Many Christians ask, “Shall the church ascend before the tribulation, or shall they have to go through it?” Today, we want to find out from the Scriptures if the church will go through the Tribulation or not.
What is the Tribulation? The Tribulation is God’s wrath upon the unbelieving world, and not for those who are saved – the church. There is a special time (just like the Flood) set apart, called the Tribulation (the Day of the Lord), for God’s wrath.
The tribulation is a period of 7 years of the most dreadful nature that will come upon the wicked people in this world who rebelled against God and forsook the path of faith. It is really the time of an unspeakable trouble and suffering like the world has never previously witnessed.
God’s wrath involves a whole 7 years of Tribulation. Realize that the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15 is blown for believers whereas the seven trumpets of Revelation 8, 9 and 11 are sounded for unbelievers. The trumpets spoken of in the book of Revelation therefore, do not have any relevance to the Church.
These judgments are initiated by Jesus Himself at the beginning of the Tribulation, the whole Tribulation must be God’s wrath, which the Church is exempt from.
1. The Apostle Paul himself taught a pre-tribulation “rapture” (1 Thess. 4:13-18).
2. Because we are in Christ, we cannot be judged a second time due to the fact that we have already been judged in Christ. Our sins were judged on the cross at Calvary borne by the sinless Saviour. By offering His own body as a sacrifice, He justified and perfected all who believe in Him.
So, if the church were to go through the tribulation, we would undergo a second judgment, as if Jesus’ sacrifice was not sufficient to justify us, and that’s impossible. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must translate the church before the tribulation begins.
3. The Old Testament and the book of Revelation leave the Church out of the Tribulation. The focus of the Tribulation (1) to pour out God’s wrath on the earth just like the Flood (Isa. 24:22; Zeph. 3:8; 1 Thess. 5:3; 2 Thess. 2:12) and (2) to bring the Jewish people to accept Jesus as Messiah (Matt. 23:39; Lk. 13:35) — is addressed by the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation to the unbelievers and the Jewish people. In any biblical content concerning the Tribulation, the Church cannot be found.
The whole concept of the Church was a mystery to the Old Testament prophets. They focused on the nation of Israel. The Book of Matthew is written to the Jewish people, whom Jesus is addressing in Matthew 24.
In the Book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3 cover the Church Age, but then there is no mention of the Church until after the Tribulation (chapters 6-18).
In Chapter 19, the Church returns to the texts and can be found, not suffering, but celebrating with Christ at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and preparing to return with Jesus to earth.
4. The Church is busy elsewhere during the Tribulation. While the 7-year Tribulation is occurring, the Bible records that the Church will be busy with three events. None of the three has to do with suffering in a world being destroyed.
i) The first event the raptured Church will participate in is a judgment by God — the Judgment of the Righteous. This judgment on works is not to determine your eternal destiny, but to determine the degrees of reward due to you (2 Cor. 5:10).
ii) The second event is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This feast celebrates the spiritual marriage of Christ’s Bride — the Church — to her Savior.
Revelation 19:7-9 shares this wonderful celebration, “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 (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints). Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.'”
iii) The third event that follows the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is the Church’s preparation to follow the King of kings to the Battle of Armageddon at the conclusion of the Tribulation.
This very event is called the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Zech. 14:1-21; Matt. 24:29-31; Mk. 13:24-27; Lk. 21:25-27; Rev. 19:11-21).
Revelation 19:14 identifies the Church in their “fine linen, white and clean,” which was given to them during the first event — the Judgment of the Just.
The Church and the angelic forces will follow the King of kings in His Second Coming to the earth, but only Jesus Himself will engage in battle, and with mere words He will defeat the nations in their siege against Jerusalem.
5. We have the promise of Jesus in Luke 21:34-36. “And take heed to 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. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
Jesus promised that the saved will be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass.
Which things? Those of Matthew 24:4-26, Luke 21:4-19, and Revelations 6-18.
6. We have the promise of God in 1 Thessalonians 5:9. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation [deliverance] by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”
7. Another promise of God is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:10. “And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
8. Look at the promise of God to true believers represented by the Church of Philadelphia. Jesus also said to the Philadelphia church, “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” (Rev. 3:10).
9. The rapture MUST precede the revelation of the Anti-Christ. Tribulation will start only after the Anti-Christ has been revealed (2 Thess. 2:6-8).
10. The fact that the church is mentioned often in Revelations 1-3, but not once in Revelations 4-19, also suggests that the church will not pass through the tribulation. The words “saints” found in these chapters may refer to the people who became Christians after the rapture.
Examples of those who put their faith in God and were exempted from God’s wrath abound in the Scriptures. For instance:
a) Noah and family: In Matthew 24:37 Jesus said, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
God let Noah and his family escape the flood by taking refuge in the ark before He judged the world. How much more will He make a way of escape from the tribulation for those whom Jesus Christ bought with a prize of His own precious blood and sealed with the Holy Spirit?
It will be contrary to God’s nature to make no distinction between the saints and the rest of the wicked, perverse, stiff-necked world, judging us the same way as He judges them.
b) Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:15-29). Though Lot lived there by his own free will, yet God knowing him to be a righteous man, spared his life and that of his family before He judged Sodom and Gomorrah. Not until angels have led them safely away from that wicked city did God rain fire and brimstone on the city.
c) Rahab and family: In Joshua 6, God removed Rahab and family before He destroyed the city of Jericho (Josh. 6:17, 23-25).
Time is running out (Prov. 27:1). Hurry beloved! Don’t be caught unprepared when the trumpet sounds because Christ is the only One that can bring you to Heaven (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5; Jn. 14:6). So hurry and make peace with God right now!
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!
- Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor) 05.07. 2020
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