When Jesus comes at the end of the world to collect His Saints, He gathers them together from all the parts of the earth. Here we have two parallel accounts of what Jesus told His disciples about His second coming:
29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31. 24. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25. And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Mark 13:26-27.
When Jesus comes with power and glory, just after the tribulation, the wicked will be extremely anxious, perplexed, and they will be fearful of what is to happen to them. The righteous, on the other hand, will look up to see their redemption come. At that time, the righteous will be scattered over all the face of the earth. So His angels will gather His elect and bring them together when the trumpet sounds. (Elect means: His chosen ones)
So, the living righteous will be brought together, but what about those who are dead? Below, Paul comforts the Christians in Thessalonica who were concerned that people were starting to die who had expected to see Jesus come in their life-time.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
So, Paul tells the Thessalonians that God will not forget those who have died. If we believe that Jesus has risen from the dead, we can believe that God will bring them with Him.
Now, what does Paul mean when he says: those "which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him"? There are two possible choices:
Does he mean that Jesus is taking the dead back from heaven when He comes? This would mean that the dead are already with Jesus when He comes in the clouds of glory. This would also mean that dead people are already in heaven before His second coming. (People would go to heaven when they die. They would not sleep in the grave.)
Or does it mean that Jesus will take those, who have fallen asleep, back to heaven with Him? This would mean that Jesus would raise the dead from their graves when He comes again and not before. Then He would bring both those who have died and also those who were yet living, back to heaven at the same time. Both groups would be going to heaven for the first time. (People would not go to heaven when they die; but rather, they would be raised up in the resurrection at Christ' second coming. People will sleep in the grave until Jesus comes.)
Scripture is clear showing that Jesus will raise the righteous dead when He comes again, at His second coming, at the trump of God. Then He will take both groups back to heaven:
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 Thessalonians 4:15-17
Concentrating on verses 16 and 17, we see that Jesus Himself comes down from heaven at His second coming. This is the big event at the end of the world when Jesus comes to get His people and take them back with Him. With a shout of the archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ rise up first. Then, all who are still alive in Christ, are brought up together with those who had died in the clouds and they meet the Lord in the air to be always with Him.
It is at the second coming of Jesus, the time of the end, when both those who died and those who are yet alive, will be taken up into heaven together. So, it is clear in verse 14, that Paul is saying the dead in Christ, even those who sleep in Jesus will God take back to heaven with Him and so will we ever be with the Lord!
There is another point to consider. Lets look at verse 17:
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 Thessalonians 4:17
Paul does not say they get together on the earth. But instead, He says they will be caught up together in the clouds! This is additional evidence showing that they are going to heaven; Not the earth. They are meeting the Lord in the air!
Looking at 1 Corinthians, we find that Paul is consistent. Jesus is the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus and here again Paul says that the dead in Christ will be raised at the time of His coming:
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
All who have died in Christ, shall be made alive at Christ's second coming. It doesn't happen before His coming at all.
So, it looks like Jesus is taking all His people back to be with Himself, because there are places for His saints to live and He wants us to be with Him. This most likely is the beloved city, the New Jerusalem and we know that the New Jerusalem does not come out of heaven until after the 1000 years. The very last part of the book of Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven to the New Earth. We will see that later on this page.
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