How Do the Rapture and the Second Coming Fit Together ??

 There are two main views of the Rapture/Second Coming combo:
(1)the Rapture comes first, SEPARATE from the Second Coming, or
(2)the Rapture occurs AT the Second Coming of Christ.
Dr. R.C.Sproul believes the latter. If i could talk to him,
I'd like to tie him to a chair and tell him that he is totally missing the boat,
mishandling the interpretation. of the Rapture/Second Coming duo.
I would tell him, "You have to fit the Antichrist (AC) into the equation."
For we read that, "the Beast [the Antichrist] will make war against the saints
[the Christians, ie, the predominantly Christian nations] and overcome them."
Thereby he "gains power over every..nation"(Revelation 13.7).
This literal war would KILL millions of Christians, accounting for
the departure of millions of saved souls together -
at the outset of his reign over the world, iow, at the very start of the Tribulation Period.
That departure of saved souls would fulfill the prophecy of the Rapture.

In short, the conquest of the world by the Antichrist
would be the logical time for the Rapture to occur -
in the context of his "making war against [and killing] the saints"(Rev 13.7).
And since the time of the AC "making war" would at
the START of the Tribulation (which is the period of his reign),
this means the Rapture is far removed from the Second Coming.
For the Second Coming is at the END of the Tribulation, the end of the reign of the AC.

This idea (that we have to fit the AC into the equation) is confirmed where it says,
"But that day [of the Rapture] can not happen unless..the Man of Sin
[aka] the Son of Destruction is revealed"(2 Thessalonians 2.3).
In other words, the Rapture is DEPENDENT upon the AC.
The Rapture cannot come before the (wartime) destruction
which "reveals" the Destroyer ("the Son of Destruction").
Logically, the destruction that the AC launches would have to be
what "reveals" him as the Destroyer ("the Son of Destruction").
Next, as soon as that destruction, that destructive military attack, occurs,
the Rapture (of a representative part of) the Church can also occur.
For as saved people die, their souls are always raptured to heaven.

This is supported by Paul the apostle's own experience.
It was when he was stoned to death temporarily(Acts 14.19-20),
That Paul was "caught up to the third heaven", ie raptured (2 Corinthians 12.2-4).
The same Greek word {harpazo) is used in 2 Cor. 12.2-4
as is used in 1 Thessalonians 4.17, where it refers to the Rapture.
Since Paul's Rapture-of-one occurred at his death,
We can conclude that the End Time (mass) Rapture will occur as mass death occurs,
As WMDs, weapons of mass destruction, are used by the Antichrist,
aka "the Son of Destruction," the Destroyer(2 Thessalonians 2.3; Rev 9.11).