For those who love God and believe He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, have been granted the privilege of knowing that we will be rescued from all disease, sickness and even spared death. Therefore, we who know God do not have to live in the nightmare of being sick, as the rest of the world does; dealing with sleepless nights of worry, unethical doctors and their long lists of pharmaceuticals that they insist we must take to make it through and live long.  IF we cannot find good doctors or hospitals we feel good about, we can simply petition Jesus, for He did perform many healings on those whom He chose to heal, therefore, it’s not inappropriate to petition Him to be our physician. And, He did refer to Himself as a physician metaphorically; speaking in a spiritual context, but at times He did heal for the purpose of salvation, in order to save that person or others; provoking them through His Almighty Power to become a children of God:

“When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)

“Then many Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen these things Jesus did, believed in Him.” (John 11:45)

Believers who are on the earth at this time, well or not, can consider themselves part of the ‘Bride of Christ’ and the ‘Fig Tree Generation,’ therefore, our earthly life has another expiration date, one not of death, but the Rapture:

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” (Revelation 19:7-8)

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until these things take place.” (Matthew 24:32-34)

In Matthew 24, Jesus outlines many of the events that will precede His Return, and all those things are happening and converging now. But, by saying, “this” generation, His Disciples were being encouraged to watch for those signs He highlighted, because “no one knows the day or hour” (Matthew 24:36) of His Return. And while He walked this earth, even He didn’t even know, nor the angels, only the Father.

Jesus is coming soon, and hence, all of our afflictions from runny noses to stage four cancer diagnoses, will soon come to an abrupt and glorious end. Moreover, even if we do die before that Day, it is still gain:

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

Jesus will rescue us from all of our troubles and physical ailments; seemingly right at the moment that things start to go over the edge, just prior to when tyranny takes over the whole world:

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Paul expressed the great benefit in knowing these things in 1Thessalonians 4:18, when he proclaimed the comfort of our rescue from all things of this life. The key word being ‘know.’

“Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

We cannot comfort one another in this knowledge of our rescue if we are unaware of this amazing fact. And God does not want us to be ignorant of these things. He wants us to be able to understand that our ailments and all our troubles are going to come to an end, while we are still walking around, as Paul has also proclaimed;

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5You are sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” (1Thessalonians 5:1-11)

Verse 1—Paul is just saying that inasmuch as he has been teaching them, they are being prepared for the Lord’s Return. God allowed Paul and his church to believe they could be the generation that would see the Lord’s Return so that the Apostles would teach it in His Word, for the sake of all believers from all time periods, for this knowledge is SO valuable. Moreover, God wanted us ALL to know so we could comfort one another, as well as ourselves that that Day is coming, when all our troubles will be abruptly put to a glorious end. This is clearly one purpose, another could be that expecting His Return helped them, just as it helps us, to stay on course and to trust and obey God, so enabled to embrace and enjoy that comfort.

Verse 2--Paul is reminding them that they are in a small group of people; for without abiding in relationship with God through Christ it is impossible to understand these things. For these things are the things of the spirit, therefore, there is a requirement of spiritual discernment needed to understand, as he explains to those in Corinth:

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Corinthians 2:14)

Verse 3—This verse tells us that the unsaved will be taken by great surprise, but it will be too late; they will meet with utter and complete destruction, both from the removal of their saved family members, young children, and the destruction that will create on the earth with car accidents, fires from food believers were in the middle of preparing, and so forth, and also from the destruction that will follow with the angels pouring out God’s Bowls of plagues, as we read in the Book of Revelation, chapters 15-16. In chapter 15, we first hear about the bowls, which, “for them the wrath of God is complete.” And the angels pour them out in chapter 16:

“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.” (Revelation 16:1)

Verses 4 & 5—Then Paul reminds his church that they are not a part of that unsaved group, who will come under God’s Wrath, therefore, it will not be like ‘a thief in the night’ for them.

Verse 6—In this verse, Paul tells his church, and all believers to watch for His Return by living for GOD and paying attention to what is transpiring on the earth and the societal trends of the world; everything from weather to politics and state of the people, near and far.

Verse 7—In this verse, he uses ‘sleep’ and ‘drunk’ metaphorically to mean those who are living for themselves, partying and ignoring their Lord God in every way.

Verse 8—In this verse, Paul is using ‘sober’ in reference to those who are in Christ. He also tells them/us to remain that way—in love with the Lord and with the ‘hope of salvation;’ meaning our rescue. He's going to save us from the destruction by taking us up and out.

Verse 9—This verse speaks for itself: believers in Christ Jesus are not appointed to God’s Wrath, which not only comforts us in that He has a plan of rescue, but also that our rescue will take place before the tribulation of the world commences.

Verse 10—'Whether we wake or sleep,’ Jesus is coming for us all who believe. Death cannot be a barrier for Him. Nothing can stop our God from doing His Good Pleasure and His Plan coming to pass!

Verse11—And here we see the comfort being brought up again in order to reiterate this knowledge key; the crucial knowledge, as an added blessing/comfort for Christ’ followers.

Therefore, inasmuch as Paul is quite clear through this passage and others, when the Rapture happens we will all be forever free of all of our troubles physical and otherwise. For our bodies will be changed and perfected; unperishable:

“Behold, I tell you a mystery, We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1Corinthians 15:51-55)

NKJV

Linzy is a certified Bible Counsellor, with countless republications on her viewers blogs, Bible Studies, Ezines and the like. Her portfolio includes, non-fiction articles, short stories for all ages, and Christian poetry.