Rapture Not Secret

There is no "secret" rapture

 The best selling books of the " left behind" series tells of a time when God will secretly remove all His people from the earth at a single moment, while leaving only the wicked sinners on the earth, but what does the bible say about Jesus' return to earth? What will happen to the environment when Jesus returns?

 Amos 5:20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

The return of Jesus will cause the sun to stop shining, it will be a dark day. The earthly elements will melt from His power and everything in the earth will be burned up.

What will be the response of the people on the earth when Jesus comes?

Revelation 6:15-16 15And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

Everyone on the earth not saved will be in terror, so much that they will do everything possible to hide and escape presence of Jesus Christ because they know they are guilty as sinners.

What is Jesus' purpose for returning?

 Isaiah 13:3, 9-13
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger --- Those who rejoice in My exaltation." 9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine11 " I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.

It is clear, that when Jesus returns it will be a day of chaos and calamity both for the planets in the sky, our earth and for sinners. It is a day of terror and destruction for sinners alive on the earth and a day of salvation for God's people.

But what about Jesus coming as a thief, doesn't that support a secret return?

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 6
2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 4 6 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

 The previous text demonstrates that the return of Jesus will be like a thief only in the way that nobody knows what day it will occur and the lost will be caught unprepared; without a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. However, God's people that have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ will not be caught unexpectedly because they are prepared spiritually for Jesus' return and have confessed and put away all sin from their lives.

The return of Jesus will be a day of terror, calamity and destruction, how could it be a secret? The elements will melt from the extreme heat and all sinners will be destroyed, that's anything but secret