A Positive Case for the Pre-tribulation Rapture

So Lord help us. This time to you now in Jesus’ name, Amen. All right, well, we’re going to read verse number 30, and of course we read it this morning so we will not belabor it too much. This is a reference, a description, prophetic description of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the proper term. You can call it the second coming of Christ, you can call it the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It is when Christ appears in heaven, verse 30, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather, together his elect, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

From one end of heaven to the other. Now if you were paying attention to our study, you’ve probably noticed this gathering of the elect in verse 31 seems out of place compared to your accepted doctrinal stance. Because this gathering of the elect in verse 31 occurs after all of the terrible judgments although but briefly in this chapter, verse 28, verse 29, verse 30, this gathering of the elect occurs after all of these terrible judgments.

And so it raises the question that if verse 31 is talking about the rapture of the saints, why do we find it after all of the judgments, right as Christ returns, but why do we hold the rapture of the church happens prior to all of those judgments? I think it’s a valid question. I think it’s a valid question. And it’s what I want to look at tonight.

If you talk about the rapture of the saints, the catching away of the saints, that is something that basically nobody argues that nobody of a literalist kind of conservative view of scripture argues that that’s going to happen. The question is when. The question is always when. When will the saints be caught up? Now there’s basically four positions. I’ll give them very quickly. You have the pre-tribulation position, that is that the rapture of the saints happens prior to this period of judgment that we’ve been reading about.

You have a mid-tribulation which holds that the rapture will happen, the rapture of the saints will happen sometime in the middle of it. You have a partial rapture position which holds that only certain believers, the ones who are faithful will be raptured, other believers will be left. And then you have the post-tribulation rapture position which holds that after all the judgments then the rapture happens basically simultaneously or around the time of the second advent of Christ when he comes to rule and reign.

So the ones we’re going to primarily pay attention to is the pre and the post because those are the ones that seem to be the most common. And what we want to do is just look at the scripture and let the scripture guide us. So what you’ll notice in verse number 31 the Bible says this, this is at the second advent of Christ, he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.

Now this is where you have to be a little bit careful when you read the text of scripture that you don’t just allow your own ideas of what’s being referred to to be imported into the text. Instead you allow the context of the scriptures to determine what the text means. And the word I’m referring to here is the word elect, the word elect. This is not the only time we see the word elect in this passage.

In fact if you see verse number 22, and except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. We’ve already covered that. These refer to living believers at that time. Look at verse number 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.

Again the elect are the living believers who are concerned about this deception in verse 24. And so those are the only two references to elect in the passage. So when we get to verse 31, who is the Lord gathering? The elect, you can say well the elect are just believers of all time. But see you have to import that. Because in the context the elect in this verse 31 refers to those who are alive when Christ comes.

Right? Does everybody see that? Those who are alive, those believers who are alive when Christ comes. Verse 31 goes on to say this, it says, and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. And you might think well that sounds like a rapture. He’s going to gather everybody, all the living saints and all the dead saints that are buried all across the world.

And he’s in it just like we read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. But verse 31 mentions he’ll gather them from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now let me posit this, that is a statement not of heaven but of earth. Now listen to these verses. If you want to write them down you can write them down. What does it mean that the Lord will gather them from the four winds?

Jeremiah 49, 36. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them toward all those winds. And there shall be no nation whither the outcast of Edom shall not come. Now he’s talking about the four winds and he’s saying he’s going to scatter them. He’s not killing them. He’s not sending them to heaven. He’s scattering them from where they are across the world.

Daniel 8, 8 says this, wherefore the he-goat wax very great. We’ve already covered this previously so I won’t spend a lot of time. And when he was strong the great horn was broken and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. Now we talked about that great horn, the goat, and then the great horn which represent in scripture is interpreted as Alexander in Greece.

Alexander dies and there’s four horns in Daniel 8 that represent the four generals that ruled the territory of Alexander the Great in all directions. Does everybody kind of give me a nod? You remember that kind of study? All right. But those notable ones who ruled in place of Alexander went to the four winds of heaven. And he says, what says heaven? So that means they went to heaven.

No, no, no, no. It’s a statement referring to the four cardinal directions of the earth, everywhere under heaven, speaking of the earth. And in fact the number four often is used in reference to the earth. Now you’ll notice in verse 31 back in our text it says, from one end of heaven to the other. Deuteronomy 30 verse 4 says this, if any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee.

The outermost part of heaven is not where God is. It’s Israel scattered about the earth. Isaiah 13 verse 5 says this, they come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole land. It actually says in this passage, the end of heaven is from a far country. So what I want you to understand is this, when the Lord gathers the elect, who are the living believers at that time, he gathers them not from heaven, but he gathers them from earth.

That’s what you see in this passage. This is a key distinction because a lot of people, basically anyone of the post tribulation view looks at this and says there’s the rapture. There’s two problems with that though. There is no mention at all of anybody being raised from the dead, which is odd considering how significant that is in biblical doctrine, in biblical truth. All it says is that the Lord will gather those who believe from the earth, everyone under heaven, all the believers under heaven.

Now again, you might look at that and you might say, now hold on, it says from under heaven so it has to have something to do with heaven and you have to understand that is a term that is often used in scripture to describe everything on the earth, everything that is under the heaven. Most of the time in scripture when we say the word heaven it’s not referring to where God dwells, but where the sky is, everything under heaven, the farthest reach of heaven refers to all the believers on the earth.

So we might say it like this, the word heaven, mentioning the word heaven does not magically mean that people are raised from the dead because the saints are in heaven. And we already saw who the elect are in this passage. The elect are those who are alive and have endured to the end, we saw that earlier in verse number 13. And the Lord has come and he’s gathering them together.

Now look if you would at Revelation chapter 14. We’re coming back to Matthew, but just hold your place there and look at Revelation chapter 14. Go to Revelation 14 and if you will just stick your hand in there and hold that place because we’re coming back to that in a minute. Revelation 14 and go back to Matthew 24 so have both of them open if you can.

And we’re going to read Matthew 24, a couple more sections here, verse 36. Verse 36 says this, But of that day and hour knoweth no man. No not the angels of heaven, but my father only. What is that day in this chapter? Do we not read this and we just automatically assume, well that’s the rapture. But in this chapter that’s not what we’re talking about. In this chapter that day is referring to what we just read in verse 31 when Jesus appears.

Verse 37, But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. Now notice that. This is a classic mistake we make. We read something in scripture that sounds like something we’re familiar with and then we therefore assume that it’s the same thing. In this passage when you look at Noah, Noah went into the ark, the flood came and verse, if you look at verse number 39, And knew not until the flood came and took them all away.

Who was taken away? Who was taken away? Noah and his family or the wicked? The wicked were judged, they were taken away in judgment in the flood. And it says, So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women grinding, one shall be taken and the other left. So if you follow the pattern that the Lord provides with Noah, who is the one that’s taken and who is the one left behind?

The unbeliever is taken and the believer is left behind. Now I know that messes up your left behind trilogy theology. I know that messes you up. Left behind, left behind. But according to the passage, those that are taken away are taken away in judgment. Those that remain who are left behind are the ones who are not taken away in judgment. Now this is not the only, so this is another classic kind of misunderstanding of this passage because it sounds like what we have come to understand is the rapture.

In other words, the saints will be snatched away, taken to heaven and those left behind were unbelievers. But it’s actually the reverse in the context. Now go if you would to Revelation 14. Verse number 14, the Bible says this. This is kind of a parallel passage to this taken away and left behind type of thing we see in Matthew. Verse 14 says this, and I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle.

What’s a sickle used for? For reaping, for harvesting. And another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time is come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe. The harvest of the what? The harvest of the what? Earth. So what’s in view? The earth, people on the earth.

And he that sat upon the cloud thrust in his sickle on the what? Earth and the earth was reaped. Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven and he also having a sharp sickle and another angel came out from the altar which had power over fire and he cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle saying thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather the cluster of the vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe.

And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city and the blood came out of the winepress even unto the horses bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. So you see a reap, two reapings, two harvests. The first one, what I want you to see is they’re both done in the earth.

That is the people on earth. Not people in heaven, not dead people, people on earth. The first one they’re reaped and they’re gathered together like wheat is gathered into a barn or a silo. And the second are harvested but they’re harvested to be trampled, to be judged. But they’re both harvested out of the earth. Now here’s why that’s important. Because this gathering that the Lord Jesus is talking about, which is the parallel to this, is not, in fact there’s no mention of the resurrection of the body anywhere in Matthew 24.

In fact the only rapture, which means catching away, the only rapture mentioned is not of the righteous but of the wicked in Matthew chapter 24. I know that probably messes up some theology. But basically what you have in this is when the Lord Jesus comes, he gathers together those who are believers at that time, that are alive, the elect. And then he also takes away, like he did the wicked in Noah’s day, who were not in the ark, he also takes them away and they are purged away.

That’s the second harvest we read in Revelation 14. And he judges them. He kills them and they go, they’re cast into a, they’re trampled and they’re judged. That’s what Revelation 14 says. And so when we read in Matthew, Matthew 24, 37-41, we’re not reading about rapture of the saints. We’re reading about the rapture of the wicked, but we’re reading about the gathering of the saints who are alive.

And you might say, well, isn’t that what the rapture of the church is? God gathers all the saints who are alive and then he also gathers all those who are dead in Christ? Well, that’s partially true. Listen to this verse, Matthew 13, 41-42, the son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend. And then which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

So here’s the thing that a lot of people miss about the second coming of Christ, the Revelation, is when Jesus comes, he does gather those who are alive and believe, but he also gathers the wicked and destroys them. So that when he goes into his kingdom, the wicked are purged out of his kingdom. He punishes them and those who remain are destroyed. So when you look at Matthew 24, you want to go back and look at that.

And this might strike you as a little odd considering it’s talking about the coming of Christ. Verse 31 doesn’t say anything about the resurrection of the body, not a word. It just says the gathering of the saints. And the only place we see where people are taken away are the wicked, not the righteous. The righteous remain. Why you might say, why are the righteous left? Number one, Jesus saves them from that destruction.

It says he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. He saves them. They’re alive, he saves them. He comes and saves them. Secondly, they go into his kingdom. They’re alive so that they can go into his kingdom. So in Matthew 24, there’s no definitive place where you see the rapture in terms of the resurrection of the body like we read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

Now if you would look at Luke chapter 21. Luke 21. Luke 21 is the parallel passage to Matthew 24, one of them. And verse number, if you’ll just note like for instance verse number 25. And there should be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, sea and waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear.

And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Everybody see that? Kind of give me a nod. That’s what same thing we’re talking about as Matthew 24. Now go down to verse number 34. And take heed yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life. And so that day come upon you unawares.

Now note this, for as a snare it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth. Now verse 36 is odd. In the context of these terrible things that God brings upon the world to judge them, right before, prior to his coming that we’ve been studying about. He says, watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass.

What things? In the context, all the judgments. The things mentioned in the previous verses. And to stand before the Son of Man. Well that’s interesting. You mean there is a way to escape all of those judgments? Yes. That’s what the verse says. The Lord says it’s better to be counted worthy to escape all of these things rather than to endure all of these things. It is possible to escape.

And then once escaped, verse number 36 says to stand before the Son of Man. So the idea is judgment. But not only judgment, the idea is the person is now with Christ. Right? They’re standing before the Son of Man. The idea that they’re being judged but also they’re with him. They have escaped these terrible judgments and now they’re with him. Now you might say well escape could mean that they were saved through the judgments rather than saved from the judgments but that’s not what the word escape means.

So it’s interesting in verse 36 kind of randomly the Lord says pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things. Let me ask you a question. Do you want to escape all the terrible things you read in Revelation? Do you want to escape all of the terrible things we read in Matthew chapter 24? I want to escape. I don’t want to have any part of any of that.

Well Jesus says it is possible. That’s what it says. Now you say well that verse isn’t in Matthew. Well I know. That’s why we have all of the gospels and we compare the verses. Now if you would look at verse look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. First Thessalonians chapter 1. Look if you would at verse number 10 or start in verse number 9 the Bible says this.

What is the wrath to come? You say well that’s hell. Well no hell is already here. Well it’s the lake of fire. Well but where in the text does it mention the lake of fire or indicate that at all? But we do see wrath. So the question is what is this future wrath? But it says because it says whatever it is if we can define the future wrath it says that Christ has delivered us from it.

Christ has delivered us not through it but from it. What is this wrath? Well thankfully if you’ll turn to chapter 5 our brother Paul does tell us what this wrath is. What is this future wrath of which he speaks? Notice in chapter 5 verse number 1. But of the times and the seasons brethren ye have no need that I write unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

What is the day of the Lord? Well it’s not a good day. For when, here it is verse 3 this is a description of the day of the Lord. Now just as a note the day of the Lord is not necessarily a 24 hour day scripturally. It’s a climactic point in history that culminates with Christ’s visible return to earth. It includes a lot of judgments like we read in Revelation.

For when they shall say verse 3 peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. Who’s doing the destructing? Jesus is. This is wrath. This is the wrath we’re reading about. Verse 4. But ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all children of light and the children of the day.

We are not of the night nor of darkness. For let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love. And for in Helmut, notice this, the hope of salvation.

Whoa hold on. Remember? Hope? What is hope? Hope is a future faith. What’s salvation? Do you not already have salvation? You do. This is that kind of salvation we saw this morning. The salvation of the body. That’s why it’s attached to the word hope. Romans 8 says we are saved by hope. That’s not like we’re hoping we’re going to go to heaven. Now that means we’re expecting the Lord to come and give us the salvation of our body.

That’s what we’re talking about this morning. The helmet, the hope of salvation. Now you might say, well what is he talking about? Salvation from what? Verse 9. For God hath not appointed us to, what? Wrath. Same book, different chapter, same book as the wrath to come. God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain, what? Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So in chapter 5, Paul defines the wrath.

The wrath is all of those events related to the coming of Christ. The day of the Lord. And he says plainly, put on the helmet, the hope of salvation because the Lord is going to save you from that wrath. That’s your hope. That’s your salvation. When he saves you, saves your body from this body of corruption at the resurrection of the body, you will be saved from that wrath.

Now looking at that, it seems pretty plain in verse number 9, read in context, that the believer will not, will not, I say, not be subject to endure the wrath of God. You see that? And that wrath is referring to the day of the Lord, which is what verse 2 says. He will not be subject to those things. Now if you would, look back up at verse number 4.

But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Notice what it says. Ye are all children of light and of the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Verse 7, for they that sleep, sleep in the night. They that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love.

So you have this day and night, this association with day and night. Here in the passage it plainly says that the child of God is associated with the day. The unbeliever is associated with the night. Children of night, night, they sin at night, they get drunk at night. Children of the day, light, children of light. These are all, we understand this. So when the sun rises, what’s that called?

I mean, when it’s up in the sky, we call that day. But in the context, that’s not when the day of the Lord happens because the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the what? In the night. Because those people who are associated with the night will be taken by surprise. But we’re not associated with the night, we’re associated with the day. And so if you follow the imagery, here’s what you have.

Those are associated with the day, so the believer is not concerned with those judgments because he’s associated with the day. And the judgments don’t happen until the night. But when the sun goes down, those who are of the night, that’s when the thief comes. What I’m trying to show you is when the sun goes down, the children of light are not there. They’re gone because they’re of the day.

So you have this picture, the day before the night. Children of the light, children of the day, children of the night. The picture here is when the sun goes down, that’s when the destruction is going to happen. And the passage says very plainly that no child of the light is going to be subject to that wrath of God. Now here’s what we do. When you say that, there’s somebody who has a different view and they start to get pretty technical over what the wrath is.

Are you all familiar with Revelation enough to know there are seven seals that are broken? There are seven trumpets that sound, and there are seven vials that are poured out. And each one of those brings with it great suffering. Right? Anybody kind of vaguely familiar with that? So what we do is we say, well, some of those things are not wrath, the wrath of God, even though God causes them all, but that’s beside the point.

So that we can kind of get around this plain verse, God hath not appointed us to wrath. Wrath is not in the future of the child of God. God’s wrath is not there. Persecution is, but not God’s wrath. If the child of God goes into that period when God judges this world and they are subject to that wrath of God, then you got a problem with this verse.

I’m telling you, it gets more, even more clear than this. Let’s look at Revelation chapter 3 now. Revelation chapter 3. Now, you know chapter 2 and 3 are the seven letters to the seven churches. And you can look at those seven letters to the seven churches as, first of all, you can look at them historically to refer to the actual churches, Ephesus and Pergamos and Smyrna and all that, that existed at that time.

You can also look at these letters to the seven churches as practical. In other words, every one of the letters to the seven churches has something for us who are believers because we are part of the church and that’s what that’s talking about. But then there’s a third view, and that’s the prophetic view. And we know that the prophetic view is scriptural. And by prophetic view, here’s what I mean.

That the seven letters to the seven churches broadly picture eras of time since the days of the apostles until Christ comes. There’s seven of them. That implies completion, the number seven. But it broadly pictures that. And here’s why we know that that view, some people say, well, that’s bunk. That’s not true. It’s not prophetic at all. But look at chapter 2 verse 22. Chapter 2 verse 22.

This is a letter to the church at Thyatira. It says this, Behold, I will cast her, this is Jezebel, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. Revelation is about great tribulation. The whole book. You know what that is? That is a prophetic reference. That’s a hint that there’s something prophetic about these seven letters. Look at chapter 3 verse 3.

To the church in Sardis, the Lord says, Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief. What is that? What’s the analogy of the thief? That’s the analogy of the second coming of Christ. I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come on thee.

The Lord again uses a prophetic reference to a letter that is an actual geographic place. Here’s the problem. If you view the seven letters only as historical, you’ve got a problem with verses like that because it’s a prophetic reference. Why would the Lord say to a first century church that he’s going to cast the Jezebel into great tribulation? Why would he mention to a first century church that he was going to come as a thief?

See that’s looking forward. Look at chapter 3 verse 10. To the church in Philadelphia, Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. What is that? To the hour of temptation upon all the world. What is that referring to? Anybody want to guess?

That is a clear reference to everything we read in Revelation, this terrible period of judgment. But notice again, that’s looking forward. But notice what the Lord says to the church at Philadelphia. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation. So is this church going to pass into the hour of temptation? Now you say, what does the church in Philadelphia represent?

The seven letters to the seven churches, although literal first century churches, yes, but there’s a broader meaning to them. And they represent believers. Here’s what the Lord says. To those believers who are represented by the church at Philadelphia, the Lord says, I’m going to keep you from that hour of temptation that’s going to come on the whole world. Again, I’m going to keep you from the hour of temptation that’s going to come on the whole world.

Now those who believe in the post-tribulation rapture, that the church will go through the tribulation and all of those judgments, what they argue is that the church goes through it but is not touched by it. So they would say we’re saved through it. But look at verse 10 one more time. It says, I will keep thee from the what? The hour of temptation. Not from the temptation, although that’s true, from the hour of temptation, the time.

So it’s not that the Lord, that verse clearly indicates, it is not that the Lord protects the church in the midst of the judgments but keeps the church from the time of the judgments. Do you see that? From the time of the judgments. So that the church is preserved from that period altogether. And then you get the Laodicea. What happens to Laodicea? They’re wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Man, what a terrible description of professing Christians who don’t know God. And they are rejected. They’re spit out, spewed. Now go if you would to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Verse 1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be 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 at hand.

One of the most important parts of this passage is this. What is the day of Christ? What is the day of Christ? Usually people that are of a pre-tribulation position would say the day of Christ is the rapture. And here’s why they say it. They say the day of Christ, look it says our gathering together unto him. And because it says that in verse 1, it must be referring to the rapture of the church in verse 2.

Now here’s the danger. When you’re reading the Bible and you see a word, it’s not like a, when you’re trying to understand and interpret the Bible, it’s not like you take that word and it’s like a blanket that you kind of spread it over the whole passage. And now everything in the passage means that thing. It actually has to be connected to what you’re reading. Like with grammar, with words.

So the day of Christ, you can’t just simply interpret day of Christ to say that’s the rapture because Paul mentions the gathering together. In fact, what he’s arguing here, he says, now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. Here’s what he’s saying. That ye be 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 at hand.

You know what was happening? People were writing in Paul’s name and saying, it’s done. It’s over. Christ has come. And he was answering that. And he was saying, listen, I’m beseeching you on the basis of Christ coming and on the basis of our gathering together unto him not to be troubled. Here’s why. It hasn’t come yet. You know why? Because certain things must happen before it comes.

Now on the subject of the day of Christ, listen to these verses. What is the day of Christ? 1 Corinthians 1, 8. Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is that the day of the Lord or is that the day of Christ? Because it has both words. Philippians 1, 6. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

So is the day of Jesus Christ different than the day of Christ? Is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ different than the day of Christ? Is the day of the Lord different than the day of Christ? You see what I’m saying here? It’s not as cut and dry as we just, you know, we just say, oh, well, that’s this. Well, hold on. Philippians 2, 6. Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.

So this is the thing. When you see day of Christ, then you see day of Jesus Christ, then you see day of the Lord, then you see day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man, that gets confusing. What are we talking about here? We’re talking about one and the same thing. We’re talking about what is prophetically called the day of the Lord. You say why do they call it day of Christ, day of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Well, because Jesus is the Lord, right? He is the Lord. And when you understand that, you read the next verses and it makes perfect sense. Verse 3. Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day, the day of Christ, the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, however you want to say it, shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

Now skip on down to verse number 6. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let. The word let means hinder until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.

You should recognize at this point, this is talking about the Antichrist, but there are two, Paul is writing to this church who have been told apparently by a letter in Paul’s name saying, the day of the Lord has already come. You missed it. It’s done. You missed it. Paul says, don’t be troubled, don’t be troubled. Two things have to happen before the day of the Lord comes.

Falling away, general apostasy, that was in Matthew 24, and the revelation of the Antichrist, the man of sin, son of perdition. Those two things have to happen before the day of the Lord. But we’re not talking about the rapture. That’s not what’s in view. This is the mistake. To read this passage and see the word gather and automatically assume that the day being spoken of is the day of the Lord because the word is mentioned.

See, you’ve got to be careful of that. In this context, the day of Christ refers to the day of judgment and it’s mentioned because when Christ comes, he destroys the wicked with the brightness of his coming. Now, one last passage. I know I could spend a lot more time on all this, but go to Revelation chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. I probably should not have tried to squeeze all of this into one service, but we could slow any of this down substantially and spend a lot more time, but we’re just going to keep plowing.

Revelation chapter 4, again, this is our last passage, presents a heavenly vision. John, the apostle, is allowed into, if you will, the throne room of God in heaven in a vision. He sees Revelation chapter 4 verse 2, and immediately I was in the spirit, and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat upon the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald.

This is the throne of God. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. You see this? In the throne room, in the presence of Christ, is this vision of twenty-four elders on twenty-four seats. They have white raiment, they have crowns. Now keep going down to verse, look at verse number ten.

And the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou were the O Lord to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. So you have these twenty-four elders, but what are they? Who are they? Who are they?

Look at chapter 5. Let’s review. These twenty-four elders are in the throne room. They have crowns. Now think about what we talked about this morning. They have crowns. They cast those crowns at Jesus’ feet, and they’re wearing white raiment, white clothing. Chapter 5, verse number 8. We’re still in this context of the throne room. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.

So they’re holding bottles that have smelly stuff, incense if you will. And what does that represent in this? What does it symbolize? The prayers of saints. So that leads you to believe that these elders are saints. Verse 9. Listen to the new song saying, First thing I want you to see is this. This is their song now, the twenty-four elders. The twenty-four elders, are we talking about twenty-four actual people, or are we talking about something else?

Something else. How do you know? Because they identify themselves in the song. They say, Now there are far more than twenty-four kindred people, tongues, and nations. So that’s the hint for those of you that are Bible students, that symbolism is in use. So the twenty-four are not twenty-four individuals. They’re representative in a vision of a very large group of people of every nation and race. Not just Israel, but of every nation and race.

And in verse number 9 it says, This group of people who are, as we’ve already seen, saints, remember they’re holding the bottle? They have crowns which they cast at Jesus’ feet. They’re of every nation and now they say they are redeemed by the blood of Christ. They’re redeemed by the blood of Christ out of every nation. They represent a large group of people. They are a distinct group of people.

I’ll mention that in a minute a little bit more. And in verse 10 it says, Now let me ask you this question. Well, let me say this first. In Revelation there are several different groups of people we find. The first one we find are the twenty-four elders we see here. In chapter 5 verse 11 you can look at that. There’s a huge group of angels. In chapter 6 verse 9 there’s a picture of people, dead souls, who have been beheaded during the tribulation.

Chapter 6 verse 9. In chapter 7 there’s 144 Jewish male virgins who are sealed, right, from 12,000 from each tribe. Did I say 144? 144,000. And then in chapter 7 and verse 9 there’s another multitude of believers that’s described as from all nations and in chapter 7 it says that multitude are those that came out of great tribulation. They’re separate from this group. So let me ask you a question.

What group of people in biblical history matches this description? A large group of people of all nations, a defined group of people who are redeemed by the blood of Christ out of all nations, who have received from Christ crowns that they then cast back at His feet, who are called kings and priests and who are promised to reign on the earth. If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him.

Ye are a chosen generation, a royal, that’s a king, priesthood. First Peter chapter 2 I think it is. Now think back in your mind in biblical history, what you know about biblical history, what defined group could that possibly represent? Is it Israel? Let me ask you, is it Israel? No. Because it’s from every nation. Well maybe it’s the Old Testament saints, maybe, but that’s not quite a defined group.

Plus they mention the fact that they’re redeemed out of every tribe and they’ve been promised to reign and they’re kings and priests. And they received crowns apparently already. We read about that this morning, crown of life, crown of glory, incorruptible crown, those are the rewards for the saints that we read about this morning. Their bottles are prayers of saints. All of these, what group could this possibly be?

There’s only one group in scripture, there’s only one group in scripture that this matches. You know who that is? The church of the living God. Only one. Now here’s the kicker. Now you say, why did you go through all that? I’m tired. This group appears in John’s vision in the throne room having already received their crowns before any judgment falls in the book of Revelation. This group is present already.

You know what that means? That means that they have escaped. Luke 21, 36. They have been kept from the hour, they’re with Jesus, they’re with Jesus. They’ve been kept from the hour of temptation. They’ve been raised from the dead and glorified as a group together. They’ve already received their rewards, their crowns. You see, here’s the problem with this idea that the church is going to go through the tribulation until the very end, is that in Revelation you see the church with Jesus glorified before any of that starts.

You say, well that’s just Revelation, that’s just a bunch of symbols and figures. That’s why we went through it, to show you what the symbols indicate. So that’s honestly, this is one of the lynchpins. It doesn’t fix every problem, it doesn’t answer every verse, but the church is present with Christ before the judgments fall. They have been kept from that hour of temptation. They have been saved from that future wrath.

They have been saved from that future wrath by the resurrection of the body. What we would call what? The rapture. Now what I presented to you tonight is a very hasty, affirmative case for the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. I did not even try to answer all the questions that deal with history. What about history? I also did not try to address or pose any negative, or provide any negative case for why the post-tribulation view has problems.

But let me, to close, I know I’ve gone long, but to close let me cover just a couple of questions. Because whenever there’s a question about when the rapture of the church happens, some of these questions come up. Probably the most common one is this. What makes the church so special to think that we won’t have to endure tribulation? That’s actually one, because you know that’s not an argument from scripture, that’s an argument from emotion, and it’s a straw man too.

Nobody said the church won’t have to endure tribulation, and nobody certainly said that the church will not have to endure persecution. But the church has a promise from Christ to be saved from wrath. First Thessalonians chapter 5. It’s not that we’re special, we’re not, we just have a promise of Christ. It’s just that simple. Another person might ask, if the church is raptured prior to the tribulation, then why do we find all of these saints in Matthew chapter 24 and in Revelation?

Wouldn’t the earth be empty of all believers? Well, maybe, but you have to remember that there are preachers and testimonies during the tribulation we read about in Revelation chapter 7. And actually in Revelation 7 we read of a great multitude that believes who comes out of the tribulation. And they heard about Jesus from somewhere. Another one that people ask is this, if what you’re saying is true and the church is raptured prior to the tribulation, then there are two comings of Christ.

There’s one where he comes to take his people away, and then there’s the second advent when he comes to judge. I would say no. I would say that the preservation of the church from the period of God’s wrath is a necessary part of his coming. The reason he does the first is because of the second. There’s one event, even though there’s time involved between the two. In the same way that in Genesis 19, before God destroyed Sodom, there was a necessary thing that had to take place, which was what?

He had to save Lot’s family. In fact, the angels said, haste the escaped thither, for I cannot do anything till thou become thither. Which is to say, what would you say? Well, that was two visits of the angel. One to rescue Lot, one, no, no, no. It’s one event. But the preservation of Lot and his family was part of that event. Because that was what he was preserving from, is the judgment.

The last one I have here is this. Where does the Bible mention a secret rapture? How many of you have ever heard that term? Secret rapture. That’s not a term anybody that believes in the pre-tribulation rapture ever uses. This idea that, and really, it’s left behind theology is what it is, to be honest with you. This idea that everybody’s flying in an airplane and poof, people disappear.

And nobody knows what happened. You know, the plane goes, you know what I’m talking about. That’s left behind. That’s not the Bible. The truth is, we know that at the rapture of the saints, we know that there’s a sound of a trumpet and the voice of the archangel. We have no idea who hears that. I know one group that hears it are the people for whom it is sounded, which is the people that are coming out of the grave.

They hear it. But whether everybody else says, I have no idea. The secret rapture is kind of a straw man. This is why, brothers and sisters, we have to get our theology from the scripture. And I think that although we haven’t exhausted the subject, I think that what we’ve seen demonstrates that the church of God has a promise to be kept from that hour of wrath and temptation that he is going to bring upon the whole world so that we can stand before him.

And if that’s not enough, we see them standing. We see, if you will, ourselves standing with the Lord prior to all of that. Let’s pray together.