Gathering the Elect

The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected for judgment and cast from his presence.

On the Last Day, the righteous and the unrighteous are “gathered” before Jesus, the former for vindication and salvation, and the latter for judgment and condemnation. This event is linked in the New Testament to Christ’s “arrival” at the end of the age. On that day, he will resurrect the dead, judge the dead and living, terminate the “Last Enemy, Death,” and consummate the Kingdom of God.

The Bible presents a consistent picture. At the end of the present evil age, Jesus will appear “on the clouds of heaven” and assemble his elect to himself. The nations will be brought before him for judgment. All his enemies will be subjugated, including Death - “Death will be swallowed up in victory!” The righteous will receive immortal bodies, and “God will be all in all.”

[Harvest - Photo by martin bennie on Unsplash]

The bodily resurrection of the righteous is central to passages describing Christ’s return. Our final resurrection from the dead is essential to the Apostolic doctrine of salvation.

His return will be a day of great finality, both for the righteous and the wicked. Furthermore, the New Testament speaks of only one future coming of the Son of God, leaving no room for more interim periods after his return. His victory will be complete.

In the Parable of the ‘Wheat and Tares’, for example, Jesus pictures the final harvest when he will send the “reapers to gather up first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn.” He located this at the “end of the age.”

The “reapers” represent angels sent to “gather all things that cause stumbling” out of his Kingdom and cast them into the “furnace of fire.” In contrast to the wicked, the righteous will be gathered and “shine forth as the sun” - (Matthew 13:30, 13:40-43).

In his ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus describes his ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” when the nations of the Earth will see the “Son of Man coming on clouds.” On that day, he will send his “angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” – (Matthew 24:27-31).

In his Parable of the ‘Sheep and Goats,’ Jesus illustrates the judgment that will occur on that day. When the “Son of Man comes in his glory,” he will be accompanied by “all the angels,” and take his seat on the “throne of his glory.”

All nations will be “gathered before him” for judgment. He will separate the “sheep” from the “goats.” The “sheep” will inherit the Kingdom, but the “goats” will receive “everlasting punishment” - (Matthew 25:31-46).

ACCORDING TO PAUL

Likewise in Paul’s writings. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he describes the ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” of Jesus when faithful believers will become the Apostle’s “crown of glorying.” He prayed for God to establish their hearts “blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the arrival of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” – (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 3:13).

When Jesus “arrives,” the righteous dead will be resurrected and reunited with those still alive, and together they will be “caught up in clouds” and “meet” Jesus as he descends from Heaven. He will be accompanied by the “voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.” At the sound of the “trumpet” the “dead in Christ” will rise from their graves – (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

In his second letter, Paul describes the “revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power.” On that day, he will “render vengeance to those who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus,” and they will suffer “everlasting destruction.” In contrast, Jesus will be “glorified in his saints and marveled at in all those who believe” - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

In the next chapter, Paul explains the “Day of the Lord” and Christ’s “arrival” or ‘Parousia’. It will mean “our gathering together to him.” His statement echoes the saying of the ‘Olivet Discourse’ about the “gathering together of his elect.”

In his Corinthian correspondence, Paul declares that just as “in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his order, Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ's, at his arrival [‘Parousia’]” – (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

Paul again connects the resurrection of the righteous to the “arrival” of Jesus as he did in 1 Thessalonians. Not only so, but that event will mean the termination of death itself and the consummation of God’s Kingdom. Thus, “God will be all in all.”

At the “last trumpet,” the dead will be raised and those believers still alive will be transformed. Mortal men will “put on immortality,” and “death will be swallowed up in victory”, Death will be no more - (1 Corinthians 15:51-57).

The “arrival” of Jesus will be accompanied by angelic activity and the “trumpet.” The righteous dead will be resurrected and gathered to him along with those saints who remain alive, and each of us will be transformed and receive our immortal bodies. At the same time, the wicked will be gathered for judgment and punishment, “everlasting punishment from the face of the Lord.”

In each preceding passage, the New Testament refers to one and only one future “coming” or “arrival” of Jesus to gather his saints and judge the wicked. Thus, his return is foundational to and necessary for the completion of our salvation hope.

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SEE ALSO:

• Disinformation - (Rumors about the Day of the Lord caused alarm and confusion in the Thessalonian congregation – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

• The Great Day - (Jesus will arrive to gather his people to himself on the Day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ)

• Two Pivotal Events - (Two events must occur before the Day of the Lord begins - The Apostasy and the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness)

• Rumeurs et Désinformation - (Les rumeurs sur le Jour du Seigneur ont semé l'inquiétude et la confusion dans la congrégation de Thessalonique – 2 Thessaloniciens 2: 1-2)