When Will the Gathering Happen?

Today’s Topic: The Revelation of the Gathering: When Will the Gathering Happen?
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:6,7

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now if you stick around people who say they do not know when the gathering will happen then you will always be unprepared and living in fear, never knowing. God does not prescribe to that lifestyle and He wants to know because you are His child. So today and maybe the next day we will look at when will the gathering happen? Seems like a tall order but it is in the scripture. Now what we always have heard is the scripture pertaining to being changed in a twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) but that is pertaining to those who are alive, what about the ones that are dead in Christ? Let’s start at 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and work from there:

1 Thessalonians 4:13
Paul starts off by telling the brethren of Thessaloniki that he does not want them to be ignorant of those who are asleep. Those who are asleep are the ones who have died. Now Paul comforts them by telling them not to sorrow like those who have no hope. Those who have no hope are the unbelievers. So Paul lays the foundation to explain about those who have died in Christ. Now before we go to verse 14, the question needs to be answered what happens when someone dies in Christ? The being called “man” is composed of three components, flesh, soul and spirit. So now what happens to these components for those who died in Christ? The flesh returns to the dust of the earth. The soul and the spirit go to God in Heaven. Now some may ask, if that happens why would God want to raise the dead, if they are living in Heaven with Him? What was the original format for the children of God in Genesis? It was a man, living on Earth with the Holy Spirit abiding in Him and administering (King) God’s Kingdom on the Earth. That is the original plan for man, but man messed that up. Did God mess it up? No. So His divine plan will still go forth. Now this seems like a lot, but let’s continue and get some clarity on what was just said.

1 Thessalonians 4:14
Paul is speaking to believers! “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” Do you see this! Now I know we have read this at funerals a thousand times but look at what Paul is saying about those who died in Christ. God WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO DIED IN CHRIST. Now this is good so let’s back up. Remember the soul and the spirit, as I stated, go back to God in Heaven, if the person died in Christ and the flesh returned to the dust of the Earth. So who is God bringing WITH HIM? God is bringing the souls and spirits of the saints that have died in Christ. Now the picture should be coming clearer. If not let’s sum it up with the next verse.

1 Thessalonians 4:15
Paul now brings it home: “For we say, by the word of the Lord (now that is a guarantee), that we which are alive and remain (on Earth) unto the coming of the Lord, SHALL NOT PREVENT (PRECEDE) THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP.” Do you see this! So now we have at least answered half of the question of when the gathering will happen. We know that the dead in Christ shall rise first. Paul now leaves no stone unturned let’s look at the next verse

1 Thessalonians 4:16
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven.” So the Lord is coming out of Heaven (Please keep this in mind). “For the Lord Himself will 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.” Now you know why God raises the dead because He will rejoin the spirit and soul of man back to this new fleshly body. This body is immortal and incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:53,54).

1 Thessalonians 4:17
Now those who are alive and remain on Earth 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.” Now did it say that we will meet the Lord in Heaven? No, it says we will meet Him in the air. Do not go by what you hear, God by what you read and what God confirms for you. Does that make sense? Yes because verse 16 clearly states that the LORD DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN. Let me further show you that we will not meet him in Heaven. Acts 1:9-11 tells us after Jesus ascended to the Father the disciples were looking up and two angels of the Lord told them that the same manner Jesus was taken up is the same way He will return.

So now we know the answer to when the gathering will happen.
1. It will not happen before the Lord returns.
2. The dead in Christ must rise first.

Now what brings about the gathering, or the rapture? The return of the Lord brings these things about. In the next message we will look at the actual return of the Lord because there are some things we passed in the scriptures that need to be brought out because there are still myths about even His return and what happens.

At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.