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previously on grace to you whenever you read about the day of the lord it is talking about divine judgment we're now living in man's day in a sense we're living in satan's day this is when all of that has ended and it's the lord's day the final wrath of god unleashed on all unbelieving sinners but we don't need to know the time if we know he could come at any moment it's likely that we will keep ourselves ready what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ and him crucified [Music] [Music] let me take you back to first thessalonians five and just to read the opening few verses first these five one now as to the times in the epics brethren you have no need of anything to be written to you for you yourselves know full well that the day of the lord will come just like a thief in the night while they are saying peace and safety then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape but you brethren are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief for you are all sons of light sons of day we are not of night nor of darkness we're focusing in on the term day of the lord there in verse two the day of the lord is a technical term it's used number of times in the new testament used many many times in the old testament and it describes two very critical events it describes first of all our lord coming to execute final judgment on all unbelieving wicked people and then to gather his saints into his earthly kingdom we call the millennium because of the language of revelation 20. the day of the lord describes all of that the day of the lord sweeps across history from the time our lord takes the church out as we saw in first thessalonians 4 13 to 18 the church will be snatched away from the time the church is snatched away things begin to change on the earth and the day of the lord begins to rumble it's like the war machine of of revelation starting to move as we see it in chapter four and five of revelation it's like the war machine in ezekiel chapter one beginning to move as judgment is on the horizon so we're considering the coming of the day of the lord we're looking at the coming of the day of the lord the character of the day of the lord and the completeness of the day of the lord but let me give you some old testament insight into this event i'm just going to read it to you so listen this is from isaiah chapter 13 verse 6. wail for the day of the lord is near it will come as destruction from the almighty therefore all hands will fall limp and every man's heart will melt they will be terrified pains and anguish will take hold of them they will writhe like a woman in labor they will look at one another in astonishment their faces of flame behold the day of the lord is coming cruel with fury and burning anger to make the land of desolation and he will exterminate its sinners from it for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light thus i will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity i will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and to base the haughtiness of the ruthless i will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind scarcer than the gold of offer therefore i will make the heavens tremble and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the lord of hosts in the day of his burning anger graphic severe language as the prophet isaiah looks to the future day of the lord in the 14th chapter of zachariah as he draws his prophecy to its conclusion zechariah looks ahead to the day of the lord as well and he writes starting in verse one behold a day is coming for the lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you and i will gather all the nations against jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured the houses plundered the women ravished and half the city exiled but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city then the lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights in a day of battle in that day his feet will stand on the mount of olives which is in front of jerusalem on the east and the mount of olives will be split in the middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south you will flee by the valley of my mountains for the valley of the mountains will reach to a zell yes you will flee just as you fled before the earthquakes in the day of isaiah king of judah then the lord my god will come and all the holy ones with him this again is the lord coming in his day in judgment and then establishing his own kingdom over which he rules completely and exclusively it is a two-fold event the day of the lord it is the time of the judgment of all the wicked dead and alive and all the righteous dead and alive will be gathered into our lord's kingdom and i want to take you all the way to the book of revelation and read the very description of our lord's return in detail that was given to the apostle john in the revelation revelation 19 verse 11. this is the very event of christ's return on the day of the lord at its culminating point and i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems or crowns and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of god and the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of god the almighty and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords then i saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven come assemble for the great supper of god so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders in the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and those who sit on them in the flesh of all men both free men and slaves and small and great and i saw the beast or the antichrist and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army and the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh that is a dramatic scene to say the least of the coming day now in matthew 24 and 25 we have our lord giving us a clear clear revelation of his coming he promises to return to judge all the living and dead unbelieving wicked and to take all the living and dead believing righteous into his millennial kingdom this is the separation if you will of the sheep and the goats in the parable that our lord gives he comes to judge the ungodly and to gather the godly into his kingdom some of the godly will come back with him namely the church that's already been raptured we'll be coming back with him and fine linen and on those white horses whatever that means we're not sure what those vehicles would be but we are coming back with him to gather together with the saints on earth for the kingdom so in matthew 24 the lord answers the question that his disciples asked about this and the inevitable question is when that's the inevitable question and that was certainly the question in the minds of the thessalonian believers they they wanted to know when how far away was it what was going to happen next they had even been made to believe that some of their suffering indicated they were already in the day of the lord and paul straightens that out and says no you're not going to be in the day of the lord you're going to be snatched away when the church is caught up to meet the lord in the air you're going to go to the heavens that the lord has prepared for you to live with him and you're never going to be out of his fellowship again you're going to come back later when he sets up his kingdom but he'll be snatched before the day of the lord starts the rapture of the church that also is an imminent event we have no timetable for that we don't have any precursors to the rapture could happen any moment it could happen immediately there's nothing it has to be fulfilled before that happens but once we're snatched out events begin to unfold leading up to and including the day of the lord but even in that environment where there are manifest things going on that point to the day of the lord still people will not know the precise day and the precise hour and they are warned to be ready so the question is the critical question is when is this going to happen they asked the lord again in acts chapter 1 will you at this time bring the kingdom when is all this going to happen and as paul said the the lord is not going to tell us the day of the lord will come like a thief in the night unannounced so you have to be ready at all times we have to be ready for the rapture those who are alive during the preliminary time of the day of the lord have to be ready for this judgment in his sermon then our lord is going to answer their question in remarkable remarkable ways he he gives them some things to think about if you look down at verse 8 of matthew 24 all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains the beginning of birth pains he describes them another way in verse 6 at the end these are the things that must take place but that is not yet the end this is just the beginning of birth pains there will be times and epochs as we read in first thessalonians 5. these are being described here by our lord here are the the seasons the events that are going to be taking place as birth pains leading up to the arrival like a woman has birth pains they start they continue they get more intense and more intense until finally the child arrives so that is how to look at his second coming increasing frequent painful birth pains that high the lord says i will describe to you the first one the first thing to look for in that age in the future that time of tribulation that indicates the lord's coming is in verses four and five matthew 24 see to it that no one misleads you for many will come in my name saying i am christ and will mislead many the first birth pain is false teaching wide spread deception remember i told you last time somebody's going to have to explain what happened to all the believers what happened to all the churches why they're all empty the true churches why all these millions of people have disappeared in a flash in a split second from the world they're going to have to explain that you would think that that would that event itself would drive people to find a bible and read the new testament and and realize that what it said happened and they need to make sure they accept the veracity of scripture and might lead to their salvation but that's not what's going to happen what's going to happen is a proliferation of false teachers and down in verse 11 it says many false prophets will arise and will mislead many so the first thing our lord says that is going to be a precursor or a initial birth pain the beginning of sorrows or the beginning of pain is deception escalated deception and the world will just be overrun with false prophets false christs and deceivers there will be many of them so the first thing our lord says that tells you that the day of the lord is coming is deception the second birth pain is in verse six and the beginning of verse 7 you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars see that you're not frightened for those things must take place but that is not yet the end for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom the next birth pang intensifying as unparalleled global warfare the issue of war will dominate universal conversation wars and rumors of wars will increase some of this is laid out in detail in daniel chapter 11 in his prophecy there but we also see this is parallel to the second seal in revelation chapter six which is a massive global slaughter a war that literally slaughters people all across the globe just to read those couple of verses revelation chapter 6 verses 3 and 4. and he broke the second seal i heard the second living creature say come and another a red horse went out and to him who sat on it it was granted to take peace from the earth and the men would slay one another and a great sword was given to him so the picture is of this red horseman of the apocalypse who comes and takes the false peace that the antichrist has crafted and rips it away and all of a sudden the whole world goes into a blood bath it is a slaughter of proportions like the world has not known peace has been taken from the earth and there is literally bloodshed globally and that is followed by the third our lord says in verse seven there will be famines and earthquakes and that is what i just read you and that's what the third seal in revelation 6 indicates as well that there would be there would be famine in the earth paralleling again the seals of revelation to the words of our lord in this sermon i wish i had time to keep jumping back and forth but we don't have the time for that so we have then precursors to the arrival of the lord the first one is going to be global deception of a high level and people are going to believe it because they want to plunge themselves into unfettered sin and they're going to be false teachers who will accommodate that and they'll be eager to believe it because they love their sin that'll be followed by global wars and that'll be followed by massive natural disasters all across the earth the fourth one is persecution now during this time people will be being saved that's very clear people will be being saved and what will happen to them verse 9 they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of my name they will deliver you to tribulation trouble pressure and kill you and you'll be hated this is the fourth mark of this series of birth pains persecution of true believers now let me remind you again there is going to be a great great revival during the time of the tribulation after the church is taken away the nation israel will be saved and out of israel according to revelation 7 144 000 jews will be redeemed and they'll become preachers of the gospel and they'll be protected so they can't be killed until they preach the gospel everywhere there'll be a flying angel in heaven preaching the gospel literally in the sky there will be two witnesses in the city of jerusalem who are killed and who rise from the dead who will preach the gospel there will be widespread salvation our lord warned in mark 13 9 be on your guard for they will deliver you to the courts and flog you in the synagogues and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to them the gospel must first be preached to all the nations this is looking at the day of the lord and when they arrest you and hand you over do not worry beforehand about what you're to say but say whatever has given you in that hour it's not for you to speak but it is the holy spirit brother will betray brother to death the father his child children will rise up against parents and put them to death you'll be hated by all because of my name but the one who endures to the end he will be saved and then he goes right into the abomination of desolations which happens in the middle of that time of tribulation persecution will be manifest persecution then is the fourth birth pain the fifth one is defection defection please notice verse 10 at that time many will fall away and we'll betray one another and hate one another just as we read in mark 13 betraying family members many will hate one another many will betray one another because many will fall away there will be people claiming to be christians in the time of the tribulation but they will defect why will they defect because the price is too high the price is too high they'll be delivered to death the price is too high two they'll defect because the false teachers are too convincing verse 11 many false prophets will arise and will mislead many the price is too high the false teachers are too convincing thirdly sin is too easy because lawlessness is increased again the restraints are off satan is in full power demons are running over the world the restraints are off the restrainer is gone and sin is now full steam ahead people may pretend to believe but they will defect the price is too high the false teachers are too convincing and sin is too easy that's what we see in the book of revelation as well when the judgments come they don't repent they don't repent they don't repent they don't repent they plunge deeper into their sin the final the sixth precursor that our lord identifies in matthew 24 is the proclamation of the gospel verse 14. he says in verse 13 the one who endures to the end he will be saved not the defector but the one who endures to the end not the defector the one whose faith stands the test of persecution but the final precursor the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come so even in the time of tribulation the gospel is going to be preached to the ends of the earth by the 144 000 by the converts from every tongue and tribe and people by the two witnesses through media no doubt because the whole world sees them it says by the angel in the sky the globe will be covered with the gospel obviously we have the technology to make that happen in a very short period of time today then the end shall come so our lord is saying i'm not going to tell you when it's going to happen but i say to the generation that's alive before it happens here are the things that indicate it is very very near then the end will come you have to be ready all the time now that is exactly what paul is explaining to us let's go back to first thessalonians and we'll wrap up quickly he is saying the day of the lord is coming in an unexpected hour we will already have been taken to heaven will come back with him in his glory he comes to do two things he comes to judge the wicked living and dead and to take the living and dead saints into his earthly kingdom for a thousand years followed then by the new heaven and the new earth he comes like a thief in the night and when he arrives the world is going to think they're in a place of peace and safety all the birth pains of matthew 24 line up with the first five seals of revelation but even after those preliminary birth pains it gets so much worse the trumpet judgments and i read you some of it far worse followed by the bowl judgments rapid fire in the last few days or weeks far worse the judgments escalate like birth pains getting more intense and more intense and more intense the trumpet judgments are described in revelation 8 and 9 and the bold judgments in revelation 16. and with all of this escalating the false teachers are going to be crying peace and safety so that's the coming of our lord what's the character of his coming verse 3 then destruction will come upon them suddenly it's a sudden destruction olethros disaster ruin used in the uh septuagint the greek translation of the old testament to speak of eschatological destruction not annihilation not eternal destruction in the sense that you go out of existence but it's it's ruined it's hopeless ruin it's not the destruction of being it's this destruction of well-being it's not the end of existence it's the ruination of any reason for existence it will come on them not us them us he's been saying comfort one another with these words we are going to be caught up together with the lord in the air in verse 17. they they are going to be destroyed suddenly peter describes it in second peter chapter 3 in ultimate terms that even include the complete dissolution of the whole universe one final point that the apostle paul makes is the completeness of this judgment the completeness of this judgment he says and they will not escape destruction will come suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape no way to escape our lord said this back in matthew 13 when he was telling the parables about the kingdom listen to what he said in matthew 13 41 the son of man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and all who commit lawlessness and throw them into the furnace of fire in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father he who has ears to hear let him hear you better listen when he comes he's going to be judging all the lawless sending them to hell the righteous he gathers into his kingdom so what is our response to this hear the words of mark 13 35 to 37 watch therefore you do not know when the master is coming in the evening at midnight at the crowing of the rooster or in the morning lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping and what i say to you i say to all watch you might say well i'm just going to live it up until the rapture and when all the christians go away i'll know what happened and then i'll become a christian no you won't [Music] you can't count on that there's no guarantee for that because you will be over run by liars and deceivers and false teachers you will sink deeper into the morass of sin and unbelief and you have no guarantee that you can be rescued from that that is why the bible says now is the day of salvation to further your study on the return of our lord and future realities to come order a copy of the book because the time is near through grace to you by calling 888 57 grace or visiting our website gty.org while there you can order a copy of pastor john's book as well as access thousands of resources available to you as you seek to deepen your understanding of god's word again that's 888 57 grace or online at gty.org