Matthew 13:39-43

Matthew 13:39: “The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Interestingly – and this may not seem obvious at first – this is more evidence for the Rapture. In the event described in Thessalonians, the Church meets the Lord in the air; Jesus comes by Himself and raises the dead. The righteous are gathered and the wicked are left behind. (This is what is known as the Rapture.) When it is done, the righteous have been gathered and only the wicked remain on Earth.

Here, however, we see something totally different. The people are not gathered by Jesus; instead angels gather them. These angels that are sent throughout the world do not gather the righteous; instead they gather the wicked, which are immediately cast into Hell. In this case it is the righteous who are left behind, and they go on to enter the kingdom.

The reason people get confused is because they read these two accounts and assume they are talking about the same event. The truth is that these are two completely separate events. Thessalonians is talking about the Rapture, which happens before the Tribulation. Matthew is talking about events that occur at the Second Coming, which happens at the end of the Tribulation.

Once you understand that these are two separate events that are separated by years of time, everything falls into place. In the Rapture (described in Thessalonians), Jesus returns, the Church is caught up to meet Him in the air, and He takes us back to Heaven. In the Second Coming (described here in Matthew), the Lord returns, angels are sent to gather the wicked, and the wicked are cast into Hell. The ones that are left are the righteous, and they have the privilege of entering the Millennial Kingdom.