Transcription
Welcome to the Tipping Point Show. I'm Jimmy Evans. I'm so glad that you have joined me today. Uh, I have a question, a big question that someone asked me that I want to answer on today's program, and it's concerning the timing of the rapture. Is the rapture going to be pre-tribulation or post-tribulation? Let me read the question that I'll answer this question.
This man says, "Recently, my pastor preached a message stating that a pre-tribulation rapture of the church cannot be found in the Bible." He says, "The only way you can reach that conclusion is to have someone else tell you or to read it from a book other than the Bible. Is that true?" No, that's not true. And so, what I'm going to do today is I'll prove to you using only the Bible. I won't use any other source. I won't quote anybody else other than a biblical source. And I'll prove to you that that is not a true statement.
Let me define some terms first of all, because pre-tribulation rapture means Jesus is going to come for the church before the seven-year tribulation. A post-tribulation rapture means the church will go through the tribulation. The worst seven years in human history. The church is going to have to endure that. And then Jesus will come at the end of the tribulation. There's also people who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture. The rapture is seven years long and some people believe in the middle of that, three and a half years into it, we get raptured out. There are other people who believe in what's called a pre-wrath rapture, and that means we'll go through the part of the tribulation, uh, that's not wrath, and then we're going to be raptured out before the wrath of God is poured out. That's what they believe. And then the tribulation is the last seven years of this age where God pours his wrath on the world to punish them for their rebellion. Now, the Revelation or the tribulation chapters of the book of Revelation are chapters 6 through 18, that describes in detail what's going to be happening. Then after the tribulation, uh, there's the millennium, that's a thousand-year period at the end of the tribulation and after the second coming of Jesus, where Jesus physically reigns over the world and the church rules and reigns with him. Okay. So, there's the pre-trib rapture means Jesus is coming before the rapture or before the tribulation. There's the tribulation. Then there's the thousand-year millennium.
So, the question today is about a pastor who preached a message saying that a pre-tribulation rapture isn't in the Bible. And the only way that you can believe that is to hear from someone else or read it, uh, somewhere other than the Bible. Okay? So, I want to prove only from the Bible. Okay? So, so this pastor is saying it ain't in the Bible. Okay? And so I'm proving to you only from the Bible that it's true. And I want to stop here and say I don't mind at all when people disagree with me because I've got, I've got no dog in the hunt. The Bible's true. It, Jesus is going to come whenever he comes. And it's not my business to try to manufacture a conclusion.
So, I, I started studying Bible prophecy, I guess, in about 19, uh, 74 or something like that. It may have been 75, almost 50 years ago. Uh, I started voraciously reading hundreds and hundreds of books about the rapture, as well as studying the Bible. The first book I read was *Late Great Planet Earth* by Hal Lindsay, and it just gave me a love for, uh, end-time prophecy. And for about the first 20 years, um, I guess until I was in my early 40s, I was post-trib. So when this pastor is teaching this, I don't want to act like, you know, I'm some smart guy and he's some dumb guy. I used to teach the same thing. And in my progression of learning, I could no longer, uh, defend a post-tribulation rapture. I, I used to teach. It was kind of like a marine mentality. "Who do you think you are that you're going to get out of the, the worst time in human history? This is wishful thinking. Pastors teach this because they've got a bunch of wimps in the congregation that want to hear it." You know, they're tickling their ears. That's what I thought. Okay. But I got to the point, um, Tim LaHaye, uh, the late Dr. Tim LaHaye was one person who helped me to understand pre-tribulation rapture and and the importance of it and the, the what the Bible really had to say about it. So I'm saying the today, this is, I enjoy doing this. I don't, I don't want this to come across in any way self-righteous because I respect pastors and I respect pastors who don't disagree or who disagree with me. So I don't want this to come across in any manner that I'm condescending toward that. I just disagree, and I, I disagree for a reason. I'm still learning about prophecy, but this issue of a post-tribulation rapture. Now, to me, it's very clear again because I've studied it a lot. I'm an old guy. I've studied prophecy, I guess, for 48, 49 years. And so, let me explain my reasoning, uh, and present this as graciously as I know how, of why I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture and what the Bible says about a pre-tribulation rapture.
This is Revelation chapter 6. First of all, the tribulation is the wrath of God. Okay, we have to begin there. It's the wrath of God. This is Revelation chapter 6. And by the way, this is the beginning of the tribulation. "I looked when he opened the sixth seal. And behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up. And every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" Okay, the wrath of the lamb. It's a crazy statement. You know, who's afraid of a lamb? Well, they better be afraid of Jesus because Jesus has taken all of their spit and slaps and abuse and rejection for 2,000 years. And at the end, there's going to be the wrath of the lamb. Okay? It's coming. So, Revelation chapter 6 is the beginning of the tribulation. And so, there are people that believe in the pre-wrath rapture. There is the, there is no, uh, such thing as any part of the tribulation not having wrath. It begins with wrath. If you, Revelation chapter 6, the seal judgments begin the tribulation period of time. One judgment in Revelation chapter 6 kills a fourth of mankind. One judgment at the very beginning of the tribulation. Three plagues in Revelation chapter 9, the trumpet judgments kill another third of mankind. Most of the people in the world die during the tribulation through horrific judgments or by the antichrist. It's hell on earth. The tribulation is God pouring out his wrath on a world that has rejected him and rebelled against him. Not the church who loves him and receives him. He's not mad at us. When you say the wrath of the lamb has come, is, is Jesus mad at the church? Those of us who have given our lives to him. I can tell you this. He's not mad at us. And this, this is not judgment. This is not punishment. This is wrath. It is the wrath of God poured out on the earth.
The second thing is the church is saved from the wrath of the tribulation through the rapture. We're told this explicitly. This is 1 Thessalonians 1. "They themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come." From not through, from the wrath to come. And the word wrath there is the word *orgē*, it's the same as used in Revelation 6 that we just read, okay? And so he's going to deliver us from that wrath.
This is 1 Thessalonians 4. This is going to describe the rapture and also talk about the wrath of God. "I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, listen, when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in the darkness, so that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. Listen, God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together for him with him. Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another just as you're doing."
Well, so this is a graphic description of the, of the rapture. And then it's saying, you're not of the night. You know, you're not of the darkness. You, you should know when this is going to come. By the way, when the Bible says that Jesus comes as a thief in the night, that's unbelievers. We're of the day. We, we don't know the day or the hour, but we know when, we know the seasons. We know the signs of the time. So it says when they say peace and safety, sudden destruction comes. Let me ask you a question. Who is saying peace and safety at the end of the tribulation? If you believe in a, in a post-tribulation, uh, rapture that we're going to go, do you think any human on earth when the earth is a smoldering ruin and over half of humanity is dead? Is anyone saying peace and safety? They're saying peace and safety when the rapture happens, like in the days of Noah and Lot, that we'll read about just a minute. And how on the earth can you comfort believers by telling them they're going through the tribulation? So it says comfort twice in that he says God is not destined you to wrath. Comfort each other with this. He talks about the rapture. Comfort each other. He talks about we're not destined for wrath. Comfort each other.
So, so let me say something to you. Now, I know, I know what the Bible says about the end times and I know the book of, of Revelation very well. Um, you can't comfort me by telling me I'm going through the, if you tell me I'm going through the tribulation, basically it's a death sentence, um, and we're not protected. See, a lot of pastors, again, ignorantly, and I, I don't want to be unkind or or anything like that. They, they teach things like we're, we're going to go through the tribulation and God's going to super, it's going to be supernatural how God protects us. There is no protection for believers in the tribulation. I'm not saying God won't do anything for any believer during the tribulation. And he certainly will. Listen to these scriptures. Revelation 13:7. This is the Antichrist. "It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation." It can't be more explicit than that. The Antichrist will have authority over believers to overcome them during the tribulation. This is Revelation 20:4. "I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded, listen, beheaded for their witness to Jesus, for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." If you believe in a post-tribulation rapture, then you have to understand that you can't quote one scripture that promises divine protection. And you have to understand that the church is going to experience the wrath of God along with the world, even though we're told explicitly that Jesus would deliver us from it and we aren't appointed to it. It makes no sense. And so it is the wrath of God, and we are delivered from that through the rapture. But any Christian who's living during the tribulation, there's not a scripture that can promise you any protection during that time.
And so also, why, if, if we're going to go through the tribulation, why did Jesus say this? This is Luke chapter 21, beginning in verse 34. "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day, talking about the rapture, come on you unexpectedly. It, listen to these statements now. It will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray that you always may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man." Okay. So that day is the rapture, and Jesus said it's going to come as a snare. That's an animal trap on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Okay? That's a universal statement. All of those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. It's going to come as a snare. It's, it's suddenly, they don't expect it. And it says, "Pray therefore that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things." Luke 21:28, he's talking about the tribulation. He's talking about the end times. Escape, not endure. Escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man. That's the, that's the rapture of the church. Okay. Why would Jesus tell us to pray that we would be worthy to escape all those things if we couldn't escape all those things? He would just say, "You're going to go through these things and pray that you'll be strong enough to endure." He never said that. He never one time said that. The only time anything like that is said is during the tribulation. Okay? That the, the people will have to persevere during that time. Jesus told us the rapture would occur before the tribulation. Okay?
So, a pastor says there's nothing, if, if you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, you have to go find it from somebody else or from some other book other than the Bible. Let me read you what the Bible has to say. These are the words of Jesus. Luke 17, beginning in verse 20. "When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation. Nor will they say, see here, or see there, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you.' Then he said to the disciples, 'The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, look here, or look there. Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part of heaven shines to the other part of heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day.' That's the rapture. It happens in the sky instantly, like lightning from one, one part to the other. But first, Jesus, he said, 'But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.' So listen to the language that we're about to read here. 'As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until, listen, the day. Okay, now he's talking about one day in history. The day, okay? Until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Okay? Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. On the day, the day, one specific day in history that Lot went out before the judgment. Lot went out of Sodom. It rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so, it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.' That's the rapture. The day, in that day he was on the housetop and get, and his goods are in the house, let him not go down to get them, take them away. And likewise, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will save it. Okay, this is the rapture. This is his description of the rapture. I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. The one will be taken, the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together. The one will be taken, the other will be left. Two men will be in the field, the one will be taken, the other left. And they answered and said to him, 'Where, Lord?' He said, 'Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.' In other words, in the sky. So Jesus, by the way, the word taken, Jesus said one is taken and one is left. The word taken, there's the word *paralambanō*. That's exactly the same word that Jesus uses in John 14. Here's what he said: 'Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive, that's the Lord, *paralambanō*, you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.' So Jesus is at the Father's house right now preparing a place for us, and he's going to come and receive us unto himself. That's the word taken that Jesus uses there. One taken, one left. That's a selective rapture. Doesn't matter who you're married to. It doesn't matter who you're standing with. It doesn't matter who your friends are. It matters if you know Jesus. That's the point.
But let's go back to Noah and Lot. There will be buying, selling. Jesus is talking about the rapture here. He describes the rapture, uh, vividly there. Okay. It will be like the, the day before the flood, before the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay. He, he specifically says like the day that Lot went out. It'll be like that day. Not the day that the judgment started. Not at the end of the judgment when Noah got off the boat. He could have said that. Or when Lot, you know, got out and, and the judgment came. It's before. It's crystal clear in there. It's before. What's going to happen is before. Then he describes the rapture. Okay. Buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage, planting, building. Okay. At the end of the tribulation, are those things happening? Well, it's crazy to even, I mean, if you've read the, the book of Revelation, you understand the earth has been, it's, it's just a smoldering ruin. The, it begins with the seal judgments of worldwide famine, of peace being taken from the earth, of a fourth of mankind, uh, being destroyed. That's, that's just the seal judgment that just starts it. Then the trumpet judgments where you have this mountain being thrown in the sea and this asteroid hitting the earth. The, the trumpet judgments are often called the judgments of thirds because you see a third of this is burned up, a third of this was destroyed, a third of this. But three judgments in Revelation chapter 9 kill a third of mankind. Okay. Then you have the horrific bowl judgments. Okay. The bowl judgments of Revelation 16 are horrific. They're global. The, the seal judgments, some of them are global. The trumpet judgments, most of them concern a third of the earth. The bowl judgments are the most horrific judgments of all. And they affect everybody. Affect all the unbelievers in the, the kingdom of the Antichrist. You're telling me when over half the world's population is dead and the earth has been cursed and hit by asteroids and burned up and judged by God. You're telling me after that that people are buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building? See, all those things are hope for the future. Buying and selling. Why are we buying and selling? We've got a future. I mean, we've got to go out and do commerce. Why are we marrying and giving in marriage? Because we have a future. We want to have kids. We want to have a family. Why are we planting for the future? Why are we building for the future? Everything's about the future. There is no future at the end of the tribulation. It's hell on earth. God's judgment has been poured out for seven years. Revelation 6 through 8. Just read it.
And so when people say there's going to be a post-tribulation rapture, and there is. I'm going to talk about it next week. Okay? There, there is a, there is a rapture at the end of the tribulation. Okay? But the rapture that we're looking for is at the beginning of the tribulation. And so Matthew 24, Jesus says, "Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were," this is Matthew 24. Now, this is not Luke 17 anymore, okay? "But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. Listen. As in the days before the flood, before the flood, Jesus is saying like the days of Noah. Okay? It's going to be like that when I come. Okay? For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark. And did not know that, uh, until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken, the other left. Two women grinding in the meal, one taken, one left. Watch therefore, for you do not know the, uh, the hour at which your Lord is coming. But know this, if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not expect."
So, how can it be more clear than that? I, I don't know how it could be more clear than that. The day that before the flood, it's going to be like that. The day before the flood, they had no idea that judgment, they had no idea until the flood came that judgment was coming. When Noah got on the boat, they had no idea. When we're, when we are raptured out, when the church is raptured out, when Jesus comes, the world has no idea what's waiting for them. They have no idea until we're out. And until we're out, the judgment comes. Just like Lot, just like Noah. Let me tell you, the tribulation is wrath. Clearly what the Bible says, we are saved from the wrath, the wrath of God by Jesus in the rapture. We're saved from that. He said, "Pray that you would be counted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before me." Jesus taught that he was coming for us before the wrath and to pray for, uh, for us to escape it and stand before him. So, I haven't quoted one source other than the Bible, and I believe that the Bible's crystal clear that we will be raptured by Jesus before the tribulation. That is the only teaching that lines up with the teachings of the Bible and Jesus, and the only teaching that can truly bring comfort to believers. And that's why I bring it. I want to comfort you by letting you know I believe Jesus could come at any time. Okay? I personally believe the best chance is going to be during the Feast of Trumpets in the fall, but he can come at any time. But I can say this, before the, before the tribulation hits and before billions of people are going to be destroyed either through the Antichrist or through the judgments of God, he's coming for us. That's really good news. That's really comforting. That's why Paul kept saying, "Comfort one another with these words." I'm comforting with those words. And I, I pray if you're a pastor and you're listening to this, and, and again, I believe that for a long time. I taught that for a long time, and I just had to get to the point of just saying, I, I was wrong, and I was wrong. So, I hope that this is helpful to you and comforting to you. And if you are a pastor or a Bible teacher, I hope that the way I've laid this out helps you to understand the way that I believe and the way that other pre-tribulation, uh, rapture preachers believe.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that teaching. I hope that was a blessing to you. And I want to thank you for tuning in today. I want to say, uh, prayer@endtimes.com. If you need prayer, just prayer@endtimes.com. Let us pray with you. We love just sharing our faith with your faith, believing for God to do a miracle in your life, in your family, in your finances, and your health, whatever your issue is or issues. Uh, we pray by name over every prayer request that comes in. So, prayer@endtimes.com. Questions@endtimes.com. If you have a question, write us your question. We get to as many of those as we can every week. And so you guys write in some fantastic questions. I, I keep thinking that you're not going to be able to come up with any more questions, but you come up with the greatest questions in the world. And so, questions@endtimes.com. Also, testimonies@endtimes.com. If the Lord has done something through this ministry that's encouraged you, blessed you, helped you, changed your life, you be sure and tell us about that. We love hearing from you guys. [music] And so thank you again for tuning in. We'll see you again next week.