From the Ask Pastor John podcast inbox, hello, my name is Lydia, I listen to you daily

from Argentina.

I really wanted to thank you for your podcast.

I enjoy it and learn a lot with every episode.

My question for Pastor John is this, what are your thoughts about the rapture of the church

and what we should do to prepare for it?

I wrote a piece about this a long time ago with a lot of definitions and arguments that

you could check out at Desiring God website, but it's only brief here.

The rapture refers to the rising of the church to meet the Lord Jesus in the air at his

second coming.

So here's a description of it in 1 Thessalonians 416.

The Lord himself will descend from heaven.

This is the second coming.

We'll descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the

Trump of God and the dead in Christ.

So all your dead friends who are believers will rise first and then we who 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.

That's what is referred to as the rapture, the world where rapture to be snatched up

or snatched up into the clouds.

So my first thought about the rapture is that it is true and wonderful and encouraging.

In fact Paul concludes that paragraph in 1 Thessalonians 4 with these words or 18, therefore

...