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Sunday School

Lesson 26: Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church, Overview

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David Capoccia

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Summary

This lesson examines the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:50-53, Revelation 3:10, John 14:1-3, and other passages. The biblical evidence, when carefully harmonized, demonstrates that Christ will return to snatch up His church—both dead and living believers—before the tribulation period begins.

Key Lessons:

  1. The rapture is a clearly taught biblical event in which all believers, both dead and alive, will be resurrected, glorified, and caught up to meet Christ in the air.
  2. Revelation 3:10 promises that the faithful church will be kept *from* the hour of testing, not merely kept *through* it—pointing to a pre-tribulational rapture.
  3. The entire tribulation period, including the seal judgments, constitutes God’s wrath, and New Testament believers are promised rescue from God’s wrath, not endurance through it.
  4. John 14:1-3 requires a return to heaven after the rapture, ruling out post-tribulational views that have the church going up and immediately coming back down.

Application: We are called to live in present obedience and holiness as we await Christ’s return, not preparing for wrath but preparing by faithfulness—putting on faith, love, and the hope of salvation. This doctrine should produce comfort, encouragement, and mutual ministry within the church body.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How does understanding that the rapture is a reward for persevering faithfulness change the way we view our daily walk with Christ?
  2. Why is it significant that the New Testament never instructs Christians to prepare for the tribulation period, and what does this tell us about God’s posture toward His church?
  3. If the rapture could happen at any moment, how should that reality shape our priorities, relationships, and evangelistic urgency?

Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 describe the rapture event itself. Revelation 3:10 promises the church will be kept from the hour of testing. John 14:1-3 shows Jesus preparing a heavenly home and coming to receive His disciples. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 and 5:1-11 reveal that believers expect rescue from wrath, not entrance into it. Revelation 6 demonstrates that the seal judgments are God’s wrath from the very beginning of the tribulation.

Outline

Introduction

Good morning. Good morning. It’s time to begin Sunday school. Please find your seats.

Welcome back to our defending doctrinal distinctive Sunday school series. We’re getting closer to the end. I don’t just mean that eschatologically, but we’re getting closer to the end of this course. After today’s topic, which we’ll cover this week and next week, we only have one more larger topic and then we have our final elders Q&A and then it is finished.

But what are we talking about today? You see it on the screen. We’re talking about the rapture and why your pastors at this church hold to a pre-tribulational rapture stance. That means we are once again talking about eschatology. We’re talking about the biblical teaching of last things—what God is going to do in the last days of this current world.

I’ve already spoken about eschatology broadly in a couple of previous lessons. I presented to you why our church is premillennialist. That is, we believe that Jesus will return to earth before his 1,000-year kingdom to establish that kingdom and to fulfill the promises that have not yet been fulfilled to Israel. If you missed those lessons, you can go back and listen to the recordings, and I recommend you do that because I lay a foundation there that I’m going to build on in today’s lessons.

Now, this doctrine of a pre-tribulational rapture is especially important to me since it was something that I had to wrestle with during seminary—my own doubts about this doctrine. As God would have it, I was assigned to explain verbally the rapture in one of my classes. And I was like, “No, anything but that. That’s the one I’m not totally sure about.” But forced to study the issue, I became firmly convinced of a pre-tribulational rapture position.

So my explanation today is just an expanded version of what I presented previously in my seminary class. Here’s how we’ll proceed in today’s lesson. We will first define terms and I’ll give you some helpful background on this topic, and then I will present to you a six-part argument for a pre-tribulational rapture.

Okay, let’s pray and we’ll get into it. Lord, thank you for this truth, this glorious truth of your Son’s coming to get his church by the rapture. God, I pray that you would help me to be able to explain this well and help us not only to be able to understand it, but to appreciate the impact of it—that this is a mark of your great love, your faithfulness to your church, and a reality for which your church can hope and persevere in the present. I bless this time in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Background: The Rapture in Scripture

Let’s start with background. Where exactly in the Bible do we get this concept of a rapture event? The answer is two New Testament passages. Unlike some of the other topics we’ve studied in this course where there are so many verses we don’t have time to cover them all, there aren’t that many verses related to the rapture. We’re going to look at those in a bit more depth.

Two main passages describe the rapture event. The first one is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. If you like, you can turn there in your own Bibles and see it for yourself.

This is our main passage on the rapture.

“Where exactly in the Bible do we get this concept of a rapture event? The answer is two New Testament passages.”

I’m going to read it and then present to you a few observations.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 — The Main Rapture Passage

This is Paul speaking to the Thessalonian church. He says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:17: “We who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

Key Observations from 1 Thessalonians 4

All right. In this part of Paul’s letter to the newly established church in Thessalonica, Paul seeks to correct an eschatological misunderstanding which was distressing some of the people in the church. Notice in verse 13 that Paul says he does not want the people to be uninformed about those who are asleep.

And by the way, who are those who are asleep? Those who have died, believers who have died. He says, “I don’t want you to be uninformed about them so that you people will not inadvertently grieve like the rest of the hopeless world.”

Now, what exactly were some of the Thessalonians believing in error about those who had died, those who had fallen asleep? Paul does not say specifically, but we can infer what the error was based on Paul’s correcting explanation.

Apparently, the Thessalonians were grieving because they thought that believers who already died, believers in Jesus who already died, were going to miss out on Christ’s glorious second coming and his millennial kingdom. They loved these persons and didn’t want them to miss that.

So Paul clarifies in verse 14 that departed believers will be there at Christ’s return. More than that, in verses 15-16, Paul says that the dead in Christ will be the first ones to meet the arriving Lord being resurrected from the dead.

“Paul clarifies that departed believers will be there at Christ’s return.”

According to verse 17, only after the dead in Christ are raised to meet Christ will living believers, those who are still alive at Christ’s coming, be caught up together with those resurrected believers to meet the Lord in the sky. The result according to verse 17 is that both dead believers and alive believers will be together again and from then on all of them will always be with the Lord.

The Word ‘Rapture’ — Harpado

Now notice the phrase in verse 17: “will be caught up.” This is the form of the Greek verb harpado, which generally means to grab, seize, snatch, or take away suddenly. The equivalent Latin verb is rapere, from which we get our English word rapture. It just comes from the Latin version of this Greek verb.

In these verses, Paul is teaching about the rapture. There is a snatching away coming of both dead and living believers in Christ, which is the church.

“There is a snatching away coming of both dead and living believers in Christ, which is the church.”

They are snatched from this world at Christ’s second coming to meet the Lord in the air and then always be with the Lord.

According to verse 18, what does Paul expect that this clarifying teaching about the rapture will do for the Thessalonian believers?

It will comfort them and should enable them to comfort one another. The rapture is meant to be a comforting doctrine.

By the way, with what sounds does verse 16 say Christ will descend from heaven for his church?

There’s a trumpet, the trumpet of God. There’s a shout, presumably from Christ because he will descend with a shout, it says, and the voice of the archangel.

Based on verse 16, does the rapture seem like a silent event or a noisy event?

It seems pretty noisy, contrary to certain popular book series.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we see a clear passage revealing the coming rapture of the church. The other main passage that describes this event doesn’t use harpado, doesn’t use this term for snatching away, but is clearly talking about the same instance. If you like, turn over to 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15:50-53 — Instantaneous Transformation

Smaller passage here, but 1 Corinthians 15:50-53.

The context here is Paul refuting the idea that there’s no coming resurrection for believers. Aside from arguing that such a reality would contradict Christ’s own resurrection because he’s the first fruits of what his people will experience, Paul then clarifies that a glorified resurrection body is necessary for being in or remaining in Christ’s everlasting kingdom.

Let’s pick up Paul’s words in verse 50. 1 Corinthians 15:50 and then the few verses following.

Paul says, “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

Notice what Paul teaches here in verse 51. Paul says that not all believers will sleep, meaning not all believers will what? They will not all die. Just like the previous passage, sleep equals death. But he says nevertheless that all believers in Christ will be changed whether alive or dead.

All believers will be changed at a certain time in the future to become incorruptible and immortal. According to verse 52, how much time will be needed for this transformation? It’s instant. It says in a moment, in an eye twinkle.

And according to verses 52 and 53, when will this transformation happen? At the last trumpet and also at the same time as what? It doesn’t exactly say the return of Christ, though we’re going to connect that in just a second.

But at the same time as the believer’s coming resurrection, it says the dead will be raised imperishable in verse 52. So this changing of all believers in Christ—both dead and alive—it’s going to happen at the same time as the last trumpet and as the believer’s coming resurrection.

Combining the Two Passages

Hopefully, you already see the intimate connections in this passage to what we read earlier in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This is because the two passages are talking about the same event. When we combine what both passages are telling us, we can conclude the following about the rapture.

The rapture is a future event associated with Christ’s return in which Christ’s entire church consisting of both living and dead members will be resurrected, glorified, and lifted up to meet Christ in the clouds. The transformed church will then finally be fit for Christ’s everlasting kingdom and will be with Christ from then on.

“The rapture is a future event in which Christ’s entire church will be resurrected, glorified, and lifted up to meet Christ in the clouds.”

We call this transformative event the rapture based on the term in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Now, these passages are pretty clear. Belief in a future rapture really is not controversial. If you believe in the Bible, there’s going to be a rapture. If you don’t believe the Bible, then you don’t believe that. But the Bible makes plain in these two passages that a future rapture of the church will happen.

The Controversy: When Does the Rapture Occur?

You may ask, well if the truth of the coming rapture is plain, then why is this considered a controversial doctrine? The controversy emerges when we try to answer when in relation to Christ’s second coming to the earth the rapture occurs.

While these passages clarify that it is part of Jesus’s second coming, there are a number of events in Jesus’s second coming. Where does the rapture exactly fall within those events? Do these two passages make it extremely clear?

They don’t. In fact, no single verse in the Bible does. That’s why this becomes a difficult doctrine to understand. Where in connection with Christ coming does the rapture take place?

We might ask, is the exact timing of the rapture unknowable then? We just know it’s somewhere in the second coming. Well, no. We can know the timing of the rapture in relation to Christ’s return to the earth. Nobody knows the day or hour, but we can know relatively in the events of Christ’s second coming when the rapture will take place.

“No single verse in the Bible decides the timing. The answer only comes by careful harmony of various eschatological passages.”

The answer only comes by careful harmony of various eschatological passages. No one verse is going to decide it for you. You have to compare all the passages and harmonize them together.

Now, some of these passages at first seem to contradict each other. Because of this need to harmonize various passages to understand the timing of the rapture, there have emerged three main views as to when the rapture will occur relative to Christ coming. The names for these views all have to do with the tribulation period. The terms are relative to when the tribulation period occurs.

You may say, what’s the tribulation period? The tribulation period is the period of last judgments on the world before Christ’s return.

Dispensational premillennialists talked about that term in our previous lesson. Like your elders at Calvary, they understand the tribulation period to be seven years. It’s not just sometime in the future. It’s a period of seven years. That conclusion comes from the repeated reference to seven years or two sets of three and a half years that we see in the book of Revelation and also in the book of Daniel, specifically Daniel 9.

Thus, the tribulation period may also accurately be called Daniel’s 70th week or the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a term you hear throughout Scripture, but it refers to that final period of judgment before the Lord returns himself to the earth.

By contrast, those who take a symbolic view of Revelation either see the tribulation period as describing the entire church age in which we live or some undefined amount of time shortly before Christ’s return in which the present tribulations of the world get much worse.

Now, we don’t take that view. We don’t believe that’s a hermeneutically sound way to approach the book of Revelation. Thus, we see the tribulation period as being seven years.

The Three Main Views on the Rapture’s Timing

All right. That’s what the tribulation period is. But what are the three main views of the rapture’s timing relative to the tribulation period?

Well, first there is the pre-tribulational rapture view. These terms are pretty self-explanatory.

The pre-tribulational rapture view is that the rapture of the church will take place before the tribulation period.

In other words, Jesus rescues the church before he unleashes any special judgments on the world.

“Jesus rescues the church before he unleashes any special judgments on the world.”

For pre-tribulationists, the rapture is the very next event on God’s eschatological timetable. Not waiting for anything else, just waiting for the rapture.

The second main view is the midtribulational rapture view. This is the teaching that the rapture of the church takes place in the middle of the tribulation period. Those who hold this view see a distinction in the types of tribulation that take place in the final seven years of judgment or the final period of God’s judgments of the earth.

The first three and a half years are the seal judgments. Many midtribulationists would say these are the wrath of man or the wrath of Satan or both. The second three and a half years, the trumpet and bowl judgments, are the much worse wrath of God, the great tribulation as some verses of scripture describe it. From this, God rescues his church via the rapture.

As an aside, a variant of the midtrib rapture view is the pre-wrath rapture view, which teaches that the rapture will take place sometime in the second half of the tribulation period just before the bowl judgments. So in the pre-wrath view, there are the seal judgments, there are the trumpet judgments, but the bowl judgments—God rescues the church from because that’s where God’s wrath is really unleashed.

Third, there is the posttribulational rapture view. You can guess by now what that means. This is the teaching that the rapture of the church takes place after the tribulation period at the very end of the tribulation period.

In other words, when Christ returns, when he appears in the sky at the battle of Armageddon to dispatch all his enemies and to conquer and rule, the church will be called up to the heavens to meet their arriving king and then immediately come back down following him as he wages war.

Obviously, this posttribulational rapture view requires the church to go through the entire tribulation period.

Now, which of these views is correct according to the Bible?

We must admit none of these views is problem free. However, the best view is the pre-tribulational rapture view. This view best harmonizes the relevant verses of scripture, which is why we hold to it here as your pastors and why we teach it.

Grace on a Difficult Issue

Now, do you need to believe correctly on the rapture to be saved?

Do you need to believe correctly on the rapture to be a member of this church?

No. No, definitely not. Though the Bible does give enough information to nail down the relative timing of the rapture, this matter of interpretation can be difficult. We need to show grace and patience to one another.

“Though the Bible gives enough information to nail down the timing, this matter can be difficult. We need to show grace and patience.”

Also, though the issue of the rapture is important, it will affect your hope and courage in the present.

Nevertheless, you need not believe the correct timing of the rapture, nor even believe in a rapture at all to be saved.

Key Argument 1: Revelation 3:10 — Kept From the Hour of Testing

Nevertheless, why do I insist that we can know the timing of the rapture in relation to Christ coming? And why do I insist that it is the pre-tribulational view? Well, allow me now to begin this six-point defense, this six-point presentation for a pre-tribulational rapture.

This defense will consist of three key arguments and then three supplemental arguments. Three key arguments for a pre-tribulational rapture and then three supplemental.

The first key argument for a pre-tribulational rapture is number one: Revelation 3:10 promises that the church will be spared from the tribulation period. Let’s go there. If you would turn over to Revelation 3.

The context here is Jesus’ seven letters or seven messages to the churches in the Roman province of Asia. Think western Turkey.

In Revelation 3:7-13, Jesus gives his message to the church in the city of Philadelphia. Unlike Jesus’ messages to some of the other churches, Jesus has no reproof for this faithful church.

However, like Jesus’ message to the other churches, Jesus gives certain words of encouragement to the believers at Philadelphia to persevere in faithfulness until he comes.

Let’s see what Jesus says in Revelation 3:7-13.

Jesus’ Promise to the Church at Philadelphia

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write, “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this, I know your deeds. Behold, I put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have a little power and have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie. I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you.

Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.

Revelation 3:10: “I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world.”

I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

In this message from Jesus, we’re focusing on verse 10. Notice what is the basis for Jesus making the promise to the church that he does in verse 10. He says, “I’m going to do something for you because what did you do?”

They were faithful. They kept his word, the word of his perseverance. They persevered in keeping Jesus’s word faithfully. What is Jesus’s promised reward for this? He says, “You’ve kept my word. I will keep you from a certain hour.”

What’s this hour? Notice the way Jesus describes it. It is an hour of testing—that is to say, it is an hour of difficulty that will reveal people’s hearts.

It is also an hour which is soon coming upon the whole world, that is to say, upon all mankind. It is an hour that will test those who dwell on the earth. Now, that may sound like it’s just mere repetition of the previous two phrases, but not quite.

The description “those who dwell on the earth” is one that you see throughout the book of Revelation, and it always refers to the ungodly. Those who dwell on the earth in the book of Revelation refers to the ungodly people of the world.

Kept From, Not Kept Through

In summary, Jesus tells the Philadelphians that an hour—not a literal hour in this context, but a period of time—is coming soon in which all the ungodly of the world will be tested by great difficulty. But Jesus will keep the faithful Philadelphians from that testing time.

Indeed, notice the phrasing in verse 10. He says, “I also will keep you from the hour.” Now, the Greek for keep is teraso ek. The preposition ek means, in its most fundamental sense, “out of,” “from,” or “away from.”

I have that on the slide.

So Jesus is saying that this faithful church will not merely be kept from testing but will be kept out of, kept away from the time of testing—the time of worldwide testing.

“This faithful church will be kept out of, kept away from the time of worldwide testing. They won’t even go into it.”

They won’t even go into it. They won’t go through it.

Now, could Jesus have had in mind just some local difficulty soon to appear in the city of Philadelphia? No. Why not? Because he says this is going to be over the whole earth, all those who dwell on the earth. This is a worldwide time of testing, not a local one.

And where in the context of this book would the Philadelphians have gotten a sense of what hour of trial Jesus was referring to? If you’re reading the book of Revelation, having it read to you in your church, and he says, “Trials are coming and we’re not going to go into it”—what could he possibly be referring to?

Does anywhere else in Revelation clarify? Maybe the rest of the book. Revelation 6 to 18 describes exactly the period of trial, the period of judgments that’s about to come upon the whole world.

And another question we should ask: would Jesus’s promise of reward, this rewarding protection and exemption, have been only for the Philadelphians, just this particular church? Exactly. Pastor Mark pointed out that even at the end of this section, he says, “He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Everybody should listen to everything I’m saying to each church.

Indeed, all the letters are given to all seven churches, and the rewards and warnings are meant for them all. So it’s not like the Philadelphians got a reward and we don’t. No, it’s the same for any faithful believer or church. It’s just spoken specifically to the Philadelphians, but it applies to all.

So then, for the promise of Revelation 3:10 to make sense, what must be true about the rapture’s timing? It must take place at the beginning of the tribulation period. It must be a pre-trib rapture.

And why does Jesus do this? It’s explicit in the text. It’s a reward for the church’s persevering in the present age. Jesus’s promise is: if you will persevere in the present time of testing by keeping my word, then I will keep you from the future time of testing which is coming upon the whole ungodly world.

“If you will persevere in the present time of testing, then I will keep you from the future time of testing coming upon the ungodly world.”

Answering Post-Tribulational Objections to Revelation 3:10

Now those who take a post-trib stance might try to argue about the translation of this verse. They would say the sense of “keep from” here is more like “keep so that you will eventually emerge from this hour of testing safe and sound”—keep with a sense of going through and emerging out of it safe and sound.

This translation is grammatically possible, but extremely unlikely for at least a few reasons. First, this severely stretches the preposition “ek” from its basic sense. If Jesus didn’t really mean “keep from,” but “keep through to emerge from,” why didn’t he just use a different preposition? It’s not very clear.

Second, the rest of Revelation clarifies that most of the saints alive during the tribulation period are severely persecuted and then martyred. If that’s the church, that does not sound like special protection from testing. That sounds like the most testing you can ever have.

Is this really to be a motivating reward for present perseverance?

“Most saints alive during the tribulation are persecuted and martyred. That does not sound like special protection from testing.”

Third, if God will protect the church by some other providential or miraculous means during the tribulation period, then why the rapture at all? The rapture seems unnecessary if there’s no rescuing component to it.

Revelation 3:10 is a problem for those who take a post-trib view of the rapture, but it is a key support and key argument for those who take a pre-trib view.

Now, we might ask: could Revelation 3:10 still fit in a mid-trib or pre-wrath view if we distinguish between man’s wrath, Satan’s wrath, and God’s wrath in the coming tribulation?

Well, perhaps Revelation 3:10 could fit.

Key Argument 2: Believers Expect to Escape God’s Wrath

But here’s where we need to look at a second key support or argument for a pre-trip rapture. That is number two.

New Testament believers expect to escape God’s wrath. The whole tribulation period is God’s wrath. New Testament believers expect to escape God’s wrath.

The whole tribulation period is God’s wrath. This is a two-part argument. Let’s look first.

“New Testament believers expect to escape God’s wrath. And the whole tribulation period is God’s wrath.”

I’m going to base this argument primarily on two verses, both in the letters to Thessalonians. There are other verses we could include, but I’ll focus on these two.

First Thessalonians is where we’ll start. If you’ll go back to First Thessalonians, let’s go to chapter 1.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 — Rescued from the Wrath to Come

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.

This is part of Paul’s introductory greeting and giving of thanks for the faithful Thessalonians. Notice what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.

Speaking about the testimony others are giving about the church, he says, “For they themselves report about us. What kind of reception we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead. That is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.”

Notice in verse 10, the attitude of the new Thessalonian believers is they wait for Jesus’s return in hope, expecting to be rescued from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 1:10: “Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.”

The believers are not expecting to go through wrath, but instead be rescued. And how? By Jesus himself coming from heaven. Jesus coming represents rescue from wrath.

That’s the Thessalonian understanding.

How does that expectation fit with anything except a pre-trib rapture?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 — Not Destined for Wrath

Paul makes another reference to this hopeful expectation near the end of this book. Go to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

This passage comes right after the one that we looked at earlier describing in detail the rapture event.

We pick up in verse one of chapter 5, and let’s pay special attention to verse 9. 1 Thessalonians 5:1.

Now as the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying peace and safety, then destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness.

So then let us not sleep as others do. But let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him.

Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another just as you also are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:9: “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Preparing for the Day of the Lord

Go back to verse 2. Notice Paul’s reference to the day of the Lord. What’s that? That’s the final period of God’s judgment of the earth. In the verses that follow, Paul makes a distinction between believers and unbelievers preparing for this day, the day of the Lord.

How do unbelievers prepare?

Are the unbelievers prepared?

No, they don’t prepare. That’s the big problem. That’s why the Lord’s coming is like a thief in the night for them.

But how do believers prepare?

Okay, they remain alert, but behavior-wise, what do they do?

They continue to walk in obedience. They walk in the light. They put on faith and love in the hope of salvation. They do not prepare, notice, by girding up their loins for suffering. Preparing to go through the utmost persecution, not according to this passage. Rather, they prepare by present obedience. That’s how you prepare for the day of the Lord.

“They do not prepare by girding up their loins for suffering. Rather, they prepare by present obedience.”

Now, notice verse 9. Why do believers prepare this way?

Because these believers know that God has not destined them for wrath but for salvation in Christ. Then verse 11 says this reality ought to result in mutual encouragement and ministry in the church.

Now, we must ask again, how do the words of this passage make sense with anything but a pre-trib rapture? We’re talking about the day of the Lord. We’re not just talking about eternal judgment and hellfire. He’s talking about the day of the Lord in verse 2, and he’s talking about how people prepare for that.

Paul says believers are confident that they will not experience God’s wrath as they prepare for the day of the Lord, but they instead will experience salvation or rescue. That’s just like we said in chapter 1.

If believers were to go through the tribulation period, then they could not have this expectation.

They would have to prepare for wrath.

They would expect to enter into wrath.

Are the Seal Judgments God’s Wrath?

Now, here’s where a mid-triber might say, “Well, believers have to experience man’s wrath and Satan’s wrath in the first part of the tribulation, but they will indeed be exempt from God’s wrath in the later part of the tribulation, the trumpets and the bold judgments.” And to that, we must reply, where does one get the idea that the seal judgments in the beginning of the tribulation are not God’s wrath?

Why don’t we look at this ourselves? Go to Revelation 6.

Revelation 6 is where the seal judgments are unleashed.

“Where does one get the idea that the seal judgments in the beginning of the tribulation are not God’s wrath?”

The context here is John’s vision of the future. He’s just seen the lamb in heaven, that is Jesus Christ, take the scroll that is sealed with seven seals from God sitting on his throne.

Look at what Revelation 6:1-2 says happened next.

Revelation 6:1-2: “Then I saw when the lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with the voice of thunder, ‘Come.’ I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”

Okay?

The Lamb Unleashes the Judgments

Dispensational premillennialists like your pastors here generally interpret verse two of this passage as the unleashing of the antichrist onto the world to begin amassing his empire. Now, is the antichrist a good guy or a bad guy? He’s a bad guy. So, is the antichrist an agent of God or an agent of Satan?

Careful.

We might want to say only an agent of Satan.

But who unleashes the antichrist according to verse one?

The lamb does. Christ does.

“Who unleashes the antichrist? The Lamb does. Christ does.”

Why would the lamb do that? Especially if the antichrist will lead the earth into greater evil, greater woe, and greater judgment. Why would the lamb do that?

It’s to accomplish God’s purpose, which largely is to bring judgment to the earth—judgment on the ungodly.

Remember what we know from other scriptures. It’s even something I spoke about recently in the sermon.

All evil forces are on God’s leash.

They can never accomplish anything but what God has ultimately determined for God’s glory and his people’s good.

So while the antichrist may unleash man’s or Satan’s wrath on the world, whose wrath ultimately is the antichrist unleashing?

The Whole Tribulation Is God’s Wrath

It’s God’s wrath. And so it is with the sealed judgments that follow. Verses 3 to 4, we have worldwide war unleashed, resulting in worldwide casualties. In verses 5 to 6, we have worldwide famine unleashed and resulting in worldwide food shortages and starvation.

Verses 7 to 8 we have worldwide death, war, famine, disease, and wild animals kill a quarter of the earth’s population. Verses 9 to 11 it describes a cry of martyrs for justice. Then in verses 12 to 17 we have the sixth seal of horrific cosmic disturbances: there’s a great earthquake (verse 12), a blackened sun (verse 12), the moon turns blood red (verse 12), celestial objects fall to the earth (verse 13), the sky splits apart and disappears (verse 14), and there’s a reshuffling of the mountains and islands (verse 14).

Okay, just focusing on the sixth seal judgment. Is that man’s wrath, Satan’s wrath, or God’s wrath?

That’s got to be God’s wrath. And why would we say, “Oh, God’s wrath only begins at the sixth seal and not any of the other seals”? It’s part of the seal judgments. Why would it exclude the previous five? And all of them come from the Lamb breaking the seals. It is the Lamb who is bringing these things about.

It is God.

And in case we’re not sure, the future people of the world give testimony as to what they now realize is going on. Maybe they didn’t detect it right away in the first seal judgments, but by the time we get to number six, at least some people of the earth understand what is happening.

Because what do they say in verses 16 to 17 of Revelation 6? They say to the caves and the mountain rocks, “Hide us from God and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come.” And who is able to stand?

You see, the seal judgments are part of the day of the Lord. This is the great day of God’s and Christ’s wrath.

Revelation 6:16-17: “Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come.”

God gives the sealed judgments to the Son and the Son unleashes them.

So how could the seal judgments, how could the beginning of the tribulation not be considered God’s wrath?

And if the seal judgments are the beginning of God’s wrath on the ungodly world, and if the Thessalonians already, and if the book of Thessalonians already told us that believers look at the day of the Lord confident that they will not experience God’s wrath, then the future rescuing rapture must come at the beginning of the tribulation period so that the church does not endure even the seal judgments.

Only a pre-trib rapture fits with the New Testament expectation of escaping the tribulation period of God’s wrath.

By the way, if we’re still doubting the first sealed judgments, these first things described in Revelation 6 are God’s wrath, we should just compare Ezekiel 5:13-17.

I won’t make you turn there, but what do we see in Ezekiel 5:13-17? Well, there God is describing his unleashed wrath. He actually says that is unleashed wrath on unfaithful Jerusalem. And guess what form this wrath of God is?

Which is exactly what the first four seal judgments are in Revelation 6.

Oh, God may use man and Satan as his agents in a mysteriously sanctified way, but it is the wrath of God. It was for Israel. It will be for the world in the future. And God rescues his church from that.

Key Argument 3: John 14:1-3 — A Return to Heaven After the Rapture

Well, now we arrive at the third and final key argument for the pre-tribulational rapture, which is number three: John 14:1-3 requires a return to heaven after the rapture. Let’s turn over there. John 14:1-3.

This is a passage I preached through not too long ago. It’s part of Jesus’ farewell discourse—the last words of comfort and instruction to his distressed disciples.

All of chapter 14 is really a set of comfort that he’s delivering to his disciples. Listen to what Jesus says as comfort in verses 1-3 of John 14. He says to them, “Do not let your heart be troubled.

Jesus Prepares a Place and Comes to Receive His Disciples

Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:2-3: “I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Notice in verse 3 that Jesus mentions coming again for his disciples. Every time in the farewell discourse that Jesus mentions coming again to his disciples or seeing his disciples, we need to take a step back and ask: what time does Jesus have in mind? There are multiple times that Jesus returns to his disciples.

Is Jesus talking about his post-resurrection appearances? Is Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost, the spirit of Christ? Or is he referring to his second coming to the earth? The answer is not always the same depending on where you are in the farewell discourse. But in these verses, Jesus must be speaking about his second coming to the earth.

Notice that Jesus speaks in verse 2 of the father’s house, which cannot be the earthly temple, but must be heaven. In verse 3, Jesus speaks of going to the father’s house to prepare a place for his disciples there. This fits the context of Jesus explaining to his disciples about leaving the earth to go back to the father.

Then in verse 3, Jesus speaks of coming again and receiving all his disciples to himself. This cannot be the resurrection since in his post-resurrection appearances Jesus has not yet gone to heaven. And this cannot be Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, since Jesus is receiving the disciples rather than the disciples receiving Jesus by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

So John 14:1-3 must be describing the second coming of Jesus and the receiving or the gathering of all Jesus’s disciples at that time. The “you” there is plural, which Thessalonians tells us is the rapture event. We’re talking about the second coming. We’re talking about the rapture.

By the way, you may notice that these verses—John 14:1-3, especially verse 3—sound a little bit like 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Remember how it says, after describing the whole rapture, “And then we will always be with the Lord”? Well, same thing here at the end of verse 3: “Where I am, there you may be also.” That’s why I’m gathering you.

The Rapture as an Expression of Christ’s Love

And why would Jesus do that? Well, why do you want anybody to be around you all the time? Because you love them.

The rapture is an expression of Christ’s love. His true love for the church.

“The rapture is an expression of Christ’s love—his true love for the church.”

Why a Heavenly Home Requires a Pre-Trib Rapture

Now then, if John 14:1-3 is talking about the rapture, which it is, then the rapture must be a pre-tribulational rapture.

Why? Notice the flow of thought in verses 2 to 3. Jesus says he prepares a place for his disciples in heaven and then comes again to receive his disciples. We might ask, receive his disciples where? Well, to heaven, to the Father’s house, and that they may be with him there.

Now, someone might say the text doesn’t specifically say that he receives them to the Father’s house. But is that sense not implied? Why mention in verse 2 the preparation of the heavenly home if that’s not where Jesus is receiving his disciples? After all, no other location is mentioned.

And if Jesus is to receive the disciples merely in the clouds and then go straight back to the earth as a post-tribulational rapture view requires, then what is the point of preparing the heavenly home? The disciples are never going there.

And how would a prepared heavenly home that you never entered be any comfort to Jesus’ disciples?

No. The only way to make sense of this text is to infer a space of time after the rapture in which Jesus returns with his disciples to heaven to the Father’s house. And so this simple observation rules out a post-tribulational view.

“The only way to make sense of this text is to infer a space of time after the rapture in which Jesus returns with his disciples to heaven.”

And since the midtribulational view was ruled out in the previous point, the only view left that fits all three passages we’ve looked at is the pre-tribulational rapture view.

Post-Rapture Events Confirm the Pre-Trib View

And by the way, there are other post-rapture events that only fit with the pre-trip view. Without a time to return to heaven, there is nowhere in the eschatological sequence to fit the bema seat judgment described in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Unlike the great white throne judgment of sinners described in Revelation 20, which only results in eternal punishment for all those who are judged, the bema seat judgment is a judgment of reward and a judgment for the righteous based on their good deeds.

There’s nowhere to fit the bema judgment if it’s not after the rapture. Also, without a time to return to heaven, there is nowhere in the eschatological sequence to fit the marriage supper of the Lamb, which is described in Revelation 19:7-10 as taking place immediately before Jesus returned to earth and before the battle of Armageddon.

You can’t have the marriage supper if you don’t have the church. But the church can’t have the marriage supper if the church goes up and comes right back down. There’s no time for the supper.

“Without a time to return to heaven, there is nowhere to fit the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

There’s no time for this feast right before the return to earth.

These then are the three key arguments for the pre-tribulation rapture view. Together these arguments prove that Jesus will suddenly return in the future to snatch up his believers, and it will be at the start of the tribulation period. He will then later return with those saints to the earth at the end of the tribulation when he actually establishes his rule over the earth.

Now, I mentioned that there are three more arguments.

Supplemental Argument 1: Believers’ Eschatological Distress

These arguments are less decisive, but when added to the three arguments I’ve already presented, they give us even more reason to hold to a pre-tribulation rapture view. Allow me briefly to present three supplemental arguments for a pre-trib rapture.

Number one: believers’ eschatological distress in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians makes best sense with a pre-trib rapture. What am I talking about? Well, to remind you, in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the Thessalonian believers are apparently distressed that dead brethren were going to miss Jesus’ second coming and kingdom.

But think about it. If you knew the church was going to go through a horrific period of world judgment before Jesus returned, would you be sad that your brethren were missing that?

I don’t think so. I’d be relieved instead. You don’t want to go through what we’re about to go through.

The Thessalonians’ distress suggests therefore that they had a pre-trib rapture view. They didn’t think they were going to something bad that their brethren would be glad to miss out on, but something good.

“If you knew the church was going through horrific judgment, would you be sad that your brethren were missing that? The Thessalonians’ distress suggests a pre-trib view.”

2 Thessalonians 2 and the Day of the Lord

Meanwhile, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-15 presents a similar situation. I don’t have time to read that text right now, so I’ll summarize.

In 2 Thessalonians, believers are again feeling eschatological distress because someone came claiming apostolic support and saying that the day of the Lord, the tribulation period, had already arrived.

Paul, in response in 2 Thessalonians 2, reassures the church that the day of the Lord had not in fact arrived and that the Thessalonians could know this for sure based on what Paul previously taught them. Namely, that the day of the Lord would coincide with the apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, the antichrist.

Because the church had seen neither the apostasy nor the antichrist, the church could be confident that the day of the Lord had not yet arrived.

Now, sometimes post-tribers try to use this passage as a gotcha, saying, “Hey, see, if the Thessalonian church was pretrib, then Paul could have just said that the day of the Lord hasn’t arrived because you’re all still here and so am I. The rapture hasn’t occurred yet, you guys don’t need to be concerned.” Paul doesn’t say that. So the church must not have been pretrib, and neither was the apostle Paul.

But that argument from silence has an answer and a counter.

While we don’t know why Paul didn’t mention the rapture specifically, Paul does talk about something currently restraining the antichrist until it is taken out of the way in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7. That could be a reference to the rapture. But we don’t know why specifically he doesn’t mention the rapture.

We can supply a reasonable explanation as to why he wouldn’t cite the rapture. Perhaps Paul doesn’t mention the rapture because it wouldn’t decisively answer the Thessalonians’ concern. If Paul replied, “Guys, the rapture hasn’t occurred yet,” they might have said, “Well, maybe we were wrong and the rapture will take place later.” So Paul speaks more to the root of the people’s concerns.

Actually, the fact that the church was concerned at all is an argument for a pretrib rapture rather than against.

If the church, based on Paul’s teaching, was expecting to go through at least part of the tribulation, then why would they have been so shaken if somebody announced, “Okay, the tribulation has begun”? They were expecting that, or they would have been if there was a posttrib or midtrib view.

But if the church was not expecting to go through the tribulation at all because Paul had taught them a pretrib rapture, then their great distress in 2 Thessalonians 2 makes perfect sense. “Paul, we weren’t expecting this. I thought we weren’t going to see the day of the Lord.” That makes sense.

“The fact that the church was concerned at all is an argument for a pre-trib rapture rather than against.”

Supplemental Argument 2: The Church Is Absent in Revelation 6-18

Number two, another supplemental argument for a pretrib rapture is that the church is noticeably absent in the judgment descriptions of Revelation 6:18.

This is an argument from silence, so it’s not conclusive on its own, but it is still significant. John is perfectly content to talk about the church in Revelation 1:3. I mean, it’s letters to the seven churches. It’s church, church, church, church, church, church, church. Always talking about the church.

But then John doesn’t mention the church again in the book of Revelation until the end of the book, Revelation 22:16. And even there, it’s just to say, oh, Jesus sent this message to the churches to encourage them.

What happened? John clearly was not afraid to talk about the church in his letter. It was very helpful that he talked about the church. But where’s the church in the rest of the book?

Especially, where’s the church in the judgment descriptions of Revelation 6:18?

Now, John talks about saints on earth going through judgment. He even talks about the inhabitants of Israel and Jerusalem going through judgment, but not the church. Why? Why no longer talk about the church?

Why no longer give any instruction to the church when it comes to the tribulation?

Could it be that the reason John doesn’t talk about the church going through the judgments is because the church doesn’t go through the judgments? The church is not there because it’s not there. The church was snatched up before the judgments took place.

“The church is not there because it’s not there. The church was snatched up before the judgments took place.”

If not, how does one explain the church’s absence in Revelation 6:18, at least on earth?

Now, some people might say, well, Revelation doesn’t directly mention a pretrib rapture. It never says there’s a rapture in Revelation. Well, we already saw Revelation 3:10 more or less does, and Revelation 6:18 assumes a pretrib rapture.

Supplemental Argument 3: The New Testament Does Not Prepare Christians for the Tribulation

Then, finally, number three of my supplemental arguments: the New Testament does not seek to prepare Christians for the tribulation period.

The New Testament noticeably does not seek to prepare Christians for the tribulation period. If the church were to go through even part of the tribulation period, you would think that Christ and the apostles would have wanted to prepare the church for that by the spirit of God.

Christ and the apostles prepare the church for other difficulties. The church has been warned of false teachers, both present and future. The church is warned of persecution, both present and future. The church is warned of spiritual warfare with demons, both present and future.

But the church is never warned about nor told to prepare for the final period of judgment. Rather, what is the consistent message of the New Testament letters? As we already saw, be encouraged, brethren, that you will not face the judgment. You will not enter into God’s wrath.

The coming of Christ is always spoken of in the New Testament to the church as a hope and comfort.

“The coming of Christ is always spoken of in the New Testament to the church as a hope and comfort—not something to fear or dread.”

Not something to fear, dread, or for which you must gird up your loins. Not for believers.

How could this be except a pre-trib rapture? A rapture—this rescuing, this rewarding, this expression of love—takes place at the beginning of the tribulation. It removes the dead and alive believers in Christ from the earth, and they come back with Christ at the end of the tribulation.

Q&A

Okay, that covers my argument. I think I have time for maybe one or two questions. Next time I’m going to answer some more common questions and objections. Maybe some of you are like, “But what about the Olivet discourse, Matthew 24 and 25?” We’ll talk about that next time. Is there time for a question or two that I can answer right now? Arthur?

My question has to do with the church being raptured prior to the wrath of God. Does that mean that in heaven they operate under solar time? We know it’s seven years. We know the marriage and the land judgement are going to occur while they’re in heaven, and we know that the rapture comes before the wrath of God. Are they operating under solar time?

That’s a good question. Arthur, to repeat it for anybody who didn’t hear: if we’re talking about the seven-year duration from which the church is raptured up to heaven before they come back to the earth with Christ, is it solar time that operates in heaven? Is it exactly seven years just as it would be on the earth? That’s an interesting question. I have to think about it more.

But my first instinct in answering that question is yes. Remember, time measurements were established before the sun was. If we go back to Genesis 1, there was evening and morning—one day, second day, third day—but the sun wasn’t yet created. Where was the changing of light and darkness? Where was the actual elapsing of time coming from? It came from God.

Some people sometimes talk about going to heaven or going into the kingdom as the end of time. I think that’s a little bit misleading because we are body and soul creatures who exist in time. We are always going to exist in time. Our time with God is going to be everlasting.

Will the experience of time be different in heaven? Maybe. But the way the scriptures speak about it, it’s as if it’s kind of like the time that we have on earth. Even when we get to the new heavens and the new earth, it talks about fruit trees bearing fruit in their seasons. I think it’s every month, or it talks about time in terms of months. Time doesn’t disappear for God’s people whenever we go to heaven or whenever we receive glorified bodies.

The only thing to note maybe is that time is not ultimately dependent on the sun. We commonly use the sun as the way to measure time because it’s an easy time marker for us, along with the moon and the stars. That’s what God created these things to do. But we still have time even in Revelation 21-22 when God says there’s no longer night anymore. I think it says there’s no sun because the lamb is the light and God is the sun for his people.

That’s an interesting question. Maybe time for one more. Let’s go with Mark.

What about the argument that says that concepts—I think there’s some evidence maybe a bit earlier, but it’s at best sporadic.

What about the church history argument that the rapture concept only comes late, maybe in the 1800s, and only sporadic before that? I don’t know about that specifically in my preparation for this. I do know that the term rapture as an English term didn’t come about until about the 1800s, along with dispensational premillennialism and John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. That’s where you begin to hear this term rapture.

But were they talking about it without that term in previous times? And what was the expectation there? I’m not entirely sure. Again, I think we can say with confidence that the Bible teaches a rapture. Whether you call it a rapture or something else, believers will at some point in the future be glorified, resurrected, and lifted up to meet Christ in the air.

If you believe the Bible, you have to say that there’s work that needs to be done to determine the timing of that. If the church didn’t always get that right in church history, it’s a somewhat difficult thing to work through. But we have to say about that: even if that is the case, ultimately church history is not determinative. It’s significant. It’s interesting, but we ultimately go back to the scriptures because there were certain things even in the Bible the church was already drifting from.

We got to go to the scriptures above church history. I think maybe time for one more question.

If we want to talk about church history, how about the church history of the Bible? As you’re pointing out, the Thessalonians certainly were talking about the rapture and were talking about their expectation of meeting Christ. That’s even more to the point of why we go back to the scriptures ultimately rather than church history.

There’s a lot of things that you can get twisted up in if you just rely on church history, which is what the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have done. They say, “Well, church history has always been this.” It’s like, “Well, first of all, that’s not true.

And second of all, even where it is largely true, it doesn’t fit with the Bible. You got to deal with that.”

Those were good questions. We’ll talk about some more common questions and objections related to what I presented to you next time. If there’s a particular question that you’d be interested in my answering, submit it to me. You can either talk to me about it and I’ll hopefully write it down, or you can send me an email at pastordavecm.org.

Send it to me by Thursday, and Lord willing I’ll be able to integrate that into my lesson for next time. Okay, that’ll do for today. Let me close in prayer.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, what a wonderful truth that you’ve declared about this rapture. Lord, we are aware that we would wish not to go through the tribulation. And so it is a happy doctrine for us to affirm.

But God, we are ultimately captive to your word. If your word says something different, then we would affirm that. But this is what your word says: the way the scriptures harmonize together confirms that you will send your son and your son will come and get us.

We therefore can have this confident expectation that we will not see your wrath. We will not see your wrath in hell. We will not see your wrath unleashed upon the world.

Lord, thank you for your generosity, your love, your faithfulness to us. God, let that inform the way we live our lives. Not so we just say, “Great, I’m not getting any wrath, so I’ll just live how I want.”

Lord, that is not what true faith does. But Lord, let us, as we expect to meet you, do as I think 1 John 3 says: to become more sanctified, to become more faithful and more ready for your return.

Thank you God. Amen.

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