1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

For the LORD Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.

Many argue that there is no such thing as the "rapture" because the word "rapture" is not found in scripture. I am not sure how anyone could come to that conclusion after reading this passage. We know that Jesus promised His followers that He would come again. John 14:2b-3 says "...I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Jesus is coming back to get His followers and take us to the place He has prepared for us. He will not come quietly: it will be obvious He has arrived. The sounds that will be heard are sounds of triumph: a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God! The saints in the grave will rise up out of their graves and meet the LORD in the clouds....then, the rest of us (and I say "us" because I want so desperately for the rapture to happen in my lifetime!!!!!!) will rise up out of this earthly life and meet them in the clouds. We will be in the presence of the LORD for all eternity.

The phrase "caught up" comes from the Greek word harpazō (pronounced har-pad'-zo), which means "to seize, carry off by force, to snatch out or away". When the LORD comes to rapture the church, He will seize us, carry us off by the force of His will and snatch us away from this deteriorating existence into the perfect eternity that He has prepared for us. Fortunately for us, there are examples of the rapture in scripture. Hebrews 11:5 says "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." 2 Kings 2:11-12a says "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more..." Enoch and Elijah were both "raptured" out of the earth by the God Whom they loved and served. I believe these two men serve as examples of what will happen with the believers when the LORD Jesus Christ returns to the earth.

As important as the rapture, is the condition of man's soul when this event occurs. When Jesus returns to take the church out of the world, will you be ready to go back with Him?