THE DAY OF THE LORD AND THE CHURCH

DougE

Well-known member
1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJV - For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Paul is speaking about the day of the Lord, a day of wrath: Zephaniah 1:15 KJV - That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJV - For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Paul is writing to the church of the Thessalonians: 1 Thessalonians 1:1 KJV - Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians [which is] in God the Father and [in] the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those who Paul is speaking of as being "they and them" in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 are not the church.

1 Thessalonians 5:4 KJV - But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Here in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 and 5:9, the church is being spoken of.

Paul said in verse 2 that the day of the Lord would come as in the night, but the church was not in the darkness of night, and therefore, would not endure that judgment: 1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJV - For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 KJV - For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

The day of the Lord is a day of wrath, the church is not appointed to wrath; the church will not face the day of the Lord.

The tribulation period is also a period of wrath: Luke 21:23 KJV - But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

The church will be caught up before the day of the Lord and the tribulation: 1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV - Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 
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