...Why are the "Elders" in Rev.5:8-10 able to say they are "Redeemed by the blood."?...
Some say the 24 elders have to be the church because at one time they sing a song which says "thou hast redeemed US" (Revelation 5:9). But note that at that time the 24 elders are holding "golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints" (Revelation 5:8); I believe they are angelic rulers who, with the 4 beasts, offer up with song the prayers of the saints before God (Revelation 5:8-9). Compare Revelation 8:4: "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."
Do some believe that the 4 beasts must also be the church because they also offer up the song of the redeemed to God? (Revelation 5:8-9)
...theres 24, and not only that they are from "every tribe and tongue and people and nation."...
What verse says the 24 elders are from every tribe and tongue and people and nation?
...there will be "Tribulation saints"...
Is there a verse which refers to "Tribulation saints," and says they aren't part of the church? Doesn't the church include every believer? "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith" (Ephesians 4:4-5), which body is the church: "the church, which is his body" (Ephesians 1:22-23).
...they will be saved DURING the Tribulation...
While the Bible shows Christians in the tribulation (Revelation 6:11, 7:14, 9:4, 12:17, 13:7-10, 14:12-13, 15:2, 16:15, 18:4, 20:4), note that it doesn't expressly show anyone repenting during the tribulation. In fact, it repeatedly says the unbelievers "repented not" (Revelation 9:20-21, 16:9-11), and Paul says that at some point in the tribulation "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). It's possible the Christians we see in the tribulation were saved before the tribulation began, for nowhere does Jesus promise us a rapture before the tribulation.
Lest any unbelievers get complacent and think "Oh, when I see all that Antichrist stuff then I'll repent and believe," I think we should warn them: "Then it may be too late; God is going to send a strong delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:11) on all those who rejected the gospel. Today is the day of salvation. You may not get another chance to believe."
...The Bride, will be in Heaven...
Some believe the tribulation may be for some Christians, but not for the bride of Christ. But there are no Christians outside of the bride, for all believers form a single body (Ephesians 4:4-6), which is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:30-32). We Christians who will be in the tribulation are Christians after the cross and after Pentecost, saved in no different way than Christians who have died or will die before the tribulation. Many of us will be slain for the word of God and cry out to the Lord (Revelation 6:9-10); we will have washed our robes in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14); we will have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17) and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12) and will be in the Lord (Revelation 14:13); if we die, we will enter into heaven itself (Revelation 15:2); some of us will be beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and we will all live and reign with Christ (Revelation 20:4).
...What then could hold back...
It's true that only God can hold back evil, but he can do this through his angels (for examples, Revelation 20:1-3, 12:7-9). God himself cannot be "taken out of the way" (2 Thessalonians 2:7) like angels and nations can be, for he is omnipresent.
The restrainer could be the archangel Michael, but it may not be. In Daniel 12:1 "stand up" (amad) may not mean "stand down" because amad is used consistently in Daniel (8:22, 23, 25; 11:2, 3, 4, 7, 14, 20, 21) to refer to the rising up of a power. Daniel 12:1 probably refers to the 2nd coming; Michael may be the archangel referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
The restrainer may be another angel, AND a political power that keeps the Antichrist from taking over the Middle East and Europe: in Paul's day it would have been the Roman Empire; today it would be the US. The US has to be removed as a superpower in the world before the Antichrist can take over the Middle East and Europe.
...The Rapture is NOT the second coming, He does NOT set a foot on the ground. Thats why we meet Him "in the air" Thes. 4:16...
I believe we will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air on his way down to set his feet on the earth.
Because 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 shows Jesus "coming," but doesn't show him landing on the earth, some believe it refers to a U-turn coming of Jesus whereby he comes only as far as the clouds and then returns to heaven. But Matthew 24:29-31 doesn't show Jesus landing on the earth either. Do some then believe that Matthew 24:29-31 is also not the 2nd coming?
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 doesn't show Jesus returning to heaven. Acts 1:11 says Jesus will "come" just as he left: he won't come only as far as the clouds and then return to heaven again, just as he didn't leave only as far as the clouds and then return to earth again. He went from the Mount of Olives to the clouds to heaven, he will come from heaven to the clouds to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). There's no 3rd coming of Jesus.
...an admonition To be watchful...
Note that in the Bible, "watching" doesn't mean staring up in the sky waiting for something to happen at any moment; it means to stay awake (Matthew 26:38-41).
"And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation" (Matthew 26:40-41). Here Jesus wasn't saying "Watch with me for the imminent rapture for one hour" or "Watch for the imminent rapture that ye enter not into temptation," but "Stay awake with me for one hour," and "Stay awake and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."
Christ will come like a thief for us only IF we fall asleep spiritually (Revelation 3:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6).
Jesus made clear we must stay spiritually awake for his coming (Matthew 24:42-48, 25:13; Mark 13:35-36), and that his coming to gather us would not be until immediately after the tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31, Mark 13:24-27). There's no 3rd coming of Christ.
...we are in the Philadelphian period...
Note that in the 7 letters which begin Revelation, Jesus doesn't refer to 7 future "church periods," but only to 7 present churches "which are in Asia" (Revelation 1:11). I believe the 7 letters to them are "the things which are" in the passage which says: "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Revelation 1:19). It's not until after the letters that Jesus says: "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (Revelation 4:1).
...WILL SEE YA IN HEAVEN...
Note that no verse says the rapture takes us any higher than the clouds.