Concerning the Second Coming
2Thess 1:1,2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Though a young church, yet from the letters of 1&2 Thessalonians it was apparent that Paul did not neglect teaching the subject of eschathology (doctrines concerning the final events). This is not a subject to be avoided but embraced.
Notice that the "coming of the Lord", "our being gathered to him" are both events associated with "the day of the Lord." We read of this day in 1Thess 4:15-17 "According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." This is the gathering of his elect also spoken of in Mt 24:31 in which "he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." The Resurrection and the Rapture which follows it together constitute this gathering of his elect, which occurs at the coming of the Lord.
There were those who proposed that the day of the Lord already occurred, just as there are some today (Full Preterists) who propose the day of the Lord occurred back in 70 AD or who propose that events of the resurrection and rapture associated with the day of the Lord are not visible events. These destroy the faith of some. "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." 2Timothy 2:16-18
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
2Thess 1:1,2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Though a young church, yet from the letters of 1&2 Thessalonians it was apparent that Paul did not neglect teaching the subject of eschathology (doctrines concerning the final events). This is not a subject to be avoided but embraced.
Notice that the "coming of the Lord", "our being gathered to him" are both events associated with "the day of the Lord." We read of this day in 1Thess 4:15-17 "According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." This is the gathering of his elect also spoken of in Mt 24:31 in which "he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." The Resurrection and the Rapture which follows it together constitute this gathering of his elect, which occurs at the coming of the Lord.
There were those who proposed that the day of the Lord already occurred, just as there are some today (Full Preterists) who propose the day of the Lord occurred back in 70 AD or who propose that events of the resurrection and rapture associated with the day of the Lord are not visible events. These destroy the faith of some. "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." 2Timothy 2:16-18
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
