For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which 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. (1 Thes 4:15-17).
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished... For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive... Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor 15:16-18, 22, 51-52)
Neither the living nor the dead have the power to ascend to be with Jesus. The power comes from above. It is God's will (Jesus's) that they ascend as they will. Only those who are either "dead in Christ" or alive in Christ will ascend unto Heaven. All the dead and living who are not in Christ will be left behind.
When the trumpet sounds, it will be too late to choose. I suppose all will hear the trumpet but only those who have been awaiting Jesus's return will react to its sound. Those dead to Christ will surely look up in amazement into the sky and wonder what is happening. They will be left behind, but maybe will even consider themselves fortunate for having missed the "abduction". Likely, the rapture will be written off as alien kidnapping or some other foolish idea.
The time when God tires of rebellious living and leaves sinners behind will be as in the days of Noah:
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Mat 24:36-39)
Those who are alive today don't know when the rapture will come. Neither did Noah, but he prepared for that day. Yes, Noah and his family, eight in number, where raptured from the earth and saved from perishing. That is a picture of the end-of-time rapture. In that situation, the door to the ark was trusting in the Lord - the last chance to be born again with Noah. In the new world, all who entered in would be born again. Note that at that time they would not be perfect, as we soon found out, but given another chance. At the real rapture, all those who are saved will be perfected in body and mind - or glorified.
Noah's ark is symbolic of Heaven. The eight were saved in the ark. Thus, righteous Noah was symbolic of perfect Jesus. The cleansed earth to which they returned was symbolic of the New Earth to which the City of God will return in the end of time. Noah knew what he was doing. He trusted the Word who instructed him on the ark's design to save him and his household. God Designed the ark, and Noah obeyed. Jesus is the Word.
Noah trusted in Jesus before Jesus was ever born. Therefore, Noah, as well as Elijah, Moses, Abraham, and the other patriarchs will be the first to rise at the rapture as they believed in Jesus before God ever came in the Flesh.
Noah was saved by the water, and actually looked forward to salvation by the blood. Those are the two conditions for salvation (John 19:34, 1 John 5:6). Sinners can only be saved by water and the blood. Those who were raptured were saved by both the water from God and the blood of Jesus. Those who were left behind denied both the water and the blood. Were those two events? No. When Jesus died, he was pierced in the side, and water and blood both came forth.
Some suppose that means regeneration and baptism. I do not. Blood represents Jesus - the Lamb - who made the final sacrifice for sin, and water represents the Holy Spirit who experienced death with him but lived. Blood is the sacrifice but water is the Power to save. Noah shed innocent blood at the altar after he was saved in recognition that the blood is what saves, and the water was the power which floated the vehicle of salvation. The flood of Noah represents the power of God's Holy Spirit.
Read the story of Noah and the ark: Gen 5:32-10:1. The door to the ark represented a choice. It is the "straight gate" referred to in the New Testament. Only by that gate was salvation possible. Whose "gate" was it? God's! He was the one who made the gate, allowed anyone (whosoever) to enter, then Himself closed the gate after anyone who would came aboard. That "choice" was the trumpet sounding. God gave them all a choice right up to the last trump. Likewise, in the end of days, everyone will have a chance until the last trumpet. The sound of the trumpet closes the opportunity, All who would have come in will have done so.
When God closed the door to the ark, the time had come for the rapture. The water from the bowels of the earth snatched the blessed up in the ark and they were saved, and they were few. Those who had not entered the door to the ark were left behind and perished. They were destroyed by water, which God promised never to do again. The destruction at the end of days will be by fire. Those who fail to enter the gate and walk the path (the ramp into the ship in Noah's day) will perish. They will be left behind to be destroyed alongside Satan.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Mat 7:13-14)
Those last verses are our choices to be raptured. They are no different than all the peoples' choices in Noah's time. That door to the ark was the same door as the "gate" mentioned above. Not just anyone can enter in because it, just like the gate to Paradise, it must be guarded by cherubim.
Note that it was God who shut the door to the ark. I'm sure he used His angels for that task. Did cherubim shut the door? I think they may have. The password to the gate to Paradise was the Name of God - Jesus. By no other Name can anyone be saved (Acts 4:12). The Name Jesus was the password to enter the ark. Not just saying the Name but realizing Jesus's purpose: to save by the water and blood - his own!
Broad was the way which led to the world's destruction. There was not even a door it was so wide. All the people of the world needed to do is trust Jesus for salvation by entering into the door of the ark. They failed to do that one simple thing and were left behind. The same holds true for the rapture. To be snatched up from death merely requires trusting Jesus. He supported Peter in the water, and he will support you in the air. Let all who will ascend with Jesus. That's the prize for which all Christians await! Don't be left behind. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - eternal life (John 14:16)!
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