Editor’s Note: This is a lightly edited transcription of the audio message. Thanks goes to Marilyn Fine for the transcription work.

Introduction

We have been having a wonderful time trying to excite you a bit about the Rapture of the Church and give you some of the reasons why I believe it is imminent. First, this is the way it is presented in the Bible in I Thessalonians 4 and other passages. Second, we have the evidence that the Lord is setting the stage for the great events that will follow the Rapture—the reemergence of the Roman Empire, its renewal in the form of ten countries and the leader who is going to come at its head who eventually is going to be a world ruler.

We learned from I Thessalonians 5 and also II Thessalonians 2 that this leader cannot emerge and be recognized until after the Rapture of the Church because the Rapture of the Church begins the Day of the Lord. Remember, that the Day of the Lord is that period of God’s judgment on the world and on the Man of Sin, the lawless one. This ruler of the ten nations and eventually of the whole world has to emerge then in the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Thus we have some good, factual reasons for believing that the Rapture is going to occur more than seven years before the Second Coming of Christ.

Any student of prophecy soon discovers that there is a lot of confusion on prophecy. Rather amazingly, though, the Church has agreed that the Second Coming of Christ is a literal event. It is in their creeds whether Roman Catholic, Protestant or Greek Orthodox and the secular press is very much aware of this. That is why when the Gulf War broke out they had great articles sometimes spread over a whole page. “Is this the Second Coming?” “Is this the final hour?” “Is this Armageddon?” and words to this effect because they saw that the prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ could be fulfilled very soon. Of course, the Gulf War was not the great war that precedes the Second Coming of Christ, described in Revelation 16 and elsewhere, and this sort of dissipated after the Gulf War passed away. But, it illustrates the problem. The problem is that while the Church has taken literally the Second Coming of Christ, they then turn around and say we cannot interpret the prophecies that lead up to it literally, such as the Great Tribulation, and we cannot interpret the prophecies that follow it, the Millennial Kingdom literally. So, there has emerged what we call Amillennialism, which is a denial of the Millennial doctrine and of the fulfillment of these prophecies leading up to the Second Coming and of the prophecies that follow.

Post-Tribulationism

Now, out of that has also come what we call post-Tribulationism. I am what we call a pre-Tribulationist. That is, I believe that the tribulation follows the Rapture and the Rapture is first. Thus there is a pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Probably the majority of the Church holds to a so-called post-Tribulational Rapture because all the amillennarians hold that. There are even some pre-millennarians who hold the idea that the Church has to go through the Tribulation. So, when I speak on expectancy, as I have in this conference, people say what do I mean? Don’t you know that the Church has to go through this time of trial and trouble before Christ comes? Of course, they have in mind that there is a post-Tribulation Rapture.

I have been dealing with this subject, of course, for many years and it has been very interesting to see the turnaround in this subject. The post-Tribulational books that came out before World War II, and there were a lot of them, all said in their introductions, without exception, “what do you mean the Church will not go through the Tribulation? We are already in it!” They quoted, of course, Christ, who said “in this world you shall have tribulation.” Now, what is their problem? Their problem is, and it is the characteristic problem of amillennialism, that they do not pay attention to what the Bible says. The Great Tribulation is not what we are in today. The Bible is very explicit in Daniel and Matthew 24 and the Book of Revelation. The Great Tribulation is a specific period of time of 42 months that leads up to the Second Coming. We are not in that period now. The events that are surrounding it back it up to the world ruler in charge and to the world worshipping Satan. This is not true today. We are not in this period. This man has not emerged. Of course, I believe the Rapture has not occurred either. We do not have to wait until the end of the Great Tribulation. You see, what the Bible predicts about tribulation is not what we are encountering today.

In every book I ever picked up on post-Tribulationism from before World War II would say we are in the Tribulation already. Then, suddenly something happened in World War II. I cannot give the full explanation, but the world woke up to the fact that with atomic weapons we could kill millions of people over night. The horror of such a judgment from God or from man began to grip the whole world, including our own country. So, suddenly there was a 180 degree turn in the post-Tribulational books. Instead of saying that they are already through the Tribulation, that it has already passed, and we already experienced it, they changed over to a totally different point of view. That is, that there is a Tribulation ahead. Dr. George Ladd and many others that were popular in their post-Tribulational presentation presented that idea.

Now, they ran into another problem. You see in I Thessalonians 5, as I pointed out the other day, it says we are not appointed to wrath. Now, the problem is that the Great Tribulation is a time of wrath. If we are not appointed to it, how can we go through it? So, they had a problem on their hands. How did they solve it? Well, they solved it in a number of different ways. In fact, it has been very interesting to see how post-Tribulational books have multiplied in recent years. Every one of them seems to assume that the previous books have not proved their case and so they have to prove their case all over again. They have all kinds of different ideas. In fact, it is very difficult to cover the field. I have a course on the Rapture of the Church, which I am going to teach again this fall. It is 30-class hours just on the Rapture. We spend about half of our time going through all the different post-Tribulational books because each one is different. In other words, they try to find an escape hatch for their view, but they do not agree among themselves at all as to how to bring it about. Basically, what they say is we cannot take the tribulation literally. It is a time of trouble, but it is not nearly as bad as you say. So, they go on teaching post-Tribulationism.

Now, you know if a truth is biblical you have to find some biblical evidence. I began to search the scriptures to see if the post-Tribulationalists had any basis in fact. Where are the verses that teach this? You know, there are not any, but they try hard and some of them are godly men. They are scholars. They are reputable people who, in many other respects, we can agree with, but this idea of going through the tribulation has gripped their minds. How do they argue? Well, first of all they ridicule our view, they say “what do you mean? Two comings of Christ ahead? Of course not! There cannot be two comings – just one coming.” Now, wait a minute, what happened in the Old Testament? They said the same thing. Only one coming. Were they right? No, they were not. It did not explain how the same Messiah could be a suffering Messiah who died and a glorious reigning Messiah. They puzzled over that and they never solved it. You see, they were wrong in denying a two-coming view.

Two Different Events

In our present day, we have the same problem. The Rapture and the Second Coming are two different events. All you have to do to prove it is to read what it says about them.

What is the Rapture? According to I Thessalonians 4, as we have studied it, it is a catching up of the Church from earth to Heaven. There is no record that Christ’s feet ever touched the earth. There is no record of angels accompanying him. There is no record of judgments on the world. It has one purpose that takes the Church out of the world. You can contrast that to the Second Coming.

What is the Second Coming? The Second Coming is a world-wide event which the whole world will see. The heavens will be aglow with the glory of God. We will be talking about that later this week. It is a tremendous event. Millions of saints and angels will accompany Christ to come to the Mount of Olives from which He ascended. He is going to begin a series of judgments on the world which are preceded by the judgments of the Book of Revelation. Then, He is going to bring in His thousand-year reign on earth literally. You see, that is what the Bible actually teaches. If you take the other view, you have to sort of water this all down so you cannot take it literally.

I decided I had to do something about this. I had written this book on the Rapture question about 30 years ago and I had gone through all the theological arguments that are offered by the various views and tried to prove that the pre-Tribulation Rapture was the right view. But you know, some people do not think theologically. They think more from an expository point of view so I decided to add another 100 pages to the book, which I did. In it I methodically went through every passage that is related to the Rapture, asking the question “Now what does it teach? Does it coincide with a pre-Tribulational Rapture or does it prove a post-Tribulational Rapture?” They used some of these texts in their own proof. So I would like to look at some of them this morning very briefly.

Texts

Matthew 24

We cannot, obviously, cover all the post-Tribulational books that have ever been written, but they bring up certain proofs. Some of them are found in almost every post-Tribulational book. One of them is the references to the Lord’s coming in Matthew 24.

You remember the background of this. Christ had denounced the Jewish religious leaders and lamented over them. You said you have killed the prophets. You stoned those who come to you and Jerusalem is going to be left desolate until you say blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord. The disciples were upset by this. They thought Christ was a little bit too pessimistic. After all, they were building this beautiful temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish religion was in some ways thriving. So, they pointed Christ to the beautiful temple which was being built. They had been rebuilding it for a long time. Apparently, much of it was complete. Christ just mowed them down as I have indicated earlier. He said, “Not one stone will be left upon another.”

Well, this did not fit their theology at all. They were still expecting Christ to bring in His kingdom. They thought He was going to bring in the glorious kingdom that relates to His Second Coming. They did not understand He had to die first. So, they were very upset by that and they came to Christ, four of them-Peter, Andrew, James and John-the famous quartet, according to Mark’s gospel, and asked Him. They asked, when is this all going to happen? When is Jerusalem going to be destroyed? When are you coming into your kingdom?

This really is two major questions. Well, Christ answers the second question in Matthew 24. In other words, what are going to be the signs of His Second Coming? Luke’s gospel deals with the destruction of Jerusalem (first question).

Well, in the process, you remember, He tells them first of all in Matthew 24:1-14 the general things which would be true of the present age. There would be trouble. There would be martyrdom. There would be wars and rumors of wars. There would be famine. There would be pestilence. All these things are going to take place. Then, in verse 15 He turns to the subject of the Great Tribulation. He says,

“Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place, who shall read and let them understand, then that those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

Yesterday we discussed Daniel 9:24-27. Verse 27 says in the last seven years (leading up to the Second Coming in which there would be peace in the first part) that the last part would be a time of desecration and great tribulation. That is what is going to happen in the last three-and-a-half years. He says when you see the temple desolated….and apparently what is going to happen is that Israel is still going to build a temple, orthodox Jews are going to reactivate their Jewish sacrifices, and then at the middle of that last seven years this world ruler is going to take over. He is going to desecrate the temple, drive the Jews out and take it over as a place of worship for himself.

Christ is saying here in Matthew that when you see that, “flee to the mountains.” It is a sign that the Great Tribulation is beginning. So, He goes on to describe how it is going to be a terrible time of suffering for Israel. They are going to be driven out of their homes, away from their food, employment, shelter and they are going to suffer. Many of them, of course, will be killed. Now He says this in verse 20 and following, “Pray that your plight may not be in the winter on the Sabbath.” That is, in the winter it would be cold and on the Sabbath it would be very obvious they were fleeing. “For them, there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time nor will ever shall be.” This is very plain. It is not the trials we are in now. This is a future time of unprecedented trouble that will last only for those three-and-a-half years.

This is what He says in verse 22, “Unless those days were shortened or cut off, no flesh would be saved but for the elect’s sake those will be shortened.” I think shortened is the wrong translation. It means to snip off like a scissors cuts something. It means to be terminated. Actually, it is going to be the full three-and-a-half years, not less than that as some have taught, but it is going to be suddenly terminated by the Second Coming of Christ. He goes on here to talk about how He is going to appear in glory in the heavens and not quietly or obscurely.

Then, He says in verse 29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from Heaven, the powers of Heaven will be shaken. Then, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in Heaven. Then, all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.” This is the Second Coming of Christ. This is not the Rapture.

Then, He goes on to say how His angels are going to gather the elect from the four corners of the earth and Heaven both. Then, He adds a parable of a fig tree and I do not want to get into that today. Now, He says in verse 37, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” This is the Second Coming of Christ being compared to Noah’s day and the ark and the floods. “Whereas in the days before the flood, they are eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. So, it shall be and did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So, also, will be at this coming of the Son of Man. Then, two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left. Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord will come.”

Almost without exception every post-Tribulational book lands on this verse. One shall be taken – is that not the Rapture? Yes, so they say. Is it not the Second Coming? Yes. Well, does not that prove that the Rapture is the Second Coming? The problem is that the situation is totally different. At the Rapture, the person who is taken is taken out of the world so they will not be in the time of judgment that follows. He takes them to Heaven.

At the Second Coming, the selection is for a different purpose. Here, the issue is “who is worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom?” The ones who are left are the saved and the ones who are taken are the unsaved. Now you say, can there be proof in the Bible? Yes. It is very interesting to me that those are in the same Bible as I have. Post-Tribulationists never, never, ever look up these verses. In Luke 17:34 we have a parallel passage that adds something. He says right there,

“I tell you in that night there will be two men in one bed, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding together, one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left.”

The same thing exactly is found in Matthew 24. But, here is the difference. When they, the disciples, answering said to the Lord, “Where?” In other words, where are these people taken? Taken to Heaven? No. His answer is “wherever the body is, there will be eagles or the vultures to gather together.” What will they do? Well, they are taken to put to death. They are not worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom. Yes, it is a selection, but this time it is the selection of the unsaved, not of the saved.

In Matthew 24 it is not talking about a rapture. It is talking about the judgment of people who are unworthy to enter Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. This is confirmed, of course, in Matthew 25 and the judgment of the nations which is also a very interesting study. It tells us that sometime after the Second Coming, not on the day of the Second Coming, but sometime after, perhaps just a few days, that Christ assembles the nations before Him, the Gentiles.

It says in verse 32 that all nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. Now, to make a long story short, the sheep and the goats represent the Gentile population of the world. This is two days or more after the Second Coming. The goats represent the unsaved and the sheep represent the saved. What is their situation? They are mingled. That is what it says. He has to separate the sheep from goats because the goats are going to be put to death and the sheep are going to go into the kingdom. They are the redeemed.

Now, you see if the post-Tribulationists are right and there is a rapture at the Second Coming of Christ, this situation would not exist. You see, the sheep would have already been taken out. All you would have left is the unsaved world. You see, there is not any rapture at the Second Coming and there is not any resurrection there either as we are going to see later because the resurrection comes after the Second Coming, not at the time of the Second Coming. On the day of the Second Coming of Christ there is no rapture and there is no resurrection. You see, the two things necessary for the Rapture are the resurrection of the righteous dead and the translation of the righteous who are living, who are given new bodies that are suited for Heaven. Those two things are the Rapture of the Church. Once the Church is raptured there is no more Rapture as far as scripture is concerned. There is resurrection, yes, a series of them but no rapture of the living because at the time of the Second Coming the living are not changed. They are not given an immortal body. They are not delivered from what they were. They move into the Millennial Kingdom still in their natural body where they live natural lives. They build houses, plant crops, bear children, sin and even die. In other words, this is the nature of the believers who enter the Millennial Kingdom. Therefore, there is no rapture at that time. The person who is taken is taken in judgment. Now, as far as I am concerned Matthew never discusses the Rapture of the Church. The Second Coming yes, but not the Rapture.

John 14

Now, when is the Rapture introduced? Well, it is very interesting that the post-Tribulationists just assume that the disciples knew all about it. Where is the scripture evidence for it? Zero! The disciples knew nothing about a rapture until the night before His crucifixion. In fact, they did not understand the doctrine of the First and Second Coming. They thought Christ was going to fulfill the glorious promise of the kingdom. They still thought they would sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. They did not understand that that related to His Second Coming. (…..long pause…….) It is interesting that Christ, while He introduces it in John 14, does not explain it. If you remember the background, He had told the disciples that one of them would betray him and this shook them up. They did not know who that was. Then, He said He was going to leave them and they could not follow Him now. Peter said, “Well, I’ll die for you.” Of course, he would not. He was going to deny Him three times and so they all are upset because Christ said He was going to leave them and He had not brought in the kingdom. That is what they have followed Him to do. Here He was not doing it. They could not understand that there was a Second Coming later on in God’s plan.

In John 14, as I pointed out previously, He said, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.” The wonderful assurance is that God is able to do what He promises. Then, He immediately goes into the doctrine of the Rapture. “In My Father’s house are many mansions, many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” That is in Heaven. “And I go and prepare for you and I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there you may be also.” What is this? Christ is coming to earth to take His own out of the earth and take them to the Father’s house. There is nothing like that at the Second Coming. At the Second Coming, He comes from Heaven to earth and stays in the earth. There would be no point in taking people back to Heaven at that point.

You see, it is a totally different situation and the disciples just were bewildered. They did not understand it. It was not until later the apostle Paul had the revelation from God concerning the Doctrine of Grace which he did not understand. He was saved and then he had the Doctrine of the Rapture. When he went, he preached that Christ had died and rose again. That was his missionary message. He immediately tells them He is coming again to take us home. That was the two great themes that he had as he preached his missionary message at Thessalonica and elsewhere. So, we find in John 14 this first reference to the Rapture of the Church and, of course, it does not coincide with the post-Tribulational work at all.

I Thessalonians 4, 5, and II Thessalonians 2

Now, as you go through the New Testament, there are references to the Rapture again and again. We have seen some of those already in our study in I Thessalonians 4 and 5 and II Thessalonians 2 and we have seen how in every passage on the Rapture it never mentions a preceding event. They are never told they would have to go through a tribulation first. That simply is not part of the doctrine.

Revelation

As you read on in the scriptures, you find that the book of Revelation describes this terrible time of trouble. If you are a post-Tribulationist what would you do with this? That is the problem that faces them and they do not agree among themselves as to how to solve the problem. They say you cannot take these prophecies of the Book of Revelation literally. Why not? Well, because they do not believe it. That is not a very good reason, is it? You have to have evidence that there is some reason for not believing it.

So, in Revelation 6, we have the main body of revelation presented to us. I am sure some of you at least have studied the Book of Revelation and understand that first of all we have a parchment with seven seals on it that describes seven different movements of things of judgments of God. Out of the seven seals comes another series of seven called the seven trumpets and the seven trumpets sound and each one of them seems to relate to a third of the earth being judged.

Then, in Chapter 16, you have out of the seven trumpets a third series of seven which are called the Judgment of the Vials or Bowls of the wrath of God. The figure is pouring out a whole bowl on the earth and the cataclysmic judgments end up with the earth almost completely destroyed and most of the people in the world killed. It is a terrible time of judgment. Now, that is how it is if you take the Book of Revelation literally. However, they say you cannot take it literally because it has too many symbols in it. There are symbols in Daniel and Ezekiel and in Revelation that need to be interpreted, but interspersed with them are plain ordinary prophecies that are not hard to understand.

I will not take time to go into all these, but let us suppose you are a post-Tribulationist and you were preaching a sermon on Revelation 6:7-8. Let’s see what it says.

“When he opened the fourth seal, he heard the voice of the fourth living creature say come and see. And I looked and, behold, a pale horse and the name of him who sat on it was Death and Hades followed within and power was given them over a fourth of the earth to kill with a sword, with hunger, with death and by the beasts of the earth.”

Now, there are symbols here to be sure, but what does it say? Killing one-fourth of the world’s population. Just two verses. How are you going to water that down? You cannot. It says a fourth. That is literal. What do they do with it? Mostly ignore it. They just ignore. They do not pay attention to it. A fourth of the world destroyed. If that were true in our present world population, it would be over one billion people, 250 million would be killed. That is a tremendous, tremendous judgment of God.

Then, it goes on to describe the fifth seal and the sixth seal. The fifth seal has to do with martyrs and the sixth seal has to do with the disturbances in the heavens, meteors falling. When the seventh seal is sounded, it opens up this second series of sevens which are trumpets. You can read about that first trumpet beginning in Revelation 8:7 and following.

Each of these is a judgment on a third of the earth. Let’s read verse 7 just to illustrate,

“The first angel sounded and hail and fire mingled with blood and they were thrown to the earth and a third of the trees were burned up and all green grass was burned up.”

How in the world do you get around that? You see, it is very literal. It says something is going to happen. It is going to be a terrible judgment on the third of the earth. So, it goes on to all the other judgments that are mentioned. They form interesting studies if you are studying the Book of Revelation.

Finally, you come to the sixth trumpet, which I think is very, very interesting in Revelation 9:13.

“The sixth angel sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

Four angels bound? Angels are not bound. These are demons. They are Satan’s emissaries, but they apparently have been rendered inactive until this point. Now, they are released. The four angels that had prepared for the hour and a day and a month and a year. In other words, for this specific time were released to kill a third of mankind. You do not have to be an astute mathematician to realize if you take out 25% of the world’s population in the fourth seal then you come to the sixth seal (ignoring all the bloodshed and destruction in between) and take off a third of the remainder, you are down to 50%, aren’t you? Half the world has been destroyed!

Now, they tell us the Church is going to go through this. Is the Church going to go through it? Well, that is not what the Bible teaches. You see in the first place these judgments are not the kind of judgments that just single out unsaved people—when you have famine, war, pestilence and hear warfare.

He goes on to describe the army of 200 million horsemen, apparently people from the Orient that are going to participate in the Battle of Armageddon, and a third of the world is destroyed. You see how this is not just for unsaved people?

In fact, in the Tribulation time, to be a Christian—and there will be many who do come to Christ—to be a Christian you are more apt to be killed than a non-Christian. You see, in the first place you will be exposed to the great catastrophes that cover most of the unsaved. Now, there are a few cases where the unsaved are singled out for special things, but for the most part these judgments are universal. When war hits, it does not just hit non-Christians, you see. When pestilence hits, it does not just single out the unsaved. There is a difficulty here because they are subject to all the ills of the unsaved. Then, on top of that the world ruler is demanding that they worship him or they would be killed. Apparently, thousands of people will be beheaded. That is what we are told is the method of execution because they will not bow to this world ruler and denounce him as their god.

So, the possibility of a Christian getting through this period instead of being obvious—as it is to be post-Tribulationalists, that somehow God is going to protect us—actually has absolutely no evidence for it. You see, sometimes it is God’s will for people to be protected and sometimes it is not. We have had thousands, multiplied thousands, of Christian martyrs in the 20th century. If truth were known, there are probably more martyrs to the Christian faith in our 20th center than in the 19 centuries that preceded. There has been wholesale destruction.

In North Korea they went down the Church roles and killed all the men they could lay their hands on. The same thing is true in Vietnam and other countries. They just slaughtered the Christian population and this has been the characteristic of our 20th century. Sometimes God protects them and sometimes He does not. We have to face the fact that it does not teach that He protects.

The evidence is found back in Chapter 7 where we have the record of the 144,000 of Israel being redeemed. In the opening verses, verses 1-8, God puts a seal on 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes – 144,000 Israelites. The purpose of the seal is to protect them through the Great Tribulation.

You go on to Chapter 14. There they are intact at the end of the Tribulation. God can preserve if He wants to. Then, here in Revelation 7:9, it goes on and John has a vision of Heaven. And it says,

“After these things I looked and, behold, a great multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, people and nations standing before the throne, before the Lamb, clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne of the Lamb.”

Then, the question is asked, “who are these people?” Verse 13,

“One of the elders answered and said to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from?” I said, “Sir, I do not know. You know.” He said to me, “These are the ones who came out of the Great Tribulation, washed their robes, made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of our God and serve Him day and night in His temple.”

You see, who are these people? These are people who are unsaved at the time of the Rapture—so they were not raptured. After the Rapture, they came to Christ apparently by the thousands. I believe the Rapture itself is going to result in a lot of people coming to Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. There will be many people saved. Then, when this world ruler takes over and in the judgments that precede it, there are going to be many of these people killed. Here we have the record that the number of these martyred dead in the Great Tribulation is beyond number from every nation, tribe, people and tongue. In other words, does this teach that they are preserved? No, it does not. Probably the majority of those who come to Christ in the time of the end are going to be martyred. This is an awful time of judgment and God permits it.

Let’s get perspective on this. From our point of view, martyrdom is terrible, but you know the people killed go to Heaven. In fact, in Revelation 14, it says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth.” It is much better to be dead and go to Heaven than to endure the terrible trials and troubles of that tribulation time. So, let’s not worry about it. God is still on the throne, but He takes some of His people home, as He did Paul after a life of faithful service. It was His will for them to be martyred and they were.

This knocks out this whole idea that the Church is going to go through the Tribulation unscathed. It is simply does not teach it. In fact, the word “Church” is never used of those in the Tribulation. They are called “saints” which applies to all the ones saved, regardless of dispensation. It is never a reference to the Church as the body and bride of Christ. They are just not here because they are in Heaven.

When you look for evidence in the Book of Revelation, it is simply not there. You will find that different post-Tribulationists have ideas. Someone they will put it way back in Chapter 6 because it says, “the wrath of God is beginning there” and they are trying to keep them out of the wrath of God.

Some find it in one of the trumpet judgments perhaps, and they say that that is when the Rapture occurs. It is not there. Then, you come to Chapter 16 and here we have a real stumbling block because this is so obviously the wrath of God. The seven vials or bowls of the wrath of God that are poured out in Chapter 16.

One of the recent innovations in prophecy, that I believe is a deviation from the truth, is the so-called Pre-wrath Rapture. In other words, they argue that no, we are not going to go through wrath. We are going to be raptured before the wrath. Of course, I believe that part. Then, they say the wrath of God does not come down until Chapter 16. Wait a minute! What does it say back in Chapter 6? Well, a fourth of the world is destroyed. Doesn’t that sound like the wrath of God? Then, later on in that same chapter, Chapter 6, it says that “the unsaved say 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.” You see, that is way back in Chapter 6 where I think the Great Tribulation begins. So, you see it simply is not true that the wrath starts in Chapter 16.

It so happens that the book that extols this that was published recently was sent to me in manuscript form by Thomas Nelson, the publisher, and asked my opinion. I said it was a new view that no one else has offered and I suppose it will have a sale and it would probably be going out of existence like a lot of the other books have. They went ahead and published it and it has helped them because of the wealthy man who happened to share this position bought 25,000 copies to give it away and he gave them away. Of course, this has created a lot of reading of this. They said my, this must be it. This is the Pre-wrath Rapture. It is not what the Book of Revelation or the Bible teaches. You do not have to go through the sixth seal and the seventh seal and the seven trumpets and then be raptured. Obviously, the Rapture does not occur then, well perhaps the world has been destroyed already including half the Church.

The idea that the Church is going to go through unscathed simply is not there. It is very interesting to read this book because he just ignores, absolutely ignores every passage that deals with the wrath before Chapter 16 as if it is not there. That is not the way you prove a doctrine. You have to take the scriptures and examine them.

Now, take a look at these bowl judgments. The difference between this and the trumpets is they are very similar except that the trumpet judgments had to do with one-third of the world. The bowl judgments had to do with the whole world. Our time is about gone here I see, but let’s skip down to what I believe to be the final blow in Revelation 16:17.

The seventh angel pours out his bowl of wrath upon the world. It says in verse 18 that there were noises and thunders and lightnings and there was a great earthquake, so mighty and great an earthquake that has not occurred since men were on earth. The great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. What does that say? Well, some think the great city is Jerusalem because it is referred to as the great city. I personally think it is Babylon. It is going to be destroyed as brought out in Chapter 18.

Then the cities of the Gentiles, the nations, fall. Just imagine our great cities with their skyscrapers just leveled by this awful worldwide earthquake. It tells us that every island fled away. The whole world is in convulsions. Mountains were not found. This is pretty drastic, isn’t it? If you were trying to write a secular book, a fiction book, and tried to describe a great disaster you would have trouble beating this!

Finally in verse 21 it says, “A great hail from Heaven fell upon them. Each hailstone about the weight of a talent or a weight of a hundred pounds.” These huge blocks of ice beat up the earth and whatever is left after the earthquake is now reduced to rubble by the this terrible hailstorm. Do you think going through this period and being raptured at the Second Coming of Christ is a blessed hope? I personally do not think so.

If he had written the Thessalonians when they were grieving over their loved ones and wondering when they would see them he would say now, “Cheer up, you are going to be raptured. Now, of course you have to go through the Great Tribulation first. Nine out of ten of you will probably be killed. It is going to be an awful time of trouble and it is down the road about seven years, but cheer up. If you are still alive, you will be raptured.” The blessed hope. Comfort one another with these words. Why it is just ridiculous, isn’t it? Yet, that is what they are trying to teach us. The only way they can get around it is by saying this does not actually happen, or by trying to get the Rapture before Chapter 16.

Conclusion

I will pick it up here again tomorrow because I want to turn to the Second Coming of Christ. Again , I want you to see how it does not teach a post-Tribulational Rapture. My purpose in this is not to be negative, not to argue against people, but I want you to see that the Bible teaches that Christ could come any day and that that is the truth you and I should be excited about it and doing something about. That is my point of view.

Shall we pray.

Our Father, how wonderful to have this prospect before us that Christ is coming. Perhaps today. Lord, as we try to put together the Scriptures that teach us, we believe that You intended us to be looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of Christ as a constant day-by-day expectation. Grant that this may be true of us and we not be deviated from this by false views or wrong views of Scripture that tell us that the Rapture cannot occur this soon, that it has to go down the road somewhere else, but rather (help us understand) that what He taught the Thessalonians is what He is teaching us. It should be a comfort to us, a blessing as our loved ones go to Heaven. Our time of separation may be short and we may find ourselves one of these days, almost before we realize it, on our way up to meet the Savior and to be forever with the Lord.

Lord, if there is one here today who has not taken the initial step of a personal faith in Jesus Christ as the one who died on the cross and rose again, we pray that that one may not leave these grounds without trusting Christ, taking Him as their personal Savior. For that reason, being ready when the Lord comes, to be included in that glad number and will be caught up to Heaven. For we ask in Christ’s name, amen.”

Topics:

“Reclaiming the Christian Mind”: This is a two to three hour seminar designed for a Friday night or Saturday morning. The purpose of this lesson is to convince the church of the vital role the intellectual life plays in the Christian’s worldview. We will discuss how, when, and why the church lost the intellectual effectiveness in the culture and how we are to reclaim our place in the marketplace of ideas.

“Gaining Theological Integrity”: This is a five hour seminar designed for Friday night (7pm-9pm) and Saturday morning (9am-12pm). The purpose here is to walk people through essential elements of thinking theologically. In essence, it is a mini version of The Theology Program’s Introduction to Theology course offered through bible.org. We will cover topics such as “Who is a Theologian,” “What is the Theological Process,” “Postmodernism,” and “How does a Christian come to know truth?”

Two-day Courses: This is a ten hour presentation of an entire course of The Theology Program. This would take place on Friday night (7pm-9pm) and all day Saturday (8am-5pm). Any of the courses can be chosen, but it is suggested that you follow in the order suggested by the course chart. Churches may want to book two or three seminars per year and complete the entire program in two or three years.

Individual 2 hour Seminars:

Understanding Worldviews: This session will introduce the audience to the vital issue of worldviews. Emphasis will be made on the distinction between a Christian theistic worldview as compared to naturalism (atheism), deism, pantheism, polytheism, and others. We test each worldview to see if it can stand up to the scrutiny of logic and practicality. The conclusion: the biblical worldview is the only true contender for truth.

Engaging Postmoderns: How do we represent Christ to a world that has labeled Christianity as arrogant, exclusive, and irrelevant? What do Christians do when the culture is denying the very existence of truth? Our culture is undergoing a paradigm shift in the way people think that rivals the Enlightenment and the most people are either completely unaware or just don't know how to respond. Do we bury our head in the sand or do we engage this culture for Christ? This seminar is devoted to informing people of the promises and perils of postmodernism, giving them basic principles on how to respond to this emerging culture. 

Evidences for Inspiration: How can we know that the Scriptures alone are inspired? What about other religions? Don't they have books that claim to be inspired? Is there any way to verify that God wrote the Bible? Important questions that most Christians are not prepared to answer. Most would just give an honest but insufficient answer, "I believe because the Holy Spirit convicts me to believe." Upon completion of this seminar, the listener will have been exposed to a strong logical defense for the evangelical understanding that the Christian Scriptures alone are the word of God.

A Theology of the Sexes: Can women teach? Can women preach? Can a woman hold the office of pastor? Or are they to stay silent in the churches? How about the home? What is the role of each sex? There are not many issues in contemporary church settings that are more intensely debated than the role of men and women in the church. These issues will be looked at with a balanced perspective, understanding that there are good scholars on both sides of the debate who strongly disagree. By the end of this session, listeners should understand why each side believes the way they do. They should also have a greater appreciation for the complementary diversity that God created men and women with. This presentation is confessingly complementarian, believing that only a complementarian worldview accurately reflects the biblical picture and give practical hope for a balanced home and society.

How we got the Bible: How do we know that the Bible that we have is the same as when it was originally written? Did the scribes ever make mistakes in copying the text? If so, can we really trust the Bible? What about the canon of Scripture? How do we know we have the right books? What about the Apocrypha? Upon completion of this lesson, the listener will have a better understanding of the process and history of biblical transmission and canonization. They should leave with a great confidence that the Bible we have today is completely trustworthy, being handed to us through the providential care of God.

For more information and cost or to book a seminar, call 469-252-5336 or email us at [email protected]

Introduction

A New York columnist, Anthony Lewis, analyzed the 1980 election and concluded that the primary issue in the campaign was not inflation, or foreign policy or unemployment, but the role of religion in American politics. Dr. Haddon Robinson, president of the Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver has written,

Fundamentalists who preached during the sixties that God and Caesar were to be kept apart, have had a turn of mind about what the Bible teaches. Political involvement now smacks of a religious crusade. While professing that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” Christians do a creditable job of capturing the media, lobbying, selecting candidates, supporting constitutional amendments.³¹

Dr. Robinson goes on to warn us that we may be baptizing political philosophies into the faith unconverted.

The fact is that there has probably been no time in the recent history of our nation when evangelical Christians have been as interested and involved in the political process. At the same time there has been growing pressure on the part of many unbelievers to keep Christians out of politics, under the banner of “separation of church and state.”

While the Book of Proverbs is often consulted by Christians for words of wisdom on various matters, few tend to turn there for guidance concerning our political involvement. I believe there is good reason, however, why Proverbs is especially pertinent to the subject of politics.

Dr. Bruce Waltke, formerly head of the Old Testament department of Dallas Theological Seminary, taught the Book of Proverbs to his three children. His approach was that this book, written mostly by king Solomon, was intended to prepare his son to rule in his place over Israel. Proverbs, then, was written to princes. Here was a king not only instructing his “son” about wisdom in general, but also about wisdom as it related to governing a nation. If Christians are to “reign with Christ” (2 Tim. 2:12), should we not also prepare ourselves to reign in a righteous way?

Americans need not wait until the “sweet bye and bye” to reign, however. In the days of David and Solomon authority to govern Israel was highly centralized, and it was virtually the king alone who determined the course of the nation, established the standards for men’s conduct, and saw to it that the law was enforced. Such is the case today in many parts of the world. In America, however, government is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” If in Proverbs (and the New Testament as well, cf. Rom. 13:1-7) the king was responsible before God to punish evildoers and to reward the righteous, it is every American who bears this responsibility in our nation. Our government is representative and so we elect officials who act in our behalf. While some Christians may be called of God to run for political office, we all have the right and the responsibility to help elect those who will govern righteously. When our officials fail to keep this trust we have an obligation to seek to change their minds or to work to replace them. Since it is we, then, who are responsible to rule, let us look carefully at the teaching of Proverbs on the relationship between righteousness and ruling.

Good Government is Godly Government

Good government is also a godly government according to Proverbs. There are three principles which outline the relationship between godliness and government in the Book of Proverbs. Let us briefly consider them.

1. RIGHTEOUSNESS IN GOVERNMENT IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE GOVERNED.

There are those who think that a government which seeks to uphold righteousness is only out to make life miserable for them. The Moral Majority, for example, is viewed as a group of Christian kill-joys who are out to make life as miserable for others as they have made it for themselves. Proverbs assumes that the purpose of government is to promote righteousness and that righteousness is for the good of the people.

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is glad shouting. By the blessing of the righteous a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down (11:10-11).

Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people (14:34).

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan (29:2).

The point of these Proverbs is that righteousness is not only right, it is best. When righteousness is promoted and preserved by government, the people are blessed. When government fails to achieve its intended purpose, the people suffer.

2. RIGHTEOUSNESS IN GOVERNMENT IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Since the purpose of government is to uphold righteousness, God requires rulers to be righteous (cf. 16:2). When those who govern are righteous, their administration will be successful and stable.

Loyalty and truth preserve the king, And he upholds his throne by righteousness (20:28).

By the transgression of a land many are its princes, But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures (28:2).

A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, But he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days (28:16).

If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked (29:12).

If the king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever (29:14).

3. GOOD GOVERNMENT IS DEPENDENT UPON DIVINE ENABLEMENT.

Government deals with matters which are humanly impossible to produce. Righteousness, justice and equity are all God-given. A government which would promote righteousness must seek divine enablement.

For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course (2:6-9).

‘By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly” (8:15-16).

Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all things (28:5).

While there may be wisdom in separating certain religious functions from political office, there is no way that we can separate righteousness from political office. If the purpose of government is to promote righteousness and to punish evil, how can we avoid defining righteousness and defending it as a part of our political obligation before God?

Characteristics
of a Righteous Ruler

The outworking of righteousness in government is not left in vague and academic terms. Proverbs spells out what a godly government will do.

1. THE RIGHTEOUS RULER IS CHARACTERIZED BY EQUITY ANP IMPARTIALITY.

Those in positions of power sometimes thwart justice by showing deference to certain individuals in the community. Proverbs condemns such partiality and insists upon justice and equity.

A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice (17:23).

To show partiality to the wicked is not good, Nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment (18:5).

These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good. He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him; but to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, and good blessing will come upon them (24:23-25).

It is not for kings, 0 Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink. Lest they drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted (31:4-5).

2. THE RIGHTEOUS RULER IS CONCERNED FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE POOR, THE AFFLICTED, AND THE HELPLESS.

It is possible for the king to abuse his power and to take advantage of the helpless. Ahab and Jezebel, for example, murdered Naboth in order to obtain his field (1 Kings 21). Proverbs recognizes this as one of the dangers facing those in power and urges those who reign not to abuse their power, but to use it to protect the powerless.

A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, But he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days (28:16).

If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever (29:14).

Open your mouth for the dumb, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy (31:8-9).

3. THE RIGHTEOUS RULER IS A SEEKER OF TRUTH.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter (25:2).

Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all things (28:5).

4. THE RIGHTEOUS RULER SEEKS TO EXPOSE EVILDOERS, TO PUNISH THEM, AND TO PROTECT OTHERS FROM THEIR WICKEDNESS.

Righteousness is often evidenced by one’s response to wickedness. The righteous ruler will not tolerate sin. He will not practice wickedness, nor will he tolerate its practice or presence. He seeks it out and deals justly with it.

A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes (20:8).

But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them (24:25).

Take away the wicked from before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness (25:5).

Like a trampled spring and a polluted well Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked (25:26).

Principles of Punishment in Proverbs

There are very clear principles in Proverbs which should govern the punishment of the wicked. Because of great disagreement over issues such as capital punishment I feel it is necessary for us to carefully consider them.

1. PUNISHING THE CRIMINAL IS BENEFICIAL TO HIM (OR HER).

No one should enjoy watching others suffer, nor should we delight in taking part in their punishment. Many think that the answer to crime is education. Others believe that going easy on the offender will be more effective than severe punishment. Proverbs warns us that if we take a soft position on sin we do a disservice to the criminal by encouraging him to repeat his crime.

A man of great anger shall bear the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again (19:19).

The number of repeat offenses is astronomical in our nation. The reason is that we have not been tough enough on first offenders. Punishment for serious crimes will serve as a warning to offenders. Soft treatment simply asks for more crime. When there is no punishment, crime does pay for the criminal.

2. PUNISHING THE CRIMINAL IS BENEFICIAL TO OTHERS.

Proverbs does not teach that severe punishment will always reform the criminal. We know that it will not. But in the case of capital punishment at least it will keep the murderer from doing it again. But capital punishment (as with all severe punishment) does benefit others in that it serves to instruct those who are teachable that crime does not pay.

‘When the scoffer is punished, the naive becomes wise; But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge (21:11).

From our previous study of the fool we learned that the scoffer will never learn. Striking the scoffer teaches the scoffer nothing, but it is very instructive to the simple (19:25). Capital punishment may not have any impact on the hardened criminal, but it will at least rid society of the murderer. It will also have the beneficial secondary result of serving to instruct those who have no desire to face the same consequences for sin. The punishment of the evildoer, according to Proverbs, is a deterrent to crime. Capital punishment, it seems to me, is especially needed in cases where men will be deterred by nothing but death. And when such scoffers are dealt with, the simple will learn a valuable lesson.

3. PUNISHING THOSE GUILTY OF MURDER IS OUR DUTY. We do not have any option as to how to handle murderers. Severe punishment is our duty. We must be harsh with them.

A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him (28:17).

It is first necessary to point out the obvious fact that while the death penalty was to be carried out on some who committed murder, Proverbs assumes that not all murderers would be executed. The case in point seems to be one of those exceptions. But we are instructed not to ease in any way the consequences of their sin.

Recently there was a special program on TV pertaining to capital punishment. It was occasioned by the execution of a murderer. The outcry was predictable. No one spoke up for the rights of the one who was killed. The focus was entirely on the pain inflicted on the criminal. Proverbs teaches us that this pain is deserved and that we dare not seek to reduce it. One man who was found guilty of murder was freed because of “temporary insanity.” As I understand it, this might well be identical with the “great anger” of Proverbs 19:19. In that instance the one who committed a crime in “great anger” was to face the full penalty so the crime would not recur. This seems to be directly applicable to much that is tolerated today in the name of “temporary insanity.”

How to Have Political Influence

I was very distressed to hear a prominent Christian leader say on the radio that if Christians are to gain a hearing we must beat the politicians at their own game. In the context of his statement I understood him to imply that the only way Christians can have an impact on their government is to adopt the methodology of the secular political movements of our day. I find such thinking troublesome. Proverbs has much to teach us about finding favor with the king, the equivalent in our world to having political influence on those in the government.

1. THOSE WHO HAVE INFLUENCE ON GOVERNMENT ARE THOSE WHO ARE WISE.

The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely, but his anger is toward him who acts shamefully (14:35).

2. THOSE WHO STAND BEFORE KINGS ARE THOSE WHO ARE PROFICIENT AT WHAT THEY DO.

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men (22:29).

3. THOSE WHO HAVE INFLUENCE ON GOVERNMENT ARE THOSE WHO HAVE LEARNED TO BE TACTFUL, GRACIOUS, AND PATIENT.

Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and he who speaks right is loved (16:13).

He who loves purity of heart and whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend (22:11).

By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue breaks the bone (25:15).

4. THOSE WHO HAVE INFLUENCE ARE CAREFUL NOT TO ASSOCIATE THEMSELVES WITH RADICALS, WHOSE ONLY DESIRE IS TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE BY REVOLUTIONY MEANS.

My son, fear the Lord, and the king; do not associate with those who are given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that comes from both of them (24:21-22).

5. THOSE WHO HAVE INFLUENCE DO NOT SEEK THE POWER OR THE PLEASURES OF THOSE THEY SEEK TO INFLUENCE.

When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat, If you are a man of great appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for it is deceptive food (23:1-3).

Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men; For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen (25:6-7).

It is my personal opinion that Christians have frequently failed to win a hearing from those who are in places of political power because we have failed to follow these simple principles. We have often evidenced a lack of wisdom, sometimes motivated by a statement or claim that was later proven to be factually erroneous. We have sometimes been ignored or disregarded, not because we were Christians, but because we were not competent or civil. In such cases our words have not been gracious and appropriate, but stinging and critical, even caustic. We may refer to politicians as liberals, humanists, or bureaucrats. Sometimes it has seemed to those in power that Christian spokesmen were simply seeking to establish their own power base.

Daniel and his three Hebrew companions were very influential in government, even though they were young and political prisoners. They were chosen to hold positions of power because they were skillful and wise (Dan. 1:17,19-20). Likewise, Pharaoh chose Joseph to be second in command in spite of the fact that he was a Hebrew, for whom the Egyptians had little regard (Gen. 43:32; 46:34), because he manifested greater wisdom than any other man in Egypt (Gen. 41:39).

Do we wish to have a hearing? Let us strive to be wise. Let us be so skilled that those in government seek the contribution we can make. And let us be very prudent in the way we speak and act before men in positions of political power. Let us not be disregarded for being foolish, rather than for being Christians.

Conclusion

Let me attempt to sum up the teaching of Proverbs on the subject of politics with a few principles.

1. GODLINESS CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM GOVERNMENT. The purpose of government is to promote and protect righteousness, and to punish the wicked. While the framers of our constitution were wise to guard against a state church, recent efforts to ban everything related to religious faith from government under the banner of separation of church and state go too far. They go far beyond the Scriptures and even beyond the intent of the framers of the constitution. In order to be good, government must be godly; and it must promote godliness.

2. GODLY PEOPLE SHOULD NOT SHUN THEIR RESPONSIBILITIY AS A PART OF GOVERNMENT. While Proverbs shows a definite relationship between godliness and government, many American evangelicals have tended to equate politics and the American political process with something unclean. I know of godly men and women who have said, “I vote on my knees.” That sounds good, and I do not doubt the sincerity of those who hold the view that the Christian is to stand aloof from government. I do, however, question the biblical basis for such a position. In the Old Testament it was the ideal that godly men should lead in government, men like David and Solomon. In America we who are citizens have the responsibility to take part in the process of electing men and women who will make and enforce the laws of our land. By our very laws Americans are the government. By God’s laws, as reflected in the Book of Proverbs, we are responsible before God to govern in a godly way. Government is a responsibility Christians dare not take lightly.

I should also add that in this area of life, as in all others, the nature and extent of our involvement is a matter of gift and calling. I believe that God has called certain Christians to devote their lives to direct involvement in government.

Because of the complexity of government, there are some who have been raised up to keep other Christians informed on legislation before congress and areas that need particular prayer and action. But all of us have a part to play, I believe, in the political process. Let us play that part well, to the glory of God and for the good of our fellow man.

3. EVEN THOUGH SOLOMON “WROTE THE BOOK” ON THE SUBJECT OF GODLINESS IN GOVERNMENT HE FAILED TO HEED HIS OWN COUNSEL. We know that most of what was written in Proverbs on the subject of politics (the king) was written by Solomon.

Let us find a word of warning from the record of 1 Kings chapters 11 and 12. In his later years Solomon forsook the law of God, married foreign wives, and built altars to heathen gods on which he offered sacrifices (11:1-8). God had appeared to Solomon twice to warn him of this great evil (11:9-10), and yet Solomon failed to take heed. Solomon’s rule was heavy-handed (12:4), and his son Rehoboam purposed to be even more severe (12:6-15). When Solomon learned that God intended to raise up Jeroboam to lead ten of the tribes of Israel, he, much like Saul before him, attempted to put this challenger to death (compare 1 Sam. 18 with 1 Kings 11:40).

I believe there is a lesson to be learned here. Many who have written books on various subjects of the Christian life have later failed to heed their own counsel. Now I hasten to say that their words may have been correct, as were Solomon’s. But it is not enough simply to know the truth; we must practice the truth. Knowledge without obedience is of little value.

4. POLITICAL POWER, LIKE ALL OTHER FORMS OF POWER, IS A MATTER OF STEWARDSHIP AND SERVANTHOOD. Any power may be prostituted to our own advantage. God gives power as a stewardship, and when it is abused, He may take it away, just as he removed power from Solomon in the person of his son, Rehoboam (1 Kings 11:9-11). We have an interesting word of counsel given by Solomon’s elderly and wise advisors to his son, Rehoboam:

Then they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people today, will serve them, grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever” (1 Kings 12:7).

Rehoboam had not learned that leadership is really servanthood, a lesson which our Lord needed to teach His disciples centuries later (cf. Mark 10:35-45). Power, political or otherwise, is given by God so that we may serve others. When we forget this we are in danger of being set aside.

5. GOD IS MORE CONCERNED WITH THE FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT THAN WITH ITS FORM. Sometimes I have the feeling that we Americans who are evangelicals think that God looks with some kind of special favor on our form of government. Personally, I do not know of any better form of government. I surely would not prefer the governmental structures to which most of the world’s population are subject. But let us learn from Proverbs that while form is important, it is the function of government which is primary. It is possible to have the right form, but the wrong function. Government is to function so that the righteous are rewarded, the evil are punished, and the rights of the helpless are protected. Unfortunately (in my opinion) evangelical Christians have seemingly been more interested in the economic or political philosophy of an administration, while it has been the unsaved who have placed more emphasis on justice and the care of the helpless. Function is more important than form in the Book of Proverbs.

6. THERE IS ONLY ONE IDEAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT--THAT GOVERNMENT WHICH OUR LORD WILL ESTABLISH OVER THE EARTH WHEN HE RETURNS TO RULE IN RIGHTEOUNESS. Proverbs would remind us that whatever form of government we may live under, God is still in control of it and of history.

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes (21:1).

God is in control, no matter what form a government may take. Whatever the form of government, it will be imperfect, both because it seeks to rule over men who are sinners and because the men who rule are sinners. The only perfect system of government is that which our Lord Himself will establish when He returns to rule over the earth in perfect righteousness. But I must warn you that He is not only coming as Savior, but as Judge of the earth. If you have not yet come to trust in Him by faith, I urge you to submit to the King who is coming soon, Jesus Christ. He died for your sins on the cross of Calvary. By trusting in Him, you may have eternal life, and, indeed, you may reign with Him forever. What a day that will be!

31 Focal Point, Summer, 1980.

September 4, 2016

It will be interesting to see what happens to the American church when persecution intensifies. I did not say, “if persecution intensifies,” but, “when.” Persecution for our faith has already begun in minor ways (compared to how those in other countries suffer), but unless there is widespread revival in America, persecution of Christians will grow stronger in the next few years. My aim in this message is to help you prepare for it.

We have already seen businesses fined and forced out of business because of alleged discrimination against the LGBT agenda. There is pressure both from the government and from politically correct corporations to force everyone to allow men who identify themselves as women to use women’s restrooms and shower facilities. A graduate student working on a counseling degree was forced out of her degree program because she said that she would refer homosexual clients to other counselors because of her religious beliefs. At least two states have passed laws that prohibit licensed counselors from trying to help homosexual clients become heterosexual. And, campus ministries have been forced off campus because they refuse to accept homosexuals as leaders of their groups.

I’m not a prophet, but in the future, churches and other ministries that hold to the biblical view on homosexuality will lose their tax exempt status. Military chaplains may be forced to perform homosexual weddings or lose their commissions. Public school teachers may be fired for refusing to teach “diversity” tolerance to their students. Christian colleges and seminaries may lose their accreditation if they do not endorse LGBT “rights.” Those employed by secular universities may lose their jobs if they refuse to embrace the LGBT agenda. Employees of secular companies may be fired for believing what the Bible says about homosexual sin.

At their recent convention in Philadelphia, the Democratic Party and their presidential candidate endorsed abortion rights, which Obamacare is trying to force on businesses and religious institutions. Concerning homosexuality, they said, “[We] applaud last year’s decision by the Supreme Court that recognized that LGBT people—like other Americans—have the right to marry the person they love.” Already, pastors in Sweden, England, and Canada have been arrested for preaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. It is likely that America will soon do the same.

So, we are headed for increasing persecution if we faithfully hold to what the Bible teaches about these moral issues. The question is, “Will you persevere and hold to the Bible’s teachings under persecution, or will you capitulate to our godless culture to avoid persecution?”

In our text, we see the new believers in Thessalonica holding up through persecution that probably was much stronger than anything we will experience in the next decade or two. Their perseverance was another evidence that God had chosen them for salvation (1 Thess. 1:4). In 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6, Paul proclaimed the gospel with boldness. In verses 7-12, he lived the gospel with gentleness. As a result (in verses 13-16), the Thessalonians received the gospel as God’s word with perseverance in spite of much persecution.

To persevere under persecution, believe God’s Word, imitate other persevering believers, and trust that God will judge those who persecute His people.

1. To persevere under persecution, believe God’s word.

1 Thess. 1:13: “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

Note two things:

A. Believing God’s word means receiving the gospel as God’s word.

Scholars are divided over whether “for this reason” applies to what Paul has just said or to what he is about to say. It may mean, “Because God has saved you through the gospel and called you into His kingdom and glory, we constantly give thanks.” Or, it could mean, “Because you received the word we preached to you not as our word, but as God’s word, we constantly give thanks.” But either way, Paul was constantly thankful to God because the Thessalonians had responded favorably toward the gospel, which he here calls, “the word of God.” Paul has repeatedly referred to his message as “the gospel of God” (1 Thess. 2:3, 8, 9), emphasizing that it is good news that comes to us from God, not from any human source. But he also has referred to it as “the word” or “the word of the Lord” (1 Thess. 1:6, 8). The gospel is a verbal message that comes to us from God.

As a verbal message, the gospel has content. It centers on the person of Jesus, who is “the Word.” As John (1:1, 14, 18) writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth…. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” Or, as Hebrews 1:1-2 begins, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” All of God’s word, from Genesis to Revelation, centers on Jesus Christ, the Word of God in human flesh (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39, 46).

In Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned, God made them clothing from an animal skin to cover their nakedness. It was a picture of God providing a blood sacrifice to cover our sins. The Bible says that we all sinned in Adam and that we all have added sins of our own (Rom. 3:10-23; 5:12-21). Thus we all stand guilty before God, unable to pay the debt for our sins. In mercy, He sent His own eternal Son to take on human flesh and die in our place. He offers a full pardon and eternal life as a gift to all who put their trust in Jesus Christ as their sin-bearer. As Paul wrote (Rom. 6:23), “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Acts 17:2-3 tells us that when Paul was in Thessalonica, he went to the synagogue and “reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’” The Jews already accepted the Scriptures as God’s word, so Paul used it to reason with them. When he went to Athens and preached to the philosophers on Mars Hill, he used a different approach, citing some of their poets and philosophers, but he argued towards the same point about Jesus (Acts 17:30-31), “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

When you’re sharing the gospel with those who do not believe that the Bible is God’s word, my advice is not to try to prove that point. Rather, challenge the person to read the Gospel of John with the sincere prayer, “God, if this is Your word of truth, open my eyes to see and I will believe in Jesus.” God’s word is powerful in itself and doesn’t need our defense. God spoke the universe into existence by His word (Genesis 1). Isaiah 55:11 promises that God’s word will not return to Him empty, without accomplishing His purpose. So don’t get into debates with unbelievers about whether or not the Bible is God’s inspired word. Just challenge them to read it, asking God to show them the truth. So the starting place for persevering through persecution is to believe that the gospel is not the word of men, but rather the word of God.

B. Believing God’s word requires letting the word do its powerful work in you.

Paul adds that the word of God “also performs its work in you who believe.” “Believe” is in the present tense, indicating the ongoing process of belief (Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians [Eerdmans], pp. 88-89). For God to give us the strength to endure persecution, we must continue to believe in the gospel and in all of God’s revealed word of truth.

If you truly believe that God’s word is not the word of men, but rather, the word of God, you will study it diligently to learn what it means and how it applies to every area of your life. If you’re going through trials, the word gives real life stories of men and women of faith who endured trials and persecution, so that we can imitate their faith (Heb. 11:1-40; 12:1-3; 13:7). A major theme in 1 Peter is how to endure persecution for your faith. Many other Scriptures give specific teaching about enduring difficult trials.

But these examples and the explicit teaching of God’s word can only perform their work in you if you are in the word. Don’t just pick out a few favorite verses or, worse, open your Bible and point to a verse at random. Rather, read it consecutively, with a good study Bible for help, praying for understanding. God’s word is powerful because it exposes not only your behavior, but also your motives. As Hebrews 4:12-13 declares, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

If that sounds threatening, keep in mind that God uses His word to heal us, not to harm us. If a doctor gives a superficial diagnosis and does not probe to find the source of your illness, you won’t be healed and he’s not worth trusting. God wants us to be in His word so that it will expose the causes of our spiritual illness so that we can be healed. Persevering under persecution, which tests the reality of our faith, comes from believing God’s word.

2. To persevere under persecution, imitate other persevering believers.

1 Thess. 2:14: “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews ….” Sometimes when we suffer, whether it is a health problem, an emotional problem, a family conflict, or persecution, we tend to think that we’re the only one in the world with this problem. Even the godly prophet Elijah when he was under persecution complained to God that he was the only one left who followed the Lord (1 Kings 19:10).

Because of this tendency, Peter wrote to persecuted Christians (1 Pet. 4:12), “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” A few verses later, he added (1 Pet. 5:8-11),

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

It’s important in a time of suffering or persecution to know that you’re not alone. The same experiences of suffering are happening to your brethren who are in the world. And, as Peter reminds us, God is in charge. He is sovereign over our suffering.

As I said, the Bible has many stories of persecuted believers. The Psalms often describe a situation where the psalmist is being slandered or his life is in danger. But he rehearses God’s attributes and how God has been faithful to His saints in the past. By the end of the psalm, his perspective has changed to praise. Also, the prophets such as Jeremiah suffered because they told people what God wanted them to hear, not what the people wanted to hear. Jesus frequently told His disciples that they would face persecution for His name’s sake.

In addition to the Bible, read missions magazines like “Voice of the Martyrs,” which tell stories of persecuted believers. Read biographies of missionaries who suffered as they took the gospel to difficult places: Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, John and Betty Stam, John Paton, and others. To read of how Judson and his wife suffered in Burma puts my puny trials in perspective! As Hebrews 13:7 exhorts, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” To persevere under persecution, believe God’s Word and imitate other persevering believers.

3. To persevere under persecution, trust that God will judge those who persecute His people.

1 Thess. 2:14c-16: “The Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”

Paul’s strong words here against the Jews have led some to think that he didn’t write this, but it was inserted by a later scribe. But there is no manuscript evidence to support such a conclusion. Others accuse Paul of being anti-Semitic, but that’s ridiculous. If he was anti-Semitic, then so was Jesus (Matt. 21:43; 23:31-38), who pronounced judgment on the Jewish leaders and on the Jewish nation for their unbelief and sin. Paul even said that if he could, he would forfeit his own salvation so that his fellow Jews could have eternal life (Rom. 9:3-5)! And, wherever he preached the gospel, Paul always began with the Jews (Acts 13:5, 14, 46; 14:1; 17:1-2; Rom. 1:16). So Paul was not anti-Semitic.

But how then should we understand Paul’s vehement outburst here against the Jews? To understand, we have to realize that from the earliest days after his conversion, Paul had faced almost continual opposition from the Jews. They would have killed him while he was still in Damascus immediately after his conversion, but he narrowly escaped (Acts 9:23-25). When he first went to Jerusalem, they again tried to kill him, so that he had to flee to Tarsus (Acts 9:30-31). While he served the church in Antioch and then wherever he went, the Judaizers dogged his steps, trying to undermine his gospel (Acts 15:1-5; Galatians).

When Paul preached the gospel in Pisidian Antioch, the Jews opposed him and drove him and Barnabas out of that region (Acts 13:45-46, 50). At Iconium, the disbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles against those who had believed, attempting to stone Paul (Acts 14:1-2, 5). At Lystra, the Jews who had followed him from Antioch and Iconium, persuaded the Gentiles to stone Paul, whom God miraculously raised up (Acts 14:19-20). The same fierce opposition happened in Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth (Acts 17:5, 13; 18:4-6, 12-13).

Later, after Paul had expended much effort to raise and deliver a generous gift to help the suffering Jews in Israel, the Jews falsely accused him and would have killed him in the temple if the Roman soldiers had not rescued him. They then formed a plot to ambush Paul. When that failed, they tried to convict him before the Romans as a traitor (Acts 22-23). So Paul had quite a few reasons to indict the Jews, as he does here!

Obviously, Paul is making a generalization. There were many exceptions to Jewish unbelief, Paul himself being Exhibit A. He loved the Jews, but still he warns them of judgment. In our politically correct day, you can’t make a generalization about any group or you get labeled as homophobic, racist, or religiously bigoted (if you say something against Islam). But there are helpful generalizations and we should not shy away from making them because it’s not politically correct. Someone needs to point out that it is abnormal and a serious sin for a man to want to be a woman, or vice versa. It is sin against God’s created order for men to have sexual relationships with men and women with women (Rom. 1:26-27).

It is a fact of history that Islam has always conquered by the sword and then taken away freedom from other religions. This does not mean that all Muslim people are that way; but the Quran does teach jihad against all infidels. It teaches that men must keep their wives in subjection and even gives instructions on how to beat your wife properly if she is rebellious (Quran 4:34; 38:44; see www.thereligionofpeace.com). I don’t say any of this to stir up hatred or any violence toward anyone. We should treat all individuals with love and respect and should offer the gospel to all. But we should lovingly warn those who are not in submission to Jesus Christ that they are under God’s wrath and will come under eternal judgment if they do not repent and believe in Christ.

Not only the Jews, but also all of us are guilty of killing the Lord Jesus because of our sins. If someone goes farther and tries to hinder the gospel from going to the lost, they add to their guilt before God. Paul says (1 Thess. 2:16) that they “fill up the measure of their sins.” God used similar language when He told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for four hundred years (cf. also Matt. 23:32; Rom. 2:5). Then He added (Gen. 15:16), “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” God tolerated the horrible sins of the Canaanites (Amorites) for 400 years, but then when their sin was filled up, He ordered the Jews under Joshua to slaughter them all. If someone raises the slaughter of the Canaanites as a reason not to believe in such a God, you could point out to them that He has justly ordained the physical and eternal death of all unrepentant sinners, not just the Canaanites. As Jesus warned (Luke 13:3, 5), “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

But what does Paul mean when he states (1 Thess. 2:16), “But wrath has come upon them to the utmost”? He uses an aorist verb, which here may look at God’s wrath in its entirety as a certain event, even though the ultimate fulfillment of it was yet future. It would include the awful destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, as predicted by Jesus. It would extend to the almost 2,000-year hardening of the Jews (Rom. 11:25). It would include Hitler’s awful slaughter of six million Jews. And yet to be fulfilled is Zechariah 13:8, which predicts a time when two-thirds of the Jews will be cut off and perish, but one third will survive and believe in Jesus as their Messiah.

Conclusion

The lesson for persecuted believers is: Keep believing in the gospel. In spite of your suffering, know that nothing can separate you from God’s love (Rom. 8:31-39). Look at others who have faithfully suffered and died for the gospel and imitate their faith. Trust that God has a sovereign purpose for your persecution and that in His wise time, He will right every wrong and bring every wrongdoer to just punishment. None will escape (Rev. 20:11-15).

The lesson for those who do not believe the gospel is, “Repent and flee the wrath to come while you still have time!” In His mercy, God delays judgment. But He warns every sinner that His wrath is coming, when His enemies will cry out to the mountains and to the rocks (Rev. 6:16-17), “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Don’t be so foolish as to shrug off His warning!

Application Questions

1. Some claim that if you have enough faith, God will deliver you from all suffering. What verses would you use to refute this?
2. Why does God allow the righteous to suffer and the ungodly to prosper? What are the key Scriptures on this subject?
3. How can generalizations be helpful? What are their dangers? Why does Paul make this generalization (1 Thess. 2:15-16)?
4. Is America currently under God’s judgment? If so, is there anything we can do about it?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2016, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation