One question on the mind of believers today is that if these are the last days, will we experience and live through the tribulation? Another is the question the disciples asked Yeshua: “What would be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” These are good questions and important questions for our generation.

Listen Now:

Download Transcript

Show Notes:

The disciples asked the Lord, “What would be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” They did not ask the question specifically about the tribulation—they may not have even known about the tribulation—but as He teaches them, Yeshua explains the reality of the event of tribulation.

Here we get the first hint from the Lord about whether we experience the tribulation. The answer is yes. Yeshua told his followers they would be delivered into tribulation, and they would be killed and hated for His name. So, they must endure to the end.

Will we be pulled out of the tribulation by a rapture? The answer seems to be no. The gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then will the end come—the saints are here in the earth preaching the gospel of the kingdom right up until the end.

We cannot know the day or the hour of the second coming of Christ because God is waiting for His crop to come forth—it is when He sees the maturity of His sons in the earth that will trigger the end time events and His return.

So, before we’re caught up to meet the Lord at His coming, we will see sons that He’s planted on the earth grow and mature. We will see the building up of the Body of Christ into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We will see the unity of faith in the Body of Christ.

Key Verses:

• Matthew 24:1-13. “What will be the sign of Your coming?”
• Matthew 24:21. “Then there will be a great tribulation.”
• Revelation 7:9-17. “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation.”
• Mark 13:24. “But in those days, after that tribulation.”
• Mark 13:26-29. “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds.”
• Matthew 13:24-30. “Gather the wheat into my barn.”
• Revelation 14:14-16. “For the hour to reap has come.”
• Matthew 13:36-38. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”
• Ephesians 4:11-13. “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets.”
• Romans 8:14-21. “All who are being led by the Spirit of God…are sons of God.”
• Matthew 24:30-31. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky.”
• 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven.”

Quotes:

• “Will we experience the tribulation? The answer according to Christ is yes”
• “We see in Revelation that there are many martyrs that come out of the great tribulation. That means they had to have been in the great tribulation up to the point that they were martyred. It’s very clear that in the great tribulation there are those who will be martyred. That means they will be here in the earth at the time of that great tribulation.”
• “What triggers the time of harvest? It’s not a day on the calendar. It’s when the farmer goes into the field, and he sees that the crop is now ripe. It’s completed. It’s finished growing and maturing. That is what brings about the time of the harvest.”
• “So, before the coming of the Lord, there are events which according to the Scriptures must take place. Many writers look at the events of the tribulation. They look at the apostasy. They look at the son of destruction exalting himself against God. Although these end time events are true, they are not what God’s people should be focused upon. I believe we are to be watching the ripening of the seeds that Christ has planted in the earth.”

Takeaways:

1. Will the Body of Christ experience the tribulation? The Lord clearly teaches that we will.
2. Are there signs His coming is near? Yes. The final maturing of His wheat—the Sons of God—is a sign that His coming is near.
3. Will the saints be caught up to be with the Lord at His coming? The Scripture is clear that we are caught up to meet Christ in the air.
4. Where is Christ’s Kingdom? When He descends to earth, we will return here with Him to rule and reign, to be part of His great Kingdom on this earth.