Notice that John said that those people who are killed during the Tribulation by the Anti-Christ are included in the Rapture along with everyone else. The Rapture and the Resurrection are the same events. John is telling us that the Rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation. God holds these Saints who have paid the price in very high esteem because of their love for him. This is why he makes a special note of these people being in the Rapture. Notice that those Saints who are to be beheaded for the witness of Jesus will be alive again and will reign and rule with him for a thousand years. They have to be resurrected in order to do this.

He said that this is the first Resurrection. If there were a Resurrection before the Tribulation period for the Church and then one at the end of the Tribulation period for the rest of the Church, He would have to call this Resurrection the second Resurrection. This is no small number of people. John saw this same group of people in the Seventh Chapter of Revelation.

9: After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10: And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11: And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12: Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13: And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14: And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

John said that these people were in the first Resurrection. I believe that he told the truth. This will occur after the Tribulation not before.

Many ministers have resorted to trying to create a series of raptures during the tribulation simply because they don't understand what God is doing. The Bible tells us to judge prophecy. This means that everyone has the right to read the Bible and seek God for themselves for the understanding.

The Rapture will be after Great Tribulation

21: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22: And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23: Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25: Behold, I have told you before.
26: Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27: For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28: For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29: Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This is my thoughts on this: Notice that the Great Tribulation starts in verse 21 followed by the Rapture in Verse 27, to then be followed by Armageddon and the second coming in verses 29-31. The Rapture is not shown before the Great Tribulation but is shown closer to the end right before Armageddon. Believe it or not there are other places in the Scripture that shows the same thing. One was the 20th Chapter of Revelation showing the Tribulation Saints in the Rapture. Remember the Rapture and the Resurrection is one and the same event. The dead in Christ shall rise first and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.

The Rapture and Armageddon will happen back to back one event following the other with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in between. In Revelation 16 during the Seven Vials of Wrath, which occur during the last three and a half years ending at Armageddon, We see Jesus warning the World that he is returning as a thief and to make sure their garments are clean. He is saying this between the gathering of Armies to Armageddon, which is the 6th Vial of Wrath, and the end of the World, which is the Seventh Vial of Wrath.
Revelations 16:
14: For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15: Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17: And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18: And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

The Rapture occurs in verse 17 when He says, "it is done." While the final Wrath of God is poured out upon the Earth the Church will be in Heaven eating the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We will then come back with Him at Armageddon.

Revelation 14:
13: And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

The following is a Spiritual picture of the Rapture.

14: And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15: And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16: And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

The following is a Spiritual picture of the Battle of Armageddon.

17: And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18: And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19: And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20: And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

The fourteenth Chapter of Revelation gives a brief description of certain events beginning with the middle of the Tribulation and finishes with the Final Judgement of God.
1. The saving of the 144,000 Revelation 14: 1-5
2. The Gospel will be preached to all nations Revelation 14: 6-7
3. The fall of Babylon, which will happen at the end Revelation 14: 8
4. The judgement of those who have taken the Mark of the Beast Revelation 9-12
5. The Rapture Revelation 14-16
6. The Battle of Armageddon Revelation 17-20

The Bible say's that the Gospel will be preached to the entire world and then the end will come. The end isn't until the end of the seventh vial of wrath when God says; "it is done." Men will preach the Gospel. Some preachers have gone so far as to say that an angel in Revelation 14: 6 is going to preach it. This angel is like all the rest of the angels in Revelation showing what is going to happen next. We have to be simple minded to think that God is going to send an angel rather than the people he has commissioned to do so. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. He called men to do this and some men will. It will be Christian people who really care about others.

1^st Thessalonians Chapter 5
1: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2: For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3: For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4: But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5: Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6: Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7: For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8: But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9: For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10: Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11: Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

The theme of these scriptures is that the Church who stays ready doesn't have to worry about the coming of the lord. The day that Jesus returns will not come upon them as a thief in the night. Many people use the scriptures in verse 9 that says we are not appointed unto wrath to prove that we are going to be taken in the Rapture before the 7years of Tribulation begins. Jesus never warned us that the Tribulation would come as a thief in the night but, that his coming would be as a thief in the night. Paul wasn't saying it either. He was reminding the Church that certain things had to happen first. One of these things is that people would say peace, peace and then there would come sudden destruction. This is one of the signs of his coming. Paul said this sort of thing again in 2^nd Thessalonians where he told the Church that the Rapture could not happen until the after the Antichrist had gone into the Temple and declared himself to be God. This is another sign that the coming of Lord is near.

Luke 21:28: And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29: And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30: When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31: So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Jesus is telling us that as we see these things happening around us to be comforted because He is about to come for us. You can tell that summer is coming because of the springtime. Jesus was using this as an example to understand what he was saying. I believe that the parable of the fig tree is a spiritual insight about the restoration of Israel, but that the logic behind this in not all about Israel it is about these things that Jesus has described to us.

All of these events including the nation of Israel are to be a sign that his coming is soon. This is why Paul used the Antichrist going into the Temple. Jesus said the same thing when he said; "When you see the Abomination of Desolation that Daniel the Prophet spoke about". At this point he did remind those that lived in the Nation of Israel to flee to the mountains. But this event is to be a sign to the Church in the rest of the World. See how these scriptures back one another up? Paul taught the same thing that Jesus did.

We will have to be here to see these things come to pass.

Question? What about Jesus sneaking in and taking us out? He said that no one would know the day or the hour? If I saw these things happening then he couldn't surprise me with his coming.

This is one of the things that the Church in general does not understand. Jesus isn't going to sneak in. He is simply going to come back on schedule just as God the Father has planned. The reason he will come as a snare to so many people is because of the darkness of the heart. If I knew that Jesus was coming within a short time because of the signs, and you were living in sin. You would not believe what I had to say simply because your heart would want to continue in sin and you would probably push off what I had to say by saying: "The Bible says that no one would ever know when Jesus is coming back." The first real problem with this is that this is one of the most miss-quoted scriptures in the Bible. Jesus didn't say that no one would ever know the day or the hour. This is what Paul was saying. He was simply saying that as long as we keep our hearts right with God that we would know when the time comes. If we were to backslide or never come to know Jesus, then we will simply think that what ever is happening is just the way things are and Christ will catch us unaware.

This is why Paul said this in 2^nd Thessalonians 2^nd chapter.
3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
The reason Paul said this is because he knew that the times would be deceptive. We must look for certain events to occur. The Church has been teaching for a long time that the Antichrist is going to conquer the whole world. The Bible teaches that he will only conquer a fourth part of the Earth. He will always be at war. He will never conquer America.

The United States will go to war with him right after the middle of the Tribulation and along with six other allies will drive him out of Israel. At the end of the war the Antichrist will deceive some other nations to help him come down against the allies who are in Israel. This will be the time for the Battle of Armageddon. But, these events will just seem like another war to people who are not living for Jesus. When the Treaty is signed at the beginning of the Tribulation most Christians won't believe that it is the Tribulation because they haven't been taken in the Rapture yet. When they get to the middle of the Tribulation and hear about the Antichrist going into the Temple there will be bells going off.

This is why we have placed this material here for you so that you will not be deceived and will be prepared to do something very special for the Lord. And that is to be in his perfect will concerning the end-times.

Jesus did not go to the cross to save the sinner from the wrath of the Antichrist, but to save us from eternal damnation. We are appointed to Salvation, which means that we will have eternal life with him. This is our appointment. Think about how many that sinners have died and gone to hell who have never had to deal with the Antichrist. Why would Jesus want to punish the backslider and the sinner more during the Tribulation? The answer is that He won't until the very end, right after the rapture of the Church at his final judgement.

The Rapture will happen right at the end, not long before Armageddon. If you do repent after the Rapture of the Church and somehow manage to live through the horrible earthquake that hits this planet. You will not receive a glorified body until the second Resurrection, which will be a thousand years later at the Great White Throne Judgement of God.

Those who get saved during the last 7yrs are not being punished for coming in at the last minute as some try to teach. Why? It is against scripture to believe that he is going to punish someone for coming in at the last minute. Remember the parable of the workers who worked all day in the vineyard? At the end of the day the ones who came in last received the same reward as those that worked all day. This is teaching us the nature of God. He isn't going to punish people for coming in at the last minute. He is going to do just the opposite and reward them for coming in period. Many people at that time will be hearing the Gospel for the first time in their lives and getting saved. Do you think that God is going to punish someone for something they didn't know anything about?

Do you suppose that the Christians who are being killed in Sudan, Indonesia, China and other places in the world are being killed because they have done something wrong or don't measure up somehow? Or is it possible that they are caught in a situation that can't be helped. They probably don't want to die, but are put in a situation that requires them to remain faithful to Jesus. They simply love him. The people who do die for Jesus during the Tribulation period will die for the same reasons, not because God is punishing them.

Final Thoughts

One of our very well known ministers on TV said that he knew he was going to be taken in the Rapture before the Tribulation because if he wasn't, he would be forced to cast the devil out of the Antichrist and mess everything up. This kind of stuff has taken the Church back hundreds of years in spiritual maturity. The sad thing is that it is crippling the work of the Lord. The devil is using people who have no gravity in themselves to tell people what they want to hear rather than prepare their hearts for the great work that God has.

A Christian lady asked me a very reasonable question: "Why would we be taken in the rapture after the 7 year tribulation. Isn't that when Christ comes back and sets up his millennial reign on the earth and then the believers would already be on the earth with Jesus to reign with him? Why then would there be a need to be taken in the Rapture? I am confused. I am also a strong supporter of Israel. I hope you can find the time to answer my question."

There are a number of reasons why this is going to happen right at the end and I will try to cover some of them so that you can understand. There are two reasons that stand out in my mind immediately and they are these:

The first reason is that the whole Church is the bride and all will be taken in the Rapture to be in the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Church is the bride of Christ; our joining together with him will truly be a marriage made in Heaven. All have to be there because he will leave none of His out of this Marriage. To show you the error of pre-trib thinking let's start with the idea that some will be left behind because of their behavior and as a consequence were not included in the Rapture. This is a common teaching but has some very deep holes. If you are familiar with the Resurrection of the dead you realize that there will be two. There will be one resurrection at the end of the age, the other at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. One resurrection for the righteous, the other for the unjust. We must also bring into account is that the resurrection will happen only fractions of a second before the Rapture. In fact they are so close together we could call them the same event. The Bible calls it the twinkling of an eye. The dead in Christ shall rise first then we that are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. This is the promise.

The Bible clearly shows us, and all are in agreement, pre-trib and post-trib alike, that there will be people saved during the last seven years. A question that pre-trib folks should ask is what happens to these people? When do they get resurrected from the dead? Do these folks have to wait another thousand years in order to receive their new bodies? Remember there are only two resurrections from the dead. Many of these people that die during the tribulation are very righteous and godly people in so much that they die for Jesus and His Gospel. Are they going to be left out of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Since these die during the Tribulation period are they cursed by not being included in the bride? Many of these that get saved will get saved through hearing the Gospel for the first time. Are they to be left out of the Marriage Supper?

There must be a complete gathering of all believers before there can be the Marriage with the Lamb. This joining together is an eternal heavenly union that will never be broken. It will be made in Heaven and this is why we must all be caught up into Heaven itself for this experience. The scriptures show us clearly that when Christ comes to this earth to establish His Kingdom that he is accompanied by the saints from Heaven (Jude 1:14). There will be no saints on earth at his appearing, only those coming with him that have already been made one with Him at the Marriage.

The second reason is that at the end of the Tribulation period, there will be an earthquake that will shake the earth completely out of orbit. The prophets said that it would be shaken out of its place. The scriptures say that mountains will be shaken out flat, that islands will disappear into the sea. At the same time hail stones that weigh a 100 lbs. each will fall on the earth. This happens at the seventh vial of wrath also explained in the seventh Trumpet. At the time of the end when the two witnesses in Jerusalem are caught up to be with God the whole church will be caught up as well. During this time the Marriage in Heaven will take place. At the end of this horrible event and the glorious marriage the saints will return with Christ to a place called Armageddon and Christ will finish the work and set up his judgement seat. Then he will rule a thousand years on this earth.

Thank you for listening to the other side of the story. I appreciate your kindness and am looking forward to your helping Jesus save Israel and our Nation through your fervent prayers.

Your brother in Christ
Tommie Spurgeon