The Model Life: Alertness, Part 4

Take your Bible and turn to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 as we continue to look at the day of the Lord and what it means to live a life of alertness as a model person in the kingdom of God. It's a great study as we begin to understand more of what God has for us concerning his coming again, such an important passage of Scripture. And so Paul tells us that the model life is one about being alert, being sober-minded, being vigilant. You know, the Bible says that we need to be alert to the assaults of sin and unrighteousness. Need to be alert to the attacks of Satan.

In fact, Peter says it this way: "Be on the alert," First Peter 5:8, "be vigilant, be sober minded, because your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." We need to be awake and alert to that. And the Lord would say something very similar in Matthew's gospel. In fact, he would say this: Matthew chapter 24 verse number 42, "Therefore be on the alert for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready, for the son of man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will."

Verse 13 of chapter 25: "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour." Then in Mark's gospel, the 13th chapter: "Take heed, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It's like a man away on a journey who, upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning, in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all: be on the alert."

So many of us are affected by the stupefying effects of sin that we are not awake. We are not vigilant. We are not alert. But the model life is defined by alertness, being awake as to the activity of Satan, the assaults of sin, and the arrival of Christ coming again. That is just so important for us to grasp. And so Paul begins in First Thessalonians chapter 5 by saying this is how you remain alert. Number one, you need to be reminded of certain things. Number two, you need to be responsible. Number three, you need to be refreshed. And number four, you need to be reliable. That takes us to the 11 verses of First Thessalonians chapter 5.

So he says you need to be reminded of several things. Number one, he says in verse number one: "Now as to the times and epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you." But you need to be reminded of the times. Why? Because the time of Christ's coming is unknowable and unchangeable. It's unknowable because no one knows the day nor the hour. It's unchangeable because Acts 1:7 tells us that the Lord has fixed a specific time for his arrival. So it's an unchangeable time, although it's an unknowable time.

He moves from the time to the term, the day of the Lord. First Thessalonians 5:2: "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come." That's the term, the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a term that is unmistakable and unforgettable. It's unmistakable because it's reiterated over and over again: 19 times in the Old Testament, four times in the New Testament. But not only is it unmistakable, it's unforgettable because Christ says in Matthew 24 verse number 21: "There has never been a day like it, nor will there be a day like it after it comes," because it is so unforgettable.

Then he moves to the thief, and he says this: "For you know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night." A thief comes unexpectedly. The thief comes suddenly. So the arrival of the thief is unpredictable, and yet it's unquestionable because in 2nd Peter 3:10 and Matthew 24 and in the book of Revelation, it talks about the fact that the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

And then he says this number four: reminder of the terror of the Lord. When he says: "While they are saying peace and safety, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape." The terror will be unimaginable and unpreventable. That's what we talked about last time. But there's one more I want to add to this reminder, and that is what we call the thrill of the day of the Lord.

See, well, how could there be thrill when it's all about gloominess and darkness and death and disaster and earthquakes and demonic activity? Where is the thrill in all that? Well, Paul says this through the pen of the Lord: "But you brethren are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief." But you brethren, there is a thrill in this whole day of the Lord activity that you need to understand. It's a thrill that sometimes we lose sight of amidst all the terror of the judgment of the Lord.

So let me point it out to you in four specific ways. What the thrill of the day of the Lord is that we need to be reminded of? The first is this: that the power of God is going to be displayed. The power of God will be displayed unlike at any other time in the history of the world. If you were with us on Resurrection Sunday, we talked about Revelation 1 verse number 8 where it says that the Lord is the Almighty, the Pantocrator. Nine times it's used in the book of Revelation, ten times in the New Testament, but nine in the book of Revelation because that's when the almighty power of God is put on display the most. In fact, if you want to know and understand the power of God, just read the book of Revelation because it's displayed in magnificent ways.

In fact, let me show you. It says this in Revelation 15, chapter 15 verse number 3: "And they sing the song of Moses the bondservant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, 'Great and marvelous are your works, oh Lord God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations.'" The song of Moses is simply the new song. It's the same as the song of the Lamb. It's a song of a soul made new. It's a song that redemption sings. And it's all about the judgment of God, the almighty power of God. And notice what it says: that God's mighty power in his ways are faithful and they are true.

That's very important because you go to Revelation 16 and it says this in verse number 4: "Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, 'Righteous are you who are and who were, oh Holy One, because you judged these things. For they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.' And I heard the altar saying, 'Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.'" Again, God's judgments are true. God's judgments are righteous.

Why is that important? A few weeks ago, we took you all the way back to the book of Isaiah, the 29th chapter, which says that God's righteousness is seen in his judgments. We took you to Psalm 9 where it says that God's judgments display his righteous character. The best way to know God is through the judgments of God. That's what the Old Testament teaches us. So when you read the book of Revelation, the judgments of God are faithful. They are true. They are righteous all together. That's what is being said over and over and over again.

And then over in Revelation chapter 19, it says: "Hallelujah!" verse number one, "salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous, for he has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bondservants." So again, the Almighty God has power who demonstrates it righteously and justly. That's the way God works.

And so what happens is that when you understand the day of the Lord and the thrill of that day, the world will finally begin to see and understand the almighty power of God. Because this power is on display, we know that through salvation because we have been transferred from darkness into light. We are children of the light. We are not children of the night. We are children of the day. We're born again, but we've been transferred into God's kingdom. We've experienced the power of God in salvation. We understand God's power.

But the world does not. Think about it. When Christ was on earth, he displayed power over demons. He displayed power over disease. He displayed power over the depths of the sea. But people didn't understand his power. They didn't believe in his power. They thought it was great for a time, but they didn't understand the message behind the power. One day, all the world will see the power of God on display. That's the thrill of the day of the Lord. That's the thrill of his coming again. That's what we need to be reminded of. There is great thrill in knowing that Christ is going to come again. His power will be displayed.

And after his power is displayed, then his preeminence is declared. His preeminence is declared. Let me read to you what Isaiah says in Isaiah 45: "Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory."

Zechariah 14 verse number 9: "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord and his name one." Revelation 11:15: "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forevermore.'" Revelation 19:16: "He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords."

I read you those verses because you need to know what the Bible says. Revelation 1 verse number 7 says that this one who is faithful and true is the ruler of the kings of the earth. His preeminence will finally and ultimately be demonstrated and declared for all the world to see so that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's why it's such a thrilling thing, because the world will finally see and know what we know. And although they won't be saved, they will all bow before him because he's the preeminent one. He's the king of all kings and Lord of all lords. That's why the day of the Lord is so thrilling.

So not only is the power of God displayed and the preeminence of God declared, but know this: that the people of God, Israel, will be delivered. That's why this is so thrilling. Listen to these verses. I'm going to read several of them to you.

Ezekiel 37:25-28: "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children's children forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forever."

Then in Joel chapter 2 verse number 32: "And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call."

Zechariah 12 verse number 10: "And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."

Zechariah 13 verse number 1: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."

Romans 11:25: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, 'There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.'"

God is going to deliver his people Israel. There's going to be the salvation of Israel. I read you those verses because the Bible is filled with verses concerning Israel's ultimate deliverance. You need to understand this. And that leads us to our fourth point in terms of the thrill of the day of the Lord and Christ coming again, of what we need to be reminded of: not only will the power of God be displayed and the preeminence of Christ be declared and the people of God be delivered, but the promises of God, listen carefully, the promises of God will finally be done. This is so important. The promises of God will finally be done.

If you've got your Bible, turn with me to the book of Zechariah. I'm going to give you a lot of verses. We're going to read through a lot of things here. We're going to look at a lot of different aspects of it. So hold on tight. You might not be able to take all the notes you want to take down. That's okay. Listen carefully. You can always listen to it tomorrow. Just download it on our website, and you can stop it where you want to stop it. You can stop me where you want to stop me and take your notes, okay? But this is just very, very important. I want you to grasp this because this is the thrill of the day of the Lord.

Amidst all the terror, amidst all the tragedy, amidst all the horrific things that are going to happen, there's a great thrill behind all this. It's the motive of the Lord because he wants to display his power. He wants to declare his preeminence. He wants to deliver his people Israel. That's what he wants to do, and that's thrilling to us. But he also wants to show you that all of his promises will be done.

The book of Zechariah. Zechariah's name means "God remembers." And as Tim had mentioned earlier, you see, when God remembers, it's not because he forgot. It's not because he's absent-minded. No. For God to remember something simply means that he is going to fulfill his promises. He's going to act on behalf of his people. And the book of Zechariah is summed up in the very first chapter in the very first verse. Listen to what it says. Zechariah 1:1: "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet."

Very important. Berechiah, his father. Iddo, his grandfather. Berechiah, his name means "God will bless." His grandfather's name means "at the appointed time." So the sum of the book is this: God will bless at the appointed time. That's why God remembers. God remembers to bless at the appointed time. God fulfills his promises at the appointed time. Isn't that great?

See, we forget about this: that God and his promises are always fulfilled at the proper appointed time. Never too late. Never too early. Just on time. That's how God functions. And the whole world runs on his timetable. He's in charge of everything. So the book of Zechariah is quoted or alluded to 41 times in the New Testament. You probably didn't know that, did you? 41 times. And I told you a couple of weeks ago, there's a phrase, it's an eschatological phrase that goes with the day of the Lord. It's called "in that day." "In that day" is used a hundred and fifteen times in the Bible. Seven of those times in the New Testament. The rest are in the Old Testament. In the book of Isaiah, 43 times Isaiah refers to the phrase "in that day."

Now why do I give you those numbers? Because the repetition of the phrase is very, very important to understand how it all comes together. If it's a phrase that describes the Messiah's arrival, the deliverance of Israel, the day of the Lord, you need to understand what it means when God says "in that day" this is going to happen.

So turn to Zechariah chapter 12. Because in Zechariah 12, 13, and 14, the phrase "in that day" occurs 16 times. 16 times. God wants you to know that there's going to be something that's going to happen in that day. Israel will be delivered. Israel will be saved. The king will come. The king will reign. And there's another phrase that goes along with that "in that day," and the phrase is God saying, "I will." Okay? Because he wants you to know that everything about the end is under his control. Everything about the end is not under the control of your EV vehicle, okay, or whether or not you use this amount of emissions that come from your car. None of that has to do with the end of the world. God has everything to do with the end of the world because he controls the end, right? He's in charge of the end. He knows how it all comes together.

You can recycle everything you want. It makes no difference. It's not going to change anything. God's in charge of everything. Please understand that. And God has a plan. He's faithful to fulfill it. That's why I love the phrase in Revelation we talked about last week in Resurrection Sunday. He's faithful witness. He's faithful and true. Revelation 3:14, he's faithful and true. Revelation 19 verse number 11, he is a faithful God. He is true to his word. He is true to his promises. So he says in the end, in Zechariah, "I will do this, I will do that, in that day. I'm in charge."

So look at it with me for a minute. Zechariah 12 verse 2: "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the people around." God says, "I will do that." He says in verse 3: "It will come about that in that day," there's the phrase, "that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples." Verse 4: "In that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with bewilderment and its rider with madness." Okay, doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be horses. Horses stand for power, stand for strength. So all those who have power and all those who are in charge of power are going to be struck with bewilderment and madness. God says, "I'm going to do that. I'm in charge."

He says in verse number 4: "In that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with bewilderment and its rider with madness, but I will watch over the house of Judah, and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness." Notice the contrast. "I will do something specifically for Israel. I will watch over them in that day, but I will strike everyone else with blindness."

He says down in verse number 6: "In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and like a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples." God's going to do something so unique in the villages of Israel during the tribulation that God's going to make them a firepot. They're going to be on fire for the Lord, and it cannot be defeated because God's in charge.

He says in verse number 8: "In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them." Verse number 9: "And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." Verse 10: "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication."

Chapter 13 verse number 1: "In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity." Verse 2: "It will come about in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. And I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land." Verse 4: "It will also come about in that day the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive." Verse number 7: "And I will turn my hand against the little ones." Verse number 9: "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"

So important. Chapter 14 verse number 2: "For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle." That's Revelation chapter 16. God gathers all the nations together. So why does God do that? God uses Satan as his instrument, but God is doing this. God's in charge of all this. No one else is. It says: "Then the Lord will go forth" verse 3 "and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. In that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south."

Verse 6: "In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle." Verse 8: "And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter." Verse number 9: "And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and his name the only one."

Notice: "He will be king over all the earth in that day." Verse number 12 of chapter 14: "Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth." Verse 13: "It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them, and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another."

How does God do all that? He speaks a word and they're incinerated. They melt. Verse 20: "In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, 'Holy to the Lord.' And the cooking pots in the Lord's house will be like the bowls before the altar." And in the last verse of Zechariah, it says: "And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day."

He makes it very clear that there's coming a day. It's that day. That "in that day," a phrase used so much in the Old Testament, it's all about the day of the Lord. It's all about the salvation of Israel. It's all about the arrival of the Messiah. This is all going to happen in that day. And God says, "I'm going to do this. I'm in charge of all this. I run this."

You know, that's the great thrill of the day of the Lord. I know that things just don't happen by chance. I know that things that war is not going to break out because God's in charge and God's going to work it all out after the counsel of his will. What am I afraid of? I'm afraid of nothing because God's in charge of everything. That is just so important.

Go back to Zechariah 14 verse number 9. It says: "And the Lord will be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be the only one, and his name the only one." I thought about that, and I wrote down these verses. That's the fulfillment of Daniel 2:44, Daniel 7:13-14, Isaiah 11:1-10, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Luke 1:31-33, Ezekiel 20:33-44, Psalm 2 verse number 8, Revelation 11:15, and Revelation 19:15-16. That one verse is the fulfillment of all that. That's exactly what's going to happen in that day. The Lord will be king over all the earth.

Turn with me to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 4. Remember that phrase "in that day" is used 43 times in the book of Isaiah alone. It says in verse number 2: "In that day the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel."

Now what's the branch of the Lord? Well, go back to Zechariah chapter 6, if your finger's still in Zechariah. If it's not, well, I should have told you to keep it there. Zechariah chapter 6 verse number 12 says: "Then speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is branch, for he will branch out from where he is; and he will build the temple of the Lord."'"

Who's that whose name is branch? That's the Messiah. In Hebrew it's "netzer." It's a shoot that comes from the root of Jesse. It's a title for the Messiah. "Behold, a man whose name is branch, for he will branch out from where he is, and he will build the temple of the Lord." So Zechariah tells us that the branch, the Messiah, is going to build the temple of the Lord.

Why is that important? That's important because Israel, the Jewish nation, says that they are going to build the next temple. And I told you this before: that before the year 2000, at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, all the rabbis taught that the Messiah will come and build the third temple. But in the year 2000, they changed their tune and said, "No, the Messiah is not going to do it. We're going to build the third temple." And they went full bore into making sure all the outfits for the priests were done and all the ornaments for inside the temple were complete. And they're all done. Everything's done. It's all ready for the Messiah.

But they say they're going to build the third temple, and they're right. But it won't be for the Messiah. It will be for the anti-Messiah. Because in Revelation 11, John sees a temple, and God says, "Measure the temple." Well, what temple is there? Because when John wrote in 96 AD, there was no temple on the Temple Mount because it was destroyed in 70 AD. So where's the temple? There's one in the tribulation period. Who builds it? Israel builds it. And that's where the abomination takes place. Daniel 9:24-27 and fulfilled in Matthew chapter 24 as Christ prophesied.

And so you have this branch is going to build it. What temple is it? This is the fourth temple. This is the temple that Messiah builds. Very clear. The Messiah is going to build the temple. He said it twice. It says: "Yes, it is he who will build the temple of the Lord." So Zechariah reiterates it. The Messiah is going to build the temple of the Lord. Yes, he's going to build the temple of the Lord. Why? Because there's so much confusion about who's going to build the temple. Well, it's going to be the Lord. It will be the fourth temple, but he's going to build it.

And it says: "And he will bear the honor and sit and rule on his throne. Thus, he will be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices." That's a remarkable statement. Why? Because that is unique in the economy. There is no king who is a priest. There are kings who are prophets and prophets who are priests, but no kings who are priests. Because every time a king tried to perform priestly duty, God disciplined him. Why? Because this was going to have one king-priest, and that's the Messiah. And therefore, there will be peace between the two offices because the Messiah himself is a king and the Messiah himself is a priest.

So go back to Isaiah chapter 4. And Isaiah says this, he says: "In that day the branch," the Messiah, "of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain."

Why is that important? Well, go back to Zechariah 14. Did I tell you to keep your finger there? I should have told you to keep your finger there. Zechariah 14 verse number 16: "Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths." Or the Feast of Tabernacles.

Do you know that during the millennial reign of Christ, there will be three feasts that are celebrated? The feast of the New Year, the feast of Passover, and the feast of Booths. Israel celebrates the feast of Booths today. They go out in their backyard once a year for a week. They build thatched roofs, sleep under them. They use palm trees, and they use all kinds of different paraphernalia, and they sleep outside as a reminder of their wilderness wanderings and how the Lord dwelt among them during their wilderness wanderings. So they do it in anticipation of the fact that one day God will dwell among them permanently. Until that time, they celebrate the feast of Booths or the feast of Tabernacles or "sukkot" as it's called.

So during the millennial reign of Christ, they're going to celebrate this. Why? Because it's a realization of a promise made true, a promise that's done. The Messiah is there. So when Isaiah 4 talks about this canopy over Jerusalem, that's like shade. It's like a tabernacle. It's like a booth. It's like protection for Israel. And he reads Zechariah 14, he realizes they're going to celebrate this once a year in the millennial kingdom with Christ himself. It's a realization that everything's come true.

But that's why they're going to celebrate Passover in the millennial kingdom. Not because they're sacrificing the Lord again. Not because the symbol wasn't met. The symbol was. It's all about a reminder. It's all about a reminder of the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. Remember his apocalyptic name? He's the lamb of God. He was the lamb that was slain, and all throughout eternity, he'll be remembered as the lamb that was slain. So why do you celebrate Passover during the millennial reign of Christ upon the earth? Because it's a constant reminder that the reason you are saved is because of the lamb. The reason you're in heaven is because of the lamb. "Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and praise." It's all about the lamb of God.

And so the Lord has all this mapped out because the promises all must be fulfilled. Everything he said is true. I love, listen to these verses. Isaiah 41, talking about Israel: "Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away." "I have chosen thee and not cast thee away." Israel is God's elect. Listen carefully to what I'm going to say. If you believe in a replacement theology, you destroy the doctrine of election. And you can't do that. Because Israel is God's elect. "I have chosen you. I have not forsaken you." That would mean that God chose you and could forsake you. So if you believe in replacement theology, then your doctrine of election hangs on a very weak thread. Because that means God can forsake you. But God doesn't forsake us, does he? Not at all. He says of Israel, "You are my elect. I have chosen you and not cast thee away."

Isaiah 41:17: "I the Lord will hear them. I the God of Israel will not forsake them." Isaiah 44:21: "For thou art my servant, I have formed thee. Thou art my servant. Oh Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me." Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."

Isaiah 54 verse number 7: "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer."

Isaiah 62 verse number 4: "Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married."

God made a promise. He made an unconditional, irrevocable, unilateral promise to Abraham, and to David, to Abraham, to his son Isaac, to his son Jacob, the same promise. It's an unconditional promise that no matter what you do, "I'm still going to keep it because the promise is not based on you. It's based completely on me."

So if I believe in a replacement theology, that is, for those of you who don't know, that the church replaces Israel, that all the promises given to Israel are now fulfilled in the church, that's called replacement theology. If I believe in that, not only do I deny the doctrine of election, but I also deny the faithfulness of Almighty God. The promises of God. That God is not faithful. That God does not keep his promises to Israel. That means he won't keep his promises to you either then. That's not true. That's not true at all. God says, "I have not forsaken you. You are my chosen. You are my elect. I have not forsaken you. I will redeem you. I will deliver you." God made that promise. He will keep that promise. And the book of Zechariah proves that.

And that's why we are thrilled with the day of the Lord. Why? Because the power of God is on display. The preeminence of God is completely declared. And the people of God, Israel, are delivered from their sins. And the promises of God, they're done. They're complete. They come to fruition just like he said.

See, we can believe God. We can count on God. We don't doubt him. Why? Because all of his words are faithful and true. He said this in Psalm 105, verse 8: "He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant."

What's everlasting if it doesn't last very long? If it can be cut off because you disobeyed, it's an everlasting covenant. "Saying unto thee, I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance." The land promise, the nation promise, the seed promise. Way back in Genesis chapter 12, God gave that unconditional, irrevocable, unilateral promise to Abraham. It's going to happen.

In Psalm 105, he reiterates it over and over again. This is an everlasting covenant. It does not depend upon you. It totally depends upon me and me alone. And then Psalm 89. Psalm 89 verse number 8, it says: "Oh Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Or to thy faithfulness round about thee?"

It says in verse number 27: "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments," which Israel didn't do, "then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes," which God did do, "nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven."

That's God's covenant to David, the Davidic covenant. That there will be a king that rules in the land on earth from a throne on Zion in Jerusalem. That's going to happen exactly as he said. That's what's so thrilling about the day of the Lord. It brings everything to an end. It brings everything to the fruition of all that God has promised. That's why I'll say to you again: the end of the matter is better than the beginning, right? Because the end is what it's all about. It's all about the Messiah coming again and the fulfillment of all of his promises that he has given to Israel.

And so Paul says back to First Thessalonians chapter 5 these words: "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 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. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do."

Paul is very clear. God has not destined us for wrath. But because of the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Because of the promises of God, we persuade men. We explain to them the truth. We want them to know that Jesus Christ is coming again. That's why we need to be reminded of not just the times and the seasons or epochs, not just of the term the day of the Lord, and not just the thief Christ will come like a thief in the night, and not just the terror of the Lord, but the thrill of the day of the Lord. Because you see, you don't have to go through the day of the Lord. You can be saved from all that. You can be born again.

And that's the message. That's the good news. That's what Paul says: "But brethren, you're not of the night. You're of the day. Brethren, you have the light of the world within you. You are light, not darkness. And therefore you have this hope, and you believe in it, and you follow it." We extend that hope to others. We want them to see it. We want them to believe in it. We want them to receive the gift of eternal life.

Which begs the question: have you received the gift of eternal life? Are you in the light so that you will not experience the wrath of almighty God? That you have been set free from all that because you've given your life to Jesus Christ our Lord? That's just so important. That's my prayer for you, that you would know Christ as Lord and Savior, and that you would experience the thrill of this day because of what God has promised. Because he is preeminent. He is all powerful. And he will deliver his people Israel. That's pretty good.

Father, thank you for today. Lord, you are great. We just scratched the surface of the day of the Lord and the phrase "in that day" and all that you're going to do. But Lord, you are true to your word. We know that. We don't doubt that. We're not afraid of the future. You hold the future. You are the future. And our future is with you. And I pray that everyone in the room would know that, that none would leave without making sure that Christ is Lord of their life so they can be like those in First Thessalonians 5: brethren, children of the light, children of the day, children who are alert, sober, vigilant, and wide awake, knowing about the coming of Christ and all that it entails. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.