to the prophecy of Joel, Joel chapter 2, and we're reading through verses 12 through 17. Joel 2, verses 12 through 17, this is the very Word of God. Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion. Concentrate afast. call a sacred assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children in nursing bays. Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests who minister to the Lord weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say, spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nation should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, is there God?" And the Lord blessed his word. The very first word of John the Baptist's public ministry was repentance, according to Matthew's Gospel. And the very first word of the Lord Jesus' ministry again, according to Matthew's Gospel, was repentance. When Peter spoke at Pentecost and preached that wonderful sermon, the people said, what must we do to be saved? What was his first word of response? It was, repent. When Jesus Christ addressed the seven churches at the beginning of the book of Revelation, five out of the seventy specifically pointed to and said, these are the sins that you must repent of. When we say the Lord's Prayer, you recall that daily pattern of prayer there is in that section which calls us to repent. We ask the Lord to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. In other words, throughout the scriptures, and that was but a short category, a short review of what the scriptures say about repentance. Throughout the Word, this doctrine of repentance is a prominent one. We must acknowledge that, we must see that throughout the world this idea, this concept, this necessity for repentance is clearly set forth with power and prominence. Because it must be. And when we consider something of the emphasis on this doctrine in the scriptures, we must then ask whether or not this emphasis is really seen in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ today. if this forms a prominent part of the preaching of God's Word. Some of the churches, especially larger churches, without any embarrassment or any abashedness about it, say very clearly, our message is one of uplifting words, not of sad realities. We here are determined not to bring in that sort of dim and dark reality we want rather to exclusively focus upon things that uplift and words that are sweet and bring us to an encouraged sense of who we are and what's happening in the world. The problem with that is we cannot dismiss reality with words that seem sweet and kind, can we? The problem with that is we can't simply face reality speak uplifting words and deny and dismiss those realities. They're still there. We still face them from day to day. And that's not what God would have us to do. He would have us to face these realities head on. God is a supreme realist. He doesn't lightly glance over dark realities. He says very clearly, there they are in our lives. Now how are we going to deal with them? The Lord God would have us very clearly to face the reality of our own sin. You recall that's exactly what Israel is doing at this time. Israel is denying the reality of its own sin. Israel is trying to pass over and ignore that reality, and God sends a locust plague to awaken them, to seize them and shake them and say, there's a reality you're missing. To bring this painful chastisement upon them, so that they cannot ignore the reality that the world is not right. There is a problem. They must face it. Now, when we consider that fact, it's not that we'll simply miss the dark parts of reality if we ignore our sin. It's that we'll miss the good parts of reality as well. You see what Joel says here in terms of repentance is, when we come to grips with the true sorrow of what we are doing, then it is that we can turn from it to the reality of God's mercy. But not until then. If we deny and ignore and lightly glance over sin, we deny and ignore and lightly glance over the mercy of God towards us. So it is that if we pretend that there is no sin and that reality does not exist in our lives, we pretend as if God's mercy also is not necessary and does not exist. And so that is what God is doing here. He is driving his people to recognize, you must turn from that reality in your life to me. To me. Not just turn from it. Not just repent, you wicked sinners, but repent and turn to God as the one who can deal with our sins in true uplifting and encouraging fashion. But how exactly does this apply to us? After all, we would not say necessarily that. As Israel, we are involved in open and under-bashed sins as a congregation, that we are simply doing what is evil and we're calling it good. But as we noted from our brief survey of the doctrine of repentance, we do sin daily in thought, word and deed. And there is, therefore, a necessity to consider repentance daily. We do so in the Lord's Prayer. And five out of the seven churches had to consider their repentance over specific matters. So when we come to this doctrine, while we will not say that there's a one-to-one equation between Israel and ourselves, we do have to say that this call for repentance is something that is certainly applicable in each of our lives, and in the life of this congregation. And so we will consider what Joel says about this necessity to repent in three basic ways, in three basic points. The first is the true nature of any repentance. Joel begins to describe what it looks like in any type of repentance, universal nature of true spiritual repentance. Then he goes on to talk about the corporate nature of Israel's repentance. They repented together as a nation, as the people of God. Why is that so? And then third, we will consider that God himself supplied intercession for that repentance. He put the arguments in the mouths of the priests. What that means for us and that significance for us is what we'll consider in the third point. So first, the true nature of any type of repentance Now therefore, says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning, so rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God. The very first thing that Deva makes clear through this triple expression, fasting, weeping and mourning, is that the nature of true repentance is deep sorrow. It's not a superficial acknowledgment of sin. It's a deep, inward, heartfelt sorrow, so that even you fast. You remember that we said fasting means that you have to advertise. You're consumed with this problem, you're consumed with this sorrow. You don't want to eat, you don't care about food. And necessity is why this is a pressing matter that you put off all the concerns in order to address this. You're so grieved and torn up inside that you don't even want food. You want this to be dealt with. There is weeping. The weeping that comes when sorrow so floods into your soul that it begins to rise and express itself through your eyes. deep inward mourning and grief over sin. That's what he has to view here. That's the true repentance over sin that has to be viewed. And why is that? Why are we so concerned about this sin? Notice what he says, turn to me. The whole point is that in sin we turn away from God. We turn our back upon God. It's not a grief that is manifested because there are bitter consequences to our sin. We lose a job. We are hurt somehow. Our reputation is in shambles. It is a grief that recognizes, I've turned away from God. I've turned my back on the One who is described here in such wonderful terms. His character is so full of mercy and grace and goodness. I've known that and I've turned my back on Him. How could I do that? It is a type of repentance that is not something that simply happens because you're caught in sin, and then you begin to feel ashamed. Or, you realize that this is going to mean some sort of long-term consequences, and then you're sad. It is a type of repentance that, in sin, you commit and no one knows about. You're still brokenhearted on that. And it's a repentance that is not merely outward, for show. So rend your heart and not your garments. Jewel is not saying don't rend your garments. He's not saying that's an abuse of sorrow, an excess of sorrow. Many godly men have done this in the past, and in fact God has commended this practice. That's not what he's getting at. He's not saying don't do that, that's excessive. He's not saying that at all. He's saying, don't only do that. If you're going to render garments, make it to be an outward expression of the inward reality, that you have taken your heart as you take your garment and you rip it apart. That's what true sorrow perceives. No. There are many who speak with good effect of the fact that we're broken. There's a brokenness that we have fallen, we're a borrowed image of God, that we're weak, we're susceptible to sin, that all of these things are wrong with us, and that's true. That's absolutely true. But some who speak of our brokenness don't go the second step. Because Joel isn't simply saying that we are to recognize our brokenness, he's saying we are to be broken over our brokenness. We are to be torn apart because of that brokenness. when we see it. Not simply say, yes, I'm broken. I have this brokenness. It's a sad reality. Move on. We have to recognize that fact and then grieve over it. Because it's not right. Because it's not good. Because we're turning our back upon God. There are many examples of this sort of brokenness in the Scripture. King David, of course, sinned quite grievously. And in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 he describes that sin. But he describes it in terms of how he has taken his heart and he is torn up over that sin. He's torn up inside. His bones are broken. His energy is sapped. He feels the hand of God heavy upon him. These are the expressions he uses to speak of his sorrow. We know that The tax collector in the story that Jesus tells is the same way. The Pharisee gets up and praises himself, and his confession is very self-congratulatory. I'm glad I'm not doing this or that or the other. The publican beats his breast and cries out, I'm the sinner. There is a deep sorrow for sin that we ought to experience. and know as part of repentance. And it is, as we have said, because we have turned our back upon this God. So rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness, and who relents from doing harm. We are turning our back upon this God. Repentance is to turn from that ugly reality of our sin but not just to turn from it, but to turn back to God, to know Him again as the God who is so wonderful as He is portrayed here to be. This language, this description of God, is also found in Jonah 4, verse 2. Recall how Jonah uses this language, not exactly the same purpose that Joel has in mind, but rather bitterly describing God in this way, to his chagrin. God has proven to be this way with regard to the Nindovites. He is upset about it. But in using the same language, it certainly brings to mind that example of the Nindovites, doesn't it? Which shows us abundantly that these words are true of God. He is gracious and merciful. The Nindovites were a part of the Assyrian nation. The Assyrian nation were the ones who destroyed the ten tribes of Israel. With brutality, they took them, they abused them, they ripped them out of their land and made them to be slaves. And for generation after generation, they were bitter enemies of God and of His people. And when Jonah says, forty days, and you will be destroyed, and they say, tumble ourselves before God. Did they make up for their generations of bitter conflict with God? Didn't they in some way merit the favor of God? Did they in some way, by saying those words and putting on sackcloth and dust and ashes, did they somehow earn God's favor? No. They simply pleaded with God, be merciful. And He was. He relented from harm. Slow to anger, great kindness. How many times could God have come to their serious and wiped them off the face of the earth? And rightly so. How many times could his anger boil forth into destruction? But it didn't. How many times could he have judged Assyria, but he waited patiently? And he relented from harm. He said, 40 days, and you'll be destroyed. But he relented from it. Because that's who he is. He's a God of mercy. Remember when David took that sinful census of the nation of Israel to puff up his pride, to see the greatness of his kingdom and his army. And the Lord said that he would, for three days, send a plague and wipe out many of the people. Remember what happened. David was pleading with God, don't complete it, have mercy, it's my fault. God relented. He didn't spend the entire three days destroying the people. He relented from the harm that He had pledged and promised. Because that's the God He is. And of course, when we think about these things, we cannot help but recognize the pinnacle of this character is demonstrated on the cross of Jesus Christ. How many times through thousands and thousands of years Should God not have in pure justice come and crush the human race? But he didn't do it. How many times since Jesus Christ died could he not have come and done the same, but he didn't do it at all. Because he says in the word, he has long suffered not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth, to everlasting life. Where was God's mercy and grace more fully manifested than when He caused Christ to suffer for our sins. This is the character of God. And when we sin, we are turning our back upon Him. We are saying, I don't want you. I want this dark, ugly reality. I prefer it and love it, as opposed to you. And when we turn from that sin, we are turning to God and finding His character to be wonderful. Since that is so, it's a lot strange what Joel says there in verse fourteen. Who knows if he will turn and relent, leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God? Wouldn't we expect it to say, And He will most certainly do this. As it does say in other places of the Word. He will by no means cast you out. That's something that the Word says. Why does it say that who knows if? Why that phrase? Again, it's the same phrase that the King of Nineveh spoke when that Word of Judgment came. He said, who knows if the Lord will not relent? The phrase is intended here not to cause us to presume upon the grace of God. You see, it's very easy for us to say, OK, he is a character of God. When I turn to him, I forgive him. And so we begin coldly to calculate this sort of thing. Well, we'll repent of our sin later, or I can just turn to him now and he'll forgive me and I don't need to go through any rigmarole and so forth. No, this demonstration of true repentance is intended not to bring us to a cold rationality, but to bring us to a desperate, hopeful seeking of God's face. As it did the people of Nineveh. Who knows if God will not relent? And they poured themselves desperately into the pursuit of God's grace. And he was found. If we coldly presume upon God's grace, we miss the point. And Joel warns us of that here. There's something more, as well, going on here. It's not just who knows if he will churn and relence, but who knows if he will churn and relence and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering, a drink offering for the Lord your God. In this statement is a total reversal of where Israel is going. You remember one of the worst consequences of their sin was that they were cut off from the worship of God. The locusts came and devoured all the produce, so they did not have to get oil, to put on the sacrifices as they would at certain points, grapes to have the drink offering poured before the Lord, grain to offer up the great offerings. All of these things were taken from them by the locusts, and so their worship was, in short, cut off. They couldn't worship God in the fullness of what He intended. And that was to be seen as the most grievous part of their sin. But on the Word of God we see this Made clear, don't we? A man does not live with his wife with understanding his prayers are heard. Matthew chapter 6. If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven. Matthew chapter 5. If we know that our brother has something against us and is coming and could throw us into jail, then we are to leave our sacrifice at the altar and go and be reconciled first. Because our sin hinders our communion and worship of God, which is to me, to us, the best thing. The chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy God. And if that is cut off, then the worst possible chastisement has come upon us. That's the point. He's saving you. And yet he's saying, who knows if the Lord won't completely reverse that situation and give you again the means to award wholehearted worship and fellowship of God. That's the point. And that should be the point that grieves us the most, that in our sin we are hardening our hearts against God and cutting ourselves off from His worship and the joyful community we ought to have. And so it says, who knows if God will completely reverse that situation and give you again that warm-hearted, open, full worship. That is the nature of true repentance, in fact. But we then turn to our second point, and that is that the repentance for Israel is to be a corporate repentance. Notice that in verses 15, 16, and part of 17 as well. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Consecrate at fast. Call a sacred assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the children in nursing beams. Let the bridegroom Go out from his chamber in the bride for a dressing room. Let the priest and minister to the Lord. Weep between the porch and the altar." And so forth. This is very clearly calling the people together for a corporate assembly, isn't it? There can be no doubt of that intention. And it is an urgent necessity. Blow a consecrated call. Gather the synced by symbol. Gather. It's obvious that this is urgent. It must be done. It is a repeated and fervent call to action. But why? Can't Israel just repent individually? Can't they stay at home and each one repent of their own sin or convicted? No, because this is a corporate sin. The nation, in a widespread and open, obvious manner, is the people of God, the covenant people of sin. And the sin even of one or two affects the entirety God doesn't deal with us as separate, disparate, disconnected individuals. That's not our God. He's the covenant God. He doesn't simply say, well, this person sinned here, and this person didn't, and there's nothing between them. Remember the example of Achan? A-C-H-A-N. When he stole those forbidden objects and went to A.I. And what happened when they went to take AI? Aiken didn't die. Lots of men did. Because of Aiken's sin. The sin of the one affects the entire group. We're a body. We're a corporation. We're a covenant people. We're a fellowship. We're a family. You can't say, my sins have no bearing upon anyone else. And that's why they're to gather together, because together they're to claim and recognize what has been done. You see, we're each part of the body of Christ, and one can't say to the other, I've no need of you. And one can't say to the other, my sin doesn't affect you. It does. So there's to be a corporate gathering of repentance, and the Lord deals with His people as a people. That's why the means of grace are so special in the gathering of God's people, not just as individuals. Because God works in His gathered people, the gathered living stones that are His temple. So they're to gather together. Notice, everyone is to gather together. The children, the nursing babes. Surely they didn't contribute to the sins mentioned here in Joel. And what would they gain from gathering together with God's people? It doesn't matter. They're part of God's people. And they belong, therefore, in the gathering of God's people. This bridegroom and bride, this was to be their special day of joy. But their individual joys are overshadowed by the sorrows of the entire people. They're to go to the house of mourning rather than the individual private day of So they do. They gather together as the people of God with whom He deals as a body, as the gathered assembled corporation. And there's also then our third point, that God Himself supplies the intercession. There in verse seventeen, that the priests who minister to the Lord weep between the ports, and they often let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach that the nation should rule over them." Why should they say among the peoples, where is their God? God is saying, here are the exact arguments you are to bring to me. I'm going to put into your mouth the exact things that will be persuasive with me. Say these words, use these arguments. It's astonishing, isn't it? These must be persuasive arguments with God. He himself says to use him, and he will respond to him. A really twofold verse. Do not give your heritage to reproach. The people of God are special to them. We are special to them. We're the apple of his eye. We're the jewels of his kingdom. Will he cast us to wolves? Will he cast his pearls before swine? He tells us not to do that. Will he do that? Will He say, I purchased these precious ones by the very blood of Christ, and now I'm going to cast them off? No. He would never do that. He hasn't shed the blood of Christ to no end, to no effect. Will He give His people over to reproach? No. If you plead with Him and say, please count us to be precious and special in your eyes, as we know that we are, don't persuade Him. But also then he goes on and says, if we're reproached, you're reproached. Will you bring disrepute upon your own name? Will you dishonor your own name? The greatest thing that we want is for God to be glorified. The greatest point of this world is to glorify God. Will you take the paramount interest of the entire world and make it to be no longer true? persuasive arguments God puts in the mouth of his own priests to use against him? Does he ultimately know this intercession supplied by God is seen in as fullness of Christ? He does the same thing Christ does to him. He says, I'm going to send Christ, and I'm going to cause him to die on your behalf, and I'm going to cause him to plead his blood, which asks for mercy. And I'm going to cause him to rise again, and he will ever live to intercede for you. I'm going to do that. I'm going to supply the arguments. I'm going to supply the intercessors. And if I did it, won't it be persuasively? So this is the marvelous reality of the Gospel truth. On the one hand, God rides at the head of that locust army, that chastising judgment. On the other hand, he supplies the very intercession necessary for his people to be reconciled. He's the just and the justifier. He's the judge and the saint. He's the king and the priest. He's everything. And he only rides to the head of that chastising army of locusts in order to drive us to obsession. That's the point. God supplies intercession. You see, if we lightly dismiss our sin and we ignore that reality, and we try to focus instead exclusively upon uplifting words and ideas and thoughts and pleasures and so forth, We missed the glory of our salvation in Christ. We missed the character of God towards sinners. If we do not deal with our sins and turn from them, if we don't turn to God and find Him to be altogether lovely, full of mercy, grace, long-suffering, But if we see this reality, do not deny it. Recognize what sin is. Return from it. Then we turn to our God. And the Lord grants us grace to do so.