I please Almighty God to come
and bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the second chapter
in the prophecy of Joel, and we'll read verses 25, 26, and
27. The prophecy of Joel, chapter 2, and reading verses 25, 26, and 27. And I will restore to you the
years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar,
and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty and
be satisfied. And praise the name of the Lord
your God that hath dealt wondrously with you and my people shall
never be ashamed and ye shall know that I am in the midst of
Israel and I am the Lord your God and none else and my people
shall never be ashamed. one or two comments before we
really come to those verses you may see that the beginning of
this little prophecy of Joel we're told the word of the Lord
came to Joel the son of Pethuel and this were the words which
he was given hear this ye old men and give heir all the inhabitants
of the land. Hath this been in your days or
even in the days of your fathers? And then he says, tell ye your
children of it and let your children tell their children and their
children another generation. it's good to realize we have
these encouraging words to instruct our children and that it passes
on from generation to generation we can read very similar words
that Moses wrote when he wrote the book of Deuteronomy and in
the sixth chapter of that book he there speaks about the need
that the children should be taught and should be told and at every
opportunity those things should be spoken and in that account
he says when you get up in the morning you go to bed whatever
you're doing you should speak about the things of God. Of course he was very concerned
that after he died Israel would continue in the way that they
had been taught and it would be a good thing for us today
to remember the relevance still in the day and age in which we
live we live in a dark day a day of much situations where people
turn away from the things of God won't believe the things
of God and happy to follow their own inclinations but it'd be
a great mercy if there is a a time of spiritual revival,
and a time of turning again to the Lord. When you come into
this second chapter, we commence with reading these words, Below
ye the trumpet in Zion. Of course, they didn't have loudspeakers
or other media's ways of conveying information. They had trumpets,
and therefore we have two examples in this chapter. First of all,
in the first verse, below you the trumpet in Zion, and sound
an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the
land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh
at hand. And then we come down to the
15th verse, and we read again, below the trumpet in Zion, but
now with a different element, sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble
the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts,
let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out
of her closet. So it's good to have these words
written to remind us of the importance there is to sound the trumpet,
to speak the truth of God, whether it is as an alarm, whether it
is to call a solemn assembly, but whether it is also to address
everyone, the old, the young, that all may hear the great and
glorious truth of God. It is a wonderful privilege for
us today that we have the Bible to read. Many people belittle
the Bible, think it's just a collection of fairy tales and accounts which
were written many years ago with no real foundation. But the reality
is The Word of God from Genesis to Revelation is God's Word. And it is His truth. And we should never think of
it as anything else and realize the great relevance of it. When
it was written, through the ages, it is today and it will be down
to the end of time. And therefore as we read the
great truths in God's Word that we may realise they're written
for us today and written for those many years ago they're
written also for those who are to come and therefore let us
recognise the importance of them and in this chapter he commences
by telling the people by this trumpet being sounded as an alarm
that all the inhabitants of the land should tremble, should tremble. What a blessing that would be
today if there was a sound, a voice sent forth and made the inhabitants
of the land tremble, tremble because of the wrong things that
have been done and said. And it might be a reason and
a cause for people being turned to seek and to serve the ever-living
and true God. What a mercy it would be, you
know. We read the last verse in this chapter. It's a very
beautiful Gospel verse. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. How wonderful it is. to realise
that we have such a gracious invitation, such gracious words
which are written. And may there be many indeed
who are found calling upon the name of the Lord, because if
that is so, there will be a change of times. Because as the Prophet
wrote, he said, it was a day then, a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and of thick darkness, And so it is today,
if we're honest and look around, we recognise it's a day of darkness. And he goes on to say, A fire
devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth. The land
is as the garden of Eden before them, and behold there behind
them a desolate wilderness. and nothing shall escape them. You see, the Lord is just, the
Lord is a righteous judge, and the Lord will deal with his people. And therefore there are these
very serious warnings which we have in this chapter. And as
we come down to the twelfth verse, the prophet says, therefore also
now saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart and
with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rend your
heart and not your garments. You see, he stresses the importance
of our hearts being moved and that we are turned to the Lord
and delivered from just an outward performance of things. It's very
easy, isn't it, to pretend we're Christians. You know, you can
come to chapel and you can pretend to be a Christian and you can
pretend to be listening. And I don't know whether you
are or not. You may be thinking about what you did yesterday.
You may be thinking what you're going to do tomorrow. And yet
the relevance is that here the The Prophet says, very pointedly,
turn ye even to me with all your heart. Not just a part of it. Not think, well I'll concentrate
for just a few minutes and then I'll carry on what I was thinking
about. He tells us here very positively,
turn ye even to me. That's to God. Let us realise
that we all are. Before God. We're here before
God today. He knows what you're thinking.
He knows what I'm thinking. He knows what your desires are. He knows whether you have no
good desires. God knows all about us. Therefore,
also now saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart. With all your heart. Not a part
of it. isn't it a great blessing if
God gives us that grace to turn to the Lord with all our heart
and then he says and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning
that's to mean it may not mean fasting from food it may be but
it can be fasting from other things which distract us from
the things of God which turn our hearts away from
true worship, from seeking the Lord. There are many things in
the world today to distract us and to turn us away. And what
a blessing, therefore, if we understand this statement, and
with fasting. And not only that, it then says,
weeping and with mourning. What does that mean? It means
that we're really sorry for our sinful condition. We're really
sorry for the wrong things we've said. for the wrong things we've
done for the wrong things that we've thought and therefore we've
come to God we've come to Him in this way with weeping and
with mourning again you and I have to answer before God because
God looks at the heart He looks at what we really are not what
we pretend to be and it's a blessing therefore to realise we have
such encouraging words of instruction therefore to turn to Him to turn
to the Lord we live in a dark day don't we? we live in a day
of darkness and we need to turn to the Lord that God who is the
light of the world There's no darkness in our God. And what a blessing, therefore,
if we can turn to Him and then to rend our hearts, not our garments,
you see. God knows if we rend our heart,
that means if we turn to Him truthfully and honestly. It's
not something which is impressive. People, you know, in days past,
they used to rend their garments. People were impressed by that.
The Lord's telling us that's not satisfactory, that's not
of any value. He says, rend your heart and
turn unto the Lord your God. And then how encouraging it is
to know that we come to such a God. He's described here, for
He is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness
and repenteth him of the evil that's the great God that we
have isn't it wonderful to think that we have such a God who's
gracious merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth
him of the evil he goes on and says who knoweth if he, Almighty
God, will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him,
even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God. Well, it's a great blessing if
that is so. And then as we just mentioned
about blowing the trumpet in Zion, and he says, gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders gather the
children and those that suck the breasts let the bridegroom
go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet it's
good isn't it to read a statement like that because it encourages
us to gather together to worship it's not that we it's a time
only for mature people it's for the children also and it's for
the little babes we're all to come and gather together what
a mercy it is really to have a wonderful invitation that none
are too old and none are too young to come before God in the
attitude of worship and the Prophet goes on to say spare thy people
O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach that the heathen
should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among the people,
where is their God? Well, you see, if there's no
sign of God's work, if there's no recognition of God's favour
and mercy and goodness, then the question is, where is their
God? Surely our concern and desire
is that we see God's work. God's work appearing. Indeed,
we read those glorious words. Let thy work appear. And surely in this day and age,
that's just what we need. God's work to appear. Where is that God? Then will
the Lord be jealous for his land and pissing his people. Yea,
the Lord will answer. And say unto his people, Behold,
I will send you corn and wine and oil, and ye shall be satisfied
therewith. And I will no more make your
reproach among the heathen, but I will remove far off from you
the northern army and will drive him into a land barren and desolate
with his face toward the East Sea. and his hind apart toward
the utmost sea and his stink shall come up and his ill savour
shall come up because he hath done great things and then he
says fear not O land be glad and rejoice for the Lord will
do great things It's wonderful to know that we have such positive statements in the Word
of God. This is a very positive statement,
for the Lord will do great things. And these are truths which you
and I can plead before our God. We can plead
that they may appear, that his work may appear to us as individuals,
and his work may appear to us in the day and age in which we
live. And he goes on and says, be glad
then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your
God, for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he
will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and
the latter rain. in the first month. And then
he describes the situation. And the floor shall be full of
wheat, and the fat shall overflow with wine and oil. And just taking
that from a spiritual perspective, to realise the Lord will send
forth wonderful favours and glorious blessings, which indeed will
be a wonderful favour And if you think of the description,
full of wheat and the fat shall overflow with wine and oil. This is the God that we are privileged
to have and are privileged to deal with. And we should be thankful, therefore,
that all those years ago, God ordained that Joel should write
Such a prophecy that we today can read and be encouraged. And then we come down to these
25th verse. And I will again. A very positive statement, and
I will restore to you the years locusts have eaten. the canker
worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great army,
which I sent among you." You see, the Lord allows the enemy,
the enemy of our souls, to come in and to destroy and to take
away perhaps those things which we were resting upon and hoping
upon. Well, it's a great blessing.
Sometimes we may almost lose sight of God's work. And we forget about what God
has done. Well, it's a great blessing when
God reminds us. And He reminds us in this way. He restores to us those promises
which we received that spiritual food which we partook of, the
bread and water of life, they are restored to us. And once
again we're brought into a time of gospel blessing and gospel liberty
and that's what a wonderful promise it is. God send these times in
our lives to realise that God is in control and you and I can't
keep alive our own soul. The Word of God tells us no man
can keep alive his own soul. But God can and God does and
God does graciously restore so that his name is honoured and
glorified. He brings us into truth as it
is in Jesus. He leads us by His Spirit to
behold the glory of Emmanuel, the glory of the Saviour, the
glory of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps we'd almost forgotten
it. It seemed to have disappeared
out of our view. Our horizon was not there and
yet to realise that the Lord has not changed. My friends,
we should recognise that the Lord waits to be gracious. He waits to be gracious. I will
restore to you the years it may have been May have been years. May have been a long time. A time of barrenness. It was, in the case of Israel,
on many occasions, a walkthrough. Dark times, as we read here,
a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and a thick darkness. how sad it is but yet you see
the Lord doesn't leave his people he gives us promises he gives
us encouraging words so he tells
us I will restore to you yes it's written to the Church of
God as a whole is written to you and me as individuals. And
I will restore to you the years that have been eaten and taken
away. The Lord allowed it to happen. You see, when the Lord restores
it, what does it do? It gives us reason and cause
to praise and to honor and to thank our God. He goes on, you
see, in this second verse, verse 26, and ye shall. You see, he
said in the 25th, I will. And now he says, and ye shall eat in plenty. That means to be fed. with spiritual blessings that
means as we mentioned in prayer the prayer of Javis to have our
coast enlarged we eat in plenty and not only that he goes on
and says and be satisfied oh it's a great blessing isn't it
to be satisfied with the food, with the spiritual
food that God gives to us. You see, God doesn't bless by
halves. God is very gracious. God is
very compassionate. But let us remember, he does
it for our eternal good, and more importantly, for his honour
and for his glory. eat in plenty at the gospel table. And of course the gospel table,
my friends, really is full of the blessings of Christ. And that's what will really refresh
us and really strengthen us and really encourage us to have renewed, have restored,
the favour of the Lord Jesus Christ to our
souls and to realise and have it made over again that he died
upon that cross at Calvary in order to redeem our souls in
order to redeem our souls oh what a blessing it is I think
that we have a God who does not deal with us as our sins deserve,
as the sins of Israel deserved, as we read together in those
earlier verses. It's because He's loved us with
everlasting love. And He shall eat in plenty and
be satisfied. Then he comes on to a very relevant
statement which we're very easy to pass over and forget and praise
the name of the Lord your God. So if you and I look into our
lives and find that by the grace of God he has restored us to spiritual health and spiritual
strength and we rejoice in his goodness and therefore come and
praise the name of the Lord our God. It's good, isn't it? Because praise is comely and
the Lord is worthy of all praise and thanksgiving. And that's
why he goes on to say, and praise the name of the Lord, your God
that hath dealt wondrously with you. Is that how we recognize
it? I hope we do, to realize that
God has dealt wondrously with us. Even if God has come and
touched our hearts and turned us truly to seek unto Him, He's
dealt wondrously with us. If we departed from God, we'd
gone our own way. We wandered into the broad way. And then the love of God has
come and he has brought us back. There may have been weeping,
there may have been mourning, but what a blessing if God has brought us back. And therefore, that is and it
must be the wondrous work of God. because you and I naturally
cannot bring ourselves back naturally we don't even have
any desire to bring ourselves back what a mercy when God comes
and touches our heart and turns us and restores us once again so that we're able to confirm
in our lives, yes, the Lord hath dealt wondrously with me. And what does that evoke? It
must evoke praise to our God. Praise the name of the Lord that
hath dealt wondrously with me. And then he goes on and he says,
And my people shall never be ashamed. Well, that's a very
wonderful statement, isn't it? We have much really to be ashamed
of with ourselves, don't we? Never be ashamed of our God.
Because our God is faithful. Our God hears and answers prayer.
Our God doesn't let us down. Our God comes and does that for
us that we need. We should never be ashamed of
our God. He's a great and glorious Saviour. My people shall never
be ashamed. It's so positive, isn't it? These
words, I will restore. Ye shall eat. My people shall
never be ashamed. You see, we can come and we can
take these statements and we can take these words and we can
plead them to our God my people indeed shall never
be ashamed and then the next verse 27 he says and ye shall
know ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel that means
I am in the midst of the church of God and we shall know that
because as we see His work appearing. That is the evidence that He
is in the midst. And what a wonderful blessing
it is in the day and age in which we live, dark as it may be generally,
to realise the glorious light of the Gospel shines into our
midst and by faith we're able to view Jesus in the midst. And ye shall know, ye shall know
that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God. Again, confirmation isn't it?
Humbling. To realise there is this glorious
statement, this Lord is our God and none else none else what a mercy that is
and then he says and my people then shall never be ashamed he
repeats it it's worth repeating isn't it to realize that we as
unworthy sinners have such a kind gracious, merciful, and a long-suffering
God, who will indeed save his people. And his people would
indeed never be ashamed in the prophecy of Isaiah. We read this
in the prophecy in the 17th verse. Well, let me read the 15th verse.
Verily thou art a God, But hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the
Saviour. They shall be ashamed, and also
confounded all of them. They should go to the confusion
together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord, the everlasting salvation, and ye shall not be ashamed.
nor confounded world without end. And of course this 45th
chapter of Isaiah has this wonderful verse 22. Look unto me. We are encouraged. Look unto
me. Nowhere else. Look unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else. It should be a very encouraging
statement to all of us. Look unto me and be ye saved. Nowhere else to look? Look unto
me, the great God. Pray unto me. Come unto me. Come
unto me, all ye that labour, and I'll have you laden, and
I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
unto your souls it's a great and glorious gospel isn't it?
for I am God and there is none else well we should be thankful
then that the Lord in his mercy has recorded such an account
for us to realise how left to ourself We're far off, we're
against God, and we have gracious words of wonderful encouragement
to come to him and to rend our hearts and not our garments and
turn unto the Lord, our God, for his gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness. and repenteth him of the evil. Well, what a blessing it is to
fear not. O land, be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord will do great things. Be glad, then, you children of
Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God. How much reason there
is! And I will restore to you the
years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar,
and the palmer worm, my great army, which I send among you.
And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. And praise the
name of the Lord your God for all that he's done, all his mercy,
all his love, all his grace. Well, my friends, it flows from
God, doesn't it? And it's all of His mercy, and
it's all of His favour that hath dealt wondrously with you. He's shown us these things, His
grace, His love, His mercy. He's dealt wondrously with us. And my people shall never be
ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in
the midst of Israel, And I am the Lord your God, and none else,
and my people shall never be ashamed.