Many preachers and teachers today are talking about the return of the Lord. Some believe that the church will go through the tribulation, others believe that the church will be taken out before, in the rapture. There are a few key scriptures that I feel spell out whether or not the church will go through the great tribulation.
1 Corinthians 15:52 (NLT) “It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The above scriptures describe the rapture of the church. The question is, when in the end time time-table, is this going to take place. There are a few scriptures that I think describe the timing: We are told in the scriptures that some of the signs of the Lord’s eminent return are wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, famines, earthquakes. However, the Lord says when these things occur the end is near but not yet. (Matthew 24:6-7).
Another scripture states that it will be like the days of Noah, when the Lord returns. Matthew 24:37-39 “ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”. The previous scripture describes what will be going on in the world when the Lord returns. We know that in the days of Noah there was no concern about a flood, except by Noah and his family. If the world will be experiencing something similar when the Lord returns, it is an indication that there will not be any great earthly calamity taking place. We see where the Lord always removes His people before delivering judgment in the earth. We see it in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah when He removed Lot.
I also believe that those who have been saved prior to the rapture are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). If we are sealed until the day of redemption, we cannot lose our salvation by taking the mark of the beast. We are saved by grace not works. If the church went through the tribulation, we would have to be saved twice.