THE DAY OF THE LORD PT.6
Pastor Charles Holmes
09-09-2015
THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL REPEATEDLY SPOKE OF A FUTURE DAY WHEN GOD WOULD DIRECTLY INTERVENE IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN.
THEY CALLED THAT "THE DAY OF THE LORD".
ISAIAH 13:6-13
6 ¶ Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 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.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
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.
EZEKIEL 13:3-8
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
EZEKIEL 30:1-3
1 ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
JOEL 1:14-15
14 ¶ Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
JOEL 3:13-16
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
AMOS 5:18
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 ¶ I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
ZEPHANIAH 1:14
14 ¶ The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
ZEPHANIAH 2:1
1 ¶ Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
ZECHARIAH 14:1-4
1 ¶ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
MALACHI 4:5
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
TWO MAJOR THEMES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DAY OF THE LORD. THE FIRST IS THE DELIVERANCE OF THE RIGHTIOUS.
THE SECONDIS THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED.
60-1231 REVELATION.CHAPTER.FOUR.1
100 This Door set in Heaven, that Door, when he looked up he saw the Lord Jesus. Just watch the following part of it. That Door, the Lord Jesus.
...I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice... I heard was... a voice of a trumpet...
Now the scene is changing. John's been watching Patmos, and now he looks up. Why? He sees something went on on earth here (these church ages), all down the Seven Church Ages, and then after he got through seeing the church ages, after that, after the church ages has ceased, he heard a Voice. And he looked up towards Heaven and he seen an open Door, and the first Voice sounded like a trumpet. All right, scene changed from Patmos to Heaven.
102 The Voice was the same Voice that walked in the seven golden candlesticks; same Voice, the Voice didn't change. But, the Voice, where was It when he heard It the first time? How many remembers, in the first church age? Behind him. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," Revelation 1--1:10. So he... "In the Spirit." If you want to put that down in Revelation 1:10 and 13, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me as a Voice of a trumpet and sounded like many waters. And when I turned to look, I saw One standing in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks."
Now, after He showed him all that mystery of them seven golden candlesticks (holding the seven stars, and a white wig on, and so forth, and feet like brass, and eyes like fire, the symbols), then he heard the same Voice (Watch.) speaking from Heaven. And he looked up and he saw an open Door. Oh! An open Door into Heaven! How do you get in? By Christ Jesus, that one Door, one Way, no other way.
104 "Any man that climbs up any other way, same is a thief and a robber." And in the parable of the one who climbed up and was at the Wedding Supper without a garment on, was found guilty, and bound and cast out into outer darkness. Only one Way, coming to the Wedding Supper. I believe I preached on it here not long ago. Whenever the bridegroom... When a man got... gets married in the old country, he has to give the invitations himself, he has to furnish the robes himself. So when he met this man there, him sitting at the supper table... How many remembers the parable? Sure, you that read the Bible. And he found a man at the supper table without a wedding garment on.
105 What is it? The Bridegroom stands at the door and all comes up with an invitation. "No man can come to the Father except by Me. All the Father has given Me, or invited, will come to Me." Here they come, give their invitation, the bridegroom, so that everybody will look alike. That's one thing about good, old-time, Holy Ghost religion, it makes them all look alike. Whether they're rich or poor, bond or free, black or white, male or female, they're all one in Christ Jesus. And the bridegroom stood at the door and received the invitation, put the robe around this fellow, so the rich and poor all looked alike. That's the way it is in the Kingdom of God, there's no big guys and little guys; they're all one guy, all one in Christ.
106 Now, what do you think when the Bridegroom come back and found a man sitting there without a Wedding Garment on? Said, "Friend, how'd you get in here?" And he stood speechless, it showed that he come some other way besides the Door. He come in a window, he come in a back door. And He called him a friend, showed he was a church member, "Friend, how did you get in here without a garment on?" Now, Jesus said this, Himself. And He called to the porter, He said, "Bind him, foot and hand." And he was cast out into outer darkness where there'll be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. That's Christ's Own Words, (Right.) "He was cast out." Because, it proved, without the Wedding Garment, he come some other way besides the Door. If he would have come by the Door, he would have received a Wedding Garment.
107 Oh, listen to this! Then if the Wedding Garment is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, how are we going to be represented any other way? If the first church age had to come by the Door, Christ Jesus, be baptized into the Name of Jesus Christ, receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, to put on the Wedding Garment, how are we coming any other way? If you come by the Methodist, by the Baptist, or by the Pentecostals, or any other denomination, you will be bound and cast out into outer darkness. You've got to come by Christ Jesus, the Way, the Door, the Truth, the Life. Amen!
108 All right, same Voice, Revelation 21, or, Revelation 1:10 and 13. And I want you to notice, the Voice that he heard speaking to him had the clearness of a trumpet. You know how a trumpet sounds, it gives a shrill sound. What does a trumpet mean in the Bible? War. Anytime you see a trumpet blow, in a war... in the Bible time, its sounding meant a war, either a revelation or something to take place.
109 Now, he... After the church ages was over, and everything was come ready, made ready the setting of the 4th chapter here, the church ages was done. He had done left the earth, you see. Remember, the Voice that spoke to him, behind him, in the seven golden candlesticks, the work was finished. And now that same Voice was speaking up in Heaven. What was it? He had done redeemed His people. His earthly work was finished, and He was in Glory, calling to John, "Come up hither!" Uh-hum. Amen! That makes me feel like shouting on the eve of New Year. Oh, my! There you are. See, ready, "Come up here!"
War! This is the setting of the great battle; the people that rejected God's Message, rejected the Holy Spirit, the Messenger of the seven churches. The one that had rejected this Message of His grace had nothing left, but judgment was ready; oh, while He was making ready to pour out the plagues upon the earth now. "Come up hither and I'll show you what's fixing to take place. Christ-rejecting, godless sinners, I'm going to pour out My wrath upon them."
111 Watch the setting. Oh, as we go down through the nights you'll get more of it and more of it all the time. We can't get everything in here, we have to keep referring from place to place. How that it's going to be a terrible thing for those when the last trumpet sounds, and when the last battle is fought, when the last sermon is preached, when the last song is sung, and we stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ. You're going to be asked, "Why didn't you receive It? What did you do with the Life that I give you?" You'll be asked to give a reason. What then?