We also read where Jesus, when He comes, will divide the sheep from the goats, Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31 through 34 [“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: 32 And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats: 33 And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Then again, in verse 41 and 46, Jesus is very clear. He says, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…” [verse 41]. He talks of those who will go into eternal reward, and also those who will go into eternal punishment [“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” [verse 46].

In John, chapter 5, verses 28 and 29, we read some very significant passages of Scripture: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Then, we read the words of Peter in 2 Peter 3, and verse 10, where he says, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

Then, in Revelation, chapter 20, verses 11 through 15, we read a description of the great white throne, and the Judgment Day, and the books that are opened and the Lamb’s book of life, wherein those who will receive that eternal reward may find their names written. [“And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”]

When that trumpet finally sounds, with the voice of the archangel, Christ will make a second appearance to mankind. He will appear in the clouds with power and glory, along with His angels. He will come as a thief in the night, and that doesn’t mean that He will come in secret, as some of the novels that have been put out recently maintain. That means that no one will be able to predict His coming—the time of His coming. It will happen without warning.

All who are in the grave will hear His voice. This is not going to be any secret, quiet appearance of Jesus Christ the second time. All will hear the trump of God. All will hear the voice of the archangel. All will hear the voice of Jesus, the returning Christ. According to the writers of the New Testament, this is the sequence of events that we might look forward to:

The trump will sound. Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout. Those who have died in Christ, who died while still faithful Christians, will rise first from Hades, the hidden realm of the dead.

But these are not the only ones who will rise from the grave; those who did not die in Christ will also be raised at the same time. Remember the Words of Jesus? He said, “For THE hour is coming, in the which ALL that are in the graves shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

“ALL that are in the graves shall come forth,” and there’s a purpose for this, and it’s clear. Those who have done good—those who have died IN Christ—for this is the clear meaning of the term “those who have done good”—those will already have their names recorded in the figurative “book of life.” And they will rise to meet the Lord in the air—those who are dead AND those who remain on the earth. Christ’s elect are those both living and dead who are IN Christ. His elect are those who are IN Christ when He returns, and these will all be gathered together by His angles to meet the Lord in the air, and according to the inspired Words of Scripture, “so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

What a glorious thing to anticipate! We will be raised to meet Him in the clouds, and we will not ever return to this earth again. Well, why not? Because we will be in the air, on the way to heaven, and then in heaven—that’s how we will forever be with the Lord.

Now, let’s note one other important fact that we can gain from these verses. When the angels of Christ go to gather the elect from the four winds [Mark 13:27] and from the uttermost parts of the earth, where will these elect be gathered to? “To the uttermost part of heaven.” We WILL…be…going…to…heaven. Jesus said so. Those who have done good will rise to meet Jesus in the air, separated to His right hand, and will receive the reality of that promise that was made so long ago. Jesus will receive us unto Himself, and we will inherit those mansions of divine promise.