How to Avoid the Wrath of God and Be Caught Up With Jesus

As we roll into chapter five of 1 Thessalonians, we have ten more verses that relate to the Rapture, the Wrath of God, and End Times. Charles Finis Dake wrote quite a bit about these areas. He was a prolific student of God’s Word having put in 100,000 hours of study which averages roughly to eight hours a day. He said this about End Time events. “Having been born in 1902, I have now had time to witness the coming and going of quite a few prophetic students who, one by one, have made boisterous claims regarding the exact time of the rapture, exactly who the Antichrist was, and exactly what “the mark of the beast” would be. I have lived through strong announcements that various dictators were the Antichrist—Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and others. One preacher was so convinced that Mussolini was the Antichrist that he wrote a book about it. But before the book could become a best-seller, Mussolini died. “My God,” the preacher said. “They’ve killed my Antichrist and I’ve just printed 5,000 copies of my book!” With all of this, and more, going on in the prophetic field during my lifetime, I think that my reasons for writing The Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are obvious, and I trust understandable.¹ We’re talking End Times, specifically the Day of the Lord. What is that? And, How to Avoid the Wrath of God and Be Caught Up with Jesus. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
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The Day of the Lord will come as a thief of the night. Are you looking for Jesus to catch you away and deliver you from the wrath to come?

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: How are you encouraging yourself in the fact that the Lord will deliver you from the wrath that is coming upon the whole earth?

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We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 45 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Father God, thank you for your holy, precious written Word. Help us to know it. Help us to walk in the Light of it in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

Avoiding the Wrath of God: The Day of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 5:1–10 (ESV) — Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

So there is lots of conversation here about the Day of the Lord.
What is the Day of the Lord?
Does the Word of God tell us?

How the Wrath of God and the Day of the Lord Are Linked

So, to define the Day of the Lord, we will take a scripture walk and let them tell us what the Day of the Lord is.

Jeremiah 46:10 (ESV) — 10 That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

The Day of the Lord is a day of vengeance.
The Lord has been telling us in many places not to take vengeance into our own hands.
He said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’
You wonder why, He waits on some things.
He’s waiting because He is merciful.
He’s waiting because He is not touchy.
But, here’s the thing — He won’t wait forever — there is a day of vengeance coming.
That day is called the Day of the Lord.
Let me define that day for you.
It is the period between the Second Coming of Jesus, which we have already seen in a previous podcast, that day is a blood bath – from the day of the Second Coming to the last Day of the Millennial Reign of Jesus.
That’s the Lord’s Day.

Ezekiel 30:3 (ESV) — 3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

The Day of the Lord is a day of the doom of nations.
It’s a happy day for some — but not so much for most.
Since we have been delivered from the wrath to come, and we know that the Rapture happens before the wrath of God is unleashed, we understand that those left behind are those who are not in the church.
The Day directly after the Rapture is a dark day on Planet Earth because all of the light, — believers are the light of the world, all of the salt — because believers are the salt of the earth, all of that has been snatched off of the face of the planet and what’s left are unsaved people under the dominion of darkness.
Listen to this next passage.

Amos 5:18–20 (ESV) — 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, 19 as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

The Day of the Lord is a day of no escape.
A man is attacked by a lion, he runs — he gets away.
Whew, the man says and turns around and there’s a bear ready to pounce — he runs again, and with nifty footwork, he escapes yet again making it to his home.
Man oh man, he says as he leans his hand against a wall and gets bit by a poisonous snake.
No matter what he does he cannot sidestep calamity.
The Day of the Lord is a day of bad stuff for people.
It’s a day when human ingenuity will fail.
They will not be able to talk their way out of it — buy their way out of it — scheme their way out of it — hide in fortresses or shelters — no one will escape.

Obadiah 15 (ESV) — 15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your head.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping will be in effect on the Day of the Lord.
And, it will be extremely effective.
What people have sown will bring forth a harvest.
God is not mocked.
But, here’s the thing, everything reaped will be bad because all the seed that’s left in the earth is bad.
Bad seed is bad words — it’s corrupt communication.
That’s all that’s left on the earth.
Their deeds will return on their head.

Zechariah 14:1–3 (ESV) – 1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.

Malachi 4:1 (ESV) — 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

So, you get the idea, right?

Matthew 24:29–33 (ESV) — 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

Who is Jesus talking to here?
Well, He’s not talking to the Church because it doesn’t even exist yet in Matthew 24!
And if it did, it wouldn’t fit because the Church is gone before the Tribulation, not after it.
Notice what Jesus said about the fig tree.
The sign of the Fig Tree is after the Tribulation of these days.
Again, we could be seeing previews — which is God’s MO.
You know we’ve all been guilty of looking at the signs.
We trip over these signs.
The signs of Matthew 24 are not signs of the Church age.
They are not signs of the Rapture.
They are signs of the Second Coming.

Avoiding the Wrath of God: This Thief in the Night Business

The phrase, ‘thief in the night’ has been applied to the Rapture.
I think they even did a Rapture movie called ‘Thief in the Night.’
Thief in the Night is not about the Rapture it’s about the Day of the Lord.

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

It’s the Day of the Lord that comes as a thief in the night, not the Rapture.

While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

Now ask yourself the million-dollar question: Why won’t the Day of the Lord overcome the Church as a thief in the night?
Answer: Because the Church is gone — you won’t be here!
The Church will be raptured!
So then, what is this imagery about?
More specifically, who does this imagery refer to?
Well first off, the term ‘thief in the night’ is a generic phrase meaning that the Lord will come when no one expects him just as a thief comes when no one is expecting him.”
Jesus used this imagery.
The prophets did not.

Luke 12:35–40 (ESV) — 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

The point, both in the Gospels and the Epistles, is that the Day of the Lord will come suddenly without warning.
Here is Peter echoing the same thought.

2 Peter 3:10 (ESV) — 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

So once again, it’s the Day of the Lord that comes like a thief, not the Rapture.
Here is John in the Book of Revelation — same thing.

Revelation 3:1–3 (ESV) — 1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Look at the pattern here in Revelation.
We know that the first three chapters of Revelation deal with the seven churches and are representative of the Church Age.
After chapter three, you have no mention of these churches.
From chapters 6–19, there is no mention of the Church.
Why not?
Because the Church is gone.
The Rapture has occurred and the Church age is over.
So, what’s left is the Second Coming — what’s left is the Day of the Lord.
Now, note what Jesus told the Church at Sardis.
He said, ‘If you don’t get it together, you don’t wake up, I will come to you like a thief.’
Why is He coming to them in this way?
Because they are dead— that’s what it says in verse one.
Because they are sleeping – that’s what it says in verse two.
And because their works are incomplete.
Jesus told the Church at Sardis — if you don’t wake up, I’m coming to like a thief — that’s judgment of a sudden nature.

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Four Conditions

Now, tying all of this back to our passage.

2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

This is an after the Rapture statement.
Since it is, this general feeling and conversation about peace and security happens during the Tribulation period.
There will be a time when the Antichrist rises and conquers nations — when the False prophet rises and helps to support the Antichrist in his deception – that they will hatch a plan and sell it to the world.
The path to peace is the destruction of Israel.
The Antichrist and cohorts will attack Israel — conquer 1/2 of it and then Jesus will come.
Read about this in Zechariah 14.
Now there are four things mentioned in this passage that you want to be mindful of.
You saw the happenings that befell the Church at Sardis.

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Don’t Be Asleep

4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

The Greek word for sleep is the word we want to look at and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The word sleep here means to be spiritually indifferent.
It is not the same word as the word sleep in chapter four.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 (ESV) — For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

Here, the word sleep means to have physically died.
But it is the word sleep used about the foolish virgins in Matthew twenty-five.

Matthew 25:1–5 (ESV) — 1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

Did you hear the word sleep here?
What’s pictured here is the happenings of a Jewish wedding.
Jesus uses this parable to make one point.

Matthew 25:13 (ESV) — 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Jesus uses the picture of people who acted foolishly and fell asleep to warn us so that we would be in a state of watching for Him to return rather than being spiritually indifferent about the whole matter.
It’s not only indifference, it’s going back into sin.
Going back into sin is going backward not forward.

5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

Sleeping at night and getting drunk at night are thrown into the same pot.
So, if you want to escape the wrath of God, don’t be indifferent — don’t fall back into old ways before you knew Jesus.

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Be Watchful

6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

That’s the ESV — the KJV has it as ‘Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
The word ‘watch’ means to be in constant readiness, to be on alert.

Matthew 24:42 (NKJV) — 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

This word watch is the same Greek word for ‘keep awake’ in First Thessalonians five.
Now, read the rest of this in Matthew twenty-four and you will see that it echoes what we are reading here in Thessalonians.

43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have [watched or] stayed awake [or have been in constant readiness] and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

So, a ready person is a person who is doing what His Master has instructed Him to do.
This servant’s job was to be over a household and to give out food at the proper time.
What’s the proper time? — It’s God’s direction.
Now, the next four verses [verses 47–51] describe a person who is not watching, not awake, not in a state of constant readiness.

48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Instead of feeding the members of His household, this servant instead abuses the people of His Master’s household, Woe to that man.
And here is the last thing people should be constantly engaged in if they want to escape the wrath of God.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Put on the armor of God.
Fight the good fight of faith — we spoke of all of these in Ephesians 6.
Lay hold on eternal life.

Now Father God thank you for your great plan in keeping us from the wrath that is to come. We give you all the praise for it — we look to you for direction in our life. We want to be faithful servants in all the will of God. We want to live and operate trusting you. Thank you for helping — thank you for leading us in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

How to Avoid the Wrath of God and Be Caught Up With Jesus
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

Why Grief Is a Killer and How You Can Side Step This Deadly Foe

__________

References:

Dake, Finis ↩

emeryhorvath.com

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How to Avoid the Wrath of God and Be Caught Up With Jesus

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Thirty-Six

by Emery Horvath

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Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Avoiding the Wrath of God: The Day of the Lord

How the Wrath of God and the Day of the Lord Are Linked

Avoiding the Wrath of God: This Thief in the Night Business

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Four Conditions

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Don’t Be Asleep

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Be Watchful

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Avoiding the Wrath of God: The Day of the Lord

How the Wrath of God and the Day of the Lord Are Linked

Avoiding the Wrath of God: This Thief in the Night Business

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Four Conditions

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Don’t Be Asleep

Avoiding the Wrath of God: Be Watchful

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