The Thessalonians had 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.” (1Thessalonians 1:10)

We are waiting for Jesus to come and take us to be with Him forever, never to be separated again. This will occur before a wrath that is coming upon the earth. Paul is not talking about human wrath, that of satanically motivated unbelievers against believers, because that kind of wrath has already existed on earth since the fall of man and Paul had experienced more than his share of it. Paul was referring to a different and worse wrath that was still in the future and that Jesus would deliver His people from. The wrath of Satan through unbelievers to destroy the life and ministry of the saints has its limits in that it cannot go beyond what God allows. We can cry out to God for help and He hears our cry.

The wrath to come, however, is the wrath of God against the ungodly with the goal of gaining repentance from their evil ways and forgiveness unto salvation. Some will cry out for mercy and others will blaspheme the name of God, the only One who could save them. Satan is limited in his wrath against the saints, but nobody can tell God to stop so the Tribulation time will be wrath like man has never seen before and will never see again, as we will see in the next chapter of this study.

Since the object of this wrath is to gain repentance from unbelievers, it has no reference to the saints and there is no purpose in their being present for this ordeal. For this reason Jesus removes His church prior to the outpouring of divine wrath described in detail in the book of Revelation with the seals, trumpets, vials, etc.

Christians are not waiting for the wrath to come, but for Jesus to come, because He is committed to us, His bride, and will snatch us up to be with Him in glory as He promised. But while we are waiting for the Rapture, John tells us there is something we can and must be doing.

1John 3:3 “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

John refers to the Rapture as a purifying hope. The only way the rapture can be a purifying hope is that it could happen at any moment---even right now. The rapture must be imminent. God’s word tells us of NOTHING that must take place before Jesus comes. If there were something, we would be watching for that something and not for the Savior. Nor would it be necessary to get ready for his coming until that something should happen. THE RAPTURE MUST BE IMMINENT – AT ANY MOMENT in order for us to be ready at any moment. Now is the time to lay hold on God for His power of purification to make us what He commands us to be --- holy as He is holy. This is how we show Jesus that we love and await His appearing. His reward for us then will be a very special crown.

2Timothy 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

We eagerly wait for His coming, but at the same time we have a job to do. We are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. People need Christ and it is our job to tell them how they can come to know Him. While we are waiting we need to be working. We are not to put on white robes and sit on a mountain top to wait, but with Bible in hand go sharing God’s word. 1Corinthians 15 is the Rapture chapter, but notice how the chapter ends. Read verse 58.

“Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (NKJV)

The life of the Christian is to be characterized by WATCHING, AND WAITING, AND WORKING. This is how we show Jesus how much we love Him and anticipate His return.