OK. We're talking about the end times. And last week, we talked about the different options concerning the millennium. We stated that there's three basic positions. The millennium means 1,000 years. One view is called amillennialism, and that view teaches that the passages that speak about Jesus reigning on earth are totally symbolic, and that it's just symbolic of Jesus reigning from heaven. Jesus will return, but he's not going to return and literally reign on earth. That's the amillennial position. I disagree with that position, as do most evangelical Christians disagree with that position. That's amillennialism, basically meaning no millennium, no earthly reign. When turning on light of overhead, do not put face in front of light. Okay, so that's amillennialism there on the bottom. Postmillennialism, somehow, you know, where the scriptures teach Jesus returns and reigns on earth, a postmillennialist says, well, what that means is that the church is going to reign on earth, and after the church reigns on earth, then Jesus is going to return. So I don't know how you do a flip-flop like that, but that's what postmillennialists teach. They basically are looking for the gospel to be spread worldwide and that the church to begin to solve all the world's problems. And to me, that's kind of scary because the church often, what we call the church, is often not much different from what we call the world. The position that I hold to... How many people here are aware of Hal Lindsey? He's a pre-millennialist. I'm a pre-millennialist too. How many people are aware of Tim LaHaye, his books, the Left Behind series? He's also a pre-millennialist. So, what I'm going to talk about today is a debate among pre-millennialists. So, I mean, just as there are Christians who are amillennialists and post-millennialists, as well as pre-millennialists, So we can have fellowship with these other camps, but with the premillennial camp, we're even closer in our thought to them. At the same time, there are differences of opinion in there, and we'll talk about that. And mainly it's the issue, it's the question, will Christians go through the tribulation? And that's what we'll spend a little bit of time talking about. But pre-millennialism, Jesus, it takes these passages literally, okay? Jesus returns to earth before the thousand years and he literally rules on the earth from Jerusalem. He literally brings the kingdom of God from heaven to earth. And so we're going to be talking about three different views within the pre-millennial camp, okay? So, Basically, those who believe that Jesus will literally reign on earth, we have three main camps that we find here. By the way, all my teachers were pre-tribulationists. The tribulation, by the way, is usually known as the seven-year tribulation period. A period of tremendous suffering and persecution on a global scale where the Antichrist reigns on earth. I will say this, I agree with the midshrivers that the tribulation period, if you study the Scriptures closely, the tribulation period is only three and a half years long. So when I talk about the seven-year tribulation period, it's just because that's what's commonly spoken about There is a seven-year peace treaty that the Antichrist will sign that will bring peace, false peace, to the planet Earth, quite possibly a peace that is based out of the Middle East, maybe a peace treaty between the Israelis and their Arab enemies, their Muslim enemies, and the Antichrist signs a seven-year peace treaty But nowhere does the scripture say the whole seven years are the tribulation period. The only time a time period is given is three and a half years, and many pre-tribbers take that three and a half years from the book of Revelation and see it as two separate three and a half year periods. I don't think there's any justification for that at all. I mean, you have the book of Revelation going over The same basic three-and-a-half-year time period over and over again. I mean, the second coming of Christ is mentioned, what, at least four or five, six times in the book of Revelation in different places. So the idea that the book is chronological, you know, from chapter 6 through chapter 19, just isn't the case. We need to look at the Scriptures closer there. But whatever the case, all my teachers or preachers, they say, I don't like pain. I have a stomach virus right now. I don't like that. Okay? So if I can't handle a stomach virus, how in the world am I going to handle, you know, persecution, people wanting to kill me, not being able to buy and sell? Okay? You know, I like eating. I'm American. I like eating three meals a day. So I'm not looking forward. I've had pre-trippers tell me, I don't understand you post-tribbers wishing to go through the tribulation. I'm not wishing to go through the tribulation, but I refuse to allow my desires to force my interpretation of the Scriptures. But I hope the pre-tribbers are right. All my teachers were pre-tribbers, but I found their arguments very weak. And if you look at the start, the historical beginnings of pre-tribulationalism, It goes back to 1830, a 15-year-old girl named Margaret MacDonald had a supposed vision from God and gave a prophetic utterance that the church would not go through the tribulation, that we would be spared. Anytime before that, attempt after attempt has been made by pre-tribbers to try to come up with some earlier date of a pre-trib rapture, it's just not there. Does that mean it's false? No. We'll look at the Scriptures and try to determine that. Whatever the case, the pre-tribulational position is that Jesus will secretly return for His church and secretly snatch them away before the seven-year tribulation period begins. Okay? So the church doesn't go through it. Corrie ten Boom. How many people have heard of Corrie ten Boom? She was a Christian lady that lived in Holland, and her family protected Jews from the Nazis, hid them in their house, and then they got caught doing it, so she got sent, as well as her family, to a concentration camp. Her sister died there, her father died. She was mistakenly set free after several years of torture and suffering. On the 700 Club in the early 1980s before she died, she spoke out very strongly against the pre-tribulational rapture position. She said Christians are being persecuted and being put to death all over the world for the Christian faith except in America. And then she said the pre-tribulational rapture is an American doctrine because the American church thinks we're so special that somehow When this worldwide persecution of Christians comes to America, then God is going to snatch away His precious church, as if American Christians are more important to God than other Christians. But she was actually offended by the pre-trib rapture. Now, pre-tribbers don't mean it that way, but that certainly is the way that she takes it. The mid-tribulational position, I don't mean to be nasty about them at all, but I basically refer to them as, not to their face or anything like that, but as wounded pre-tribbers. Basically, they start out as pre-tribbers, but then they reach this, Paul says that Christians are going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the seventh trumpet. And so a mid-tribber sees the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation and then is already reasoning along the lines of the pre-tribbers and thinks the seventh trumpet is in the middle of the tribulation. And so basically it's a move from pre-trib towards post-trib and you stop in the middle. Jesus secretly returns for his church, snatches him away in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period, although Mid-Tribbers will usually say that really it's only the last three and a half years that the tribulation. So it's the middle of the seven years, three and a half years after the peace treaty is signed. But in a sense, they're pre-Tribbers. They just think it happens, the Trib starts three and a half years later. Whatever the case, the historical position of the church, the pupils of the apostles, Their pupils who led the early church the first couple hundred years after the apostles, they not only gave warnings about the Antichrist, but they spoke about the Antichrist as if they expected the church to see the Antichrist and to be persecuted by the Antichrist. So the post-tribulational pre-millennial position is the earliest view of the end times that we find in church history. It's the position that the rapture and the second coming of Christ are the same event. Jesus returns after the tribulation to gather his church and then God's wrath, Jesus then brings God's wrath down on the world, but that comes after the tribulation period. Now that's the position I hold to, the post-tribulation position. If you're thinking right now, hey, I agree with LaHaye and Hal Lindsey, I disagree with you, Pastor Frantz, don't worry about it. Don't lose any sleep over it. How many people remember Harry Armstrong? Pre-Tribber, probably the godliest man I ever knew. Okay? So don't lose any sleep over it. If you're a Pre-Tribber, I hope you're right. But just in case I'm right, don't get upset with Jesus if this stuff comes down and we're still here. But whatever the case, I'm going to give a few passages from Scripture to show why I believe the church will go through the tribulation period. Look at Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24. Now, Matthew 24, verses three and four. says, and he, that was Jesus, and he was sitting on a Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus answered and said to them, see to it that no one misleads you. So that's the important thing. No matter what position you hold to, it's important that we not be misled about the end times. Okay? That's why You know, I don't mind if a person calls themselves a pan-tribber, and what they mean is, well, it'll all pan out in the end. If what they mean by it is that they've looked diligently into these passages and they can't make up their mind, so they're just going to say, hey, I love the Lord, whether He comes before me before, in the middle, or after the tribulation, it'll all pan out, the Lord's going to take care of me. But if they've looked into it, I have no problem with that. In fact, I think that's a very godly position. However, some pantrippers haven't done their homework and imply that if you are studying it, you're carnal. And that the spiritual position is, well, it's not really important, and so it'll all pan out, blah, blah, blah. No, no. Jesus says it is important. Okay? If Jesus spoke about it, it's important. If Jesus forewarned us, it's important. Now, if after years of studying it, you can't figure it out, Be a pan-tribber, that's great. But don't be a pan-tribber just because you don't want to study. Some people will tell me, is the rapture, your view of the rapture, is that essential to salvation? No. Is it important? I think so. I mean, if somebody was chasing me with bloodhounds and a gun, I would think that was important. If I showed up in a grocery store and they said, I'm sorry, Mr. Fernandez, we can't sell you groceries because you don't have your mark on your right hand or your forehead, I think that's important. If people want to torture me and behead me for my faith in Christ, I think that's important. So, the whole issue, you know, I mean, we might say, well, you know, Fernandez, I'm the super spiritual guy, so end time prophecies are beneath me, you know, and stuff like that. Well, if you're going to talk that way, then don't get upset when you're, favorite ball team loses, and don't get upset if you can't make your next car payment. Because the trials and tribulations of the tribulation period are going to be much bigger than any little trials or tribulations we go through right now. So it's not essential, but it is important. And that's why I applaud Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye and Free Tribbers, who work hard and write these books and study on these issues. Now, I don't always agree with their conclusions, But it is important. Jesus said right there, see to it that no one misleads you. He forewarned us we need to look at what He said. Now look at verses 29 to 31. Jesus is talking to His disciples. Okay, let me ask you this. If Jesus returned during their lifetime, would they be raptured? Yes, because they're believers. They're His disciples. Well, what does He tell them? He tells them in Matthew 24, verses 29 to 31, but immediately after the tribulation of those days. The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other." Jesus says that He will gather His elect. He will gather the chosen ones, His believers, immediately after the tribulation period. You could do a study on the word elect. Believing Israelites are referred to as the elect. At the same time, believers, church-age believers, are called the elect. Pre-tribbers will say, well, the chapters that deal Revelation 6 through Revelation 19, the chapters that deal with the Tribulation period, the word church is never mentioned there in Revelation. It's mentioned in other places. Two things. Number one, do a study on the word church and churches in the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, the word church or churches always applies to either one or all seven local churches, the seven churches that the book of Revelation is written to. So it's talking to local churches that existed 2,000 years ago. It's not talking about the universal church. Secondly, we're told that the saints will be persecuted over and over again. Do a word study on the word saints in the New Testament It's used dozens of times in the New Testament. Only one time is the word saint used for a believer before the church age. And that was when Jesus raised from the dead the saints when He was dying on the cross. Some people were raised from the dead to show themselves alive. Every other time the word saint is used in the New Testament, church-age believers, and they are mentioned as being persecuted by the Antichrist. But whatever the case, Jesus said he will return to gather his elect immediately after the tribulation period. See, what I'm saying is there will be a post-tribulational rapture. There's no ifs, what's or buts about that. The burden of proof, therefore, is on the pre-trib or the mid-trib to show that there's a rapture before the post-trib rapture. But immediately after the tribulation, Jesus will gather believers, his elect. Now, the question is, is there going to be another rapture before the trib or in the middle of the trib, three and a half years before or seven years before? Pre-tribbers like Hal Lindsey will say in this passage, when Jesus is speaking to the apostles, they represent Israel, not the church. I have two problems with that. Number one, they were believers, so they would have been raptured, so he's talking to them. He should have told them about the rapture before the trib, not the rapture after the trib, if there is a rapture before the trib. That's number one. Number two, And this is very important. If this is correct, then the week... This is, you know, right after the triumphal entry. And this is the week that Jesus is going to be crucified. Just a few days later, he speaks to the same guys and says, take and eat this bread. This bread is my body. This wine is my blood. So he's talking to the same guys. On Tuesday, they represent Israel. On Thursday, they represent the church. That's not real consistent. He's giving the church ordinance of the Lord's Supper to the same guys two days later. So I think that's rather weak. We're told in Ephesians 2, 19 and 20, that the apostles are the foundation of the church. Jesus is the chief cornerstone. So I mean, the apostles have church written all over them. Yes, they're Jews, but they have church written all over them. And Jesus tells them immediately after the tribulation period, not before, immediately after, I'm going to gather my church. Now, still in this passage, look at verses 26 and 27. And Jesus says this, If therefore they say to you, Behold, he is in the wilderness, you know, the Christ, he's in the wilderness, do not go forth. Or behold, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. You know what he's saying right there? He's saying don't let anybody deceive you about some secret coming of the Christ. When I return, it will be obvious. So obvious that it will be as obvious as the lightning striking in the east and flashing to the west. It's not going to be a secret, hidden thing. Now, when you compare, when you look at Matthew 24, 29-31, by the way, if pre-tribulationalism or mid-tribulationalism is true, there would be a secret coming of Christ, okay? Jesus says His coming isn't going to be in secret. It will be so obvious because the sun will be dark and the moon won't give us light. You know, then a lot of preachers would say, wait, wait, yeah, but He comes at one time in a big trumpet blast and it's real obvious, but there's a different stage to that coming where He comes like a thief in the night. Now, you go a little bit further in the same passage, and Jesus refers to this obvious return after the tribulation period. He basically says that he will come like a thief in the night. He uses that illustration right in this same passage, talking about his return after. the tribulation period. If you look, hold that page, hold Matthew 24, look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I want to show you what Jesus and Paul, what they were talking about when they said that Jesus would return like a thief in the night. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, starting at verse 1, Now as to the times and the epochs, the ages, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 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 pains 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 night nor of darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." Okay, what he's basically saying is the reason why Christ's second coming is going to come like a thief in the night is because non-believers are not going to be expecting it. In fact, 2 Peter 3 says they're going to be mocking Christians for believing that Jesus will return. But believers will heed the warnings of Christ so that we will be like in Matthew 24 and Matthew 25, the servants who are ready. So that when the Master returns, we're ready for Him. Okay? So the thief in the night is that he returns suddenly, and it will be a secret to those who aren't ready. To those who are ready and are expecting him, it will still be a sudden return. At the same time, they will be ready. They will not be caught off guard. So he's talking about the same coming, but two different responses. From those who heeded his warnings, believers, and then those who have rejected him, and rejected his teachings. But turn to Matthew 24, hold that page, and then go to 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17. Everybody and their mother's brother here, pre-tribbers, mid-tribbers, post-tribbers, everybody agrees that 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 17 are talking about the rapture of the church. Because Paul's writing to believers and he says, this is how the Lord, when He returns, He's going to take you away. So the pre-tribbers and the mid-tribbers see this passage talking about something, a different event from the second coming of Christ. something that occurs either seven years earlier or three and a half years earlier, okay? Verses 16 and 17 say this, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall 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. When you compare these two, this, With Matthew 24, you have the angels, you have the clouds, Jesus returning in the clouds, you have the trumpet blast, and this is supposed to be, you know, you have a trumpet, the trumpet of God, in 1 Thessalonians 4, yet it's supposed to be a secret coming, a secret snatching away. But you can go right down the list. The Lord gathering believers in the clouds, returning in the clouds, the trumpet blast, the angels, These are talking about the same event. They're not talking about two different events. And that's the way the church interpreted it until 1830, when a 15-year-old girl, Margaret MacDonald, had a supposed vision from God. A guy named Irving accepted it, and then Darby accepted it from him. Darbyism – he started a school of thought called Darbyism, which is now called Dispensationalism. It is a very, very new view. And dispensationalists, their scholars, have tried time and time again to dig up some ancient writing to show that there was a pre-Tribber before 1830, and time and time again they've been shown to basically translate people and interpret them out of context. But whatever the case, we're talking about the same event. Now, let me say this. By the way, in Revelation 16, 12-16, it talks about the battle Armageddon, right before the second coming of Christ, and guess what Jesus says? He throws out one more warning, Behold, I come like a thief. So He's still warning, I'm coming like a thief, and it's the battle Armageddon. So there isn't going to be a snatching away before the battle Armageddon. It's the second coming after the battle Armageddon. But when I read Hal Lindsey books, even before I was a believer, it was through study of the end times that prepared my heart to accept Christ. The Holy Spirit uses that to chip away at my hardened heart. And I read Hal Lindsey books about the Antichrist, the False Prophet, the Tribulation Prayer, and I thought, oh man, this is bad stuff. But then Hal Lindsey would say, but don't worry, if you trust in Jesus as your Savior, you won't have to go through this. And I thought, this is great, and he would list five or six verses. And I would look up those five or six verses and I would say, you know something? It never mentions anything about time here, time frame. It doesn't say that seven years before my second coming, I'll snatch the church away. It never mentions time, the passages he points to, and they all sound like the same event, Matthew 24, Jesus' return, the second coming, after the tribulation period. Now, the more and more I studied the end-time passages, eventually I came across with all... By the way, as a new believer, when I accepted Christ, I was a post-tribber. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a post-tribber. I just thought... I took my old Bible teacher aside and said, Bill, I've got to confess something to you. I don't know how to say this, but I think Christians are going to go through the tribulation. His name is Bill Gregory, my first Bible teacher. It turns out at that point he was also questioning the pre-trib rapture. But until he told me, I didn't even know there was a name for it. But whatever the case, when I studied the passages, I found what many post-tribbers have found, and that is there are two passages, two events that tell us when the rapture of the church occurs. Now, keep in mind, with the rapture of the church, those who died in Christ will be raised from the dead first and meet the Lord in the air, and then the others who are alive and remain will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and then meet the Lord in the air. That's the rapture of the church. Two passages tell us when that's going to happen. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, and Paul is speaking here to the Corinthians. And let's look at verses 50 to 52, and he's talking about how when Jesus returns for us, the church, so this is the rapture of the church, okay? When Jesus returns for the church, we're going to be changing the twinkling of an eye and receive our resurrection bodies. But Paul tells us when it's going to occur. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 50-52. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. In other words, our bodies are right now They are not designed for the heavenly realm. We have bodies of decay that must put on immortal bodies, must be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Paul tells us when this is going to happen. Verse 51, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. So not all of us are going to die. Some of us are going to be alive when Jesus returns, but we'll be changed. Verse 52, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, just as Jesus is The corpse was changed in the twinkling of an eye and may have left the image on the shroud of Turin, will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall all be changed." I think it's the same trumpet that the archangel sounds in 1 Thessalonians 4, the same trumpet blast of Matthew 24. How do I notice? Look at Revelation. Chapter 11. Revelation 11. Remember, when are believers going to be changed? The twinkling of an eye? At the last trumpet. Look at Revelation 11, verse 15. By the way, if you look at Revelation 8, Verse 6 says, And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. So there's seven trumpets. As each angel sounds his trumpet, lo and behold, it's a judgment during the tribulation period. Some kind of suffering, some kind of horrible judgment during the tribulation period. Well, the first six are explained. The seventh isn't explained yet. And we get to Revelation 11, verse 15. And now we find that the seventh angel sounds his trumpet. Verse 15, And the seventh angel sounded, and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever. The seventh trumpet is the last trumpet, and it announces the fact that now the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. The kingdom of God has come to earth. Now, let me say this. A pre-tribber, to be a pre-tribber you have to believe, you have no choice on this matter, to be a pre-tribber you have to believe that for some reason God has seven trumpets after the last trumpet. which makes me wonder why God calls it the last trumpet if there are still seven trumpets that come after it. I think if we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, the last trumpet is the last of the seven trumpets. It is the seventh trumpet, but then that tells us that the church will be changed in the twinkling of an eye when Jesus returns to reign on the earth. He has brought the Kingdom of God to earth. The last trumpet. Also, the first resurrection, look at Revelation 19. Revelation 19 verses 11 to 16. Let me say this. Take this stuff, yeah, share it with your friends, but believe me, don't be shocked if you find out that 95% of your friends are pre-tribbers. The pre-trib and mid-trib position are no longer very popular in scholarly circles. Many pre-tribbers and mid-tribbers are now jumping into the post-trib camp. However, Scofield, with the Scofield Study Bible, accepted Darbyism And the Schofield Reference Bible is so popular. And then Hal Lindsey's books sold almost 40 million copies. And now Tim LaHaye, and who is he, the other guy, what's his name, Jensen or something? Jenkins. Their books have sold something like 20 million or something. So basically what I'm getting at is, on the scholarly level, the pre-Trib position is not the leading position, but among college, Bible college professors and all. But among Christian lay people, because the books that have sold the most have been the pre-trib books, basically, I wouldn't be surprised if 75-80% of evangelical pre-millennialists are pre-tribbers. Now, keep in mind, 10 years ago it was a much higher percentage. Even that number is coming down with time. But it's not as not coming downstairs, but basically what I'm getting at is there's a lot of pre-Tribbers that are Christians, more power to them. Dialogue with them. I remember I debated a pre-Tribber in Longview, Washington, a pastor. It was a friendly debate. It's always a friendly debate when you know the guy that you're debating is going to heaven just like you are. Most of the guys I debate are hell-bound and proud of it. And so we had, before the debate, we had breakfast with a bunch of guys who were attending the debate. And we started kidding back and forth. And I told the guy, I said, you know, I said, someday, I said, I love this guy. I love this brother. I only met him 10 minutes ago, and I love him already. He was a great guy, real soft-spoken pastor, beautiful, godly man. But I said, you know, someday me and this guy are going to be sharing a prison cell. And he's going to be trying to convince me that the evil dictator who just issued this mark is just a foreshadowing of the Antichrist. He's not the Antichrist himself, because Christ hasn't returned already. And so basically what I'm getting at is it's important to share the post, in case I'm right, in case the post-tribbers are right, in case the pupils of the apostles were right, and their pupils were right, share this with pre-sherbers, but don't be dogmatic about it. I just hope, and this goes for post-sherbers as well as pre-sherbers, Jesus needs to be more important than any of our doctrines. Because if our doctrines are mistaken, our faith should be in Jesus, and none of us are going to have all the answers right. Even the Bible Answer Man will come up one answer short if we had to have all the answers right to get to heaven. So basically, if it turns out that post-trib is wrong, and I'm getting raptured before or in the middle of the trib, I'm going to praise God all the way up. But I hope that my mid-trib and pre-trib brothers, if the post-trib position is correct, I hope that they'll be praising God in the midst of the tribulation period. Okay, Revelation 19, 11 and 16 talks about the second coming of Christ. And 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. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems, many crowns. And he has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself. And he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. and the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. And from his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh he has the name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Everybody agrees this is the second coming of Christ. And he's returning to shepherd the nations, with an iron rod. The rest of chapter 19, he defeats the armies of the Antichrist and the false prophet. He throws them into the lake of fire where they'll be tormented day and night forever and ever. And then it goes right into Revelation chapter 20. Look at Revelation 20 verses 1 to 7. It's talking about the millennial kingdom. And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who was the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." That's the millennium. "...and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed. After these things he must be released for a short time. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." So, right around the time that Jesus returns, they come to life and reign with him for a thousand years. Then it says, "...the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed." This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison. Okay, basically those who are in the second resurrection, as you move down further, verses 11 through 15 talks about the great white throne judgment, and you have the second resurrection, a thousand years after the first resurrection, and they get tossed into the lake of fire because their names were not found in the Lamb's Book of Life. They were not believers, okay? If a person is going to be a pre-tribber or a mid-tribber, they have to have not just two separate phases to the second coming of Christ, not just seven trumpets after the last trumpet, which makes you wonder why God calls it last, but they also have to have two separate phases to the first resurrection. Why would God in His Word call the first resurrection the first resurrection if there was already a resurrection of believers seven years earlier. If the pre-triposition or if the mid-triposition is correct, God's Word should read, you know, blessed are those who are part of the first and the second resurrections, but if the third resurrection a thousand years later, those guys are going to get lambasted. Okay? He doesn't say that, though. He says, blessed are those who are in the first resurrection. And there's no evidence, there is no evidence whatsoever, grossly misinterpreting the Word of God, there's no evidence that there are two phases to the first resurrection. There's absolutely no evidence that there's two phases, a secret phase to the second coming of Christ. They used to go into the Greek, the words like parousia, the word for appearance, and there's three basic words that deal with the second coming of Christ in the Greek. And they used to say, well, did this one or these two refer to the rapture and this other one refer to the second coming? No. You can find passages where they refer to the snatching away of believers, but they also obviously refer after the tribulation period. So even in the Greek, you can go in the Greek, you can go in the English. Epiphaneia was one of the words there for the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And why? Would God call the last trumpet the last trumpet if there's seven trumpets coming after it? It just doesn't hold together. Just two more points I want to make. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. And in verses 1-3, it says, 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. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy, the falling away of the church, comes first, And the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, is revealed, the son of destruction." So he's saying the Antichrist has to come before believers are gathered to the Lord. But the point I want to make here, believers gathering together to the Lord, the Lord gathering us to Him, is referred to in verse 2 as the day of the Lord. Okay? If you turn to Joel chapter 2, the Day of the Lord is mentioned throughout the Old Testament. Joel chapter 2, though, comes right out and tells us when the Day of the Lord will occur. And the Day of the Lord, as we see in Paul's writing, the Day of the Lord is when the Lord gathers believers to Him. That's when the Day of the Lord begins. By the way, the Day of the Lord is also used as a whole millennium. So the Day of the Lord is a thousand-year day, okay? But in Joel 2, verse 31, Joel says this, the sun will be turned into darkness. Sound familiar? Matthew 24, 29 and 31. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes, okay? Jesus says immediately after the tribulation of those days, so you have the tribulation. Immediately after the tribulation, then you have the sun being dark and the moon not giving its light, the heavenly body shaken, okay? So you've got a tribulation, then the signs in the sky, and then, Joel says, after that comes the day of the Lord, and Paul tells us the day of the Lord is when the Lord gathers believers to Him, okay? And finally, one passage, we'll just close with this Psalm 110 in verse 1. Someday, maybe we'll put together a nice, friendly pre-trib, post-trib debate. By the way, there's another position, the pre-wrath rapture of the church. I think the only area where those guys are confused, they don't realize the wrath comes after the tribulation, not late in the tribulation. The pre-wrath position was popular when the book first came out, Marvin Rosenthal's book, but it's losing followers real quick. So the three positions are basically the viable positions that we've discussed today. But Psalm 110 verse 1 says, The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. I don't want to make too much out of it, but it seems to be saying that Jesus sits at the Father's right hand until it's time for Him to come back and defeat His enemies, until His enemies are ready to be made a footstool for His feet. Now, let me tell you why I don't make too much mileage out of this, because there are some exceptions. I think the burden of proof is on the pre-tribber and the mid-tribber. to show that one of those exceptions is the pre- or mid-trib rapture. But Jesus did come off the throne. I mean, coming off the throne to come to earth, not just to stand up for Stephen, but he actually came off the throne and appeared to Paul as the one untimely born after the ascension. So, I don't draw a whole lot of mileage out of it, but I still think it shows that once again the burden of proof is on the pre-tribber and the mid-tribber. When everything's said and done, I think the four strongest arguments for the post-trib rapture, number one, Jesus said He would gather His chosen ones, the elect, immediately after the tribulation period. Okay? Number two, Paul tells us that it will occur at the last trumpet. From Revelation 11 we find out the last trumpet is when Jesus comes to reign on earth. when the kingdom of God has come to earth. That's after the tribulation. Number three, believers will be raised at the first resurrection. And why would God call it the first resurrection if there was a resurrection of believers seven years before that? And then number four, the day of the Lord where believers are gathered occurs after the signs in the sky, which Jesus said those signs occur after. the tribulation period, okay? Does that mean our preacher brethren are heretics? No. I believe they're incorrect, but it's not a doctrine that's essential to salvation. So we need to love them, pray for them, go have lunch with them. Maybe if God leads you, get in a little argument, friendly argument with them, but speak the truth in love and maybe you'll convince them. Who knows? Maybe He'll convince us. Maybe we're wrong. Who knows? But all I'm saying is, if the tribulation starts and we find ourselves here, and we go right through the middle of it and we're still here, my view would not be that Jesus let us down and broke His promise. My view is that the pre-trib rapture and the mid-trib rapture is just something that He never promised us. and that the biblical position is the second coming of Christ is when the church gets... See, basically, Jesus returns, the church meets him in the air, gets behind him and returns with him to earth, and he just devastates everything in his path and rescues Israel at the Battle of Armageddon and then sets up his kingdom on earth. But whatever the case, pre-Tribbers, mid-Tribbers, post-Tribbers, Amillennialists, postmillennialists, premillennialists, we can all rejoice in that the Lord Jesus will return to the planet Earth. We're all looking forward to His return. In fact, the last verse of the Bible, and I'll close with this. Actually, it's not the last verse, but second to the last verse, Revelation 22, verse 23. He who testifies to these things says, yes, I am coming quickly, amen, come Lord Jesus. And that come Lord Jesus was Maranatha, one of the earliest creeds or songs or poems of the ancient church. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, we can all rejoice that the Lord Jesus will return. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to rejoice when Jesus returns, even if I have to go through the tribulation, even if I have to be put to death. I remember one preacher ever told me, he said, Brother, would you allow your bride to go through suffering before your wedding night? And I told him, I said, Brother, I love you, but the Apostle Paul was as much a part of the bride of Christ as I am. And when they buried him, they buried his body separated from his head. And why should I expect any better treatment than Paul? I don't think that there's special treatment for 21st century American Christians. Over 160,000 Christians being slaughtered for their faith each year in other parts of the world. I think we need to be willing to suffer for Jesus. I think we need to admit we've had it pretty good here in America. We've had it pretty good. And if we need to go through three and a half to seven years of suffering before the Lord Jesus returns, so be it. All I know is I want to be worshiping at His feet when the Lord returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father in Jesus' precious name, we thank You, Lord, that You not only cared enough to save us and to empower us and to work through us, But you forewarned us about the end times and the things that are going to come down. So I just pray, Lord, that we would diligently study the entire Bible, not just the parts of the Bible that deal with salvation and other aspects of spirituality, but also those parts of the Bible that deal with your son's return and the reign of the Antichrist and the horrible things that are going to come upon the earth. So I pray, Lord, that this would not be something, the end times would not be something that divides Christians, but something that interests us enough to gather us together, to bring us together, and to dialogue with others that we may disagree with. But we can all be convinced on this fact, and that is that your Son, the Lord Jesus, someday He will return, and He will reign over the earth. He will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. That is the blessed hope of the church, and we can agree upon that. In Jesus' precious name we pray, Amen.