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I'd like to speak the next three Lord's Day, Lord willing, on the end of the world. The end of the world, better known as what the Bible calls the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord. It's called many names in Scripture.
In the Old Testament, mainly it's the Day of the Lord. In the New Testament, it speaks of the Day of Visitation of our God. It's also called the Day of Wrath of our God, in the Old Testament and the New.
It's also known as the Day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, regardless what name you put on it, it's God's Day. And He's going to have His Day. So, before we begin, let's open up and let's bow in prayer and ask our God to help us as we search the Scriptures and worship His Majesty.
Oh God, our Heavenly Father, we come to You in Jesus' name. We thank You that You have spoken, who at various times and various ways, spoken times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by Your dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom You have appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.
As the old hymn says, what more can you say than to You, You have said. And to us, we flee to refuge to Jesus. We pray, dear Lord, within this hour, what Your Son, the Lord Jesus, the glorified Christ, said to the churches in Revelation.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Give us ears, Lord, to hear Your Word.
And we ask this in Jesus' name, for Your honor and glory. Amen. The end of the world. How will it all end? That's the question. How is it going to end? I never will forget back in 1975, roughly I was 10 years old, I went to the movie theater.
My mother actually took me to see a movie. Some of you may remember this. To see the picture that drew massive crowds in that time period. And nationwide it drew large audiences. It actually drew an audience, I looked this up, of over 17 million people to the big screen to watch and to hear it narrated by the orator, the theatrical orator, Orson Welles.
Who also narrated years back a book that was very well popular, a science fiction book, called The War of the Worlds. I'm sure you've heard of that. They've even made several pictures of that. But the name of the picture that I went to see was based on a best-selling book that was written back in 1970 and five years later they made a movie.
And again, like I said, it was narrated by Orson Welles and it was quite interesting. The book was written by Hal Lindsey. Hal Lindsey, basically a dispensational Pentecostal. It was named The Late Great Planet Earth.
The Late Great Planet Earth. And I never will forget this. Basically seeing the movie and hearing of the book. I never read the book, but I've seen it years back on the book stands. And it basically mentions how the world will come to an end.
Everybody flocked to it. I mean loaded up to see this movie. The coming of the Antichrist basically is what it speaks of. The one world leader. It's almost like the focus was more on that, the Antichrist, than the Christ.
That's sad. That was really the focus. And how the Antichrist would rise in great power, this one world leader, to give a new order, such as Adolf Hitler tried to do, to deceive the world. And then according to Hal Lindsey, the world would come to an end with a nuclear holocaust and ending with the mini blast of hydrogen bombs that would annihilate planet Earth.
Just terrified people. And no wonder this kind of picture drew so many crowds in that day. And many years later, around 1995 to 2007, there was also another series that revived, that somewhat I think sprang from The Late Great Planet Earth, was Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' series on Left Behind.
You've heard that. And sad to say, most of the churches today base their theology, folks, on the Left Behind series.
Sad.
They don't even know. They just know enough of the Bible to be dangerous. But the Left Behind series has made a huge impact in the world as well. And just about everybody that's unbelievers knows about it.
The picture drew masses of crowds as well as The Late Great Planet Earth and probably made millions of dollars. The series has been adapted into four films to date, all about the Tribulation Period, how the world would come to an end.
And these religious novels all based and focused on the seven-year Tribulation Period, the conflict between what they call Tribulation Force, conflict between the Tribulation Force and the underground network, they call it, of converts of the New World Order, etc., etc., etc.
I'll stop right there. I won't go any further on that. But the question really is this, and my question is this, is rather than hearing and seeing these novels based upon these men's opinion of how the world would end, and these dramas and all this, and reading these men's interpretation of such, such as the Howell-Lindsey's and Tim LaHaye's views on how the world would end, the question really is this, what does the Bible say about how it would all end?
So when we read the Bible and what the Bible says about it, it literally says, what does God Himself say about it? What does the Holy Spirit of God say, spoken to holy men of God, that were moved by the Holy Spirit, about the end of the world?
That's the question, isn't it? Well, the truth is that God has more to say through His holy prophets and holy apostles than anyone else about the end of the world. He's got much to say about it. God has a lot to say about it.
We're going to pick up again in our text, four powerful verses in 2 Peter chapter 3. If you haven't already turned there, this is where we are in our study. Interesting, isn't it? Here we are right now celebrating the first advent of Jesus Christ, and this is all about Jesus' second advent.
They were anticipating Jesus coming into the world, His first coming. Should not we even be anticipating even more the second coming of Jesus Christ?
We should.
So 2 Peter chapter 3, as we begin this series on the end of the world and how the world will end, in the day of the Lord, 2 Peter chapter 3 has much to say about it.
Hear God's word.
Verse 10 to 13. Four inspired verses of the apostle Peter moved by the Spirit of God. It says more about the end of time, the end of the age, the end of the world, than all these books and novels put together.
Packed in these four verses.
Peter says, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Verse 11. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, listen to this question. What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
That's a question.
And verse 13. Nevertheless, we, talking to God's people, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. I'll stop right there. Amen and amen to God's word.
I was studying this and I read this from James Montgomery Boyce in his book. I have a quite good sized book on theology. He was a late Reformed theologian, and he has a book called Foundations of the Christian Faith.
He was one of R .C. Sproul's best companions, best friends from the same area. They almost sound alike when you hear him preach, but Boyce had a unique way in his preaching and exposition. He was really, really good.
But I got this quote from him, and he says this about the teaching of the second coming of Jesus Christ, the second advent. Quote,. In the New Testament, one verse and 25 deals with the Lord's return.
Listen to that.
One verse and 25 deals with the Lord's return. He goes on to say,. It is mentioned 318 times in 260 chapters of the Holy Bible. It occupies a prominent place in the Old Testament in that most of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of Christ deal not with His first advent in which He died as our sin bearer, but with the second advent in which He is to rule as king.
End quote.
And how true that is. We see more prophecies giving about the second coming, the second advent of Jesus Christ than His first advent. Now, what does the Bible say about the day of the Lord? And what does the Bible say when will it occur?
Those are two questions. What and when? Now, for us to answer those two all-important questions, it's going to take a little time to go through, because when you open your Bible, and as you well know, if you read your Bible consistently, systematically, you see almost constantly in every book of the Bible just about the day of the Lord.
We see it.
It's all over the pages of Scripture. Most important, we must read what the verses of Scripture is in order to get the right context here surrounding our text. And as you well know, I've mentioned this before, the verses before verse 10, back in 2 Peter in our text, and after verse 10, verse 11.
So context is king, right? So as to really get what is being said here when it comes to getting it right and getting the right interpretation of what is being said in the text. Now, there may be many, many different views on the when, but Scripture says a lot about the when, too.
It's not for us to know. Amen. And God has revealed much to us. God reveals the secret things belong to the Lord, and that's one of the secret things that only belongs to the Lord. So look with me very quickly to our text.
We read and started in verse 10 to 13, but I want you to notice with me verse 8 and 9. Now, this is important for us to understand. We looked at this a few weeks back about the patience and the long-suffering of the Lord.
In verse 8, notice what he says. But, there's a transitional word. Now, any time you see the but, he's speaking about, in verse 7, but the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly man.
So you see where he went with this. There's a flow of thought. And he speaks of the day of the Lord in verse 10 to 13. So you go back to verse 7, and the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved.
God has reserved for fire until the day of judgment. The day of judgment, speaking of the day of the Lord, and perdition of ungodly man. And he has the false teachers in mind, by the way. But, transitional word, right?
Beloved, he speaks to God's people. The suffering people, the church, do not forget this one thing. That with the Lord, one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. Notice he's speaking about one day, a day.
And, basically, what he's speaking of here, is based upon Psalm 190, verse 4, a prayer of Moses. Peter's point, and we've already looked at this, but I want to comment here, Peter's point is to assert that God is sovereign over time, right?
He's sovereign over all time.
And, as we know it.
Time is totally different to God than our timetable. He has a different calendar than our calendar. And that God's perspective on time differs totally, completely, radically different than ours. So, now look at verse 9.
This is important to get the context. Is look at the surrounding verses. Look, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise. What promise is He talking about? His second coming. If you notice, in all three chapters here, in chapter 2, specifically, He is really rebuking the scoffers and the false teachers.
And then He speaks about the promise, so He's back on track about the promise of God and the second coming of Jesus Christ. And as you see in chapter 1 and later on, you know, as we looked at, He speaks about the man at Mount Transfiguration when Jesus was bursting out and glorifying Him, and to get a glimpse of that.
And this is the way Jesus will be when He comes back in His second advent. And the Scripture says that the Lord is not slack. In other words, that word slack means He's not slow. We may think He's slow, but God is not slow.
He's always on time. Concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering. Don't you love this? God is longsuffering toward us.
Toward us. Toward the church.
Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And I really believe that that not only refers to the unbelieving world, that refers to the church. Why does God delay divine judgment?
When Peter says judgment begins in the house of God. But God is delaying judgment here in this final judgment to come.
Because of His elect's sake.
Jesus even mentioned that.
This is a sign of God's incredible,.
Amazing forbearance.
That God is so patient.
It's mind-boggling, isn't it?
When even you see the church be in the state that it's in at this moment. And if you see what I see,.
It's in a mess, folks.
It's like there's a departure from the Bible. You know, you could go to any church today and it's so modernized in culture.
From the world.
And even now, it's like you can walk into a church casually and casually worship and casually drink coffee. Sorry, that's before the service. But anyway, you know what I'm saying. Casual Christians usually are casualties.
But I see a departure from the Bible. It's almost like if you visit modern churches now to contemporary churches,.
They're so contemporary,.
It's almost like you hardly see people carrying a Bible.
That is sad.
Oh, they can look it up on their phone. Well, I think there's some laziness there. It's almost like the church.
Is not being strong and disciplined.
And studying God's Word. It's almost like they take the preacher's word for it and they don't challenge. I remember when I was in seminary, I had one guy, I don't agree with his views now, of course, on dispensation.
But there's one thing I really appreciated. He said, always check the preacher's what they say. He gets that from the book of Acts. And you know, we should.
Whatever I say, check it with chapter and verse. And he said that. He said, check and make sure it's got chapter and verse.
And to its context. Be a good Berean. We should not take these men for granted. They're men. They're mere mortal men. They're representing God's Word.
Check them. Check what I say.
And make sure it lines up with God. And now, sad to say, you hardly see people carrying Bibles to worship.
This is where we are.
God is incredibly long-suffering. He suffers long His divine attribute of patience and mercy towards us and His believers in the midst who have been misled by false teachers in that time period. And then we see this Word that stands out that God is not willing that any should perish.
But that all should come to repentance.
I think that's a key word, isn't it?
Repentance.
Brother Keith mentioned that this morning. The Old Testament way of saying repentance, you don't see in the Old Testament that word much. Hardly at all.
But it means turn to the Lord.
Because you've fallen away. Repentance is in full view here for the sake of which God delays His judgment, beloved, and is really more for the sake of God's people.
The church.
Rather than the sin-cursed world at large, even though you look at that, you think, how is God so patient toward them and all the sin that comes up to heaven? Rather than that, you see that.
It's mind-boggling.
But judgment begins in the house of God, not with the unbeliever. Is that not true? The Lord does not delight in the death of the wicked. We spoke about that, didn't we? Because according to the Scriptures, God's eternal purposes are not overturned.
They are not overthrown because He's sovereignly in control. Aren't you glad? Nothing stops God's eternal decree. When He says it, it's going to happen.
Nothing can change it.
Now, when people reject the Gospel, God is still not overturned. And sometimes we kind of get panicky about it. Oh, these people are rejecting the Gospel,.
But oh no, God knows exactly what He's doing.
Notice the transitional word then in verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come. You know what I see here? God's patience comes to an end.
His patience comes to an end.
The day of the Lord. But the day of the Lord. The transition. Here we read, God's patience comes to an end. And then what happens? The time of divine intervention. That God intervenes and He comes in divine judgment and it will come.
Notice in the text. But the day of the Lord will come.
As a thief in the night.
Glorious second coming of Jesus Christ. That's what He's talking about. He has this in view. The day of the Lord is the second coming of Jesus Christ. And then in verse 12. Looking for and hastening the coming day of God. He mentions it again.
The blessed hope. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. In other words, Jesus' second coming will be unexpected and suddenly. So there's my outline basically. I gave it to you in a nutshell.
First we're going to look at the certainty of the day of the Lord. Verse A. Second, we will see the suddenness of the day of the Lord. It's still in verse 10.
B.
And third, we will see the seriousness of the day of the Lord in the last phrase in C. So we're only dealing with one verse today. And we'll probably do it, Lord willing, next week. It's just the same.
Then we will look at some personal application and the conclusion of the day of the Lord in light of that. Now, first of all, let's begin. The certainty of the day of the Lord. The certainty of the day of the Lord.
It is certain. You can count on it. It's going to happen. Peter says it here by the Holy Spirit. But the day of the Lord, notice that little word,.
Will come.
It will come. Now, it's interesting. As I was studying this, there's so much said about the day of the Lord and the origins of it. And I'd like to take you a little bit and let's look together, as a Bible study here, and the origins of the day of the Lord.
Go with me to Deuteronomy, chapter 1, very quickly. And I've got a few verses here. Deuteronomy is a foundational book. One of the five foundational books. In Deuteronomy, in chapter 1, and as I was studying this for myself, I found this very interesting.
How did this all begin, this day of the Lord? Well, there are some verses here that speaks about God fighting for His people, Israel. He fights for them. God is like a man of war. He is a commander. He is the Lord of hosts.
You know that word host means armies? He is the Lord of the armies. He is a fighter. He is a battle warrior. You see this all through the Psalms, that David is crying out to God, be my refuge, be my strength, be my fortress.
And it's almost like he calls out to God,.
Fight for me.
They encompass me like bees. They swarm me like bees.
But oh God, fight for me.
Actually, one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 46, you see that a lot of people use that word, be still and know that I'm God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted. Basically, God will be exalted.
And people don't look at that,.
But if you look at it,.
God intervenes with calamities, and judgment, and storm, and that's what it's referring to. It's not this little pet little scripture, like be still and know that I'm God. As true as that is, but God is speaking about divine judgment.
That God comes on the scene. He intervenes. And this is what happens in Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 29 to 33. Get my place here. 29 to 33. Notice what he says. Then I said to you, do not be terrified or afraid of them.
This is the Lord. The Lord your God who goes before you. He will fight for you. According to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes. And he speaks about how God fought for them in Egypt. He sent all the plagues.
He sent judgment.
See, that's how God fights.
He's the God of the storm. And he fights. And anytime you see lightning, I was listening to John MacArthur on this. He did a whole sermon about lightning. It was incredible. Anytime in scripture you see lightning, you see judgment.
You see that in Revelation. Lightning and thunder and trumpets and a loud noise and smoke. We see this in Simon. It reminds you of Mount Sinai when God spoke and he descended upon Mount Sinai. And it smoked and lightning.
They were terrified.
And God spoke. And they thought they were going to die. But here it says in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God, in verse 31, carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until he came to this place.
Yet for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents.
To show you the way you should go.
In the fire by night and the cloud by day.
And think of this.
That, in a sense, is I really believe this is where we first see the origination of the day of the Lord because God fights for his people. This was a conquest of Canaan that Canaanites were judged and God judges these heathens and by this conquest God is a Lord and a God of war.
He fights for his people. Now that's what we need to have in view here about God's day. Now that is in past history of Israel. There's another one I'd like to take you to. In chapter 3, verse 22, you must not fear them, speaking of the Canaanites, for the Lord your God, verse 22 of chapter 3, your God himself fights for you.
Again, he says he fights for you. Again, the conquest of Canaan, conquest of which the fact that the Lord, it was God's war and not theirs. It was God's battle. Now you see this throughout the Old Testament.
There were many battles for Israel and Israel was a small, tiny little nation. And God showed his glory and power through a small amount, a small number of people. We see this with Gideon. God cleans out the numbers.
And God does this on purpose because it's like God wants to say, to know that God and I am in the midst of them and I am exalted from a few number. A battle in history. Now there's another one I'd like to take you to.
I think it's very significant. Go to Joshua chapter 5. This one's really good. Joshua chapter 5. You see in Joshua 5, the second generation here, but there's something that is said in verse 13 to 15.
Listen to this.
And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho and he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man, and I love that, a capital M. I believe this is before Christ came into the body and was made flesh.
Many thousands of years later, here was Jesus standing. Stood opposite of him. Notice what it says. Opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. I don't believe this was an angel. This is God. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us or for our adversaries?
And notice how he answered. And he said, no, but as commander of the army of the Lord.
Notice what he said.
Commander.
Commander. Commander in chief. An army of the Lord. And we know this is not an angel. You know why? Listen to what happens. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him,.
What does my Lord say to his servant?
And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, notice what he says, take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. You notice what the commander says?
An angel would not,.
An angel, when we go to Revelation, when John the apostle is worshipping an angel, the angel said, don't worship me, worship God. If this was an angel, the angel would have told him that this is the commander, this is God.
Pre-incarnate.
Christ.
And in Joshua 6, you see the battle of Jericho, the destruction of Jericho, and you know God fights for them. God gives them instruction for the walls of Jericho to come down and who wins the battle? God wins the battle for them.
God fights for them and they go in and take the city. Well, that's, I think, just a quick preview of where this day of the Lord comes from because it's a day of judgment. See, God brings judgment.
God fights.
He fights against the wicked.
Canaanites.
For His people, Israel. And the day of the Lord is not an isolated single event. You see this throughout human history and Israel's history in the Old Testament that there were periods of Israel's early history, latter history, and the coming of Jesus as the glorious second coming of the final day of the Lord.
Okay?
We don't need to get that confused. So, in the Scriptures, the Old Testament, we see this time and time again. And I'd like to take you back to Joel, chapter 2. It's right where Brother Keith was this morning.
You go to the book of Joel and I tell you what, the book of Joel is loaded up. Isn't it? When it comes to the day of the Lord. But chapter 2 is really the heart of it. Because you see the day of the Lord, the warning of the day of the Lord, the call to repentance, then the land is refreshed.
Notice the pattern. There's warning. There's repentance. Then there's refreshment. And then it speaks later on that the Spirit of God is poured out. And that was a fulfillment at Pentecost that Peter takes this text from Joel.
But what I'd like to point you to is Joel chapter 2. And I'm going to read a few verses. Let me start with verse 1. Let's read through this. Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain.
It's like an alarm. Trumpet this.
Let it be known.
Let the world know. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of the Lord is coming. For it is at hand. A day of darkness and gloominess. A day of clouds and thick darkness. Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains and people come great and strong.
And like of whom has never been nor will there ever be any such after them. Even for my many successive generations. A fire devours before them. And behind them a flame burns. And land is like the garden of Eden before them.
And behind them a desolate wilderness. Surely nothing shall escape them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses and like swift steeds. So they run with a noise like chariots. And over the mountaintops they leap.
And like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble. Like a strong people set in battle array. Before them the people writh in pain. And all faces are drained of color. They run like mighty men.
They climb the wall like men of war. Everyone marches in formation. Get the picture there? And they do not break ranks. They do not push one another. Everyone marches in his own column. Like a war here.
Though they lunge between the weapons they are not cut down. They run to and fro in the city. They run on the wall and climb into the houses. They enter the windows like a thief. And notice what he says.
The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon grow dark and the stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives voice before his army. For his camp is very great. For strong is the one who executes his word.
For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it? That's very sobering. And if you go back to chapter 1, look at verse 15. At last for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand.
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. You know, you think of it. It's the day of judgment and God brings judgment. Judgment. He ends the wickedness of men. He ends them. And God is exalted. Isn't that what we long for?
Well, God knows exactly what he's doing. But it was a present judgment there at that time. And by the way, I think this is a token in Scripture. As the day of the Lord as we see it in the Old Testament is a foretaste, a forewarning, a token if you will of a greater future, great day of a final day of the Lord.
And that's where we're going to. That's where history is going. God's already said it. And if God says it, it's going to happen. Isaiah wrote about it. Go to Isaiah chapter 2. Let's look at what Isaiah says.
By the way, now what Isaiah speaks of is the future day of the Lord. And you know how we know that? Notice in Isaiah chapter 2 how he begins. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
And then he says this. Now it shall come to pass in... He didn't say former days or present days. He said latter days. Now he's talking about the future. The latter days that the mountain of the Lord, the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and he shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their sword. Don't you love this? Their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation.
Neither shall they learn war anymore. That shall be fulfilled, folks. When the prince of peace and the commander-in-chief, Jesus Christ himself comes back in power and glory with all the holy angels.
And this is going to be fulfilled.
Hallelujah.
The day of the Lord. Oh, house of Jacob, verse 5. Come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways. They are soothsayers like the Philistines.
They are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold. Listen to that. There is no end to their treasures. They're rich. They're haughty. Their land is also full of horses.
There is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols. They worship in the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. People bow down, and each man humbles himself, and therefore do not forgive them.
But notice what he says. Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord.
And the glory of His majesty. Then notice what he says.
How much God hates pride, folks.
Verse 11. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled. The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. The day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up.
It shall be brought low upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, upon every high tower.
How much God hates pride, folks. Listen to this. Upon every high tower and upon every fortified wall, upon the ships of Tarshish, and upon the beautiful slopes, the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low.
The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. He says it again. But the idols He shall utterly abolish, and they shall go into the holes of the rocks. Sounds like Revelation. And the gates of the earth, and from the terror of the Lord, and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.
And listen to this, in the closing of it. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats, and to go into the cliffs of the rock, and to the crags of the rugged rocks, from what?
The terror of the Lord, and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Sever yourselves from such a man. And then He gives us this question. Whose breath is in his nostrils?
For what account is He? Do you get the picture? You see, God alone will be exalted.
He's going to bring every high and lofty thing down. He hates pride. And He will have His day, beloved.
Oh, hallelujah.
The day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. This is a time of deliverance.
As well as judgment.
Present judgment serving as a token. Now, jump with me to Revelation chapter 6.
I want you to see this.
And I want you to see how this ties in to the day of the Lord. Oh, the Revelation has more to say about it than any other book.
Because why?
It is the fulfillment of all what has been said in the past. And God brings it to fulfillment. I want you to see this. Now, the entire chapter 6 of Revelation is the breaking open of seals. And only the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who was slain before the foundation of the world, who died on the cross, is the worthy one to open these seals.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah. He comes forth and all of heaven bows down before Him because He is the only one worthy to open and break the seals. Oh, it's glorious. But let me just read the latter part of it.
You can read this in your devotional time. But look at verse 12. I want you to see this. He looked and He opened the sixth seal.
This is the sixth.
And behold, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood. The stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs and when it's shaken by the mighty wind, when the sky receded as a scroll, when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place, all God has to do is speak.
And it happens. Kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, and every slave and every free man noticed almost exactly what Isaiah prophesied. Hide themselves in the caves and in the rocks and on the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
They don't come to repentance, do they? They want to hide but there's no hiding place. Verse 17, For the great day of His wrath has come and who is able to stand? Who is able to stand? That answer is no one.
No one. Matthew Henry said this concerning the day of the Lord and the certainty of it. Settle it therefore in your hearts that the day of the Lord will certainly come and you shall certainly be called to give an account of all things done in the body whether good or evil and let your exact walking before God and your frequent judging of yourselves evidence your firm belief of a future judgment when many live as if they were never to give an account at all.
Wow. Reminds me of the scripture in Hebrews. Chapter 9, verse 26, 27, Speaking of Jesus, He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. Now it speaks of Jesus. But now, once at the end of the ages, Jesus has entered in.
He died on the cross and He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And then it says this in verse 27,. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. What a scripture!
We need to set that before our eyes, don't we? Jesus Christ came first time. A .W. Pink, I get this thought from Pink.
He said this,.
In His first advent to slay sin in men. But the second time He comes, He's going to slay men in sin. How true is that, beloved? First advent, Jesus comes as the Savior. The second advent, He comes as the righteous judge of the whole earth.
And He will judge in equality and equity. The righteous one, the judge. It takes me to our second text, our second point. We see not only the certainty of the coming of the Lord, We see the sadness of the coming of the Lord.
The sadness of the day of the Lord will come as a thief. It comes as a thief in the night. In other words, unexpected and suddenly, the Lord will come. And speaking of a second coming, by the way, A time when men are sleeping insecure, Not even thinking, as the scoffer says, Where is this end of His coming?
Thinking, ah ha ha, we can continue to do what we've always done from the beginning. Forget it. Then suddenly, like a thief, a thief shows up, And He doesn't give an invitation either. I remember when we were robbed years ago, When I was growing up with my mom and I, We went to town, And it was the furthest thing from my mind, folks, That when we returned, our house would be turned upside down and robbed.
A thief broke through the back of the door And took all my father's guns and walked out with them, And he dropped one, But he took probably about, I don't know, 10, 12 guns, All very expensive guns. I know it would really upset Brother Ben if that happened to him.
All that.
My dad was really tore up about it. But we had no idea. The thief didn't give an invitation. We came, and I was thinking when we go through that door, Oh, everything's going to be just the same. But I had no idea everything would be turned upside down and robbed.
That's the way a thief works.
And this is exactly what our Lord speaks of when He comes back. No one will be expecting Him. He's going to come suddenly and unexpected. Does Jesus talk about that? Oh, absolutely. Go to Matthew 24.
Let's look at this.
Listen to what the Lord Himself says about this. And by the way, chapter 24, study that chapter, folks. If you want to study about the end time events, Study, study, study Matthew 24. It says more about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Because the question is about the coming of Jesus. When would these things be? What's the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And Jesus gives one of the longest answers He ever gives to a question.
But Jesus speaks of it. Let me pick up in verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, listen to what He says. The sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven.
The powers of the heavens will be shaken. The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. There's the trumpet sound. And they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Jesus says in verse 13,.
Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and it supports its leaves, you know that summer is near. Now He's talking about the signs. That's the question. He's answering their question.
What will be the sign of His coming? He gives them the answer. So you also, when you see all these things,.
Know that it is near at the doors.
Surely I say to you, this generation will by no means pass until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But, here it is, does He tell us when?
No, He doesn't. Like a thief. But of that day, the day of the Lord, an hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. And He gives us examples. Listen to this. As the days of Noah were so also with the coming of the Son of Man be, for as of the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also with the coming of the Son of Man be.
The two men will be in the field. One will be taken to the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken to the other left. Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
But know this.
I love this.
Know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched.
There it is.
That's the key word, folks. He would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming in an hour you do not expect. There's the answer.
And the rest of the chapter closes up about the faithful servant and the evil servant and how the man speaks about when the evil servant says, in his heart, his heart, my master is delaying his coming.
You see, that's an evil servant. He delays his coming. Faith never tells us again when he's going to come and rob us. It comes when you least expect it. And that's the way Jesus' second coming will be.
It's very evident there. Even when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as trivale upon a woman with a child they shall not escape. Now this leads me, we're going to look at that verse from 1 Thessalonians 5 in a few minutes, but let me give you my last point, the seriousness of the day.
This is very serious. I would to God that the church took this serious. I speak to myself, I need to take it more serious. I need to be more sober, watching and praying and laboring. And be more kingdom-minded and Christ-minded.
And rather than thinking about all these other things, looking for the antichrist and all this, and figuring out when and when all this is going to take place, folks, the church needs to stop worrying about the when and just get busy doing the Lord's will and be watching and sobering and be waiting and be ready.
That's where we need to be. The day of the Lord will come. It will come. It's certain. As a thief of the night, it's sudden and it's serious. What is serious about it? In which the heavens will pass away with a great noise.
The elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. God is like an incinerator. Burn up the whole earth and purify it, folks. And the reason He's doing that, He's cleansing the world from its corruptness and its wickedness.
And He's purifying it for a new heavens and a new earth. And the righteous does not have to worry about that. That's something we hasten. Because we long to see a new heavens and a new earth. Amen? That Jesus will reign as King Jesus.
And there will be a new heavens and a new earth. Interesting to note that we do not know when the day of the Lord will come. But we are told from the Scriptures, especially the book of Revelation, and in Revelation, the Scriptures of what will happen.
Jesus doesn't tell us when, but we do know what's going to happen. Listen to Psalm 102, 25 -27. Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure.
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. Once again, let me give you one more quote from Matthew Henry.
I could not hold this one back, because this Puritan, he was a godly man. He died at a tender young age. He died in his fifties. He wrote the whole commentary on the entire Bible. And his perspective of it is just absolutely profound.
He says this,.
The earth and its inhabitants and all the works, whether of nature and art,.
Shall be destroyed.
The stately palaces, the gardens, and all the desirable things, wherein worldly-minded men seek and place their happiness, all of them shall be burnt up. All sorts of creatures which God has made,.
And all the works of men,.
Must submit.
Must submit. Listen to that.
All must pass through the fire, which shall be a consuming fire to all that sin has brought into the world. Though it may be but a refining fire to the works of God's hand, that the glass of creation being made much brighter the saints may much better discern the glory of the Lord therein.
And then he says this,. And now who can but observe what a difference there will be between the first coming of Christ and the second. Yet that is called the great and dreadful day of the Lord. How much more, Henry says, How much more dreadful must this coming judgment be?
May we be so wise as to prepare for it. That's it. And he says, That it may be a day of vengeance and destruction unto us. Oh, what will become of us if we set our affections on this earth and make it our portion, seeing all these things shall be burnt up.
And he closes with this in this section. Look out therefore and make sure of the happiness beyond this visible world which must all be melted down.
He is so right. Why should we put everything and our investments in this world and everything shall be burned up? I think about this when I see people with big yachts and big mansions and these prosperity false teachers having their mansions and everything.
And God's going to swipe it down.
And burn it all up.
The day of the Lord. Everything's going to be burned up. God's going to purify intense heat. And it's not going to be by hydrogen bombs either. God himself is going to send a fire just like when Elijah called and prayed to God and sent fire on Mount Carmel.
Well, 2 Thessalonians. I didn't go to 1 Thessalonians. Chapter 5. Let's go there real quick. I've got some important things I want you to see here. 1 Thessalonians 5. He speaks about the day of the Lord.
The apostle Paul speaks about it. Verse 1,. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes.
Why do you think they knew perfectly?
Because the apostles taught that, folks.
And they taught exactly what Jesus said. And for when they say,.
Peace and safety.
Don't you hear this today?
Peace. Everything's peace and safety. We're okay. Security. I've got my peace. I've got everything. I'm secure.
I'm financially secure. I got all my investment in the stock markets. Then sudden destruction comes upon them. Sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape.
But you, brethren, are not up in the darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. See, we're not in the dark about it.
You know why?
Because in verse 5 He says, you are the sons of light. You are the sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
For those who sleep, sleep at night. And those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober. And notice what He says. Putting on the breastplate of faith and love as a helmet of hope of salvation.
And I love this because God's going to deliver His people from the terrible day of the Lord. You can guarantee that. God will rapture His people out before He pours out His wrath. Whereabouts, I'm not going to get into that because we don't know when.
But I tell you this, we need to be ready, church. For God did not appoint us to wrath. That's what Paul said. But to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us. And whether we wake or sleep, we shall live together with Him.
Therefore, use this. Listen to this. Comfort each other and edify one another just as you also are doing. In other words, these are words of comfort. These are words of edification. The second coming of Jesus.
Glorious. And I think about this.
One more. One more.
Jump to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Let's book over. Notice what He says here. Chapter 1. This speaks of the great and terrible day of the Lord. But to God's final judgment and glory. Notice what He says in verse 7.
And to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 9. Now by the way, I gave this particular verse to a guy that believes in annihilation and he was silenced, folks. And it's not because I gave it, it's because God's Word has power to silence people like this.
There's nothing here about annihilation. Listen to what it says. These shall be punished. Punished! With everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. When He comes in that day.
The day of the Lord. To be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed.
Praise God.
You see this? The great and dreadful day of the Lord. Let me give you one more verse and I'll close with this and this will be an application verse and this one here really grabs me because I think about Mount Sinai being full of judgment and lightnings and God descending and they were so terrified.
The writer of Hebrews knew this in chapter 12. Notice what he says. Notice what he says. Beginning at verse 18. To the end of the chapter. For you have not come to the mountain. Now he's speaking about Sinai folks.
But listen to this. You have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire. And to blackness. And to darkness. And tempest. He's speaking of Mount Sinai. When God gave the law.
And the sound of a trumpet. And the voice of the words.
So that those who heard it begged that the words should not be spoken to them anymore.
Because they said, what did they say? Let me stop right there. They said, you speak to us Moses. We don't want God to speak to us because if God speaks to us we're going to die. That's how terrifying it was.
Verse 20. For they could not endure what was commanded.
They couldn't endure it.
And if so much as a beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so terrifying was the sight that even Moses says I'm exceedingly afraid and trembling. But you have come to Mount Zion.
You have come to Mount Zion. And to the city of the living God.
And the heavenly Jerusalem.
To innumerable company of angels. This is all because of Jesus' sacrifice folks. To the general assembly in the church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven to God the judge of all. To the spirits of just men made perfect.
And to Jesus. He's the one. The mediator of the new covenant. And to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. There's our application folks.
See that we do not refuse Him, right?
That speaks.
For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth. Brother Keith spoke about that at Calvary.
Shook the earth.
The reason why God shakes the earth. But now He has promised saying yet once more I shake not only the earth but also heaven. Now this. Yet once more. Indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken.
As of the things that are made. That the things which cannot be shaken may remain. And He tells us what they are. Therefore since we are receiving the kingdom that's what can't be shaken is the kingdom of God.
Nothing can shake the kingdom of God. A kingdom which cannot be shaken. Notice what He says. Let us have grace. Let us have grace by which we may serve God.
Acceptably.
With reverence.
And godly fear. Oh how we need this. How I need this.
Let me have grace by which we may serve God.
Isn't that your prayer every day? God I want to serve you acceptably in your sight and do those things which please you with reverence.
And godly fear.
And verse 29 tells us why.
For our God.
Is a consuming fire.
Oh I'm telling you.
Doesn't that make you tremble?
All God has to do is speak the word.
And when Jesus said of Himself all authority is given unto me He meant all authority.
All power.
Folks the stars are going to fall from heaven the earth is going to be shaken. Everything that's going to be shaken is going to shake.
A whole lot of shaking be going on right? And it's not what Jerry Lee Lewis used to sing. I'm telling you God's going to shake up things. But there's a reason why He's doing it. There's something loving at the other end.
Restoration. And He's reversing the curse.
And we'll look at that Lord willing next Lord's Day. Let's bow in prayer.
And heaven.
We thank you.
For your goodness.
And your mercy toward us.
That you have given.
Through your Son the Lord Jesus Christ who came in the first advent of the incarnation suffered, died on a cruel cross.
Became sin.
That we might be the righteousness of God in Him. Rose again victorious over the grave ascended on high for our sake that we may be one with Him. The one Savior the one mediator between.
God and men the Lord Jesus Christ.
Great is the mystery that you even came. Amazing love.
And can it be.
That thou my God shouldest die for me. Thank you Father for your word. Thank you for your promises. Thank you for your covenants. Thank you for everything that you've given us in Jesus Christ.
Because.
We do not have to fear that great dreadful day. Because we're in Christ.
We're in the ark. We're in the ark.
And that day that it is coming and it is coming is no horror to us as believers in Jesus Christ because of Jesus Christ who triumphed over death, hell and the grave. Because the grave is not the end. There's a resurrection and there's glory.
Something that we can look forward to.
All because of the one.
Who died as our substitute.
Who took our place. And no wonder John the Baptist cried out Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. May we behold the Lamb.
Behold the Lamb.
Oh God keep us and keep us in your faith by your grace until the end of our journey or until Jesus Christ comes. May we be watching. May we be ready. And as Jesus says Behold I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments.
Least he walked naked and they see his shame. May it be so with us oh Lord. May it be so with us. When the midnight cry comes. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.