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The Mid-Tribulation
Let me
start off by saying that I am a mid-tribulationist. I’m mid-trib because that is what the scriptures teach. In the twenty-five
years that I’ve been preaching the mid-trib view, I’ve confronted many pastors, teachers, and other Christians concerning
the pre-trib view. None could give scriptural answers to the many questions that arise with any false doctrine. The answers
were always, “I think” or “I believe". Never “thus saith the Lord.” There are other views concerning the end times. Pre-Trib
is the most popular. Why wouldn’t it be? It sounds so nice. Who wants to hear this: II Thessalonians 1:4-5 “So that we ourselves
glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
which is a manifest taken of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which
ye also suffer.” Or this: II Timothy 3:12 “Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
One
thing is certain, they both can’t be right. There is only one way to determine which is right, Mid-Trib or Pre-Trib. You simply
follow the rules given in scripture. Don’t add on to the word of God. Revelation 22:18-19, Proverbs 30:6. Opinion should never
be put before what God says, and one must compare scripture with scripture. Acts 17:11 “These were more noble than those in
Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those
things were so.”
The mid-trib view is completely consistent with what the Bible teaches verse by verse. The pre-trib takes
what God says and adds to it and it takes away from it. In an attempt to justify their doctrine. One example of that is Revelation
20:4-6 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and
of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” In these three verses, we have a picture of two resurrections: the
first is the blessed of the saints. The second is the Great White Throne, judgment of the unsaved. What is equally true is
that the tribulation saints, are in the first resurrection, the mid-trib can simply say “God said it, that settles it.” The
pre-trib has a problem with it because the word of God contradicts these doctrines. So they point to I Corinthians 15:51,”Behold,
I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” The pre-trib will tell you that the mystery is
the Lords coming in secret. Grant it, the resurrection takes place when the Lord returns, but the mystery here isn’t talking
about the Lord’s return. It’s talking about the change. How does a corruptible body become an incorruptible body? Most of
Chapter 15 is to correct the error in verse 12. God puts forth the order in verse in I Corinthians 15:23-24 “But every man
in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power.” The
order Christ was the first from the dead to live forever. At his coming, they that are his. This is the first resurrection.
Then at the end “the Great White Throne” will be the second resurrection. This is completely consistent with the scriptures.
John 5:28-29, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection
of damnation.” Acts 24:15,"And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection
of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” There was a man named Hymeneus, in I Timothy 1:19-20, who was delivered over to
Satan so he would learn not to blaspheme. Because he taught falsely about the resurrection. II Timothy 2:17-18. One must be
very careful when they add on to the word of God, but especially concerning the resurrection. The Bible only teaches a glorious
visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ. II Thessalonians 17-8,”And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;” Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” In II Thessalonians 2:1-3,
it plainly says two distinct events will take place before the Lord’s return. “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 there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
For
the mid-trib it can’t be said any plainer. Brethren….the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto
him…Let no man deceive you, because the “falling away” must come first and the man of sin (Anti-Christ) be revealed. The pre-trib
will tell you that God made another mistake. You see, they will say the term “Day of Christ” in verse 2 should be “Day of
the Lord” and that the two terms are different. May I say that God makes no mistakes and he purposely said the “Day of Christ,”
so there would be no mistake in what he was saying. Whether the term is “Day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10), “Day of Jesus Christ”
(Phil. 1:6) “Day of our Lord Jesus Christ”, (I Cor. 1:8),” Day of the Lord Jesus” (I Cor. 5:5), or the “Day of the Lord”,
(I Thess. 5:2), are different terms used for the same event. The visible glorious appearing of Jesus Christ (the second coming).
The pre-trib teaches that the Day of Christ is the term used when Christ comes for his church (the secret coming). Where as
the Day of the Lord is the term used for the visible glorious return. This Day of the Lord supposedly takes place at the end
of the last seven years spoken in Daniel, Chapter 9, at the Battle of Armageddon. Let’s compare scriptures. In Zechariah 14:1-2,
“Behold, the day if the Lord cometh and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against
Jerusalem to battle.” The Day of the Lord precedes the armies of the nations attacking Jerusalem and gathering to Armageddon.
In
I Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye 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, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write
unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” In I Thessalonians 4:16-17,
supposedly refers to the secret rapture, but God in I Thessalonians 5:2 refers to it as the day of the Lord. Compare it with
Matthew 24:30-31.
Matthew/ I Thessalonians
1.They shall see the son “For the Lord
himself shall of man coming" descend"
2. “Send his angels”/ "Voice of the
Archangel”
3. “Great sound of a trumpet”/ “Trump of God”
4. Gather together his elect”/ “Caught up together”
5.
Clouds of Heaven”/ “In the Clouds”
It’s clear from Matthew 24:29, that it is the day of the Lord,
“the sun, the moon, the star, the shaking”. It is also clear that the day of the Lord comes “immediately after the tribulation,”
but before the wrath of God. In Revelation 6:12-17, “the sixth seal”…the sun, the moon, the star, the shaking; and in verse
17, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand.” The pre-trib teaches that seven year period,
(Daniel 70th week) is one period of time. Scripture clearly teaches that there is two distinct three and a half year periods.(31/2
years tribulation, 3 1/2 years Wrath of God with the Lord’s return with the second coming in the middle) In Revelation, Chapter
6:9, the fifth seal speaks of the tribulation saints, verse 12-17, the sixth seal, the day of the Lord, and the wrath of God.
In Revelation 7:1-8, the 144,000 Jewish remnant are sealed on the earth. The tribulation saints are the resurrected and before
the throne of God. In Revelation 11:18, “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that
they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that
fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Notice resurrection rewards to the saints
and prophets, wrath comes on nations. In Revelation 12:5-6, “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Keep in mind “the Lord” is already sitting at
the throne on the right hand of God. Revelation 3:21
Caught up in the ideal meaning of being taken by force, the Lord ascends
and descends at His will. Is this not in reference when the body of Christ “the church” is united with the head, Christ sitting
on the throne? In Revelation 12:6, “and the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God, that they
should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” (3 1/2 years)
The 144,000 remnant in the wilderness
during the wrath of God spoken of in Matthew 24:15-22, Revelation 14:13-20. In verse 13, the tribulation saints, in verse
14-16, the second coming and the great harvest, see also Matthew 13:37-43, In verse 17-20 is the wrath of God.
In the beginning
of Daniel 9:27, Daniel’s 70th week begins when the Anti-Christ makes a covenant with Israel and many nations. The seven year
covenant brings in world peace. Also Daniel 8:25...He (the anti-christ) shall cause to prosper in his hand; and … he (the
anti-christ) shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many… It is the beginning of the 31/2 tribulation
period. The time when Satan makes war with the “saints” of the most high.
Revelation 13:5-7, “And there was given unto
him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given
unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
The
pre-trib teaches that the secret rapture will take place just prior to the beginning of Daniel 70th week and the rise of the
anti-christ. This teaches that the seal, trumpet, and vial all unfold in that time frame. The sixth seal is the wrath of God.
The fifth seal is the great tribulation. The problem is that three of the first four seals speak of war. The second seal “the
red horse” plainly says he takes peace from the earth. That would mean that the first four seals must unfold long before the
anti-christ comes on the scene, even centuries before.
Let us look in Revelation 14: . We have the same picture in Revelation
chapter 6, but a different focus. In working back from Revelation 14:17-20, it speaks of the 31/2 years of the wrath of God.
Revelation 14:16 speaks of the second coming and the rapture of the saints. (Revelation 14:12-13, is the 31/2 tribulation)
Bare in mind the precious promise given in I Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9, “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised
from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come.” “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Just as the first fourth seal take place before the tribulation, the message of the
three angels takes place before the tribulation. Where as the fourth seal takes place over a long period of time. The message
of the three angels takes place in a very short space of time. The third angel gives a warning of the mark of the beast and
the doom of them that receive it. The second angel (Revelation 14:9) announces the destruction of a nation.
It all begins
with Revelation 14:6-7. “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and the
fountains of waters.”
Galatians 1:8-9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
With the threat of being accursed, would any man tell us, that
this is the “everlasting gospel?” It’s not the same gospel, that’s called the gospel of God in 1 Thessalonians 2:9. The glorious
gospel of Christ in II Corinthians 4:4, and the gospel of your salvation in Ephesians 1:13, is the same gospel that brings
you into the body of Christ and makes you a member of his Church. Ephesians 3:6, Colossians 1:18-24.
The Pre-Trib
In
a time of apostasy and in a time when it seems evil has been allowed to run unchecked. In a time when it seems as though God
has lost control. He will reveal himself in the designated way. Daniel 4:17 So that the living may know that the most high
ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will. You be the judge between truth and error, scripture or man.
THE
HOUR OF JUDGMENT IS COME
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