...that passage in mat 24 can not be the rapture for many reasons.
Right, it's not... there is no "rapture," there or anywhere else.
1) angels do the gathering, and the sender(JESUS), stays and does not participate.
Hmmm, well I agree about the angels... and the Sender... But the participation or lack thereof... <
chuckles> So Who (capital 'W') do the angels gather them to? <
smile> And for what? <
smile>
Added to that is that the gathering is in heaven, not earth.
Oh boy. Why do you think that, Rebuilder? Be specific. How can you not see that Jesus
brings heaven down to us? Does not John say that in his vision he
"saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband"...? And that's just after the final judgment, of course.
...that coming can only be after the wrath.
The wrath, Rebuilder, God's wrath, is synonymous with the final judgment and the result thereof for Satan himself and the unrepentant... eternal punishment... in terms of Revelation 20, the second death.
So you are basically saying after the wrath, Jesus sends angels all over heaven, and they are gathered in heaven to the white horses, when Jesus comes with millions of white horses, after the wrath, as a warrior ,and a judge , a destroying Judge.
Ugh. <
smile> I mean, maybe he/she is saying that, but... Yeah, ugh. Really, though, that's just what you foist upon them. Goodness gracious. <
chuckles>
3) on order to ascribe to the postrib rapture, you must also ascribe to the "one coming" theory.
Not a theory... <
chuckles> I'm certainly not a "post-tribber," Rebuilder, but as I said above to CrowCross, post-tribbers are in fact right in the respect that they understand the second resurrection to be combined, or general, to believers and unbelievers alike and occurring after the "Great Tribulation." <
smile>
All postribbers are forced to frame end times in one coming.
There is only one second coming of Christ. In just that, they are correct. <chuckles> There are not multiple second comings. If nothing else because then there would be a
second second coming ~ which sounds silly, I know ~ or
third coming ~ which also sounds silly. Yeah silliness is bad... <
smile>
So which one is it? The one after the 7 yr trib? The one before tge flood...( the pretrib coming)? The one during the trib in Rev 14:14?
<
chuckles> There is no future seven-year tribulation, as if it's actually seven 365-day periods
or separate in any real sense from the tribulation period we are in
right now, which Jesus fortold in John 16:33...
"I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
Which one is the only one?
<
smile> There is only one second coming of Christ... after the time of tribulation. There will be a time of
great tribulation near the end, as in a final conflict, but only one time of tribulation. And, when He comes, Christ will bring it to an end. And then, after the final judgment, eternity, and the new heaven and new earth ~ and not "new" in the sense of being created or never having existed before... As God says in Revelation 21;5,
"Behold, I am making all things new." An important distinction: He does not say, "I am making new things."<smile>
Grace and peace to you.