Pastor Keith R. Bunch
Antioch Baptist Church
of Dandridge, Tennessee
1. Pre-Tribulation Doctrine:
Secret Rapture - 7 Years of Tribulation - Second Coming of Christ - Judgment
Sermon Text: (Matt. 13:24-30; 36-43) "Parable of Wheat and Tares"
2. Is the Rapture of the Church a Secret Rapture?
(Rev. 1:7) "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." (Matt. 24:27) "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matt. 24:30) "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (1 Cor. 15:52) "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Thess. 5:2) "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
3. When is the last Trumpet sounded?
(Rev. 11:15-18) "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." (the end of the Trib.)
4. What about those who are left behind to face the Tribulation?
(Matt. 24:40-41) "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." (Text refers to Wheat and Tares)
5. If the Church is gone during the Tribulation, who are the Elect in Matthew 24:22?
(Matt. 24:22) "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened." (Pre-trib. Says the Elect are the 144,000 saved during the Tribulation.)
6. If the Elect are the 144,000 saved during the Tribulation, how were they saved?
The Church is gone - The Holy Spirit is gone with the Church - Without the H. S. It is impossible to be saved.
(John 14:16-17) "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (1 Cor. 12:3) "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost..."
7. The Righteous are not appointed unto wrath
(1 Thess. 5:9) "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"
(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. (Gen. 7:1) "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Matt. 24:37-39) "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
