Sermon on Joel 3:1-21 | The Decision That Really Matters | God's Restoration

well this is the last in our short series in this remarkable book of jewel we've been seeing that jewel paint on really a vast canvas he's speaking to the entire people of God the entire nation and he's speaking about the whole of life restoring years wasted years vast vast proportions in what he addresses he speaks about future generations what God will do when He pours out his spirit on all flesh something that was hundreds of years ahead of the time of Joel and now in this last chapter chapter three we see that Joel describes nothing less than the day of judgment itself the the day of the Lord he now has a global message a message that is he says to be proclaimed to all nations now if you ask a question what will the day of judgment be like what will it be like to be there it is almost unimaginable what will it be for God to gather people from all nations and from all generations in his presence and to deal with all human evil Joel uses words to paint pictures and he portrays for us the the day of the Lord so that you can taste it so that you can see it so that you can feel it what might otherwise be remote and might seem like it's not too much to do with me or what surrounds me today it comes very very near perhaps more near in it than in any other scripture outside of the book of Revelation Joyland chapter 3 presses the reality of this day before us and brings to us pointers to the good news that we desperately need the good news of Jesus Christ and so we're coming to a hugely important passage of scripture today one that as it was read might not have seemed the most obvious I hope that within the next minutes that we spend here together that you will have a profound sense of how this speaks to every one of us today and every person that you will meet in this coming year we we all have busy schedules I I know many of us are running from the last thing within an hour we'll be on to the next thing and sometimes we just need to stop and say with everything that I'm doing what really matters and wise people always do this effective leaders in business know how to ask the question in all that I'm doing what do I really need to do for this thing to succeed wise parents will sit down and they'll take time to say and all the relentlessness of schedules what do we need to change in order that our family will thrive why students know what it is to look at people who are doing the kinds of things that you one day want to do and to ask the question what do I need to learn what do I need to master what skills do I need to have so that I'm going to be able to thrive you're looking ahead and that's what we're doing today I want you to move it up a level altogether beyond career beyond family beyond business all of that think about your life think about your eternity think about yourself think about what it will be for you to stand in the presence of God and ask the question if I were never to think about this again I'm thinking about it now and God's Word is coming to me about it now and I need to think ahead to that which is of ultimate importance in relation to my own life and my own internally now God here addresses us about the ultimate issue to which we need to attend something bigger than all the presses in on us and it is this day of the Lord I have three things simply to say about this today I wanted you to see from Jolin chapter 3 why there will be a judgment God says very clearly that there will be I want us to see why there will be a judgment I want us to try and take in because this is the purpose for which Joel is given to us what that day will actually be like Joel paints a picture for us to press it into our awareness and then we're going to ask the question that he points to where is it that you can find refuge in the light of this great day of the Lord so I do hope you'll have the Bible open it in front of you this extraordinary passage of Scripture we are going to look at it in detail and we begin with verses 1 to 8 where really we are told why there will be a judgment now notice that Joel begins with three very direct statements from the mouth of God about what he will do number one in verse one I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem you remember the word restored is really the key word of the whole of the book of Joel restore the years that the locusts have eaten here we have the word again I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Jerusalem that is why we have called this series how God can give back what you have lost and there is a restoration promised and then God says this here's how it's going to come I will gather all the nations so this is inclusive France Britain the United States of America the vast populations of India and of China Brazil and Russia and on and on I will gather the nation's God says and notice what he says as he speaks about it he says and I will enter into judgment with them there now we are used to seeing mega events some of you have been part of a crowd as large as a million some of you may have been part of a crowd that is larger than that on some some occasion but here is a gathering of such proportions that only God Himself could possibly orchestrate it if you were to ask me where or how God will do this you know where's the place that's big enough for all this population to be brought together I cannot answer that I do not know you notice here that Joel speaks about the valley of Jehoshaphat you say well where is that there isn't a place on the map that bears that name it's the only time in the Bible that the valley of jehoshaphat is ever referred to and it's referred to twice in in this chapter and then it's referred to by another name the valley of decision and it seems therefore most likely that the significance here may not be in the in the location so much as in the name because the name Jehoshaphat means God has judged and so when God says I'm going to gather all the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat what that means is I am going to bring to the place of judgment all nations and I am going to enter into judgment with all peoples there that's what God is saying now words so often slip over us we become so used to them and so God brings the reality of this day in all of its awesome power to our attention by describing it in a picture and the picture that he gives to us is the picture of a valley and in this valley now there are these multitudes of people crowded in to the space and God Himself is visibly present as he comes to enter into judgment with the nation's that is what Joel is is saying here and I want you to notice what God is entering into judgment about particularly he says here verse 2 I will enter into judgment with them with the nation's there on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel now you will know of course that great evils were done against God's people in the Old Testament and have been done against the people of Israel since all of them are known to God not one of them will ever be forgotten and what God is saying here is that all that has been done will one day God says be brought to account God says I will do this now particulars are brought against the nations here for example verse 3 they have cast lots for my people and have traded a boy for a prostitute and have sold a girdle for wine and then they have drunk it now what does that describe that describes what we call today human trafficking that's what it is and it was happening in the Old Testament times and it is still happening today and sometimes we look at the atrocities of the world and we asked the question in our own hearts will there ever be justice and the answer of the scripture is yes God Himself will bring it and right here he says that he will and it's repeated time and again throughout the Bible Acts chapter 17 and verse 31 God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world and he will do it in righteousness and this is very simply what Joel is referring to here this day of the Lord this awesome day when God Himself says I will gather all people I will gather the people of the nations and I will enter into judgment with them there now I want you to notice that the evils that God will bring to judgment are many they include evils that are done against Israel they certainly are not limited to those done against one particular people or even to the evil evils that are listed here in Chapter three the day of the Lord will be the day what he deals with all evil in chapter and verse 13 there it makes this very clear statement there evil is great the evil of the nations the cumulative evil of the nations is very very great folks we get caught up with the latest shooting the latest atrocity the latest genocide and 24/7 we have it thrown at us by the media and then a few weeks later we move on the whole world moves to the next one and to the next one and to the next one but human evil is known to God who records it in his book and he never forgets we may have forgotten about the half million who in just three months were slaughtered in Rwanda in 1994 half of whom were children not one of them is forgotten by God the world has moved on from 1.6 million who were slaughtered in Cambodia in the time of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1978 not one of them has forgotten a note and every one of these evils which were great is fully known to God or the six million Jewish men not including the total number of women and of children who were exterminated in the 1930s in the 1940s or the 20 million the numbers are getting even larger the 20 million who were purged in Russia during the time of Stalin which is less than half of the total number of abortions since 1973 in the USA which now stands at over 56 million lights and every one of them known to God the Bible tells us that God has a book and that God has a bottle always remember that God has a book revelation in chapter 20 in which he records all human evil and God has a bottle in which he gathers all human tears that some 56 in verse 8 every act of cruelty and violence every atrocity in the entire history of the world is known completely to God as the full effect of human agony that has come as a result of it and God will bring all evil to judgment one writer David Pryor picks up on this I think very helpfully he says God's memory and his attention to detail do not chop and change like our contemporary media according to the latest disaster or genocide God has both books and a bottle which together are more accurate than the world's most up-to-date computer with the latest software and they have limitless capacity God sees all the great evils of human life and he never forgets one of them not one and on the day of the Lord which is what Joel is describing here the book of Revelation tells us that the books will be opened everything known to God opened every sin every crime every evil brought to account every secret Jesus says revealed and God bringing to light the things that are now hidden in darkness and if we we ask why there must be a day of judgment the answer of the Bible is because human evil is great verse 30 and there cannot be a restoration verse 1 apart from the gathering in which God enters into judgment what happens is simply that evil goes on and on and on and on and on multiplies itself from generation to generation and this will happen we want always to be a church that takes the Bible seriously and the same God who says I will restore the years that the locusts have eaten the same God who says I will pour out my spirit on all flesh the same God is now saying I will the nation's and I will enter into judgment with them we have to take the one as seriously as we take the others why there will be a judgment number two what the judgment will be like proclaim this first nine among the nation's so here God says this is to be proclaimed to every person every person needs to hear this every person needs to know this why because it touches every human life so it's not culturally bound it's the nation's and again jewel paints a picture now for all of you who draw and I cannot draw for toffee if you'll pardon the expression I'm a word person and some of you are just marvelous with sketching if you're good at drawing whether you be young or whether you be older adult or child I'm going to make a suggestion to you that instead of writing notes you draw a picture that you try and visualize this that you try and capture it and for the rest of us that just can't draw I want you to compose the picture in your imagination and I'm going to give it to you it's got three parts and you'll need to just get the picture before you take your drawing too far but I want you to see it because that's the whole point of what Joel is doing here he is painting for us portraying for us an image of this day that otherwise is beyond our comprehension just like heaven is beyond our comprehension unless something be revealed in wonderful images to us there are three elements in this image that I want you either to draw to compose in your mind the first is in verse 14 it's simply a vast crowd gathered multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the name of a day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision so either they are there's this huge valley and there's a vast crowd on their crown and beyond any number that a human being could count second element of the picture is in verse 10 these people who are crammed into the valley are armed for a fight and notice how they're armed beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears so they have two kinds of armaments they have swords and they have Spears and they have been hammered out from agricultural implements that would have been of course familiar in Joel's day as in in our own now just notice here that what Joel says is the absolute opposite of the very famous prophecy that is in both Isaiah and in Micah and is the motto of the United Nations you know that one don't you the Micah said they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation will not take up sword against nation and they will study for war no more that's the United Nations motto right this great vision of peace it's in the Bible and it's in Micah and it's in Isaiah and here are the agriculture here are the implements of war the swords and the spears and they are being hammered into agricultural implements pruning hooks plowshares joel says precisely the opposite Joel says they're going to come a day where people are going to gather not against each other but they are going to gather against God and because they want to be armed and they've been experiencing peace what they do is they take the implements of of peace and they hammer them into crude implements of war they take the agricultural pruning hooks and the plowshares and they beat them into swords and into spears it's quite remarkable did you know the Bible that both of these pictures because even when men seek peace with each other their antagonism towards God remains does an extraordinary picture isn't it the nations of the world and they are gathered against God people from every background and they come armed no weapons that have ever been invented can make any impression on the throne of Almighty God but here are the nations showing up to fight the Almighty and look at how they are armed they've got swords and they got Spears do you feel there's something slightly ludicrous about this do you have a sense of the hopelessness of this fight against God and notice that the entire human race is now mobilized for this fight verse 9 let all the men of war Rania of course they're always the first to step up but then there are other people who are not so keen to fight in that in verse 10 let the weak say I am a warrior so even those who have been disinclined to fight even those who say I can't contribute much to a battle here there in the valley as well it's the entire range of humanity so as you're thinking about this picture you're composing it your mind are you beginning to get the sense of it on paper it's a vast crowd gathered and there aren't than this extraordinary and somewhat ludicrous way and then here's the third element of the picture that God Himself exalted above them is sitting on his throne verse 12 he looked down into the valley or look up from the valley and here is God Almighty and all these people from all over the world have gathered and they're armed against them and they're coming against him and the extraordinary things here is and get this in your picture God is not even standing up bother to get up look at it it's in verse 12 the nation's stir themselves up and come to the valley of jehoshaphat for their I sit it's on the throne to judge the surrounding nations it makes me think of some to do you remember in the second Psalm you've got all these nations conspiring against God and and some to says God in heaven it's it's laughs ludicrous as vast crowd with swords and spears can seek to overwhelm the creator of the universe the almighty himself they've got the picture here is Almighty God and he's on the throne ed he's on the other side there are millions God on one side millions on the other and they're armed and they're ready to fight and God's not even standing up and the drama and the intensity that is in this picture is read it again afterwards until you get it into your mind as Joel describes it it's extraordinary and I want you to see what happens next there's this kind of standoff as all these folks have arrived then verse 16 let me give it to you in this order verse 16 what happens the Lord roars from Zion and the others his voice from Jerusalem and what happens the heavens and the earth quake you see that verse 15 the Sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw their shining the lights go out the voice of God verse 13 gives this command put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe go in tread the winepress is full their vats overflow for their evil is great Wow the Bible speaks about the last battle people often talk about Armageddon don't imagine for one moment that this is some kind of titanic struggle in which God barely wins scripture says that when the Lord Jesus comes to oppose Antichrist himself he will overthrow him by the breath of his mouth like and by the splendor of his coming one writer on Joel says God deals with them in that day in the way that one might flick an insect off his arm Malachi the prophet puts it this way God is like a refiners fire and who can stand on the day of his appearing folks I believe that the Bible is the Word of God don't you I believe that the Bible is the Word of God with all of my heart I believe that what God says here will happen and if you don't I tremble for you I tremble for you proclaim to the nations what I've said God says I will gather I will enter into judgment most of you do believe in God he boast have you believed in the Bible but today there will be some who are locked into some kind of an argument dispute a conflict with God you're not happy with him you're angry with him you think he owes you something better than he gave you I want you to imagine yourself standing there with your little sword and your little spear I'm gonna fight how ludicrous the sooner you end the antagonism within your heart towards God the better it will be for you do you remember Joel but godly believer came at a point through great suffering in his life and it was unimaginably more than any that I have experienced and I'm sure anything more than you have experienced and he tried to bring a case against God and his ways and his wisdom and and to challenge the very ways of God and then when he saw who God is in his glory he got down on his knees and he said now that I see who you are I'm repenting and dust and ashes I should never have opened my mouth this is a fight I cannot take on fire I cannot win there's a third thing why is there a judgment second what will it be like extraordinary picture for us to try and take in that God has given to us so we will take these things seriously third where can you find refuge I went to a home in here on verse 16 particularly you know in these passages about judgment the the most wonderful word that comes is the word but and it comes in verse 16 you but all this relentless outpouring of judgment and then at the end of verse 16 you read this but but Lord give me something different give me something that gives me hope yes here it is but the Lord is our refuge to his people and a stronghold to the people of Israel now a refuge some of you have known what it is perhaps to go to a refuge a refuge is a place that you go to find safety in the place of impending disaster and here God is saying now I am a refuge here is the extraordinary thing the Lord who is the judge you should fear is also the refuge you should seek so I gotta take that in let me see it again the God who is the judge you should fear is also the same God is the refuge you should seek the Lord the Lord is entering into judgment is the refuge from judgment you think how does that make any sense how can God who is the judge be the refuge from his own judgment my friend that takes us to the very heart of the gospel let me give it to you just in a few moments here from Romans in chapter 3 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God that's why we need a refuge everything that you ever said everything that I've ever said and done is in God's book sins are many and they're known to God all have sinned not just others me us but here's what God has done Christ Jesus has been put forward by God the Father God put forward Christ Jesus Paul says in in Romans in chapter 3 he is the refuge for a Jew and for Gentile and for young and for old and for men and for women and for rich and for poor and this Christ he's put forward and and what does this Christ do he provides Paul says a propitiation by his blood what does that mean it means that the judgment that is due to sinners on the day of the Lord was actually poured out on Jesus was put forward on behalf of sinners who fall short of the glory of God and what was accomplished by this because that judgment that was due to sinners was placed on him he purchased two marvelous gifts the first was that were justified by his grace justification means forgiveness it means absolution it means the restoration of peace with God that has been lost through our many sins and our instinctive rebellion and he has redeemed us which means he has purchased people for himself he he makes people his own by what he has done on the cross and these gifts are offered freely justified by His grace as a gift Paul says as a gift and how is the gift received at the very end of the verse do you see how he says it there the gift is received by faith it's a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith what's faith faith is the bond of a living union with Jesus Christ in which he becomes yours and you become his it unites you to Jesus Christ picture one more time these multitudes multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision verses often been used by evangelist speaking to crowds and saying well you know we all have to make a decision about God but you will see of course that from understanding chapter 3 what this is really about is the fact that God will make a decision about every one of us that is what is going to happen on the last day and God's decision lies at the heart of this marvelous word justified here's what it means when God justifies a person he makes a decision in their favor in their favor and God's decision will be revealed on the last day but how many of us here today want to wait to the last day to find out what that decision on your life is gonna be do you want to wait till then you want to live your whole life with the sense that eternity is hanging in the balance for you nobody wants that nobody wants them and here is the marvelous gift that is at the heart of the gospel justification is God's decision in a person's favor made known in advance to all those who are in Jesus Christ that is glorious justification is God's decision in favor made known in advance to all who are in Jesus Christ you say how can that happen because the judgment that would have been due to me on the last day was poured out on him he bore my sins in his body on the tree and coming to be in him and Paul says that's what happens through faith God freely offers in Jesus Christ justification so that a person in Christ may know that I can I can live a peace with God and serving God out of a joyful heart because the decision that belongs to the last day has already been made known to those who are in Jesus Christ that's what's meant by justified by faith one little personal story and then were through some years ago I labored I labored for years on this a research thesis done back in London England 221 pages and I thought I might read it to you I don't think so British degrees advanced degrees don't hang on coursework in a way that some of them do in this country there isn't any coursework for a research degree in the UK which is why many go there to do this kind of work the examination after years of work hangs on one interview pass/fail I remember taking this very book quaking really anxious to sit down and defend this that had been the work of several years with two professors I had never met one of them from Oxford that really intimidated me and knowing that as far as this work was concerned everything depended on what happened in that interview straight pass/fail and I went in and I sat down and the senior of the two said to me and I'm going to make all of you heard in PhD is really jealous now the senior of the two said to me we want you to know that we like your work it meets the standard for the degree and you can relax and enjoy the conversation oh thanks thank thank you that is the amazing gift of justification right there one day you are going to stand before God what if God were able to say to you today I decided in your favor you can be at peace with me now you can live with joy and you can give yourself to serving me because you know you're right with me that's the gift that is at the very heart of the gospel there the great decision the decision that really matters is the decision that God will make about you and in Jesus Christ he is ready to say to you today there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ justified by faith why would you push him away why would you be resisting the Savior holds these gifts in his hand let us pray together father we come to you in all of our need and dusk that in your mercy and in your grace you will help us to put down our puny swords and spears and embrace you in faith and in repentance and in love and in obedience and in joy as you give back to us all that has been lost through our many sins and our many rebellions through your dear son Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us hear our prayers and everyone together said

Channel: Unlocking the Bible

Views: 11,729

Rating: 4.7049179 out of 5

Keywords: unlocking the bible, sermon on joel 3:1-21, sermon on the book of Joel, Book Of Joel (Religious Text), sermon on God's judgment justice, sermon on the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, 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, sermons on the book of joel

Id: 1EWUoMxIwFk

Length: 39min 14sec (2354 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 23 2013