Quick Q&A: Is there a secret rapture coming?

Answer: NO. There is no secret rapture mentioned in the Bible. The Bible does say that Christ will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And then the dead in Christ and some of us still living will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the clouds. The scripture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:, 

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (vv. 13-18).

There is a lot going on in this message to the Thessalonians. It confirms that nobody is in heaven; rather, they are asleep in the grave. Our hope is in the promise that at Christ’s return, He will resurrect the faithful who have died, who together with the living saints will be caught up into the clouds to meet their Lord.

With this in mind, notice that Christ will descend with a shout and the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. Do the voice of a shouting archangel and the blowing of a trumpet sound secret to you?

Many prophetic events must take place before this event can take place. And whatever one might call it, it is neither a “rapture” nor in any way “secret.” God does not tell us of a time when commuter aircraft will lose their pilots and innocent passengers will fall screaming to the earth. Rather, before Christ’s return, faithful Christians will have been gathered to a “place of safety” (Revelation 12:14), where they will stay protected from the Great Tribulation for three-and-a-half years before the final trumpet blast announces their returning Savior!