Daniel Rogers -- 2018 Memphis Eschatology Conference

Uh after brother connor, uh, I mean, yes brother connor comes up and leads the prayer then brother Daniel rogers is going to lead us off. He's from piepmont alabama now living in arcadia florida He preaches for the hickory street church of christ. He is attending the tennessee bible college working on his doctorate Not not yet, but will be at some point in time Uh, but at the same time we are appreciative of his scholarship. You may know his websites by labor labor not in vain rather his websites and he's also the author of a Commentary on first thessalonians of which he'll be speaking today And he has authored another excellent track on I believe it's death is defeated. Is that the title? The last enemy and the triumph of christ, okay Uh, so sorry about getting that incorrect, but nevertheless, he does a lot of speaking On podcasts on youtube you all already know him so he really needs no introduction. We are just delighted about this young man a tremendous person Scholar and a bible student. We just love him very much and we're delighted that he came he drove up for you know, 13 hours from From florida last night and then after getting out, he was a little red, you know I had a little red eyes, but you know, they still wanted to stay up and talk a little bit So we visited with them for just a few minutes All right, if you would If you would open up your bibles to first thessalonians First thessalonians I'm going power pointless, uh today but lucky for you, uh the Charts and things that I would I theoretically use uh, you can find in a in a little book and so On first and second thessalonians and so uh, that's you know, i'm not trying to get you to buy anything That's actually available for free, uh via e-sword Online and I can tell you how to do that later But any any sort of charts or any figures or things like that? They can all be found, uh via the that that commentary so first thessalonians Uh, whenever william, I gave me this subject I obviously knew why because i've spent a considerable amount of time over the past year studying paul's letters to the thessalonians now one thing that you need to know before we get into the book is that first thessalonians is Possibly paul's very first letter that he ever wrote besides maybe galatians There's some debate on whether or not galatians or first thessalonians came first But regardless of whether or not it was first or second it represents the you know Some of the very first material that the apostle paul ever produced And since we're studying, you know eschatology over the course of this lectureship, particularly Eschatology within the epistles of paul what we're really studying when we study the book of first thessalonians Is some of paul's, you know, very first foundational thoughts on eschatology that he's going to build upon over the course of You know his writings and the new testament And so first thessalonians is extraordinarily important To under to understand if you want to understand the rest of the eschatology of paul. So this is a very Important book to begin a conference like this with now something about What we're going to do today in my lesson we may be tempted to jump right to first thessalonians chapter 4 Versus 13 through 18 because that's the passage We all want to talk about the rapture and meeting him in the air, you know coming in the clouds things like that but jumping to first thessalonians chapter 4 would kind of be like Starting off the lectureship on the eschatology of paul in second timothy, which was paul's, you know Last book that he wrote and so we want we need to be careful in jumping too far ahead and getting ahead of ourselves And really missing some of the more foundational things in paul's eschatology And so when we think about the work of the holy spirit in the first century and revealing the scripture We know it was a growing a perfecting a maturing process It begins with the infancy of the church in acts chapter 2 Where the apostles are just starting to figure out really what what it's all about Moving up to second timothy and second peter and passages like that in jude where the apostles are saying, okay You know now it's time for me to depart now It's time for me to go and jude's saying hey, you know all that eschatology stuff. The apostles are talking about well Guess what here it's happening now and so There's a growing process for the church in the new testament And so since there's a growing process on the corporate level we can understand the growing process on the individual level And so to start a study of paul's eschatology in a book like second timothy or even first corinthians Is getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. And so we're going to begin this lectureship in first thessalonians And see really where paul's eschatology Got started now One point about paul before we begin our study of first thessalonians paul, of course as you know was a jew And this might not seem that surprising to you But whenever we study the bible sometimes we forget who wrote the book And who he was writing to or to whom he was writing and so paul being a jew is going to Write like a jew think like a jew and talk like a jew going to be immersed in old testament Teaching and one of the major ways that the old testament Writers used to describe eschatology Was through use of the exodus using themes and events in the exodus to describe You know their view of eschatology and of course the holy spirit directed this through inspiration Even the intertestamental writers would utilize this exodus thing in order to paint the picture of eschatology when we read the new testament, you know, we read the we read about the things such as the death of christ and the atonement and Even eschatology and other themes through various different lens in one place jesus might say the kingdom of god is like You know is like a man who lost his sheep in other places You might say the kingdom of god is like a woman who sewed three measures of flour And so you have different ways of looking at different themes in the bible And one of the ways that paul would have been very in tune to was the theme of the second exodus Now the second exodus some individual may say is not a biblical Theme because you can never find the phrase second exodus in the bible But that's not the case in the book of isaiah chapter 11 We have mentioned of this second exodus In isaiah chapter 11 and verse Verse 11 the scripture says this it will happen on that day that the lord will again recover the second time With his sand with his hand the remnant of his people who were a name And then he lists a various amount of nations there in isaiah chapter 11 And so from the book of isaiah, we have this idea not just isaiah But virtually every old testament prophet this theme of god recovering his people a second time This is the second exodus or the new exodus motif that we read about In books such as jeremiah and hosea and again virtually every old testament prophet And so this is a major theme that even comes to light In a book that you wouldn't expect it to in like first thessalonians. The second exodus is behind Uh so much in this in this book and if we Are able to pay attention to it and pick up on it It's going to help us to better understand things like the rapture in first thessalonians 4 13 to 18 But if we skip directly to it We're going to miss all of these clues and hints that paul gives us in the opening chapters That really are going to shed light and open up a whole new world of meaning as we come to understand that book The other problem with jumping ahead like that the first thessalonians chapter 4 Is that you're usually doing it because you have an agenda? You have some point that you know that you want to prove and so you want to jump ahead to get to that chapter But if you start with the beginning in chapter 1 it forces you to pay attention to the context of the whole letter and see where paul Came from and where he's going in the book of first thessalonians that being said let's begin now here in first thessalonians chapter 1 And we're going to look here at verse 4 A passage that does not seem very eschatological when you read it, but is full of meaning and a reference to the second exodus Paul says here in first thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 4 Knowing brethren beloved by god his choice of you now this choice of view we may Some may look at it from a calvinistic perspective. Some may look at it from Some other sort of perspective he chose them through the gospel But really I would encourage you to look at this through a second exodus perspective Because this is not the choice of you singular. This is the choice of you plural This is god's choice of the covenant community And this was one of the very first things that god told israel right after they came out of egypt In fact, if you go back in your bible to the book of exodus chapter 19 You're going to read a passage here that seems very familiar to you because it's almost quoted quoted word for word in first peter chapter 2 verse 9 But in exodus chapter 19 in verse 5 the scripture says this Now then if you'll indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant notice that it's conditional If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant He says then you shall be my own possession Among all the peoples for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of israel. And so from the very beginning in exodus chapter 19 which If you think about it like this You can say that exodus is sort of the first book of the bible and genesis is more like the prologue Genesis is there to show us the you know, why? uh, what's going on in the book of exodus is going on and so exodus is sort of the the genesis of uh israel Where god has taken them out from among the nations to make them his own special people and he calls them here in verse 5 His own possession And so this is god choosing israel out of egypt of bringing her on this exodus journey into her promised land And by the way, you have a lot of themes here in exodus 19 that we could take to paul's epistles And i'm going to sort of present this for you so that when it's talked about in other lectures You'll be able to pick up on it For example in verse 5 he says you shall be my own possession now What was it what? Payment was given in order to possess israel. Well, you have the passover sacrifice that was given just uh, you know Not not too long before this in the book of exodus during the tenth plague Jesus, of course is our passover and it was through his blood that the church was Was possessed by god and so you have in the new testament in acts chapter 20 and ephesians chapter 1 References made to the church being god's purchased possession. You have references being made to the church being god's Special or chosen people and this is how paul begins first thessalonians By making this reference to the exodus telling them that they are god's special chosen people Again, first thessalonians 1 and verse 4 is he made his choice of you plural not his choice of you singular As if he was picking out individuals, but he's picked out a community He's called this entire community out of darkness and into light which really is the story of eschatology Is and is an invitation for the world to come out of the darkness of sin and into the light of the presence of god Uh knowing him as his bride As we move through first thessalonians 1 uh, we come down now to verse 10 But notice verse 9 and verse 10 together. The scripture says this For they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you And how you turn to god from idols to serve a living and true god And to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead. That is jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come Now the exodus theme is even present in this passage Because we know that one of the very first things that god does with israel when he brings them out of the land of egypt Is he gives them the ten commandments the first three of which are basically saying, okay You need to forget all these gods that you learned about in egypt and you need to appreciate me the one true god of heaven and earth and so the thessalonian church had to go on their own exodus pilgrimage from Not only the egypt that we know and understand from jerusalem and the bondage that was under the wall And under sin and darkness, but also their own personal journey on personal pilgrimage pilgrimage from idolatry Into serving the living and the true god in verse 10 He wants them to go from idols To serving god and waiting for his son from heaven in verse 10 Whom he raised from the dead or out from among the dead ones. That is jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come Now this whole idea of rescuing them from the wrath to come is also a theme that comes from a New exodus material that we read about in the old testament Particularly this whole idea of saving them from the wrath to come Is one of the main themes of john's ministry if you go in your scripture to matthew chapter 3 John told the people who warns you to flee from the wrath to come and that's Excuse me, and that's in matthew chapter 3 and again beginning in verse 2 where he told them to repent for the kingdom of heaven Is at hand In conjunction with the kingdom there was this judgment coming And so the pharisees and the sadducees who understood the nature of the kingdom or that not the nature of the kingdom But understood that the kingdom would come with judgment Come to be baptized and he asked them in verse 7 you brood of vipers who warns you to flee from the wrath to come now john's ministry Is based out of you know, three major chapters in the old testament isaiah chapter 40 malachi chapter 3 and malachi chapter 4 Go back to isaiah chapter 40 and you'll see that this wrath to come is Associated with the time of the new exodus in isaiah chapter 40 beginning in verse 1. The scripture says this He says comfort. Oh comfort. My people says your god speak kindly to jerusalem and call out to her That her warfare has ended that her iniquity has been removed that she is received at the lord's hand double for all of her sins Now you should be picking up uh hints of revelation 18 in this in this passage and even revelation chapter 1 He says a voice is calling clear the way for the lord in the wilderness make smooth in the desert a highway for our god Let every valley be lifted up in every mountain and hill be made low Let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley Then the glory of the lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together for the mouth of the lord has spoken now this whole idea of All flesh seeing the glory of the lord you can see that play out in revelation 1 7 behold every eye will see him, right? And so in first thessalonians 1 Paul makes this reference to this wrath that was to come a wrath that was preached about by john Whose one of foundational passages is isaiah chapter 40 which talks about these same ideas all all flesh seeing the glory of the lord being revealed Israel being regathered to god god dwelling with his people Once more the good news being taken to all the world as he talks about in isaiah chapter 40 in verse 9 God coming with his might as if of chapter 40 and verse 10 bringing his reward with him And so in making this simple reference to escaping from the wrath to come Paul is invoking all of these themes of the revelation of the glory of god that all flesh would see He's making reference to these themes of the judgment and god coming with might with his armies and with power and if you Start to think about that. You'll see just how present all of those themes are in the letters to the thessalonians Such as in brother robert's lesson in second thessalonians 1 with god coming with his angels and flaming fire Um those you know, of course coming from isaiah chapter 2 and isaiah chapter 66 But nevertheless the theme is present in isaiah chapter 40 as well And so when paul says who warns you to flee from the wrath to come in first thessalonians chapter 1 he is Carrying a lot of baggage with that that we don't pick up on if we just skip straight to first thessalonians chapter 4 in this passage first thessalonians 1 in verse 10 notice also that the Possibility of the wrath coming within their lifetime was not only was not only a very real possibility But it was also what the lord predicted You know the idea that it was them that had to flee from the wrath to come They weren't fleeing from a wrath that would come 2 000 years later, but a wrath that was on their horizon a wrath that they were Uh that they would be in danger of if they would not turn from their idols to serve the living god And so again from the very first chapter of first thessalonians we have these references made to the new exodus to the wrath about to come and if we Again if we skip straight to chapter 4 We're going to miss all of this great information that gives us more information about chapter 4 verses 13 through 18 Let's move now to first thessalonians chapter 2 and notice the new exodus theme that is present here in first thessalonians chapter 2 beginning Excuse me beginning in verse 14. The scripture says this For you brethren became imitators of the churches of god and christ jesus that are in judea For you also endure the same suffering at the hands of your own countrymen Even as they did from the jews who both killed the lord jesus and the prophets and drove us out They are not pleasing to god but hostile to all men hindering us from speaking to the gentiles so that they may be saved with the result that they will They always fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the utmost Now something that we pick up on here in first thessalonians chapter 2 is the object of god's wrath from first thessalonians 1 10 See the object of god's wrath that you read about that was to come in first thessalonians 1 10 We find out in first thessalonians 2 where the jews that was persecuting the church and so this wrath that was coming this The lord coming from heaven to bring this wrath jesus coming from heaven to bring this wrath was associated with Judgment that was coming upon the jews that were persecuting the church in the first century and if that doesn't Uh, you make you see a train coming in regards to first thessalonians 4. I don't know what would Now what's interesting about verse 16 though? Is that paul makes this reference to filling up the measure of sins which we know to be? Something that jesus commented on extensively in matthew chapter 23 and verse 32 And we you know a lot of you here if you're here in the eschatology conference You probably already have a good grasp on martyr vindication but if you think about it martyr vindication And the idea of the enemy filling up the measure of their sins and being punished for it and the martyrs being relieved and vindicated How more exodus could you get? God's people being in bondage for 400 years Meanwhile in canaan the wrath of the emirates is being you know, rather the cup of the emirate sin is being filled up And you have those same themes that we read about in the exodus coming forth even in passages like first thessalonians 2 The exodus after all was really a vindication of god's people They had been in bondage. They claimed to serve the one true god and yet Why are they in bondage if their god is the right god, right? And so what the exodus is is a vindication of god's people and it's a vindication of god And so paul drawing on this theme of vindication of salvation of god Saving his people um is not again not something that we should ignore Let's move down though in first thessalonians chapter 2 to verse 17 But we brethren having been taken away from you for a short while Paul must have been taken away from them for 2 000 years In person not in spirit We're all more the eagle more eager with great desire to see your face For we wanted to come to you. I paul more than once and yet satan hindered us By the way, who is hindering them the jews? No wonder jesus called them the child of the devil And i'm sure robert will have some things to say close to that in his in his lesson For who is our hope or joy or crown of exaltation Is it not even you in the presence of our lord? Jesus at his coming for you are our glory and joy. So apparently the church at thessalonica 2 000 years ago uh was You know right there in the presence of jesus at his coming In other words, he was about to come in their day and their time to to save them from the wrath to come And to bring relief to the persecution that they were undergoing by their egypt to bring them out of bondage And into the marvelous light of the kingdom of god so as you can see The exodus theme had a strong impact on paul and it was one that he used in reference from time to time to to illustrate what was going on in the first century between the Persecuting jews and between the christians who were in need of relief from that persecution Now let's go to first thessalonians chapter 3 and notice something from here In first thessalonians chapter 3, I will notice verse 11 through verse 13 The scripture says now may our god and father himself and jesus our lord direct our way to you And may the lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all people Just as we also do for you so that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness Before our god and father at the coming of our lord. Jesus with all of his saints Now here is a reference in verse 13 Again to them being present at the time of the parisia to them being present at the coming of the lord at the pouring out Of this wrath. It wasn't something that would be far off in the future But it was something that again that was living on the horizon in their day and in their time Now paul makes this reference to the coming of our lord. Jesus with all his saints This is a citation or an allusion to zechariah chapter 14 So, you know if if there's a reference to the new testament, we're just bound to go back there So let's go back to zechariah chapter 14 and we'll see that one of the key themes of zechariah 14 is Have you guessed that the second exodus? In zechariah 14 beginning in verse 1, I notice the scripture here He says behold the day is coming when the lord or rather for the lord when the spoil taken from you Will be divided among you for i'll gather all the nations against jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured The house is plundered the women ravished and half the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city Then the lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle verse 4 In that day he will fight on the mount of olives which is in front of jerusalem on the east And the mount of olives will be split in the in its middle from east to west By a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south You will flee by the valley of my mountains For the valley of the mountains reached to his l you'll flee Just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of isaiah king of judah then the lord My god will come and all the holy ones or all the saints with him so you have this reference in First thessalonians chapter 3 to zechariah chapter 14 in verse 5 The time of the lord would come with all of the saints This is a time of wrath that was being poured out upon the city of jerusalem But it's also a time when the righteous remnant would be given a path a path to escape through and so again You know how more uh exodus could you get? He goes on in zechariah 14 Uh, and simply notice now verse 6 and 7 in that day There will be no light the luminaries will dwindle for it will be a unique day Which is known to the lord neither day nor night, but it'll come about at evening time. There'll be light Now holger's got some interesting information about this passage But i'll simply point out to you that this is a day known to the lord in other words Kind of like matthew 24 35, uh, no man knows a day for the hour except the lord right except god in heaven Um, but the reason why this is significant for our study of first thessalonians Is that uh paul sort of reiterates this in first thessalonians chapter 5 Uh what we're going to get to here in a little bit where he talks about how they know The times and the seasons and they know that the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night Upon the wicked and so paul again leans heavily On zechariah 14 not only in chapter 3 but even in chapters, uh 4 and 5 as well Notice also though, uh, finally verse 8 He says this in that day The living waters will flow out of jerusalem half of them towards the eastern sea the other half towards the western sea It'll be in summer as well as in winter in other words These living waters are year-round. They're not seasonal. We may be seasonal but god is always present You know, sometimes we think we say things like i'm sure god I'm sure glad god showed up in this situation and helped us win this football game And you think well, I wish it had shown up, you know during the holocaust or something like that, right? Uh, but really we need to come to understand that god is always present and he's always here And there's a reason and there's a reason for suffering this in the world and i'll let a better philosopher than myself. I like older Go into some of those details. But the point is is that god is always here He's always present and it's us that's seasonal. It's us that move in and move out But god's always there offering his presence to us if we're if we're willing to be in tune with it. And so paul Leans heavily on old testament themes and this is seen in chapter one and chapter two and chapter three But when we come to chapter four, it seems as if all the old testament themes go out the window And now we get to talk about airplanes crashing and you know cars running in a stop sign. So We have this old testament first century context new exodus motif and It goes out the window in chapter four for some reason but let's uh, let's see what first Timothy chapter or rather first thessalonians chapter four holds for us Now you might think we're going to go to verse 13 and if you did you'd be wrong Uh, we're actually beginning going to begin in verse one Because there is new exodus themes in the very few first few verses of this chapter That you gotta catch if you're not it rather if you're going to understand verses 13 through 18. So let's begin in verse one Finally then brethren We request and exhort you in the lord jesus that as you receive from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please god Just as you actually do walk that you excel still more Now that seems pretty straightforward. We understand that walking with jesus. We sing the song a walk walk walk in the light of god but really this is Extremely important into understanding paul's eschatology because this reference to walking Is a reference to the pilgrimage from egypt to the promised land tom holland in his book contours of pauline theology Discusses how this word walk is used in revelate and rather in romans chapter 8 as well You know, you don't live by the flesh, but you walk by the spirit This is not just everyday living as we sometimes think but it's a specific reference to the pilgrimage that they were undergoing From serving idols to serving the living god and living in his presence And so when he tells them how you ought to walk and please god basically what he's saying is don't be like them in the in the Exodus where they murmured and complained and pitched fits and got in a bunch of trouble with god Because you know, they weren't willing to set their eyes on the prize But let's begin continue, uh in this chapter in verse two He says for you know what the commandments we gave you by authority of the lord. Jesus for this is the will of god Your okay, you got to get this now your plural sanctification That is that you plural abstain from sexual immorality verse four though says that each of you Know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification and honor So there's a sense in which the community the covenant community needs to stay pure needs to say sanctified And abstain from sexual immorality now sexual immorality doesn't always Refer to the act between a man and a woman A lot of the times in the bible it's used especially in passages like hosea and maybe even in acts chapter 15 To talk about abstaining from idolatry abstaining from worldly things and keeping in a covenant relationship with god And so he emphasizes first of all the importance of the sanctification of the covenant community on a corporate level But then he goes down in verse four and he says that each of you know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification and honor So there's an individual responsibility Uh that that sort of spreads to the corporate responsibility now The reason why this is significant this idea of corporate sanctification Remaining pure is that one of the themes of the exodus was the theme of the marriage between Yahweh and israel From the time of the passover up into the time of their entrance into the promised land And one of the things that was stressed during this transitional period for israel as they walked through the wilderness was A sanctification not going back to egypt even in their minds not like lot's wife turning their mind back to things below and so As they wandered through this wilderness It would be tempting from time to time to get back to go back to egypt to go back to the idolatry as they did On several occasions and so what paul is urging them here in first thessalonians chapter four already is You're the bride of christ. You need to stay pure You need to stay sanctified as a covenant community. You have an obligation to stay faithful to god Don't turn back to those idols, but keep pressing on Towards your presence in god and your presence with jesus at his coming Now When you think about it from that perspective First thessalonians 4 13 to 18 makes a lot more sense because now it's not about It's not about us Uh being transported somewhere else, but it's about the reunion of god and man Uh right here based upon how we walk and how we live and how we operate here in this world Right on this soil. It's not about Going somewhere else oftentimes we sing songs, you know, i'll fly away Well, I can't wait to get out of here when really again The presence of god is here right now. And if we open our eyes, we can see that experience it and appreciate it Seems to me that some people treat christianity as sort of an escape route, you know as an emergency exit Oh, and really it's a lifestyle that can transform how you view everything in the world Beginning right here. So now we have verses 13 through 18 and 10 minutes to cover it He says in verse 13 We do not want you to be uninformed brethren about those who are asleep so that you will not grieve As do the rest you have no hope If they believed very strongly and it was a necessary part of the faith to believe in the future physical resurrection Then why are they worried about their departed loved ones? Why they're worried about the dead if there's if it was taught from the very beginning of the future physical resurrection I mean if they're dead So what they're going to be raised in the future, right? but really What they what they're worried about is them being able to experience what they would experience right here in the kingdom When god would come and tabernacle among his people here on earth. That's what they're worried They're going to miss and so he's telling them though that it doesn't matter if you're dead or living He says this later in chapter 5 we'll live together with them And so again, it's something that you can experience while you're living the presence of god It's not something that you have to escape to uh through death through martyrdom or through something else And so it begins again in verse 14 And he says for if we believe that jesus died and rose again Even so god will bring with him those who fall asleep because of or for Jesus in other words, they're martyrs For this we say to you by the word of the lord We who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord will not proceed those who've fallen asleep Now just the main point I want to make from this passage is paul expected That they would be alive at the coming of the lord those of us Who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord now that doesn't include You know me and you and everybody else that's living today He's writing specifically to a church in tesla. Nicaa who was undergoing persecution who had loved ones that had died Because of their faith in jesus as he said a few verses prior And they're worried that they're going to miss out on the blessings that were attributed to the parisia that was right on the horizon that would come whenever the jews would be Punished for persecuting the church. That's the parisia that they're worried about not some imagined 2000 year in the future coming of the lord that really doesn't have much to do with him at all. Okay And so they expected the coming of the lord to take place within their lifetime And paul did as well and this was not some imagined thing that they just came up with But this was something that was revealed to them by the holy spirit It was the holy through holy spirit inspiration that they learned that the coming of the lord was at hand It was through the very teaching of jesus as paul said in first thessalonians 4 verse 15 This we say to you by the word of the lord It was jesus himself that said in matthew 24 34 that the saints The elect would be gathered to jesus at his coming that he would come in the clouds And that all the tribes of the earth would mourn and all the tribes of the earth would see him come in the clouds Matthew 24 verse 30 and he said all that would happen within that generation So he's not basing this on fairy tales this idea that we're all going to be alive at the coming of the lord He's basing this upon the very words of jesus himself Moving on in verse 16 He says the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout With the voice of the archangel with the trumpet of god and the dead in christ were eyes first See we have the wrong sort of direction We have us shooting up there when really it's god. It's about god coming to be with us here moving on in verse 17 he says then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the lord in The air so we shall always be with the lord, you know, moses did the same sort of thing He went up on top of mount sinai God came down to be among him Right to to be with him to reveal the law and then we might think that god went back to heaven But where did god go? He went to the tabernacle to be among the people to be in the midst of the people And this is the same story of eschatology. It's not about going off somewhere But it's about god meeting us revealing the new covenant to us through the saints in the first century and then tabernacling among us Just like he did in the first exodus Okay, and then he says, uh in verse 17 again Those of us who are alive and remain will be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the lord in the air So we shall always be with the lord. All right, let's talk about so always being with the lord. I got Two passages I want to show you and then one more thing about sanctification and then chapter 5 You'll have to read a commentary on chapter 5 Go to first thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 9 and 10 All right, we're going to kind of skip the first few parts here Although you can see some exodus themes in this chapter He says in verses 9 and 10 for god has not destined us for wrath But for obtaining salvation through our lord jesus christ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep We will live together with him So again, this is something that you can experience whether you're dead or alive You don't have to die to experience this presence of god And you don't have to be alive to experience this presence of god it's ever present but Let's talk about this presence. Uh, when does this presence begin? You know, what is it that initiates this presence go to romans chapter 6 and i want to show something to you from this passage Uh in romans chapter 6 a lot of us are very familiar with this because of the reference to baptism in verses 3 and 4 But i'm going to go down in this text a little bit further And notice something else By the way, the reference to baptism here is no mistake This again is a reference back to the first exodus because what was one of the first things that israel experienced to you know enter into this Uh relationship with god they left egypt and they passed through the red sea it was within the red sea that the obviously that the Armies of egypt were destroyed. It wasn't until they entered the promised land that their approach of egypt was rolled off But that's a story for another day. I notice notice verse 8 though He says this and in relationship to baptism and relationship to grace and christ He says now if we have died with christ, we believe that we shall also live with him in other words Uh living with christ the presence of god is something that begins at our very conversion It begins that it begins at the very first steps of our walk with god see this last little phrase here We shall also live with him is same that's used in first thessalonians 5 Same that's used same idea that's used in first thessalonians chapter 4 But when we read first thessalonians 4 and first thessalonians 5 we think about a future time in our future When really it's about a present time now It's about something we experience now based upon our Conversion and coming to an understanding of who god is and who jesus is through the gospel And so again, he says now if we've died with christ, we believe that we shall also live with him Knowing that christ has been raised from the dead is never to die again death. No longer is mastered over him For death that he died he died to sin once for all but the life that he lives he lives to god Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to god in christ Jesus see this isn't talking about physical death It's talking about dying to the old world of sin the old world of corruption that you once had in your life And if you've done that now you live together with christ Now you have his presence and now he's a tabernacled among you as he promised by the way in john chapter 14 and verse 23 So let's go back to first thessalonians 5 now and say one little thing about sanctification You know before I do that. I just have to make this one point From verse 2 of first thessalonians 5 it's a point that we're all familiar with but for the sake of someone who may be Thinking about these things for the first time. I want to I bring this out for you first thessalonians 5 and verse 2 says For you yourselves know full well that the day of the lord will come just like a thief in the night Now many people point to this expression thief in the night and say see there, you know We're not going to know the day or the hour it's going to be a signless coming But really go down in the text and notice this While they are saying peace and safety then destruction will come upon them suddenly Like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape now. Is that not a sign? If people are saying peace and safety destruction will come upon them By the way, they did the same exact thing before nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the temple They said the temple of the lord the temple of the lord the temple of the lord Which is kind of like saying we have abraham as our father and we know what john said about those individuals and so this is just like what was going on way back in the time of uh, Nebuchadnezzar and jeremiah and all those people we read about in the old testament, but notice verse four But you brethren are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief In other words the coming of the lord like a thief was only for the wicked not for the righteous The righteous had signs the righteous had the holy spirit to tell them that the coming of the lord is at hand And so when people talk about the day of the lord or rather Yeah, the day the lord coming like a thief in the night in their future. You need to ask them Why haven't you repented yet? You need to open up your eyes and look at the signs, right? Okay, one more thing about sanctification come down here towards the end of first thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23 This has been sort of a passage that i've used to say see there There would be individuals alive at the coming of the lord while I believe it can be used to teach that I think the main Point of this passage is something else Now may the god of peace himself sanctify you plural Entirely we learned from second thessalonians 2 that this sanctification process was through the holy spirit But may the god of peace sanctify You entirely and may your plural spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of the lord. Jesus christ I would suggest that what this is talking about is Basically, you'd say total ecclesia the entire church Um, he's just he's using the parts of the body soul spirit and body to say I I pray that the entire congregation the entire Covenant community is able to be blameless and remain sanctified until the coming of the lord. This is a wedding This again is exodus Themes, this is wedding themes between god and his people He's wanting them to remain pure to not return to idols to not return to their old ways So that they can be married to christ at his coming so they can go out to meet him and receive him back into the the holy city and so you have these themes of sanctification that run through first and second thessalonians and they're all about the marriage between christ and his church and about their exodus journey out of egypt out of the World of darkness into the kingdom of light and his dear son now somebody wrote a book about the first thessalonians 4 and the marriage between Jesus and the church, but I don't remember who that was I think it was called we shall meet him in the air the wedding of the king of kings And if you want a full discussion on the rapture, uh idea from first thessalonians 4 13 to 18 You need to get don's book on that and he covers every nook and cranny and first thessalonians that you can get to just about so Uh, that's first thessalonians A lot more that we could cover but hey, you know five chapters in 45 minutes. That's that's a lot. So You have to you have to excuse me for what I missed But I hope you enjoyed what I was able to give and hope that it enriches your study in some way Thank you, william for your time and for your uh, giving me the opportunity to speak today. I very much appreciate it That was a very fantastic job of presenting that information and for those of you um Who really want to get the impact of it go back and listen to it two or three times and you'll see just how impactful And powerful that message was Uh, the next speaker up is going to be robert buna Uh, he will be uh preparing to come shortly, but we're going to take a break right now So we ask you to um, go ahead and take about 10 minutes and then please get back in your seat So that we can start on time um Uh, and daniel talked about you know Having one hour to do this the way this came about is We originally had four speakers for this workshop and you all can begin getting up now You don't have to stay in your seats go ahead and move about if you want Uh, but we originally had four and then robert buna says well i'm coming down and I said well If you're coming down you're going to speak and then after that we decided to get a few more And but we only had an opportunity to get them in for an hour, but we appreciate them coming and doing that work. Thanks