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“We believe as it concerns the Rapture, ‘it could happen today’ which is imminency.”

The doctrine of imminency, as espoused by pre-trib rapturists, is NOT explicitly taught in scripture, is an inference that presupposes this doctrine, but is in error.

And this error will have an egregious impact on the last generation church, which may greatly contribute to the Biblically prophesied “falling away” and “apostasy.”

Matthew 24:8-14
All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Is the mindset that is prepared for great trial the same as the mindset that is prepared for Christ taking us to Heaven? Not if one believes in imminency.

No need to look up:

Acts 1:11
who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

You should look up:

Luke 21:28
Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

Why is there no need to look up at one point, but the disciples were directed to look up at another future time? The return of Christ, described in the Olivet discourse as being AFTER the Great Tribulation, is only imminent when the proceeding 6 signs have been accomplished. Jesus says so.

Hebrews 10:25
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The doctrine of imminency is impossible to reconcile with this verse. You can’t have it both ways. If Christ’s return could be at any moment, then there could be no signs to watch for. What Day is the verse referring to? The Day of Christ. The Day when Christ returns. To those who remain on earth, it is the Day of Wrath.

How do we “see the Day approaching”?

Not by looking up (at least not at first), but by observing the signs. Remember that the Olivet discourse came as an answer to a few questions by the disciples, including what sign would tell them that He was about to return. He gave them 6 signs, with His return being the 7th sign of the “End”, i.e. Day of the Lord. The 6 signs of the Olivet discourse correspond to the 6 seals of Revelation 6. The 7th seal in chapter 8 marks the onset of the Day of the Lord where His wrath begins to be poured out on the earth. Chapter 7 depicts the rapture from the view of Heaven.

Matthew 24:3
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Those who embrace the pre-trib rapture doctrine must do mental backflips to make the return of Christ in the Olivet discourse something different and apart from His return for the Church.

A pre-wrath view harmonizes with the prophetic passages on Christ’s second coming. It distinguishes between the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Signs in the sun and moon appear at the end the Great Tribulation, but immediately prior to the Day of the Lord. Likewise, Christ’s return comes immediately after the Great Tribulation, but at the arrival of the Day of the Lord.

Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Matthew 24:29-31
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Revelation 6:12-17
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And 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, and 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! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The Bible teaches two mindsets with regard to the timing of Christ’s return. One is watchful readiness. The other is patiently waiting. We must watch and be ready, not because His return can happen at any moment, but because it will take those who are unprepared by surprise. But we must also wait patiently because we must go through great trials first.

Matthew 24:42
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

Acts 14:21-22
And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

James 5:7-8
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.