Hurricane Florence And The Return Of Christ

If you would, please stand as we say together our memory Scripture for this quarter:

Matthew 6:31-33

“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

And our memory refresher Scripture is …

Isaiah 53:5-6

“He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Please open your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Does anyone remember hearing about a thing called Hurricane Florence (HF)?

First Florence was out in the Atlantic as a tropical storm on September 1.

Florence reached hurricane strength soon thereafter and by September 5 it had become a Cat 4 hurricane and was headed toward North Carolina.

Early weather forecasts showed HF hitting the coast and then following the coast northward.

When HF finally did make landfall and moved ashore it was down to a Cat 1 hurricane but was moving slowly and leaving huge amounts of rain.

HF then passed inland and turned north leaving much destruction in its path.

So, why on earth are we talking about HF today? Well, if anyone had any contact to new outlets during that time period they would have been inundated with stories about the storm itself, preparations for the storm, evacuation plans, states of emergency, etc.

It was non-stop and rightfully so. It was a big event!

In many cases it was either get out of the area or risk death!

Do you want to hear another warning of something even bigger than HF?

Let’s look into that in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

(Prayer)

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

“Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

The Day Of The LORD - what is “the day of the LORD”?

The Day of The LORD is always a day of reckoning, a day of settling accounts.

There is not only one “Day of The LORD” there have been several in the Bible.

When a Day of The LORD occurs all the collective will of humanity is set aside and the LORD exerts His will with no further discourse or rebuttal.

The first Day of The LORD is recounted in Genesis 6-8, the Flood.

We all know about settling accounts, don’t we? Does April 15th ring a bell? That is the day of reckoning for our taxes …

When you get to the checkout at the grocery store you have to “settle accounts” before you can take your food home. That is a time of reckoning.

When the nation of Israel was in full rebellion against the LORD He fulfilled what He had promised. He settled accounts with them and allowed the Assyrians and Babylonians to take them into captivity. That was a day of reckoning, a Day of The LORD.

When the LORD was through using the Babylonians to discipline those from the southern Kingdom of Judah He had a day of reckoning with them as described in Isaiah 13. That to was a Day of The LORD.

In Isaiah we find a dual prophecy against Babylon and against the entire earth when the LORD returns.

Isaiah 13:6-13 NLT

“Scream in terror, for the day of the LORD has arrived - the time for the Almighty to destroy. Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts, and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor.

“They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear. For see, the day of the LORD is coming - the terrible day of His fury and fierce anger.

“The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it. The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light.

“I, the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty. I will make people scarcer than gold - more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.