Y Safle

Over several months of last year I reposted some essays I had written on the book of Joel. These formed a series which you can find using the “Joel” tag on this site, but now for the first time here is a table of contents for the whole series:

1. Joel 1:1
2. Joel 1:2
3. Joel 1:3
4. Joel 1:5
5. Joel 1:7-13
6. Joel 1:14
7. Joel 1:15-19
8. Joel 2:1-11
9. Joel 2:12-13
10. Joel 2:13-14
11. Joel 2:15-16
12. Joel 2:17-18
13. Joel 2:19,21
14. Joel 2:22-25
15. Joel 2:26-27
16. Joel 2:28-29
17. Joel 2:30-32
18. Joel 3:1-3
19. Joel 3:5-8
20. Joel 3:9-13
21. Joel 3:14
22. Joel 3:15-21

“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.

“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.

“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 idly 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.

“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.”

“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. Nietzsche 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:

“And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”

Joel 2:30-32

The prophecy of Joel now turns to the last days and we read of things repeated by Isaiah, Daniel and John. Wonders will be seen on earth and in the sky and there will be great distress. The day of the Lord will be a bewildering and frightening time for those who do not love Him.

But in the midst of the prophecy of coming judgement, of the final wrath of God and the great and terrible day, we see the grace of God once again. In those bewildering times, when all the world will be in utter chaos, we have this simple promise “Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Even at the last minute of the eleventh hour God will still save men and women through his abounding grace and mercy, such is his love for us. In the midst of his final wrath he will not forget his elect.

But tell me, do you have a burden for the lost? Do you weep for those people who will know nothing but fear on that day? Maybe you think that the days are far off and there is much time yet, but for millions of people every day those great and terrible days are here already.

Millions of people die every day, consigned to a lost eternity, and why?

Does God smile with grim satisfaction when he sees evil men being condemned for all eternity?

Of course not. God has held out his hand to everyone who would only believe in him, and yet not everyone has believed. God weeps for every man who dies without knowing him, and yet they still die. Why?

It is down to you and me. We are God’s chosen vessels on Earth, and our churches are His chosen means of grace. Why do we not weep with God over empty churches? Why are we still not burdened with the overwhelming need of the hour - the need for revival?

Revival should not be a buzzword, but a burden. Where is our burden?

The day of the Lord could be a great and wonderful day, but for billions of people it will be horrific in its intensity, and dreadful in its extent. People living in fear will die in fear, and why? because the people of God, the elect of God, were so content with their “I’m alright” selfish attitudes and comfortable lifestyles that they could not spare the time to turn to their God in prayer and plead for the souls of the lost.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

“And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”

Joel 2:28,29

And here we are, at the most well known passage in Joel - the prophecy of the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

It is a pity that so many people jump straight to Joel 2:28 whilst missing out the first chapter and a half. What a pity that so much of Joel’s message to us can so easily be ignored.

Here we are indeed promised that God will pour out his Spirit upon everyone. There is no-one so insignificant that God will not pour out His Spirit upon them, but a wrong understanding of this verse, it seems to me, can cause a great many theological and practical problems in our Christianity.

I have often been told “The Spirit is given”, a looking back to the day of Pentecost when this mighty outpouring occurred. Such people then use this fact to justify their various teachings on the work of the Holy Spirit within the present day church. Personally, I think they are wrong to do so.

When the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, three thousand people became Christians on the spot. If you went into a modern day Pentecostal church I would be surprised if more then a dozen people had come to Christ in the last year, and then it is doubtful if they came to Christ because of the reality of the experience with the Holy Spirit.

I hurl no stones when I speak thus of the Pentecostal churches. I say what I say knowing that they are one of the fastest growing movements within the present church. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the presence of the Holy Spirit is not to be found in full measure in these churches.

I received a mailshot recently from a so called Christian leader who was announcing a summer conference. His hype said specifically: “The annointing of the Holy Spirit will be there.”

The Holy Spirit is a wind that blows when and where He wills. How can a man make such predictions when I am certain that he has never yet seen a true annointing of the Spirit of God?

The mail shot also offered a free tape for early bookings. The tape was of a conference in London where hundreds of people were apparently “Slain of God” (and I quote him there).

It is a funny thing that I did not hear of any deaths in the Wembley Stadium at that conference! (Although the BBC did show an expose of how supposed healing miracles were nothing of the sort).

So much of the present day Charismatic movement seems to me to be mere hype and emotionalism, and I know that as I write this I am probably offending a great many people, but it is something with which I feel burdened.

We just do not know the power of God within the church today. The Charismatic movement claims to have that power but it has been wholely unable to reach into this present darkness with the light of God.

I am offended by the lack of spirituality and depth I find within the Charismatic movement.

Nevertheless, I believe the Charismatic movement was of God.

I believe that God uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, and that is what he has done with the Charismatic movement which has surely put the dead orthodox churches to shame in the areas of growth and enthusiasm.

But God has something greater that he wants to give us. He has said through his prophet:

“It shall come to pass that…”

When all of Joel chapter one and two are fulfilled it shall come to pass once again that God will pour out His Spirit, and the measure with which he releases his Spirit will put today’s church to shame.

We will no longer need to argue that the Baptism with the Spirit is a true work of God, for it will be evident to all that this is so (look at the accounts of the 1904 Welsh revival for instance, if you do not believe me). The marks of the Spirit filled life will be on the believers. There will be a deeper spirituality, a greater assurance and a fuller love for Our God, along with a deeper realization of the greatness of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We will again see prophecy, dreams and visions as well as all the gifts of the Spirit, and there will be an end to the muddling prophets of today. False gifts will stand out as dull and tainted against the true.

O Lord, send the rain.

“And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

“And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.”

Joel 2:26,27

I have said before that I am ashamed of the present day church. I am ashamed of the apathy which characterises such a large part of the church of Christ. I am ashamed of the fact that churches of all denominations are allowing unbelievers to take positions of authority. I am ashamed of the uncertain call of the trumpet which is heard when one group propounds liberal doctrine and another evangelical doctrine, both under the same umbrella of the Church.

I am ashamed of the lack of spirituality in God’s people. The lack of morality in His leadership. I am ashamed because we believe ourselves to be rich in God’s blessing when in fact we are poor and blind and naked.

I am ashamed that we can allow people to speak for so called “living christianity” and for “born again Christians”, when their letters contain such drivel as the following excerpt:

“As God’s servant”, writes a minister who wrote to me prior to holding a National Charismatic conference in London, “I can tell you that if you will obey God and prove him by giving me your sacrificial offering (an offering you cannot afford) then God will bless you financially”

This statement sums up his whole letter and every letter I ever received from this man. Here is a man who is twisting scripture (Malachi 3 talks of proving God by bring the whole tithe to the storehouse, i.e. the Church), telling us if we do not give to his “ministry” we are disobeying God, and blatantly preaching a “prosperity gospel” (If you obey God then he will reward you financially).

TELL THAT TO SAINT PAUL!

Tell that to Mueller, to Howell Harries, to Whitefield and Wesley.

Tell that to C.T.Studd, to Duncan Campell, to Evan Roberts.

In the cold light of history which of these will stand out as men of God? These named above or the servant of Mammon who wrote the quoted letter?

I am ashamed of the church today. I am ashamed that several mainstream denominations and interdenominational organisations have aligned themselves with this man in his forthcoming conference. I am ashamed at the lack of vital, living biblical Christianity in the church.

And I do not think only of the Charismatics. I am ashamed of the dead formalism in so much of the church of today. I am ashamed of a dead orthodoxy which has the words of life but the smell of death.

I long for the day when I will no longer be ashamed. I long for the day when God will again be in the midst of his spiritual Israel, his Church. On that day we will not be ashamed.

When the LORD our God is in our midst, then all of which I am ashamed will pass away. Personalities of men will fade away and Christians will be seeking to glorify God. Prayer meetings will be packed and people who may now look at their watches in church wishing they were somewhere else will no longer be aware of their watches at all. They will be lost in the wonder and the love of Almighty God.

In times past, in times of revival, prayer meetings have continued through the night and into the morning. In the 1904 Welsh revival miners in the pits of south Wales were holding prayer meetings in the pits themselves.

Is there any doubt that when God is with us there will be great rejoicing? Our churches will be full and the worries of the present age (falling congregations and lack of funds) will disappear as we once again learn that God will provide for us.

What of the world, too? When they see today’s sickly Church, are they not turned away? But when our God is in our midst how will they resist coming to him?

Lord, come quicky.

“Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

“And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten….”

Joel 2:22-25

An often quoted verse from scripture tells us that the fields are white unto harvest, but the labourers are few. This verse is used by people often to get them to go out onto the streets of their town and witness to the people that are there. It is also used to encourage people into missionary work.

However, I have spent some time witnessing in the town of Aberystwyth and I have an observation to make, which is this: The fields are no longer white unto harvest!

I am not saying the scripture verse is wrong, but rather that it is being quoted out of context. When Jesus told his disciples the fields were white unto harvest it was surely in anticipation of pentecost, when God’s Spirit would be poured out on the church and the church would merely require gatherers to bring in the bountiful harvest (three thousand people in one place in one day!)

But just as there are seasons on the earth, so it seems there are seasons in the church. When the church has been dry and barren how can we expect rich harvests? For years now the church has been in such a state that it has been hard to understand how it has seen the measure of growth it has seen, and we can only put such growth down to the grace of God. Nevertheless, the time must surely come when the church will have repented of its own driness, and its own barrennes, and then God will send the rain.

That is what Joel promised.

We see that God will indeed send the rain upon his land when it is ready to receive it. He will send the rain and the crops will grow and the barns will be filled with plenty and the vats will be bursting with wine.

Let us pray that God will move swiftly to send the rain upon our churches. Let us pray that the withered dry formalism and the limp and weedy shallowness that is the hallmark of modern day Christianity will be replaced by the firm and sure shoots of a church nurtured on the living water sent by God.

We wonder why people do not come to our churches. We try having Christian concerts, Christian choirs, Drama, Humour and all kinds of entertainment, but in the end people still do not come because they know better then we do that church is not about entertainment.

Entertainment will save no-one. Enough with this Spiritual child- minding. It is time people preached once again the true Gospel, born in eternity past at that great council of God, completed by the work of Christ on the cross and consummated in Holy Ghost Power on Pentecost.

This great gospel needs no apology. When The Power of God is present in our churches then people will come. People will flock to the churches, not because there is entertainment there but because God is there.

Let us pray that God will send the rain.