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Alright, we're in 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2 tonight, look down at your Bibles at verse number 1. It says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word, nor by letter, as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except to come a falling away first, and a man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalts at himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And the title of my sermon this evening is why I reject the pre-trib rapture. Why I reject the pre-tribulation rapture. Now notice I didn't say why I reject the rapture, right? You know there's people out there who want to claim that because we reject the pre-tribulation rapture, oh we just reject the rapture period. Oh you guys don't believe in the rapture because of the fact that we don't believe in the timing that they put forth, which is that the rapture comes before the tribulation, not after. Obviously that's a straw man that people try to set up in order to try to label us heretics. Now our church is a post-trib pre-wrath rapture church. When it comes to end times Bible prophecy, we hold the position that the rapture takes place not necessarily at the midpoint of Daniel's seven years week, but a little bit after the midpoint of the abomination of desolation, which is the midpoint. And I'll get into that later on in the sermon. Now when it comes to the essential doctrines, I believe that the doctrine of the rapture is essential. Now why? Well here's the thing, I'm not referring to the timing of the rapture, but rather the rapture period in my opinion is essential because of the fact that the rapture is synonymous with the resurrection, you understand? And the resurrection is obviously directly connected to our salvation. When we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, we believed that we have everlasting life, and the fact is that that everlasting life entails being resurrected from the grave, being given a new body and to live with the Lord forevermore. That's what the resurrection entails there, which is in tandem with the rapture. The Bible says in John 6 verse 39, and this is the Father's will which had sent me, that of all which he had given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. You know Ephesians 1, the famous passage of scripture that we often use when we're out soul winning in order to prove and confirm that salvation can never be lost is Ephesians 1 13, where the Bible tells us in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. So the Bible specifically says that when we get saved, we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and God adds to that and tells us that we're sealed unto the day of redemption. That day of redemption is synonymous with the resurrection, synonymous with the rapture. So therefore it's an important doctrine, amen? The rapture is definitely an important doctrine. Now where do we get the term rapture from? Because obviously the word rapture is not found in the Bible. Now go to 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4 if you would. We'll come back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 in just a bit. Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4, by the way there's groups of Christians out there so called that actually reject the rapture. They literally say there's no such thing as a rapture, no such thing as a bodily resurrection. This is what's known as hyper-preterist, okay? And they believe that when we die, you're saved, you just go to heaven, Jesus Christ is not going to resurrect us from the grave, there's not going to be a day of the Lord where He comes and every eye shall see Him and we are raised, we are sown in corruption, we're raised in incorruption. They just completely reject that and see those events in the Bible described, when the Bible describes those events, they see it as, well those things have already passed. Which is funny because wasn't there someone in the Bible who was teaching that the resurrection has passed already? And Paul specifically said that he delivered those people onto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Now as I mentioned, there's people who reject the rapture and one thing that they'll say is that well the term rapture is not even found in the Bible, you know, oh man you got us there, you know the term rapture is never found in the Bible. But here's the thing, identify the irony in this statement. You know, they'll say this, the word rapture is never found in the Bible. Where's the irony? The Bible's not found in the Bible either. Duh. But obviously Bible is a perfect term to describe the word of God because we're not just referring to any book, we're referring to the book. And you talk about the Bible to anybody, you say what is the Bible, more often than not people will say well that's the word of God, right? Even though the term Bible literally is not found in the Bible, the book is found in the Bible, but we know what Bible means, it's a word that we use to describe the word of God. There are so many words that we use today to define specific doctrines that are not explicitly used as a term in the Bible, but their doctrine is taught. For example, the Trinity, the Trinity is not a word that you see in the Bible, but the teaching of the Trinity is, okay? And so it's obviously ridiculous to say well, you know, the rapture is not real because of the fact that rapture is not found in the Bible, okay? At that point, well you just contradicted yourself because you're saying that it's not found in the Bible, using the term Bible is not found in the Bible either, okay? But we believe it. Now look at 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13, we're going to see where we derive this term from. It says in verse 13, but I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, look what it says, 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. So when the Bible is talking about the second coming of Christ and in particular the rapture, it describes it as a catching away, being caught up together with him in the clouds. You say well why, you know I don't see rapture in that term, so where does that come from? Well rapture simply means to be carried away and let me just give you an example, for example you have birds of prey known as raptors, okay. Birds of prey are known as raptors because that's exactly what they do to seize their meal. They swoop down from the heavens and they just catch away their prey. The act of actually descending down and catching away their prey and seizing it is known as a rapture. And in fact, you know the term raptor is used in Spanish to describe the rapture. It says rapto, that's exactly how you say it. When you want to say the second coming of Christ, you say rapto in Spanish which means to catch away, arrebatar which means just to take it, to catch it away. And so that's a perfect example and a perfect way to describe what the rapture is. You know because Jesus or God, you know he describes himself as an eagle, right. And the Bible tells us in Matthew 24, 28, for whatsoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. You see, you know you never see an eagle in the air just not appear and all of a sudden its prey just disappears with it. You know it's just like it's completely invisible and then it sees its prey and it just disappears out of thin air. No what an eagle does is it descends, right, from the heavens and it captures its prey, it seizes it and it takes them with him together in the clouds, okay. And that is a perfect way to describe the second coming of Christ, the day of the Lord as the rapture because that's exactly what Jesus Christ is going to do one day. He's going to descend. He's going to breach the realm of heaven, come into the realm of earth and basically catch away and rapture all believers. So you know there's no question that the rapture is biblical. The controversy is when does it take place, okay. Now obviously this is not controversial in our church. But it is controversial amongst Christians just in general. And the popular teaching today and really over the last 200 years since the inception of dispensationalism is that the rapture is pre-tribulational, okay. Now what does that mean? Well the Bible highlights a specific time period of seven years when it comes to end times Bible prophecy. So when we think of the last days or end times when all the prophetic things take place in the book of Revelation or a good chunk of it, we see that there's a period of seven years it takes place, okay. And the seven years has within it tribulation, it has the rapture, it has the wrath, you have the mark of the beast and even the inauguration of the millennial reign. All these events take place within that seven year time period. Now this is an important time in history, right. But the problem is is the preacher rapture removes the rapture from that seven year period and literally places it before any of those things take place. So what they claim is that the church, which means all believers, obviously that's not a term that we would ascribe to because we don't believe in the universal church. They would say that the church are all believers, that Jesus Christ is going to rapture them prior to any of the events in end times Bible prophecy taking place. They believe it's going to be before the tribulation, before the wrath of God, before the antichrist shows up, we're out of here brother, we're not going to, you know, Christ can come at any moment and we're going to be out of here, we're not going to see any of that. But folks, this is just plain ignorance of Bible prophecy because just a shallow understanding of Bible prophecy, you will see that the tribulation or the rapture is after the tribulation, okay. And so this is a popular teaching and it's become a point of contention, you know, with old I have fears and, you know, they don't want to adhere to the fact that the Bible specifically teaches a posture pre-wrath rapture and look folks, this isn't a new teaching like I mentioned this morning. This is a teaching that the apostle Paul taught, this is what Jesus taught, this is what pastors of old have always taught. And so, you know, to say, you know, oh, this is a new teaching, no, actually the dispensational view of end times Bible prophecy is actually new, okay. And it's very easy to debunk, you say, well, why teach this on a Sunday night? Well, because it's good to just reinforce what we already believe and review what the Bible teaches about end times Bible prophecy, we're living in the last days, it's important to just brush up on end times Bible prophecy and what the Bible says about these events, okay. So let me just explain to you why I particularly reject the pre-trib rapture. Number one, because it's stupid, no, I'm just kidding. It is stupid, but that's not my number one point. Number one, I reject the pre-trib rapture, go to 2 Thessalonians chapter two, I reject it because it teaches the imminency of Jesus Christ. Now what does imminency mean? It means that it's likely to occur at any moment. It's impending, it can happen at any time. Now if you visit any independent fundamental Baptist church or even just the vast majority of churches, unfortunately, and if they ever talk about the second coming of Christ, they will most assuredly make the statement, he could come at the end of this service. I went to an independent fundamental Baptist church and they would often say that. They would say, you know, he can come at the end of this service, you know, so you better be ready. And what are they saying? It can happen at any moment. And they, through conditioning and just repetition and still within the people that the coming of Jesus Christ is imminent, it's impending, it's likely to happen at any moment. There are no signs that happen prior to that. There's no important events that take place prior to the second coming of Christ. He can just show up at any time. Now here's another thing about the pre-trib rapture in regards to imminency, is that when Jesus Christ comes, no one sees him. It's what's called, what's known as the secret rapture, okay? The reason it's a secret, according to them, is that he doesn't show himself, our clothes just like fall on the ground. You don't see him, you know, we're just in a blink of an eye, we just completely disappear and you know, we just go to heaven naked or something. This is what they teach. And it's nonsensical because of the fact that the Bible specifically tells us in Revelation verse 7, that every eye shall see him. And look folks, when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven in Acts chapter 1, you know, what are the disciples doing? They're gazing as he's just taken up into the clouds. And then the angels come and they're like, you know, why stand there gazing? And they basically tell them, look, the way you saw him leave is the way you're going to see him come. So the way he left leaves us clues to how he's going to return, which is what? In the clouds. And just as every eye at that point saw him ascend into heaven, guess what? Every eye shall see him when he descends back to earth to rapture his people. It's not a secret rapture, it's not a secret. Why would Jesus be, you know, they think that Jesus is like them. He's all scared, having to do everything obscurity and cryptic, it's like, they got to do everything in a dark corner. You know, Jesus is not like that. Folks, everything he does, he does in front of the entire world. He wants people to know what's taking place. He wants people to know that the rapture is happening. So they teach it's impending, it can happen without any notice. Well, let's see if that matches up with the Bible. Look at 2 Thessalonians, what did I have you turn? Chapter 2. Look at verse number 1, it says, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. So what are we talking about right off the bat? The rapture. Because it says the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and in tandem with that coming you have what? A gathering together unto him. These are the two elements of the rapture, the coming of Christ and us being gathered together unto him, right? Look at verse 2, They be not soon shaken in mine or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand. So look, he said, look, in context of the rapture, don't be deceived by people, don't be scared, don't be shaken in mine or in spirit or in the letter as though this gathering together is just at hand. Now what does it mean when something is at hand? Well, if I reach out to Maury from this distance, he's at hand. In other words, he's at arm's length. I can reach out to him at any moment. He's right there. And so what we see here is that the pre-trib rapture has been taught in the Bible. Because why? He's addressing this because there's probably people in these days that were teaching that the day of Christ is at hand. Right? Hey folks, there's nothing new under the sun. Preterism was taught back in the day, Zionism was taught back in the day, and so was the pre-trib rapture. The only thing is, is that it's all false doctrine. And Paul is saying, look, if you get a letter as from us telling you that the day of Christ is at hand, don't let that deceive you, don't get scared, don't be afraid, because we obviously know that's not true. Verse three, let no man deceive you by any means. Okay, so what's the deception that he can come at any moment? Paul is referring to the pre-tribulation rapture as a deception. Let no man deceive you by any means. Why are you guys so contentious? Oh, because there's a bunch of people that are trying to deceive people in regards to the second coming of Christ. And the Bible tells me not to let any man deceive me in that respect. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, referring to the day of Christ, shall not come. Now in the Greek, shall not come means shall not come. I've been learning Greek, you can be proud of your pastor. For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away verse. Now here's the funny thing about this, okay, you know, because they'll claim that the falling away is actually referring to the rapture. I mean, they're grasping at straws when it comes to this. But hold on a second, so are you trying to tell me that this is telling us that the gathering together, the rapture shall not come except there come a rapture? Right? How is the gathering, so the gathering together shall not come except there come a falling away verse, which is the rapture. So how many raptures do you believe in? No folks, falling away, and look, any person, any novice in Greek, we don't go back to the Greek, but this is a good time to go back to the Greek, because this is a word you could actually understand, which is apostasia. So the falling away is referring to apostasy. So don't tell me that apostasy means rapture. We all know what that means, we need, our need is just a basic understanding of Bible doctrine to know that apostasy is when someone departs from the faith, right? A church, an individual, a pastor, apostatizes, they start getting into false doctrine, they start believing, seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, they depart from the faith, that is apostasy, and what the Bible is telling us here is that before the day of Christ, before the rapture, there's going to be apostasy. But not only that, it says, and that the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. So what are the two elements that we see that come prior to the second coming of Christ? Apostasy, check. Churches are apostatizing all over the place. What's the second one? The son of perdition being revealed, not checked, because he's not here yet. So for them to say, well, the second coming of Christ is imminent can happen at any moment, just impending, lying, that's a deception, why? Because these elements need to take place first, aside from other elements. These are two of the main elements that need to happen first, apostatizing and the antichrist being revealed, okay? Now go to Matthew 24, let's look at a parallel passage of this. Can someone please hit the AC right now? Thank you. So we have an order of sequence here, you have apostasy, the man of sin being revealed, and then according to the Bible, the gathering together of the rapture takes place thereafter. So what does that mean? That means when we are in the last days, that's something we can look towards as a marker for when the rapture is going to take place, when the antichrist reveals himself, okay? Now look at Matthew 24, verse 35. Now here's the thing is, pre-trippers, when you say, well, how do you know, why do you say that the coming of Christ is imminent, like that it can happen at any moment? Most assuredly, they will quote you Matthew 24, verse 35, or all the way to 37. They'll say that no man knoweth the day or the hour, okay, look what it says in verse 35, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, know not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 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 to marriage, until the day that Noah entered into 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. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, the other left, two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, the other left. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would have not suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." There you go, immanency. Now here's what's so funny about this, pre-tribbers are notorious for something known as cherry picking, because when we use the same exact chapter to prove that the rapture is after the tribulation, they say, well that's not for us, that's for the Jews. But then it's like, so you want to use the second half of Matthew 24 to say that's about us? Well yeah, that's about us, but this part is not. So this part is, this part isn't, but this part is and this part isn't. What in the world? That's called cherry picking. And by the way, the beginning of the chapter explains that the disciples are asking about the end of the world and about his second coming. So if this was about the Jews, then Jesus, you got off topic. He's not answering the question, but yes he is answering the question. And it's just that pre-tribbers are perverting what he's saying, they're twisting it. Now let me read to you from 1 Thessalonians 5, well go to 1 Thessalonians 5, because remember, the Bible tells us that he comes as a thief. He comes as a thief, it says, you know now what hour your Lord doth come. He says, if the good man of the house had known what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, he would have not suffered his house to be broken up, and this proves imminency wrong. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 1, excuse me. But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as the thief in the night. Now look folks, if we were pre-tribbers, this is how we would read the Bible. We just stop at verse 2. When we read Romans 11, we stop at verse 2. Just completely neglect the remainder of the chapter, but it keeps going though. Look what it says in verse 3, for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day, the day of Christ, should overtake you as a thief. So yeah, of course he comes like a thief in the night, but not to you, because you are not a child of darkness, you're a child of light. Ye are all children of the light, children of the day, we are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober, for they that sleep sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. So according to the Bible, pre-tribbers are drunks, spiritual drunks. Because they're not being sober, they're not watching, they think they're just going to completely avoid the tribulation, therefore they don't have to prepare for it. But guess what? The Bible in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, constantly explains the importance of watching and praying, and being ready for that day. Now let me just say this, the Bible does actually teach imminency. The only difference is, it's not about Jesus Christ. The Bible actually teaches the imminency of the anti-Christ, which poses a very big problem. Because if you have Christians teaching the pre-tribulation rapture, claiming that the coming of Jesus Christ can happen at any moment, that means you have the vast majority of Christians expecting for Jesus Christ to come at any moment. Whereas the Bible says that the anti-Christ can come at any moment. And you know what's going to happen? He's going to show up, and what is mainstream Christianity going to think? Oh, he's the Christ. He's Jesus. He is the Savior. This guy has come and helped us, he's going to help us, and he's the Savior of the world, this is the Christ. You see how deceptive this is, you see how dangerous this can actually become? Now look, obviously, if you're saved, you're not going to be deceived by this. The deception is going to be so great, the delusion is going to be so powerful, that if it were possible, they can deceive the very elect. But look, anybody who's saved, who has the spirit of truth dwelling within them, they're going to wake up and see, this is not right, this guy's wicked, he's the anti-Christ. But at that point, it's probably too late for many of them. And you can reference my Revelation 6 sermon on that. But mainstream Christianity, which in my opinion, the vast majority of them are not saved, these liberal fund centers that believe in repenting your sins, they teach false doctrine in regards to salvation, they have, you know, they've apostatized, they're not saved, they use different modern versions of the Bible, these people are going to be deceived, they're going to be deceived hook, line, and sinker. When this man shows up, I mean, they're already Zionists, they already believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, good night, you slap a Jew on that, you know, Christ, it's done. They're going to buy it, they're going to believe it, they're going to be deceived by it. And look, folks, that could actually be referring to the great fallen away, is when you have mainstream Christianity just following this individual, and, you know, thinking that he is the Christ, okay? The Bible says that that day shall not come except to come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Go back to Matthew 24, Matthew 24, and look at verse 23, it says, then if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, that's interesting, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders. So you know what? The Pentecostals are going to have a heyday with this, gloria dios hermano, hallelujah. They're going to be like, man, this is all these signs and wonders, because the false prophet is going to do signs and wonders. He's going to show great signs and wonders, he's going to give life into the image of the beast, so they can speak and bring forth fire. I mean, they're going to do some pretty miraculous miracles in those days, and those miracles are going to validate to Christians and people all around the world that this guy is divine, basically, okay? False prophets shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. So this delusion, these miracles, they're very deceptive, even to the point where if it were possible, we could be deceived. So it's going to leave us in awe as well. We're going to see those signs and wonders and be like, whoa, this guy's doing this. But we obviously know this is not of God, okay? Behold, I have told you before, I told you, wherefore if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert, go not forth, behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. Why? Because for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. What is he saying? It's not a secret, folks. And look, the coming of the antichrist is a secret. Because in Revelation 6, when the first seal is open, he comes on a white horse, just like Jesus comes in Revelation 19. He comes on a white horse with a crown and a bow and he's going forth conquering and to conquer. Gee, I wonder why he comes on a white horse. Oh, that's right, because he's coming in the place of Christ to set up his earthly kingdom. But at that point, we don't really know his identity. So he comes secretly into this world. And when people begin to say, hey, he's in the desert, he's in the secret chamber, don't believe it. And by the way, these Jews out there, they believe that the antichrist is here. They're waiting to reveal who he is, but guess what, it's a secret. But folks, let me just say this is that Jesus does nothing in secret. And in fact, when he comes to this world, he rolls out the red carpet. And he comes in style, because it says there, as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Every eye shall see him. He's not like, he's like, let me just make my entrance here and split heaven wide open and breach it so that everyone can see who I am. Lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west. That's how Jesus Christ is going to come. The Bible says in Revelation 6 verse 1, I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, come and see. And I saw and behold, a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him. And he went forth conquering and to conquer. I don't have time to develop this specific point, but much of what the Antichrist does when he first shows up on the scene is very similar to what Jesus Christ is going to do in Revelation 19. The way Jesus Christ comes on a white horse, he comes forth conquering and to conquer because he comes to destroy the Antichrist, his false prophet and all of his enemies. He comes to establish his millennial reign, his earthly reign. One like man, that's what the Antichrist is going to seek to do. He's going forth conquering and to conquer. He's going to seek to emulate every single aspect of that coming. So what do we know here? Why do I reject the preacher of rapture? Well, because of the fact that they teach imminency, which the Bible does not teach. Our Jesus is not a secretive Jesus. He's going to reveal himself to the world. Every eye shall see him. And in fact, when they see him, they're going to run. His coming is so terrible to the unsaved that they're going to ask the rocks to fall upon them, to cover them. How scary is that image where you see Jesus Christ and you're just like, see Jesus or just have a mountain. Which one would you prefer? To see Jesus or to have a mountain fall on you? Well, according to Revelation 6, they're like, have the mountain fall on me. Have the rocks hide me. That's how terrible his coming is. And this is why the coming of Christ is known as the day of the Lord. You study the day of the Lord in the Bible, it's synonymous with judgment. You know what? The rapture is synonymous with judgment as well. Now go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Obviously we're going back and forth through all these scriptures, but it's important. So number one, I reject the preacher of rapture because it teaches imminency, which is false. Not only that, but also because it places the rapture before the tribulation. Now as I mentioned, they believe that the seven years that the Bible talks about in end times of Bible prophecy in the book of Revelation is all tribulation. So they think every single year of those seven years is all tribulation, nothing else. And it's what they would refer to as the time of Jacob's trouble. I always look at Jacob when I say this, there you go. It's the time of Jacob's trouble, according to them. Now what they're referring to is they believe that the seven year tribulation is a specific seven years that's designated for Jews, that God is dealing with the Jews. And that at the end of those seven years, because they've gone through so much tribulation and wrath, you know, he's spanking them and just like chastising them and killing them. At the end of those seven years, when Jesus Christ comes, they're going to see him come in the white horse, say oy vey, where have you been all my life, and get saved. Because the Jews require a sign. This is what they believe. It's stupid, it is. What in the world? Look at 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3, Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except to come a falling away first, the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. It says here that the rapture does not happen until the antichrist reveals himself. And then it describes what that revelation looks like. Look at verse number 4, Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. So this revelation is not like, surprise, I'm the antichrist, no. What he does, what the Bible is describing here is that when he actually sits in the temple of God and proclaims that he's God. This is what the Bible describes as the abomination of desolation. Very clearly stated in the Bible. We see it particularly in passages when dealing with end times Bible prophecy. Jesus Christ spoke about it in Matthew 24, the abomination of desolation. Now here's the thing, if 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is stating that the rapture does not come until that abomination of desolation is set up, you have a big problem if you're a preacher. Why? Because Daniel chapter 12 specifically tells us that from the time that the offering cease, up until the abomination of desolation, you have 1,290 days. But from the time that the covenant is made, up until the rapture, you have 1,335 days. Now let me ask you, is 1,335 days seven years? No. 1,335 days is three and a half. So what is the Bible specifically saying? It's saying that from the time that the covenant is made, up until the end of those 1,335 days, that is the first half of Daniel's 70th week, and what you have at the midpoint of that is the abomination of desolation. So it's in the middle. So how can the rapture take place in Revelation chapter 4 if the abomination of desolation hasn't been set up? Can you explain that? It's saying that the gathering together unto him does not happen until you have the abomination of desolation being set up, which is at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week. So 1,390 days from the time that the offering cease, 75 days thereafter, you have what's known as the rapture. So the rapture does not take place at the midpoint, just a little bit after the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week, you understand? I know we're going a little deep tonight, but this is important to know, amen? And look folks, the Bible specifically says that those 1,335 days, and more specifically the 75 days, the latter end of those three and a half years, you have the antichrist making war with the saints. So the 1,260 days is filled with just the beginning of sorrows. Beginning of sorrows is what Revelation 6 describes as the first four horsemen of the apocalypse. Where the antichrist comes, you have famine, you have war, you have death, you have pestilence, you have things that are taking place on a worldwide scale, and it's affecting the entire world, not just Christians. So everyone is being affected by this beginning of sorrows. People are dying, even if they're saved or unsaved, people are just dying. Well, a little past that, you have the antichrist receiving a wound to the head, his deadly wound is healed, and then he resurrects from the dead, just like Jesus Christ resurrected. The difference being is that Satan indwells him, he possesses him, and that's when he proclaims himself to be God. And at that point, he begins to make war with the saints according to Revelation chapter 13, and he makes war with them for 75 days. Now what happens at the abomination of desolation? Well you have something called the mark of the beast being implemented. And no, it's not the mask of the beast. By the way, mainstream Christianity, that's what they believe. Let mainstream Christianity stick to that way of thinking. We know the Bible, folks. Don't lower yourself to the intelligence of mainstream Christianity that's using the NIV to try to interpret end times Bible prophecy and say, well, a mark is like mask, and mask is like mark. Folks, the mask doesn't go on your forehead, it goes on your mouth, and it doesn't go on your right hand either. And look, the mark is only implemented for 75 days. Now why is it, I'm chasing a rabbit here, but this is good, okay. Why is the mark implemented for 75 days? Is it because, oh well, you know, they're just trying to make people's lives miserable, and they're trying to get Christians to take the mark of the beast, which is a really stupid teaching by the way, that Christians can take the mark of the beast. That's not what it's about. The mark of the beast is used as a tool to weed out Christians. So when the Bible says that he's making war with the saints, he uses the avenue of the chip or the mark or whatever it is in order to weed them out. Because only people who worship the image can receive the mark of the beast. And Christians who have the Spirit of God dwelling within them who are saved are incapable of worshiping the devil. It's impossible. So therefore, even if you have some weakling Christian, you know, like a preacher or something who is just like, brother, I'm just going to go ahead and get that mark, brother. I'll just get in and ask for forgiveness later, brother, I'm weak right now in the faith, brother. I should have listened to those pesky Andersonites. And he goes and he just wants to get his biscuits and gravy or whatever, McDonald's. They're going to know he's not worshiping the beast because as watered down as he is, he still has the Spirit of God dwelling within him. And they will be able to identify the fact that he's a true believer and in turn will be put to death because of it. You see, the mark of the beast will come as a ploy to basically say, well, this will make life better. We've gone through 1,260 days of beginning of sorrows, people are dying, there's famine, there's pestilence. Well, here's the mark, or not the mark, but here's, you know, your iPhone 20. But now it's not this, now it's just put it in your forehead or your hand and you can get the food that you need, you can get the medical attention that you need, you know, you can get whatever you need through this mark. And it comes as a matter of convenience to the world, but really the underlying motive behind it is to find out who the real Christians are because Satan, the Antichrist, the ones who he's trying to get is Christians. It doesn't say he's making war with the world, it doesn't say he's making war with the Buddhists, the Catholics, he's making war with the saints, which are Christians, okay? So he does that for 75 days, and this is actually what's known as Great Tribulation. So if we were to use biblical terms to describe these three and a half years, it would be 1,260 days of beginning of sorrows, and then you have 75 days of Great Tribulation, when the furnace is turned up seven times hotter, basically, okay? Does that make sense? Where are you guys at? Where are you guys at in your Bible right now? Second Thessalonians, did you save your place in Matthew 24? Did you do as I told you? Okay, go back there. I'm just kidding. So aside from the signs of, you know, the apostasy, the falling away, and the man of sin being revealed, there's particular signs in heaven that are given prior to the second coming of Christ, okay? Look at Matthew 24 verse 27 says, For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. But whatsoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other. So this actually works perfectly with Revelation chapter 6, which is exactly what happens. The sun and moon are darkened, and the stars fall from heaven, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, the Bible says, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. The Bible says that the heavens depart as a scroll, and it is rolled away together as we sang, and it is well with my soul. The kings of the earth shall mourn. Everyone shall mourn. Everyone shall wail and weep because of him, and the Bible tells us that this is the great day of his wrath which has come, okay, known as the rapture. So what are the signs that happen? Is this imminent? No. This is something that we see progressively taking place in those 1,335 days. There are signs that take place prior to that, the main ones being the abomination of desolation being set up. So look, when you see the third temple being built, and it's being used, it's being facilitated, that should be a marker to say, okay, we might be near the end. But that's not necessarily an indication that we're already there. Because look, they can begin doing the sacrifices in that temple and then stop, and then Jesus Christ doesn't come back for another hundred years or something. And in fact, folks, when the antichrist comes, he says he comes on a white horse with the bow which is a weapon that's used at a distance, it's a distance weapon. It's used and you don't really know who's shooting. So it's basically indicating that we don't know who the antichrist is. We won't know who he is until he resurrects from the grave. Why? Because he's ruling, he's basically ruling with various kings with him. So yeah, maybe let's say there's 10 kings who are ruling at that time, maybe we can say in surmise, okay, obviously it's one of these guys, but we won't know who it is until he dies, he resurrects, and he proclaims himself to be God according to the Bible, okay? Go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, if you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. So they placed a rapture prior to this in Revelation chapter 4. And you kind of wonder like, you see the evidence, why do you persist to believe this? Come on, man, you got to have some biblical understanding here in discernment that Revelation 4 where John is being caught up in the Spirit to heaven is not the rapture. And it's funny, they want to see everything else is symbolic except for that, right? They want to say, well, that is, or excuse me, they want to see everything else is symbolic and they want to use that as being a symbol of the church being raptured, but when it's literally laid out, when the rapture is literally laid out in Revelation 6, 7, they're like, that's not it. John is being caught up in the Spirit, which obviously is a complete opposite of what we see when it comes to the actual rapture, because it's a bodily resurrection. And here's the thing, John comes back and he dies. We never die, you understand? So they have that prior to the tribulation. They think that the tribulation lasts for seven years, it doesn't. You have three and a half years of tribulation, beginning of sorrows and great tribulation, and then you have three and a half years of the wrath of God. Now what is the proof of that? Well, this is the third point that I have. The reason I reject the pre-trib rapture is because it combines tribulation and wrath. It combines both. It claims that because you're going through tribulation, you're experiencing wrath. Now folks, we don't even have time to go through all the scriptures to prove that when the Bible refers to tribulation, it's often persecution from an other individual to a Christian. We suffer tribulation, I mean, folks, we're studying the book of Acts on our midweek service. We see a lot of tribulation, and what is it? It's Jews persecuting Paul, stoning him to death, arresting him. He's suffering tribulation at the hand of another human being. That is tribulation, whereas wrath is when you suffer at the hand of God. Now look what it says in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 8, because this is their cliche little sound bite that they like to say, I don't believe in that, brother, because we're going to be out of here. I believe that we're saved from the wrath, brother. Me too. Why are you saying that? I don't believe that. Why are you trying to say, I believe I'm going to go through the wrath of God? When did I ever say anything like that? When have we ever said anything like that? Stop talking like that. You're deceiving people. Liar. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 8, but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and of love and for a helmet of hope of salvation, for God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So when the Bible says that we're to put on the helmet of salvation, that's referring to Luke 21, where it says, lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh, referring to the rapture. In other words, we ought to be vigilant during those 75 days to lift up our heads for our redemption draweth nigh. And it's in tandem with what he says here in verse nine, for God has not appointed us to wrath. Why should we wear the helmet of salvation? Because we know that when we lift up our heads and our redemption draweth nigh, that the wrath comes after Jesus Christ comes and we're not going to suffer with that. Now look, obviously there's going to be people after the rapture during the wrath of God that are going to get saved. And at that point, unfortunately, they're in the world when God is pouring out his wrath upon the world. But we're referring to, and the Bible's referring to Christians prior to the rapture taking place. They're not going to go through that. We're not going to go through that, the wrath of God. Now here's the major proof. Go to Revelation six and look, this is one of the reasons I really, I really just hate the preacher of rapture. Because really what it does is it cultivates a spirit or an attitude, a perspective of we don't even have to prepare. They're so busy supposedly preparing for the second coming of Christ. They're not really like, how do you prepare for the second coming of Christ? What do you mean by that? Like I mean, I don't, I've never really had anybody explain to me what that means to prepare for the second coming of Christ. Jesus told us to prepare for the tribulation. So that we are not offended when that day comes. You see the poster pre-wrath rapture causes us to be vigilant. It causes us to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might and to recognize that we through much tribulation must enter into the kingdom of God. When you understand the biblical teaching of the rapture, which is that it comes after the tribulation prior to the wrath of God, we understand, Hey, we're living in a day where the tribulation could possibly happen in our time and we need to make sure we're in our Bibles. We need to make sure that we're winning souls to Christ, that we're right with God because we want to be able to make it and endure into the end so we can be saved. Not our spirit, but our body, right? We don't want to be offended when that day comes. We don't want to renounce Christ or have some sort of weak thing happen to us where it's just like, well, just try to give me the mark or something. I'll tell you where all those Christians are at. I'll tell you where first works is. Just give me a prayer or something. I know where they're hiding. I know where they're preaching. Not hiding because we're not going to be hiding. I know where they're preaching. I know where they're meeting at. We don't want that to be us. You see, the Bible says that the person who's not rooted, when persecution arises because of the word by and by, he is offended, the Bible says. He falls away. And that's what God wants us to avoid. Look at Revelation 6, verse 9. This is proof that those seven years is not all the wrath of God. Verse 9 says that when he had opened his fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. Hey, whoa, hold on a second, souls. What are you guys doing in the tribulation? You're being slain for the word of God and for the testimony which you've held? You missed, did you miss the train over in Revelation 4? You guys were supposed to be right for a long time ago, buddy. Well, yeah, this is what they would refer to as the tribulation saints. Now what are they saying? Verse 10, and they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? So what is being insinuated here? What's being said is that God has not yet judged, has not yet avenged the blood of the saints upon the world. Right? Because when we think of the wrath of God, it's God pouring out his judgment. It's him avenging us, right? I wonder if anybody came to tell me, hey, uh, you're probably not going to get that prayer answered. I don't know if you knew this, but you're actually within the wrath of God. So sorry to break it to you. You know why no one's telling that? Because that's stupid. It never happened because they suffered tribulation. But you know what? They were not suffering at the hand of God. And he's asking them, when is that going to take place? Well, soon thereafter, you have the sun and moon being darkened, the stars falling from heaven, the day of the Lord has come. And then you have chapter seven, which is the rapture. And in chapter eight, the wrath begins. You know, the chaos begins where God begins to destroy the world, the seven trumpets and seven vials are released, okay, to judge the world. And so we don't adhere to this seven year tribulation. Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say that it's a seven year tribulation. It says there's seven years of end times Bible prophecy, but nowhere does it say that all seven years is referred to as tribulation. That is made up completely. Now go to Matthew 24. So why do I reject the pre-trib rapture? Well, number one, because it teaches immanency. Number two, because of the fact, let me go over my points here, because I don't want to say something I shouldn't say. Number two is because it places the rapture before the tribulation, three, because it combines tribulation and wrath, and number four, because it redefines who the elect are. Now let me just say this is that the preacher rapture, you can turn that off now, Brother Mark. All the ladies are frozen right now, sorry. The preacher rapture relies heavily, heavily upon Zionism. It cannot exist without Zionism, it's impossible. Because they've designated the seven years, Daniel's seventh week, to only the Jews. And if you remove the fact, the false teaching that the Jews are God's chosen people, then Matthew 24 belongs to us, you understand? So they redefine who the elect are. So they rely heavily upon this teaching that the Jews are God's elect. Now why do they do that? Matthew 24 verse 29 says, immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels with this great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So folks, if you adhere to a post-trib pre-wrath rapture, this makes perfect sense. Because we are the elect. The elect are the chosen people of God and look, again, I don't even have time to develop this because that's a sermon in and of itself. The false teaching of Zionism and the biblical teaching of replacement theology, where the Bible no longer says that the Jews according to the flesh are God's chosen people, nor are they the elect. Who's the elect? Who are God's chosen people? Believers. The Bible tells us who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. It is God who justified the court of Romans chapter number eight, talking to Romans. Gojems, Gentiles, other nations who are not Jews. Peter, when writing to people in Cappadocia, Bithynia, and Galatia, refers to them as the elect according to the foreknowledge of God. So it's easily debunked to show, hey, the elect, it was the children of Israel in the Old Testament, but as I mentioned today, that's ready to vanish away. It already vanished away. In their days, it was ready to vanish away. Once the new covenant was implemented, at that point, that transition from the Jews being God's chosen people to all believers being God's chosen people. So if you remove that equation, that variable from this equation here, Matthew 24 belongs to us. But now you can see why they just, they hold on to this false teaching that the Jews are God's chosen people. They need that in order to prop up the pre-tribulation rapture. Now look, let me just say this, let me give you a piece of advice, okay? You say, what can we gain from this sermon here? So just had a good time bashing the pre-trib rapture, first and foremost, okay? And that's always fun to do, but let me just give you some practical advice, some practical teaching here. Don't try to teach this to old IFB pastors. It's a losing battle. I'm just telling you plain and simple, it's a losing battle. And I will never, never teach an old IFB pastor or seek to win them over to this position unless they come to me. I will never go out of my way to try to teach them that. Why? Because of the fact that the post-trib pre-rath rapture is associated with the new IFB and thank God for that. I have no problem being associated with being post-trib pre-rath and being new IFB. I think that's great. I like when people think of so many, they think of the new IFB. When they think about preaching against sodomites, they think about the new IFB. That's great. That's a great association. But you know what? Old IFB preachers, they will completely just negate biblical teaching just because it's associated with us, which is stupid. You should believe the Bible and the truth of God's word regardless of who believes it. Understand? So let me give a word of advice. Don't try to win old IFB pastors to this position. Let them come to it on their own. And look, if they never come to it, then that's on them. Let the dead bury their dead. If that's what they want to do, you know, he that is ignorant, let them be ignorant still, the Bible says. So we shouldn't seek to try to win the ignorant when they don't want to be won. The Bible actually says, they that are ignorant, let them be ignorant still. But if you do have an opportunity and someone does come to you with these questions, here's my advice to you. Don't start with the pre-trib rapture. Don't start with Zionism. Zionism is more easily debunked than the pre-trib rapture. Obviously the pre-trib rapture for us is a cakewalk. But there's so much more blatant evidence and clear statements in the New Testament when it comes to Zionism, when it comes to replacement theology, excuse me. You know, with the pre-trib rapture, it's just like, you have to go through the numbers, you got to show up to Revelation, we got to do what we did tonight. If you're out of Zionism, just read Ephesians 2. Just read Romans 11, just read Galatians 3 and 4. Just read Hebrews chapter number 8, just read John 8. Just read the clear statements, it's super easy to debunk. Read Romans chapter 2. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision outward in the flesh made of hands, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart and of the spirit and not of the letter whose praise is not of men but of God. Debunked. Done. Okay. And so if someone is receptive towards this teaching and they want to know, start with Zionism. Because once you start with Zionism, you can segue into Matthew 24 and show who are the elect who are being raptured. And because you've already debunked the fact that the Jews are not God's elect, they'll more readily receive the biblical teaching of the post-trib pre-trib rapture. Amen? My last point is just that the reason I reject the pre-trib rapture is because it's an offshoot of dispensationalism. And look, this whole seven year tribulation thing, what they're referring to is a different dispensation. Now here's the thing that these pre-tribbers don't want to admit. Because some of these pre-tribbers, most of them are saved. They believe in the right gospel, but hold on a second, they're receiving their teaching and their doctrine from hyper-dispensationalists that believe that during the tribulation there's a different gospel, which is a damnable heresy. They believe it's another gospel. You have Peter Ruckman, you have Robert Breaker and Gene Kim, and that guy in the woods, what's that guy's name, Dunglinger, who all believe in the pre-trib rapture, they all believe in Zionism. And they believe in dispensationalism, but they also believe in different gospels. You say, why would they say a seven year tribulation, why would they teach that? Because to them, it's a different dispensation where there's a different gospel being preached. That's wicked. And look, our church is not dispensational at all. The only dispensation that we have in our church is the water dispenser, and that's it. The only dispensation we have is when we dispense the gospel to other people. That's it. I reject it because of dispensationalism, watch Dispensation of Heresy for more details about that. Nice little shameless plug there. So hey, I'm post-trib, pre-wrath, that's what I believe, studied it out, and look, if you listen to this sermon and walk away still being a pre-tribber, you're just ignorant. You're just ignorant, you're the contentious one actually, because you're fighting against God. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much that you've revealed to us, Lord, through your word, that Christians will go through tribulation. And that helps us to prepare to be stronger Christians, to be in your word, to win souls to Christ. And Lord, if the tribulation so comes in our lifetime, Lord, Lord, I pray that I would be found worthy to beat it to the very end. Oh, what a sight to see Jesus Christ coming on the clouds. And God, I pray, God, that you prepare our church if that so happens in our lifetime. Even if it doesn't, we're still going to experience some form of tribulation, even in our lifetime. We have this year, we will in the coming years, because all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And I pray, God, that you'd prepare us for that, help us to get rooted and grounded in your word, to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live a life that's pleasing unto you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.