Sermon: "A Faith That is More Than Believing" on Joel 2:28–32 | The Coming of the Holy Spirit

well please open your Bible at Joyland chapter two that we're going to look at three related passages of Scripture together today Joel in Chapter two we're continuing in this marvelous book that's becoming more familiar than perhaps it was at least for some of us and the storyline that we've been following is that God had blessed his people he had led them into the land that was flowing with milk and honey God's people though had become unfaithful and they had come under the discipline of God God had sent locusts who he describes as my great army chapter 2 and verse 25 and harvests were devastated this continued for four consecutive years and it brought the people of God to their knees in more ways than one and then God spoke through the Prophet Joel how were these people to respond to this terrible disaster that had come to their lives and to their land and God says through Joel you are to lament that's the first thing and you are to repent that was the second and the people responded they came before the Lord and they prayed spare the people Oh Lord why should the nations say where is your God in chapter 2 and verse 18 God had pity on the people the heart of God was moved and he then gave to them wonderful new promises and we got to the first last week in chapter 2 and verse 25 this wonderful promise God says I will restore the years the locusts have eaten and I think that we found in our own hearts this was a promise that speaks powerfully to us it is a wonderful promise that is full of hope restoring time of course is impossible but we saw together that God is able to give back what we have lost and he can do it by deepening your communion with Jesus Christ and he can do it by multiplying our fruitfulness and he can do it because he is the eternal God and he's the God who calls his people to eternity now today our focus is going to be on verse 28 and verse 29 when we come to a second great promise that is given by God and it is an even more wonderful promise verse 28 and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions even on the male and female servants in these days I will pour out my spirit it's a wonderful promise and I want us to see it today in the broad sweep of the Bible story and so three stopping places in our journey today the first is I want us to see the spirit the Holy Spirit of God anticipated in a prayer of Moses way back early in the Old Testament then we'll come back to this passage in Joel and see how the Spirit of God is promised through the Prophet Joel and then we'll go forward to Acts in chapter 2 and we will see where this promise in the book of Joel is wonderfully fulfilled as the spirit is given through the Lord Jesus Christ so if you would with that then turn back with me earlier in the Bible to the Book of Numbers and chapter 11 numbers and chapter 11 you will find it helpful to follow in the Bible as we get the flow of this great story today numbers 11 the Spirit anticipated in the prayer of Moses now just reminding you where we are in the Book of Numbers God's people had become slaves in Egypt and he had heard their cry and through miracles of grace he had brought them out into freedom and God had made a covenant with them he said you will be my people and I will be your God he then led them through the desert on the way to the promised land the land that was going to be flowing with milk and honey and indeed was and on the way as they went through the desert God miraculously provided for his people manna this food that came down from heaven and was provided every day to sustain them but God's people were not happy and we take up the story in verse 1 where we're told that the people complained that's the key word of the whole story they complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes and it's one of these passages that it often makes me smile at least may make you smile as you read it you get the feel of their complaining from verse 5 here they are out in the desert and they've got this manner which is a seed like food and they say oh that we had meat to eat we remember the fish we ate in Egypt that costs nothing well you see marvelous we had free food because the reason they had free food is they were slaves and they had no money I mean there was the only way they were kept alive but what they're picking up on is it costs nothing and then they go on the cucumber's the melons the leeks the onions the garlic I don't know why they got so excited about that but but now our strength is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manner to look at imagine it the miraculous provision of food and they're saying oh there's nothing at all except this stuff which is the miracle of God's grace daily received well you can imagine put yourself in Moses shoes he gets to the place where he's just about had enough of these people who are so difficult to lead and so verse 11 Moses says to the Lord I love this why have you dealt ill with your servant that's Moses speaking about himself and why have I not found favor in your sight he says to God that you lay the burden of all these people on me did I conceive all of these people did I give them birth that you see the me carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing child to the land that you swore to their fathers I mean Moses really must have had a bad day in the office when he has this conversation with Almighty God and they're remarkable so verse 16 the Lord tells Moses to gather 70 men from among the elders of Israel and God in his kindness wants to lift the burden from Moses and here's how he does it he says verse 17 the Lord says I will come down and I will talk with you there and I will take here it is some of the spirit capital s that is on you and put it on them and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you may not bear it yourself alone so here's the wonderful kindness of God God says okay you're feeling the weight of this large crowd who are complaining in many ways very difficult to lead and I'm going to give you 70 people to help you and for that purpose I will take of the same spirit Moses had a special anointing of the Holy Spirit I will take of the same spirit I've given to you and I will give off the spirit to them so now Moses has some helpers and guess what the people complain about the helpers and so as you move forward to verse 26 the Spirit has been given there are two men in particular from among the 70 Eldad and Medad verse 26 and they were prophesying and the people began to complain I mean why are these guys doing this and so forth and so in verse 29 and here's the point of this passage for us today Moses gives this marvelous answer to the continuing complaint that's going on the complaint now is that these two Eldad and Medad are prophesying and that they have the spirit and Moses responds verse 29 is food that all the Lord's people were prophets that the Lord would put his spirit on them you see what he's saying theater these people and they profess faith and they bear the name of the Lord but they are habitual complainers they are self-absorbed they are thoroughly ungrateful for all of the blessings of God that they continue to receive every day and even putting 70 spiritually gifted spirit endowed elders in responsibility over them did not solve the problem and Moses is saying and I suspect he said it was a huge sigh if only God would give his spirit to all of them that really is the only hope if only all of them were filled with the spirit as Eldad and Medad are filled with the spirit they wouldn't be constantly complaining they wouldn't so constantly be self-absorbed and they would not be constantly ungrateful if only and he says it in that kind of a way numbers chapter 11 and verse 29 now that points you to something very important to understand about the old testament era before the coming of Christ and it's this that in the Old Testament era the Holy Spirit the Spirit of God was given only to a few God poured out his spirit on some people who were called to particular tasks and you can pick up the references to this throughout the Old Testament the tasks for which the Spirit was given are absolutely fascinating and they include for example craftsman you read in Exodus chapter 31 and verse 30 about a man by the name of des ll and God says I filled him with the spirit why I filled him with the spirit for knowledge and craftsmanship why because the work of the spirit was going to particularly equip this man and those who worked with him for the crafting of all that was going into the construction of the tabernacle which was such a special calling at that point in the Bible story the spirit of the God filled Bezalel giving him craftsman ship the Spirit of the Lord has given to judges like a snail judges at three and verse 10 the Spirit of the Lord was on him was given to warriors like like Gideon who of course was also a judge the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon we read the Spirit of the Lord was given to prophets to all of the prophets the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul and they were able to to prophesy and of course the Spirit of God was given in a particular way to godly kings and that is why David says in Psalm 51 and you'll remember this in his prayer do not take your Holy Spirit from me says David that's Old Testament and the Spirit was given in a particular way to David anointing him for the extraordinary task to which God had called him now this was not given to everybody so get into a few which is why Moses says oh that the spirit would give be given to all of them because they'd be a very different crowd of the Spirit was given to all of them in the Old Testament there was a kind of aristocracy of the spirit a few the Spirit of God was poured out not on all but on some and you understand the cry of Moses if only you would give your spirit to all the people because without the Spirit of God the people of God become a rabble and they're unreadable and that's the heart of the prayer of Moses now let's move forward having looked at the spirit anticipated in the prayer of Moses back to the book of Joel which takes up this very theme and let's look at the Spirit of God promised through the Prophet Joel and back to Joel in chapter 2 and verse 28 your Bible should be opening nicely at jewel by now so it's not so difficult to find as it was two weeks ago verse 28 again and it shall come to pass afterward so we've already rolled forward hundreds of years from the time of Moses and now we have a promise that relates to the future after the time of Joel afterward I will pour out my spirit on notice it all flesh that's the thing Moses longed for on your sons and on your daughters they shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit now you see that this is saying something completely new at this point in the Bible story remarkable what what Moses would have dreamed off but perhaps never anticipated would actually come to pass God says I will pour out my spirit on all people all not a privileged for you not just kings and prophets craftsman called to particular tasks warriors and judges but all of God's people and Joel spells this out what that means is just so that we explain all God's people what's in all well that means sons and daughters so the gift of the Spirit will not be limited by gender old men and young men so the gift of the Spirit will not be limited by age it includes servants even male and female servants you notice that phrase at the end so the gift of the Spirit is not limited by social status because here are people at the law lowest level of society and yet if they are the people of God they are given the gift of God's holy spirit now notice what happens or what will happen because Joel's making a prophecy here what will happen when the spirit is poured out three things number one your sons and your daughters shall prophesy let me give you a simple definition or description of that as it's being used here to prophesy is to be prompted by God to speak the right word at the right time in the right way to prophesy is to be prompted by God to speak the right word at the right time in the right way and many of you know about this from your own experience someone a brother and sister or sister in Christ at some point said to you exactly what you needed to hear and it was so exactly what you needed to hear you felt only God could have made that come about and it may have been a very young Christian who said it to you you may have been surprised by the vehicle that God used and that made it all the more wonderful I think of how many times I have sat in meeting and we're debating and talking about ministry and seeking what is wise and what is best and so many different things are said and different factors are are poured over and and I'm thinking of particular people and times in my own mind even as I say this and someone who's been sitting quite quietly there in the meeting and listening to everything that's been said suddenly after a long discussion will say you know it really seems to me that the nub of the issue here is this and what we should be doing is that and it's like the whole meeting opens up and and everyone's together that's exactly right and then the next thought is why did you not say that an hour ago but you know these experiences and you become aware that the right thing has been said at the right time and it has been said in the right way and it was God prompting this particular person at this particular time to say precisely what they did now this gift is is not one that sort of is is harbored by a few people or held on to as if it was a permanent possession the whole point of what is being said here is that every person who has received the Spirit is in a position to do this with the help of God that God is able to use his people as we are sensitive to his spirit and as we are walking with Him to speak a right word at a right time in a right way that is profoundly helpful perhaps to one person or to a group or perhaps even to the whole church and people discern that God has been in this and it happens in the life of the church so wonderfully and so very very frequently and god uses especially those who walk most closely with him in these ways Lloyd Ogilvie I described this so very well you may know that he was the chaplain to the Senate for some time he was also a pastor for many years and writing about this he says the most dynamic one-to-one evangelists in my congregation are those who ask for and receive the gift of prophecy they do not have canned monologues to bore people that's what the cults have done a canned monologue you know you learn how to make the presentation but Ogilvy is saying the people who are most useful in evangelism are not people have learned a script that is a kind of canned monologue no rather they know how to listen how to care how to empathize with love and the spirit gives them insight about what to say the timing for when to say it the boldness to be honest personal and incisive in helping people to respond there's a wonderful gift of huge importance across the life in the ministry of the church I pour out my spirit on all flesh and the result will be that across the congregation there will be this ability to minister and to speak and and to do that very humbly and not to assume that every time we say something it's from the Lord but but for others to judge and to discern that was just a gift and that was what we needed to hear and more than that when the Spirit is poured out on all flesh look at how it affects the congregation as a whole there's a particular reference here to old and young with regards to old your old men shall dream dreams so what we have here is hope filled seniors praise God for hope filled seniors spirit filled seniors our hope filled seniors and this has to be a work of God's Spirit because as we get older it is very easy for us to become more negative life moves away from us as we get older and it's easy for us therefore to begin to feel sorry for ourselves and and perhaps to feel that nothing will ever be as good as it was when we were doing it and so forth but here we have hope filled seniors when the Spirit is poured out older Saints dreaming dreams what does that mean they have great confidence in what God can do on earth and they have great anticipation for what God has in store in heaven that's a faithful senior a hope filled scene or a spirit filled senior great confidence with regards to what God can do on earth and great anticipation of what's getting nearer what Christ has in store in heaven and then there's a specific reference to the younger your young men shall see visions so here our mission focused youngsters and again this has to be a work of God's Spirit because when we are young the the natural tendency is always to be absorbed and taking up with what's going on now life comes towards you it just keeps coming at you when you are young new music new media you're the target audience you're the focus for absolutely everything and it's so easy to become consumed with it all and with the sense of life before you for this world and now and what's cool and hip to be everything but when the Spirit is poured out in the lives of young people here are young people who see beyond the material that's at the heart of what we're talking about with this word vision it's like x-ray eyes they perceive the eternal they see beyond the flashing screen they have vision they see beyond the the trivia and the shallowness of everything that's going on relentlessly around them they have a passion to glorify God and make a difference in the world they have a sense that even though they are young life in this world is short and after that is eternity they see it and those who are simply living in the flesh around them don't now I will pour out my spirit says God upon all flesh and this is what it will look like when it happens vision among the young young people who like William kiri he launched out for India on the basis of saying expect great things from God and attempt great things for God that's a young man with vision and God used him to bless a whole content pouring out of the spirit now you get where we are in the story three parts the spirit anticipated in the prayer of Moses oh god if only you could pour out your spirit on all people because I that's complaining crota people here who are almost unreadable and even when we put an organizational structure in place it doesn't do it and and if only you would give your spirit that's the only thing that I can think of if the spirit could be given to all of them and that must have seemed a million miles from the reality of Moses experience and then we've rolled forward to Joel and here's this prophecy and God says to these people who've been lamenting and they've been repenting their here's here's hope I'm gonna restore the years that the locusts have eaten I'm gonna do that for you right now and here's here's where the story is going for the future for your sons and for your daughters for future generations gonna come a time when the prayer of Moses is going to be wonderfully answered and I will pour out my spirit on all flesh one more stopping place turn with me roll forward in the Bible we do two acts in Chapter two the day of Pentecost acts in chapter two and we're looking here at the spirit given through the Lord Jesus Christ the spirit given he was anticipated by Moses promised by Joel and given through the Lord Jesus Christ acts in chapter 2 verse 1 when the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place now who's they the day is a reference back to chapter 1 and verse 15 where we are told about a company of 120 believers there was only one congregation and that was it one congregation of 120 in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost that's very very important because in acts 2 we're not simply talking about the Spirit of God coming upon the Apostles that was the old thing the select few this is the Spirit of God coming upon the whole congregation the 120 every one of them verse 2 and suddenly when the 120 are all gathered together in one place there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them and notice it and they were say it with me all filled with the Holy Spirit do you see that and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance what does that mean it means that God gave to these believers hundred-and-twenty the entire congregation on the day of Pentecost a unique miracle is the entire congregation the spontaneous ability to speak in languages they had never learned and they were known languages on the day of Pentecost and you see that from verse 5 the great significance of this was that there was a large crowd in Jerusalem people from every nation under heaven and when the crowd gathered they hear these hundred and twenty people all speaking different languages at the same time can you imagine what that sounded like 120 people all speaking and they're all speaking different languages and you come along and you speak a particular language and what in the world is going on and then as you listen and tune your ear in there's someone over there and he's speaking your language what do you do you go over and you stand next to someone else who speaks a different language turns out the world's going on here someone over there's you speak in my language how do you know that you go over you stand behind him you beside him you want to hear what he's saying and gradually what's happening here is now that we have a hundred and many people and around them that are gathering little clusters of people who are able to understand what they're saying is the Tower of Babel in Reverse you see its people it's the language barrier being crossed for the purpose of the communication of the gospel and it is absolutely remarkable and then Peter gets up and he speaks to the crowd in verse 16 now look at this and everyone's trying to figure out what in the world is going on because these people are their galilaeans they obviously have not had any formal education they never went to language school and and we don't yet have rosetta stone or whatever that good thing is and and here they are they're speaking my language and they never have been to my country how could that possibly be and Peter says here's the explanation verse 16 this is what was uttered through the Prophet say it with me Joel and then he quotes from Joel and in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on say it with me all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams think about how different the people of God on Pentecost we're from the crowd with Moses in the desert the congregation in the desert they're taken up with complaining they're self-absorbed and they're thoroughly ungrateful for the blessings of God a congregation in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost just 120 but they're filled with the spirit and the evidence of it is that they are full of praise they are full of thanksgiving they are proclaiming rather than complaining proclaiming the great mighty works of the god god they are I'm going to use the phrase they are god-intoxicated which is the right phrase because people said are they drunk or something and Peter says no it's not 9 o'clock in the morning yet let me tell you this is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel they are filled with the Holy Spirit of God the difference is overwhelming I just think here's Moses with the ascended Lord up in heaven and if the Lord allowed him to look down under what Moses is thinking why is that happening only now why couldn't that have happened in my time there's another transformation imagine going to a church where the people are ungrateful self-absorbed and complaining they profess of course to be Christians they say that they believe as the Old Testament believers also would have said and professed and we asked the 10 commandments and all the rest of it but their speech betrays them imagine that the next week you go to another church where the people of God are filled with praise and with joy they are proclaiming his mighty works and when they're going out from church they are seeking to the best of their ability to do that in the world wherever God puts a little cluster of people around them because every day of the week there are some people around you and you're able to talk their language some of you can talk cool which I can't hit and all that kind of thing you can communicate with people and gods put people around you for that very purpose and you would go into that second church would you not and you would say well surely these people must be the real Christians because the Spirit of Jesus is in them and I can see it from their praise and from their thankfulness and their gratitude and their God centeredness here's the question - which group do you belong you know here's where here's where the message today is so convicting to me I look at look at this see the contrast is absolutely vast and I look into my own heart and I search my own heart and the light of the the scripture as we always must do and I'm urging you to do this I look at my own heart I say there's too much complaining there's too little Thanksgiving and that leads me to say oh God because I do not want to be like that crowd in the desert Lord give me more of your Holy Spirit that the fruit of the filling of your Holy Spirit may be more evident in me and of course the huge question is how can that happen how can that happen how can this remarkable transformation happen and I want you to notice just as we follow through on on acts 2 here in the last part that Peter answers that question by immediately speaking about Jesus men of Israel verse 22 hear these words Jesus of Nazareth he goes on to describe how Jesus verse 22 was attested to you by signs and wonders but he was delivered up verse 23 by the definite plan of God you crucified in verse 13 God raised at 23 God raised him up verse 24 this Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit verse 32 and 33 he has poured this on your that you yourselves are seeing and hearing it's the exalted Lord Jesus Christ having completed his finished work on the cross and rising in power in our ascending to the right hand of the Father he has received from the father the gift of the Holy Spirit now he's pouring the spirit out it's Jesus so Peter says the Bible speaks of the Spirit being poured out by the father and by the son the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit being the spirit of the Father and being the spirit of the son here's what matters the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from father and from son happens because of and when the work of Christ is complete and the Spirit is poured out on who those who look to him in faith and walk with Him in obedience and that takes you to the answer to the great question today how can I know more of the Holy Spirit and his wonderful fruit in my life the answer is you give more of yourself to God and then you ask him to give more of himself to you you give more of yourself to God present your bodies Romans 12:1 as a living sacrifice to God you offer yourself to God God will not fill what he does not possess don't expect to be filled with all these spirit so long as you're holding your own life and the control of it in your own hands give your life to God and that's not a one-time thing i i i i find as i walked forward as a christian that i'm always been challenged in some new way to give myself over to the will and the purpose of god the spirit is given to those who obey him peter says in Acts chapter 5 give more of yourself to the Lord and then ask him to give more of himself to you this is just new Testament language here we are people in Christ and Paul is praying for people who are in Christ that we will be filled to all the measure of the fullness of God oh that's what I want to know more and more off the side of heaven don't you the way to seek more of the Spirit is to come to the one who's completed work on the cross and triumphant resurrection from the dead led to the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost he is the one who has the spirit without measure and it is from his gracious hand that the Spirit is received I'll end just with a personal story and it's this early in my own ministry I began to feel my own need profound sense of need for more of God's Spirit I still do I hope I always will I feel the weight of Christ's words without me you can do nothing feel that today I feel it every weekend how hopeless is this work of preaching and pastoring and leading unless God should breathe upon it by his Spirit I had some preaching heroes I still do there was one man in particular who's preaching had been a great blessing to me there was an anointing on his ministry there was something a savour of Christ in a very special way when he spoke and I admired it and I wanted more of it my own life and in my own ministry one day I was at a conference where he was one of the speakers and it was a group of just about a hundred people most of us pastors and we were there for three days so there was opportunity to be alongside those who spoke and I decided that I was going to ask this man to pray for me I think I felt that if he prayed for me that that perhaps something that I admired in him would rub off on me and we sat down I'll never forget it and I told him about the hunger in my own soul I want more of God's Spirit I said will you pray for me and he paused and he said you know from where he comes and it is to this day the only time in my life that I've ever asked someone to pray for me and been refused and he was exactly right to do what he did God gave him a discernment that I was looking to this pastor as if he were the giver of the Spirit rather than Christ and he gave me the best advice that anyone could ever have given go to Christ you know from whom he comes that is what I've tried to do ever since that time and what I'm still doing and what I plan to continue doing is the very path of my life until God calls me into his nearer presence and then the fullness of which I can never get enough will be made complete what about you Bible says be filled with the Holy Spirit what do you know of this what desire do you have in regard to it you filled with Thanksgiving today with a sense of worship and praise that all the mighty works of God or have you come here and your hearts full of complaining and of self-absorption and of ingratitude Oh fill me with your fullness Lord until my very art or flow Oh God fill this heart fill this life fill this believer who knows his/her desperate need of more of you and go on filling that we may reflect the marks of those who truly are in Christ in whose name we pray and God's people said

Channel: Unlocking the Bible

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Keywords: unlocking the bible, learn the bible, sermon on joel 2:28-32, what does joel 2:28-32 mean, sermon on faith and belief and the holy spirit, pastor colin s. smith, pastor colin smith, sermon on the coming of the holy spirit, restoration in the bible, scriptures on restoration, god will restore your wasted years, i will restore what the locust has eaten, meaning of restoration in the bible, god restoring what the locusts have eaten, god's restoration, sermon on restoration

Id: 6eKi9zLpMZg

Length: 42min 56sec (2576 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 16 2013