Joel M Bradshaw

26“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.–Mark 13

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

1. Are these two passages describing the same event?
2. If so, then the “rapture” will occur at the final moment in history when Jesus comes back.
3. If not, then there are two return of Christ events. One is called the “secret rapture” and the the other is called the “second coming.”
4. So you need to figure out what you believe.
5. To do that, you need to figure out what Scripture says.
6. Does the New Testament proclaim one return of Christ or two?
7. If the rapture comes at the Second Coming, as Jesus seems to describe it in our Mark 13 text today, then it ends history as we know it. There is nothing secret, but rather very public.–JMB