Let's turn again to God's Word,
and turning to the book of the prophet Joel, in that portion
we were reading, the third chapter in the book of Joel, and directing
you to words that we have here at verse 14. Joel 3.14. Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near,
in the valley of decision. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley
of decision." It does help if we can fix a
particular period of biblical history when these various men
were exercising their ministry. And it is rather difficult to
date the Book of Joel. It does seem that he was ministering
many centuries ago, probably 900 BC. He's one of the earliest and most ancient of the prophets
of the Lord. And he makes reference to many
of the ancient enemies of the children of Israel. Here in this
third chapter he speaks of the Phoenicians, Tyre and Zidon.
He speaks of the Philistines also. It goes on
later to speak of the Egyptians and the Edomites, here in verse
19. These were ancient enemies to
those who were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And also, interestingly, in this
last chapter, he makes some reference to King Jehoshaphat, both in
the second verse and again in verse 12. In the second verse
we read, I will also gather all nations and will bring them down
into the valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there
for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered
among the nations and parted my land. And then again in the
portion we were reading, verse 12, let the heathen be wakened
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat for there will I
sit to judge all the heathen round about." And clearly here
there is some reference to that portion that we were reading
in the second book of Chronicles in the 20th chapter. That great
victory that God gave to Jehoshaphat and Judah over all their enemies. And mention made, of course,
of the valley. It's interesting, at the end
of that portion we were reading there, in that 20th chapter, we have mention of the valley.
Verse 26, on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley
of Berakah, For there they blessed the Lord, therefore the name
of the same place was called the Valley of Berekah unto this
day. It was after the great victory
over all their enemies, how God had fought for them, against
the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and all of
Mansea, all the descendants of Esau, they'd witnessed a remarkable
deliverance and they brought now, assembling together in that
valley, Berakah, which literally means blessing. There they blessed
the Lord. Therefore the name of the same
place was called the Valley of Berakah unto this day. And it seems then that as Joel
makes reference in particular to that valley, the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, he must have been ministering a short while after
that great event, when it was fresh in the minds of the people.
Well, that, as I said, indicates to us that it was about 900 years
before the coming of Christ. Well, what are the words of the
text that I've read? Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision. Strange verse, it's one that's
often seized upon by the Armenians. They teach, of course, the executive
actions of men. They would have it that man has
it in his power to make spiritual decisions and commitments to
the Lord Jesus. and you may even have heard or
maybe read sermons by men of that ilk who say well this is
a great evangelistic verse and we should bring people to this
text and we should impress upon them the necessity of making
their commitment and their decision bring the multitude to that valley
of decision, and let them make and decide that they are for
Christ, as if man has it within his power to do such a thing."
Well, that's the shallow interpretation of the verse. It's a false interpretation
of the verse, as I trust we shall see tonight. Hasn't God said
He's King? upon His holy hill of Zion. And hasn't God given His promise
to that great King and said, Thy people shall be willing in
the day of Thy power? Those who are made willing are
made willing and decide for the Lord Jesus only by the power
and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and that gracious
working of His Spirit in the soul of the sinner. the reference
here then is not to man's decision but the reference in this text
surely is to God's decision or God's determination we might
say, multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the
day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. Well as we
come to look more carefully at the verse. I want to divide what
I say into some three parts. And first of all, to consider
how here we have God, as it were, acting as the judge. God as the
judge. Of course, the whole book really
begins with God's judgments upon His ancient people, the children
of Israel. we read of those terrible plagues
that were visited upon them in the opening chapter the description
of the various creatures that will come and as it were they
bear the land plagues of locusts and other insects Verse 4 there
in chapter 1, that which the palmyrt hath left hath the locust
eaten, that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm
eaten, that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar
eaten. And God's alarm being sounded
by these terrible judgments. A nation has come up upon my
land, strong and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of
a lion and yet the cheek teeth of a great lion hath laid my
vine waste and bark my fig tree hath made it clean bare and cast
it away and so on. It's a terrible description of
some awful plague that was visited upon the people and it's very
much spoken really as God's army. The description goes over into
the second chapter and the imagery is that of an armour. In fact,
God says, or the Prophet says, as God's mouthpiece, verse 11
there, in chapter 2, the Lord shall utter His voice before
His armour. for his camp is very great, for
he is strong, that execute of his word for the day of the Lord
is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? The whole context
then in chapters one and two is that of God visiting a judgment
upon his people in form of these plagues. It's God's Dealing with
them, of course, not in a vindictive fashion. It's God coming, as
it were, to chasten his people. And we see that in the language
that we have here in this chapter. God is calling them to repentance,
really. Certainly there in the first
chapter we have a definite call to repentance. Verses 13 and
14, gird yourselves. Lament ye priests, howl ye ministers
of the altar, come lie all night in sacrament, ye ministers of
my God. Verse 14, sanctify ye a fast,
call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants
of the land, into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto
the Lord. They are being called to repentance
as God is dealing with them in this way of judgment. And we
know even here there's a sense in which in the midst of judgments,
we see something of God's mercy, we see something of the gospel,
we have wonderful gospel terminology. Even at the end of this third
chapter, verse 18, it shall come to pass in that day that the
mountain shall drop down new wine, and the hill shall flow
with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters,
and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and
shall water the valley of Shittim." It's Old Testament terminology,
yes, but it speaks of days of blessing. It speaks of the gospel,
the grace of God. Well, that's God's dealings with
His people, but also here we do read of God judging his enemies
and we certainly see that in the references as I said in verse
2 and again here in verse 12 to the valley of Jehoshaphat
there in verse 12 let the heathen be wakened and come up to the
valley of Jehoshaphat for there will I sit to judge all the heathen
round about says the Lord God or God will judge the heathen. There's a strange mix really
throughout the whole of this book when we think of the content
because I'm sure you're aware that part of it has its fulfillment
even on the day of Pentecost the glorious outpouring of the
Holy Spirit when the day of Pentecost was fully come it's the language
that we have at the end of the second chapter that is really
the text upon which Peter preaches that remarkable sermon. It shall
come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old
men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days
will I pour out My Spirit, and I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke and so forth."
And the Apostle makes specific reference to Joel and his prophecies. So there is this strange mix,
as I say, judgment and God's dealings with his people and
chastening them and calling them to repentance and yet at the
same time God's judgment upon the heathen nations and yet also
that reference to the day of Pentecost and the blessed outpouring
of the Spirit that great day, and yet another great day is
clearly spoken of also here, even the last day, the final
day and the great judgment that will take place when the final
separation is being made. Look at the verse that we have
previous to our text, put ye in the sickle, for the harvest
is ripe come and get you down for the presses fall and the
vats overflow for their wickedness is great doesn't this in a sense
speak of the final judgment, the end of time it's that imagery
that's taken up even in the book of the revelation in Revelation
14 and verse 14 son of man we read of the son of man there
having in his hand a sharp sickle when he comes to make the final
judgment. The harvest is ready, the harvest
of the world, it's the final judgment. Well that's the verse
previous to the text and then the verse that follows the text. Verse 15, the sun and the moon
shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Again, doesn't this imagery speak to us of the Last Day, the Judgment Day? The Lord Jesus Himself takes
up that imagery when He speaks of these things in the Gospel
at the end of Matthew. There in Matthew 24 Christ is speaking of his second
coming, the end of time. What does he say there? Verse
29 in Matthew 24, Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens shall be shaken. Then shall appear the sign of
the Son of Man in heaven. Then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall
send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together His elect from the four winds from one
end of heaven to the other." Isn't there then here amongst
all these other things some reference? And certainly in the immediate
context of our verse reference to that day. the final day of
judgment the day where the final division
is to be made it's interesting also what we
read in the 10th verse beat your plowshares into swords and your
pruning hooks into spears Let the weak say, I am strong. Now,
in other prophecy, where we have reference to the gospel day,
we have the reversal of that. We have swords being turned into
plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. For example, in the book
of the prophet Isaiah, who is very much the evangelical prophet,
Remember how in the second chapter, and there at verse 4, we have
a description of the gospel in the opening verses of this chapter.
Verse 4 he says, He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke
many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares. and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. And the whole context here is
speaking of the gospel, the last days. It shall come to pass in
the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it, and many
shall go and say, Come ye, let us go to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of God, the God of Jacob, and he will teach
us of his ways. And then that reference to the swords being beaten into plowshares
and the spears into pruning hooks, and it's the very opposite. The
opposite imagery is what we have here in this third chapter of
Joel. Plowshares beaten into swords
and pruning hooks into spears. It's the opposite of the gospel. It's the terrible day of God's
judgment. Just trying to pick out these various themes that
we see here. Again, coming to the text, you'll see the margin gives an
alternative reading for decision. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of threshing. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of threshing. And that speaks surely of the
the end and the final harvest, the judgment day. So we do certainly
have this representation of God in the book of Joel where we
see him as that one who is the great judge, who makes the final
decision, the final division. And so as God judges, In the
second place we have to recognize that God is that one who separates. He makes a separation. That's what the final judgment
is. And the basic meaning of the
word here is to cut. That's why it can be understood
in terms of threshing. cutting down the corn and preparing
the harvest as it were to cut and as there is a cutting
so there is also at that time a dividing and the word, the
verb that we have here is one that does certainly suggest the
idea of God's decision, God's determination. God's determination. In fact, it's used in that way
in other scriptures. The word is rendered determination,
for example, in Isaiah 10.23. The Lord of Hosts shall make
a consumption even determined in the midst of all the land,
it says. There in Isaiah 10, 23. And again
later in the prophecy, a consumption even determined upon the whole
earth. God's decision, God's determination,
God's separation, spoken of there in Isaiah 10, 23 and 28, verse
22. this is how God judges ultimately,
He makes a separation and we see that clearly when it comes
to that last day when the Lord returns in power and glory and
sits upon His throne and sets the sheep on His right hand and
the goats on His left there is the final separation And the
point I want to make is this, that what we really have here
in the text that I've announced tonight, this 14th verse, isn't
referring to what the Arminian thinks, that it's a wonderful
gospel text where you can bring people into that place where
they are to make their decision, their commitment. No, it's speaking
really of the day of judgment and God's determination. and
God's separation. He says here in verse 17, So
shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my
holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy,
and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. Then shall Jerusalem be holy.
Holiness to the Lord. and there shall no strangers
pass through her any more. Now isn't that the final separation? We have it at the end of the
book of the Revelation. After the final judgment heaven,
there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. No strangers No strangers. It's God's final separation. And what do we read concerning that day when it's multitudes?
Multitudes. It's the harvest of the world
really. It's the valley of decision. The Lord is exercising His final
judgments. making the separation for all
eternity. And there are multitudes. Remember
what's said concerning the Lord's coming. Christ himself declares
it. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith in the earth? All multitudes. Multitudes end in that awful
value decision. It's too late. The final decision
is now to be executed. This is what we have then here
in the text. We see God as the judge, and
God as the one who makes the final separation. But in the
third place, as we try to make some sense of what's being said
here, I want to say something with regards to how God works. Two things really. God works
for his people. and God works in His people. Observe from whence God is acting
in this fashion. As we see at verse 16, the Lord
also shall roar out of Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem
and the heavens and the earth shall shake and the Lord will
be the hope of His people and the strength of the children
of Israel Not to think of it in terms of ethnic Israel. This
is a gospel prophecy, isn't it? The book is a gospel prophecy.
Clearly, if Peter is preaching from chapter 2 and the end of
that chapter on the day of Pentecost, we can see that this book is
written in behalf of God's spiritual Israel, not understood simply in terms
of ethnic Israel. Observe them from whence it is
that God speaks. He rose out of Zion. And we think
of the Lord Jesus. Hath not God put all things under
His feet? Has He not given Him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness
of Him that filleth all in all? And as there is reference here
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat both in the second verse and
in the twelfth verse clearly this is much in the mind of the
prophet as he's uttering these words and giving this ministry.
And what a remarkable event was that that we read of earlier
in that chapter 2 Chronicles 20. And look at the language. I remind
you of the wonderful way in which God appeared for Israel then.
Verse 12. In His prayer, what does Jehoshaphat
say? O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might
against this great company that cometh against us, neither know
we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. And then the answer that the
Lord gives, remember there's one, Jehaziel,
the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiah,
the son of Matanite, a Levite. And the Spirit comes upon him.
What does he say? Verse 17, You shall not need
to fight in this battle. Set yourselves Stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you." These things fresh, as it were,
in the mind of the Prophet. Now God does act for His people. Christ is the Head over all things
to the Church. in all the Lord's dealings with
men, with nations. He has His eye upon His people.
It will become so evident in that day, in that great day. God will avenge His people. Avenge not yourselves. Vengeance
is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. Well, that's the
hope of God's people. And so we're to rest assured
If God works for his people, if God is that one who has put
Christ as the head over all things, reigning now in his kingdom,
his mediatorial kingdom, reigning on behalf of his people, the
apple of his eye, no wonder Paul can say, we know that all things
work together for good to them that know God, for them who are
called according to his purpose. this is where we are to put our
confidence and our trust and remember what he goes on to say
at the end of that 8th chapter as it is written verse 36 makes
reference to the 44th psalm as it is written for thy sake we
are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter now in all these things We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For there is
the comfort of the people of God. God works for His people. And maybe we We don't see it
in this day. Though it be the day of grace,
but it will be made clear, plain in that day, the day of judgment
that is to come. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley
of decision. But the Lord God doesn't just
work for his people. Is it not a truth that the Lord
God also works in his people? He works in his people. We know that from the testimony
of the Apostle when he writes in Galatians of the manner in
which the Lord called him by his grace. He pleads, God says
Paul to reveal his Son in me. when he pleased God to reveal
his Son in me I consulted not with flesh and blood. He doesn't
need to consult with his fellow men, it's the work of God. It's
the work of God in the soul of a man. God works in his people.
And it's interesting if we come to the words of the text and
consider it in terms of the alternative reading that we have in the margin. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of threshing for the day of the Lord is near in the valley
of threshing God's day of threshing and the day of the Lord is near
it says is near in that day and thinking of those things
and I don't know I often find the best way to understand the
word of God is to compare scripture with scripture you know commentaries
are useful and it's good to consult them sometimes to make sure that
we've not completely misunderstood a certain verse of scripture
we don't want to abuse, misuse God's word in any way it's important
that we understand it aright and don't put our own peculiar
interpretation upon things. Comparing scripture with scripture,
what the old writers called the analogy of faith. Thinking then in terms of this
marginal reading. The day of the Lord is near in
the valley of threshing. And it reminds me not so much
of that final day, the day of judgment. But does it not also
have to do with this day in which we're living, with the day of
grace? Not just the second coming of the Lord, but the first coming
of the Lord. You know, sometimes when we're reading in the scriptures,
and certainly when we come to the mind of prophets, it's difficult
to untangle the words because sometimes both
days his first coming and his second coming are found in the
same verse even the prophets seem to refer to
the whole of that period between his first and his second coming
in terms of one period of time that's the strange thing to us
and certainly when we think of the Valley of Threshing in Matthew chapter 3 we have
the record of the ministry of John the Baptist and John of
course the forerunner of the Christ, he comes to prepare the
way for him. Was Elijah to come before that
day of the Lord? So he was and Christ says Elijah
has come John's ministry was Elijah-like. And what does John say as he
preaches Christ there in that third chapter? He says of him
whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge his floor. The fan being spoken of is that
that would be used in threshing where there'd be a great heap
of corn and chaff and how would they winnow it? Well they would
use a great spade as it were and they'd toss the mixed heap
into the air and the chaff would be blown away by the wind and
the pure grain would fall to the ground and that's the image
we have of the Lord Jesus as he begins his ministry. His fan
is in his hand and he will truly purge his floor The church is his threshing floor,
as it were. He goes on to say something else,
doesn't he there? He also says concerning Christ,
there also is the axe laid onto the root of the tree. There is a certain negative aspect
then, even in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's
ministry here upon the earth was very much a separating ministry. several times there in John's
Gospel we see that division three times John 7.43 9.16 and
10.19 there was a division amongst the people because of him he was divided He was dividing
in his very person, his presence. Of course, there had to be a
division amongst the people. It doesn't always say because
of him, it might say because of his words. Always very ministry. Is he not that one who is the
great prophet of the Lord, promised back in Deuteronomy 18, that
Moses speaks of? Moses is a type of him really. Moses says that the Lord is going
to rise up a prophet like unto him and they are to hear that
prophet and how the Lord's ministry is that of a true prophet we
have the office of the prophets throughout the Old Testament
Isaiah was a prophet, Jeremiah was a prophet, Joel is a prophet
And all of these men, in a sense, are those who are preparing the
way for the coming of Christ. And what does the Lord God say to
His servant Jeremiah? Jeremiah 15, 19, If thou take
forth the precious from the vial, thou shalt be as my mouth. And that's what the Lord Jesus
did when there was a division amongst the people. He was taking
forth the precious from the vile. His ministry was such a searching
and such a separating ministry. And as it was with the Lord,
so it was with his apostles. As Paul says there at the end
of 2 Corinthians chapter 2, we are unto God a sweet savour of
Christ in them that are saved he says and in them that perish
to the one the savour of death unto death to the other the savour
of life unto life and who is sufficient for these things?
God's word, God's word is always a separating word in fact we
might say one of the marks of a true church is that it's a
place of winnowing. Again, in the language of the
prophet that follows Joel here, the next book, of course, the
book of Amos, the prophet. And there in chapter 9 and verse
9, God says, Lo, I will command and I will sift the house of
Israel among all nations like as corn is sifted in a sieve,
Yet shall not the least grain fall to the ground. The church is that place of sifting. This is the way of the Lord.
When John is on the isle of Patmos, exiled, alone, cut off from all
fellowship, and has that remarkable favour of seeing the glorified
Christ, and he describes something of his glory. And he says, doesn't
he, his eyes were as a flame of fire. All his eyes, a flame
of fire, so searching, looking into the souls of men and women, how he looks
into the souls of all those in the churches, how he sees what
they are. He speaks of the Church of the
Laodiceans here at the end of chapter 3. They think that they
are so rich, so wealthy, such a flourishing church and he says
they know not what they really are, they're poor, they're wretched,
they're naked and we see it into our hearts, that's why of course
if we're those who are in the church we will see the necessity
of self-examination Paul says to the Corinthians, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith.
Prove your own selves. Know you're not your own selves,
and that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobate. We know
that we are not reprobate, he says. But I'm sure that as he
exhorts others, so he would do himself. And we have to come
and examine ourselves in. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision, the valley of threshing. for the day of
the Lord is near in the valley of Threshing. How do we come
to the Word of God? How do we read the Word of God?
We delight, I trust in the truth of God's Word. It's profitable, we're told that.
How profitable it is. it's given by inspiration of
God it's not the words of mere men it's God's word profitable
for doctrine profitable for instruction profitable for reproof it says
or do we come in that tender way to it then and we want the
Lord to show us where we are and what we are and as we hear
the word of God we want to be examining ourselves proving ourselves
and knowing ourselves We don't leave it there. We come to God's
Word that we might discern increasingly the Lord Jesus Christ. We come
that we might see Him, who is the only Saviour of the sinner. We were reminded yesterday, some
of us, how we can read God's Word and maybe we've read it
through from Genesis to Revelation more than once. Some I know determine
that they will read it right through in a year. And if we
are that diligent in reading it, I know there's other things
that we have to be about. It's not easy to read great portions,
and sometimes maybe, instead of reading a great chunk of scripture,
it would be more profitable for us to read a small portion, and
to pray over it, and to examine it, and look into it and study
it. but we were reminded just the
afternoon that we can read it and we come to a passage and
we've read it many times and then all of a sudden as we were
reminded we suddenly see Christ where we never saw him before
oh and how precious that is how precious that is that we might
discern Christ it's good to examine ourselves But remember what's said of McShane,
how that he would say, one look at self, ten, a hundred, a thousand
looks at Christ. Or might all our self-examination
lead to that, that we're brought to look more for the Lord Jesus,
to discover more and more about Him and to delight more and more
in Him. multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision, the valley of threshing, for the day of
the Lord is near in the valley of decision. Oh, the Lord then
be pleased to bless his word to us tonight. Amen.