We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be
healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship
together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody
today's episode of Healing Scars with Pastor Burton is sponsored by Waking
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Again that's wakingbearcoffee.com. Hey everybody welcome to the sanctuary. It is
so good to have you with us today and for those of you who are new let me just
take a moment to say welcome. Welcome one and all. For some time now we've been
going through and working our way through the least preached books of the
Bible. Now of course in the process we've explored many of the shortest books in
the Bible and we've had other sermons and series kind of intermixed in there
as well. To date we have completed nine of the ten least preached books. Today
we're going to round this out and begin the tenth book. Surprise, surprise right?
Now it is a short book and being three chapters long you would think it's one
of the shortest books. However you would be wrong. You know it falls in roughly at
the top one-third of the Bible. There are 23 shorter books before it. So suffice to
say we're going to spend a little bit of time going through it at least a couple
of weeks. Alright now of course we're going to start with a little bit of
backgrounds on this book and set things up. You know talk a little bit about the
author and so we can frame the picture here.
So we're looking at the book of Joel and frankly there's just not a lot that's
known about him. We know he's the son of Pethul and we also know that this book
was probably written during the time he was a prophet which was during the reign
of King Joash around 855 to approximately 796 BC. With that said
however I do want to point out that the date of when this was written really
isn't nearly as important as the message it contains which is simply this. Sin
will bring the judgment of God upon us all. However God will be merciful to
anyone who repents and turns back to him. And such is the message of
hope that he's given us. This is why Jesus went to the cross for us to
give us this hope and to remind us we need to turn to God. And you
know for those of us who turn to God and you know but you know believe in him as
our our our King and you know Jesus our Savior and all you know we have that
hope we we know that he will save us and we will be joined with him in heaven.
Right? That is the promise that the gospel gives us. Now as we've seen in so
many places throughout the Bible this book was written as a warning to the
people of Judah who in their prosperity had become very complacent, arrogant,
idolatrous, and really they took God for granted. And it's so easy to
do when things are going well. You know Joel was warning them that you know the
same thing that we all need to be warned about today. That God's judgment is
coming because of our society and our culture's sins and that we you know as a
society need to turn back to God. All right? It really is that simple. You know
we've seen this a lot. This is you know kind of a common theme throughout the
Bible that you know hey you know guys you need to shape up or ship out
because you know things are coming and if you're not ready it's gonna be rough.
It's gonna be bad. You're not gonna like the outcome. Right? Plain and simple.
You know going through this book we're going to see that it is split into two
parts. The first being the day of locust and the second part being the day of the
Lord. And throughout you know these two parts we are also going to see that
there are three specific themes. One of punishment, one of forgiveness, and the
one of the promise of the Holy Spirit. Okay? There let's look at you know there
are things in this world in this life that we're witness to that just leave us
an absolute awe. Right? I mean there's not really a better word for it. Just awe.
Just like wow. You know we're talking about those things that are man-made and
those things you know those there's it's what we look at and we term as natural
events you know you know nature that sort of thing. Right? You know sometimes
that awe is something absolutely amazing and other times something absolutely
horrific. And you think about you know a sunset you know that's something here
even just in you know where where I live here in New Mexico that that we're big
on you know the sunsets. You know a meteor shower. The birth of a child.
Right? Absolutely the beautiful things. And then there's things like Pearl Harbor
and the events that led up to you know the dropping of the atomic bomb and the
wake of devastation left in the wake of you know all these things you know
various conflicts and wars. You know here's a big one that's that we're
seeing all around the world in various areas right now. You know hurricanes,
tornadoes, earthquakes. Think about tsunamis. You know we've been seeing these
things hit and a lot of people have suffered because of it you know just in
the last you know couple couple weeks really cut last couple days we've been
seeing these things in the news. Yet you know we've been seeing things unfold and
leaves us in awe and it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And you think
about it you think of all these things that I just talked about all the other
things that you can imagine and they all pale in comparison to the the full power
of our God. And that's something we haven't even seen yet you know we just
seen an offering you know that the one who created it all created us. You see
God's judgment it's coming for us all. It really is. However he's knocking at the
door and he's ready to forgive anyone and everyone who will open that door
repent from their sin and turn back to him. And it really is that simple. It
really is. Now for those of you with your Bibles and those of you who are taking
notes turn with me to Joel chapter 1 and we're gonna start with the first four
verses here. So Joel 1 verses 1 through 4 the Bible says this, the word of the
Lord that came to Joel son of Pethul, hear this you elders listen all who live
in the land has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of
your ancestors? Tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their
children and their children to the next generation. What the locust swarm has
left the great locust to eat. What the great locust have left the young locust
to be eaten. What the young locust have left other locust to be eaten. God's
saying this he's saying listen up and listen good because what he has to say
not it doesn't just need to be heard it needs to be learned from and it doesn't
need to just be learned from one group of people it needs to get passed on for
future generations that we need to learn and teach our children so that they can
learn from the past as well. One of the greatest things that we have to pass on
in our own life's journey is where we've been what we've done how God has been
there for us through it all guiding us correcting us convicting us of our sins
helping us with our mistakes showing us mercy grace and love sharing all this is
easily one of the best ways that we can also encourage others in their faith and
their walks with God and their relationships with Jesus and and not
only that but to introduce others to Jesus who don't even know him yet see
and that's part of the problem out there that we're seeing today with this whole
cancel culture isn't it you know people don't like things you know that it was
ugly and it was brutal and you know the people were hurt so we're gonna just
erase it from the history books and tear down statues and monuments and
buildings and this and that we're gonna pretend like it never happened we're
gonna sugarcoat everything and just put like the good stuff out there that we
agree with in the hopes that it's gonna make a better future and you know what
that is 100% wrong 100% wrong even here in the Bible it's saying you know what
things have happened things are happening we need to learn from it and we
need to pass on what we've learned so that it doesn't happen again and it
doesn't happen worse so that people don't keep straying from God and doing
the wrong things it's a hard lesson and unfortunately a lot of people are gonna
learn this the hard way plain and simple now the next part of this passage it
literally says locust which in and of themselves can be absolutely devastating
in their own right just as bad as a literal army right and they could come
through and they can just utterly destroy an entire ecosystem that's how
brutal they are now because the detail that is given here some people believe
that Joel's meaning is that an actual plague of locust is coming okay maybe
however as we'll see in later descriptions given in the book here the
reference could also be to an invading army
regardless of which one it is or if it's something else entirely the locusts are a
symbol of impending devastation plain and simple of God's punishment for people
sin now what Joel will be referring to as the day of the Lord later on in this
book that's that's what this is this this impending doom this devastation
this army that's kind of going to be coming it's it's a God's punishment for
the sins of culture and society all right continuing on verses 5 through 10
here the Bible says wake up you drunkards and weep whale all you drinkers
of wine whale because of the new wine for it has been snatched from your lips
and nation has invaded my land a mighty army without number it has the teeth of
a lion the fangs of a lioness it has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig
trees it has stripped off their bark and thrown it away leaving their branches
white mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth
grain offerings and drink offerings are cut from the house of the Lord the
priest are in mourning those who minister before the Lord the fields are
ruined the ground is dried up the grain is destroyed the new wine is dried up
the olive oil bails a lot there isn't it you know in this this really you know
this kicks off in verse 5 as something that we should all be able to relate to
you know God's calling people out he's calling people out hey wake up hey you
right and we're no different today than they were back then you know in this
respect you know people people using things to the point of excess right
abusing substances and themselves to the point that their senses are dulled you
know and we're talking both physically and spiritually really I should be
saying physically mentally and spiritually because people are doing
this to the point that they have become oblivious to their own sins haven't they
you know they can see everyone else's but their own you know or they just
ignore their own their people become very narcissistic right very narcissistic
oh I'm so great oh yeah oh yeah I'm next to perfect you know yeah I make a couple
mistakes but I'm okay I'm good right that's how people look at themselves but
they're quick to point out other people's mistakes aren't they you know or
you know even if they do you know nod you know hey you know they've got they
have some missteps in their life they're quick to find excuses too you know they
have those those petty little excuses to try to justify things but I'll remind
you sin is sin and those little excuses that people come up with they don't hold
with God they don't hold it all there is no excuse for it not one we've had the
warnings we have the commandments we have the Bible the Word of God saying
hey don't do it and just as Joel warned them we are being warned today here and
now that we need to make some serious changes in our lives and our societies
and our culture you know from one end to the next that you know that we need to
repent from our sins and turn back to God before it is too late you know being
productive and being prosperous as a society living in peace these are all
blessings from God and they're taken for granted regularly every single day
they're taken for granted people regularly love to spend their fruits of
their blessings getting drunk you know or getting high or both and it doesn't
matter if it's at a bar at a park or at home it does not matter 1st Peter
chapter 5 verse 8 the Bible says be sober minded be watchful your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour but people
they rather be muddy minded wouldn't they they don't want to deal with the
hardships in their lives the tough things that they're facing on a day-to-day
basis you know they go out they get high they get drunk and let's face it it
doesn't always have to be booze it doesn't always have to be drugs people
will use an assortment of other things to escape their realities won't they TV
movies video games you know your adrenaline junkies going out and you
know finding that next big rush you know and then living it up with their their
friends we can't recanting you know those those glory days and those glorious
things that they did and yeah people you know I hate to to say you know like that
they're like Al Bundy but I mean we all know those people that are you know
midlife or even later and they're still recalling their glory days from when
they were in school playing sports whether it was an elementary or you know
middle school or junior high depending on where you lived or high school or even
college for that matter but for the most part you know much earlier than college
for the most part it was in grade school right somewhere between first grade and
graduation you know people they get hung up on these things those become their
drugs you know and it's at these times you know when people become very you
know muddy-minded that this is when the devil has the greatest influence over us
manipulating us from turning to God you know and going down that path to hell
you know he pulls us away from him why because we're not thinking clearly we
don't have our heads on straight we're not thinking the way we should we're
living in the bottom of a bottle you know or you know and that needle or that
joint you know you know cutting something up and snorting it or you know
or running headlong into something or you know jumping out of planes or off
the side of mountains or whatever what have you it doesn't matter you know
getting lost in some sort of entertainment you know and what's more
is that in in the times of destruction to come the destruction is going to be
so thorough the people won't even have anything to sacrifice you know or to
make an offering with to God now think about even today we still make offerings
to God don't we you know we're not ripping apart animals or any kind of
sacrifices like that anymore you know however for many you know the form of
you know their money or using different gifts and talents and stuff you know to
put up mildly in today's terms you know all those instruments those tools would
be gone you know money gone food gone you know the the struggle for food and
drink is going to be so bad let alone a way to prepare it when you have it you
know it's going to be a struggle at best even the various forms of
entertainment in which we pass the time today are going to be taken from us
hardship and ruin are going to become the words of the day you know these are
things that we cannot and will not escape without turning to God before
time runs out you know think about food and drink alone you know those
necessities of life the necessities not even just the once but the needs are
going to be a struggle to come by think about that you know you're if it
happened you know today you know how many how many of you would be able to
get along without your cell phones without TVs you know people are
sacrificing cherished you know items just to try to come up with a way to pay
for food or drink during those times you know when they when they come you know
why because we figure if they're already scarce guess what the price is going to
go up as well
plain and simple there's a lot of things that we don't think about and that we
take for granted you know we like to complain about politics and the
politicians oh they're driving up the price of gas again because of this party
or that party or whatever and they take for granted that they can even afford it
let alone have it meanwhile there's parts of the world where people don't
people are starving right and it's gonna get worse I digress let's turn back to
Joel chapter 1 here we're gonna look at verses 11 and 12 the Bible says despair
you farmers whale you vine growers grave for the wheat and the barley because the
harvest of the field is destroyed the vine is dried up and the fig tree is
withered the pomegranate the palm and the apple or depending on your
translation or apricot tree all the trees in the field are dried up surely
that people's joy is withered away see the warnings here you know keep pushing
it people keep trying to bury yourself keep trying to dull your senses in a
futile effort to make the struggles of the world go away keep trying to wait
out something that's not going to go away keep trying to act like you're in
control when clearly you're not not a single one of us are see it says right
here the people's joy was going to dry up and go away let me ask you what is
your joy what is it wealth relationships health finances you know different
trinkets you know the little resources that you have time there's a big one
right there that we forget about you know whatever it is whatever it comes
from there's a solution right here in the Bible to regain the joy that you're
missing in life and we're going to see it in the following verses it's going to
come from reflecting on what God's about to tell you what God expects from each
and every one of us simple acts of obedience that show our love for him and
our faith in him right now there's certain things I'm not saying hey you're
gonna get rich no I'm not gonna say that certain ailments are gonna leave your
body no no I'm not a prosperity Patriot not gonna happen there are certain
things the Bible clearly tells us that if you know we are obedient and faithful
that our treasures will be stored up for us in heaven and that's truly where our
greatest treasures are you know where our heart is is where our treasure is
and if our heart is set on heaven guess what that's the best treasure that is
promised by the Bible the day that we go to be with the Lord and fellowship with
him in perfect harmony however like I said right here it does tell us what we
need to do in order to find joy in our lives not stuff but joy happiness
something we would all benefit to meditate on okay the section right here
that we're gonna go into it's called a call to lamentation now that's one of
those words that gets put out there a lot in it a little jargon lamentation
what is that what is lamentation a lot of preachers like to put that out there
Oh lament you know and lamenting all that kind of stuff lamented you know
lamentation matter of fact there's a whole book written on it in there well
but what is it well lamentation it is a it's it means you know to to be in sorrow
you know it's a call of sorrow that comes from loss and regret you know it's
it could best be compared to you know that feeling you have when you lose a
loved one you know I'm not talking you know breaking up with a boyfriend or a
girlfriend or anything I mean like like losing a loved one you know like with
that relative that you should be close to you know passes away and gets called
home you know you know by God that sort of thing you know that that just that
that hole the emptiness that's left in you that that's what it what it is to
lament that's what that feeling is all right so go going in here Joel 1 verses
13 and 14 the Bible says put on sackcloth you priest and more whale you
who minister before the altar come spend the night in sackcloth you who minister
before my God for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from
the house of your God declare a holy fast call a sacred assembly summon the
elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God and cry
out to the Lord I love that even you're right here you know and it called call
the sacred coming it's in come together as the church it's one of our greatest
tools right there isn't it one of our greatest assets coming together as a
church the Bible tells us we're two or more gathered God is with us all right
now let's break down what this is talking about here a couple parts let's
start with the sackcloth all right we talked about this in the past but you
know this is a good time to remind everybody what this is if especially
those of you who are new and don't know what it is so sackcloth another one of
those terms sackcloth is simply a clothing made from like it's like a it's
a type of burlap basically you think of like a burlap sack right or like a sand
bag or burlap cloth but it's been turned into a garment of sorts you know type of
clothing you know there it's it's really uncomfortable itchy you know to the
point that it becomes painful and this clothing that it was worn during
specific times it was worn when people were in mourning and also you know
because it mourning because it served as a reminder you know to come close to God
and then also during a time of repentance you know is that our
demonstration of a person's repentance and it showed their shame and their
humility coming before God we don't really see signs of people repenting
anymore do we though not like you know these outward signs like this let alone
intentionally deciding to wear something like this right and just a description
doesn't sound comfortable does it you know and you know sleeping you know
those those who have slept with like a true a true wool blanket you know if you
never done it sometimes it could be really hard depending on how much wool
if it's mixed with certain things the more that's in there the itchier it gets
you know some of them are really uncomfortable this is a type of blanket
they were it works really good it's great for protecting you from certain
elements however typically you know when you have something like a wool blanket
you want to have some kind of garment some kind of clothing if you were like
like a certain time like you know pajamas if you would between you and
that blanket you know to kind of protect you from it you know the blanket serving
a purpose it's keeping you warm it's protecting you from certain things
however you need a little bit of protection from the blanket too right so
to decide hey I want to take something that's really uncomfortable and painful
to show myself you know before God as being sorrowful you know being
apologetic you know repenting you know say hey I recognize you know I've sinned
I've messed up you know and to wear this you know it doesn't even this isn't
something that even comes up on our radar anymore for most people it's a
quick prayer and moving along it's like God forgive me I screwed up again right
now do we need to wear stuff like this these you know today I should say you
know these days modern days no I think there's some people out there probably
would benefit from it but you know no be you know because it's a visual you know
true repentance itself true regret you know of one sins you know so to be truly
repentant before you know the Lord is to make life change you know and life
change these are these those things that you do in life those that you know
those changes those steps that you take that turn you away from you know the
sins that you've been committing and back to God these steps that you take
to make sure that you don't do it again that you don't have that misstep again
right the the next part of this however is something that we should absolutely
all still do and because there's something to be learned from it fasting
another piece of jargon you know that that lingo preachers love to throw out
there oh you need to fast I fasted last Sunday and it was great right oh we got
we have a sign up list we want everybody here to sign up to to fast at least you
know what one day out of the week for this period of time and you know it's
gonna be great and we're just gonna fast or we're gonna you know pray and that's
that's all there is to it they don't actually explain what it is you know
what is fasting let me let me break it down for you okay you know much like
like the burlap cloth it's another outward demonstration in this one though
it's a little bit more than that because not only is it a show of humility it's a
sacrifice see a fast that's why I says you know right there in the scripture I
have a holy fast you know if fast is a period of time when people sacrifice
something typically especially you know in those times it meant that you gave up
a meal that you didn't eat maybe you didn't eat for you know days on end and
not only that during this time instead of eating you know people go to God in
humility sorrowful you know for their sins and in prayer you know a reminder
prayer you know that's that's a person's conversation with God that's how we talk
to God and you know it's a fast you know it's a demonstration of a person
repenting of their sin turning to God and saying hey man I need you I need help
you know and you know please forgive me you know asking for his mercy and
rededicating themselves basically you know kind of you know devoting themselves
to him as a child would you know they're showing their loyalty you know we don't
we don't make animal sacrifices anymore for this instead we make sacrifices of
ourselves of our wants of our desires you know our various needs you know you
know we sacrifice these things to God because we know that he has our best
interest at heart now here's a caveat giving up a meal and praying during that
time instead it's a small sacrifice however it does not necessarily have to
be food right those of you who are familiar with Lent that's basically what
what Lent is it's a type of fast right but it doesn't have to be food you know
after all there are some people out there that have certain medical issues
where they need to be able to eat in order to to take certain medications or
to regulate their blood sugars or whatever you know there are other things
that we can give up in order to make that sacrifice you know one that comes
to mind really quickly for me I mean for those of you who are many of you don't
know last couple weeks I've been without a car it's been this shop had a you know
some big serious parts went out that they had to order and take some time to
come in so they can fix it and you know because of that I you know luckily you
know I have my bike but as you know if you live here in the metro area you know
we've had a quite a bit of rain lately so I've had to depend on others for
transportation and you know look for alternate means to you know get to work
for my day job and everything else let alone home or you know canceling other
appointments and all that kind of stuff so you know transportation that's a big
one you know for a lot of you you know I'd say hey you know as much as like we
like to say hey we need our cell phones how many people truly need their cell
phones you know maybe that'd be something good to give up for a period of
time you know not just a couple hours but you know maybe a couple days a week
you know go back to the the days of old where somebody needed to get a hold of
you you know they they called the house or they they called work now you know if
you don't have a landline okay cool limit your hours that you could answer
the phone or make calls to like the day of yesteryear where we had landline
strictly and don't do any of the other stuff on there you know stay out the
internet and all that stuff you know break away from your phone for a while
there's so many things out there so many things that we can sacrifice you know I
digress I'm kind of going down a rabbit trail here either way you know like I
said there's so many things that we give up and in the end it is just an app it's
simply this it is an outward demonstration that we acknowledge and
that we are truly sorry and repentant of our sins and that we recognize that we
need God to intervene and to help us to break free of these things after all you
know he is our chain breaker moving into the final part of this chapter here as
we're getting closer to the end for today Joel chapter 1 verses 15 through 20
the Bible says this alas for that day for the day of the Lord is near it will
come like destruction from the Almighty has not the food been cut off before
our very eyes joy and gladness from the house of our God the seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods the storehouses are in ruins the granaries have been broken
down for the grain has dried up how the cattle moan their herds mill about
because they have no pasture even the flocks of sheep are suffering to you
Lord I call for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames
have burned up all the trees of the field even the wild animals pant for
you the streams of water have dried up and
fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness look without turning to the
Lord and without getting his help and his mercy in our lives our destruction
is a guarantee plain and simple it is guaranteed it's written in the Bible his
word tells us we know biblical warnings you just that term right biblical
warnings aren't something we hear a lot about you know these days matter of
fact when somebody says biblical you're usually watching something and it's kind
of like a punch line or like oh you know we're gonna get biblical up in here and
they kind of they treat it as a joke right sometimes it's serious depending on
what you're watching but still I mean it's it's not used properly and it's not
something we talk about our daily lives that really we should you know people
would just as soon right off the Old Testament especially however even Jesus
warned us of the day that judgment is coming so it's not just Old Testament
it's New Testament as well Jesus warned us that you know we need to be ready we
need to be watching for it you know those who doubt it those who refuse to
accept Jesus in their lives or that God's even real they truly have a
terrifying wake-up call coming while the rest of us who believe and are working
to build that relationship with him we'll find his love and we'll find his
mercy that's guaranteed it's biblical it's right here it's in this book it's
in the Bible see the expression the day of the Lord this is something that is
seen in the writings of multiple prophets as well right here in the Bible
you know and every time that it has been used it's been used to point to
something serious happening happening something major some tipping point where
things are gonna get drastic all right something big is coming and whether it's
something that's going to happen presently or if it's something that is
still to come way off in the distance it doesn't matter because it's still a very
ominous warning for the world see when it comes to the day the Lord there's a
couple of things that never change you know and we saw it right here right
first since going to be judged all of it and secondly you know those of us you
know Christians those of us who are here the you know the believers believers are
going to see and go through a lot of suffering Jesus already told us we are
going to suffer that is part of life no matter how much we believe in God no
matter how much we love them things are going to happen you know I talked about
this recently however for those of us who continue to cling to God and are
faithful and are loyal and do our best to do that do what he has set forth in
front of us well it's gonna pay off we're going to be rewarded for it because
in the end we are going to be with God forever in his heavenly kingdom that is
something that should give each and every one of us joy in our lives and
that is hope right there that is the light at the end of the tunnel that we
simply need to be obedient and cling to him and we can find refuge in the fact
that he will take care of everything in the end and he will take care of us all
right so that's that's all the time that we have for today you are blessed so go
and be a blessing go and be the church thank you all for joining us here today
at healing scars with pastor Burton please like subscribe and share our
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