When Does The Rapture Occur?

1st Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For 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. For 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Let me quote one of my favorite preachers, Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980)...

“The rapture of the saints pictured in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 is to be expected at any moment. We do not know when. Paul himself hoped to be alive until that time and said, 'Then we which are alive and remain . . . . ' So that rapture is the first thing on God's program, and the tribulation time will come afterward. The order of events, I think, is this: 

First, the rapture described there. Second, Daniel's seventieth week will begin with the rise of a new prince or Antichrist to restore the Roman Empire, make a covenant with the Jews for one seven-year period. Then in the midst of that week of years, he will enter into the Temple that they will build at Jerusalem, will claim to be God and will set out to kill all the Jews who do not worship him, the Antichrist. So the last three and a half years of the seven-year period will be the Great Tribulation. Then the events following the Great Tribulation are told in Matthew 24:29 and following. Christ will appear, coming with saints and angels. The angels will be sent to gather out of every corner the Jews and bring them back to Palestine. The battle of Armageddon will occur and Christ will destroy all the armies of the Antichrist. Then He will set up His throne at Jerusalem, will judge the living people who are left on the earth, and then have the thousand-year reign on earth."  —John R. Rice, “Dr. Rice: Here Are More Questions . . . ,” pp. 198-199; ©1973

Bravo Dr. Rice! The inspired Holy Bible teaches a pretribulation rapture. As Pastor Lee Robertson (1909-2007) rightly said, “If you take the Bible at face value you can only conclude a pretribulation rapture.” I couldn't agree more!

It is not difficult at all to see why the Bible teaches a pretribulation rapture when we consider Jesus' words of exhortation from the Gospel of Mark...

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 cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”

The Lord's plain words is that NO MAN, not even the angels, know the TIMING of His return. We know this absolutely cannot be referring to Christ's Second Coming, because Scripture plainly tells us in Daniel 12:11 that from the prophetic event know as the Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15) until Christ's return shall be 1,290 days. When you add the Judgment of the Nations, you get 1,335 days (Daniel 12:12). ONLY a pretribulation rapture maintains the element of surprise, which Jesus made plain in Mark 13:32-37.

One of the biggest false teachers in the Baptist world today is Pastor Steven Anderson. He is wrong on numerous important Bible doctrines. Whereas Luke 23:43 plainly teaches that Jesus and the repent thief went to “paradise” that very same day, Anderson says Jesus burned in the fires of Hell for three days. Pastor Anderson just ignores the plain teaching of God's Word.

Likewise, he actually SETS A DATE for the rapture! Listen for yourself in Part 10 of his Revelation series (at 31:00 minutes into the video), where Steven states:

“When does the Rapture take place? 1,335 days into Daniel's 70th week.” —Pastor Steven Anderson, 'Revelation - Part 10' (Time: 31:00 minutes into video)

If you question him, Anderson will actually deny date setting, but I just showed you that he in fact DOES set a date for the rapture. FALSE PROPHET ALERT!!! I have been kindly warning people for years about Steven Anderson's Scriptural ignorance. The New IFB are corrupt!

One of their biggest deceptions is requiring people to pray a sinner's prayer to get to Heaven, which is totally unscriptural. Pastor Jack Hyles refutes the heresy that you must pray to be saved. What saith the Scripture? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” The corrupt New IFB have been misled and deceived. They are obscuring God's simple plan of salvation. Requiring someone to pray a sinner's prayer to be saved won't prevent them from being born again, but it runs the risk of confusing them, as it did me for several years after I got saved.

We are told in Titus 2:13, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” We are commanded to LOOK FOR JESUS! But Steven Anderson foolishly teaches that the Antichrist must appear first. I mentioned Pastor Anderson in this article simply because he is irrefutably the biggest denier of a pretribulation rapture, and he is wrong. I have given you two very solid reasons why the rapture must happen before the tribulation period:

1. Only a pretribulation rapture maintains Christ's sudden, imminent and surprise return at the rapture.
2. The Bible tells us to look for Jesus, not the Antichrist.

What more reasons do we need to conclude a pretribulation rapture? There are plenty more reasons, but these two should be enough to convince anyone that the rapture could happen at any time. There are no signs that precede the rapture. In Matthew 24 Jesus gives signs which will happen before His Second Coming, seven years after the rapture.