Gathering the Elect

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

On the Last Day, both the righteous and the unrighteous will be assembled before Jesus, the former for vindication and salvation, and the latter for judgment and punishment. This time of judgment is linked to Christ’s “arrival” when he will resurrect the dead and terminate the “Last Enemy, Death.”

The Bible presents a consistent picture. At the end of the present evil age, Jesus will appear “on the clouds of heaven” and gather 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]

That day will be a day of great finality, for the righteous and the wicked, and the New Testament speaks of only one future coming of the Son of God, leaving no room for any interim period after his return. His victory will be complete when he appears.

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

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

In his ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus described his ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” when the nations of the Earth will see the Son of Man arrive. He will dispatch his angels “with the sound of a great trumpet”:

• “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heavens. And then will all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth 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 24:29-31).

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

Christ will then 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

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul describes the ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” of Jesus when faithful believers will become his “crown of boasting.” Paul prayed for God to establish their hearts “blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the arrival [‘Parousia’] 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, the saints 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 2 Thessalonians, Paul describes the “revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power.” Christ 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’. That day will mean “our gathering together to him.” The Apostle’s statement echoes Christ’s saying from 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 will 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 completion of God’s Kingdom. Thus, “God will be all in all.”

When the “Last Trumpet” sounds, 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” - (1 Corinthians 15:51-57).

Thus, Christ’s “arrival” will be accompanied by angelic activity and the sounding of the last “Trumpet.” The righteous dead will be raised and gathered to Christ 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.

Finally, the New Testament consistently refers to only one future “coming” or “arrival” of Jesus when he will gather his saints and judge the wicked.

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SEE ALSO:

• Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Final Events - (In explaining the resurrection, Paul lists key events that will precede or coincide with Christ’s arrival at the end of the age)

• Just Judgment - (The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)

• Rassembler ses Saints - (Les saints seront rassemblés et assemblés devant Jésus au Dernier Jour, tandis que les méchants seront rassemblés pour le jugement et chassés de sa présence)