HOW TO WAIT ON THE RAPTURE

2 Thess. 3:5

Morning Meditation 11/2/2012

Verse 5 says, “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”

There are so many ideas about the second coming floating around out there that it makes one dizzy just to listen. This doctrine has been examined by men of God who have refined this teaching so that I think a person has to go out of the way to be wrong on the rapture. I believe in the premillennial coming, and pretribulation rapture of the Lord for His people.

Paul says, “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God . . . ” The word “direct” translates “kateuthuno” and means, “to make straight, to guide, to direct.” It speaks, “of the removal of the hindrances to coming to one.” It is an aorist tense verb expressing a wish. This was Paul’s desire for them. He also knew that The Lord would have to bring this to pass. It is not something that the flesh can obtain. It is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 says, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Then he continues, “and into the patient waiting for Christ.” The words “patient waiting” translate “hupomone” and means, “steadfastness, constancy, endurance. In the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.” The words “for Christ’ expresses the goal of the waiting. I want to mention now the environment where this patient waiting for Christ is to be exercised.

PATIENCE IN THE MIDST OF DENIAL

One of the indications that we are near the coming of Christ is stated in 2 Peter 3:3-4, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

A person who believes and preaches the return of the Lord will purify himself. 1 John 3:3 says, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Men who preach the return of the Lord and do not purify themselves do not believe in His return. There are those who use this doctrine to raise money and take advantage of a gullible christian community.

Then there are those who outright deny His coming. They do this by the reasoning that is stated by Peter in this text. They say, “This doctrine has been preached for ages and nothing has happened and nothing is going to happen.”

Peter says in verse five, “For this the willingly are ignorant of . . .” The Bible plainly teaches that Jesus will return and rapture His people. To reject this teaching is to be “willingly ignorant.” This means that those who are willingly ignorant know the truth but reject it as false. Next there must be,

PATIENCE IN THE MIDST OF APOSTASY

One of the things that will characterize the time just previous to the Coming of Christ is apostasy. This is brought out by Paul in 2 Thess. 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” The falling away is a falling away from the faith. It is not a falling away in the sense of losing one’s salvation. It is a falling away that is illustrated in John 6:64-68, “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”

At this point in the ministry of the Lord He let them know that He knew who were true believers and the ones that did not believe. Note the word “some” in verse 64. He also lets them know that He knows which one out of the “some” that will betray Him. Note the words, “ . . . For Jesus knew FROM THE BEGINNING (Caps mine for emphasis) who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.” Then we are told in verse sixty-six, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” Not everyone who is called a disciple is a child of God. One can join the church and not be saved. You can get your name on a church roll easily but you have to be born again to get your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Most know that the church of our day is filled with people who have for one reason or another joined the church and are not saved. The apostasy is in progress. The unbelievers are having their “coming out” experiences today. Then last we see,

PATIENCE IN THE MIDST OF A MAJORITY

The majority has a strong influence on the minority. We find comfort in believing like everyone else. We have seen this peer pressure take its toll on our youth in public schools. Standards of conduct should be set by the Church as she interprets the Scripture. But I have seen in my lifetime young people abandon the standards taught in the church because they were immersed into a public school where the majority there had no such standard of conduct.

This is also true in denominational circles. Bible colleges and universities have been infiltrated for years by men who on the grounds of so-called scholarship reject the inspiration of the Scriptures and the fundamental doctrines of the faith. Today a young preacher in many denominational circles who believes that the Bible is the Word of God and that it teaches a premillennial pretribulation rapture of the saints is in a minority.

Paul speaks of “the patient waiting for Christ.” He says in substance that there will be pressure to abandon this truth. He says hold on to this truth patiently. He will come. Amen.

May the Lord bless these words to you hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White