 |  |
A -- I feel that a very weak point in this teaching is the lack of
definite detail with reference to what you feel is the hope of the Church.
B -- What do you consider to be `definite detail' in the teaching of
those from whom you differ?
A -- Well there are those who believe 1 Thessalonians 4 sums up their
hope, and there we find such details as:
(1)
The
Lord Himself.
(2)
The
descent into the air.
(3)
The
voice of the archangel.
(4)
The
trump of God.
(5)
The
resurrection of the dead in Christ.
(6)
The
rapture of both raised and living.
(7)
The
fact that so shall they be ever with the Lord.
Added to this we have in chapter 1:10 the fact that the hope of the Church
was expressed in the words, `to wait for His Son from heaven'. In 2:19 we
learn that the believer's reward for faithful service is connected with this
same coming, and in 3:13 and 5:23 that the goal before God is that our heart
may be established unblameable in holiness before the Father at the Coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
B -- Yes, you certainly have a wealth of detail in the epistle as to
the coming of the Lord, but perhaps I interrupt.
A -- I was going on to refer to Matthew 24. There the disciples ask,
`What shall be the sign of thy coming?' The Lord gives wondrous details
dealing with:
(1)
The rising of nation against nation.
(2)
Famines.
(3)
Pestilences.
(4)
Earthquakes.
(5)
The fulfilment of Daniel 9:27.
(6)
The great tribulation.
(7)
The disturbances of the sun, moon and stars, and
(8)
The appearing of the sign of the coming of the Son of man.
Here again is detail and definition.
B -- And your objection to this particular teaching
is ... ?
A -- That there is no detail, but everything is vague. We have been
robbed of 1 Thessalonians 4 and have been given nothing in its place.
B -- First as to 1 Thessalonians 4. It is not possible to rob any
child of God of the teaching of Scripture. What has been done is to show
that 1 Thessalonians 4 is not the hope of the church of the One Body. Each
one must decide as to what is their calling. The writer cannot. Attention
has certainly been drawn to one or two facts which should be weighed over by
every seeker after truth. One is that the word `coming', which is parousia
in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 and Matthew 24 is never used of the Lord's Coming in
the prison epistles. We have also drawn attention to the fact that the
archangel of 1 Thessalonians 4 is Michael, and this `prince' stands for