Quote Originally Posted by disciple View Post
I think that many people don't consider that the saved church is the bride of Christ. Not to over simplify, but would a groom take his bride, pure and dressed in white and right before the marriage drop her off in the worst part of town to be abused and in constant danger only to bring her to the wedding after she has gone through trials and suffering? Why? Would she more righteous in the sight of the groom? No the bride have already been declared righteous. Would suffering make her more pure? No the Groom has made her to be without spot or blemish. I believe in Pre-trib rapture not because I want to escape God's wrath but because Jesus wants me to escape God's wrath.
1 Thess 1:10, “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
1 Thess 5:9, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”
Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Eph 5:6, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”
The wrath these verses are talking about is the lake of fire, which is a permanent condition. The wrath poured out on the earth during the Great Tribulation pales in comparison, it being a mere taste of the wrath of God on each unrepentant individual at the Great White Throne Judgment. Believers who are alive on the earth during the G.T. are not receiving the wrath of God, because God is able to protect each one of them from harm, even as He protected the Israelites in Egypt from the plagues He inflicted on the Egyptians. However, the scripture says "through many (great) tribulations shall we enter the kingdom of God." Peter wrote for us to prepare ourselves for suffering!! Therefore, your ****ogy is neither reasonable, nor scriptural. When God chastised Israel, both the righteous and the unrighteous suffered with it. Righteous men like Daniel were carried off to slavery. Even the remnant that remained was seriously affected. Heb. 12 tells us to consider hardship as God's discipline for us to share in His holiness. Therefore, although none of us desire to suffer, we must be willing to go through it for His name -- Rom. 8 "if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him." None of us have any hope of going through the G.T., however we must prepare ourselves as though we were. We shall certainly suffer persecution, even though God has the power to protect us from the kind of harm that the world will receive. We should hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. "...Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" - God uses trials to deliver us, even though we ask Him not to. We don't want the trials, but we know we're going to get them.
TD