Hello and welcome to our program. We're in number four on the series of the Second Coming. Again, some more information concerning why Christians will not go through the Tribulation. In our last program, we were looking at the wrath and the vengeance that is mentioned during the tribulation period, the fierceness and the wrath of God. Well, we saw in our last program, the Bible says we should comfort one another with the things about the end time and Jesus coming back. There's no comfort in that wrath. Then it's called the blessed hope. There's no comfort there. What about the verses we saw that said we will escape all of that? we need to tune in our last broadcast if you did not hear that, and then it is not appointed, wrath is not appointed unto us, and one of the biggest reasons we know that we're not going to be in the tribulation period is the Bible says that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and that was written to the carnal Corinthians who were going to be at the judgment seat of Christ. They could not be at the judgment seat of Christ and going through the tribulation period at the same time. Today we're going to look at some Bible types that teach us that we will not go through the tribulation. Noah for one, the Bible says in Matthew 24, I'm reading in Matthew 24 beginning at verse 37, but as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. for as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away so shall also the coming of the son of man be now it says that noah entered into the ark he was saved from the judgment In 1 Peter 3, verse number 20, we read, The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. Now, we've read that it's going to be like that when Jesus comes back again. Jesus said, When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? No, not much. We're there again, where there's a lot of people professing the name of Jesus. We've got to wonder how many actually possess eternal life. We also have the example of Lot in Luke chapter 17. It says in verse 28, likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. The same day that Lot went out. There was no judgment until Lot was taken out. Verse 30, even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Now, Lot was saved from the judgment. We read in 2 Peter 2, verse number 7, and delivered just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. Well, someone might say, well, he didn't deliver just Lot. He delivered Lot, his wife, and their two daughters. Well, the word just there has been translated righteous 41 times. And so what it's saying is he delivered righteous Lot. That is, he was a believer, but he was vexed with a filthy conversation of the wicked. But it says here that he went out. He was spared. He did not face the judgment. now we've seen in the judgment seat of christ that is found in first corinthians chapter 3 verse number 15 the bible says if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire that's a picture a lot he certainly wasn't a very good example he was a very bad example of what a believer ought to be but the bible says he was a christian or at least he was a believer they weren't called christians until later on when we read that in the new testament the bible says in first john chapter two And verse number eight, it says, verse 28 rather, it says, and now little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. We need to be living for the Lord. He's coming back again soon. We should not be like Lot, we should not be like those who are, what the Bible says, saved yet so as by fire. Once again, it talks about receiving a full reward. We saw in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now, the Bible in 2 John 1 and 8 says, Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. We want to be living for the Lord, that when He comes back, we will not be ashamed of Him, and He will not be ashamed of us. Well then, as we consider the book of Revelation, the whole book, if you study it through and watch the timeline there, we see that there's no way that the Christian can be going through the Tribulation period. We read in Revelation 1, verse number 19, which is the key to the whole book, "...write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." The things which John had seen, that was obviously past tense. The things which are, that would be present tense for him. And the things which shall be hereafter, that would be future tense. All of the things that shall be hereafter are recorded in Revelation chapter 4 on through to the end of the chapter. The things which are represent the local church age, and we find that recorded in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3. Now there's seven churches there, the church at Ephesus, the church at Smyrna, at Pergamos, at Thyatira, at Sardis, at Philadelphia, and the church at Laodicea. you can go to your travel agent and actually book trips to where those seven churches were at Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, but they also represent seven periods of time, and if you study it through, and it's quite a long study, but it's an interesting one, it represents the seven periods of time in the last 2,000 years through the local church, age, and how these churches progressed, or in some cases, degressed. There are three doors mentioned in the book of Revelation. First of all, in Revelation 3 and 8, it says, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and has kept my word, and has not denied my name. Now, that was written to the church, actually to the pastor, but he was to pass the information on to the local church at Philadelphia. The time in church history that this represents is the time when Spurgeon and John Charles Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and men like that were preaching. They were preaching the same message as we are preaching. They're preaching from the same Bible, as long as you're preaching from the King James Bible and not some stupid translation. They were preaching from that, and yet the blessings of God, they were poured upon them. For these men, we could read Isaiah 44 and 1, which says, we have heard with our ears Oh God, our fathers have told us what great works thou didst in their day in the times of old. We're preaching the same messages, but we're not getting the blessings that they got. Now, why was that? Well, because they, let's read it again, he said, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." There's the secret right there. Well, when we get down to the Revelation chapter 3, we have the second door that is mentioned, and it says, Jesus said it, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me." Now that letter was written to the pastor at Laodicea, which he was to pass on to the people, and it represents the age in which we are living right now. And the Lord says, I'm outside, I'm outside. You got all your rock and roll music in there, you got your big bands, you got your blue lights flashing. He's out on the outside, the door is shut to him. He said, though, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Well, then we have another door mentioned in Revelation chapter 4 and verse number 1. It says, After this I looked, John said, and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was as it were a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. Well, this sounds a whole lot like what we've been reading about. First of all, it says the door was open in heaven, there was a voice and there was a trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15, 52 says concerning the rapture that it will be in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. It sounds a whole lot like what we read in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16 through 18, where we talk about a voice, and he said, come up hither here in verse 1 of chapter 4. Well, let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of god and the dead in christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the lord well he said in Verse number 1 of Revelation chapter 4, come up hither. Here we read in verse 17 of 1 Thessalonians 4, they were caught up together with them in the clouds. Verse 18 of that chapter says, wherefore comfort one another with these words. Well, we've seen that the Lord talks about three different doors here in the book of Revelation. He also talks about churches. Now, from Revelation chapter 2 to verse 1 on down through to Revelation chapter 3 to verse 14, you'll find the word church seven times. From Revelation 1, 7 on through to the end of the book, you will find the word churches, plural, twelve times. The last time we find the word churches is in Revelation 22, verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. And all of those churches are found before Revelation chapter 4. There's no church mentioned after chapter 4. Be sure to tune in for our next program. We'll continue in this series of messages on why the Christian will not be going through the tribulation period.