Well this evening, I'm gonna read question 89 and 90 in the Westminster Larger Catechism. You can find that on page 950. I will tell you up front, I'm not gonna make really any comments about this because we're gonna do an extensive sort of excursus on the day of the Lord as we come back to Zephaniah this evening. So I'm just using this to set the stage. So page 950. I'm gonna read questions 89 and 90 because it's describing the day of judgment, that great day from two distinct perspectives, the perspective of the unbeliever and the perspective of those who have been united to Christ by faith. Question 89, what shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment? At the day of judgment, the wicked shall be set on Christ's left hand, and upon clear evidence and full conviction of their own consciences, shall have the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. And thereupon shall be cast out from the favorable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with Christ, his saints, and all his holy angels into hell, to be punished with unspeakable torments, both of body and soul, with the devil and his angels forever. Question 90, what shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment? At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds, shall be set on his right hand and there openly acknowledged and acquitted shall join with him in judging of reprobate angels and men. and shall be received into heaven, where they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery, filled with inconceivable joys, made perfectly holy and happy, both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and holy angels, but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his Holy Spirit, to all eternity. And this is the perfect and full communion which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ in glory at the resurrection and day of judgment. As I said, we're going to spend some time thinking about the day of the Lord somewhat extensively this evening, as least as much as time permits. And I want this to be in our minds from the catechism lessons. There are only two destinies for every single person who lives. It's one or it's the other, and that's something we'll see communicated very clearly in the teaching in the Bible on the day of the Lord. It is a day ultimately of judgment and salvation, but it's always one or the other. And as I alluded to this morning in our study in Hebrews, when you hear this sort of thing as a believer, It ought not to cause you to tremble, not if you're a believer, but it ought to cause you to make your calling and election sure. And then to rejoice at what God has in store for us. With good reason, the Apostle Paul said, that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor it's entered into the mind of man what God has prepared for those who love him. Well, let's stand to sing number 387, and what's the tune? 378, okay, we're singing 387, but we're singing it to a different tune. Anne's pretty sure we know this one better. So 387, but to a different tune. Well, let me ask you to open up your copy of scripture to Zephaniah. We're gonna read verses one through 16. And then we're going to come back and maybe look at verses four through seven. It's kind of time dependent. But I do want to read these verses in Zephaniah just so this prophetic language is in our mind. And definitely keep your Bible open because we're going to be looking all over the place this evening. Zephaniah 1. beginning in verse 1, the word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gadaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast. I'll consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I'll cut off man from the face of the land, says the Lord. I'll stretch out my hand against Judah. And against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, I'll cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests, those who worship the host of heaven on housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom. Those who have turned their back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him, be silent in the presence of the Lord, for the day of the Lord is at hand, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He's invited His guests. Incidentally, in case I don't get to this tonight, just so you know, the sacrifice the Lord has prepared is Judah. Terrifying language. And it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I'll punish the princes and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. In the same day, I'll punish all those who leap over the threshold, who'll fill their master's house with violence and deceit. And there shall be on that day, says the Lord, the sound of a mournful cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a loud crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of MacTash, for all the merchant people are cut down. All those who handle money are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who are settled in their complacency, who say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil. Therefore their goods shall become booty and their house a desolation. They shall build houses but not inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards but not drink their wine. The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out, Day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. Well, let's end there. This is the reading of God's holy and inspired Word. May it bless it to our hearts this evening. Well, dearest congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, I do want to take a good bit of our time this evening and just generally consider the important biblical theme that I think will help benefit our study in Zephaniah, and that is the day of the Lord. As I mentioned a couple weeks back, Virtually all of the writing prophets spill a fair amount of ink prophesying and describing the day of the Lord. You can find it in all of the minor prophets and the major prophets. but it really takes center stage in Zephaniah. You have the most concentrated teaching on the day of the Lord of any other prophet. So what I want to do this evening is begin by offering a few basic parameters to understand what we mean by the day of the Lord, then look at two or three texts to sort of flush that out and help our minds be wrapped around the idea of the day of the Lord so we can best interpret the Bible when we're reading it. So let me mention a few principles that can help us think through the day of the Lord. First, when we speak of the day of the Lord, we are ultimately speaking about the visitation of God to his creation. It's God stepping into our time and space, often as a warrior king, who conquers his enemies and provides deliverance for his people. And we can also explain it this way. We can explain it from the perspective of God's covenant. The day of the Lord is the warrior king coming to execute covenant curses on those who are disobedient and to extend covenant blessing on the faithful remnant. In that way, you understand that Deuteronomy 28 is the backdrop of the day of the Lord. So this is the first thing to know. The day of the Lord is Yahweh's coming personally, often as a warrior king to bring both judgment or salvation or judgment and salvation. The day of the Lord finds its ultimate fulfillment in the consummation of history. That's represented in the catechism that we read. On that final great day of judgment, the wicked will receive the fullness of their punishment, and the righteous will receive the fullness of their blessing. And that day, that consummating event, it will usher in the new creation and glory in the presence of God. So again, a day of judgment, a day of blessing. Third, while the many biblical references to the day of the Lord do ultimately point to the end of the age, The day of the Lord often has an initial fulfillment that's near to the time of the prophecy. So you often hear something like this, the day of the Lord is near, right? We heard that in Zephaniah. And in many cases, the prophecies will unfold in various stages throughout redemptive history. So the prophet makes a declaration that the day of the Lord is coming, and that might be fulfilled within 50 or 100 years, but it might be… recapitulated and fulfilled in 500 years and then ultimately fulfilled at the end of the age. What I want you to understand is the day of the Lord might have multiple ways in which it's fulfilled. This, I hope, will make more sense when we look at some Scripture. You'll often find cataclysmic language that describes the undoing of creation. Again, we heard that in verses two and three of Zephaniah 1. In fact, that language is sort of a reversal of the creation narrative. And you'll often find that kind of creation turmoil in the language of the day of the Lord. You'll hear of earthquakes, fire, darkness. In fact, darkness figures very prominently in the day of the Lord. And then fifth, the terrible threats associated with the day of the Lord are actually a means of grace calling people to repent before it's too late. Again, we'll see that when we get to chapter two in the first three verses of Zephaniah. But ultimately, the call and the threat, excuse me, the call of, or excuse me, the prophecies of the day of the Lord our calls to repent. In our confession in the chapter on saving faith, it actually tells us that the threatenings in Scripture are used by God to draw His people to an earnest faith. So those five principles give us some guidelines. Now what I want to do is look at a couple Scriptures to help see how some of those principles might work out. So again, lick your fingers, because we've got some Bible pages to turn. The first day of the Lord that you see in Scripture is the Exodus event. Go ahead and turn to Exodus 14. I suspect most of you are familiar with this history because most of you are good Bible students. You'll recall that God sent Moses to rescue His people from Egyptian bondage, but Pharaoh was having none of it because he didn't want to lose his slave labor. So God brought 10 plagues on Egypt, 10 specific judgments that showed God was supreme over all of Egypt's false gods. And again, I want you to keep this in mind in regard to the exodus. There's two sides to the exodus event. It's a time of judgment for Egypt, but it's gonna be a time of deliverance. for Israel. Well, at the conclusion of the 10th plague, Pharaoh was forced to let God's people go, but then he had a change of heart or a hardening of the heart, to be more precise, and he chased them down to the Red Sea. God performed a great miracle. He parted the sea. Israel passed through on dry ground, and Pharaoh and his army was destroyed in the water. Now, glance there at Exodus 14. And we'll begin reading at verse 28. Excuse me. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on the right hand and on the left. So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." So on that day. There was a fierce judgment against the Egyptians, and there was a great salvation for Israel. Now, of course, when you have a great redemptive event, it's often commemorated and celebrated with a song, isn't it? And that's what you have in chapter 15, the song of Moses. And if you will, glance here at verse three in chapter 15. I want us to see one of the things that Moses is singing about. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. So the Lord is a divine warrior. And Moses is singing about that. I am sure that's never gonna make it on a Hallmark card. Divine warrior. But that's what Moses is praising God for in this song, a divine warrior that slayed the enemies of God and rescued the people of God. So Exodus is actually the first day of the Lord where judgment befalls God's enemies, salvation is wrought for God's people. And it was a divine warrior king that brings this day to its divinely appointed outcome. And while the Exodus is the great redemptive event in the Old Testament, and this day of the Lord was a great demonstration of God's power to execute judgment and salvation, it's really a picture of a great consummating event of the Lord. Turn forward in your Bibles now to Revelation 15. Again, I know we're jumping all over now, Revelation 15. Revelation 15 actually begins a new vision cycle in John's literature. Chapter 15 is laying the groundwork at this point for the seven bowl judgments, which are seven plagues that are going to be unfurled on the earth by seven angels. And they're singing at this point in the throne room of God, again, thinking about the judgment of God and heaven's rejoicing. And I want you to see what they're singing. Glance here at verse 3. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. So don't miss this. You're gonna have to kinda stick with me. I'm gonna be all over the place, but I think this'll make sense. Revelation wants to make sure we make a connection here between Moses and the plagues that are about to be executed on the earth. Now turn over page to Revelation 16. Here we have the outpouring of God's wrath on the whole earth through these judgment. And while the sequence is gonna be different in Revelation than those you find in the Exodus event, you can't miss how closely these two events correspond. Glance there at the first bowl judgment in verse two. It's foul and Lotham sores. And this parallels the plague against Egypt that caused boils. In verses three and four, we see that the second and third bowl judgments, these turn all the water sources to blood. And that parallels the first plague against Egypt where all the water was turned to blood. In verse 8 and verse 21, there are two bold judgments that involve fire and thunder and hail, and that's a clear allusion to the plague of hail that came upon Egypt that incidentally was accompanied by thunder and fire. In verse 10, the fifth bowl brought about a dreadful darkness, which has its parallel in the plague that plunged all of Egypt into darkness. And then in verses 12 and 13, the sixth bowl that dried up the Euphrates brought forth three evil spirits appearing as frogs. And of course, that's symbolic of the plague that caused frogs to cover the land in Egypt. And now glance at Revelation 16, 14, and here it's speaking of the demonic frogs. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. This is actually Israel's warrior king even using evil to call the nations to battle, the final battle on that great day. In fact, this is the Battle of Armageddon. It's the consummating battle in human history, and it's the pinnacle of the day of the Lord. And here's what I want you to see. In the Bible, there are countless times when there are manifestations of the day of the Lord where the divine warrior destroys and saves. And all those days of the Lord ultimately point to the greater day with greater consequences. But as I said, we need to know when a day of the Lord is prophesied or when it takes place in redemptive history, it can actually unfold more than once before the end of redemptive history. So this is just one series, but there's a bunch of series of days of the Lord events that unfold multiple times. Now let's backtrack for a moment to the Exodus event. After that first day of the Lord, Yahweh provided His people a festival to remind them that He had delivered them, that He had struck down the Egyptians and He had delivered them. And of course, I'm speaking about the Passover. It was an annual reminder that the Lord had fought for them and secured their salvation. And that first day of the Lord began to inculcate itself into Israel's mindset, that the Lord would deliver them from their enemies. And that was certainly true. And it really should have been a positive thing in so long as Israel remained faithful. But I want to fast forward now to the first half of the 8th century because a new dimension is introduced in our knowledge of the day of the Lord. Again, we're about the first half of the 8th century. The northern and the southern kingdom are divided. The northern king at that time was Jeroboam II. You might remember we studied him six, seven months ago. He was a wicked idolater. During his reign, God raised up a prophet by the name of Amos, a farmer from Tekoa. And Jeroboam's reign during this time was actually marked by quite a bit of peace and a lot of prosperity. Israel was making money hand over fist. But there was a problem. Assyria had their sights set on the northern kingdom, and they were a superpower emerging on the world stage. And so Israel, the northern kingdom, they were becoming increasingly fearful that the Assyrians would invade and attack them. And what the northern kingdom longed for was the day of the Lord. when the Lord would come and fight their enemies. So turn in your Bibles to Amos 5. Amos 5, so we can see how the prophet responded to their desire. Amos 5. And we'll read verses 18 through 20. Verse 18, woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion and a bear met him, or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. It's not the day of the Lord, darkness and not light. It's not very dark with no brightness in it. You see, the people of Israel's day apparently believed their future was quite bright. They thought, we're prosperous. All of our businesses are thriving. We have multiple homes. Clearly with all this, God must be happy with us. Now all we need from God is for Him to swoop down and decimate our enemies and we can go right back to living our prosperous life. They were desiring the day of the Lord. But here's the problem, the vast majority of the people in Amos Day were self-deceived in believing they were right with God. and therefore thinking they were safe from God's coming wrath, and nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, they had become the enemies of God. So what Amos is telling them is, oh yes, a day of the Lord is coming, and it is coming for God's enemies, and Israel, that's you. It's hard to imagine how they would have heard that message. I won't be delivering you from Assyria. I'll be giving you over to Assyria. Your future isn't bright at all. It's the darkness, the darkest darkness. The divine warrior is aroused and he's aroused against you. I wanna look at a couple more passages in Amos as we think about the day of the Lord and some of its expressions. Turn forward to Amos 8, Amos 8. Then we'll read verses 8 through 10. Again, this is the prophet announcing bad news to Israel that they're gonna fall under the judgment of God on the day of the Lord. Incidentally, I should have mentioned this. So when Assyria attacks and sacks the northern kingdom in 722 BC, that is a day of the Lord. And that idea is being picked up now in Amos 8. Amos 8, and look there at verse 8. Shall the land not tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? All of it shall swell like the river, heave and subside like the river of Egypt, and it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that I'll make the sun go down at noon and I'll darken the earth in broad daylight. I'll turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I'll bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head. I'll make it like mourning for an only son and it's end like a bitter day. So again, this is going to have its initial fulfillment in 722 BC when Assyria swoops down, takes them captive, brings them back to Assyria and starts planting Assyrians in that region. That's a fulfillment. But there's another fulfillment of the day of the Lord in this passage that we can overlook if we're not careful. There was some interesting details. You might have picked up on this. We certainly don't want to miss this. In this picture of the day of the Lord, there's an earthquake. The land trembles. We're told the sun goes down at noon and the earth is darkened. And this event is going to create the kind of mourning associated with an only son. Anybody know where I'm going with this? Can you think of an event that involves an earthquake, darkness at noon, the kind of mourning for an only begotten son? Of course, the crucifixion and death of our Lord, right? Prior to the consummation of the ages, the cross is the most severe expression of the day of the Lord that'll take place. The cross is the supreme place of God's judgment and God's salvation. Do we think of that? Do we think of that when we think of Mount Calvary? That it's an expression of the day of the Lord. Well, I want to look at one more passage in Amos. Turn over now to Amos 9, Amos 9. And let's read verses 8 through 12. Amos 9, excuse me, beginning at verse 8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I'll destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I'll not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. For surely I will command and will sift the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve. Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword. Who say the calamity shall not overtake us nor confront us on that day. I'll raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages. I'll raise up its ruins. I'll rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom. And all the Gentiles who are called by my name," says the Lord. who does this thing. Now, this is actually Amos' final oracle of judgment and oracle of salvation. He's saying, Israel is going to be sifted. They're going to be utterly destroyed, but God will remember his covenant promise to David. And the day of the Lord will involve raising up a new tabernacle, a tabernacle that will not only be raised up, but rebuilt. And do you happen to remember when this is fulfilled? Well, turn forward in your Bibles now to Acts 15, Acts 15. Of course, you know Acts 15 records for us the events of the Jerusalem Council, and the early church was trying to figure out how they can deal with all the Gentiles. And a great many of the Jews, particularly the Judaizers, they just did not want the Gentiles to have full inclusion in the church unless they underwent the sign of circumcision. So there's this big fight in the church. What is the place of Gentiles in the church? And look there at Acts 15, we'll begin reading at verse 14. This is James speaking. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this, the words of the prophets agree, just as it's written. After this I'll return and I'll rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I'll rebuild its ruins and I'll set it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord. Even all the Gentiles who are called by my name says the Lord who does all these things." So this expression of the day of the Lord is fulfilled with the incorporation of the Gentiles into the church. Now, this is a few, few examples. We could multiply what I've just done dozens and dozens and dozens of time about the day of the Lord. Why is that important? Well, for one, there's a view of biblical interpretation that believes virtually all the references to the day of the Lord are ultimately about the great tribulation, a supposed seven years of terror that'll follow the rapture. And the problem with that view is you miss the contours of redemptive history. And one of the things you find is when there is the day of the Lord, and it does move forward, it is always a consummating event. Because in that scheme, and I'm speaking of dispensationalism, they see the day of the Lord almost exclusively as judgment, but it's also a day of salvation. A second thing, I want us to have those principles that I mentioned in mind because it's helpful as we're reading and interpreting the Bible. Again, we could just go on and on and on. And if we don't understand the way these kind of prophecies cyclically unfold, we'll end up having a skewed view of what God's doing in redemptive history. Well, and finally, I thought about looking at Joel 2, which also prophesies the day of the Lord, which is in part fulfilled with Pentecost, and then also points to the consummation of the ages. But for time reasons, I'm just gonna take a couple minutes and get back to Zephaniah. And whatever we don't cover today, we'll come back and cover next time. I'm not gonna just... overlook it. Well, back to Zephaniah. You may recall from our previous lesson that Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Judah. He hearkens from royalty. He's from the family line of Hezekiah. That's incredible providentially because it means he would have access to the royal throne, access to Judah's inner circle. We learned a few things about Zephaniah in terms of his personality. He is a fearless and fierce prophet. He comes out with bold declarations. I mentioned this last time, there's no easing into the judgment language of Zephaniah. He just immediately goes right at them. The Lord said, he's going to consume you. Right? And Zephaniah makes it very clear that it is a judgment ultimately and eventually that will impact all of creation, verses 2 and 3. And as I said, that language, the way it's laid out is sort of a reversal of the created order. But then his focus is on Judah in verses four down through the end of this chapter. Now I want to look there in verses four through six under the heading The Scope of God's Judgment, The Scope of God's Judgment. So this passage begins with a really sharp and sobering pronouncement. I'll stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So again, this is a picture of the day of the Lord. When we get to chapter 2 and verse 5 and forward, we're going to see that the day of the Lord certainly applies to the nations. But what ought to really catch our attention is that it also applies to the unfaithful who operate as the covenant community. He's gonna stretch out his hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So this declaration introduces, again, a central theme of Zephaniah, the universality and inescapability of God's judgment on Judah. Notice how God's wrath is directed at Judah has, again, this is a principle that you see over and over in the scripture. Judgment begins with the household of God, and that includes the day of the Lord. Zephaniah identifies specific objects of God's wrath. First, he's gonna target the remnant of Baal. That's the false deity, the false worship that's plagued both Israel and Judah for generation after generation. The use of remnant here is deliberate, indicating that idolatry had persisted even if it had diminished. Though Josiah's reforms that we read about in 2 Kings 23 a couple months back aimed to purge the land of all these idolatrous practices, the people's heart remained idolatrous. And God's not going to overlook that. His judgment's thorough, it's complete because of the people's spiritual infidelity. Next, the Lord condemns the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priest. And here, there's a distinction between true and false priests. And it's not going to make much difference, they're both idolatrous and they're both falling under the wrath of God. Even the legitimate Levitical priesthood had become corrupt and they're mingling the worship of Yahweh with pagan practices. This is a sober reminder. That religious formality that's idolatry, no matter how sincere or heartfelt, it is an affront to God, and it falls under the rubric of what God will do. on the day of the Lord. I think we take worship so for granted, particularly as American evangelicals. We just assume if we show up and we feel good about it, God must love it. That is such a dangerous attitude for worship. The worship of God's got to be exclusive. As best we can, it's gotta be undefiled. It's gotta be according to the precepts that God lays out, the way that God desires to be worshiped, not the way we want to worship. Verse five highlights the syncretism of the people. Not just the priesthood, but the people. Those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord, and yet swear by Milcom. So again, this is the people now, they're synchronistic worship, they're mixing the worship of Yahweh with their allegiance to false gods. You have to understand what this is too. It's adultery. It's people who basically think they can have a threesome with Yahweh and Baal. It is that gross and that disgusting before God. Jesus declared, you can't serve two masters. And that's inevitably the choice. And Judah wants to do it their way. And they're going to fall under the day of the Lord. Divided allegiance to Yahweh is no allegiance to Yahweh. And then in verse 6, Zephaniah includes those who have turned away from following the Lord and those who do not seek the Lord or inquire Him. Now this is just speaking of those in Judah who were apathetic or indifferent to the things of God. We learned this when we were studying Josiah's reform. Josiah was a great reformer. He did remarkable things for the Lord's worship, but the people's hearts weren't in it. It really wasn't a reformation in that sense. It was a reformation from Josiah's perspective, but the people loved their apathy. And they loved worshiping who and how and what they desired. They essentially neglected God so they could play the harlot with other false gods. And we see the breadth of sin, idolatry, hypocrisy, and indifference, all of which will invite God's righteous judgment. Let me close here. This is a simple application. Even with the cursory bit of information we've gotten from Zephaniah, God demands exclusive devotion. He wants us to love him and him alone, no other gods, no other idols. And he demands that we worship. in the way he's described and prescribed worship in the Bible, and nothing else is suitable. The Lord is a consuming fire, and we ought to think that and contemplate about that when we gather for worship. Well, ultimately, the day of the Lord It had one of its most spectacular and dramatic occurrences on the cross. But a day will come, the day that's described in our catechism lesson, when the Lord Jesus returns in glory and he calls all the dead to rise. The dead will rise and the righteous will have their bodies and souls reunited to join Him forever. The reprobate will have their bodies and souls joined and they'll be cast into hell forever. That's the day of the Lord, a day of salvation and a day of judgment. Dear ones, make sure you are believing in Jesus as he's offered to you freely in the gospel, that you might know for you that great day will be a day of salvation. Amen. Well, I'll pause here, and if you have any questions or comments or thoughts, I don't know if you guys heard what Les asked, but he asked if the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was a day of the Lord, for sure. I think you see that most clearly in Luke 39 of the different accounts, because it's called a day. And some of the language there is picked up from Zechariah. That's described as a day of the Lord. So for sure, that is a day of the Lord. Again, it's God's judgment finally on Judah, a full and final judgment. So, for sure. Anything else? Is it fair to say that some of the passages you reference are what causes the difference between Reformed believers and dispensationalists as far as the name of the Lord? Well, for instance, Amos 9, that you talked about. talking about God's destruction. He said, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, declares the Lord. And then we go on in verse 11, starting with the restoration of Israel. My understanding, the whole last part of Amos 9, the end of the book, is about the coming of the Gentiles and the coming of all of Israel. But if you look at it as Israel here, Gentiles here, that's going to be confusing. And to that point, it's interesting because one of the big tenants of that theological system is a rebuilt temple. But this is actually the closest thing you get to a rebuilt temple is this rebuilt tabernacle of David. And again, James is saying this is fulfilled now. Again, you might be able to add something to that, Ben. You probably know, I'm sure you know dispensational system better than I do. So, but yeah. Going off that, I would just say that it was Acts 15. It's that quotation by James and then also in Acts 2 at Pentecost when they quote Joel 2, those two quotations in the New Testament were some of the biggest I guess eye-opening times or light bulb moments that I had when I realized, oh, okay, these Old Testament passages are being fulfilled at Christ's coming and onward, right? Not necessarily at the consummation. And again, maybe even Daniel can speak to this. These guys would know the dispensational system. From what I've read, and I used to know it pretty well, but it's just been off my radar for so many years, but from what I've read, most of their understanding of what the day of the Lord represents is the tribulation period, that seven years, that's by and large. So see, they don't really have a place to say, no, it was fulfilled here, and no, it was fulfilled here, and no, it was fulfilled here. Again, they basically have a view of redemptive history that's Israel, the church, let's cut them in half, and then we kind of got to break stuff up, you know? Anyway. Anything else? Will you think of 9-1-1, the current event, as a day of the Lord? Say again? Like 9-1-1, was that like a day of the Lord? That's a good question. I don't know if you guys heard what Les just asked. He asked was like September 9-1-1, was that a day of the Lord? I do think that what we call natural disasters can certainly be an actual expression of the day of the Lord. Natural disasters is what God uses in history to bring about judgment. The flood was a natural disaster. The plagues, they were actually natural disasters. Again, they were miraculously performed by God, but they were ostensibly, from an outside view, they were natural disasters. So natural disasters are God's instrument of judgment often. Here's where I want to be cautious. I want to be cautious saying I definitely know this is an expression of the day of the Lord, every single one of them. And this is where I really would say there needs to be caution, that is identifying what sins God's judging in the day of the Lord. You know, I remember, oh, this has been… When was...what was the big hurricane event that happened down along the Louisiana border? Was it Katrina? Yeah. And, you know, there are guys who are saying, you know what this is? God's judging New Orleans for homosexuality. Well, maybe, and I have no doubt God's going to judge for homosexuality. I'm just not sure. That's not the only sin that's going on there. That place is like pagan central if you've ever been there. There's all kinds of idolatry and immorality going on there. If you want to say that's probably a judgment of God and a manifestation of the day of the Lord, I would say yeah, I have no problem saying that. But I don't want to say I know why God's doing it. You're getting into the mind of God in a way that I just don't think we have license to do, so. That's helpful. You're not going to believe this. This is actually really funny. So, I've had this Bible since 1983, okay? In verse 7, when it says, the day of the Lord is at hand, here's my note. It says, the time of judgment, the tribulation. So, there you go. So, I never admitted it. So, you apparently heard the same things I was hearing. Wow. But I really, again, one of my big points was to say it is a day of judgment and a day of salvation, you know? Any other? Everything okay? No. Lucy's having neck pain and a headache and she's thrown up twice, so we need to go get her to the emergency room. Lucy is sick, so they're gonna take off, and we're gonna pray, and then we'll also pray for Lucy. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful that we can gather around your word, and even as we read of a terrible judgment, we likewise read of a glorious salvation, and we just pray that knowing that we are the objects of your mercy and love and so great a salvation that it will bless us and keep us. Likewise, Lord, we pray for Lucy and just whatever is befalling her physically that's causing her to be sick, I pray that you sustain her. We pray as she goes to the emergency room that you provide good treatment for her, the doctors, that they might be able to diagnose her and provide a course of treatment that she'll be brought to health. And again, just bless her. Give Beth and Todd and their family a peace that passes understanding and help them to minister to their family. Again, bless us now, Lord, as we go from here this evening, reveling in the fact that we are the objects of your love. We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Let me ask you to stand, brothers and sisters, to receive the Lord's benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, amen.