So, have you been thinking about the rapture lately? I sent a note to a friend recently and the answer came back, yes, I'm willing, but I doubt that I'll be able to do it very long because I think the rapture will happen before I'm able to get that done. And I was blessed by that answer. It's just a joy to know people are thinking about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. I want to talk about the rapture this evening. And I wanna go down a little bit deeply on it tonight. Now we're gonna take this up again the next time we gather. Let me just warn you, we're not gonna finish this outline this evening just like we didn't finish the last one. We're allowed to do that on Wednesday nights from time to time. But we're on the topic of the rapture because people are talking about it right now. It is a common conversation. What in the world's going on when people talk about the international monetary crises and life on the brink of disaster and a pandemic and all these things? provoke a lot of conversations, and more than a lot of conversations, they should provoke some measure of thought. And so I note for you this evening that back a number of years ago, the International Congress on Prophecy met at the Calvary Baptist Church in New York City. That was in 1942, 1943, and again in 1952, and about 30 outstanding Bible teachers from around the country convened together to have a conversation on the topic of eschatology. That's not the first time this happened. Back in the late 1800s, there was a Bible conference in Niagara, New York, called the Niagara Conference, what a coincidence. And then there was a Bible conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, hosted by none other than Billy Graham. And out of the Billy Graham conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, and conferences like Niagara, a great deal of exposition came out on topics of eschatology, prophecy. Sometimes when you're talking to people about prophecy, they will say some things that are unfortunate. I've heard people say, well, you know, the whole study of dispensational apologetics and eschatology and hermeneutics. This is all so very new within Christendom, after all. You know, when you talk about the doctrine of Christ, you talk about the doctrine of God, you talk about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, you talk about the doctrines of soteriology, theologians have been wrestling with that for hundreds of years. And we shouldn't spend all that much time on eschatology, because after all, It's a more recent phenomenon, really goes back to the Bible conference era and the Schofield reference Bible and Beterwolf and these type of people. And every time I hear that, I think, that is nonsense. Because throughout the generations, one by one, the various doctrines of God's Word, no surprise, have become matters of tremendous interest and debate. And so for instance, in the late 1800s, there was tremendous debate with regard to the topic of biblical inspiration. I'm thankful for those debates. Had it not been for those debates, you would not have the writings of B.B. Warfield, you wouldn't have a complete understanding with regard to inerrancy and infallibility and inspiration. Every theological debate brings opportunity for clarification on matters of doctrine. So don't ever be pulled aside on discussion of prophecy by someone who says, oh, that's just a recent church history thing. Let's go back to the doctrine of soteriology. They were pounding that out in the Reformation. I mean, that's 600 years. Prophecy, you're only talking 100 years. Yeah, but it's 100 really important years that's closer to the coming of the Lord than ever before. And so we come into this topic this evening and we note that 10 out of the 31 speakers back in that 1952 Congress were presidents of evangelical schools, Bible colleges and Bible institutes, like Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College, who gathered together there. And as they put out their manifesto, the results of their study and deliberations, they consistently came out saying they believed in a pre-tribulation rapture. Unfortunately, there is a rise among evangelicals today, and I know I'm using some bigger words, but evangelicals just means the broad spectrum of Christianity that teaches a measure of the gospel as opposed to denominations and Roman Catholicism. There's a broad group of evangelicals today who are pulling back from anything having to do with a pre-tribulational rapture, and they are instead advocating what we would call, in colloquial terms, a post-tribulational rapture. And so I wanna start this evening by asking you why. Why do you think that after these years of people used to be quite, soundly advocating a pre-tribulational rapture. Today in our Bible colleges, some where your children are attending, the conversations are more eh. They usually use the term historic premill. So I'm just giving that to you, that means post-tribulational. Historic premill, it's fancy and it's confusing. But historic premill means before the millennium, there'll be something of a gathering of God's people, but not before the tribulation. And that is a position that goes back to the church fathers, so it's historic. Pre-mill, a gathering together of God's people, including the resurrection, Old Testament, New Testament saints all together in one common resurrection. They go up and then they come down and they establish the millennium, historic pre-mill. Very commonly taught in a lot of Bible colleges and growing in momentum. So why? Why is it so popular? Steve? Okay, so those are two common reasons. They don't believe in dispensationalism. Instead, they're covenant theologians. And Steve said secondly, which goes right along with it, they believe the church has replaced Israel. Now watch that. Both those themes come under one heading. These would be reflections of what kind of theology? Reformed, that's close. What's that? Replacement theology is the church replaces Israel. Supersessionism is also the church replaces Israel. This is called covenant theology. Okay, so covenant theology, kind of going deep, hang on. Covenant theology, there are two main ways of looking at the history of what God is doing. When you come into God's word, asking the question, the great purpose of God in time, You will come into God's word and come to one of different spectrums theologically. Covenant theology, that God in time has a covenant of grace. It began with the expulsion from the garden. It concludes in the millennium. So the covenant theologians divide God's plan and working into two periods of time. They don't like to use the word time. Covenant of works, that's Eden, didn't last very long. Covenant of grace, everything else. And so there's one people of God. Don't make such a big division between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament saint and the New Testament saint are all one common people of God. That's covenant theology. Now within covenant theology, it is reformed because it was the theology advocated during the Reformation, and it is a theology that has a soteriological position, which is Calvinism. That's all within it. So I'm a dispensationalist. What does that mean? I always see a difference between Israel and the church. And I can advocate for that from 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 32, where the Word of God says, give no offense to the Jew, or the Gentile, those two people are divided in the Old Testament, or to the Church of God, three peoples of God, or three people groups, rather, in the New Testament, Jew, Gentile, Church of God, this new group, that's what we're a part of. And so there are those who, because of their affinity toward covenant theology, Reformational theology, if you want to call it that way, or soteriology that goes along with the Reformation, under covenant theology, typically historic premill, which means post-tribulationalism. All right, so we note this, that the pre-tribulational position is based not so much on simple text or arguments, and now I'm gonna jump off, and we're gonna allow ourselves to have some time tonight to talk about some arguments for pre-tribulationalism. The pre-tribulational position is based not so much on a simple text or arguments, but on the accumulation of evidence and text. A consistent literal approach to prophecy makes the pre-tribulational rapture inescapable. And I agree with that. So what I'm gonna do tonight is just mount a case. And we're gonna start with that which is most benign, if you will, or the weakest of the arguments. We're gonna start with inferential arguments, and then we're gonna enter into some theological arguments, and that's how far we're gonna get tonight. And if you come back next time, I promise we'll go into exegetical arguments, which are the strongest arguments. And if you're already saying, what in the world's that guy talking about up there this evening? It's real simple. If somebody came and said, can you prove that the rapture comes before the tribulation. If you have teeth in your mouth, would you be standing there with your teeth in your mouth going, ah, I think I believe that. I don't know why. Well, let's find out some why. Why do we hold that yes, the rapture comes before the tribulation? In his book, The Return of the Lord, Dr. John Walvoord notes that there may be as many as 25 arguments that could be advanced in support of the translation of the church before the tribulation. And then after he wrote that, he wrote a book entitled 50 Reasons for the Pre-Tribulational Rapture. He must have found out a few more. So arguments in favor of a pre-tribulational rapture are many. So we'll start with the weakest. Let's start with the inspiration. See if we can get this to go. There we go. The inferential arguments. Argument from inference. Inferential arguments. Let's start with this one, Old Testament types. So what's an Old Testament type? Can you think of any in the New Testament? Let's start with the definition and then we'll think of some. Greg, oh, you're straightening your mask. Yeah, you're right, that's one I'm gonna give. You gave away my whole plot line tonight, Greg, thanks a lot. No, that's right, that's right, it's a good answer. But first, what's a type? What's a type? So a type is a shadow in the Old Testament that's gonna have an antitype in the New Testament. It's something foreseen, now seen. Something in shadow, Old Testament becomes reality in the New Testament. So before we go to the types on the topic of the rapture, let's think about types. Old Testament type, New Testament revelation. Here's one. In John chapter three, Jesus said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. In order to understand what Jesus was talking about, you have to know about the serpent in the wilderness. That's a type. Here's one, Hebrews chapter five, Melchizedek. He was without genealogy, without father or mother, and Jesus Christ is like Melchizedek. He's not of the Aaronic priesthood. Can you give me some more? Joseph is a wonderful type in the Old Testament, but that's a really good one to illustrate this with. I mean, if we can't see Jesus in the life of Joseph, right, rejected by his brothers, falsely accused, rising in glory. Joseph, I believe to be a type of Christ, but this is something interesting. The New Testament doesn't tell me that. I see it in the book, but it's not ratified, affirmed in the New Testament. So I'm gonna stick right now with some that are affirmed. What? The Passover Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist tells us the Passover Lamb is a type. Yes, Jonah. Jesus said, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, even so shall the Son of Man. Okay, these are types. The strongest types are those that are revealed as types in the New Testament. So when we talk about Joseph or the tabernacle, for instance, I see Jesus in the ark, right? So when you look at the ark, it's pitched within and without, reminds me of the blood of Jesus Christ, which is necessary. There's only one door, reminds me of Jesus, there's only one window, which reminds me of his intercessory work. That is not affirmed in the New Testament, but I see it. So what does that mean to me? It means it's probably not my Sunday morning message. It might be my Sunday night illustration, But if I see it ratified in the New Testament, then it's my Sunday morning message. Now I have the affirmation of the Spirit of God that I'm right there, okay? So when we talk about types, types of the rapture, there are two, and Greg already gave away one of them, which is great. But Noah, some say Noah is a type of Israel. Well, Israel, you see, is going to go through the tribulation. Noah lived through the flood. and he lived through it, he was saved, and Israel will be saved so as by fire. And Lot, a type of the church. How is Lot a type of the church as opposed to Noah being a type of Israel? Noah lives through it, what about Lot? He came out before judgment fell. And it is perhaps more than coincidental that you have these two Old Testament pictures, but we can't say that they're affirmed in the New Testament positively as types of the rapture. Remember, we're starting with inferential arguments. Those are the weakest. And so the next one would be this. The church is absent from Revelation 4 and verse 1 all the way through the 18th chapter of the book of Revelation. So what's going on between Revelation 4 and verse 1 till the end of the book or the end of chapter 18? What's all that part of Revelation about? The tribulation. And you will not find a reference to the church in the Tribulation. The Tribulation is graphically portrayed, the seals, the judgments, the bowls, in that section of the book of the Revelation. And one would think that if the church is gonna be in the Tribulation, it would be in that passage. But that's an argument from silence. but it's really loud silence, okay? Now these are inferential arguments. Here comes the third one. The church is consistently said to be delivered from wrath. So let's run that line, all right? Go with me to Romans chapter five, Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five in verse nine, as we talk about the blessings of being justified by the blood, He says, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Well, that's a wonderful general statement, that because the blood has been applied to us, we're saved from wrath, but does that really mean The tribulation? Well, when you go over to 1 Thessalonians 1, this statement of being saved from wrath gets a little bit louder. There's gonna be a crescendo that runs as we trace this theme, because when we get to 1 Thessalonians 1, we're gonna read in the 10th verse this statement. and to wait for his son from heaven. He's talking about the change that came in the life of the Thessalonians when they got saved. Now they're waiting for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. All right, remember 1 Thessalonians, every chapter ends with a focus on the second coming. And so I'm saying that this line of rescued from the wrath to come is growing into a crescendo that helps us see, it does seem like this is talking perhaps about the tribulation. Romans, not so much. 1 Thessalonians 1, a little bit more. But when you get to 1 Thessalonians 5, that crescendo is growing louder. because now he's talking in chapter five about the times of judgment, where you recall, when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them. Personal pronouns are important, as upon a thief in the night, and he tells us in verse nine, God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation. This is specifically in a passage, this promise that we'll escape wrath, It's specifically in a passage having to do with the future or eschatological judgment that is certainly prophesied. So the crescendo's growing louder and even louder when you turn to the book of the Revelation, chapter three, and we have again the promise saved from wrath, Revelation chapter three, and Revelation chapter three, you'll find the church in Philadelphia is being spoken to in Revelation three and verse 10, because thou hast kept the word of my patience. We just read in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 10 that they are waiting for the coming of the one who has saved us from wrath. Now we're in Revelation 3 with regard to the church at Philadelphia and what are they doing? They have patience and they are promised that they will be kept from the hour of temptation which will come upon all the earth, all the world. That's a pretty loud crescendo now. So when we say the church is kept from wrath, it's four times spoken. And it's really amazing that as those four times come in chronological order through the New Testament, we can say it looks like it's getting louder and louder until at the end we're saying, boy, that sure looks like he's saying you're not gonna be in the tribulation. These are the weakest arguments, folks. They get better. Here's one that few people think about. Remember I told you that right now it's cool to be historic premill. We used to say post-tribulational. It's not real cool to be pre-tribulational, but I've never been cool. But here's something to think about. The rapture cannot be at the end of the tribulation because there will be procreation during the millennium. What do you mean, pastor? Well, let's prove that there'll be procreation during the millennium first. Take your Bible and go back with me to Isaiah chapter 65. Isaiah chapter 65. It's a millennial passage. It's talking about the thousand years of rule and reign on the earth in Isaiah 65 verse 20. There shall no more thence be an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, for the child shall die at 100 years old. The sinner being 100 years old should be accursed. When will that happen? That somebody called a child will die at 100 years old? Verse 17, when the Lord creates a new heaven and a new earth and the former things are not remembered anymore. This is a promise of the millennium. that a child will grow to be 100 years old, and if he dies at 100, people will grieve and say, wow, what happened? Come over to Zechariah 8. Zechariah 8, another passage that speaks about the millennium, Zechariah, the eighth chapter. And in Zechariah 8, let's see what's happening here in these first verses. The word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I was zealous, jealous rather for Zion with great jealousy. I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion. I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and Jerusalem should be called a city of truth. That hasn't happened yet, this is the millennium. The mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain, thus says the Lord of hosts, there shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand in very age, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. There's gonna be babies born in the millennium. You know, pretty much everybody agrees on that. Here's the problem. If at the end of the tribulation, you gotta follow this, this is really fun. Remember, the covenant theologian says there's one people of God. Old Testament, New Testament, one people of God. That's why we can't have this separation that allows the church to go up before the tribulation and leaves the Old Testament saints to be resurrected after. They've got to stay together. They're one people of God. If we're one people of God and the church is going to live through the tribulation to go up, and then come down, which is what historic premillennialism believes, or postmillennialism believes, question, how do you get babies in the millennium? Because when you go up, you come down with a glorified body. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep or die, but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. If at the moment you're raptured and turn around to come back with Christ in glory as he conquers and rules and reigns, who's he conquering? The people that are left behind on earth. The righteous ones, Old Testament, New Testament ones go up, post-tribulationalism, they all go up. They all get glorified bodies and come down. Jesus is going to have Armageddon and the unrighteous will be separated, the sheep from the goats. So everybody's in a glorified body when they come back. How are you gonna have babies in the millennium? Oh, you say, pastor, where will babies in the millennium come from? You got seven years during the tribulation. It starts with two witnesses. It fans out to 144,000 witnesses. They will surround this globe with greatest revival of evangelism that the world has ever known. We're gonna talk about that. That's the Jews doing that. And the Bible says when John asked, who are these that come out of the great tribulation? The answer, these are those who would not take the mark of the beast. How many of them are there? Innumerable. So at the end of the tribulation, when Jesus separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep are in earthly bodies. They come into the millennium and they bear children. Did you follow that? So it's a strong argument by inference. It's an inferential argument. These are the weak ones. The stronger ones are still later. You're going to have to come back for some of that. But number five, I believe the church is in heaven during the tribulation. How do I believe that? Well, Revelation 4 and verse 1, you'll remember that John is invited in Revelation 4 verse 1 to come up hither. Revelation 4 and verse 1, I think John receives the invitation that the church, if you will, receives at the beginning of the tribulation to come up hither. And when you turn over to Revelation chapter 19, you find in Revelation chapter 19 some language that ought to sound familiar to you. In Revelation chapter 19, we read in the first verses of Revelation 19, after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great whore. And I read in verse four, of the four and 20 elders and the four beasts falling down and worshiping God. And then a voice comes that says, praise our God. And then I read in verse seven, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb has come. His wife hath made herself ready. Who is the wife of the Lamb? The church. And so we're going to see that same text in just a moment, but I do indeed believe that the church is in heaven during the tribulation. And that's why from chapter four to chapter 18, you're not going to read about the church as the tribulation is being given out in detail. Here's a sixth inferential argument. The interval between the rapture and the second coming or the revelation of Christ is necessary to accomplish several things. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4 and he says, When the Lord comes, one of the purposes of his coming is to bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsel of the heart to judge us. And this is to believers. Because in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 1, he says, we are stewards of the mysteries of God. So believers are going to be judged when the Lord comes. And 2 Corinthians 5 verifies this, for it says, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give account of the things done in our body. You still with me? There's a judgment seat of Christ and there's a great white throne judgment. The judgment seat of Christ is for believers. The great white throne judgment which comes later in the book of the Revelation is for the lost. And so why this time when the church has gone up? And judgment is on the world. One, it gives time for the judgment seat of Christ to be accomplished. Two, it gives time for the presentation of the bride, if you're still in Revelation 19. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. His wife hath made herself ready. To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. The fine linen is the righteousness of the saints, and let me just suggest that can't happen until after the judgment seat of Christ. After the judgment seat of Christ, when the bride has been purified and now glorified, we have something else. There's a marriage supper of the Lamb, verse nine, the marriage supper of the Lamb. All these things are inferential, but remember how we started? We said you're not gonna find a verse that says rapture. The word's not in the Bible. And you're not gonna find then a verse that says the rapture is before the tribulation. So you're gonna have to build your argument verse by verse and line by line. I'm gonna go just a little bit further. I'm gonna end with this one tonight, all right? Theological arguments. Theological arguments. Take your Bibles and go back with me to 2 Thessalonians 2, and I'll end with this this evening, seeking to be mindful of our time. 2 Thessalonians 2. So when someone says, when do you believe the rapture's gonna happen? I hope you'll remember some of this, because it really is exciting. There is a strong line by line, verse by verse, argument by argument case, and we'll end, Lord willing, with the exegetical arguments, which are the strongest. But when we talk about Premillennialism, that means that Christ has to come before the millennium. You can't have the kingdom without a king. Alva J. McLean was the founder of Grace Theological Seminary up in Winona Lake. He wrote a fabulous book. It's called The Greatness of the Kingdom. And he defines the millennium in this way. It's very memorable and very easy to consider. He says, to have the kingdom, you have to have three things. You have to have a ruler, you have to have subjects, and you have to have a reign. So the king is Jesus. Where will he rule from? Jerusalem. Who were the subjects? The world. He'll rule the world with a rod of iron. How long will he rule? Revelation says a thousand years. Some people say, well, I thought the kingdom was already in my heart. You are going to be a participant in the kingdom if you're a born again believer. But if this is the kingdom and this is all there is to it, I'm kind of disappointed. I want to see that lion and that lamb lie down together, don't you? There's going to be a ruler, a realm, and a reign. When I come back here to this that I'm quoting, premillennialism is a system of theology, as a system of theology rather, has its proper culmination in pre-tribulationalism. The literal method of interpretation when applied to the entire field of scripture, including the prophecies, preserves the distinction between Israel and the church. Herman Hoyt was one of the professors at Grace Seminary years ago, and we've opened to second Thessalonians just to consider one theological argument. And that argument is this, the unique presence of the Holy Spirit is gone during the tribulation, the unique presence. So in Acts 1 and verse 5, the promise, ye shall receive the Holy Ghost not many days hence. That's the promise. That promise is fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God came. And it became evident to the believers that he came in the cloven tongues of fire and the great wind. And when the Spirit of God came, we became one body, the Jew and the Gentile together, and that one body is unique. Ephesians 3 says it's a mystery, something new, it's the church. Now in 2 Thessalonians 2, we read, beginning in verse 6, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work, only he who now letteth, or holds back, it's an old English word that means to hold back, he who now holds back will continue to hold back until he'd be taken out of the way. And then shall the wicked be revealed, and you can actually read this, the wicked one, that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And if you're wondering who that wicked one that's gonna be destroyed is, it continues in verse 10, with all deceivableness and unrighteousness and them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. God will send a strong delusion. That wicked one is the Antichrist. And when is the Antichrist revealed? Well, read it chronologically, when the one who now withholds quits withholding. And when will that be? When he's taken out of the way. How's he taken out of the way? I thought the Spirit of God was omnipresent. He is. The Spirit of God is omnipresent, but he's uniquely present in the church. And when the Spirit of God is taken out of the way, the wicked one will be revealed. Now we're in the tribulation. That's a theological argument. In other words, it's not an inference any longer. It's the doctrine of the church, because you can have no church without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit is uniquely taken out of the way, the wicked one will be revealed. Now I'll repeat that one next week, and we'll go into it a little bit more deeply. The unique presence of the Holy Spirit is absent when the Antichrist is revealed.