You can turn in your Bible with me to Joel chapter
2, Joel chapter 2, and I'm going to believe this
morning for some unique things to happen. And
while you're turning there, we're going to switch
gears. I meant to do this right after worship,
that's why I forgot, but we are... We have the
privilege this morning of receiving nine new
people into membership. Amen? Isn't that awesome?
Praise the Lord. And so I am going to call their
names and ask them to come down here to the front
this morning. Sam and Kathy Smith. Amen. Now,
they turned in their application like months
and months ago, and so this should have come
a lot sooner for them, but here they are. Amen.
Abigail Hill. Tim and Jesse Butler. Are they
here? Oh, they're in Kids Church. That's why
I meant to do it right after worship. So standing
in for Tim and Jesse is Ben and Charlene Butler.
Amen. And last but not least is Jack and Gina
Piper. Amen. Did I get everybody? I think so.
Okay, so Tim and Jesse, we actually, oh, one
more. Yes, Logan, come up here. Now, the reason
I miss Logan is because he was already a junior
member, and he is transferring to become a full
-fledged member. He turned 18, and we're excited
about that. Praise God. Isn't this amazing? Jesus
is building his church. Now, some of these are
up here because they're part of our pastoral
team. Jack and Gina are preparing to move to
Petersburg. They're already ministering there
regularly and will pastor that church. And we're
excited about that. We're believing for their
house to sell in Monmouth. When they're not here,
they're in Petersburg, and they drive two hours
either way. And we're thankful for their sacrifice.
Amen. And then Ben and Charlene have joined us
as youth pastors, and so they're part of our
pastoral team. And so we're excited about what
God is doing in the house. Amen. Praise the Lord.
We believe that membership, you don't necessarily
find membership in the Bible per se. In fact,
there's not a lot of instruction on how every
single local church should do everything. We
find membership to be a step of covenant. And
covenant is something that you do find in the
Bible. And this is about one another. Amen? And
so when a person has grown in their faith to
the point where they are ready to covenant with
the church, that's how we view membership. Membership
is to the body at large, as we are all part of
the kingdom of God no matter where we go, right?
But this is commitment not just to the kingdom
at large, but to the local family that is right
here in Lincoln, Illinois, and in Petersburg,
Illinois, Faith Church. And we're thankful for
that. And so I just want to ask you some questions.
And candidates, you can respond by just saying,
I do or I will, whatever is appropriate. Will
you purpose in your heart to walk in unity with
your brothers and sisters as long as it depends
on you? Live at peace with all men. Will you
with the help of the Holy Spirit guard your testimony
and live in a manner pleasing to the Lord? Will
you as unto the Lord give as the Lord enables
you to support the various works of the ministry?
Will you give yourself to prayer and to the word
as you grow in him? Will you come under and support
the covering of this house as we pursue the vision
that God gives to us? Will you offer the gifts
that God has given to you, not only to bless
the Lord, but to minister to others, both the
believers already here and those that are lost?
Finally, above all things, will you clothe yourself
with love, encouraging and spurring one another
on until the appearing of Jesus Christ? Praise
the Lord. Amen. Glory to God. Glory to God. Just
hold steady here a minute because I'm going to
ask the church, those that are members here and
those that are part of the church, all of us,
will you receive this group of members into the
family, spurring them on and encouraging them
in their walk with the Lord and continue in unity
so long as it depends upon you? Will you not
only minister to them with your gifts, but will
you receive ministry from them as the Lord has
gifted them? And will you clothe yourself with
love and freely give to them what you have freely
received from the Lord? Hallelujah. And so, it
is with an open heart. that we fully receive
each of you today into membership of Faith Church.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I'm going
to ask the current elders that are here, and
I'm going to ask Dennis and Linda as well. as
our missions pastors to join us up here and lay
hands on them as we commit them to the Lord and
pray over them. I'm going to ask the rest of
us. Oh, good thing Dennis and Linda are here.
The DECOs are out celebrating their 50th anniversary.
That's kind of important, don't you think? Yeah,
I think so too. Church, stretch your hands towards
these right now and just pray over them. Hallelujah.
We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We
just lay hands on these, God. We thank you for
them joining to the house. We bless them in the
name of Jesus. We thank you, Father, for your
hand upon them, God. Lord, we just lay hands
upon them. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. In
Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.
We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We
give you glory, God. We give you glory, God.
We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We
give you praise, Lord. We give you praise. We
magnify your name. Father, we... pray over these
right now. We know that they walk through life
just as we do. And we know that it's filled with
victories. It's filled, Lord, with battles. It's
filled with ups and it's filled with downs. And
I ask God in Jesus' name that as they are united
covenantally, they are united to this family,
that your strength And that your favor, the favor
that is on this house, would be on them in Jesus'
name. And God, we thank you for using them in
ministry, in works of righteousness. God, we
thank you for helping them walk with you day
by day in Jesus' name. Amen. Glory to God. Glory
to God. Give Him praise. Give Him praise. Give
him praise. Hallelujah. Glory to Jesus. Glory
to Jesus. You can all be seated. We will have
certificates for all of you, but our copier is
acting up and not printing well. And so we want
it to be acting right when we print those. And
so we will have those for you. And we're thankful
for God working in your lives. Glory to Jesus.
Amen. Well, are you in Joel chapter 2? And so,
if you are in Joel chapter 2, I want to read
probably one of the most famous verses in the
Pentecostal world, and it's the verse that Peter
quoted in Acts chapter 2. I'm not going to read
the whole thing, but I'm going to read part of
it, and starting in verse 28. And it shall come
to pass afterward that I will pour my Spirit
on all flesh. Everybody say, all flesh. Your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your
old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall
see visions. And also on my menservants and my
maidservants, I will pour out my spirit in those
days. And I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars
of smoke. And the sun shall be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood before the coming of
the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it
shall come to pass that whoever calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom
the Lord calls. Glory to God. Glory to God. Father,
I thank you for your word. I ask God that you
would just anoint this moment. And cause your
word to go into our hearts. Lord, often as I'm
reading it, it just goes into me and it just
ministers to me. And I ask that that would happen
today in Jesus' name. Amen. Now given the choice
between seeing visions and dreaming dreams, after
reading this, I want to see visions. I just want
to say that. It's the young men that see the
visions. I'm not ready to dream dreams yet. It's
the old men that dream the dreams. I feel like
in my life I'm hanging in the balance. My grandsons
are here. Is Papa old or young? That's right.
You seniors in the house, is Pastor young or
old? Oh, hallelujah. Which crowd I like more?
I'm in that in -between place. Anybody else in
the in -between place? I see sons pointing at
their mothers. I feel like I'm in the in -between
place, and I am neither young nor old. Sometimes
I feel really young, and sometimes I feel really
old. That's the way that it is. I believe this
morning, God wants to do something in your life.
And it does not matter if you're young or old.
It does not matter if you're male or female.
And it does not matter what nationality you come
from, what your culture is, what the culture
of your family is. Every family culture is different.
And God speaks the language of your family. Aren't
you glad for that? And so God wants to do something
in your life. He wants to unlock something in
your life. Thank you, Lord. And so Joel came
along and the timing of the prophet Joel as to
when he prophesied this is very much in dispute
because he doesn't mention anything in his letter
that would connect it to a historical event.
And so some scholars think that Joel was written
long before Isaiah, which we're going to get
to Isaiah in a little while in the message this
morning. And some believe he was closer to Malachi
than Isaiah was. And so there's about a 500 -year
span of arguing over when this book was written.
For our purposes this morning, it does not matter
when it was written. Because the promises that
are in it are yes and amen in Christ. How many
of you believe that if somebody is looking for
help, that they ought to be able to find it at
a church? That if somebody needs food, that if
they call the church and I answer the phone and
they say, I need food, that it would be wrong
for me to say, Sorry, we don't have any. Because
the churches exist to provide. Amen? And to give.
In fact, the calling to social ministry is very
real. To take care of the poor. To feed the hungry.
To clothe the naked. To visit people that are
in prison. Amen? It is very simple. Sometimes
the church is not very good at that. Sometimes
the church is good at having services. I thank
God for the Tuesday food distribution. You know,
if nothing happens other than the fact that we
give food away, that's a good thing. Amen? We're
doing the work of the kingdom. We're doing the
work of the kingdom. But God wants to do way
more than meet your physical needs. God wants
to touch you in your spirit. And Joel's prophecy
here is an amazing prophecy. I'm not going to
attempt to preach every point of this prophetic.
I want to draw a few things that I believe that
God wants to speak to us this morning. And the
first one is this. When God pours His Spirit
out, He pours it out in abundance. He is a liberal
God. Some of you aren't too sure about that because
your view of the word liberal is different. God
is a liberal God. He gives liberally. There's
perhaps some ways that we should take up that
liberality and become like Him. He gives abundantly.
I want to read from the pulpit Bible commentary.
I don't often do this. But the word for God pouring
out His Spirit is the word Shafak. It is a Hebrew
word. And the word shafak, which is employed
by the prophet to express the outpouring of the
Spirit, implies the bestowal of the gift in great
abundance. I don't even quote Calvin often, but
listen to this. As Calvin clearly pointed out,
For shafak, he says, does not mean to merely
give in drops, but to pour out in great abundance.
Hallelujah. But God did not pour out the Holy
Spirit so abundantly or copiously under the law
as He has since the manifestation of Christ.
In the Old Testament, There are some awesome
stories. Elijah standing before the prophet Baal
and calling down fire. Hallelujah. It's an awesome
story, isn't it? But the only one that experienced
the fire was Elijah. In the Old Testament, it
was here a little, there a little. Some awesome
things happened to prove God's reality. But the
abundance after the resurrection of Christ, of
the outpouring of the Spirit, is for everybody.
Glory to God. Hallelujah. The Spirit was indeed
communicated in Old Testament times, but that
communication was restricted in two ways, in
quantity and in the number of recipients, the
former comparatively scanty and the latter few.
Whereas the word here applied to its communication
implies a rich supply. like a copious rainfall.
After the specification of the time and the mention
of the blessing, with its implied plentifulness,
comes its wide diffusion. God has not limited
himself to the few. He has made himself available
to the many. The term all flesh does not mean
that every single person in the world is going
to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The term all flesh means that all types of people,
any type of person, can receive the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. God's blessing for your life
is very real. Amen? And it is abundant. And so
the author, Joel, goes on and he describes some
of that flesh. First of all, it is open to your
sons and your daughters. Amen? Now can I say
something? That in this society that Joel is
preaching to, this is a radical statement. The
Holy Spirit is not just for the men, but the
Holy Spirit is for the women. The Holy Spirit
is not limited. to anybody's life in this room.
Paul said it like this. There is neither male
nor female. But that the blessing and the abundance
of God can be poured out on everybody. Glory
to God. That's so good. Because you know what
men do? Men try to draw lines. And they try to
say, this is what makes you in. And this is what
makes you out. God destroys all those lines.
And he says the abundance of the Holy Spirit
is for everybody, male and female. And he goes
on, having said your sons and daughters, he says
your old men shall dream dreams. I want to pause
here a moment because I think that this is one
of the primary things that God wants to speak
to us. this morning. Your old men shall dream
dreams. Why does he speak this out? Just meditating
on this. These are people that have lived a while.
We have young people in this room, and we have
older people in this room. If you're not afraid
to say how old you are, is there anybody in this
room 75 or older? Wow. Is there anybody in this
room 80 or older? Is there anybody in this room,
I'll go up, 85 or older? 86 or older? 87 or older?
88 or older? Nancy and Brother Bob, can we just
honor them right now? In Jesus' name. When you
get older, there's one thing that's inevitable.
You suffer loss. You suffer loss. And it's not
just in your family. It is in life. I was listening
to the 100 -year interview of Dick Van Dyke.
He said the hardest thing is that everybody that
I've done life with is no longer here. And it's
difficult. Do you know what he has suffered?
Loss. Loss. Ways that you once cherished are
not there anymore. And you wish that those old
ways could come back. The things that you valued
aren't valued by the generation of today. And
that's true no matter which generation gets older.
That's always forever true. But you suffer loss.
And along with loss comes A biblical thing called
mourning. Loss equates mourning. There was an
ordained pastor that I was reading. and he was
writing as an 81 -year -old retired pastor, and
he was really remembering the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit and the way that God used to move
around the altars, and he was lamenting that
it isn't that way anymore. And there were different
ones responding, saying, well, you know, it's
not the same, but it's still there, or it's a...
You know, it's different. You need to change.
And it hit me. This pastor is mourning. He is
in mourning something that has been lost that
he perceives is no longer there. Mourning. I
want us to turn to Isaiah chapter 61. This is
one of the foundational verses of faith church
and the ministry of Jesus. Verse 2. To comfort
all who mourn. Now, The power of this verse is
that it is not just talking about those that
have been widowed or are widowers in the family
sense. The power of this verse is that it is
talking about people that remembered Israel when
it was free. And now it's not free. And they
remembered Israel when it was walking right with
God. And now it's not walking right with God.
and so they are in mourning. How many of you,
when you read the newspaper about America, sometimes
your heart begins to grieve? All is not well
in the United States of America. And for the
Christian, it can move us to grieving, to mourning.
And Isaiah was identifying with the people that
were mourning over their nation. But the truth
applies to any that have suffered loss. That
God does not leave you in the state of your mourning.
And that's important. Now, there's a progression
here. And at the end of verse 2, it says, to
comfort all who mourn. And if you are in a fresh
place of suffering loss, then you are supposed
to be in the place of mourning. Don't let people
move you out of that place too quickly. That
is God doing a work inside of you. And the first
thing that God does when we are mourning is He
comes alongside of us and He comforts us. He
comforts all who mourn. He is not saying, come
on, buck up and get over it. He's not saying
that. Jesus said, come to me all who are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And
you shall find rest for your souls. What is the
work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus said? It is
the work of comforting. And if you have suffered
loss and you are grieving, perhaps you got fired
from a job you love, or perhaps a business that
you started has Come to the place where it can
no longer go on. Guess what you are probably
going to feel? You're going to feel a measure
of mourning. Even when Elijah mourned, God didn't
at first come alongside and call him to change.
He first came alongside of him and comforted
him. And I want to thank God for the comfort
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And if you're in that
place this morning, I want you to know you are
not alone and that there is a God that is coming
alongside of you. And that work of mourning is
the beginning of healing and opening up your
soul to the Lord. And it is good to surrender
to that mourning and just let that mourning happen
before the Lord. It is a good thing. But mourning,
can go on for too long. And when mourning goes
on for too long, the work of the Holy Spirit
begins to shift. And then the next thing that
happens is that consolation comes. The King James
word here is appointed. To appoint those who
mourn in Zion. And what that word embodies is
the beginning of a turning point. That you are
no longer in the place of mourning, but now you
are in a place of preparation. Because you've
lost something, but God is not done with you.
Amen? You've lost something, but God is not done
with you. Because if he was done with you, you
would not be here anymore. I'm telling you what,
as long as there is breath in these lungs, there
is purpose for this life. And you need to declare
that over yourself. That as long as there's breath
in my lungs, I have a reason to live. As long
as there's breath in my lungs, I have purpose
in my life. And so that season of mourning comes
to an end and God begins to turn you around and
say it is time to engage in life again. Oh, hallelujah.
There's no time frame. There's no specific time
frame. Sometimes I wish that it were more like
in the Old Testament where you could just shut
everything down. In the Old Testament, when it
came time to mourn for 30 or 60 days, they would
shut everything down, and those were the days
to weep. And those were the days to just pour
your heart out. And then those days would come
to an end. But in today's culture, we don't have
that. We have a few days where maybe a celebration
of life, and then you're on your own, and you're
supposed to just muddle through life and just
get over it. And sometimes I think it takes a
little bit longer than that. And some people
that I talk to say that those initial stages
of mourning can be a year and sometimes longer.
But there comes a moment when the mourning is
over and the equipping begins. And a person begins
to say, so what now, Lord? What now? What now?
And the first thing that God does is he equips
you. Is he sweeps away the ashes. And he gives
you beauty. That's a good day, isn't it? That's
a good day. When the ashes are gone, that was
what... burned up yesterday the ashes that you
hang on to by looking in the past all the time
the ashes were yesterday's sacrifice and that
was a good moment but it is over and it is no
longer gone and you clear the ashes away so that
that which is new can come hallelujah Oh, glory
to God. I want to speak over somebody whose children
no longer live with you, and since they've moved
out, you have been in a state of mourning. And
they're not gone, but it's not the same. And
you are in a state of mourning, and in fact,
you don't even know what to do. But I'm telling
you, God has new purpose for your life. Hallelujah.
Things, in fact, that you thought were not a
blessing are going to become a blessing because
things are opening up in your life. God has not
called you to just meander wishing the ashes
would reform and become what they once were.
They will not. But God has new beauty for your
life. And he has a new plan. Oh, hallelujah.
The other thing he does is that he replaces that
spirit of mourning that has been on your life,
that once had a place for your life, but now
it is no longer supposed to be there. Now he
wants to give you the oil of joy. Hallelujah.
Oh, my God, my God, my God. And some people think,
well, this should not be. If I really loved the
thing that I lost, or if I really... love the
one that I lost, then I've got to keep myself
in the place where I am not happy anymore. Because
if I'm not happy anymore, that somehow expresses
that I still am having love for the person in
the past. And can I tell you, that is a lie of
the enemy that wants to keep you from healing.
what you will find is that you have room enough
in your heart to love the people that God gave
to you in the past and walk in the joy of the
Lord and walk in the joy of the Holy Spirit.
And I just right now, there might be somebody
here this morning that would say, it's been a
long time since I really laughed. It's been a
long time. In fact, since that diagnosis, five,
six, seven years ago, I've not really had joy.
God wants to begin to pour the oil of joy over
you again. What is this? I'm beginning to dream
again. What is this? God is putting something
in my heart again. Can you feel the Holy Spirit
in this room right now? What is this? Something
is being awakened inside of me that has been
dormant. It's the oil of joy. It's the garment
of praise. He wants to make you dance again.
Maybe physically dancing now means I'm just rocking
back and forth like this. But it's on the inside.
I feel the joy of the Lord in this house. Come
on. Your old men shall dream dreams. And God
doesn't want it to just stop there. He doesn't
want just the spirit of heaviness to be gone.
He doesn't want you to just have feelings of
joy again. He is going to call you. once again
with a renewed purpose and renewed vision for
your life. He is going to plant you in a field.
You are going to be called the planting of the
Lord. Hallelujah. Why? So that God might be glorified.
So that God might be glorified. Anybody that
you know that has suffered loss, do you know
what the end of that loss is if they will submit
and surrender to God? that He might be glorified.
Hallelujah. If we can see the end from the beginning,
we feel like nothing is ever going to heal. We
feel like nothing is ever going to get to the
place. But when we come before the Lord and we
say, God, pour Your Spirit out upon me. I know
it's for me. He begins to renew you. And He begins
to do things in your life that you never thought
were possible. And He plants you. He plants you.
to grow anew and you begin to have like 2 .0
happening in your life and God is glorified in
a way that you never thought possible. And they
shall rebuild the old ruins. And so As I was
preparing this message, I found that thread again,
the Assemblies of God minister page of this 81
-year -old man. And I said, I wrote to him, and
I said, you're grieving for the moving of the
Holy Spirit. But your grieving is going to turn
to joy. And God is going to give you a dream
again. And it's going to move you. They shall
rebuild the old ruins. Now, they're not going
to look exactly the same as they did. But they're
going to be there. And they're going to be filled
with life. And the wells that were once stopped
up are going to flow with water again. Why? Because
you got a dream. You've got to dream. They shall
repair the ruined cities. The desolations of
many generations. These are the mourners. These
are the people that have suffered loss. And now
strangers are going to feed their flocks. Sons
of the foreigner shall plow. And vine dressers.
And you, the mourners, the ones that have suffered
loss, shall be priests of the Lord Most High.
You know where the fulfillment of this is? Right
now. Right now. Everyone in this room is a priest
standing between God and man. With responsibility
and authority and purpose. There is nobody in
this room that the church can do without. There
is nobody in this room that doesn't have an assignment
from heaven. The old men shall dream dreams.
I know I've lost a lot. I know the way that things
used to be that I really liked. But my eyes are
set, not in the rear view mirror, but on the
future. And like Caleb, they stand up and say,
God, give me this mountain. just translating
that here. God, the outpouring of the Spirit
that I once knew. That faith church, faith church
is experiencing a little bit of it, but I've
dreamed a dream. And I've seen this place full.
Hallelujah. And I'm asking God to give us the
mountain of revival. And I'm asking God to give
us the mountain of souls coming into the kingdom.
of lives transforming in the name of Jesus. I've
asked God that in my time that I have left, as
I keep sowing and I keep sowing and I keep sowing,
that God is going to move like He said He would
because God has given me a dream. Hallelujah.
How many of you could do with a new dream in
your life? I'm not asking you if you're old or
not. How many of you could do with a new dream
in your life? Come on. You could do with something
of substance from God. And I'm not talking about
you just coming up with something to fill your
time that you enjoy doing. I'm talking about
something of substance that's going to make a
difference in the kingdom of God. Driving back
the kingdom of darkness. seeing the kingdom of
God come forth in Jesus' name. Who would like
that kind of a dream in your heart and in your
life? Hands are up all over this room. Hallelujah.
Glory to God. Glory to God. And so Isaiah ends
chapter 61, and he says, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God,
for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
covered me with the robe of righteousness as
a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and
as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Hallelujah.
These are people that were in mourning. And in
a spiritual sense, church, I want to call you
out of mourning in the name of the Lord. When
you remember what God has done in the past, in
revivals, I want to remind you that the best
is yet to come. That we're not looking at the
past just to say how great it was. The best is
yet to come. Hallelujah. We're not just remembering
the past just so that we can just cherish it
and just say, well, I'm glad that was a part
of my life. No, God, we are hungry for you to
move now. In Jesus' name. God, do it again. God,
do it again. God, do it again. Thank you, Father.
Thank you, Father. Your young men shall see visions.
Some of you younger people, it's not either generation
is not lesser or greater. It's this. Some of
you young people have never experienced the move
of God in much capacity. You've not seen yet
what it looks like when God pours His Spirit
out on a city or in a region. And God is not
saying that you are lesser because of that. In
fact, He's going to give you a special gift.
And it is the gift of vision. And He's going
to cause you to see things that people in your
generation are not seeing. He's going to cause
you to know things about God and about what God
is going to do that people in your generation
do not know and do not see. He's going to give
you a vision for what is going to be fulfilled
in your life. Your young people shall see visions.
Your older people shall dream dreams. And the
two of them working together will see God do
incredible things in our time and in our day.
Amen. Praise God. You young people, when you
hear about what God has done, I hope that...
two things will happen. One, you'll say, wow,
that is amazing. Our God is amazing. But the
other thing I hope that will rise up within you
is a hunger that says, but God, I want to see
it in my lifetime. I want to see it in my generation.
I want to see it in my school, in my junior high,
in my high school, in my time. I want to see
the reality of who you are happen in my day.
In Jesus' name. Your young men shall see visions.
And God does a new thing. Pour out my spirit
on all flesh. There's a whole lot of reasons
why God pours out his spirit. I want to close
right now. And I want to just ask you to present
yourself before the Lord and say, God, I want
you to do it in me. And if you could, just posture
yourself for the abundance of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, just right now, just bow your heads
around this room. And just begin to talk to the
Lord. And just begin to say, God, I need the
infilling of your presence in my life. I need
the infilling of your spirit in my life. Hallelujah.