I know a pastor who does not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. I told him, “The church in Philadelphia is promised to be kept from the “hour” (Rev. 3:10). No matter how God chooses to do this, it’s your job to make sure your congregation is in that Philadelphian category.”
Copyright 2020 by H.D. Shively
Worthy to Escape
He said, “I got it.”
If you are one of those pre-tribulation rapture disclaimers, I hope you get it, too.
Jesus told us to pray that we are worthy to escape (Luke 21:36). We have an option.
Jesus tells the Jezebel infected church of Thyatira to repent or else they would go through “great tribulation” (Rev. 2:22). It is obvious that we are being shown here, that the church has the option of being protected from the great tribulation. That option is based on obedience to the Lord’s commandment to repent and change their ways.
We are shown that the spirit of Jezebel in the church does not want to repent. Therefore she does not teach repentance. Because she knows that obedience to God’s word is the key to being kept from the hour, she does not teach that either. Therefore in regards to the rapture, this spirit operates in two ways.
She tells her followers that they all will go in a pre-tribulation rapture, but does not inform them of a vital clause; only a remnant of them who are found cleaving to God’s word like the Philadelphians will be qualified. To others she hides the fact that there is an option and does not teach a pre-tribulation rapture at all. In either case, she does not provide the means for escape and does not counsel her followers to pray to qualify for it as Jesus instructed; because again, this spirit does not preach repentance. She does not counsel against sin, especially sexual sin, which is a guarantee that one cannot expect protection from the “great tribulation.”
So in the church today we are hearing two voices, all coming from the same source. One claims that there is no pre-tribulation rapture and all believers must be prepared to go through the great tribulation. The other voice claims that the entire church will go in a pre-tribulation rapture.
Both claims are wrong because they are not based on the whole counsel of scripture on this issue.
The word of God promises protection from this last time devastation for the Philadelphian remnant, just as He delivered Noah from the flood and Lot from the fire. It is obvious that it is not God’s will for His church to endure this particular latter day affliction, or we would not have been counseled by Jesus to pray for our deliverance from it.
We can be among those whom God will raise up above the devastation to come if we heed His word and follow the example of that faithful and obedient Philadelphian remnant.
Pray that the Lord will make you worthy to escape.
Where is a pre-tribulation rapture taught in the scriptures? This question is answered in our study of Revelation's chapter eleven.