How Much Worse Will It Get?

As the world guardedly enters into a new year, many, from all corners of society, are wondering just what kind of future lies ahead for everyone in 2022 and beyond. Moreover, prophetically awake Christians, are wondering how much worse things will become as we draw closer to the end. If the general sentiment is anything like the meme that is making its rounds these days, the forecast does not look promising.

Although done somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it makes sense that as the signs of global decomposition are becoming more obvious, even the non-prophecy-watching population is starting to notice that something is terribly amiss. Even the secular news pundits are reporting on the storm clouds building on the horizon and are starting to panic. They, like many in the prophecy-watching community, are beginning to say that the coming tough times are all but unavoidable. For the record, yes, things will get worse before they get better, but worse in ways that most people can't understand...and that confusion is by design. Nevertheless, as things move from bad to worse, two major themes are beginning to emerge amongst the Christian-Eschatological community.

The first narrative says that we (i.e. Western Christendom) are about to enter into a time of great persecution. A time which will include the intensification of persecution against the body of Christ writ large, which will mirror both what Christians outside of Western Civilization are presently going through, as well as what Christians have historically endured over the last two thousand years.

The second narrative being expressed by a growing number is that we are on the verge of a Third Great Awakening. This view is gaining momentum because historically, it has been true. When times of great persecution and tribulation occurred, the Church exploded like a wind-driven wildfire. The proponents of this view believe that out of the tribulation will arise this ‘church victorious’ where hundreds of millions come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Let me just say up front that both of these narratives are in fact, wrong. Tough times and targeted persecution are two different things. Furthermore, the hope in a third great revival sounds good in theory, but it does not line up with God's prophetic word.

First let me say, while I’m no fan of Satan, I don’t want anyone to make the mistake of underestimating him. He is the most powerful and intelligent being ever created. He’s had thousands of years to study humanity and most likely has a perfect working knowledge of all aspects of our physical universe. As such, Satan knows and uses three things very well to kill and destroy his enemy:

Asymmetric Warfare-He is clever enough not to go after Christians directly. He learned his lesson after the first two centuries of the early Church that the more he attacked Christianity, the faster it spread. Therefore, he will never allow an obvious frontal assault on the body of Christ to happen again unless he has no other recourse. Thus, he will devote the majority of his time attacking the issues Christians care about most while avoiding attacking Christians directly. The last thing he wants to do is create anything Christians can rally around this close to the end (i.e., the Chick-Fil-A effect).

War of compromise- He will influence the global leaders he controls to increasingly put barriers in between one’s faith, and one’s ability to live or earn a living. He is heavily invested in the war of compromise, because he knows if he can get churches and believers divided over smaller issues, then it will be much easier to get them to compromise on the big things. In so doing, he can divide up the Christian population, undercut the ethical foundations for Christianity stands for, and then promote this Luciferian agenda all the while avoiding triggering tens of millions of fired-up, Holy Spirit-filled believers.

Whispering campaign- Satan has mastered the art of subtle persuasion and has favored this approach going back to the Garden of Eden. When Jesus said ‘he was a liar from the beginning,’ He was speaking to Satan’s inability to speak the truth because of his blind hatred for it (John 8:44). But let’s not mistake his shortcomings as weaknesses that we mere humans can exploit. Satan's goal now is not to outright ban Christianity, but stigmatize it so much that no one wants to talk about it in "good company."

Again, Satan is far too clever to go and paint a bulls-eye on just Christians this close to the end, because he knows what will happen. Let's review Satan's greatest backfires:

Deceives Eve- introduces sin and death; God promises a deliver through her lineage

Corrupts the world; God floods it and starts again with his hand-selected family

Convinces man to build a tower; God separates man so thoroughly it would take four millennia to recover

Tries to wipe out the Jews with a Holocaust; Israel becomes a mighty nation again

Despite his flaws, Satan is still smarter and far more powerful than we are in our own strength. He loves to lie and plant seeds of doubt and confusion anywhere he can. He has been very successful in using these subtle tactics to destroy billions over the history of mankind. Interestingly, the fact we are seeing much more aggressive posturing by him here in recent years is telling. It tells us that he realizes he is running out of time, and he (and his forces) are stepping up their campaign of chaos and destruction.

Satan is building up his church as well. He needs this division between the "wheat and tares" completed as much as possible before the Rapture happens, so when it does, his "Mystery Babylon" will already be in place. Satan knows the Rapture will happen, and he knows it will happen before the seven-year Tribulation. He also knows that he will only have a few years and he's not going to waste a second of it allowing any of those left behind to wonder about the Rapture they just missed out on. He wants a system in place, ready to go, to be able to perpetuate the great delusion that will come upon all those who dwell upon the earth. (2 Thess. 2:8, Rev. 17)

Here is where the spiritual spills over into the geopolitical and cultural realms. Like the color revolutions of the recent past, Satan loves to sow confusion. This is where he thrives. Where do you think people like George Soros and Saul Alinsky learned this from? What we are witnessing now is three wars (in both the physical and spiritual realms) being conducted upon us simultaneously. And while these are all forms of war, they manifest themselves in distinctly unique ways. Taken together, they form the strategy of a Gray War which is waged just below the threshold of open active warfare.

a. Where an entity is divided either organically or artificially and pits two ideologically opposed sides against each other

a. Where two ideologies oppose each other over economic, cultural, religious, and geopolitical differences (ex. free-market capitalism vs. communism)

b. Neither side fights each other directly, but battles through proxies (media, pop culture, legislations, etc.)

c. This conflict relies heavily upon the use of espionage, spycraft, and subterfuge to destabilize the other side (Deep State double-agents embedded in traditional government positions)

d. Relies upon a Fifth Column media acolytes to conduct information and misinformation campaigns

a. Cold War tactics utilized in the spiritual realm, not against God, but against Christians. Just take the chart below and apply it against the Church

b. Relies heavily upon spiritual subterfuge and deception campaigns to demoralize, sow confusion, divide and conquer churches

c. Use of proxy entities (nations, businesses, leaders, media, etc.) to conduct "hard power" operations (i.e., persecutions and provocations) against the body of Christ

d. Use of proxy entities (nations, businesses, leaders, media, etc.) to conduct "soft power" operations to force or coerce compromise on positions of doctrinal essentials

Regarding the upcoming American mid-term elections, Satan (and his human puppets) will be more concerned about controlling the narrative rather than attacking Christians outright. In other words, it is a far more effective tactic for him to continue to discourage and confuse the Church than it is to have them thrown into FEMA camps. He wants the body of Christ confused, divided and demoralized as we move into the final stretch, not rallying around some perceived targeted persecution (i.e., martyr complex).

There are numerous places in Scripture that point to Satan's current authority on this earth. The first is in Luke 4:5-7, where Satan tells Christ (without rebuttal) that the kingdoms of the earth are his to give to whom he chooses. The second is in 1 John 5:19, where John states that the whole world lies under the sway of the devil. Jesus refers to Satan as the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31). Paul refers to him as the "prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2) and the "god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4). Jude makes a brief comment that even Michael the Archangel dared not bring a "reviling accusation" against Satan, but simply rebuked him in Jesus' name (Jude 1:9).

Still, Satan knows there are still enough institutions and organizations in the West that will fight back against authoritarianism if pressed too hard too fast. He knows westerners still have too many avenues to push back against the rising tyranny in places like the US, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and even Canada.

The bottom line here is, as bad as things are in places like Australia and California, they are still not as bad, as say, North Korea or Afghanistan. Neither will it get that bad in the few weeks, months, and years we have left before the Rapture. We have the genius of our Founders building in the separation of powers.

Satan's greatest enemy on the earth is the blood-bought, born-again Church. This is why he is using these gray war strategies against us. And if I am correct, then Scripture should confirm my theory regarding the state of Christendom in the last days.

Jesus Christ addressed seven letters to seven churches in Revelation chapters 2-3. Yes, they were real historical churches in John's day, and yes, the condemnations/commendations are applicable to all churches of all ages (he who hath an ear, let him hear). However, the order in which they were given to us, prophetically outlines the predominant churches of those particular ages. This is why the first letter given is Ephesus and not Laodicea. In particular, is the distinction between the first three churches, and the last four, which have the endings of each flipped which I believe means they will exist concurrent with each other. Tell me if this doesn't sound exactly like where we are today:

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The global yet corrupted church of Thyatira (6th- present-day Roman Catholicism)

The spiritually dead church of Sardis (16th century- present-day mainline Protestantism)

The faithful w/ little strength church of Philadelphia (18th century- present-day Bible-believing fundamentalism)

The lukewarm and nauseating church of Laodicea (19th century - present-day emergent, Seeker Friendly, Prosperity Gospel, Social Justice Gospel, pseudo-Christian, ecumenical liberal, and progressive churches)

So ultimately (and this is a big picture view here) Christendom will be divided into three major camps (consisting of the last four churches) going into the last days.

Think about it like a spectrum. On the far left, you have the apostate church. In the middle, you have a mix of mainline protestants, Roman Catholics, and evangelicals who (in varying degrees) will be leaning to the left or right of center. Lastly, on the far right, you have the Biblical fundamentalists who adhere to a faithful rendering of God's word.

Western Christendom is no longer pegged to the right or even right of center. The needle is increasingly being pulled to the left, meaning the authority and importance of the Church is increasingly leaving those right of center out in the cold. Just look at our nation today which is largely post-modern, post-American, and post-Christian.

So while persecution is coming, and along with it, a great, global revival, it will not be coming this side of the Rapture. Thus, and to reiterate what I mentioned earlier, whenever Satan attempts to do some major move against God's people, it backfires and further progresses God's divine agenda. No, I think Satan is going to "stay in his lane" this time and continue corrupting and weakening the church as best he can until God divides us permanently at the Rapture.

But some will say, wait a minute. What about all the real persecution going on right now in places all over the world? Places like North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, and so forth?

Well, all I can say is selective persecution against believers (even against the Old Testament saints) is nothing new. Hebrews 11 reviews for us the long history of atrocities conducted against God's chosen. Persecution has been a mainstay in the human condition since Cain killed Abel. As such, persecution itself cannot really be used as a metric to determine how close we are to the end or else Christ would have come back in the 2nd century. I'm not making light of persecution, nor am I minimizing its horrors, I'm simply saying that persecution in and of itself has been one of the most consistent realities Christians have had to endure for all of history.

Bottom line is that the church of the last days will be more Laodicean, than Philadelphian, which is why Christ describes them as having "little strength."

What makes the days in which we live unique is the fact the West has spent the last four centuries, and at great cost, fostering liberty and the rule of law to prohibit things like religious persecution.

In order for those Church and Israel to suddenly be put under the knife again in the West something seriously wrong is going to have to happen. Granted, something seriously went wrong in World War II, but the world rallied and defeated the evil Nazi Regime. Satan doesn't need that again. He has been far more effective in corrupting the Church.

In the meantime, Satan is going to ratchet up the coercion and deception campaigns in the form of a 'blanket punishment' against all of Western Civilization. The reason for that is because Western Civ has its moral-ethical foundations largely built upon Judeo-Christian principles. This is why we are seeing the Satanic strategy of targeting norms, values, and truth on things like the family, the schools, sports, historical sites, history itself, free speech, abortion, marriage, medical mandates, peace, safety, gender, and corporate wokeness. While these are all things Christians care about, these are not "exclusively" Christian issues.

In closing, let's just keep a few things in perspective. Yes, the Bible says the world is going to continue to wax worse and worse, and will not get any better until Christ returns at the Second Coming (2 Tim. 3, 2 Peter 3, Matt. 24, etc.). However, in order for Christians in the West to undergo the kind of persecution many are now predicting, would require our entire system to collapse...and it will...at the Rapture. Nevertheless, things will continue to get tougher economically, politically, and socially before our deliverance.

Right now, we are in the time of the birth pangs, where there is an intentional intensifying period of lawlessness and wickedness. These two will have repercussions in the economic world, which may cause financial hard times and increased periods of deprivation. If you look at the intentional destruction of our current economic structure, they are doing it to pave the way for the coming mark of the beast system. Granted, the powers that be are not calling it that, but we Christians ultimately know that is where it is headed. The same goes for medical mandates. These are not the mark of the beast but serve as a form of conditioning to prepare this generation to accept it when it does come.

I'm not trying to make the devil out to be more powerful than he is, but neither am I attempting to minimize his cunning. Furthermore, we can see the purposeful ramping up of wickedness and lawlessness around the world. Where it used to be isolated in this place or that, now this lawlessness has become global in reach and depth. We can see the geopolitical winds shifting and the nations of the world are aligning themselves just as the bible says they would be. The economic problems in the world are both purposeful and are driving everyone to the same destination- a single, digital, global currency. Just as Satan is trying to pre-stage his "Mystery Babylon" religion, he is also pre-staging his economic "Babylon the Great" so that when the right time comes (i.e., the Rapture), he will have it ready to go.

So how much worse will it get? This depends on how close we get to the Tribulation. How close will the Church come to that watery judgment that is coming upon the whole earth? Even now we can see the storm clouds building on the horizon.

How close will the Church come to that fiery hour of testing that is coming upon the earth? Even now, we can see the soldiers loading the furnace and the smoke rising.

Well, if the OT foreshadowing still holds true, and I believe it does, then we will be like Daniel in Daniel chapter three or Enoch in Genesis six. We aren't going to be anywhere near there. This means the fact we are seeing the signs of this coming Tribulation already here, the deliverance of Christ's bride, the Church, will be all the sooner.

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Rev. 3:10

“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Rev. 3:10”

“Keep” here does not necessarily mean take out. The Church, and the individual believers of which she is comprised, are kept through some things and kept from some things.

We are kept through trials, persecutions, and similar things. We are kept from God’s wrath. “Keep” in Revelation 3:10 is tereo. Here is the Strong’s notes:

https://biblehub.com/strongs/greek/5083.htm

It is the same basic word used for “keep” here:

John 17:15 (NKJV)
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

This proves unequivocally that it is possible to be “kept” from the Great Tribulation without being taken out of the world.

However, we do not go through God’s wrath as believers but are kept from it entirely:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 & 5:9 (NKJV)
And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come...
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Thessalonians had further questions for Paul later due to their ongoing persecution and tribulations. Paul replies in second Thessalonians to clear up the matter in which they were confusing tribulations and persecutions they faced with God’s wrath, and the Day of the Lord in particular. This seems to be the problem with the modern pre-trib rapture view. It confuses the Great Tribulation with the Day of the Lord. Both are part (I believe) of Daniel’s 70th week. But they are distinct.

Believers are being kept NOW:

1 Peter 1:5 (NKJV)
[The elect] who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Going through tribulation does not mean we are not being kept:

Romans 8:35-39 (NKJV)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Tribulation and persecution are not something believers are exempt from. Rather, we are promised these things:

John 16:33 (NKJV)
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

2 Timothy 3:12 (NKJV)
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 (NKJV)
That no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.

“Your approach is designed to support what you believe regarding the removal of The Bride AFTER tribulation caused by Jesus opening the seven sealed scroll.“

I’m wondering how you would describe your own approach and how it is different than the way you describe mine.

My approach, I believe, is to attempt to find the actual, true, correct meaning of the passages, rather than simply trying to make them mean what I prefer or strongly desire to be true. AND I have shown my work, as they say in mathematics. This allows anyone to examine it for errors. The problem is that simply asserting there are some things that are undesirable about my conclusions is not proof that they are wrong.

“You jumble pre Holy Spirit disciples with after Holy Spirit abiding within born again spirits and the spirits of unbelievers afflicted during the Tribulation caused by Jesus as He opens the seals.”

There’s a lot to unpack in such a little statement. ALL 4 Gospels describe events and instruction that took place, in your words, “pre-Holy Spirit”. But that’s not true. They were before the Holy Spirit was given to all believers, beginning the church age. But the dispensation of Christ’s ministry was not pre-Holy Spirit. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from before his birth. Likewise, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit for His ministry when He was baptized. Then, after the resurrection and before Pentecost, Christ breathed on His disciples and told them to “receive the Holy Spirit.” Am I splitting hairs? No. Because the Law and Prophets were not until the Church. They were until John. Then the kingdom began to be preached.

Luke 1:15 (NKJV)
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Luke 4:1 (NKJV)
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

Luke 16:16 (NKJV)
The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

John 20:22 (NKJV)
And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

I’ve heard people claim that the Gospel of the kingdom is different from the Gospel of grace. And while I agree that we are now in the dispensation of the superabounding grace of God, the means of salvation always was, is, and always will be by grace. And there are not multiple Gospels. What has changed is the information that has been revealed.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 16:19 (NKJV)
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 21:43 (NKJV)
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

Acts 1:6 (NKJV)
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 14:22 (NKJV)
Strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

Acts 28:31 (NKJV)
Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Romans 14:17 (NKJV)
For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV)
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NKJV)
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

2 Peter 1:10-11 (NKJV)
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Further, ALL of the 4 Gospels were written well after the coming of the Holy Spirit. They were used for instruction in the early church.

And it is not only “spirits of unbelievers afflicted during the Tribulation caused by Jesus as He opens the seals” as believers are afflicted with the trials of these seals and the time of Tribulation:

Matthew 24:9 (NKJV)
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.

Revelation 6:9 (NKJV)
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.

These are not unbelievers.

“Now we’re in for lengthy but improperly posed/applied scripture passages, as you defend your paradigm of ‘pre-wrath’ but not pre-trib removal of the Bride.”

As opposed to arguing from my feelings, without a basis in scripture? Sorry. I don’t see the evidence that Christ’s bride, the church, is removed prior to this time period, as much as I would prefer it to be the case. It will be up to someone other than me to find those passages and expound upon how and why they prove this to be the case.

“And you are clueless to how you just mixed in error what is spiritual keeping and the Revelation use of tereo regarding PHYSICALLY keeping. The words of Jesus to John say keep from even the hour or time of testing. This is refers to physical ‘keeping from’, yet you twist scripture when you conflate spiritual keeping and physical keeping from.”

The term CAN mean to keep from or it CAN mean keep through, as I have demonstrated. Twisting it would be to try to force it to mean whatever you or I want it to mean. I’m not forcing it, but you are. You do the same with making the restrainer into the Holy Spirit without any proof other than it fits nicely into the pretrib paradigm. Likewise, changing an apostasy into the rapture. That’s the exact opposite of what the word means. That’s not handling scripture correctly.

My point is not to argue the best proposition to translate tereo ek into English. My point is the general meaning of the verse does not require the removal of believers from the earth. Keep here means to hold onto, guard, or protect.

I provided a link to examine the word’s meaning and use in the Bible:

https://biblehub.com/strongs/greek/5083.htm

Did you bother to check it out?

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance:
“hold fast, keep
From teros (a watch; perhaps akin to theoreo); to guard (from loss or injury, properly, by keeping the eye upon; and thus differing from phulasso, which is properly to prevent escaping; and from koustodia, which implies a fortress or full military lines of apparatus), i.e. To note (a prophecy; figuratively, to fulfil a command); by implication, to detain (in custody; figuratively, to maintain); by extension, to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively, to keep unmarried); by extension, to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively, to keep unmarried) — hold fast, keep(- er), (pre-, re-)serve, watch.“

If you click the ENG link on that page you will find all 71 times where it is used in the New Testament. Please identify a single one of the other 70 (not Revelation 3:10) that means what you claim the word means. It is never used anywhere else to mean “taking away from”. It rather is always used to “hold onto” or “guard”.

Just like keeping believers from the evil one does not require taking believers out of the world, keeping believers from the Great Tribulation does not require taking them out of the world. And it is not the time that is the threat for which they need keeping. It is the tribulation. The time will elapse whether believers are on the earth or not.

When the guards (keepers) were keeping/guarding the body of Christ in the tomb in Matthew 28:4, were they taking it out of the tomb? No. In fact, that is the lie they were paid to tell in verse 13. They claimed the body was stolen at night while they slept (just like the secret rapture theory). In this case the body was not kept or guarded but it was supposedly taken away.

The only other place than Revelation 3:10 that uses tereo ek is John 17:15, but another similar passage is this:

Galatians 1:4 (NKJV)
Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

Here Christ not only keeps us from but delivers (exaireo) us from (ek) this present evil age.

https://biblehub.com/greek/1807.htm

Strong’s Concordance
exaireo: to take out, to deliver

This language is even more rapture-like. He takes us out and rescues us from this evil age. But even here it applies before and apart from the rapture.

Jude 21 (NKJV)
Keep (tereo) yourselves in (en) the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

We are kept from evil while being kept in the love of God. This is also while looking for Christ’s return.

Together we can see the believer is kept in the love of God, kept from the evil one and the Great Tribulation, and even rescued out of this present evil age, without having to be taken out of the world (raptured) yet. Rather, we are watching and waiting for this blessed hope while being kept from evil now.

John MacArthur and John Piper are good friends and fellow reformed theologians who commend each other in their respective ministries and teaching. John MacArthur is a pre-tribulational rapturist while John Piper is post-tribulational. But there are a lot of advocates of various views who are so convinced that they are the only ones who could possibly be right that they have determined everyone else to be heretics.

You seem to take a personal offense to disagreeing with the pre-tribulation rapture view. Perhaps it’s better to be offended (irritated) now than to be offended (stumbled) later if and when you are among those alive to face the persecution of the antichrist and his mark. And I do believe that such extreme advocacy of the pre-tribulation rapture view is going to set up many professing Christians for more than a small disappointment. They will be offended and stumble. There will be a falling away. There will be mockers asking why Christ did not show up as promised. People, including professing Christians, will betray one another.

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