Tribulation saints

“Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?’ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” Revelation 7:13-14
Many people get confused about who the ‘saints’ referred to in Revelation are. There are many reason that these saints are a distinct group from the church:
1. The church, as represented by the 24 elders, is already in heaven before the Tribulation begins.
2. We see them being overpowered by the Antichrist (Rev. 13:7) – something that the church was expressly promised would not happen to them (Matt. 16:18).
3. John doesn’t recognise them (Rev. 7:13-14).
4. The church sits at the right hand of Jesus, ruling with Him (Rev. 3:21); the Tribulation saints stand before Him and serve Him (Rev. 7:15).
The Tribulation will be the time of God’s final judgement upon the earth. But it will also be a great time of evangelism – through the influence of the two witnesses, the 144,000, etc. However, the time to choose Jesus is now. If you’re in the position where you say, ‘I’m not convinced, but if the Rapture happens, then I’ll believe and follow Jesus.’ If you can’t believe and follow Him today, what makes you think that you’ll be able to follow Him then – when the penalty for doing so is death? “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).