The Preaching of the Cross

The Church and the Tribulation III: Two Separate Events

If you’ve ever heard someone speak with total confidence about the Great Tribulation but struggle to find the same certainty in the actual text of the Bible, this teaching is for you. We open by calling out a common problem in Christian life: repeating catchphrases like “God said it” while never doing the hard, careful work of showing what God said and where He said it. Doctrine gets fragile when it’s built on personalities, not passages, and end times teaching is one of the fastest places for that to happen.  From there, we start a series on the tribulation in relation to the Church, beginning with the “first necessity” for clear biblical prophecy: understanding the differences between Israel and the Church of God. We walk through contrasts in origin, makeup, worship, and destiny. Israel is presented as God’s earthly people with national promises and an earthly future, while the Church is formed after Christ’s resurrection at Pentecost and is a spiritual body drawn from every nation. That distinction shapes how we read covenant language, judgment passages, and the purpose of the Great Tribulation.  Next, we compare two separate events that are often blended together: Christ’s coming for His saints, called the blessed hope, and His public appearing with His saints. We lay out differences like secret versus visible, meeting in the air versus coming to earth, comfort versus wrath, and the order of who is removed. We also address the parousia argument and finish with Scripture support from Deuteronomy 4 and Romans 11 to show why the tribulation is tied to Israel and the world, not the New Testament Church.  If you care about the pre-tribulation rapture, the second coming of Christ, and reading the Bible in context without forcing passages to fit a system, listen through to the end, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Church Website — BibleBaptistDeLand.com [https://biblebaptistdeland.com] Ministry Website — JamesWKnox.org [https://jameswknox.org]  YouTube Channel — YouTube.com/JamesWKnoxSermons [https://www.youtube.com/jameswknoxsermons] Sermon Audio — SermonAudio.com/BibleBaptistDeLand [https://www.sermonaudio.com/biblebaptistdeland] Web Store — Store.JamesWKnox.org [https://store.jameswknox.org]

The Church and the Tribulation II: Delivered from the Wrath to Come

The Great Tribulation isn’t just a scary phrase from Revelation. It’s a Bible-defined period tied to the wrath of God, and what you believe about it shapes how you read the rapture, the Second Coming, and the hope Christ gives His church. I’m Brother James, and we’re concluding our series by walking straight through Scripture to explain why we believe the church will be taken out before that wrath breaks loose.  We start with the promise that Jesus “shall deliver us from the wrath to come” and that God “hath not appointed us to wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1 and 5). From there, we connect the Old Testament descriptions of divine judgment with the Book of Revelation’s repeated language about wrath, including the “wrath of the Lamb.” We also open Romans 5 to show how salvation has a past, present, and future fullness, including being saved from coming wrath through Christ.  Then we zoom in on Revelation 7, the 144,000 sealed from Israel, and the great multitude from the nations, and we explain why we see these as tribulation believers who are distinct from the church. We also lay out why there must be an interval between the rapture and Christ’s appearing, and we answer common objections from Matthew 24 and Luke 17 by keeping Israel and the church in their proper places in the text. We end where every prophecy study should end: the blessed hope that comforts the heart and calls us to holy living, and the simple gospel invitation to be saved by grace through Jesus Christ.  If this helped you think clearly about end-times prophecy, share it with a friend, subscribe for more Bible preaching, and leave a review so others can find the broadcast. What passage most shapes your view of the rapture and the tribulation? Church Website — BibleBaptistDeLand.com [https://biblebaptistdeland.com] Ministry Website — JamesWKnox.org [https://jameswknox.org]  YouTube Channel — YouTube.com/JamesWKnoxSermons [https://www.youtube.com/jameswknoxsermons] Sermon Audio — SermonAudio.com/BibleBaptistDeLand [https://www.sermonaudio.com/biblebaptistdeland] Web Store — Store.JamesWKnox.org [https://store.jameswknox.org]

The Church and the Tribulation I: Rapture Before Wrath

The fastest way to get distracted in Bible prophecy is to stare at “signs” until you stop looking up. Brother James continues part three of a four-part study on the Great Tribulation and the church, making a focused, verse-by-verse argument that the New Testament church is not appointed to the seven-year outpouring of wrath often called Jacob’s trouble, and that the rapture comes before that period begins. We walk through 1 Corinthians 15 and the meaning of “the end,” tying it to Daniel 12 and Matthew 24 to show why the rapture of “they that are Christ’s” precedes the Tribulation. Then we turn to Romans 11 to explain the fullness of the Gentiles, how it differs from the times of the Gentiles, and why Israel’s national storyline returns to the forefront only after God’s present work through the church reaches completion. From there, we trace the flow of Revelation: the church addressed in chapters 2–3, the redeemed pictured in heaven in chapters 4–5, and the striking absence of the church through Revelation 6–19 as the seals and judgments fall. Along the way we talk about why Christ’s coming for Israel and His coming for the church serve different purposes, why the rapture has no sign countdown, and why 2 Thessalonians 2 is used to argue the Antichrist cannot be revealed until the restraining presence is removed. We close with the plain force of Revelation 3:10 and a practical reminder to write in so we know you’re listening. Subscribe, share this broadcast with a friend who’s anxious about end times, and leave a review. What Scripture shapes your view of the rapture timeline most? Church Website — BibleBaptistDeLand.com [https://biblebaptistdeland.com] Ministry Website — JamesWKnox.org [https://jameswknox.org]  YouTube Channel — YouTube.com/JamesWKnoxSermons [https://www.youtube.com/jameswknoxsermons] Sermon Audio — SermonAudio.com/BibleBaptistDeLand [https://www.sermonaudio.com/biblebaptistdeland] Web Store — Store.JamesWKnox.org [https://store.jameswknox.org]

Heroes of the Faith: The Scottish Covenanters

If you’ve ever wondered what “salvation is of the Lord” looks like when it’s tested by real power, real fear, and real death, this message goes straight there. We start with the heart of the gospel: people sin and try to cover it, but God moves toward us in love, sending His Son to suffer and die so we can be forgiven, cleansed, justified, and made new. That’s not a small idea, it’s the kind of truth that has carried believers through flames, prisons, and public executions. From there, we step into Scottish church history and the rugged world of the Scottish Covenanters. You’ll hear why their covenants formed, how the Protestant Reformation reshaped Scotland, and why the real flashpoint wasn’t just politics or denominations but the dangerous union of church and state. We walk through key moments and names: Mary Queen of Scots, James I, Charles I and Charles II, the National Covenant of 1638, the Solemn League and Covenant, and the persecution that made open-air preaching a capital offense. The stories are painful and unforgettable: James Guthrie’s final words to his young son, believers tortured for refusing to yield Christ’s headship, and martyrs like Richard Cameron, Donald Cargill, John Brown, and Margaret Wilson. We don’t sanitize the moral complexity of the era, but we do honor the backbone, conscience, and conviction that refused to deny the Lord. Listen, then answer for yourself: what are you standing for today, and what would it take to make you compromise? Subscribe for more, share this with someone who loves church history, and leave a review so more people can find the broadcast. Church Website — BibleBaptistDeLand.com [https://biblebaptistdeland.com] Ministry Website — JamesWKnox.org [https://jameswknox.org]  YouTube Channel — YouTube.com/JamesWKnoxSermons [https://www.youtube.com/jameswknoxsermons] Sermon Audio — SermonAudio.com/BibleBaptistDeLand [https://www.sermonaudio.com/biblebaptistdeland] Web Store — Store.JamesWKnox.org [https://store.jameswknox.org]

Heroes of the Faith: George Wagner

A man is tied to a stake, a bag of gunpowder hung around his neck, and the flames lit all because he won’t say water can save his soul. That’s the true story of George Wagner, killed in Munich in 1527, and we use it to ask a hard question: what do we actually believe about salvation when comfort is no longer on the table?  We walk through the historical backdrop of persecution and the danger of church and state acting as one authority, then lay out the convictions that brought Wagner to his death. He rejects the idea that priests can forgive sins, refuses the claim that the Mass turns bread into the literal body of Christ, and insists that salvation comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood, not through baptismal regeneration. Along the way, we dig into why Jesus was baptized even though He had no sin, and why pointing to the Jordan cannot replace the cross of Calvary.  The most haunting moments are personal: officials press him to recant, his wife and children are brought in to break his will, and he still chooses Christ. The episode closes with a direct challenge for every listener who values religious liberty: if following Jesus became illegal, would your life show enough faith to convict you? Subscribe, share this with someone who needs courage, and leave a review with your answer to that question. Church Website — BibleBaptistDeLand.com [https://biblebaptistdeland.com] Ministry Website — JamesWKnox.org [https://jameswknox.org]  YouTube Channel — YouTube.com/JamesWKnoxSermons [https://www.youtube.com/jameswknoxsermons] Sermon Audio — SermonAudio.com/BibleBaptistDeLand [https://www.sermonaudio.com/biblebaptistdeland] Web Store — Store.JamesWKnox.org [https://store.jameswknox.org]