7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
As the sovereign of the earth and as the captain of the host that Joshua saw long ago, He returns now. As every glorious king, this King has an army with Him when He comes back:
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Revelation 19:14, KJV
When Jesus Christ returns, beloved, all heaven is going to empty itself to return with Him and to join Him in His glory and victory and judgment. These armies of heaven include both the angels and the souls of the saints who had died and whose souls had gone to heaven. He returns with the angels and saints behind Him. 2 Thessalonians 1:1–12 tells us that when Jesus returns, He will come with angels surrounding Him:
When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 2 Thessalonians 1:7, KJV
1 Thessalonians 4:1–18 says that He comes back also with all the saints:
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 1 Thessalonians 4:14, KJV
Imagine the splendour and the glory, beloved, when the King returns! All the angels of heaven (what are there? thousands? millions?) and all the saints from the beginning of the world who have died unto His second coming are surrounding Him as He comes in His glory as the exalted King of kings upon His white steed! This is exaltation for Jesus Christ! This is the final step, the final aspect, of the exaltation that His Father gives Him. His glory is being revealed here! It is shining forth to all the world.
But understand that this army that comes back with Him does not come back with Him because Jesus can't handle the battle that He must fight by Himself. It is simply a show of His power and might and glory of His exaltation. And it is the saints themselves participating in every aspect of the glory of Christ, as they always do. As the head goes, so goes the body, right? The glory of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, arrayed in glory as He comes to battle, is the glory too of the saints whom He represents! They sit on the same white horses that He sits on. They are clothed in white linen – the linen of the righteousness of their King and head. They are sharing in the glory of the coming Christ!1
Cory Griess
14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.