That Word: Escape

1 Thessalonians 5 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

and they shall not escape. Ok, so we know they don't escape, but what about you?

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

There's no question that the day of the escape, or leaving this place, or rapture, the same day, destruction falls. There is no question because the Lord tells us clearly that the coming day will be exactly like the days of Noah and Lot where on the same day that they left sodom, entered the ark, judgement fell. The same day....that's an important fact. Let's talk about the "day of the Lord."

Is it a coincidence that the coming 7 year period, known as Daniel's 70th week, is also known as the time of Jacob's trouble?

Is it a coincidence, that the vast majority of "day of the Lord" passages in the bible are in the old testament?

Is it a coincidence that by Rev 7, the entire focus is on the jews and Israel throughout the entire tribulation period right up to the very end?

Is it a coincidence that a door is open in heaven immediately after Jesus has his talk with the churches in Rev 2-3, then we see redeemed men in heaven in Rev 4-5?

Now I want to show you more jaw dropping evidence of how radically different things will be for the church on the "day of the Lord" than for the rest of the inhabitants of the earth...Now, there are very few places in the New Testament that speak of the day of the Lord...I wonder why? But the places it is discussed..to us, the church, this is what we see:

1 Corinthians 1 :6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

The goal here ^^ is that we are found blameless on the day of the Lord, refer back to Luke 21:36, pray that you may be counted what? Worthy....

Now here's a biggie:

2 Corinthians 1 :12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. 13 For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; 14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our's in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Now read that very carefully^^^ and what do you see? REJOICING in the day of the Lord. The church is rejoicing. That is HUGE...compare that to:

Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

or

Isaiah 13 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

There are many more but you get the point here, there's a huge contrast between what the church is doing on this day (rejoicing) and what everyone else is doing (howling in misery).

The day that the true church escapes, the same day, destruction falls.

Now, for another question, when does the church leave? Well here, once again we see how both the pre-wrath and post-trib scenarios are nowhere close to a match for what the bible says about the day we leave.

The pre-wrath view holds that we've been through a couple billion people dead, war, famine pestilence the anti-christ conquering etc , then supposedly the rapture shows up?

The post-trib view holds that mankind has been reduced to a scarcity rarer than pure gold, all the judgements have fallen, the earth is a wasteland, then the rapture shows up?

Compare their opinions with the word of God, which says in a huge contrast to their opinions, what the day really looks like:

Matt 24:38 eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage...right up to the time we "enter the ark"

and

Luke 17:28 did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven

On "that day" right up to the time that Lot went out of Sodom and Noah entered the Ark, the picture is the one above. Normal stuff.

and if both the pre-wrath and post-trib views were'nt discredited enough, consider how incompatible it is with the below passage:

1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The Lord tells us of the rapture and to comfort one another with these words.

Well, the pre-wrath teachers would tell you to "comfort yourselves" with 2 billion dead, war, famine, pestilence death and hell roaming the earth, then you can leave. Comforting isn't it?

or better yet, the post-trib folks would tell you to "comfort yourselves" with the thought that mankind will be almost completely wiped out, all the seals, trumpets and vial judgements are coming, Satan will be hunting you down to kill you etc, and if you survive all that, then you can leave...that's just grand isn't it? Boy, I sure feel comforted.....

Look, we are told clearly to comfort each other with the words of what the Lord is going to do pulling us off this earth to meet him in the air, he tells us clearly that we are not meant for wrath, he tells us clearly that we are to pray for an escape from ALL that's coming. He tells us that the weak, but patient church will be kept from the hour of trial thats coming on all the earth. All of these facts are inconvenient truths for many people in the world today, most especially those who would steal your comfort and peace today.

If you are pure in heart and you have no deceit in your spirit, if you are "in Christ" today, what do you have to fear? Our King did not tell us to be looking for the anti-christ, he told us to be looking for HIM. That enough clue for ya? Watch he says over and over and over again...for who? FOR HIM. What does that mean? It means he is the one next to show up on the churches agenda. The day of the Lord will be hell on earth, and a day of rejoicing for the church, you figure out what that means.......Grace, and Peace, and Hope, and much encouragement be yours today. We don't serve our Lord for nothing. Purity and goodness have a reward, so does wickedness.....