go,” I know this; I have had to do this on a personal level with my relatives. However, even though the message may be rejected, remember, we sow the seed of the Gospel, another will water it, but our Father will care for that seed, and another will harvest; but you have done your part… (1 Cor 3:7).  So, even though the original message may be rejected, that person can still, by the Grace of our Father, still come to Jesus.

But I digress. Back to the topic at hand. Has your career been upended by this pandemic? Your business? Your livelihood? Or, is everything still going swimmingly? Even in the midst of all this change, turn to our Father, and you will find a peace unsurpassed should you place your faith in Him. I can speak to this experience, as myself, my wife, daughter and son have done this, and we find peace in this “storm.”

Personally, I find Ps. 142 brings us much comfort, which, ironically, was written by King David whilst he was in “isolation” in a cave! Of course, Ps. 23 also brings comfort. It all depends if you “let go and let God” … cheesy I know, but only with completely trusting in Him will that peace follow. It is a scary thought, letting go. But it is the best thing I have ever done. In short, find a passage in the Word through which our Father speaks to you, and hold on to it!

Yes, these are difficult times, but also an opportunity to rebuild and strengthen our relationship with our Father, to spread the Gospel; for neither of these two things require a Church building, nor do they require a congregation. In fact, these two actions, in my estimation have been impeded by these very things that are now “outlawed.” Therefore, it is an opportunity to go from lukewarm to “red-hot” in our faith by means of daily reading of the Word and time in prayer, the way it should always have been.

This is, literally, a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity, just like the Rapture. Let us be gentle as doves, but wise as serpents (Matt 10:16), and not let this opportunity pass us by.

I do not know what the future may hold, but I do know Who holds the future (more cheese) … and I have made up my mind; my family and I will serve Him (Joshua 24:15), will put our faith in Him, and will stick with Him. What about you?

Do not let this opportunity to connect / re-connect with our Father pass you by, please.

Love you All.

Hannes