Alright, let's look back at Joel
chapter 3. As I said in the last message,
this passage is the prophecy that God revealed to the prophet
Joel to give to the people of Judah in his day, a prophecy,
a foretaste of the victory, the final victory that Christ and
the church made up of his people out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue and nation would ultimately win at the end of time, at the
second coming of Christ. He begins in verse 1, let's just
start reading through these verses. He says, for behold in those
days and in that time when I shall bring again the captivity of
Judah and Jerusalem, talking about the restoration here and
the recovery of Judah and Jerusalem. And as I told you last week,
that's talking ultimately, the ultimate fulfillment of this,
whatever happens to physical Jerusalem and Judah in a given
time, the ultimate fulfillment of this is to spiritual Israel,
spiritual Judah, spiritual Jerusalem. And I know that's so because
this is sandwiched in between a prophecy of the coming of the
Messiah Back here in Joel chapter 2 and verse 23, speaking of the
former reign or that teacher of righteousness who would come
and establish righteousness. It's also in between the prophecy
of the Holy Spirit who would come in the days of the new covenant,
specifically at Pentecost. And Peter quoted from this passage,
Joel chapter 2 verses 28 through 32, wherein there were called
unto the Lord on that day 3,000 out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. And then later on there were
others called, but that was the inauguration of the New Testament,
the New Covenant Church. And the gospel began to be preached
throughout all nations. And God does have a people out
of Jews and Gentiles. And they are called a remnant
according to the election of grace. But also I know that so
because of verses 16 and 17 of Joel chapter 3. Because whoever
he is describing in verse 1 here, Judah and Jerusalem, listen to
what he says about them in verse 16 and 17. Let's read it again.
It says, the Lord also shall roar out of Zion, Zion being
the church, the place of the presence of the living God in
Christ from where the testimony of the gospel goes out to the
world. And he says he'll utter his voice
from Jerusalem, which I believe is the heavenly Jerusalem, read
it in Hebrews chapter 12. We're not come to a physical
mountain. We come to the heavenly Jerusalem,
come down from heaven, and it says, "...and the heavens and
the earth shall shake." In other words, this is something that's
going to be heard all over the world now. This is not just focused
on one little geographical area in Palestine. But here's the
key, look at the next one. But the Lord will be the hope
of his people and the strength of the children of Israel, verse
17, so shall you know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in
Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy
and there shall no strangers or foreigners pass through her
anymore. In other words, that's the finality
of it. And what he's talking about no more foreigners is this,
is what Paul wrote by inspiration of the Spirit in Ephesians chapter
2, that the Gentiles are no more strangers and aliens. They are now brought in, brought
nigh into the very presence of God as they are reconciled just
like believing Jews by the blood of Christ. And that's what he's
talking about. So, this is the issue. This is the final end of all
things. We read about it in Philippians 2 earlier. This is when all things
will be brought under the feet of Christ. All right? Now, he
says in verse 2, look at this. He says, I will also gather all
nations and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. Remember,
Jehoshaphat means Jehovah judges. So this is the Valley of Judgment.
Now, last week I told you that this is a prophecy of what Revelation
16 calls Armageddon. And I got to thinking about that
as I was studying on it this way. You know, we call it the
Battle of Armageddon. But I want you to know something.
It's really not going to be a battle. I mean, it's not going to be
like the forces of good under Christ and the forces of evil
under Satan doing battle. That's why this is so significant.
There's two words here. First of all, the name of Jehoshaphat.
I mean, it's not like it's going to be like a waging a battle.
It's a gathering. That's what he says here. I will
gather these nations. For what purpose? To be in the
valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehovah does what? Jehovah fights? No, Jehovah judges. This is a
valley of judgment. Later on, he calls it the valley
of decision. And that doesn't mean for me
or you or anybody in the gathering to decide. What it's saying is
that this is the valley where it's going to be revealed how
all things have been decided by the supreme judge of all men. The valley of decision. So, a
lot of times, you know, when you hear these horror stories
about Armageddon, you think about tanks and guns. It's not a physical
battle at all. It's a spiritual battle. And
it's a battle that's really, it's already won. Now, somebody
asked me about, well, our Armageddon's already over because it was over
at the cross. Well, in essence, let me show you. You know, in
essence, Satan is already defeated. Now, Christ spoke of that in
the book of John, chapter 12, verses 31 through 33. And you
remember what he was saying there. He was teaching his disciples
about his death. It's when he told him, he said,
except a seed of wheat fall into the ground and die, it won't
bring forth fruit. It must die to bring forth much
fruit. And then later on it says, and I, if I be lifted up, will
draw all unto me. And he was speaking of the death
that he should die. And then he said, now is the
prince of this world cast out. That's John 12 verses 31 through
33. And then in John 16, 8 through
11, it mentions three things that the Holy Spirit is going
to convince God's people of when he brings them to faith in Christ
and repentance. There's three things. He says
He's going to convict them of sin, our sinfulness, in light
of the fact... It says it this way in verse...
I think it's verse 9 or 10. It says, He's going to convict
us of sin because we believe not on Him. Which means this,
that we're going to know by the power of the Spirit in the preaching
of the gospel truth that without Christ, Without Christ, we are
sin, nothing but sin, and deserve nothing but death, hell, and
judgment. That's what that means. Somebody said, well, that's the
sin of unbelief. Well, it is, and that's included, but it goes
further than that. Listen, if I don't have Christ,
then what am I? I'm a sinful human being, and
that's the best you can say of me. at any time, at any stage
of my life. Without Christ, I'm under condemnation. You understand that? Even at
my best. Man at his best states altogether
vanity. And then it says he's going to
convince the world of righteousness because I go to my Father, Christ
said. Well, what does that mean, he's
going to his Father? Well, when he told his disciples
about his death, he always told them that it was in light of
the fact that he was going to be raised again. and ascend unto
the Father. What does that mean? That means
his death was going to be an accomplishment, a victory. In
his death, he's going to put away sin, he's going to finish
the transgression, he's going to make an end of sin, he's going
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and he's going to ascend unto
the Father to be seated at his right hand. The work is finished.
Righteousness is established. He was made sin, Christ was,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And so we stand
before God, justified in Christ. And then the third thing he said
that the Holy Spirit will convict sinners of is the fact that he
said that he will convict them of judgment. And then he says
this, because the prince of this world is judged. Now who's the
prince of this world? Well, that's Satan. And what
judgment is he talking about? Well, he's not talking about
just convincing people that there's going to be a final judgment.
A lot of people believe there's going to be a final judgment.
But the judgment that he's talking about is the judgment that he
went through and his people went through in him as he was our
representative, surety, and substitute on the cross. And so that Satan,
when he charges us now, those charges don't stick. We've already
been judged. He's been cast out. But, now
here's the thing, Satan is still allowed by God to plague us. Satan still wages war against
the church. He's not going to win. There's
no chance he's going to win. We don't believe in chance. There is no possibility that
Satan can win this battle. And there's an argument among
scholars. Does Satan know he's never going to win or does he
really think he can win? I don't know. Somebody said one
time, they said, well, Satan knows he's defeated, but he's
just trying to take as many as he can with him. Now, I don't
know about all that. I can't tell you what Satan's
mind is other than what the Word tells me. But I know this, there's
no possibility that Satan is going to win this final battle.
But he's still allowed by God in God's sovereign wisdom and
providence to wage war against us. And therefore, you'll see
all kinds of exhortations in the New Testament not to be ignorant
of his wiles and his deceptions. He's still ruler over the unbelieving
world in that sense. They are the devil's children,
John 8, 44. But He's still allowed to plague us. And that's why
we're told in Ephesians chapter 6 to be strong in the power of
the Lord, to put on the whole armor of God, to withstand the
devil and his wiles. And so we have to think about
that. But in the final end of things, it's all going to come
down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, Armageddon, All are going to
be gathered there. And look here, verse 2, I will
gather all nations, bring them down into the valley of Jehovah
judges, and will plead with them there. Now, what that literally
means is God is going to plead the cause of His people. Christ
is going to stand as our advocate at judgment. We don't have to
worry about it. We don't have to be ashamed of
it. We can have confidence at the judgment because as He is,
so are we in this world, 1 John 4 and verse 17. The love of God
gives us the confidence that we ought to have in Christ because
that love is what sent Christ into the world to be the propitiation
for our sins. We have an advocate with the
Father. So he's going to plead our calls as our advocate and
he says, for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among
the nations imparted my land. Now he's talking about how the
unbelieving world who hate the gospel, who stand in opposition
to Christ and his people have scattered his people all over
the world. And if you want to An example
of that, just read the book of Acts chapter 8. That's an example
of it. We see it in the Old Testament
when the Assyrian Empire came down upon the northern kingdom
of Israel and scattered them all over the world. That's a
physical, typical symbol of it. But over in the book of Acts,
after Stephen preached his message, you remember it said that Saul
made havoc of the church and the people were dispersed all
over the known world at that time. And of course, the joy
of that is we see that that was God's providential way of getting
the gospel out to the Gentile world. So, in other words, that's
just another case that it could be said of God overruling evil
for good. It's another case of what Joseph
told his brothers back in Genesis. I think it was Genesis chapter
50 when he said, you meant it for evil and you're to be held
accountable for that. But God meant it for good. And boy, there's no greater example
of that than our Lord on the cross. Isn't that right? We meant
it for evil, God meant it for good, to save much people alive.
That's why he died. So, look at it. Now, we've got
to remember that the persecution of Christ's church, when they
persecute the church, when Satan comes after the church, they're
going after Christ himself. He takes it personally. Read
in Matthew 25, in that you have done it to the least of these
my brethren, you've done it in me or have not done it. So understand
that. But look at the description of
all this in verse 3. Now let's read. He says, verse
3, they've cast lots for my people, they've given a boy for an harlot,
sold a girl for wine that they might drink. In other words,
it was all... they didn't care about the people of God. They didn't care about even people.
It was just all pleasure for themselves. It says, verse 4,
"...yea, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zion,
and all the coast of Palestine?" Now, these cities or countries
that are named are famous cities that were known for their wealth,
their commerce, but they were also known for their unbelief
and their persecution of the people of God. So, in other words,
the people of God who are hated by the world and the world gets
richer and richer in the things of this world but it'll do them
no good. It'll do them no good at all.
And he says, will you render me a recompense? He says, and
if you recompense me swiftly and speedily will I return to
your recompense upon your own head because you've taken my
silver and my gold and have carried into your temples the goodly
pleasant things? taken that which belongs to God
and used it for idolatry, used it for self-enrichment as far
as materialism. He says, the children also of
Judah and the children of Jerusalem have you sold unto the Grecians. In the New Testament, it was
a Greek world. Even under the Roman Empire,
it was a Greek world. And so he says that you might
remove them far from their border. You hated the people of God.
You despised the people of God. That's what he's saying. And
then look at verse 7. He says, Behold, I will raise
them out of the place where you have sold them, and will return
your recompense upon your own head. I'm going to bring back
my people, Christ says, and I'm going to give you what you deserve.
And when you think about that, that's an awesome thing, isn't
it? Listen, wherever God's people are, even in the remotest corners
of the world, the Good Shepherd is going to find His sheep. He's
going to pick them up and He's going to bring them home. You
want to know why? For the glory of God and because
He purchased them with His own precious blood. He's going to
bring you home. And then all who stand in opposition
to Him are going to get what they deserve. That's why we have
to pray all the time, Lord, don't give me what I deserve. And our
only hope of not getting what we deserve, which is eternal
damnation, is to be found in Christ. To be found washed in
His blood and clothed in His righteousness. So the very moment
now, and I'll tell you, brethren, we all have to be reminded of
this all the time. I do too. But the very moment
I start thinking about somebody who has done me wrong or somebody
I don't like or something like that and say, well, they're just
getting what they deserve, they may be, but I have to pray every
day, Lord, don't give me what I deserve. Don't do that. Please don't do that. Have mercy. That's what it is to beg for
mercy. Look at verse 8. He says, I will sell your sons
and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and
they shall sell them to the Sabians," they were people who were well
known for slave trading and enriching themselves off of that, "...to
a people far off, for the Lord hath spoken it." And so what
you have here is just God is telling the world who stands
in opposition to Christ, unbelieving world, those who don't have a
mediator, the right mediator, the right advocate, those who
don't have the blood of Christ, those who are not clothed in
the righteousness of Christ, that the wages of sin is death,
that the judgment of God is going to be just, the recompense is
going to be equal to the crime. Don't ever think that God is
too harsh on anybody. I heard a fellow say that one
time about Adam in the garden. He said he thought God was a
little too harsh on Adam. No, no. Let me tell you exactly
what God was in the garden. The Bible says He was long-suffering. That means He held back for a
time what Adam really deserved, what we really deserved. And
the very fact that this world is still going on today until
that appointed time of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, that time of
of the final conflict and triumph is owing to the very patience
and long-suffering of God. Don't ever think that God is
too hard on anybody. He's not. He always judges according
to truth. Well, beginning at verse 9 now,
what Joel prophesies of is the preparation of God's people for
this judgment, for this valley of Jehoshaphat, for Armageddon,
In the case of those who die before then, it's preparation
to meet God before them. But either way, it's preparation.
So what does he say? Look at verse 9. Proclaim ye
this among the Gentiles. Now this is a message not just
for Palestine, not just for physical Israel, say. This is a message
of salvation. This is a message of redemption.
It's a message of recovery. It's a message of victory by
the grace of God, which is not confined by any geographical
boundaries. It's not confined by any racial
boundaries. It's not confined by any ethnic
boundaries. You see, this is the power of
God unto salvation to the Jew first, but also to the Gentile. It's to everyone that believe
it. As Joel said in Joel 2 and verse 32, Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And here's the message.
He says, Prepare war. Wake up the mighty men. Let all
the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Now, how do
you prepare? How do you prepare? Well, you
remember back over in Revelation 16. And I love this passage,
this is one of the reasons I love this passage. Because as you
read through this, remember I told you Revelation 16, that's the
revelation that Christ gave to the Apostle John concerning the
vials or the bowls of God's wrath which would be poured out upon
the earth during the last days. leading up to the sixth bowl,
or the sixth vial, which is Armageddon, and then the seventh vial, which
is the end of all things. That's the final victory that
Joel's going to be talking about in the last part of this chapter.
And he keeps going on, he talks about this in Revelation 16,
beginning at verse 12, and right there in the middle of it, verse
15, a lot of the commentators, when you read about this, they'll
say, it kind of seems out of place. But it's not out of place. Because it's exactly what Joel
is saying here. I mean, Joel is prophesying Christ
is coming, the King is coming, the second time. He's not going
to sneak up on you. He's coming with a shout. He's
coming very publicly. He's going to gather all nations.
And like I said, this is a spiritual judgment. Then he says, proclaim this among
the Gentiles and there's to be a preparation. And that's what
he's saying, the reason the Lord reveals these things is so that
we might be prepared. And look here in verse 15, right
in the middle of this prophecy of Revelation 16 of Armageddon,
he says, Behold, I come as a thief Now again, that's talking about
how unbelievers will see him because believers live in expectation. Now, let me tell you something.
If you go home tonight and you're expecting a thief to come, what
are you going to do? You're not going to go to sleep
real quietly, are you? You're going to set up and you're
going to be waiting for that gentleman. And so when he says, come as
a thief, he's talking about how the unbelieving world, they go
along their way, they don't believe the gospel, they don't believe
they have to prepare in this way. But we expect him, but it
says, and the same verse teaches that, blessed is he that watcheth. Now you're watching, aren't you?
Watching for the Lord to come. And then it says, and keepeth
his garments. Now, what are our garments? That's
the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. We stand in Christ. That's what I want. Listen, if
I die and go to meet the Lord, I have one desire, and that's
to be found in Him, to be found in Christ. I'm not worried about
what happened yesterday or what happened ten years ago, all the
bad things that I've done, whatever. I want to be found in Christ.
I want to stand before God washed in His blood and clothed in His
righteousness. Now, if I'm alive when He comes
again in this great gathering, I have one concern. I want to
be found in Christ, washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness.
And if you're not in His garments, it says you'll be naked and they'll
see your shame. You'll be ashamed. All who stand
without Christ shall be ashamed. All who are in Christ, we won't
be ashamed. We don't have anything to be
ashamed of. We have the Lord of glory. This is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. We stand accepted
in the Beloved. And there's no better place than
that. Go back to Joel chapter 3 now. There's the preparation.
So he says, prepare. Now I know he says prepare for
war and I told you it's not going to really be a battle. But you
know, even when we read about Jehoshaphat there, back in 2
Chronicles 20, they prepared. In fact, if you read the whole
episode, I didn't read it all, But Judah at that time really,
it wasn't a military state. They really weren't prepared.
You know what they were? They were an agricultural state. They were
farmers and sheep herders. That's what Judah was, made up
of farmers and sheep herders. They weren't warriors. They weren't
trained in the military ways. But Jehoshaphat got them all
together and they prepared themselves for war. They didn't have to
shoot an arrow. Well, look at verse 10 of Joel
chapter 3. Now, what does he tell us to
do? Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks
into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong.
How are you going to prepare? You're not a warrior. You're
not a fighter. Blessed are the peacemakers.
We're peacemakers, you see. We're farmers. We sow the word.
Shepherds, in a sense, because we're seeking Christ's sheep.
He said, Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. We're the under-shepherds. Christ is the great shepherd.
Right? He's the great shepherd. He's
the chief shepherd. He's the good shepherd. But this
is what he's saying. Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears. And then he says, let the weak
say, I am strong. Now, how can the weak say, I
am strong? How is that possible? Well, what'd
Paul say? When I'm weak, I'm strong. What does he mean by that? Is
he just poetic? I mean it sounds good on paper,
you know, something I'll write down. No. When I recognize who
I am and what I am and my weakness and my impotence, I have no choice
but to rely totally upon the omnipotent Lord of glory. He's
my strength. Christ is my strength. Verse
11, assemble yourselves and come You know that word Megiddo, you
remember Armageddon, Har-mageddon, Mount of Assembly, Mount of the
Congregation, or Valley of Assembly, or Valley of the Congregation,
look at verse 11, assemble yourselves and come. And he says, all ye
heathen and gather yourselves together around about, thither
or there, cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. He's talking
about the opposition and his people, who are the mighty ones
here, those who are mighty in Christ. And he says 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. Put ye in the sickle for the
harvest is ripe, the end of the world, the final judgment is
always symbolized under the harvest, the reaping of the harvest. And
he says, come get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow,
for their wickedness is great. You see that? God calls on the
enemies of Christ and the church to assemble and bring down all
his mighty ones, those who stand in Christ and by the power of
his might. The heathen here describes all unbelievers, all who stand
in opposition to Christ and the church, all to be judged by God. And he says, the heathen will
be cut down and pressed through the winepress of God's wrath.
You notice that a lot of times when God described His wrath,
He describes it in the terms of a winepress squishing out
the juice of the grape. Well, do you know, child of God,
that you've already been through the winepress of God's wrath
in your Savior, in your Redeemer? And it's described in the book
of Isaiah, I believe. It says, He walked through the
winepress. He walked through it alone. That's
talking about Christ who went through the winepress of God's
wrath for us. Child of God. We've already experienced
the entire amount, the full wrath of God. Not in our own persons,
thank God, but in the person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. But here's a wine press to come.
And this is a wine press of God's wrath that everyone who stands
against Christ and His church will have to go through. It's
the judgment of God. Look at verse 14. He says, multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision. That's the valley of threshing,
the valley of cutting. If you see in your concordance
there concision, that's usually a term that means mutilation
of circumcision for the purposes of being saved, which I don't
believe that's what this is talking about. It's talking about cutting.
And it's a threshing floor. And it's God putting the sickle
of His wrath down upon all the enemies of Christ. And He says,
for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision, the
day of judgment. Verse 15. And let me tell you
now, we don't have to fear this. This is a matter of anticipation
to all unto whom Christ is precious. This is a time of expectation.
This is a time of victory. This is a time of the final triumph
of all things for us who know Him. Look at verse 15. He says,
The sun and the moon shall be darkened and the stars shall
withdraw their shining. Now, there's a couple ways to
take this verse. It can be talking about actual
physical manifestations of God's power. We saw that at the cross
of Christ when the sun became darkened and the veil in the
temple was written to from top to bottom showing abolishment
of the old covenant and the establishment of the new. And then when those
who came out of the graves like Lazarus to walk the earth again,
could be that. But it could also be talking
about the state of all anti-Christian religion, government, and systems
that they'll all burn out. The sun and the moon shall be
darkened, the stars shall withdraw all their shining, All that shines
forth in the world as far in opposition to Christ, all that
that looks so glorious to man and so shining to man, it'll
all burn out in that day. So it could be taken either way.
Either way, it is a manifestation of God's judgment, isn't it? Against the unbelievers. And
then look at verse 16, the Lord also shall roar out of Zion.
I love that roaring there because it always brings my mind to the
lion of the tribe of Judah. He's going to roar like a lion.
And he's going to roar this. He's going to roar out of Zion.
That's his dwelling place. Remember Zion now originally
was to be the side of the temple. Then it became a synonym for
Jerusalem. And then it became a symbol of
the church. Either way, what it is, it's
the dwelling place of God. And where is the dwelling place
of God? In His Shekinah glory. Where He shines forth in His
redemptive glory. It's through His church in Christ. Where two or three are gathered
in My name. There I'll be in the midst of. And He's going
to roar out of Zion. And He's going to clearly and
loudly utter His voice from Jerusalem. That's the heavenly city now.
And he says, and the heavens and the earth shall shake, but
here's what, here's the proclamation that comes forth, but the Lord
will be the hope. Oh, he'll be the, in your concordance
it might have a place of repair or a harbor. It's a safety, it's
an assurance, it's a peace, it's a salvation. The hope of his
people, Jehovah. Jehovah who judges, Jehovah who
saves, Jehovah our righteousness. He'll be the hope of His people
and the strength, the power of the children of Israel. And what
you see there now in this judgment, this is what's being taught right
there in that verse 16. In this judgment, here's what
makes the difference. What is your hope of salvation? What is your ground of salvation?
If it's anything but Christ, and I'm going to tell you something,
your sun and your moon and your stars will be put out. Am I right? Christ makes the difference at
judgment. Christ, His righteousness makes
the difference between being justified before God or being
condemned forever. His blood makes the difference
between being forgiven for all eternity or being consumed with
the wrath of God. And so he says in verse 17, so
shall you know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion,
my holy mountain. This is for the glory of God.
The church is the dwelling place of God. Christ and his church. It's for his glory. This is to
make his name, his power known in this universe. And it says,
then shall Jerusalem be holy. What he's talking about there,
and look at it, there shall no strangers pass through her anymore.
There'll be no strangers. There'll be no goats among the
sheep then. There'll be no tears in the earth,
there'll only be wheat. You see, this is the final end
of all things because this is going to be the final separation.
That's what holiness means. God's going to gather them all
together and He's going to separate His church out and that's when
you're going to see the pure, glorified, perfected church at
that time. No strangers, no foreigners,
no contamination. At that time, we will truly be
able to say that we can love God with an uncontaminated love. For we'll be like Him perfectly
and glorified with Him. And these last verses we'll pick
up with Sunday night, but that's talking about the final rest
and peace of the church after the Valley of Jehoshaphat.