The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back — personally, visibly, and bodily, in the same flesh in which He ascended. This is not a symbol and not a figure of speech: it is the promise the church has lived on for two thousand years, stated in the plainest words in the Book. Read the order of God’s prophetic programme as Scripture lays it down: His Return → the Resurrections and the Judgments → the Millennial Kingdom → the New Heavens and the New Earth.

I. This Same Jesus Shall So Come

On the Mount of Olives, as the disciples watched Him ascend, two men in white apparel gave the church its marching promise:

“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.” — Acts 1:11 (KJV)

The Lord Himself had already promised it in the upper room:

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” — John 14:3 (KJV)

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” — Titus 2:13 (KJV)

He is not coming back as a spirit, an influence, or an idea. The same Jesus — who was crucified, buried, raised, and taken up in a body that could be handled (Luke 24:39) — returns in that same body, and every eye shall see Him (Revelation 1:7).

II. The Catching Up of the Saints — 1 Thessalonians 4

Paul comforts the church about believers who have died in Christ. They are not lost, and they will not miss His coming:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (KJV)

“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.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (KJV)

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:18 (KJV)

Note the order in the apostle’s comfort: the dead in Christ rise first; then the living saints are caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. Death does not rob a single believer of that day.

III. The Olivet Discourse — After the Tribulation, Before the Wrath

On the Mount of Olives the Lord Himself laid out the signs of His coming and of the end of the age (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21): the abomination of desolation, great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, and then — immediately after the tribulation of those days — the sign of the Son of man in heaven:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun 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: 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 of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” — Matthew 24:29–31 (KJV)

The saints are gathered by His angels with the great sound of a trumpet — after the tribulation, just as He said. Yet the gathering is not unto wrath: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” The church passes through tribulation from the world and from Antichrist, as she always has; she is not appointed to the wrath of God, which falls on the ungodly who remain. (For the film-length case from Scripture, see “Seven Problems with the Pre-Trib Rapture” in the Street Preachers Corner.)

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” — Matthew 24:42, 44 (KJV)

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” — Luke 21:28 (KJV)

IV. The King Returns in Power — Revelation 19

The same chapter of history that begins with the marriage of the Lamb ends with heaven opened and the King riding forth to judge and make war:

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” — Revelation 19:11 (KJV)

“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” — Revelation 19:16 (KJV)

His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, from which He ascended (Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:11–12) — the return is to a place, on a day, in the sight of the nations. The beast and the false prophet are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 19:20), and the King takes the government upon His shoulder.

V. The Establishing of the Kingdom — The Millennial Reign

When the King returns, He does not merely rescue His people out of the world — He establishes the kingdom the prophets foretold, on this earth, for a thousand years:

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” — Revelation 20:1–3 (KJV)

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” — Revelation 20:4, 6 (KJV)

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” — Daniel 2:44 (KJV)

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” — Isaiah 11:6–9 (KJV)

“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” — Zechariah 14:9 (KJV)

Satan bound; the martyrs and the saints reigning with Christ a thousand years; the wolf dwelling with the lamb; the knowledge of the glory of the LORD filling the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is the kingdom the disciples asked about (Acts 1:6), the kingdom of the stone that becomes a great mountain (Daniel 2), and it is established not by the church’s politics but by the King’s return.

VI. The New Heavens and the New Earth

After the thousand years, after Satan’s last revolt is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and after the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:7–15; see The Resurrection of the Just and the Unjust), God makes all things new:

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” — 2 Peter 3:13 (KJV)

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” — Isaiah 65:17 (KJV)

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” — Revelation 21:1–2 (KJV)

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” — Revelation 21:4 (KJV)

“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” — Revelation 22:3–5 (KJV)

And so shall we ever be with the Lord. The story that began in a garden ends in a city — with the tabernacle of God among men, no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)