Scripture tells us that there will be multitudes who are saved during the Tribulation period. The Church will have been taken out, according to the Bible, before the Antichrist makes his appearance.
The "saints" referred to as being susceptible to the deception of the Antichrist are those who are saved during the Tribulation.
There are scores of verses in the Bible which assures the Church that we will not be going through God's wrath during the Tribulation, but what really finalizes it for me is the fact that during the Tribulation, not only is there no mention of the Church, but the job of the Church, the Great Commission, has been reassigned to the 144,000 sealed Jewish witnesses and to angels.
Where is the Church? Why has the job that Jesus gave to the Church been given to others?
“2 Thessalonians 2
1Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”
“There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray [or “deceive” A.V.] if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24: 24).
The onsloughts have only just begun, like the pharonic priests of Moses day who could do some false wonders, the modern day false prophets will soon start peddling their magical tricks. It will be very difficult to tell the real from the fake apart. I do believe that a rapture is coming, just have questons regarding the timing; Christ himself says he comes “like a thief at a time no man is expecting”. So he could come in the next 5 minutes or at the time when the slain prophets are taken up and then the church goes with them. The world wide church may be under intense persecution and “multitudes killed” as the Beast, false prophet, false image worship system is being set up and then the 7 year count down begins when the AC makes a false peace treaty with Israel. When the rapture occurs in all that is still a mystery. The Beast system may be in operation for a bit...perhaps just before the events of Ezekiel 38 and or Psalms 83, but the real count down to the end begins when the False peace treaty is signed.
So I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, just saying yippee if Christ does take his church before all that and God in his mercy spares multitudes from hell during the times of the tribulation even though they are killed for not taking the “mark”. On the other hand don’t lose heart if Christians are around as the “first bitter fruits” of the Beast system begin to be made manifest! Christ is coming back, sooner than one would think, and perhaps when most would least suspect that he would. Even so...”Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord”!