Page 81 - Jesus is coming - Class version

78 JESUS IS COMING.

The Rapture may occur any moment. 14
The Revelation can not occur, until Antichrist be re-
vealed, and all the times and seasons (which point to the
day of the Lord) in Lev. 26, Daniel and Revelation be
fulfilled.
The Revelation ushers in the day, the Day of the Lord. 15
The failure to make this distinction has led to great con-
fusion among commentators upon this subject.
In 2 the
For instance : Thes. chapter apostle, in
2,
the first verse, speaks of the Rapture, to-wit: the coming
of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him, o2 which
He had written so fully in the previous epistle, especially
in the 4th chapter.
In the second verse he speaks of the Revelation, or Day
of the Lord,* which could not come, except there be a fall-
ing away first, and the "man of sin" and "that wicked," or
the Antichrist, be revealed.
And yet, most commentators have argued that the
apostle, in both of these verses, referred to one and the
same event, and thus they have made Scripture contradict
itself.
But we see plainly, that Paul had no intention of contra-
dicting Christ's admonitions, unto all, to watch for His
coming, as being imminent. Mark 13:35-37; Luke 12:35-
40. He only made the distinction, as above stated, between
the Rapture and the Revelation. The persecuted Thessalo-
nians thought that they were in the Tribulation, and that
the Day of the Lord had set in.f But Paul corrects them,
first by reminding them that the Lord had not come for
*Greek, the oldest MSS. read Kvplov = Lord, not xp"" " =
Christ. See Bengels' Gnomon and others.
f evitm)Ktv (enesteeken) which authorized version renders
"at hand," means to be present, or to have set in. See same
word in Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor. 3:22; 7:26; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 9:9, in
each place rendered "present."
(14) Mat. 24 :42. Watch a thief in the night,
therefore ; for ye know not what Luke 17 :30. Even thus shall
hour your Lord doth come. it bs in the day when the Son
(15) 1 Thes. 5 :2. For your- of r.:an is revealed.
selves know perfectly that the Also 2 Thes. 1 :7-10 : 2 Pet
day of the Lord so cometh as 3 : 10-12, etc.