BUT YOU ARE NOT IN DARKNESS SO THAT THIS DAY SHOULD SURPISE YOU

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1 THESALONIANS 5: 1-4PART III

The Resurrection / RaptureThe Great Re-Union!

Paul taught this blessed Truth not only to the Thessalonians but also to

the Corinthians. • 1 Corinthians 15:50-53New Living Translation (NLT)

 What I am saying, dear Brothers and Sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the Last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever! And we who are living will also be transformed!

•For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

• In chapter 4, Paul’s focus is on the FACT of the coming of the Lord, in chapter 5, learning to WAIT and WATCH for the coming Day of the Lord is the focus.

Be Prepared!!

The Day Of The Lord!

No One Knows The Exact Day Or The Exact Hour!

• Mark 13:32-33New International Version (NIV)

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but ONLY the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.”

Jesus Did Give Us Prophetic Signposts To Look For In The Last

Days.

• Matthew 24:32-34New International Version (NIV)

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, YOU KNOW that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, YOU KNOW that it is near, right at the door.

Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly NOT pass away until all these things have happened!”

Summary  1) Two historical necessities prior to the coming of the Day of the Lord.

The gathering of the Jews back to the Holy Land.1948

The retaking of the Holy city of Jerusalem. 1967

2) Two major prerequisites prior to the coming of the Day of the Lord.

An explosion in travelAn explosion in knowledge

Generalized Characteristics That Become More PREDOMINATE As We Approach The Latter Days.

There will be growing Spiritual chaos.

There will be growing Geo-Political chaos.

There will be growing Global calamities in nature.

• Matthew 24:8New Living Translation (NLT)

 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with (Much) more to come!

These generalized signs will grow BOTH in frequency and in intensity as we approach the Day of the Lord and the climatic Parousia of Christ Jesus!

I. The Sign Of Growing Persecution Of Christians In The

Latter Days. • Matthew 24:3New International Version (NIV)

  As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the End of the Age?”

• Matthew 24:8-9New International Version (NIV)

All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by ALL nations because of ME!”

But The Bloodiest Period Has Been The Modern and Present age.

• Revelation 7:9-10New King James Version (NKJV)• A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,

with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

• Revelation 7:13-14New King James Version (NKJV)

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

• Revelation 12:11Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

They conquered him (Satan and the Anti-Christ) by the blood of the Lamband by the word of their testimony,for they did NOT love their livesin the face of death.

• Revelation 2:8-10New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The First and the Last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty but you are rich…

• Do NOT fear what you are about to suffer... Be faithful until (Unto) death, and I will (Freely) give you the Crown of Life!”

II. The Sign Of Growing And Unbridled Violence And Lawlessness.

• Matthew 24:37-39New International Version (NIV)

 As it was in the days of NOAH, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

 And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

III. The Sign Of Growing Sexual Depravity.

• Luke 17:28-30New International Version (NIV)

“It was the same in the days of LOT. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the Day the Son of Man is revealed.”

IV. The Sign Of Growing Godlessness And Wickedness In Societies.

• 2 Timothy 3:1-7New American Standard Bible (NASB)• “Difficult Times Will Come!”

 But realize this, that in the Last days difficult times will come! For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good!

 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power... always learning and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the Truth!

V. The Sign Of Growing Apostasy And Faithlessness In The “Visible” Church. • 1 Timothy 4:1-2New Living Translation (NLT)• Warnings against False Teachers

 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the Last Times some will turn away from the True faith; they will follow deceptive spirits (Demons) and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead (Toward God)!

Our Lord Confirmed This!• Matthew 24:10-13New International Version (NIV)

 At that time many will turn away from The Faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold! But the one who stands firm (In Faith) to the End will be saved!

VI. The Sign Of Atheistic Mocking And Scoffing.

• 2 Peter 3:3-9New Living Translation (NLT)

Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the Last days scoffers will come, mocking the Truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

VII. THE Sign Of Global, Gospel Penetration!

• Matthew 24:14New International Version (NIV)

 And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to ALL nations, and then the End will come!

Local And International Evangelism Is The Key!

• 2 Peter 3:11-13New Living Translation (NLT)

  Since everything around us is going to be destroyed.., what Holy and Godly lives you should live, looking forward to the Day of God and hurrying it along…. But we are looking forward to the New Heavens and New Earth He has promised, a World filled with God’s righteousness!

Our Proper Response To These Revealed Truths.

• Luke 21:28New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“ But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption IS drawing near!”

The Hour Appears To Be Late!