END-TIME STUDY; THE DAY OF THE LORD

TOPIC:   THE DAY OF THE LORD

TEXT:     JOEL 2:28-31

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before THE GREAT AND THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD come.

INTRODUCTION

One day, I was seeing off my evangelist-friend to the bus-stop and we decided to buy a piece of bread as we went. The bread we chose to buy was so small and yet very expensive and we were shocked. In a swift reaction, my evangelist-friend prayed aloud that our Lord, Jesus Christ, should return quickly. The woman selling the bread also quickly prayed after my friend that Jesus Christ should come and make Nigeria better.

Then, I realized that the woman had a wrong meaning of what The Lord, Jesus Christ, will do when HE comes. I quickly explained to her that The Lord, Jesus Christ, is not coming to fix or make Nigeria better when HE comes but rather to rapture the saints and punish all nations/mankind left behind through the great tribulation.

There are many of such misconceptions all around. Even, in the church, there are misconceptions about issues of Rapture. Many pastors don’t even preach it and yet, millions don’t even know yet that The Lord Jesus Christ is coming. It is because of wrong perceptions like this that I have to prepare this teaching on THE DAY OF THE LORD and how to prepare for it (the teaching on preparation for the day of The Lord will come next after this teaching).

In the text verses we just read, above, Prophet Joel mentioned a lot of events that will happen as a build-up to a certain day. What day is that? Prophet Joel called it the great and the terrible DAY of THE LORD.                                              

Amongst other things, Prophet Joel said there will be outpouring of HOLY SPIRIT who will bring about many people seeing visions, dreams and prophesying about wonders in heavens and on earth. He also said the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the DAY OF THE LORD. If all these things have to happen to usher in a particular day, then that day is worth studying.
                   
In verse 31, Joel said “before THE GREAT AND THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD” This phrase is particularly contrasting (it looks like word and opposite) and awe-striking. How can a day be both great and terrible at the same time? Anybody who is not Spirit-filled might be tempted to say that it is not possible. To explore the possibility of this phrase, let us see more of what the bible has to say about this day.

JESUS CHRIST’ PROPHECY OF RAPTURE

MATHEW 24: 29-31, 36 (I advise that you read the whole Mathew chapter 24 for better understanding)

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Then verse 36

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

COMPARING JOEL’S PROPHECY WITH JESUS’ PROPHECY

From the Mount-Olivetti sermon i.e (the whole of sermon delivered by The Lord, Jesus Christ, on the mountain of Olive in Mathew chapter 24), Our Lord, Jesus Christ,  mentioned a lot of events that will also happen as a build-up to a particular day, like Prophet Joel also did earlier. In verse 29, The Lord, Jesus Christ, said that the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven. This is similar to what Joel also said in Joel 2:30 but in Mathew 24: 30-31, Jesus said the SON OF MAN shall come in clouds and HIS angels shall gather HIS elects. Also, in Mathew 24:36, Jesus said nobody knows this DAY THAT THE LORD WILL GATHER HIS ELECTS i.e. the day that the Lord will RAPTURE His elects.

So by similarity, the day Joel called THE GREAT AND THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD in Joel 2:30 was the day that The Lord, Jesus Christ, called THE DAY OF RAPTURE in Mathew 24: 30-31.

CAN A DAY BE GREAT AND TERRIBLE AT THE SAME TIME?

Now, we have ascertained by comparing Prophet Joel’s prophecy with Jesus’ prophecy that THE DAY OF THE LORD is the DAY THAT THE LORD JESUS COMES TO TAKE HIS ELECTS (i.e day of RAPTURE).  How then, can this day be both great and terrible (Joel 2:30)? The answer is simple: THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BE GREAT FOR THOSE THAT ARE TAKEN BY SON OF MAN (those raptured) because they will enter into heaven straight away without having to experience death, but THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BE TERRIBLE for those that miss the rapture. Many of the people that miss the rapture will die through sudden destruction of rapture and will go straight to hell. Others that escape the sudden destruction among the people that miss rapture will enter straight into the great tribulation. (To understand this very well, see our teaching titled 'Preparing For Rapture, Part 4, Praying Always To Escape').

This is why The Day Of The Lord is both great and terrible; great for those that make the rapture, terrible for those that miss it.

THE DAY OF THE LORD IS TERRIBLE

The bible has just made it clear to us that THE DAY OF THE LORD is terrible and through-out the bible, the bible talks more that the day of Lord is terrible than it talks that the day is great. The reason for this may be that by talking more of how terrible The Day Of The Lord (The Day Of Rapture) will be, people may try hard to avoid being left behind at rapture. Let us see what other Prophets of God has said about how terrible the day of the Lord will be so that we too can work hard to avoid being left behind at rapture.

PROPHET AMOS’ ACCOUNT OF THE DAY OF THE LORD

AMOS 5:18-19

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?

PROPHET ISAIAH’ ACCOUNT OF THE DAY OF THE LORD

ISAIAH 13:6-10

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.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:2
2 For yourselves know perfectly that THE DAY OF THE LORD so cometh as a thief in the night.

PROPHET ZEPHANIAH’ S ACCOUNT OF THE DAY OF THE LORD

ZEPHANIAH 1:14-18

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.

For more about what the God says about the day of the lord, you can check the following verses: (Jeremiah 46:10, Ezekiel 30:3, Joel 1:15,  2 Peter 3:10, the book of revelation and more)

WHY WILL GOD MAKE THE DAY OF THE LORD (THE DAY OF RAPTURE)  TO BE THIS TERRIBLE?

For answer to this question, let us go to the book of Isaiah.

ISAIAH 24: 5-6

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and FEW men left.

From the above, there are 4 things that God said the people have done. They are listed below:

1.  People have defiled the earth.
2.  People have transgressed God’s laws i.e. they have broken God’s laws.    
3.  People have changed God’s ordinances.
4.  People have broken the everlasting covenants.

All of sins that men commit today must fall into at least one of the categories above. For example, bloodshed, use of atomic weapons, massive pollution, deforestation and so on fall under defiling of earth. Homosexuality, genetic mutation, cloning of babies and others fall under 'changing of God’s ordinance' (natural order). Idolatry falls under breaking His everlasting covenant to be our God and us to be His people and so many sins we commit against Him on daily basis.

Because of all these things only FEW people that have not done any of the 4 things above  or that have repented will be raptured and majority of the rest that are left behind will be burned with the fire of Jealous of God. How terrible can this be?

GOOD NEWS

You can be among these FEW people that will escape. It takes conscious effort to prepare and be ready to escape. Will you start the preparations today?

CONCLUSION

From all the accounts above, We can see that what the bread-seller (the one I mentioned in the introduction) taught would happen on the day of the Lord was wrong. In the same way, there are many people in the church that are not preparing for the day of the Lord in holiness and in righteousness and we can see that what they will go through if they are left behind will not be what they bargained for.
Amos 5:18 says

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.

To desire the day of the Lord is not to prepare to escape on that day. The day of the Lord is terrible indeed! But I pray it will be great and glorious for us in Jesus’ name. Begin to prepare to escape in Jesus’ name.

RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTIONS

Are you an elect of Christ? Are you truly saved? Are you on the narrow road? Do you want to make the rapture/heaven? If your answers are yes, then,

1.   Make all efforts to heed the warnings of Jesus Christ.
2.   Be watchful. Pay attention to what is happening around the World and see whether they match what the scriptures say.
3.   Be filled with the Holy Spirit and be in the Spirit all the time.
4.   Pray, Fast, consecrate yourself, run away from sin and worldliness.

If your answers are NO? Please, repent today. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and forsake sins so that your name can be written in the book of life. Please, say this prayer genuinely and make sincere determination to forsake sins and follow Him to the end.

Lord, Jesus Christ, please forgive me all my sins. Watch away my sins with your blood and save my soul. I accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Write my name in the book of life and help me to make rapture and escape the great tribulations. Give me power not to return to sins in Jesus name. Amen.

1.   Ask Him for forgiveness of all your sins at all times
2.   begin to live in holiness and righteousness,
3.   And begin to pray as He said in Luke 21:36

PRAYERS

• Lord Jesus, please let the day of the Lord be great for me and not terrible.
• O Lord, lead me on the narrow road to a safe haven.
• Lord Jesus, help me to go with you at the sound of the trumpet.
• Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me all sins that can make me to miss rapture and the kingdom of God.
• Lord Jesus Christ, I call upon your name for salvation. Save me.

Our previous teachings include the followings. You can send email to us to ask for anyone of them.                                                            
• 50 Signs of end-time/Rapture
• Why We Must Watch
• Awareness of SIN
• Awareness of False Prophets
• JESUS CHRIST, The Only Way Out
• The Book With The 7 Seals, Part 1
• The book with the 7 Seals, Part 2, (Revelations 6 versus Mathew 24)

God has an urgent warning for YOUTH about hell and heaven. You can also request for it.

For more information, question or contribution, please send email to us at raptureglorious@gmail.com or jesuscoming@yahoo.com  or visit us at www.jesuscoming1.blogspot.com  and please tell others to join us. We will like to get as many people as possible ready for rapture. We wish nobody goes through the great tribulation. What are happening in the world now are child’s play to what will happen after rapture.


TO MAKE RAPTURE:
confess your sins to JESUS CHRIST and ask Him to save you.
repent of your sins constantly on daily basis and run away from sins.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit
Live in Holiness and Righteousness
Do all Restitution
cut off all worldliness.
forgive all people.
pray and fast.
consecrate and study the bible.
watch.

Shalom.
JESUScoming.