Since its birth on the Day of Pentecost until the present day, the Church of Jesus Christ has been awaiting the fulfillment of one of the greatest and most precious promises made by its Head, Jesus Christ. That promise is none other than the Rapture of the Church, which will occur on the day of the coming of the Son of Man. It was upon this promise that the early Christians were so firmly anchored that it became their very reason for living, for they firmly believed that the Lord would return to take the Church during their own lifetime.

John 14:1–3

"¹Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ²In 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. ³And 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."

1 Thessalonians 4:15–17

"¹⁵For 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. ¹⁶For 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: ¹⁷then 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."

Hebrews 11:5

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

2 Kings 2:9–11

"⁹And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. ¹⁰And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. ¹¹And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."

 Through these passages, we can clearly observe that God has already taken individuals up before; and if He did so with Enoch and Elijah, He can certainly do so again in these last days with His Church. The Rapture, therefore, is a reality.

The Lord Jesus Christ will rapture the Church in order to spare her from the wrath of God that is coming, and also to share with her the glory of His inheritance in His eternal Kingdom. There is indeed a day of wrath that God has reserved to punish the world for its wickedness, and the wicked for their sins.

Isaiah 13:9

"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it."

1 Thessalonians 1:10

"And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

1 Corinthians 15:51–53

"⁵¹Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²in 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. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

What can we understand from these verses? We understand that it is the change — or transformation — of the bodies of the saints at the last trumpet (at the Rapture) that will occur in the twinkling of an eye, and not the Rapture itself. Indeed, our present mortal bodies must put on immortality; our present corruptible bodies must put on incorruption, in order to stand before the Son of Man in the air. Thus, it is the passage of our bodies from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible, that will occur in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye — and not the Rapture of the Church, as some preachers teach.

Will thousands of Christians suddenly vanish from the earth on the day of the Rapture, or will they instead be seen ascending into heaven through the clouds before the eyes of all? To answer this question, we must examine several examples of rapture that the Bible provides. Indeed, "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Acts 1:9–10

"⁹And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. ¹⁰And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel."

 We can see from this passage that the rapture of Jesus did not occur in secret — that is, Jesus did not ascend to heaven by disappearing spontaneously. The rapture of Christ took place in full view of His disciples, who witnessed how He ascended into heaven in the cloud. The disciples were at that moment eyewitnesses of the rapture of Jesus.

Revelation 11:12

"And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."

As with Jesus, the rapture of the two Witnesses of God will take place in plain sight of all — that is, everyone will see these two Witnesses ascending into heaven through the clouds. They will not disappear spontaneously only to reappear afterward before God.

 Will the Rapture of the Church be an exception? 1 Thessalonians 4:17 answers:

1 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."

 As with the other raptures, the Rapture of the Church will not take place in secret as some teachers maintain; it will not occur through the sudden disappearance of thousands of Christians around the world. Rather, Christians will be seen ascending into heaven through the clouds of the sky.

Matthew 25:1–12

"¹Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. ²And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: ⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. ⁷Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. ⁹But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. ¹⁰And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. ¹²But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

Luke 13:25–28

"²⁵When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: ²⁶Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. ²⁷But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. ²⁸There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out."

In light of these passages, it is abundantly clear that the Rapture of the Church will occur only once — that is, in a single phase. Through the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, we can clearly see that there was no second rapture (following the wedding feast with the wise virgins) for those who had missed the one and only Rapture — namely, the foolish virgins (a type of Christian). For those who hoped for a second chance at rapture, the Lord's response is unmistakably clear: "I know you not." We should also note from Luke 13 (verse 28) that the only place remaining for all who miss the one and only Rapture of the Church is Hell — the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

What must first be understood is that the Rapture will occur on the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ — a day that will be marked by very specific signs: the sun will be turned into darkness, the moon into blood, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Acts 2:20

"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come."

Luke 21:25–28

"²⁵And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. ²⁷And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

 If we therefore wish to know when the Rapture will take place, we need simply to know when the coming — or return — of the Lord Jesus Christ will occur.

What significant event will precede the appearance of the signs that mark the return or coming of Jesus Christ?

Matthew 24:29–31

"²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: ³⁰And 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. ³¹And 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."

 We can clearly observe through this passage in Matthew 24 that the signs which precede the coming of the Lord (the moon turning to blood, the sun being darkened, etc.) appear only after the days of Distress. Matthew 24:21 reveals that these days of distress are none other than the days of the Great Tribulation. We may therefore conclude that the one and only Rapture of the Church that will take place will occur after the Great Tribulation.

Daniel 7:21–22

"²¹I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; ²²Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."