CET: 8 Conclusions on Christ’s Endtimes Teaching

Book Navigation

Chapter 8

Conclusions on Christ’s Endtimes Teaching

The Pre-wrath Rescue position

A) Summarizing the biblical substance and sequence of Endtime events in support of the Pre-wrath Rescue Position

B) 6 biblical beliefs of the Pre-wrath Rescue Position

C) The Church’s historical testimony supporting the Pre-Wrath Rescue Position

Primary Points

The view that best explains Christ’s Endtimes Teaching is the Pre-wrath Rescue position. It teaches that the Church’s Rescue occurs at Christ’s Return and before Christ’s Wrath. Accordingly, it is the “Pre-wrath Rescue” position. Therefore, the “rapture” is not “pre-tribulational” but pre-divine wrath.
The biblical details of the sequence of Endtime events are important.
The Church’s Rescue occurs after the Antichrist’s Claim to be God. Therefore, the Last Generation Church will suffer the Antichrist’s Wrath in The Greatest Persecution.
Christ’s Return for the Church’s Rescue will be visible to the whole world.
The Church’s Rescue will occur simultaneously with Christ’s visible Return.
Christ’s Return will be preceded by multiple signs.
The Greatest Persecution is not Christ’s Wrath, but the Antichrist’s Wrath.
All Christian writers in the early Church who discuss the Endtimes believed the Church would suffer the persecution of the Antichrist.

A) Summarizing the biblical substance and sequence of Endtime events in support of the Pre-wrath Rescue Position ^[1]

A.1) 7 Primary Endtime Events in their biblical order

The previous chapters have demonstrated that when Christ’s Endtimes Teaching is interpreted in its rather plain, literal sense, it provides a clear understanding of the biblical outline of Endtime events. The same approach to Paul’s Thessalonian Epistles, Christ’s Revelation, and Daniel’s prophecies, confirms this interpretation. The sequence of Endtime events in these texts is summarized below:

7 Primary Endtime Events According to Scripture

#	Endtime Event	Description
➊	The Beginning of Birth Pains	False Christ(s), wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes. (cf. Matt 24:4-8; Luke 21:11; Rev 6:1-8; Dan 8:24-25)
➋	Antichrist’s Claim to be God	The “abomination of desolation” when the Antichrist enters a rebuilt Jewish temple and proclaims himself to be God. (cf. Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4; Rev 13:5-6; Dan 7:24-25; 9:27)
➌	The Greatest Persecution	Antichrist’s wrath against God’s people. (cf. Matt 24:9, 16-21; Rev 6:9-11; 12:7-17; 13:7-10; Dan 7:21, 25; 12:1, 7)
➍	The Cosmic Signs	The sun, moon, and stars signaling Christ’s Return. (cf. Matt 24:29; Rev 6:12-13; Joel 2:30-31)
➎	Christ’s Return	His visible, glorious appearing. (cf. Matt 24:30; Rev 6:14-16; 2 Thess 1:6-7; Dan 7:13-14; Tit 2:13)
➏	The Church’s Rescue	Lifting up both living and dead Christians (cf. Matt 24:31; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Thess 2:1; Rev 7:9-14; Dan 12:2).
➐	Christ’s Wrath	God’s wrath against His enemies on Earth. (cf. Matt 24:37-41; Rev 6:17; 1 Thess 1:6-7)

A.2) The biblical Pre-wrath Rescue position

The above biblical sequence of Endtime events reflects the Pre-wrath Rescue position. Simply put, the Pre-wrath Rescue position teaches that the Church’s Rescue occurs at Christ’s visible Return and before Christ’s Wrath. Therefore, it is the Pre-wrath Rescue position. However, this view also teaches that the Last Generation Church will experience Antichrist’s Wrath in The Greatest Persecution.

It is alarming that in a recent survey only 4% of Protestant Pastors claimed that the Pre-wrath view of Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue reflected their own view. ^[2] 4%! Some may assume this reflects the weakness of this position. But with all due respect, it is one more example of how confused even Pastors are about the doctrine of the Endtimes. The Pre-wrath Rescue position argued for in the previous chapters and summarized in this chapter, deserves a lot more careful Bible study than apparently 96% of Protestant Pastors have given it.

The biblical Pre-wrath Rescue position can be portrayed in the same graphic that has been used throughout the previous chapters to reflect the sequence of Endtime events given in Christ’s Endtimes Teaching and His Revelation, Paul’s Thessalonians Epistles, and Daniel.

B) 6 biblical beliefs of the Pre-wrath Rescue position

Most of the points below have been thoroughly discussed and supported previously in Christ’s Endtimes Teaching. This will be noted along the way. Some will find this chapter redundant. However, many will be learning the truths of Christ’s Endtimes Teaching for the first time, and having several current beliefs challenged. Therefore, repeating things in a summary fashion will be helpful. In addition, this section will summarize the primary beliefs of the Pre-wrath Rescue position.

B.1) The biblical details of the sequence of Endtime events are important

The disciples asked Jesus, “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matt 24:3 NIV). Jesus answered their question by telling them an entire series of Endtime events. He clearly intended to teach a specific sequence of Endtime events that He expects His people to understand. This is why He repeatedly used words like then (Matt 24:9, 10, 14, 21, 30), when (v. 15), immediately after (v. 29) and, at that time (v. 30). Based on this teaching, Christ expected His followers to “Watch!” current events in the world to recognize signs of the Endtimes (cf. Mark 13:5, 9, 23, 33, 34, 37).

Likewise, the Apostle Paul corrected the Thessalonians by telling them the biblical sequence of Endtime events. It was precisely because these Christians did not understand this, that they were vulnerable to being misled by false teaching (cf. 2 Thess 2:1-4). Therefore, belief #1 in the Pre-wrath Rescue position is clearly biblical: The biblical details of the sequence of Endtime events are important.

The error of denying this has been addressed earlier in a discussion of the “apathetic” view of the Endtimes (cf. ch. 1, sec. B.3). This view has also been labeled as Pan-tribulationism and is discussed further in chapter 11 (sec. A).

B.2) The Church’s Rescue occurs after the Antichrist’s Claim to be God. Therefore, the Last Generation Church will suffer the Antichrist’s Wrath in The Greatest Persecution

After warning of the Antichrist’s abomination of desolation (Matt 24:15) Christ said “then there will be the greatest persecution [thlipsis] of God’s elect people. It will be greater than any persecution since the world began, and it will never be equaled again” (v. 21).

The Greek word thlipsis is used three times in Matthew 24. It clearly refers to the persecution of God’s people in verse 9 and should be translated this way in verses 21 and 29 (cf. ch. 3, sec. E). The Greek word eklektous is also used three times in this passage (cf. vs. 21, 24, 31). It always includes the Church in the NT (cf. ch. 3, sec. D). Therefore, Jesus taught that God’s elect people (the Church), will experience The Greatest Persecution.

Therefore, the Church’s Rescue does not occur until after The Greatest Persecution is completed. Jesus taught us:

“Immediately after the completion of the greatest persecution [thlipsin], then ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

Then the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the sky. And then all the peoples of the Earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory.

He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet sound, and they will lift up and gather together God’s elect people from one end of the sky to the other, from everywhere on Earth.” (Matt 24:29-31; cf. 1 Thess 4:13-17; 2 Thess 1:6-7).

The Church’s Rescue that Jesus described in Matt 24:31 is also clearly described by Paul:

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thess 4:15-17 NIV)

Christ and the Apostle are describing the same event, the Church’s Rescue. Jesus said it will not occur until after the completion of the greatest persecution (Matt 24:29). The Apostle confirmed this elsewhere when he wrote:

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him [Christ’s Return & the Church’s Rescue] … Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness [Antichrist] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thess 2:1, 3-4 NIV)

The Apostle clearly taught that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, (Christ’s Return & the Church’s Rescue), will not come until … the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist) is revealed in a rebuilt temple, proclaiming himself to be God (Antichrist’s Claim to be God; cf. ch. 5, sec. C).

This is also confirmed in Christ’s Revelation where He revealed the same sequence of The Greatest Persecution of the Church occurring before the Church’s Rescue. First, describing The Greatest Persecution we read:

When he [Christ] opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. (Rev 6:9-11 NIV)

Then in Revelation 7, after describing Christ’s Return and impending Wrath (cf. Rev 6:12-17), we read a description of the Church’s Rescue out of The Greatest Persecution:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes [the same as the Christian martyrs described in Rev 6:9-11] and were holding palm branches in their hands…

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes —who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great persecution [thlipseōs]; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev 7:9, 13-14)

These members of the Last Generation Church will come out of the great persecution because they will be in The Greatest Persecution (cf. ch. 6, secs. B-C).

This is confirmed later in Revelation 13 where we read that the beast Antichrist will be given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them (Rev 13:7 NIV). Saints is clearly used throughout the Revelation to refer to the Church (cf. 5:8; 8:3, 4; 11:18; 16:6; 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:8-9, 14; cf. ch. 6, sec. A).

Therefore, belief #2 of the Pre-wrath Rescue position is clearly biblical: The Church’s Rescue occurs after the Antichrist’s Claim to be God. Therefore, the Last Generation Church will suffer the Antichrist’s Wrath in The Greatest Persecution.

B.3) Christ’s Return for the Church’s Rescue will be visible to the whole world

Again, Matthew 24:29-31 makes this very clear. Jesus said:

[At that time] He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet sound, and they will lift up and gather together God’s elect people from one end of the sky to the other, from everywhere on Earth.” (Matt 24:29-31)

The idea of a “secret, silent rapture” is unbiblical. Accordingly, in Paul’s description of the Church’s Rescue, he said:

The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thess 4:16-17 NIV).

That is not describing a “secret, silent rapture.”

Likewise, the Apostle taught the Thessalonians not to expect relief from their persecution until they saw the visible Return of Christ. Paul wrote them:

In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. And God will provide rest [anasin, NIV relief] for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. (2 Thess 1:6-7 NLT)

Likewise, Paul taught elsewhere that we the Church wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Tit 2:13 NIV).

This is why Christ said in Matthew 24:27: “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Likewise, in Christ’s Revelation, His Return is described as being seen by everyone in the world (cf. Rev 6:12-17).

Therefore, belief #3 of the Pre-wrath Rescue position is clearly biblical: Christ’s Return for the Church’s Rescue will be visible to the whole world.

B.4) The Church’s Rescue will occur simultaneously with Christ’s visible Return

This is clearly taught in Matthew 24:30-31, 1 Thess 4:16-17, and 2 Thess 1:6-7 quoted above. In addition, Paul wrote: Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him (2 Thess 2:1). Clearly he was referring to Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue and implied they will occur together (cf. ch. 5, sec. C.1).

Therefore, belief #4 of the Pre-wrath Rescue position is clearly biblical: The Church’s Rescue will occur simultaneously with Christ’s visible Return.

B.5) Christ’s Return & the Church’s Rescue will be preceded by multiple signs

This is clearly taught in Christ’s Endtimes Teaching. Again, the Apostles asked, “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matt 24:3 NIV). Jesus answered their question by telling them an entire series of Endtime events that will precede His Return (cf. Matt 24:4-31). Likewise, Paul taught Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him … that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness [Antichrist] is revealed (2 Thess 2:1, 3 NIV; cf. ch. 5, secs. C.2-3). Both of these Scriptures clearly teach that multiple events and signs will occur before Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue.

Therefore, belief #5 of the Pre-wrath Rescue position is clearly biblical: Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue will be preceded by multiple signs.

B.6) The Greatest Persecution is not Christ’s Wrath, but the Antichrist’s Wrath

The persecution of God’s elect people described in Christ’s Endtimes teaching (Matt 24:9, 21), and the killing of the martyrs in His Revelation (cf. 6:9-11; 13:7), should never be defined as Christ’s Wrath. Rather, The Greatest Persecution will be Antichrist’s Wrath.

Jesus clearly taught that in Matthew 24:29-31 quoted above that the Cosmic Signs are the sign that Christ’s Wrath is about to begin. These same Cosmic Signs are described in Revelation 6:12-14 when the world’s people will cry out: “hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come” (Rev 6:16-17 NIV). This is why we read in Joel that the Cosmic Signs will precede the beginning of Christ’s Wrath: The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD (2:31 NIV) which is an OT term for Christ’s Wrath.

Therefore, both Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 clearly depict the events of The Beginning of Birth Pains, and The Greatest Persecution will occur before the Cosmic Signs (cf. Matt 24:4-30; Rev 6:1-17) and the beginning of Christ’s Wrath. Therefore, these Endtime events are not a part of Christ’s Wrath.

Therefore, belief #6 of the Pre-wrath position is clearly biblical: The Greatest Persecution is not Christ’s Wrath, but the Antichrist’s Wrath.

The nature and timing of Christ’s Wrath in the Endtimes will be discussed further in chapter 14.

C) The Church’s historical testimony supporting the Pre-Wrath Rescue Position

The Pre-wrath Rescue position is certainly not new. The biblical outline of Endtime events summarized above was clearly the primary view of the Early Church (A.D. 100-300). The following is a sampling of leaders and Bible scholars in the Early Church who wrote as if the Church should expect to experience the Antichrist’s Wrath and The Greatest Persecution. ^[3] There are no hints anywhere in the literature of the Early Church suggesting otherwise. The Early Church did not view the following documents as apostolic Scripture. Still, they reflect the widespread belief of the Christian Church in the first 200 years after the Apostles.

Hermas (c. A.D. 140):

Happy are they who endure the great tribulation that is coming… Those therefore who continue steadfast, and are put through the fire of the great tribulation that is to come, will be purified by means of it… Wherefore cease not speaking these things into the ears of the saints. (The Pastor of Hermas, Vision 2, 4)

Irenaeus (c. A.D. 180):

And they [the ten kings]… shall give their kingdom to the beast [Antichrist], and put the Church to flight. (Against Heresies, V.26.1)

Tertullian (c. A.D. 200):

The beast Antichrist with his false prophet will wage war on the Church of God.” (On the Resurrection of the Flesh, xxv). “When the times are fulfilled, and the ten horns spring from the beast in the last times, then Antichrist will appear among them. When he makes war against the saints, and persecutes them, then may we expect the manifestation of the Lord from heaven.” (On Daniel, II.7).

Hippolytus (c. A.D. 220):

Now concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary … that refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church.” (Ibid. 60, 61)

By A.D. 400 Roman Catholic influence had begun in the Church, along with a greater influence of allegorical interpretation of Scripture. Nor was the threat of the Antichrist perceived as great because the Church had taken over the Roman Empire. However, some of the most influential Christian scholars of this time wrote the following.

Jerome (c. 400 A.D.):

I told you that Christ would not come unless antichrist had come before.” (Epistle 21) ^[4]

Augustine (c. 400 A.D.):

But he who reads this passage [Daniel 12] even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church.” (City of God, XX, 23).

Accordingly, several modern scholars summarize the Church’s historical testimony. Carson notes regarding the popular view that the Church will not experience the Antichrist and the Greatest Persecution:

Perhaps it is not surprising that [this view] finds no support until the nineteenth century. [This Pre-tribulational] approach to the Olivet Discourse must be judged historically implausible in reference to both the history of Jesus and the history of interpretation. ^[5]

Likewise, Alan Hultberg, Professor of NT at Talbot writes:

The earliest Christian writings we possess after the NT indicate no real question in the first three centuries of the church regarding the timing of the rapture. The basic futurist eschatology appears to have been taken for granted by most… When the rapture was discussed at all, it was assumed to be simultaneous with the return of Christ to Earth to establish his kingdom…

At the very least, where they speak of it, the ante-Nicene fathers [A. D. 315 and earlier] consistently maintained that the church would witness the abomination of desolation and experience persecution under the Antichrist. ^[6]

George E. Ladd, former Professor of New Testament History and Biblical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary concluded:

Every church father who deals with this subject expects the church to suffer at the hands of Antichrist… We can find no trace of Pre-tribulationism in the early church, and no modern Pre-tribulationist has successfully proved that this particular doctrine was held by any church fathers or students of the word before the nineteenth century… Pretribulationism may be guilty of the danger of leaving the Church unprepared for tribulation when Antichrist appears. ^{^[7]}

Finally, NT scholar Robert Gundry has written:

We may fairly conclude that [those] who find imminence [the “any-moment” return of Christ] in the Ante-Nicene fathers [A. D. 315 and earlier], are grasping at straws. The early fathers uniformly expected a yet future persecution of antichrist [for the Church] prior to the Lord’s return.

And so should we. ^[8]

Amillennialism and a metaphorical interpretation of prophetic Scripture continued into the Protestant Reformation. Still, we can offer the following quotes that demonstrate popular views on Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue were not supported by the Reformers.

John Wycliffe (c. 1380):

Wherefore let us pray to God that He keep us [Christians] in the hour of tribulation, which is coming upon all the world (as stated in) Revelation three. (Writings of the Reverend John Wickliff, 155)

Martin Luther (c. 1530):

The book of Revelation is intended as a revelation of things that are to happen in the future, and especially of tribulations and disasters for the Church. (Works of Martin Luther, VI. 481)

John Calvin (c. 1560):

The calamity of the Church shall last through a time, times, and half a time (Daniel 7:25). (Commentary on Matthew, 24:15)

John Knox (c. 1570):

God has a great love towards His Church, whom he pleased to forewarn of dangers to come … [meaning], the man of sin, the antichrist.” (The History of the Reformation, I.76)

John Foxe (c. 1580):

There will be a second beast prophesied to come in the later time of the Church … to disturb the whole Church of Christ.” (Acts and Monuments, I)

It is much more difficult to find Christian authors in modern times who will support the view that the Church should expect The Greatest Persecution. However, here are a few. ^[9]

George Mueller (1890):

The Scripture declares plainly that the Lord Jesus will not come until the Apostasy shall have taken place, and the man of sin, antichrist … shall have been revealed.” (Missionary Tours and Labours, Mrs. George Mueller, 148)

Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994):

There is a cowardly Christianity which … still comforts its fainting heart with the hope that there will be a rapture‑‑perhaps today‑‑to catch us away from coming tribulation.” (Sodom Had No Bible, p. 94)

Walter Kaiser (one of the most respected OT seminary professors in the world), has said:

The Prewrath [Rescue] position is the prophetic position that best understands and properly applies Old Testament prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord as it relates to the second coming of Christ… If the fathers of dispensationalism had been able to choose between the Pre-tribulation and the Pre-wrath views, the Pre-wrath position would have received their vote, hands down. ^[10]

While the Pre-wrath Rescue position is not new in Church History, Pre-tribulationism is, relatively speaking. Speakman explains:

The popularization of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is a relatively recent phenomenon. In fact, there is no compelling evidence that this doctrine existed at all prior to the nineteenth century. The historical record strongly suggests that for the first 1,800 years of Christianity [this was the case]. ^[11]

Further refutations of Pre-tribulationism will be provided in chapters 13-16.

The Pre-wrath Rescue position supported in the Endtime Essentials is slightly different than the more commonly recognized Pre-wrath Rapture view. While they are essentially the same, there is one difference. The more commonly recognized Pre-wrath Rapture view claims that the “rapture” occurs at some unknown time after Antichrist’s Claim to be God (abomination of desolation, Matt 24:15) and Christ’s Return. However, the Pre-wrath Rescue position teaches that Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue will occur exactly 1,260 days after Antichrist’s Claim to be God. This will be explained further in The Beginning of Birth Pains, ch. 13, sec. E. ↑
The survey of the views of Protestant Pastors on the Endtimes can be found online at https://news.lifeway.com/2016/04/26/pastors-the-end-of-the-world-is-complicated/ ↑
Many of the original sources of these quotes can be read at http://www.ccel.org. ↑
Admittedly, Jerome, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin often applied a metaphorical and Amillennial interpretation to biblical prophecy. Nonetheless, all of them demonstrate the claim that a belief that the Church would be spared The Greatest Persecution of Antichrist was not widely believed in their day. ↑
Carson, Matt, Matt 24. ↑
Hultberg, 14-15. ↑
George E. Ladd, The Blessed Hope, (Eerdmans, 1990), 31, 164. ↑
Such quotes from such respected NT scholars have been harmful to the Pre-tribulational view. Therefore, they have worked hard to find evidence that someone believed their view before it was popularized by John Nelson Darby (1800-1882).Some have claimed such evidence is found in The Shepherd of Hermas (c. A.D. 180). But this document claims things that are never mentioned in Scripture, and seem unbiblical. For example, it claims that a person will “escape” the “tribulation” only if they are an exceptional Christian. The text in question states:
Go therefore, and declare to the elect of the Lord His mighty works, and tell them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation which is to come. If therefore you prepare yourselves beforehand, and repent (and turn) to the Lord with your whole heart, you shall be able to escape it, if your heart be made pure and without blemish, and if for the remaining days of your life you serve the Lord blamelessly. (2[23]:5-6)

According to the author it will not be enough to simply be a Christian in order to “escape” “the great tribulation.” You must be a “blameless” servant of God. Something that not all Christians will be. Therefore, there is not even any support for Pre-tribulationism here which claims all Christians are “raptured” before “the great tribulation.”

For many years, the primary evidence offered for early Church evidence of Pre-tribulationism was one quote found in a document called Pseudo Ephrem. It is called “Pseudo” because it is believed to falsely claim to be written by the Syrian church leader Ephrem of Nisibis (someone that very few have even heard of anyway). Because scholars really do not know who wrote Pseudo Ephrem, or when, it is dated sometime between A. D. 300 and 625. However, there is really no way of knowing.

Nevertheless, Pre-tribulationists want to present this obscure document as evidence that the Early Church widely believed in Pre-tribulationism because of this one sentence: “All the saints and elect of God are gathered together before the tribulation, which is to come, and are taken to the Lord.” Admittedly, this seems to reflect a Pre-tribulational view. But again, no one really knows who wrote it or when.

More recently, Tim Lahaye has written:

For several years a popular argument against the pre-Tribulation theory … is that it was invented by John Darby in the last century (1828) and was never seen or mentioned by the early Christian fathers for almost nineteen centuries of church history. That argument is simply not true! (Revelation, 109)

As proof, Lahaye can name one Baptist pastor, Morgan Edwards, who in 1742, “definitely taught that the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation” (Ibid.). Lahaye claims that in a book by Grant Jeffery, he “quotes many … eighteenth century prophecy scholars” who believed in a Pre-tribulation Rescue. Lahaye adds: “Jeffrey’s most important find was the electrifying discovery of a statement in an apocalyptic sermon” (110).

Perhaps there were some Pre-tribulationists before Darby. But the historical argument against this view remains. In addition, it is possible that many of the authors that are perceived as having a Pre-tribulational view, actually defined “the tribulation” as the period of Christ’s Wrath occurring after Christ’s Return. Therefore, their view would be similar to the Pre-wrath Rescue position. Regardless, whatever historical support Pre-tribulationists can find, is so obscure and sparse that biblical scholars such as Carson, Hultberg, Gundry, and Ladd have denied it even exists. ↑
Many add Charles Spurgeon to the list of respected Bible Teachers who taught that the Church would experience The Greatest Persecution. Dennis Swanson in his study: “Charles H. Spurgeon and Eschatology” writes:Spurgeon said little, if anything, about the rapture. He seems to have most likely equated this with the Second Coming. However, he did believe that the church would pass through a tribulation, thus any “rapture” in his thinking would be posttribulational.
However, Swanson is correct to add: “Given Spurgeon’s notoriety and the volume of his writings, it is perhaps no wonder that almost every advocate of an eschatological viewpoint has attempted to bolster their position by appealing to Spurgeon as “being in their camp.”

(http://www.spurgeon.org/eschat.htm#ans-sum)

↑
This is Robert Van Kampen’s “paraphrase” of a personal conversation with Dr. Kaiser (Rapture, loc. 2795ff.).For additional modern support for important beliefs in the Pre-wrath Rescue position see the article at The Gospel Coalition website, “The Rapture Question” online at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-rapture-question/. Although the author makes a mistake in claiming that the Pre-wrath position believes “that the rapture is a separate event from the second coming of Christ.” This is misleading. The Pre-wrath position teaches that the rapture occurs at the initial appearing of Christ in His Second Coming. But unlike the Post-tribulationism the author of the article is supporting, the rapture will not occur after Christ’s Wrath at the appearing of Christ for the Battle of Armageddon. For more on the important differences between the Pre-wrath Rescue position and the Post-tribulational Rapture view, see ch. 11, sec. D. ↑
Speakman, 63. See 63-71 for refutation of other suggestions. The author adds:In the year 1827 … an Irish Protestant clergyman named John Nelson Darby published a paper proposing a “secret Second Coming” for Christians. Darby’s new doctrine posited that before the Second Coming of Christ there would be another, “secret” return whereby Jesus would rescue His followers from the Earth before the trials of the Great Tribulation begin. Darby spent the rest of his days traveling around Europe, Canada, and the United States working to spread his views. He managed to gain some followers, but it has only been in recent decades—only in our time, with this generation—that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture has become the mainstream belief among Evangelical Christians. (63) ↑

Chapter 8

Conclusions on Christ’s Endtimes Teaching

The Pre-wrath Rescue position

Contents

Primary Points