Will Christians Go Through The Tribulation? (The Olivet Discourse - Part 2)

Matthew 24 and the Questions of the Olivet Discourse

Let's turn to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24, this will be the second message in our series on Bible prophecy. We're looking at the passage known as the Olivet Discourse. And of course it's called that because Jesus and his disciples are on the Mount of Olives and they're having a discourse, they're having a conversation.

So Jesus starts out by telling them, do you remember from last time, that the temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed? And now they're asking him questions in response about when will that happen. And then they ask other questions about his coming again and of the end of the age, or as the King James puts it, the end of the world.

So I said the key to understanding this passage, last week we talked about this. The key to understanding the chapter is that the disciples are asking multiple different questions about different things.

So some of this applies to first century events. That's the destruction of the temple. But other things apply to maybe even 21st century events, depending on when Jesus comes back. Later on in the chapter, Jesus gives those words that we're all familiar with, that regarding his coming again, what?

No man knows the day or the hour. But the main question we're going to be looking at this morning, because Jesus talks about the Great Tribulation, so the main question we're going to be looking at, who is it that's going to be going through experiencing the Great Tribulation?

Look at verse 21. Jesus says, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. So one question is, will Christians have to go through the tribulation?

We'll look at these verses, who they apply to, and then I'll try to give an overview of our position and the different positions. And then we'll end by looking at the statement in verse 13 about he who endures to the end shall be saved.

What does that mean?

Matthew 24:4-13 and the Dual Fulfillment of Prophecy

So let's read. We'll pick up in verse 4 and read through verse 13. Matthew 24, 4 through 13. And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many.

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars and see that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. Okay, that last statement, he who endures to the end, or he who perseveres to the end, they will be saved.

That will be our application at the end of the message. But first, Jesus says that all these things will happen. So remember, Jesus has told them that the temple is going to be destroyed. They want to know when, and then they ask, well, what are going to be the signs about the temple being destroyed?

We know when that happened. It was in the first century, 70 A .D. But they're also asking about the signs that precede Christ coming again. Now let me ask you, has Jesus come back a second time?

No.

No, that should be fairly obvious. So we know at least some of this in Matthew 24 is talking about future events. So this is future prophecy. So what are the signs that precede the second advent of Jesus Christ?

Well, we see here that stuff is going to happen. There's going to be wars, rumors of wars. There's going to be earthquakes in various places, even in Maine, you know, in New England. It doesn't mean it's the end of the world, right?

Just because you hear about things, this is it. I remember back when the war started between Russia and Ukraine, a lot of people said, this is it. This is the battle of Gog and Magog. This is the end.

And, you know, you need to be careful. Jesus is saying all of this will happen, but the end is not yet. But he mentions in verse 8, he mentions labor pains are the beginnings of sorrows. And what he's saying that here's the sign.

You want to know if we're reaching the end. All of those things, wars, natural disasters, false prophets, all of that will greatly increase as we get towards the end. Now, you can make the argument that all those things have greatly increased, but, you know, you need to be careful about putting a time frame on it.

The real issue is we need to be ready and reminded of and watching for the return of Christ. There's a lot of Christians, they don't ever expect to see Jesus return, and that's obviously the wrong way to look at it.

But we're going to pick up with all that as background. We're picking up from last week in verse 9. So once all of that happens, once all of that does increase, and you do get to this time period known as the last days, the end of days, we see this in verse 9.

He says, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. Now, who's the you? Who's Jesus talking to? Yeah, first and foremost, he's talking to his disciples.

So this did apply to them. And were the disciples persecuted?

Were they hated? Were they killed?

Yes.

But here's the nature of prophecy, right? It applied to them, it's true for them, but there's usually a dual, what we call a dual nature to Bible prophecy. So there was a contemporary fulfillment in the first century, that's true, but there's also a full and final fulfillment at the end of days.

So we're still waiting for some of this to happen. So yes, it did happen to them, but it's going to happen ultimately to a future generation. So this is what we need to understand about Matthew 24. It is talking about the past and the future.

It's not either or, it's both. If you understand that, you'll be in a good position to really grasp what Jesus is saying. So the apostles did face trials and tribulations. They all were martyred with the exception of the apostle John.

And in 70 AD, Jerusalem was attacked. The temple was destroyed. And that could even be seen as a foreshadowing of end time events. It's like a foreshadowing of that final battle we call Armageddon. But just to focus on the future for a moment, because that's really what I want to emphasize in this series, future prophecy.

The Imminent Return of Christ and the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

If you're new to the subject of Bible prophecy, some of you have been hearing about this for years, and maybe you consider yourself an expert, maybe you don't, but some of you are new to it. If you're new to Bible prophecy, there are basically, there's more than two viewpoints, but there's two main viewpoints that I want to go over.

So here's the debate. The debate is mainly over the subject of the rapture versus the second advent. We'll get into this again when I get to verses 29 and 31, but I want to give you sort of a synopsis of our view of what we believe is going to happen.

So the first view is that Christians or the church will not go through the tribulation. Many believe, and I believe this is true, that the return of Christ is, what's the word, begins with an I?

Imminent.

This means that Jesus could return at any time.

Why do I believe that?

Because the Bible says that when Jesus comes, both Jesus and Paul said this, that his return would be like a thief in the night. So it's unexpected. And then Jesus did say no one knows when. So here's the thing.

You can't say no, no, it's not going to be at any time because you don't know when. So if you don't know when, you can't say when it's going to be or when it's not going to be. So that's the first thing.

There's plenty of reasons why we believe in the imminent return of Christ. There's all these admonitions to watch and be ready. So that's the first thing. The return of Christ is imminent, but many hold to this viewpoint that's called the pre-tribulation rapture.

Now, that used to be the majority view. It probably still is. It's starting to fall out of favor in many churches. But this is the idea that Christians, the church, will not go through the tribulation because Jesus will rapture the church before the tribulation, hence the term pre-tribulation.

Jesus comes back before the seven-year tribulation period. We see this. You say, okay, where's that in the Bible? If you take notes, you can write this down. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18, describes the saints being caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

And that's what the word rapture means. It means catching up. So Paul does say, 1 Thessalonians 4, that the church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And then the next thing he says going into 1 Thessalonians 5, he says concerning the timing, you need, you know, no need for me to tell you because you already know that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

So it seems that the rapture comes before the day of the Lord. The rapture triggers the seven-year tribulation. That's the layout in 1 Thessalonians 4 into chapter 5. So if that's true, if the church is raptured before the tribulation, then New Testament Christians will not be going through the seven-year tribulation.

Now, with that said, are there going to be believers on earth during the tribulation period?

Yes.

Yes.

Well, we know that because the Bible tells us that. Well, how can that be if the church has just been raptured? Well, basically, through the ministry of the two witnesses and the 144 ,000 talked about in the book of Revelation, yeah, the church gets raptured.

So again, this is one viewpoint. The church is raptured. And then over the next three and a half years, many people come to saving faith in Christ because of the ministry of the 144 ,000 and the two witnesses.

One potential problem people say, well, how can people get saved during the tribulation if the Holy Spirit has been removed from the earth? Who's ever heard this argument? Well, here's the problem. Nowhere does the Bible say the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth.

The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. You can't remove him from the earth. So the Holy Spirit is always here. He's always at work. What does happen? Second Thessalonians 2 says that he who now restrains will be taken out of the way.

So the restrainer, this restraining force on evil is not removed. It's taken out of the way. Here's the thing. God is working in the world through the church, right? Isn't this how God is working through Christians?

What if the rapture happened this afternoon and all Christians were removed from this earth? Guess what? All the restraint is now gone. It's taken out of the way. So the restrainer, I believe, is the Holy Spirit and his influence through the New Testament church.

So once that happens, now you have believers being convinced over time through the Holy Spirit, through the 144 ,002 witnesses, so that by the time you get to the middle of the tribulation, you're going to have a whole variety of Christians from every tribe, nation, and tongue, and a lot of Jewish believers are going to come to saving faith during this time, and they're going to be persecuted by this figure known as the Antichrist.

Let's go to 2 Thessalonians 2. So you're turning to 2 Thessalonians 2, but Jesus says in Matthew 24, 15, he mentions the abomination of desolation. This is when we believe the Antichrist enters into the Jewish temple and he declares himself to be God.

So the way I understand it, the return of Christ is imminent. Could happen at any time. Once the rapture does happen, all believers are taken to heaven, and then for the next three and a half years, you have people coming to saving faith.

A lot of Jews are going to come to saving faith during that time, but you're going to have the rise of this man called the Beast, or the man of sin, or as we know him, the Antichrist. So again, this is the pre-tribulation position.

It was the majority among American evangelicals probably in the 20th century. Probably still is the majority viewpoint, but it's starting to change, but still I think the majority of people hold to this view.

There are other views. We'll get into those, but look at 2 Thessalonians 2 .1. So I know I'm throwing a lot of information at you. If you're new to this, it's going to be hard to keep it all straight, but this is how we learn by hearing it.

And hearing it again and again.

The Falling Away, the Man of Sin, and the Rebuilt Temple

So concerning the coming of Christ and the Antichrist, look at 2 Thessalonians 2 .1. Paul writes,. Now brethren concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us as though the day of Christ had come.

I think I explained this last time that the church at Thessalonica, they received a letter, somebody maybe even forging the Apostle Paul's signature. Somebody told them that they had missed the return of Christ and that they were living during this tribulation period where it's just going to be like hell on earth.

Now they believed it because they were going through a great time of trial and persecution. But did they miss the return of Christ? Were they living in the tribulation?

No.

And Paul says in verse 3, Don't let anyone deceive you. That day, the return of Christ, that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, that is the apostasy, and then the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.

So, if somebody ever says, Well, where do you get this idea that the Antichrist is going to go into the temple and demand to be worshipped as God? Where do we get it? 2 Thessalonians 2, we just read it.

So, what we learn is Jesus is not going to come back until the great falling away happens first. That is the apostasy that occurs in the end times, the last days. I made the argument last week that I believe, personally, I could be wrong, but I believe that we are living in the time period known as the falling away right now.

You know, Christianity spread.

All over the world.

There is a high water mark sometime in the 20th century and it's been in decline ever since. So, that's my belief. Personally, we are living maybe in the middle, maybe towards the end of the great falling away.

So, I have every reason to think that the return of Christ is drawing near. So, when Jesus does come back, there's going to be a falling away first and then we see that there will be this figure known as the man of sin.

He's called by many names. Most people call him the Antichrist. According to Paul, he opposes God. 1 Thessalonians 2 says that he sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. This is what Jesus referred to in Matthew 24 as the abomination of desolation.

Why? Because here's a man who is really an agent of Satan claiming to be God, demanding to be worshipped as God in the temple. Now, here's one problem, okay? The temple, the Jewish temple that Jesus entered in during his life in earthly ministry, what happened to that temple?

Yeah, I've already talked about it. It was destroyed in 70 AD. Here's the thing. We know that this is future prophecy in Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2. Here's how I know it's future prophecy because nothing like that ever took place in the 1st century.

There was no man of sin who entered into the Jewish temple and demanded to be worshipped as God. That never happened in the 1st century. So if that didn't happen in the 1st century and the temple was destroyed in 70 AD and there hasn't been a temple in Jerusalem since, what does that mean?

It means that in order for this to happen in the future, a temple must be what?

Rebuilt.

If you take this literally, a temple must be rebuilt and that's what we believe will happen. During the first half of the tribulation, maybe even before that, a temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Do you know that they have plans?

They're ready to go.

For the building of the temple right now. There's all sorts of groups. They have the materials. They have a menorah. They think they have a priesthood. They're all set. They could start rebuilding the temple tomorrow if it wasn't for one little problem.

There's an Islamic mosque sitting on the site of the temple mount. But if anything ever happens to that mosque, I'm telling you, watch out. And of course, if the Jews rip down the mosque, that would probably start World War III causing all the Islamic nations to attack Israel, which just so happens to be what the prophet Zechariah predicts will happen right before Jesus returns.

Zechariah 14, verse 2, says that all nations will gather against Jerusalem. And you can just look in the United Nations right now. Israel's the most hated nation in that group. Anti-Semitism is real.

It's on the rise. So Jesus will return. All nations in the future will come against Jerusalem. Jesus returns in Zechariah 14, 4. It says His feet, when He comes back, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.

So I don't think it's any coincidence that He's having this conversation with His disciples in Matthew 24.

Where?

Why the Rapture and the Second Advent Are Different Events

On the Mount of Olives. So let's go back to Matthew 24. And like I said, I know this is a lot of information to take in. If you can just remember a little bit of this, you'll be doing okay.

But really,.

It's sort of like putting a puzzle together. Who likes doing jigsaw puzzles? You know, at first, it's hard to see the picture. It's really hard to fit everything together. But once you get going, once you get towards the end, then the picture becomes clear.

And Bible prophecy is like putting puzzle pieces together. I've been studying this subject for, I don't know, 15 years now at least. And to me, I can see how it all fits together. It makes complete sense in my mind.

And I know not everyone's at that place. But if you keep at it, I'm telling you, the Bible's true. It's been proven true. And even lining up with things that are happening in the world, you can see how really, I think it is all starting to come together even as we speak.

So yeah, I do find it hard to be dogmatic about the return of Christ and the timing and the details. But here's one fact that really nobody, well there is a group called amillennialists and postmillennialists.

And they don't,.

A lot of them don't even believe in a tribulation, that's a whole separate, I'm not saying there's no good people in those churches. They're brothers in Christ, many of them, but they have a totally different view of the end times.

Most people though who believe in a rapture, in a tribulation, here's what we all agree on. We agree that Jesus does come back at the end of the seven years. Well I thought he was coming back for the church before the tribulation and now you're saying everyone agrees he's coming at the end.

Well this is the thing, I believe the rapture and the second advent are two different events. So again, this is the pre-tribulation position and this view, Christians, the church will not have to go through the tribulation.

I have so many reasons, I believe that. I already explained a few in 1 Thessalonians 4 and chapter 5, also in the book of Revelation.

If you look at,.

Just allow me a quick minute, in Revelation you see the church mentioned in chapters 2 and 3. The apostle John is caught up to heaven at the sound of a trumpet in chapter 4 and then the tribulation starts in chapter 6.

So if you see John being caught up to heaven as symbolic of the rapture, then the book of Revelation, the way it's laid out, all of this lends to the pre-tribulation position and really the pre-trib position is the only one that allows for the imminent return of Christ because otherwise, seven years of events have to happen first.

So it can't be imminent unless you're pre-trib. Again, a lot of information. There is another view, I do want to bring this up. Who knows anyone who is, we've been talking about pre-trib, who knows anyone who is post-trib?

Raise your hand if you know someone who's post-tribulational. They believe the return of Christ is at the end of the seven-year tribulation. Okay, so two people say they know someone and maybe there is someone here who is post-trib and you don't want to admit it or there's someone watching online who believes that Jesus comes back at the end.

Here's what we all agree on, okay? We agree there will be believers during the tribulation. So whoever it is, and look at verse 9, Matthew 24, 9, this is either New Testament Christians or it's people who have been converted during the tribulation.

For the sake of argument, it doesn't matter that much for the rest of the message. But Matthew 24, 9, Jesus says, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

So the post-trib crowd, people who think that Christians will have to go through the tribulation, when Jesus says they will deliver you up, they think that that might actually be you or it might actually be them.

I disagree with that, but that view is out there. But we do know there will be believers here during the tribulation period. If I can just spend another moment in Matthew 24. So you're in Matthew 24, right?

Look at verses 29 through 31 just to give the other side, just to be fair. Matthew 24, 29 says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with great power and great glory. And then he, the Lord, will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.

So the post-tribulation crowd, the people who believe that Jesus comes back at the end of the tribulation, they think the rapture is at the end of the tribulation, they would point to this and say, this is the rapture.

Now, here's why it's not, okay? Why I don't believe it is. You see that when Jesus comes back, what happens? All the tribes of the earth, in verse 30, will do what?

Will mourn.

If you look at all the passages about the second advent of Christ to the earth, they're all passages of doom and judgment and warfare. When Jesus comes back in Revelation 19, he fights this great battle known as Armageddon.

And yeah, it's doom and gloom. It's a day of darkness. But all of the verses about the rapture of the church, there's no judgment. There's no doom. It's all hope and encouragement and great blessing. So if you look at the two passages, the two different events, you see that they're described very, very differently.

So all of that to say this, I believe that the rapture happens before the tribulation. It's a blessed event. It could happen at any time. Christians are taken up to heaven. And now let's turn to John 14.

And I think I can prove this, okay? Again, it's hard to be dogmatic. I'm not going to say that this is a dogma of the faith that everyone has to believe. There's good people who believe differently. That's fine.

But notice what Jesus himself says in John 14. So remember, the pre-trib position says that Jesus raptures the church before the tribulation and takes them to heaven. The post-tribulation position, Jesus comes back, takes everyone up in the air and brings them right back down to a war-torn earth.

That's the post-trib view. What does Jesus say in John 14 1 -3? He says, Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, He'll do what? I will come again. And I will receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. So Jesus says, I'm going to heaven.

I'm going to prepare a place for you. And when I come again, where's Jesus taking Christians? To be with Him in that place, which is where?

Heaven.

That's the pre-trib position. The church is raptured. Jesus takes them to heaven for seven years. And then they come back with Him at the end. Here's the problem. In the post-trib position, Jesus doesn't take them to heaven.

When He comes back, He comes back in the clouds. The church is raptured to meet Jesus in the clouds, and He brings them straight back down. What's the point in that? He's not taking them to heaven like He said He would.

He's taking them right back down to earth. It seems kind of pointless. The only explanation I've ever heard, people say,.

Well, that's the way it was.

With the Roman armies. The Roman army, after they get a victory, they'd come into the city, and people would go out to meet them, and then they'd come in. Well, that may be true with Roman armies, but none of that's mentioned in the Bible.

So, anyways, that's my spiel on the pre-trib position. So, that's what I believe is going to happen. And look at verse 10. We'll continue in Matthew 24. So, I do not believe this is for the New Testament church, okay?

It was for the disciples. It was true for them, but it's going to be true for people who get saved during the tribulation period, also known as tribulation saints. That's what they're typically called.

Tribulation Saints, the Antichrist, and End-Time Persecution

Look at verse 10. Jesus says, then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. So, this is the future fulfillment. The day is coming where many will be offended.

You know what?

In the end times, the faith, the true faith, is going to be made illegal. Do you realize that? During the tribulation,.

Everyone on earth.

Will be forced to worship the beast, or the Antichrist. And they'll be forced to take his mark, the mark of the beast, which is 666. Those who don't take the mark, what happens to them? You can't buy or sell, and eventually those people, the Bible says, are killed, or the Antichrist will try to kill them.

So, what's going to happen? Many will be offended, Jesus says in verse 10, many will betray one another, so once the faith, again, this isn't going to happen tomorrow, but in the end times, when the faith is made illegal, what's the result?

All the fake believers, people who say, well, I believe in Jesus, all of a sudden, once it becomes illegal, and it can cost you your life to believe in Jesus, they're all going to bail out.

Okay?

They're all going to bail out, and they will inform on other believers, or believers in general, and they're going to be betraying one another, as the result, verse 12, because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

That'll be the natural result, and then we get to verse 13, Jesus says, but he who endures to the end shall be saved, and I want to end on that point about enduring to the end, because all Christians, whether you lived in the first century, whether you live right now, or whether it's people in the end times, every believer must learn how to endure and persevere through times of great difficulty.

During the tribulation, okay, so let's focus on the future element first, then we'll end with the application for us. During the tribulation, there is a physical sense where people must endure to the end of the tribulation.

If you want to survive,.

Okay,.

If you endure to the end, when Jesus comes back, then you will be physically delivered. You will be saved physically if you can survive the tribulation until Jesus comes back. So that's one possible way to understand this.

Another way, you will be saved spiritually if a believer lives through the tribulation and they refuse the mark of the beast, and you don't deny Christ, he who endures in the faith will be saved spiritually.

So those who die for Christ's sake during the tribulation, what happens to them? They go to heaven, and there's probably even a special reward for them during the kingdom age. So endurance is essential during the tribulation.

But how can we apply this today, this idea of enduring to the end? Some people call this, I prefer to call this the perseverance of the saints. You say, well, you know, I've heard that. Is that a biblical idea?

Here's a verse on that. Revelation 14, 12 says, here is the perseverance of the saints. It's those who keep the commandments of God and they keep their faith in Jesus. Therefore, a person who perseveres, a saint who perseveres, they will keep the faith.

They will continue to believe in God even during difficult times. So I believe this is not something that a Christian must do as much as it's something that a true Christian will do. How do you know if someone is a true believer?

This is ultimately the mark of a true Christian. You know what it is? That they endure to the end. That they persevere. You see, anyone can say, well, I just accepted Jesus. I'm a Christian now. Well, praise God and let's baptize you then if that's the case.

Well, I don't know if I want to be baptized. Well, let's talk about that. But anyone can say,.

Well, I'm a Christian.

Yeah, but are you going to be a Christian five years from now? When your life gets difficult, because I assure you it will. If it's not difficult now, it'll get difficult at some point. You're a Christian now?

Are you a Christian five years from now? Are you a Christian 20 years from now? A true believer will keep the faith. He who endures to the end will be saved. But again, it's not a burden that we're placing on you.

I think it's something that true Christians will do.

Why?

Because true believers, here's the good thing about it, true believers are kept and preserved by God. Ephesians 4 .30 talks about how believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Sealed until the day of redemption.

In Jude 1 .1, he writes to believers, he says that believers are called, sanctified, and preserved. So maybe the best way to say it is not perseverance of the saints, it's the preservation of the saints because a true believer is kept safe and secure by God.

As Romans 8 teaches us, that we are kept safe and secure in Christ. How there's nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So that's the good news this morning.

Whether you think, you know, there's some people who think they're gonna have to live through the great tribulation. I don't personally believe that, but if you do, that's up to you. But whether that's true or not, whether you're going through tough times in this life, we are kept safe.

If you believe in Jesus this morning, you will be kept safe and secure. So in conclusion, this is just something we need to have settled. Two things we need to have settled. Number one, our salvation.

The most important thing is that you know that Christ is your Savior. Have your salvation settled. And then number two, trust that God will give us the grace that we need to endure any and every trial.

I'll close with what Jude says. Jude 24 and 25, he says, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. You notice that?

God is able to what? Keep you from stumbling. He says to God, our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.