Who are the Tribulation Saints?

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John: Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of

 of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand. - Revelation 1:1, 3 KJV

Church Members Left Behind?

In Jesus’ letter to the seven churches He explains that there are those in churches who are worthy to escape and those who are not! Those who are worthy are described as overcomers.

How can it be that there are individuals in a church that will not be raptured? It is my belief that there are many, many people that call themselves Christians but who have NOT made Jesus Christ the Lord of their life. I know because I was one of them. I had been raised in church and even loved the Lord Jesus. But here’s the crux of the matter—it wasn’t until I was 23 years old that I confessed with my mouth that I wanted to live my life for Jesus Christ.

Do you see the difference?

You are not to be the lord and master over your own life—you must make Jesus the Lord over your life so that the Holy Spirit may enter and seal you!

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. - Romans 10:9-10 KJV

You may be part of a church/ekklesia/assembly but not necessarily bound for Heaven! Those who wait to confess Jesus as their Lord after the Rapture will be the saints who will endure the Tribulation as recorded in the Book of Revelation:

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. - Revelation 13:7 KJV

Who are the Overcomers?

So who are these overcomers? They are individuals who have confessed from their heart Romans 10:9 and have incorruptible seed within them:

For whatsoever is born [gennaō]  of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith. - 1 John 5:4 KJV

Being born again [anagennaō], not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. - 1 Peter 1:23 KJV

Who is Worthy?

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. - Luke 21:36 KJV

In a recent video by RAPTURE WATCHERS it is explained how true believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. - Ephesians 4:30 KJV

The incorruptible seed of 1 Peter 1:23 is the Spirit of God within the believer—it is Christ in you the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

It is because of the gift of the Holy Spirit within us that we are worthy to escape. Only the Holy Spirit makes us overcomers!

Seven times Christ warns the seven churches. But He also makes seven promises to those who overcome:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh…

~ will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. - Revelation 2:7 KJV

~ shall not be hurt of the second death. - Revelation 2:11 KJV

~ will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it]. - Revelation 2:17 KJV

~ and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: - Revelation 2:26 KJV

~ the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. - Revelation 3:5 KJV

~ will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name. - Revelation 3:12 KJV

~ will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. - Revelation 3:21 KJV

Redemption Day=Escape!

Either Jesus is lying in Luke 21:36 or there is an escape from what is referred to as the Tribulation.

There are strong scriptural inferences that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation begins. A couple of those are found in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse as recorded in Luke 21. Jesus stated that when the end time signs “begin to take place,” we are to look up, for our redemption will be drawing near (Luke 21:28). Note that the redemption will come not at the end of the signs, but as they begin to take place. Jesus then added that believers should pray earnestly that they might “escape” the great tribulation that is coming upon “all those who dwell on the face of the earth” (Luke 21:36).christinprophecy.org

Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. - Isaiah 26:19 KJV

This, of course, speaks of resurrection. Notice the phrase “together with my dead body shall they arise”—this reminded me of how Christ as the Head of the Body has already arisen but one day the “dead in Christ” (His Body) will arise! Remember Lot's Wife

The day of our redemption is our escape day via the harpazo.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up [harpazō] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. - 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 KJV

Those who wait to confess Jesus as their Lord after the Rapture will have missed the greatest escape of all times, but Jesus in the Book of Revelation promises that “he that overcometh” does escape! 

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. - Revelation 3:10 KJV

The words "keep" and "from" are translated from the Greek words tēreō ek. According to The Master's Seminary Journal, page 222 of the PDF:

Thayer says that when this verb [tēreō] is used with en it means “to cause one to persevere or stand firm in a thing”; while when it is used with ek it means “by guarding to cause one to escape in safety out of.” Since ek is used here it would indicate that John is promising a removal from the sphere of testing, not a preservation through it. This is further substantiated by the use of the words “the hour.” God is not only guarding from the trials but from the very hour itself when these trials will come on those earth dwellers. (To understand verses that promise an escape read Saved From Wrath.)

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. - 1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJV

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. - 1 Thessalonians 5:4 KJV

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,  

Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. - 1 Thessalonians 5:9,11 KJV

Caveat: I do not necessarily agree with all the beliefs of anyone whose material I reference. I seek to be led of the Spirit of God as to the sources I use, however, even Spirit-filled Christians only 'see in part' as it says in 1 Corinthians 13:12.