Title: Preparing for the Day of the Lord
The church as it is supposed to be is:
1) a people of encouragement (1:2–10);
2) a people of self-sacrifice (2:1–12);
3) a people of controversy (2:13–16);
4) a people of joy (2:17–3:13);
5) a people of purity (4:1–8);
6) a people of work (4:9–12);
7) a people of clarity (4:13–5:11);
8) a people of unity (5:12–15);
9) a people of growth (5:16–22).
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 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. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
“The Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night…”
Preparing for the Day of the Lord
Many Christians don’t want to hear this kind of sermon. Most preachers avoid these kinds of topics, especially in Sunday morning worship. It’s like writing your own will. We all know we should do it. But we don’t want to think about it.
There is a final time of judgment coming to this world. It is called, in Scripture, “The Day of the Lord.” Paul writes this passage to the 1st century church in Thessalonica, to tell them how to be prepared for that coming day. Now, if Paul wanted the church in Thessalonica to be prepared, who would all die before that day came, how much more should we, who are 2 thousand years closer to that day, be prepared for it?
And I don’t know about you, but I like to be prepared when something bad is coming. When I was laid off at Cessna, we were given advance warning, a 60-day notice that it was coming. So, we prepared. The worst bad news is that which comes with no advance notice. No time to prepare.
But that is not the case with the Day of the Lord. Paul says here,
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
He says that
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Well, today, we return to this passage about the Day of the Lord. The future day of judgment and deliverance that is coming to the world. And, I don’t know about you, but the things going on in the world, and our country today, make me think that that final day is very close. So, what is our job? Prepare for it.
prayer
I shared out of my own study, what I discovered about this idea, or doctrine called the Day of the Lord. And I shared with you 3 weeks ago, that this portion about the Day of the Lord, addresses three questions. These are the three questions I would ask to prepare myself for any future bad event.
The Day of the Lord, what is it, when is it, who is it for?
When I heard about a layoff, I asked, “What is it?” What are the details? Numbers, which departments. When is it? And who is it for? Am I on the list?
And Paul answers these same questions about the Day of the Lord. What is it? When is it? And Who is it for?
I. The Day of the Lord; What is it?
Paul says to the Thessalonians, “You know, that the Day of the Lord…” “comes as a thief in the night.” You know this, I’ve already taught you this. You know about the Day of the Lord, from the Old Testament, and Jesus’ words that I taught you.
He had apparently taught them about the Day of the Lord. He had taught them what the Day of the Lord was. But how many of us know what the Day of the Lord is? So, the first question we covered was, what is it? Paul is going to talk about the Day of the Lord, and we have to know what we’re talking about before we can understand this passage.
There’s an old church joke about an old country church business meeting that went on for hours discussing whether the church ought to get a chandelier for the sanctuary. Finally, an old deacon stood up and said, “My vote is no on the chandelier for 3 reasons. First, it costs too much money, second, there’s nobody in this church who can play the thing, and number three, what we really need in this sanctuary is lights.”
We need to understand what we’re talking about, before we talk about it. We’re talking about the Day of the Lord.
And let me be honest today. I’ve never done a thorough study, before this sermon, of the Day of the Lord. I’ve read what others said about it. But I didn’t study it for myself. So, for this sermon, I again read what others said, then I found every passage with this phrase in it, and I read through them all. And surprise, surprise, I arrived at some of the same conclusions, and some different conclusions than what I had read. This is my sharing my process.
I. The Day of the Lord; What is it?
If we are going to be prepared for this coming day of judgment, we need to know what it is. What are the details. Well, Paul doesn’t go into a lot of details in 1st Thessalonians. Why not? Because he had apparently already taught them extensively about the Day of the Lord. Look at what he says,
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord…
But you and I weren’t at that Bible study. So, we have to go back and look at the Scriptures about the Day of the Lord. And that’s what I did.
And I discovered two answers to The Day of the Lord, “What is it?” The day of the Lord is; judgment and deliverance, and eventful. We looked at this last time so let me just summarize. As I studied Scripture I discovered that The Day of the Lord is …
A. Eventful
What do I mean by that? It is not just one event, it is several events. It is not just one day, one 24-hour period, it takes place over the last years of man’s history.
When we talk about the future “Day of the Lord,” we imagine that this coming future judgement/deliverance event will happen all in one literal day.
The “Day” of the Lord is longer than a day—24 hours. The word “day” is often used in Scripture for a season, or time period.
Hebrews 3:7-9 7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today, if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
But it is several events.
That final “day” begins at the start of the 7-year Tribulation. God unleashes His wrath on the earth with 7 seal judgements, 7 trumpet judgments, 7 bowl judgments, the return of Christ, the Battle of Armageddon, the judgment of the nations, and the entry into the millennial kingdom.
But it is also
B. Judgement and deliverance:
It’s always about a coming judgment and coming reward from God. The term “Day of the Lord” is a precise term indicating the day that our Lord visits judgment on evil, and reward on the righteous. Some that I read have said that the Day of the Lord is always judgment, not deliverance; but I beg to differ. Now, it is primarily about judgment on evil. Let me give you some examples;
I shared with you out of a great number of Old Testament passages, about this coming day of judgment and deliverance. Let me just give one example this morning.
It is all about judgement on the wicked.
Isaiah 2:12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Isaiah 13:6,9,13 Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. …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…. 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.
Isaiah 34:8 For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Lamentations 2:22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
Ezekiel 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
Ezekiel 13:5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
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.
Joel 2:1,11,31 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; And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
Joel 3:14-15 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
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. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Obadiah 1:15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
Zephaniah 1:7,8,14,18, Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 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. 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.
Zephaniah 2:2,3 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Malachi 4:1,5 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch…Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
There are lots of Old Testament verses, but it’s also mentioned in the New Testament, just not as often.
Acts 2:20 (Peter quotes Joel) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
The verse we are studying today.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10 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.
So, I read all those verses, and the verses around them, and at first, I agreed, these verses are all about judgment. But then I remembered our Scripture for today.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Deliverance of the righteous; good news
Almost without exception, in the Old Testament, when God gives the bad news about the judgment of the unrighteous, at the Day of the Lord, He promises deliverance, at the Day of the Lord, to the righteous.
The Day of the Lord is both judgment and deliverance. I went back to the chapters I’d just read, and then read the chapters that followed the judgment chapters. Let me give you some examples.
After the judgement of Isaiah 2, you have deliverance in chapter 3.
Isaiah 3: 10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
After the judgment of Isaiah 13, deliverance in 14.
Isaiah 14: For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
After Isaiah 34 describes the Day of the Lord judgment, it says this in chapter 35,
Isaiah 35: The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:
The same can be found in Joel 2, there is judgment and then deliverance
Judgement and deliverance are all mixed up together in Joel 2.
Joel 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;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness,
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
But listen to verse 32.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
You find another example in Joel 3. First, the Day of the Lord is judgement;
Joel 3: 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
But listen to verse 16.
16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Again, Malachi 4:1 says
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But listen to 4:2
Malachi 4: 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;
My point is that the Day of the Lord is not just Judgment, it is both judgment and deliverance.
The Day of the Lord is both judgement and deliverance. The 2nd Coming is the culminating event. The New Testament passages about the Day of the Lord make that clear.
Acts 2: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
1 Corinthians 1:7-8 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
This helps us understand the passage we have been studying in 1 Thessalonians,
1 Thessalonians 5: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
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.
This is the bad news of judgment, but it is followed by the good news of deliverance.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
So, the Day of the Lord is both judgment and deliverance. When Jesus returns, to the world, it will be the most frightful event in history. They will call on the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of the lamb, because the great day of His wrath will have come. But to we who believe, it will be a day of deliverance, resurrection, rapture, transformation, and reunion with Christ and fellow believers in the air. But that day is not only both judgment and deliverance, it is also, eventful
What is it? Eventful and the Day of the Lord is judgment and Deliverance.
The Day is coming. We need to understand what it is. But we must also understand when it is. It is past and future, and it is imminent. These two points may seem to be contradictory, let me explain.
II. When is it?
A. It is Past and future
When we talk about the “Day of the Lord” in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, we are talking about a future event, and/or events. (2nd coming, Tribulation, Judgment) But, when we do a study of the phrase “Day of the Lord” in Scripture, sometimes it refers to past events, (small “d” day of the Lord-judgment against a specific nation) and sometimes it talks about the future “Day of the Lord,” and in some passages it jumps from a past event to a future event.
It is like a mountain range. The prophets of the Old Testament were viewing it from farther away. They saw a near mountain, God’s judgment on a particular nation.
From their vantage point in history, the far mountains just seemed to be the same distance as the near ones. But behind that mountain was another mountain, to the prophet, it seemed close at hand. But when you got closer to the first mountain, or climbed the first, you realize that the rest of the prophecy is still further in the future.
Let me illustrate, there are multiple prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming of Christ. And very often, descriptions of His first coming and His second coming are mixed up together. It’s because the prophets weren’t given the understanding of two comings of Christ, separated by thousands of years. They were looking at two mountains from afar. They appeared equally distant to them.
Let me remind you of an example concerning the Day of the Lord
Isaiah 13 describes a past and future “Day of the Lord” regarding Babylon, listen closely,
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. (Babylon) 6 Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
This is the description of God’s judgement on Babylon when they were invaded by Cyrus. And we know the specific occasion…
This is how verse 9 ends.
But then something happens in the passage.
10 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. 11 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.
13 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.
Now, what does that sound like? It sounds like the 2nd coming of Christ.
And the book of Revelation tells us that during the Tribulation, there will be a false religious system, like that that was in ancient Babylon, and at the end of the Tribulation, that system will be completely destroyed. In that moment we see the ultimate destruction of Babylon.
So, this passage starts by talking about the past event, then moves to the still future event. God often gave prophecies in that way in the Old Testament. He would give a near and far word of prophecy.
So back to Isaiah, after he talks about the future event, he goes back to the past event.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
And then in verse 19, it’s kind of the completed declaration against Babylon. It jumps from the past to the future.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
There are many examples we could give about how “the Day of the Lord” as a past and future event.
Sometimes it’s just a past “day of the Lord”
Prophecy of Egypt’s defeat at the Battle of Carchemish (605 BC). He calls it the Day of the Lord.
Jeremiah 46: The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; 2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. 3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
10 For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood:
Invasion of Egypt in 586-587 It is called the Day of the Lord.
Ezekial 30: 3 For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
Destruction of Edom. It is called the Day of the Lord
Obadiah 1: 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
It is judgement and deliverance, it is past and future
When is it? Past and future
Now, we can hardly answer the question “When is it” without talking about the idea of imminency.
B. Imminent
The past, small “d,” days of the Lord, God judgment against kingdoms and nations are past. His future “D” Day of the Lord, that brings the final judgment against all the world, is still coming. And it is imminent.
1 Thessalonians 5: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 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.
What does imminent mean?
It comes “As a thief in the night.” Thieves don’t give you a burglary schedule before they come to your home. You don’t know when they are coming. You are taken off guard. “When they say peace and safety; then sudden destruction…” The world will think everything is in perfect order. They will think they are living in a time of peace and safety, and then the Day of the Lord will hit.
“As travail upon a woman with child.” It will be like a woman who is pregnant. She is going about her day, and suddenly the birth pains start. She didn’t get a text message from her doctor saying, “You will begin having birth pains 11 hours and 22 minutes from now, 3,2,1, start the clock.
In other words, the Day of the Lord won’t be expected by the world. And since we understand the Day of the Lord to take in all of the Tribulation, and the 2nd coming of Christ, we can say that the world will be dumbfounded by all of it. The 7-year Tribulation period will begin, and they won’t know what hit them. The 7 seals, trumpets, bowls –judgments of famine, war, catastrophes at an unprecedented level. And they will not understand it, they won’t be expecting it.
As Jesus said, they will be marrying and giving in marriage. Life will proceed as normal. Two will be in the field, two grinding at the mill, two in bed, and judgement will come, in disease, death, war, catastrophe, and judgment, that will take one in each place, and leave the other. The opening of the 7 seals of worldwide war, famine, disease, and death, will be unleashed with fury and worldwide surprise that everything could go bad so quickly and be so widespread.
But let me tell you something,
Christians should not be surprised – the thief only comes by surprise, to the unsaved, or unprepared. How do I know that? Paul says it.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
III. The Day of the Lord; Who is it for?
Who we are. Who the Day of the Lord is for. How we should respond.
A. Who we are.
Children of light/children of the day/children of peace and safety, not destruction
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
What does it mean that we are children of light, and of the day?
While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
Ephesians 5:7-9 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
The first thing it means is that we are saved. We came to Jesus, the Light of the world. His light revealed our sin, cleansed our sin, cured our blindness. We are now lights in the world.
What does that mean that we are children of light? We no longer hide in the darkness of sin, and we can now see clearly.
Paul says, Jesus is bringing the Day of the Lord to the world, as a thief in the night. But to those of you who are children of light, of the day, He’s not coming as a thief. You can discern the signs. You can watch, and be sober.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
So, if the judgment of this day is not for us,
B. Who is this day of judgment for?
The truth here is that the judgment part of the Day of the Lord, is not for believers.
It is for the children of darkness, the children of the night.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
That day will overtake the children of darkness, the night, the sleeping, and the drunk, as a thief.
The judgment of the Day of the Lord is for the unredeemed. Those who have rejected Christ. The last 7 years will start, and the unredeemed will experience the wrath of God on earth, in a way, that the world has never seen before. And many will die in those judgments only to then stand before God to receive their eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
The judgment of the Day of the Lord is for the Children of darkness, not the children of light. 7 years of Hell on earth will be released. And the culmination of the Day of the Lord will come after the Tribulation, when Jesus returns, resurrects the righteous dead, raptures the living Christians, fights the armies of the world in the Battle of Armageddon, and then ushers in His 1000-year reign on earth.
Well, at this point, you might be confused. You say, preacher, Matthew 24 says that the rapture is not until after the Tribulation. If Christians will be alive during the 7-year Tribulation, when God’s wrath is unleashed on earth, won’t Christians get caught up in the judgment, famine, pestilence, and earthquake?
How can you say the Day of the Lord is not for believers, but teach that there will be believers alive during the time of God’s wrath in the Day of the Lord?
Let me answer that this way. I found an interesting passage while studying the “Children of light.”
Exodus 10:23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Do you know what this verse is about? During the 10 plagues against Egypt, God’s wrath against the Egyptian kingdom that enslaved the Jewish people, in the 9th plague God caused a darkness over the land of Egypt, that could be felt. But verse 23 says that God’s people, the Jews had light in their dwellings. Everyone else in the whole nation, had no light, but God’s people had light.
Look at Exodus 8
21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: tomorrow shall this sign be.
God protected the Children of Israel from the plague of flies.
Exodus 9
3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4 And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. 5 And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land. 6 And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
Exodus 9 25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
What does this mean?
God knows how to protect His own.
But did you know this? I just listed 3 plagues for you that God miraculously protected the Children of Israel from. But there were 10 plagues. None of the remaining 7 does it say that God protected the Children of Israel. Were the Children of Israel present while God unleashed His wrath on Egypt? Yes. Were they protected from every bad thing that came upon Egypt? No
Does that mean that Christians alive during the Tribulation will be protected from God’s wrath? Yes. But does that mean they won’t have some suffering during the Tribulation? No. But, and I believe this with all my heart, God will protect us. We might still suffer, even as we might suffer now from disease, or disaster, but it won’t be from God’s wrath against sin.
C. How are we to respond?
We are children of the light. So, our approach to the Day of the Lord is not to expect a thief, but to be
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
Be awake, be sober, have faith, practice love, hold on to hope.
A. Be awake
Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
B. Be sober
Right thinking, clear thinking
Acts 26:25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
C. Have faith
putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
Faith means putting your trust in God, regardless of what comes.
D. Practice love
When all the love of the world is waxing cold, you continue to love God, Jesus, the church, and the world.
E. Hold on to hope—hope for the deliverance of your eternal salvation, hold for the return of Christ
Why?
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The Day of the Lord
What is it? When is it? Who is it for?
I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, "We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact." But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality.
Dr. E. Stanley Jones.