 Reasons Why
the Church Will Not Go Through the Great Tribulation |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
More important than knowing if the church will go through the Great Tribulation or even when it happens, is looking for the Lord's appearing (2 Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:3). After all, just having knowledge puffeth up (1 Corinthians 8:1). But a godly humility combined with rightly dividing God's Word will help answer questions we have (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Corinthians 1:20-29).
1. The Church was a Mystery (Ephesians 3:1-6)
2. The Church was not in the first prophetic 69 weeks of years spoken of by Daniel and cannot be in the 70th week (Daniel 9:24-27)These 70 weeks equal 490 years of, what was then, future history for Israel. This 70th week, which is still future, is for Israel and the Church is not there.
3. The Tribulation is Jewish in Nature and not Church
4. Who will furnish or go into the KingdomSeventh-day Adventist position:NO people on earth during the millennium!
This position denies the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth and the habitation of the earth by the saved out of the Tribulation period and others (2 Samuel 7:10-16; Psalm 22:27-31; Isa 9:6; 24:23; 65:18-25; Ezekiel 20:33-44; 36:1-38; 37:15-27; Matthew 24:34; Luke 13:28; Revelation 20:1-10). Watchtower and Armstrong position:NO rapture of living saints!
This position obviously denies the rapture all together (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Some "Post Tribulation" Fundamentalist's and other's position:
With this position, the "second coming of Christ," and the rapture are combined into one event. At this time, He will "gather all nations" and separate the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-33). But, if the rapture had just taken place as depicted above, there would be no need for another separation. It would already have taken place. In addition, if there is only one aspect to Christ's return, His second coming to reign, then at that time all living saints will be caught up out of the earth and none will remain but the wicked. Then the Lord comes to the earth and destroys the wicked. Now no one is left to go into the Kingdom and repopulate the earth. However, in Matthew 13, 24 and 25, those saved during the Tribulation period will go alive into the kingdom without being raptured. The truth and absolute necessity ... The "Rapture" and the "Second Coming" are separate!
5. The Conflict of Orders
6. The Removal of the SpiritThe removal of the Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2) most likely
would include the removal of the church because they are intimately connected together
(John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:14). The "restrainer" must be the
Holy Spirit because: The Holy Spirit is a Person (John 14:16, 15:26; 16:13;
Acts 5:3, 15:28). He was restraining iniquity in Paul's day and will
continue until He is removed. He has been doing this for almost 2,000 years. He must
therefore be divine. Only a divine Person could hold back Satan. No mortal or
earthly power could do so. Since the church began with the arrival of the Spirit on earth (Acts 2), it would seem consistent that the church will end with the removal of the Spirit from the earth. The Holy Spirit is at work on the earth convincing men of sin (John 16:7) as well as restraining evil through the influence of His church. The "day of Christ" (2 Thessalonians 2) will not come until the man of sin is revealed -- this cannot happen until the Holy Spirit is taken out. 7. No Revealed Purpose for the Church in the Tribulation
8. Apostate Christendom DamnedSince in the Tribulation apostate Christendom will be damned (Revelation 15:8, 17:1-18), it is appropriate that this take place after the true church is gone. Just as rebellious Israel was doomed when they rejected Christ, so rebellious Christendom will be doomed because they blasphemed Christ. Note the sequence:
There was a revealed transition in the early church until the close of the Acts period. There is no such revealed transition in the Tribulation. The events that will take place during the Great Tribulation have been prophesied and spoken about in the old scriptures (Zechariah 14:16; Jeremiah 31:31; Deuteronomy 28:13). 9. No Mention of the Church in the Great Tribulation
Therefore, we must conclude that the Church is not in the Great Tribulation. 10. The Unique Hope of the ChurchIn each case our hope is purely and solely Christ. Our resurrection, our heavenly place, and our inheritance are all in Christ ... never earthly.
See also 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 4:13-18, 5:1-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, 2:1-16; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:18; Titus 2:13 11. The Rapture not in Matthew 3, 13, 24 OR 25
12. Those who are Taken are Different!
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to establish His kingdom on the earth, He will purge it of the UNRIGHTEOUS. This is similar to the purging of the wicked at the time of Noah.
This corresponds with Old Testament prophecy for that time when the righteous shall be left:
See also Isaiah 13:6-16 and Matthew 13:41-43. However, when the Lord comes in the clouds (at the rapture), He catches away the righteous! Obviously the righteous cannot both be left and caught away. They are two separate events. 13. The Mystery "Hid" (Kept Secret)
The mystery character of the church demands an exclusiveness from God's revealed plans for Israel in the Old Testament, the synoptic gospels and the book of Revelation.
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| The Different Views of
the Rapture in Relation to the So-called "Great Tribulation"
| Reasons
Why the Church Will Not Be in the Tribulation Period
| Reasons Why the Church Will Not Go Through the Great Tribulation | Defending the Pre-Tribulation Rapture |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
