In my little treatise "Antichrist first" which is on this page I give the reasons why I believe the appearance on earth of Antichrist must precede the coming again of our Lord, I reject the dispensationalist view that the tribulation period referred to by Jesus has application to the period of wrath poured out upon a wicked and unrepentant world.

The word tribulation wherever it is met with in scripture always means persecution, therefore the church would have to still be in the world for who else will there be to persecute "for My name's sake." The Revelator also refers to a vast multitude of every nation and every tribe and tongue who he is told have come out of the great tribulation in chapter 7 of revelations, these therefore cannot be Jews as the dispensationalists affirm.

So what was Jesu's description of that time of frightfulness which is to come upon the christian church?

In Matthews gospel chapter 24 Jesus says in verse 6-8 "....you will hear of wars and rumours of wars, see that you are not alarmed, for this must take place but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be earthquakes and famines in various places, all this is but the beginning of sufferings...." These things never were end-time signs, God is not silent about the woes that have come upon a world which has rejected Him and is in rebellion to Him, the bible talks clearly about death and sorrow and suffering, God does not hide behind pious platitudes like the local vicar does He has always fully warned mankind and told the truth. Jesus is merely describing world history and people may fume about it all they like, but this is the world's condition whether they like it or not. Do you think war is awful? or famine? and earthquakes? these things Jesus said are only the beginning, there is much worse to come.

When I hear atheists rant and rave against God because of the suffering they see in the world, which of course they blame Him for, I am reminded of the mother talking to her small crying child she says "if you don't stop, I'll give you such a smack, then you'll have something to cry about."

Such people never spend a second of their day in thanksgiving for the multitude of blessings in their lives.

Jesus goes on to tell about the struggle that is to come upon the church, in verse 9-14 "then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake, and then many will fall away and betray one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold. But he that endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

However awful the persecution of the Jews was by the Nazi regime, and it was awful, the coming persecution fortold here by Jesus, that is about to come upon the church with the advent on the world scene of Antichrist who is the prince of all those voices raised in spite and malice toward God and toward people who believe in Him, this persecution will be many, many times more horrific. And I am saying it is soon, christians should be looking for and preparing for this rather than the rapture which follows.