"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will enter into judgement with them there ... they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
"And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink."
Joel 3:1-3
No-one will escape the final judgement of our Lord. At the name of Jesus *every* knee will bow. Nietsche said "God is dead", but on that day he will say "Jesus Christ is Lord". Stalin will stand before his maker and weep. Hume will bow before the LORD of all. Cupit will at last see the hypocrisy of his atheistic "Christianity" as he at once becomes a theist in a very real sense.
These are just some of the multitude of men who have attacked the church of the living God over the years. These are men who have laughed in the face of God and sought to glorify only self. They have looked to self interest and self agrendisement. Some, like Cupit, are found even within the church itself, and they above all will be found guilty of their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Look at the evil that had befallen Judah: Children sold into slavery and prostitution that people may get drunk on wine. The nation was scattered and the land divided. It is hard to imagine such an appalling scene, and yet this is the very scene we see within our own churches.
The church is ravaged by the world which bites and tears at the edges, or else invades the church and deals out wholesale slaughter on biblical Christianity. This is nothing new, it has been going on since New Testament times, when the gnostics invaded the churches as a platform for their peculiar anti-Christian philosophies. Now the gnostics have all but gone, and yet there is a new "gnosis", a new "sophia" which invades the church. Liberalism is rampant. The New Age infiltrates our structures and apostasy and apathy are our hallmarks in response.
The world is dividing up our churches whilst the Christians prefer their wine supported stupor.
Will the Lord tarry much longer in judgement? Do we *dare* pray for justice when we too will be judged as harshly as those of whom we decry?
Let us put our house in order first, and then let us seek the God of Justice. Remember the lesson of Saul - "To obey is better then sacrifice". Let us be obedient, loyal and diligent servants of our LORD, the Living God.
"Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
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"The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Joel 3:5-8
Joel speaks now of how the Lord will recompense those people who have opposed his people. Tyre and Sidon had taken Israelites into captivity and annexed their lands.
I spoke in my previous article of how the world has attacked the church, infiltrating it from within and blasting it from without. The church has been weakened by this steady program of decline and destruction which we have allowed to take place. Members of the church of the Living God have fallen prey to doctrines of demons and have thus been taken into captivity.
But the Lord *will* recompense those who have caused this destruction. Those people that have set themselves up as critics of the living God will be brought low. Those who have worshiped wisdom and philosophy will be left bereft. Those who have actively campaigned against the church will know the vengeance of God.
This is simple fact. I do not mean to gloat in this, for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. I would not trade places with anyone who has prefered to glorify man over God.
But let us seriously consider our own part in this captivity within the church? What part have we played in allowing Tyre and Sidon to take our people captive?
We read in Luke 9:62:
"No-one, who puts his hand to the plough and looks back, is fit for service in the kingdom of God"
We are *all* called to service within the kingdom of God, but how many of us are *fit* for service? How many of us can say with all honesty that we put our hands to the plough and never looked back?
How many of us who hold any position of leadership, be it in Bible study, preaching, youth work or family, can say with sincerity that they truly are leaders.
Most leaders today are not leaders at all, they are followers. They determine which way the wind is blowing, and which way the Christian "pack" is running and then they dash out ahead and shout out "I'm leading".
It is a pity that they will be the first over the precipice.
What we need is leaders who will stand against the flow. Leaders who are not looking back to see who is following them, and who is supporting them. We need leaders who will stand firm on principle and belief. We need leaders who are not afraid to challenge prevailing "wisdom" where they see error.
And if you are reading this and thinking "That's okay, because I'm not called to lead", then I would say "yes you are."
We are all called to lead in one very important area. We are all called to lead people to Christ. Fallen people; lost people; hopeless people.
What sort of a leader are you?
Let us have the mind of Christ in all our dealings. Let us throw off the sin which so easily entangles. Let us die to self, and give our egos a burial. A leader who leads with his head turned back to see who follows him is a leader who is not dead to self. We do not need egotistical leaders for these are the very people that have allowed the captivity by Tyre. These are the people of Sidon who have themselves taken people captive.
Let us no longer be in bondage to pride. Let us throw of this snare and escape this captivity. Ego has *no* place within the Church of Christ, for what exalts man does not exalt God. It is only what exalts God that exalts man also.
I don't want to wait for the last day for God to pay me my just recompense for my evil and selfish nature. I pray that God will help me die to self *now*, before the time of his justice, for it is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
"Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
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"Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Joel 3:9-13
When God revived Judah it became a militant force, a force to be reckoned with. Surrounding nations could no longer sit idley around, content with having desolated Judah and carried her children captive. No longer were they able to attend to the mundane matters of living, such as farming.
When God revived Judah she became a mighty nation, able to conquer her enemies and free her captives. Revived Judah was a fearsome force for she had God fighting on her side.
In the same way, the revived church is a mighty force within the nation. No longer will people be able to ignore her. No longer can they attend to their worship of their four legged square idols which glow in the corners of their living rooms. No longer will they be able to go about their daily business without a thought for the God who created them and loved them enough to send his only son to die for them.
The revived church will be a church which *matters*, a church which makes a *difference* within the life of our nation.
In the world of today, so many of us seek to bring moral change to our countries through the legal system. We campaign for stricter laws on the control of sale of alcohol, and for less advertising. We campaign to outlaw abortion, and so many other causes (which are noble in their intent).
I am not saying that such campaigning is wrong, but I can say with a certainty that the moral problems within our nations will not go away if we are successful in these campaigns. If abortion is outlawed then people will find other ways to commit murder, for the hearts of the people are still desperately evil. If we tighten up on drink even to the level of prohibition then drunkenness will still occur (look at America's last experiment with prohibition).
Let us not hide behind our pro-life banners, thinking we are doing all we can to prevent this wholesale baby-murder, we are *NOT*.
When was the last time you wept before God because your nation had killed a million people without a passing thought? When was the last time you spent hours in an agony of prayer, wrestling with God that he might revive his church, for *then* the church militant could effect a moral change upon the people of your nation which would at last bring this travesty to an end.
Look at the life work of sir William Wilberforce. Here was a man who laboured to bring slavery to an end in all British colonies. Shortly after his death slavery was indeed abolished, but why? was it only because this man fought his battle in parliament? No. This man fought his battle in prayer, wrestling before the Lord, and many others fought it with him because at that time the church was in an awakened state.
In 1904 in Glamorgan, a county of Wales, there were 11,282 convictions for drunkenness, and similar figures for years prior to that, but then revival erupted through the ministry of Evan Roberts, and this significantly affected the moral climate, for these drunkards were turning now to Christ and not to drink. In 1905 convictions for drunkenness were down to 8,164 and by 1906, when the revival had run its course, convictions stood at 5,490.
You see, the church militant will affect the world. The revived church will lead the world where the declined church has followed. This is the way it has always been. This is the way it will always be.
Next time you hear of an abortion, or a death by drink-driving then pray with me that God will send revival.
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"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision."
Joel 3:14
Long before Joel's day, Joshua spoke to the people of Israel with these words:
"Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
We all have this one simple choice presented to us. We all must choose whom we will serve. Will we serve the gods of the Amorites who dwell amongst us? The god Money? the god Entertainment? the god Drink? the god Pride?
We can choose these gods, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
This is a choice I have made and which must affect the rest of my life. I have chosen to follow Christ, to seek to have the attitude of Christ Jesus, the mind of Christ.
But if that is truly my choice then it must be reflected in my life. I claim to have chosen to serve the Lord, so where is He in my life?
Is my life truly honouring to God? am I serving him properly? do the decisions I make keep his glory in view? Is God central to my life?
These are questions I must ask over and over. It is necessary for me to examine myself, my motives and my goals, constantly asking if I am living up to what Christ wants from me.
You see, the man who says he is following Christ but who leaves Him out of his everyday life, who never prays and never reads his Bible, and would not be caught dead witnessing to someone, this man is a liar.
Choose *this* *day* whom you will *serve*. Don't choose this day whom you will rely on to get you into heaven, but choose this day whom you will *serve*.
As for me and my house, we *will* serve the Lord. That is my choice.
Those in the valley of decision do not consist only of the multitudes of non-Christians who need to hear about salvation through Christ, and how they can be justified by faith alone. No, many of those multitudes in the valley of decision are those who confess Christ as their saviour, but who have not chosen to *serve* him. "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
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"So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more...
"But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
Joel 3:15-21
Do you long for the day when the Lord dwells again amongst us? Are you even aware that he does not dwell amongst us now? Are you still unconvinced of the need within the church of today?
I know there are a few bright spots were the sun shines weakly through the clouds, but even these bright spots shine with a wan and wintry light compared to the radiance of the shekinah glory of God descended upon the church.
Look at the powerful picture Joel has given us of the effect of the presence of God. When God is amongst his people, then people know it. Why is it that we have to write placards on the front of our churches that say we are "Biblical" Christians? is it because we are afraid people won't recognize a Biblical Christian otherwise?
In this series of articles I have attempted to hint at what I am convinced we are missing in our church life. We live amongst Laodicean churches which are merely lukewarm, and I pray that God will be merciful and not spew us from his mouth.
Again, we live in churches which think themselves rich, lacking in nothing, without realizing that we are poor, and blind and naked.
Yet God has promised:
"If my people who bear my name will humble themselves and pray, *then* I will heal their land and forgive their sins."
If you agree with me that we need to know the glory of the Lord living amongst us in our churches once more, and if I have made one iota of sense to you, then may I beg you to pray God that he would heal our land.
And lest I have left a bitter taste in anyones mouth, having left the impression that I am condemning everyone except myself, then let me here admit that I am deeply unhappy with my own level of spirituality. I am ashamed at how unmoved I can be when God's name is abused and his church is degraded.
Let us all humble ourselves and pray that God would heal his land. Let us pray for revival, and let us pray that that revival will begin in us.
Oh Lord, search me, try me and show me every wicked way within me.
Amen.