He Comes with the Clouds, and All Shall Mourn over Him

Thus, the apostle John testified that Jesus will come again with the clouds. This testimony is the same as the testimony of the two men in white apparel to the disciples of Jesus, who were looking up into heaven when Jesus was taken up.

Acts 1:9-11 “9And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they were looking stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.”

Also, at the Last Supper, Jesus promised His troubled disciples that He would come again.

John 14:1-3 “1Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

What is amazing is that the apostle Paul, who was not present at that place and was chosen later, also testified in the same way that Jesus will come again with the clouds. Through this also, we can once again know that “the truth is always one.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “16For 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; 17then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

According to these words—the promise of Jesus and the testimony delivered by the disciples of Jesus—Jesus will surely come again from heaven with the clouds. The issue is the spiritual state of those who meet Jesus when He comes again. The apostle John says, “all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him.” “Mourning” means “weeping sorrowfully aloud,” and it is the same as the “lamenting” of which Jesus had spoken before.

Matthew 24:29-30 “29But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30and 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 on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Then why will all the tribes of the earth mourn or lament when Jesus comes again? It will be because they did not believe Jesus and His promise, and because, not having prepared themselves, they will be condemned, that is, judged.

Mark 16:15-16 “15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.”

Matthew 24:42-51 “42Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh. 43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. 44Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. 48But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth; 49and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; 50the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, 51and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 13:47-50 “47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away. 49So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, 50and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”

Therefore, so that we may not weep sorrowfully when Jesus comes again, we must believe and keep the word of Jesus. The apostle John welcomed the word of Jesus, who said that He would come again quickly, as follows:

Revelation 22:20 “He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.”

We also must welcome Jesus, who will come again, by faith. Truly, those who believe that their citizenship is in heaven eagerly wait for Jesus who will come again (Phil. 3:20, 2 Pet. 3:11-13). Therefore, they always watch, and seek to live soberly—that is, diligently and carefully—according to the word of Jesus.

Luke 12:36-37 “36And be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him. 37Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.”

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 “6So then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. 7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

Therefore, in this time when the day is near, we must all the more become “blessed” people who read, hear, and keep the word of Jesus. Then Jesus will allow us to inherit the eternal kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.”

Matthew 25:31-46 “31But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: 32and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; 33and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world... 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels... 46And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.”

Amen.