We've been studying the return of Jesus Christ to this world. All of the signs in the Bible tell us that this glorious event is going to take place soon, but how exactly is it going to happen? Is Christ going to come down in an alien spaceship? Is our Savior going to lead a local militia in an effort to overthrow the government? Or is Christ only coming secretly and silently to take Christians back to heaven? Can we really know? Indeed, we can! There's no need to guess; the Bible clearly tells us the exact manner in which Jesus Christ will come back.

Last time, we discovered that the clearest verse in the Bible on this subject is found in Acts 1:9-11. Jesus gave His final instructions to the disciples and the Bible says "While they beheld, He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." This portion of the Bible is very easy to understand: the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven at the close of His earthly ministry, but this is also how He's coming back!

Just as the disciples saw Him ascend up into the clouds, Jesus is going to come with the clouds when He returns and everyone is going to be able to see Him: "Behold He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him" Revelation 1:7. This is not going to be an isolated event that only involves certain people because the last part of the verse says "and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." Christ spoke similar words in Matthew 24:30 "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Jesus is going to visibly "appear" in the sky and everyone on earth "shall see" Him coming.

The Word of God tells us that the whole world will witness all of this first hand. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:27 "As lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Can it be any clearer than that? Christ used the illustration of lightning, one the brightest and most visible of objects, to describe His return. No one can miss a lightning strike. Even if you close your eyes, it's still too bright to avoid! Without a doubt, the sights of the Second Coming are going to be very obvious.

But what about the sounds? Is the Second Coming of Jesus going to happen silently? What does the Bible say? Psalm 50:3 "Our God shall come and shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before Him and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth that He may judge His people." The Lord isn't going to keep quiet! This is obviously referring to when Christ's return because He also said that He bring judgment at His coming: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me; to give to every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:12 (See also Revelation 19:11-21)

Let's compare that verse in Psalm 50:3 with a similar scripture found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Right here in the New Testament, Paul gives a wonderful glimpse of what the return of Jesus will be like. Again, we find that there is going to be a great shout and also the sounding of the trump of God. I don't know how familiar you are with this instrument, but there is nothing quiet about a trumpet! Paul goes on to say that graves all around the world are going to burst open because of the mighty voice of the Lord. The Bible depicts all this as very dynamic and noticeable. It's not going to happen in secret!

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