THE
GREAT SEPARATION
Luke 17:26-30, 34-36
I.
This Age of Grace, Opportunity
1.
Different
ages in the Bible
The Bible is divided into different time periods cf.
O.T.; N.T.
Paul calls them “dispensations,”
“administrations”
each ending in judgment I Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2;
Col. 1:25
O.T. = Edenic age, death, Anti-diluvian, the flood,
patriarchal, the slavery of Egypt, Mosaic, destruction of the nation
N.T. = Holy Spirit, grace, tribulation, millennium,
Great White Throne
2.
We
live in the age of grace, of the Holy Spirit, of the church, of opportunity
(1)
The
age began both secretly and publicly
-
secretly,
when Christ conceived in womb of Mary
-
secretly
when Christ raised from dead, breathed on disciples
-
publicly,
day of Pentecost
-
publicly,
world wide missionary preaching of gospel
(2)
The
age ends both secretly and publicly
-
secretly,
silently, at any moment, rapture, Christ coming for
-
publicly,
as lightning across sky Matt. 24:27
Rev. 1:7
“Christ cometh openly with clouds. . .”
(3)
Whether
secretly or openly, a common denominator in the end of the age: separation
judgment
secretly (1) ending
the church age, rapture, separation
publicly (2) end
of the tribulation, judgment, separation
Israel - Ezek. 20:33-38; Zech. 13:8, 9
1/3
saved
Gentile
nations – Matt. 25:31-46
cf. This life ends in separation, death
the
ultimate separation
(a)
Old
Indian preacher
II.
The Earth Without A Christian
1.
Terrifying
revelation, what happens if left behind
cf. 10
save Sodom. None here. Raptured away
(a)
Card,
“. . . not bothered . . .”
Judgment falls:
tribulation, seals, trumpets, vials
2.
Up
to this moment, here together: wheat,
tares – like in a field
fish, good, bad – “ in the sea”
sheep,
goats - “ in the pasture”
(a)
Poem
3.
Left
behind in a world of unrestrained evil
Rev. 9:6
“seek death” Like a woman
violated again, again, again
Rev. 9:20,
21; 16:9-11 “repented not”
cf. Lk. 16;31
“. . . though one rose from
the dead.”
III.
The Present Scoffing, Unbelieving World
1.
II
Peter 3:3, 4
God not here.
Or no God. God not intervene.
Peter’s
answer: God does intervene
his
illustration, the flood
could
have used - Sodom
Samaria 722
Judah 587
Pompey 62
Mk.
13:2 Temple stones
Jesus left
Temple, never to return
last
appeal had been made
henceforth,
left to themselves
To the human
eye, such doom incredible “these great
stones”
noble
architecture
stately ritual but
all earthly
ravishing color,
symbols of the
flesh
cf. Churches
of North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor
gilded doomed cathedrals
golden altars
resplendent vestments
marvelous ritual
But
what hear from sacerdotal lips?
salvation by sacraments
access to God through
human priesthood
acceptance with God by
human merit
the sword of judgment
unsheathed:
Muhammadan
Saracen
Ottoman Turk Total
destruction
cf. 7
churches of Asia
2.
Why not a like judgment day?
II Peter
3:9 blow
withheld
cf. II Sam. 24:15-25, 17
God’s
praying people
But a day when God
intervenes; spoken of by Isaiah
Amos
Zechariah
Matt.
24 Mk. 13 Rev. 5-19
I
Thess. 4 Lk. 17
i ñ His people taken away
there
for the unrepentant, day of terror, fright, anguish
ii ñ today a man may blaspheme, scoff; God do nothing
but a day of
reckoning
cf. Elijah, Jezebel. Years passed
iii ñ this a day of grace – then ends
then judgment begins -
burn like an oven
- Heb.
10:31
iv ñ it is the final intervention of God, of which all others a type
mills of God
grind slow, but grind exceeding fineñ
when time
comes, rapidity of successive events
Matt.
24:27 lightning
Rev.
22:7, 12, 20 quickly tachu
God’s
clock
the
funeral pyre of the cities of the world
overwhelmed
in sea of flames – II Pet. 3:10, 11
But we are saved
Dan. 3:19-27
(a)
Oh, my loving brother
When the
world’s on fire
Don’t
you want God’s bosom
For
to be your pillow
Oh,
hide me over
In
the Rock of Ages
Rock
of Ages
Cleft
for me.
The
Great Separation
There shall
come a night
of such wild affright
As none
beside shall know;
When the heaven shakes
And the wide earth quakes
In her last
and deepest woe.
O lost one, give ear
While the saints are near;
Soon must the
tie be riven,
And men side by side
God’s hand shall divide
As far as
hell’s depths from heaven.
Some husband whose head
Was laid on his bed
Sickened
from mad excess,
Shall awake with a scream
By the lightning’s gleam,
Alone in his
last distress.
For the patient wife
Who through each day’s life
Watched
and wept for his soul,
Is taken away
And no more shall pray
As
the judgment thunders roll.
The children of day
Are summoned away;
Left
are the children of night.
Sealed in their doom,
There’s no more room,
For
filled are the mansions of light.
A
man handed me a card. I read:
ARE
YOU PESTERED
. . . . by
sincere people who are forever wanting to “save your soul”. . .
. giving you tracts, inviting you to church, to accept Christ as your Savior,
talking about “salvation”?
Well, it will not be long until
their kind won’t be allowed to bother you any longer. The proper authorities are soon to take action and see to it that
they are no longer around. There’s a
place for them. There won’t be any of them allowed in hell.
“After
the rapture, who will be left behind?”
Larry
Norman, a popular American folk singer, summed up the great hope of the rapture
in a beautiful song named “I Wish We Had All Been Ready.” The song is:
“Life
was filled with guns and war, and everyone got trampled on the floor. I wish we’d all been ready.”
“Children
died, the days grew cold, a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold. I wish we’d all been ready.”
“There
no time to change your mind, the Son has come, and you’ve been left behind.”
“Man
and wife’s asleep in bed, she hears a noise and turns her head; he’s gone. I wish we’d all been ready.”
“There’s
no time to change your mind, the Son has come, and you’ve been left behind.”
“There’s
no time to change your mind, how could you have been so blind. The Father spoke, the demons dined, the Son
has come, and you’ve been left behind.”
