Luke 21:36 means we will be caught up to Heaven in order to escape the great tribulation.

This verse sometimes is used to mean we will be caught up to Heaven in order to escape suffering. But when we read the previous verses we see that the Lord is not speaking of physical danger but of spiritual danger.

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. (Luke 21:16-18)

And again:

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36)

The Lord said some of us will be put to death but not a hair of our head will perish. By this Jesus means there is no problem with being put to death, because in the resurrection all of our hair will be restored. We are not to worry about physical danger.

The true danger is found in the above words "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life."

Our goal is to stand in victory before the Son of Man. We can stand before Him if we have been imprisoned or martyred and have kept the faith. We cannot stand before Him if we have let ourselves be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life.

The danger is from sin, not from physical harm. We can stand before the Son of Man if we have been harmed because of our faith. But we cannot stand before the Son of Man if we have lived in the sins of the flesh, even though we profess faith in Christ. Christ keeps us from the snares of the devil, not from being exposed to suffering while on the earth.

When the devil began to sift Peter, Jesus did not tell Peter that he would be caught up to Heaven so he couldn't be sifted. He said to Peter that He would pray for Him so his faith would not fail.

The Great Tribulation and the Great Wickedness will be a period of sifting. Our prayer is that God will not lead us into temptation but will deliver us from the devil.

If an individual has followed Christ patiently, and then suffers tribulation or intense persecution, when he dies he will stand in victory before the Son of Man.

If an individual has not followed Christ patiently, even though he were to be lifted to Heaven in a "rapture" in order to escape the tribulations of the last days, he still would not be able to stand before the Son of Man.

Thus the use of this passage to prove the unscriptural pre-tribulation "rapture" is without merit.

To be continued.