We’ll be beginning our message Scripture right at the beginning of Genesis, Chapter 3 (pg. 4 of Pew Bible) in a few moments so if you’ll turn there, we start with a word of prayer.
Throughout our daily speech and even through the common talk of the sidewalks of this great country we call America, we often use a figure of speech we can an “idiom.” Now the definition of an “idiom” is a device that is “a set expression or a phrase comprising two or more words, used to convey a situation”. An interesting fact of idioms is that the expression of those words is not always to be interpreted literally. A few examples of idioms include
• “Kicking the bucket” which really has nothing to do with a bucket.
• When we say something is “a piece of cake”, we aren’t speaking of a box of Twinkies.
• When we say something costs “an arm and a leg” we aren’t trading in body parts for material goods.
• And when we tell someone to “hold their horses”, we aren’t asking them to run out to the local horse farm and grab a hold of the animals.
• And truly when someone has just “bought the farm”, I don’t think we’re talking about a real estate deal.
I think we use idioms more than we realize, and it’s been estimated that there are over 25,000 common idioms in the English language and their implications are usually readily and commonly understood. A few more like:
• “Letting the cat out of the bag”.
• “A fish out of water”.
• “I’m at the end of my rope.”
• “Seeing eye to eye on an issue”,
• and “I’m all ears”.
I think you get the point of what I am speaking.
One of the more recent idioms that has caught my attention is the phrase “At the End of the Day.” You hear it in politics, in business, on the news, and even applying to court cases. Most people who followed the O.J. Simpson Trial came away believing that the evidence pointed to O.J.’s unmistakable guilt, but “at the end of the day” the jury acquitted him.
Once again, don’t take the use of these words literally. This mornin, saying "at the end of the day" doesn’t mean at 11:45 tonight. Some of the synonyms of “At the End of the Day” would be
1. When the dust finally settles.
2. When all is said and done.
3. When the final straw is pulled.
4. In the Long Run
5. In the Final Analysis
We’ve come to use this phrase, “At the End of the Day” to kind of fast-forward to the unmistakable importance of “the ending of the story” so you don’t get sidetracked with the details on how the story was unfolding. Here’s a simple example of “at the end of the day” in children’s stories: It’s the “Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare”, The story concerns a Hare, (a silly wrabbit) who ridicules a slow-moving Tortoise. Tired of the Hare's boastful behavior, the Tortoise challenges him to a race.[2] The Hare sprints along the course and quickly leaves the tortoise way behind in the dust and, so confident of winning that he was, he stops to play - midway through the race. Still assuming that he’s way ahead, unable to be caught, and that he has the victory all sewed up, the Hare now takes a nap to rest up from the playtime. When the Hare awakes however, he finds that his competitor, the Tortoise - is crawling slowly but steadily, across the finish line before him. Were you to take bets before the race started, you’d have put all your money on the Hare. All indications of the story pointed to the Hare winning, but “At the End of the Day”, the tortoise won the prize.
I want to take this idiom of “At the End of the Day” and give it a few spiritual applications in our message today. For though things might look a certain way as they unfold and as we live out our lives, the results “at the End of the Day” might surprise us and should give us serious consideration. We start back in the Book of Genesis” where God created Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve
A perfect world, a perfect garden, a perfect relationship. Often a walk in the cool of the evening with the One who created them and loved them. They had the perfect marriage. No tiredness, no fighting over the remote, no income taxes. Who could ask for anything better? But one evening Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)
"8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."
You say, “Why would they do such a thing?” Hide from God? Yes, they did hide and it was because they had disobeyed the one command that God had given them from the start, that they shall not to eat from that one tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” They tried to cover their sinfulness with fig leaves, but in God’s economy, an innocent life had to shed its blood for the remission of their sin. And so God made them tunics of skin, taken from a slain innocent animal and He clothed them. They were subsequently expelled from the “best house on the block”. Given their “walking papers” out of this Garden called “Paradise” and left to work the soil by the sweat of their brow. You see, there is always consequences for sin.
Scripture says: Genesis 3:23-24 (NKJV)
"23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."
I guess this is where someone first pointed out that the best real estate on the market has mostly to do with “Location, location, location”. They had lost their original “location.” And – “at the End of the Day”, sin had entered mankind, and we’ve all inherited the sin nature from the first Adam and have to live in a damaged and darkened world.
Next we turn our attention to Noah and his family. Chapter six in Genesis.
Noah and His family
Noah, this man of obedience, not only is building this massive ark, but also preaching repentance and salvation to those who would hear. God gave Noah the perfect precise blueprint for this ark and told Noah of this great coming flood, though it had never rained, not one drop on this earth up till them. Noah followed God’s instructions “to the letter” (in obedience and in faith), and through all of which completed the task God had given him. Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
"7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." (NT mention)
Please note that the Bible also speaks of Noah in the New Testament (1 Peter and 2 Peter) that during the building of the ark, Noah was faithful, that he was a preacher of righteousness, but that most of the onlookers scoffed at him. God was exercising patience with a sinful world and wished many more would enter the ark to be saved from judgment. But only “eight souls in all” walked through that door of the ark . Genesis 7:16-17 (NKJV)
"16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.
17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth."
You see, for that generation – “at the End of the Day”, the door to salvation was closed as the rains came and the water rose. The boat floated, and Noah and his family were spared. People had warning, but it was at a time "when the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5.
Now we come to Moses and the Israelites found in the book of Exodus,
Moses and the Israelites
God’s people were enslaved in the land known as Egypt and God wanted them out. So He called Moses as his spokesman and as a leader of the Israelites. Oh, it was God Himself that got them freed from their slavery in Egypt, yes He did. It took 10 supernatural plagues to cause Pharoah to let them go. Then as they made their exit from Egypt, God further saved their lives by parting the waters of the Red Sea, Through the desert they started with God leading the way. No way they could get lost here, with the cloud of God’s Shikinah glory leading the way, and with God’s daily provision of manna to nourish them, but as they approached the Promised Land, they sent ahead twelve scouts to scope out their new home address. Two of the spies came back with favorable reports, but ten, the majority, came back with doubts about whether they’d ever conquer the people in this new land. Some said God was leading them into a trap. Really? They claimed that those giants, were too much to handle in their own strength and they would have been right but they forgot that God was to be there with them. And in listening to these ten nay-sayers, instead of God Himself, they found themselves wandering through the wilderness for 40 years.
Near the end of Moses’s life, Deuteronomy 34:1-4 (NKJV)
"1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land (… before them) 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."
A whole generation was sidetracked in the wilderness and “At the End of the Day, Moses never entered into their final destination, why? Because of disobedience and because they were trusting in man rather than God.
Now let’s quickly consider King David. No amount of time we could give him this morning would be sufficient to fully cover the great man he was. As a shepherd boy, he slew Goliath. Later he led many armies into battle and followed every instruction and every command of the Lord. Success followed him wherever he went. Because he was a man after God’s own heart. He had compassion, he had the love of God, and he mercy and understanding residing in his heart for his fellow men and women.
And yet one day a series of sins began --- it started just with his look upon Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop one night. Are you inclined to say he was just at in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe, but that was no excuse for what he did. Then came the entrapments of lying, murder, and the cover-up. You’d think he’d blew it big-time and for-all-time. But no, we’re not done yet, for "at the end of the day", he came to his senses and confessed, and repented, and accepted the consequences. And in the finality of it all, he was restored to a right relationship with His heavenly Father. Why, because he recognized his sin and understood that it would not go away on its own. So he prayed and confessed it in:
Psalm 51:1-4 (NKJV)
"1 …. Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. "
Yes, "at the end of the day" , for David and for you too, any sinful act or evil thought can be cleansed and blotted out if we come to the right place with the right heart and ask forgiveness from the only One is truly “Right.”
Now of course we cannot forget Jonah, the Runaway Prophet. You all know the story. God sent Jonah on a mission and he headed off in the opposite direction. Boarded a boat, got caught in a storm, thrown overboard, and finally rescued by a giant fish. Well, I guess you could say “rescued” but really swallowed up by it. He lived in the belly of that giant fish for three days and three nights. He thought at the end of the day he’d became some sort of reverse sushi. Instead of raw fish swallowed up by hungry man, he was raw man swallowed up by a hungry fish. Then he was spit upon a beach and given a second chance. To preach repentance to his bitter enemies, the Ninevites. Oh God’s plan worked, as God’s plans always do; the Ninevites repented, the king covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. Yes, the Ninevites were spared immediate impending judgment and when they were, when God’s plan worked, Jonah bitterly complained to God that he knew that would happen and that’s why he wanted no part of it. And so "at the end of the day", we have a bitter prophet throwing a pity party with all his friends, that is just himself.
Jonah 4:1-3 (NKJV)
"1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
2 So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"
Can you imagine being so bitter and disheartened that when you see souls being saved, yes even those of your enemy, rather than being overjoyed, you find yourself wishing death upon your life?
But at the end of the day, 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
"9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
Now fast forward to Jesus. Born of reasonably poor parents in a Little Town of Bethlehem. And right from the start the rulers of this world tried to put Him away out of existence. King Herod snuffed out the all the baby boys under that age of two in the area of Bethlehem But Jesus had the protecting hand of His Father upon Him. At the age of 30 he began His ministry and called to Himself 12 of the closest disciples, but He didn’t go to the colleges or trade school graduation exercises to pick out what we would call the “most qualified”. No, He hand-picked a few fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot and similar men. What could possibly go wrong with a plan like that? You’d think that at the end of the day, we would see utter failure and a movement that would internally explode.
He made His entrance into Jerusalem one Sunday and things looked great as they welcomed Him in as a King waving their palm branches. But at the end of that week, well, they had crucified Him, He died, and His body placed in a borrowed tomb. At the end of that day, Satan and His followers celebrated and threw a party of victory, --- but on Resurrection Sunday, Jesus rose from that grave and He lives now forevermore. Who got the final word? When all is said and done, "at the end of the day", to whom does the real victory belong? You’re right about that – The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Jesus Christ Himself.
Matthew 28:2-7 (NKJV)
"2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." "
Fifty days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the church is born and begins to grow through some great persecution. In fact, one of the chief persecutors was a man named Saul. One with all the proper credentials, a Roman citizen, a Pharisee, a keeper of the law, He made it his mission in life to hunt down Christians, to imprison them, and to have many murdered. Saul was upright in his own eyes, prideful and self-reliant, thinking he was doing God a favor to rid this world of these followers of Jesus. But one day, on a Road to Damascus, Jesus got a hold of him and knocked him right off his high horse, literally.
Acts 9:4-5 (NKJV)
"4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." "
Yes, Saul was briefly blinded but then his eyes were opened and Saul became one of the greatest missionaries of Christianity himself. Now known as the Apostle Paul. Oh, it wasn’t an easy road he traveled upon, for in many of the lands he visited, there was no church, no Christians, and no knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus on the third day.. And when Paul was able to plant churches in his travels, as he moved on, there were others who came right after him and tried to pervert the purity of the Gospel and the grace of God which he preached. I’m sure this gave Paul so many sleepless nights and his frustration can be felt as you read many of his epistles to these young and impressionable churches.
As Paul traveled through three major missionary trips, he was beaten, stoned, kicked out of town, shipwrecked, arrested, even imprisoned multiple times. But at the end of the day, Paul stayed close to Jesus and Jesus stayed close to Paul. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote many epistles to churches and to individuals which were widely circulated both then and now, even as today we hold these inspired words in our hands. No-one-ever-thought that the chief of all sinners and one of the staunchest persecutors of Christians could be used so mightily by God. Who would have guessed it? But at the end of the day, our God is good and He is great and He can use all things for His glory if we will offer our lives to Him.
Two more before we close. God is eternal, existent from eternity past to eternity future. There is no beginning nor ending assigned to God’s life. But this earth upon which we live has only been here for about 6 to 8 thousand years. I know scoffers will try to get you to believe evolution has been working for 30 billion years, the time of which they change about every ten years, but look at the evidence. There is true testimony of a Creator known as God and One who spoke this creation into existence. The Bible also tells us that there is a literal Heaven and a Hell, the eventual destination for all who have lived here first. Life on earth can be seen as a testing ground, or a time and place where we can choose where we want to spend eternity. God has given us all we need to know both through His Son Jesus and His written word we call the Bible. Yet scoffers abound and excuses given why people don’t want to believe. Hear me when I say that rejecting God is not and never has been an intellectual deficiency, it’s a heart problem from the get-go. Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)
"9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? "
You see only God can change a heart, but we need to come to the foot of the Cross for forgiveness and salvation. Will those who chose to deny and forsake God’s Son Jesus be forever left in the dark? Will they never know the truth? Scripture says their destination of choice is final and it is eternal, and they will know at the end of the day who is Lord and who is God. Phil. 2:9-11
"9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him (that is Jesus) and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You see, though there is clarity even today, at the end of the day, Jesus will be on His final throne and will rule and reign for the glory of His Father."
So, what about you today? You are my final example. Are you still trying to sit on the fence, trying to decide if you want to belong to the world or to God? I’m not asking you if you’re male or female, slave or free, young or old, Republican or Democrat? I’m asking you if you are saved or lost? Those are the only two choices. Are you a child of God and have you been forgiven your sins? For there is "an end of the day" coming your way and there will be no one sitting on the fence of indecision. God has placed his gift of salvation on the table in front of you, pre-purchased by the blood of His Son Jesus. And He asks You if you’ll accept it and open it. Because from that moment on, your citizenship can be irrevocably transferred to the census books of Heaven and your name written on the roll-books that’ll be read at the gates of eternity.
One more thing before I close. God never wrestles someone into the newly decorated mansions on Heaven. You cannot earn your way there. No one can pray you in and you cannot sneak kin the back door. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV)
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. "
And at the final end of the day, you can be like the Apostle John who wrote in Rev 21: Revelation 21:1-5 (NKJV)
"1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new.""
You see, as you sit here and ponder all the struggles you have this day, this week, and this year. As you see the turmoil this country is going through and the drug epidemic sweeping across this country and landing on our neighborhood streets. And you see leadership hands and feet getting closer to the outbreak of another war, know that there is a day when Jesus will return and God Himself will make all things right. The question I want you to consider this morning is, at the end of the day, where are you going to be watching this all from?
For the decision is yours and the decision is now. 2 Corinthians 6:2
"2 For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. "
Romans 10:13 (NKJV)
"13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.""
Would you stay for a few moments and let us pray for you if you want to leave here in a better condition than you walked in? God has a “Green Card” with your name on it. Dipped in the crimson precious Blood of His Son Jesus.
We have Pastors, Deacons, Ministry Leaders, and Godly women, all who can pray for you, with you, and beside you and declare that this is a victorious day for the Kingdom of Jesus.
