THE DAY OF CHRIST~THE LORD’S DAY OF WRATH
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 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;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
The first thing that needs to be understood and appreciated is that “the day of Christ” is not a reference to the rapture of the church. It is not referring to the Lord’s coming for us when He concludes this present dispensation of His grace. Though it is commonly spoken of, and treated, as if it does refer to the rapture, in reality it does not. Instead “the day of Christ” is just another way of designating “the day of the Lord”; i.e. the prophesied time in the final installment of God’s program with this earth and with Israel when He will have ‘His day’ in which He will bring His Father’s business ‘to a head,’ so to speak, and in so doing will execute His judgments and wrath against His enemies and will also reward His own people. Since “the Lord” is the Lord Jesus Christ, then His name can be used in a number of different forms to refer to ‘His day’ or to “the day of the Lord.” Wherefore ‘the Lord’s day’ can be referred to as either “the day of the Lord,” or “the day of the Lord Jesus,” or “the day of the Lord Jesus Christ,” or “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” or “the day of Jesus Christ,” or “the day of Christ,” or “the Lord’s day.” Each of these designations is referring to the exact same thing, i.e. to the prophesied “day of the Lord.” Likewise each of these designations is a fitting, appropriate, and also natural designation for ‘the Lord’s day,’ seeing that “the Lord” is the Lord Jesus Christ, and as such He Himself is naturally designated by either “the Lord Jesus Christ,” or “our Lord Jesus Christ,” or “the Lord,” or “the Lord Jesus,” or “Jesus Christ,” or “Christ.”
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
So this is the first thing that we need to understand and appreciate. And this means that “the day of Christ” in II Thessalonians 2:2 is not referring to our rapture at the end of this present dispensation, but it is referring to the prophesied ‘Lord’s day,’ (“the day of the Lord”), that is scheduled to take place in the final installment in God’s program with Israel and with this earth that is yet “to come”; and which will come to pass just as it is scheduled to do, but only after God concludes this present dispensation of His grace by the Lord coming for His church to rapture it to be with Him in the heavenly places. And of course this is the very thing that Paul assures us about in II Thessalonians 2, and he does so in view of the various ways in which the doctrine about the end of this present dispensation is going to be either deceitfully or incorrectly or mistakenly or insidiously handled by some, (either wittingly or unwittingly), by which saints can end up being deceived into thinking that “the day of Christ is at hand” and that therefore we are going to go through it to some degree or to some extent.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Therefore the erroneous issue that Paul is dealing with in II Thessalonians 2 is not the teaching that the rapture of the church is at hand, but rather it is the teaching or idea that ‘Christ’s day,’ (“the day of Christ”/”the day of the Lord”), is “at hand.” And the reason this erroneous teaching existed amongst the Thessalonians, (and has continued to exist in various forms down through this present dispensation, including in our own time), is because it is a natural erroneous doctrine to expect from Satan and his policy of evil against the body of Christ. If believed, then it will successfully distract members of the body of Christ away from their proper godly edification as God’s “new creature,” (which is primarily and ultimately what the policy of evil is after), and they will turn their attention to the things in God’s word about “the day of Christ,” having been caused to mistakenly think that with ‘the day of Christ being at hand’ they ought to, and need to, learn about the things that pertain to “the day of Christ,” seeing that they are going to go through it to some extent or to some degree. So then when you are dealing with II Thessalonians 2, do not make the mistake of thinking that “the day of Christ” is referring to the rapture of the church; for it is not. Instead it is just another natural and fitting designation for the prophesied “day of the Lord.”
Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
Once again it is my understanding that the expression “the day of Christ” is just another way of referring to ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’s day,’ or “the day of the Lord,” which is that prophesied time to come following the conclusion of this present dispensation of God’s longsuffering and grace, when the Lord Jesus Christ will have ‘His day’ during which He will judge His enemies and reward His own people. Now before God unexpectedly suspended His program with Israel and brought in this present dispensation of His grace in accordance with “the mystery of Christ,” the only knowledge God revealed about ‘Christ’s day’ was naturally confined to those things pertaining to Him having ‘His day’ with His enemies on this earth and rewarding His people of Israel on this earth in connection with the establishment of His kingdom on it.
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Php 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
However with “the revelation of the mystery of Christ” and with the forming of the “new creature,” the church the body of Christ, God has now made it known that in “the day of Christ” the Lord Jesus Christ is going to have ‘His day’ with more enemies than just those that are on the earth, and He is going to reward some other people that are now also His people. In other words with the revelation of “the mystery of Christ” it has now been revealed that in ‘His day’ the Lord Jesus Christ is also going to vanquish His enemies in the heavenly places, (i.e. Satan and his co-horts), and He is also going to reward His people that are the members of His body —God’s “new creature” — which God is now forming for the purpose of reconciling the heavenly places unto Himself.
1Co 1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Co 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore it has now been revealed that there will be more going on in “the day of Christ” than had previously been made known. And those things that God has only now revealed about “the day of Christ” are the things that pertain to us, the church the body of Christ, His “new creature.” The “day of Christ” itself will still take place at the same time that it is scheduled to take place; i.e. following the conclusion of this present dispensation of God’s longsuffering and grace. But now we know that when it takes place there will occur the formerly unprophesied and unknown aspect of it that will take place in the heavenly places, which will involve us and the occupants of the heavenly places; and then there will occur the prophesied and always known aspect of it that will take place on the earth, which will involve God’s people of Israel and the occupants of the earth.
1Co 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Wherefore when in places like I Corinthians 1:8; 5:5; II Corinthians 1:14; Philippians 1:10; 2:16 and others like them Paul refers to us and “the day of Christ”/”the day of the Lord,” he is referring to the heavenly aspect of ‘the Lord’s day’ in which we will be participants and of which we will be partakers. And indeed we will be participants in, and partakers of, the heavenly aspect of “the day of Christ.” For example it will be during that time that “the judgment seat of Christ” will take place, at which we will give account of ourselves and will be rewarded, or not rewarded, as the case may be. It is especially in connection with our appearance before the judgment seat of Christ in “the day of Christ” that Paul speaks of desiring that we be ‘blameless’ in that day, or of being ‘sincere and without offence’ till that day, or of him ‘rejoicing’ in that day, etc. So then in connection with God’s revelation of “the mystery of Christ” there is a now-made-known heavenly aspect to “the day of Christ,” which will take place in the heavenly places following the conclusion of this present dispensation; and in which we will participate and partake, especially at the judgment seat of Christ.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries