Revelation 3:10 "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
John 17:15 "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil."
Keep-Greek word 5083-tereo-to guard (from loss or injury) prop. by keeping the eye upon.
It does not mean removal from the earth.
How we are tested in our lifetimes is nothing compared to what will happen at that time. If it should happen to someone in their lifetime, Satan and his angels will be here and the only way to overcome him is laid out in Revelation 12 which coincides with Paul's teaching about the gospel armour on. Paul was teaching that to Christians.
Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to with stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
That evil day doesn't mean every day, it states "the evil day". That day is when Satan and his arrive. Paul states we are to stand, having done all to stand. Which is a second witness to Christ's teachings about enduring until the end. When Christ comes back we are to still be standing, not fallen away to the fake. That is the true test. Both Christians and non believers. Some will fall away (foolish virgins, Christ telling some he never knew them, etc.) The falling away can't happen to unbelievers because they have nothing to fall away from. And it doesn't mean departure from the earth. Apostasy and the words "fall away" always mean defecting from the faith/truth.
In our patience we are to possess our souls -Christ's words.
Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
Julie, you're quoting John 17:15 out of context. Jesus was preparing to go to the cross. He was only praying for his disciples who were with Him.
Rev 3:10 (NIV): Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. ----- "will also keep you from" means we will avoid the 7-year Trib, entirely. Also, you're missing that it's condemning to be labeled an "inhabitant of the earth." That word means, in that context, a person who is "worldly" and "not of God." Romans 8:1 (NIV): Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
The rapture is easy to prove in Scripture. John 14:2-3 (ESV): In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ----- Verse 2's context is that Jesus is preparing a place for each of to live, in Heaven. Verse 3 boils down to "I will come again and take you to myself, ..." Jesus just described the rapture. But, let's prove it further by the official rapture verses, 1 Th 4:16-17.
1 Th 4:16-17 (ESV): For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ----- Verse 16's "For the Lord himself will descend ..." matches, in meaning and exact context, John 14:3's "I will come again ... ' Notice that Jesus is by Himself in verse 16. ln verse 3, He speaks only in the first person, meaning by Himself. Verse 17 says "will be caught up ... to meet the Lord ..." Verse 3 says "will take you to myself, ..." ----- "caught up" and "will take you" are synonymous in meaning and purpose: rapture.
You cannot find these sequences anywhere in the 2A (2nd Advent). First, Jesus is behind clouds the whole time in 1 Th 4:17. He is in full public view from the very of the 2A, per Matt 24:30. The trumpet in 1 Th 4:16 only sounds once to raise the dead in Christ. The trumpet in Matt 24:31 also sounds only once, but it sends out angels to gather the elect. There are no matches in 1 Th 4:16-17 with Matt 24:30-31. They are separate events. One is the rapture and the other is the 2A.
To know when the rapture will occur is based on when God's wrath will start in the Trib. 1 Th 1:10 speaks of "the coming wrath." The wrath in the Trib begins in Rev 6:8. That verse alone will kill 25% of the world's population. The utilized forms of wrath are famine, plague, and wild beasts. Those exact forms of wrath are proven to be such in:
Ezekiel 5: 15-17 (NIV): 15 You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. 16 When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.”
God's wrath, as expressed in Ezekiel 5:15-17, will occur in the Trib on day 1. Therefore, 1 Th 1:10 applies exclusively to the pre-Trib rapture. 1 Th 1:10 (ESV): and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Lastly, 1 Th 5:3 proves all hell will break loose on day 1 of the Trib. Verse 3: While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
