Proof the Church Is Not in the Tribulation: Part 1

Proof the Church Is Not in the Tribulation: Part 1 - By Ron Ferguson- https://www.raptureready.com/2023/12/06/proof-the-church-is-not-in-the-tribulation-part-1-by-ron-ferguson/ INTRODUCTION I find it indefensible, the claim that the Church, and Christians of course, will enter the Tribulation. Why do I find it indefensible? If you think Christians must enterinto the Tribulation, even half of it, please read this. To start with, this position is not held by those who hold to Preterism, which is the belief that there is no separate Rapture or a Tribulation or a Millennial reign. Theysee Revelation as fantasy or history in allegory. These people are very greatly misled, and I am not being arrogant in this, for it is not just Revelation they discard but much of the Old Testament prophecy, including huge sections of the Major Prophets. Theydo this mistakenly through the belief of Replacement Theology or supersessionism – a complete denial of Israel’s future. Preterism is a belief of the Roman Catholic church that pays scant regard to the scriptures in any case. The Roman Catholic position was continued by the Reformers, who heldonto a number of Catholic practices and did not examine them properly in the light of the Bible. Just a few of the deviations from scripture the Reformers adhered to were the wearing of vestments and infant “baptism” instead of Christian baptism by immersionpracticed by the early church. Let us pass on from Preterism to look at those who do believe the Old Testament prophets are relevant and hold to Revelation as literal (in the varying degrees of literalismsome adopt). Most of those holding that position believe in a separate Rapture and Tribulation. Eschatology is not a strong point in many churches these days, and even the great stalwarts of the past, such as the Southern Baptists, are giving ground, movingaway from the traditional belief in prophecy. It is not my purpose to give a full explanation of Pre-Millennialism, Pre-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation, or Post-Tribulation Rapture. The purpose of this article is to provefrom scripture that there is only one position that is credible and sustainable. That position is that the Church CANNOT and DOES NOT enter the Tribulation on earth. Just before I leave that last paragraph, there is a ridiculous position held by some who try to compromise a Rapture into their Preterism. Preterism has everything endingat the Second Coming. Period! Full stop! They say at the Second Coming, the Lord “raptures” His Church, drawing it up to Himself as He is descending to earth, and the Church descends with Him. What is the purpose of that? It is utterly meaningless, but suchare the lengths of those who dismiss a separate Rapture into heaven. Just before I attempt to give the proof for a pre-Tribulation Rapture, I need to give an explanation. I am finding more and more, in churches I know of and people tell me,that the belief and teaching that the Church will be in the Tribulation is quite common in the Pentecostal movement. As the Charismatic/Pentecostal churches are growing more in numbers, so is the misunderstanding of the Rapture and Tribulation. In my city,some of these from Pentecostal churches are entering more traditional churches and bringing this confusion with them. It is a problem. That is what sparked my interest in writing this article so I can have at my fingertips the evidence I need to refute this error. Confusion is the way I would describe thebelief system of Pentecostal eschatology. HOWEVER, let usbe very clear here. It is not at all confined to the charismatic churches and is widespread in churches that used to be sound. Let us see if we can make sense of this. LISTING THE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE CHURCH NOT BEING IN THE TRIBULATION [1]. PENALTY ALL PASSED, OR PENALTY REMAINING? I want to place a scene before you. A woman is in court having misappropriated 50,000 dollars. She was found guilty, for the evidence was as clear as day, and the judge orderedher to repay the money within one week, or she would face a jail sentence. That was the irrefutable verdict. Just before the judge dismissed the case, a man stepped to the front of the court and addressed the judge. In his address, he mentioned he had the ability and the motivationto pay this woman’s fine to release her from the penalty. He himself would meet the penalty to free the woman from the judgment against her. The judge agreed and then said, “The outstanding money will be paid by this man who stands before me to clear the debt owing, but I also determine the woman needs to pay 50,000dollars herself because she did the crime, and crime must have a penalty.” Well, you can imagine what a scene that made in court. There were cries of “Unfair” and “Unjust,” among others. People could not understand why this woman would have to bepenalized when the man who stepped in paid her penalty in full. What this illustration does is highlight three people – the woman, the benefactor, and the judge. Let us look at them now in the spiritual sense. The woman represents the sinner, that is, all of us who are guilty and have a penalty against us. The penalty is death, for the soul that sins must surely die. That penaltyis so huge that we can not even begin to unravel it. We are, therefore, condemned without any hope. “Guilty, vile and helpless we.” The benefactor represents Christ, who took our debt and paid it Himself. The Bible says a lot about substitution when Christ took all our sins and made them His own and metthe penalty in full. He who knew no sin. When we had no one to help us in our condemnation, Christ died for the ungodly. He paid the whole debt. How much of the penalty for sin still belongs to us if Christ paid it on the cross? How much? Not one bit, for on the cross, Jesus went through the wrath of God against oursin and paid the penalty so that not one inkling of it exists for us. Do you understand that? Are you fully redeemed or partially redeemed? You either are or you are not. For those who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, you are clean every bit, and there is no wrath or penalty hanging over your head. Do you understand that?In the illustration we had in the court, the judge accepted the payment of the penalty but then turned around to make the woman pay the penalty that had already been satisfied. What justice is that? What we just had is the strongest case for a Christian not going through the Tribulation. The time of God’s wrath against sin in the Tribulation is wrath against a sinful,unrepentant world. God is judging the world for sin, sin it has stored up for millennia. What does the cross mean? Surely, it is God’s wrath against sin, but it fell on Jesus Christ instead of falling on you. He took your place. He paid the penalty fully. He enduredthe wrath for you that you might never undergo the wrath of God. If you had a den of iniquity in your city where the grossest things were committed along with murders, and God judged that place and wiped it away, you would say that wasfair. But if God said, I am going to judge that place of iniquity and sin, but everyone in the city will be judged as well,” then you would protest unfairness. Those who say the Church has to enter the tribulation are saying that the Christian has to endure the wrath of God, when Christ already did that for us so that we might neverfall under the wrath of God. It is unacceptable to say Christians have to be in the Tribulation BECAUSE it lessens and dishonors the work of Christ on thecross. He delivered us from wrath, from the coming wrath, so why do you who believe the error say we have to go through God’s wrath? Some of that great error that says that Christians will endure the wrath of God, even though they are saved, goes back to the Roman church again, with its teaching on purgatorythat says we have to suffer for our sins to become acceptable to God. It is a curse on the suffering of Christ on the cross for us. Disgraceful! THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE IN Christ Jesus. Thereis no more wrath. Christ endured the very last drop of wrath for the converted man and woman. Why do those with false teaching want to put believers into condemnation again when we have been delivered from that? [2]. REMOVED FROM JUDGMENT AND KEPT SECURE Noah is the prime example here (Lot being a lesser one). Judgment was to fall on the pre-diluvium world, but before it came, God removed His righteousness ones from the earth.The wrath of God came on a sinful, satanic world that had rejected God and resorted to the worst possible sexuality and violence. Judgment was inevitable. The situation in Noah’s time is not unlike the way our world is going. God commanded Noah to build an ark, and that was to become his refuge. Christ is our Ark (Hebrews and the Tabernacle teaching), and He is our Refuge. Noah was lifted up fromthe earth on the waters while the wrath of God raged underneath in the flood. Christians will be lifted up with Christ to heaven while the wrath of the Tribulation rages underneath. The Church will be sheltered in the “Ark” in heaven as the Bride of the Bridegroom.Jesus Christ is our Ark. After the flood, Noah returned to the earth to a new age. After the Tribulation, the Church returns to earth with the Lord to a new age, that of the Millennium. Noah was removedout of judgment, and the Church will be removed out of judgment also. The angels delivered Lot and his family out of Sodom before the judgment of God came. That judgment was to be on the unrighteous, so God removed His own before His wrath destroyed the citiesof the plain. It is clear that God in wrath will never put His children, or His own, through that wrath. They are taken out of the way first. God will not put His Church through the Tribulation. Just a note to those who say the Church goes through the first half of the Tribulation. The supposition here is that the first half is mild before the real terror stuff comesin the second half. That is extremely false reasoning. The Tribulation begins with the four riders on the horses where more than a third of the population will perish. There will be wars and famine and diseases and all sorts of pestilences, including the animalsof the earth turning against mankind. The four horsemen are the first 4 seals of the seal judgments. This is the sixth seal – Revelation 6:12-14 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, andthe whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of theirplaces.” This is the result of what happens after that, and note, the Tribulation is in the early stages – Revelation 6:15-17 “The kings of the earth and the great men and the commandersand the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, AND FROM THE WRATH OF THE LAMB; for THE GREAT DAY OF THEIR WRATH HAS COME,and who is able to stand?” There is nothing mild or easy about the first half of the Tribulation. The mid-Tribulation view is just as false as the Church passing through the whole of the Tribulation.God will not allow it. [3]. THE FIRST SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – CHRIST THE DELIVERER FROM WRATH (a). We will consider some New Testament references proving the Church does not pass through the Tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “They themselves report about us whatkind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, JESUS WHO DELIVERS US FROM THE WRATH TO COME.” The context makes it clear that what Paul is talking about is the Tribulation. The two books of Thessalonians have this prophetic theme. The wrath that is coming is the wrathof God that arrives with Revelation 6:17. It can have no other application. The Greek is clear. It is THE wrath that is to come. Paul is teaching that Christians will have no part in the wrath of God that is coming on the earth. Why is that? It is becausethere is no wrath against Christians, for Jesus Christ took all the wrath for us. Go back to the illustration earlier of the court scene. (b). Consider this verse also – 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 “GOD HASNOT DESTINED US FOR WRATH, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.” What could be clearer here? WE ARE NOT DESTINED TO WRATH; not appointed to wrath; notdelivered to wrath. We will NOT be delivered to the Tribulation, for that is the wrath of God and of the Lamb. We are not designated to wrath BUT to obtain salvation. Our salvation is complete when we are translated into the presence of our Saviour. The Church obtains the ending ofits salvation when taken from the world, while the remaining population is destined to wrath, the wrath of the Tribulation. It is dishonoring to say that God has destined His Church to pass into the wrath of God. How can you have that belief, you who say theChurch goes into the Tribulation? Consider the evidence against that position fairly. [4]. THE SECOND SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – THE PLIGHT OF THE DYING BELIEVERS Let us be very clear about this next one. In the three weeks Paul spent among the converted pagans at Thessalonica, he taught them all about the prophetic events that werecoming. That would have included the unfulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament. It is actually an amazing thing, for prophetic events were not neglected when teaching the Thessalonian Christians all about the Christian life. We are going to take that upin part 3. Some churches today tell their people nothing about the prophetic scriptures. They ought to be ashamed. Some say the scriptures are not relevant. They ought to be ashamed. Some say the New Testament is relevant now and not the Old Testament. Theyought to be ashamed. Anyway, it was obvious from the following scripture that Paul taught them about the Rapture, that it was going to happen (at first they thought in their lifetimes), but alas,some of the Thessalonian Christians were dying. The consternation the living believers had was that those who had died had missed out on the Rapture. Read what Paul says: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP, THAT YOU MAY NOT GRIEVE, as dothe rest who have no hope. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, EVEN SO GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN JESUS.” Yes, they thought those who had died (fallen asleep is the term) had missed out on the Rapture, and their hope had gone. Relatives were grieving. Paul assured them that whenthe Lord returns, He will bring the dead believers with Him. That would have been a great comfort to them. When a Christian dies, his body goes into the ground, but the living person/spirit goes immediately to be with the Lord. Hence, in the Rapture, the Lord brings those peopleback with Him, and in an instant, their bodies are raised, and the living are caught up from the earth, and all are together. It is at this point that Paul sets out the most glorious Rapture passage in the New Testament that starts this way – 1Thessalonians 4:15-16 “For this we say to you by theword of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and thedead in Christ shall rise first. . . . etc” Clearly, the believers at Thessalonica were looking forward to the Rapture, NOT the Tribulation, because they knew the Church has no part in the Tribulation whatsoever. Theyjust thought their loved ones had missed out because they died. The Thessalonians correctly were looking forward to the Rapture, NOT the Tribulation, because Christians have no part in the Tribulation. ------------------------------------------ Proof the Church Is Not In the Tribulation: Part 2 - By Ron Ferguson- https://www.raptureready.com/2023/12/13/proof-the-church-is-not-in-the-tribulation-part-2-by-ron-ferguson/ We continue looking at the reasons that prove the Church, the Body of Christ, can have no part in the coming wrath of God in the Tribulation. God�s members of the Bride aredelivered from that coming judgment. Of course, I know there are some who do not accept the Tribulation is the literal event the Bible describes, but I am not going down that track today. [5]. THE THIRD SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � ALAS THE DAY OF THE LORD HAD COME! For this, we look at 2 Thessalonians where that church had a real problem. In his visit to the believers for three weeks, Paul taught them about the DAY of the LORD. That is a common term in all the prophetic books forthat period in history when God will intervene in the affairs of men with open judgment. This will be a terrible time on earth. (I have a full study on this �The DAY of the LORD� in the RaptureReady archives.) There is much in theOld Testament prophets explaining the events in the DAY of the Lord. Anyway, Paul taught the Thessalonians that the DAY of the LORD was a terrible time of suffering and that it occurredin the Tribulation, but believers would be delivered from that terrible time by the Rapture. Paul wrote this � 2Thessalonians 2:1-2 �Now we request you, brethren, with regard to THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND OUR GATHERING TOGETHER TO HIM,that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, TO THE EFFECT THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD HAS COME.� The saints at Thessalonica were greatly disturbed that they were in the DAY of the LORD because they were suffering persecution andtrouble. In other words, they believed they were in the Tribulation and had missed out on the Rapture. The DAY of the LORD covers the period straight after the Raptureuntil the Millennium. The �coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him� is the Rapture. They were disturbed they had missed out. Some false teachers were telling them the DAY of the LORD had come already. They wrote to Paul in their distress,and that is the background for 2 Thessalonians. In the previous letter, Paul detailed the Rapture in chapter 4. 2 Thessalonians is Paul�s response to their dilemma. This is what he explained to them � 2Thessalonians 2:3-5 �Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come UNLESS THE APOSTASY COMES FIRST, and THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED,the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. DO YOU NOT REMEMBER that while I was still with you, I wastelling you these things?� This is a very critical passage for the pre-Tribulation Rapture. Paul says the DAY of the LORD will not come UNLESS first has come �the apostasy.� It is extremely unfortunatethat most Bible versions translate the Greek word ἀποστασία (apostasia) as an apostasy from the faith or as rebellion. Let us be very clear here: apostasy from the faith is not something of the last days. It happened in Laodicea, and look at the Roman Catholicchurch from 600 AD onwards, and of the Middle Ages and the horrible heresies of the 300 � 1000 AD, like Arianism and Gnosticism that decimated the Christian faith. Apostasy has always been with us. NO, the word does not mean apostasy! It means something else. The word means �departure,� and it is not departure from the faith as in the 2 Thessalonian usage. It means a departure in location. That is, a translation from earth to heaven � the Church removed from earth to heaven. Some who want to defend the Church being in the Tribulation can get very abusive, as one did to me in a posting of mine in another place. Let me explain the use of this word better from a previous article I preparedin the past: The expression (apostasia) normally means defection, revolt, or rebellion BUT it can also be translated by �disappearance� or �departure,� and it has been suggested by Greekscholar Kenneth Wuest in Prophetic Light in the Present Darkness and by E. Schuyler English in Rethinking the Rapture that the reference is not to an apostasy from the faith (didn�t that occur some 1,600 years ago and throughout history?) but to the translationof the church from the world. Wuest points out that the word �apostasia� is derived from the root verb �afistami,� which means �to remove, withdraw, depart, go away, etc.� Of its 15 occurrences in theNew Testament, it is 11 times translated �depart,� and Wuest accordingly argues that the substantive must mean �departure� or �going away.� And since the Greek text has the definite article [ἡ = THE], then a particular departure is in view. It is, and thatdeparture is the removal of the Church. These are the 15 references. My text for these verses is the NASB. Luke 8:13 �And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation FALL AWAY.� Luke 13:27 �and He will say, �I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART from Me, all you evildoers.'� Luke 2:37 �and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. And she never LEFT the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.� Luke 4:13 �And when the devil had finished every temptation, he DEPARTED from Him until an opportune time.� Acts 12:10 �And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out andwent along one street; and immediately the angel DEPARTEDfrom him.� Acts 15:38 �But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had DESERTED them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to thework.� Acts 19:9 �But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he WITHDREW from them and took away the disciples, reasoningdaily in the school of Tyrannus.� Acts 22:29 �Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately LET GO of him; and the commander also was afraid when he foundout that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.� 2 Corinthians 12:8 �Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might DEPART from me.� 1 Timothy 6:5 �Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such WITHDRAW thyself.� (AV) Hebrews 3:12 �Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in FALLING AWAY from the living God.� And, of course, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 our verse, and one other I have misplaced. As can be seen, by far the most common usage of �apostasia� is departure or going away. It is the Church that will depart (be raptured) and go away to heaven, AND THEN the lawless Antichrist can be revealed, BUT NOT BEFORE. Paul is saying that because the Antichristhad not been revealed, then the DAY of the Lord has not arrived.They worried about missing the Rapture but Paul reminded them it had not happened, so no worry! They had not missed the Rapture because they died. Paul reminded them he had spoken all about these things when he was with them. [6]. THE FOURTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE RESTRAINER IN THE CHURCH AGE We look at the verses � 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 �You know WHAT RESTRAINS HIM [the appearing of the Antichrist] now,so that in his time he may be revealed, for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only HE WHO NOW RESTRAINS will do so until he is taken out of theway, and then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.� In verses 7-8, it is revealed that there is One here who is hindering the full release and revelation of iniquity. This one is the Holy Spirit, and only when He goes can iniquitybecome fully matured. Only the Holy Spirit can hold back the floodgates of evil rushing in like a torrent; the Church cannot do that; individuals cannot do that. The Holy Spirit WILL and CAN ONLY go when the true Church departs. And then that lawlessone (world ruler, Antichrist) will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming (the Second Coming). The departure (wrongly translated �apostasy�) must happen first. It will kick start the whole of the Tribulation. I hope it can be seen that �the departure of the Church� must occur before any release of judgment upon the earth. Surely, Noah is a pertinent lesson here. He was raised from the earth while the judgment raged below. Lawlessness is most certainly at work in a serious way right now. This is evident in the political field, in the police force, in increasing racism, and in the judiciary.I am horrified at what I am hearing about so much miscarriage of justice in the United States. Just in people�s dealings with one another, riots and Islamic protests, lawlessness is charging ahead in all Western democracies. Can you ever imagine what it would be like if the Holy Spirit was not restraining the full outbreak of lawlessness? It would be indescribable. When the Holy Spirit departswith the Church, the lawless one will come into prominence and will be accepted by a lawless world. This Thessalonians section is certain proof that the Church must leave before the onslaught of wickedness in the Tribulation. With the Church out of the way, evil will haveits fullest day. [7]. THE FIFTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � CHRIST IN RETRIBUTION This next reference may not be quite as clear as the previous one, but placed in context, the passage is in the prophetic revelations from God through Paul. This is the passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 �After all it is only just FOR GOD TO REPAY WITH AFFLICTION those who afflict you, and TO GIVE RELIEF TO YOU WHO ARE AFFLICTED and to us as wellwhen the Lord Jesus shall be REVEALED FROM HEAVEN WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS IN FLAMING FIRE,dealing out RETRIBUTION to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of theLord and from the glory of His power, WHEN HE COMES TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS ON THAT DAY,and to be marvelled at among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed.� What is being said here is a general comment for the afflicted Church. It is not pointing at a specific time, but it certainly refers to the Tribulation time. The Lord willgive relief to His afflicted people, which is the Rapture. The revealing with His mighty angels in flaming fire is the Second Coming. Jesus comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, which has two applications. The first � He will be glorified in Hissaints at the Rapture when He comes for them, and second, He will be glorified in His Tribulation saints (the Jewish believers) at the Second Coming. We, the believers caught up in the Rapture, will marvel at our Redeemer Lord, just as the Tribulation saints will marvel at the Lord when He comes in glory in Revelation 19. [8]. THE SIXTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � COME UP HERE! To understand the progression in the book of Revelation, you must carefully note this verse � Revelation 1:19 �Write therefore the things which YOU HAVE SEEN, and the THINGS WHICH ARE, and the things WHICH SHALL TAKE PLACE AFTER THESE THINGS.� That places thebook in three parts, the first being what John had seen, and that is Chapter 1; the second being �the things that are,� and that included the 7 churches of John�s time. However, those 7 churches outline in a special way the whole history of the Christian eraright to the present and incorporate the last one, Laodicea, the wayward, arrogant church that well represents our period in history. The 7 churches are wonderfully true to the period they represent. That brings us to the end of Chapter 3, the end of the churchage. The third part is �the things which shall take place AFTER THESE THINGS.� That is simple to understand, and thetext is saying that from Chapter 4 until Chapter 22, the whole book is prophetic from that point. It speaks of all that is future. However, to begin that third section of �the things which shall take place after these things,� there is a very important verse, a MOST IMPORTANT verse � Revelation 4:1 �After these thingsI looked, and behold, A DOOR STANDING OPEN IN HEAVEN, andthe first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me said, �COME UP HERE,and I will show you what must take place after these things.� That is the Rapture, and immediately after that, we have the Church in heaven present at the great worship of God, and that is Chapters 4 and 5. At the start of Chapter 6,the seals are broken and the Tribulation begins. Revelation is so clear that the Rapture must precede the Tribulation. There is no wriggle room in that book. I think the very words spoken by the Lord at the Rapture willbe, �COME UP HERE.� [9]. THE SEVENTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT We return to 1 Thessalonians where we need to apply logic to understand this reference. Look at it � 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 �for you yourselves know full well that THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME JUST LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT.While they are saying, �Peace and safety!� then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child and they shall not escape,BUT YOU, BRETHREN, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, THAT THE DAY SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU LIKE A THIEF, for YOU ARE ALL SONS OF LIGHT AND SONS OF DAY. We are not of [the] night nor ofdarkness, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.� Paul continues explaining The DAY of the LORD, which, if you remember, always applies to the Tribulationand into the Millennium, never to the Church age. He says that Day will come like a thief in the night when sudden destruction bursts on an un-expectant world. A thief comes in the night, in the darkness, but Paul says we don�t belong to the darkness becausewe are sons of light. The DAY of the LORD is the Tribulation coming into the world, but Christianswon�t be overtaken because we are children of light, not of darkness. The Lord raptures us home before that DAY falls on the earth. We don�t belong to the darkness ofthe world because we belong to the light of God. The Church will not go into the darkness of the Tribulation. Those who teach that are in error and demean the work of Christ in suffering on the cross. We end this study in the next part. ronaldf@aapt.net.au -------------------------------- Proof the Church Is Not in the Tribulation: Part 3 - By Ron Ferguson- https://www.raptureready.com/2023/12/26/proof-the-church-is-not-in-the-tribulation-part-3-by-ron-ferguson/ We continue this study proving that the Church must be raptured away before the Tribulation comes. Christians are not appointed to wrath, which is what the Tribulation is.The wrath of God is against sin in the horrific judgments of the Tribulation, and believers of the Church age are rescued from that. We are not appointed to wrath. We are not children of darkness, the darkness of sin in the Tribulation. [10]. THE EIGHTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � BOTH COMINGS IN ONE VERSE The verse in the spotlight here is this one � Titus 2:13 �looking for THE BLESSED HOPE and the APPEARING OF THE GLORY OF OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOUR, ChristJesus.� This verse is not saying the same thing twice. It is saying two separate things. Both future comings are found here. The first is the �blessed hope� or �glorious hope� inthe AV. That is the Rapture, and it is blessed and glorious, for Christ comes to claim His Bride from the earth � all ages of history down through the years. It will be such a blessed time when raptured into His presence. The second part of this verse connects with the appearing of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. That appearing is His glorious manifestation in the Second Coming. We, the Church,leave heaven with our Bridegroom, having celebrated the marriage supper of the Lamb for the return to earth at the Second Coming. The Lord comes for the Battle of Armageddon and then steps on the Mount of Olives with His Church, the Bride. Those two comings, one for the Church, and one at the end ofthe Tribulation, are separated by 7 years. That is the length of the Tribulation on earth. The Church is in heaven for those 7 years. THE CHURCH DOES NOT, AND CAN NOT, ENTER THE TRIBULATION. [11]. THE NINTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE � DELIVERANCE FROM THE TRIBULATION This is a very precious promise for all believers, but let us look at it � Revelation 3:10-11 �Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I ALSO WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE HOUR OF TESTING, THAT HOUR WHICH IS ABOUT TO COME UPON THE WHOLE WORLD,to test those who dwell upon the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, in order that no one takes your crown.� This is the message to the church at Philadelphia. In the book of Revelation, the Tribulation occupies the majority of the focus as it rages on the earth. The message hereis that those who keep trusting the Lord will not enter the Tribulation. In other words, the true believers will have no part of that testing or trial coming upon the WHOLE world. The AV uses the wording �the hour of trial,� and that will be trial in tribulation. That section of chapter 3 is clearly telling us that the ones who faithfully belong tothe Lord will be delivered FROM the Tribulation. It DOES NOTmean �delivered through the Tribulation.� It means �OUT OF,� �AWAY FROM IT,� or �RIGHT OUT OF IT.� The Greek word is �ek,� meaning �out, or out of,� having no part in it. The Lord is coming quickly. It won�t be long now. When the Rapture happens, it will be so quick, the Greek being �inatoma� (�tomos), a particle of time that cannot be split.Less than a split second. There is a very wrong concept around that some hold on to. It is called �a partial Rapture,� where those said to be faithful to the Lord are raptured, but rather slack orworldly Christians are left behind to go into the Tribulation. It is false. Don�t listen to that. It is also elitist and judgmental. [12]. THE HEAVENLY PREPARATION OF THE BRIDE IN HEAVEN Recently, I wrote about the Church, the Bride of Christ. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is recorded in Revelation 19:7 �Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him,for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.� The Bride will not come to the wedding without absolute spotless purity typified by white linen � Revelation 19:8 �and it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, brightand clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.� The Church MUST BE in heaven for the Marriage preceded by cleansing andthe giving of rewards. If the Church was on earth in the Tribulation, that could not happen. Before the Marriage happens, the Church needs full purification. In other words, when you enter heaven, the Lord has to deal with unconfessed sin and other issues, and thenthe Church is rewarded with such passages as this � 1Corinthians 3:12-13 �Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man�s work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is to be revealedwith fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man�s work.� All that preparation must take place in heaven before the Second Coming, and the first verse in the chapter (Revelation 19) for the Second Coming is this one � Revelation19:11 �I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.� The Church as the Bride returns to earth with her Bridegroom immediately after the Marriage Supper, absentfrom the earth for at least 7 years (we are speaking about the entire Church). The Church has no part in the Tribulation. [13]. WHICH GOSPEL IS BEING PREACHED NOW AND IN THE TRIBULATION? This next evidence is very clear in scripture, but some find it obscure, and others ridicule it. Those who have a good understanding of eschatology realize the truth of it. The gospel that is being preached in the world today is not the gospel that will be preached in the Tribulation. I hope that does not come as a shock to you, but we will gothrough it. THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM Matthew is the only evangelist who covers the Gospel of the Kingdom. Matthew is the Jewish gospel, and it contains things that are not covered in deeper detail in other Gospels.Matthew gives the full account of conditions in the Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. He gives the fullest account of the parables relating to the Gospel of the Kingdom in Chapter 13. He has the fullest account of the Tribulation in Chapter 24. Chapter 24 is most significant because it is answering a question � Matthew 24:3 �As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying, �Tellus, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of THE END OF THE AGE?'� The end of the age is the end of the Tribulation,which is the Second Coming. Note that John does not mention anything from the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, which is for the Jews) in his Gospel, and he wrote in AD 96 after the destruction of Jerusalem, well into the Christian era. Let us hold Matthew 24 there for a moment and look at what John the Baptist preached right at and just before the beginning of Jesus� ministry. Matthew 3:1-3 �Now in thosedays John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, �REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.'� This is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet saying, �The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make ready the way of the Lord. Make His paths straight!'� Matthew 3:6 �and THEY WERE BEING BAPTISED by him in the Jordan River AS THEY CONFESSED THEIR SINS.� John the Baptist was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is a different gospel from the Gospel of grace of the Church age, because Jesus had not yet died, and thatis the basis of the Christian gospel. What John taught was Repentance followed by Confession of sins in baptism (immersion). That gained entrance into Messiah�s Kingdom, for it was at hand. Messiah was to set up His Kingdom on earth described in the Old Testament.Those who repented and confessed their sins in baptism were waiting for Messiah to come to install His Kingdom. John knew it was the Lord, and incidentally, down the track just a little bit, when the expected Kingdom had not been set up, John sent a messagefrom prison: Matthew 11:1-4 �It came about that when Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now whenJohn in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him, �ARE YOU THE EXPECTED ONE, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR SOMEONEELSE?� and Jesus answered and said to them, �Go and report to John what you hear and see.� When Jesus began His ministry, what did He preach? Well, as King of the Jews and Messiah, He preached the gospel of His Kingdom � Matthew 4:23 �Jesus was going about in allGalilee, teaching in their synagogues, and PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM,and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.� It was the same gospel that John the Baptist preached. IF THE NATION REPENTED THEN, THE KINGDOM WOULD HAVE BEEN SET UP.It did not repent, and as a result, the gospel went to the Gentiles. A short time passed, and we see Jesus preaching the same Gospel � Matthew 9:35 �Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every kind of diseaseand every kind of sickness.� Then, a dramatic change happened. Matthew records Jesus and the disciples in the grain field � Matthew 12:1-4 �At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grain fieldsand His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat, but when the Pharisees saw it they said to Him, �Behold, Your disciples do what is NOT LAWFUL TO DO on a Sabbath,� but He said to them, �HAVEYOU NOT READ WHAT DAVID DID WHEN HE BECAME HUNGRY, he and his companions � how he entered the house of God and they ate the consecrated bread which was NOT LAWFUL FOR HIM to eat, nor for those with him, but forthe priests alone?� This is a watershed moment. What is Jesus doing? Well, He broke the Law of Moses. Was He guilty? No, He was not. What did the reference to David mean? David was the rightfulking in rejection at that time. The nation had rejected him at that point. Therefore, the sacred bread was of no consequence because the nation had set aside the Law of Moses. Now, look at Jesus, who made reference to David. Jesus was the rightful King in rejection by His nation. At that stage they were not repenting, not responding to the gospel of the kingdom. The Law had been set aside nationally, so what Jesus did was not unlawful. His statementhere, where he apparently disregarded the Law, was the testimony that He had been set aside by the faithless leadership. From that time onward, Jesus did not preach the Gospel of the Kingdom anymore, but then the cross lay ahead of Him, and He revealed thatto His disciples: Matthew 16:21-22 �FROM THAT TIMEJesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and SUFFER MANY THINGS from the elders and chief priests and scribes,and BE KILLED, AND BE RAISED UP ON THE THIRD DAY, and Petertook Him aside and began to rebuke Him saying, �God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'� Well, the Gospel of the kingdom was not preached and was set aside, BUT one day, it will be preached again after the Church has been removed. The church�s mission is to teachand preach the Gospel of grace during the time of Israel�s darkness, but once the Church is raptured to heaven, then the Gospel of the kingdom is preached again. Here is the reference (speaking down through the future to the Jewish Tribulation people): Matthew 24:9-14 �Then they will deliver you to TRIBULATION and will kill you, and you will be hated by allnations on account of My name. At that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people�s love will grow cold. But the onewho endures to the end, he shall be saved. THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM SHALL BE PREACHED IN THE WHOLE WORLDfor a witness to all the nations, and then THE END shall come� (answering the disciples� question about when the age would end). In the Tribulation, the preaching will be very similar to what Jesus and John preached � repentance and confession, and I also believe it will have baptism while confessingsins, just like what John and Jesus in His early ministry preached. It is the gospel of the coming Kingdom to be set up by Messiah at the Second Coming. If the Church was in the Tribulation, it would continue preaching the gospel of grace, which is preached today and has been its gospel for 2000 years. That gospel is not preachedin the Tribulation, but the gospel of the kingdom is. That proves the Church is not in the Tribulation. [14]. THE SHOUT IS BEFORE THE PROCLAMATION OF PEACE AND SAFETY Number 14 is a quotation taken from a posting on Bible Truth Publishers by Bruce Anstey titled, �The Church Will Not Go Through the Tribulation.� The �shout� referenced above is the shout in the Rapture. Peace and safety explained. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Thessalonians, clearly puts the Rapture (1Thessalonians 4:15-18) as happening before the time of Tribulation, when �peace and safety� will be promised by the Beast and the Antichrist, through the false protection of the newly revived Roman empire (1Thessalonians 5:1-3). Furthermore, a closer look at the passage will show that those �caught up� at the Rapture (in chapter 4) are addressed as a different class of persons than those who are promised �peace and safety� in the Tribulation (in chapter 5). This is indicated by the change from the first-person plural to the third-person plural. The words change from �we� and �us� when referring to those caught up in the rapture to �they� and �them� when referringto those who will be promised false peace and safety in the Tribulation. This change is not by accident; the Spirit of God is indicating two different classes of persons. The raptured saints � the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18), and those who will be livingin the time of Tribulation. Paul, being a Christian, put himself among those who might be on earth when the Lord comes (the Rapture), saying �we.� But it is significant that he did not refer to himselfamong those who would be on earth during the time when �peace and safety� will be promised by the Beast. This, of course, is because he sought to set the hope of the Lord�s coming before the saints as an imminent thing, which is the Christian�s proper hope. [15]. CONCLUSION The Lord is wonderful who saved us. The Lord is wonderful who keeps us. He has completed all necessary for our salvation and will never bring us into divine justice and divinewrath, which is what the Tribulation is all about. God judges a blasphemous, unrepentant world whose sins have accumulated to the point of overflowing. That judgment falls in the Tribulation as the wrath of God is displayed openly. A believer can never be counted with the blasphemous world or with an unrepentant world, and for that reason, the wrath of God in divine judgment can have no part for theChristian. Christ settled all that for us on the cross. We are delivered from � (OUT OF) THE VERY HEART OF IT � the wrath of God. Like Lot, we arebrought out of it (in the Rapture); and like Noah, we are lifted up OUT OF it, so we have no part in it. Any position other than the Rapture before the Tribulation begins is of Satan�s deception because he wants to destroy the composure, joy, comfort and certainty of believers. ronaldf@aapt.net.au I hope these three articles were of help in clarifying the truth of the Rapture preceding the Tribulation.