Daily Devotionals

The Chrysler air raid sirens, built as official warning alarms for U.S. cities in 1952, are so loud that a normal person would be deafened standing within 200 feet of one during operation. The sirens are powered by Hemi engines and can discharge 2,610 cubic feet of air per second. They are so powerful that a piece of paper placed in front of the siren would spontaneously ignite.

Much louder than the Chrysler air raid siren is the second coming of Christ. Because “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24), Jesus gave true signs of His soon return. Not only will “every eye” see Him (Revelation 1:7), but Paul explains, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The sounds accompanying Jesus’ return will be heard by the living and the dead!

Jesus will return “in the glory of His Father with His angels” (Matthew 16:27) to gather all believers. “He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31).

Not only will God’s children see and hear Christ’s coming, but the wicked will also behold His return. “The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).

If anyone tells you that Jesus has secretly returned to the earth and has been seen and heard only by a select few, don’t be deceived. Christ warned, “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ! Or ‘There!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23). Not even the world’s loudest siren will compare to the sound of Jesus’ return.

Apply It:

What’s the loudest sound you have ever heard?

Dig Deeper:

Matthew 24:27; Luke 24:36–43; Acts 1:11

Key Bible Texts

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52 KJV)