WHAT'S NEXT? THE DAY OF CHRIST

What’s next on God’s calendar is the Rapture, the Day of Christ. It is the day of blessed hope for all born-again Christians from the Day of Pentecost until that very moment.

Today, we are going to examine what’s next by examining the timing of the Day of Christ and the knowledge concerning the Day of Christ

1. The Timing of the Day of Christ

God chose to keep the exact date and time of the Day of Christ a mystery, but that date is set.

If God is all-knowing, and He is, how would the date of the Day of Christ be a mystery to God? God, however, revealed enough of the mystery to Paul so that you and I can comfort one another with the details.

As for the timing, God revealed two details to Paul.

A. The Great Falling Away

2 Thessalonians 2:3a “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first

1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”

Prior to the Day of Christ, there is going to be a great falling away not in the lost world but in the church.

The falling away Paul is describing will take place in the church. It began in Paul’s day, and it is worsening today.

What does falling away mean? Falling away, biblically, is a refusal to repent. It is the unrepentant denial of Jesus Christ.

Take this church as an example. We are growing numerically and spiritually, but there are over 250 members of this church. Most of those who are not coming are as Paul described. They have fallen away because they never truly repented.

Without repentance, there is no salvation.

Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”

Acts 17:30 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:”

Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Repentance is necessary for salvation. Even those of us who are truly saved have trouble with repentance, do we not? That is why, relatively speaking, the church has no power today.

1 John 1:6–10 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

A vibrant relationship with God is made possible by repentance. The falling away Paul describes refers to those who go through the motions of salvation, but never completely trust Christ. They do not trust Christ because they do not repent.

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul describes the character traits of those who fall away:

Lovers of themselves, covetous, proud, unholy, disobedient to parents, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

As church after church cancels service so its members can watch the Super Bowl. Is the Super Bowl more important than a soul who dies and goes to Hell?

2 Timothy 3:5 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Those that fall away have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of true godliness. In other words, they want to have a superficial religion but not a supernatural renewal. It will be those people who will be having services at Beech Grove Baptist Church after the Day of Christ.

B. The Completion of the Body of Christ

2 Thessalonians 2:6–8a “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed

Things are awful now, but they are not nearly as awful as they are going to be. That is why you have to be so careful with false teachers who try to sensationalize what’s next. Some people try to say we are in the Tribulation now. That’s a ridiculous statement especially if you know your Bible. Jesus Himself said this about the Tribulation.

Matthew 24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

Things are bad, but not as bad as they could be because in this Church Age, the Holy Spirit is restraining evil so that the church can complete its mission which is to complete the body of Christ.

Look closely at 2 Thessalonians 2:7–8a “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed

The Wicked One, the Antichrist, will be revealed when the Holy Spirit is removed. The Holy Spirit is God, so He is always going to be, but His ministry changes depending upon the dispensation of time.

In this time, the Holy Spirit is restraining evil and indwelling believers, but when He is removed, evil will rule.

Think of it like this. Before Noah entered into the Ark, things were bad, but they worsened considerably when Noah was sealed in God’s salvation. Things were bad in Sodom and Gomorrah, but they worsened considerably when Lot is removed. Things are bad today, but they are going to get much worse when the church is taken away and the Holy Spirit is removed.

Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

The Day of Redemption and the Day of Christ are the same. When the Holy Spirit and the Church is removed, evil is going to be released full throttle. Evil will reign unchecked with the true church leaving behind those who had no knowledge of true godliness. The time for that to happen is set.

2 Thessalonians 2:6 “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.”

Romans 11:25–26 “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 fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”

The time is set. Literally, Christ could call His church home at any minute, and when He calls the Holy Spirit is going to bring both the dead and the living in Christ with Him to meet Jesus. AMEN AND HALLELUJAH!!!!

There are two things that a Christian is to do with the knowledge of the Day of Christ.

2. The Knowledge of the Day of Christ

A. Knowledge of the Day of Christ should motivate the Christian to live a godly life.

1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”

Knowledge of the Day of Christ should motivate Christians lives as to show Christ to a lost and dying world.

1 Thessalonians 2:10–12 “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.”

Are you living lour life worthy of God? Do you have sin in your life? If you do, why have you not confessed it? Because you are uninformed concerning the Day of Christ.

If you and I were serious, we would keep our sins confessed so that we would not be ashamed before Christ on the Day of Christ. When was the last time you specifically witnessed to someone? Why have you not done it? The reason is that down deep you do not think that the Day of Christ is literally one breath away. That is what it boils down to. If the Day of Christ happened this minute, would you have any regret? Are you living your life so you can appear boldly before Christ?

1 John 4:17 “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”

What a verse! We can have boldness before Christ if we live Christlike lives on the earth.

B. Knowledge of the Day of Christ allows Christians to comfort each other in times of persecution, trials, and tribulations.

1 Thessalonians 4:17–18“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

If you are saved, I cannot bring you comfort by telling you who is going to win the Super Bowl. I cannot bring you comfort by telling you who is going to win the presidency, but I can bring you comfort by sharing with you that Jesus Christ is going to come get you before this world goes to Hell.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Listen to me all of you that are aging to whom death is becoming more of a reality.

Jesus Christ is going to come get you, and He could come get you before you die, but if you die before He comes, He is going to send an angel to escort your soul into heaven, and Jesus is going to tell the Holy Spirit to bring your body to Him when He returns, so that your body, soul, and spirit will be perfected for eternity. AMEN!!!!

The Day of Christ, the Rapture, is our blessed hope in this life and in this world.

Titus 2:13–15 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.”

That is some great news for me and for many of you who have been truly saved, but it is tragic news for those here that are lost who have fallen away.

If you are lost, you are taking a big gamble. Here is upon what you are betting your eternal soul. You are betting that God loves you too much to send anyone to Hell, or you are betting that Hell and eternity are not real. In essence, you are betting that you do not need to be saved.

Paul wrote about you too.

2 Thessalonians 2:10–12 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

There is coming a day when you, because you have rejected the truth, will completely embrace the lie, and you will go to Hell. As a matter of fact, God will make it so you will believe the lie. He will send you a strong delusion which means He will make the lie seem like the truth, and you will embrace it, and you will be damned for an eternity.

I am as sure about what I am telling you and from what I have described from God’s Word today as I am of my own salvation. The body of Christ could be completed today. If it is and you have rejected the gospel, you will witness evil like never before, and you will die and go to Hell.

Will you believe on Christ today and turn from your sin? He will make you a new creature, a creature that He will come to get one of these days to take to Heaven forever.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Come to Jesus today.