"The Day of the Lord Will Come"
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 20:24
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Is there anyone here, or listening, who is happy with the way the world is going? Anyone comfortable with the way things are? Are you tired of all the bad news, all the violence and injustice, all the struggles? Does it seem that nothing is ever going to get better?
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that Jesus is coming back! The bad news is that Jesus is coming back. Our reading for today is from:
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. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
Whether this is good news or bad news depends on if you are a believer, walking in the light, or an unbeliever walking in darkness.
Paul has already discussed the question of what happens to those who have died before the Lord returns. Now he turns to the question of when that will be.
The Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord
Already familiar with the term from the Old Testament
Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Obadiah 15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
A time in which God actively intervenes in history, primarily for judgment.
There have been many ‘days of the Lord’ in terms of God’s judgements
Also the ultimate Day of the Lord at the end of the age
In one sense the last days began with the first coming of Christ.
The day of Christ’s Second Coming
Will come
Will come
Like a thief in the night – unexpectedly. No robber ever notified their victim of when he would come to rob them.
Acts 1:7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
While people are saying, ‘peace and safety” – might mean world conditions will appear calm but could also refer to the general attitude, arrogant or self-deceived people.
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
What people – unbelievers, those in darkness, unable to see clearly, spiritually dead.
Think all is well
Asleep – unaware,
Like labor pains – once it starts it will certainly come to its conclusion. Even though it has been thousand of years since first predicted we can be sure that one day it will happen.
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
2 Peter 3:8–9 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Destruction will come
Destruction will come
Evil will be done away with
Unbelievers will be judged – picture the parable of the sheep and the goats
Heaven and earth will pass away – make way for new heaven and new earth
Justice will be established
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
Believers not in darkness
Believers not in darkness
The present world is a world of darkness, unbelievers are living in darkness, spiritual blindness. Believers, however, have been delivered from that.
Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Children of the light – walking in fellowship with Christ and according to the truth.
Will not surprise us – we have the promise/warning of Scripture. We may not know the exact time but we will be able to recognize certain signs leading up to it.
Increase in persecution (Matt. 24)
Many turning away from the faith
Many false prophets deceive people
Love of most will grow cold
Gospel preached in the whole world
Man of lawlessness revealed (2 Thess. 2:3-4)
Abomination standing in the holy place
Will be prepared – not because we know the day or the time but because we have learned to live in a perpetual state of watchfulness.
It’s too late to start building an ark when the rain starts to pour and the flood comes.
It’s too late to go out to buy oil when the Bridegroom comes
Let us not be like the others
Let us not be like the others
Let us not sleep - inattentiveness to the important spiritual matters at hand
Let us be alert – an activity
Matthew 24:42–44 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Let us be self-controlled – an attitude
Someone asked John Wesley what he would do if he knew his Lord would return at that time the next day. He said in effect, "I would go to bed and go to sleep; wake up in the morning, and go on with my work, for I would want Him to find me doing what He had appointed."
My Favorite Illustrations.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
Whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Thy Kingdom come”. Some day, perhaps soon, that prayer will be answered. Will we be ready?