“Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt, and they will be afraid.” (Is. 13:6-7)
In the Old Covenant, the fierceness of the glory of the Lord was centered in the tabernacle and later the temple. The glory of the Lord burned above the cherubim, and guards were posted to prevent people from breaking through to the presence of the Lord. Whenever someone broke through, whenever someone went in without being invited, disaster followed. The writer of Hebrews says that the fierceness of God’s glory has not lessened in the New Covenant, if anything it has only increased, and perhaps the greatest difference is that it is no longer centralized in one place. Now the fire of the Spirit has been poured out on all flesh, but the writer of Hebrews says, “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven… Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:25, 28-29) This is the day of the Lord. When we gather here on the first day of the week to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, as we call on the Name of the Lord, hear His word, and break bread together, God promises to be here, to burn with His fire against sin and evil and to feed and nourish His children. This meal is the communion in the body and blood of the Lord, and therefore, this meal is the fire of the Spirit. Do not shrink back in cowering fear, come, eat, drink, and rejoice with reverence and godly fear. This is the Lord’s Day, and God is on the warpath for sin and evil and darkness. But you are His holy ones, His beloved sons, so come into the light.
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