A Thief in the Night (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11- Jeff Kliewer)

It's awesome to be together with my brothers and sisters in the Lord, you know where we are right now

Paula says I'm in row 6 seat 2 We are actually in God's very presence right now and he's here with us we're joining in Together, I want to read opening up out of Psalm 107 verse 1 and then verse 9

I'll give thanks to the Lord for he is good Yes, that's just enough right there for his steadfast love endures forever

And then in verse 9, it says he satisfies the longing soul

Do you ever feel the need or the desire that you want God in a certain way?

It says he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul He fills with good things

In the Beatitudes blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness But they will be filled.

I Like Twinkies For the moment they satisfy, but they don't really

Satisfy God is the one blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

For they will be filled that is a promise a couple of announcements I want to give to you first of all

Tomorrow is our Annual we call it the election meeting It's a congregational meeting where we will do the final step of affirming the new

Board members the new elders that the chairman and all this other kind of stuff We've been working praying with the

Lord since September on this and tomorrow. We finally affirm that new board I really desire that you be in prayer because having a board that is called by God as opposed to called by man and having a board that is unified in the

Holy Spirit and And and quite frankly we have a senior pastor who leads us in truth and holds us in truth

Be in prayer for the new board and also tomorrow We affirm the budget for the following year if you're a member, please come if you're not yet a member, please come

I guess the message is please come we

Started today another starting point class. We have eight more people Taking the class if you have not yet taken a starting point class, you're interested in our church

You'd love to know more about our church. You can still join us because the first session Not today's session, but the first session is actually on YouTube.

It can be watched So if you desire it, please come next Sunday we meet during first service in one of the classrooms up there

We have two more weeks To do that this coming Saturday is the third

Saturday of the month and it's our love life ministry What an opportunity we have to be in a concert of prayer beseeching the

Lord to protect those unborn Who potentially are at risk in the and the hearts of the young women and the young men that are making decisions

Saturday morning We is our prayer walk for love life next

Sunday Please come back in the evening. We have we've done this before we're

Lawned launching it again. We call it a hymn sing and basically what we'll do is we come together

Did we say six o 'clock? Six o 'clock And we're going to open up the hymn books and we're gonna sing songs out of the hymn books

We're organized this time a little bit more than before We're gonna have a little more musicians involved, but it's a time just to worship

God in some of these great hymns And we have a surprise. We have a youth choir.

That's actually going to be there and ministering to us during it So next Sunday, please come out

I want to encourage you to our typical our normal routine of schedule activities

We have a prayer meeting tonight. Please come out at 6 o 'clock on Monday's big night.

We have the men's apologetics class. I guess they're getting close to 30 guys At the apologetics class and at the same time the women have the precepts study

And I guess they've got a similar number of people. This is awesome to see people going deep into the

Word of God We have small groups that meet you can go online or see myself pastor

Jeff and we can guide you towards the different small Groups at this time. I'm gonna ask

Louise if you would come forward So Louise, thank you it has been a real blessing

Louise working as our coordinator as our facilitator for information and to make it more real for us

I do like the fact that we had the picture up there that kind of helps put a face to what's being said

But always always being in prayer. Let's go to prayer right now father God We lift the

Contani family to you. We thank you that from a young age you started to prepare

Them for this ministry call and and that you've blessed them as a family You've blessed them with with a young child, but most of all

Lord. We thank you that their heart is to reach Into Portugal a country as in all countries that needs your word watch over them protect them we pray for For them specifically.

We also pray for our other missionaries. We thank you Lord that they have answered that call

We thank you Lord for what's going on here at Cornerstone and to be enjoying the fellowship

I think of of the depth of growth with the apologetics class with the precepts with the small groups and and even this past week having the preaching camp and seeing how even the young men in this church are

Desiring desiring just to spread your word. We we thank you for that teaching Lord We do pray for those in our that we know of that are in in need of healing

We think of Ryan down in Texas from the from the Burns We think of of Bill Rondell's friend who who has had heart issues

We we think of Loretta who is continuing we pray father full of full recovery for her from the cancer

Lord we we pray for wisdom as our church continues to consider the option for land on Phillips Road We thank you father

That that you are giving us options to consider. We want your your wisdom

We want this to be for your glory Lord We pray that we not only expand perhaps land and building but Lord that we would be reaching out with your word

To neighbors in the workplace to families to hear the message of truth

And father today is pastor Jeff takes us into first Thessalonians 5 the day of the

Lord We know this is important teaching We pray that your spirit speaks through him and that your spirit equips our hearts to hear and these things we pray in Jesus name

Amen We stand with me

Water you turned into wine Open the eyes of the blind.

There's no one like you None like you

Beaten and tortured to die I'm on a cross crucified.

There's no one like you None like you

Our God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher than any other

Our God is healer awesome in power our God Our God Power that conquered the grain

Paid all my sin and my shame. There's no one like you

Not like you Risen from death and alive

Raining in heaven on high. There's no one like you

Not like you Our God is greater our

God is stronger God you are higher than any Other our

God is healer awesome in power our God Our God And if our

God is for us then who could ever stop us and if our God is Then what could stand against and if our

God is for us then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us then what could stand?

What could stand again Our God is greater

Our God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher

Our God is healer awesome in power our God our

God Our God is greater our God is stronger

God you are higher Than any other our

God is healer awesome in power our God our

God He is greater and he is stronger than anything that this world can throw at us

So awesome Lord you are so awesome He is stronger one of the attributes that goes along with being stronger is that there's

Faithfulness right our God is faithful beyond everything that we can imagine things that we're going through The biggest thing is he knows the future.

He knows what he has in store We don't have to worry because he is faithful Let's sing together great is thy faithfulness

There are two other verses that are added on Allow us to focus in a little bit more on his great faithfulness

Great is thy Faithfulness Oh God my father

There is no shadow of Turning with thee

Thou Changes not thy Compassions they fail not as Thou has been

Thou forever Will be great is thy faithfulness

Great is thy faithfulness Oh By morning new mercies

I see All I have needed

I have Provided Great is thy faithfulness

Lord I could not love thee so blind and Feeling Promises To me

Then without warning Desire I found my treasure my pleasure

Great is thy faithfulness

Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning

New mercies I see All I have needed

I have Provided Great is thy faithfulness

Lord on to me I have no

Merit to woo and delight thee

I Have no Wisdom or powers to employ

Yet in thy mercy how

This is my pleasure that thou art my joy

Faithfulness Faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies

I see All I have

Needed I have Provided Great is thy faithfulness

Lord Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide

Strength for to And right hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine with ten thousand

Great is Great is

Morning by morning

New mercies I see All I have

Great is thy faithfulness Lord Lord we come before you this morning

With humble hearts before your throne Knowing that you are stronger and that you are better Knowing that you are faithful We come before you this morning singing praises to your name

Christ the true better Adam son of God and son of man who

Intended in the garden never yielded never sin

He who makes the many Righteous brings us back to life again

Dying he first the cursed and rising crushed the serpents head

Christ the true better Isaac humbled son of Sacrifice who would climb the fearful mountain there to all for up his life laid with faith upon the altar father's joy and only son their salvation

Was provided. Oh one full and Boundless love

From beginning to end

Christ the story is the glory Yeah Christ the true better Moses called to lead a

Home Standing bold to earthly powers

Glory to be known with his arm wide to heaven see the waters parted to See the veil is torn forever

Cleansed with blood we pass now through Ah To Christ the story is the glory

Yeah Christ the true better David lonely

Shepard mighty king He the champion in the battle

Where Odet is now thy sting in our place lead and Conquered crown him

Lord of Majesty He shall be

Thrown forever We shall His people be

Amen from beginning to end

Christ the story He's the glory Yeah From beginning to end

Christ the story is the glory Ah Christ the story is the glory

Yeah Amen amen

You may be seated Michael thank you for introducing us to that song.

It's a new one guys. That was a 2020 song But it sounds like an old hymn doesn't it? It's got really rich theology and not just repetition so beautiful, thank you

Michael Let's go to the Lord in prayer The Lord is

My light and my salvation Whom shall I fear the Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall

I be afraid? Lord God, I pray that as I preach this morning. You would help me to preach without fear

Give me courage to say everything that you would have me to say I pray for all those who hear the preaching of your word that you would fill them with courage to preach the word in Season and out of season to be bold to tell others about Jesus Christ in whose name we pray

Amen When my wife and I were missionaries in inner -city,

Philadelphia in the Kensington neighborhood We were part of a missionary team. And so there are a bunch of missionaries.

They're all working together and one of the couples Decided that they would buy an abandoned lot.

You can get an abandoned lot very cheap in Kensington They've knocked down a house that was condemned and now it's just an open

Space and the reason they wanted to buy it was in order to plant a community garden

So they brought in topsoil and they they planted Vegetables and fruit and all kinds of things to grow right there in the city.

It was a great thing They had a father so the father of one of the missionaries an older man

Would come down from the suburbs once a week To tend the garden so he would pull the weeds he would water

He would you know pick the the fruits and vegetables that were ready And so he did a great job and that was his way of serving the kingdom to come and tend the community garden of Cornerstone Community Church So it was a great work that he would do and he'd show up in the middle of the day and work hard Well one day

While he was tending the garden kneeling down picking weeds a man in the neighborhood approached and He came near the garden he pulled a very long knife and he opened the gate and Entered in and raised the knife

Towards this man this dear old man, but little did that man know that this old missionary father was wise and prepared and ready

The thief came in the day and so because it was day this old man was watching and he noticed that someone had been milling about and approaching and As soon as this man

Opened the gate. He heard the gate creaking. He was watching him over his shoulder. He himself stood to his feet and gave the familiar sound of and showed his gun and The man with the knife

Turned and ran away like a little baby. You see the thief came in the day and The Christian was not taken by surprise

He was ready week after week. He expected that this might occur. So he came prepared he came ready for the thief this morning

We are going to study a passage Very familiar to probably all of you most of you called a thief in the night

Who is the thief in the night or better? What is the thief in the night?

We'll answer that question and we'll do it from first Thessalonians chapter 5 Verses 1 to 11 this morning before we read it remember what we have just learned two weeks ago when

I was last in the pulpit we Studied the end of first Thessalonians 4 and that is the famous rapture passage

That we should not be worried about those who have fallen asleep In other words those who have died

Christians who have been buried in the ground and sleep in the earth Why? because when

Christ comes he's gonna resurrect them from their graves and Call them up to heaven to meet him in the air and we who are alive and remain until the coming of the

Lord We will also be caught up To meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with him forever encouraging words

Amen, and we talked about how this rapture of the church the catching up of the church to meet the air meet the

Lord in the air Is near it's coming soon. There are signs of the times.

Has anybody noticed any signs of the times? These days like maybe a pandemic or wars and rumors of war

Things of this nature. Well, these are only birth pangs And these things will come in fact, they have been coming for 2 ,000 years.

We've been in the end times Since Christ came the first time we're waiting for his return

But the signs are increasing that the coming of the Lord will be soon and when

Christ comes We the church who believe in him will be waiting for him looking for him long

Expecting him and we will not be surprised Like someone taken by the thief in the night, so now let's read about The times and seasons the coming of the

Lord the thief in the night first Thessalonians 5 1 to 11 today now

Concerning the times and the seasons brothers. You have no need to have anything written to you

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night while people are saying there is peace and security then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and They will not escape

But you are not in darkness brothers for that day to surprise you like a thief For you are all children of white children of the day

We are not of the night or of the darkness So then let us not sleep as Others do but let us keep awake and be sober for those who sleep

Sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night But since we belong to the day

Let us be sober having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation

For God has not destined us for wrath But to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ Who died for us?

So that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him therefore encourage one another and build one another up Just as you are doing so the main idea today is that the arrival of the day of the

Lord will be as Surprising as a thief in the night To unbelievers

But the opposite to us We will not be surprised like a thief in the night

Coming into our house. We will be waiting and ready because the return of the Lord is imminent

Now if you notice in the first three verses It is not the

Lord who is described as a thief Look more carefully at the passage.

What is the thief in the night? It says in verse 2 you're fully aware that the day

Of the Lord will come like a thief in the night This day is not a 24 -hour period it is an age

Not like the age of Aquarius that fiction it is the day of a new age coming called the day of the

Lord and It will come like a thief in the night notice the element of surprise in verse 3

What are people saying? Peace Security if you ask me what's gonna happen with this

Russia Ukraine thing I Think whatever happens there will be a return to some kind of normalcy

There's nothing new under the Sun Wars rumors of wars these things will come in cycles now as the end times approach.

It'll increase in frequency, but something will eventually bring the world back to a place where people assume that All is well everything goes on like before There's nothing new under the

Sun and here in verse 3. That's what people are saying There is peace

There is security then Sudden notice that word sudden this element of surprise the thief in the night you're not expecting him you're laying in bed sound asleep and Then you hear the crack window and as you jump to your feet you find he's in the house

It's surprising. It's a thief in the night, and you were not expecting it in the least That's what's happening in verse 3 and this day of the

Lord is described as sudden destruction destruction That comes as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape now this raises an interesting question

Is the day of the Lord as many people say the second coming of Christ?

When he arrives and he slays the wicked and he judges the world is this something that the church must live through and Then the

Lord comes in the day of the Lord to bring judgment on earth I would say there's a major major problem with that way of thinking

Listen Time and again in the New Testament The day of the Lord the coming is described as imminent.

This is like your big theological word for the day immanency Not eminent like he's an eminent, you know prominent person

Imminent, what does imminent mean? Could happen any second. There's nothing that stops it from happening right now while I preach

Jesus said that it would be like the days of Noah people will be marrying and giving in marriage and eating and drinking and then boom

Taken away for judgment two men standing in the field. They're just hanging out one taking the other left

By the way, that's taken to judgment or left not having to experience it or the two women grinding at the mill or the ten

Virgins and five of them. What did they do? They were so complacent They had become forgetful.

So they forgot to keep their oil and they fell asleep. They were just snoozing They weren't ready.

But the other five virgins were ready when the groom came get the idea Imminency, it could happen at any second

Now if anybody here how many of you parents? Let your children read the book of Revelation Especially your little kids.

I would say you better not do that Unless you believe in the rapture of the church before the tribulation.

I think that's your favorite book, isn't it Revelation? He loves it and I love for him to read the book of Revelation because The church will be raptured out of here now

I need to underscore this point of imminency because not many people these days believe that the church will be raptured out

Look at first Thessalonians 4 17 It says we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the

Lord in the air So we will be with the Lord Not many people believe that this will happen before the tribulation

It's now taught commonly that we have to live through the tribulation and endure that before the coming of the

Lord Let me remind you of what we read in Revelation 6 through 16.

You guys remember this a Horseman on a white horse Appears now he's riding a white horse

Because he's posing Pretending to be Christ He is the

Antichrist and he says that he's bringing peace Daniel 9 26 and 27.

He establishes a peace treaty and all the world says there is peace and safety

The first horseman of the Apocalypse is the Antichrist promising peace

But the second horseman comes right behind him and he rides a red horse and he brings

War the opposite of what was promised war breaks out on earth all of the world

Enveloped in a third world war that's coming eventually in God's timing

But then the third horse is famine and the fourth is pestilence that breaks out on the earth the fifth is martyrdom where Christians are being slain all throughout the world and then the sixth is an earthquake and This earthquake is so severe that the islands flee and the mountains fall down and the people are so Terrorized by what's happening on earth that they hide in the clefts of the rock and they call on the rocks to fall on them

To spare them from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the

Lamb For the great day of their wrath has come Revelation 6 16 and 17

Describes even the seal judgment which by the way who breaks the seals in Revelation 6

Jesus it's his wrath These judgments when the seal is broken in heaven wrath breaks out on earth

Devastation of this nature. So now we have the seventh seal and when Jesus breaks the seventh seal it brings out seven angels and Each of these angels is carrying a trumpet when the first through the fourth angel blow their trumpets

The common grace of God on this earth what people take for granted

The fact that we look outside and it's green everywhere and there's trees and your your yard just gives birth to life

We take it for granted that Vegetation springs up from the ground with the first trumpet one -third of all green things are incinerated

With the second trumpet one -third of all the fish in the sea die and a third of all the ships The third and fourth you have the blue skies turned dark

You have the pure waters of the oceans and the lakes Destroyed but the first four trumpets common grace is being eliminated.

What happens with the fifth? It is the first woe at this point with the fifth trumpet something supernatural happens

God opened some crevice And these disgusting locusts

Come out But they're not ordinary locusts remember the book of Joel how the locusts would be sent for the day of the

Lord Here the locusts are like scorpions they can sting you and When they sting the pain of that scorpion like bite lasts for five months

People are being tortured by these things. That's why it's called the first woe It is actually the wrath of God bringing the first taste of hell to earth punishment wrath unleashed at the second woe

Which is the sixth? Yeah, the sixth trumpet you have an army of 200 million people

Described as red and sapphire where on earth could you discover a 200 million person army?

China But at the time that this was written there was only 300 million people in all the earth and most of those were unknown

Peoples, how could the author of Revelation know this? It's because it was God inspiring the writing of this book an army probably

China. Maybe another Arises with 200 million soldiers and kills one -third of the earth you getting the picture

This is not peace and safety this is not life as Usual. This is the day of the

Lord what was promised through all the Old Testament prophets a day of wrath Where God begins to judge the world he's been withholding his wrath

Staying his judgment, but in the day of the Lord the last seven years He's no longer staying his judgment the seventh trumpet

What happens next? seven bowls of wrath and those who took the mark of the beast break out in terrible sores all over their body and All the fish of the sea die with the second bowl no living fish.

I grew up in Florida Anybody here ever been to Florida? during a red tide

You go to the beach you're all excited for the beautiful Clear water beach and when you get there, you know what you find the water is

Disgusting it's red and The fish and all the sea life have washed up to the shore and you're like mom.

Can we go home? This is this is not what we wanted Imagine at the second bowl that every fish in the sea is dead and the water is turned to blood with the third bowl even the rivers and the springs turn to blood and God says

I have given them blood to drink Because that is what they deserve It's what

I deserve, but he gave me a different blood to drink the cup of forgiveness the blood of the

Lamb We're going somewhere with this it says at the fourth bowl of wrath

Hopefully this is making you uncomfortable because it doesn't get better here at the end Till we bring it to the gospel.

You know what he does with the fourth bowl of wrath the angel pours out the bowl and God supercharges the

Sun so the globe global warming people They're worried about the wrong kind of judgment on earth when

God supercharges the Sun It'll immediately scorch the people of earth to the point where they curse

God and they are enraged against him because they know it's judgment He scorches the earth and then he blacks it out fifth bowl darkness everybody is in utter darkness and the

Bible says they gnaw their tongues because of the agony of their sores and the terror of night because these are children of darkness and Then the sixth bowl, of course, that's a demonic frog spirits

Things get increasingly supernatural at this point remember the false Christ and the false prophets of Matthew 24

Once you have the abomination of desolation the Antichrist proclaims himself to be God now things get really weird supernatural

You have false prophets who can do miracles So astonishing that even the elect would be deceived if that were possible, but it's not possible

For example The Jewish false prophet at the right hand of the Antichrist, you know what he can do

He makes an idol of the Antichrist, but when people come to worship it it responds

The statue can talk and move It's like AI or but no, it's supernatural

Okay things are getting very supernatural at the end of The book of Revelation and the last bowl is an earthquake so severe that it ruins the world

Everybody is enraged and the people that remain gnawing their tongues in the darkness make their way to Jerusalem for the

Battle of Armageddon Not all of them make it most of them don't because there's hailstones falling from heaven just picking them off left and right and the only people who make it there are

Those enraged wanting to kill the Jewish people to get back at God and Christ comes and sets his foot on the

Mount of Olives and splits it in two and Rains from Jerusalem and in that coming he judges those who remain

With the breath of his mouth. He slays the wicked Isaiah 11 1 This is what's coming now.

Here's my question to you maybe online because I know you guys are with me already How is it?

That these events must take place and Yet you say that the return is imminent

Imminent is the issue it could happen at any second and people are saying peace and safety and they're marrying and giving in marriage and Everything goes on as normal until that day hits

Here's the issue the rapture of the church the coming of Christ is imminent it could happen while I preach and That sets off the day of the

Lord the judgments So we can say that the rapture that the coming of Christ is imminent

It can happen like a thief in the night when no one expects it But by the end of the day of the

Lord, which is that seven -year period when Christ comes to judge People will know exactly what's happening

It will all unfold right before their eyes Let's make this more crystal clear from verse 4 through 7 point being

God makes a distinction a Distinction between the children of light and The children of darkness it says but you are not in darkness brothers for that day

The seven -year period of judgment for that day to surprise you like a thief For you are all children of light children of the day

Church, I named my daughter day She's Abigail day cleaver because of this verse and I want all of you to understand something if You have come to put your faith in Christ.

You belong to him. You are a child of light You are different from the world

Ephesians 5 8 says for at one time you were darkness But now you are light in the

Lord. So walk as children of light The big point here in verses 4 to 7 is

That you are children of light God makes a distinction between his children and those who are in the darkness treats them differently

He says So then let us not sleep as others do but let us keep awake and be sober for those who sleep sleep at night and those who get drunk are

Drunk at night in the days of Noah People were getting drunk totally unaware there was a preacher of righteousness named

Noah claiming that God was going to judge the world and They scoffed and they mocked and they laughed at him

Until in a moment God told Noah to get on board the ark and his family with him and God himself

Closed the door and that ark was lifted up from the earth on the waters of judgment while simultaneously

God Judged the world with a flood There was a distinction between the children of darkness and the children of light

The sheep are different than the goats the children of light are rescued from this flood

Enoch walked with God and he was no more because God took him if you read

Genesis chapter 5 you find a repetition in that that chapter talks about Mahalal and Jared and all these people they lived they had children then it says and he died

And he lived and he had children and he died Then you come to Enoch and a picture of the rapture right there in the text of the

Old Testament. It says He walked with God and he was no more for God took him

He was caught up to meet the Lord in the air Elijah caught up to meet the Lord in the air

The picture here is a Distinction between how God treats the children of day and the children of night when we even talk about The contrast between two things.

What do we say? It's a difference between night and day black and white light and dark

This is the distinction that our text makes that God Treats the children of light differently very important as we move on so children of light

Here's the exhortation to you says in verse 8, but since we belong to the day Let us be sober

Having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation

Faith hope and love but the greatest of these is love Paul's very big on these three words right first Corinthians 13

Earlier in first Thessalonians at the very beginning. He's writing this book so that they would have faith hope and love

The work of faith the labor of love steadfastness of hope That's book.

This book is for that. What does that mean? Well, listen Church You need to guard your heart

How do you guard your heart? There's a breastplate that you can put on to guard you from the encroachment of the world

From the thief in this world who would kill you How do you guard your heart listen with faith and with hope?

I'm sorry with faith and with love How do you guard your mind? What does it say in verse 8 for a helmet?

the hope of salvation Sometimes we hear so many different opinions about the end times

Some of you here might have a pre -wrath view of the rapture Guess what? I'm cool with that go with that because that's the main thrust of this text

The church isn't destined for wrath I think it's a pre -tribulation rapture because the end of Daniel's 70th week the church is

Raptured out bringing end to the parentheses. We talked about this two weeks ago but the point being

It could get very easy to say, you know what John MacArthur and R .C. Sproul don't even agree.

How can I figure this out? I'm not even gonna mess with in time stuff Is that what our text tells us to do?

No, because as you dive into these scriptures and you think about it You put your hope on the second coming of Christ.

Your mind is enraptured with these thoughts all of a sudden You're looking for him to come

It's good to think about these things You might not become a Bible scholar in the book of Revelation.

I'm not But I have strong views because I've read it and I think I understand what he's saying and I'm excited that Jesus is coming

That's the hope we're looking for him We're waiting for him and when we set our minds on things above not on things of this earth

It motivates how we live we put on the breastplate of faith and love and the hope of coming salvation final salvation and That's how we ought to be thinking in our lives lastly the best part 9 through 11

For here's the big takeaway God has not destined us

Remember the distinction children of light versus children of the dark us the children of light. He has not destined us for Wrath we do not go through the day of his wrath of Revelation 6 16 and 17

We're not destined for that. Are we destined for sufferings and afflictions in this life?

Yes In this world, you will have trouble but take heart. I have overcome the world Even in the book of 1st

Thessalonians it says about afflictions we are destined for these the ordinary

Sufferings of this life and persecutions from the world, but we are not destined for wrath and that is what the day of the

Lord is it's demonic frog spirits and locusts and Antichrist and your whole family crushed to death with no hope of surviving

Just waiting to be martyred. No, that's not what the church is destined for according to this verse

Look at verse 9 God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation.

This is a final salvation Meeting him being with him forever Through our

Lord Jesus Christ verse 10 who died for us

There's somebody here. That's never understood Why Jesus had to die and the answer to that is another $10 theological word propitiation propitiation means satisfying wrath

Appeasing wrath you say well who's so angry? Where's this wrath God?

hates sin He is just and holy he has a wrath against sin and sinners

But look at verse 10 Christ died for us

The meaning of Jesus's death is propitiation of sin That Jesus stood in where I deserved

I deserved every plague written in the book of Revelation Every one of them should have been poured on me for my sin

But my Savior Jesus Stood in for me and he took the wrath of God into himself on that tree and He propitiated that wrath.

He appeased the wrath of God on my behalf He died the death that I deserve he died for me.

Who does the Bible say Jesus died for? Look at verse 10

Who died for us? the children of light The distinction that's made he died for us the shepherd

Laid down his life for the sheep the bridegroom

Stood in and took the penalty of the bride He died for us us

The many that he makes righteous by faith Wow, he died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him

Is that referring? to verse 7 There are some who sleep and they get drunk.

So is this saying that there's some Christians who are kind of sleepwalking their Christian life

They're kind of they're saved but they're carnal They're carnal Christians in a sleepwalk.

Is that what that's saying? No, this is actually referencing the rapture

Look back at chapter 4 verse 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep

That you may not grieve as others do who have no hope back to chapter 5

Verse 10 and we're almost done. Everybody here still awake. No, nobody's sleepwalking right now, right?

No, this refers to those who are asleep aka They're dead their bodies are dead and buried in the ground or you're still alive.

You're still looking you're still waiting These dead children of light whose bodies are buried and us who are still in the body

Awaiting is coming whether this is you or that's you It says right here

We might live with him. You might be dead in the grave or you're still alive and waiting

But we will live with him. Is there somebody here?

You don't have to raise your hand You've always thought that everything's just kind of be normal Maybe you were surprised in 2020 when things weren't normal anymore.

You always wonder when's it just gonna get back to normal And you assume that life will just kind of go on as it is the people of Noah's day thought that way too

Until the entire world was destroyed by a flood and in our day

There is coming a thief in the night called the day of the Lord The day of the

Lord will be as I described it a Very different era in this world's history the last seven years that final day

Will be devastating the wrath of God will be poured poured out on this world. Not everything will go on as usual But listen to me now if you haven't been listening,

I know you have but if there's anybody who hasn't heard listen to this Jesus Christ is offering you

Free admission on to that ark. He's saying come

Like Noah called to his generation get on the ark. I'll rescue you out of here. You can escape the coming wrath

Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved The thief in the night is coming, but you can be ready

And here's how you get ready You call on the name of the Lord Jesus save me Come into my life.

I'm a sinner. I deserve your wrath But you died on the cross

Forgive me of my sin Forgive me Lord and you fall down do this alone tonight you fall down on your face before God and you confess your sins to him and You beat your chest and say

I'm a sinner Lord have mercy on me And guess what he will do when you believe that Jesus died and rose

You will live with him. You will be aboard the ark. You will be rescued The thief in the night will not take you by surprise.

You'll be waiting for him and he'll come for you He will come to rescue you.

This is the offer of the gospel. It is good news So in closing church, we have this news to tell

Theologically this is the takeaway The return of the

Lord is imminent that means it can happen right now We're not going to see all the events of Revelation unfold

God has not destined us for wrath, but for salvation So we should believe that we will be raptured and then the world will go through this horrifying apocalyptic literally the word revelation is apocalypse apocalyptic

End Final conclusion and then

Christ comes and the second coming in Revelation 19 11 and following his robe is dipped in blood his mouth has the sword and He comes to judge and to finish off the wrath of God against this fallen world

So Christians, here's what we do. We go tell our

Next -door neighbor that we love That they too can escape the coming wrath

You're safe you're rescued, but if this is happening any day soon, which it could be tonight

There is an urgency to go and tell them he is coming soon Revelation 22 says so here's what

I've done. I ordered from way of the master 250 tracks and each one looks like a pile of million -dollar bills

But as soon as you open the cover, there's an introduction and then there's the entire gospel of John And it says these things are written that you may have life

The offer of salvation through the gospel of John. I want everybody to take one We don't have enough for you to take multiple, but they're on the back table

And I'll tell you what I already know who I'm supposed to give it to somebody in my neighborhood I'm scared to do it because it's awkward

But I'm not just gonna like throw it on his doorstep knock and run Because that's copping out.

I'm gonna actually talk to him when he's shooting hoops with his kid I'm gonna be walking by with my dog and say hey

I got something for you, and it's gonna be one of these tracks, and I'm gonna give it to him And I'll say this is really valuable

Could you read this and then let's grab coffee. You want to go to Dunkin Donuts? I don't drink coffee, but I'll have a hot chocolate or something

I'm gonna invite him to talk about it. He very well could say no. He could just stiff arm it and say

I'm not interested Worst case scenario is I'm embarrassed right, but if I really believe that Jesus is coming soon

Love for him and his little children and his wife Demand that I tell them that there is wrath escape

That Jesus died for us to have life I Can't imagine if I get raptured and I watch him go through that what it would feel like to know

I never told him so everybody on your way out today Grab one of those tracks pray about who it is that you're supposed to give it to it might be some

Niece or nephew and they would look at that. Oh wow this is so cool It looks like a million dollar and next thing you know they're reading the gospel of John The Lord will show you who to give it to But this passage for us tells us to put on the breastplate of faith and love

The helmet of salvation and to have urgency Urgency because he's coming soon the theological word

Imminency any minute now he can come let's pray father. Thank you so much for your word to us today.

I Pray that you would give us courage To go give these tracks to those who need to hear

I Pray that your people would look at you and remember Psalm 27 1 the

Lord is my light and My salvation of whom shall I be afraid the

Lord is the stronghold of my life Whom shall I fear? God I pray for us as a church that we would go with boldness

And tell others about salvation in Christ It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen. We stand with me facing a task

Unfinished that drives us to our knees

Need that Undiminished rebukes our slothful ease we

Rejoice to know the renew before thy throne the solemn pledge we

Owe thee to go and make thee know Where other lords beside thee hold their unhindered sway

Defy thee Defy thee still today with none to heed their crying for love

Light Unnumbered souls are dying and passing to We go to all the world with Kingdom hope unfurl

No other name has power to say but Jesus Christ We bear the torch that Flaming fell from the hands of those

Who gave their lives? Proclaiming that Jesus died and rose

Ours is the same Commission the same glad message are

Fired by a soul We go

With Kingdom hope unfurl No Other name has power to say but Jesus Christ Oh father who sustained them

Oh Spirit who inspired Savior whose love can strain them to toil with zeal on From cowardice

Defend us from lethargy Away forth on thine errands send us

We go to all the world the king

No other name has power to say but Jesus Christ We go to all the world with King Oh No other name has power to say but Jesus Christ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly

Than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations