THE GATHERING OF THE CONSECRATED
Psalm 50:5 Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
To consecrate something was to dedicate or give it to the Lord. Once this was done whether it was an object used in worship or even a person as the Hebrews consecrated themselves before going into the Promised Land, it was considered sacred or holy because of association with the Lord. As Joshua had the Hebrews consecrate themselves, Christians do much the same with their baptism. It is not the baptism that makes them consecrated, but rather the giving of themselves to Jesus through his sacrifice. Water baptism is an outward sign of the inward and spiritual grace brought about by the faith in the grace of Jesus’ atonement. Thus becoming a Christian a person fulfills God’s command to be holy as he is holy. (I Peter 1:16) So in God’s eyes he sees the Christian cleansed of all their sinfulness by the blood of his Son Jesus Christ, and they are consecrated or declared holy. He sees them as set apart from what is unholy, and acceptable for even divine purpose. You may say Christians still sin. That is true because we are subject to our humanity, and the weakness that draws us to sin. It is not because we want to sin, and rebel from God, but rather our inability to be holy as God is holy by our own effort. It is much like a bowl that has been consecrated for the Lord’s service. Just because it has become old and possibly dented or tarnished doesn’t take away its intended purpose or its significance to God. The same is true with regards to the Christian. God sees our significance in the association with Jesus.
Christians belong to Jesus. He has made atonement for us with his blood shed and life given on the cross. The very reason he went to the cross was so that we might be forgiven, reconciled to him, to justify God’s forgiving us, and so that we could be with him for all eternity. From the beginning when God created Adam it was his intention to have a personal, intimate, eternal relationship with him. This is why we see here in verse 5 his call to gather his consecrated ones, who made a covenant with him by sacrifice. But because sin has an accountability with it, no one was able to go be with the Lord following their death because all had sinned. We see this in Luke 16:19-31 where Jesus talks about the abode of the dead. Before Jesus’ atonement everyone that died had to go there. In the abode of the dead there were two areas with a chasm between them that no one could cross over. There was one side for the righteous dead and the other for the unrighteous dead.
I Peter 3:18-4:6 tells of how Jesus following his resurrection went down into the abode of the dead, and preached to those who had died. Jesus was giving them the same chance for forgiveness and eternal life with him as he would for everyone following his atonement. In doing this God would be perfectly just in his judgment of sin by not doing for one that he would not do for another. This way even those in the abode of the dead could live according to God in regard to the spirit. It was at this time that I believe the first gathering of Jesus’ consecrated ones took place. Psalm 68:18 says, “When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train.” Those that chose Jesus didn’t have to stay in the abode of the dead separated from God any longer. They are still with him today, and will always be with him even as all Christians will some day.
That brings us to the question about where a Christian goes when they die. Every Christian at the moment of death in a twinkling of an eye goes to be with Jesus. We see in I Corinthians 15:35-57 where the apostle Paul goes into detail regarding life, death and resurrection of the Christian. In II Corinthians 5:8 it tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So at death a Christian does not stay in their body to be buried in the ground, or go to the abode of the dead to await for Judgment Day. As we see in I Cor 15:35-57 they are changed in the twinkling of an eye into the likeness of Jesus. They are changed from being perishable to imperishable; sown in dishonor but raised in glory; weakness to power and a natural body to be raised a spiritual body that will never perish and is perfect in every way. That sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it! Well, if you are a Christian you are guaranteed this by Jesus, and demonstrated in his resurrection. There is a second gathering too. We see this in I Thessalonians 4:13-18. This gathering while certain is still very much a mystery. I believe it is even alluded to in this way in Rev 10:4-7. It is here that a mighty angel of the Lord tells John something but then adds he can not write it down. Then he adds that in the days of the seventh trumpet, an angel will sound his trumpet and the mystery of God will be accomplished just as he announced to his servants the prophets. I believe this second gathering is what the church refers to as the rapture. While the term rapture is not written in the Bible, the event certainly is. Jesus even spoke about it in Matthew 24:36-51. The gathering will happen suddenly for all Christians. Jesus even points out that he doesn’t know when it will happen, but only the Heavenly Father. He says two men will be in a field and one will be taken and the other left. Then Jesus gives an illustration regarding women with it happening the same way, one take and the other left behind.
In I Thessalonians 4:13-18 it points out that in this gathering of the Christians the person will not fall asleep or die as one would have normally. There have been two previous cases of this possibly happening already. One we see with Enoch in Gen 5:24 & Heb 11:5. The second time is with Elijah in II Kings 2:11 where he is taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire and his body is not found.
This brings up the question will the Christian raptured take their body with them if they don’t experience death? I personally believe that I Corinthians 15:50 answers this by saying that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. I believe that at the rapture the Christian will not experience the death process, but in that twinkling of eye be given their new spiritual body and be taken to be with Jesus. This certainly lines up with the rest of I Cor 15:35-57. I know that there are many preachers that say that the raptured Christian takes their physical body to heaven, but then returns it to the ground later at the last resurrection to get an eternal spiritual body. I know that they quote I Thess 4:13-18, but it does not say this at all, where I Cor 15:35-57 is very plain how the resurrection takes place whether it is by natural death or the rapture. To take our physical body to heaven only to get a spiritual body doesn’t even make sense to me at all.
There is a third gathering. We see this in Rev 20:11-14. This is at the Great White Throne Judgment. Everyone that has ever lived will be gathered to stand before the Lord to be judged. I Peter 4:17 tells us that the church will be the first to be judged. We will not be judged regarding our sins, because Jesus will have atoned for them already. God tells us that he forgets our sins, never to bring them up again in Heb 8:12. The time of judgment for the Christian will be one of reward. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Every Christian's name will be written in the Book of LIfe. Everyone whose name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be judged for their sin and punished for eternity in hell or the lake of fire.
If it seems harsh or unfair of God to send anyone to hell for all eternity remember that God doesn’t want anyone to go there. This is why we see in II Samuel 14:14 that he devised a way they find forgiveness and not be estranged from him. Anyone that is sent to hell goes there, because they didn’t want to go to heaven. If you question this just think of the multitudes that could go to church, but they don’t want to go! Think what heaven would be like for them? I believe that at the time of judgment Jesus will explain his salvation to those that for some reason never heard or understood. It will be at that time just like when he went to to abode of the dead after his resurrection as we see in I Peter 4:6. Anyone choosing Jesus can still find forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Now that’s Good News wouldn’t you say?
Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus for atoning for our sins and reconciling us with you, the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. We cherish the thought of being with you in person, and with all our brothers and sister in Christ loving and praising you for all eternity.
