It is incredible to report it, but the very clear and orderly words of Jesus in Matthew 24 do not say anything about a secret unannounced rapture. Look at these verses carefully:
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 will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
First, there is a tribulation that we must come to the end of. Then, Jesus says that AFTER THE TRIBULATION, a celestial show begins.
Then, the Lord is seen, on the clouds.
This is the testimony of Jesus Christ, and nowhere does he insert a discussion about another, secret coming to take away the church, prior to tribulation. The gathering of the elect, as Jesus describes it, comes "after the tribulation of those days."
This is simple and quite clear.
And look at John chapter 6. FOUR times Jesus says he will raise us up AT the LAST day. The LAST day is defined in John 12:48. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:6-9 where Paul says that WE WILL GET RELIEF - not tribulation saints - but we, the church (if 1 Thess 5:9 applies, so does 2 Thess 1:6-9) and he says THIS WILL HAPPEN WHEN - Jesus is revealed from Heaven visibly and to punish unbelievers - and those who do not obey the gospel.