Although this is a rather mysterious and controversial passage I think the reference of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking about sending angels to gather his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other is talking about gathering his elect or believers from earth who are alive and those in heaven who have died with faith in God and Jesus and are in heaven by the time of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven to earth at the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the millennial kingdom. I think the reference in the Gospel of Mark with the parallel passage saying from the uttermost part of the four winds to the uttermost part of heaven is also talking about Jesus sending his angels to gather believers from earth and heaven. However one thing the Lord has showed me recently (yesterday as of this writing) is that there is probably a further parallel verse in the writing of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:10 to be exact. It is mentioned as in the dispensation of the fullness of times which is an expression for the administration or economy that will exist in the Millennial Kingdom or Messianic Kingdom after the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah) so the verse in Ephesians 1 would certainly be at the same time as Matthew 24:31 and Mark 13:27 and all these verses talk about a gathering of God's believers from heaven and earth at the same time. The expression in Christ (or in Messiah) also refers to God's elect or believers in a New Testament sense. There are probably a number of things going on and people groups involved in these verses. There will be true or born again Christians who will be most of those of the elect or in Christ who will be gathered from heaven and then there will be the remainder of the Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs both Jewish and Gentile that die for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah) and will be in heaven by the time of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven and will be brought with him to the earth when he comes from heaven to the earth to set up His and God the Father's kingdom on earth. Then there will be God's elect from the four winds and from on earth or those in Christ who will be those who come to faith in the Lord Jesus in the tribulation but manage to evade the Antichrist and his forces who are trying to kill everyone who confesses the Lord Jesus Christ or Messiah as Lord and refuses to bow to the Antichrist (beast out of the sea) or take his mark in the tribulation especially the second half of it. I believe these latter people will be some of the sheep of Matthew 25 and those who populate the Millennial Kingdom and have children then on earth etc. There are some who believe in intelligent life beyond earth with various scripture references that might not be the best interpretation including these ones as those in heaven but there are serious questions for this idea including why wasn't God clearer about this so we could at least pray for these people especially if they needed to be saved too and how would God save these people would it be by Jesus dying for sins on earth or would he have to die for the sins of those hypothetical people on their planet by incarnating as one of them too. We are also just on the verge of determining if there are other earth-like planets and how common they might be. We are now just barely on the verge of having the technology of sending humans to other stars through nuclear fission rockets or solar sails so this would be another problem of reaching these people with the gospel if they didn't see a saviour there so I think thinking of the elect or those in Christ in heaven would be better viewed at those who have died in faith in Jesus and have gone to the third heaven of God's presence. The scripture references of God sending his angels to gather his elect or those in Christ at the end of the tribulation and beginning of the Millennial Kingdom or Messianic Kingdom at the time of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah) from heaven to earth is as follows:
And he (Jesus) 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 24:31
And then shall he (Jesus) 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 14:27
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he (God) might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him; Ephesians 1:10
After the judgments of God on a mostly unbelieving world are finished by the first part of Revelation 19, God sends His Son Jesus Christ to judge the world and set up His kingdom on earth for 1000 years. Jesus is pictured riding a white horse which was associated with kings in ancient times and that is what is meant here. Jesus' name is Faithful and True because that is his nature and that is also how he represented God during the time of His first earthly ministry when he went through the humbling of experiencing a human nature although a sinless one at that time. There is many systems of justice and war by human society on earth but only the Lord Jesus Christ as God in the flesh then glorified will be able to judge and make war in perfect righteousness. Jesus' eyes like a flame of fire likely is symbolic of him having omniscience and be able to use that in his righteous judgment of the world and not have people evade judgment by trying to hide their guilt etc with human judges. On Jesus' head being many crowns signifies he is the one who has the right from God not only to judge the world but to rule it with full authority. Jesus having a vesture dipped in blood signifies at least partly his dying for our sins on the cross of Calvary as part of the basis of his right to rule the earth. Jesus being called the Word of God is also appropriate because he as God incarnate also means whatever he says is the Word of God and he is the incarnate Word of God as well. The armies following Jesus are true Christians from this present age from Pentecost to the Rapture or catching up to heaven of the Church just before the tribulation starts. Our being pictured on white horses means we will also have the right to rule with Jesus in His Kingdom because we have trusted in Him as our Lord and Saviour and yielded our lives on earth when we are living our mortal lives to God and Jesus. Our being pictured wearing white linen is also symbolic that we will be wearing God's righteousness in Jesus for trusting in Him as our personal Lord and Saviour. Although all true Christians including myself will be armies following Jesus in his procession from heaven it is Jesus Himself that will do the fighting the sword of his mouth which has the infinite power of God and His word and then he will set up His Messianic or Millennial Kingdom as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and later reign under God the Father for eternity. The scripture reference of the glorious second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with his believing people from heaven to earth at the end of the tribulation to judge the world and set up his kingdom on earth from Revelation 19 is as follows:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:11-16
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes at the end of the tribulation to the earth from heaven to judge the world and to set up the Millennial Kingdom or Messianic Kingdom, he will also be accompanied by his holy angels and the Shekinah or visible glory of God the Father. The skeninah glory of God the Father will dwell around the Messianic Kingdom Temple in Jerusalem and the holy angels will help the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) to judge the world and probably to rule in his Messianic or Millennial Kingdom. Of course other scriptures make clear there will also be many saints or believers from the Church age and other periods such as Old Testament believers and tribulation martyrs for Jesus from among both the Jews and the Gentiles or other nations. The scripture from Matthew 16 of the holy angels and God the Father joining the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah) in his second coming to judge the world at set up His kingdom at the end of the tribulation and beginning of the Messianic or Millennial Kingdom is as follows:
For the Son of man (the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah)) shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Matthew 16:27
In this passage in Matthew 25, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of his coming in his glory or visible glory from heaven to earth. This will also be the time that the holy angels will come with the Lord Jesus Christ. Although not mentioned here believers including from the present Church age and God the Father in His shekinah glory will also accompany the Lord Jesus at this time of His second coming in glory. This event will be at the end of the seven year tribulation or 70th week of Daniel and before the beginning of the 1000 year Messianic Kingdom or Millennial Kingdom. At this time the God through the Lord Jesus Christ will also judge the nations of the world and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) will judge them among other things on how they treat the Jewish people especially Jews that believe in Him or possibly Gentile believers in Him (His brethren) during the tribulation when these people will be persecuted by the beast or the Antichrist for refusing to take his mark and being faithful to the bible the word of God and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ at least during or for some of the Jews at the end of the tribulation as their personal Lord and Saviour. The scripture passage in Matthew 25 about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels to set up his kingdom on earth at the end of the tribulation for the Messianic Kingdom is as follows:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: Matthew 25:31
In 1 Thessalonians 3 there is an encouragement to Christians to live holy lives on this earth so that we will be found holy or honouring to the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes again at the end of the tribulation to set up his kingdom on earth and to judge the world. This reference also mentions the Lord Jesus Christ coming with his saints which will include all true Christians who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us new life. It will be an honour for true Christians to come with the Lord Jesus from heaven at his second coming but is based on salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour by God's grace. The scripture reference from 1 Thessalonians 3 encouraging holiness for Christians to prepare for coming with the Lord Jesus from heaven at his second coming at the end of the tribulation is as follows:
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. 1 Thessalonians 3:13
There is an account of the second coming in glory of the Lord Jesus Christ also in the Book of Jude. It also mentions saints coming with the Lord Jesus Christ. Although this prophecy is attributed to Enoch who lived before Noah and the Flood and soon after Adam, it was probably actually written in the two hundred years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ as were many other books used by some Jewish communities such as the Essenes by the Dead Sea. Although the number 10,000 for the number of the saints is used, in ancient times this number was also the word myriad and also meant a very large number. Although the saints here will include Old Testament saints that were raised after the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead as in Matthew 27:50-53, there will also be included in the saints described here all the Church Age saints who will by then have been raised from the dead or transformed into immortal bodies at the rapture or catching up of the church before the tribulation. This coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with his saints will be the same as that mentioned at other times in this web page and will occur at the end of the tribulation and at the start of the 1000 year Messianic Kingdom or Millennial Kingdom. At this time the Lord Jesus Christ will also judge the world including bringing condemnation to those who by that time were still unrepentant and were continuing in their sins and hadn't trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. These people that are still in their sins in this passage are called the ungodly. The scripture passage from the Book of Jude of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with many of his saints or believers at the end of the tribulation or beginning of the Millennial Kingdom to judge the world is as follows:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude 14-15
The Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed to the world from heaven when he comes in power and great glory at the end of the tribulation to judge the world. This will be a very visible and public appearance as opposed to the rapture of the church just before the tribulation that will probably be noticed to unbelievers mostly by only true Christians being suddenly being missing and this meeting will occur in the air or the upper atmosphere of earth or near outer space. In this passage in 2 Thessalonians 1 about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ it is also mentioned that he will appear with his mighty angels as some references above from the gospels also say. This will not only be to judge the world but also to make way for the Lord Jesus Christ to set up his Millennial Kingdom or Messianic Kingdom on earth. The glory of Jesus' presence will be part of the means that he will judge his adversaries which are those who don't know God or that aren't obedient to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I encourage the reader to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for all your sins through his death on the cross and rose from the dead to give you new life and yield the rest of your life to him so you can come with the Lord Jesus with his believing people rather than be judged by Him at his second coming at the end of the tribulation. To yield the rest of our lives to the Lord Jesus and to God doesn't mean you will be perfectly sinless for the rest of your life on earth but it does mean you will seek to live for God according to His word the Holy Bible in practice and ask his forgiveness when you fall into sin. Everlasting destruction for the unbelievers doesn't mean they will be annihilated or made to cease to exist but will be totally separated from God and brought to hell and then the lake of fire to suffer conscious and physical torment from God forever. Jesus will be glorified in the Christians or church age saints as those that come with him from heaven and we will share Jesus' glory or admiration when we come with him especially by those who become believers in the tribulation and survive in and will populate the Millennial Kingdom. The scripture reference from 2 Thessalonians 1 of the Lord Jesus Christ coming with his holy angels to judge the world at the end of the tribulation to make way for His 1000 year Messianic or Millennial Kingdom is as follows:
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe ( because our testimony among you was believed ) in that day. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
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