As I go all over the country and come in contact with thousands of people, I constantly meet this question: "Does the church of Christ go through the Tribulation?" or, "Is it to be raptured from the world before the Tribulation begins?" Often the question is asked if the church does not go to the middle of the Tribulation and then is raptured. At the office we receive hundreds of letters with inquiries concerning this most important question, which is a live issue today. Twenty-five years ago this question was hardly ever raised. It was taken for granted that the church is raptured before the Tribulation begins. Now the picture has largely changed. Earnest souls are seeking for the scriptural answer to this question. It is because of this uncertainty and the many inquiries that come to me that I am writing a series of articles on this question, even though I have touched upon it in former years.

In order that we may have a clear understanding, I shall, in this first installment of this series, state the premillennial position as clearly as I can in order that we may have before our minds the program that is set forth in the Scriptures. Having, so to speak, a blueprint of the events of the present era with its close and introduction of the new age, we can fit in the various passages of Scripture and see where they come into this prophetic program.

Frequently we hear the expression, "I am a premillennialist without a program." Such a statement is a contradiction, because premillennialism is essentially a program. Those making this claim evidently mean that they have reduced the details to a minimum and simply believe that Jesus will return before the thousand years of His reign mentioned in Revelation 20:1-6. Thought of in its simplest and briefest manner, premillennialism is indeed a program--it is impossible for anyone to think otherwise. I am a premillenarian with a program and am not ashamed of the fact. We should let the Bible speak where it speaks and should accept any and everything that God has said. Since truth never contradicts itself, we can be certain to find, as a rule, the place wherever any event that is described in the Scriptures fits into the general scheme of things--though there may be times when we cannot be exact and explicit in our location and identification of an event in relation to others. The Scriptures are sufficiently clear to enable us to get a definite program of future events.

The subject which I have outlined for this study falls into eight general sections, with which I shall deal only in a brief manner.

When Jesus arose from the dead, He said that all authority in heaven and in earth was given unto Him. The disciples, therefore, were to go forth and to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those thus accepting Christ were to be taught to observe all things whatsoever He has commanded. This teaching program is to be continued to the end of the age. (Matt. 28:19,20)

In speaking along the line of this program, our Lord in the parable of the sower laid down the basic facts concerning the present age. The Sower, who was in the first place the Son of God himself, went forth to sow seed. Some fell on the roadside and was devoured by the birds of the heavens. Other seed fell on the rocky ground and sprang up, but was scorched by the burning heat, because it had no depth of soil. In the third place, some seed fell among thorns, which choked out the plants, so that they brought forth no fruit to perfection. Finally, certain seed fell upon good ground, yielding some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold. The seed, in each instance, is the Word of God. There are, as we have seen, four types of soul upon which the seed falls. Only in the case of the good ground does the Word become effective. In the three first cases, it is unprofitable. The seed is to be sowed throughout the Christian Dispensation on all four kinds of soil, even though it is productive on only the one type of soil--the good ground.

The parable of the wheat and the tares shows that the tares sowed by the devil after God sows the good seed, will grow along with the wheat until the harvest, which is the end of the age. Thus the two grow together until the consummation of the dispensation.

The Apostle Paul, in Romans 1:5 declared: "... we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; ..." James, in his speech at the first church conference ever held (Acts, chapter 15), declared:

13 Brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written 16 After these things I will return, And I will build again the tabernacle of David,  which is fallen; And I will build again the ruins thereof,  And I will set it up: 17 That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called. (Acts 15:13-17).

Simon Peter had spoken before James made his speech. This is found in Acts 15:7-11. Following Peter, Paul and Barnabas gave a report of their missionary activities (vss. 12,13). James made the final speech before the decision was reached concerning the matter which was under consideration. He declared that God, according to Peter's speech, first visits the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. The American Standard Version uses the verb "visited," which is in the aorist tense in the original, and which has no time element whatsoever. Sometimes this form of the verb refers to the past, sometimes to the present, and in other cases, to the future. The facts of the context are to determine how it is to be translated in a given case. The facts of this context show that Peter was talking about what the Lord is doing at the present time by the preaching of the gospel; namely, He is visiting the Gentiles throughout the Christian Dispensation to take out of them a people for His name. Let us think of the gospel message as a magnet that is passed over some area where there are sawdust and steel filings. As the magnet is passed over the place, its pull will draw the filings to itself, but will have no influence upon the sawdust. Thus it is with the gospel. When it is passed over any area, only the honest-hearted seekers will respond. That is what God is now doing. He is not attempting to convert the world. He is now calling out from among all nations a people whom He will use in the future to demonstrate what His abounding grace can accomplish.

James declared that this program of calling out a people from among the Gentiles for God's name is in perfect accord with the Scriptures of the prophets. This shows the harmonization between the messages of the prophets and the program that Peter outlined. James quoted from Amos 9:11,12, saying, "After these things I will return, And I will build again the tabernacle of David ..." Upon an examination of the context of Amos 9:11,12 a person sees that in Amos 9:10 the prophet spoke of God's destroying all the sinners out of Israel, which event we learn from other passages will occur at the end of the Tribulation, immediately preceding the coming of the Lord and the establishment of the reign of Christ upon the earth. Thus the purging of all sinners out of Israel is after the Christian Dispensation, which culminates with the Tribulation. At the conclusion of the Tribulation, Christ comes visibly and rebuilds the tabernacle of David that is fallen down. The Lord will do this in order that the residue of men may seek after Him.

From the Amos passage and the one in Acts chapter 15, we see the "blueprint of the Christian Dispensation culminating in the Tribulation, the coming of Christ, and the establishment of His reign of righteousness upon the earth. This outline shows Christ's coming as being before His reign of a thousand years upon the earth. Hence these passages teach the premillennial reign of the Lord.

As we have seen above, the wheat and the tares grow together until the end of the age, until the harvest. This fact shows that there is not a converted world prior to Christ's coming at the harvest. That the Christian Era will end in apostasy from God is seen in the following scripture:

1 But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come, 2 For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, 4 Traitors, head-strong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 Holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away. (II Tim. 3:1-5)

This is also confirmed by the following statement:
1 I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; 4 And will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables. (II Tim. 4:1-4)

As suggested above, the Age of Grace ends in apostasy and the prevalence of wickedness throughout the world, on account of which conditions the judgments of God will fall upon the earth for a period of seven years--as we learn from Daniel, chapter 9, and other passages. A graphic picture of the Tribulation is set forth in Isaiah 24:1-20. Another very vivid picture of this same period of judgment is seen in Matthew 24:9-28. In this last passage the first half of the seven-year period is covered in verses 9-14. The second half is covered in verses 15-28. From various scriptures we learn that God has different objectives in sending the Tribulation judgments upon the world: