Bible Verses: 1 Thessalonians 4:16 – 17 (Verse in Image) is described further in Revelation 19:11 till Revelation 20:6 where for example:

“the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) = “First Resurrection” (Revelation 20:4 – 6)

What does the Bible Teach in Verses above when ‘Combined’ (Context)?

1. i) No Pre-tribulation nor Mid Tribulation Rapture

Proof Verses of Tribulation happening in ‘full’ first (It is simple: Please note Verse order in a “Timeline”):

Matthew 24:9 – 14, Revelation 13:15 – 18 is the beginning of the “Full Tribulation Timeline Description”.

1. ii) Second Coming of Christ happens Immediately after the “Full” Tribulation is over

The sign Preceding the Second Coming of Christ on a White Horse is that the “abomination of desolation” sets himself up in the temple declaring himself as “god”.

This is the “Full Tribulation Timeline”: (Matthew 24:15 – 8, 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 13:19 till Revelation 19:10).

iii) Lord Jesus Christ only Returns Once and it is ‘after’ the Full Tribulation

Lord Jesus Christ Returns Gloriously on His White Horse Destroying the “Beast or Antichrist” First, next as shown in ‘Consecutive Verses’ (in the ‘order’ it is Written in the Bible):

Matthew 24:29 – 30, Revelation 19:11 – 21.

A Key phrase to prove ‘post Tribulation rapture’:

“But immediately AFTER the TRIBULATION of those days…” (Matthew 24:29, NASB)

iii) Rapture during His Second Coming Return on the White Horse

Verses (in the same ‘Consecutive’ order as it is Written in the Bible):

Matthew 24:31, Matthew 24:36 – 41, Revelation 20:4 – 6, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 – 17.

Those Raptured will be ‘Sheepfold1 or believers of Faith in Christ only’ who will be transformed to be part of His Marriage (as His Bride) followed by the ‘First Resurrection’ (Revelation 20:4 – 6, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 – 17) while the ‘lawless’ ones will be rejected entrance to His Kingdom on this ‘Day’ (Matthew 7:20 – 23, Matthew 24:50 – 51) which will be followed by His 1000 Millennial Reign of Christ (Revelation 20:5).

Conclusion

There is no ‘two Coming of Christ’ (one secret, and another open as popularly erred in some modern denominations).

His Single Return is what is Written in Holy Scripture and is Taught in the Bible. And during His Glorious Return, believers from all over the earth & heavens (the ‘elect’) will be Raptured to meet Him at the place of His Return (Matthew 24:39 – 41, Matthew 24:30 – 31, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 -17) who will next be part of the First Resurrection after His Marriage in Heaven (Revelation 20:4 – 6).

Key Phrases proving that there is only One Return of Christ & a ‘Rapture’ happens during this Time ‘only’:

“… SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Matthew 24:30 – 31, NASB)

“For the COMING of the SON of MAN will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did NOT UNDERSTAND until the flood came and took them all away; so will the COMING of the SON of MAN be. “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.” (Matthew 24:37 – 41, NASB)

“For the LORD HIMSELF will DESCEND from HEAVEN with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 – 17, NASB)

“And I saw HEAVEN OPENED, and behold, a WHITE HORSE, and HE who sat on it is called FAITHFUL and TRUE, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. HIS EYES are a FLAME of FIRE, and on HIS HEAD are many DIADEMS; and He has a Name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.” (Revelation 19:11 – 12, NASB)

Simple isn’t it? (as it is Written)

P/S: Did First Christianity teach ‘Pre Trib or Mid Trib Rapture?’

No. Surprising to most modern church going Christians, there is ‘no pre & mid trib rapture’ nor ‘two coming of Christ’ theology in First Christianity. These are ‘modern inventions of doctrines by miss understanding Verses’.

How can a modern scholar know something which is absolutely absent from Earliest Church History?

It’s ridiculous.

Here are the Real Church History Facts proving this:

1) The popular Rapture theory is a modern invention

To quote:

“Pre-tribulation rapture theology originated in the eighteenth century, with the Puritan preachers Increase and Cotton Mather, and was popularized extensively in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby[12][13] and the Plymouth Brethren,[14] and further in the United States by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible in the early 20th century.”

2) First Christianity doesn’t even have any Trace of a ‘modern Rapture theory’ but believes these Verses as Described prior

To quote:

“Though the term “rapture” is derived from the text of the Latin Vulgate of 1 Thess. 4:17—”we will be caught up”, (Latin: rapiemur), Catholics, as well as Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans and most Reformed Christians, do not generally use “rapture” as a specific theological term, nor do any of these bodies subscribe to the premillennialist dispensationalist theological views associated with its use, but do believe in the phenomenon—primarily in the sense of the elect gathering with Christ in Heaven after his Second Coming.[8][9][10] These denominations do not believe that a group of people is left behind on earth for an extended Tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.”

Both Quotes are from the source below:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture

Blessed be Lord Jesus Christ!

Maranatha, even so come Lord Jesus, Amen.