At Christ's coming (1 Th 4:v16) the trumpet will sound and the rapture will occur. As verses 16 and 17 say, "the dead in Christ will rise first" and then "we will be caught up together with them."

When a Roman army would return from victory, they would camp outside Rome and wait for the town to prepare for a triumphal entry. When the town was ready, the residents would go out to meet them and parade with them into town.

"We will be with the Lord forever." (v 17) We will be with Christ as he "rules with a rod of iron" and defeats his foes. As Christ approaches, (5:3) destruction will reign down on his adversaries.

This matches with the the passage from 1 Th. we looked at. Verse 9 is often used by Dispensationalists to argue for a pre-trib rapture since 'we aren't appointed to wrath' and the 7 year tribulation is full of wrath. However, if you read the full text for the context, it is clearly that "we aren't going to hell" "we're going to be with the Lord" Which means that the destruction which rains down on the unbelievers will not be on "us" (if we're alive at His coming).

Christ's return

Claim:
Every clear teaching regarding Christ's return shows that Jesus' return is the culmination of all things. There is no secret rapture and no millennial kingdom.

The three clear texts teaching about Christ's return are:
1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 5:3
2Thessalonians 2:7-8
2 Peter 3:10

1 Th. 4:16-5:3
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words. 5:1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.


2 Th 2:7-8
7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Jesus return ONCE
It is called "the day of the Lord"
That day will come as a surprise to unbelievers "like a thief"
And destruction will come upon Christ's enemies.

This sequence coincides with the return of Christ in Revelation 20:7-9
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

Secret Rapture Mania

"News of the Weird" is a weekly syndicated column by Chuck Shepherd. He reviews odd events and pokes fun at them. In his column for this week, Chuck discussed "You've Been Left Behind LLC". They are at http://youvebeenleftbehind.com/index.html

They charge $40 per user per year to store documents you want delivered via email to people after the rapture. They say:
We have set up a system to send documents by the email,
to the addresses you provide, 6 days after the "Rapture" of the Church.
This occurs when 3 of our 5 team members scattered around the U.S fail
to log in over a 3 day period. Another 3 days are given to fail safe any
false triggering of the system.

Folks - there is NO secret rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:16a
"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel"


THIS IS NOT SILENT!

the next verses are in chapter 5:1-3
"Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

The day of the Lord COMES as a thief in the night, unannounced, but it brings swift and sudden destruction. A pregnant woman wants the "delivery" but does not know when it will come/happen. The birth process can begin at any time - sometimes at very inconvenient times.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
"and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."


When Jesus appears, verse 7 says he will be revealed in flaming fire - not secret!Dispensationalists want this to apply to the end of their Tribulation period, but that is being imposed upon the text. You will not find that anywhere.


2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 and 8
"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction ... And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming."


The "man of lawlessness" must be revealed first - before the coming of our Lord. And the Lord will kill him with the breath of his mouth.

AGAIN, as in 2 Th 1:7, fire is involved with Jesus' return.

This also corresponds to 2 Peter 3:9-10
"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."

Here we see that the long delay of Christ's return (corresponding to the long pregnancy) will be ended unannounced (like a thief that doesn't announce his coming) and the heavens will be consumed (the fire we've seen twice before).

There is a rapture. Believers are "caught up."
And then the fire consumes what remains.
"You've Been Left Behind LLC" will never send those emails and their subscribers will have spent $40 per year for nothing. They need to invest their time in being good ambassadors of Christ - pray for the unsaved, witness to them, show them Christ's love.