This article will cover a few verses from the Word of God that demonstrate that Christians will be here for the Great Tribulation. After the Tribulation, we will be raptured out, and the Wrath of God will fall on the world.
The quintessential passage on the Rapture is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, where we are told that the Lord will descend from Heaven at the sound of a trumpet, and we will be caught up with Him in the clouds:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
13 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.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 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.
16 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:
17 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.
Notice 2 features:
This same event is spoken of in Matthew 24, and it is clear that this happens after the Great Tribulation:
Matthew 24:21, 29-31
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There should not be controversy surrounding this doctrine. This is the same event, and it's clearly happening after the Great Tribulation.
The assertion comes from teachers of the Pre-Trib Rapture that the word "elect" in Matthew 24:31 is only referring to the Jews. Why would God rapture out unbelieving Jews? The answer comes that "all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:26).
That verse - which is covered in this detailed breakdown of Romans 11, since it is so often twisted - is saying that spiritual Israel will be made up of the saved (Galatians 3:29), not some Calvinistic notion that every single follower of the lying antichrist religion of Judaism (1 John 2:22-23), or all "ethnic Jews" will be saved.
This is why God told us, just two chapters earlier, that "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel", and that being Abraham's child after the flesh does not make one a child of Abraham (Romans 9:6-8), which I cover in-detail in an article titled Being Jewish is Not a Race. He also told us earlier in the book that:
Romans 2:28-29
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Also, we are to believe that all Jews during this certain generation are saved, after God has let generation after generation of Jews go to Hell in the interim. If all Jews born during the generation of the Rapture go to Heaven because of the way they are born, God is the definition of "a respecter of persons", in violation of Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11 - both verses which, by the way, are explicitly aimed at refuting the idea that ethnic Jews are superior based on birth.
Continuing on this point, followers of this doctrine ostensibly believe that this is something tied to ethnicity. The issue with that is that everyone has Abraham in their family tree. It's irrelevant.
Abraham lived 4,000 years ago, so his number of direct descendants (people having him in their family tree somewhere) is well, well into the billions of people, if not every human being on earth. Every single person has trillions of names in their family tree, as your number of ancestors doubles every generation - and while these are obviously not all unique names, Abraham is there somewhere, for billions of people, guaranteed. This makes them a direct descendant of Abraham, meaning if this is based on ethnicity, almost everyone will be raptured.
Since all Pre-Tribulational Rapture believers reject this fact, it just shows that they are basing their classification of who is "elect" on who is following the false religion of Judaism, which by the way, teaches that Jesus is burning in Hell (Gittin 57a:3-4).
We, as Christians, not physical (or religious) "Israel", are God's elect, as the Apostle Paul makes abundantly clear here by contrasting the two:
Romans 11:7
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
Therefore Matthew 24:31 is referring to us. The Scripture is replete with examples showing that Christians are God's elect. Notice that these verses are in epistles sent to Gentile believers:
1 Thessalonians 1:4
4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
Colossians 3:12
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
I also have an article dedicated to this topic, entitled Christians are God's Chosen People, Not Jews. It is not Biblical to teach that the "Jews" in the Middle East are those being spoken of in this passage in Matthew 24.
The parallel chapter to Matthew 24 in the Gospel of Mark is chapter 13, the relevant verses being:
Mark 13:19, 24-27
19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
This is describing the same event from 1 Thessalonians 4 and Matthew 24 - Christ comes in the clouds, and gathers His elect, after the Tribulation.
The passage in Mark is especially useful in debunking the idea that Matthew 24 and Mark 13 are only for the Jews - as is sometimes asserted by those who teach a Pre-Trib Rapture - as the chapter ends with these words:
Mark 13:35-37
35 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:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Above, Christ says that He is telling everyone who reads this passage to watch for the things that He discussed in the chapter, not just the Jews. The issue with this only being for the Jews is that unsaved Jews don't even believe the book of Mark, and among the saved there is neither Jew nor Gentile (Galatians 3:28). If the whole chapter only pertains to the Jews, what exactly are we watching for, if not the Tribulation, that He just spent the entire chapter discussing?
We are watching for signs that accompany the Tribulation, like when the Man of Sin is revealed, an event which Paul says must precede the Rapture:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
That's what we are watching for. How are we to watch for an imminent Rapture that has no warning signs? Paul clearly warns against that deceptive teaching above.
Is the Devil incarnate sitting in the Temple at Jerusalem exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped? No. Therefore the Rapture cannot happen yet.
A standard Pre-Tribulational response in defense of an imminent Rapture with no warning signs, is to mention that the Lord says "no man knoweth the day nor the hour" (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32) when He will return.
This does not present an issue for Post-Trib believers. Since we don't know exactly when the Tribulation will start, and since it will be cut short (Matthew 24:22, Mark 13:20), no one can pinpoint precisely when the Lord will return. However, as we've already discussed, we are explicitly told that it will be after the Tribulation (Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24).
Those verses do not say "no man will will ever know the day or the hour". Obviously, we will know in hindsight after the fact. And in context, we are given events that, when seen, alert us to the fact that the time is rapidly approaching, even though the precise time can't be dogmatically stated.
Also, notice that those verses are in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, which, as covered already, are chapters which Pre-Trib believers deny apply to Christians. Using these verses to teach an "imminent rapture" is not even consistent within Pre-Trib theology.
Often, the Post-Trib Rapture is attacked by mentioning that "God hath not appointed us to wrath" (1 Thessalonians 5:9), and that "we shall be saved from wrath" though Christ (Romans 5:9).
This is a conflation of two distinct terms. "Tribulation" is what the Man of Sin and the world does, and will do, to us, whereas "wrath" is what God will do to the world. This can be easily evidenced by that fact that part of the Tribulation is the Antichrist "making war with the saints" (Revelation 13:7) - obviously, something God's wrath would never include.
Notice the events preceding the beginning of God's Wrath in Revelation 6:
Revelation 6:12-13, 16-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The sun goes dark (verse 12), and the stars of heaven fall to earth (verse 13). These events are in the Rapture passages already discussed, and they occur after the Great Tribulation:
Matthew 24:29
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mark 13:24-25
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
These events signify the beginning of God's Wrath, which lasts for at least 3.5 years (Revelation 11:2-3), and we are already gone at that point. That's why our position is called the Post-Tribulation, Pre-Wrath Rapture.
The idea that if God loves us, He won't let us suffer tribulation at the hands of the world and the Devil, is nonsense, and requires a complete denial of reality and common sense.
Jesus specifically tells us that we will suffer tribulation, and in context this is always referring to what the world or the Devil is doing to us. He tells us this so that we won't be surprised (offended):
John 16:1, 4, 33
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Tribulation always has been and always will be a part of the Christian's life as long as they are on earth, and it never refers to the Wrath of God mentioned in Revelation 6:17:
Acts 14:22
22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 7:4
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
This false doctrine stems from a false view of Judaism, and is contrary to the New Testament's teaching towards who are the chosen and elect of God, which are Christians, not "Jews".
This doctrine is very popular in churches today, due to over a century of preaching by pastors influenced by the Scofield Reference Bible, along with books by John Nelson Darby and Clarence Larkin. Unfortunately, they are in for a surprise, and will be offended (John 16:1), despite the warnings that the Lord gives regarding the fact that the world is going to have one last finale of persecution in store for us before the Lord comes back.
I will never separate with someone based on a disagreement on the timing of the Rapture. However, Pre-Trib believers often will not just separate with you, but call you unsaved, and forbid you from coming to their church, if you are Post-Trib. This, it seems, more than most secondary doctrines, is forbidden to be challenged, or discussed, and no dissent is tolerated - because it doesn't stand up to Biblical scrutiny. However you believe on this doctrine, I implore you to resolve to never disbar a brother or sister in Christ based on what they believe about this topic.