I'm gonna read, if you will stand with me, I'm gonna read from Titus chapter two, just one more of the many, many passages in scripture that talk to us about the rapture, the blessed hope. So if you'll stand and we'll read from Titus chapter two, verses 11 through 14. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. That's us. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. You may be seated. Fathers, we looked again to your word for this wonderful promise of being taken out of this world so that we are no longer in the presence of sin. But father also that we will not face the wrath of your son Jesus Christ Lord, continue to teach us. Father, open up our hearts to your word as we want to make sure that we are trying to get some clarification and understanding in terms of this rapture versus tribulation, what this all means for us, and how we're to be living in light of all these things that we are going to study this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. So we're unfolding these details of this event that's called the rapture. And I want to kind of preface this by saying that volumes, I mean volumes and volumes, this morning on the way to church we were talking about books and reading so many books. There are many, many, many books, in fact there are volumes on the rapture and the tribulation period. We can't possibly all cover this, cover everything in two weeks. So I would encourage you, after this morning's study, to dive a little bit deeper into some of the things that are in your notes. Perhaps we don't cover all of it this morning, but there is even more beyond the notes that I have, obviously, because there's so much in Scripture. It's all over the pages of Scripture. I mean, God wants us to know these things. So we want to know what this blessed hope is that Paul wrote to Titus about in the rest of the church. It's this event that's called the catching away of the church or the rapture. And we've been talking about the fact that this must happen. I'm being a little bit more dogmatic this morning perhaps than I was last week. There are many views on the rapture, the timing of the rapture. Does it happen before the tribulation? Does it happen halfway through it? And does it happen at the end of the tribulation? I'm going to state emphatically here that it must happen. before the tribulation and we're going to unfold that this morning a little bit deeper with a little bit more clarity perhaps than what we did last week. So I want to state that it is definitely going to happen before the tribulation. We are called a pre-trib church because we hold that view that the rapture will happen before the tribulation. We looked last week at what the Tribulation actually was, what the Tribulation period was, and it's critical in our understanding in order to know what God's plan here is for His church. It's critical that we understand that the Tribulation period as we laid out last week is all about wrath. All seven years of it. Revelation The book of Revelation, we're not going to go into every single one of these passages, but you have listed in your notes, chapter 6, verse 16 of Revelation talks about the fact that this is the wrath of God, and chapter 6 begins begins the tribulation period where Jesus, the Lamb of God, actually starts breaking the seals of the scroll and unleashing his wrath on mankind who is left on earth. So in verse 16 of chapter 6, you have, this is the wrath of God. In chapter 11, verse 18, this is the wrath of God. Chapter 14, verse 7, it's the wrath of God. Chapter 14 verses 9 through 10 talk about the fact that this is the wrath of God. Chapter 15 verse 1 and verse 7 and chapter 15 also, the wrath of God. Chapter 16 verse 1, it's the wrath of God. Chapter 16 verse 19, the wrath of God. So chapter 6 through 18 in Revelation are the tribulation chapters and we've essentially covered all of those chapters and determined that the tribulation period is the wrath of God. In last week, we also tried to point out the fact that the church is not destined for wrath. God did not appoint us for wrath and that's in 1 Thessalonians 1. If I can find that quickly here. We'll leave it to verse 9. Well, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Okay? So we are not appointed for wrath. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 9, for God did not appoint us, and he's talking about the church, to wrath. Okay? So we are not subject to God's wrath because Jesus bore that in our place. This is the gospel. That's the whole gospel message is Jesus bore the wrath of God in our place. So last week there was three things that I wanted to make sure that we understand which are critical in our thinking here. And it starts with the church. Number one, the church has not replaced Israel. There are so many references, so many passages in scripture that talk about Israel in these end times. The church will be gone at the time of the rapture, and that is when God returns His attention again to the nation of Israel. And this is wrath. This is God's judgment on the nation of Israel for rejecting Him. And you will also see terms throughout the book of Revelation, people who are also under judgment and they are called those who dwell on the earth. And when you look at that word dwell, there's a Greek word for the word dwell, but this is a variation of that word where it actually takes it a little bit deeper than what you might see on the surface. When you think about dwelling, well, I have a house here on earth and that's my dwelling. but I am not a dweller on the earth. These earth dwellers that are subject to God's wrath are those who have, this term dwell, like roots in this world. So they are rooted in this world, but yet Philippians chapter three, verse 20, I believe it is, talks about the fact that our citizenship is in heaven. We are not earth dwellers. We don't have roots in this earth. We're pilgrims. We're sojourners here until the Lord takes us to our home. That's where we dwell. In fact, in Ephesians, if you were with us in our Ephesians study, it talks in chapter 2 about the fact that we are seated with Christ, in Christ, in the heavenlies. That's our home. So we have to understand The church has not replaced Israel. God still has a plan for her. Another point that we talked about is this difference between the tribulation period and what we go through every day here. Tribulations, troubles, trials, even some level or perhaps levels of persecution. We are a lot more fortunate than many people in this world. We don't suffer that much. There are people who are martyred, lose their lives, lose their families, all sorts of troubles. Yes, we have persecutions, we have tribulations in this world, but that is by the hand of man or the fact that we are fallen creatures in a fallen world. There's going to be trouble simply because of that. That is not the tribulation period, which is the wrath of God. So we will all suffer in this world, but not all will face the wrath of God, and we certainly will not. The third thing we talked about last week is the fact that the church does not experience God's wrath. Jesus did in our place. So that's the three points we wanted to make last week. We spent a lot of time in the tribulation period and we determined that it was a time of Jacob's trouble. That's what Jeremiah 30 verse 7 tells us. This is a time of Jacob's trouble, not the church's trouble. I mentioned last week I wanted to go to Matthew 24. So if you want to turn to Matthew 24, again, what I want to do is just kind of emphasize that this period of the tribulation not being for the church, who is it for? Matthew 24 tells us, you know, that this time of the tribulation period is all Jewish in its scope. It's all regarding the nation of Israel. So Matthew 24 starts off where they had just walked around Jerusalem and seen the magnificent temple, and Jesus says, I tell you, not one stone will be left on another. And the disciples in chapter 24 ask three questions. When will this be? Meaning, you say the temple's gonna be torn down. When is this going to be? The second question they ask, is, what will be the sign of your coming? That's in verse 3. And the third question is, what will be the sign of the end of the age? So, the first question you would have to actually turn to Luke chapter 21 in Jesus answers, when will these things happen, the destruction of the temple? That's where Jesus addresses that in Luke chapter 21. In Matthew 24, Jesus addresses the other two questions, the signs of his coming and the end of the age. I'm not going to go through all of it, but on your bulletin, if you look, you know, Maya, what she did is she did one cover for both weeks. You see on the top left section of your bulletin is the church in heaven. I hope you understand that we will be there. In between there, you have those apocalyptic four horsemen that start off the troubles of the tribulation period. And underneath it, you see signs of the second coming, not the rapture, signs of the second coming. And that is where the moon and the sun are turned blood red, or the sun is darkened, the moon is blood red. and you have all kinds of signs and troubles here, but the signs point to the second coming, not the rapture. There are no signs for the rapture. So I'm not gonna cover all of chapter 24, but what I do wanna point out is, well, there's a couple things that we need to point out. In terms of the temple being destroyed, where not one stone will be left on another, There are many, many good theologians who believed that the destruction spoken of here by Jesus was the tribulation period. And that all occurred in AD 70 when the Roman General Titus brought his troops and they literally took every stone apart and there was gold in the stones. and they melted the gold out of the stones and there was not one stone left on another of the temple. So that was literally fulfilled. But there are many who say that this tribulation period was all experienced there at the time of the destruction of the temple. Now, I hope to show you through scripture here that that could not possibly have fulfilled it. And one of the reasons for that is the fact that there will be a temple in the tribulation period, and we read in Daniel 9, verse 27, that the Antichrist will stop sacrifices there, and he will desecrate the temple. So by desecrating the temple, he's going to go in there and probably have some off sacrifice. And he will also announce that he is God. He will declare himself as God. But Daniel specifically tells us, you know, this abomination of desolation is the desecration of the temple, not the destruction of the temple. Big difference. So Titus came and destroyed the temple that can't possibly be the tribulation period. Daniel tells us halfway through it, the temple will be desecrated, not destroyed. So tribulation period cannot possibly have been fulfilled or have occurred in the year A.D. 70. So returning here to Matthew 24, again what I want to do is point out the fact that this is Jewish in nature. In verse 11 of chapter 24, it talks about false prophets rising up and deceiving many, because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold, but he who endures to the end shall be saved. Verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to the nations, and then the end will come. In verse 15 of chapter 24, Jesus continues, Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, that's what we just talked about, spoken of by Daniel. Now, if you remember, that was in Daniel chapter 9. If you want to hold your finger in Matthew, go back to Daniel 29. And we're just going to be there for a second. This time. In Daniel chapter nine, in verse 24, this is where we get these seven more weeks of the tribulation period, all these, the 70 weeks actually, okay? But in verse 24, Gabriel told Daniel, 70 weeks are determined for your people, Daniel. We have to understand who's Daniel's people, not the church. Daniel's people are the Jews, the Israelites who were brought into captivity. So we have this abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel. The Jews will understand this, okay? They should because it's in their Old Testament. So when you see this spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. Verse 16, in Matthew, I'm sorry, I'm back in Matthew 24, verse 16, then let those who are in Judea, well, what if you're in the church at St. Charles? It's of no concern because this is a matter for those in Judea. Who's in Judea? Well, that's Israel. So let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down and take anything out of his house. Verse 18, and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes, but woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days. Verse 20, and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Now, does the church concern itself with work or things that they are doing on the Sabbath? No, the Sabbath was a sign for Israel. That is strictly a Jewish thing there. For then there will be great tribulations such as has not been since the world until this time there ever shall be. The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was local. In Matthew 24, Jesus says, this is going to be a time of trouble that the world has never seen before, nor ever will. In fact, if it wasn't cut short by his second coming, all flesh would have been eliminated. All flesh would have been killed. So we have two things in Matthew 24. The events of AD 70 are not the fulfillment of the tribulation period. The tribulation period is something that is still yet future. And we also have the fact that this tribulation period, Jesus says, look out, you Israelites. And I hope it doesn't happen on the Sabbath. OK? I know Pierre in Sunday School was talking about the Sabbath a little bit this morning and how they weren't supposed to be doing things yet. In fact, he was talking about circumcising. Well, on the eighth day, well, what if the eighth day came on Saturday, which is the Sabbath? Well, they would obey the law by circumcising their baby then. Oh, but they're breaking the law because it's on the Sabbath. So this is a Jewish thing, this tribulation period is going to affect Israel and those who dwell on the earth. So we went through the three questions there, we talked about Jesus, we'll continue talking about the end of the age here in verse 27, for as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west. Do you ever see lightning? Have you ever seen like a big streak of lightning? And if something's going from the east to the west, you're gonna see it. The second coming of Jesus Christ is gonna be seen by everybody. The rapture, only by the church. So again, I want to try to make some distinctions here between the rapture and the second coming of Jesus Christ, of the literal fulfillment or literal appearing of Jesus Christ. So we talked about these things here in Matthew 24 that are Jewish in nature, Jewish in scope. So my point being here, the tribulation period is not for the church. Fortunately, we won't be here for it. Daniel chapter 12, just another quick mention here, but Daniel chapter 12 tells us that Israel will face this tribulation period. At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of Your people, Daniel, your people are who? Israel, okay? And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time, your people, Daniel, the Jews, Israel, shall be delivered. And everyone who is found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. We're talking about a resurrection here. So at the end of this trouble that Israel will experience at the end of the seven years when Jesus returns, Because things will be so bad, he puts an end to it. He puts a stop to that. There's going to be a resurrection of the Old Testament saints. In fact, there's going to be a resurrection of all the Old Testament, some to shame and some to everlasting contempt. So there's going to be a resurrection of Israel, of the Old Testament saints here, at the end of the tribulation period. What that tells us is that at the end of the tribulation period, there's gonna be a resurrection of those Old Testament saints, but there's also going to be Israel, part of Israel, who has been saved during that tribulation period. In Malachi chapter three, verses three and four, it gives us the purpose of the tribulation period, which is to refine Israel. It's to purify the nation. And when you go to Zechariah chapter 13 and chapter 12, we find out that a third of Israel, meaning a third of all the Israelites on the earth at that time, will recognize that the hands of their Messiah that they pierced was the one that they were looking for. Only a third of Israel will come through that, but they will come through refined and purified. This is God's intent behind his punishment and his judgments in the tribulation is to refine Israel. And that's where in Romans chapter 11 we find out that all Israel will be saved. Well, not every single Israelite who walked the face of the earth, but the true Israel, the true Israel of God will be saved and they will recognize Jesus Christ through this tribulation period. I'm going to shift gears here. We're going to shift gears quite a bit. I'm going to take you now to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12 is, remember, Revelation is a chronological book, right? And you can tell because John always mentions, whenever he writes, he says, he'll tell you things happen, and he says, then something else is gonna happen. Or you're gonna see this phrase very often, after these things. So John is writing things in an order that we can follow exactly what is occurring. We have the church age. The church age disappears at the time of the rapture. You have all the tribulation chapters, right? Chapter 12 here is going to be right about the midpoint, okay? Right about the midpoint. And in chapter 12, we read, excuse me, Now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. Another sign appeared in heaven, behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his head. Verse four, his tail drew a third of the stars out of heaven. You know who we're talking about here, right? This is the devil. And threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was all ready to give birth. And the dragon was there to devour her child as soon as it was born. Verse five, she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Who are we speaking of here? Jesus Christ. He is this male child born who will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Verse 6, or here, I'm sorry, continue into verse 5, "...and her child was caught up to God and His throne." Verse 6, "...then the woman fled to the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God for this woman, that they should feed her there 1,260 days." This is three and a half years, okay? So we're at the midpoint of the tribulation period. Who's this woman? We know the child who's gonna rule the nations with a rod of iron is Jesus Christ. Who's this woman? We'll talk about this in Sunday School someday here. But the Roman Catholic Church, according to their doctrine now, they will tell you that this is Mary. Well, who gave birth to Jesus? Well, that was Mary, right? We got a problem if this is what they were believing because if you notice in verse 2, then being with child she cried out in labor in pain. Well, what do we know about Mary in terms of Roman Catholic doctrine? The Immaculate Conception. If Mary is sinless, Why would she be crying out in pain, which is the curse given to Eve that she will deliver children in pain. She will have pain in childbirth. That's the result of sin. So there's a problem with that understanding that this is Mary right from the get-go. That's a whole other issue. This woman here is the nation of Israel because we actually got Jesus through the nation of Israel. I'm not gonna go into great detail here, but if you go back to Genesis chapter 37, do you remember what got Joseph in trouble? His dreams about how the family's gonna be bowing down to him, okay? In chapters 37 of Genesis, the second dream that Joseph had spoke about the fact that there was 11 stars. Well, Joseph would have been the 12th star, okay? But the 11 stars were all the brothers and all these 12 then represent the nation of Israel. So this woman here is Israel. And we find out that God allowed the nation of Israel to flee safety here because of the wrath of the devil now, right? Why is God preparing a place for the nation of Israel to preserve and protect her? Something is missing here and it kind of speaks very loudly to us. Where is the safe haven and the place that God has prepared for the church to protect the church during this time of the tribulation period? It's not there. God only prepared a safe haven for Israel. You know why? Not for the church, because the church ain't there. Mid-trib, the church is not in the tribulation period. Obviously, there can't be a post-tribulation rapture because the church is already not there halfway through. So we find that God prepared a place for Israel to protect her. And let's go back a little bit further. We talked about mid-trib. Let's go back to chapter 7. Chapter 7 of Revelation. This is going to be in the very early stages of the tribulation period. This is long before the halfway mark. Chapter seven starts off with, after these things. How about that? Okay. After these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth and the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their forehead. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. Guess how many? 144,000. We can talk about the 144,000 with some cults who misinterpret this as well. but the 144,000 are those of the tribes of Israel. 12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes. Okay, so we have 12,000 of each of the 12 tribes, 144,000 Israelites. We tend to just isolate it and call them Jews, but we have 144,000 Israelites here who are saved and who are sealed with the seal of God for protection. to go out and be witnesses. Now, this is a great thing, isn't it? Can you imagine what would happen here? I mean, we know what 12 Jews did 2,000 years ago. Can you imagine 144,000 of them? This is a great thing, isn't it? But this presents another problem for us. How can that be a problem? If you were with us in our study in Ephesians chapter 4, chapter 4 of Ephesians. Sorry, chapter 2. If you go back to Ephesians chapter two, verse 14, maybe things will start kind of clicking here as we read. For he himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man. from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." This enmity was the law where Israel thought that they were the special chosen people of God and nobody else mattered, period. God broke down that barrier and Gentiles and Jews now come together saved in one body called the church. So we have one body called the church which consists of every saved Jew or saved Gentile during this age. Now if God is making a distinction of raising up one particular body that is not Jew and Gentile together, we have another issue here. If these Jews, if these Israelites, the 144,000 are saved, they are no longer Israel. They are the church. Do you follow me? The church is gone. Otherwise, these 144,000 would be the church, not Israel, not the 12 tribes of Israel. So again, you don't have to see the word snatched away or caught up or even rapture, rapio in the Latin, to see that the church is not here during this time of the tribulation. You can read God's word and determine this. If that was the church on earth during the tribulation, these would be 144,000 saints testifying, okay? And that begs another question is, where is the church? If we are the light to the world today, God is doing his work through the church, not the nation Israel, He's doing his work through the church today, where in chapter 7 is mentioned of the church as being those who testify to his saving grace. It is strictly Israel. Okay? So again, the church is gone. That's very early on in the tribulation period. which goes back to what we discovered in chapter four of Revelation. We are in heaven, casting our crowns before Jesus Christ. I'm gonna shift gears again, because we're gonna go through some rapid fire things here, okay? John chapter 14, verses one through three, many of you are familiar with this. Let your heart not be troubled. We'll turn there and read it. Let your heart not 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 you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. Jesus says, I will come for you again and receive you to myself. Okay. Have you ever gone somewhere and taken something and said, I received it? Or does something come to you and you hold your hands out and take it and say, oh, I received it, okay? In 1 Thessalonians, we understand that the rapture, when Jesus comes for us, he doesn't come down here and take us. It says that we meet Him in the air. You know, Scripture is very... The words of Scripture are very specific and determined, okay? For Jesus to be in the air and we meet Him, that is how He will receive us. He doesn't actually come down here and take us. So to receive us, we have to go to him and he will open his arms and take us. Okay? So John chapter 14, we have Jesus very clearly speaking about the rapture here, where he will receive us. And he says, do not let your hearts be troubled. It doesn't take much to go through scripture and look at the second coming, which is known as the day of the Lord, meaning judgment and wrath. All you have to do is look at the book of Joel, and you will see that it's a day of darkness. It is not a pleasant time, okay? Jesus says, do not let your hearts be troubled. I'm going to receive you. A vast difference between that and the second coming. In fact, Zechariah chapter 14, I believe it is, talks about the fact that when Jesus returns to earth, the second coming, his feet will be planted on the Mount of Olives. The rapture occurs in the air. We have two different events here. I just wanna make sure that we're understanding that they can't be mixed together. So 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17 says, we meet him in the air and he receives us. And it is Zechariah 14 where the second coming Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16 and 17 again talk about the fact that the dead in Christ and then we who are alive will be caught up raptured. Ephesians tell us that the book of Ephesians talks about in Christ. When we were studying that, I hope you took your markers and marked every time you saw that phrase, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Him, in whom we have, okay? The church is in Christ. Old Testament saints are never in scripture spoken of as being in Christ. Okay? Or Israel, for that matter. But the Church is in Christ, and it is those in Christ who will be raptured, meaning that the rapture is for the Church of Jesus Christ. And Israel will be dealt with afterwards. Second Thessalonians talks about the day of the Lord, which is darkness, terrible times, judgment, trouble. And I put in there in parentheses the book of Joel. You can read just a few chapters. But it talks about the second coming. Those are all descriptions of the second coming. But Second Thessalonians chapter two, if you want to turn there, tells us that those things, that darkness, that terrible time, that the trouble, the judgments, the wrath, that cannot occur until certain things have happened. So there are signs for the second coming. And let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 2, now brethren concerning the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, are your ears peaked? We're talking about the return of Jesus Christ for him, or for his church. The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to, to Him, to Him. Remember, we meet Him in the air, okay? We ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of the Lord has come. If you have a New King James, it says the day of Christ, it should actually rather be translated as the day of the Lord. Verse three, let no one deceive you by any means for that day, what day? The day of the Lord, judgment wrath, okay? The day of the Lord will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed. the son of perdition he's also called. Okay? So there's two things that have to happen before Jesus' second coming. You have the apostasy of the church and you have the man of sin is revealed. Okay? Paul continues. In verse five, do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed. Okay, so Jesus' second coming can't happen until you have the apostasy in the church and you also have the man of sin or the Antichrist is revealed. But now Paul continued and said, well, the man of perdition, this man of sin, the lawless one, the Antichrist, can't be revealed until this restrainer is taken out. I don't have time to go into great detail. A lot of people think that the restrainer is the church. Well, I don't know that the church has the power to hold back the evil of the devil. I think, you know, and it clearly mentions, it's a personal pronoun here, he being the restrainer. Obviously, this must be talking about the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who is restraining What is he restraining? Well, he's restraining all evil on the earth. I mean, things can be a whole lot worse than what we see today, believe it or not. Hard to believe, but yes, things can get a whole lot worse. But the Holy Spirit is also restraining and holding back the wrath of God at this point, too, okay? So you have the Holy Spirit who must be taken away in order for the lawless one, for the Antichrist to be revealed. Okay, so we have a lot of things we gotta flesh out here. The Holy Spirit can't leave without us, okay? Not because we're so unique or special in our own way, but in Hebrews 13, five, it talks, Jesus says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Well, he is with us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit is removed, we have to go with him. Okay? And that has to happen before the Antichrist can be revealed. Well, we already said it can't be a post-tribulational rapture because we're not there midway, so obviously it can't even be a midway, a mid-trib rapture. It's gotta be pre-trib, okay? Because the man of sin can't be revealed until the Holy Spirit has taken us all out. Now, for the man of sin to be revealed, it is not the rapture that triggers the tribulation period. For that, you have to go back to Daniel. And if you want to turn there real fast again, go to Daniel chapter 9. Here is the trigger for the Antichrist. Daniel chapter 9, verse 27. then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. Okay, you got that? The Antichrist is going to confirm. There are all kinds of peace agreements out there right now for the nation of Israel. They've all been rejected by the Arabs, okay? There are some actually pretty good ones out there, but whatever one gets, I mean, the land can't be divided, I'm sorry. But there is something out there that will probably be modified, and you're going to have one man who goes in there and brokers this peace agreement with the nation of Israel. That is what begins the tribulation period. Okay, now let me ask you this. Are you planning to be here to witness that? The church won't be here for that, okay? Because if we were here, to see this man of sin broker a peace treaty, we're gonna be jumping up and down, raising our arms and waving flags saying, that's the Antichrist, he's revealed. But that can't happen until the Holy Spirit has taken us out. We won't be here to see that. Then, once we have been taken out with the Holy Spirit, then the Antichrist will be revealed. He is going to broker that peace treaty, okay? We won't be here for it. So, there's a couple other things real fast. Just some bullet points here, if you will. The church I mentioned last week is never mentioned in the tribulation chapters. After chapter five, we don't see that anymore, okay? In fact, the church is mentioned, I think, 19 times in the first three chapters of Revelation, and then never again until chapter 19, verse seven, and she is now the wife of the lamb, okay? She's called the wife of the lamb. Well, in order for that to happen, and that, by the way, if you were to go there, I'll let you go there. We're gonna kinda cut to the chase. That's a scene that takes place in heaven, where the wife of the lamb is made apparent, okay? And she's arrayed in white, beautiful. Oh, that's the garments of the church, right? Okay, that takes place in heaven. Well, that means that the wedding must have been consummated already. Okay? So that has to happen. That will take place at the time of the rapture. You will have the consummation of the wedding and you will have the marriage supper of the Lamb take place. In closing here, I'll talk a little bit about the Jewish wedding and how we see a picture of all this in the Jewish wedding. But we have The church in chapter 19, which is already now wed, it's consummated, and we have the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place in heaven, okay? So that is all before verse 11 of chapter 19. Obviously, verse 7 comes before verse 11, right? Verse 11, we have the second coming of Jesus Christ. The literal second coming of Jesus Christ. So the marriage supper of the Lamb has taken place before he returns and it's that seven year period in heaven while the tribulation is happening on earth. Another thing to happen is 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10 talks about the behemoth seat of Christ. The church will be at the judgment seat of Christ. Now this is not the white throne judgment, where all the non-believers are judged. The behemoth seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 is the seat of the victors. So when you had victorious sporting events, whatever, the victor, the winner, would receive his laurels from the hand of the emperor. He would get his crowns, his prizes for his achievements. We will be at the behemoth seat of Christ. This has to happen before all these events here. In fact, that has to happen in chapter four of Revelation because what are the prizes, what are the rewards offered to the church? Crowns. Look at your notes last week. I mentioned seven verses, I believe. All the crowns of the victors, okay, that the church receives. And then in chapter 5, they're seen casting their crowns before the Lamb. The beam of seed of Christ has to happen before all these things take place, too. It has to happen before he unleashes his wrath in chapter 6. So again, just to kind of wrap things up here, We have to understand that there's like two phases really to Christ's return. The rapture, which is where we meet Jesus in the air, and the second coming where he stands on earth in judgment. The Old Testament is full of expectation of his second coming. They didn't think of it in terms of his second coming. We do. They failed to see his first coming or recognize or acknowledge his first coming. But the church was a mystery in the Old Testament times. So we have two distinct events. You know what's interesting, by the way? I know that Natalie mentioned she wanted to take a look at the book of Jude. It's one chapter. It's right before the book of Revelation, if you want to turn there real fast. I think this is pretty interesting. In Jude 14, it's only one chapter, Jude 14, it says, now Enoch, do we know who Enoch is? Enoch is the man who lived to be, I think, 360 some years old, and he was not. He went for a walk and was not. He was raptured, okay? Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all." That is talking about the second coming. And again, this is the difference between the rapture and the second coming. The rapture, we meet Jesus in the air. At the second coming, we return with him. Enoch preached. He was a preacher of the gospel. He preached the fact that Jesus was going to come back to earth with all of his saints. That's with all of us. Okay, that's at the second coming. At the rapture, we go up to him. At the second coming, we come back with him. Okay? And then here, just to wrap up, I just wanted to kind of walk through this Jewish wedding, okay? You have a bride who was chosen for the Son, okay? We are that bride who was chosen for God's Son, Jesus Christ. We were chosen before time began. Remember that? So the bride was chosen for the son, and at that time, there was a promise made, a down payment, if you will, okay, a dowry. This was a present that was given with the intent of making sure that this was a rock-solid promise that these two who are betrothed will actually wed. Now that dowry was paid, by the way, by Jesus Christ for his bride, the church. And he paid that dowry on the cross. After that, after that dowry was done, You have the bridegroom who would go off to his father's house, not be seen by his fiancée, his betrothed. He would go off to his father's house and build onto it a home for his bride. And we talked about that in John chapter 14. There are many mansions in my father's house. Jesus has been busy, away from his betrothed, building a place for us. Now, the father was the one who would let the son go. The son could be done building the house, but he couldn't go back and get his bride until the father said, go. Jesus spoke about the fact that, you know, I don't know when I'll return. Only the Father knows. So Jesus is waiting for the Father's timing to go back to get his bride. When he would go back for his bride, the wedding, the marriage would be consummated, and then you had this feast that would go on for a long time, like a week perhaps, okay? Funny, a week is seven, you know, the number seven. And the number seven comes up again with these tribulation years, okay? So Jesus, we see this rapture of the church in the Jewish wedding. we see God's elect, his bride for his son, and we see the marriage taking place after Jesus comes back for his bride, the wedding is consummated, you have this feast, and then after the marriage supper of the Lamb, or the marriage supper, then you would have a longer stretched out party, which will probably be our thousand years in the Millennial Kingdom. To wrap things up here, the church, while we wait, and that's what I read, I think, at the opening of the service, while we wait, the bride, while the bride was waiting for the groom to return, she was to live in purity, obviously not infidelity, but she was to live in purity and to boast and brag and glorify her betrothed, the bridegroom. That's exactly what we're doing. While we wait for his return, we live in purity and we boast in Jesus Christ. Scripture also calls us ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador is someone who represents their sovereign. They go to other people and represent their sovereign. But you know that any time that there's an inkling of war, you know those ambassadors are called home? The tribulation period is coming without a doubt. but Jesus ambassador is gonna be called home before it happens. Let's close in prayer. Father, it is so exciting to read your word and to understand with clarity that you are coming for us, that we don't face your wrath. That Jesus is coming to take us home and we will be one with him. Father, we opened up the service and talked about growing our faith through the knowledge of your word and growing in love and also in this patience of hope. Father, we have hope. The tribulation period is nothing to hope for, but we hope in the return of your Son, Jesus Christ, who takes us from the wrath to come. Father, I pray that we will take courage and be confident in your word of protection and rapture. And Father, I pray that we will live in purity here while we wait for you and declare the glories of your son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.