Take your Bibles and turn to Joel. Joel chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. Joel chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. In a sermon I've titled, Watch Out. Joel chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. We live in the last days, I believe, and the Bible shows us many things about that. Sometimes in our own country, we that have reached our senior years and look back and we can see a change, a night and day change in the morals and so many other areas of this country. The Supreme Court halted gay marriages in Utah, which a few years ago that wouldn't have even been a thought of bringing that up, you know, and they halted gay marriages in Utah. And I guess the court there thinks that Marriage is still a sacred bond between a man and his six wives in Utah. But the truth of the matter is, it's a worldwide problem. And as Christians, we ought to be awake and say, the Lord is coming. He's coming very soon now as we look at Joel chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 we read this Blow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh For it is nigh at hand a day of darkness and of gloominess a day of clouds and of thick darkness as the morning spread upon the mountains a great people and a strong and There hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the ears of many generations. Now, shall we pray? Father, help us to rightly divide your word today. I pray that you not only speak through me to the folks here, those that are watching us on the internet, those that are listening to us on our radio station, Lord, I just pray that in every situation, every case, that it will not be me and them, but rather it will be Thy Spirit speaking to each. And we'd ask this in Jesus Christ's precious and holy name. Amen. Our text refers to the day of the Lord. And this is the second time in the book of Joel, now as we've been going through it, that it is referenced as the day of the Lord. I believe that our text is just a continuance from chapter one. There, it seems to draw our attention to the effect on God's people. Chapter two seems to draw our attention to effect not only on God's people, but on the world. And that's how it works. Judgment begins at the house of God. And then it spreads out from there. The plague of locusts destroyed much of the land in chapter one. The crops were devastated. No grapes, no grain. The fruit of the trees were destroyed. And on top of that, a drought has hit the land and the waters are drying up. And so the farmers, the shepherds, and the economy, since it's an agricultural and agrarian society, it is affected greatly. The phrase, the day of the Lord, seems to come in now in our text, in the book of Joel, and jumps the centuries of time to draw our attention to the last days. As we consider that in this context today, the first thing I want you to see is the wrecking of nature in the day of the Lord's wrath. The wrecking of nature in the day of the Lord's wrath. That takes us, again, back to chapter 1 and then what happened there. In chapter 1, the day comes upon them as from the Almighty, we're told in verse 15. This judgment upon them for overlooking an obedient walk with God now understand They've been sent prophets they've been sent those men that came and thundered and told them and warned them and They ignored it Sometimes people don't get upset with the preacher. They don't say to run them off. They just ignore what is said Just are indifferent And then God brings judgment. And that's what happened in that day in chapter one when the locust came and devoured everything. But what had happened there, the temple and most of the worship of Israel had become very worldly in flavor as well as their personal lives. God Judges his people. Why would this God judge his people back then and in a day like we live today? Because God wants a pure church to lead people of the world to conversion If we're like the world, what are we converting them from? So we need a pure church that leads the world to conversion now What happens is corroborated in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 5 through 11, where we're told that the Lord chastens and scourges those that he loves and receives. The word scourge there has the idea of the flog with a whip. And he says, if you're without the chastening of God, you're living in sin, you're away from God, you're not doing right according to the word of God, and you're not chastened. He says, you're not one of his, never were. Revelation 3 19 tells us the same thing that God chastens those in her zone. As a matter of fact, that's not only a New Testament teaching that's in the Old Testament in Proverbs chapter 3 verses 11 and 12 My son despised not the chastening of the Lord neither be weary of his correction For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth even as a father the son in whom he delighteth Now understand, in Israel, the crowds were as good, if not better than ever for their worship and for their Judaistic religion. But it was fleshly. It had taken on the sound and the look of the world. Just like today, I can go to a mall I can go to a restaurant, I can go to, I better not go to, but I can end up going to, I drive by a nightclub, okay? A bar. Words won't be the same, but you'll hear the same sound, same kind of music as you're hearing in a lot of churches today. You see, that's not distinctive, that's not holy, that's not separate. And so that's what I'm talking about, and that's what was happening in that day. They had taken on the look of the world. It was fleshly. And we're reminded of the days of Nadab and Abihu. They offered strange fire. They thought that their incense was better. They knew what the incense of Egypt was like. They thought it was better than what God told them to do. They would enjoy it more. It'd make them feel better. And so God sends fire from heaven and it destroys them both right there. In the New Testament, we have a similar example of Ananias and Sapphira. They sell some property and they give most of it to the church, but some of it they held back for themselves. But they said, we sold this and we're giving it all to the church. And God struck them both dead. Now, did Israel's religion, did it have corruption after Nadab and Abihu? Yes, it did. What about, have people lied on their 1040 forums about what they gave the church? Oh, yes, they have. But God didn't strike them dead. And a person might think, well, wasn't that unfair to strike Nadab and Abihu and Ananias and Sapphira if he doesn't do those afterwards? Oh, no. You see, what God was showing that in striking the first ones dead with it was to show us what a pity, how bad a sin that is in God's sight. He was establishing that this is sin in God's sight. And after that, people do that and they continue to do it. Then the crowd grows, the crowd grows, crowd grows, and then God just brings judgment on the church. And then he brings judgment on the country because when the church goes down, so did the morals of the country. And that's the way it happens every time. Before too long, The prophet the priest and the people lost the capacity to see the spiritually deplorable conditions and so God had to judge Let's understand the Lord does not need Numbers to win victories. He only needs faithful people People that are willing to stand in the gap for the Lord We don't have to go out Try to be contentious try to make enemies if we will proclaim the Word of God as it is to men as they are If we'll stand on the principles and the truth of God's Word God has enough enemies that they will attack us and It happens it happens over and over We're told plain plainly the judgment begins at the house of God in first Peter 4 17 and What is that? Because God, before he throws his judgment on the world, begins to disassociate himself with those churches in advance. So that the world, when the judgment hits them, they recognize, well, those churches, evidently God judged them. So that's not the truth. That's not the answer. They weren't right. They went in the wrong direction. So God hits it and then he hits the world. Now according to john chapter 15 verses 18 through 21, jesus said if they hated me, they'll hate you They persecute me. They'll persecute you Second timothy 3 12. Yeah, and all those that live godly in christ. Jesus shall suffer persecution But that will come from men that persecute you not from god But when we fear men, then we become easily manipulated by the devil. As 2 Corinthians 11 tells us, when the mocking comes from people who claim to be Christian, who claim to name the name of Christ, who claim to be saved, and they're mocking us standing for righteousness and holiness and separateness and biblical standards, We read, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, and no marvel. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing that his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. You see, they start with names. They call us legless, they call us dead, they call us unloving, they call us ignorant. They have to. Because they don't have a biblical basis to attack. So they have to revert to name-calling. But the world, in addition to those religious people, will hate you as well. Jesus said, Blessed are ye when men that are persecuted for righteousness say, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say, All matter of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you we should always stick to the Bible the Word of God when we confront the world about sin and about righteousness and about judgment to come you know Jesus said that the Holy Spirit that would be his three main ministries convict of sin of righteousness and judgment to come. So when we're filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's working through us, that's what we will do. It's just common sense. But we should always stick to the Word of God when confronting people. We are not attacking them personally, and we should never do that. But liberal theologians, just like liberal politicians, will attack with name-calling. They'll belittle your intellect and your education. Why? Because they have no solid ground scripturally to attack. So liberals, liberal politicians cannot use the Constitution to attack, and so too liberal theologians. They won't use the Bible unless they can corrupt it, pervert it, twist it, change it. Then they'll use whatever they twist and change. But taking the Bible as it is, they can't do that. Now we see that God judges His people as a whole. And when he does that, it seems like he first uses nature. In chapter one, he uses the locust. Later, because that doesn't have a lasting effect for them, he'll use Nebuchadnezzar. And he'll take them off into captivity. There is no crop left. They labored. I mean, honest labor. Planted it. Cultivated it. And then the locusts destroy it But they wouldn't heed God's call You see they didn't like those old-fashioned people Look at those old-fashioned folks. They're dwelling in numbers. They better do something Jeremiah chapter 6 verses 16 and 17 thus saith the Lord standing in the ways and see Ask for the old paths where is the good way and walk therein and you shall find rest for your souls But they said we will not walk there in Also, I set watchmen over you saying hearken to the sound of the trumpet But they said we will not hearken You see in that day they had men saying hey get back to righteousness get back to the right book get right back to the right way Get back to holiness and they said no and we like what the way it's going and they did They did and Then God judged Why not just believe God before he judges? It's so much better. It's so much better. Well, he said, I sent watchman. You know what a watchman does, the idea of a watchman? He looks for an enemy. He looks for the evil. He looks for that that is against you. He looks for that that is wrong. And his eyes are set for that, to sound an alarm. to try to keep his people safe from the deceiver, the liar, the enemy of our soul. Well, they wouldn't listen to the watchman. They were calling them back to the old paths. They did not want to hear about separation. They didn't want to hear about dress, music, or any other type of sin. They loved the world and they loved it in their life and it appealed to their flesh. And therefore, They don't want to hear about truth. Instead, the grace of God is turned into lasciviousness. That is, anything goes. You know, the Bible predicted that the last days before Jesus comes, in Jude verse four, that they would creep in to the church and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. What does that mean? They'd come in and they'd start to mock standards. They'd mock righteousness and say, no, no, you have liberty to do all those things. And the result is they have a moment of prosperity. They have their day that they're, everything seems to be going their way. God says, yeah, I'm giving you time to repent. And then he's going to judge. Judgment is coming to the house of God if they don't repent And they're those that when you are fundamental and you say I'm sticking to the old book I'm sticking to the old way. I'm sticking to the old music. I'm sticking to the old whatever They'll say you're crazy and they'll attack you and Jesus said in John 16 to that they'd even think they're doing God favor by doing that and And the Lord Jesus told us in Luke 18, 8, before he returns, he says, will he find faith on the earth? By that he meant, will we find people that are living by the word of God? And that's really a question for today. In chapter one, verses 17 through 20, we saw the destruction. He said, joy and gladness was taken from the house of God. The seed was rotten, the land was desolate, the beasts were groaning, the cattle were perplexed, the pastures were gone. And it says, the flame had burned the trees of the field, the rivers of waters were dried up. God's judgment was complete. But now listen, as we jump over the centuries, Revelation chapter 8 verse 7 there's coming a tribulation now. This is the good thing If you're saved if you know that you died today that heavens your home The Lord is going to catch us out before that tribulation starts And if he catches us out and he will catch us out if you're saved there's going to be a large group left behind and If you're without Christ today and you have the opportunity to be saved and you pass it up, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 lets us know that you will not be able to get saved during that tribulation period. There are a lot of people that will be, but you won't be one of them because you had the opportunity and you passed it up. Not because I say so. What I say means nothing. But that's what the Word of God teaches. Revelation 8 verse 7, talking about that tribulation to come. The first angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood and they were cast upon the earth. And the third part of the trees was burnt up and all the green grass was burnt up. Verse 10, and the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And the third part of the waters became Wormwood. And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. That happens during the tribulation period. Some believe that it's the earlier part of the second three and a half years. But it comes. God is warning. Revelation 6, 5-8, And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat upon him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard the voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and a measure of barley for a penny. Now a measure was one meal. A penny referred to a day's wage. To buy one meal of wheat took a day's wage. Get barley, then you could get three meals for the day's wage. And that's what's coming. And he goes on to say, And when it opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see. And I looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was death and hell followed with him. And power was given him over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with hunger and with death and with the beast of the earth. The water is affected just as in the book of Joel chapter one, the food is affected. But now we're seeing to spread to the world. Yes, when God judges the day of the Lord, the day of His wrath, we're going to find out that God will do devastating things to this earth. Next we see the words of God about that day. Not only the devastation but the words that he says listen to these passages You may even write them down and look at him at home Isaiah chapter 2 verse 12 verse 17 the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty and everyone that is lifted up He shall be brought low And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of man shall be made low and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day And so we see that it's the day that the Lord begins. He's going to take the humble and exalt, the arrogant, and He's going to bring them low. In Revelation chapter 14, we find that He's gathering the armies of the world together. Revelation 19, verses 11 through 21 shows the battle. Blood will flow to the horses bridle for space of 1600 furlongs about 160 to 200 miles We've seen that valley those have gone with us over to Israel we've seen that valley It's amazing when all the world's armies are gathered in that one place and and and this begins to happen But it's going to happen it's going to happen Today we live in a day of terrorism, police states, war. And that's why we read in Revelation 6 that there was the sword and hunger. Now you have to have a license almost to eat, let alone hunt or fish or do anything else. You can't grow food in your backyard if you live in a suburb. MREs are sold now. Seems like the shelves are clearing out. We find out that not only is our government buying our ammunition, now they're buying MREs. Makes you wonder, what's going on? What's going on? And then the beast of the earth, we have laws to protect the bears, to protect the gators and everybody else out there that can devour you. And when they take your guns away, how are you going to defend yourself? And we see that even the beasts of the earth will be used to destroy men when they're looking for food. Isaiah chapter 13, verse 6, verse 9, verse 13, verse 6 says, How ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand, it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. When he says it shall come, this is what it means. At the very beginning, it is destructive. The day of the Lord is a thousand and seven years at least from the beginning of the tribulation to the end of the millennium. But it begins with seven years of destruction on this earth. And in verse 90 says, behold, the day of the Lord cometh cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. Now, before I read, I'm going to go back to Isaiah chapter 2 and read to you verses 20 and 21. It says, In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats. Moles and bats? I mean, that's vermin. I mean, we don't think of what a wonderful pet to have. Wouldn't you like to have a mole that you can just pet every day or a bat? No, we don't think that and that's where they're thrown their gold idols and images and what is important to them And it says in verse 21 to go into the clefts of the rock and into the tops of the ragged rocks For the fear of the lord and for the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake terribly the earth shake terribly How terrible is that? Verse 13, therefore, I will shake the heavens and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger. That earth is going to be like a bouncing ball. No wonder people are going to be afraid. Jeremiah 16 verse 19. Oh Lord my strength and my fortress and my refuge in the day of affliction The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth and shall say surely our fathers have inherited lies Vanity and things wherein there is no profit The false prophets the humanists and whomever else has said all there are many roads to heaven and Are going to find that their lie brought meant multitudes to hell But they're going to be looking up in hell and seeing them come In joel chapter 2 verse 11 that our text chapter and the lord shall utter his voice before his army for his camp Is very great for he is strong that executeth his word for the day of the lord is great and very terrible And who can abide it? Amos 5, 18 through 20, won't you that desire the day of the Lord? To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, not light. It is as a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, or went into a house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark and no brightness in it? He says, oh, I can't wait for the Lord to come. Well, if you're saved, it's a great thing to be looking for the rapture. But anybody else, it's going to be terrible. Zephaniah 3 a therefore wait ye upon me saith the Lord until the day I rise up to the pray for my Determination is to gather the nations that I may assemble the kingdom support upon them mine indignation Even all my fierce anger for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy God Almighty says my determination Wow if the creator of the universe says that he's determined to do something who can stop him I And when he says that he's determined to pour out his indignation and anger, watch out. Watch out. Zechariah chapter 14 verses 3 and 3 13 again mentioned the Lord's warning for us of the day of the Lord 2nd Peter 3 10 through 12 Again, talk about the day of God and and and the warning of his coming judgment When the heavens shall be on fire and the elements shall melt with fervent heat Yes, those are the words of God himself There's not only the wrecking of nature, but the day of the Lord and the words of God concerning that day are going to come to pass. He spoke the worlds into existence. He can do this as well, and he has the right. You read, read verses one and two of our text. Sound an alarm, tremble. God's saying, watch out. Watch out. darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness. The day of the Lord comes. Those that are saved are caught up to be at the Lord. Now notice I didn't say those had been baptized. I didn't say those that are church members. I didn't say those that are fundamental independent Baptist church members. Baptism church membership doing the best you can Is not going to get you into heaven The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God my friend that's me That's you We've all sinned We've all come short of the glory of God Matthew chapter 12 verse 36 says that he's going to judge Every idle word that we've spoken 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 5, 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verse 5, Hebrews chapter 4 verses 12 and 13, we find out that even the thoughts and the intents of the heart are judged. There's no person in this auditorium that is guiltless before God. Our good will not outweigh our bad. We think that that's how God works. You'll never find in the Bible that God measures your good against your bad. He said that all of our righteousnesses were as filthy rags in the sight of God. Now think of this, over 300 prophecies of His first coming, every one of them fulfilled. He mentions by name the countries that will line up in the last days, especially at the first of the tribulation that will march against Israel, and we see those countries are already lined. He talks about a coming together of the European nations and they're coming together. He talks about the economy of the day and it's coming about. And my friend Jesus is coming soon. He's coming soon. He came the first time to die on the cross for your sins. for my sins. When he died there, he was dying for every sin you ever have or ever will commit. He was buried, and three days later, he rose up from the dead. He didn't have to come. He was God in heaven, God as a spirit, and he existed in eternity past as a spirit, but he took on human flesh because there'd never be a perfect human that could die for us. But not only would he die, he'd have to resurrect bodily, because that's the only way that you and I know that we have a resurrection. Resurrection was just as important as his death for us. And he ascended up into heaven to prepare a place for us, but he's coming again. This time he's not coming to a manger. This time he's not coming to be born in a city to a poor family. This time he's coming back as king of kings and Lord of lords, the general of the army, the captain of our faith. But my friend, if you're without Christ, you'll be like those we read about. You'll be crying for the mountains and the rocks to fall on you and to cover you from the wrath of him that is to come. And yet he warns because he loves you. Let me just say this in closing. How many of you parents, especially grandparents did as I did when my children were at home? You do that. I'm going to weld the daylights out of you. You do that, and you're going to have to die to get better. You do that, and boy, you'll wish for the next 10 years that you could sit down at least once. In other words, we gave them a warning of what not to do because we hated them and we was wanting to do it. No. We warned them because we didn't want them to do that, and we didn't want to have to do that. because we love them. God loves you. He wants to save you. He doesn't want you to go to that everlasting lake of fire where there's no ceasing to exist, where there's no escape. He wants to save your soul and give you eternal life in heaven. Friend, you've got to come to Him. You've got to come to Him. He's not going to force it. You've got to come to Him. The blessing of today is I'm giving you an invitation to come. The tragedy of today is that if you reject it and the rapture takes place, you won't be able to get saved. Oh, I hope that you'll come. Let's bow our heads, please. Father, we've just tried to preach your word as it is to men as they are. Our two verses of our text spoke of the day of the Lord. It's darkness, it's gloominess. the fear, the need to tremble. That day's coming, and Lord, we get around people on a daily basis that are not saved. We've never given a track. We've never invited them to church. We've never given a personal witness. And they'll go to hell with their blood on our hand. And what a shame. Oh, what a great shame. Lord, this day give us laborers. Give us those that are lovers of God more than lovers of pleasure. Give us this day those who would say, all for Jesus. In His name I pray, amen, amen.