College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

2 Thessalonians 3 - Introduction

II THESSALONIANS, CHAPTER THREE

Chapter Topic:

Withdraw from Idlers

Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderlyforthere are someworking not at all. 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:11

Chapter Topic: Withdraw From Idlers

Paul asked for prayer that the word of the Lord might do what? (2 Thessalonians 3:1) (Two answers) _________________________________________________; ______________________ ____________________________________________.

Paul requested prayer that he might be delivered from ____________________________ and ________________ men. (2 Thessalonians 3:2)

Who is always faithful? (2 Thessalonians 3:3) _____________.

What will the Lord do for us? (2 Thessalonians 3:3)(two answers) _______________________________; ___________________________________________.

True or false (circle which)Paul: had confidence that the Thessalonians would do what he commanded them. (2 Thessalonians 3:4)

Into what two things did Paul pray that God would direct the hearts of the Thessalonians? (2 Thessalonians 3:5) _____________________________________; _____________________________ _____________.

What did Paul command the Thessalonians to do toward disorderly brethren? (2 Thessalonians 3:6) _________________________________.

The disorderly brethren did not walk after (or according to) the _____________________ _________ which they received of Paul. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

Whose example should the Thessalonians have followed? (2 Thessalonians 3:7) ____________.

10.

Paul did not eat any man's bread _______________________________________ (2 Thessalonians 3:8)

11.

When did Paul work, so that he might not be chargeable to any of them? (2 Thessalonians 3:8) _________ ______________________.

12.

Yes or No (circle which)Paul had power (or authority) to ask the Thessalonian Christians to support him, so that he would not have to support himself. (2 Thessalonians 3:9)

13.

Why did Paul labor as he did? (2 Thessalonians 3:9) __________________________________________ ___________.

14.

What had Paul commanded them? (2 Thessalonians 3:10) ______________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________.

15.

The disorderly brethren among the Thessalonians were ________________ not at all, but were ____________________________________ (2 Thessalonians 3:11)

16.

Paul commanded the disorderly that with quietness they ______________ and _________________ their ______________________________ (2 Thessalonians 3:12)

17.

Brethren, be not ______________ in ______________________________ (2 Thessalonians 3:13)

18.

Paul told the Thessalonians that if any man would not obey this epistle to note that man and ________________________________________ with him. (2 Thessalonians 3:14)

19.

Why were they to do this? (2 Thessalonians 3:14) _____________________________________________ ___________

20.

Nonetheless, they were not to count him as an ______________________. (2 Thessalonians 3:15)

21.

Paul calls the Lord, The Lord of ___________________. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

22.

What did Paul pray that the Lord would give them? (2 Thessalonians 3:16) ________________________.

23.

Who personally wrote the salutation of this epistle? (2 Thessalonians 3:17) ______________.

24.

What was the taken of every genuine epistle of Paul'S? (2 Thessalonians 3:17) ______________________ ________________________________________________________________________

25.

What did Paul pray would be with all of them? (2 Thessalonians 3:18) ____________________________ ___________________________________________________________.

26.

Memorize 2 Thessalonians 3:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

II THESSALONIANS, CHAPTER THREE

Chapter Topic, Withdraw From Idlers

Outline

Request for prayer; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

That the word may run and be glorified; 2 Thessalonians 3:1

That they may be delivered; 2 Thessalonians 3:2

II.

Expressions of confidence; 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5

In the Lord; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:5

He is faithful; 2 Thessalonians 3:3

He will stablish you.

He will keep you from evil.

Prayer that the Lord would direct them; 2 Thessalonians 3:5

(1)

Into the love of God.

(2)

Into the patience of Christ.

In the Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians 3:4

III.

Withdraw from idlers; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

The command; 2 Thessalonians 3:6

Paul's example of working; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9

Behaved not disorderly; 2 Thessalonians 3:7

Worked night and day; 2 Thessalonians 3:8-9

This command taught previously; 2 Thessalonians 3:10

The report concerning idlers; 2 Thessalonians 3:11

Idlers commanded to work; 2 Thessalonians 3:12

Be not weary in well doing; 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Withdrawal to produce shame; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15

IV.

Prayer for peace; 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Conclusion; 2 Thessalonians 3:17-18

Paul's own salutation; 2 Thessalonians 3:17

Benediction of grace; 2 Thessalonians 3:18

DID YOU LEARN?

(Questions over II Thessalonians, chapter 3)

What is the chapter topic of II Thess., chapter 3?

What is the heading of the section, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, in the outline?

For what two things in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 did Paul request prayer?

What did Paul desire that the word of the Lord might have and be? (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

From whom did Paul request prayers that he might be delivered? (2 Thessalonians 3:2)

What do men without faith sometimes do that affects the preaching of the gospel? (2 Thessalonians 3:2)

Though men may be without fault, who is always faithful? (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

From what will God keep us? (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

Will God's keeping power save us regardless of what we do? (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

10.

Paul's confidence in the Thessalonians was based on his confidence in whom? (2 Thessalonians 3:4)

11.

Paul was confident that the Thessalonians would do what? (2 Thessalonians 3:4)

12.

Into what two things did Paul pray that the Lord would direct their hearts? (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

13.

How were the Thessalonians to treat those who walked disorderly? (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

14.

To what does walking disorderly refer in this chapter? (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

15.

What is the idea implied in the expression, walking disorderly? (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

16.

Whom were the Thessalonians to follow (or imitate)? (2 Thessalonians 3:7)

17.

What does eating bread for nought mean? (2 Thessalonians 3:8)

18.

Does a minister have the right to receive support for his work? (2 Thessalonians 3:9)

19.

Why did Paul work to support himself? (2 Thessalonians 3:9)

20.

What had Paul commanded them while he was yet with them about working? (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

21.

What connection is there between the fact that some of the Thessalonians were not working and their faulty ideas about the Lord's coming? (2 Thessalonians 3:11)

22.

Some of the Thessalonians were working not at all, but were ____________________. (2 Thessalonians 3:11)

23.

Whose bread were the idlers to eat? (2 Thessalonians 3:12)

24.

In what are we not to become weary? (2 Thessalonians 3:13)

25.

How were the Thessalonians to treat any man who would not obey the words of Paul's epistle? For what purpose were they to do this? (2 Thessalonians 3:14)

26.

Were the Thessalonians to regard a disobedient brother as an enemy? (2 Thessalonians 3:15)

27.

What did Paul ask the God of peace to give to the Thessalonians? (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

28.

What is the topic of the prayer that closes chapter three? (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

29.

How did Paul show that this epistle was a genuine epistle from him? (2 Thessalonians 3:17)

30.

What is the benediction of II Thessalonians? (2 Thessalonians 3:18)

31.

Quote, or write out, from memory 2 Thessalonians 3:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

2 Thessalonians 3:1 starts, Finally, brethren,.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 starts, But the Lord is.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 starts, For even when we were.

Special Studies
I. THE COMING JUDGE

By Seth Wilson

When Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, surrounded by the excited throng shouting His praise, the people of the, city asked, Who is this? And some of the crowd answered, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.
How far short their description fell! How little they really understood who He was!
Today, far too many people are thinking of Jesus as only a teacher or prophet from Galilee in the days of long ago. They think that He has had some interesting and important effects upon society. They may respect somewhat His teaching and His following, but they only think that they know Jesus.
No one knows Jesus who thinks that He belongs to the past, or who considers that we have to do only with the moral and social application of His teaching.
He is far more than a prophet in the past. He is a power in the present. And He is the most certain and significant of all the prospects for the future!
Jesus is living and reigning today at the right hand of the Father in heaven, offering His covenant of mercy and the new birth of the Spirit to all who will receive, calling out of the world a people for His own possession. He is coming again to earth to consummate this age, to receive His redeemed ones unto Himself, to purify His kingdom, and to execute the righteous judgment of God upon all the living and the dead.
The gospel of Christ is a message of factsfacts of history, unchangeable as the past naturally is, and sure as historical records and testimony can make them. But they are not just ordinary facts such as might be found in every part of history. They are unique facts of men's experience with God when God came to men in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. They are the incomparable facts of His life and works, revealing His divine person and power and His eternal purpose for all men of every age. Thus the gospel is not merely a record of the past. It is even more than the truth regarding our present duty and welfare. It points inexorably to the future. It is most important as a preparation for and a promise of things to come. Predictions are an inseparable and most vital part of the gospel, giving meaning to its facts and purpose to its commandments. The promises and warnings of the Lord help to enlighten and to motivate every believer of His word.
The most important prospects for the future for you and me and everyone are not the prospects of national prosperity or depression or war or conquest of space, but the certain coming of Jesus to end this age and to institute a new order of things.

WE CAN BE SURE OF HIS COMING

That He is coming is sure because He said so. We, of course, cannot know it or prove it any other way, except to take His word for it. But we can trust Him completely because of the undeniable facts of His first coming which clearly proved His divine character. To anyone who believes in Him as the Son of God the predictions of His word are plain enough to make us very sure that He is coming back in person in visible form.

He said, If I go - I will come again, and receive you unto myself (John 14:3). For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with his angels; then he shall reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16:27). When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory (Matthew 25:31). They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30 b). Under oath in court, on trial for His life, Jesus said, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming of the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64).

He made several parables for the purpose of emphasizing the importance of His coming and the need for being watchful and ready for it. As in the days of Noah -. so shall the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37-42; Luke 17:26-30). The householder and the thief; the faithful and the wicked servants (Matthew 24:43-51). The foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). The parables of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and of the pounds (Luke 19:11-27).

Angels said, This same Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven (Acts 1:11).

Those whom Jesus sent to preach the gospel He also inspired by His Spirit to guide them into all truth and to make known to them things to come (John 16:13-15). Throughout their preaching and their writings they taught that Jesus was coming again in person. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16). See also Acts 3:20-21; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Peter 3:3-4; James 5:7; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 2:28; Revelation 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 11:26; 1 Corinthians 15:23; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Thessalonians 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:13. The apostolic writers not only speak plainly and directly of Christ's coming, but they also refer to His appearing, being manifested, His presence, the revelation of Christ, and the day of Christ. (e.g. Philippians 1:6; Philippians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; Hebrews 10:25).

Some men say they count 318 times that His coming is mentioned in some manner in the 260 Chapter s of the New Testament. No doubt some of that number are obscure references, and of some it may be very doubtful whether they are interpreted correctly when they are applied to the second coming of Christ. But definite and plain predictions of that great event are made literally dozens of times such manner that they could not be fulfilled in the conversion or death of individuals, in the beginning of the church, the coming of the Holy Spirit, or the judgment upon Jerusalem. They emphatically predict things which have not happened yet and they could not point to a secret or spiritual or invisible coming.

WHEN? NO ONE KNOWS.

When He is coming, we do not know, because He has not told us that (Matthew 24:36). He has continually emphasized the need to be ready at all times because no one will know when He is to come (See Revelation 16:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; Matthew 24:27-51; Matthew 25:1-13). He will come as a thief in the sense that His coming will be unannounced, unexpected and sudden. In the same sense it will be as travail upon a woman with child.

But he has assured us that when He does come it will be evident to all, with power and great publicity, as the lightning in the east is seen unto the west, with a great shout and the sound of the trumpet (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:26-27; Matthew 24:30-31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

WHY HE WANTS US TO KNOW OF THE FUTURE

Our Lord wants us to know some things about the future. He wants us to be warned and prepared for crisis that must come. He wants us to understand the nature of our salvation, and know that this world is not our hope or our permanent home. He wants us to look forward with hope and longing to His coming in glory and to our perfect union with Him whom we love. He wants us to realize that He Himself is our destiny and our exceeding great reward. He wants us to have assurance and comfort in the afflictions and sorrows of life.

He would have us all to be as strong and stedfast as Paul, by having his kind of faith in the far more exceeding weight of eternal glory and by looking with him not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:1-11.

Daily consciousness of the imminent return of Christ will surely prompt more godly living, promote more sacrificial giving, produce more patience and even rejoicing under trials, and purify our motives in all that we do. We need to realize that we do not live our lives to be seen of men, or to get by in the world; but we do all our works under His watchful eye, and we shall soon stand before Him to give account.
The heart of Christianity is the vital power of faith, hope, and loveall centered upon Jesus Christ. Any one who does not believe His word enough to hope for His coming and to love His appearing will surely lack the personal force of Christ in his life.
The predictions of His coming should be even to the unbeliever an inducement to heed more seriously Christ's commands and claims, because His coming is a threat to the disobedient as well as a promise to the faithful.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN HE COMES?

The Lord has revealed only a few particulars and some things of the general nature of the great events which will take place when He comes. No doubt there are many things in store for us that we have not been told because we could not grasp and appreciate them now. Very likely some of the things predicted will not happen just as we imagine them. It is difficult, if not impossible, to tell in what order or how close together the following events will come to pass. But we are told that in connection with His coming or after it: the dead will be raised (1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 5:28-29); the saved will be with the Lord (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:17); the bodies of the redeemed will be changed into the likeness of the body of His glory (Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:52-54; Romans 8:23-25); the world and the works therein will be burned up (2 Peter 3:11-13); a crown of glory will be given to the faithful (2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4); Christ will execute judgment upon all men (2 Timothy 4:1; Jude 1:14-15; Acts 10:42; Acts 17:31; John 5:22-29; 2 Corinthians 5:10); He will reject many who thought they were saved (Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 22:13-14; Luke 13:25-27; cf. Matthew 13:40-43; Matthew 13:47-50); the door of salvation will be forever closed (Luke 13:25-28); there will be grief and terror in the hearts of many because they are unprepared to meet Him (Matthew 24:30; Matthew 24:50-51; Matthew 25:30; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 6:14-17; Luke 13:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

Whether or not all men are to be judged at one time, or whether there will be two judgments, or three or five, is relatively unimportant. Probably no man knows just how and when it will all be done, but the Lord will take care of it without our figuring it out. The important matter is to be ready for judgment by being in Christ, and to know that We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Let every sinner remember this fact, and contemplate what it will meanour Savior will be our Judge! He who once served the sentence of death for us, who now makes intercession for us at the throne of God, who invites all to come unto Him and be savedit is He who will come in flaming fire, rendering vengeance upon all that know not God and obey not the gospel!

II. A SECRET RAPTURE CONSIDERED

By Seth Wilson

I truly desire to see people awakened to the reality and tremendous significance of the second coming of our Lord. But to put all the emphasis upon a secret rapture and mysterious disappearance of the saved, as if that were certainly the nature of Christ's coming, is to teach as Bible truth what is at best a doubtful, speculative view of the implications of the Bible.
The Lord's coming is surely and clearly taught; so also is the separation of the saved from the unsaved, the resurrection of those in Christ, the transformation of the bodies of both the living and the resurrected saints, and their rising to meet Him, ever to be with Him. But after much restudy of the Scriptures, I agree with R.A. Torrey's statement: The doctrine of the secret rapture of believers does not seem to have much support in Scripture.
I have seen the Baptista motion picture on the rapture and have heard the idea for years. I have had no particular reason to oppose it, and have no feeling against it, if that is what the Lord wants to do; but I just can-'t find that the Scripture teaches it. I have the MILLENIUM BIBLE by Biederwolf before me; and it makes the fullest study of all the implications which men have found in or read into every prophetic passage. It certainly favors a premillennial view with separate resurrections, a period of tribulation, etc.; but its comments on the rapture are divided, uncertain, and confused, not at all strong for a secret rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 does indeed teach that the saved (both living and resurrected) will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at His coming, but there is no indication that it is silent and secret so that it leaves the rest of the world mystified by their absence. It says that the Lord will come with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. How can we know that this coming to meet His saints is a different coming from that described in Revelation 1:7 where it says: Every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him? He said that we should not believe it if one said, He is in the secret chambers. For as lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:26-27; Luke 17:23-24).

Those who hold that Matthew 24:30They shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great gloryrefers to a third coming (or to a second phase of His coming) seven years after He has taken the saved out of the earth, run into serious difficulties. They must make Matthew 24:31 refer to a group called his elect who are not of the church or the redeemed at His coming. The parable of the ten virgins surely does not indicate that those who are unprepared at His coming will be gathered in later. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 indicates that the coming of the Lord which brings sudden destruction upon the wicked is to be in a time when they are saying, Peace and safety, which hardly seems to be at the climax of seven years of terrible tribulations after all the righteous have disappeared.

The Scriptures most cited as teaching this seven years of tribulation are from Daniel and Matthew 24:21; Matthew 24:29, which in context refer to the Jews and the fall of Jerusalem. In Luke 17:22-37 Jesus told His disciples that they would desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but would not be able to, until He comes upon both the godly and the ungodly by surprise when they are buying, selling, planting, and building, apparently unmindful of any impending judgments.

The Bible does not say that Jesus is coming once for his saints and again with his saints. The passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, which is supposed to teach the former, says, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. If to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23), then, when the Lord comes to unite the dead saints with the living ones and to transform the bodies of both (see 1 Corinthians 15:51; Philippians 3:20-21), why wouldn-'t He bring the saints with Him? Isn-'t it also possible that Jude 1:14The Lord came with ten thousands of His holy ones (this is the American Standard Vers. and saints simply means holy ones)refers to the angels that come with Him, as stated in Matthew 25:31And all the holy angels with him (see also Matthew 16:27)? Matthew 13:39-41 says He will send the angels to gather the wicked, and Matthew 24:31also says that when He comes, He will with the sound of a great trumpet send forth His angels to gather His elect from all parts of the world.

The statements about one being taken and another left (Matthew 24:40-41; Luke 17:34-35) do not necessarily picture a secret rapture. The word which is translated taken in each of these verses is the same word exactly which is usedin John 14:3I will come again and receive you unto myself. These verses may only say that of people who live and work together here, one will be received by the Lord and the other left out, when Jesus comes for His own.

When the Scripture says that His coming will be as a thief in the night, it explains that it means suddenly and unannounced upon those who are not looking for Him, but it never indicates that it means stealthily and unseen. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3; Luke 12:39-46; Matthew 24:42-44; Revelation 16:15). In fact, Peter says: But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise; and the elements shall be dissolved with a fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. All this comes as a thief!

There may be some time between events that are associated with the Lord's coming, the resurrection of the saved, the resurrection of the wicked, the judgments of men, destruction of the earth, establishment of a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Peter 3:13), etc. But the time tables which men offer on the rapture, the tribulation, the revelation of Christ with the saints, the millennium, the judgment of the nations, etc., is all speculative. It is not found in the Scripture and the advocates of all these things cannot find grounds enough to agree among themselves concerning the order and timing of them.

Even the expression in 1 Thessalonians 4:16the dead in Christ shall rise firstdoes not necessarily depict a second resurrection. The contrast which is stated in the context is between the living believers and the dead believers. The living will not precede the dead, because the dead will be raised first. Then (next) the living will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. Nothing at all is said about the resurrection of the unbelievers in the entire chapter.

I know that Revelation 20:5 says, The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. I am not at all sure exactly what many verses of this chapter refer to, although their general intent is clear. But I do notice that it does not say, or even clearly imply, that the reigning with Christ for one thousand years to take place upon the earth. And it does not say, or even clearly imply, that the thousand years of reign begins at the second coming of Christ. It says that John saw the souls of martyrs and of undefiled worshippers of Jesus reigning with Him. Jesus is reigning even now, at the right hand of God, far above all rule, and authority, and power (Ephesians 1:20-23). Long ago He told the church in a letter, that He had overcome and sat down on His Father's throne with him. (Revelation 3:21). Jesus said on earth that He was a king, and that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:33-37). He also solemnly promised that the kingdom would come with power while many that heard Him speak were still alive (Mark 9:1). The apostles preached that the Christians of their day were in the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13; Romans 14:17), although they looked forward to the kingdom of the future also (2 Peter 1:11, and others). They considered that the universal gospel of their day fulfilled the prophecy of Amos 9:11-12 about God's building again the tabernacle of David (Acts 15:15-18). Revelation 1:6 cites it as a fact in John's day that He made us to be a kingdom and priests. They even speak (rather mystically) of the fact that He has raised us up with Christ and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The first resurrection of Revelation 20:5 could be the resurrection of the believer when he is raised with him (Christ) and made alive together with him (Colossians 2:12-13; Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 2:5). Or why couldn-'t it?

III. WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN
JESUS COMES BACK?

By Wilbur Fields

Every eye will see him. Revelation 1:7

He will come visibly. Matthew 24:27

He will come with angels (Matthew 16:27), and with clouds, and power, and great glory. (Matthew 24:30)

He will come with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel (Michael; Jude 1:9), and the trumpet of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52

Many will wail when they see Him. Revelation 1:7

All who are in the graves will come forth. John 5:28-29

Both the just and the unjust. Acts 24:15

The dead are raised incorruptible. 1 Corinthians 15:52

The dead in Christ are resurrected first, before we that remain are caught up. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Our bodies shall be instantly changed to become immortal (1 Corinthians 15:52-53), powerful (1 Corinthians 15:43), and spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:44).

The saved shall be caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Angels will gather together the Lord's chosen ones. Matthew 24:31.

There will be a separation on earth. The saved will be taken and the wicked left. Matthew 24:40-41; Matthew 13:49; Luke 17:34-36.

Angels shall gather the wicked, like reapers gather up tares. Matthew 13:40-41.

All nations shall be gathered before the judgment throne. Matthew 25:31-32.

10.

The judgment will follow. Matthew 25:33-46; Revelation 20:11-13.

Christ will be the judge. Matthew 25:31-32; Acts 10:42; John 5:22.

At the judgment those who are saved will face no condemnation, and have no sins to give account for. But they will be judged to determine the reward of their works. John 5:24. Romans 8:1; Hebrews 8:12; 1 Corinthians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 5:10.

11.

The wicked shall be cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15; Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:43-48.

12.

The present earth and heaven shall be pass away. 2 Peter 3:10; 2 Peter 3:12; Revelation 20:11; Hebrews 12:26-27.

13.

A new heaven and new earth will be revealed. 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1.

14.

Christ will deliver the kingdom (the church) to the Father. 1 Corinthians 15:24.

15.

The saints will enter into the city, New Jerusalem. Revelation 22:14.

16.

The New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:10. (Presumably it will come down to the new earth. Note Revelation 21:24-26.)

17.

The saints will serve God in the new heaven and earth forever and ever. Revelation 22:3; Revelation 21:24-26.

Therefore, be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Matthew 24:44.

IV. THE COMING OF THE LORD
WITH ALL HIS SAINTS

By Wilbur Fields

In our notes on 1 Thessalonians 3:13 we stated our opinion that the saints who will come with Jesus from heaven will be the angels, his holy ones.

While this teaching has been held by most Bible interpreters throughout the centuries, it is now regarded almost as modernism by some people.
As a sample of the teaching now popular among some people, we quote here from a widely circulated series of prophecy lessons:

We need to ever keep in mind that there will be a -second coming-' and a -third coming-' of Christ, which some writers prefer to speak of as the first and second phase of Christ's return. He will return -FOR his saints,-' and he will also return -with His saints.-' When He returns FOR His saints, then it is that He comes only in the clouds. But when He returns with his saints, then it is that His feet will once again stand on the Mt. of Olives.
According to this system of interpretation, the following series of events will occur when Christ comes:

(1)

He will come FOR His saints in the clouds.

(2)

The dead in Christ will be resurrected.

(3)

The resurrected and the living saints will be taken up out of the world to be with Christ, leaving the unsaved behind. (This taking up of the saints is usually called the rapture, a term not found anywhere in the Scriptures. See brother Seth Wilson's fine article, A Secret Rapture Considered, in this book.)

(4)

Following the rapture there will (supposedly) be a period of 7 (or 3½)years, during which the Antichrist will rule the world, and a Great Tribulation will occur.

(5)

Then Christ is to return WITH his saints to punish sinners and reign for a thousand years (the millennium).

May we offer three objections to this system of interpretation.
(1) We observe first of all that the Scripture in NO place makes any distinction between Christ's coming FOR His saints, and his coming WITH His saints. It does not even use the expression, coming FOR His saints. We would be the first to acknowledge that Christ is coming to take up His saints to be with Him, but to make a distinction between that coming and the coming WITH His saints is to make a distinction where the Scriptures make none.

(2) 1 Thessalonians 3:13 almost utterly rules out the possibility that Christ is coming back with his people, after having taken them out of the earth previously.

In that verse Paul prayed that the Thessalonian Christians might be established unblameable in holiness at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

Now surely no one could say that saints who had been resurrected and transformed in body, and taken up to be with Jesus would need to be further established unblameable in holiness. Only if they were here on earth would they need to be established in holiness when the Lord comes.
Unless the saints (referring to the people) could be in two places at once, we cannot interpret the phrase, with all his saints, to mean with all his people.

They would have to be on earth where they needed to be established unblameable in holiness. And they would have to be with the Lord coming down from heaven at the same time, if the idea is true that the Lord is coming with all his people.
(3) Thirdly, the word saints is frequently applied to angels as well as people.
The word saint means holy one, Note these references where it refers to angels:

(a) Deuteronomy 33:2And he came with ten thousands of saints. (This describes how the Lord came down on Mt. Sinai.)

(b) Daniel 4:13I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven. See also Daniel 4:23. The word here translated holy one, is the same word as is elsewhere translated saint.

(c) Daniel 8:13Then I heard one saint (or holy one) speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake. These saints were the angels that revealed to Daniel the visions.

(d) Psalms 89:5-7And the heavens shall praise thy wonders O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints (holy ones). For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints (holy ones), and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

(e) Luke 9:26For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father'S, and of the holy angels. See also Mark 8:38 and Revelation 14:10. The word translated holy in all of these verses is the same word that is translated saints in many other places.

Many verses teach plainly that Christ is coming back with the angels, See 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Mark 8:38; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31; Luke 9:26. But the only way that men can prove that people will be WITH Christ when He comes back is to interpret dogmatically the word saints to mean people, when it does not necessarily refer to people at all.

The view that the saints (or holy ones) who will come with Jesus are angels adds light to the following verses:

(1)

Zechariah 14:5And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (The American Stan. Vers. renders this verse: And all the holy ones with thee.)

(2)

Jude 1:14And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment. (Amer. Stan. Vers. has with ten thousands of his holy ones.)

We agree with R. C. Foster in his statement: We do not read of two comings of Christ at the end of time, but one great coming on the clouds of heaven even as He ascended, and then the judgment of all the world. (THE FINAL WEEK, p. 114).

V. THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID

By Wilbur Fields

The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. Luke 1:32

These words were spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mary, when he told her that she would conceive and bring forth a son, Jesus.
Many people feel that this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, and that Jesus has not yet received the throne of his father David. They look forward to a time when Jesus will sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem, and reign for a thousand years.
Sometimes the question is asked, Who is now sitting on the throne of David? The answer that is sought in many cases is, No one.
However, we think that Jesus Christ IS now ruling from the throne of David. Please let us give you five reasons why we think this:

I. The throne of David is the same as the throne of God.

Exodus 19:3-6When the Israelites were constituted into a nation, they became a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God was their king.

1 Samuel 8:7When the Israelites demanded that they have a king to rule over them, God said, They have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

2 Samuel 3:10This is one of many passages that uses the expression throne of David.

1 Chronicles 29:23Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father.

Jeremiah 22:30God spoke of King Jehoiachin (Coniah) in this manner: For no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

These Scriptures point out that God was the original king of Israel. But the Israelites rejected God from being king over them, and chose a king of their own. God permitted this, and the throne of God was to that degree moved from heaven to earth. Thus we find the throne of David being called the throne of the Lord. David's throne was God's throne, After the time of Coniah and the destruction of Jerusalem, the kingdom was withdrawn from Jerusalem and Judah. The throne of David, the throne of God, was gone from the earth.

II.

Christ was to receive his kingdom in heaven, not on earth.

Daniel 7:13-14I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days (who is God), and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. (Notice that Christ received his kingdom when he was before God in heaven,)

Luke 19:11-12This Scripture tells how Christ, as he drew near to Jerusalem for His last visit, told a parable, because some thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. In his parable He told how a nobleman had to go into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, The nobleman represents Christ himself. Christ had to go into a far country, heaven, to receive his kingship, and this He did when he ascended back into heaven. He is king there now. And, as in the parable, He will return, not so much to reign (for He is already doing that now), but to judge his servants. Luke 19:15

Christ said, My kingdom is not of this world. John 18:36. We do not look for a worldly, material manifestation of Christ's kingdom.

III.

The time for the establishment of the Lord's kingdom is long since past. If Christ is not king by now, and isn-'t ruling from David's throne, then the word of God has come to nought.

Daniel 2:44The kingdom of God was to be established in the days of the fourth world empire, the Roman. The kingdom of God was to be established in the days of these kings, The Roman empire fell in 486 A.D. If Christ's kingdom were not established before then, the word of God has come to nought.

(Incidentally, the four empires of which Daniel prophesied were the Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian, and Roman.)

The kingdom was nigh (or near) in the time of John the Baptist. Matthew 3:2.

The kingdom was to be established during the lifetime of those living while Christ was still on earth. Mark 9:1. Surely Christ told the truth. Surely his kingdom was established, and he sits upon the throne.

IV.

After the day of Pentecost, when the church was established, the kingdom of Christ is always spoken of as being in existence.

Before Pentecost, the kingdom is spoken of as future. See Mark 15:43; Acts 1:6.

After Pentecost, it is spoken of as existing.

(1)

Colossians 1:13And hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.

NoteThe kingdom of Christ is also the kingdom of God. See Ephesians 5:5.

(2)

Revelation 1:9I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos.

(3)

Hebrews 12:28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved.

(4)

Acts 8:12But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures indicate that Christ is now ruling on the throne.

Revelation 3:21To him that overcometh will I (Jesus) grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Remember that the throne of David and the throne of God were the same throne.)

1 Corinthians 15:25-26For he (Christ) must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (Of course Christ will destroy death by the resurrection of the dead.) These verses indicate that Christ's reign is to end when the dead are raised, instead of just beginning following the resurrection, as some teach.

Mark 16:19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Psalms 110:1-2The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies, (This is a clear prophecy about Jesus. See Hebrews 1:13. Note that Jesus is to rule while he is at the right hand of God in heaven. He is sitting in his Father's throne, which is also the throne of David. How can anyone say that no one is now sitting on the throne of David?)

Acts 10:36Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

Hail to the King we love so well!

Hail! Immanuel!
Glory and honor and majesty,
Wisdom and power be unto thee,
Now and evermore;
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, All hail, Immanuel!

(D. R. Van Sickle)

VI. QUESTIONS ABOUT SPIRIT AND SOUL

By Wilbur Fields

Is there any difference between spirit and soul?

What are the words which are translated as spirit and soul?

What does the word spirit mean and refer to?

Does man have a spirit?

Can the spirit of man exist apart from his body?

What does the word soul mean?

What is the relation of soul to spirit?

Is the soul immortal?

Question 1Is there any difference between spirit and soul? Or are they two names for the same thing?

There surely is a difference between them. Otherwise Paul could not have written in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: Your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Neither could he have written in Hebrews 4:12 that the word of God pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.

Question 2What are the words which are translated as spirit and soul?

Words translated spirit are ruach (a Hebrew word in the Old Testament), and pneuma (a Greek word in the New Testament,) These two words have almost identical meanings. (Another Hebrew word which is translated spirit a few times is neshamah, which means breathing or breath.)

Words translated soul are nephesh (Hebrew), and psuche (Greek). These words also have almost identical significance.

Don-'t let these Greek and Hebrew words scare you. Wherever they may be used in the remaining questions, they will be explained.

Question 3What does the word spirit mean and refer to?

The word spirit (in both Greek and Hebrew) means wind or breath. See Genesis 8:1 and John 3:8 for examples of this.

Then sometimes it signifies anger or fury, as in the expression, the blast of thy nostrils. (Job 4:9). It is used this way in 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Then spirit refers to mental or moral qualities in general, as in Exodus 28:3, spirit of wisdom, and Ezekiel 11:9, a new spirit.

The word spirit is applied to apparitions (or ghosts). See Luke 24:37.

The word applies to the life-principle, applying alike to God, who is spirit (John 4:24), to angels who are ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14), and to man's life-principle.

Question 4Does man have a spirit? Emphatically he does.

Zechariah 12:1The Lord formeth the spirit of man within him.

Numbers 16:22O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh.

James 2:26As the body without the spirit is dead.

Job 32:8There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the almighty gives them understanding.

Man is a creature to whom life has been imparted by God's spirit. Our life is only a result of God's breath (spirit) upon us. Our spirit and breath is God's breath. Job 34:14If he (God) set his heart upon man to gather unto himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. See also Isaiah 2:22.

Question 5Can the spirit of a man exist apart from his body?

Yes.

Hebrews 12:23Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. (Even Paul the apostle never considered he was perfect on earth. Philippians 3:12. But Christians have come into fellowship with the spirits of saints who are dead to earth, but made perfect before God.)

1 Peter 3:19He (Christ) went and preached unto the spirits in prison. (These spirits in prison were the people who had been disobedient to the word of God in the time of Noah.)

Acts 7:59Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, (Stephen was dying as he spoke these words.)

Ecclesiastes 12:7At death, then shall the dust (our bodies) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (There is something within man that the gravedigger cannot bury. It is the spirit of man.)

Numerous other Scriptures go along with this teaching that the real person can exist apart from his body. Note 2 Peter 1:13-14: As long as I am in this body, knowing that shortly, I must put off this tabernacle (or body). Also 2 Corinthians 5:9, We labor, that whether present or absent (from the body) we may be accepted of him. (There is more on this subject under question 8 in this article.)

Question 6What does the word soul mean?

This word has many meanings and applications. It cannot be adequately defined by just one definition, unless a very broad definition is given.
The Hebrew word nephesh (translateld soul) is found 754 times in the Old Testament (according to Young's Concordance), and is translated 35 different ways. It is translated soul 428 times (in the King James version), life 119 times, person 30 times, self 19 times, heart 15 times, mind 15 times, creature 9 times, dead body 8 times, and 27 other ways not more than five times each. In one place (Isaiah 19:10) it is even rendered (and obviously well) as fish.

It is a common error to take a meaning of nephesh which it has in some references, and then to argue that that is its meaning always. For example, some say that nephesh just means the person himself, One writer arguing for this view says that when God created man, the combination of the body and the breath of life BECAME a living soul. Only as these are brought together do we have a living breathing being or person. The Bible use of the word soul makes it clear that this, and only this, is its meaning. We agree that the Bible uses the word nephesh (or soul) to mean the person himself. But it is just plain wrong to say that that is its only meaning.

Likewise some say that the soul is the animal life which is in the blood. It is a fact that the word nephesh (soul) has this meaning in many references. But this is NOT its only meaning.

Some interpreters (especially those who believe in soul sleeping and annihilation) refer to the references (there are very few of them) where the word nephesh (soul) refers to a dead body, and then try to imply that that is what the word soul means in other references.

In an effort to determine what the word nephesh (or soul) refers to in the Bible, I have gone over all its occurrences, plus the 103 occurrences of psuche (soul) in the New Testament. In most cases we can tell by the context what the word refers to. For example if a Scripture passage speaks about laying up words in your heart and soul, we naturally interpret the word soul to mean mind in that reference, as indeed it does in several references.

My survey of all the occurrences of nephesh and psuche leads me to this conclusion: Nephesh (soul) refers to any and all of the manifestations of life, both human and animal, material, mental, or emotional, both in the body and out of the body. (That is a broad definition, if you ever read one.)

I do not claim my analysis is infallible. For in many cases the word nephesh can have more than one significance in one reference. But here is a list of some of the most frequent applications of the word nephesh, as they appeared to me:

(1)

Approximately 215 times in the O.T. nephesh refers to a person or the person himself. Certainly a whole person is a manifestation of life. Deuteronomy 10:22; Genesis 12:5. Compare Acts 2:41.

(2)

Approximately 195 times it refers to the animal life which is in the blood, or just to life. See Genesis 19:20; Leviticus 17:11; Deuteronomy 12:23. Animals have nephesh as well as humans. Proverbs 12:10; Genesis 1:20; Genesis 1:30. NoteIf the nephesh is in the blood, manifestly it cannot always mean the person himself.

(3)

Approximately 115 times it refers to man's deep innermost nature. Psalms 103:1: Bless the Lord, O my soul. See also Deuteronomy 11:13; Song of Solomon 1:7.

(4)

Approximately 53 times nephesh apparently means emotions or feelings. 1 Samuel 30:6; 1 Samuel 2:33 (where it is rendered heart); Zechariah 11:8.

(5)

About 18 times it means mind (and is translated that way 15 times). Deuteronomy 11:18; Genesis 23:8.

(6)

About 17 times it means appetite, Proverbs 23:2; Deuteronomy 12:15; Micah 7:1.

(7)

Fourteen or more times it refers to God's nature, being, and feelings. Leviticus 26:11; Psalms 11:5; Genesis 1:21.

(8)

It means creature at least 12 times. Genesis 1:21.

(9)

It means affection approximately 9 times. Ezekiel 23:18; Genesis 34:3.

(10)

In eight references it is rendered dead body, Leviticus 21:11; Numbers 6:6; Numbers 9:6-7; Numbers 9:10; Numbers 19:11; Numbers 19:13. Haggai 2:13. The fact that a dead body could be called nephesh would seem to be due to the fact that the body becomes so closely identified with the person, that the body itself comes to be spoken of as the person. We still today speak about burying people when they die, although we do not mean to imply that we have buried the person's spirit, mind, feelings, etc.

(11)

In contrast to the use of nephesh to describe a dead body, in several references it refers to the life-principle, or spirit, which can depart from the body and exist apart from the body, In such references the word soul is almost synonymous with spirit. Note these references:

Genesis 35:18And it came to pass as her soul was in departing..

1 Kings 17:21-22Elijah cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come unto him againand the soul of the child came into him again. (If the soul cannot exist apart from the body, how could it have come back into him again?)

Proverbs 23:14Thou shalt beat him (thy son) with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. (The word hell in this reference refers to Sheol, the unseen world, the abode of the dead.) Punishing a child will not save him from dying and going into the unseen world. Hence this verse must refer to some place besides the grave where the soul can go into a place of security, if he has been chastised as a youth and directed to live in the right way.