The Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Amen. And you may be seated. I'm going to give Mrs. Shore the option today. If she needs to escape, she can escape. Or Maisie can sit. And Nelson can sit. She can stay in the service. We'll just see which works best this morning. And we'll open up our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 1-11. On Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 1-11, last week we looked at the rapture of the church. And we talked about 1 Thessalonians 4, where the Bible speaks about Jesus Christ coming again, coming in the clouds, just like he ascended up into heaven. Believers will arise from the grave. The dead in Christ, the Bible says, shall rise first. Then it says, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him to meet the Lord in the earth, so shall we ever be with the Lord. And so the rapture takes place. continues speaking about prophecy and prophetic events as he speaks about something called the Day of the Lord. Something different, but also something associated with this return of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in chapter 5, verse 1, But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. Okay, this signals to us that this is something different. He's been speaking about the rapture, but then he says, but of the times and the seasons, something different. You have no need that I write unto you. Well, he's just written unto them about the rapture. So this must be something additional that he's going to speak about. That phrase of the times and seasons, it's the same phrase that the Lord Jesus spoke about when the disciples came to him and said in Acts chapter 1 verse 6, it's after the resurrection of the Lord is right before his ascension. It's one of the last things that takes place. And they say, are you at this time going to set your kingdom? Is it time for you to reign? They asked specifically, Acts 1-6, when they therefore would come together, they asked of them, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Is it that time where Israel is going to be mighty again, powerful again, the people of God again, blessed of God, enabled by God, victorious? And his answer to them is, in Acts 1-7, he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. They ask about the millennial kingdom. They ask about the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. And he uses this phrase, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons. In other words, that's future. The times and the seasons has to do with the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we don't need to know exactly when that's going to take place. But it's of those times and seasons that Paul is speaking about when he comes to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. It's that prophetic future, what immediately takes place as Christ sets up again his kingdom on earth and the events that will take place around that. When it takes place, right at the beginning of it, there's going to be what's called the tribulation period. The Tribulation is something that the Word of God speaks volumes about, as we have a book called Revelation. I had a man ask me, Friday, his name's David, he asked me, why do we stop the Bible at, you know, when it stopped? Why isn't the Bible continuing on? Why isn't there more? And I said, well, God already told us the end of the story. God's already said what is to take place. There's nothing more that needs to be said because all future events are foretold. And here it speaks about revelation. It speaks about the tribulation. And the tribulation will begin with a return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power. It says in Revelation 6, 1, And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. He had a bow like bow and arrow type bow. He's on a horse. It's the Lord Jesus Christ coming in power at the beginning of the tribulation period. That tribulation precedes the millennial reign of Christ. The Bible in Revelation also speaks about that as it speaks about in Revelation chapter 20 in verses 2 through 7. Millennial because it's a thousand year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. In each of these verses it mentions those thousand years where Christ will reign. Beginning at verse 2 of Revelation 20. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till a thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw the thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God. I thought when I read that, John of Edestan, missionaries to China that were beheaded for the saying of the gospel and many others that have suffered martyrdom in the same way. And these specific ones it mentions here. They had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark. So they were in the time period, living in the time period of the tribulation, when the beast and Paul's prophet had risen up. Upon their foreheads or in their hands, they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, and such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with them a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. So the Bible is very clear and very specific as far as our anticipation of future events. The Kingdom of God is coming. The times and seasons is coming. It's just not for us to know when it is. But we can know what it is as God has revealed that to us in His Word. But preceding that, immediately at the beginning of that, There's a day called the day of the Lord. Peter speaks about it in 2 Peter 3 in verse 10. And it's remarkable really how closely Peter's passage and our text this morning agree as far as what they're saying. But in verse 10, he said, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works therein shall be burned up." I saw an article yesterday, I think, speaking about the polar ice caps, and nowhere on earth, supposedly, is global warming more evident than the polar ice caps. Well, they might be melting, but I'm not worried as a believer this morning, thinking, oh, they're going to melt away, we're going to have climate change, and that's going to be it. Why? Because God's told me how it's going to end. And there's still, no matter where we're at in human history, there's still a thousand years that are left. But before that takes place, there's going to be cataclysmic events that will take place during this tribulation period and during this day of the Lord. And so this morning, I'm just going to look at this passage, what Paul speaks about, what we need to think about and consider with regard to this day of the Lord coming. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God. We thank you for the things that were mysteries that the prophets in the Old Testament would have loved to have had the knowledge that we have with the New Testament. These are revealed mysteries, though there's still some things about prophecy that we don't fully understand. There's symbolism and these ideas about nations and countries. When it takes place, we'll have a far better understanding exactly what the Word of God meant when it said these different things. But it's pretty clear. Father, it is very clear. It's strikingly clear. It's clear enough that we ought to let the Word of God open our eyes, our hearts and minds to things that need to change in our life to make us ready for this day of the Lord so that we can be well equipped. Father, there's things here that ought to help us to desire to help others to be equipped and ready for this day of the Lord. So I just pray the Spirit of God to give me grace Wisdom as I speak, I pray that our hearts will be tender to your voice this morning. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. The first thing I think Paul would share with us is that you can bet your soul that this day is coming. You can bet your soul that this day is coming. It'd be no losing gamble to take the Word of God and see what it says on this and say, it is surely coming. Verse 1 and 2. Says, but of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as of eight in the night. This event that's going to take place, it comes like a thief in the night. It's completely unexpected that the Lord would come. And this morning, somebody could feel like he's not coming. If that was the case, I would just say, well, that's biblical. That's what the Word of God says about this day. When it comes, there's going to be many people. that feel like this day is not coming. 2 Peter 3.3, to go back to that passage that Peter gave us on the same topic. But 2 Peter 3, verse 3, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of this coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Sure, there's going to be scoffers, there's going to be people falling after their lusts, they're in sin, and they don't care. And they don't want to think about this idea that God is going to come in power and with authority and with judgment. And they'll say, where's the promise of His coming? 2,000 years is a long time. He hasn't come. And so, again, no surprise that this would take place. I guess back in the old days, they had a town crier that would go through the streets of the village and ring their bell and say, nine o'clock and all's well, ten o'clock and all's well. You know, I suppose if you had an invading army and that risk of invasion and you've got this guy going down the street saying all's well, all's well, all's well, after a certain amount of time, if nobody stood up, And said, look, it's not all well. We need to be vigilant. Everybody go to sleep. And that's the way our world is. They're walking down the street saying, 2,000 years and all's well. 2,010 years and all's well. All's well, all's well. And pretty soon, our generation has sinner after sinner after sinner that's asleep, thinking Christ isn't coming. Just as the Word of God says, they will be. They'll say, where's the promise of His coming? And He's coming as HP. Friends of ours in Dundee, you know the Edwards, that minister in Dundee, they had their home broken into. You won't be surprised this morning to find out that they didn't receive a text saying, you know, at such and such a time, I'm coming. No notification, no note through the mail slot or anything saying, you know, tonight is tonight. Well, you're up in your beds and you think all's well. I'm going to be entering your house with your iPhone, your laptop and your car keys in your car. They didn't know he came. They didn't realize he came until it was too late and their things had been stolen. Christ is coming as a thief in the night. By God's grace, He's given us notification. By God's grace, He's broadcast and said, I'm coming. He hasn't said when He's coming, because we're to live in anticipation of His coming. But He's coming. We can feel tonight this false sense, or this morning, this false sense of security, where all's well. And last night, probably at the pubs, there were a lot of people, they weren't really concerned about their sin. There are a lot of people in their homes involved in sin, not concerned. They're not church-going. I talk to people all the time. I speak to them about the Lord. I used to be shocked when I came and started speaking to people and they'd say to me, I don't think about it. I never think about it. And I'd look at them and say, come on, you got to think about it. I used to think they were just saying that, but I don't believe it anymore. Why? Because they're asleep, just like the Word of God says. Christ is coming as a thief, and there's people that say, all's well. But we can be assured this morning that he will come. He goes on to say in our text there, for yourselves, know perfectly that the day of the Lord is still coming. To know perfectly, it means to proceed accurately. You believers, you understand that Christ is coming. And not just saying He is coming, but how He's coming. He's coming as a thief. Jesus said a parable about that idea of His coming like a thief in Luke 12, verse 39 and 40. He said, And this know, that if the good men of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man come at that an hour when ye think not. If Christ came right now, there would be people throughout this community, and probably us as well, that would think, why didn't I get ready? Why wasn't I interested in spiritual things? Why wasn't I interested in knowing the Word of God? Why wasn't I interested in living for God? Christ has come. Too late. You know, this morning, I can say 100%, 120%, 150%. Look, Christ is coming. He's coming. That's a fact. I mean, we don't have to wonder this morning. You can bet our souls on this fact that Christ will return just like he said, in this case, as judge as he comes. So you can bet your soul that this day is coming. Then you cannot escape this day when it comes. That's a second thing. You can bet your soul that it is coming and you can't escape when it comes. But you will feel like you can. It says in our text, verse 3, for when they shall see peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. Does our world feel like they're going to get out of the judgment of God? Absolutely. It's not even on their radar. It's way outside their minds. They say it's fine. They feel like they can escape the wrath of God. They feel like they're going to get away with it. Yet when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them." In our world today, are they saying peace and safety? Loudly. I saw an advert, you've probably seen it as well, I think it's on the buses here, but I've definitely seen it in a news article. It says, it's an atheistic sign, it says, there is no God, so stop worrying and enjoy life. I mean, you might as well write, peace and safety. Isn't that what that's saying? It's saying, he's not coming, he's not going to judge, and so it's fine, peace and safety, just live your life, stop worrying about it. I mean, someone's like taking right out of this passage, they just all say peace and safety. There is no God, so stop worrying. Evolution. I saw an article this week that said, this is what it said, it's a blatant lie. Evolution recreated in the lab. That was the title. You know what they did? They spent more money than they should have building supercomputers that they could put their theory into that would come up with blobs that kind of look like earth after three months of crushing hard numbers. I really doubt when they got done, and I didn't read the article in full, but I really doubt when they got done they had grass that gives oxygen, they had a sun the right distance from the earth, they had all this order and design and it's just ridiculous. I mean they came up with something that probably made a blob that they look at and say, well that's close to earth. And so, oh, now we've recreated this in the lab. What are they saying? Peace and safety? It's okay to know where we come from. No, we don't come from God. We come from monkeys. Peace and safety. It's all fine. Religion. Think about what our religion says today. Popular religion says, you're okay. Guy's sexy. You're quiet as you are. It's okay. God loves you. God loves everybody. So don't worry about your sin. In fact, I'm not even going to say sin because I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. God's got a problem with that. And so again, what are religions saying today? Tolerance to all people, all roads lead to heaven, whatever religion you're in is fine. Again, you can give the message at the churches, most churches in Edinburgh today is peace and safety. Peace and safety to people that aren't prepared to stand before God. The government nowadays, they kind of solve everybody's problems. Just trust Big Brother. He's got you covered. Don't need to turn to God. Don't need to cry out to God and ask God to meet your needs. Because here, here's some money. Here's some help here. Here is everything you need. You're fine. Just trust us. Yeah, peace and safety. That's the message that our world is pumping out. Peace and safety. But what's the Word of God say? When they shall say, peace and safety, Then sudden destruction. Sudden. It's not like they're walking along and they see it coming. It's like they're walking along and they get hit by a bus. It's there before they realize it. And we find also their pain will awaken their heart to the certainty of the time. It says Christ is going to come as travail upon a woman with child. The conceived child in the womb says it's time. Pretty soon, we're just waiting for that moment where my wife says, it's time. Time to go. I'm not going to lean over and say to the baby, can you wait? She doesn't want me to say that anyway. But I'm not going to say to the baby, can you postpone this a little bit? Hey, let's talk about it. You know, this isn't really a good time. If you come tonight, I'm not going to get any sleep. And so, can we just wait? When a baby is ready to come, a baby's coming. There's nothing you can do. And the signal to that, I understand, my wife likes to talk to her about this. I don't fully understand this. You know, I'm a man, pretty, I'm labor pains, right? But it signals it's come. How? Pain. What's going to be the signal to this earth that Christ is come? Immediate pain that says, it's here. It's here. No delaying it. No postponing it. No going to God and saying, Oh God, I was wrong. I missed it. I didn't understand that you are coming in wrath. It's too late. Our world has conceived the wrath of God. And when that time comes, God's going to deliver that wrath in its fullness. So like a woman with child, you'll find no way to escape. It says, As prevailed upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. Again, they feel like they can? Yes. Are they going to try to escape the wrath of God? The Bible says yes, even specifically in the Revelation account of the judgments of God, mankind are going to seek to commit suicide, but God won't let them. It says in Revelation 9, 6, And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. Jehovah's Witnesses, they come to your door, knock on the door, and they say, there is no hell. They say, what this is, is when somebody who's not, I guess, going to heaven, I don't know what their terminology for that is, somebody that's not going to heaven, when they die, that's it. Then I'd ask them, well then, if that's God's judgment, why would God judge the world, won't He let them die? If it's just death, then why does He let them die? Why does He make them stay alive and feel His wrath on earth upon them? But that's what's going to take place. They seek to escape, but they can't. I've had people tell me as I sought to share Christ with them and witness to them, they'll say something like, this is hell. Really? Let's step outside with me today. It's a beautiful day. If it was raining, have an umbrella. It's still a beautiful day. Fresh air, moisture, life, vitality. This is hell. You know what you can say about this day that we're looking at? This is as close as you can get to hell on earth. Because what is hell? Hell is the damnation or the judgment of God upon men's sin. What is this day of the Lord ushered in upon earth? It ushers in hell on earth. the wrath of God against mankind's sin. So it is a day of God's judgment. You know, is God mean this morning? Is he in heaven saying, well, I can't wait because that day of my wrath is coming. I just can't wait to bring my wrath against mankind. You know, in the passage we've already read speaking about Peter saying the heavens will pass away with fire and all these things take place. There were people that he already mentioned that said he says he's coming. Why hasn't he come? But the verse tells us in Revelation or to Peter three nine, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. As some men count slackness, but as long suffering to us were. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You could ask this question, why has it taken 2,000 years? If he's coming, why has he waited? The answer is this. He doesn't want to judge the world with his wrath. He wants them to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish. He's long-suffering. God has restrained, restrained, restrained, restrained, and he's still restraining, by his grace. But someday He's going to set that aside and the Bible says His wrath will come. So we can't escape it when it comes. So as we look at this, we're looking ahead at this day of the Lord. This morning we are one of two types of people as we come up to this day. It says in verse 4 and 5, but ye brethren, brethren, are not in darkness. that that day should overtake you as a thief. You're all the children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. There's two people. There's people in the light and there's people in darkness. And those two things are very, they're very obvious things. Somebody that loves the Lord, their lifestyle is characterized by Christ. Somebody that's not saved, not regenerate, they might be a moral person, they might be a gracious person, but in their heart of hearts, there is sin, there is darkness, there is corruption that's there. They're children of darkness, children of sin, children of wrath, as in the passage here. So these two types, they're easily distinguishable, the one from the other. We don't have to worry this morning as we sit here and think, well, am I in darkness or am I light? I think everybody here this morning and everybody that would consider this honestly from the Word of God would know I'm either in the light or I'm in the dark. It's not hard to distinguish So which are we as we come to this day in the Lord? We're either made pure by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ so that by God's grace we're children of light when Christ comes back. Which I'll preface that in a second because the rapture is already taking place. Or we're children of darkness. This day of the wrath of God against mankind. So you must get ready for this day. You must get ready for this day. Verse 6 says, Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Let's not sleep like others, but let's watch and be sober. Let's be aware of what's taking place when this day comes. How is the world asleep? Remember last week the Bible spoke about sleep and what that slumber is for. And it was believers' death. It's not what Paul's speaking about as he comes to chapters 5. He's talking about those that sleep, sleep in the night, and are drunken in the night. He's going to go on to say that in verse 7. So it's talking about this idea that they're not alert to what's taking place. They're unconscious to the fact that today the wrath of God could come. Tomorrow the wrath of God could come. It could be that soon they're saying, again, peace and safety. So, as believers, we look at that and say, Paul is instructing believers, therefore let us not sleep, let's not be unconscious to the fact that Christ is coming, but let us watch and be sober. But Paul, the rapture you just told us about, is going to take place before it, so why do we have to prepare for this? Well, how can we prepare for it? He's saying, Just like for the rapture, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, get ready. Just like we talked about last week, and how we don't want to be ashamed before the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes back, that by God's grace, our life's right, be ready for the rapture. So, again, how can we do that? Well, realize the day of the Lord is coming soon, and help others get ready. In eternity, if we went into eternity today, what matters? Does it matter who wins the football match? And that's right from my notes, by the way. Does it matter who wins the football match? No. It doesn't matter. I guess there's a big game today. It doesn't matter who wins. That does not count for eternity. Does it matter how good I am at video games? Say, you know, I'm the best at video games. I pour hours, as people do, into moving my fingers just right so I can get past that level and get on to some other level that doesn't matter for eternity. Is that a good way to get ready for the Lord coming? Does it matter this morning how knowledgeable I am about pop culture and music and the latest this or that? It doesn't really matter. Does it matter how much money I make? Does it matter what kind of house I live in or what kind of car I drive? No. What matters today is what have I done that lasts for eternity? How have I used my life? You know, the great thing about life is as long as we have it, we can use it. So if I look back at the past week and say I didn't use this for the Lord, I can look ahead at the week ahead and say, but I can use that for the Lord. And I've got maybe a couple weeks after that I can use that for the Lord. Hopefully a year after that I can use that for the Lord. Two years, five years, ten years, however many years I've got, I can use it for the Lord. Why? Because my family needs to get saved. My neighbors need to get saved. This world needs to hear about Christ. There's a privilege of sharing gospel and living like Christ. And so we ought to be ready. Let's not sleep. act like the world, live like the world, smell like the world, and do the things the world does. Why? Because that's like living like them, with an unconsciousness for Christ's coming. As believers, we've got to be ready. So what have we done for the Lord? This morning, our life shows our preparedness for this day. We can examine our life today and very well know whether we're ready for this day of the Lord. If our life is full of sin, we're not ready. Verse 7, for they that sleep, sleep in the night, they that be drunken are drunken in the night. They that sleep, that's again somebody that's careless, they're not aware of what's coming, taking place, they're not living in light and eternity, they're asleep. They're careless and they're insensitive. They either are drunken or drunken in the night. You know what's interesting? We live close to a pub. There's many pubs in Lone Head. What's interesting is pubs aren't packed out generally during the day. And certainly what takes place in the night does not take place during the day. I've lived long enough by a pub to know that. At 1 o'clock in the morning when pubs close, all the drunks come out on the street. And it's like, sin is prevalent. If it happened during the day, society would be in horror of what's taking place. I hope society has that much morality left that they would look at it and say, this is awful that we've let this happen to our society. But what's the truth? It takes place at night. Why does it take place at night? John 3, 19. This is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Why are they undercover of darkness? Because their deeds are evil. Think about the wicked things that get committed at night. Thievery, stealing, breaking and entering, rape, and all these abusive crimes against a lot of the family abuse takes place at night. Why? Because men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. You know, if our life is characterized by sin, we're not ready. That's why, again, we can say with conviction, our world is not ready for this day of the Lord. But if our life is full of Christ, we're ready. If our life is full of Christ, we're ready, full of the faith of Jesus, verse 8, but let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith. You know, when we got saved, we got saved by faith. We looked at the Word of God, said, I'm a sinner, Jesus Christ died for me, He paid the price for my sin, He didn't stay dead, but He rose from the dead, and we obeyed the Gospel, and we received Jesus Christ into our heart. You know, as believers, we walk by faith. We don't look at the world and say, everything is falling apart. Let's go hide from what's taking place. We continue by faith. In my study school lesson I didn't get to do this morning, Paul speaks about power. Power is the ability to do what's right. It's the ability to live victoriously. So as believers, again, living by faith. Let us live the day putting on the breastplate of faith. and love. Love is the love of Jesus. It says in Romans 13.10, love worketh no ill to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. You know, if we love the way that we ought to love, there's not sin in our life. The answer to obeying the Ten Commandments or any commandments is love. If we love God the way we should, we obey Him. If we love others the way we should, we're right with them. And so Paul says, live by faith, live by love. Let those things characterize your life. And then the hope of Jesus putting on a helmet, the hope of salvation. Again, he's speaking to believers, speaking about the day of the Lord. Do they have to be afraid of this day that Paul's speaking about? It's an awful day. But they don't have to fear it. Why? Because they've got the hope of salvation. They've been saved from hell. They've been saved from the bondage of sin. And someday they're going to be saved from sin itself completely. It's a hope. They're also going to be saved from this day of wrath, as Paul will be speaking about here lastly. is that you won't be mistaken on this day. You won't be mistaken on this day. Verse 9 and 10, it says, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Believers, I don't have to be afraid this morning that God's going to get wrong. The day of God's wrath is going to come and somehow He's going to judge me with the wicked. I don't have to worry about it. Why? Because He has not appointed me unto wrath. Again, it's one of the reasons why I'm pre-tribulational rapture of a church as far as belief. Why? Because God hasn't appointed us to wrath. How could the wrath of God fall against the world and fall on believers at the same time? He hasn't appointed us to wrath. Even in the end times, when the wrath of God is falling, in Revelation, when people have gotten saved, it says in Revelation 7, verse 3, Christ commands, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, for we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. So even there, you see, God hasn't appointed them to wrath, even in the tribulation period. It's this morning. It's a comfort. God isn't going to get it wrong. He'll make no mistake. When the wrath of God falls, it'll fall on those for whom He has meant it to fall. Acts 1-7, again, the Lord Jesus said, He said unto them, It's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. I can't say this morning it's next week. I can't say it's next month. I can't say it's next year. I can't say when it is, but I can say what it is. It's a day where Christ is going to come in power, and this world is going to be suddenly caught off guard with the wrath of God. Just like in the days of Noah, eating, drinking, marrying, doing all these things, and suddenly the wrath of God fell, and it was too late. What's our message? to those that are about us in the community. They need to get saved. Why do we seek to give the gospel so earnestly? Why? Because they're not guaranteed next week. They're not guaranteed next month. They're not guaranteed next year. If they don't die, Christ may come. And if he comes for the rapture of the church, it's going to enter into all these other things. And the day of the Lord, when it comes, it's too late. His wrath has come. So again, this morning, what can we be assured of? Well, we can bet our soul that the day is coming. Don't know when it's coming, but it's coming. We can't escape this day when it comes. When it comes, it's too late. There is no escape from this day. So which type are we? Are we believers looking at this thing? It's an awful thing that's coming. Knowing the terror of the Lord, the Bible says we persuade man. We understand it is coming. It is coming. But are we believer? Because we must get ready for this day. Our life will show whether we're prepared for this day or not. If there's characteristics of sin and living in sin in our life, we're not ready. And so we've got to deal with that sin so that we're ready for the Lord to come. But you won't be mistaken on this day. Peter again said in 2 Peter 3a, 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. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us for not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. In verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. And so we see it, we look at it, we say, it's coming. But when it comes, it's too late. It's too late. So in this morning, what's the point? Why are we thinking about it? Because are we ready for it? Are we living in light of it? As believer or unbeliever, is it on our radar? Thinking about this day that Christ will come in wrath against this world. Praise God He'll come first to wrath for the church, but sorrowfully He'll come back in vengeance upon this world. So may God help us to do everything we can to carry that message to the world. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the gospel. Thank you that it has the power to save those appointed to wrath. to save them from that judgment, to save them from that hellfire on earth and in eternity. Father, I pray the Spirit of God to give us a burden this morning. We've got to be earnest about giving the gospel. We've got to be earnest about taking this message of life to the world. Father, there's coming a day where no man can work. What is to be done must be done before Christ comes. And so, how earnest we ought to be And Father, certainly if any are unsaved, how they ought to cry out for your mercy and how they ought to accept the love of God for their soul that sent Jesus Christ to the cross to die for them and how they ought to respond to that love and that hope, that lifeline. Father, nobody this morning would have to go away with a heavy heart thinking about this day of the wrath of God. It's a warning to us. Lord, you warn us so that we can get saved. I got saved, Father, you know, because of a message on hell. Praise God for those others that have trusted in Christ because they realized the seriousness of their crime against God and the judgment that was upon them. And so, Lord, we don't ask you to take away your conviction this morning. We don't ask you to make it easy for those that are lost. We pray the Spirit of God will do everything in His power to bring them to Christ. And so we thank you for your love. We thank you for our time together this morning around your Word. May He bless it to our hearts. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.