Others will see that they are gone. I think you the word that is more accurate is not visible. Secret implies no-one will know. The entire world will know that something has happened. And with all the books and movies and preaching about the rapture, how would the world not know?
The deception will be to explain it away, somehow.
Douggg, I believed in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, unquestioned, until I was 16 or 17 years old. Then I read Luke 17 and this time I wasn't satisfied with not understanding Luke 17:37 "Where the carcasses are, there the vultures will gather". I thought the previous verses were about the rapture (one taken, the other left) but verse 37 didn't make sense in that context ("Why would Christians' bodies be eaten by vultures? Isn't that dishonorable? And why would bodies be left? Doesn't it say, "We will not all die, but we will all be changed?"). I prayed for God to grant me understanding of what Jesus meant when He said that. Then I learned this statement was also in Matthew 24. By studying them closely side by side, I realized the true identity of the taken.
Luke 17:26-27
26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and
destroyed them all.
Matthew 24:38-39
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and
took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
The
taken in the context of the flood were the wicked, who were killed/destroyed when the floodwaters came. So the taken in the context of Jesus' return are the wicked who are destroyed at His coming.
Luke 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be
taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be
taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be
taken and the other left.”
37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Now I understand Jesus was plainly saying they would die and vultures would eat their carcasses. So these passages (Luke 17 and Matthew 24) do not predict a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church--and Jesus does give the two true signs of His return:
1) It will be visible to everyone (Luke 17:24, Matthew 24:17) and,
2) Wicked people will die, and vultures will feast on their carcasses.
(See Revelation 19:17-18,21.)
So then I said, "The pre-tribulation rapture of the Church isn't here. So, where is it?" And I went off on a search of the Scriptures until I became convinced the Scriptures testify to a Post-Tribulation Resurrection Rapture of the Church. I can't believe in Pre-Tribulation Rapture even if I wanted to. It's simply not biblical. Not only does it not appear, but many verses squash the theory in all its facets. People either have to either ignore the clear teaching of the Bible or not read it and trust the teachers that they are telling the truth. This is not the time to be implicitly trusting teachers.
Jesus repeatedly and earnestly warned His followers that many people would be deceived.
Matthew 24:4-6, 11, 23-26
And Jesus answered and said to them: “
Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
deceive many...
11 Then many false prophets will rise up and
deceive many...
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’
do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders
to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’
do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’
do not believe it.
This chapter is all about the Tribulation. In fact, verse 21-22, before Jesus' three warnings about the deception of false returns says:
Matthew 24:21-22
For then there will be
great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
I want you to see this: why would people be looking for Jesus in the middle of the Tribulation unless there
hadn't been a Pre-Tribulation Rapture? Why would Jesus spend so much breath warning the Church about deceptions if the Church was going to leave the earth before the Tribulation even started?
I'm human and I prefer comfort as much as anyone. But God specifically warns against putting self-preservation higher than Him. And God's ways are not our ways. He's chiefly concerned about the salvation of souls and the sanctification of the Church (being made by the Holy Spirit to increasingly reflect Christ). Jesus faced tribulation and suffering and we do, too.
Luke 17:31-33
31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33
Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Matthew 10:34-29
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mark 8:34-38
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
John 12:23-26
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25
He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Luke 9:23-26
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
Jesus includes six times in the four gospels. It is important! Not all Christians become martyrs, but Jesus wants Christians to be willing to give up their lives if it is demanded of them.
Are we any different than the Christians who are now being beheaded or otherwise executed by ISIS? Jesus didn't rapture them before ISIS took control. The world keeps hearing of Christians submitting to execution rather than renouncing their faith in Jesus and converting to Islam. Their blood testifies to the world over and over again that Christians consider Jesus to be worth more than preserving their physical lives.
For the sake of your soul, please earnestly seek the truth and don't assume you will be raptured before the Tribulation comes. Perhaps you are thinking, well, if I am wrong, I'll know when the Tribulation starts and then I'll change my mind. Maybe not. There would be all those people who will attempt to deceive you with false christs and false returns of christ. Perhaps you will deceive yourself, "I am here, so this is not
the Tribulation and this is not the mark of the beast." (Taking the mark of the beast amounts to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, because it is
unforgivable.) Perhaps you will be so mad at God because He is allowing you to live among the wickedness and despair that you will consider Him unfaithful and you will no longer believe.
The ten virgins of Matthew 24 were all looking for the bridegroom (all professed Christians), but the foolish virgins didn't have enough oil. Oil commonly stands for the Holy Spirit. They assumed he would come by a certain time before they ran out of oil, but he came "late". (The wise virgins, by contrast, had extra oil for themselves because they had planned for his "late" arrival.) The foolish virgins aren't able to endure. Probably they commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (unless they are deceived and never had the Holy Spirit) because they are unprepared for the deception and severe trials of the Tribulation. Once the bridegroom comes, the door is permanently shut. When the five foolish virgins come to it, the bridegroom will not open it to them. Don't be a foolish virgin! Be an overcomer!
Revelation 12:11
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.