The Son of Man Will Come With Clouds in His Day

The Cunning Royal Jester and his Jokers make a DIFFERENT coming out of the coming of the Lord that PAUL wrote about .... from the coming of the Lord that all the rest of the writers of scripture wrote about. They do that, not because the verses indicate to do so, but to protect a paradigm they call ‘the pre-tribulation rapture’.

The Old Testament writers taught that the Lord will come with clouds.

Daniel had visions that the Son of Man will come in the clouds of heaven to establish His kingdom:

Dan 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

The day of the Lord will be a day of clouds:

Joel 2:1-2 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

The day of the Lord will be a day of clouds, and also a day of wrath:

Zep 1:14-15 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

The New Testament writers taught the same thing.

When the Son of Man comes, He will come with the clouds of heaven:

Matt 24:30 And 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 [nephele] of heaven with power and great glory.

Jesus told the high priest that even unbelievers would see His coming in the clouds:

Matt 26:62-66 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds [nephele] of heaven.
65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

Paul also taught that the Lord will return from heaven in the clouds:

1 Thess 4:16-17 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:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds [nephele], to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

John testified that at the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:1), Jesus will come with clouds, and everyone will see Him. It will NOT be a ‘secret, mystery’ coming for ONLY those saints who have trusted Christ through Paul’s ministry .... that no one else will notice:

Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds [nephele]; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

‘Mid-Acts’ preachers teach that ‘the Jesus’ that appeared to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus was the ‘risen, glorified Lord’ .... and that He was ‘ANOTHER Jesus’ from ‘the EARTHLY Jesus’. (This could specifically be heard on a recorded message entitled ‘Timing Is Everything’ by the 'IL associate teaching elder' earlier this year. That particular message may, however, since have been removed. It was preached shortly after my message on the context of 2 Tim 2:15 having to do with getting the resurrection in the wrong place and overthrowing people's faith.)

In Acts 1, after Jesus was risen and glorified, He went back to heaven.

Notice that the scripture specifically says He is the SAME Jesus:

Acts 1:10-11 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 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.

How did Jesus go into heaven? He was taken up into heaven with clouds. (FYI, in the Greek, the singular ‘a cloud’ and the plural ‘clouds’ is the very same word.):

Acts 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud [nephele] received him out of their sight.

The day the Lord comes back from heaven in the clouds .... will be HIS day.

Paul taught that when the Lord comes, in HIS day, there will be BOTH the judgment of the wicked and the glorification of the just ....in the SAME day (in the SAME sentence):

2 Thess 1:7-10 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Whether you call it the day of the Lord, He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whether you call it the day of Jesus, He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whether you call it the day of Christ, He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, along with the other Biblical writers, all teach that the Lord will come in clouds. ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ are wrong to DIVIDE Christ or His day.

This is David Dowell saying, “Think about it!”

Only ONE

In the name of ‘rightly-dividing the word of truth’ .... ‘mid-Acts-ers’ teach that the ‘earthly Jesus’ was ‘another Jesus’ .... a ‘different Jesus’ from the ‘risen, glorified Lord’ Who appeared to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus. But that is WRONG-DIVISION:

1 Cor 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Christ is not divided:

1 Cor 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

The KJV scripture verses would "put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" .... but not so for the ‘mid-Acts-hyper-dispensationalists’ who are KJV in name only -- not in practice (see 1 Tim 3:1):

This is David Dowell saying, "Think about it!"

What Would It Take to Shut You Up .... Or Are You Even Talking?

There are some things we ought to ‘open up’ about! Paul requested the saints at Ephesus to pray for him to ‘speak out’ the mystery revelation God gave him. He was already imprisoned for it .... but he still did not want to cease and desist, even in jail:

Eph 6:18-20 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Many of us quit defending every word of God in the KJV or we stop talking about sound doctrine, if we just suspect others are whispering about us. At even the slightest hint we may be ruffling some feathers, how quickly we drop the sword of the Spirit and retreat! But not so with Paul. He and Silas may have been 'disturbing the peace' .... but they were preaching peace:

Acts 16:19-25 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

Being cheerful during great distress and persecution (bodily harm) is certainly noble, and entirely possible, when walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. In the context of writing about a bishop’s responsibility, Paul described some folks that should keep their mouths closed:

Titus 1:9-11 (vs. 7, "A bishop must be" ....) Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

Paul told ‘who’ needs to shut up. It is certainly not the bishops!

What does it take to shut you up? Or are you even talking?

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"

1+1=1

In Paul's first epistle to the saints at Corinth, he (by inspiration of God) continually scolded them for arguing over which minister brought them to the Lord. He expressed the UNITY of the body of Christ .... regardless of who the minister was that led them to faith in Christ:

1 Cor 1:10-13 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith,
I am of Paul; (Today, these are the ‘mid-Acts-ers’ .... ‘Paul followers’. They believe that people are only saved by what-they-call "Paul’s gospel" .... which they see as a DIFFERENT, UNIQUE gospel, from the gospel message by EVERY OTHER preacher in the Bible, including John the Baptist, JESUS Himself, and ANY of the apostles and prophets.)
and I of Apollos; (‘Mid-Acts-ers’ say he was in "Israel’s program" because at first, he knew only the water baptism of John - Acts 18:24-25. They do not allow for any believer that would be ‘of Apollos’ to be in what-they-call the ‘body of Christ’. They nicknamed one of their own Apollos, because they think he is "an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures" .... but they exclude any saints who would follow Apollos’ teaching as "not being in the body of Christ".)
and I of Cephas; (‘Mid-Acts-ers’ claim Peter preached ‘another gospel’ from the gospel PAUL preached. If that were REALLY the case, then Peter would be accursed, according to Gal 1:9)
and I of Christ. (‘Mid-Acts-ers’ won’t even classify a follower ‘of Christ’ to be in the ‘body of Christ’. That, in itself, is very weird. ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ look down on anyone, call them ugly names, and say they don’t understand the scriptures (rightly-divided) who claims to follow Jesus. They think anyone who says they are ‘of Christ’ .... is following ‘another Jesus’ .... Jesus in His ‘earthly ministry’ .... who they also think preached ‘another gospel’ .... being, the gospel of the kingdom .... in what-they-call "Israel’s program".)
13 Is Christ divided? (No, He is not, and neither should His body be.)
was Paul crucified for you?
or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

The saints at Corinth were arguing about which minister brought them to faith in Christ. GOD’s answer was that it did not matter. The carnal ‘mid-Acts-ers’ need to get that. The example is given over Paul and Apollos. Paul was one minister, Apollos was one minister .... yet 1 + 1 = 1 .... Paul and Apollos are ONE:

1 Cor 3:3-8 For ye are yet carnal:
for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith,
I am of Paul;
and another, I am of Apollos;
are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul,
and who is Apollos,
but ministers by whom ye believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted,
Apollos watered;
but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing,
neither he that watereth; (Which minister is irrelevant)
but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: (Do you believe God? Paul -- who 'mid-Acts-ers' think started a NEW program called the 'body of Christ -- and Apollos -- who 'mid-Acts-ers' say was in 'Israel's program' -- ARE ONE! They are 'all' in ONE BODY!)
and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

In the same letter, for yet a third time .... Paul, by inspiration of God, showed that it did not matter WHO preached the gospel of Jesus Christ .... the point was, they believed it! We will see this in 1 Cor 15:1-11.

Paul plainly expressed the gospel he preached was that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the 3rd day. He testified that THIS gospel was already written in the scriptures:

1 Cor 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Then Paul named many others who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1 Cor 15:5-7 And that he was seen of Cephas,
then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James;
then of all the apostles.

Then Paul named himself also .... to be included in the group:

1 Cor 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

Paul felt unworthy, and he worked harder than anyone else to make up for wasting God’s church in time past (also see Gal 1:13). He was thankful for the grace of God:

1 Cor 15:9-10 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Then Paul showed that it did not matter WHICH preacher gave the gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection .... whether it was PAUL .... or ANY of the rest of the men he mentioned .... the Corinthians believed the gospel that they preached:

1 Cor 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they,
so we preach, and so ye believed.

A few chapters earlier, Paul taught them that they were ALL one:

1 Cor 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Whether Paul’s disciples, or Apollos’ disciples, or Peter’s disciples, or Christ’s disciples, or the 12's disciples, or James' disciples, or all of the apostles’ disciples, or more than 500 other brothers' disciples .... it did not matter .... because they were ALL ONE in the body of Christ!

1 Cor 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

This is David Dowell saying, "Think about it!"

One Greek Word, Aphesis

The Greek word [aphesis] is written 17 times in the scriptures.
It is translated:
remission - 9 times
forgiveness - 6 times
deliverance - 1 time
liberty - 1 time.

[Aphesis] is a release from bondage or imprisonment, forgiveness or pardon, remission of the penalty. It is linked with repentance, and with Jesus, and with His blood.

In the synagogue at Nazareth, when Jesus read the prophecy written by Isaiah, it showed remission and forgiveness of sins .... through HIM:

Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance [aphesis] to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty [aphesis] them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus indicated to the audience that HE was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, and that they were eye-witnesses of it:

Luke 4:20-21 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

When Jesus ate the Passover Supper (Luke 22:15) with His disciples, He taught them that HIS blood would be the atonement for their sins .... as the blood of the NEW testament:

Matt 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission [aphesis] of sins.

After Jesus’ sacrificial death as the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36), and after He rose again from the dead .... He appeared to His disciples, and encouraged them to start at Jerusalem, as home base, and spread the gospel of His death and resurrection EVERYWHERE. They were eye-witnesses of His death and resurrection, as well as the expansion of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1) to the Gentiles:

Luke 24:46-48 And said unto them, Thus it is written,
and thus it behoved Christ to suffer,
and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission [aphesis] of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

Peter preached to Jews that had gathered in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5). Israel needed to ‘change their mind’ (repent) about Who Jesus truly was, and accept Him as their Christ (John 1:11,12):

Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [aphesis] of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Again Peter preached the death and resurrection of Jesus. He also presented the glorification of Christ. Israel could repent and be forgiven of their sins, when they placed their faith in Jesus Christ:

Acts 5:30-32 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness [aphesis] of sins.
32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

When Peter offered forgiveness through Jesus Christ, he also included the Gentiles. Peter said that ALL the prophets prophesied of Him:

Acts 10:42-45 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission [aphesis] of sins.
44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Paul (Acts 13:16) was talking about how the people that lived at Jerusalem and their rulers fulfilled prophecy by demanding the death of Christ. Paul was a witness of the Lord’s resurrection. He, too, extended the gospel of Jesus Christ, with remission / forgiveness under the NEW testament, to everyone for justification that was not available under Moses’ OLD testament:

Acts 13:37-39 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness [aphesis] of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Paul warned his listeners of prophecies (Isa 29:14, Hab 1:5) that would come upon them, if they didn’t believe on Jesus Christ:

Acts 13:40-41 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

When Jesus commissioned Saul on the Damascus Road, He informed him to preach to the Gentiles, so they also could be forgiven:

Acts 26:15-18 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. (the SAME Jesus, not 'another Jesus')
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness [aphesis] of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Paul’s epistles show forgiveness / remission .... in Christ’s blood, the blood of the NEW testament (2 Cor 3:6) of which we are able ministers:

Eph 1:7 In whom (the Beloved) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness [aphesis] of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Col 1:14 In whom (the Father’s Dear Son) we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness [aphesis] of sins:

God the Father accepted the sacrifice of Jesus the Son. Jesus’ blood paid for all the sins that were being ‘held’ for payment under the OLD testament. The animal sacrifices were only temporary, until the Better Sacrifice came:

Rom 3:24-26 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission [paresis] of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

God applied the blood of Jesus back over the OLD testament sin, because the required animal sacrifices, could never cleanse from sin:

Heb 9:15-22 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood;
and without shedding of blood is no remission [aphesis].

In the OLD testament, God required animal sacrifices. They ‘held back’ God’s judgment against sin, but animal blood could never offer complete release:

Heb 10:2-4 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Only One, Jesus’ blood, can bring remission / forgiveness for sins:

Heb 10:14-18 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission [aphesis] of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

‘Mid-Acts-ers’ divide between remission and forgiveness .... even though one Greek word [aphesis] is translated both ways.

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"