The Day of the Lord

Well, good morning. Good to see you this morning in God's house on this Fourth of July weekend.

And not everybody went on vacation. And so it's good to see you here. Some are getting back from vacation. I'm glad you're back. Take your Bibles this morning, would you? And open them to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And I'm going to read verses 1 through 11 here in just a minute.

This will be the last in this kind of short series of messages on the Second Coming or the church in the Second Coming. This kind of caps it all off. And we'll be looking not only in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, but then we're going to move to 2 Thessalonians, Paul's second letter, and looking at chapter 2 and verse 1.

So we're going to go both of those places this morning. So let me go ahead and read the text. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, starting with verse 1. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, peace and safety, then suddenly destruction comes upon them.

As labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in the darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief.

You are all sons of light and sons of day. You are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

For those who sleep, sleep at night. And those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love.

And as a helmet, excuse me, the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm going to stop right there. And now look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And starting with verse 1. Again, Paul addresses his readers as brethren.

That means they were believers. Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ought to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

Let no one deceive you by any means that that day will come unless the falling away comes first. And the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, with all unrighteousness, deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned, who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

All right, I know that's a rather lengthy text, and we're not going to be able to look at every part of both of those passages out of these two great letters that Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Christians.

But we're going to pick some of this and bring out from this text the Bible's teachings concerning a certain day.

A certain day. Now, you know, we as Americans have certain days that we celebrate. Either they're days that we set aside for specific kinds of celebration, or maybe they are set aside for an appreciation, a memorial for people and for those who have done great things in our nation.

And so we have these special days and days that commemorate special events in our history. We know all about that, don't we? And I could name some of them. We have Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Those are two days that we set aside to appreciate motherhood and fatherhood. There's Christmas Day and probably one of our most favorite days that we celebrate as Americans.

There's New Year's Day that follows very shortly after Christmas Day in kind of that season of holidays. And so we have New Year's Day. We have Memorial Day. We have Labor Day. And tomorrow we're going to be celebrating what?

Fourth of July. That doesn't end in the word day. Independence Day. All right? But that's the same thing, isn't it? And that's a great day. A great day where we remember.

Remember our past and historical event that took place in the past. And yet it is an event that has had lasting ramifications and results for us as a people.

And so we have all of these days and so forth. Now, Paul, here in our text, and if you caught it, and I'm sure you did as I was reading it, speaks of a day, doesn't he?

A specific kind of day. And he called it the Day of the Lord. He said that. He used that very phrase there in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 2.

The Day of the Lord. And then you may have noticed a little bit of a difference, at least in the New King James and King James. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 2, where it says, at least in the text that I read a moment ago, the Day of Christ.

And yet in the original Greek, it's still the same. It's kurios, Lord. I have no idea why the King James and New King James translated it that way. I want to make that point because we're talking about, Paul's talking about the same day.

It's the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord. Now, what is that day? Well, you know, surely, that he's not talking about the Lord's Day in the sense that we understand what that means.

Because this day is what? The Lord's Day, isn't it? And we've met here for worship. And we have been doing that. And now we are worshiping around the proclamation and teaching of God's Word.

And it's a very special day. The Lord's Day. Specific day in the week that we honor the Lord Jesus Christ. It started when he was resurrected on the first day of the week.

And God's people, his church, have been celebrating this day on the first day of the week, Sunday, ever since. And so that's the Lord's Day. And it's a day to worship.

It's a day to celebrate. It's also and ought to be a day of rest. Though some of us have to do a lot of work on Sunday. But that's the Lord's Day.

Now, the day of the Lord is not the Lord's Day. Now, I know you know that. But it's just possible that someone might be here who would be confused about that. Just which day we're talking about.

But the day of the Lord is something quite different. In fact, it's quite different from all these other days that I mentioned. It's certainly different from the Lord's Day.

Dramatically different. And it does not refer to a day. Okay? A specific 24-hour day on the calendar. That's not what the day of the Lord refers to.

The day of the Lord is a period of time. In fact, it lasts and will last a number of days. In fact, a number of years. It's the day of the Lord.

It is a specific period of time scheduled by God when He will have as a part of His agenda His working toward man, mankind.

A specific kind of work toward mankind and His planet, planet Earth. It's the day of the Lord. Best I can understand Scripture, and of course there are differing opinions about this or different conclusions about this.

But best I understand Scripture, I would say that it is a period of time that will begin immediately following or sometime following the rapture of the church.

So we're not talking about the day of the Lord being the home going, the rapture, the being caught up away from here of the church.

That's not the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord will follow that period of time. And so it will begin after the rapture of the church. And it will end with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

And we'll mention something about that a little bit later in the message this morning. And so it appears from Scripture that the tribulation, and we've all heard about that, the great tribulation, will be the first event in the season of events called the day of the Lord.

And it will begin or will be a day of wrath. I know that's not a warm, fuzzy thing to be thinking about and talking about.

God's wrath, that's not something we want to hear about. We're not talking about God's wrath in general upon all sin and all unrighteousness.

We're talking about a specific time period. When God will very deliberately, very specifically, very methodically pour out His wrath upon mankind and upon this planet.

It's a time of wrath. Now, the day of the Lord, from start to finish, is marked by the direct involvement of God in the affairs of mankind.

From start to finish. Which, by the way, is not the case now. You say, wait a minute, what do you mean by that?

Do you mean God is not in charge now? Well, certainly He's in charge now. I'm not saying that He is not sovereign. You say, well, isn't God sovereign over the affairs of mankind today?

Yes, He is. But not in the same way He will be during the day of the Lord. During that season of time that's been marked by a beginning and an end that's a part of God's agenda.

God's plan. It's not going to be the same as it is today. You know, today a man can be a blasphemer and get away with it, seemingly.

Today, in this age in which we're living, a man can believe that Jesus is a fake. Believe that He's a liar.

And he can blaspheme Him and seemingly get away with it. In our day. Today, you can be an atheist if you choose. If there is such a thing.

I'm not sure that there is. You can claim to be one anyway. And you can at least live as if you were an atheist. As if there were no God. You can do that today. You can be like one man who said, If there really is a God, I would spit in His empty face.

You can say that and get away with it. Today. You can say that and not most likely have a lightning bolt come out of heaven and strike you dead.

Today. Right? You can do that today. And so today, in this day, in this, what I think is accurately called the day of grace, you can sin willfully.

You can disobey God's word and God's laws. You can do so repeatedly, constantly, consistently. Today, you can do that.

You can reject His Son, Jesus Christ. You can do that hatefully, if you would like. You can do that today and get away with that.

For now. You can live any way you want. Any way you please. In open rebellion against Almighty God and against His word.

And likely, very likely, nothing bad will happen to you here in this life. You can do that. People do it all the time, don't they? People even get away with murder, don't they, today.

God will let you alone. You choose this route and seemingly He does nothing about it. I'm saying in this day. He will give you a pass, it seems.

For now. For now. But, you see, His day is coming. His day is coming.

And it's the day of the Lord. And that day is coming upon all on this planet. All unbelievers.

And the Bible speaks of it repeatedly. Nearly all the prophets have mentioned this day. In Isaiah chapter 13 and verse 6, for example. The Bible says, Wail.

That is, cry. Wail. For the day of the Lord is at hand. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. That day is coming.

Or we could look at Joel. Joel chapter 2 and verse 1. And I just jot these down. I'm going to go ahead and read them. Blow the trumpet of Zion. Zion. And sound an alarm in my holy mountain.

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of the Lord is coming. For it is at hand. And if it was then, it certainly is now.

Or how about Amos chapter 5 and verse 18. Listen to it. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. For what good is the day of the Lord to you?

He's speaking to unbelievers. It will be darkness. Darkness. And not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion and a bear met him.

Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on a wall, and a serpent bit him. Interesting analogy. Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light?

Is it not very dark? With no brightness in it? Or how about Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 14.

The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out.

That day is a day of wrath. A day of trouble and distress. A day of devastation and desolation. A day of darkness and gloominess. A day of clouds and thick darkness.

Doesn't sound very good, doesn't it? As the prophets described. As they were given unction by the Holy Spirit. Inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

Describing a day that they really could not comprehend themselves. But they spoke of that day. And all of them called it the same thing. The day of the Lord.

And every one of them described it in similar ways. A day of darkness and wrath and destruction. It's the day of the Lord. The next season of events on God's agenda.

That's what it is. Which will begin. Again, it will begin after the day in which we're living now. What day would that be? The day of grace.

I would even say that it is correctly understood as the church age. That's the age in which we live now. Now the day or season in which we're living now.

God's day. The day of the Lord will begin with the great tribulation. And this is Paul's subject here. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And again in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

The day of the Lord is the subject here. In these two passages. And so let's understand what he is saying about them. And not just what Paul says in these passages.

We'll bring into play some other passages in Revelation. And also some words from our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 24. We just got to bring it all together.

Number one. Let's understand this about the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord will come scheduled.

It will come scheduled. It's scheduled. It's time has been set. Now you and I don't know what it is and when it's going to be. But God does. A lot of times we talk about the Lord tarrying.

And He's not going to tarry. He's not waiting, you know, until just the right time. Except in the sense that He saw the right time in eternity past.

It's going to come scheduled. Look at verse 1 there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. But concerning the times.

You see that word there? The times and the seasons. Now we could pick those words apart and talk about those. And find other places in the Bible where this exact phraseology appears in the Bible.

Times and seasons. And He says, of these times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. I think He means that I've already told you.

But now here it is again. He's going to write it out here in this letter. But think about the times and seasons. What does that mean? Well, we could boil that down or reword it in this way.

God's agenda. Or chronology of events. That would be another way of thinking. We're not talking about a particular thing. On a particular day, at a particular moment.

We're talking about a season of events. A season or a period of time. Where God is going to be working and moving and unfolding His plan in very deliberate and scheduled ways.

See, all the events of the day of the Lord, as well as the events that preceded and those events that are going to come after it, are all a part of God's plan.

Scheduled. And the day of the Lord is going to come scheduled. So let's just run through them this morning. I'm going to give you a lot of passages from Scripture.

Many of them are going to be found right here in the text that we've already read. And I don't have to do a lot of preaching about these. That is, in the sense of explaining them. Let's just hear what God's Word says.

I'm going to give you twelve events. Very quickly. Don't get nervous. Twelve events. And some of these really are going to take place just before the day of the Lord.

And then we'll mark the beginning of the day of the Lord. And then run through some of the events that are going to take place throughout that period of time. As they are revealed in the Word of God.

Event number one. And we looked at this last week. Event number one is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. Now that's going to take place shortly before the beginning of the great tribulation or the day of the Lord.

And we read that and looked at that in the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians. Looking there at verse 16. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout.

I mean, these are thrilling words. We love these words. He will ascend from the clouds with a shout. And with the voice of the archangel. And with the trumpet of God.

And then what's going to happen? The dead in Christ shall rise first. That's the first resurrection. The dead in Christ. We're talking about those who are born again believers.

Saved in the church age. Part of the bride of Christ. And yet they died before the end or the culmination of things. And they're going to be raised.

And so we have, first of all, the resurrection of the dead in Christ. Number two. See, I told you we would go fast. Well, I didn't tell you that. We'll try to. Number two.

We have, and this is one of our favorites. The rapture of the church. Of the true church. And in the very next verse there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

Verse 17. Then we who are alive and remain. That is, those who are alive at the coming. Shall be caught up. There's that word.

That phrase really comes from one word in the Greek. Harpazo. And it means to be snatched involuntarily. Violently really is how it is used in other places.

Though I don't think it's going to hurt us when we're raptured from the church. But this is the rapture of the church. We'll be caught up together with them. Who are them? Those who were raised from the dead.

We'll be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Thrilling.

Those are the two things that we love to hear about. And love for preachers to preach about. And though there are differing views on just when these events are going to take place. Maybe even some differing views about the literalness of these events.

But I'm just going to preach it the way I believe it. Okay? And then we'll get everything straight when we get to heaven. But we have the resurrection of the dead in Christ. We have the rapture of the true church.

And by the way, that's going to take place before the tribulation, I believe. In Revelation chapter 3 verse 10. And just one of several places we could go to.

The Bible says, Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.

Behold, I come quickly. I love that phrase. And I say, yeah, come quickly. Alright, so we have the rapture of the true church. Number three. We have the removal of the restrainer.

The restrainer of evil. That's the Holy Spirit, I believe. The Holy Spirit resident in the church. There are those who believe that the restrainer is the church. And maybe that's right.

But it is only by virtue of the fact that it's indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Okay? And so both are going to be leaving. We're going to be raptured. The Holy Spirit's going to be removed from the planet.

The restrainer of evil. And we read about that in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 6. And now you know what is restraining.

That he, this is speaking of the Antichrist, may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he, that's a capital H, this is the Holy Spirit.

He who now restrains will do so until he, speaking of the same he, the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming.

And we'll look at that passage again here in just a minute. All right. So we have the removal of the restrainer of evil. Are you getting these in their chronological order? The resurrection of the dead in Christ.

The rapture of the true church. The removal of the restrainer of evil. The Holy Spirit resident in the bride of Christ, the church. And then number four, we have the revelation of the Antichrist.

The revealing of the Antichrist who will set himself up as God. We're there in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Look at verse 3. Let no one deceive you by any means that that day will come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed.

The son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he sits as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.

So we have the revealing of the Antichrist who will set himself up as God. Number five, we have the retribution of God upon the unbelieving world.

And these words come from Jesus himself. In Matthew chapter 24 and verse 21, Jesus said, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time.

No, nor ever shall be. Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. He's speaking of a time period in God's agenda to deal with sin, to deal with unbelievers, to deal with rebellion, and also to deal with his chosen people as well, the Jews.

A time that has been set aside. Not just tribulation, because there will always be tribulation in this world until Christ comes. You and I experience tribulation.

We're talking about a specific time of tribulation. The great tribulation. A time that has never been before, Jesus said, and never will again. The great tribulation.

So we have, then, the retribution of God upon the unbelieving world. Number six, the return of Christ. In all His glory and with His bride, the church.

Now, those of us who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, believe in, in a sense, in a two-part coming of Christ.

The first part will be to come in the clouds, and He'll resurrect the dead in Christ, and rapture the saints, the living saints, the true church. But He won't be coming to this earth.

But, one day, in the day of the Lord, He's going to come to the earth, and He's going to return, and He's going to return in all of His glory.

And with Him will be the bride, His bride. Who would that be? That'd be you. I've got one volunteer down here. It'd be all of us who are in Christ.

The church will be returning with Him. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11. The Bible says, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.

And He who sat on Him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns.

He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood. And His name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in white linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations, and He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. So we have the return.

The return of Christ in all of His glory. Now going to be coming as the son of a poor carpenter. Now going to be coming born in some lowly little stable somewhere.

We don't even know where it is today. Now going to come in that way. He's going to come in all of His glory. And He's going to come with His bride. His church.

Dressed in white linen. White and clean. Cleansed by the blood. His blood. The blood of Jesus Christ. Number seven. We have the revolt of the Antichrist at Armageddon.

Revelation chapter 19. Well, matter of fact, let me just read again a passage I read a moment ago. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 8.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. And when is that going to take place?

Now Revelation 19 and verse 19. And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

Then the beast was captured. With Him the false prophet who worked signs in His presence, by which He deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped His image.

These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword, which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.

And all the birds were filled with their flesh. So it wasn't going to be much of a battle. Jesus just destroyed His enemies. The revolt.

Number eight. The reign of Christ for a thousand years. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 1. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in His hand.

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil, Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And He cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.

But after these things, he must be released for a little while. We'll get to that in a minute. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and the judgment was committed to them.

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or His image and had not received His mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then what happens? Number nine, the resurrection. This is part of that first resurrection. Kind of a two-part thing. The resurrection of the tribulation saints and all the Old Testament saints.

Revelation chapter 20 and verse 4. And I saw thrones. I read this a moment ago. And they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word, and who had not worshipped the beast or the image and had not received His mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Daniel speaks of them in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 2.

He speaks of them as multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake. Awake. The resurrection of the tribulation saints and all the Old Testament saints.

Number ten, the rebellion of Satan. He has one more try. It doesn't last long. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 7. Now when the thousand years had expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth.

Gog and Magog together them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints in the beloved city.

And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.

And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. So we have then the rebellion of Satan that is squashed immediately.

And he's cast into hell. And then number eleven, the resurrection of all the wicked dead. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11. 20 verse 11, let me get to it.

Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one, according to his works.

Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

These are searching words, are they not? Strong words. Severe words. Words to be taken very seriously. If you're not part of the first resurrection, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then finally we have the realm of all the saints of every age. This marks the end of the day of the Lord. We have the new heaven and the new earth.

And it's described for us in chapter 21, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.

God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There shall be no more death, no sorrow, no crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I will make all things new.

And He said to me, Write. And aren't you glad John obeyed? Write, for these words are true and faithful.

So, here they are, in kind of rapid fashion, pulled from many different passages in the Bible. The events that will be taking place in that day of the Lord, beginning with the inauguration of the tribulation, all the events that will take place rapidly at that point, and ending with a new heaven, a new earth.

No more death. No more tears. No more sickness. The day of the Lord. It will come scheduled. Second, very quickly, the day of the Lord will come suddenly.

Suddenly. And maybe the word should be unexpectedly. Unexpected. Unexpected. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 2.

Look at it again. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. That means the day of the Lord is going to come unexpectedly.

But also, it's going to come unstoppable. The day of the Lord is unstoppable. Any way to stop it. No way to delay it.

No way to move it back because maybe some are not ready or maybe you're not ready. It's unstoppable. He says there in verse 3 of chapter 5, For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.

And you know you can't stop those, ladies. And they shall not escape. That means the day of the Lord is inescapable.

By those who are unbelievers, who are alive on that day, when this day begins, inescapable.

They shall not escape. It's unexpected. There's a thief in the night. Unstoppable. Like the birth pains of a woman with child.

And it's inescapable. They shall not escape, the Bible says. And for it's unbelievable. At least it will be unbelievable for those who are alive at that day and on this planet that day.

2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 11. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned.

And why? Who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. It's going to come, this day of the Lord.

It's the next season of events on God's timetable. And it's going to come, and it's going to come unexpected when those are saying, people on this planet are saying, peace, all is well, and then suddenly, destruction will come.

No way to stop it. No way to escape it. And for those alive then, they won't even really believe it.

The day of the Lord will come scheduled, suddenly. And let me end with one more. The day of the Lord will come selectively.

Selectively. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 3, for when they say, would you mark that word, they?

They say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction. And they, there is that word again, would you mark that?

Make note of that. They shall not escape. But then verse 4, but you, you ought to take note of that.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, not in that darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief.

And verse 5, you, you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We're not of the night nor of the darkness.

Now, I point that out to you because you need to see the distinction here. Take note of it. There's a difference between they and you. Now, Paul is writing to believers.

And so, the you encompasses those who were his first readers. The believers of the church here in Thessalonica. The bride of Christ.

Those who, through faith, trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior were born again. That's the you. And if that is what describes you here today, then the you is you.

The they, the they, are the unbelievers. Alive at the time when the Lord comes and the day the Lord begins.

They. You see, the day of the Lord is selective. The day of the Lord is not for you.

We should rejoice in that. Why? Because we're somebody special? No. Except in the sovereignty of God, you're special to Him.

Is it because we deserve to be exempt from this day of the Lord because we have done certain things that are admirable or good?

Some point of work within the church and so we deserve to miss this day? No. But because of the grace of God and through faith in His Son Jesus, you have become the you of Paul's letter.

Those who will not not be in the day, who are not in the darkness, those who will be caught up before that day comes to be with the Lord and to be with Him forever and ever.

But what about they? They? are there any here today in this room today who honestly must admit I'm they?

They? We're about to celebrate a holiday tomorrow. we call it Independence Day. But the difference between the they and the you is all about this dependence or independence.

Whether or not the Lord Jesus is truly your Lord and your Master. Have you submitted to Him as Lord?

As the supreme ruler of your life? As your Savior? Have you? Great.

You are dependent upon Him. It's your day of dependence. If you have not trusted Him, repenting of your sin, placing your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are living in independence.

Going your own way, living your own life, calling all the shots in your life. He's not your Lord. And you're not His follower.

Lord, in my plea to you, if that's you, is today repent of your sin.

Don't you know that this Jesus, when He came the first time, He lived and He died, and there upon that cross, God placed sin, your sin, there.

And He paid the supreme price for your sin. Don't you know that He died for you? And don't you know that one day He's coming again?

You know, that's part of the gospel too. That Jesus is coming again. And I say, praise God, He's coming for me.

Why? Because I belong to Him. Through faith in His Son, He's coming for me. Is He coming for you?

repent today. Turn to Jesus today. Trust Him and Him alone for your salvation today.

Make this your Dependence Day.

Thank you.