Thinking Out Loud About The Tribulation

I was raised in a Pentecostal Church; growing up, I often heard about the return of Jesus.  I remember, as a child, playing in the pew, and my ears perked up when the evangelist said that Jesus could come right through the ceiling of the church.  That was terrifying thought to a five year old; I hadn't lived yet!  
Pentecostal churches, for the most part, teach that Jesus will return before the seven year Great Tribulation.  That is what I was taught, so that was what I believed.  When I went to Bible ollege, I was taught that there were three main views about the return of Jesus.  Jesus could return before the Tribulation, in the middle of the Tribulation, or at the end of the Tribulation.  For a while, I believed that Jesus would return in the middle of the Tribulation.  But when I preached a series on the book of Daniel, I changed my mind...again.  

I wasn't even investigating the Tribulation, but when I began to search church history, I became convinced that Jesus will return after the Tribulation.  The idea of a Rapture was never mentioned in church history until the mid-1800's, when a man named John Darby came up with the idea.  He taught from a Dispensational framework.  Dispensationalism is the belief that God has given different dispensations of grace throughout history.  It is not my purpose to discuss Dispensationalism; I am simply giving the basic foundation for the belief in the Rapture.  

Let me give some basics.  The Bible never specifically mentions a Rapture.  The early Church Fathers did not mention a Rapture.  There seems to be little substantive evidence for the Rapture; most of it is circumstantial.  

Do I relish the idea of going through the Great Tribulation?  Of course not.  But Jesus told us that there would come a time of trouble unlike anything the world has ever seen.  He also said that he would preserve us through it all.  His presence is with us always, and we have nothing to fear.  

Thinking Out Loud Podcast The Tribulation