How to Get a Personal Rescuing During a National Reckoning

As the world gets darker, these 8 current events and fulfilled prophecies point to the imminent return of Jesus!

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How to get a personal rescuing during a national reckoning: Joel 2:1-17

Boy I stood on a hot stove burner caught red footed (minor pain to warn of major pain) 

  • Some pain is a warning today to keep us from worse pain in the future 
  • Locusts destroyed = National Reckoning – ETERNAL WARNING! 

Unrepentance Unlocks Reckoning [1 slide]

Joel 2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. 3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. 7 Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. 8 They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9 They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

NATIONAL RECKONING

  1. “Zion” – 152X OT – in Israel part of Jerusalem (under attack) 
  2. Trumpet/Alarm like air raid siren = Warning reckoning coming (PULPIT)

The Day of the Lord = THEME (8X = 1xJoel 1; 5x Joel 2; 2x Joel 3)

  1. Last days = between 1st 2nd Coming (times of judgment to warn us)
  2. “The Day of the Lord” – 2nd Coming & RECKONING
  3. Wrath = reckoning (Joel “fire” destruction) 
  4. Planet follows Jesus – death, darkness, burial, resurrection 
  • #1 person in Scripture to teach on judgment and hell is Jesus Christ
  • 13% teaching; majority parables 
  • Jesus Gehenna garbage dump 11 X (fire, weeping, wailing, gnashing teeth) 

CS Lewis “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” – YOUR PAIN? 

2500 YEARS LATER 

8 Signs the Day of the Lord is Near [the following are all lower 1/3] 

Matthew 24:3 As he [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives [Zechariah 14:4 says Jesus returns here], the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

  1. Demonic leaders leading to the anti-Christ 

Matthew 24:4-5 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

  1. Wars and threats of wars 

Matthew 24:6-7 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, 

I need the chart “The number of wars has been increasing” https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/1/25/24049551/war-increasing-ukraine-gaza-sudan-ethiopia

  1. Natural disasters

Matthew 24:7-8 and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

  1. Christians hated

Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 

  1. Widespread apostasy 

Matthew 24:10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 

  1. Lies and false teachers 

Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

Tech. AI. UK stabbing. 3 kids killed, 8 hurt. 2 adults. 770 arrests. 17 autism 

  1. Lawless anarchy 

Matthew 24:12-13 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 

  1. Global evangelism 

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

  • Real Faith total reach is around 100 nations a year 

The Church will not return to influence unless it returns to the Bible 

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/03/15/8-in-10-americans-say-religion-is-losing-influence-in-public-life/ I need the 1st graphic 

Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel…

Joel 2:11 …he who executes his word is powerful.

  • Avalanche analogy 

Repentance Unlocks Rescuing [1 slide]

Joel 2:12–17 12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16 gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

  1. Do you know who God is? Ex. 34 – #1 QUOTED “God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, & abounding in steadfast love; & he relents over disaster.
  2. Are you wholehearted running towards God? “return to me w/all your heart”?
  3. Are you a prodigal coming back to God today? “Return to the LORD your God”
  4. Is your relationship with God your highest & most urgent priority? “Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.”
  5. Are you leading your children and family into godliness? “Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants.”
  6. What do you need to repent of so God can deliver you? “return” “fasting” “weeping” “mourning” “rend your hearts”? ???HS HIGHLIGHT????
  7. What is your life saying about your God to others? Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

Band Up 

TUE AM – awakened & wrote re repentance 

Repentance keeps you from going to hell forever, and living in hell today 

You see and feel what your God does about your sin 

Removes barrier between you & God’s blessing 

Removes guilt, shame, condemnation

Keeps things from getting worse (UTURN) 

Ends sneaking/hiding 

Routine of self-improvement 

Heals human relationships (better version YOU) 

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Mark Driscoll

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