#9.14 THE DAY OF THE LORD IS THE SAME AS THE DAY OF CHRIST

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Introduction 9.14

The book KEPT FROM THE HOUR by Gerald B. Stanton has been a standard work teaching the Pre-tribulation Rapture for almost half a century. Therefore, when we look at the arguments for an imminent rapture concerning the day of the Lord we will be looking at those in this book. Almost everyone accepts that Jesus will return on the Day of the Lord, and Pre-tribulationist teachers usually teach the day of the Lord is different to the day of Christ, because if it isn't there is one scripture which clearly proves their belief in an imminent rapture is false. This bible study proves that the day of the Lord and the day of Christ are the same.

Greek - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 - English
ἐρωτῶμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀδελφοί ὑπὲρ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπισυναγωγῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν	1 Now we entreat you, brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together to him,
εἰς τὸ μὴ ταχέως σαλευθῆναι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ νοὸς μήτε θροεῖσθαι μήτε διὰ πνεύματος μήτε διὰ λόγου μητὲ δι᾽ ἐπιστολῆς ὡς δι᾽ ἡμῶν ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ χριστοῦ	2 That you are not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is near.
μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας	3 Let no man deceive you in any way: for that day shall not come, except the apostasy shall come first, and that man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition;
ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς φεὸν καθίσαι ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἔστιν θεός	4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Now when people try to distinguish between the day of the Lord and the day of Christ we need to ask this question; "isn't Jesus Christ the Lord?" Whether we refer to 'the Lord' or 'Jesus' or 'the Christ', are we not referring to the same person? Of course we are! The bible refers to people and things in many different ways in order to give us a more detailed picture of who or what is being referred to. Look at an example. The New testament refers to:
The Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18), the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28), the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), the Spirit of your Father (Matthew 10:20), the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17), the Spirit of truth (John 15:26), the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4), the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2), the Spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15), the Spirit of his Son (Galatians 4:6), the Spirit of wisdom (Ephesians 1:17), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:19), the Spirit of Glory (1 Peter 4:14), the Spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).
How many Spirits do we have here? Every one of them refers to the Spirit of God, and there is only "one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4). They are all describing the same Spirit from a different point of view. This type of thing is commonplace in scripture.
Now looking at the context of the second coming of Jesus Christ, in the same way we see these references:
"The day," (Hebrews 10:25), "that day," (2 Timothy 4:8), "the day of Christ," (Philippians 1:10), "the day of Jesus Christ," (Philippians 1:6), "the day of God," (2 Peter 3:12), "the day of the Lord," (1 Thessalonians 5:2), "the day of the Lord Jesus," (2 Corinthians 1:14), and "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Corinthians 1:8).
How many days do we have here? Only one day! They are all different ways of referring to the same day, which is the last day of this present age, the day that Jesus returns to rapture his church and destroy the wicked at the battle of Armageddon.

#9.14 THE DAY OF THE LORD IS THE DAY OF CHRIST

Mr. Stanton has devoted the whole of chapter 4 in his book to THE DAY OF THE LORD, in which he distinguishes between that and THE DAY OF CHRIST. To a post-tribulationist, "the day of the Lord" and "the day of Christ" are synonymous terms, and refer to the last day of this present age, when Jesus comes back to destroy "the Beast" (Revelation 19:20), and rapture the church. Mr. Stanton sees them differently:

(Kept from the Hour - Gerald B. Stanton p71) "The Day of the Lord in scripture is always associated with the wrath and judgment of God, while the Day of Christ is distinguished by the fact that it is universally spoken of as a time of blessing. Nothing is predicted as having to take place before the Day of Christ, but the Day of the Lord is marked by signs in the heavens and notable events upon the earth."

The obvious response to this is that the last day of this present age, when Jesus returns, will indeed be a day of blessing for the church, and a day of wrath for the wicked, but that does not necessarily indicate two separate events. Mr. Stanton continues,

"The day of Christ has to do with Church saints; it starts at the rapture and probably includes the seven years spent with Christ in glory before the return to earth at the revelation, embracing the judgment seat of Christ (II Cor 5:10) and the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-8)." (p72).

Contrasted with this, the day of the Lord "starts after the rapture of the church and incorporates the entirety of the tribulation period." (p76).

It appears from this that Mr. Stanton believes that the day of Christ is seven years and one day long, starting with the rapture, and ending on the last day of this present age, while the day of the Lord begins the day after the rapture and ends on the same day. This leads him to the understanding that, "the rapture precedes and falls in no part of the Day of the Lord." (p82). Now look at the scripture again:

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-4) "Now we entreat you, brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him,
That you are not soon shaken in mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is near.
Let no man deceive you in any way: for that day shall not come, except the apostasy shall come first, and that man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

The expression "our gathering together to him," (v1) obviously refers to the rapture, confirmed by the mention of the day of Christ (v2), but it then goes on to say that the "man of sin" (v3) must be revealed before that day comes. This is no problem to a post-tribulationist, but to a pre-tribulationist it is deadly, because it destroys his doctrine of imminence. Remember, that according to Mr. Stanton, "no prophesied event stands between the believer and that hour." (p108). How does he get round it? He says: "The Authorized version of II Thessalonians 2:2 contains a notable error: the correct rendering (margin) is the Day of the Lord, rather than the Day of Christ." (p7l). He has changed it in line with a textual variant that occurs in other Greek texts. He has had to do this, because otherwise it kills his doctrine; but now he has another problem. The "gathering together to him," (v1), which is the rapture, must now be separated from the Day of the Lord" (v2), because according to him, "the day of the Lord starts after the rapture" (p76). I think it is unreasonable to do this. If you, dear reader, believe the Textus Receptus (the Greek text used by the KJV translators) is correct here, then you must reject the doctrine of imminence on the basis of this scripture, because the man of sin must be revealed before the rapture. I understand that he will be revealed first. The day of the Lord according to Mr. Stanton's definition is also error:

(Kept from the Hour - Gerald B. Stanton p75-76) "the Day of the Lord, in both Testaments, does not concern the Church but is the time of God's wrath and judgment upon the world. It is not a twenty-four hour day, or one single event, but a period of time which starts after the rapture of the Church and incorporates the entirety of the Tribulation period."

Again, he has gone far away from a literal interpretation, and now he has contradicted the scripture:

(Isaiah 2:12, 17) "For the day of the LORD of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day."

If "the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day", then it cannot refer to a period of time when the Antichrist will be upon the earth, demanding and receiving worship from "all who dwell upon the earth" (Revelation 13:8). Nor can it refer to a time when the Antichrist, "opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:4). This is exaltation of man, not a time when every one who is proud and lifted up "shall be brought low" (Isaiah 2:12). They will all be brought low on the last literal day of this present age when Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). Then the Beast and the false prophet will be taken and cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20), and his armies will be destroyed by fire (Zechariah 14:12). The day of the Lord, in the context of the second coming of Jesus Christ, refers to the last day of this present age, when these things will come to pass, and the church will be raptured. Of course we who are taken up will all be saved permanently at the rapture. But look what the apostle Paul said about the fornicator at the church at Corinth:

(1 Corinthians 5:5) "Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

It is obvious from this scripture that Paul expected us to be saved (or raptured) on the day of the Lord. Some manuscripts even miss out the word Jesus here leaving it to say "the day of the Lord". Thus the rapture must be on the day of the Lord, which will be the last day of this present age (John 6:39-40), and therefore it cannot be imminent.

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