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fulfilment in the future in a tribulation far surpassing anything that has ever been experienced,
Matt. 24:21; Mark 13:19. Paul also speaks of the great apostasy in II Thess. 2:3; I Tim. 4:1; II
Tim. 3:1-5. He already saw something of that spirit of apostasy in his own day, but clearly wants
to impress upon his readers that it will assume much greater propcrtions in the last days. Here
again present day dispensationalists differ from us. They do not regard the great tribulation as a
precursor of the coming of the Lord (the parousia), but believe that it will follow “the coming,”
and that therefore the Church will not pass through the great tribulation. The assumption is
that the Church will be “caught up,” to be with the Lord, before the tribulation with all its
terrors overtakes the inhabitants of the earth. They prefer to speak of the great tribulation as
“the day of Jacob’s trouble,” since it will be a day of great trouble for Israel rather than for the
Church. But the grounds which they adduce for this view are not very convincing. Some of them
derive whatever force they have from their own preconceived notion of a twofold second
coming of Christ, and therefore have no meaning whatsoever for those who are convinced that
there is no evidence for such a twofold coming in Scripture. Jesus certainly mentions the great
tribulation as one of the signs of His coming and of the end of the world, Matt. 24:3. It is of that
coming (parousia) that He is speaking throughout this chapter, as may be seen from the
repeated use of the word parousia, verses 3,37,39. It is only reasonable to assume that He is
speaking of the same coming in verse 30, a coming which according to verse 29 will follow
immediately after the tribulation. This tribulation will affect also the elect: they will be in
danger of being led astray, Matt. 24:24; for their sakes the days of agony will be shortened,
verse 22; they will be gathered out of all quarters of the world at the coming of the Son of Man;
and they are encouraged to look up when they see these things come to pass, since their
redemption draweth nigh, Luke 21:28. There is no warrant for limiting the elect to the elect of
Israel, as the Premillenarians do. Paul clearly represents the great falling away as preceding the
second coming, II Thess. 2:3, and reminds Timothy of the fact that grievous times will come in
the last days, I Tim. 4:1,2; II Tim. 3:1-5. In Rev. 7:13,14 saints in heaven are said to have come
out of the great tribulation, and in Rev. 6:9 we find such saints praying for their brethren who
were still suffering persecution.[For further defense of the position that the Church will pass
through the tribulation, we refer to the works of two Premillenarians, namely. Frost, The
Second Coming of Christ, pp. 202-227; Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ, pp. 199-224.]
4. THE COMING REVELATION OF ANTICHRIST.
The term antichristos is found only in the
Epistles of John, namely, in I John 2:18,22; 4:3; II John 7. As far as the form of the word is
concerned, it may describe (a) one who takes the place of Christ; then “anti” is taken in the
sense of “instead of”; or (b) one who, while assuming the guise of Christ, opposes Him; then
“anti” is used in the sense of “against.” The latter is more in harmony with the context in which
the word occurs. From the fact that John uses the singular in 2:18 without the article, it is
evident that the term “antichrist” was already regarded as a technical name. It is uncertain,