Surely there will be tribulations that the churches will have to endure, and have endured for the last 1950 years, and will continue to endure. But they will not endure God's special and specific wrath during the antichrist's tribulational period.
But this has been done before. It would be difficult to argue that the ten plagues against Egypt were anything less than an expression of God’s wrath, yet the Israelites were protected from the worst of them while still a captive people. God is not like us. We have collateral damage. God does not. All of his wrath will reach the appropriate targets and no one and nothing else, not even the least of the sparrows. I do not see any warrant in Scripture for two second comings, one of them secret, and the other public. It is all one event, and Christians of that era will indeed be faced with hard choices. But like captive Israel of old, God will preserve his people as he sees fit, because some of us will survive to see his coming.
Peace,
SR
Although I respect your right to hold that opinion, I must mention that it is an opinion, and one this guy disagrees with.
http://www.watchmanbiblestudy.com/biblestudies/Definitions/PreTrib.htm
I post that because his story is rather similar to mine. I was a member of Assemblies of God for 18 years and was a pre-tribulationist at first. It is what they taught. Then I started studying on my own and reading various opinions and interpretations. I became a mid-tribulationist or, what the site above calls “post trib, pre wrath”.
Where does the Bible use the term tribulation to refer to God's wrath?
Christians are specifically told that they will know tribulation. And Matthew 24:21 says that believers will experience "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be". This is NOT refering to his wrath, but to persecution by the antichrist. Clearly believers are not going to be taken out, or else Satan and his minion(s) will have no one to persecute.
When Jesus returns in the clouds 24:29ff and fathers believers living and dead (the 1st resurrection), THEN he pours out his wrath on the earth. This is not called tribulation, but rather wrath.
Believers will be beheaded during the tribulation and great tribulation, being identified because they specifically refuse to take the mark of the beast, which is the sole purpose of the mark: to identify believers so Satan can kill them.
The antichrist is none other than the devil himself getting to 'play' his final role as sweet Jesus. Why suppose would 'God with us' get a visit from the devil, tempting Christ by twisting the Scripture? This was NOT done for Christ or The Heavenly Father's sake it was done so those who are able/willing would know what the first tribulation would be. Now apparently the majority of the peoples on this earth are going to 'buy' the role playing of the devil and bend their knees and worship him. That is according to the Scripture and nobody is going to get an early ticket out of town unless their soul returns to the Maker that sent it.