Gleanings from the Book of Joel: Part 3
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
9/30/20
In our last two messages we have been looking at the Book of Joel, which gives a panoramic view of the history of God's chosen people and is prophetic of the last of the last days ... the time in which we live. Last week we shared a few thoughts with you from Joel, Chapter 1, Verses 2-4. I mentioned that there must be about 10 messages in those three verses and we looked briefly at a few of those messages. Among other things, Verses 2-4 speak about the state of the visible church on earth today, with the gradual decline of the church over the past 100 years into near apostasy. Today we will start at Joel, Chapter 1 and Verse 5. Verses 5 through 16 contain a strong word of exhortation for the Last Joel today. You might recall that by the phrase "the Last Joel" I mean those members of the body of Christ who will fulfill Joel 2:17,
Wow! What a message that is for us today! Everything in the Bible is written for our admonition, edification, and exhortation. Paul told the elders of the church at Ephesus that he had not shunned to declare unto them ALL the counsel of God. That is recorded in Acts 20:27. But in less than one generation the church at Ephesus was in danger of having their candlestick removed because they had left their first love.
Just as Paul admonished the Church at Corinth many years ago, a multitude of different voices is still causing confusion and uncertainty in the Church today. We see disunity, strife, bitterness, sin, carnality, and division. I saw one blog on the internet, written by a Christian, who said that the greatest plague for Christians in our day is not the coronavirus but is ... gossip. We have seen, in our own lifetime, a parade of both out of balance tangents and false teachings such that literally tens of thousands, or more, of genuine believers have been "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:13). This parade of false "movements" and false teachings falls into two categories. One category includes submission, discipleship, faith, and prosperity. All of these four things are scriptural but man has tried to implement them rather that allow the Spirit of God to bring them about in our lives. The reason that these teachings have such an appeal is because they all have a measure of truth. In ALL of these out-of-balance tangents, the major, common error is that they are man-directed and controlled rather than being led by the Spirit. As I have stated before, rat poison is 99% pure wheat ... it is the other 1% that gets you!
The other category includes false teachings such as the apostles and prophets "movement," "networking" (which is the modern-day version of denominations), and a heavy "seeker-friendly" emphasis at the expense of Spirit-led praise, worship, and edification of the Body of Christ.
Another tangent today is what Paul ran into in Athens.
Unfortunately, most Christians today, and even most leaders in the church, still know Christ after the flesh and not after the Spirit. Essentially all Christians know Christ after the flesh ... the earthly Jesus of 2000 years ago. But we need, by His grace, to know the heavenly Lord Jesus ... that heavenly vision, without which we can only stumble in darkness. So then how can we know Christ after the Spirit rather than after the flesh?
After we are born from above and after we have been baptized with the Holy Ghost, we must repent because we are a human being. For five chapters, Isaiah had been prophesying the word of the Lord. Then Isaiah received a heavenly vision.
Paul likewise had a heavenly vision, and he said, in Acts 26:19, that he was not disobedient to that heavenly vision. In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul said,
There must be at least three messages from Verse 5. The first message is Awake! If ever there was a word for the Church in this hour it is this word ... AWAKE! The church in America has been lulled to sleep by our adversary over a period of many years. Many years ago I read this definition of the word "awake." To awake means to rouse up out of spiritual sleep, by a vigorous exercise of grace, by leaving off all sinful courses and setting about to fulfill the function to which we have been called.
The Lord, in a number of different scriptures, commands us to awake. We will look at two of those passages.
And in Isaiah 52:1-8, the Lord says,
Note that in both Isaiah 51:17 and Isaiah 52:1, the Lord says to His chosen people, "Awake, awake." Any time that a word or phrase is repeated twice we better sit up and take notice because a double emphasis indicates a very important word.
Isaiah 52:1 exhorts spiritual Zion to put on their strength. What is the strength of Zion? Ten different Psalms say that the Lord Himself is our strength. We will look at only one of those ten.
In those days, the king supplied the wedding garments for his invited guests. The Lord Jesus Christ supplies believers with His white garment of righteousness. But believers must keep the wedding garments that the King supplies. We must not soil or spoil that garment by trying to substitute our own righteousness. We must not get that garment dirty by our own works but walk in the works foreordained by God. The first principle of the doctrine of Christ, from Hebrews 6:1 is repentance from dead works.
In the Old Testament, apparently a change of garments was rather expensive and highly desirable. Two examples come to my mind. The first is recorded in 2 Kings 5:22, when the servant of Elisha asked for two changes of garments after Elisha had healed Naaman, the captain of the host of Syria, of leprosy. Another example is in Judges 17 when Micah hired a young Levitical priest for 10 shekels of silver and a new suit of apparel (or a shirt or a change of garments) each year. I am not aware of any scripture that says that Jesus changed His garments. But the question is, what garments are we wearing?
Continuing in Isaiah 52:2 ...
Shake thyself from the dust. What is the dust? the old man ... that earthly man that we once were. God made man from the dust of the ground. "sit down, O Jerusalem." That speaks of the rest of God. "Loose thyself O captive daughter of Zion." Zion is supposed to be the very elect, the remnant, the overcomers. If Zion is in captivity, where does that leave the rest of the church?
Esau sold his birthright and his blessing for a mess of red pottage or soup. Scripture says that Esau despised his birthright. Far too many believers have sold their God-given ministry for money, prestige and position in the eyes of Christian men. I knew a brother years ago who seemed to move in apostolic ministry. He received much revelation from the Lord and was highly respected by many Christians. For years he would never ask anyone for money. Then some group of believers persuaded him that it was OK to ask other believers for money offerings. So he did, and put it in writing. When I read that, I said to my wife, "That marks the end of his ministry." Later, I heard that brother say, publicly, "Now it is time to take up an offering for me." About three years later, the Lord took him home.
Please read Psalm 50 sometime. In Psalm 50:12 the Lord says, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof." Should we be like Jesus? Do you believe that our Father knows the things that we need before we ask Him? (Matthew 6:8)
Who is the "him" in Verse 7? The verse says that whoever the "him" is, he says to Zion that "thy God reigns." But Zion once more is the very elect, the overcomers, the remnant. So if Zion is not doing their job, where does that leave the rest of the church? That verse says that despite all of the failures of men, Christian men, the Lord is still in control. So who is the "him"? The Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe that we live in the time when the Lord is bringing again Zion. It is Zion, or the Last Joel, that will fulfill Joel 2:17.
Now back to Joel 1:5, which says Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Joel 1:5 calls for the drunkards and all drinkers of wine to weep. Drunkenness suggests a self-indulgent lifestyle pursued by those who value material things more than spiritual things of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 6:10 says that drunkards cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Others called to weep are the general population (Joel 1:8), farmers (Joel 1:11), and priests (Joel 1:13). The drunkards and drinkers of wine do not have any new wine. They are old wineskins, into which new wine cannot be poured. They only live on old manna. There is no fresh revelation. They like to talk about what happened in the past.
Christianity is not a religion but a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to identify with Him in every respect. That identification is not simply agreeing with the written word. The word must become flesh within us.. We must identify with His birth, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glorification. We also must identify with His intercession.
Please note that the reason the sheep have gone astray is because of the shepherds!
The "most fine gold" represents those leaders, ministers, who once had an anointing, but have succumbed to the ways of man. I could give you specific examples of good men I have known personally who fall in that category. The "stones of the sanctuary" represent the "lost sheep" that Jeremiah speaks of in Jeremiah 50:6, above.
Joel 1:5 also begins the setting forth by Joel of the state of Judah, which is a type of those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit. The verse says that the new wine is cut off from our mouth. This is a day of a lack of revelation, a lack of anointing, and a lack of manifestation of apostolic authority and power, just as in the days of Samuel.
More and more believers are proclaiming many of the things that we have just shared with you. In the natural realm there seems to be little hope. BUT ... the Lord is still in control. Therefore the Lord says for us to stir up the gift that is within us. The Lord is patient and longsuffering. Just as He took 40 years to prepare Moses and just as He has 7000 more that we don't know about, the Lord has been preparing the Last Joel for some time ... a small number of nobodies who will fulfill Joel 2:17.
In our last two messages we have been looking at the Book of Joel, which gives a panoramic view of the history of God's chosen people and is prophetic of the last of the last days ... the time in which we live. Last week we shared a few thoughts with you from Joel, Chapter 1, Verses 2-4. I mentioned that there must be about 10 messages in those three verses and we looked briefly at a few of those messages. Among other things, Verses 2-4 speak about the state of the visible church on earth today, with the gradual decline of the church over the past 100 years into near apostasy. Today we will start at Joel, Chapter 1 and Verse 5. Verses 5 through 16 contain a strong word of exhortation for the Last Joel today. You might recall that by the phrase "the Last Joel" I mean those members of the body of Christ who will fulfill Joel 2:17,
"Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar."
That is the key verse in the Book of Joel, as far as what the Lord is waiting for us to do. We will look at that verse in great detail in a later message.
As an introduction, many of you are probably familiar with the movie and Broadway musical, "The Sound of Music." Back in the 1970's my wife and I and our children met the real Maria Von Trapp at her home in Stowe, Vermont, which is in the Green Mountains. We had just parked our car and were walking toward the beautiful inn where she lived, when all of a sudden we saw and heard the roar of a little two-seater roadster convertible that pulled into the same parking lot. It was Maria Von Trapp, who seemed to have a very feisty spirit about her. She graciously allowed me to take a picture of her with my wife and our children. We still have that picture, after 45 years. And what a prophetic message there is in that encounter! It is one thing to listen and watch the musical and movie of The Sound of Music. It was quite another thing to meet the real Maria and see where she lives and partake of her grace. I had not thought about that event in many years until this past Sunday morning. Why did the Lord bring that encounter back to my mind three days ago? To me the answer is obvious ... because the Lord wanted me to share that with you today ... because that will be meaningful to one or more Christians.
More importantly, it is one thing to read about the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible and to hear about Him through ministers, books, videos, and tapes. It is quite another thing for the Lord to come to us, allow us to see where He dwells, and partake of His abundant and amazing grace. It is also an amazing work of grace when He opens to us in ALL the scriptures the things concerning Himself. A good question is, Does our heart burn within us as He opens the scriptures to us? And why does He open the scriptures to us and then open our eyes that we might know Him? because that is part of the purpose and plan of God in His timetable of events .... because He is bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10) in order to have fellowship or communion with Him for eternity. The Lord also dwells in the Green Mountains ... green speaks of life and His mountain is the kingdom of God. Perhaps the major song in that musical is, "The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music." Well I want to declare to you that the Word of God is alive with the sound of the Spirit of God for those who have an ear to hear.
That reminds me of Luke, Chapter 24, when, after the resurrection of Jesus, He met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Note from Luke 24:15, that Jesus came to them. They did not come to Jesus. Unless He comes to us we cannot see Him or hear Him. Scripture says in
As an introduction, many of you are probably familiar with the movie and Broadway musical, "The Sound of Music." Back in the 1970's my wife and I and our children met the real Maria Von Trapp at her home in Stowe, Vermont, which is in the Green Mountains. We had just parked our car and were walking toward the beautiful inn where she lived, when all of a sudden we saw and heard the roar of a little two-seater roadster convertible that pulled into the same parking lot. It was Maria Von Trapp, who seemed to have a very feisty spirit about her. She graciously allowed me to take a picture of her with my wife and our children. We still have that picture, after 45 years. And what a prophetic message there is in that encounter! It is one thing to listen and watch the musical and movie of The Sound of Music. It was quite another thing to meet the real Maria and see where she lives and partake of her grace. I had not thought about that event in many years until this past Sunday morning. Why did the Lord bring that encounter back to my mind three days ago? To me the answer is obvious ... because the Lord wanted me to share that with you today ... because that will be meaningful to one or more Christians.
More importantly, it is one thing to read about the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible and to hear about Him through ministers, books, videos, and tapes. It is quite another thing for the Lord to come to us, allow us to see where He dwells, and partake of His abundant and amazing grace. It is also an amazing work of grace when He opens to us in ALL the scriptures the things concerning Himself. A good question is, Does our heart burn within us as He opens the scriptures to us? And why does He open the scriptures to us and then open our eyes that we might know Him? because that is part of the purpose and plan of God in His timetable of events .... because He is bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10) in order to have fellowship or communion with Him for eternity. The Lord also dwells in the Green Mountains ... green speaks of life and His mountain is the kingdom of God. Perhaps the major song in that musical is, "The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music." Well I want to declare to you that the Word of God is alive with the sound of the Spirit of God for those who have an ear to hear.
That reminds me of Luke, Chapter 24, when, after the resurrection of Jesus, He met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Note from Luke 24:15, that Jesus came to them. They did not come to Jesus. Unless He comes to us we cannot see Him or hear Him. Scripture says in
Luke 24:27, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself."
That, in itself is amazing ... that in just a few hours Jesus expounded in ALL the scriptures the things concerning Himself. Up until that time, those two disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus who was talking with them. They undoubtedly had seen and heard Jesus as a man, in His earthly body. But then the grace of God comes on the scene and we read, in
Luke 24:31-32, "And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?"
Wow! What a message that is for us today! Everything in the Bible is written for our admonition, edification, and exhortation. Paul told the elders of the church at Ephesus that he had not shunned to declare unto them ALL the counsel of God. That is recorded in Acts 20:27. But in less than one generation the church at Ephesus was in danger of having their candlestick removed because they had left their first love.
Just as Paul admonished the Church at Corinth many years ago, a multitude of different voices is still causing confusion and uncertainty in the Church today. We see disunity, strife, bitterness, sin, carnality, and division. I saw one blog on the internet, written by a Christian, who said that the greatest plague for Christians in our day is not the coronavirus but is ... gossip. We have seen, in our own lifetime, a parade of both out of balance tangents and false teachings such that literally tens of thousands, or more, of genuine believers have been "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:13). This parade of false "movements" and false teachings falls into two categories. One category includes submission, discipleship, faith, and prosperity. All of these four things are scriptural but man has tried to implement them rather that allow the Spirit of God to bring them about in our lives. The reason that these teachings have such an appeal is because they all have a measure of truth. In ALL of these out-of-balance tangents, the major, common error is that they are man-directed and controlled rather than being led by the Spirit. As I have stated before, rat poison is 99% pure wheat ... it is the other 1% that gets you!
The other category includes false teachings such as the apostles and prophets "movement," "networking" (which is the modern-day version of denominations), and a heavy "seeker-friendly" emphasis at the expense of Spirit-led praise, worship, and edification of the Body of Christ.
Another tangent today is what Paul ran into in Athens.
In Acts 17:21, "(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)"
I believe that all of the modern-day tangents and false teachings existed in Paul's day. The devil brings them up over and over again to each generation ... they just come in a different dress.
The church today has been blessed to hear all about the scriptures through various ministers, conferences, books, videos, tapes, etc. But that has simply lulled us to sleep. Because we have heard so much from the Bible, we have assumed that we are now mature ... we have got it! What deception! The enemy wants to keep us in that place of bondage and captivity.
Then what is required? The Lord must open our eyes, just as He opened the eyes of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. That is the only way that we can know Him. Without that heavenly vision the people (I speak of Christians) are weak and sickly and many sleep. It is not enough to know about that man of Galilee ... Jesus as He walked the earth in the same type of body that we have. Paul said, in
The church today has been blessed to hear all about the scriptures through various ministers, conferences, books, videos, tapes, etc. But that has simply lulled us to sleep. Because we have heard so much from the Bible, we have assumed that we are now mature ... we have got it! What deception! The enemy wants to keep us in that place of bondage and captivity.
Then what is required? The Lord must open our eyes, just as He opened the eyes of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. That is the only way that we can know Him. Without that heavenly vision the people (I speak of Christians) are weak and sickly and many sleep. It is not enough to know about that man of Galilee ... Jesus as He walked the earth in the same type of body that we have. Paul said, in
2 Corinthians 5:16-17, "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Unfortunately, most Christians today, and even most leaders in the church, still know Christ after the flesh and not after the Spirit. Essentially all Christians know Christ after the flesh ... the earthly Jesus of 2000 years ago. But we need, by His grace, to know the heavenly Lord Jesus ... that heavenly vision, without which we can only stumble in darkness. So then how can we know Christ after the Spirit rather than after the flesh?
After we are born from above and after we have been baptized with the Holy Ghost, we must repent because we are a human being. For five chapters, Isaiah had been prophesying the word of the Lord. Then Isaiah received a heavenly vision.
Isaiah 6:5, "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
Paul likewise had a heavenly vision, and he said, in Acts 26:19, that he was not disobedient to that heavenly vision. In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul said,
"For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!"
On November 4, 1977, the Lord gave me a word that, "It is the fear of man that hinders the body of Christ from functioning, but it is the fear of God that compels us to function." But no man can function effectively until he has received that heavenly vision.
Paul also said, in 1 Corinthians 3:5-6, "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."
Unless God gives the increase, we might as well go to a Kiwanis Club meeting.
Now let us turn to the Book of Joel, Chapter 1 and Verse 5.
Now let us turn to the Book of Joel, Chapter 1 and Verse 5.
Joel 1:5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
There must be at least three messages from Verse 5. The first message is Awake! If ever there was a word for the Church in this hour it is this word ... AWAKE! The church in America has been lulled to sleep by our adversary over a period of many years. Many years ago I read this definition of the word "awake." To awake means to rouse up out of spiritual sleep, by a vigorous exercise of grace, by leaving off all sinful courses and setting about to fulfill the function to which we have been called.
The Lord, in a number of different scriptures, commands us to awake. We will look at two of those passages.
In Isaiah 51:17 the Lord says, "Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out."
And in Isaiah 52:1-8, the Lord says,
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Note that in both Isaiah 51:17 and Isaiah 52:1, the Lord says to His chosen people, "Awake, awake." Any time that a word or phrase is repeated twice we better sit up and take notice because a double emphasis indicates a very important word.
Isaiah 52:1 exhorts spiritual Zion to put on their strength. What is the strength of Zion? Ten different Psalms say that the Lord Himself is our strength. We will look at only one of those ten.
Psalm 18:2, "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."
In other words we are called to put off everything pertaining to the old man and to put on the New Man.
In Isaiah 52:1 spiritual Jerusalem is exhorted to "put on thy beautiful garments." That does not speak of the natural clothes that we wear. The garments of us Christians are filthy. All of our garments are as filthy rags.
In Isaiah 52:1 spiritual Jerusalem is exhorted to "put on thy beautiful garments." That does not speak of the natural clothes that we wear. The garments of us Christians are filthy. All of our garments are as filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."Revelation 1:13, says, "And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle."
Note that His garment covers His whole body. That garment is all white, which speaks of His righteousness.
In the New Testament Armageddon occurs only in Revelation 16:15-16, where Jesus says: "Behold I am coming as a thief. blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." As one good brother put it many long years ago, "Armageddon symbolizes the unprecedented and strangest type of conflict ever to be waged. IT IS THE TEST OF THE GARMENTS."
In the New Testament Armageddon occurs only in Revelation 16:15-16, where Jesus says: "Behold I am coming as a thief. blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." As one good brother put it many long years ago, "Armageddon symbolizes the unprecedented and strangest type of conflict ever to be waged. IT IS THE TEST OF THE GARMENTS."
Revelation 3:4, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy."
Note that out of the church at Sardis there are only a few who have not defiled their garments. Many are called but few are chosen because few choose.
In Matthew 22:1-14 we read about the parable of the marriage of the king's son. That is prophetic of the marriage of the Lord Jesus and the Bride of Christ. It takes place in the Kingdom of God.
In Matthew 22:1-14 we read about the parable of the marriage of the king's son. That is prophetic of the marriage of the Lord Jesus and the Bride of Christ. It takes place in the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 22:11-14, "And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."
In those days, the king supplied the wedding garments for his invited guests. The Lord Jesus Christ supplies believers with His white garment of righteousness. But believers must keep the wedding garments that the King supplies. We must not soil or spoil that garment by trying to substitute our own righteousness. We must not get that garment dirty by our own works but walk in the works foreordained by God. The first principle of the doctrine of Christ, from Hebrews 6:1 is repentance from dead works.
In the Old Testament, apparently a change of garments was rather expensive and highly desirable. Two examples come to my mind. The first is recorded in 2 Kings 5:22, when the servant of Elisha asked for two changes of garments after Elisha had healed Naaman, the captain of the host of Syria, of leprosy. Another example is in Judges 17 when Micah hired a young Levitical priest for 10 shekels of silver and a new suit of apparel (or a shirt or a change of garments) each year. I am not aware of any scripture that says that Jesus changed His garments. But the question is, what garments are we wearing?
Continuing in Isaiah 52:2 ...
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
Shake thyself from the dust. What is the dust? the old man ... that earthly man that we once were. God made man from the dust of the ground. "sit down, O Jerusalem." That speaks of the rest of God. "Loose thyself O captive daughter of Zion." Zion is supposed to be the very elect, the remnant, the overcomers. If Zion is in captivity, where does that leave the rest of the church?
Paul said, in 1 Timothy 4:16, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee."Then we have Peter's exhortation in Acts 2:40, "And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation."
Back to Isaiah 52:3,
3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
Esau sold his birthright and his blessing for a mess of red pottage or soup. Scripture says that Esau despised his birthright. Far too many believers have sold their God-given ministry for money, prestige and position in the eyes of Christian men. I knew a brother years ago who seemed to move in apostolic ministry. He received much revelation from the Lord and was highly respected by many Christians. For years he would never ask anyone for money. Then some group of believers persuaded him that it was OK to ask other believers for money offerings. So he did, and put it in writing. When I read that, I said to my wife, "That marks the end of his ministry." Later, I heard that brother say, publicly, "Now it is time to take up an offering for me." About three years later, the Lord took him home.
Philippians 4:6, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
Please read Psalm 50 sometime. In Psalm 50:12 the Lord says, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof." Should we be like Jesus? Do you believe that our Father knows the things that we need before we ask Him? (Matthew 6:8)
Isaiah 55:1, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."
Back to Isaiah 52 and verse 7
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Who is the "him" in Verse 7? The verse says that whoever the "him" is, he says to Zion that "thy God reigns." But Zion once more is the very elect, the overcomers, the remnant. So if Zion is not doing their job, where does that leave the rest of the church? That verse says that despite all of the failures of men, Christian men, the Lord is still in control. So who is the "him"? The Lord Jesus Christ.
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
I believe that we live in the time when the Lord is bringing again Zion. It is Zion, or the Last Joel, that will fulfill Joel 2:17.
Now back to Joel 1:5, which says Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,25 In meekness instructing those who oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;26 And that they may awake out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans 13:11
Joel 1:5 calls for the drunkards and all drinkers of wine to weep. Drunkenness suggests a self-indulgent lifestyle pursued by those who value material things more than spiritual things of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 6:10 says that drunkards cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Others called to weep are the general population (Joel 1:8), farmers (Joel 1:11), and priests (Joel 1:13). The drunkards and drinkers of wine do not have any new wine. They are old wineskins, into which new wine cannot be poured. They only live on old manna. There is no fresh revelation. They like to talk about what happened in the past.
Christianity is not a religion but a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to identify with Him in every respect. That identification is not simply agreeing with the written word. The word must become flesh within us.. We must identify with His birth, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glorification. We also must identify with His intercession.
"He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
In addition, we must identify with His weeping. Jesus wept over Lazarus and over Jerusalem. Likewise, we need to weep over the state of the Church today and to pray and intercede that the Church might come forth to His glory.
In truth, this is NOT a time for "business as usual" or for "don't rock the boat." This is also NOT a time to continue to talk about the "problems" in the Church. The Lord requires something from us far greater than simply seeing and talking about the state of the Church today.
The Church has been increasingly drawn away from the ways of the Lord because of pride, materialism, an independent spirit, a democratic spirit, traditions of men, a mixed multitude, and on and on.
Surely the Church is at a crossroads in this hour. By the "Church" we mean all genuine born-again believers, no matter what kind of church they attend. The Church at all levels is at a decision point and time is running out. True believers everywhere and at all spiritual levels must decide whether they want "business as usual" or whether they want a fresh, healing touch from the Lord. The Church gets more fragmented every day.
Many churches in this hour suffer from a stagnation, a "business as usual" attitude, a "don't rock the boat" attitude, a tendency to "sugar coat" the word of God so as not to offend anyone, a huge tendency to compromise the ways of the Lord with the ways of the world in order to keep people happy and to keep the money coming in. Those who give large sums of money to the church are given preferential treatment. I have seen this first hand, up close. So the Lord is saying:
In truth, this is NOT a time for "business as usual" or for "don't rock the boat." This is also NOT a time to continue to talk about the "problems" in the Church. The Lord requires something from us far greater than simply seeing and talking about the state of the Church today.
The Church has been increasingly drawn away from the ways of the Lord because of pride, materialism, an independent spirit, a democratic spirit, traditions of men, a mixed multitude, and on and on.
Surely the Church is at a crossroads in this hour. By the "Church" we mean all genuine born-again believers, no matter what kind of church they attend. The Church at all levels is at a decision point and time is running out. True believers everywhere and at all spiritual levels must decide whether they want "business as usual" or whether they want a fresh, healing touch from the Lord. The Church gets more fragmented every day.
Many churches in this hour suffer from a stagnation, a "business as usual" attitude, a "don't rock the boat" attitude, a tendency to "sugar coat" the word of God so as not to offend anyone, a huge tendency to compromise the ways of the Lord with the ways of the world in order to keep people happy and to keep the money coming in. Those who give large sums of money to the church are given preferential treatment. I have seen this first hand, up close. So the Lord is saying:
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have cause them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. Jeremiah 50:6
Please note that the reason the sheep have gone astray is because of the shepherds!
How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. Lamentations 4:1
The "most fine gold" represents those leaders, ministers, who once had an anointing, but have succumbed to the ways of man. I could give you specific examples of good men I have known personally who fall in that category. The "stones of the sanctuary" represent the "lost sheep" that Jeremiah speaks of in Jeremiah 50:6, above.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My People their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1
Joel 1:5 also begins the setting forth by Joel of the state of Judah, which is a type of those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit. The verse says that the new wine is cut off from our mouth. This is a day of a lack of revelation, a lack of anointing, and a lack of manifestation of apostolic authority and power, just as in the days of Samuel.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges 21:25
More and more believers are proclaiming many of the things that we have just shared with you. In the natural realm there seems to be little hope. BUT ... the Lord is still in control. Therefore the Lord says for us to stir up the gift that is within us. The Lord is patient and longsuffering. Just as He took 40 years to prepare Moses and just as He has 7000 more that we don't know about, the Lord has been preparing the Last Joel for some time ... a small number of nobodies who will fulfill Joel 2:17.
Esther 4:14, "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
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