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Will Christians go through the Tribulation?
Back To The Future - Pt. 3
Ken Baugh - Nov. 15, 1998
Tonight
we are in part 3 of our Back To The Future series. Over the last two
weeks we have been talking about some of the most difficult stuff in
the Bible to understand.
If you have missed
any of the last two messages, you can get all the information and even
listen to the talks on real audio on our website. I have also posted
some more detailed notes and outlines to give you a breath of stuff
that I don’t have time to go over in a 30 minute message.
Tonight I want to answer the question: Will Christians Go Through The
Tribulation?
The answer is: NO,
let’s pray.
Wouldn’t it
be nice if it were that easy? To be honest, there are three schools
of thought on this issue.
* There are Pre-Tribuationists:
These people believe that Christians will be raptured before the Tribulation
period begins.
*There are Mid-Tribulationists who believe that Christians
will be taken 3.5 years into the Tribulation period. As we noted last
week, the Tribulation period is a time of 7 years, I have a detailed
account of how we know that posted on the Website under the title
of: The Seventy Weeks of Daniel (Click
here).
*And then there are Post-Tribulationists who believe
that Christians will be raptured after the Tribulation period.
All schools of thought agree on two things:
* That the second
coming of Christ is a separate event from the rapture.
* That there will
be a rapture of Christians before Christ returns. The issue in debate
is when?
Now, there aren’t many Mid-Tribulationists around today, but
it is a valid argument. I will post later this week their basic arguments
on the Website.
What I want to focus on tonight is to talk to you about why we believe
here at MBC in the pre-tribulation position. As I do this, I will, at
points, show you the opposing views of post-tribers, but I won’t
have time here to go through everything. What I can’t go over
here, I will have on our website for you to study on your own.
Ok, let me give you the main reasons why we believe the Bible teaches
a pre-tribulation rapture of Christians.
1. Because the general purpose of the Tribulation period does not
apply to the church at all, it applies to Israel and the Gentile unbelieving
nations of the world.
It’s interesting to note that the word "church" never
appears again in the book of Revelation after chapter 4:1. Between chapters
4-22 in Revelation you have a significant record of the events of the
Tribulation period, but "the church" is never mentioned.
Scholars take this as a serious indication that the Tribulation period
is not for Christians.
So who is the Tribulation period for?
The Bible teaches two distinct groups of people:
1. The first group is the nation of Israel.
Jer 30:7 says:
"How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be
a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it."
As I showed you
last week, the time of Jacob’s trouble is a reference to the Tribulation
period.
Then in Jer 30:11
it says: "’I am with you and will save you,' declares the
LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter
you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but
only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'"
These are just a couple of examples that the Tribulation period is
a time of continued judgement on the nation of Israel.
2. The second group of people to go through the Tribulation
period are what the Bible refers to as "those who
dwell on the earth".
In Rev. 3:10, Jesus is talking to the church of Philadelphia and he says:
Rev 3:10 "Since
you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you
from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world
to test those who live on the earth."
"Earth-dwellers" appears six others times in the book of
Revelation: Rev. 6.10, 8:13, 11:10; 13:8; and 17:8.
* In 6:10 the
earth-dwellers are the persecutors against whom the martyrs plead
for vengeance.
* In 8:13 a threefold
woe is pronounced against them because of the final three trumpets,
which are to come.
* They are the
ones who gloat over the death of the two witnesses in 11:10;
* and worship
the beast from the sea in 13:8.
* In 13:14 they
are the individuals who are deceived by the beast from the land into
making an image of the first beast.
* The earth dwellers
gaze in wonder at the scarlet beast in 17:8, while 13:8 and 17:8 add
that their names are not written in the Book of Life.
The phrase "earth-dwellers" comes from a Hebrew idiom in
Isa. 24:1, 5, 6 and 26:9 and is seen as a technical term for those who
are the persecutors of the saints in the Tribulation period. The saints
I am referring to are the people who become believers during the Tribulation
period and are killed because they would not take the mark of the anti-Christ.
We’ll get to that in a minute.
Joel 3:12-17 also talks of the judgement of these unbelieving nations:
"'Let the
nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat
(we know it as the valley of Armageddon), for there I will sit to
judge all the nations on every side. Swing the sickle, for the harvest
is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the
vats overflow-- so great is their wickedness!'
"Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will be darkened, and
the stars no longer shine. The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder
from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will
be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
'Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy
hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her."
Joel 3:12-17
Judgement on Israel, the "earth-dwellers" or "unbelieving
nations of the world." is a consistent pattern through the Word
of God, there is no mention of the church.
2. Specific promises made to Church Age believers.
I mentioned in my first message that Church Age believers are the
people who have become Christians since the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1)
until the rapture of the church.
So far, this period of time has been almost 2,000 years. Every person
in this auditorium who has received Jesus Christ as their savior is
considered a Church Age believer.
Now, the Bible gives us some very specific promises in regards to our
relationship with the Tribulation period.
1 Th 1:8-10 is key:
"The Lord's
message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith
in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say
anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception
you gave us. They tell how you 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--Jesus, who rescues us from the
coming wrath."
Now to be fair, the answer that Post-Tribulationalists give to this
is that the "wrath" is the wrath of Hell not of the Tribulation,
and this statement here in 1 Thess. 1:10 is simply illustrating the
fact that once you receive Christ, you are spared from the wrath of
Hell.
The problem is, this won’t work. Why? Because
the wrath here is still future, they say, "well, Hell is future."
Yes, but according to the Bible, I am delivered from that wrath the
moment I turn to Jesus Christ:
Rom 8:1 "Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus…"
Rom 5:1-2 "Therefore,
since we have been justified through faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And
we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
As a Christian, I am already justified and delivered from the punishment
of hell, so it wouldn’t make any sense for the "wrath"
in 1 Thess. 1:10 to be the wrath of Hell, because the text indicates
that it is a wrath of God that is coming from which I will be delivered,
I’m already delivered from the wrath of Hell, so the wrath can
only refer to a future time of wrath, we know this wrath as the Tribulation
period.
Now, look at 1 Th 5:1-9 and you will see quite clearly
that believers will escape the coming wrath of God during the Tribulation.
"Now, brothers,
about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know
very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in
the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety,"
destruction will come on them (notice the pronouns, them) suddenly,
as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers,
(referring to the believers) are not in darkness
so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You (notice
the change in pronouns) are all sons of the light and sons
of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then,
let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and
self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who
get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let
us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate,
and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
For God did
not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ."
Again, the Post-Tribulationalist will say, "that’s the
wrath of Hell, indicated by ‘salvation’ in the last verse.
The answer to that is, No, in the context, the "wrath" is
the "wrath" of the tribulation, ‘the day of the Lord’
and we are not of that, we are of the day.
This is a very strong indication that believers will not go
through the tribulation. But I’m not done yet.
Again, look at Rev. 3:10. Another specific promise in the Bible to
church age believers that we will not go through the Tribulation.
Rev 3:10 "Since
you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep
you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world
to test those who live on the earth."
In the Greek text, it’s important to note that the definate article
("the")is in front of both "the hour" and "the
testing", it’s not any old testing, it’s a particular
one.
And we know from Rev. 3:10 that this testing is going to come on the
whole earth. The phrase "Those who live on the earth" (or
"earth dwellers" in some translations as we have already noted,
are all unbelievers), not one of them is described as being a believer.
You say, "OK, Ken, that’s enough!" Oh, but there’s
more…(sounds like a Ginsu knives infomercial!)
3. The position of Christ in the book of revelation argues for Pre-tribulationalism.
Jesus said
in John 14:1-3 that wherever He is, we will be with him.
In Rev. 2 and 3
we have Jesus talking to the Seven Churches, but what I want you to
notice is where Jesus is in relation to these churches:
Rev 2:1 "To
the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him
who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven
golden lampstands:
Now if you back
up to verse 1:20 it tells us who these seven golden lampstands are:
"the seven lampstands are the seven churches." Rev.
1:20
Now these seven
churches on earth according to the Bible, have Jesus walking in the
midst of them. So where is Jesus according to the position of the church
on earth? He is with them in their midst.
Now, from Chapter
4 to 19, Jesus is no longer on earth, but in heaven. So, if Jesus is
no longer on the earth during the Tribulation period and He promised
us we would always be with him, it would seem to indicated that we are
going to be in Heaven with Jesus during the Tribulation period.
Now let’s
see if I can prove this to you in the book of Revelation.
Look at Rev. 19:11-14. Now in chapter 19, Jesus is coming back out of
Heaven to the earth and He has a whole bunch of people with Him.
Rev 19:11-14
"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse,
whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and
makes war.
His eyes are
like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name
written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in
a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies
of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in
fine linen, white and clean.’
Now, all the different
Tribulationist scholars agree that this is Jesus, verse 16 says that:
"On his robe
and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD
OF LORDS." Rev. 19:16
So everyone agrees
that the one on the White horse is Jesus, but who are: "The armies
of heaven, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and
clean?"
GOOD QUESTION, I’M
GLAD YOU ASKED!
Now if you’re
a Post-Tribulationalist, you have to say that the Christians are raptured
at the end of the Tribulation period, so they go up quickly and then
come right back down, or that these armies are Angels, that’s
a prominent view of many Post- Tribulationists, that these armies are
Angels.
But wait--the angels
are not clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Not at all. As a matter
of fact, if you look in the same chapter in the same context verses,
7-8 say:
"Let us
rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb
has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright
and clean, was given her to wear." Rev 19:7-8 (Fine linen stands
for the righteous acts of the saints.)
Who is the bride
of Christ? Paul gives us a lengthy discussion as to the relationship
between Jesus and the Church (all true believers) is symbolic of the
mariage relationship between a husband and a wife.
"For the
husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,
his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to
Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing
with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and
blameless.
In this same way,
husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves
his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body,
but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for
we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will
become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking
about Christ and the church." Eph 5:23-32
You say, "Well
maybe the angels are that too, maybe they are included in the Bride
of Christ." No, they're not. The angels do not experience salvation
as we do, they do not experience the righteousness that is described
here.
And folks,
let me just clear something up, when you die you don’t become
an angel, that’s eternity according to Hollywood, not the Bible.
The Bible says that
we will rule over angels during the millennium (more about that next
week).
So, who are those
in Rev. clothed in fine linen bright and clean? The church.
Now the Post-Tribbers
say, "Ok, maybe these are not angels, maybe they are believers
who have died in the past. Like the people that are in heaven now, Abraham,
Issac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Sampson, David, etc. Maybe they are the
ones coming back on white horses."
This is an interesting
view, but won’t work. Because OT believers are not in heaven during
the Tribulation because their bodies are resurrected at the end of the
Tribulation.
The problem of
believers when Jesus comes.
Now, what we are
dealing with here in the fourth reason why the church age believers
are not going to go through the tribulation period has to do with this
problem of Gentile believers when Jesus comes.
According to Rev.
20:4 anyone who becomes a believer during the tribulation period will
be killed.:
Rev 20:4 "I
saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority
to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because
of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They
had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his
mark on their foreheads or their hands."
The book of revelation
says that all believers who come to know Christ during the tribulation
period will be killed. Everyone else will take the mark of the beast,
and worship him.
Look at Rev. 12:11-17:
"Then I saw
another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb,
but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the
first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants
worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he
performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down
from heaven to earth in full view of men.
Because of the
signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived
the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in
honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He
was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so
that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image
to be killed.
He also forced
everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive
a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could
buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast
or the number of his name."
So the Post Tribulation
position that says that believers will be on the earth at the end of
the Tribulation are wrong. There won’t be anyone alive to rapture,
because they will have all been killed.
Conclusion:
Folks, I think the
Bible is clear that Church age believers, will be raptured before the
Tribulation period. And we should take comfort in that as well as live
our lives with a sense of urgency to share our faith with others, as
well as live our lives in such a way that we are ready for Christ to
return at any moment.
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