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!”
