THE NEED FOR PERSONAL PREPARATION REGARDLESS OF WHAT SCHOOL OF TRIBULATION YOU MAY BELIEVE! PART 1 2THESSALONIANS 2:1 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him.” It is important to take note of the events which will take place at the second coming of Christ. There will be a rapture of the church, or a gathering together of the saints to Him. There will be a Great Tribulation. There will be a return of Christ in judgment to judge His enemies. The sequence of events has always been a matter of controversy, with good people and scholars on opposite sides. That is why it is necessary that the people should always be prepared regardless of what school of thought regarding the Tribulation may occur. Of course, almost all evangelical schools teach what most evangelical Christians believe—the pre-Tribulation view of the rapture. When Paul speaks about the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is referring to the entire scope of the Second Coming. That is the reason for his advice in these verses. Notice that the Greek word used for our gathering unto Jesus when He comes in His Second Coming, or the rapture of the saints upon His Second Coming, is the word “episunagoges.” This word is used only twice in the New Testament. Its first use is in the passage of 2 THESSALONIAN 2:1 which means “the act of gathering together.” This 2 THESSALONIAN 2:1 passage closely connects this word with “parousia.”The word “parousia” has acquired a technical status because it has most frequently been the word used for the Second Coming of Jesus for his saints who are waiting for Him, or the rapture. This word is never used to describe the First Coming of Jesus, which is normally referred to as “epiphaneia.” Although on very few occasions “epiphaneia” is used of His return, the translation is normally “appearance” or “manifestation” and not connected with His “parousia” or return for His saints at the rapture. A third Greek word may also be used for the Second Coming of Jesus. That word is “apokalupsis” but is usually translated as “revelation, unveiling, or disclosure.” These three Greek words describe the Second Coming of Jesus from three different points of view. It is, however, “parousia” which mostly describes the Second Coming of Jesus for the gathering of His saints, or what many refer to as the “rapture.” And the verb used in this verse to describe the Second Coming of Jesus for the gathering of His saints, or the rapture, is “episuunagoges.” We will continue with 2 THESSALONIANS 2:2 in PART II!!!
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 09:05:34 +0000
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