Will the Church Go Through “The Tribulation”?

Will the church go through the Great Tribulation? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

We'd love to hear from you. And here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-833. 843-2673. You can call us for the next 25 minutes or so.

So jump on your phone right now. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. And of course, you can always email us at questions at COREChristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to Dave calling in from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dave, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? I'm looking for the stresses that differentiate the old covenant and the new covenant, and I was also wondering in relation to that, if by any chance you have any recommendation to read more on this, any book or anything. Thank you.

Hey Dave, thank you for that question. Well, the Old Covenant, oftentimes when scripture speaks of the Old Covenant, it's referring to the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant that was made with the people of God through Moses. And typically the New Covenant in the New Testament is contrasted with the Mosaic.

We see this especially in the book of Galatians in places like Galatians chapter three. You have this distinction, if you will, between the law that was given and the promise of God that came through Abraham when God gave the promises to Abraham. Of course, we have the prophecy related to the New Covenant in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. So you have the law of God written on tablets of stone under the Old Covenant given through Moses. Now, under the New Covenant given through Jesus Christ, he instituted it when he gave the Lord's Supper, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

He, by the power of the Holy Spirit, writes his law on the hearts of his people. I will be their God, and they shall be my people, Jeremiah continued, and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Now it's not that the Old Covenant was defective, if you will.

It just had this built-in obsolescence. It wasn't going to continue forever because there was something greater, the reality of the New Covenant and Christ's redemptive work. The Old Covenant, the law, was given for a time, in particular, Paul says in Galatians chapter three, to lead us to Christ, sort of like this schoolmaster leading us to Jesus and the promise of the gospel. Now that we have the promise, the reality, Christ and the New Covenant, we no longer live under the Mosaic Covenant and the system of Old Testament law in the same sense that they did back then. Of course, God's moral law, you think of the Ten Commandments, is always binding for the people of God, but when we think about the various ceremonies and civil laws associated with the Mosaic Covenant, we're not under that. We're not under Moses.

We're under Jesus Christ. The beauty of what we read about there in Jeremiah chapter 31 is what's unpacked in the New Testament. Again, I mentioned Jesus instituting the Lord's Supper.

This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Every time we take the Lord's Supper as the people of God, we're participating in this covenant renewal, if you will, clinging to the promises that God gives us, the forgiveness of sins. You can read more about the New Covenant in places like the book of Hebrews, I think specifically of Hebrews chapter 8, again, emphasizing the fact that the fault was not with the covenant, per se.

The fault was with people. They broke the covenant. For he finds fault with them, the author of the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 8. Therefore, he says, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. That's the covenant that you and I get to be a part of.

In terms of other books that you can read related to covenant and even covenant theology, one of the books that I recommend oftentimes is a book called Sacred Bond, which is an introduction to covenant theology. I recommend you check that out, but in terms of scripture, you're going to want to read Jeremiah 31, Hebrews chapter 8, the entire book of Galatians, and I think that'll get you started as you think about this crucial distinction between the old and the new. Thank you, David, for your question.

Thanks, Dave, appreciate that. Love the book of Galatians for that very reason, so thank you for mentioning those scripture references, Adriel, really important, really key. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. There are some major themes in the Bible, and we actually have a great new free resource that addresses those themes.

We want to offer that to you today. Yeah, it's a free downloadable resource called Five Themes to Help You Understand the Bible. One of our goals here at Core Christianity is to give you a deeper understanding of the scriptures. We know that this is just crucial to the spiritual life, rightly dividing the word of truth, and so many of these free resources that we create are about equipping you to understand the Bible, and that's what this does. Five Themes to Help You Understand the Bible goes through some of these themes related to covenant.

I'm just talking about that with the previous caller. Gospel, the kingdom of God, themes that you see over and over again in the Bible. So get a hold of this resource and use it in your own personal study as you dig into the scriptures. Again, it's a free downloadable resource over at our website.

You can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers, again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Of course, you can always call us for that resource or any one of our resources. Here's our phone number. You can also call this number right now if you have a question for Adriel about the Bible or the Christian life doctrine theology. We're open to any of your questions at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 833-843-2673. Well, let's go to a voicemail that we received from one of our listeners earlier this week. Yeah, my name is Loretta, and you were talking, and it seems that you don't believe in the rapture.

And I wanted to know, so do you believe that Christians are going to live through the tribulation in seven years? I was a little confused as to your answer. Thank you very much. Loretta, thank you for your question. I think that this is an important one, and one that we often get into on the broadcast. Let me preface all of my comments by saying we're talking about eschatology. We're talking about the doctrine of the last things.

Here's what we need to get. Here's what's at the core of Christianity, if you will, when it comes to the doctrine of the last things. We all agree that Jesus is coming back to judge the world. There will be a physical, bodily return of Jesus to judge the world.

That's something the scriptures make absolutely clear, and that's something that we can all agree on. Now, there are differences pertaining to, is he going to rapture his church prior to the second coming, and then there's a rapture of the church, and then there's a period of tribulation, a seven-year period of tribulation. Some people think it's going to be three-and-a-half peaceful years, and then three-and-a-half really difficult years based on some passages in the Book of Revelation. Then after that time, Jesus is going to come with his church, who he'd already raptured out to redeem those saints who were converted during the time of the tribulation, and then to judge the world. That's one way that people look at things.

That's not my view. I think that a lot of times the passages that people point to to make a case for the rapture are actually just referring to the one second coming of Jesus, so that there aren't separate comings of Jesus, one for his church and then another one later to judge the world. No, there's just one second coming in the Bible. With that, I think that, yes, Christians are going to experience tribulation, great tribulation, even in this time.

I think a part of your question sort of assumes that that's going to be a literal seven years. I take the timeframe there in the Book of Revelation where you have the discussion of seven years or three-and-a-half years specifically to be symbolic in nature, so that we're not talking about a literal timeframe per se, but these numbers are highly symbolic. I think that's just a part of rightly interpreting and understanding the Book of Revelation. More specifically to your question and even to the language of great tribulation in the Bible, if we turn to Revelation chapter seven. John has a vision.

I just want to read some of his vision. He says in verse nine of chapter seven, after this I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen.

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, Amen. One of the elders addressed me saying, Who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come? And I said to him, Sir, you know, and he said to me, these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Now that language of great tribulation is something that we see in other places. We see it in Jesus's discourse in Matthew chapter 24 verse 21, a period of great trial, a period of great tribulation. It's drawing from there in Matthew 24 and also here in Revelation chapter 7, drawing from prophecies in Daniel, specifically Daniel chapter 12, that speaks of a time of great trial.

That's where the sort of Old Testament roots of this idea are. And if you read the book of Revelation, those Daniel prophecies had already begun to be fulfilled in the church and in what the church was experienced when John wrote the book of Revelation. So to say that this was, you know, some future reality, thousands of years after John wrote the book of Revelation for a period of seven years, it had nothing to do with his original audience, wouldn't make sense of the book of Revelation and what we see in the book of Revelation. John says at the beginning of Revelation in Revelation chapter 1 verse 9, I John your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. In other words, the kingdom, the church, the people of God in tribulation go hand in hand. John says, and that's what we see throughout the book of Revelation, even in the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3, these churches are experiencing tribulation.

Chapter 2 verse 9, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. Now there's a difference between the church experiencing tribulation and condemnation. We will in this world have tribulation, Jesus said, John chapter 16, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

So we don't need to be terrified. We do experience tribulation in this world. There are Christians today in different parts of the world that are being persecuted, put to death for their faith in Jesus Christ, and we need to be praying for them. This is the reality and has been the reality for 2,000 years.

This time of trial, this time of tribulation, and it's our job to hold fast to the gospel, to the truth of God's word, and so that's how I understand those passages in the book of Revelation. But again, there's room for disagreement on this, and I appreciate you calling and looking for clarification. I pray that the Lord blesses you, sister.

Great explanation. Thank you so much for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Tricia, who's calling in from Long Island, New York.

Tricia, what's your question for Adriel? Okay, we're attending a church that follows scripture in everything except that they don't baptize people. They feel that belief in Jesus's death on the cross is sufficient for salvation. The problem is that I feel that God wants obedience to his word, and the word tells us at least two times to be baptized. I feel from Genesis to Revelation, God has always desired obedience. The only other church anywhere near our geographical area that is scripturally sound, including baptism, is one that my husband had a falling out with with the pastor.

I am in a quandary. We are both baptized, but because I feel obedience is of prime importance, how does God feel about us being in a church that doesn't practice baptism? Tricia, thank you for that question, and there's a lot there. You are right that this is an important issue, and it's something that's commanded in scripture. The reason it's given to us by Jesus is not just this sort of empty command, but baptism is a sign and seal of gospel realities, and so it's a gift that God gives to us to not baptize or to not receive baptism is to deny this wonderful gospel gift that's meant to seal to our consciences the love and goodwill of God toward his people. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 28, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. In other words, this is something that you're going to be doing to the very end of the age. At no point do we stop baptizing, and so to not baptize is to minimize what Christ has commanded and to neglect a gift that God gives to his people. It's a serious thing.

Now I realize you're in a difficult position, sister. Trisha, I think that it's so unfortunate in situations like this where we're going to a church and boy, it seems like they get some things right, but other things, I just don't see them in scripture, and so there's nowhere else to go. Well here, we can distinguish between one, true and false churches. There are some churches that call themselves churches that are just not churches, where the gospel is not preached, where Christ is not honored, and then there are true churches that we might say are less pure.

That is, maybe they get some things right, but there are other things that they don't get right, and in this situation, it seems to me like the church that you're in does not get baptism right. They might preach Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. They might do a great job expositing scripture in other places, but for whatever reason, I don't fully understand what the rationale of the pastor of the church is here.

They neglect this very important thing. I would say get into a church that is as pure as you can find. That is a church that takes all of scripture seriously, and if you can't find anything nearby you, I think maybe for a season, okay, we can go here.

I would definitely say talk to the leadership there and try to tell them what they're doing is out there. I mean, obviously, graciously, but really wanting to get to the bottom of this, I think this is maybe an area where you can help and provide resources, but ultimately, you want to be in a place where the word of God and the worship of God is taken seriously, and baptism is a part of that, and I tell people, sister, I mean, I don't know if this is possible for you, but I tell people it's even worth moving somewhere. I mean, if there's no church where you live, where the word of God is being faithfully taught and where you can fellowship with other believers, there's nothing more important than being in a solid, good church, and so it might be something for you and for your husband to consider, well, maybe we need to go somewhere else, and might I recommend San Diego for you, by the way, because it's beautiful here and there are plenty of good churches, but all that to say, may the Lord give you wisdom.

This is a serious issue. I do think maybe for a time you can be there, but I would agree with you that not being willing to baptize is a significant issue in the church, and so God bless you, Tricia. So is there a particular church you might recommend, Pastor Adriel? Yeah. You could always come to the church that I pastor.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so look us up. Oh, that's great. I love that. Hey, Tricia, thank you so much for your call. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, we have this wonderful resource available to you today on the themes of the Bible. It's absolutely free, and you can find this by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

Again, it's called Five Themes to Help You Understand the Bible. Corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Let's go to Ed, who's calling in from Largo, Florida. Ed, is that in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area? Yes, it is. Thank you for taking my call. You bet.

What's your question for Adriel? I attend a very loving Jesus teaching church, non-denominational. We celebrate communion every Sunday, and I was wondering if it's biblical for the pastor to ask those who were not committed to Jesus as Savior to not participate in communion. Ed, I'm so grateful to hear that you're in a church that loves Jesus and is committed to the word of God.

With regard to your question, I would say that the answer is yes. This is sometimes referred to as fencing the table, the communion table, the bread and the wine of Holy Communion, not just for everyone, for God's covenant people, similar to baptism. This is a sign and seal of the promises of the gospel that we receive by faith. Anyone who doesn't have faith, who is not in communion with Jesus Christ and with his church, should not be baptized, should not receive the gifts of Holy Communion. Now, of course, we can get into the discussion of infant baptism, which I enjoy talking about, but the reality is it was either these covenant signs that are given to God's people and their children, but somebody who's outside of the covenant community, somebody who doesn't have faith, who rejects the gospel, well, they should not be admitted to the Lord's table.

First you have baptism, this is the sign of entrance into the visible church for us, for our children, and then you have Holy Communion. It's this picture of God's continued sustenance for the Christian life. You see, for example, Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 talking about the Lord's Supper and giving a warning to the church there, because you had people who were approaching the table without faith, in unrepentance, and he says, look, God is going to judge you if you do that.

This is a serious thing. It gets to the very heart of our worship and what right worship is, and so it's not unloving for your pastor to say, hey, if you're not a Christian, we're asking you to abstain from this. This is what you have to do, because coming without faith invites God's judgment, and you also want the people who are coming to the table to understand, to be able to rightly discern the Lord's body, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11. That's the language that he uses, examining yourself so that you may eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That's 1 Corinthians 11, verse 29, and so, Ed, I would see this as a good practice for your church to have, an important one, and hopefully the people that are visiting the church, going to the church, maybe who don't believe in Jesus, who have not yet been baptized, it's an opportunity for them to begin to ask questions and maybe to meet with the pastor, the elders, or even other members, including yourself, so that you guys can begin to have conversations about the sweetness of God's mercy and the gifts that he gives to us as his people, to remind us of and nourish us in the promises of his gospel, the forgiveness of our sins. God bless. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We do receive emails here, and if you have a question for us, you can always email us at questions at corechristianity.com. Again that's questions at corechristianity.com.

Here's one from Steve. He says, in the Bible, there are gospels from John, Matthew, Luke, and Mark. How did they write our Lord's words? Did they follow Jesus and write what he said, or is what they have written their interpretations of Jesus' words? The gospels are given on the basis of eyewitness accounts. I think of, for example, the beginning of Luke's gospel, Luke chapter one, as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me, also having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Many people will say, well, Mark's gospel was, Mark was probably not an eyewitness per se, but he was getting his testimony from Peter.

There's some evidence of this later in the Church Fathers. So what we do have in the gospels is, or are eyewitness accounts of the ministry of our Lord. There's a gentleman named Richard Baucom who's written a wonderful book on this, just thinking about the eyewitness testimony of the gospels and why we can believe that that's exactly what we have when we're looking at the gospels. And again, just thinking of Luke's words, why do we have this eyewitness orderly account so that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught? Let me say something to you, brothers and sisters. The Christian faith rests on the reality of what God has accomplished in history.

We can be certain of the fact that Jesus came, that he lived, that he died for our sins, and that he rose again from the dead, and that there were many eyewitnesses who saw him. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15, our faith is not a feeling, it's a fact, it's in a fact of what Christ has done. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar, or call us at 1-833-843-2673. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.