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The Suddenlies of God - part 3 of 3 KJV & Amplified Bible In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul makes a clear distinction between believers in Christ and non-believers, especially as relates to the time of the Lord’s sudden return. The great apostle encourages those who have had their “work energized by faith and service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord …” {1:3}. He assures them that “…God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)” {5:9}. Knowing “…that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night” {5:2}, these have prepared themselves and have allowed the conviction of the Holy Spirit to judge their lives and hearts, progressively transforming them into the image of Christ. As His corporate temple, His One New Man, these believers have allowed the Lord to sanctify them through and through, spirit, soul and body, separating them from profane things, making them pure and wholly consecrated to God {v 23}. In contrast, God’s long-delayed but then sudden outpouring of wrath is reserved for those who have not withstood the kingdom of darkness, who have rejected the Word of truth, and who have believed the deceitful lie that all is well. “When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, There is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction (ruin and death) will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape; for there is no escape” {I Thes 5:3}. Those who continually spurn God’s Word are promised destruction based on their accumulated guilt and iniquity which “…will be to you like a broken section of a high wall, bulging out and ready [at some distant day] to fall, whose crash will [then] some suddenly and swiftly in an instant” {Isa 30:13}. Luke urges those Christians who would “be accounted worthy to escape” God’s wrath and “to stand in the presence of the Son of Man,” {Luke 21:36}, to keep themselves from worldly entrapments: “But take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed (weighed down) with the giddiness and headache and nausea of self-indulgence, drunkenness and worldly worries and cares pertaining to [the business of] this life, and (lest) that day come upon you suddenly like a trap or a noose” {Luke 21:34}. Recently when meditating on the phrase “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” {Isa 40:3 KJV}, I heard myself reading the command as, “Prepare ye, the way of the Lord,” meaning, “Prepare yourselves, you who ARE the way of the Lord.” This rendering is consistent with the promise that before Christ returns for his people, He will return in His people. As His literal return draws near, does it not behoove us even more to make ourselves ready by becoming the pathway of the Lord through whom others witness the life of the Savior? To be among those who “shall drink in the courts of [His] holiness” {Isa 62:9}, we must first recognize and execute our authority (represented by “gates”) in Christ, bringing to sudden completion the prophet’s instruction: “Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people” {Isa 63: 10}. During these last days, the life-power of Christ is suddenly and exponentially increasing within His chosen remnant as He prepares them to become the standard through whom others are drawn to Him. Those who believe after them, remain secure in Him, and are obedient to Him will also be preserved from the sudden wrath to come. -Ruth French June Newsletter 2005 | Thy Seed | Trying Times | Pastor's Journal June 2004 Ministry Minded part 1 of 3 | The Suddenlies of God part 3 of 3 |
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