The secret rapture theory is based on eight premises that have been so widely embraced that most people accept them as fact without pausing to investigate. However, our only safety is to search the Scriptures daily to determine whether those things are so (Acts 17:11). The eight points of the secret rapture theory are as follows:

1. The rapture is silent.

2. The rapture is invisible.

3. The rapture leaves the wicked alive.

4. God removes the righteous to protect them from the tribulation.

5. Christ's second coming will be in two stages: (1) the secret rapture, and (2) the actual coming, which will be glorious.

6. These two stages of the second coming will be seven years apart.

7. The rapture will take place before the revelation of the Antichrist, who then will bring about the tribulation.

8. The wicked will at this point have a second chance to be converted and to serve Christ.

To examine these points fully is beyond the scope and intent of this article, but we will briefly cover each point here. Prepare for some surprises!

1. The rapture IS NOT SILENT, but rather is extremely noisy. The Scriptures say Jesus will descend "with a SHOUT, with the VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, and with the TRUMP OF GOD." 1 Thessalonians 4:16. David says, "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: ... it shall be very tempestuous [violent, whirling] round about him." Psalm 50:3. Jeremiah says, "The Lord shall roar from on high, ... he shall mightily roar ...; he shall give a shout. ... A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth." Jeremiah 25:30, 31. And Paul says, "the trumpet shall sound." 1 Corinthians 15:52. Nothing about it is quiet! Christ will come with a noise heard around the world. 

Mark this well. If you are living when Jesus returns, you will hear Him come. Your ears will ring with catastrophic noise.

2. The rapture is not invisible; it will be seen by all. All of the angels will come with Jesus (Matthew 25:31). One lone angel appeared at Jesus' resurrection, and his brightness was so overpowering that the entire Roman guard fell to the ground as dead men (Matthew 28:2-4). Consider the staggering brightness of all the angels of heaven! Added to the glory of the angels will be Jesus' own glory (Matthew 25:31) and the glory of His Father (Matthew 16:27). The brightness will be overwhelming. Jesus added, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:27. Secret? By no stretch of the imagination. In fact, the Bible forever settled this by saying, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." Revelation 1:7.

Rest assured, if you are living at Jesus' second coming, you will see Him come!

3. The rapture DOES NOT LEAVE THE WICKED ALIVE. They are slain at the Lord's coming. Isaiah says, "...with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:4. Malachi says, "...the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."  Malachi 4:1. And Paul isn't silent about this issue, he says that the Lord would consume them "with the spirit of his mouth," and will destroy them "with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Be certain, if you are alive when Jesus returns, you will see the wicked destroyed by His brightness and the breath of His mouth!

4. God DOES NOT remove the righteous from the tribulation, but rather protects them through it. He places a special seal upon those that are His and preserves them through the tribulation. Psalm 91:5-12, Daniel 3:19-27, Revelation 7:3; 9:4.

Remember, scripture ask and answers this question. It says, 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 thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39).

Scriptures makes it clear, that the Christian will go through tribulation. And Paul leaves not a doubt, he says, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12. And if you find it hard to accept the words of Paul, then listen to words of Jesus. He says, "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." John 15:20.

Do you believe Scripture, the Word of God? Men may lie, but God cannot! (Titus 1:2)

5. Christ's second coming WILL NOT be in two stages-- one secret and the other seen by all. There is only one second coming, and it will be seen by every living person on earth. There is no Scripture to support a two-phase second coming. Revelation 20:4-7.

6. The secret rapture teachers claim that there is a seven-year period between the two second comings of Christ. This is not scriptural. The passage that is often used to support their claims, Daniel 2:24-27, speaks expressly of a continual, consecutive period of 70 weeks. Further, it doesn't speak of the antichrist, but of the Messiah confirming the covenant with Daniel's people (The Jewish Nation) and His death 3 1/2 years after He began His work.

Check for yourself. You'll see! That is was exactly what Jesus did. He came and preached for 3 1/2 year. After His death, the disciples confirmed the covenant with the Jewish nation only for the next 3 1/2 years. Paul, in reminding the Jews of this very matter said, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him" (Hebrews 2:3).

Exactly 7 years after Jesus busted onto the seen, Stephen was stoned, bringing an end to the prophecy and the 7 year period. It was also at that point the the gospel when to the gentiles. Thank God, I now have a chance.

Friends, there is no future seven-year period to come, that time has come and passed.

7. Antichrist DOES NOT appear three and one-half years after the second coming of Jesus. He has been active for centuries (1 John 4:3) and is doing his nefarious work even now. After Jesus has taken His children back to heaven with Him, the devil is locked up for 1000 years. Scripture says, "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled." Revelation 20:3, 4.

Further, scripture paints a picture of complete desolation and emptiness. John the revelator says, "Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee." Revelations 18:21-23; 17:16, Isaiah 13:19–22; 47:11; Jeremiah 50:13, 40; 51:26, 29; Ezekiel 26:17, 19.

Be it known, when Jesus takes His saints home, NONE are left alive, NONE are left to praise God on earth, NONE are left to follow the antichrist because the true antichrist, Satan, will be bound for 1000 years.

8. The wicked WILL NOT HAVE A SECOND OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED after the second coming. All sinners will be destroyed at the second coming. There is no second opportunity for anyone after Jesus' second coming. Malachi 4:1; Revelation 20:7-9. His pronouncement of judgment is final. No where in scripture is there the appearance of salvation for anyone after Jesus comes. He says, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still...and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."  And the reward of sin is death. Revelation 20:11,12; Romans 6:23.

Think about this, if the wicked ones wouldn't accept Jesus when Spirit of God was here, how are they going to accept Him when the Spirit of God is taken away? And, if the Spirit of God is gone, what spirit is leading them. Romans 6:16, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelations 20:7-9.

It is now or never. You only get one chance to do it right!

My friends, it is very clear, ever point that the Secret Rapturist present fails to pass the test of the Scripture. We must obey God rather than man.

Distinctive Truth