Sound The Trumpet : The Warning of the Coming Day of the Lord

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“The Warning of the Coming Day of the Lord”
by Art Sadlier
June 16th, 2013

Jeremiah faced the nation of Israel on the brink of disaster. For nearly 400 years God had been sending His prophets warning Israel to repent. About ninety years before Jeremiah the Lord sent Isaiah who said, “Judgment is coming.”

Jeremiah said, “It’s here.” Jeremiah said, “The Babylonians are going to come and slaughter you.” Those who survive will be carried away in chains to Babylon.”

Jeremiah stood on the brink of a holocaust. He was the prophet at the end of the glory days of Israel. Isaiah prophesied at 11.00 am. Jeremiah prophesied at midnight. It is now midnight for our world.

The Babylonians did come; the people and the land were decimated! Jeremiah knew what was coming. He knew judgment was coming.

My friends, with the Bible in one hand and the daily news in the other we know what is coming. We know the judgment of God is near, even at the doors. Our society stands on the brink of a holocaust. Our society stands on the brink of the great Day of the Lord. Within a few short years two thirds of earth’s population will be dead, according John’s apocalypse.

For forty- two years Jeremiah warned of the coming judgment. For forty-two years Judah steadfastly refused to repent. Finally the Lord said to Jeremiah, Judah has crossed the line, their fate is sealed. Judgment is sealed. Judgment is now inevitable. “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone” (Jeremiah 5:23). They have passed the point of no return.

Somewhere along the line, during Jeremiah’s ministry, Judah crossed the line of God’s patience and mercy. The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee” (Jeremiah 7:16). It’s now too late, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20).

I believe our society stands on the brink of a holocaust, though it is never too late for individuals to be saved. I believe our society stands in the shadow of the coming Day of the Lord. The world is facing the greatest crisis in human history.

I believe America and Canada stand on the threshold of the judgment of God. Whether that event will precede the tribulation period or not we cannot know.

Amazingly for Judah the midnight hour of judgment had come and yet Judah was still insensitive to their sin. They said in effect, “What have we done to deserve judgment, we haven’t sinned we are the people of God. Like the church of Laodicea of the present hour, sin blinds their eyes. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Today we have a generation that is blind to their sin and spiritual bankruptcy.

Where do we as Christians fit into all of this? What did Jeremiah do? We learn from Jeremiah the responsibility of the godly in an ungodly day. We learn how to live on the edge of a holocaust, how to live in a doomed society.

Are we to buy into the world’s fair? Are we to laugh at its jokes? Are we to smile at its entertainment?

Three things to recognize

1 – Jeremiah had a Divine Mandate

Get the picture, Jeremiah stands as God’s anointed messenger to confront a nation headed for certain disaster. In the midst of that God gives him a divine mandate. “Then the Word of the Lord came unto me….” First God gives Jeremiah a mandate. Jeremiah must understand that he is called of God before he speaks.

Why does Jeremiah need this realization that he is called of God? Because his ministry will be 42 years long and it will be basically fruitless, no one will respond. So to enable him to be faithful he has the assurance of God’s call upon him.

We need to understand that we have a divine mandate. 1 Corinthians 9:16, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” Paul is saying, God has called me to do this. That extends to all of God’s people, you have a divine mission. You have a ministry to this doomed generation.

Believer you have been chosen by God to serve Him. Do you have a sense of mission and are you motivated by a divine mandate?

2 – Jeremiah had a Divine Message

What do we say to this generation? What do we give them? We are to give them the Word of God. We are not to give them a little bit of self-esteem, not a little bit of psychology. We are not to please them; we are not to tell them they are okay.

What was Jeremiah’s message? What was the burden of his heart?

“O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee” (Jeremiah 14:7). Jeremiah faced dying culture with its sin. Our society need to be indicted for its sin.

For fifty years new evangelicalism decided not to do that. The attitude has been if we can get them to like us, maybe they will like our saviour? No! We are not in the business of getting people to like us. We are to confront sin. Then people can repent and be saved and enjoy the blessing of God upon them. We do not want to fool our society, we have to preach sin and judgment.

3 – Jeremiah had a Deep Mourning

“But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away captive” (Jeremiah 13:17).

If you don’t preach judgment with tears, you have missed it. Jeremiah didn’t get satisfaction from preaching doom and judgment. Jeremiah preached with fire in his belly, but all the while his eyes ran down with tears. “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1). He preached with a broken heart. Jeremiah was like God, he cared about people. Do we care that people that are perishing? If we do we warn them with a broken heart.

Our tears will not be understood. Our message may not be accepted. We may weep alone. But if we care, we will weep!

But weeping is not enough! We must have a message and we must speak it. There is hope; there will always be some who will come to Christ. The hour is late for this tired old world and its people.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13