Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 7:44 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Trust Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to
my heart. I read Joel 2 (Select vv.
ESV).
Warning of Judgment (vv. 1-3, 11)
Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an
alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day
of the Lord is coming; it is near,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of
clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
nor will be
again after them
through the
years of all generations.
Fire devours before them,
and behind
them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them,
but behind
them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing
escapes them…
The Lord utters his voice
before his
army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who
executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;
who can
endure it?
So many times, in Christian
circles, when they talk of judgment, they are speaking of the final judgment
when we humans will all be called to account for what we did with our lives on
this earth - whether or not we believed in Jesus Christ and followed him in
obedience and surrender, or whether we chose to not trust in him as Lord and
Savior of our lives, and thus did not surrender to and obey him (See: 2 Co.
5:10; Ro. 8:1-14). Yet, that is not the only judgment referred to in scripture,
and God’s judgments are not just directed at the unsaved who have not followed
our Lord in obedience.
All throughout the Old
Testament, most of the judgments appear to be directed against God’s people,
not against the ungodly, though he judged them, too. And, the purpose of them
was not merely to punish, but to bring God’s people to repentance and to renewed
faith in Him as their ONLY God. As well, many of these prophecies of scripture (Old
and New Testament), concerning the judgments of God against his people, were
either intended to apply to these last days, or had dual fulfillments intended
for both that period of time as well as for these final days. At least half of
Isaiah, for instance, is about Jesus Christ and the Messianic age, from best as
I can tell.
Even in the NT we are warned
of judgment against those who call themselves followers of Christ and against Christ’s
church (See: 1 Pet. 1:17-19; 1 Pet. 4:17; 1 Co. 11:29-32; Heb. 10:30-31; Heb.
12:1-12; Jas. 3:1; Jas. 5:9; Rev. 2:1-29; Rev. 3:1-22). God also judges
nations, and Christians live in these nations, and thus we will incur at least
some of what the nations themselves endure when our nations are judged by God. And,
God will also judge the “Great Prostitute” of Revelation. Generally speaking,
she represents the world’s system, but more specifically the worldly church
living in adultery against God. Even more specifically I believe her location
is mainly in the USA, and directed primarily at our government and military, in
union with the institutional church, which shares culpability for their crimes.
Bottom line, I believe God has
declared judgment on the adulterous church, which, in many cases, is living in adultery
against God with their respective governments, but more specifically with the
US government, and that this was prophesied in the Old and New Testaments. And,
this judgment entails physical and financial disasters, the takeover (conquering)
of nations and peoples and Christians, utter chaos, ruin, and much hardship,
trouble and persecution for followers of Christ (See: Rev. 13, 17-19). And, we,
who are servants of the Lord, are to sound the alarm and blow the trumpet and
let the people know this is coming, and to call for all people to repent of
sin.
A Call for Repentance (vv. 12-14)
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to
me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend
your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is
gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he
relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a
blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord
your God?
When we trust in Jesus Christ
to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of our lives, we are crucified with Christ
in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, created
to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (See: Ro. 6:1-23; Eph.
4:17-24; Gal. 2:20). Yet, that does not mean we will never sin again (1 Jn. 2:1-2),
but it does mean sin is no longer our master, we are set free from enslavement
to sin, and we are now free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness
(See: Ro. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24). Yet, it also does not mean that we can never wander
from our pure devotion to Christ and not need to repent and to be brought back
into fellowship with our Lord (See: Rev. 2-3). It is possible for anyone who
has genuinely put their trust in Jesus Christ to drift away and to need to be
brought back.
So, this is a call to those
who have strayed from their pure devotion to God to repent of your sins, and to
return to God with all your heart. We can compare this to a husband or a wife
who has committed adultery against his or her spouse repeatedly, over a period
of time, being called upon to return to his or her spouse and to be faithful to
him or to her from this point forward, not reluctantly, but sincerely and in
truth, truly desiring his or her spouse above all else. This is the call! It is
to forsake your “other lovers” and to make God your only LOVE, GOD and LORD.
And, it truly is to desire him above all else and to make him truly master and
owner of your lives.
Many people who profess Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives live not much differently from the
people of this world who make no profession of Christ as Savior, and this
should not be! God called us to come out from the world and to be holy, set apart
(unlike, different) from the world, because we are being conformed into the
image of Christ. Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his
life up for us. His grace to us is NOT carte blanche (free rein) to continue
living in sin. His grace instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly
passions (lusts), and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we
await Christ’s return (See: Jn. 15:19; 2 Co. 6:17; Rev. 18:4; 1 Pet. 2:24; 2
Co. 5:15, 21; Tit. 2:11-14).
A Promise of Restoration and Revival (vv. 28-32)
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will
pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men
shall dream dreams,
and your
young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those
days I will pour out my Spirit.
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the
earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to
darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord
comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those
who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom
the Lord calls.
God’s purpose in judging
(discipling, chastising, scourging, reproving and/or testing) his children, i.e.
those who have trusted in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins, is not
just to punish (correct) wrong doing, but to mature us and to revive us. His
purpose in disciplining us is for our good, that we may share his holiness, and
that, for those of us who have been trained by it, it may yield a fruitful
harvest of righteousness in our lives. It is also to produce in us
perseverance, proven character and faith, patience, endurance, and hope. We also
go through such difficulties in order that we may learn compassion, that we may
comfort others in their sorrows, and that we may learn to rely on God and not
on ourselves (See: Ro. 5:3-5; 2 Co. 1:3-11; Heb. 12:1-12; 1 Pet. 1:6-7; 1 Pet. 4:12-17;
Jas. 1:2-4).
So, even though it is painful
when God judges us or when he disciplines us, it is for our good, either to
return us to pure devotion to Christ or to mature us in Christ. If repentance
is what is needed, then when we repent, God restores us, renews us and revives
us, and he pours out his Spirit on us, too. I personally believe that God is going
to bring difficulties into our lives which will lead his wandering saints back
to him, and which will mature his faithful ones in him even to a greater degree.
I also believe this is happening or will happen on a large scale, and that when
this takes place, his Spirit will be poured out on us in a mighty way, and the
gospel will go forth like it has not done in a really long time, and that many
people will be saved before Jesus Christ returns for his bride. So, I am
believing God for this, even when all looks hopeless, for faith is believing in
what we yet cannot see.
Trust Him /
An Original Work
August 15, 2012 / Based off Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be of
courage;
Be strong and take heart
today.
Do not fear when foes attack
you.
Trust in God always.
He will rescue you in times
Of trouble and distress,
He’ll comfort you in all ways
As you trust Him with your
life today.
Trust in Him always.
God is with you; He’ll not
leave you.
You can always count on Him.
He will fulfill all He
promised
Before you began.
His word teaches you
All that you need for this
life.
Let Him lead you. Open your
heart;
Let his truth envelope you
today.
Listen and obey.
Love your Lord God; follow
Jesus.
Repent of your sins today.
Make Him your Lord and your
master;
Trust Him and obey.
Follow Him where’er He leads
you
In His service; be His
witness,
Telling others about Jesus’
Price that He did pay
For your sins always.
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