Caught up IS the rapture!!!
1 THESS 4:13-18
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.============ The truth of the very near rapture IS a great comfort to real born again believers. and you??
Apostle Paul didn't use the word rapture. That word is not in the Greek texts. He used Greek
harpazo which the KJV translators rendered to "caught up". That's what I use, because the word rapture has been misused by those on John Darby's 1830's pre-tribulational rapture doctrine, which Darby originally taught would be a secret rapture.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul revealed that Jesus will bring the "asleep" saints with Him when He comes, and then those of us alive will be caught up to Him (and them) on that day, and then Zech.14 reveals we go with Him to Jerusalem on earth. Acts 1 reveals Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives how He ascended to Heaven from there.
Matthew 24 and Mark 13 reveals at Christ's coming, His angels gathering the saints, both those saints from heaven, and the saints alive on earth, which is in agreement with 1 Thess.4.
1 Thess.4 also reveals that those dead in Christ will be resurrected first when Jesus comes, before the alive saints are 'caught up'. 1 Corinthians 15 agrees with this also, and gives the timing of the "last trump" when this will happen, and defines the resurrection, and in what body the alive saints will be changed to at the twinkling of an eye.
Thus 1 Thessalonians 4 does not... stand alone as evidence for a post-tribulational coming of Jesus Christ and gathering of His Church.