The Day of the Lord will come as a snare on the inhabitants of the earth, including the believers who have not been looking constantly to Christ. The Christians who have allowed the love of the world to interfere with their sowing to the life of the Spirit of God will not have the inner power to enable them to join together with the elect who have been raised from the dead.

It is not possible to be entangled with the things of the world, as so many Christians are today, and then respond successfully to the trumpet of God in the Day of Christ.

Why would the Lord Jesus urge us to "remember Lot's wife" if it were not possible to lose our crown at the very moment of the return of the Lord?

When the Lord appears and the dead are raised, we who are alive and remain will be summoned by the Lord's power and by His angels to join ourselves with those who have been resurrected.

If we have been living in the world—our heart being entangled in things, in circumstances, in human relationships—we will not be able to respond. We will delay while we are attempting to tear ourselves loose from our material entanglements. The delay will prove to be fatal.

Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were dragged out of Sodom by the angels of God. But before they had reached safety Lot's wife looked back. Lot's wife had left Sodom in her body but not in her heart. She was out of Sodom but Sodom was not out of her. Thus she was destroyed.

So it will be when Christ returns. Christians all over the world will be summoned by the Spirit to join themselves with those who have been raised from the dead so all may be lifted up together to meet the Lord in the air.

But each believer must respond in faith or else he or she will be destroyed with the world.

We may imagine that it will be easy to respond to Christ's Word of command in that Day. Indeed it shall be a joyous opportunity to respond to Christ's summons if, like the Apostle Paul, we have turned aside from everything in life in order that we may attain the resurrection from the dead.

But for the average believer of today it will be extremely difficult and—in numerous instances—utterly impossible to respond to the trumpet of the Day of Christ.

For the Christian who is entangled in the affairs of this world it will be impossible to go forth to meet Christ.

The conduct of Lot's wife, who was yearning after her home and sons-in-law, proves that such is the case.

It will not be a light matter to go to meet Christ, leaving behind all that we hold dear, not giving a second thought to our home, our possessions, our valuables, our loved ones and acquaintances.

For those who are entangled in the world it will be impossible to leave at a moment's notice.

To be continued.