The Day of the Lord - God Shows no Partiality
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Point: God will not show any partiality on the day He returns to judge both the living and the dead. All persons and angels will face the same judgment with some going to eternal life, and others condemning themselves to eternal suffering. What are you going to do about those whom you love as family, friend, or foe?
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who will the Day of the Lord be experienced by?
The Day of the Lord will be experienced by both the dead and the living; in fact the dead will precede the living in being resurrected. Therefore, all the world will experience the Day of the Lord.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Christians
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Angels
Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
The World
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works:
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
For God shows no partiality.
The wicked, the unrighteous, the ungodly, and enemies and persecutors of Christians will be judged and held to account.
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
There will be no partiality by God, and no excuse accepted by God as to why one refuses to believe or follow Jesus, on the day that He returns to judge all persons, living and dead.
For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,
since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.
For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
Our job is to point out the evidence of God and share the witness and love of Jesus, so people do not experience the wrath of God. We are to reveal the truth which Satan is attmepting to suppress.
When Will the Day of the Lord Arrive?
After the Rebellion, or Apostasy,
and the Man of Lawlessness, or Sin, is revealed. - 2 Thess 2:3-4
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
The Rebellion of the Apostasy
Rebellion /Apostasy [646] apostasia - to depart, a falling away, forsake; defection from the truth.
The Apostasy of man will be the falling away, or defection, from the ways and truth of the Lord (Mt. 24:37-38). As we are seeing today, the truth of God is being perverted in His creation. Men are women, and women are men. Male and female are no longer the only genders, but how you identify is more important than your equipment. Marriage is no longer God’s creation and domain, but man’s perversion. But the biggest rebellion, apostasy, is the pursuit of man’s glory, man’s selfishness - there is no god except man! the oldest lie revealed in the Book of God. Man will deny the truth of God, the love of God, and the ways of God.
For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Professers of God will, and are, plenty, but followers of Christ will be few. This is the Apostasy of which Paul speaks in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and of which Timothy affirms 1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.
The great defection from the ways and truth of God. When the tribulation comes, and persecution costs the church of Christ, who will stand with Christ? Will we love this life more than the promise of life to come with Christ? Will we lose our life for Christ?
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Mere professers of Christ will turn away from Christ when their lives will be at stake. They will deny knowing Jesus, or following Him, when persecution of the Church comes. Much like Peter did when confronted with the truth that he was a follower of Christ. Peter, in fear, denied Christ and said, “I know not that Man!” (Mark 14:66-72). Many will come in the name of the Messiah, false prophets, false professers of Christ, and will led many to fall away. Matthew 24:9-10 says,
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
The final Rebellion will be the denial of Christ, denial of His Church, denial of knowing and associating with His followers. This is the apostasy of which Paul speaks to the Thessalonians, but those who endure, and stand faithful, will be saved by Christ.
The Man of Lawlessness
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
After the final rebellion begins, then will culminate the revealing of the Man of Lawlessness, the Man of Sin, the son of destruction (Jn 17:12), or the Antichrist.
How will one recognize the Man of Lawlessness?
He will exalt himself against every so-called god and object of worship (2 Thess. 2:4). Whether Islam, Mormonism, Scientism, Atheism, Catholism, and/or Christianity, he will proclaim himself god and the only one allowed to be worship, taking his throne in the temple of God, Jerusalem.
who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
The man of lawlessness will speak against God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. He will blasphemy. He shall also oppress [1080], or wear out, wear down, the followers of Christ. Note - the word is wear down, wear out, it is not defeat; an authentic follower of Christ cannot be defeated by Antichrist, Satan, or his angels.
If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
Jesus said,
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
The man of lawlessness will also attempt to change religious festivals and laws (or times). Specifically, the feast times, because the Feasts of the Lord are how we know who Jesus is, when He is to coming, and how He is coming.
The spirit of lawlessness is already at work in the world, changing Christmas to Winter Solstice and/or Santa, Passover to Easter and bunnies. But more significantly, in Christiandom with Progressive Christianity denying Jesus as divine and dying on the cross, denying the infallibility, inspiration, and illumination of the Bible, and Jesus’ resurrection.
He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies. He was also given authority to act for 42 months. He began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven.
The man of lawlessness is a liar and will promote deceit (Daniel 8:25), of which we see being most prolific today in government and ruling authorities, not to mention the general public. Since whenever was there a white race, a black race, a yellow race, and/or a brown race? Are we not all created in God’s image as the human race? We have different ethinicities, but we are one race. Social justice, is not Biblical justice, just as mormonism is not Christianity, and Joseph Smith is not a prophet of God. What does Baal have in common with God? Nothing. Just as does Muhammed and Islam, have nothing in common with Jesus, Jerusalem, Jews, and Christians.
What does Jesus say? In the last days the love of many will grow cold (Mt. 24:12). Why? Because lawlessness will rule, and begin to rule. This is how we recognize the last days, and the man of lawlessness to come.
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
How is my heart? How is my love? Like Paul encourages the Thessalonians, we must encourage one another to continue loving one another. To not love is to give into the spirit of antichrist, to succomb to his influence for the days ahead.
What will be the basis of judgment on the Day of the Lord?
Jesus on the Day of the Lord, or Day of Judgment, will judge, and be judge (Mt. 25:31-32).
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.
God delegates His authority to Jesus because He was born, lived, and died, as the Son of Man; He totally identified with us, and knows us. Who better to judge us? John 5:22; 27
The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,
And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
Incidentally, the saints, us, will also share in the judging (Mt. 19:28 ; 1 Cor 6:2-3
Jesus said to them, “I assure you: In the Messianic Age, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest cases? Don’t you know that we will judge angels—not to mention ordinary matters?
Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the people who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years.
The judgment all persons will face will be based on our earthly lives: how we lived, acted, thought, loved, believed. Specifically, those who profess to be Christ-followers.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Those who have followed Christ will be resurrected to eternal life with Christ. Those who have professed falsly or rejected God, His Son, and His Word to eternal punishment.
and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of judgment.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.
The one who rejects Me and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
Our status is not unknown to God, but at the Day of Judgment, the Day of the Lord, our status will be made public.
The Day of the Lord will be come suddenly and unexpectedly to those who do not know Christ. To those of us, who do know Christ, we look expectantly to this coming day. It will be a day of final restitution, correction, and justice. The afflicted, persecuted, and oppressed with be rewarded. The afflictors, persecutors, and oppresors will be finally held to justice, God’s justice. There will be no partiality, no favors, no excuses accepted. You either know, believe, and follow Christ into life, or have rejected Him and His ways into eternal punishment. There will be no middle ground. Justice will finally be served. As Peter encouraged the discples, we are encouraged by Christ,
And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
Amen