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Adoption, Forgiveness, & Glory (Pentecost 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

We live in a world that has rejected God the Father, and so we are a nation of bastards, fatherless and angry, fatherless and despairing. And this is why God sent His Son into the world: so that all the lost sons might be brought home, to adopt them as His own sons by His Spirit.

THE TEXT

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God…” (Rom. 8:14-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is in the middle of an argument, but the central point is that whoever is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God (Rom. 8:14). This Spirit is the Spirit of Christ who was obedient to the point of death, condemned sin in His flesh on the cross, and rose from the dead (Rom. 8:2-3, 9-11). This Spirit is not of bondage to fear (because all of the condemnation for our sin has fallen on Christ in our place, Rom. 8:1-3), but rather, the Spirit of adoption has been given to us which teaches us to call God ‘Our Father’ (Rom. 8:15). This Spirit has been given to assure us that we belong to God as His children (Rom. 8:16). And this assurance includes the full inheritance of Christ and all of His glory, while sharing in His suffering (Rom. 8:17).

THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION

It has been rightly said that God has no grandchildren. The point is that salvation in Christ is a direct adoption by God the Father, in Christ, by His Spirit. Christ is the only Mediator between God and men, and what He mediates is His own relationship to the Father: we are joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). He freely shares everything with us.

Nevertheless, part of this inheritance is the people of God. Elsewhere, Paul prays that “ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member but many” (1 Cor. 12:13-14). Some of us have the great blessing of having grown up in a faithful Christian family, but many are starting from scratch, either as new converts or simply as being awakened to the necessity to follow Christ more faithfully. But all of us have been given the same Spirit of the Son, and in Him, we have all been given the inheritance of the saints. God has no grandchildren, but all of God’s true children have parents and grandparents in the faith.

THE SPIRIT OF FORGIVENESS

This Spirit is not a spirit of bondage to fear (Rom. 8:15). In Hebrews it says that Jesus partook of flesh and blood “that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:15-15). Bondage to fear is fundamentally fear of death, and the reason we fear death is because the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). For guilty sinners, death is punishment, and this is the power of the devil, Satan – the Accuser. He accuses us and condemns us for our sins, and we know that we deserve to die. But the Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of deliverance because Christ condemned all our sin in His body on the cross (Rom. 8:3). All our offenses were nailed to the cross, and therefore all the accusations, all the condemnation was blotted out by His blood (Col. 3:14). And now Satan has nothing on us, and the sting of death is gone (1 Cor. 15:56).

This same Spirit of forgiveness sets us free to forgive others. Guilt is one kind of bondage to fear, but bitterness is another. Many people are kept in bondage to fear by sin committed against them, often by parents or others close to us: fear that it will happen again, fear that no justice will be done. But bitterness is like chaining yourself to someone else’s sin (Heb. 12:15).

Forgiveness isn’t the same thing as trust. Forgiveness is a promise, not a feeling. It’s a promise not to hold someone’s sin against them before the Lord. And if someone isn’t repentant and hasn’t asked for your forgiveness, you can’t be fully reconciled. But you can and must have forgiveness ready for them. Have forgiveness ready like bread baking in your heart; have forgiveness like a bottle of fine wine waiting by the door. Be like the father in the parable looking down the road, ready and eager to run to them, because that is how you have been forgiven (Eph. 4:31-32). This Spirit gives this glory.

THE SPIRIT OF GLORY

The Spirit has been given to guarantee our glory in the Son, and the text goes on to say this glory will include all of creation itself (Rom. 8:17ff). The Spirit restores, glorifies, and transfigures everything; the Spirit anoints for rule and battle (Rom. 8:37).

All wars are ultimately fought with and over glory. We fight for competing visions of glory, and we fight withwhatever we consider our greatest strengths. Many Christians are at a loss about what to do about the current madness assaulting what is left of Western civilization. But this is the battleplan: pursue the glory of your Father as His sons. Everything good triumphs over evil. Forgiveness triumphs over bitterness. Generosity conquers greed. Joyful marriage confounds perversion. Beauty overcomes ugliness. Therefore, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is lovely… cultivate those glorious things.

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The Holiness of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost A.D. 2022)

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INTRODUCTION

This is our observance of Pentecost, the time we set aside to commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. There are many things that can be said about all of this, but we sometimes overlook the obvious. Today we should consider the holiness of the Holy Spirit.

THE TEXT

“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit (1 Thess. 4:7-8).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the verses just prior to this text, the apostle Paul had been emphasizing the need for sexual purity. Then, as now, sexual corruption was readily available, right there for the asking, and Paul urged the Thessalonians to set and maintain a high standard of sexual purity. In the verses that follow this text, Paul is emphasizing the need for brotherly love. Put in one way, we show contempt for the holiness of the Holy Spirit by at least these two means—sins against eros, and sins against agape.

Paul makes very clear that we are not called to uncleanness, but rather unto holiness (v. 7). The one who is wiser than the apostle is not showing contempt for a man, but is rather showing contempt for God Himself (v. 8). This is the God, Paul says, who has given to us His Holy Spirit. There is to be a correspondence between the nature of the Spirit given to us, which is holy, and the nature of our lives, which are to be holy.

HOLINESS IS PERSONAL

Holiness is not to be thought of as an abstract standard, or a law detached from covenantal relationship between persons. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, like electricity. He is not some sort of spiritual juice or power that makes us go. He is a Person, in His own right, one member of the triune Godhead. He is the Spirit of both God the Father and God the Son, and He brings with Him all the characteristics of those He indwells, and in whose name He indwells us.

It is not possible to vex or grieve an abstraction. “But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them” (Is. 63:10). And the New Testament speaks the same way. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:29-32).

The Holy Spirit is a Person. He takes aim at things. He kills things. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13)

We must consider how we live in light of this kind of personal relationship. “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:3-4).

THE CENTER OF RELATIONSHIP

The central duty in all personal relations is that of love. God the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father. Their mutual love for one another is so strong (remember, this is mutual love between two infinite Persons) is therefore Himself a Spirit of love. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:1-5).

HOLINESS OF MIND

The Spirit is given in order to sanctify a people. The Spirit was poured out in the New Testament in order to sanctify the Gentiles, who previous to this had been a pretty greasy crew. “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:16). The point was to set the Gentiles apart from the world, making them part of the holy nation, the royal priesthood.

This requires the mind of Christ. When we hear phrases like this (the mind of Christ), we have a tendency (because of false Enlightenment assumptions) to limit this to rolling of propositions around in our brains. But this is not the mind of Christ. A good way to realize this is to begin realizing that there is such a thing as intellectual holiness. We are to be transformed in the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:1-2). But what is the result? That we may prove in our lives what the will of God is.

“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:13-14).

“Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:16-17). This is what the kingdom of God is.

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A House Filled With Fire (How God Builds #1)

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INTRODUCTION

As we embark on a new work here in Moscow, we must begin by getting our thinking in line as to how God builds. History is the story of how God built His house. He didn’t do a cost/benefit analysis. He built it despite all the conniving of hell & earth. He built it without outside investors. He built it at the cost of His only Begotten Son. And, as we shall see, He’s now filled it with fire.

THE TEXT

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:41-47).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As the miraculous day of Pentecost concluded, the shockwaves were only just beginning. At the end of Peter’s sermon a multitude (3000 to be precise) gladly received his word and were baptized (v41); this is a callback to the first “Pentecost,” when 3000 Israelite idolaters were cut down after the Golden Calf debacle (Ex. 32:28).

The early church is described in its corporate worship as being steadfast in the Apostles’ teaching––the basis for their fellowship––breaking the bread, and prayers (v42). The remarkable signs & wonders continued––fulfilling the prophetic word in Joel 2:19, 30––and great awe came upon every soul (v43).

Their corporate worship, daily in the temple, spilled over into the rest of life. The Believers were marked by generosity without compulsion, which manifested in a particular care for the host of sojourners in Jerusalem (vs.44-45). Not only did they gather daily in the temple, but also from house to house. The fellowship which they enjoyed through the Apostles’ doctrine spilled over into a joyful singularity of heart (v46), and faithful praise to God. The fruit of their faithful diligence in formal & informal worship & fellowship was favor amongst the people. This, in turn, produced rapid growth (v47).

THE GOD WHO SCATTERS

The day of Pentecost is unmistakably mirroring the ancient events which took place at the Tower of Babel. Babel was man’s attempt to climb into heaven to obtain a name for himself. Whereas God had tasked Adam & Eve to fill the world with His glory & name. The project of Babel was to find a unifying principle for the universe in man apart from God. So God scattered this blasphemous work. He confounded their language, fulfilling their worst fears (Gen. 11:4) of being scattering across the face of the earth.

This imagery is picked up later in the warnings to Israel, when the Lord threatens them with being scattered due to covenant breaking. “And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you (Deu. 4:27).” Israel was also to be God’s means of frustrating and scattering the city of man, which we see in their battle hymn, “And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee (Num 10:35).”

When man sets out to build apart from God, and in rivalry to God, God will scatter him. The Hebrew word used for “scatter” means dashing a vessel into a million shattered pieces. When man sets himself in rivalry to God the end result isn’t unity, it’s all the unity of a tornado in a trailer park. If Israel, the household of God, abandoned God and sought to build the kingdom apart from their Covenant King, the result would be what we find in the book of Acts: an Israel scattered to the four winds.

GATHERED TOGETHER IN CHRIST

The nations which are represented at Pentecost echoes the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. These Seventy nations had been scattered and frustrated in their opposition to God’s redemptive purposes. Now, however, these scattered nations, represented by Jews from the Diaspora, are gathered together as one by the mighty work of the Spirit.

Peter warned the Pentecost crowd to flee from this wicked generation (Acts 2:40), referring to unbelieving Israel, which itself had become a new Babel, of sorts. The Lord Jehovah who’d descended upon Altars, and the Tabernacle/Temple as a flaming fire (Cf. Gen. 15:17, Lev. 9:24, Jdg. 13:20, 1 Kg. 18:38,  1Ch 21:26, 2Ch 7:1ff), now sent His Spirit to dwell in a house of people; even people from all nations.

What marked these early Christians as a result of the Spirit’s working? Fidelity to the Gospel as taught by the Apostles, fellowship, breaking the bread, prayers both spoken and sung, hospitality, glad simplicity, and praise to God.

This was (and is) the secret sauce to church growth. Modern Christians think they can build the kingdom of God by using the bricks of Babel. We see it in the way evangelical leaders capitulate to the talking points of godless politicians. We see it in the way worship services are turned into entertainment events. We see it in how the plain Word of the Gospel is dulled and blunted in order to nuzzle into the same space as Oprah, Dr. Phil, and the self-care counselors on TikTok. We see it in the way we ignore the plain command to show hospitality, considering it an inconvenience to our personal schedule and possessions.

But God gathers people into His house by the faithful preaching of the scandal of the Gospel. The house of Israel crucified Jesus, the promised Messiah, the rejected cornerstone. But God wasn’t thwarted in His purpose. That same Jesus was now exalted to be the true & eternal King of Israel. His first act was to accompany the preaching of His Kingdom with the power of the Spirit to enable His citizens to joyfully obey their King.

FILLED UP TO WORK OUT

The Spirit was poured out, and the people weren’t idle. Just as the Spirit equipped the ancient saints with skill to build the tabernacle, the Spirit now fills His people to build a temple of people. People in whom God pleases to dwell. The Spirit’s outpouring became a flood of good works: fellowship, praise, covenant faithfulness, hospitality, and simplicity of heart.

So, what is the work that God has set in front of you to do? The progression of our text makes one thing plain, the Apostles’ doctrine was inseparable from the practice of the saints. The Word went forth, and the people lived out the Word. The works of righteousness followed the Word of the Righteous One.

Nothing, in principle, has been altered since that day of Pentecost. The description of the early church is what the true church is & always shall be defined by. Pentecost displays in vivid detail how God builds. God builds by scattering the proud and their vain imaginations. Then, just because He can, He gathers up the humble as a house of people.

God then filled that house with fire. The Spirit’s fire equips the saints with His presence, the presence of the Almighty. Thus we’re enabled to minister in His house. God’s household isn’t a silent, empty cathedral; it’s full of the bustle & hum of joyful saints busy with sacred work.

And what is that work? Our first duty is to believe the Apostles’ teaching: God has made Jesus, whom the House of Israel crucified, both Lord & Christ (Acts. 2:36). Secondly, we faithfully worship. Third, we throw the best parties.

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The Holy Spirit and a Sound Mind (Pentecost 2021)

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INTRODUCTION

One of the common mistakes that Christians make as they think about the Holy Spirit—who was poured out upon the Church at Pentecost—is the mistake of depersonalizing Him. But the Spirit is no impersonal force, like gravity or electricity. The Holy Spirit is an eternal person, and is so personal that He is the one who shapes a collection of individuals into a personal Bride for the Son of Man. This is why we can both extend the great invitation. This is the testimony of Scripture:

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).

This is why we are able to say, every week, come, and welcome to Jesus Christ.

THE TEXT

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:7–9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul reflects on Timothy’s character with gratitude and joy, recalling the unfeigned faith that Timothy had (v. 5). This was the same genuine faith that was in his grandmother Lois first, and then in his mother Eunice (v. 5). He then urges Timothy to get out the poker, and stir up the fiery gift he had been given through the hands of Paul (v. 6). And why? Thus we come to our text. God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but rather a Spirit of power, a Spirit of love, and a Spirit of a sound mind (v. 7). The application of all this, as Paul sees it, is a refusal to be ashamed of the witness or testimony of the Lord, or ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment (v. 8). Rather, Timothy is urged to be a partaker of gospel afflictions, according to the power of God (v. 8). This gospel is the instrument of our salvation, through which God has called us with a holy calling—not according to our works, but according to His purpose and grace, and which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began (v. 9).

PREHISTORIC PURPOSE

Not only do you have a purpose for your life, that purpose is much older than you are. It was assigned to you—salvation and a holy calling—before the world began. It is prehistoric. It is not downstream from your first birthday. Your first birthday is millennia downstream from your purpose. Your life has a meaning that is outside the history of the world. Your meaning is anchored elsewhere, secure in the eternal counsels of the living God.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO FEAR AND SHAME

Paul reminds Timothy that he was not given a Spirit of fear (v. 7). And after he itemizes the things that the Holy Spirit does bring, he goes on to say that Timothy must not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord (v. 8), and he must not be ashamed of the fact that Paul is in prison (again).

The Spirit bestows three characteristics in this passage. They are power, love, and a sound mind.

The Spirit was displayed in power at the first Pentecost when He equipped the disciples to speak in languages they had not studied. Jesus told them to wait until the Spirit came with power (Luke 24:49), and that was what was displayed in Jerusalem that day. The gifts of the Spirit are indeed powerful. But that is not the great power He has. His great power is the power of the holy calling. He can make tawdry, dirty little sinners like us into holy saints.

Remember that the Corinthian church was not lacking in any of the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 1:7). Paul had to devote several chapters of traffic control with regard to those gifts (1 Cor. 12-14). But even though they had all those gifts, Paul could not regard them as spiritual men, but rather as carnal. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1).

AFFLICTIONS AND THE GOSPEL

When someone like Paul is thrown into prison for the sake of the gospel, do you think the devil is stupid enough to grant that this is why? “Yes, we know he is a good man, and that he is bringing us good news of salvation through Christ, which a gracious God is offering us, but we want to jail him anyway. . .” Do you think that the devil is that foolish?

No. Jesus was executed for blasphemy. The charges against Paul made him out to be a pest and troublemaker. The early Christians were accused of cannibalism (because of the Lord’s Supper) and incest (because of the love between brothers and sisters). Canadian pastors get arrested because they won’t bow down in the spirit of fear that has gripped the world, but the official name for it is “denying the science.”

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

The Spirit is the one who gives us a sound mind. One of the central aspects of having a sound mind in this world is the result of having a purpose and meaning that is grounded outside the world. So don’t get tangled up in questions about whether you were predestined to reach for the pencil with your left hand or your right. You were predestined to be holy(Eph. 1:4). That is your purpose (Eph. 2:10). You were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:23). That is your destination. And the Spirit is the one who brings you there.

No fear, and no shame. A holy calling. A sincere faith. Power, love, and a sound mind. All of it integrated together, knit together in love (Col. 2:2), as the Spirit completes the work He was sent into the world to do. Why not here? Why not now?

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The Day of the Lord (Joel CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

We’re in dire need of a revival. Evangelicals need to be born-again. The Pentecostals need to be Spirit-filled. The Reformed need a reformation. The Methodists need a Great Awakening. Joel lays out for us what such a Heaven-born revival consists of, what God’s people should do to ready for it, and the consequences of indifference towards the coming Day of the Lord.

THE TEXT

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand… (Joel 2)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After imploring the priests and the people to mourn and fast (1:14) in response to the locust swarms devastating the land––cutting off the ingredients for the meat & drink offerings (1:9)––Joel then invites his audience to look through the locust plague, and discern the cosmic implications.

There are two trumpet blasts in this text (v1 & 15). The first describes the day of the Lord as a marauding army and the right response to it (vv1-14); the second trumpet blast describes how a contrite people will enjoy the relenting of God, and experience the Day of the Lord as a day of the Spirit outpoured (vv15-32). The Day of the Lord is first described as a day of horror, and thus an appeal to repent is made. But then for those who repent, the Day of the Lord is described as a great deliverance.

The warning trumpet should be sounded, for the day of the Lord is near (v1). This is the Helms Deep of the OT. It is a day of unrivaled darkness (v2), Eden turns into Mordor, and none can escape (v3). The locust swarms give way to an invading army: swift as horses (v4), determined, well armored (v5), fierce and fearful (v6), disciplined and indefatigable (v7); they move with remarkable coordination and are not deterred by pain (v8); this invasion will be total, leaving no place to hide (v9); these events shake the earth and throw the heavens into turbulence (v10). This is Lord’s army and has come at His command (v11). The prophet closes this description of the coming day of the Lord with the rhetorical question: “Who can abide it?”

The Lord Himself then speaks to the people to describe the right response to the news of this coming day of judgement: “turn to me (v12).” This returning is to be entire, heartfelt, and accompanied with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and lest they think they can go through the motions of mourning, He admonishes them to rend their hearts and not their garments (v13). This repentance is founded upon God’s covenant mercies (v13, Cf. Ex. 34:6-7). Repentant sinners hope for a repentant God. But should God relent from His wrath, and leave the blessing of the restoration of the meat and drink offerings, it will be purely from His great mercy (v14).

Now the second trumpet blast sounds. All the residents of Zion––the elders and infants, the bridegroom and his bride––are summoned to solemnly assemble (vv15-16, Cf. 1:14). Joel paints a touching picture of what this repentance should look like: priests and people in the temple courts, with the priests crying out on behalf of all the people, “Spare thy people, O Lord (v17).” If Judah responds with this sort of total repentance, the result will be God’s aroused jealousy and pity (v18). What will follow is His restoration of the Deuteronomic blessings: bountiful crops, reproach removed, and the invaders driven back (vv19-20). The land shall be refreshed, and all which the locust had eaten would be restored (vv21-25). The people would enjoy the Sabbath rest of the Promised Land once more, and offer thankful praise without shame, all so that it might be known that the Lord is in their midst (vv26-27).

After this, the Spirit of God would be poured out upon all the people (vv28-29). The Cosmos themselves would reverberate to this radical turning of the redemptive tides (vv30-31). The repentant people, being restored to communion with God, are assured that the Lord shall ever be their Deliverer, and any who call on Him shall enjoy this salvation (v32).

THE LAYERS OF PROPHECY

One of the key tactics of the prophets is how they look through current events. The immediate tragedy of swarming insects was just a forerunner of a greater day of judgement which awaits. Think of it as standing atop a high hill and being able to see the next ridge, and beyond that a higher mountain, and further still the Snow-capped peaks.

Joel has rebuked the people for failing to respond appropriately to the locust swarm (the first ridge). He then employs the locust as a portent of coming invaders (the higher ridge). The prophecy then concludes with a Messianic crescendo foretelling the downfall of all God’s enemies, and Zion enjoying His blessed reign (the Snow-capped peaks).

So the people ought to have responded to the locust with full-throttled repentance. In order to stir them up to this, Joel warns that an army––fiercer than the swarms they just endured––will soon invade (likely the Assyrians, Cf. v20). Looming behind this is an even greater “Day of the Lord” which will be experienced one of two ways: either great blessing, or great ruin. All of it hinges on the sort of repentance. Is it heaven-born sorrow––which God alone gives––or just earthly sorrow?

Innovation is often mistaken for repentance. But just because we’ve made some innovations culturally, doesn’t mean we have repented. Repentance is a returning. Returning to God’s Word. Our modern debates within Christendom center––as they always do––on the authority of God’s Word. The rejection of God’s word as the standard for justice, in favor of embracing Marxist and humanist definitions of justice indicates that we are not truly interested in righting wrongs. Those loudly ringing the bells of social justice are offering a semblance of repentance, but it is mere innovation. It is not reformation, which would be a humble return to God’s Word.

THE SERMON AT PENTECOST

This text from Joel was the text which the Apostle Peter went to in Acts 2:17 to describe the day of Pentecost. Peter insists that what Joel prophesied had come to pass in this marvelous outpouring of the Spirit. This wasn’t innovation, this was a return to what God had promised He would do when Messiah came. Peter informs us how to read Joel. The Day of the Lord had come

God’s compassion forms the basis for Joel’s vision of the future blessing of the outpoured Spirit. An army of destruction comes, but those whom God mercifully humbles and brings to repentance––the first fruits of the outpouring of the Spirit––will enjoy deliverance. The fire fell, and now empowered a nation of priests for prophetic service in a new temple, the church (Cf. Num. 11:16-30).

A PROPHETIC PEOPLE

Joel’s vision is of a prophetic people. To quote Spurgeon: “Unless we have the spirit of prophecy resting upon us, the mantle which we wear is nothing but a rough garment to deceive.” The Spirit emboldens us to proclaim that Jesus is Lord (Cf. Rom. 10:13). When the Spirit applies what Christ purchased, the result is a new heart. A heart assured that sin is forgiven.

A mom no longer riddled with shame will be bold in teaching her children to follow Christ. A formerly resentful teen will no longer cower before his peers. A businessman whose confidence is in Christ’s work and not his own will freely speak up about Jesus in his workplace. This is because the Spirit gives boldness.

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