The gathering

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

THE GATHERING

Matt 24:26-31

26 "So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 "Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'   30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

NIV

Jesus now comes to the part of his discourse where he tells how it will be when he returns for his people. He has given us all the signs which indicated the birth pains of the end of the age, but now the end is beginning. Jesus tells us he is noT coming as we would see some human arrive in our presence, either arriving from a distance or coming out of a house to greet us. He will be arriving in the sky, riding on a cloud. The song writer penned these words as the chorus to the song “These are the days of Elijah”

“Behold He comes Riding on the clouds!

Shining like the sun!

At the trumpet call

Lift your voice it’s the year of Jubilee!

Out of Zion’s hill salvation comes!”

We also know from the revelation to John all this will happen just as Jesus said. In fact everything Jesus said will always happen because he is Jesus, the Son of God, in reality who is God himself in the flesh. He will appear in a manner no man can actually imagine. We have heard another song about keeping our eyes upon the eastern sky for our redemption draweth nigh. However, this may be a bit wrong as Jesus will not come from the East nor the West or North or South. He will appear as only God could appear so that every man upon the earth will see him coming in all his glory and power. Then all the angels who are riding along with him on the clouds will be sent out and we will be gathered up to be with our Lord for all eternity. Praise God. What a great day, Easter Sunday morning to be at this place in the scriptures. This very day the Father raised Jesus from the dead to be the firstfruits of many who would be raised from the dead. It matters not when we die for we will be raised up and be with our Lord forever and ever. Of course there is some debate regarding when the rapture occurs. Although that word does not appear in the Bible, it is an event that happens. Whether we are individually raptured the day we die or we lay in the grave for a number of years before the event of be caught up with our Lord, or we are still alive when it happens, the point is that it happens. The angels will gather us up. It matters not that we are asleep or awake. We will be gathered up. This is also a time when the world will mourn. The whole series of books about being left behind have made a heyday with that idea. But the fact is many will be left behind and they will be sad, very sad. Some of them heard the message but scoffed at it. Some heard the message accepted it but so fell away. Some heard the message accepted it but the cares of this world overpowered them and they too fell away. Jesus spoke of all this in the parable of the sower and the seed. The fact is when all of mankind, all those who follow after dead gods, the other religions of the world will now know how wrong they have been. Just as the Egyptians were shown how God Almighty was far greater than any of their gods, so will the peoples of the earth be shown. Although we also know they are not without excuse. Even though they have been deceived by Satan giving them false gods to worship, they could know the God of creation by his very creation.

Rom 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse .

NIV

It is a shame to think how many have been deceived by Satan. Yet we also have so many who think they are Christians, but have been deceived by false teachers and preachers. We cannot ever be certain what is in the heart of each who profess to be a believer in Jesus Christ, but we can hope their faith is real, no matter what deceptive teaching they may be following. For that matter how do any of us know the church we attend, the denomination it is associated with has the right take on all the scriptures and therefore we might be wrong in our seeing the truth. This is why the whole of salvation rests on our faith in Jesus Christ as our one and only Savior. The fact that we must be born again to be among the ones gathered is the only criteria. If we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, accepting his redemptive work on the cross and his death and resurrection and ascension into heaven, we are saved.  We serve a risen Savior, no other people can say that. We serve a risen Savior, he is in the world today.

“He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.

He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know he lives?

He lives within my heart.”

Only a God who lives can gather his people. So we have that hope, the truth that because we serve a God who lives, we will be gathered to him.