I THESSALONIANS 5:2 "FOR YOURSELVES KNOW PERFECTLY THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD SO COMETH AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT."
INTRODUCTION: When perilous times occur many ask why is it that God seemingly allows bad men to prosper and go unpunished. Many see God as a Super Pacifist, too loving, too gentle, too kind, too good, too meek and too mild to judge and punish the world and its inhabitants for their callous disregard for His standards, his righteousness, and His way. But God will not always appear to remain remote and will deal with the unrighteousness of all men when He reconciles accounts on the Day of the Lord.
I. THE DAY OF THE LORD - DEFINED
A. The Term the Day of the Lord occurs 25 times in 23 verses, including the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi, Acts, I & II Thessalonians, and II Peter.
B. The Day of the Lord is not a term which applies to a twenty-four hour period. It refers to a whole schedule of events that begin immediately following the rapture of he church.
C. John Walvoord wrote, "The Day of the Lord is a period of time in which God will deal with wicked men directly and dramatically in fearful judgment. Today a man may be a blasphemer of God, an atheist, can denounce God and teach bad doctrine. Seemingly, God does nothing about it. But the day designated in Scripture as the ’day of the Lord’ is coming when God will punish human sin, and will deal in wrath and in judgment with a Christ-rejecting world. One thing we are sure of God in His own way will bring every soul into judgment." - (The Thessalonian Epistles, p 76)
D. The Day of the Lord begins with the seven-year period known as the tribulation and extends to the creation of the new heavens and new earth in Revelation 21-22.
E. Isaiah 13:9-13 "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger."
II. THE DAY OF THE LORD - DARKNESS
A. Zephaniah 1:14-18 "The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."
B. Joel 2:1-2 "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations."
C. Amos 5:18-20 "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?"
D. This period will include times of both literal and physical darkness as well as deep spiritual darkness.
E. Literal physical darkness will occur in the tribulation as stated in Revelation 8 where the celestial heaven is darkened by 1/3 and in Revelation 16 when total darkness eclipses upon the Antichrist and his kingdoms.
F. Consider the terror and paralysis of darkness.
G. Spiritual darkness is seen in II Thessalonians 2:7-12 "For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now lets (restrains) will let (restrain), until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
III. THE DAY OF THE LORD - DESTRUCTION
A. I Thessalonians 5:3 "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
B. The Day of the Lord will be a time of cataclysmic destruction. While the world is scrambling for peace, safety, security and freedom from terrorism, the greatest devastation the world will ever experience is yet out on the horizon.
C. Isaiah 13:6-8, 13 "Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. ... Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger."
D. Sea, Fresh water, vegetation, islands, mountains all will be affected
E. Joel 1:15 "Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
F. Ezekiel 7:25 "Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none." .
IV. THE DAY OF THE LORD - DESPAIR
A. H. G. Wells (1866-1946) is quoted as saying that "Despair is a frightful queerness ... that there is no way out, or around, or through the impasse. It is the end."
B. Luke 21:25-26 "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."
C. Revelation 9:6 "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."
D. John 3:36 declares "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." There is nothing more despairing than the hopelessness of that fact! There is no greater horror! How sad! - That men should hear the gospel over and over again, and hear it, turn away, reject it and go out facing a hopeless future having the wrath of God hanging over them like Damocles’ sword!
E. Revelation 6:15-16 "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; [16] And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:"
F. Great fear will grip all unbelievers. Every unbeliever will be struck with a maddening terror. No unbeliever is going to escape the judgment of God and they know it. It is a period when all unbelievers must face the fierce wrath of the Lamb of God, whom they have rejected, denied, cursed, disobeyed and disbelieved!
V. THE DAY OF THE LORD - DEFINITE
A. II Peter 3:3-10 "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
B. The May 1984 National Geographic showed through color photos and drawings the swift and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman Cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden, the residents were killed while in their routine: men and women were at the market, the rich in their luxurious baths, slaves at toil. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. Even family pets suffered the same quick and final fate. It takes little imagination to picture the panic of that terrible day. The saddest part is that these people did not have to die. Scientists confirm what ancient Roman writers record--weeks of rumblings and shakings preceded the actual explosion. Even an ominous plume of smoke was clearly visible from the mountain days before the eruption. If only they had been able to read and respond to Vesuvius’s warning! There are similar "rumblings" in our world: warfare, earthquakes, the nuclear threat, economic woes, breakdown of the family and moral standards. While not exactly new, these things do point to a coming day of Judgment (Matt. 24). People need not be caught unprepared. God warns and provides an escape to those who will heed the rumblings.
C. Matthew 24:32-35 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
D. The Day of the Lord is both Eminent and Imminent
VI. THE DAY OF THE CHRIST - DELIVERANCE
A. I Thessalonians 5:9 "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"
B. John 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgment); but is passed from death unto life."
C. ’Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house not a creature was praying, not one in the house. Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care In hopes that Jesus would not come there. The children were dressing to crawl into bed, Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head. And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap was watching the Late Show while I took a nap. When out of the East there arose such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. Away to the window, I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash! When what to my wondering eyes should appear but angels proclaiming that Jesus was here. With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray, I knew in a moment that this must be The Day! The light of His face made me cover my head It was Jesus! Returning just as He had said. And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth, I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself. In the Book of Life which He held in His hand was written the name of every saved man. He spoke not a word as He searched for my name; when He said, "It’s not here" my head hung in shame. The people whose names had been written with love He gathered to take to His Father above. With those who were ready, He rose without a sound while all the rest were left standing around. I fell to my knees, but it was too late; I had waited too long and this sealed my fate. I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight; oh, if only I had been ready tonight. In the words of this poem, the meaning is clear; the coming of Jesus is drawing near. There’s only one life and when comes the last call we’ll find that the Bible was true after all!
