Let us turn again this morning
to 1 Thessalonians 5, as we continue our studies working through this
first letter of Paul to the infant church of the Thessalonians.
I am increasingly convinced that though this method of learning
the content of Scripture is perhaps the most unglamorous, it is the
most effectual, effective way of confronting
the balance of divine truth as found in Holy Scripture. There
are times when the passages lend themselves much more to interesting
study and to what I might call exciting preaching, and other
times when they are less—the words less exciting, perhaps
less interesting. But since God has given us the
entirety of his revelation for the full development of life,
We must not consider ourselves wiser than God and bypass anything
that he has revealed. I was greatly encouraged this
past week to continue this kind of ministry for as long as the
Lord shall give me the privilege of being a teaching ruling elder
in any assembly. When we received a letter from
Cheat, many of you remember Cheat, Carmen Cheetah Antonio, And I
had asked her at some time at her convenience to write a letter
evaluating what basic concepts she feels were most profitable
to her in her two years with us. She wrote back a letter that
was into what I call my Blue Monday file, when I wonder sometimes
if anything's worth it, as Elijah came to that place. We'll be
looking at him under his juniper tree tonight. And I was greatly
encouraged as she mentioned the different areas of truth that
came into focus. And then she said this, but she
said, Pastor, if I had not been Sunday morning, Sunday night,
prayer meeting, week in and week out, for the full exposure to
all the regular teaching, she said, I don't know if I would
have grasped these things. And she said, how I thank God
that it was the systematic, consistent, week-by-week, line-upon-line
teaching that without even knowing it, imperceptibly, these great
concepts of truth were taking hold of me, and now that I look
back there's no question in my mind as to what God was teaching.
And that was an added confirmation As I mentioned, there are a lot
of other ways to build congregations and have a spectacular ministry,
but I am confident that this is the kind of ministry which
the Spirit of God will use to the building up of stable saints. Now I say all of that because,
as you may suspect, We are coming this morning to a section in
chapter 5 which is going to force us to grapple with an issue that
I would much rather bypass. In fact, I've bypassed it for
seven years of ministry with you simply because it's never
been in any of the passages that I've been working through. We
didn't confront it in 1 John. We didn't confront it in the
Sermon on the Mount. We didn't confront it in Psalm 1, Psalm
51. We didn't confront it in Revelation
1 or any of these passages. But here we are hitting it head-on.
And there's only one of two things to do. Grapple with it or bypass
it. But you see, the bypassing of
it would be so obvious that you'd be suspicious of me if we bypassed
it. And I would have some twinges
of conscience, so we're going to confront it head-on. Those
of you who have been with us in these past weeks will know
that the theme set before us in chapter 4 verses 13 through
chapter 5 verse 11 is the general theme of the return of Christ,
his second advent. In chapter 4, verses 13 to 18,
that event is mentioned in connection with a particular problem, namely,
the ignorance of the Thessalonians concerning the death of their
loved ones who died in Christ, and they're not sure about their
state. And so he tells them in verse 13, I would not have you
to go on in your ignorance concerning them that fell asleep. So he
supplements their ignorance by telling them their particular
state at the return of Christ. When he comes, dead loved ones
will be caught up first, living believers caught up secondly,
and together we shall meet the Lord in the air. Now, it's as
though someone asked the question, yes, Paul, but what about the
times and seasons as they relate to that great event? And so he
tells them in chapter 5, still in the same general theme of
the return of Christ, but of the times and seasons, brethren,
you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night. He says, in essence, if you people
at Thessalonica are convinced that whatever events transpire,
the day of the Lord will come suddenly, and that's the basic
thought of the thief in the night simile. It will come with suddenness,
and that's all you need to know. If you know that, then you know
the basic thing you need to know concerning the times and the
seasons, for that day and hour knoweth no man, Jesus said, not
even the angels, not even the sun. So if you're convinced it's
going to come with suddenness, then you know what you ought
to know now, live in the light of it. And that then is the general
theme that pervades the remaining part of this paragraph down to
verse 11. However, as we saw last week,
excuse me, He does digress in verse 3 to
indicate how that day of the Lord, that is, the second coming,
will find the unconverted. 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. We dealt
with that very sobering fact that the day of the Lord, the
day of his coming, that day that he'd been speaking about beginning
with verse 15 of the previous chapter, that day he continues
to talk about down to the end of verse 11, it will come with
sudden destructiveness upon those who are strangers to the grace
of God. But he says in verse 4, and this
is the focus of our study this morning, but ye brethren are
not in darkness that that day, what day? The day of the Lord
which he has already mentioned in verse 2. That day that will
come with destruction upon the ungodly, but ye brethren are
not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Now in the light of verse 4,
We come to an inescapable conclusion, and it is this, that Christians,
the church of Jesus Christ, will be here on earth until that day. Notice, he doesn't say that day
shall not overtake you, period. He says that day shall not overtake
you as a thief. But there is the real possibility
that some of you may be here. And in any case, there will be
the people of God here upon the earth until that day. What day? The day that will destroy the
ungodly, the very day that he's been speaking of in chapter 4,
that will be the translation of the living saints and the
resurrection of dead saints. Therefore, the inescapable conclusion
is that Christians will be here until the day of the Lord. Now,
this brings us to a very practical problem. For a hundred years
or so, there's been a very popular teaching abroad in evangelical
circles which says, no, the saints of God will not be around in
that day. That day, when the Lord comes to destroy the ungodly,
will not find the church here. The church will have been taken
out of the way three and a half years, most say seven years,
prior to that day. This is clearly taught. I could
give you the page numbers in the Schofield Bible, which has
been the main proponent of this view of eschatology, or last
things, the doctrine of the second coming and related events. So
this is a very practical problem because many of you have been
exposed to that teaching. How I can remember as a child
having been exposed to this teaching and I wasn't converted. I had
by nature a very sensitive temperament and then by God's grace working
through the influence of my parents and by his spirit, his prevenient
grace, great fears of death and of judgment. great fears that
the Lord might come and I wouldn't be ready and I'll never forget
one night coming home and at our house being a house full
of kids I was one of ten and at the time there were probably
six or seven of us around I can't remember but I came home one
night and at seven o'clock the house was pitch black well that
was just a pitch of activity usually at our house and I shall
never forget the first thought that struck me I didn't hear any shout, any
voice, but I've been told he was going to come secretly. And
he was going to then leave all the wicked behind for a time
of great tribulation and judgment. And a terrible fear struck me,
and I shall never forget going into the house with an almost
trembling hand, reaching out to the bed where one of my little
brothers or sisters was sleeping, because I knew if the Lord had
come, my theology at that time was airtight as far as the state
of children or infants, and I was confident they'd be gone, and
the relief that came when I reached out and felt a little foot. Now that teaching, many of you
have been exposed to. Well, this is a problem, you
see, because we're working through 1 Thessalonians, and the theme
is the day of the Lord. The day that will be the day
of glory for the saints, living saints, dead saints, caught up
to be with Him. But those who say peace and safety,
sudden destruction shall come upon them. Obviously. Since that day will not overtake
believers as a thief, it is going to overtake them. Now our problem
is there's been a teaching that says it won't overtake them.
So there's an urgent question. Here's the clear implication.
Here's the problem. Now the question is this. Is
that teaching scriptural? Now there's no more vital thing
to ask of anything that comes as the truth of God. Will it
stand the test of comparing scripture with scripture? And that brings
me to my frank answer. I do not believe it is a scriptural
teaching, and therefore we shall take in hand to deal with that
very teaching. Now why am I going to deal with
it? May I say very clearly at the outset, not to stir up controversy,
no, but rather to establish truth. I cannot preach through the remainder
of this chapter in which we have these words before us, that day
shall not overtake you as a thief, and be honest to those words
if I'm going to say that there's no believers around affected
by that day. Therefore, to establish the truth
of this chapter and the relative truths related to the second
coming of Christ, I feel it necessary to examine this teaching to which
many of us have been exposed, and perhaps some of you sitting
there this morning say, well, I never knew there was any other
view than that the Lord would snatch his own away prior to
his coming in judgment upon the wicked. Now, in this vital area,
as in all other areas, a departure from the teaching of Scripture
will have great practical implications. And I'm going to deal with this
subject in some length, the Lord willing, this morning and next
Sunday, and perhaps a couple of more Lord's Days, because
I'm convinced that these practical implications are vital to the
life of the Church of God. What has happened by this teaching
that no believers will be around at the day of the Lord? They'll
be taken out seven years or three and a half years before this
day. What has happened? I would suggest to you in the
first place that it has created a climate of false hopes. False
hopes for the unconverted and false expectations for Christians. Scripture says now is the day
of salvation. The verse we studied last week
says the day of the Lord is the day of sudden destruction from
which men shall not escape. But this theory that gets the
church out and then the wrath of God is poured out in great
tribulation, it leaves the day of salvation open for at least
seven more years. Therefore, unconverted people,
though they say to themselves, well, I don't like the thought
of being around when things get hot, there's still a possibility. When I find that my saved loved
ones are gone, then I'll know that the Lord is calm and though
things will get kind of bad, there's still space to repent.
No, no. That's a false expectation. For
the teaching of scripture is that when the second advent dawns
upon men, it shall come with sudden destruction, and there
will be no escape, no opportunity to repent. Now is the day of
salvation. When the shout is heard, and
the voice is heard, and the trump of God thunders, the door of
salvation is shut, and shut forever. And so I would have none of you
possessed of a false hope, you who are strangers to God's grace,
thinking that, well, there's still time to repent after the
church is caught away. In fact, that'd be pretty convenient,
because you'd know the day they were caught away. Then you could
just check on your calendar. In seven more years, he's going
to come again in glory. But Bible says you know neither
the day nor the hour. that he will come. If the other
were true, you could plot it right to the day. You'd know
when all your Christian loved ones were gone, when mom and
dad took off. You'd check on your calendar, and say right
from seven years to now, boom, the Lord's going to come back
in glory, and so one day before the seven years are up, I'll
take care of things. No, no. That's a false expectation. And may I say in the second place,
there is a climate of false expectation amongst Christians. As I've been
privileged to move in different parts of the country and we ever
get discussing this, this is the climate that pervades wherever
this teaching has taken root. Well, really, we need not be
too concerned about becoming hard and disciplined soldiers
of Jesus Christ, preparing ourselves for the day when we may be called
upon to seal with blood our testimony. But before that time of great
trial and tribulation comes, the Lord is just going to come
and snatch us all out. And there's a pervasive element
or element and attitude of softness that I believe in great measure
has come about because of this teaching that before things get
too awfully hot, the Lord will come and snatch us all away out
of the whole thing. So because I do not like an unscriptural
false hope and expectation in the lives of God's people in
my own life or in the unconverted, I say we must deal with this
subject. Second reason, this teaching has robbed Christ of
much of his glory. The second coming of Christ is
called in Titus 2.13, the King James says, the glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior. It should be translated as it
is in the American standard, it is the appearing of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is the second coming? It
is not primarily a sneaky way to get God's people out of the
mess before things get too hot. It is the bursting forth of the
glory of Christ, the one who's been despised, rejected, ignored,
kicked and bandied about, and he's born with long-suffering
mistreatment, but in that hour he shall burst forth in glory
and every eye shall see him. And when you take that which
is to be the breaking forth of His glory and make it some hidden,
behind the curtains, sneaky, secret event, Christ is robbed
of His glory. And the child of God is to look
for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what we're to look for.
Not sparing our own hide to get out of it, but we're to look
for, Titus, we read from in the book of Titus, for that glorious
appearing. It's called his epiphania, the
shining form of the glory and brightness of his person. As the disciples stood there
upon the mountain Galilee, they saw their Lord ascend before
their eyes. The angel said, this same Jesus
shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go. How did
he go? He went up enveloped in clouds.
And the scripture says he will come with clouds and with the
glory of his Father. As He went, He shall come, and
it will be an appearing in glory. And so I submit that this has
in great measure robbed Christ of the glory that will be rightfully
His at His return. And then thirdly, and I think
this is one of the most serious matters, this teaching has created
an undesirable mentality in handling the Word of God. Now again, I
am not referring to individuals. I hope we are mature enough to
know. There are men who have held this view and taught it
whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. But as I have seen the
effect of this teaching in congregation after congregation, I submit
that it has created an undesirable mentality in handling the Word
of God. Now what do I mean by that? Just
this. Once a person is committed to that teaching, that there
are two phases of the return of Christ, a secret one and then
a glorious one, what does a person do when he comes to a passage
like 1 Thessalonians 5? You're not in darkness that that
day of destruction to the ungodly should overtake you as a thief.
You can't let that passage say what it obviously says, that
believers are going to be here until the day of Christ. You've
got to somehow shift it. And when you come to those passages
in Matthew 24 that say he's going to appear with clouds and great
glory and the nations gathered before him, you've got to shift
that off to the Jews or talk about a judgment of the nations.
Of all the ridiculous things, how can nations be judged with
eternal judgment? They can be judged with temple
judgments. How can nations visit prisons?
I was sick and ye visited me. I was in prison and He came to
me. These shall go away into everlasting life. These into
everlasting judgment. You see, the whole teaching of
Matthew 25 and 24, which focuses upon the second coming and judgment,
all has to be shifted off as something that will transpire
only upon the Jews, though it's universal in its scope. It speaks
of the elect of God being gathered from the four winds. It speaks
of all the nations gathered before him. But this mentality, you
see, will come to those passages and do things with them, rather
than give up its theory. And when one begins to handle
the Word of God that way, follow me, Then you can do almost anything
with it. And during this same period that
this teaching has become popularized, the gospel of no repentance has
become popularized. The gospel of no submission to
Christ as Lord has become popularized. Because see, once you begin to
handle the word of God in such a way that you can shift off
the passage that don't fit your theory, if you can do it with
regard to his second coming, you can do it anywhere. Beloved,
that mentality is devastating. And if there's been anything
that under God I've tried to inculcate in you people in the
seven years of my ministry, it's been this. Let scripture say
what it says, at any cost. Means you've got to disagree
with me? Fine. If it's chapter and verse, in the light of all
that scripture says about it, search the scriptures. Search
the scriptures. Now, in the light of those three
practical implications—the creation of false hopes and expectations,
the robbing Christ of His glory, and the creation of an undesirable
mentality in handling the Word of God—I believe the subject
warrants our careful investigation. Now, the proposition that I want
to lay before you, set before us in 1 Thessalonians 5, is simply
this. There is one second coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. A coming which will bring final
salvation to the people of God and final judgment to the wicked. Now, do you see my proposition?
I hope it's simple. One second coming. Not two or
one in two or three phases. One second coming. A coming which
will bring two things. Final salvation to the people
of God final judgment to the wicked. That's very beautifully
stated in chapter 5 and verse 9, for God has appointed us not
unto wrath, That's the appointment of the wicked in that day, but
to obtain salvation, that is, final and complete salvation,
the glorification of our bodies by our Lord Jesus Christ. That
day, then, will be the day of wrath to the ungodly, the day
of full salvation to the saved. I want to give you this morning
and then next week at least three lines of evidence and it's been
difficult to try to organize the material but I think this
will be helpful and then I'm going to prepare some mimeograph
sheets for you as well so you can look up these passages and
study them on your own. Line of evidence number one,
all the passages that explicitly teach The second coming and its
relationship to the saved and unsaved show that the same coming
will be glory for the saved and judgment for the lost. We want
to look at those passages which have as their very subject matter
the second coming. In other words, we're not looking
at parallel passages that may throw light on the main passages.
We're just going to look at those passages which talk about his
second coming and see to those passages anywhere teach that
there's going to be a coming secretly and seven years later
or three and a half years a coming in glory and in power. Well,
the first one is the one that is before us, and I want you
to look carefully at the connection between the threads of thought.
When Paul first wrote this letter, he didn't divide it up into chapters,
as you know. He didn't even divide it up into
verses. It didn't even have any periods or commas or paragraphs. He just wrote it. And that was
the style of the writing then. Now, you're sitting there in
the church on a Sunday morning, and one of the elders stands
and says, we have a letter from our beloved Apostle Paul and
his companions, or companion, Titus. I'm sorry, Timothy and
Silas. I believe Silas is included there
as well. Yes, Silvanus, Timotheus, and Paul. And so you're sitting
there. All of a sudden he puts up his
subject, concerning them which fall asleep. Bingo, your ears
perk out. You've lost a loved one three
weeks before. You still feel the pain of grief and the sorrow.
And so you're all ears now. As to now concerning them that
fall asleep, I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want
you to be ignorant. Now what I'm going to tell you
comes by direct authority from the Lord himself. The Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, with the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall
rise first. We which are alive and remain
shall be caught up. We shall meet them in the air.
So shall we ever be with the Lord. Comfort one another with
these words, but concerning the times and seasons." Now if you're
sitting there and you ask yourself this question, the times and
seasons related to what? What would be the natural answer? Related to what? To what event? Coming with his
own, right? I mean, would you relate it to
anything else? Would he suddenly be talking about the times and
seasons of the next election? No, you say, no, it's the complete
break of thought. No, it's the most natural break
of the natural flow of thought is, now concerning the times
and seasons which relate to that great climactic event, he said,
I don't need to write anything unto you, for you know that the
day of the Lord. Now, he calls that event a certain
title. That title is the day of the
Lord. It'll come as a thief in the
night. Now, what will it do when it comes as a thief in the night?
Two things. Verse three, it'll find the unconverted
unprepared and will destroy them, but it will find the children
of God prepared and watching, and will be a day of glory and
blessing for them. But it is the same day that is
both judgment and glory. And I submit, brethren, if we
can in any way, shape, or form Squeeze in seven years there,
or any other period of time, unless we are definitely warranted
to do so from other clear passages, we are mishandling the Word of
God. We are mishandling the Word of God. Second key passage is
2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Now remember the proposition
we're trying to establish is there's one second coming, Judgment
to the wicked, final salvation to the saved. Chapter 1. These
people are suffering. The end of verse 4. In all your
persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. The latter part
of verse 5. For which ye also suffer. Now how does he comfort suffering
saints? Well, he tells them in verse
7, and you who are troubled, that is, persecuted in the midst
of tribulation and problems, the opposition of your enemies,
to you who are troubled, rest with us. When? Now notice, this
is the point at which believers enter into their rest. When the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
and what will he do? Inflaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, that is, great segments of humanity
that have not been exposed to the gospel, the Gentiles described
in Romans 1 and Romans 2, and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, people who have heard the gospel but rejected
its claims, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, when?
Seven years after the saints are glorified? No, no. When? When he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. Now
do you see the word when used at the beginning and end of the
passage? You who are troubled, rest with us. O child of God,
persecution and tribulation aren't going to go on forever. A time
is coming when it will end. When? When God will come to take
all the persecutors and destroy them, and so the Lord Jesus will
be revealed from heaven, not only to gather His elect together,
but in flaming fire to bring judgment upon the wicked, and
the precise time of that, verse 10, when He shall come to be
glorified in His saints and be admired in all that believe.
I submit to you then in the light of this passage, there is one
second coming of Christ, a coming in glory and power, final salvation,
rest from all labors and tribulation for the saint, and judgment upon
the unconverted. Now if you will please turn to
2 Peter, chapter 3. These are the key passages in
the epistles, and then we'll look at several in the Gospels.
2 Peter chapter 3. Now what is
the subject matter of this chapter? Most of us are familiar with
it. Verse 3, there shall come in the last days scoffers walking
after their own lust and particularly scoffing at what doctrine? Where
is the promise of his coming? Few people keep saying the Lord
is coming, the Lord is coming. He hasn't come. Everything's
continuing as it was from the beginning of time. Now to correct
that thinking, he says, verse 5, they are willingly or willfully
ignorant of certain facts. They're ignorant of the fact
that the old world was judged by water, and the world that
now is, verse 7, is reserved unto another day of judgment. What God did at the flood was
a picture and preview of what he'll do in the final day of
judgment, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men. Alright, if that's so, if the
world that now exists is being reserved for judgment, why doesn't
the judgment come in connection with his coming? Remember, it's
in connection with his coming that he introduces the theme
of judgment. He said, well brethren, you ought to remember First of
all, that God doesn't reckon time like we do. Verse 8, But
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.
Seems like a long time for you, but it isn't for God. And then
the second thing he says you must remember is that God's purposes
of mercy have not yet found their fullest expression in the gathering
together of all his elect to himself. The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. But his
long-suffering to us, we're not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. And though these two factors
make it seem that the promise of judgment in connection with
his coming is delayed, Verse 10, the day of the Lord will
come. How? As a thief in the night. Same thing Paul said. Now what
will happen at that time? The heavens shall pass away with
a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
The earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
seeing that all these things should be dissolved, what manner
of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God,
in which the Lord will secretly sneak his own out of this scene?
No! A day in which the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found with him
in peace, without spot, and blameless, and account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvaged." Do you get the train of his thought?
He said, don't be disturbed by those mockers. No, God is alone
in suffering. He doesn't reckon time as we
do. But as it seems that the promise is a long time coming,
God's door of mercy is still open. Child of God, remember,
the day of the Lord will come, and when it comes, it will be
a day of a burning up of the world in the works thereof, the
establishment of a new heaven and a new earth, the door of
mercy forever shut, the saints of God forever glorified, inhabiting
forever the new heavens, the new earth. Now, do you see the
proposition set forth in this passage? One second coming of
Christ, a glorious day to which the saint of God looks forward,
but an awful day in which the world will be judged by the returning
Lord. Now, turning to the Gospels.
Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Our Lord in this chapter is speaking
in parables. We read in verses 36 to 43 his
interpretation of the parable of the tares. Then Jesus sent the multitudes
away, and went into the house, and his disciples came unto him,
saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. And
he answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed
is the son of man, the field is the world, the good seed are
the children of the kingdom, the enemy that sowed them, etc.
Now verse 4, Therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the
fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man
shall send forth his angels, and shall gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend and which do iniquity, and cast them into
the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. And here we
find the two things joined together again, the judgment of God upon
the ungodly and the shining forth of the righteous in the kingdom
of the Father. Elsewhere in scripture, that
shining forth of the saints of God is continually connected
with the second coming. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him. We shall see him as he is when Christ, who is our
life, shall appear. We shall be manifested with him
in glory. Now over to Matthew chapter 24 verses 29 and following. Immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and
the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from
heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then
shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, for they shall see the
Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory." Now what will he do when he comes in power and great glory?
He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds. 1
Thessalonians 4, the voice of the archangel, the trumpet of
God. And then they shall be gathered together. When? When he comes
with power and great glory. This other teaching says the
angel has gathered the elect of God. The Lord has called them
seven years before. Not this passage. Scripture says
that when he comes in power and glory he shall send his angels
and they shall gather together his elect from the one end of
heaven unto the other. Then he goes on to say in verse
36, But of that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels
of heaven, but my Father. But there will be a similarity,
a pattern of the pervading mood of that day and the days of Noah. Now notice the parallel. As the
days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
The days that were before the flood, they were eating, drinking,
marrying, giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered
the ark. and knew not until the flood came and took them all
away, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two shall
be in the field, one taken, another left. Two women shall be grinding,
one taken, the other left. Left for what? What were they left for in Noah's
day? Judgment. Destruction. You say, but it
doesn't say destruction there. Ah, but in the parallel passage
it says it explicitly. In the 17th chapter of Luke,
in the parallel passage, will you notice carefully the wording
of scripture, Luke 17, verses 26 to 30. And as it was in the
days of Noi, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
I didn't mispronounce it, that's the way it is here in Luke, Noi.
They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given
in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and
the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, also it was
in the days of Lot. They did eat, drank, bought,
sold, planted, building. But the same day that Lot went
out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed. What will it be? A taking away
of His own. And in the same day, destruction
reigned upon the undone. Now, dear ones, in the light
of these passages, I submit to every thoughtful person to at
least seriously consider whether or not it is the teaching of
Scripture that there is one second coming of Christ, a coming in
glory and power, that will be what the ark was to Noah. Born above the judgments that
consumed the earth, what the angel taking lot by the hand
was, taking from the sphere of judgment as judgment fell. And
for the ungodly it will be what the flood was to the ungodly,
and what the fire and brimstone was to Sodom and Gomorrah, destruction
and the wrath of Almighty God. Therefore, the Lord's coming
is a day of the Lord. We defined a day of the Lord
as we looked at a number of passages two weeks ago, a climactic manifestation
of God in judgment and in mercy. Then in that day, Malachi 4 verses
1-3 will be fulfilled and I read now from those verses Malachi
4 verses 1-3 Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven of
all the proud yea all that do wickedly shall be stubble and
the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord that it
shall leave them neither root nor branch but Unto you that
fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing
in his wings. Ye shall go forth and grow up
as calves at the stall. Ye shall tread down the wicked,
for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the
day that I do this. Saith the Lord. Now for some of you who perhaps
for years have imbibed this other teaching, this past 40 minutes
has been a traumatic experience. But my only plea is, what sayeth
the scripture? The thing that made me begin
to doubt what I was told as a child was after I got saved and started
studying my Bible. Long before I knew there were
all kinds of theories about this, people asked me, what do you
believe about the return of the Lord? I said, well for the life of
me, I can only find one second coming of Christ and I can't
find two or three. I find one second coming of Christ.
And as we've examined these passages, these are the ones that have,
over the years, conviction that this is the teaching of scripture,
but I do not ask you to accept it on the authority that I have
come to that position, but I plead with you to search the scriptures
at this point and simply, don't simply reject this perspective
because it's something you haven't believed before. One of the aspects
of growth is that we're able to say, thank God I believe things
now that I didn't believe a year ago, and there's some things
I believed a year ago I don't believe anymore. What practical
word does this have for us as we close our study this morning?
Child of God, the first practical exhortation I would bring is
that of accepting no canon of interpretation but the scripture
itself. I had a call from one of my relatives
last week and my sister wanted to buy a Bible for my brother-in-law
and when his parents heard that he was not interested in buying
another Schofield Bible because he had re-examined much of the
teaching in the notes and found they wouldn't hold water. They
were deeply, deeply disturbed that their 27-year-old son was
no longer bound by the notes in a certain Bible. You know,
that's as bad as Romanism. That is as bad as Romanism. It's
usurping the place of the Holy Ghost. Now, if you've got a Schofield
Bible and get help, good. I have one and I use it occasionally.
Don't anybody go out and say, oh, Pastor Blaston Schofield.
I'm Blascofield. What I am pleading for is don't
let any human notes upon scripture or any human comments upon scripture,
mine included, bind your conscience. Let your conscience be bound
by the teaching of the Word. It's much easier to just read
Schofield's notes. We've developed a generation
of lazy Christians who know what Schofield says, but they don't
know what the Bible says. That's my first plea, and I make
it in dead earnest, that as a child of God, you be a diligent searcher
of the Word. And then the second earnest entreaty
I make to you as God's people, pray that the Lord will give
you a biblical perspective on history. And when we get that
perspective of 2 Peter, that everything in history is heading
up to that day of God, in which the Lord Jesus will be manifested
in power and in glory, what tremendous effect this has upon you. He
says, in the light of this, what manner of people ought we to
be? This is practical. This is not just some kind of
theory. You've got the idea, things will get worse and worse,
and just before they get too hot, the Lord will take us out
of this. That has practical effects upon the lives of God's people.
It leads, in most cases, to a lassitude and to an indifference. But if
our conviction is that everything's heading up to that hour, then
what fools we are to spend time and energy in things that won't
matter a hill of beans in that day. What manner of persons ought
we to be in all holy manner of living in godliness, looking
for, hastening unto the coming of the day of God? It makes you
have confidence and hope and stability in the midst of the
20th century with all of its perplexing problems. The Lord's going to come, and
he's going to set things right. And then I say to you who are
strangers to God's grace, children, adults, teenagers, whoever you
be, The day of salvation is now. Now is the accepted time, and
the door of God's mercy stands wide. Though the floods of His
judgment stand behind those doors with great pressure, your sins
add pressure to those doors and would press upon them to shut
forever. But the Lord is long-suffering,
long-suffering. But when that precise hour in
the timing of God comes, when the Son of God shall break out
of heaven, your eyes will see him. But not in mercy, but in
judgment. It says, every eye shall see
him and the tribes of the earth shall mourn. They shall cry for
the rocks and the hills to fall upon them, to hide them from
the face of that coming Lamb who will show himself to be a
lion. In that day, I plead with you, don't delay. Don't put off
the offers of mercy. Close with Christ while the door
of mercy stands open. Close with Him, even this morning.
There's only one reason from that standpoint He hasn't come
this morning. He's long suffering. From the 2 Peter 3 perspective,
He's long suffering. Will you spurn his long-suffering
and misinterpret it as those mockers do? Or will you say,
Lord, why you should suffer so long with a wretch like me? I
do not know, but I can no longer withstand the overtures of your
grace. Here, Lord, I come, a helpless, needy sinner. Wash me in your
blood. Make me your child. That's my
exhortation.