1st Thessalonians 4:17, “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.”

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture Plain And Simple
(an excerpt from the 338-page book, I Know Who Holds Tomorrow)

Clearly, Billy Sunday (1862-1935) concluded and taught a Pretribulation Rapture. Read what Evangelist Billy Sunday said concerning the Rapture in his classic sermon, “The Second Coming Of Christ”...

The Lord does not come to the world at the time of the Rapture, but only reveals himself to the members of His Body. At the time of his resurrection He was only seen by those who believed on Him. Pilate and the High Priest, and those who crucified Him, did not know that He was risen. So it will be at the time of the Rapture. The world will not know that He has been here, and will have no knowledge of Him until He comes with the members of His Body, at the close of the Tribulation.

SOURCE: The Second Coming of Christ — by Evangelist Billy Sunday

The following is Dr. John R. Rice's doctrinally sound, Biblical, explanation of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture...

“The rapture will come, as most reputable premillennial Bible teachers agree, before the Great Tribulation time. Then after the Great Tribulation (which will occur in Daniel's seventieth week, as I believe), Christ will return with these saints and with angels to fight the battle of Armageddon, to destroy the kingdom of the Antichrist, and to set up His throne at Jerusalem and reign on the earth for a thousand years of joy and peace. There are two separate phases of Christ's coming. That for which we wait is His coming into the air to receive His saints. Then after the tribulation time, those who will have been converted on the earth will long for Christ's return, with us, to set up His kingdom. It is this second phase of Christ's coming, when He shall come literally to the earth to take charge and to reign, that is discussed in this passage.”

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980), chapter 3 from the excellent book, We Can Have Revival Now

Evangelist Oliver B. Greene (1915-1976) Biblically concluded and taught a Pretribulation Rapture...

God did not judge Sodom until Lot was safe outside the city walls (Genesis 19). Nor did God utterly destroy Jericho until Rahab was saved (Joshua 6). This will be just as true in the future; God will not judge this earth, nor the wicked in the final judgment, until the Church is taken out of the earth. That promise is clear: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). This verse definitely refers to the great Tribulation period. The Rapture takes place at the beginning of chapter four. A door is opened in Heaven and a Voice cries out, “Come up hither!” And the Church is raptured out of the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Read I Thessalonians 4:13-18. ...

A PROPHETIC DECLARATION

Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

The second coming of our Lord is a vital part of Christian doctrine, and there has never been a time of greater need for the preaching of this truth than today.

It is essential to distinguish the two parts of His second coming. There is definitely a period of time between the Rapture (the time when Jesus comes FOR His saints) and the Revelation (when He comes WITH His saints). The Rapture is mentioned in John 14:3; Philippians 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15-18; and I Corinthians 15:23.

All these Scriptures refer to the next great event for Christians - the Rapture of the Church - the time when Jesus comes for His saints, and every living, born again, blood-washed child of God will be caught up to meet Him; the bodies of all the saints who have died will be raised incorruptible, and we will all be caught up together to meet the Lord in the clouds in the air.

But there is another group of Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments which distinctly teach another coming, and verse 7 in our present chapter refers to this time when Jesus will come WITH His saints. (In connection with this read Jude 14; Zechariah 14:5; Colossians 3:4 and Revelation 19:11-14).

The statement, “Behold, He cometh with clouds” agrees with Daniel’s statement “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven” (Daniel 7:13). This also corresponds with the prophetic utterance of the Lord on the Mount of Olives: “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30b).

All these Scriptures refer to the Revelation - the time when Jesus will come in the air and EVERY EYE shall see Him. When the Rapture takes place, no person will see the Lord Jesus. He will not come to the earth; He will descend in the air, the trumpet will sound, the voice of the archangel will call the saints up to meet Jesus in the air. He will not stand on the earth when He comes in the Rapture, but He WILL stand on the earth when He comes in the second phase of His return. Zechariah 14:4 definitely describes the Lord Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives.

The prophets throughout the era of the Old Testament had two great prophetic themes: Judgment - and Glory. The Old Testament prophet did not see the church age it was a mystery until it was revealed to the Apostle Paul, who makes known that revelation in the book of Ephesians. As the end of the church age draws near, Jews and Gentiles will become wicked as never before on the face of the earth (Isaiah 60:2).

The nations will be gathered in open rebellion against the Lamb of God (Revelation 19:19) and they will fight against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2).

Therefore, the earth must be cleared of evil and ungodly men before the Lord Jesus comes back to reign in glory, with His Church. Before leaving this section, let me point out that Christ is nowhere said to come with the clouds to gather the Church out of the earth. On the contrary, the saints go up in the clouds (I Thessalonians 4:17). God provides a royal carriage to convey the saints from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Clouds in the Old Testament were the well-known symbol of the presence of the Lord with His people (Exodus 13:21-40; Exodus 40:34-38;
Luke 9:35).

Christ is not only said to come “in the clouds” (Mark 13:26) but He will come with the clouds (Revelation 1:7) and in the clouds (Matthew 24:30). The clouds which attend His coming are symbols of His majesty and glory. Read Psalm 18:9-12. The Lord sits on the clouds, as on His throne. We believers will be caught up in the clouds (I Thessalonians 4:17).

The Lord Jesus ascended in the clouds (Acts 1:9) and He will come in a cloud (Luke 21:27). These facts are very interesting to spiritually minded believers. The statement “every eye shall see Him” is to be taken literally. Every eye will not see Him at the same identical split second - but every eye will see Jesus. One class is singled out from the mass of mankind and mentioned as “they which pierced Him.”

The entire earth will be in open conflict against the Lord God and His Anointed (read Psalm 2), but this one group is pointed out specifically. John is the only one who records the incident of the Gentile spear which pierced the Saviour’s side (John 19:33-37). Pilate admitted three times that there was no fault in Jesus (John 18:38-19:6); but in spite of the fact that Rome knew Jesus to be innocent, they allowed Him to be scourged and crucified. The Jews screamed aloud for His death. They invited His blood to be not only upon them, but upon their children; and their children have inherited that guilt for generations. They will see Him “whom they pierced” (read Zechariah 12:10).

The peoples referred to as “those who pierced Him” are the people whom we know today as Jews.

“All the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him.” This coming in the clouds in great glory and power will take place over the entire universe at the same identical time. All the peoples of all the earth will see the Son of God coming in the clouds of Glory. In chapter six we will learn that a world-wide prayer meeting will immediately be in progress . . . but the prayers will be unanswered.

Verse 7 closes with the words “. . . Even so, Amen.” That is a double “amen,” and certainly carries much weight spiritually. Amen means “so be it.” The Spirit is saying here, “This is true. It will happen exactly as stated.”

SOURCE: Dr. Oliver B. Greene, a quote from chapter 1 of the excellent book, “THE REVELATION,” ©1963, The Gospel Hour

Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) Biblically concluded and taught a Pretribulation Rapture...

II. No One Knows Even Approximately When Jesus Will Come

In the Olivet discourse the Saviour discusses the second coming. The clearest point in all His teaching on the second coming is that no one knows when it will be. Consider Mark 13:32-37:

"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."

Now observe the clear teaching of the Saviour that no man can know the time:

1. The angels do not know when Jesus will come.

2. The Lord Jesus Himself while on earth did not know when He would return.

3. Jesus said His second coming was so wholly unpredictable that it was illustrated by the servants waiting for their master's return. The master might come in the evening, midnight, cock-crowing or in the morning. In this world no one can foretell even approximately when Jesus will return and when this age will end. If the more than nineteen hundred years which have already elapsed since Christ promised to return be divided up into four watches or periods to represent evening, midnight, cock-crowing and morning, we find that Jesus is saying that no one can know even within centuries of the time of His return.

4. The all-important teaching of Jesus about His return is that He may come at any moment. His coming is imminent.

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980), chapter 3 from the excellent book, We Can Have Revival Now.

“As a blind man has no idea of colors, so we have no idea of the manner by which the all-wise God perceives and understands all things.” —Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

28 Differences Between the Rapture & Second Coming

Read THE NEW WORLD ORDER (.PDF file) authored by S.Z. Batten written in 1919. Batten states on page 148, “Christianity has suffered much from the wrong thinking of bad men, but even more from the small thinking of good men.” What a true statement!

Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”