DAY OF THE LORD
INTRODUCTION
Day of the Lord will be a Day of Recognition of Almighty God and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who was born of a virgin, conceived by God’s Spirit, towards salvation of the soul!
A story was told of a man who seen a young person in the water struggling to keep alive; upon seeing this, the man dove into the water and saved his life. Later, this same young man appeared in the man’s court room, recognized him as the one who saved him, and hoped for mercy to be extended. The Judge’s response: That day I was your Savior; today I am your judge!
Day of the Lord
Day of Recognition
Day of the Lord will be a Day of Recognition! The Apostle Paul wrote: We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:10-11).
It is appointed unto men to die but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The fierceness and wrath of the Day of the Lord is described extensively in the Book of Revelations, as revealed by the Apostle John, noting how terrible that day will be (Revelation 6:17)!
Execute Judgment
The Apostle Jude wrote: Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied saying: Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince (convict) all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly (in an ungodly manner) committed, and of all their hard (harsh) speeches (things) which ungodly sinners have spoken against him (the Lord Jesus Christ) (Jude 1:14-15).
Execute judgment upon all means the small and great, rich and poor, good and bad, righteous and wicked; to pass sentence on each, life and happiness on the godly; condemnation, death, and misery on the wicked!
Desire for the Day
of the Lord
The Prophet Amos gave warning: Woe to 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 (Amos 5:18). The Day of the Lord will bring affliction, calamities, miseries, and distress which is expressed in the Scriptures as darkness; not prosperity, and happiness which is expressed as light.
The Day of the Lord will not be a pleasant sight to the unsaved; those who have rejected God! Apostle John wrote: He that believes on the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) has everlasting life; and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides (remains) on him (John 3:36)!
Day of Reprisal
The Prophet Obadiah revealed: The day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen (nations); as you have done, it shall be done unto you; your reward (reprisal) shall return upon your own head (Obadiah 1:15). Day of the Lord is pictured as the time when God will judge the heathen (nations)!
Apostle Paul wrote: Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever man sows that shall he also reap. He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting (Galatians 6:7-8). Sowing to the flesh means to conduct oneself by the evil dictates and desires of the sinful nature; sowing to the Spirit is to live by His (God’s Spirit) enabling help.
The Proud and Lofty
The Prophet Isaiah revealed: The day of the Lord 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 2:12). Day of the Lord is fixed and appointed, in which there will be a display of His power and grace.
The proud and lofty who thought themselves standing in need of nothing, trusting in self, and despising others, will realize they have need of a Savior; for the Day of the Lord will be vengeance upon the proud, which shall burn as an oven that will consume and destroy them; if repentance fails to come into the fold (Malachi 4:1).
Day of Accountability
It was noted that a day of accountability is coming for all people. We can accept the work of redemption Christ accomplished for us and have our sins forgiven and be welcomed to a home in heaven, or we can stand before God in that great Day of Judgment (Day of the Lord) and be sentenced to eternal separation from Him.
Eventually kingdoms crumble because they ascended to dominance on the shaky foundation of human ingenuity, political intrigue, selfish interest, and human economy. The time is coming when all powers and principalities will collapse under the weight of God's judgment.
Gross Darkness
In reference to the future glory of Zion (Israel) Isaiah prophesied: Arise, shine; for your light (salvation) is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness (sinfulness of mankind) shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall rise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you (Isaiah 60:1-2). The prophet was revealed that a time would come when Israel would arise out of her darkness and shine with God’s glory!
God holds individuals and nations responsible for their sins and rebellion against Him; however He also offers the opportunity for repentance and reconciliation! Israel was a forerunner of what God’s intended desire for mankind has always been. Darkness may be prevalent for awhile; but eventually His glory will outshine the darkness!
Sound an Alarm
The Prophet Joel, in speaking the words of the Lord, cried out: Blow you 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 comes, for it is nigh (near) at hand (Joel 2:1).
The trumpet (ram’s horn) was used primarily for religious purposes but in this instance it was used to alarm the people for the seriousness of the crisis that was upon the people, to prepare for it, and turn to God in repentance.
Joel in sounding the alarm noted that all the inhabitants of the land would tremble at the judgments of God coming upon them; that the Day of the Lord is nigh (near) fixed by God, towards a wicked people, to pour out his wrath and vengeance on them, at the day of His visitation.
An Uncertain Sound
The Apostle Paul noted: If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle (1 Corinthians 14:8)? With a social gospel, which does little to deal with sin, or identify the Unadulterated (Pure) Word of God, it enhances what Paul revealed to Timothy, a young evangelist: The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables (that which is fictitious) (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Is there a dereliction of duty in the land of teaching and preaching the entirety of God’s Word as the Day of the Lord draws near? Paul told Timothy: Preach the Word, be instant (ready) in season, out of season (when less received); reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine (2 Timothy 4:2)!
Fruit of Righteousness
Turned into Hemlock
The Prophet Amos revealed there will be a time that the fruit of righteousness will be turned into hemlock (Amos 6:12). It is interesting to note that the word hemlock refers to a plant that poison is derived from. Poison infects or pollutes the body until injury, illness, or death results. It can be of a harmful influence such as will ruin, taint, inhibit, or embitter.
When this influence creeps into a church, oftentimes unawares, it creates “A Powerless Church” in which the righteous man is ridiculed, of whose influence no longer has any effect. A church of pomp, splendor, where true worship is taboo and sin no longer identified. Lives are without change or with little endurance if change occurs.
Vain Thoughts
The Prophet Jeremiah cried out: O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved, How long shall your vain (wicked) thoughts lodge with you (Jeremiah 4:14)?
It was noted that today such thinking can arise from many sources: absorbing immoral movies and television; carelessly surfing the Internet; listening to malicious talk; ignoring the Word of God; giving into a materialistic worldview. Will we allow the sanctifying Scriptures and the purifying blood of Christ to cleanse our heart and mind or will we persist in sin-filled thinking and experience God's judgment?
Thief in the Night
Apostle Peter revealed that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass way with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation (conduct) and godliness (2 Peter 3:10-11).
Nevertheless we (the believers), according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him (the Lord Jesus Christ) in peace, without spot (sin), and blameless (2 Peter 3:13-14).
Repentance Prior to
Judgment
Jonathan Edwards sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” contain these words: Consider the fearful danger that you are in: You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder.
You have no interest in any mediator, and nothing to hold on to save yourself, nothing to keep the flames of wrath away, nothing of your own, nothing that you have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.
Those words still ring loud and clear today towards endangered souls who are about to descend into eternity without the benefit of a Savior (the Lord Jesus Christ), unless repentance comes prior to the Day of Judgment!
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