Thank you to Nicolas Barrett of All Along The Watchtower for kindly permitting me to publish his sermon notes for 30th June:

THE DAY OF THE LORD

Primary readings:

• Joel 2:28-32
• Revelation 6:12-17

1. Introduction

Series of events occurring at the end of our present Age in connection with the return of Christ and His Millennial reign

Occurs over an extended period, not a 24-hour day

• Historical application of the Day of the LORD
• Future application:
  • Day of destruction
  • Day of restoration
  • Day of vindication
  • Take away points

 2. Historical Application of the Day of the LORD

• Judgment in Garden of Eden
• Noah’s Flood
• 10 Plagues of Egypt, Exodus, and Sinai
• Fall of Israel to Assyrian forces: 722 BC
• Fall of Nineveh: 612 BC
• Sack of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar: 586 BC
• Fall of Babylon: 538 BC
• Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
• Sack of Jerusalem by Romans: 70 AD

These days involve judgment, destruction, and a promise of restoration.

They point to the final, future, eschatological Day of the LORD when Jesus returns

Events of the past should give us confidence about the reality of the Day of the LORD when Christ returns

3.1 Future Application: Day of Destruction

Literal destruction in past points to literal destruction in future:

• Literal supernatural judgments in the events of the Exodus
• Literal battles and ends of empires
• Miracles at the Crucifixion:
  • Darkness at noon
  • Tearing of the veil
  • First-fruits resurrection of Christ and the Jerusalem saints

Christ is coming to end the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21)

Our world suffers under misrule – human and satanic

Christ began to reverse the rule of evil at His First Advent

• His Second Advent will complete the process

Christ will end the rule of the Antichrist when he returns and will pour out the judgment of God on the unbelievers as described in Revelation and other parts of Scripture

The destruction is necessary in order to remove control of the earth from the wicked and prepare the earth for rule by the righteous

3.2 Future Application: Day of Restoration

• Kingdom restored to Israel (Acts 1:6)
• Earth itself will prosper under righteous people
• Non-resurrected people will have long life spans (Isaiah 65:20)
• An end to war
• Healing
• First Resurrection at beginning of Millennium (Revelation 20)

3.3 Future Application: Day of Vindication

• God
• Christ
• Church
• Israel

God will be vindicated through Christ:

• He who rejects the Father rejects the Son

Christ will be vindicated:

• He will be accepted by the leadership of restored Israel
• Survivors and converts will acknowledge that He is who He claimed to be
• His faithfulness to Israel and the Church will be known
• The unrepentant will curse God and Christ in the midst of the judgments – but they will know the truth deep down

The Church will be vindicated:

• The Resurrection will occur
• Those martyred in past ages and by the Antichrist will be raised
• Christ will give government of the world to believers
  • This invites a comparison between the bad government of the present age and good government under the Church

Israel will be vindicated:

• The world will know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is God
• The world will know that Jesus Christ is the King of Israel
• Jerusalem will be the seat of world government and continue to be the destination of pilgrimage

4. Conclusion: Points To Take Away

What we do now matters

• When Christ returns, He will reward his faithful followers
• The opportunity to rule the earth during the Millennial reign of Christ is an amazing one
  • Put right the wrongs the world has suffered

We must have faith amidst adversity and suffering

• Our suffering in this present age will be redeemed
  • Especially suffering for the Gospel
• BUT we will not necessarily be vindicated in this lifetime
  • The return of Christ, Resurrection and Millennium must be at the centre of our theology of suffering

The wrath of God should be a consideration and motivation in our evangelism

• Love your enemies
• Wrath of God
• Hell

Understand the signs of the times – the return will happen one day

Revival and the End-Times Harvest

Take all of these things into consideration when you pray

Further Reading:

• Michael Heiser, Reversing Hermon (Defender Publishing 2017)
• Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (Lexham Press 2015)
• Alan Kurshner, Antichrist before the Day of the LORD (Eschatos Publishing 2013)
• David Pawson, When Jesus Returns (Hodder & Stoughton 2003)
• Joel Richardson, The Mystery of Catastrophe (Winepress 2018)
• Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World: What the Bible really says about Israel in the Plan of God (Winepress 2015)

NB: Joel Richardson’s books are available to read as free PDFs on his ministry website: joelstrumpet.com

PS (RB): Apologies for my omission of link in previous to Neil Mackereth’s Signs.

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