The Rapture: Pre Tribulation, when will Christ Return?

Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. The believer today, as we do this podcast, you are to be looking for the coming of Jesus Christ. We're living in days that are so indicative of what the end time speaks about. That's right. How close are we then? The rapture could happen today. Again, some of you may disagree because of your preconceived, pre-loaded, if I can put it that way, theological persuasion that a denomination might have given you or a view might have influenced you. I'm just saying let's let the Bible stack up upon the Bible. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now, open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. Well, everybody, listen, welcome back to our study to our look at the question we put out a request for questions. Got some great questions back. The bulk of them, as I mentioned last time together in our previous podcast, if you were not with us, go ahead and check it out. But by far out and beyond is the question that came in regarding the rapture. Can you clear up the different views of the rapture? That's going to take obviously more than one or two podcasts, but let's just dive right in. There are various views of the rapture of the church, and I'm not going to get into the unpacking of it. We did that last time together. The word, where is it found? And why is it there and the structure of it? Let's start off with this second installment regarding the actual mechanics of the rapture, if you would. When I say mechanics, I mean, not only the promise of it given in scripture, but what will it be like? Where is it placed? And that's going to launch us into following podcasts. But listen, what's remarkable is that it is a new testament scripture doctrine that is revealed as a mystery. We mentioned that last time, mystery on. But let's look at this. Revelation chapter 3 verse 10, Jesus said to the church at Philadelphia, because you have kept my command to persevere. I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. We touched on that last time, but this is important from here we go. There's an hour. There's a moment. Follow along with me. Even if we profoundly disagree with each other, just check this out. There is a promise given by Jesus when he says in Revelation 310, there's an hour that a group of people will be completely exempt from that will engulf the entire earth. That's a fact right there in scripture. I believe that he's alluding to the rapture. And it's, I think, very important that it's spoken to the church of Philadelphia in the seven letters to the seven churches. That dovetails perfectly into, again, a very important passage where I said last time that Jesus is the one who introduces the rapture doctrine. John 14 verses 1 to 3, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me, for in my father's house, there are many mansions. And if you were not so, I would have told you and so I go now to prepare a place for you. And if 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. So we've got a promise of deliverance in an hour of global terror and global judgment. And it appears as we assemble our model. It appears that it's Jesus removing His people at some point in time in the future from this earth to take dwelling in a place where Jesus says in my father's house, there are many mansions. And that is very important because it's an appearing. Remember, we talked about an appearing versus a physical coming. Now let's look at this Revelation chapter 4 verse 1. After these things, looked and behold, John says, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like that of a trumpet speaking to me saying, come up here. And I will show you things that must take place after this. Notice everybody. Whatever is about to happen cannot happen until John's vantage point is in heaven. And his recording of what happens on earth is from heaven from that moment forward. So I'm going to ask you to assemble Revelation 310, John 14 verses 1 to 3, Revelation chapter 4 verses 1 through 11. And I won't go through it all right now. We covered it last time. But from Revelation 4 1 on, the church is never again seen in heaven. Never again mentioned. With all that's being poured out on the earth, the church is not there. The church never meets the antichrist because there is a seven year tribulation period that is something that's commenced by a signing of a peace treaty. Daniel tells us Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 to 27. We looked at that before. I want to focus on the pre tribulation rapture theory or doctrine. Okay. It's so specific that right in the middle of the all of it discourse that Jesus gave to his disciples concerning the last days, Jesus said this. And if you're not careful, you'll miss it. And Luke chapter 21. This is important because Luke chapter 21 is the all of it discourse speaking predominantly to context the Jewish people and the believers during the tribulation period, not the church. There's the tribulation saints, the church age saints, you and I, and the Old Testament saints. In Luke 21, Jesus is talking about the events that are also mirrored in Matthew 24, Matthew 25, and Mark's gospel as well. And so watch this. Luke 21 34, Jesus is be careful because your hearts could be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of this life, and that day will close in upon you unexpectedly like a trap. In other words, throughout the New Testament, we are constantly warned to be ready. Be ready. Be ready. Be ready. My goodness, second Thessalonians is all about that. First Thessalonians, many areas of the gospel itself, throughout the epistles. It's everywhere. It's a New Testament, common challenge, exhortation. So verse 35, Luke 21, he says, for it will come upon all those who live on the face of the earth. Wow, whatever is coming is going to affect everybody on the earth. Could anybody be exempt from that Paul or could any or Luke or Jesus or what's going on here? Verse 36, be always on the watch and pray that you may escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man in the midst of all of the foreboding, horrific things that are going to come upon the earth dwellers during the seven year tribulation period. There is a parenthetical insert by Jesus himself saying, Hey, I'm paraphrasing right now. Hey, you guys, what I said in Luke 21, 36, didn't I say it in John 14 versus one to three? You're going to get out of here before the entire world is engulfed in my coming judgment, in my coming wrath upon the earth during the tribulation period. Titus 213, we are there admonished to be looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Notice you're supposed to be looking for the coming of the Messiah, not the anti Messiah, for Jesus Christ, not the anti Christ. The believer today, right now, as we do this podcast, you are to be looking for the coming of Jesus Christ. You see, well, Jack, we're seeing all kinds of things about a global government, global religion, global currency, a digital currency. We're here, we're hearing about all these things regarding DARPA developing these subcutaneous invisible or visible, whatever you want. You want it look like a tattoo or not, but a system by which you are electronically able to deduct money from your account, go shopping at a store, walk around this world, having your heart rate, your blood pressure, everything recorded back to your physician or on your app. We're living in days that are so indicative of what the end time speaks about. That's right. How close are we then? The rapture could happen today. Again, some of you may disagree because of your preconceived, preloaded, if I can put it that way theological persuasion that a denomination might have given you or a view might have influenced you. I'm just saying let's let the Bible stack up upon the Bible. So watch this. Very cool. First Thessalonians is written to the Thessalonian believers and remember this. First Thessalonians has to do with the rapture. Second Thessalonians has to do with the events of the second coming. Very simple. One, two, rapture comes before the second coming. The first coming was Palm Sunday. Rapture is at any time, predominantly Gentile, but not exclusively so, but absolutely exclusively the church. And the second coming goes right back to the first. It deals with Israel, Christ returned to Israel. It's a physical return and it's coming for the establishment of His kingdom. Number one, first Thessalonians chapter one, verse 10, wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Boom, that's awesome. The wrath to come does not mean hell. The wrath to come is God's wrath on earth, His vengeance, His indignation, the holy, pure white hot fire of God's wrath is going to be poured out upon the earth. And by the way, it is starting with the seven year tribulation at its commencement at the signing of the peace treaty. It begins. And the first three and a half years is God's wrath being poured out in the area of the sin. The anti-Christ deceiving the world with peace and prosperity. That's how it starts. Deception. God gives people over to what they want. That's a judgment of God. Remember, you say, Jack, that's a stretch. Not at all. It's, it holds to the law of expositional constancy. Do you remember when the children of Israel wanted meat in the wilderness? They said, we want meat. We're sick of this manna. We have manna every day. We're tired of it. We don't want to have it anymore. We want meat. And they were grumbling about what God had given them. And so God said, Moses, get out of the way. I'm going to give them meat. And so God sent a wind to blow and quail by the bazillions quail began to fly. And the Bible says they were flying. I forget what the height was. But in English, it's about four feet to the ground down, four feet. So God sent a bunch of quail to the children of Israel in the strike zone, okay? They were just able to start batting these quail right out of the sky. They had quail. They're eating quail. And the quail started to come out of their nose. The Bible says and the Bible tells us because they grumbled, God gave them what they wanted. But He sent leanness into their soul as judgment. Wow. Think of that. So watch out what you ask for. If you keep asking God for it, He just might give it to you. It may not be good. So remember that. The rest starts out with what looks like it's a good stuff. But the last half of the tribulation period is absolutely the things that we often focus on. And that is the incredible devastation of earth and things that are going on. Just know this. All seven years is the wrath of God. Don't anybody fool you. Now, 1st Thessalonians 2 and each of the five chapters is a promise. Verse 19, for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His appearing or at His coming? That is for the church? Number three, 1st Thessalonians 3, 13 says this, so that He may establish your heart's blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. You're going to say, Jack, no, no, no, that's the second, that's the post-tribulation view. No, it's not. Listen, I'm going to prove it to you in the next section of scriptures. When Jesus comes back to pick up His church, He appears in the atmosphere, but He brings with Him those who died in Jesus. That's why it says when He comes back to get the church, hear us. 1st Thessalonians 3, He brings the saints that died in the church age with Him. In that second, before we go up, their bodies come out of the grave glorified. So here we go. 1st Thessalonians 4, verse 13, but I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep or died it is in Jesus, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep or died in Jesus, that's John 14, everybody. That is John 14. That's everything we've been talking about. 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 is not an amazing Paul thought that there was the great chance of Him being raptured too. Well, by no means precede those who died in Jesus. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead and Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together. Remember last time that's the word rapture in there. We're not going to get into it again. Go look at our previous podcast together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord. That's John 14 verses 1, 2 and 3 verse 18 says of 1st Thessalonians 4, therefore comfort one another with these words. You know, you shouldn't get in a fight about it, shouldn't get in an argument about it. We have different views. That's okay, but just know this. It's to be a comfort. The rapture should be a great great comfort. 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and this is the final exhortation in 1st Thessalonians regarding the pre-tribulation rapture view. For God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. You and I will not see the wrath of God that is going to be coming upon the earth. This is awesome. The pre-tribulation rapture view is the only rapture view that takes the word of God in total, listen and literal. I told you before, I used to be a post-tribulationist. It's not easy. You've got to jumble up Israel and the church together and you've got the church experiencing the wrath of God. So no, no, no, no, no, we don't jack. We have we have the church being sheltered from the wrath of God. You just made that up. No, when the Bible doesn't say that. In fact, it says that Tribulation Saints, Daniel chapter 7 verse 21, as well as Revelation chapter 6 on, that those who believe in the Lord Jesus during the tribulation period must die for their faith. So don't tell me about being kept through. Somebody will say, no, it's the pre, it's the post-tribulation rapture because just like God kept Noah through the flood, he's going to keep the church through the tribulation. You're making it up. It's not there. That promise, by the way, that or I should say that event better fits the remnant of Israel in the tribulation period than it does the church. The church is not in the seven year tribulation period. It doesn't fit. You can't find it. It doesn't apply. There's no reason for it. It's for God dealing with an unbelieving world. He will, he'll purge Israel from the unbelieving Israel and out of it will be the remnant and the remnant will die for their faith in Christ. But before they do, that remnant will preach the gospel to the ends of the earth and the tons of Gentiles will be saved. We talked about that before. Second Corinthians chapter 5, I'm trying to jam this in under 20 minute podcasts today for your listening pleasure. Second Corinthians 5 1 says, for we know that if our earthly house is talking about our body, this tent is destroyed. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He's talking about a body. That's why some of us speculate when Jesus says, in my father's house, there are many mansions, it does mean areas to live in. But some say, could it mean bodies? I'm not going to worry about it. I'm just going to be happy about it. Verse 2, and for this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened not because we want to be unclowed but further clothed or better clothed. We're going to get a glorified body. That mortality, this flesh, may be swallowed up by life. Now, he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident knowing that while we're at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. And the reverse of that experience is for you and I to have our bodies transformed at the coming of the rapture. The pre-tribulation rapture views, not a fairy tale, it's not escape ism and people are going to say, well, Spurgeon didn't talk about it so it can't be true. Listen, neither did a Luther, neither did Calvin, neither did Zwingli, neither did name it. I don't even think Finney did. Fill it in the book. Go, why didn't they? You might say, if it's such a big deal, why didn't they? Well, number one, let's forget about people. Who spoke about it? The prophet spoke about it. Isaiah 21, Isaiah 26, I'll have to, it's Isaiah 26 versus 19 to 21 alluded to it. Isaiah 26, 19 to 21, but it's certainly the New Testament authors and it's certainly Jesus. So for the last 2,000 years, it's been on the calendar everybody. So stop looking at what others have said. Look, I don't even cite, you never hear me quote Chuck Smith, Tim Lahay, Ed Heintsen, Hal Lindsay, Chuck Missler, John Wolverid, Mark Hitchcock. I could go on and on about pre-tribulation rapture view, Thomas Ice. Listen, I used to listen faithfully and I used to go attend the services of Dr. Walter Martin in Orange County, loved him. He was a post tribulationist. Do you know why he was? He said why he was. Dr. Walter Martin said, I'm a post tribulationist because I had such a vivid dream that I was going through the tribulation period. Walter Martin died and he went to have it. When Jesus Christ comes back to pick up the church, he's going to be bringing Walter Martin with him. Okay, but Walter Martin built his post tribulation view, not on scripture, but on a dream that he was convinced came to him by God. Clearly it was a dream for either a different reason or it didn't come from God, but don't get me wrong. Walter Martin, check him out. He's amazing. But friends, listen, we are out of time. This is ridiculous. It goes by too fast. We'll go through this until you think it's a good time to leave this aside, but we'll come back next time looking at two things at the same time. We're going to look at the mid-tribulation rapture view and the post tribulation rapture view. Why do people believe it? What scriptures do they use to believe it? And what are the dangers to believing it? Say, Jackie, are you kidding me? No, no, no. What are the dangers to believing any other view that says my master delays his return because these other things have got to happen first, right? So much so the Bible warns us, Jesus himself said, don't pay any attention to somebody who says that something needs to take place before the master comes. You need to have your oil lamp burning and you need to have an extra cache of oil. Then what the parable said, we need to be waiting and we need to be ready. I'm going to submit to you as we close. It's really hard to be a Christian at a time like this, whereby we engage the culture for righteousness. We get an all kinds of trouble for doing good. Our names are smeared all over the internet because we are Islamophobes, transphobes, whatever foes, and yet love all those that are attacking us and love all those communities. In fact, one of my good friends is a Muslim. All that stuff, it's hard to stay faithful to shining the light and being salt, knowing that Jesus could come back in any second. Why don't we just listen? Why don't we just fold our arms and sleep, so to speak? Why don't we just wait? Let's put on white robes and sit on the roof. No, the Bible says occupy till I come. You gotta keep doing the right thing until it shows up. I'm going to submit to you that because I believe Jesus could come back today, this is why we're planning a pastor's conference regarding the future of California. So who cares about California? Well, I have to care because I'm still here. I have to prepare for the next 100 years, but I believe Jesus could come back today. I'll submit to you that that takes more discipline than the mid and post tribulation rapture view. So there I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Hey you guys, hope you like my shirt. Real life network Hawaii. That says a loha on it if you didn't figure that out, but that's our real life network logo. And this is one of the first things, those guys from our offices in Hawaii, they run a Call of TV, K-A-L-O-T-V in Hawaii, throughout the Hawaiian Islands, channel 1029 on Spectrum over the Hawaiian Islands. But those guys, man, when they heard that the real life network was going to be launched, they jumped on this, and they beat us to the punch. Good job, you guys, they're based in Honolulu. But real life network is coming. It's going to be launched pretty quick. Palm, no. What is it? When's it coming? Pentecost Sunday. We're going 24-7 video on demand, but 24-7 broadcasting channel. It'd be just like Hulu, just like Netflix, just like Amazon Prime, except it's going to be yours for free. And you just subscribe when that time comes. We'll let you know about it. But you guys, we'll get back in this. Listen, let's build up this audience because we want we want the tech people to realize that you guys care about this stuff. I'm supposed to tell you to go to jackkibs.com, hit subscribe to stay up to date. And we're really, we are super blessed by the turnout of all of you. Where we have now exceeded 250,000 views or downloads, 250,000 downloads a month. So we encourage you to share this. Let's make this thing happen by God's power, that is. All right. So our jingle that I'm trying to remember, it's so simple, but it's hard for me to remember that it's time to live out what you believe in. It's time for real life. Isn't that the truth? People want transparency, people want authenticity. So it's time for you and I to live out what we believe in. It's time for real life. 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