Dies iræ!

Dies illa solvet sæclum in favilla

We have thought about four men¹ who met God and how God dealt with them. One day we must all meet God. The Bible says: Prepare to meet your God². I want to tell you something about that day – not very much as we don’t have time to look at it all this evening – because we need to be ready for it. So three brief things: The day is coming. The day is dreadful. The day is unknown.

The day is coming.

Just is case we are in any doubt about it when Jesus tells us about this day that is coming, he reminds us of another day when God judged the earth. Jesus told us: But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be³.

The last time⁴ I stood here I told you about the flood that covered the whole earth about five thousand years ago. There is ample evidence that that happened. We have no doubt about it. So we can be just as sure that the day is coming when everyone will meet Jesus. There will be no choice about it. Jesus tells us that there is much in common between the day the flood came and the day that he will return.

So we know that he is coming.

What is the day like? The day is dreadful.

In the same part of Matthew’s gospel⁵ we read: the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

It is a terrible description of what the day will be like when we shall all meet Jesus. In another place⁶ we read: I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

God holds out the way of escape for us now. Jesus has paid the price for our sins. Jesus has been judged for us. Jesus has taken away God’s anger for us. Will we take what he offers?

So then the day is coming, and it is a dreadful day. The day is unknown.

And finally there is nothing that men can do about it, either to bring it forward or to put it back, for the day is not known to us. Only God the Father knows when that day will come. Jesus told us: But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only⁷.

It could be tonight. It could be next week. It could be in a hundred years time, or a thousand. We do not know. We do not know how long God has given this earth, just as we do not know how long each one of us has to live here. Jesus said: Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.⁸

The day is coming. It is a dreadful day. The day is unknown. We do not know when. So we need to be ready now. And the only way to be ready is to find a new life in Jesus Christ. To turn to him and away from your sins, asking him to help you live a new life for him. God grant that we might be ready for the return of the Lord Jesus, and not be taken away like those who were taken away by the flood.

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.⁹

Pray God that you be not among those who are taken but among those who are left.

¹ See Job, Paul and two thieves ² Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel! Amos 4:12 ³ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Luke 17:25-28 ⁴ Scoffers ⁵ Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31 ⁶ I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Revelation 6:12-7:1 ⁷ But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Mark 13:32 ⁸ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Luke 12:40 ⁹ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left. Luke 17:26-36