sibly the chief reason why confusion exists on this subject is this: the theme is so vast, the problems that are involved are so complex, the scrip tures that must be considered are so many. First of all, what is the Tribulation period? What is its basic purpose? What is its chief characteristic? I would suggest to you that from the viewpoint of man, the Tribulation period is a time of intense rebellion against God, a time of worldly pros perity under the leadership of Anti christ. It is a time of revolt against the sovereign God of the universe. From the viewpoint of Satan, the Tribulation period is another oppor tunity to achieve his ambition to be worshipped as God. And in a small sense, he does achieve this as men turn to the worship of Antichrist. However, we do not understand the Tribulation period until we see it from the viewpoint of God Himself, until we see that the Tribulation period of seven years is a time in which God is punishing and destroy ing the Christ-rejecting nations of the earth. This becomes crystal-clear as we turn to the book of the Revelation and consider chapters 6-19, the chief passage dealing with the character istics of the Tribulation period. We read from Revelation, chapter 6, starting at verse 15, “ And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond- man, and every free man, hid them selves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the moun tains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his v:rath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” From this we see that early in the Tribulation period, it is characterized as a time of the wrath of Almighty God. Next, we turn to Revelation, chap ter 15 and verse 1: “And I saw an other sign in heaven, great and mar velous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Once again in 16:1, “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” Then again in verse 19, “ . . . great Babylon came in remem brance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” These passages and many others declare that the chief characteristic of the Tribulation per iod is that it is a time of divine wrath, sent by God Himself, upon the earth. Secondly, we ask the question, Are
there promises in the Word of God which exclude believers from specific periods of God’s wrath? To that ques tion we must respond, Yes, there are a numbers of such scriptures, chiefly Romans 5:9 and 1st Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9. Reading these we find, “Much more then, being now justi fied by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Turning to the 1st Thessalonians passage, we read in 1:9-10 of the coming of Christ from heaven: “How ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” And then again in the 5th chapter at verse 9, speaking of the Tribulation period under the terminology of the “ day of the Lord” we read, “ For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation (deliverance) by our Lord Jesus Christ.” We believe that these promises are given to the Church to show us that we shall be exempt from any period of divine wrath, including that of the Tribula tion. But then you ask, “ Doesn’t the Bi ble say that in the world ye shall have tribulation?” Again we answer, “Yes, it does, in John 16:33.” Likewise it says that we who are Christians are to be partakers of Christ’s sufferings, for, in Philippians 1:29: “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” I think that you
will find as we examine the “ tribu lation” which is promised to the Church, that it is vitally different from the Tribulation period which is yet to come. Investigating the sub ject of tribulation in the Bible, we must d i s t i n g u i s h first of all the source from which it comes; secondly, the object upon which it falls, and thirdly, the purpose for which it is sent. When we do that, we find out that the tribulation of this age stems from the unsaved and falls upon the godly. It comes from the enemies of the gospel and it is poured out upon the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whereas the tribulation of the period to come is poured out by God Himself and falls, not upon the godly, but upon those who have neglected the Son of His love. So it is that we have two things that sound similar, but one of them is on the horizontal plane and the other is on the vertical plane. One comes from wicked men; the other comes from God. Let me sug gest to you that a dime and a dollar are not the same simply because both of them are called “money.” Nor are persecution and wrath the same, sim ply because both of these are termed “ tribulation.” This is one of the im portant distinctions which must be faced by all who seek an answer to the question, Shall the members of the church of Christ go through the Tribulation period? We now turn to an interesting pas sage in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2. It has to do with the function of the Holy Spirit as the restrainer of sin and of Satan during the course of this present age. We read verses 6 to 8: “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth al ready work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” It will clarify our understanding of this particular passage if we read verse 7 this more accurate way: “ The mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he that now restrains it will continue to restrain it until he be taken out of the way.” There is a great deal of evidence which unites to identify the Restrainer of this pas sage as none other than the blessed Holy Spirit of God Himself. It is a very significant thing that the abid ing presence of the Holy Spirit shall be removed from this world before the revelation of the man of sin. Turning back to verse 3 of this passage we read: “ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [o f the
Dr. Stanton is a member of the faculties of the Biola College and the Talbot Theological Seminary. [T h e above article by Dr. Stanton was originally given at a Biola prophetic rally at the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles, and was transcribed from a tape recording. It is presented to the readers of the King’s Business because of the sustaining interest of believers in the important theme. — ED.]
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THE KIN G 'S BUSINESS
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