Let us pray once again tonight before we come to study God's word. Father, we're thankful that you are our great shepherd and that you do feed us with what we need. Lord, you know our needs before we even ask, and you know our needs perfectly. And we pray, Father, that as we come once again to your word, that you will make it to be food to our souls and that you will feed us with that portion that we need, that you'll nourish us on the words of truth, that you'll nourish us on the words of sound, healthy doctrine. We pray tonight, Father, that you will come and be with us and open up the scriptures to us and grant that your spirit will open up our minds and illumine us that we might understand as we need to the things that will be spoken of tonight. We commit ourselves to you. We ask for your help. In Jesus' name, amen. We come once again this evening to continue our tour through the Divine Library. And as you know, the Divine Library is the Bible, and we are progressing through our tour through these 66 books in the library, one book at a time at the rate of one book per sermon. We're not focusing on the details of any of these books, but rather we're studying them in broad overview fashion. And our tour brings us this evening to the 29th book of the Bible, The Prophecy of Joel. If you will please turn there. The Prophecy of Joel. And if you're not sure where Joel is, if you can find Daniel, then there's Hosea, and then Joel, right after Hosea. Joel is the second of the minor prophets, and remember what distinguishes the minor from the major prophets is not that they are less inspired or that they're less important, but simply their shorter length, with the exception of lamentations. And one of the things that the prophecy of Joel is best known for is God's promise in chapter 2, in verse 25, to restore the years the locust has eaten. And many of us have heard that expression many times. Christians use that expression from time to time, usually to express both God's ability and His willingness to compensate our losses. especially losses that appear to us to be things that we cannot recover from. Loss is too great to recover from. That's not exactly what those words mean in their original setting. We'll see that tonight, but this is how they're often understood. Joel does begin his prophecy by speaking about locusts. If you look in chapter 1 and verses 2 through 4, we read these words. Hear this, O elders, and listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in your father's days? Tell your sons about it, and let your sons tell their sons and their sons the next generation what the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten. And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten. And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten." So there was a plague of locusts that descended upon the land in the southern kingdom there in Judah, and the fields were stripped bare by these locusts. Drought ensued and left the soil parched and useless. And the prophet uses this incident to teach us here some important lessons. As bad as this calamity was, it was nothing compared to the judgment that God was about to bring on Judah and Jerusalem. But all was not hopeless, because we read in chapter 2 and verse 32, it will come about that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered. Now does that sound familiar to you? Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered. It should be, because that text is quoted twice in the New Testament. And so the God who is sovereign over the forces of nature will eventually bring all nations to judgment, but all those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And so Joel spoke those words almost 3,000 years ago, but they are as relevant to us today as they were when Joel first spoke them. Now, there are five things that we're going to look into this evening in connection with the prophecy of Joel. We begin, first of all, with a general introduction to Joel. And there are four things that we'll cover in our general introduction. First of all, the title of the book. The book is named after the prophet whose words it records. Joel, the son of Pethuel, chapter 1, verse 1. This is the word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. That's the title. And then secondly, the author and date of the book. Obviously, Joel is the author of the book. These are his words. And apart from what we read there in chapter 1 and verse 1, the prophecy doesn't tell us anything about Joel. There is also considerable uncertainty about the date of the book. It has no explicit time references. Some place Joel very late, among the post-exilic prophets. Others think he ministered much earlier, during the reign of Joash, somewhere around 830 BC, about 225 years before the exile of the Southern Kingdom. And arguments for both of these dates can be made. None of them are conclusive. I personally favor the earlier date because of similar material that's found in Joel and Amos. Let's look at some passages and compare them. If you look at Joel chapter 3 and verse 16, And there we read these words, the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem. And if you look in Amos, turn over a page or maybe across the page there in your Bible into Amos chapter 1 verse 2. And there we read, the Lord roars from Zion and from Jerusalem he utters his voice. the very same words. Again, if you look back in Joel 3.18, And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. And then if you look in Amos 9, look at the closing chapter of Amos 9, and the second half of verse 13. And there we read, when the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will be dissolved. So there's similar language in both of these prophecies. It's clear that one of these prophets is borrowing from the other. The question is, who is borrowing from whom? And so we know the time stamp. of the prophecy of Amos. If you look in chapter 1 and verse 1, when did Amos prophesy? Well, in chapter 1 and verse 1, these are the words of Amos, who was among the sheep herders from Tekoa, which he envisions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. So that's a pretty specific timestamp. This is probably somewhere around 760 BC. So, which is more likely? That Amos borrowed from Joel 70 years later, 70 years after the fact, or that Joel borrowed from Amos 250 years later? In my judgment, I think probably Joel is earlier, and that Amos is borrowing from Joel. And if this is the case, then Joel is prophesying about a century before the captivity of the Northern Kingdom, and as I said earlier, about 225 years before the exile of the Southern Kingdom. Now those arguments would not convince a lot of people, and that's fine, because whatever the case, The date of Joel makes no difference in how we understand or interpret the book. So that's the date and the author. We come thirdly to the theme and purpose of the book. One writer calls this prophecy one of the most disturbing and heart-searching books in the Old Testament. And the key theme in the prophecy of Joel is the day of the Lord. the day of the Lord. And the plague of the locusts illustrates the overwhelming devastation that will come on the day of the Lord. That day when God will intervene in human history to vindicate his own righteousness. And this is going to be a time of unparalleled judgment. The prophecy issues a clear call to repentance and warns that refusal to turn back to the Lord will be met with the strictest punishment. But it also promises great blessing to those who put their trust in the Lord. And then fourthly and finally, the structure of the book. The prophecy can be outlined in various ways. If you pick up commentaries, you find that the divisions are in the same place, but there's a number of different ways you can outline the book. One way is to divide it into two parts, and I like this. Part one is a plea for repentance, chapter 1-1, all the way through to chapter 2 and verse 17. There's a break there at chapter 2 and verse 17. And this portion of the prophecy describes the need for repentance and the nature of repentance. Part 2 is a promise of blessing. So the plea for repentance is followed by a promise of blessing, chapter 2 and verse 18, all the way through to the end of the prophecy. And this portion of the prophecy contains a series of promises that are designed to encourage the people to return to the Lord. So that's our general introduction to Joel. We come, secondly, to a general overview of Joel. And we're going to follow the structure that I just gave you. We begin, first of all, with a plea for repentance, beginning in chapter 1 and verse 1, and running all the way through to chapter 2 and verse 17. And God, through the prophet, reminds the people of both past and future calamities, concerning calamities in the past, Israel had been used to enemies in human form. But an entirely different kind of enemy had recently invaded the land. Ominous black clouds of locusts had darkened the landscape, just recently, apparently, and left both people and land impoverished. And so the drunkards, we read in chapter 1, in verse 5, the drunkards had no wine. Look at verse 5. I was in Amos. Joel 1.5. Awake, drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you wine drinkers, on account of the sweet wine that is cut off from your mouth. The priests have no offerings. 1.9. The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn the ministers of the Lord. The people had no bread. 1.11. Be ashamed, O farmers! Wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed." Drought had gripped the land. Chapter 1 and verse 20. Even the beasts of the field pant for you, for the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness." So obviously the land is under judgment, but the people don't seem to realize this. So God tells the priests to call a fast and a solemn assembly so that the people might grieve and cry out to the Lord. Look in chapter 1, verses 14 and 15. God says to the people, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord, alas, for the day. for the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty." And so these are calamities in the past. Now concerning calamities in the future, the plague of locusts will be eclipsed by an even more devastating invasion of soldiers. Look at chapter 2, the first six verses. blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. Surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn is spread over the mountains. So there is a great and mighty people. There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after." after it to the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots, they leap on top of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of a fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle. Before them the people are in anguish. all faces turn pale. And then verse 9, They rush on the city, they run on the wall, they climb into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. The Lord utters his voice before his army. They are his army. Surely his camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out his word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it? And so in view of all these calamities, in view of this Day of the Lord, God calls the people to repentance. This is what God is ultimately after. He's after the repentance of the people. He doesn't want to see their destruction. He wants to see them restored. But the repentance God looks for is not any kind of generic brand-X repentance. God is looking for true, genuine repentance. Repentance such as we read of in chapter 2, beginning in verse 12. 12. Yet even now declares the LORD, Return to me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, and relenting of evil. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God. Blow a trumpet in Zion. Consecrate a fast. Proclaim a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room. and the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your inheritance a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they among the people say, Where is their God? And so that's the plea for repentance, that's the first portion of the prophecy. Now we come, secondly, to a promise of blessing, beginning chapter 2 and verse 18, and running through the rest of the prophecy. And here we find a series of promises, promised blessings, and these are intended to encourage the people to seek after the Lord. There is a promise of pity. Chapter 2, verse 18. Then the Lord will be zealous for his land and will have pity on his people. After that, there's a promise of provision in verse 19 of chapter 2. The Lord will answer and say to his people, behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied in full with them. And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations. There is a promise of deliverance from the enemy, verse 20 of chapter 2. But I will remove the northern army far from you, and I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, and its vanguard into the eastern sea, and its rearguard into the western sea. And then there's a promise of renewed productivity. And this is where we find that promise that I mentioned earlier about restoring the years the locust has eaten. Well, here's a promise of renewed productivity, verses 21 to 26 of chapter two. Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God, for he has given you the early rain for your vindication. He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten. the creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, my great army, which I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you, then my people will never be put to shame." And so you can see that this is not any generic promise that God will compensate our losses. This is often how it's presented. I'm praying that God will restore the years the locust has eaten. God does that. But when you really read this promise in the context, it's a promise that God will deal kindly after he's chastened them. He's the one that brought the judgment. And now he's going to restore the productivity that he took away in judgment, which isn't quite the same thing as a generic promise that God will provide for our needs. This is followed by a promise of spiritual renewal. Chapter 2, and let's look at verses 28 to 32. A promise of spiritual renewal. It will come about after this, that I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind. And your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out my spirit in those days. I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it will come about, that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered." Now, does that passage sound familiar to you at all? Well, it should, because it's quoted in the New Testament, and it's a very, very significant prophecy. This is a key prophecy in God's redemptive plan. We'll come back to this just a little bit later. Next, there's a promise to judge other nations. Chapter 3, verse 1. For behold, in those days, and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and they have divided up my land." Verse 14, Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision, For the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision, the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for his people, and a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will pass through no more. I want to draw your attention to that expression, I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And whenever we read that word mountain, especially in the prophets, that's code language for the temple. the place where God dwells. It's code language for the new heavens and the new earth, which becomes a temple where God dwells with His people. It's the kingdom of God in its final form, the redeemed cosmos, as a living temple, a holy temple, where God dwells with His people. Mount Zion, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, as is described in Hebrews 12 and verse 22, And then Isaiah 2, verses 2 and 3, the mountain of the house of the Lord, house is where you live, that's where you dwell, the mountain of the house of the Lord, that in the last days will be established as the chief of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. to which all the nations will stream. Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." That's Isaiah 2. And then remember how we studied a few weeks or a couple months ago, the stone in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel chapter 2, verses 34 and 35, that stone that was cut out without hands and struck the statue and becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth. And we could multiply many more references to this. And that's the mountain that's being referred to here in Joel's prophecy there in chapter 3. And then after that, finally, in chapter 3, there's a promise of general blessing. And the language here is obviously looking ahead to the age to come, the consummation of all things. Look at chapter 3 and verse 18. In that day, that day, the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will go out from the house of the Lord, to water the valley of Shittim. Egypt will become a waste, and Edom will become a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood. But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations. And I will avenge their blood, which I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion." And very clearly, that's language describing the consummation of all things in the age to come. So that's a general overview of the prophecy of Joel. Now we come, thirdly, to prominent themes in Joel. And there are at least three. The first one I want to mention is the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord. That's a prominent theme. And this phrase is used, though, less than five times in the three short chapters, relatively short chapters, of the prophecy. You have the references there in your outline. The phrase is found over 30 times in the Old Testament. The Day of the Lord. Well, what is the Day of the Lord? It's usually a reference to judgment of some kind. Crossley says it is a necessary purge, it refers to a necessary purge before righteousness can reign, the day of the Lord. And as we think about this day of the Lord, and we try to understand what the prophets are talking about when they speak about the day of the Lord, we need to remember how the prophets saw the future. When they looked ahead to the future, they saw it with a flattened perspective. Imagine a broom handle. You're looking at the broom handle. Here's the one end and here's the broom on this end. You're looking at the broom handle and you can look along the broom handle and see various imperfections and marks and dings on the broom handle. And you can see the distance between those things when you look at it like this. But when you turn it this way and look at it the long way, you can't see the distance between those various marks and dings. It looks like one composite whole. And this is how the prophets viewed the future as they looked ahead. They saw them as the events of the future as one composite whole. They lacked depth perception. They saw them with a flattened perspective. Near events would merge with far ones. They couldn't tell, you know, which one came first necessarily, or how much distance there was between these events. The exile merges with judgment. Restoration from captivity merges with the coming of Messiah. They saw one coming of Messiah, not two comings. The judgment of Babylon merges with the final judgment. Near events are an analogy of far ones, and the far events take place in principle in the near events. So as the prophets looked ahead, this is how they saw the future. So when they spoke about the day of the Lord, they saw it as a day. And there were various events associated with the Day of the Lord that took place, and they saw them with this flattened perspective. In the New Testament, the Day of the Lord is still anticipated. We're still waiting for the Day of the Lord to come. There's a sense in which, for those folks in the Old Testament, that day had already come. And yet another sense, it was yet to come. And we here in the New Testament, we're still waiting for that day. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 2, The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 2 Peter 3, verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. For us, that day is still future, that day of judgment. Joel looks ahead to the day of the Lord. Let's read the passages. Look back at chapter 1, verse 15. Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty." And then chapter 2 and verse 1, "...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, surely it is near." Verse 11, the Lord utters his voice before his army. Surely his camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out his word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it? Verse 31 of chapter 2. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And that's right in the midst of that prophecy that we're going to be looking at, that's fulfilled in the New Testament. It's right in the middle of that. We're going to look at that in just a minute. And then chapter 3 and verse 14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. So if you were there and you were hearing Joel say these things, what would you be thinking of? You would be thinking about a judgment that's going to come upon Judah. And you would be right. And that's exactly what takes place. And yet there's another Day of the Lord even beyond that. So Joel, when he looks ahead, he speaks of the Day of the Lord, but he doesn't distinguish these things from one another. When he speaks of the Day of the Lord, he's really speaking of at least two days. There's the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and then there's the destruction of the wicked at the second advent of Christ. And so the Day of the Lord is certainly a prominent theme in the prophecy of Joel. There's a second prominent theme in Joel, and that is the nature of true repentance. The nature of true repentance. Let's go back to chapter 2 and look at verses 12 and 13. Chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, Yet even now declares the LORD, Return to me, how? with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness, and relenting of evil." You know, in the Old Testament, when they were repenting, when they were grieving, they would tear their garments. And God is saying here, Rend your heart! and not your garments. He's looking for repentance that isn't merely outward. He's looking for repentance that is inward. And repentance also that's accompanied by deeds that correspond to it. Look at verse 15 and 16. 15. Blow a trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber." That's significant. How many newlyweds would forego their honeymoon to go and attend a fast and a solemn assembly that's called by a prophet? The nation is called to repent. How many people would give up their honeymoon to do that? That's what it's talking about. This is number one priority. Drop everything and repent. This is the repentance God is looking for. In the New Testament, John the Baptist challenged his hearers in the very same way. In Matthew 3 and verse 8, he said, So repentance in its essence is a change of heart, is something inward. We can't see it, but we can see the evidence of it outwardly. And a repentance that doesn't issue forth in fruits or deeds that are appropriate to repentance isn't a true repentance. In 2 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul contrasts the sorrow of the world with the sorrow that is of God, godly sorrow. And the sorrow of the world brings a kind of remorse. One may sorrow over the fact that he or she got caught. One may sorrow over the fact that there are consequences now to the person's sin. One can grieve over that. But that's not a sorrow that brings one to God. It doesn't bring you to confess your sins to God and have open, transparent heart dealings with God. And that's godly sorrow. Godly sorrow brings you to that. It isn't just remorse. Like Judas. Judas was filled with remorse, but he had no confidence before God. He didn't repent. He went out and hanged himself. Matthew 27 and verse 5. In Proverbs 28 and verse 13, we're told that he who conceals his transgressions will not prosper. And how we need to give heed to that simple statement. He who covers his transgressions, he who conceals them, will not prosper. But there's a wonderful promise. He who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. And so the prophecy of Joel reminds us of the nature of true repentance. This is the repentance that God is looking for from his people. And then there's a third and final prominent theme in Joel, and that is the blessing of the new covenant. the blessing of the new covenant, and this comes out in at least two ways. First of all, Joel prophesied of a time when God would pour out His Spirit on all people. In chapter 2, that prophecy we read earlier in verses 28 to 32. And most of you are probably aware that Peter quotes that prophecy on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. So let's turn over to Acts 2. We'll stay here. Keep a bookmark or something there in Joel. But Acts 2. The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. And we'll pick up the reading in verse 14. Peter is there on the day of Pentecost, and he's explaining the meaning of the tongues of fire and the rushing wind and the strange events of the day. And in verse 14 in Acts 2, Peter, taking a stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them, Men of Judea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you. Give heed to my words. These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel, and it shall be in the last days, God says. that I will pour forth of my Spirit on all mankind. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." and I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood." And notice this, "...before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come." Those things will happen before the day of the Lord arrives. "...and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." And so Joel's prophecy looks ahead to a day when ordinary people are going to declare the word of God. And this marks the beginning of the Messianic age. Joel's prophecy couldn't be fulfilled until Jesus came. not until the coming of Messiah. Peter confirms this again here in chapter 2. Look at verses 29 to 33. We're breaking in later on in his sermon. Verse 29, he says, Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David, he's just quoted from Psalm 16, that he died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay, this Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you both see and hear." And so Joel's prophecy couldn't be fulfilled until Messiah came. And this is confirmed in John's Gospel. Let's turn over to John's Gospel. It's confirmed by John himself and also by the Lord Jesus Christ in John's Gospel. John chapter 7. These are the words of John. the words of Jesus, and then John's commentary on it. Chapter 7, verse 38, He who believes in me, Jesus says, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. And then John tells us, This he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So the Spirit could not be given until Jesus came. Jesus had to be crucified, had to be raised, had to ascend to God's right hand, because He's the one who pours forth the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus confirms this in chapter 15 of John, verse 26. John 15, verse 26. Jesus says to the disciples, when the Helper comes, John 15.26, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about me. And He says the same thing again in chapter 16 and verse 7. Chapter 16, verse 7, I tell you a truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And so Jesus ascends to God's right hand after he's raised from the dead. He receives from the Father the promise of the Spirit and he pours forth the Spirit. So the blessing of the new covenant is seen in Joel's prophecy in terms of the advent of the Spirit at Pentecost. But we also see the blessing of the new covenant in Joel's prophecy in terms of the salvation of the gospel. the salvation of the gospel. The Apostle Paul quotes Joel 2 in verse 32 in his letter to the Romans in chapter 10. And it's interesting. Let's turn over to Romans chapter 10 and look at it there. When you read that prophecy, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered. When you read it in Joel's prophecy, it's addressed to Israel. And not even all of Israel. It's addressed to the southern kingdom of Judah. But now you come here over to Romans chapter 10, and look at how Paul uses it in Romans chapter 10. And we'll begin with verse 11. Romans 10, verse 11, For the scripture says, and this is a quote from Isaiah, Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches. For all who call upon Him, for whoever will call on the name of the Lord, will be saved. And whoever means all. It's universal. So the true Israel of God is made up of all who are truly saved from sin through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is a group, when we read the use in Romans there, it's a group that's made up of believing Jews and believing Gentiles as well. And so the prophecy of Joel points to the blessing of the new covenant in at least these two ways, the promise of the Spirit and the salvation of the gospel. So those are some of the prominent themes in the prophecy of Joel. We come fourthly now to Christ in Joel. Where is the Lord Jesus Christ in Joel? Well, it must be admitted that we don't see Christ in the prophecy of Joel in any direct or particular way, but we do see Jesus indirectly in connection with Joel's prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days. And perhaps you noticed, maybe you didn't notice, but in Joel 2, when Joel utters that prophecy, he says it will come about after this, or it will come about afterward. When Peter quotes that prophecy, he says it will come about in the last days. And so Peter, under the inspiration of the Spirit, defines that time specifically as the last days, in Acts 2, in verse 17. That phrase is used about a dozen times in the Old and New Testaments, the last days. So what are these last days? Well, the last days is actually, I think it's Behakarith Ahayamim in Hebrew. It's actually a technical term that refers to a very specific period in history. It's not the last days in an extreme sense or in an absolute sense. It's not talking about the very last days that take place just before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you look carefully at how the phrase is used, it refers to that period of history that marks the end of the Old Testament prophetic era and the commencement of the Messianic age. These are the last days, which means that we're already in the last days. This period of time has already begun. Hebrews 1, verses 1 and 2, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. And how often do we hear about the last days as referring to the very last days just before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if we understand how the Bible uses that phrase, we understand that we're already in these last days. And these last days are leading up to the last day, the day of the Lord. And so for Peter, for Peter, the Spirit would be poured out in these last days. And that's something that's already happened in Acts chapter 2. The last days usher in the age of Messiah. And these last days, they're associated with Jesus' first coming, not merely His second coming. The advent of the Spirit at Pentecost was an infallible sign of Christ's exaltation to the right hand of God. When the Spirit was poured out, you knew that Jesus was raised from the dead, and right now He's in heaven, interceding for His people at God's right hand. The proof? the Spirit's been poured out. You knew that God had accepted Jesus' work on behalf of His people. How do we know that? Because the Spirit's been poured out at Pentecost. And so the advent of the Spirit at Pentecost was the infallible sign that Christ had completed His redeeming work. And Joel, then, is pointing indirectly to the work of Christ in his prophecy. And think about this, the connection between those things, the connection between the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit could not have been known from Old Testament revelation alone. Most people would read these passages and they would not connect up the work of Messiah with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Not sure how they would conceive the relationship of those two things, if they conceived the relationship at all. This could not be known until the cross and Pentecost, that the work of Messiah and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit were connected together. That the work of Messiah included the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. And that could not be known until Jesus came and did his work. And so in this way, Christ is seen indirectly in the prophecy of Joel. He's there, not directly, but he's there. So we've seen a general introduction to Joel, general overview of the book, prominent people and themes, and Christ in Joel. And now we come, fourthly and finally, to some practical lessons in Joel. And as always, there are so many practical lessons we could draw from these studies. I've got three here that I want to mention to you. The first thing has to do with the tragedy of a nation that doesn't recognize itself to be under the judgment of God. This is one thing that comes out in the prophecy of Joel. When the locusts descended upon the land of Judah, it doesn't appear that very many people understood what was really going on, or that they really got the message. They had to be told to consecrate a fast. They had to be told that it was time to repent, that it was time to proclaim a solemn assembly. They had to be told that they had to assemble together and cry out to the Lord. They had to be told that a far more severe judgment was just around the corner. And so from this and many other narratives that we know of in the Old Testament, it doesn't appear that Israel knew that it was under the judgment of God so many different times. They were not a nation that saw itself to be under the judgment of God. And there are many such nations in the world today, including ours. Nations that are suffering under the judgment of God, and they don't even realize it. And what a tragic thing that is. When a people become so hard and so insensitive, they don't even recognize that God is judging them. God is punishing them. And surely that is the case with our nation. We can't necessarily say that this specific thing or that specific thing, any particular event, is a judgment from God. We don't know. But we can sense in a general way that our nation is under God's judgment right now. The way things are progressing, the way things are moving, and the developments in our national life, there's no question that we are under God's judgment. And yet, we are a nation that doesn't even recognize it. In fact, the very things that constitute the judgment of God, the kinds of things that God is doing as He judges our nation, are things that people are proud of. They're not mourning and grieving about these things. They're proud of these things. They're very happy about these things. And one of the things that I want to say about this is the spirit of the age can rub off on us. And we can tell ourselves, oh no, not me. But it does. It rubs off on us. When there can be floods and earthquakes and moral and ethical decline, and all kinds of things happening, and yet you don't hear a word, barely a word, about prayer, or about the Lord, or about repentance. or God's goodness in delivering them, or God's judgment in certain events. You don't have every word about these things. What must God do to get through to us? And it's a tragic thing. And that spirit can rub off on us, because this is the atmosphere that we're in. Nobody else is talking about God. Nobody else is talking about the judgment of God. And so we can start to feel like we're kind of like religious fanatics. You know, every time there's a flood, or something bad happens, or there's some kind of a development, you look at the things going on in our government. Unprecedented things. You look at these things, and it blows your mind. And what we do as Christians, we resort to Scripture. That's almost our reflex action. We resort to Scripture. We interpret these things in the light of what God says. But nobody else is. And so we can feel like we're freaks, like we're fanatics, religious fanatics. Nobody else is alarmed. Nobody else is connecting these things with scripture. Why should we? And we mustn't let the spirit of the age rub off on us. How easy that can happen. We should be alarmed. And we should see these things. as a sign of God's judgment. Thanks be to God he's not finished with us. Evil is growing in our nation, but there's also God is doing wonderful things in his church right now in this country. So it's a mix, isn't it? Thank God he's not just washed his hands of us completely. But God's purposes haven't changed. And as we think about these things, this is a call to prayer. as we see these things, to pray for our nation. And it's also a call to evangelism, because we have a message. We have good news for people, and we should tell people about that good news. Our nation needs that good news now more than ever, and we should tell people about that good news. So this is the first thing, the tragedy of a nation that doesn't recognize itself to be under God's judgment. There's a second practical lesson we can draw from Joel, and this has to do with the absolute necessity of repentance. The absolute necessity of repentance. And at the outset, let me say that we mustn't ever think that our repentance, even a little bit, becomes the basis of our acceptance with God. It doesn't. And sometimes we can subtly think that, if not notionally, practically, in our experience. We can think, well, there's something about my experience that gives me a little bit of favor with God, gives me a little bit of credit with God. Because God knows that I'm repenting. And before you know it, we're trusting in our repentance. And we need to be trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him alone. He is the basis. His work is the basis of our acceptance with God. Nevertheless, repentance is absolutely necessary. The absolute necessity of true repentance. True repentance always accompanies faith. Some time ago in our studies of conversion and the application of salvation, we saw that faith and repentance always go together. If you find repentance by itself without faith, it's not true repentance. And if you find faith by itself without repentance, that's not true faith. They all go together. It's part of conversion. What are we to do? What does God tell us to do in response to the gospel message? He doesn't tell us to be born again. I mean, we need to be born again. But He tells us to repent and believe. Those are the things we do. That's conversion. We're responsible to repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And wherever you find faith, you're going to find repentance. Repentance is absolutely necessary. It's a gift of grace. What is repentance? Repentance is a gift of God's grace. Just like faith. It's something that God gives to us, in His grace. And repentance, we gain a true sense of our sin. When we're convicted of our sin, we get a sense of our sin. And we also apprehend the mercy of God in Christ. Those two things. It isn't just a matter of being convicted and guilty. Judas was convicted and guilty. But he didn't apprehend the mercy of God in Christ. But we apprehend both of those things, then we grieve over our sin, we hate our sin, and we turn from it, that's repentance, we turn from it to God with a full purpose to obey Him and honor Him. That's repentance. And if you look back in Joel, chapter 2, look back in Joel, chapter 2, Verse 13, rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God and notice us, for he is gracious. and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, and relenting of evil." When you are really gripped with conviction about your sin, at that moment, it's difficult many times to see the compassion and the mercy of God. How can God forgive me? But that's the very moment when God is most ready to forgive. When we're gripped with our sin, we're convicted about our sin, and we turn from our sin to God, this was David's perspective. He said, Lord, according to the greatness of your lovingkindness and your compassion, blot out my transgression. It is never according to my sorrow and my tears and how badly I feel about my sin. It's always in accordance with the greatness of your lovingkindness and your compassion. Forgive me. And so we turn to the Lord not only when we apprehend the blackness of our sin, but also when we apprehend the mercy of God in Christ. How sweet that is, isn't it? It's so sweet when you repent and turn to the Lord and know that you will have a hearing with Him, that you'll have a reception with Him when you return to Him and confess your sin and turn from your sin. So let me ask you tonight, are you repenting? And I put it in the present tense, because repentance is not something that we did in the past and now we're done with it. Are you a repentant person? You know whether you are or not. You know whether or not sin has a hold of your heart, as we read tonight in Isaiah. People were so gripped with their sin and so in love with their sins that they were serving their sins. And God finally had enough. He said, well, then you go cry out to your idols. Are you repenting of your sins? And I'm sure none of us would say, well, I had the kind of repentance that I want to have. We'll never say that my repentance is what it ought to be, but are you repenting of your sin? Are you apprehending the mercy of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is the incentive of your repentance the mercy and the compassion of God? And is your repentance accompanied by appropriate deeds? Is there something observable to other people around you? This is the repentance God is looking for, true repentance. Let no one here tonight deceive himself or herself into thinking that all is well with your soul while you lack genuine repentance. So the absolute necessity of true repentance is certainly a prominent theme in Joel. And then thirdly and finally, I'm sorry, not a prominent theme, a practical lesson. And then thirdly and finally, a practical lesson is the promise of salvation to all who seek it. And this is a wonderful thing. The gospel is for all people. Doesn't matter who you are, where you've been, what you've done, none of that matters. Salvation is promised to all who will have it. It's promised to all who will seek it in the appointed way. And what is that? Well, Paul tells us in Romans, calling upon the Lord in faith, It's not just faith without calling on the Lord. And it's not calling upon the Lord without faith. It's calling upon the Lord in faith. Calling upon the Lord assumes faith, if it's a real calling upon the Lord. Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 and verse 14, Romans 10 And so this is the appointed way. Calling upon the Lord in faith. And the scripture tells us that all who call upon the Lord will be delivered. Whoever calls upon the name of Yahweh will be delivered. And who does Paul understand Yahweh to be when he quotes Joel chapter two and verse 32? He understands Yahweh to be the Lord Jesus Christ. So what you and I believe about Jesus makes a difference. Makes a big difference. Romans 10 and verse 9. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Yahweh, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Believing in Jesus is fine. A lot of folks believe in Jesus, but you and I need to make sure that we are believing in the Jesus of the Bible, believing in Jesus as he's revealed in scripture, because the Jesus of the Bible is the only Jesus who saves. We call upon the Lord, we call upon Yahweh, we call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you're here tonight, I want to ask you, are you believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you called upon the Lord in faith? Maybe you say, well, I have. I've called upon the Lord many, many times. I'm not sure that I'm really saved. Well, that's okay. You keep calling. You keep calling upon the Lord. Because all who call upon the Lord will be saved. The one who believes in Him will not be put to shame. You'll never regret calling upon the name of the Lord. You will regret if you don't. that you will regret. And our task as the people of God is to bring this message, the message of the gospel to all people. Our task is to urge all people to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from their sins. So I ask you, are you doing that? Are you seizing opportunities to speak to people about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Not just being an example, not just living a life before them, that's fine. But are you seeking, as you have opportunity and as you have ability, are you seeking to bring that message of the gospel to other people? God has given us a wonderful Savior, and He's also given us a wonderful message about that Savior. And so we should tell other people about that wonderful Savior, so that they may come to Him and know Him, even as we have. May God help us to do that. Let's pray. Our Father, as we look at the height and breadth and length and depth of your word, we are astounded when we see how the various parts of scripture tie together with other parts. We see the unity of your word. We see this wonderful plan of redemption from Genesis to Revelation. And Father, who are we that we should be a part of your redeemed people? Lord, we are so humbled. We're very glad. We're so joyful. and thankful that we are amongst your redeemed people. And we marvel, Father, as we read and study this book to learn about your wonderful plan of salvation and how we could be a part of that plan. We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, who is all our hope and all our righteousness. Thank you, Father, that he delivers us from the wrath to come that will be unleashed in the great day of the Lord that is yet future. We thank you, Father, that he is a refuge and a place of safety to all who trust in him. And Father, we thank you for the wonderful promise that whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Father, grant that the Lord Jesus Christ will be our confidence and our hope. Lord, may our hearts not be hardened against this wonderful message, this wonderful promise. But Father, may we give heed to that promise, and may we ourselves call upon the name of the Lord that we might be delivered from our sins. Please seal these things to our hearts. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.