Devotion 8 - The Church Not Destined For God's Wrath
Devotion 8 -
The Church Not Destined For God’s Wrath
Some Christians consider the idea of God protecting His
saints from His wrath in the end times as “theological ear candy.” They insist
that since the beginning with Abel and down through the centuries of recorded
history, we can find many biblical and present-day examples of Christians going
through persecution and tribulation. In fact, Jesus Himself said that we “must
through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22). Hence, how can we still believe that the Church is not
destined for persecution and suffering?
General
Tribulations vs. The Great Tribulation
Rev.3:10 – “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which
shall come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell on the earth.”
There are many trials and tribulations in this life on
earth and yes, even as children of God, we are not spared. However, we are assured
in this scripture that we will be kept from ‘the hour
of trial’. Notice that the scripture refers to ‘the
hour’ and this indicates a specific and distinctive time period, and not
just a ‘trial’ in church history. The context seems to point to the ‘period of
wrath’ which refers to the ‘Great Tribulation’ detailed in Revelation 6-19. This
is a time of unequalled trouble.
The
End Time Wrath of God
1 Thess.1:9-10 – “ For they
themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and
how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus
who delivers
us from the wrath to come.”
The wrath of God
here is future, and hence, cannot refer to the general wrath of God against sin,
which is a present reality. In Greek, the word ‘delivers’ means to draw to
oneself, and the word ‘from’ denotes a separation of time and distance. It
means the Lord will draw us to Himself to distance us from the time and place
of the wrath to come, a time whereby mankind will have to endure a time of unparalleled
sorrows and suffering due to God’s wrath being poured out on the earth.
Rev.6:15-17 - “And the kings of the earth, the
great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and
every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the
mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us
from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For
the
great day of His wrath has come, and who is
able to stand?”
Rev.14:9-10, 19 – “Then a third angel followed them,
saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and
receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he
himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which
is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb…So the angel thrust his
sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the
great winepress of the wrath of God.”
Rev.16:1 – “Then I heard a loud voice from
the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of
the wrath of God on the earth.”
The wrath that the Church is being delivered from is the
wrath of God during the Great Tribulation.
1 Thess.5:9 – “For God did not appoint us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Notice again that
the salvation spoken of here is future, is eschatological, referring to the
redemption of the body which will occur at the Rapture.
Consider also Lk.21:7-36, after teaching them about
the signs of the end times, Jesus concluded by saying “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be
counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass…”
All the above scriptures seem
to infer that the Church is not destined for the Day of Wrath, which is God’s
judgment for the unbelievers during the Great Tribulation.
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