Those who believe in a secret rapture believe that the end of the age does not arrive at the coming (parousia) of the Lord, but rather seven years later at His appearing (ephipaneia) and revealing (apokalupsis). Both cannot be correct. Jesus’ own words found in Matthew 24:37-39 prove that there can be no SECRET coming (parousia): “But as the days of Noah were, SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING (PAROUSIA) OF THE LORD BE. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the FLOOD CAME and took them all away. SO SHALL THE COMING (PAROUSIA) OF THE SON OF MAN BE.” The flood was visible to the entire world, SO SHALL BE the coming of the Lord, which will be accompanied by the blowing of a trumpet, a shout and the voice of the archangel (1 Thess. 4:16). The Counterfeit Church proclaims adamantly that the coming of the Lord for His saints (the rapture) will be a secret affair. People will suddenly, silently, sightlessly disappear–no sound, no visible activity; multiplied millions of church people will simply vanish. Are the trumpet, the shout and the voice of the archangel to be muted? Nowhere are we told this in Scripture. What would be the point of muting the sounds and obscuring the visuals? Why mention them if man will not be allowed to see and hear what is going on? Let us see what God said about His return.

That the Lord will call both dead and living saints up into the air at His second advent is proved by Paul’s statement in his first letter to the church in Thessalonica (4:15-18). Here he states that at the Lord’s coming (parousia) the dead in Christ will rise (from the grave) first, followed by the saints living at that time. There are only two kinds of saints: dead and living. All dead saints will be in the grave at Jesus’ return; all other saints will be living on earth at His return. So who was raptured seven years earlier? The Lord will descend from heaven with a SHOUT, with the VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, and with the TRUMPET OF GOD. Both dead and living will be caught up to meet Him in the air. This is His parousia (His coming FOR His saints), His epiphaniea and apocalypsis (His appearing and revealing to the rest of the world). Jesus had spoken about this event in Matthew 24:31: “And He shall send His angels WITH A GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET, and they will gather together His elect (saints) from the four winds, from one end of heaven (everywhere above earth’s surface) to the other.” His parousia (coming) is described in Matthew 24:27,37,39 as happening with a SHOUT, A TRUMPET BLAST, HORIZON-TO-HORIZON LIGHTNING, THE VOICE OF JESUS AND THE TRUMPET OF GOD, and EVERY EYE ON EARTH SHALL SEE HIM (Rev. 1:7)–SECRET? Only in the minds of those who reject Christ’s own Words–the Institutional Church. If, as is written in First Thessalonians 4:15-18, all who have ever been “in Christ” are either in the grave or living on earth at the time of His coming, who are those who will supposedly have been in heaven since the “rapture” seven years earlier? Scripture plainly shows that Jesus’ parousia, apokalupsis and epiphaneia all refer to the same event–His second advent following the seventh trumpet blast of the seventh seal.

The Institutional Church teaches that Jesus will return secretly (His parousia) at the beginning of the Great Tribulation to take her to heaven. Seven years later He will return (His epiphaneia [appearing] and His apokalupsis [revealing]) to get some Jews and their proselytes who were converted during the tribulation to take them to heaven. True? Let Scripture be the final arbiter of Truth.

In Second Timothy 4:8 Paul says that ALL who love (look forward to) Jesus’ APPEARING (epiphaneia) will receive their crowns (symbolic of salvation) AT THAT TIME–at the end of the Great Tribulation when Jesus appears. Do saints from every era (the “all”) look forward to His return to earth? Yes. Do all saints, as rapturists believe, receive their crowns seven years earlier at the time of the supposed rapture (parousia)? The church says “yes.” God says “no” in 2 Timothy 4:8 where Paul states: “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will GIVE TO ME ON THAT DAY, and not to me only, BUT ALSO TO ALL WHO HAVE LIVED HIS APPEARING–ALL crowns (salvation) will be received by ALL SAINTS at the same time–His second advent–His parousia/epiphaneia/apokalupsis.

Jesus said in Matthew 13:24-30,36-42 that the (all) wheat (saints) and the (all) tares (false saints) will REMAIN TOGETHER in the field (on earth) UNTIL THE HARVEST AT THE END OF THE AGE. If all saints (wheat) were raptured seven years earlier, who will be the “wheat” waiting on earth for the return of Jesus at the end of the age to be separated from the tares? To be continued. L.J.