Since Revelation, 1 Thess. and 2 Thess. mention the church in the Tribulation then you can be 100% certain the Church goes through the Trib, but some in the Church will be raptured beforehand in the first rapture that is according to readiness as we are shown in Luke 21.36 and Rev. 3.10 "before the throne" (7.9) before the 1st trumpet of the Trib begins (8.7).Originally Posted by forgiven
Partial rapture speaks of at least 2 raptures and 2 resurrections, because those who were martyred the past 20 centuries are included in the 5th seal, given white robes, before the Tribulation begins (Rev. 8.7). They are told to wait a little longer from the events of the Tribulation to take place.
No man knows the day or the hour of when the world ends (Matt. 24.35-36). Nothing in Scripture says you can't know when the rapture takes place or when Jesus returns. There is no midtrib in the Bible and the pretrib is according to readiness, not simply because one is saved. As T. Austin Sparks said, "there are advanced parties and harbingers in every sphere."
The man of sin must be revealed before Jersus steps down (2 Thess. 2): "by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him...Let no man deceive you by any means...that the day of Christ is at hand...except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
Jesus does not step down at the start of the Tribulation. The gathering of the general rapture and resurrection takes place at the start of the 7th trumpet (Rev. 11.15) which lasts 24 months before Jesus steps down.
To repeat, the first rapture is Rev. 7.9 according to readiness (3.10) before the 1st trumpet of the Tribulation (8.7) begins, and the 7th trumpet rapture and resurrection (11.15) occurs at the start of the 7th trumpet. The 7th trumpet lasts 24 months before Jesus steps down on the mount of olives (Zech. 14.4; Jude 14,15) since the 5th trumpet is 5 months and the 6th trumpet is 13 months for a total of 42 months of the Great Tribulation.
Enoch and Elijah have already been raptured (though not to heaven) and return as the two witnesses who will be killed. Then they will be resurrected 3.5 days after they go to rest. Praise the Lord!
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