Premillennialists take literally the events of Revelation 20:1-6. They see the church as "caught up" or suddenly "seized" by Christ to meet him "in the clouds . . . in the air" (1Th 4:7). This is necessary "for God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:9). We would therefore avoid the Tribulation which occurs next. Jesus "rescues us from the coming wrath" (1:10). This is in accordance with "the words of this prophecy" (Rev 1:3). "Blessed is the one who reads . . . and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near" (1:3). Premillennialism literally interprets this as a preliminary resurrection where "the dead in Christ will rise first [and] then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together" (1Th 4:16-17). It is an upward "snatching away" as distinguished from "when our Lord Jesus comes [downward, the next time] with all his holy ones" (3:13).
Jesus said, "'Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned'" (Jn 5:28-29). "'Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day'" (6:40). "Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day'" (11:24). "They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" (Rev 20:4). "This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them" (:5). "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies'" (Jn 11:25).
"God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation" (1Th 5:9). "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11). "Salvation is nearer to us than when we believed" (Rom 13:11). However, we are saved when we believe. But Christ "shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin" (Heb 9:28). It is "a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1Pe 1:5). We are therefore "those who eagerly await Him" (Heb 9:28). "We wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God" (Titus 2:13). "We through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness" (Gal 5:5) which is represented by the "crown of righteousness" (2Ti 4:8). We "wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead" (1Th 1:10).
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness" (Rom 1:18). But God does "not appoint us to suffer wrath" (1Th 5:9). "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Heb 9:27). The Lord is "the righteous judge" (2Ti 4:8). He "will judge the living and the dead, in view of his appearing and his kingdom" (4:1). Paul said God "will award me on that day [the crown of righteousness]--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (4:8). "Keep this command . . . until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time" (1Ti 6:14). "At the last trumpet . . . the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1Co 15:52). "When He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1Jn 3:3).
A concern of Paul's was "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him" (2Th 2:1). He explained to the Thessalonians "we do not want you to be uninformed . . . [because] God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus" (1Th 4:13-14). He used "the coming of the Lord" (:15) to clarify the position of "those who have fallen asleep in Jesus" (:14). They were to "comfort one another with these words" (:18) because "Jesus [also] died and rose again" (:14). Paul referred to "the coming of the Lord . . . [who] Himself will descend from heaven" (:15-16). Then "we shall always be with the Lord" (:17).