1. “Be watchful at every time, beseeching that you would prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
Luke 21:36 is a promise from the Lord to those who are in need of being raptured to escape the tribulations that will come upon the earth. In verses 25 and 26, the Lord spoke of the terrible tribulations coming upon the earth, and in verses 34 and 35, He spoke of the difficulty in escaping them. Despite these warnings, He promised that it would be possible to escape these tribulations. However, this promise is related to the requirement that the believers would be watchful at every time and would constantly beseech. To be watchful at every time is to be careful and alert so that one’s heart is not dragged down by debauchery, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life (v. 34). To beseech constantly is to approach the Lord and ask Him for an escape from the coming tribulations. If we do these things, the Lord will consider us worthy to escape the tribulations that are coming upon the earth, and we will stand before the Son of Man, which means we will be raptured to His presence. Not every believer will obtain this promise of rapture, because not every believer will fulfill the Lord’s requirements to be watchful at all times and to beseech constantly.
Although the Lord’s promise is available to every believer, the requirement for obtaining this promise is not related to being saved but to being watchful and beseeching constantly. It is not enough to be saved; we must be watchful at all times and beseech constantly in order to obtain the Lord’s promise. To be watchful at all times, beseeching constantly, is to live an overcoming life before the Lord. Therefore, overcoming is the requirement related to this promise. Only those who keep themselves from the desire to enjoy worldly riches and entertainment and who are not entangled by the anxieties of this life will stand before the Lord as watchful overcomers. Such ones will be considered worthy to escape the tribulations that are coming upon the earth, and they will be raptured to the Lord’s presence before the coming of these tribulations. They will be raptured and will escape the earth that will be struck with tribulations. They will stand before the Lord and enjoy the blessing of His presence. This promise shows that the view that all believers will be raptured before the great tribulation and the view that all believers will be raptured after the great tribulation are both inaccurate for the following three reasons.
First, the Lord does not promise that all believers will be counted worthy to escape the coming tribulation and will be raptured to stand before His face. His promise is to those who are watching constantly and praying always. In other words, the Lord’s promise is not related to salvation but to overcoming. Those who are merely saved cannot be counted worthy of this blessing; only those who are saved and who overcome are worthy. This should be a warning to us. This also proves that all the believers will not be raptured at the same time. There must be a difference between the watching and beseeching believers who are raptured to escape these tribulations and those who are raptured later.
Second, not all believers live an overcoming life before the Lord by watching constantly and praying always. Therefore, not all will be counted worthy to escape the coming tribulation to stand before the Lord. Since all are not worthy of being raptured to the Lord’s presence before the great tribulation, the view that all believers will be raptured in one group before the great tribulation is inaccurate.
Third, the overcoming believers who are watching constantly and praying always as they live before the Lord will be counted worthy of escaping the coming tribulation and of being raptured to the Lord’s presence; that is, they will be raptured to the Lord’s presence before the great tribulation. Since only these will be worthy of being raptured to the Lord’s presence before the great tribulation, the view that all believers will be raptured in one group before the great tribulation is inaccurate.
2. “Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 3:10).
The Lord promises to keep believers who have kept the word of His endurance out of the hour of trial which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth. To keep the word of the Lord’s endurance is to keep the Lord’s word on the earth that rejects Him; it involves suffering distress and persecution from the world. To escape the hour of trial that is about to come on the whole inhabited earth is to escape the coming great tribulation. The great tribulation will try those who dwell on the earth; they will pass through this time of great tribulation and be tested tremendously. If believers live on the earth in the same way as worldly people, they will pass through this time of great tribulation with them and be tested by it. However, if believers reject this world and keep the Lord’s word on the earth, suffering the distress and persecution of the world, they will be kept by the Lord from this hour of trial and escape the tribulation. They will escape not only the trial of the great tribulation but also the hour of this trial. Therefore, they will be raptured from the earth before the great tribulation.
If we keep the Lord’s word on the earth that rejects Him and endure sufferings and persecution, the Lord will keep us from the hour of trial that is to come. He will rapture us before the great tribulation to keep us from passing through this hour of trial. This promise shows that the view that all believers will be raptured before the great tribulation and the view that all believers will be raptured after the great tribulation are both inaccurate for the following two reasons.
First, since not every believer will keep the word of the Lord’s endurance, not every believer will be raptured before the great tribulation to escape its hour of trial. This clearly proves that the view that all believers will be raptured at one time before the great tribulation is inaccurate. Those who hold this inaccurate view, nevertheless, regard the Lord’s promise in Revelation 3:10 as a strong proof of their position because they focus only on the words keep you out of the hour of trial, while ignoring the fact that the conditions of the promise do not apply to all believers. The Lord’s promise here is not a proof but rather a condemnation of their teaching.
Second, according to the Lord’s promise, the overcoming believers who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great tribulation to escape its hour of trial. This clearly proves that the view that all believers will be raptured at one time after the great tribulation is inaccurate. Those who say that all believers will be raptured at one time after the great tribulation say that everyone must pass through the tribulation. Thus, they have difficulty explaining the Lord’s promise here. They say that even though all believers must pass through the great tribulation before being raptured, those who keep the word of the Lord’s endurance will be preserved during the great tribulation and kept from suffering its tribulations, just as the Israelites in Goshen did not suffer from the plagues God sent upon Egypt (Exo. 8:21-24; 9:3-7, 22-26). However, the Lord’s promise to the believers who keep the word of His endurance is that they will be kept not only from the trials of the great tribulation but also from the hour of trial. It does not say that they will pass through the hour of trial but be kept from its sufferings; it says that they will be kept completely from the hour of trial. They will not pass through this hour. This proves that some believers will be raptured before the tribulation and will not pass through the tribulation before they are raptured. This truth is contrary to the teaching that all believers will pass through the tribulation and be raptured together at one time after the tribulation.
I once met a preacher who was very strong in teaching that all believers must pass through the great tribulation before being raptured at one time after the tribulation. I asked him about Revelation 3:10, and he confessed that this verse was quite difficult for him to explain because it speaks of escaping the hour of trial. Since some will escape this hour, they surely cannot pass through it. The teaching that all believers will pass through the great tribulation and be raptured together at one time after the tribulation is inaccurate.
In the preceding two portions in Luke 21 and Revelation 3, the Lord clearly promises that if we watch constantly, pray always, and keep the word of His endurance, we will be raptured to His presence before the great tribulation and be kept from the trial that comes upon the earth.