Rapture Of The Church

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 NLT

And now dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to believers who have died so you will not grieve like those who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns God will bring back with Him the believers who have died. 

In this part of the scripture this is in reference to the first resurrection of the church who have died, and have gone on to be with the Lord.  The bible says, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord".  Which means that when we die, our spirit man goes to be with Jesus Christ (only those who accepted Christ as their Saviour), and their body is buried in the ground, or are cremated, or those who have given themselves in war.  Regardless of how a person dies, God knows where their bodies are at, and God will raise their bodies at the time of the rapture (harpazo/rapierum - snatching up, carry away).  Some versions will use "sleep" as a metaphor for "death", but whatever the term is being used, God will raise the bodies of those who have died and they will be joined with their spirit man up in heaven, their bodies will be transformed.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. NLT

We tell you this directly from the Lord, we who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet Him ahead of those who have died, for the Lord Himself will come down, with a commanding shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the ones who have died will rise from their graves, then we who are alive and remain on earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air then we will be with the Lord forever.

In this part of the scriptures, it describes what we call the RAPTURE. It is taken from the Greek word "HARPAZO" and the Latin word "RAPIERUM".  This event will take place before the Great Tribulation. I believe this could happen in the next four years. I'm a believer of PRE-TRIB rapture.  The trumpet call of God is not in reference to judgment that God is pouring upon all mankind during the Great Tribulation, instead it refers to the time of the Feast of Trumpets.  The feast of Trumpets take place before Rosh Hashanah. When the last trumpet is played during the Feast of Trumpets, I believe that the rapture of the church will happen.  The believers in Christ will be snatched away, and their bodies will be transformed in a blinking of an eye (less than a second), and we will be with Jesus for all eternity.

The reason for the rapture of the church is that God needs to pull out His Bride from the time of Great Wrath.  The church is NOT called unto Wrath, and therefore we must be taken away.  

John 14:2,3

There is more than enough room in my Father's home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  When everything is ready I will come and get you,, so that you will always be with me wheere I am.

We the church have the promise from Jesus that He is going to come for His Church His Bride, and take us away to His Father's House, so that we will be able to participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and we will also go before the Bema Seat of Christ where we will receive our rewards/crowns.  Because we have this promise that Jesus is coming for us, we can believe that the "RAPTURE" of the Church is inevitable, and needs to happen.