And he said "if they tormented Me - they will torment you"
John 15:
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.
Just because a person is suffering, does not mean God is pouring His wrath on that person. No living human, except for Jesus Christ, has suffered God's wrath, no one would suffer that and live.
Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
God is holding His righteous wrath today, and calls people to His Son.. It is the year of Lord's favour. The day of vengeance is yet to come.
Christians will also never suffer of God's wrath 1 Thessalonians 9 'The Lord, who is great in power and righteous in all His ways, restrains His anger to show us mercy, not destining us for wrath, but for salvation through Jesus Christ'. Not only does God restrain His wrath against sin, but the entirety of His wrath was satisfied when He poured it out on Jesus at the cross. - This is of course only the OT & NT believers, God's elect.
Why would Christians suffer God's wrath when Jesus atoned and fully paid for their sins? That does not mean we are free to sin, as sin still has horrible consequences and is deadly. God being a loving Father will discipline us, but His wrath is satisfied by Jesus on the cross.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”
Yes, but they won't be going through the 7 year tribulation.
That statement does not say "can't deceive" it says that for those who choose to ignore Christ's warning - it will deceive.
It says elect. That's every born again believer.
I do believe in it. post-trib.
And what would be the point of post-trib rapture? Go up to meet the Lord just to come down?
Luke 21:36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” We are ought to pray to escape the 7 year tribulation, so we can with Jesus.
Isaiah 26 also shows that God's people won't be here on Earth during His wrath in great tribulation. Verse 20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.
One of the biggest pre-trib rapture evidences can be found in Revelation 3 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
You have the rapture described in Rev 4 1 'After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Must take place after what? What did we have in chapters 2&3? The age of the Church. There is no Church between chapters 4 & 19. The book of revelation goes chronologically.
In 2 Tes 2 the Christians are worried the missed the rapture and are now going through the 7 year tribulation.
There are many primary things that you have to deal with if you're going to take a post-tribulation position. One is the sheep and goat judgment in Matthew chapter 25 .At the end of the tribulation period Matthew 25 you have a judgment occurring we know that it's at the end of the tribulation because Jesus discusses the tribulation period in chapter 24. Then Mt 25 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.' That's not the Rapture is it? That's got to be the second coming to set up the kingdom when He comes in His glory to sit on His throne.
The post-tribulation position says this; that at the end of the seven years there is a quick rapture and a quick return. You go through the tribulation then up and back. There's a big problem with that and it's this. If all the regenerate people go up and come back then how come
when Christ comes back the first thing He does, is separate the sheep from the goats. Who are the sheep? Sheep can't be Christians because there aren't any left they all got raptured, but if you move the rapture to the beginning of the seven years, then you have a seven-year period in which people will be saved that will constitute the Sheep at the end of the tribulation. So if you jam it all at the end, I see that as the major problem of a post-tribulation view. Where do you get the sheep for the sheep and goat judgment? Because if Christ takes all of us up and comes right back there aren't any sheep left.
God will pour His wrath on Earth during the last 3.5 years of Tribulation. Christians cannot be here as Jesus took the wrath for them.
Matthew 16:18 'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' Revelation 13:7 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints” – this is the beast – “and to overcome them.” Jesus said, “The gates of hell would not overcome the church.” That’s why I am convinced that this cannot be the church in view in the tribulation.
In Revelation 17, we have the false church. It’s called, “Mystery Babylon,” – in verse 5 – “the great, the mother of harlots, the prostitute.” If the true church is a bride, the false church is a prostitute. And he goes all through the description of this church, and the one that is running the church, verse 3, “carried me away in the spirit to the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast.”
Here is the false church under the control of the beast. Jesus said, “Not Satan, not the gates of hell would prevail against the church.” During the tribulation Satan and the beast prevail against the saints and against the false church. That’s why I believe you cannot have the true church in the tribulation, or it would be under the thumb of Satan and his ruler; because the antichrist during the tribulation will rule – how much? – the whole – what? – world. And I believe Christ would remove His church before He would make untrue His original statement that the gates of hell could not prevail against the church.
Matthew 24:30 'Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.' Why are all the tribes of the Earth mourning? Why is no one happy? If Christians are still here, why are they mourning and not happy to see the Lord?
I can go on and on. I didn't not intend this to be the pre-trib vs post-trib rapture debate, but Scripture clearly indicates the rapture will happen before the 7 year tribulation period, thus Christians really don't have to worry about the Mark of the Beast, they won't be here.