The Day of the Lord (Genesis 7, Jeff Kliewer)

Good morning. I can tell Harry's ready to go. Eric's ready. All right, let's go. So good morning, everybody. We are here to worship the Lord. And we are going to begin this service, actually, with a video on Compassion International.

And then we're going to invite Jill to come and share a little bit about compassion before I'll do the rest of the announcements. So guys, cue it up.

Five years old, my dad broke his leg, and he couldn't work. We didn't have money for food. I was very scared. Near our home, bad people would be out at night, and there was always trash everywhere. I felt like no one cared about me, and I didn't matter.

When I was nine, one of my neighbors told me about compassion. I didn't know what it was about, but I liked it because I received a lot of help. I was fed there at the church, and I learned how to take care of myself.

I learned that I was special, and that God loved me, and that he had a plan for my life. And I learned that I could ask Jesus into my heart. And when I did, I was so happy. I was waiting to get a letter from my sponsor, and when it finally came, I felt very happy and special.

They were very loving in their letters. They loved me so much, even though we never met in person. At 15, I remember being so thankful for my sponsors and everything they did for me. I will remember them until the last day of my life.

Without their help, my life would be so different. All I can say is thank you for so much love that showed me God's love. Now, I know I have value, and I know I have a future. My name is Hilda. This is my story.

Release a child from poverty in Jesus' name.

My journey with Compassion International began in 1989, when I sponsored a child from Colombia named Laity. And I was so very thankful three years later, when Drew and I got married, that he wanted to continue that sponsorship journey with me.

But the story that sticks out the most in my mind concerns our daughter, Phoebe, when it was time for us to sponsor another child. And she and I were on Compassion's website, and we were scrolling through all of those beautiful little faces.

And at the same time, Phoebe and I were both drawn to a little boy from India named Nilkant. And at first, I wasn't able to understand the look that I saw on little Nilkant's face, but the Lord allowed me to understand that it was hopelessness.

And we began sponsoring Nilkant that day. And in the subsequent letters that we received from him and pictures that we received of him, we realized that he was no longer hopeless anymore. And we were so thankful to be part of what the Lord God was doing in this child's life to provide not only spiritual education, where he would receive and hear the gospel, but he received food, he received medical attention, all through his local church.

So I would encourage you today to pray and ask the Lord whether or not he would have you be part of releasing a child from poverty in Jesus's name. And Drew and I will be at the table in the foyer if you'd like to stop and visit us on your way out.

Thank you.

Ditto to what Jill said. That is so true. I echo, you will be so blessed by the letters you receive and the relationship you build over the years with the Compassion Child. So highly encourage you to check that table out on your way out today.

There is no women's Bible study for the next two weeks. So if you're part of the Tuesday morning Bible study with Jill here, it's on break for two weeks and then it resumes on May 7th. Resumes May 7th.

The women's retreat is this weekend. So it's not too late, ladies. Talk to Antoinette, you can sign up. Let one of us know if you don't know how to get the app on your phone, but you can sign up and we will help you do that.

The women's retreat is this weekend. We'd love for more women to come join that. And tonight there is a young adult Bible study. So Tim Robinson is the leader of that ministry as well. Sunday, it's every other Sunday, but tonight is one of those.

So if you're a young adult, you can come to prayer meeting at six o 'clock and just stick around at seven o 'clock for the young adult Bible study. Some of you got the email that was sent out yesterday regarding Russ Kenny.

If you did not get it, I just wanted to let everybody know now that our dear brother, he would sit right about here in the middle. We would clear out a couple of rows. He was the man in the wheelchair.

Just a man of God, just so encouraging. I can't tell you how many times he said something to me that just lifted my heart. There is a YouTube video where Russ shared his testimony and talked about Proverbs.

He went to be with the Lord this week and we did not see that coming. He was just at the congregational meeting on Monday and then just went to be with the Lord later in the week. Can you imagine the joy that Russ is experiencing right now in the presence of the Lord?

In Acts 3, it talks about the crippled man who was walking and leaping and praising God. Can you imagine his joy in the presence of the Lord as he's able to leap and lift his arms in praise for the first time?

Well, if Russ is doing that in heaven right now, I think we should lift our arms a little bit in praise today here on earth. We'll all be reunited in due time. We are grieving the loss of a dear brother.

Our hearts are heavy, but not like those who have no hope. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for the life of Russ Kenney. Thank you for what he has meant to this congregation, the encouragement that he has been to us.

And even this morning, encouraging us now as we think about his legacy and his joy and his trust in you, Proverbs 3, five and six. Lord, we thank you for Russ and we pray for his family right now that you would comfort their hearts.

You are the God of all comfort, that you would surround them in Christ Jesus with your love, Lord. We pray for his funeral at Columbus Baptist Church this Saturday, that many would hear the gospel and come to saving faith.

And Lord, we thank you for our brother Russ. Father, we pray for ourselves this morning that we would worship you with joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength, Nehemiah 8, 10. Lord, let us be filled with your joy and worship you as you deserve to be worshiped.

You deserve so much more than what we've ever brought and we want to bring you our best this morning, Lord, for you are worthy. Come and help us now to worship you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Good morning, church. Would you please stand as we worship the Lord together?

We worship the God who was. We worship the God who is. We worship the God who evermore will be. He opened the prison doors. He parted the raging seas. My God, he holds the victory. There's joy in the house of the Lord.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be crying. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely in this place. And we won't be crying. We shout out your praise.

We sing to the God who saves. We sing to the God who always leads the way. Cause he hung up on that cross. And he rose up from that grave. My God, he's still rolling stones away. There's joy in the house of the Lord.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be crying. There's joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely under beggars. Now we're royalty. We were the prisoners. Now we're running free.

We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise. We were, we were the beggars. We were the prisoners. Now we're running free. We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace.

Let the house of the Lord sing praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be crying. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. Our God is surely under beggars.

Be in the house of the Lord. Amen. Praise the Lord. It's good to be here on this Sunday morning. I just received some great news from home. And honestly that feels great because when new believers come to the Lord that is just a wonderful thing.

Is it not? There's joy in the house of the Lord today. Amen. This next song is called, This is Our God.

Those walls that we called sin and shame. There were live prisons that we couldn't escape. But he came, and he died, and he rose. Those walls were on the map. Those giants we called mountains that stood in our way.

But he came, those giants are dead now. This is our God, this is what he does. He saves us, he bore the cross. This is our God. That took us so weak that we could barely hold. I told him of the story of.

Did he fail? That bit, he did, he did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. That bit, he did, our sin. Nobody but Jesus.

Never take this for granted. You're so good. And we are an undeserving of your greatness. God, we thank you for this. We thank you for this time.

Your blood, we pour out our praise. We pour out our praise. It's your blood, we pour out. The dark hearts will cry These bones will sing. The darkness shadows Of Jesus Christ Step down from God. The king who sent me Who bore me Is now dead.

You're buried Of the silence Where the rain. We can all just go home now, right?

We've met with the Lord and he has spoken to us. Don't say amen to that. My cup runneth over. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, you have been so good to us, your people. We know it's all a gift of grace that we have been brought into the ark The rescue boat of safety that we have in Jesus Christ.

Jesus, we thank you that you bore the wrath of God on our behalf on the cross. So that all of us who come to you are kept safe from the judgment to come. Lord, we pray this morning that those who hear this sermon would take seriously the warnings of your word.

And if any have not yet come to Christ God, that you would draw them in. That you would bring them in to safety in Christ. And for all of us who have, we pray that you would send us out warning of the day of the Lord and reminding people of this incredible grace that you have given.

That we have not been struck dead on account of our sins but you are patient with us and are waiting and sparing us desiring for all of us to come. So Lord, we pray for the preaching of your word and the hearing of your word.

The Day of the Lord in Noah’s Day and the New Testament

This morning in Jesus name, Amen. The day of the Lord was a day of judgment in Noah's day. It was a day of wrath. And just as it was in Noah's day, a day of judgment it will be in the future for the terminal generation.

The last generation will experience a flood of God's wrath not in water, but in raging fire. I would like for us to begin this sermon by looking at how the New Testament speaks of the story of Noah. Because I feel like my sermon ought to be written from the pages of the New Testament.

How do the apostles use this story and how do they proclaim this story to the people. Let's begin in Matthew 24 verses 36 to 39. Matthew 24. Here the disciples have asked Jesus what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.

So it speaks of things yet future, things to come. Eschatology. And Jesus says in Matthew 24, 36 to 39. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows not even the angels of heaven, nor the sun that is in his humanity, but the Father only.

For as were the days of Noah so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark.

Mark the day, the day of the Lord. When Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Notice that people were unaware.

They were going about their daily lives. It's not as if they had already seen the wrath of God poured out in seal judgments and trumpet judgments and bowl judgments, but rather they're going about their days.

When like a flood, judgment sweeps them away. This is the day of the Lord. Peter also makes much use of the story of Noah. Last week we saw 1 Peter 3, verse 20. Presently we have a group of people getting ready for baptism.

They're meeting with Pastor John in the classroom. And here we have a reference to baptism in 1 Peter 3, 20 and following. But Peter uses the story of Noah to warn of judgment. There is coming a flood of judgment.

But listen, I don't know if I stressed this enough in first service. It occurred to me as I was worshiping. I need to stress this, that now is the day of grace and of mercy. There is coming a day of wrath in which God's judgment will be poured out on the earth.

But right now, there is a free offer to come and be rescued. Go into the waters of baptism. Come out of those waters and be safe in Christ. It says in 1 Peter 3, 20, because they, this refers to those who disobeyed the preaching of Noah.

Those demon-human hybrids we talked about last week. The giants that were born, the Nephilim. And also all of those of that generation who rejected the preaching of Noah. It says in verse 20, they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through water.

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. Not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is by faith in Christ and in his resurrection.

Those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead, will be saved. And we demonstrate that faith as an appeal to God by going underwater as the world was inundated with a flood in Noah's day.

There is coming judgment, but we escape that judgment through the water as Noah did. That's Peter's analogy. He then picks up on this very strongly in his second epistle. Second Peter. Here he begins with exhortations to godliness.

He calls to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing as ours. And he exhorts those of us who have that faith to now add to that faith such things as godliness and knowledge and love. But as he gets into the second chapter, he begins to warn of false prophets, false teachers.

And he likens our day in which there are false teachers all around us to the days of Noah. Here's how Peter refers to Noah's story. Second Peter chapter 2 verse 4 through 9. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment.

That refers to the beginning of Genesis 6 we studied last week. Verse 5. If he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen, going to happen in the future. That's Peter's concern. And if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked.

For as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Verse 9. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.

And especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. God knows how to rescue from judgment. Noah was rescued like this, by getting into a boat. When the waters of judgment came, he was lifted up in safety and kept from judgment.

In the same way, God knows how to rescue us from judgment and keep us from the day of the Lord. Turn one page to 2 Peter 3. In verse 6, he's talking about how people are scoffing. When Christian preachers like me say there's coming a day of the Lord, the world by and large, outside of this room, and those who listen and agree, most people scoff at the idea.

You've been preaching this way for 2 ,000 years. Where's the coming of the Lord? Everything goes on as it has from creation. Although they wouldn't acknowledge a creation any longer. Everything goes on.

But Peter says to be aware, not to mistake the patience of God and his kindness for slackness in judgment, but that the day of the Lord will come. Look how he compares it to Noah and the day of the Lord, verses 6 and 10.

That by means of these, that is the water from which the world was formed, Genesis 1, by that same water, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. Peter is warning of a coming day of the Lord, a judgment like the flood.

Again in verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief. He learned that language from Jesus. And then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved.

And the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. When you think of Noah and the flood, think of this phrase, the day of the Lord. Paul will not reference Noah explicitly unless he's the author of Hebrews 11, verse 7.

But he will pick up on this language that he also learned from Jesus in Matthew 24. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 1 to 3. Recall from Matthew 24 that Jesus said that no one knows the day of the hour, but like in Noah's day, a flood will come.

People will be eating and drinking and carrying on. Well, he goes on to say, it will be like a thief in the night. If the owner of the house had known when the thief was coming, he would have waited up for the thief, protected himself.

But the people in that last generation, which could be our generation, will not know the day or hour. That judgment flood will come like a thief in the night. So Paul understands this and he uses the same language in 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 1 to 3.

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. Jesus first taught it, Peter taught it, now Paul says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

A day of wrath and judgment that surprises you that you're not ready for. The world does not see it coming. Verse 3, 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.

The Apostle John also references this day of the Lord. It's in Revelation chapter 6, verse 17. A few comments about Revelation. The church is prominent in Revelation 2 and 3. In that, in those chapters, the church is still on earth.

In Revelation 4, 1, John is caught up into heaven like Enoch was caught up into heaven, like Elisha, like the church will be caught up into heaven. And from that moment on, in the book of Revelation, you see the church only in heaven.

Revelation 4, 1 to 3, the 24 elders around the throne represent the church. Jew and Gentile, the 12 tribes of Israel and the Gentile tribes brought in as one body, one church belonging to Christ. They are now in heaven worshipping the Lord.

So you see the rest of the book of Revelation revolves around Israel, the 144 ,000, 12 ,000 from each tribe. And you do see the church in Revelation 19, but they're celebrating the wedding supper of the Lamb just before Jesus comes.

So the church has already been lifted out of the world when the day of the Lord strikes. Notice Revelation 6, 17. The people recognize that the judgment that is hitting them is the great day of their wrath, the day of the Lord theme.

There it is again, Revelation 6, 17. So we know that this Revelation 6, 17 refers to the day of the Lord. When we correlate this with 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul told us this day of the Lord cannot come until the Antichrist is revealed.

The apostasy, the Antichrist revealed and made known. When is this Antichrist made known in the book of Revelation? He is the rider on the white horse. When the first seal is broken, a rider on the white horse comes out to conquer the world.

He's mimicking Christ. That's why he rides a white horse. Christ will come riding a horse in Revelation 19, but this is the Antichrist. He's bent on conquering. And then after he is revealed, the other seal judgments are unleashed on the earth.

The day of the Lord includes wars breaking out that consume the world. And with that famine and then pestilence and then the martyrdom of these Jewish believers and others who have come to faith during the tribulation, then an earthquake.

And then the people are so devastated by the day of the Lord, they're hiding in the clefts of the rock, calling on them to fall on their heads to hide them from the great day and from the wrath of the lamb.

It's kind of an odd expression, isn't it? When you think of a lamb, you think of a gentle animal. Lambs don't have wrath. And so people regard Jesus, the lamb of God, who laid down his life for sinners.

And that is true of him. He is that sacrifice. And those who come to him are safe in him. But Revelation teaches us that the wrath of the lamb will be unleashed on the world on the day of the Lord. It is not only the wrath of the father, but also of the son.

For there is only one God in three persons. And they are not at cross purposes. So on the day of the Lord, wrath will be poured out on the earth. Now, I would like us to turn to Genesis chapter 7. Because when we read the story of Noah, we need to recognize that the New Testament directs us to preach to our world the way Noah preached to his.

And to be aware of this coming day of wrath like Noah was building an ark. Taking seriously the warnings of the Lord. And so coming safely into Christ. We live in a world that is very much like the days of Noah.

The days of Noah are here. In Genesis 1, we're taught that the world is made by God. And we live in a culture that teaches Darwinism. And believes Darwinism that the world just evolved from nothing. The world says there is no God.

Genesis 2 teaches us that there is male and female. But we finally now live in a culture like the world has never seen. The world has never seen a culture that denies the distinction between male and female.

But it's happening in our day. As I suspect it was in the days of Noah. Genesis 3 says that there is sin as the serpent tempted Adam and Eve and they fell into sin. Rebellion against God's law commands.

The world says there is no sin and there is no promised Savior. In Genesis chapter 4, life is in the blood. Murderers had broken out in the land. Cain killing Abel. And then Lamech killing and boasting about his freedom to do that.

It occurred to me between the two services that we have a president in this country who is advertising on television his stance for the killing of babies. It is the Lamech spirit. Lamech murdered a young one and then bragged to his two wives that he was free to do that.

When a president of a country has made it his platform that he would run on the killing of innocent babies in the womb. Church, you need to understand. I need to understand. We are living in the days of Noah.

Rejection of life in the blood. Life is in the blood says the word of God. But Lamech disregarded the value of life in Genesis 4. In Genesis 5, family was discarded. The godly line of Seth versus the godless line of Cain.

Destroying family. In Genesis 6, we learn that there are demons. There is a such thing as a devil. But the world in which we live, the days of Noah, rejects that there is a devil and that there are demons.

But church, here is what the world hates most to hear. That there is judgment. That the God who made the world, who is a God of love, is also a God of wrath. Because he is just and he must punish sin.

He is holy. Far more holy than we could imagine. If any of you could look at the sun 10 minutes straight without turning away, you've not even begun to experience the brightness of his presence. That's just the sun he made for our universe, for our galaxy, for our solar system even.

How much brighter is the presence of the God who made all? You cannot look at him. He is holy and he has wrath. And so now when we read Genesis 7, don't read it like some of you may have been taught in Sunday school.

Like a flannel graph with cute little animals all happily running aboard. This is the story of God blotting out all living creatures from the face of the earth except those who believed. Genesis 7, Then the Lord said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household.

For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean. The male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

For in seven days, mark that, I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights and every living thing that I have made, I will blot out from the face of the ground. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

The first thing I need to say in this culture in which we live is that the flood was an actual historical event. In our culture, people scoff at the idea that God once flooded the world. There's a documentary called Deluge.

You can easily find it if you just Google Deluge. G .S. Muse. He's the author of it. G .S. M-U-S-E. In that, he shows how most of the cultures around the world have some universal flood story. Even cultures that had no contact with Christian missionaries, that had no access to the books of Moses, the book of Genesis included, they still have a worldwide flood creation myth.

From Hawaii, that distant island, to the Native Americans, to China, and at least 17 other places documented that tell about a flood that destroyed the world. And not just a localized flood, but one that covered the mountains and was unleashed by God to punish a wicked world.

Early in the 1900s, when Darwinists were scoffing and mocking at the Christians who were still clinging, clinging to their view that the Bible is the authoritative word of God, they said, scientifically, it's impossible because if there was water piled up higher than the mountains, where did it go?

How could it have receded? Where is it now? We don't see that moisture in our atmosphere or under the earth. There's no water in the earth. There's no water in the sky. You say that the flood destroyed the world.

Where'd your water go? Until 1969, when a scientist whose last name was Ringwood made a discovery and published it, which is now fully accepted even on Wikipedia and science .com, all acknowledge that 400 miles under the earth for a period, a range of earth's mantle, there is what is called Ringwoodite, named after the scientist who discovered it.

And if I can show you a picture of it, Ringwoodite contains water three times the amount of all of the ocean water combined. Where did that water go? It seeped and bled down into the earth and it is there to this day.

Scientists acknowledge that within the minerals of the crust of the earth, 400 miles deep, there is enough water between one and three times the amount of water that exists in the oceans today. Where did Noah's flood water go?

It's in the earth. And science no longer mocks that concept. It is readily acknowledged. I'd encourage you to do more research by going to the Creation Museum in Kentucky or just visiting their website and getting answers to the questions that those who oppose the gospel will bring at you.

But what they cannot answer is how it is that there are fish fossils on the tops of mountains. How did these fish fossils end up on top of mountains? We have an answer for that. It's called the flood.

Let's watch again. But notice before I move on. Noah brought with him into the ark the animals. He also was preaching in his generation. 1 Peter 3. We read it earlier. He was a preacher of righteousness pleading with his generation to come into the ark, but they refused.

In the same way, we want to take with us whoever is willing to come. Jesus tells a parable, and it's one of my favorites, in Luke 14. He was inviting his own countrymen, the Jewish people, to come in.

But in his parable, they all refused, largely, because they had better things to do. So Jesus tells his servants, all right, you go out and invite the crippled and the lame. You go to the highways and the byways, and you compel them to come in.

In the same way, this is how we are to welcome people into the ark of Jesus Christ. Genesis 7, verses 6 through 10. Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, with him, went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Of clean animals and of animals that are not clean, and of birds and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

After seven days. We made reference to that in verse 4. Here again in verse 10, after seven days. What does this indicate? That at the very last week, Noah was told how long it would be. And he was sent out with this urgency.

The signs of the times. It is seven days. Church, we are not told how many days until the return of Christ. But if you look at the news, you see Iran launching missiles at Israel. The very people who were driven into Diaspora spread out around the earth, having no land.

In 1948, they were brought back in. Now they're under attack again. There will be wars and rumors of wars. Earthquakes in various places. Anybody feel that one about two weeks ago? Birth pangs that the time is short.

Noah was told the number of days. We are not. But we were told this. The farmer looks at the signs in the skies and he can tell in the morning if there's going to be rain. So it is with you. You ought to discern the signs of the times.

We don't know the day or the hour. But when we look at the signs of the times, we ought to increase our urgency. Especially in a generation that has become complacent. Zephaniah was a prophet. Anybody read Zephaniah this morning?

I'd be impressed. You just happened to read Zephaniah? No? We don't often read the book of Zephaniah. It's the fourth to last book in our Old Testament. Turn there. We're just going to look at a couple of verses.

I want you to understand that this theme of the day of the Lord was very prominent in Joel, in Isaiah, in many of the prophets. And Zephaniah takes up the idea of the day of the Lord as his primary theme.

He was warning Jerusalem when they had fallen into sin and the southern kingdom of Judah was going to be overrun by Babylon. The Babylonian captivity was just around the corner. God sent prophets to plead with the people, warning them that they are going to be swept away.

Now, Zephaniah was speaking of that judgment, but he was also looking to a greater day of the Lord, the great day of God's wrath. And that is that final tribulation period. If you look at Zephaniah 1 -2, the prophet says, I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, declares the Lord.

It sounds like the warning that Noah gave. But in verse 12, the people are complacent and they don't take that seriously. They're going about their days. They're not interested. They greet it with a yawn.

But in verse 12, it says, at that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will punish the men who are complacent, who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill. Verse 14, Zephaniah says, the great day of the Lord is near.

You see that urgency. That's the urgency that Noah had with seven days left. It's coming, pleading with people. The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter. The mighty man cries aloud there. What kind of day is the day of the Lord?

This is important for something I'm going to say in a few minutes. The day of the Lord is a period of wrath. Look at verse 15. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.