Second Thessalonians 2:1-2 The rapture and The Day of the Lord, part 1.

Where are we at today? Roger, thank you again. I give you the easy ones, right? Well, we could all say that, couldn't we, Andrew? I don't know if Roy and Gail are on this morning. Andrew's on. I know Andrew's on. I actually saw his face, and I still do, actually. Good morning, Andrew.

So anyway, we're going to just, I think, start today by reading just the first four verses of 2 Thessalonians 2, chapter 2. And, Wayne, can you read those for us, please? Nice and loudly, thank you. First four. One through four. You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. In the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust faithfulness. Second one is 2-1-2-4. Can we do chemistry? Wait, that's the Tuesday study? Somebody else got it. Margaret, do you want to read that? Yes, please.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as it is from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first. and the man of sin revealed, and the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

All right, so two verses this week and two next, so this is going to be fun. All right, let's start with the two verses combined, because this is one sentence, the two verses combined. I think it's best to take them both together. Lots of meat here, and hopefully the lesson will be informative.

And I'm interested in the input of everyone else, too, in terms of the interpretation of these verses. Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be sin shaken in mind or trouble, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. All right, let's begin.

Now brethren, notice what precedes this introduction and how this relates to the topic that we outlined in Chapter 2. And I should say in Chapter 2, verses 1 through 12, we're really dealing with a topic that's kind of continuous. The first four verses set the stage for what follows. And thanks to Roy's teaching last week, let's review the verses that led up to this Chapter 2 section. Therefore, and I have bolded in the kinds of things that Roy covered last week, therefore we also pray always for you.

Isn't that neat? That our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness. My goodness, that's a mouthful. And the work of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

How's that a message to the church? I mean, just look at how stacked those two verses at the end of the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians are. They're praying always. Are we praying always for one another? And we're also being called to be worthy of the calling and fulfill the good pleasure of His goodness.

What's that? What's the good pleasure of His goodness? How about the life transformed and conformed in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ? work of faith with power. That's not to conquer, but the faith with power is the idea that we're placed, we're set aside, we're sanctified, and God gives us the power to reflect the new life we are in Christ Jesus. And then it goes on to say that the name of our Lord may be glorified in you and you in Him. It's a constant communication between our life in Christ and His in us. And that's all based on the grace of God. I mean, how's that doing for setting the stage for what follows?

Any thoughts about this, what Roy covered so nicely last week? Hey, Bob? Yes, Roy. Yeah, just a little thing I found this past week. I thought would sort of summarize the ending as Paul did it in the letter. I found this by Robert, oh my goodness, Deffenbach. I don't know if that's pronounced correctly. Bob Dallenbach, right? Yeah. From KPOF? What was the channel? The Christian Radio Channel? K-P-O-F. I'm not sure that's correct. Anyway, go ahead, Roy. Go ahead. He sort of summarizes the chapter 1 this way.

God is using the difficulties we face now to deepen the roots of our faith. And we certainly get that out of James, don't we? He is also using the persecutions that we endure to prove men worthy of his judgment. In both cases, they are the prediction of God's grace that he might be glorified in the future. Man, what a summary. It really is, and it's so, I think, nicely set up as an introduction to what's being covered in chapter 2. Let's move ahead then. Thank you Roy. Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him.

Now something I found quite interesting in the original translation we ask you occurs at the end of verse one but here at the beginning it reads we beseech and beseech or entreat you, or y'all, I mean it's plural. So we're entreating all of you. What do you think entreat versus beseech means, versus ask?

I mean, what's your interpretation? Well, Bob, actually, the American Standard has requests. I like that better, actually. You like requests? What's intrigue, though? How would you interpret intrigue versus request or ask? I'm looking at this as kind of a slope upward. Ask, request, and intrigue has an atmosphere of encouragement, too.

I mean, ask is, gee, you know, is the sun out today? Well, it was, but it's not anymore. Request is, I hope the sun comes out today. There's a little bit more hope there. But entreatment means I'm reaching out to encourage you. And I don't know, I kind of like that better.

But does it make any difference, next point, do you think it makes any difference what the order is here? Are we overly dissecting this? I think you're overly decisive. I'm not surprised at that answer. I don't think so. Now here we are again. Margaret's in one corner and Bob's in the other. Never mind. You'll have to make your own decision on this one. I'm not going to go there. I think it's important up front to say, you know, I'm reaching out to you to encourage you, you know, about the facts that are going to follow here or about the scripture that's going to follow. Anyway, Margaret, you can just ask later. That fits the verse perfectly from your interpretation.

All right, how should we interpret coming of the Lord? Coming, the Greek term perusia, we're going to look at this in much more detail. And is this the rapture and or the second coming? What are your thoughts here? Well if you see that, go ahead, somebody else said something. Patty, you go first. Yeah, I think it's a rapture. OK. Well, actually, parousia is kind of, you know, if you trace that word through, that's kind of the beacon, if you will. And I like the definition. I'll let you do it. It's a cool word. Anyway. OK.

I'm going to bring up a number of verses, and we're going to make our decisions later. Just up front, how many think this is rapture? Hands up. How many think that this is the second coming of the Lord? And I'm raising my hand for both. I want to be beautiful here. And how many don't have a clue? Nobody's right. Oh, yes. I can't see anybody in the TV land out there, but I'm not seeing any hands go up. Let's let some of the biblical scholars think about this there. In the New Testament, this word, this is what's quoted.

I'm quoting him directly. indicates the advent, in other words, the future, visible, return from heaven of Jesus, the Messiah, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God. Now if you interpret this as the rapture, it's the first event to follow, which ultimately will be followed by the second coming, right?

All right, I'm going to give you a series of verses, so bear with me here, that use this Greek term. And by the way, in Philippians, Paul said, I'm coming to Philippi. I mean, I'm paraphrasing the scripture. But it's like, we came to church this morning. That Greek term could have been used for that. So it's the coming or entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into the earthly sphere, either in the form of the rapture or his kingdom rule. OK, bear with me.

Matthew 24.3. Now, this is all use of the same grid term. And there's a finite number that I would say, if I recall correctly in my study, maybe 15 uses, 20 uses max.

Now, as he said on the Mount of Olives, The disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? How would you interpret that verse? I'll let you make a decision for yourself. Matthew 24, 37, but as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

1 Corinthians 15.23, more directed to the church. But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. Boy, that sure is rapture-like, isn't it? Actually, Bob, we're going to get, I'm teaching that verse today. Good, we'll see what you have to say about it. I'm going to be taking notes from you.

1 Thessalonians 2.19 For what is our hope, our joy, or crown of our rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ that is coming?

1 Thessalonians 4.15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. Interesting. 1st Thessalonians 5 23 now made the God of peace himself Sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit soul and body be preserved that Preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ again very church-oriented there isn't it?

Second Thessalonians 2.8, we'll be coming to that in the next few weeks. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. That doesn't sound to me like rapture kind of interpretation.

James 5.8, you also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Again, James maybe not be writing directly to the rapture event at that point.

We can converse about that. 2nd Peter 3 12 looking for and list and hastening the coming of the day of God Because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat and finally 1st John 2 28 and now little children abide in him that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him it is coming and So what are your thoughts about all those?

I think many of them are rapture related, but many seem like they're directed towards the second half. And we're going to end the lesson this morning. I'm going to look at three very scholarly theologians in terms of their interpretation here. But let's just leave it where it's at right now.

And I think Because we know Paul, as he addresses the Thessalonican church, really was very rapture-oriented. I mean, chapter 4 was very rapture-directed. And so the idea of that theme being continued now into the second epistle makes a lot of sense. But I would contend that many of these verses do look at the second coming.

So we'll just leave it at that right now. And our gathering together to Him. You know, interestingly enough, this means we're all in one place at the same time. And this is only used one other time in the New Testament. And where do you think that is? Gathering together. That's what we're doing here today.

Well, it's Hebrews 10.25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as in the manner of Psalm, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. Now, isn't that interesting? Because it relates to the day.

And again, when are we going to be together with the Lord Jesus Christ? He's going to be at the rapture. We're going to be with him in the millennium, too. But again, I think the theme of the rapture is what's really coming forth here. Roger, your thoughts? time when it's just the body of Christ and the Lord, the Second Coming, we have a much larger audience.

I mean, it's a much bigger deal. Not that they both aren't big deals, but I mean, this is a very intimate idea. To me, it's a very intimate situation where he has all his church with him, caught up together to meet Him in the air. I mean, it's such a personal, intimate thing. So, I don't know, it just seems pretty...

Well, you know, our goal here at Hollyhills, or for all believers, is to rightly divide the Word of Truth. I'm just raising some uncertainties the way the Word is used throughout Scripture. Is this Second Coming or is it Rapture? And I don't think, in the end, it makes much of a difference, because God is in control.

I mean, but I think the rapture is well defined by Paul in Thessalonica, his message to Thessalonica, and ultimately I think that's the best interpretation. And here that gathering together is in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4, 17, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. I mean, It's kind of cool the use of the word caught up together and gathered together so that together is a focal point of that interaction with our Savior.

So how would we interpret, let's go back to Hebrews 10.25 for a second, this gathering together. How should we interpret that?

I mean, is the whole body of Christ gathering together? No, they can't. They're around the world. They can't gather together. But how do we gather together today? So we're gathering together. And I think just as a rabbit trail for a second, this whole fellowship we have around the Lord Jesus Christ needs togetherness. And you know, Mike's got a Bible study, we've got a Bible study. I'm pointing to all these kinds of studies really are important in terms of maintaining this fellowship around the Lord. Hey, Bob? Yes, Roy. I thought when I read that verse, it's deeper.

It's infusing it in conjunction with this text you're dealing with. Because if we're dealing with a rapture, that gathering together is immense from the weekly gathering we're having now, right? That's right. Well, if you will, I mean, the body of Christ is gathering together spiritually on the first day of the week. So in a sense, we're doing that.

But numerically, the rapture is going to be 10 logarithms above where we're at right now. I think of the verses there in Revelation where this great company sings of his praise and wow, what a reunion that's going to be. But I think as Roger pointed out, the Second Coming is going to be a little more complex. I mean, we're going to be with the Lord Jesus Christ and presumably helping him overrule the nation of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom and those Gentiles that are left behind, right? That would indicate that we are already gathered together on the Second Coming. Well, again, I think that we're already gathered together spiritually.

The only person you really know who's saved is yourself. I mean, we can believe that everyone here is, I mean, just by their testimony and being together. But ultimately, I think the body of Christ in the mainline churches, there could be some who are saved in Catholic churches. I mean, there's going to be some saved. But those people who are biblically saved, are gathered together spiritually on the first day of the week, but should be 24-7, right?

Going forward. All right, good. I think we need to move on. Not to be soon shaken in mind or trouble. Now, not to be soon shaken means to kind of be agitated. And this is the passive voice. So in other words, it's not like, gee, you know, internal anxiety, which has no direction, is a psychiatric condition that psychiatrists and primary care physicians deal with all the time. People with unending anxiety, which is not necessarily directed to specific things. They're just anxious about everything.

But here we're talking about something on the outside that's agitating us. And this suggests It's something that's hasty, and it's something outside of us, such as in the good analogies of boat on a rough sea. I mean, who's been on a boat on a rough sea? I mean, you know, that can be agitating.

And that's what this is really meant to indicate, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled. Now notice, in mind, it's a particular mode of thinking and judging here, being alarmed or frightened. So this experience is in the mind. Our mind is really what's troubled. ultimately and shaken. It's not necessarily our body, but it could be too.

It's something we comprehend upstairs as an uncomfortable situation. Matthew 24, 6, and you will hear wars and rumors of wars, see that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. I think, you know, whether we interpret that as second coming, which I think is the best interpretation for this, it talks about us being troubled. And, you know, of course, you know, Matthew 24 is directed probably mostly to the second coming, I think, in context, that section of scripture. either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us. Now notice that as if.

What is meant by being troubled by spirit? By the way, pneuma is a Greek term that can be applied to any spirit. The Holy Spirit uses pneuma, but our intrinsic spirit is pneuma. Any responses to that inquiry? from God or not. And that was an active ministry of the Holy Spirit at that time. That's perfect, Roy. I think you're really on the right track here.

Thayer says, to define this spirit here in terms of the interpretation, one in whom a spirit, meaning any kind of spirit, is manifest or embodied, hence equivalent to actuated by a spirit, whether divine or demoniacal. One who is either truly moved by God's spirit or falsely boasts that he is. So this could be any kind of spirit. We're troubled either by spirit. And the kind of spirit that would be troubling us would be something not of the Lord.

OK? Yeah, Bob, and 1 John talks about testing the spirits to see whether they're from God. It kind of goes, well, you're probably going to have that verse now, right? There you are. And you don't even have the handout. I could comment on this, but anyway, let's read the verse. Thank you, Roger.

1 John 4, 1-2, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. We need to kind of quickly, this is black and white, this isn't gray zone stuff. I mean, the Holy Spirit... Go ahead, Roy.

Just a thought, when he left Thessalonica, he went to Berea, and they were described as being worn over, in that they took out the scriptures to check out what he said, and we don't know much about about the church in Thessalonica. It's interesting, isn't it, that God, by his providence, tells us an awful lot about a church under persecution in Thessalonica and his work, and yet here's another church we know very little about, except how they handled the message from Paul. So how do we know whether the Spirit is of God or of another source? Roger has his finger up. Doesn't the verse tell us the last part of the verse? That relates to, is it consistent with the Lord Jesus Christ and his message to us individually?

And sometimes that seems like it could be confusing, but it really shouldn't be. And I don't have examples to share with you this morning. What is meant here by word? This is logos. And again, it's a term that could be used for the written word, the spoken word, and relates to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's better translated, I think, through timely speech. I mean, so we could be misled, or misdirected, or troubled by word.

And boy, how often does that happen? How about every day? I mean, Margaret disagreeing with me is a fact. We'll just leave that where it's at. This is Shakespeare's comic relief here a little bit. Okay, let's move on. It depends on what source. Here's the source of the speech and actually what's the intent of the speech. But, you know, if you think about it, we all tend to at times be troubled by word, by the way somebody expresses something. Or, you know, it can be a word that's really very troubling and the nature is inconsistent with Scripture.

Anyway, we're not going to go there. So we can also be troubled by letter, as if from us. Now why do you think there's a subjunctive to this, as if from us? Oh, wasn't there some letter that was going around purported to be from Paul? I've forgotten the whole... I know in Corinth that was the case possibly. I'm not sure in this case. Well, I think, you know, literally, is it really from us?

And if so, why should such a correspondence trouble us? And by the way, that could come within the body. Or could come from outside the body. I mean even people within the body of Christ could ultimately by communication through a written document, and by the way, I'll go on another rabbit trail in a second there, you know, that could trouble us too.

Particularly if it's not true, it's not consistent with the Word of God. And the rabbit trail is if we've got a problem with someone, get on the phone or see them personally. And I'll just go to my work experience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. I had people who worked underneath me fired because of an email that was pejorative. And anything that's documented, printed, ultimately can come back to haunt you.

And I've been in a courtroom on a civil case, which I never was able to quite distinguish between a criminal case. But anyway, I finally learned that civil case, the evidence doesn't have to really be very convincing. But a criminal case, it has to be. But anyway, in a civil case, it was a series of email trails. that ultimately convicted the person who, in fact, was in the position of defending his situation. But I actually thought that that verdict was not correct. But I held the jury out for another day, thinking that I didn't think the evidence was sufficient based on the email trail. But I'm just saying, the letter can be condemning. So I just caution everyone who thinks that they have something to share that could be misinterpreted or come back to haunt them to get in somebody's face, either personally or on a Zoom type interface.

Any additional thoughts about that? All right, things are going to get a little more complicated now. As though the day, different word, Himera, of Christ the Lord had come. word, Paul. Why are you confusing us like this? Everybody just kind of looking down at their Bible, duh, nobody else. Alright, let's look into this.

There, the last day of the present age, his interpretation of this word is the day in which Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgment, and perfect his kingdom, and the following expressions are used. Does that look familiar? So Thayer is interpreting this, you know, based on the strong use of the word and the numbering strong gives a word. This is a different word than Perusia, but yet Thayer interprets it exactly the same way.

Well, if you look down here, this word can be interpreted the natural day, like today's August the 15th, 2021. It could be daytime versus nighttime. It could be the 24-hour day, in other words, 24-7, if you will, the entire day. It could be the natural day, meaning the date, or the 24-hour day. It could be the last day of the present age, which is how Thayer is interpreting this. Or it could be time in general, for instance, the days of our lives.

Is it soap operant? Is that right? Anyway, I didn't watch it. Wasn't there a soap opera called The Days of Our Lives? Marion has known it. I can tell she's been on that. Oh, she's not going to explain it. Anyway, so the interpretation here can be really quite different depending on its use and context. And by the way, if you look at how many words in the Greek text use this, we're talking about hundreds have used the word day. Peruge is much more contrite in terms of its utilization and interpretation. But this is a term that's used day in and day out. Forgive the pun. All right. OK, had come is perfect active and better translated is at hand. What do you make of perfect tense for had come? They thought it already happened.

And this is kind of round two, if you will. Paul did round one, back in chapter five, about the confusion between, is the day of the Lord started or the rapture? And the timing of those two are kind of critical to understanding what's going on. So Roger, why would the church have thought But there were some persecutions they were going through, right? In the first book, the first epistle to the Thessalonians, we learn a lot about that.

So the idea, I mean, we could all feel that the day had come in terms of our own day-to-day lives. But anyway, yes, I think the church had been through some trials and tribulations and persecution that they felt, and by the way, wrong teaching. So maybe they thought the day had come. Well, it's perfect acronym, which means it had already occurred but has consequences going forward, right?

OK, blue-letter Bible. Now we're going to look at some scholarly theologians here in terms of their interpretation. The blue-letter Bible, I'm going to define the perfect tense first. In Greek, it corresponds to the perfect tense in English. and describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated. Jesus' last cry from the cross, it is finished. is a good example of the perfect tense used in the sense, namely, it, the atonement, has been accomplished completely once and for all time. But the perfect tense suggests that effect continues indefinitely. So it is finished. We must all see our sins as forgiven and the old man crucified. It's a done deal, but perfect. It's in the past, but has continuing application.

I wanted to share that because I think that really is helpful interpreting that they had viewed that the day of the Lord had come. How does this relate to what was happening in Thessalonica? We just discussed that. They were undergoing some trials, bad teaching, et cetera, that they thought maybe was what was prophetic in terms of the end times and the day of the Lord.

All right, now we're going to look at some scholarly activity here, and we can see whether we agree or not. Constable, the subject of verses 1 through 12 is the Day of the Lord, which is where we're at in verse 2. This day is the Old Testament and the New Testament refers to includes the Tribulation, the Second Coming, the Millennium, and the Great White Throne Judgment, and a series of verses which we're not going to look at today, mostly Old Testaments being quoted here.

So Constable sees this as everything's wrapped up into this, including the Rapture. And we're going to comment on, after we're finished here, with the next couple of comments. Keith Lee III, who never, he's quite wordy and loquacious, I must admit. But anyway, I'm trying to pull out a section of his, and this is contrite, this is pages and pages of stuff. And Roger's laughing. I've seen it. But he shared that, you know, that theologian's comments with us. Okay, I'm quoting Keithley III.

Another problem is encountered if the perosia, second coming, that initiates the day of the Lord is considered an event of Christ's return to earth following the tribulation. If Paul had given oral or written instruction to this effect, the false claim that the day of the Lord was already present could hardly have alarmed these Christians. According to this scheme, the Day of the Lord could not begin without Christ's personal reappearance. His continued absence was obvious to all, yet the claim was made and accepted to the extent that the Church was troubled. This implies Paul had not taught that a one-phase parousia after the period of wrath would begin the Day of the Lord. He had told them that the coming of the Lord to gather his saints into heaven would initiate both the tribulation and the day of the Lord, and they were promised immediate rest, verse 7 in chapter 1, and glorification with Christ, verse 10, chapter 1, not increased persecution.

So in a sense, I'm going to summarize that in a one-liner. I think he sees this too as the entire composition of rapture going forward to all of the events that follow. Let's look at what Darby said. I think Darby gets the point a little bit more clearly.

The apostle had already instructed the Thessalonians with regard to the wicked one. When the Thessalonica and in the form when he was there at Thessalonica and in the former epistle he had taught them concerning the rapture of the church. In order that the Lord should come in judgment, inequity must have reached its height, and open opposition to God had been manifested. But the truth had another and more precious side. The saints were to be in the same position as Christ, to be gathered together unto him, before he could manifest himself in glory to those outside. But these truths require a more connected examination. I think what Paul is really doing here, and this is kind of my own summary here of all this, he's implying here that it is so immediately imminent, meaning, you know, coming quickly is not today or tomorrow, it's going to happen like that. Yes? Is that a question or comment or is that a lot of background noise? I'm not sure. If you have a question or comment, please go ahead and say it. So it's background noise. That's Mavis. I think she has her mic on. Okay.

Let's go back to where we were. So I think what Paul's implying is this quick return of the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of the rapture. is to talk to the Thessalonians. It's not to neglect the everyday worldly duties. And I think in verses 3 and 4, he's going to address the truth related to the day of the Lord. You've got to come back next week for this. So what's my conclusion about this? I think we don't need to be overly specific as to whether this is a rapture in terms of the Greek terms and their interpretation, or the second coming.

It's all wrapped up into one. I think the day of the Lord for the church is the rapture first, the tribulation which will not be part of, and the second coming with the Lord all wrapped up, and it extends into the eternal judgment, the great white throne judgment. So everybody's willing to come up with their own ideas here in terms of what this represents.

Wayne? I was just thinking, once we're raptured out of here, we're outside of time. So that could be all-inclusive of one Yeah, the neat thing about that is we're outside of that time zone now. It's our citizenship, right? Oh, that's right. But, Bill, you're right. Then, realistically, we're out of this earthly 24-7 home. So, to this, that would be all happening one time anyway, so our variables say time with that time, you know.

I would say the Old Testament is pretty clear that the Day of the Lord is the Kingdom Age related interpretation. I think what Keithley has said is he thinks that that's really an important thing to consider. But he also says that it begins with a rapture. So I think for us to be overly pinning down this entire section of 2 Thessalonians is all rapture related is a misinterpretation. I think it relates to both. Having been taught by Paul in the first epistle that the rapture is forthcoming allows that to be included in the end times kind of events, which relate to the tribulation and the second coming.

I'm offended by word. No, I'm just... No, I'm lifted up by word. Thank you. Go ahead. Anyway, one of the things that I wanted to share in the presentation is that this is really a problem to the Thessalonians, and that's what he's addressing. What is their focus here in this particular thing? Is it this false letter? I believe. Right.

And I think that probably there are very few of us in the body of Christ today who thinks that the tribulation is here, although the pandemic could be a good example of that, perhaps. But no, you're right. The teaching was to the church. But I think we're put in a position to having the word of God and want to interpret it the best we can.

So thank you. Andrew, any thoughts? No. No, this is good. Well, Roger, I'm a little bit early to end, but you're happy about that. All right, let's close with prayer. Father, we're thankful for this epistle. It's actually a challenge and fun to get into Scripture in more detail to understand the exact meaning. I think Rory's point is such a good one that this was directed to the Church at Thessalonica and they thought perhaps the end times had already occurred and the Day of the Lord had occurred. It's clear and pointed out to them that not true. This was something that had not ensued and that ultimately it was prophetic in terms of the nature of that event and things that relate to it to follow.

So we're thankful for that clarification that we've been able to be given. We're thankful for all the scholarly theologians who have drilled down deeply to try to understand this. And my conclusion is that we can't be specific here in terms of the absence of the rapture and its lack of inclusion in the Day of the Lord, because I think it all begins if we use both terms appropriately. to mean that the rapture for the church is next and then everything else will follow. So, again, we're thankful for the scripture and all that it means to each of us individually and to the body of Christ as a whole. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.