The faithful are watching while waiting, scoffers are scoffing, and the unfaithful are busy preparing for this event by establishing plausible deniability for its occurrence. There is no doubt this event will take place, and it will happen before God pours out His wrath upon the wicked who now encompass the righteous. Other writings have dealt with all of the intricacies of this event. Therefore, this article will focus on the question, ‘Will You Be Caught Up? The simplest answer is only those who know Christ will meet Him in the air when He calls the faithful, dead and living, upward. This answer undoubtedly breeds another question: Who are the faithful?
The Faithful
The faithful are those who have decided to follow Jesus, no matter what. They are those who study God’s Word with the intent of following the guidance found therein. The faithful do not waiver when adversity strikes. Instead, they press on in the battle, knowing that God is on their side, and if He is for them, none can stand against them (Rom 8:31). This is not to say that no evil will befall the faithful. No, Scripture clearly indicates that the faithful may suffer persecution and even death at the hands of the wicked (Matt 10:21). However, it is only the body the persecutors may harm. They cannot touch the eternal part of man, for it is God alone that can deal with the soul of man (Matt 10:28).
Jesus provided the best description of a faithful one when He told His disciples what the qualifications of a true disciple were:
Matthew 16:24-26
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Notice that Jesus is interested in those who will forsake the world and all of its enticements for a life of simply following the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, a life known to be fraught with dangers and sacrifice. Jesus is looking for those who will live each day as one who is dead to the world and alive through Christ (Gal 2:20). He is looking for those who will follow the will of the Father, just as He did. These are the faithful ones He will call His own in the air:
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven [These are the faithful]. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Scoffers Scoffing
The Apostle Peter, in his second epistle, writing to those of like precious faith, warned that in the last days, scoffers would come. Thankfully, Peter provides the identifying traits of these scoffers. First, they walk after their own lusts, which means they are all about me – me – me. Secondly, they sarcastically cast doubt on the Lord’s coming because, according to them, nothing has changed since the beginning of creation. Clearly, they have willingly chosen to disregard some major changes that took place since God made the heavens and earth and all that is in them. Let us take a closer look at the passage in for clarity:
2 Peter 3:1-7
“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (emphasis mine)
After carefully laying out the facts about those he labels scoffers, Peter notes that they are willingly ignorant, meaning they do not want the truth to be the truth. Instead, they would rather believe lies (2 Tim 4:4). This is the exact opposite demeanour of the faithful discussed earlier. The faithful study in order to know exactly what God has said in His written Word so they may follow well (2 Tim 2:15). Scoffers, on the other hand, reject the truth so they do not have to be faithful. This is the root of their problem, “they walk after their own lusts” (2 Pet 3:3). As previously noted, some of those who scoff are busy, as busy can be, doing things in the name of the Lord. The problem is they are not on a mission from God. Instead, they do what they do in order to fulfil their own heart’s desire. These will be told by Jesus to depart, for He never knew them. By the way, Jude also wrote of the scoffers — or mockers as the King James Version renders the word. Interestingly, the Greek word Jude uses carries the implication that these mockers are false teachers. Therefore, these are they that would also mislead others onto the path of self-willed rejection of truth. Those who are misleading the flock must be rejected, for the end of the age of grace is nigh, and the body of Christ must be made ready, instead of being lulled to sleep by those who would harm them.[5]
This is serious business, for eternity hangs in the balance. One can wear the proper attire, attend the appropriate functions, and say all of the right things, and still be found unfaithful. Why? Because faithfulness is not gauged by works. Instead, it is determined by willingness to hear, accept, and do the Father’s will, no matter the cost. The latter must be the attitude of the Christian until the moment of graduation, whether by grave or in the air. One additional group should be discussed here; these are the ‘unfaithful’ who reject Christ but believe in the removal of the faithful from the earth.
The Believing Unfaithful
Many of the powers that be, including those in the entertainment industry, believe in a pre-tribulational catching up of the bride of Christ. All one needs to do to prove this is to examine the narrative of the wicked, which includes the plots of many modern-day movies. More and more of the latest films are based on end-times tribulation. Those who propagate these films may not fully understand bridal departure and the subsequent Tribulation; however, they believe there will be a grand departure of many people, and they are preparing the masses for it. This is because they want to be able to spin the narrative after the departure to benefit themselves and their cohorts.
In these films, the departed are often depicted as those who had to be removed so the earth could survive. Some of the movies even portray the idea that man can change the outcome of the event by going back in time and intervening. Undoubtedly, those who prepare the minds of the masses will succeed in convincing a large part of the populace. After all, the faithful who knew about it will have been removed, and the internet will quickly be scrubbed of anything to do with God. The saddest part about the believing unfaithful is they are so close to the kingdom of heaven as they understand that God almighty will, one day soon, send the Son to claim His bride. If they would but renounce their own lordship and accept the free gift of salvation, they could become one of the faithful. Instead, they would rather develop plausible deniability for the event by offering up a variety of reasons for the sudden vanishing of a great multitude. One so-called false narrative is that of alien abduction, which is becoming more and more believable due to the major increase in UFO sightings and such. Let me be clear, based on Scripture, there will be no aliens coming to take people away from the earth. The only otherworldly beings that will be seen in the coming years are angels and demons.
With all of this coming upon the faithful, it would be easy to lose heart while waiting. However, we can be encouraged by the fact that God will never leave nor forsake us (Heb 13:5), and He will remain in control no matter what our human senses tell us.
The Faithful, Encompassed by the Wicked
One last thing should be discussed here: While waiting, the faithful are becoming increasingly surrounded by the wicked of the world who wish to be done with God and His people. To the faithful, this may seem like the godly cease to exist; however, the prophetic psalmist, King David, had this to say about that:
Psalm 12
“Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.”
Truly, we live in a day when the vilest of men have been exalted in all of the land. Because of this, wickedness abounds. These circumstances would cause most to lose sleep as they brood over the success of the wayward. However, the faithful see this as an opportunity to call upon the Lord for help. They understand that He is able to cut off those who, being full of pride, speak vain things. Ultimately, the faithful know that God will preserve them forever, even though the wicked fully encompass them.
Notice, David ties the preservation of the faithful to the fact that God’s words are pure. This means that God does not remove the faithful from the midst of the wicked. Instead, the faithful are reassured that they are safe in God, even when surrounded by evil. Additionally, though believers are often surrounded by the wicked, this is only for the purpose of being the salt and light that the wicked can either accept or reject. Fortunately, at the appointed time, the caught up will take place in order to remove the faithful prior to the wrath of God being poured out upon the wicked who have become earth-bound.
Conclusion
Jesus is coming for the faithful regardless of the scoffing of the scoffers and the machinations of the unfaithful who are busy deceiving and being deceived. The signs of the times are clear that this event is going to happen very soon. Therefore, each of us must examine our motives for doing what we do in order to determine if we are faithfully seeking and doing ALL of God’s will (faithful) or if we are simply using God for our purposes (unfaithful).
Know this, the catching away of the faithful is about to happen, and where you spend eternity hangs in the balance. It is a one-time event, and those who do not make the upward call will enter into the worst period of turmoil the planet has ever seen? With this knowledge firmly set before you, it would be wise to examine yourself in the light of this question: “Will I meet Jesus in the Air?”
Article partly from C. Gray Adams
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