The False Doctrine of the "Secret Rapture".

[hobie]

Many are picking up the false doctrine of the "Secret Rapture", and spread to the people the idea that if you are a real Christian you will be caught up in the secret rapture to be with Christ. To arrive at this the Scripture has to be twisted and taken out of context.
Lets look at some of the texts that have been quoted as referring to the 'Secret' rapture:
'The Church will meet Christ in the air' - 1 Thessalonians 4:17
'The Church will be taken to heaven' - 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and John 14:3
'Christ will come for His saints' - 2 Thessalonians 2:1
'The rapture is a mystery' - 1 Corinthians 15:51
'The righteous will be removed' - 1 Thessalonians 4:17

The verse, 1 Thessalonians 4:17 used in this false doctrine has been twisted to make it seem to say the things they claim. But look at the verse in context with the verses around it.

13 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."
14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
15 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."
16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:"
17 "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
18 "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We see verses 13 - 15 says sorrow not for those that are asleep or dead, Jesus died and rose again and so conquered death. When He comes again these people He will raise from the grave as verse 16 explains and then in verse 17 we which are alive and remain will be caught up with those that have been raised from the grave to be ever with the Lord Jesus Christ. This quote can fit nowhere else but the second coming of Jesus - verse 15.

John 14:3 tells us that after Jesus arose, He told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them, referring also to all the righteous, and that he was coming again to receive all the righteous unto Himself. It is referring to the time when Christ comes at the Second Coming.

1"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."
2 "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3

Now lets look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1 but if you look you will see that verse 1 tells us that Christ is coming again to gather His people to Himself; verse 2 tells us not to be troubled but hold firm; verse 3 tells us not to be deceived for that day shall not come until the man of sin is revealed; and verse 4 gives us a description of what the man of sin is like.

1 "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,"
2 "That 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."
3 "Let 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;"
4 "Who 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, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

Now lets look at 1 Corinthians 15:51 which is is taken completely out of context. By reading verse 52 also we find that we shall not all sleep, but those that are alive when Christ comes at the Second Coming, will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. This is the very same meaning as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which is talking about the second coming.

50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
51 "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,"
52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
53 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:50-53

So don't be deceived by these twisted ideas of the false doctrine of the Secret Rapture. The Second Coming will be seen by everyone so its kind of hard to have a "Secret Rapture" with everyone watching. Scripture tells us how Christ will return and how the Second Coming will unfold. Lets read and start at how he ascended:

"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they were looking steadfastly toward Heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, 'Ye men of Galilee; why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven'." Acts 1:9-l l.

Jesus was taken up into heaven by a cloud, and He will return in the clouds. The clouds refer to the angels of God that surround Him. Jesus Himself promised that He would return with the clouds (the angels).

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30

"...the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels." 2 Thessalonians 1:7

"When the Son of man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." Matthew 25:31

" ...when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26

Jesus return in the clouds will be visible to everyone on earth and will not be any kind of secret, or only seen or experience by a select few. Christ also warned against false comings of Christ that would not be universally visible.

"Behold He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him"... Revelation 1:7

 

[NewCreation435]

From what I can tell people who believe in a rapture before the Tribulation seem to think it will be invisible because if it was visible then people would see Jesus and the rapture actually happen and repent. Yet, as you said the scripture is clear that there is no invisible return of Jesus.

 

[Lamb]

The Left Behind series really did a number on theology. There is no Secret Rapture with unbelievers being left behind.

 

[Josiah]

My theology teacher, "Heresy is seldom the result of folks saying too little, it's usually the result of people saying too much."

My Greek Orthodox friend, "Some just can't seem to shut up but constantly invent ever more ridiculous theories."

 

[hobie]

The scriptures makes clear that every eye will see Him at the Second Coming. Jesus will return in the clouds with His angels and there will be a great audible sound so that everyone on earth know of his coming, not just a select few.

"And he shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other." Matthew 24:31

"The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God..." I Thessalonians 4:16

Jesus will return in the clouds while everyone sees and hears his Second Coming and the faithful, those that had died and those alive will be picked up and meet him in mid-air in the cloud of his angels. The saints will be gathered together by angels and taken up into the air to meet the Lord in the sky, the verses make clear it is not a secret rapture.

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17

 

[atpollard]

I have little use for eschatology and absolutely no use for debates on eschatology, however I believe the whole Pre-Tribulation rapture theology comes from places other than misinterpreting the specific verses that were quoted in the OP. I think it comes from attempting to reconcile those verses with Revelations and things like this:

[Mat 24:1-51 NASB] 1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. 6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for [those things] must take place, but [that] is not yet the end. 7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 "But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs. 9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. 13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There [He is,]' do not believe [him.] 24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 "Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, [or,] 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe [them.] 27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. 32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near,

at the door. 34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 "Two women [will be] grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think [He will.] 45 "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect [him] and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Verses 40 and 41 seem to describe an event closer to their “secret rapture” than the verses that you quoted in the OP.

Personally, I am a “pan-trubulationist” ... I believe that it will all pan out in the end. ​

 

[Michael]

I have little use for eschatology and absolutely no use for debates on eschatology, however I believe the whole Pre-Tribulation rapture theology comes from places other than misinterpreting the specific verses that were quoted in the OP. I think it comes from attempting to reconcile those verses with Revelations and things like this:

[Mat 24:1-51 NASB] 1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. 6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for [those things] must take place, but [that] is not yet the end. 7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 "But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs. 9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. 13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There [He is,]' do not believe [him.] 24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 "Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, [or,] 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe [them.] 27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. 32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near,

at the door. 34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 "Two women [will be] grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think [He will.] 45 "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect [him] and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Verses 40 and 41 seem to describe an event closer to their “secret rapture” than the verses that you quoted in the OP.

Personally, I am a “pan-trubulationist” ... I believe that it will all pan out in the end. ​

When we realize that Jesus said these things would all happen "after" the Tribulation, it helps to clarify things.
For truly, if God were to 'steal away' church-goers before they went through the necessary trials & testings that will refine them, purify them, and prove them, He would defile His own Kingdom. ​

 

[atpollard]

When we realize that Jesus said these things would all happen "after" the Tribulation, it helps to clarify things.
For truly, if God were to 'steal away' church-goers before they went through the necessary trials & testings that will refine them, purify them, and prove them, He would defile His own Kingdom.

That is A POSSIBLE interpretation, but an argument could be made that the Parable of the fig tree starts a new thought and Jesus is explaining the same event several times in different ways ... so only the SUN, MOON and STARS part will came immediately after the great Tribulation. They would then turn to Revelation to argue for the Church being raptured after the messages to the church and before the Great Tribulation (or mid-Tribulation for those that hold to that belief).

Personally, having read all the verses and listened to all of the explanations for the Amillenial, Pre-Mid-Post Trib Rapture ... I find the CERTAINTY with which people pronounce what WILL happen to be the most mystifying part.