AND is this really Scripture? Are those who are Christ’s thus divinely taught to expect to be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air”? Indeed they are, and the Scripture cannot be broken. So hopeless is the condition of this poor world, that, without holding out the least prospect of its improvement, or of men getting better, or of there being anything on earth for His people to hope for, the blessed Saviour, when He was leaving the world, said, “Now is the judgment of this world:” and to His own He added, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 12:31; 14:3.)
But though His own disciples were thus plainly led to look forward with joy to His coming again, it was not known till it was afterward revealed to Paul, and by him made known to the saints at Thessalonica as to how this would be accomplished. He there informs us that, by His coming again, we are to understand that “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven.” It is not therefore any mere spiritual manifestation of Christ, but the descent of Christ Himself from heaven. It is, then, “the Lord Himself” we are called on to look for. Hence the apostle elsewhere said, “We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” But we are further told that His coming then will be with “a shout (an assembling shout), with archangel voice, and with trump of God:” and the effect being, that the dead in Christ are raised, and the living in Christ changed; all the saints will then “be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so be forever with the Lord.” (1 Them 4:16-18.)
It is therefore impossible that anything can be more plainly stated than that we are to look for a personal coming of the same Jesus whom the disciples saw go into heaven—a coming again of the Lord Himself; that those who are raised then are only Christ’s—not one unbeliever is included, the action being limited to “those who are Christ’s”— and, being first changed, they are then “caught up,” translated to meet the Lord Himself in the air, and then will be forever with the Lord. No marvel, then, that it is elsewhere called the believer’s blessed hope; for how full of unmixed blessing! It is also a purifying hope; for “he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” It is a comforting hope; hence the saints are told to “comfort one another with these words.” What a soul-stirring prospect! How soon it may be a precious reality, that we hear His voice, see His face, and are caught up into His very presence, and then to be forever like Him, and with Him! And how sweet is the thought, that however men may try to explain away this blessed hope, we are told that the Holy Spirit teaches us to look up to Him now by faith, and say, “Come!” “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.”
“Caught up! caught up!” no wing required;
Caught up to Him—by love inspired,
To meet Him in the air!
Spurning the earth with upward bound,
Nor casting a single glance around,
Nor listing a single earth-born sound—
Caught up in the radiant air.
Panting with rapture and surprise,
“Caught up,” our fond affections rise,
Our coming Lord to meet;
Hearing the trumpet’s glorious sound,
Soaring to join the rising crowd,
Gazing upon the parted cloud,
Beneath His pierced feet!
O blessed, O thrice blessed word,
To be “forever with the Lord,”
In heavenly beauty fair!
Up! up! we long to hear the cry;
Up! up! our absent Head draws nigh;
Yea, “in the twinkling of an eye,”
“To meet Him in the air.”
But how appalling is the thought that many will be left behind for judgment. Professors of religion they may be, but not possessors of Christ as their Saviour. How dreadful will be their agony in finding the Lord’s faithful ones gone—those who have with the heart believed unto righteousness, those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour—and themselves shut out. Now it is sometimes scarcely possible to distinguish between a mere professor and a real possessor of life eternal, through faith in the Son of God. But then each will be truly manifested. And how eternal will be the separation between the believer and the unbeliever—the one taken to glory, to be forever with the Lord; the other made to feel the dread reality of the Saviour’s words, “I know you not!”
Dear reader, if the Lord Himself now descended from heaven, would you be caught up to enjoy unmingled and eternal rest and blessing with the lord Jesus? or would you be left behind for judgment? Of what vital importance are these questions! Do lay them to heart! You may dwell peaceably with your neighbors, enjoy life as people say for many years, die quietly, and be buried respectably; but be raised again from the dead you must, either at “the resurrection of life” with the saved, or at “the resurrection of damnation” with the lost, to be judged according to your works, and cast into the lake of fire. Oh, the blessedness of having fled to Jesus, the Son of God, for safety! of having Him as your life, righteousness, and glory! Is it not written, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”?