Unconverted at Day of the Lord

Introduction: The Day of the Lord and the Unconverted

0:02 Let us turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. And to those visiting with us, we have been for several years now, working through Sunday mornings, the first letter of fall to the young church of the Thessalonians. And in the course of that, verse-by-verse study has come to the fifth chapter. And our particular attention this morning will be focused upon verse 3.

0:31 But since verse 3 is part of the main drift of thought, it is introduced in verse 1 and concludes in verse 11. I shall read that entire portion. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, beginning with verse 1.

0:51 But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord is so cometh, as of the evening. In the night. 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.

1:18 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as of me. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober.

1:40 For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain, to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

2:16 Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and identify one another, even as also ye do. Let us pause for a moment of prayer and ask the Lord's help as we seek to understand the mind and the spirit of God as found in this course, in this portion of this word.

2:37 Our Father, we would consciously recognize our need of the Spirit's assistance, not only to speak, but to understand the truth of your holy word. We read in your word that a man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven. O Lord, give us, we pray, in grace and in mercy, that special work of the Spirit as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, of illumination, that your truth will come home to us with clarity and with power. Hear us in this hour, please, as we offer our petition through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Context: The Day of the Lord's Connection to Christ's Second Coming

3:20 Amen. As we began our studies of the fifth chapter last week, we did so by introducing several very basic thoughts that must be clearly grasped if one is to understand the entire paragraph which I have given you. I have read in our scripture reading this morning. First of all, we considered the connection of chapter 5, verses 1 to 11 with what preceded it in chapters 4, chapter 4, verses 13 through 18.

3:54 The problem, as clearly stated in chapter 4, verse 13, was that certain believers were ignorant of the state of their dead loved ones, particularly their Christian loved ones. And so, not knowing what their condition was after death, the apostle instructs them that at the coming of Christ, those dead loved ones will be taken care of first. So far from being second-rate citizens, in a real sense, they are first-rate citizens. For the Lord will make it obvious when he comes again that his first concern is those who have died.

4:31 And so he says the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then and only then we who are alive and remain will be transformed and then caught up together with them and then we'll be on an even footing. We shall meet the Lord in the air to be with him forever. So having introduced the subject of the second coming of Christ as an answer to the problem of where are my dead loved ones and what is their standing in the kingdom, the apostle having brought this subject before the minds of his hearers, now in chapter 5 introduces something that is directly related to this. The second coming of Christ, namely, but of the times and of the seasons.

5:14 In other words, the epochs of time that must transpire and will be in effect at the time when this great event occurs, at which dead and living believers shall be caught up to be with the Lord. Now, the times and the seasons, as they relate to what he calls in verse 2 the day of the Lord. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord is the day of the Lord. that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.

5:42 So we spent the majority of our time last week trying to understand from scripture what is the day of the Lord. And we came to this conclusion that the day of the Lord is the climactic manifestation of the Lord in judgment and in mercy at the second coming of Christ. What is the day of the Lord? It is the climactic manifestation of God in judgment and in mercy at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

6:20 Now, having introduced that subject, he then digresses, as it were, in verse 3 to show what that day of the Lord will mean to those who are not in Christ. Verse 3, for when they shall say, that is those who are not the children of God, peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. But ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as of thee. Ye are the children of the light.

6:55 So we have then, beginning with verse 3, Paul's dealing with this day of the Lord first of all as it relates to the unconverted and then its practical effect upon the saints of God beginning with verse 4. In chapter 4 he had to deal with their ignorance. I would not have you ignorant about those who are asleep that you sorrow not. So he gives them some facts about the second coming to supply their ignorance.

7:24 But in chapter 5 he said what I'm going to talk about you already know perfectly well. Verse 2, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. But he says, I want you to make good use of your knowledge. In the one hand, ignorance, supplied with knowledge.

The Unconverted's Attitude: 'Peace and Safety'

7:42 On the other hand, knowledge that is supplied with exhortation to make good use of what is already known. Now we want to focus our attention then upon verse 3. One of the few verses in all of this epistle as in many of the epistles that has what we would call a direct and an immediate reference to the unconverted. Because these letters were written primarily and almost exclusively the letters of the New Testament to gathered assemblies of confessing Christians.

8:16 Not all possessing but all confessing. It is assumed in the judgment of charity that all to whom the letters come are believers. And so there is very little by direct address to the unconverted. But here we have in this passage a clear statement of the day of the Lord and its relationship to the unconverted.

8:39 When, they shall say in contrast verse 4 but ye reverence.

8:47 With the unconverted this day is undesired unexpected and leads to destruction. With the children of God this day though it comes suddenly as a thief in the night it does not come as an unexpected event but a longed for event an anticipated event a prepared for event and it leads to full salvation as he says in verse 9 God has not appointed us to wrath as he has then but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we will only go as far as seeking to understand what verse 3 says with relationship to the day of the Lord and the unconverted. And the verse breaks down into two natural divisions first of all the attitude of the unconverted at the day of the Lord and secondly the activity of the Lord himself in his day. For when they shall say peace and safety as the apostle is going to describe the prevailing mood and attitude of unconverted men when the day of the Lord overtakes them as a thief in the night he uses these words when they say peace and safety. Now what does he mean by those words?

10:15 Well he could mean that they are boasting of their security. When we say peace we're talking about a present situation safety we're thinking in terms of anticipating any future emergencies. So their language is peace through our own ingenuity and through our own acumen and through the use of all of our own gifts and our own intelligence and all of our own powers we have brought about a situation that will completely insulate us from any thought of judgment. We've come of age we know that the old medieval thought of an angry god upon a throne who would come forth in fiery judgment that's past. Back in the day when people needed those kinds of thoughts to keep them in line that was alright but we've developed beyond that now. We don't need that anymore. We're in a place where we have peace and safety by the saving power of education and the enlightenment of the 20th century man.

11:22 Possibly that's what he's saying or it could be that they are clamoring for peace and safety. That would certainly describe our day. What politician does not have on his lips peace and safety with the assumption that man of himself has the power to bring it about. Whenever you hear the politicians talk they're not saying we have peace and safety.

11:45 They say in the great quest for peace and safety we hope to do this and do that but the underlying assumption is that they will yet without any intervention of the day of the Lord bring about peace and safety. That's the theme of every inaugural address. That's the theme of every state of the nation address. That's the great theme of all the political conclaves of the world.

12:07 Peace. We've got to get peace and once we get peace we'll secure it. That's safety, isn't it? So our Lord could be saying or I'm sorry the Apostle could be saying that when the day of the Lord breaks upon men they will either be boasting of peace and safety or there will be this assumption that they may attain it by their own efforts or and this is what I feel means in this point but I wouldn't be dogmatic their attitude and their actions will indicate that in spite of all of the tremendous upheavals in society it's really nothing to get upset about all is well.

12:48 God's too loving to bring judgment upon his preachers. The Bible that speaks of the day of the Lord in which he'll come in vengeance upon his enemies is passe. It's outdated. There are no emergencies for which to prepare and be ready.

13:05 No crisis on the horizon to call us away from our normal pursuits. Now it's alright to get up in the morning and brush your teeth and comb your hair and put your clothes on but listen if your house is about to be blown up you're a fool to spend your time scraping the tartar off your teeth and getting rid of your halitosis.

13:25 Nothing wrong with brushing your teeth combing your hair and getting dressed but if your house is about to blow up you see there is an emergency which means you've got to set aside even normal legitimate activities and if you've got to run out into the street in your nightclothes bad breath and shrewdly hair and all out you go.

13:46 At least I would I don't know about you. I'm not that concerned about my reputation I'm more concerned about my skin and my height. Well it seems paralleling this passage with others that the prevailing mood when the day of the Lord breaks upon men as a thief in the night will be that regardless of the problems in society regardless of the great upheavals in the world their attitude will be peace and safety. No crisis to get upset about.

Parallel Passages: Noah's Day and Scoffers

14:16 Now I say this because of two other strong parallel passages both of which mention this concept of the thief in the night and describe this kind of an attitude of peace and safety. The one of course is in the 24th chapter of Matthew Matthew chapter 24 and beginning with verse 36.

14:43 Now notice what the concept is here the overriding mood that will prevail in the day of the Lord. In the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 36 of Matthew 24.

14:58 But of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the angels of heaven but my Father only. Precise time he said I'm not going to tell you but the mood that will prevail I will tell you. Here it is. But as the days of Noah were so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

15:20 Now when we read back in Genesis about the days of Noah what does it say about those days? Was it a day when peace prevailed in society? No it says violence what? Filled the earth.

15:34 It was a day of great social upheaval. The women didn't dare walk down the street. No decent woman anyway. The man didn't dare go out with his wallet in his pocket.

15:44 Violence filled the earth. Murder, theft, rape.

15:51 And yet in the midst of all those upheavals that came up with such a stench in the nostrils of God that God says it's repented me that I've made the world I'm going to block them all out.

16:04 Yet in the midst of all that what was the prevailing mood? Notice. But as in the days of Noah so shall the coming of the Son of Man be for as in the days that were before the flood they were eating. Anything wrong with eating?

16:20 Drinking? Anything wrong with drinking?

16:23 Drinking the right thing?

16:26 Nothing wrong with it. Anything wrong with marrying? No. Anyone who says something's wrong with marriage?

16:31 God says no. God says in 2nd Timothy that's the doctrine of demons. Anyone who says that the unmarried state is better than the that the unmarried state is better than the married state and they were giving in marriage. Anything wrong with parents giving up their children to get married when the right person comes along?

16:47 No. They're fiendish if they don't.

16:50 But you see the problem was this. The legitimate activities were such that when Noah announced a coming day of God that there's no to prepare for. Sure, we've got problems in society. Things are a little rough.

17:08 No decent woman dares walk down the street and it's kind of rough having your savings plundered. But for the most part things are not that bad. So let's go on eating our three squares a day. Let's go on drinking.

17:23 Marrying off our sons and our daughters. There's no crisis to prepare for. Peace and safety. That was the mood, you see.

17:34 Now notice. And they knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Two shall be in the field, the one taken and the other left.

17:48 Two shall be grinding, the one taken, the other left. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come, but know this, that if the good men of the house had known in which watch the thief would come, he would have watched but would not have suffered his house to be broken. Enough. So you have tied together the concept of the day of the Lord coming as a thief and finding the great majority of mankind in the midst of great social problems.

18:17 But still with the attitude no real crisis for which to prepare. Is that a little picture of our own generation?

Parallel Passages: Scoffers and Willful Ignorance

18:28 Now turn to 2 Peter and we shall find the same prevailing mood as described by Peter with the addition of one or two other significant thoughts. 2 Peter chapter 3.

18:48 Peter says at the beginning of this chapter, I want to stir up your minds. I want to remind you of some words that were spoken by the Lord and his apostles. He said you want to remember this, that in the days prior to the day of the Lord, prior to his coming again in power and in glory, people will say, verse 4, where is the promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were, from the beginning of creation.

19:18 Now when you tell people, look, this world is not my home. I am hastening unto and longing for the coming of the day of God. I'm looking for a new heaven, a new earth. When the Lord Jesus comes back to take his own to himself and to destroy his enemies, they say, ah, I remember when I was a little kid sitting in Sunday school, sitting on the edge of my seat when the preacher talked about the shout and the voice and the trump and I remember as a kid what an impression this had upon me and boy, I was all taken up with it.

19:48 But look, I'm old now and gray-haired and no-haired. Nothing's happened. My grandma used to tell me when she was a little girl and the preachers talked about the day of the Lord, how as a little child this captivated her mind, she's old and gone and mom is old and gone and now I'm old and about to go and nothing's happened.

20:08 So that'll be the prevailing mood. That'll be the way they talk, expressing this mood, you see. No emergency for which to prepare. Sure, we've got problems, but another generation had problems.

20:18 Isn't that the mood? Prophets of doom, you Christians.

20:25 They said, now, the reason they think this way, verse 5, is they are willingly ignorant of certain things.

20:32 In other words, they're not just ignorant because there's nothing else they can be, they're willingly ignorant. All they need to do is pick up their Bibles and read that the word, by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. Speaking of the judgment of God in the days of Noah, but the heavens and earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved under fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.

21:08 The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness as long suffering to us. We're 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.

21:26 You see, the mood will be no crisis to prepare for everything is continuing now as it has been for hundreds and thousands of years. It's all just the unfiltered history and you hear them talk about a million years from now we wonder what this will be and that will be the whole assumption is that we simply stand at this point in a great process we don't know how it began when it began and who began it but somehow it got begun and here we are standing here today and God knows when and where the whole thing is going but it will keep right on going and when people say look there's a day of the Lord coming there is coming a day when there will be a climactic manifestation of Christ in judgment and in mercy they say ah my granddaddy talked about that my grandpa talked about that nothing has happened nothing has happened nothing has happened nothing has happened nothing has happened so the mood is what peace and safety we're alright oh we've got problems but we can go that's the mood and I submit to you that in the light of these two passages there are others but these seem to be the crucial passages when the apostle says and now we're back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 that the attitude of the unconvergent prior to and at the day of Christ the day of the Lord

Application: What is Your Life's Attitude?

22:54 will be one of carnal and deceptive secrets purity and they know not Jesus said until the flood came and bore them all away that a day of the Lord is indeed coming I would ask you this morning what is the attitude of your life as you sit here first of all let me address my question to you adults is your life a reflection of a person who is absolutely convinced that all the history of your life of your family of this church of this nation of the world is all heading to that day the day of our Lord Jesus Christ that day in which there will be the climactic manifestation of God in judgment upon his enemies in mercy to his own is your life how you spend your time how you spend your money what you consider on the top of the list of priorities is your life a reflection of someone who lives in the light of that day or is it in fact a reflection of this attitude peace say oh yeah I know second coming I believe that's in the bible I believe everything is in the bible I believe everything but you brush your teeth and comb your hair while the world is about to blow up

24:21 I'm not talking literally now I'm glad you brush your teeth and comb your hair I think the shock of preaching to a hundred and twenty hippie like people all at once might be more than I could bear if they're interspersed I can take it maybe I'll have that happy experience I'd welcome it no but I'm talking now spiritually are you found dissipating energies and setting goals for things that have no relationship to that day for Peter goes on to say in second Peter three seeing these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy manner of living and conversation looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God he says child of God everything you do down here was done with a view and with an eye to that coming of the day of God for we look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness let me speak a word to you young people and to you children is your attitude oh peace I got a good mom and a good daddy nice Christian home nice Sunday school teacher you've really not gotten dead in earnest about seeking the Lord you've really not gotten dead in earnest about knowing you have an interest in the blood

25:50 of the son of God you've really not gotten desperate about this matter are my sins really washed away are they under the blood of Christ oh dear young people don't let the blessing and security of the warmth of your Christian home deceive you into thinking that the day of the Lord is not coming it's coming it's coming the day of the Lord will come if your attitude is one of all peace I have peace and safety under the canopy of daddy's and mommy's faith and repentance no you don't you don't bless God for the canopy their faith their prayer spreads over you but unless the canopy of the blood of Christ is spread over you by personal repentance and faith you're unprepared for the coming of that that's the attitude of the unconverted and it's only experiencing what those Thessalonians experience that prepares us for he says of them in chapter 1 in verse 9 he turned to God from your idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his son from heaven I plead with you this morning young people children adults if this attitude is an accurate description of you turn from the idols that would dazzle and blind your eyes submit yourself to the Lord Jesus

Christ's Action: Destruction for the Unconverted

27:20 and then your life will be one lived in that perspective of waiting for the son of heaven so much then for the attitude of the unconverted at the day of the Lord now consider in the second place the action of Christ toward the unconverted in his day we've seen what their general attitude will be now what will the activity of Christ be with respect to the unconverted we've already seen what his activity will be with respect to his own the Lord himself should descend from heaven with a shout to the voice of the archangel and the trombone of God he'll resurrect the dead saints he'll translate and completely renew the living saints and together take them to be with him that's his activity to his own but this same day and it's an absolute travesty upon scripture to shift gears and say that in this context where there was no paragraph division and no chapter division all of a sudden he's talking about a different day he's moving right on in the same train of thought he said now concerning the times and seas that relate to this glorious event for the saved I know that you people know that the day of the Lord will come as a thief and this is what the activity of the Lord will be to the unconverted in that day he's told us what the activity of the Lord will be to his own now what will his activity be to the unconverted very simply this text teaches that it will be

28:50 a work of destruction and then it teaches us the manner in which that destruction will come sovereignly suddenly and inescapably it will be a work of destruction notice the wording of scripture for when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them this is a terrible perhaps you and I are witnessing a living demonstration of this word in the way that few generations have been able to witness the whole movement and spirit of what is called in our day the radical left those who are disgusted with much legitimately of the sham and pretense of our own materialistic society and they hate the injustices that are being perpetrated in the name of so many names religion included that there is this breed this young breed of rebels whose whole spirit is what destroyed destroyed destroyed everything must be destroyed the word destruction is terrible and yet this text says that the activity of the Lord in his day will be basically an activity of destruction now what does the word mean in its biblical sense there are two words

30:17 used in the Greek for the most part through the New Testament one is the word used in those familiar verses such as Matthew 7 13 drawn is the road that leads to destruction the word used in Romans 9 22 where it speaks of God bringing destruction upon his enemies and upon apostates and also upon the reprobate but the word used here is a word found in only two or three other instances in the New Testament and I'm so glad that one of the others is in a letter to the same church and in the same context of the return of Christ we return to the second Thessalonians chapter 1 where this same word is used in the context of what Jesus Christ will do to the unconverted at his return verse 7 of 2 Thessalonians 1 and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who will be punished with everlasting destruction same word from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power when he shall come to be glorified in his saints

31:47 and be admired in all them that believe you see the day of the Lord that will be salvation for his own will be destruction for his enemies not two different days one glorious day mercy and judgment now what is that destruction is it the annihilation of a man's being when it says that when they are saying peace and safety destruction will come upon them that the Lord Jesus in his day will annihilate all of his enemies all unconverted unbelieving men no my flesh wishes that it were so I wish I could say on the basis of the authority of scripture that the judgment of destruction is annihilation the extinction of the very beam of the wickedness but I cannot for scripture interprets for us the concept of destruction not being annihilation of the beam of men but the absolute annihilation of their well-being and giving them up to the positive infliction of the judgment and wrath of God destruction in that sense will be taking from the sinner all of his carnal delights that it brought him a little bit of temporal joy and then he will be a little bit of a sure the man who flaunts the law of God and immerses himself in sensual delights and in carnal

33:16 appetites and in worldly pursuits he finds some temporary delight in those things if that were not so all the bait to sin would be gone what makes sin so attractive is that it is pleasurable for a season that's what makes the honey drip from temptation it's sweet in our tongue but in that day the scripture says the works of the wicked shall be burned up there will be no more opportunity for carnal delights the covetous man will no more be able to let his silver trickle through his fingers and count his whole ten dollar bill the lecturer will no more be able to hug the harlot to his foot the thief will no longer be able to gloat that he has defied society and gotten away with it and the deceived religious who's put up a good front and who's used his religion for personal gains will no more have that delight all the carnal delights that have come from sin will be torn away from men in that day and then the spiritual delights will be forever denied them for scripture says that Jesus will say to the wicked depart

Manner of Destruction: Sovereign, Sudden, Inescapable

34:45 from me the source of all life of all purity of all love of all mercy I don't know of any more horrible words in the Bible depart from me everlasting this is what makes the day of the Lord such a frightful thing as I've sought to live with this text the thing that has haunted me in the hours of preparation has been oh God how can I speak on this in such a way that somehow people will realize this is no fairy tale destruction the same Lord who shouts will be welcomed by the dead saints and the living saints they should be caught up in the great chorus of hallelujahs in his presence that same Lord will come to destroy of destruction now notice the manner in which that destruction will come three things are said about in the text first of all it will come sovereignly you say where do you get that in the text well Paul uses a very unique word when he says the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night for when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them he doesn't use the normal word

36:14 for come he uses a word that has the idea of suddenly seizing upon someone or standing over them in authority it's the word used in the familiar Christmas story the angel of the Lord came upon them there they are out there tending their sheep watching the stars yodeling a tune and suddenly there's the first of light and the angel of the Lord is there it's the word used in Acts several instances where the authorities come and seize people it says in Acts 6 that the authorities came and they seized came upon and seized Stephen that's the word the day of the Lord he says will come as sudden destruction and it will come sovereignly the Lord is not going to send out a ballot and say now how many would you like my day to come next week and if we have a small majority I will come oh no that day will come sovereignly in the appointment of God that day is fixed that day Jesus said the Father knows just as surely as that day prophesied by Noah was to come and it did come so this day shall come sovereignly and then it will come suddenly notice the wording of scripture sudden destruction cometh upon you

37:43 and the word sudden means unaware and he uses a very vivid illustration even as birth pangs come to a pregnant woman some of us who are husbands have seen this oh we have we know the baby is on the way and yet there's that day when the mother gets up she goes about her task and then suddenly without asking for it her birth pangs come upon her she can't talk them away she can't reason them away they're there that's the illustration used and it's used in other places of scripture speaking of the judgment of God coming as birth pangs upon a woman with child they come suddenly with a suddenness that cannot be delayed you don't say this is a very bad day to have my baby I've had so many things that I've got to do I'll just put this off till Friday no no you don't do that you who are mamas know you just don't do that when the birth pangs come they come scripture says this work of destruction which the Lord Jesus will accomplish in that day will not only come sovereignly but will come suddenly come suddenly now you join a sovereign destructive power to suddenness and you've got a frightful day a frightful one of the clearest illustrations of this concept of sovereign judgment

39:11 joined to suddenness is the record in scripture of Sodom and Gomorrah and the destruction that those cities received from the hand of the Lord listen as I read from the 19th Genesis the time has come for Lot to escape the angels have said that they will bring judgment upon these wicked cities now I read through Genesis 19.15 and when the morning arose the first rays of dawn break into that area the angels hastened Lot saying arise take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city while he lingered the men laid hold on his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of the two daughters which the Lord being merciful unto him they brought him forth and set him without the city it came to pass when they had brought him forth he said escape for thy life don't look behind you and then Lot commiserates not commiserates but pleads with them that he might go to a certain city about five miles away and after Lot is out notice verse 23 the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zohar then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven and he overthrew those cities and the plains and all the inhabitants and all the inhabitants of the cities that which grew upon the ground can you read into this

40:40 a normal day in this area the sun has awakened some of the children alarm clocks have gone off for mom and dad maybe some teenage kids that neither light nor alarm clocks would affect who've had the wrong move to the father or the harsh voice of a mother to awaken them another day is gone and so we brush our teeth and we comb our hair and put our clothes on and we come down for breakfast and without any warning suddenly fire and brimstone pour out of heaven by the time a man would have had his second cup of coffee and the school bus would have come for Johnny and Sue there's nothing but the smoldering embers left for all the cities of the plain destruction is bad enough but if there were even a voice saying by noon destruction cometh possibly there would have been some in those cities who would have sunk to their knees and hit a little death bed to the penalty you see a thief upon a cross is about to be slain but in those hours in the presence of the son of God he sees his sins he sees mercy and ere he dies he says Lord remember me and the Lord Jesus says today thou shalt be with me no such instance reported here suddenness

42:09 you get the feeling of this thing how terrible is sudden destruction you find the same thing with Belshazzar there he is feasting with his wine and his concubines and his wives the sentence of God comes forth thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting and before that night is over destruction came upon him who goes from the bosom of a concubine to the dust of the judgment of God that will be in the day of the Lord and then the third thing it says about that destruction is that it's inescapable notice and they shall not escape in the English language if we use two negatives we are roundly rebuked by our children who are paying close attention to their English teacher two negatives are the same as a positive but that's not so in the original the Greek you can pile up negatives for emphasis and there's a double negative here and they shall not know in any wise escape in escapement in escapement there's a parallel passage in the sixth of Revelation verses 14 to 16 very graphic where John says I saw the great men of the earth as well as the small men the rich and the poor when they see

43:38 the day of the Lord come upon them they cry to the rocks and mountains fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb they know that they are held in the vice of an inescapable life of the world and they are in judgment you see the contrast of the day of salvation the day of salvation God calls the gospel feast is spread the gospel net is cast how often some of you have escaped that net as I've cast it forth in this book to some of you dozens of times and have pled with you to repent and believe the gospel and have sought to take you in the gospel net you've escaped you've rationalized you've done you've cast aside the prickings of conscience and the overtures of God's grace but mark my friend when God puts out the net of judgment you shall not you shall not you children you've escaped the prayers and pleas of your mom and your dad you've escaped haven't you in fact sometimes you even pride yourself don't you they're not too much as really getting under your hide I know I used to oh dear young people and children listen shall not escape in his capable judgment and destruction in the day of the Lord having considered

Final Appeal: Don't Misinterpret Delays, Seek Grounded Knowledge

45:06 then what this text says about the attitude of the unconverted in the day of the Lord the activity of the Lord himself a work of destruction how sovereignly suddenly and inescapably I close this morning with an earnest appeal to all who are present in the light of that day and I say but two things don't misread or misinterpret the delays of God sure he has delayed his coming why don't misinterpret don't say well since he's delayed that day maybe that day is a myth no no he has delayed according to second Peter 3 because of the purposes of grace and of mercy the Lord is long suffering that's why don't misinterpret his delays Romans 2 speaks of people who did they sinned no judgment came and they said maybe no judgment at all he said don't you know that the goodness of God is leading you to repentance but because of the hardness of your heart you're treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God the second thing I would say is this don't settle for anything but a well grounded knowledge that you're ready for that day don't settle for anything less than a well grounded knowledge I'm not saying

46:35 any kind of knowledge that you're ready but a well grounded knowledge the story's told of a man who came up with a unique design for a lighthouse in a certain area on a sea coast and other people confident to pass judgment on those things said no that will not stand the test of the battering of the waves and of the high tides that may come this man said I'm absolutely confident in will so they deferred and they let him go ahead and build his lighthouse he had a very confident expectation that it would stand the test but the first violent storm swept it away and there wasn't a trace of that lighthouse left now he had great confidence that he was prepared but it wasn't a well grounded confidence you see what I'm driving I'm not asking do you say you're ready for that day I'm asking do you have a well grounded expectation that you're ready you say what is a well grounded expectation one that can face all the these two questions and come up with a biblical answer what has Christ done for me do I have some understanding that I am a sinner and he is the savior of sinners second question what has Christ done in me can I trace out in me some evidence that there's been repentance towards God and faith towards Christ is there some present evidence that I am pressing on to holiness and obedience

48:05 not to gain life but because he has given life I say to you my friend if you say you're ready for the day of the Lord and you're a stranger to the work of Christ for sinners your religious experience is devoid of those biblical concepts of sin and grace and forgiveness to a bloody savior who's been raised to the right hand of the Father if you're a stranger to repentance and humility and to brokenness and to longing after holiness you don't have a well grounded hope you have a delusive hope and that day will come and find you unprepared and will accomplish its work of destruction dear child of God you who can say yes by the grace of God I do know that Christ has done something for me I can say the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me my only confidence is in Christ crucified you can say blessed be God he has done something in me when I remind you of the ninth verse that we will be looking at in a couple of weeks God will he has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation the only reason you have that well grounded hope is because God has been pleased in his divine appointment to bring you into the circle of his own saving life may God grant that the

49:34 thought of that day though it holds no cares for you would cause great humility and thanks but the day that will be destruction to the ungodly will be the day of final deliverance for you because of his grace and his mercy