WEBVTT 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:07.349 Chesed. We are in the fall, we are in Elpis, 00:00:07.410 --> 00:00:11.269 however you want to say the Greek word for hope. 00:00:11.970 --> 00:00:14.650 Chesed, that good Hebrew word, back of your throat, 00:00:14.810 --> 00:00:17.469 is that steadfast love of God. And we're looking 00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:19.609 at this kind of through two different lenses. 00:00:19.730 --> 00:00:21.890 We're looking at one through the Minor Prophets. 00:00:22.050 --> 00:00:24.350 We did Hosea last week, we're doing Joel this 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:26.309 week. These are all Minor Prophets, mainly because 00:00:26.309 --> 00:00:29.670 of the length of the book. You can probably read 00:00:29.670 --> 00:00:31.890 all of the Minor Prophets within a half an hour, 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:35.229 40 minutes or so. They are short. kind of quick 00:00:35.229 --> 00:00:38.109 books. These prophets had a job to do. They went 00:00:38.109 --> 00:00:40.250 in, did a job, kind of got out. These aren't 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:43.369 the Isaiahs or the Jeremiahs or the Ezekiels 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:47.250 that had much longer sustained kind of prophetic 00:00:47.250 --> 00:00:52.750 journeys. And we're looking at a love or a chesed 00:00:52.750 --> 00:00:59.250 that restores from the book of Joel. Restoration 00:00:59.250 --> 00:01:01.950 is a funny thing. When we think of restoring 00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:04.569 something, what do we think of? Again, if you're 00:01:04.569 --> 00:01:06.310 a guest here this morning, I like to get a little 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:08.909 bit of interaction because there's a lot of wisdom, 00:01:09.069 --> 00:01:11.349 right? A lot of wisdom in the seats and it doesn't 00:01:11.349 --> 00:01:14.010 all need to be mine, right? You guys have that 00:01:14.010 --> 00:01:16.969 and it's awesome when you guys give and sometimes 00:01:16.969 --> 00:01:18.670 it's really funny with some of the things you 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:21.349 say as well. But when you think of the word restoration, 00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:26.609 what do you think of? To make new. Absolutely. 00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:34.120 Sure. Yeah. What else? HDTV. HGTV, right? And 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:37.379 HD, I guess it's high definition too. HGTV, why 00:01:37.379 --> 00:01:42.920 that, Jess? Yeah, all restoration shows, right? 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.540 Like Home Makeover, they can do that in an hour, 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:48.519 right? My bathroom took a month, but they did 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:51.579 all that in an hour. Unbelievable, right? What 00:01:51.579 --> 00:01:57.939 else? To bring it. Jess, don't try to get on 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:02.719 again. Henry, that was you, right? Kathy, can 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.579 you give him a high five? You can be joyful about 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:07.980 giving him a high five. That's your husband. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.060 There you go. All right. See me in my office 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:17.939 afterwards. To bring it back. Wow. I love all 00:02:17.939 --> 00:02:19.180 of you. I don't know if anyone's going to top 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.340 that, so we're just going to keep going. To bring 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:26.860 it back. Wow. Okay. We're going to bring that 00:02:26.860 --> 00:02:30.400 back probably later. What Joel's going to remind 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.060 us is that God's hesed is there. God's hesed 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:37.159 is a reminder. God brings his hesed love back 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:41.939 when everything is gone. So let's enter this 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.229 space. Really, when someone's in need of restoration, 00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:47.669 it's because they've been either beaten down, 00:02:47.830 --> 00:02:50.050 they've beaten themselves down, things have broken 00:02:50.050 --> 00:02:52.370 down. When I think of restoration, I think of 00:02:52.370 --> 00:02:56.689 like a car, right? To restore a car is to make 00:02:56.689 --> 00:03:00.530 new, to bring it back to its former glory, if 00:03:00.530 --> 00:03:04.150 you will. So let's dive in this intro called 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:10.289 Everything is Gone. Some sins are quiet. Ones 00:03:10.289 --> 00:03:12.330 that we could just kind of sneak in or kind of 00:03:12.330 --> 00:03:17.569 hide. Some sins are catastrophic. Some of these 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:21.650 consequences of sin tend to creep in slowly over 00:03:21.650 --> 00:03:25.349 time. They tear things down little by little 00:03:25.349 --> 00:03:27.150 to the point where sometimes we don't even realize 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:31.750 it until that straw that breaks the camel's back 00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:36.639 breaks. Other sins arrive like a storm. And leave 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:40.800 nothing standing. Total devastation. But Joel, 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.719 this minor prophet, speaks to a people who wake 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:49.560 up one morning to realize that everything is 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.840 gone. Again, prophets did not have easy jobs. 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:55.360 A lot of them were known as weeping. Because 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.460 they had to weep through what their prophetic 00:03:57.460 --> 00:04:00.740 voice needed to say to a people. But God did 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:03.460 the preparation. God did the talking. God brought 00:04:03.460 --> 00:04:06.719 the restoration. The prophet was just the vessel. 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:10.099 The people of Israel wake up, their crops are 00:04:10.099 --> 00:04:12.479 destroyed, the economy has collapsed, worship 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:16.860 has stalled, and joy completely evaporated. Poof, 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:21.019 gone. And into the devastation, Joel declares 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:24.000 something that I think we need to hear in this 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.459 new year, and that is that God's hesed is not 00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:30.500 only a love that pursues, like we talked about 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:34.949 last week, it's a love that restores. Hosea showed 00:04:34.949 --> 00:04:38.410 us that God chases his wandering bride, us, the 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:41.990 church. Joel is going to show us today what happens 00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:45.949 when the damage is done and what God tends to 00:04:45.949 --> 00:04:50.230 do. This is a word that Munster Church needs. 00:04:50.829 --> 00:04:54.930 Whether individually or collectively, this understanding 00:04:54.930 --> 00:04:56.910 about grace. Because that's the other lens we 00:04:56.910 --> 00:04:59.550 look at. The minor prophets and the canons of 00:04:59.550 --> 00:05:01.790 Dort, one of our confessions that talk about 00:05:01.790 --> 00:05:07.019 grace. Grace does not only forgive sin, grace 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:12.720 restores what sin has ruined. When I think of 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.360 something ruined, right, I think of something 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.899 that ultimately has to get thrown away, discarded. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:21.879 It's broken beyond repair. It's gone, the former 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:24.660 glory, whatever it is, we need to toss it out. 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:28.120 God doesn't always see it that way. But let's 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:31.879 dive into the devastation first. When sin and 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.040 judgment strip everything away. We'll be in the 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.220 book of Joel, right? We're going to start in 00:05:37.220 --> 00:05:42.120 Joel 1. Joel 1 verse 4. What the cutting locust 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:46.160 left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.000 swarming locust left, the hopping locust had 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.519 eaten. And what the hopping, keep going, I'm 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.430 not done. I don't have it memorized. The destroying 00:05:55.430 --> 00:05:58.529 locust has eaten. It's very repetitive. Okay? 00:05:58.649 --> 00:06:01.550 Very repetitive. This is, and again, we may look 00:06:01.550 --> 00:06:03.670 at this and go, okay, so locust has eaten stuff. 00:06:03.769 --> 00:06:07.990 Great. Where are my farmers? You feel this, right? 00:06:08.410 --> 00:06:14.430 I mean, do you battle locusts? Grasshoppers. 00:06:14.490 --> 00:06:16.350 All right, that's the Hebrew for locusts is grasshoppers. 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:19.910 Good job. Yeah, so, but, I mean, we don't, like. 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:24.069 A locust eats one of my plants. Who cares? But 00:06:24.069 --> 00:06:26.850 for a farmer, it's everything, right? When you 00:06:26.850 --> 00:06:30.509 wake up and crops are gone, right? I think we 00:06:30.509 --> 00:06:34.129 have the Yukons, we have the Smedbergs, right? 00:06:34.230 --> 00:06:35.730 There are farmers in the group, so you're going 00:06:35.730 --> 00:06:37.790 to get picked on. Anyone else farm and I don't 00:06:37.790 --> 00:06:40.810 realize it? And this isn't like you grow plants, 00:06:40.990 --> 00:06:44.180 right? I know, wait, Cheyenne, you also have, 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:45.899 I mean, you do a little bit of vegetables, right? 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:47.779 I know. I've eaten those peppers. They're hot 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:50.360 and good. They're great. But you guys wake up, 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:53.360 so we'll go back to Smedberg's and to Yukon's. 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:55.819 You wake up and your fields are completely decimated. 00:06:55.939 --> 00:07:01.459 How are you feeling? Bad. Yeah. Yukon's, how 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:05.860 are you feeling? Angry. Yep, absolutely. Destroyed. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:09.120 Devastated. I think the word restoration for 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:12.139 them means something different. Because they're 00:07:12.139 --> 00:07:14.279 looking out at their livelihoods and they're 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:17.600 going, how can we recoup? How can we receive? 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:21.680 How can this be restored? And this is a vision 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:25.639 of Israel. Joel is likely speaking to a post 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:29.839 -exile Judah. That northern people of Israel, 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.420 through the exact date, it's debated and it doesn't 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:35.540 matter. What's not debated is that a massive 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:39.000 locust plague has devastated the land. Locust 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.000 plagues in the ancient Near East meant total 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:45.000 collapse. These little locusts, or Smedbergian 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.379 grasshoppers, they total collapse. Economic, 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:55.310 social, spiritual. A lot of us, we can't... It's 00:07:55.310 --> 00:07:57.610 hard to engage that because we don't understand 00:07:57.610 --> 00:08:01.370 that mindset. So insert whatever profession you 00:08:01.370 --> 00:08:05.250 have, you wake up and it's gone. It is totally 00:08:05.250 --> 00:08:10.350 collapsed. So it's funny how if our livelihood 00:08:10.350 --> 00:08:14.509 goes away, we collapse economically, socially, 00:08:14.689 --> 00:08:18.550 and if we're being honest, spiritually. Grain 00:08:18.550 --> 00:08:21.529 offerings and drink offerings have ceased because 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:28.290 there is nothing left. To bring. Let that sit 00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:32.169 for a minute. You're feeling bad. You're feeling 00:08:32.169 --> 00:08:36.570 angry. You're desperate. Because you have nothing 00:08:36.570 --> 00:08:40.450 left to bring. This is not a minor inconvenience. 00:08:41.309 --> 00:08:43.590 Like, when I was writing this sermon, I went 00:08:43.590 --> 00:08:46.009 to, yeah, when we don't spray for mosquitoes, 00:08:46.289 --> 00:08:49.590 it's super annoying. That is not what they're 00:08:49.590 --> 00:08:53.950 feeling right now. At all. This is an existential 00:08:53.950 --> 00:08:57.809 crisis for Israel. I'm not like making this super 00:08:57.809 --> 00:09:00.549 dramatic. This is what they're feeling. This 00:09:00.549 --> 00:09:03.289 is what Joel is called to speak into. And Joel 00:09:03.289 --> 00:09:06.669 piles on with imagery. The drunkards have no 00:09:06.669 --> 00:09:09.909 wine. The priests are mourning. The farmers are 00:09:09.909 --> 00:09:14.929 ashamed. And joy has dried up. I've used this. 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:18.179 I've used this analogy before, or this kind of 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:19.779 vision before. I'm going to bring it back because 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:21.259 I think it warrants. It's a little bit of a rabbit 00:09:21.259 --> 00:09:25.100 trail. But we all show up on Sunday, right? Let's 00:09:25.100 --> 00:09:28.700 say next Sunday. We all show up, and our entire 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:32.539 campus is leveled. The highest point are the 00:09:32.539 --> 00:09:38.779 tombstones in the back. How are we feeling? Probably 00:09:38.779 --> 00:09:43.169 pretty devastated, right? I looked over at April 00:09:43.169 --> 00:09:45.669 and she's like freaked out, right? I think I 00:09:45.669 --> 00:09:48.429 would feel that way, right? I mean, we would 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:50.789 feel like what in the world? It would probably 00:09:50.789 --> 00:09:54.029 cause us to not only pause, but it would shock 00:09:54.029 --> 00:09:56.830 us. It would. This church has gone through that 00:09:56.830 --> 00:09:59.090 before. People of this church, how many people 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:02.450 were alive and around when it burned? Only a 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:04.850 handful, right? Right? Some of you, you guys 00:10:04.850 --> 00:10:06.590 were there. And some of you are like, wow, this 00:10:06.590 --> 00:10:08.409 church burned? Yeah, after church. Go look. There's 00:10:08.409 --> 00:10:11.269 pictures of it right there. Joel does something 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:14.590 important here, right? He refuses to minimize 00:10:14.590 --> 00:10:17.629 the devastation. He refuses to just kind of pet 00:10:17.629 --> 00:10:20.929 them like, it's going to be okay. He doesn't 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:23.909 minimize it because grace does not begin with 00:10:23.909 --> 00:10:27.110 denial. In order for this understanding of grace 00:10:27.110 --> 00:10:28.750 to really be implemented, we'll get there in 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:32.730 a second, this chesed love does not pretend everything 00:10:32.730 --> 00:10:37.350 is fine. And for a lot of us, we like to do it. 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:39.450 It's going to be fine. We're good. It's going 00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:41.870 to be fine. Everything's okay, right? That is 00:10:41.870 --> 00:10:44.950 a way to try to mask denial in your situation. 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:48.769 And here's the thought. Joel interprets the disaster 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:53.370 theologically. This isn't random. This isn't 00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:55.590 like, wow, that was a bad day. Wow, that's just 00:10:55.590 --> 00:10:58.789 bad luck. Or it's just the climate. No, he looks 00:10:58.789 --> 00:11:02.730 at this as a wake -up call from God. Verse 15, 00:11:02.870 --> 00:11:06.200 alas for the day. The day of the Lord is near. 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:09.820 The day of the Lord is not just future judgment. 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:13.240 It is God breaking into history to confront sin 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:18.279 and call his people back. Here is another week 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:20.700 wrecker, right? Evan and the team gave us that 00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:22.980 song. I'm giving you another one. The day of 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:26.059 the Lord can happen in your life tomorrow. The 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:27.779 day of the Lord can happen in your life this 00:11:27.779 --> 00:11:30.809 afternoon. It might be happening to you right 00:11:30.809 --> 00:11:33.610 now. That the Lord is coming in. He's breaking 00:11:33.610 --> 00:11:37.149 into your history to confront your sin and call 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:40.889 you back. And that's the call. Right? We're going 00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:43.889 to jump into Joel 2. The call is return to me. 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:49.450 It's a grace that summons repentance. That word 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:53.740 summons is important. Right? Summons, to me, 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:56.600 goes to that legal thing, right? You get a summons, 00:11:56.620 --> 00:11:58.720 you have to show up to court. I think that's 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.100 how that works, right? Garrett, is that how that 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:04.220 works, if you get a summons? He's not here, but 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:05.620 Amy, you're married to him, right? You get a 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:07.419 summons, right? There's that lawyer, you know, 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:11.360 two become one. But understand, that's not like, 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.399 I'm not going to go, because I think that's when 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:14.940 the bounty hunters come after you. I probably 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:17.080 have that wrong, it doesn't matter. But understand 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:21.299 that when you're summoned, you have to respond. 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:26.039 And this is God summoning, right? This is grace 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:28.620 that summons repentance. Let's go to Joel 2. 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:34.350 Joel 2 says, Yet even now, remember those three 00:12:34.350 --> 00:12:36.990 words, declares the Lord, return to me with all 00:12:36.990 --> 00:12:39.409 your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with 00:12:39.409 --> 00:12:42.429 mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. 00:12:42.590 --> 00:12:45.970 Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:49.509 and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in 00:12:49.509 --> 00:12:53.090 steadfast love, abounding in chesed, and he relents 00:12:53.090 --> 00:12:58.769 over disaster. This is one of the most gracious 00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:03.330 yet statements. found in Scripture. Everything 00:13:03.330 --> 00:13:06.870 is ruined. The people deserve judgment. Yet even 00:13:06.870 --> 00:13:11.149 now, God speaks. And notice, notice this morning, 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:16.309 God calls for three things. He calls not for 00:13:16.309 --> 00:13:21.029 outward religion alone. He doesn't care about 00:13:21.029 --> 00:13:23.710 the outward right now because when God is summoning, 00:13:23.710 --> 00:13:26.669 when grace is summoning repentance, it doesn't 00:13:26.669 --> 00:13:29.490 care about the outward. This is going right to 00:13:29.490 --> 00:13:32.629 the soul. He's not calling for surface level 00:13:32.629 --> 00:13:38.090 regret because let's be honest, surface level 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:43.470 regret for us is I'm sorry I got caught. He's 00:13:43.470 --> 00:13:47.470 not looking for religious performance. God is 00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:52.450 calling for true Not repentance, an inward turning, 00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:58.649 not a staged display, which we all get PhDs in. 00:13:59.350 --> 00:14:02.590 We love to put it on the outward, right? We love 00:14:02.590 --> 00:14:05.149 to just, you know, the outward's all good, right? 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:07.250 We can put that face on, we can paint that face, 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:10.210 we can mask it, we can project it, but God is 00:14:10.210 --> 00:14:12.149 not worried about the outward right now because 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:14.649 the outward's been destroyed. It's the inward 00:14:14.649 --> 00:14:17.590 that God is working at. Grace 101 this morning. 00:14:17.929 --> 00:14:23.149 That repentance is a gift of grace. So this is 00:14:23.149 --> 00:14:27.409 head three and four, line three. Humans are incapable 00:14:27.409 --> 00:14:31.809 of true repentance on your own. Type A alphas, 00:14:31.809 --> 00:14:36.570 we don't like this. I want to have control over 00:14:36.570 --> 00:14:40.269 my repentance. We can't do true repentance on 00:14:40.269 --> 00:14:44.330 our own. We don't have it in us to do it. Second, 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:48.110 that God regenerates the heart, making repentance 00:14:48.110 --> 00:14:52.549 possible. That God's going to go into the heart 00:14:52.549 --> 00:14:55.409 and he's going to till that soil. He is going 00:14:55.409 --> 00:14:59.789 to tenderize the heart to receive his message. 00:15:00.110 --> 00:15:04.029 And for some of us, which is crazy, we don't 00:15:04.029 --> 00:15:06.409 like that because that means we're not in control 00:15:06.409 --> 00:15:10.750 of our own emotions. Friend, we shouldn't be. 00:15:11.190 --> 00:15:13.529 If God's the one that created your emotions, 00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:16.529 God's the one that can set it in the right place. 00:15:17.970 --> 00:15:21.409 Joel's not preaching moral reform. He's preaching 00:15:21.409 --> 00:15:26.309 grace -enabled repentance. Repentance is not 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:31.009 the price we pay to earn restoration. Repentance 00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:33.490 is the door God opens so we can actually receive 00:15:33.490 --> 00:15:37.080 it. Let me say that again. Repentance is not 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:41.080 the price we pay to earn restoration. Repentance 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:45.200 is the door God opens so we can receive it. This 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:51.100 is hesed in focus. Joel anchors his call to repentance 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:54.139 in God's character. For he is gracious and merciful, 00:15:54.419 --> 00:15:58.000 slow to anger abounding in hesed. This is covenant 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.460 language straight from Exodus 34. God's hesed 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:05.419 is the reason repentance is possible. You cannot 00:16:05.419 --> 00:16:10.899 repent unless God loves. Did you ever think about 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:16.220 that? That God loves you. God wants that relationship 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:19.639 with you. God is desiring you and he wants you 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:23.139 to desire him in a way that is holy. In a way 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:27.279 that is not wrought with sin. God does not say 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.899 return because you've proven yourself. He says 00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:37.730 return because I am who I am. I am. Sit in that 00:16:37.730 --> 00:16:42.169 one with me for a second. God does not say, hey, 00:16:42.350 --> 00:16:44.889 you've worked on yourself enough. You are not 00:16:44.889 --> 00:16:47.610 worthy enough. You've proven yourself to return 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:52.990 back to me. No. God says return because I am 00:16:52.990 --> 00:16:56.450 who I am. But there's the turn, right? The turning 00:16:56.450 --> 00:16:59.830 point. God responds to repentance with compassion. 00:16:59.909 --> 00:17:04.470 We're going to continue in Joel 2. Then the Lord 00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:06.809 became jealous for his lands and had pity on 00:17:06.809 --> 00:17:09.190 the people. The Lord answered and said to his 00:17:09.190 --> 00:17:12.170 people, Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, 00:17:12.349 --> 00:17:15.329 and oil, and you will be satisfied, and I will 00:17:15.329 --> 00:17:18.750 no more make you a reproach among the nations. 00:17:19.009 --> 00:17:21.910 This verse marks the turning point in the entire 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:23.990 book. And again, it's not that long, but it's 00:17:23.990 --> 00:17:28.210 the turning point. God seizes people, not with 00:17:28.210 --> 00:17:31.690 irritation, but with compassion. The word jealous 00:17:31.690 --> 00:17:35.029 here is covenantal. Where else do we hear that? 00:17:35.049 --> 00:17:38.089 For I am a jealous God, returning the iniquities 00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:41.190 of the generations of those who hate me. Where 00:17:41.190 --> 00:17:44.990 is that found? We read it most of the time, last 00:17:44.990 --> 00:17:49.309 Sunday of the month. Ten commandments. God, this 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:52.829 jealousy is covenantal. It is jealousy of a God 00:17:52.829 --> 00:17:57.769 who refuses to abandon his people. Refuses to 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:01.329 abandon his people for more destruction. Now, 00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:03.150 some of you are struggling, like, well, isn't 00:18:03.150 --> 00:18:06.970 he the one bringing it? So why is he like, he's 00:18:06.970 --> 00:18:11.329 a flip -flopper. Careful. God is God. We are 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:16.630 not. Right? This is a judgment. We don't like 00:18:16.630 --> 00:18:19.690 that word. We don't as a church. We don't as 00:18:19.690 --> 00:18:22.470 a people. Who are you to judge me? And you're 00:18:22.470 --> 00:18:26.829 right. I should not judge you. You should not 00:18:26.829 --> 00:18:29.960 judge me. Yet, we do it all the time. We should 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:32.160 hold each other accountable, right? When we see 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:33.839 something going on, brother to sister, sister 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:36.019 to sister, brother to brother, you know, pastor 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:38.440 to church, church to pastor, elder, deacon, everybody. 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:41.460 We hold each other accountable, but we're never 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:46.299 up here. We love to do that. But as I said, a 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:48.140 stance over someone is not a stance of Christ. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:54.539 Guess who can judge? God. The creator. The sustainer. 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.720 The judge. If he's called to judge, guess what? 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:01.839 He gets to judge. God's jealousy is not an insecurity 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:05.900 of his. This is hesed in action. It's a fierce 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:10.599 love that moves towards restoration. And we see 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:13.299 it. We see it kind of visually, and I can appreciate 00:19:13.299 --> 00:19:15.619 that as someone who needs it. The promises begin 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:18.359 to be poured back out where they didn't have 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.900 any. They have grain and wine and oil restored. 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:25.019 Their shame has been removed. The fear is now 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:28.319 replaced with joy. This is a staggering promise. 00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:32.859 Let's go back to our farmers. However long, you 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:36.609 then wake up and your fields are full. What are 00:19:36.609 --> 00:19:39.150 we thinking? We had anger and it's a bad situation. 00:19:39.509 --> 00:19:41.390 Help me out, guys. Now what are you feeling? 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:47.210 Amazing. Joy. Did I tell you guys what to say? 00:19:48.890 --> 00:19:53.990 No, the answer to that is no. Okay. I will restore 00:19:53.990 --> 00:19:58.789 you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. 00:20:00.089 --> 00:20:06.910 I will restore. Not just crops. Not just resources, 00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:12.789 years. This is a grace that rebuilds what sin 00:20:12.789 --> 00:20:16.509 destroyed. So now we're in the muck. Now we're 00:20:16.509 --> 00:20:18.730 in the mire. Now we're in that sin that's been 00:20:18.730 --> 00:20:22.109 realized, received, and now we need to reject 00:20:22.109 --> 00:20:25.869 it. Friends, we need to reject sin, yet we love 00:20:25.869 --> 00:20:28.470 it and we do it. and we live in it, but we need 00:20:28.470 --> 00:20:30.910 to reject it. This is one of the most hope -filled 00:20:30.910 --> 00:20:33.710 verses in the entire New Testament. God does 00:20:33.710 --> 00:20:36.730 not say, I will give you something new to distract 00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:40.650 you from the loss. He says, I will help you cope 00:20:40.650 --> 00:20:47.309 with what's gone. I will restore. This is chesed. 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:52.680 This is grace. Grace 201. The canons of Dort 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:55.400 teach us that God's grace does not merely rescue, 00:20:55.680 --> 00:21:02.660 it sustains and it renews. Verses 1 -3 of head 00:21:02.660 --> 00:21:06.920 5. Believers may fall into serious sin, but God 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:12.119 preserves them. Head 5 -7. God renews repentance 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:16.420 and restores fellowship. Leave that one up there, 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:22.410 Cheryl. If we are renewed, We've repented that 00:21:22.410 --> 00:21:25.150 restoration. It doesn't happen like that. It's 00:21:25.150 --> 00:21:27.529 over time. What sin has destroyed over time, 00:21:27.650 --> 00:21:30.549 yes, God can make new in the moment. 20 years 00:21:30.549 --> 00:21:34.990 into this, 40 years into life, that takes time. 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:39.049 Because guess what we tend to fall back into? 00:21:39.630 --> 00:21:42.390 Our sin. Even the sin we just repented from, 00:21:42.430 --> 00:21:45.710 even in our restoration, we can fall back into 00:21:45.710 --> 00:21:48.819 that sin. But what does the canons teach us? 00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:52.740 That God renews repentance, restores fellowship. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.279 Yes, even the person in this room that has burned 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:00.240 you. Even that person that you have burned. Fellowship 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.220 can be restored. We can all worship again together. 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:07.240 Does that happen practically? Not all the time. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.319 Not all the time. Sometimes that's because of 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:13.579 the level of the sin that we either caused for 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:16.779 somebody or they caused on us. But Joel here 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:19.960 shows God's chesed. God's chesed meets us in 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:22.920 the devastation. He calls us, summons us back 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:27.079 to repentance. He rebuilds what sin and judgment 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:32.740 have torn down. You're not building it. Balcony 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:34.240 folk, you're not building it. Church virtual, 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:36.160 you're not building it. I'm not building it. 00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:37.779 Elders and deacons aren't building it. Pledge 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:39.940 drives aren't building it. Plans, visions, missions 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:41.980 aren't building it. God's the one that builds 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:44.680 it back up. Why? Because grace isn't fragile. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:49.519 Grace is not temporary. Grace is restorative. 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:53.180 To go back to Henry. Henry, what did you say 00:22:53.180 --> 00:22:54.319 in the very beginning? What does restoration 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.960 mean to Newt? It brings it back to a God who 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:03.230 always has been. Grace isn't fragile. It's not 00:23:03.230 --> 00:23:07.769 temporary. It restores. It brings it back. Joy 00:23:07.769 --> 00:23:10.769 restored. God dwells among his people again. 00:23:12.109 --> 00:23:15.869 Joel's restoration ends with worship. I love 00:23:15.869 --> 00:23:19.069 that. And I love that because it reminds me I 00:23:19.069 --> 00:23:22.630 need to do that more. There are times, yeah, 00:23:22.690 --> 00:23:24.769 I'll walk through a situation. I'll walk through 00:23:24.769 --> 00:23:27.509 a season of life. I'll repent of it. I'll work 00:23:27.509 --> 00:23:30.660 through restoration. And I... Just sit there 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:38.619 and go, and my pessimistic mind, some of you, 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:41.759 glass full, right? A lot of you, optimistic people. 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:44.220 Some of you, pessimistic people, you know, glass 00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:51.259 half empty. Mine, glass falling over. And sometimes 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:54.480 I just sit there and I go, Lord, thank you for 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:56.740 bringing me through that. I know I'm going to 00:23:56.740 --> 00:24:00.230 fall into it again. And I think that's probably 00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:04.009 a lot of us. And I think part of that is because 00:24:04.009 --> 00:24:08.990 we don't trust ourselves. I'm a pastor. I know 00:24:08.990 --> 00:24:11.529 God's grace is abundant. His mercies are new 00:24:11.529 --> 00:24:13.690 every morning. Like, I get all of that. I get 00:24:13.690 --> 00:24:16.250 all of that here. Heck, I probably even get that 00:24:16.250 --> 00:24:21.430 here. But I just don't trust me. Joel speaks 00:24:21.430 --> 00:24:24.940 into that as well. He is restoring me just as 00:24:24.940 --> 00:24:27.539 he is restoring you. And that restoration takes 00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:30.700 time. Because I know that I know that I know 00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:34.059 when I'm met with that temptation again, there's 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:35.799 going to be a lot of me that wants to go right 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:39.140 into the sin. When God's going, no, go left into 00:24:39.140 --> 00:24:43.599 my grace. But instead of just sitting and dwelling, 00:24:44.059 --> 00:24:47.220 what if I turn that dwelling and that mourning 00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:51.859 into worship? Because guess what? We feel better 00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:56.279 when we worship. Right? We should. And if you 00:24:56.279 --> 00:24:59.440 get so upset because that song wasn't done by 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:01.339 organ, you're making the song about you, not 00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:04.180 about the song and worship, just like we do both. 00:25:04.579 --> 00:25:08.460 Find joy in the words. Find joy in the singing 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:12.519 of understanding what God is doing. You can do 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:13.900 that with the organ. You can do that with the 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.900 drums. You can do that in your car by yourself. 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:21.869 And that's okay too. If we respond to that restoration 00:25:21.869 --> 00:25:24.670 with worship, guess what? We're creatures of 00:25:24.670 --> 00:25:26.490 habit. We're going to want to do that again. 00:25:27.509 --> 00:25:30.730 Right? It's why we call camp highs, camp highs, 00:25:30.829 --> 00:25:33.569 retreat highs, retreat highs, conference highs, 00:25:33.710 --> 00:25:35.650 conference highs. Right? It's not because you 00:25:35.650 --> 00:25:38.089 go there and smoke, but it's because of the joy 00:25:38.089 --> 00:25:42.230 of the Lord coming to you. I remember growing 00:25:42.230 --> 00:25:45.170 up, I had camp highs all over the place. Right? 00:25:45.230 --> 00:25:47.250 You get done with a week of camp, Camp Manitoba, 00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:49.869 you want to take on the world. I wanted to go 00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.029 around and just beat the devil wherever he was. 00:25:52.670 --> 00:25:55.170 Probably look like a psycho doing it, but guess 00:25:55.170 --> 00:25:57.789 what? High school, junior high, high school gym, 00:25:57.970 --> 00:26:02.750 two weeks later, oh, she's cute. Wait, God, you 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:07.910 restored me from that? Don't care. We can't live 00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:10.490 in that high and the low because God is everlasting 00:26:10.490 --> 00:26:15.089 upon everlasting. I'm trying to do it by my strength. 00:26:15.170 --> 00:26:18.430 That's never it. Joy is restored because of God, 00:26:18.569 --> 00:26:22.009 not because of us. The ultimate sign of restoration 00:26:22.009 --> 00:26:27.109 is not prosperity. It's renewed praise. You go 00:26:27.109 --> 00:26:30.150 through that low economic time in your life. 00:26:30.430 --> 00:26:33.190 You miss a payment. All of a sudden you get those 00:26:33.190 --> 00:26:36.349 collector calls and you freak out. And then something 00:26:36.349 --> 00:26:38.569 happens, whether you can explain it or not. It's 00:26:38.569 --> 00:26:40.950 usually God anyway, right? And all of a sudden 00:26:40.950 --> 00:26:43.750 you've made it through. Guess what we tend to 00:26:43.750 --> 00:26:46.170 do? Go back to worrying about when it's going 00:26:46.170 --> 00:26:48.769 to happen again. What Joel is reminding us is 00:26:48.769 --> 00:26:52.769 don't live in that. Live in the restoration that 00:26:52.769 --> 00:26:57.730 God has done it. We should praise him. Oh, and 00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:01.329 here's a little rabbit trail. And I'm saying 00:27:01.329 --> 00:27:06.910 this first to me. I even recognize at times that 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:08.849 it's God giving me that. That that praise, wow. 00:27:10.049 --> 00:27:13.019 And I have the audacity to say, God, when you 00:27:13.019 --> 00:27:15.599 bless me next time, can you bless me with more? 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:20.900 I'm glad you're laughing at me because we do 00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.140 that, especially those that have been in the 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:26.700 church for a long time. Or, and this is just 00:27:26.700 --> 00:27:28.779 coming to me now, we have the audacity to look 00:27:28.779 --> 00:27:36.380 at the blessing and go, that's it? Friend, Jim, 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:41.950 me, we can't go there. We can't go there. Right? 00:27:43.490 --> 00:27:45.509 Let's say we get the $2 million in a couple weeks. 00:27:45.930 --> 00:27:49.250 I'm going off book. I apologize. Praise the Lord. 00:27:50.109 --> 00:27:52.829 Job's not done. Right? We're not going to show 00:27:52.829 --> 00:27:54.349 up the next Sunday and boom, there's the new 00:27:54.349 --> 00:27:56.789 building. No, there's a lot more things that 00:27:56.789 --> 00:27:59.690 we have to work through. Let's turn it the other 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:05.549 way. Two weeks, the $2 million's not there. What 00:28:05.549 --> 00:28:09.819 do we do? Do we just shut it down? Do we just 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:12.240 come in and our anger, our disappointment just 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:16.960 takes sledgehammers to everything? No. No, we 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:20.480 sit and go, okay, God, if not here, if not now, 00:28:20.660 --> 00:28:25.700 what? Because is God caged by our $2 million? 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:31.940 Never. Is God bigger than $2 million? Oh, yeah. 00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:39.059 And we worship. And we praise. Last Sunday of 00:28:39.059 --> 00:28:41.460 this month, if the money doesn't come in, are 00:28:41.460 --> 00:28:44.839 we going to shut down worship? If we ever do 00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:47.500 that, we just shouldn't be a church. Because 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:50.220 we are now conditional to that junk. And that 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:52.680 should never be the case. Because what Joel is 00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:55.500 teaching, right, what the ultimate sign of restoration 00:28:55.500 --> 00:29:00.140 is, is renewed praise. Joel 2 .27, you shall 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:03.599 know that I am in your midst. That's the heart 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:06.940 of hesed. It's not gifts. It's not just blessings. 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:11.559 It's God himself dwelling with his people. God 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:13.700 will dwell in us whether we're worshiping here 00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:17.339 in a bigger building or we're worshiping in a 00:29:17.339 --> 00:29:19.380 strip mall somewhere. They started the church 00:29:19.380 --> 00:29:22.019 there. They started it in a local business in 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:24.099 Munster. It wasn't in a building, but it grew 00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:27.319 and it grew and it grew. Great. This points us. 00:29:29.430 --> 00:29:32.150 God himself is dwelling. Remember, this is Old 00:29:32.150 --> 00:29:34.769 Testament. And what these prophets are doing 00:29:34.769 --> 00:29:37.430 is they're pointing to New Testament. They're 00:29:37.430 --> 00:29:40.009 pointing to Jesus, the outpouring of the Spirit, 00:29:40.309 --> 00:29:43.890 Pentecost, and ultimately Christ dwelling with 00:29:43.890 --> 00:29:46.470 his church. So where do we go from here today, 00:29:46.589 --> 00:29:49.829 friends? What does Joel teach us about living 00:29:49.829 --> 00:29:53.990 out this hesed today? First, God can restore 00:29:53.990 --> 00:30:00.740 what you thought was gone forever. Here's a list. 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:04.200 I'm just going to welcome you to it. Some of 00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:08.519 you today are carrying regret, spiritual dryness, 00:30:08.779 --> 00:30:16.420 relational fracturing, lost years, seasons marked 00:30:16.420 --> 00:30:20.519 by failure. And what Joel declares over you today, 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:25.019 no loss is beyond the reach of God's restoring 00:30:25.019 --> 00:30:32.720 grace. Second. Repentance is not shame. It's 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:36.180 hope. Repentance is not God rubbing our nose 00:30:36.180 --> 00:30:39.299 in the failure. That's what we think God does. 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:41.500 And maybe if you need that, maybe God rubs that 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:43.720 a little bit. Maybe God meets you there and goes, 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:45.799 okay, if you need to sit in that, sit in it. 00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:49.700 But I'm sitting in it with you. Repentance is 00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:51.960 not God rubbing our nose in failure. It's God 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:56.220 opening up the door. For renewal. It's God looking 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:58.960 at you in the midst of your sin and saying, I 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:04.880 did not create you for that. This is so much 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:11.680 better. Third, restoration leads to worship and 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:15.619 gratitude. Grace that restores produces a life 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:21.539 of praise, humility, obedience. God brings you 00:31:21.539 --> 00:31:25.160 through that season, write a song. That's what 00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:29.920 the Psalms are. Write a song. Maybe you're the 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:31.799 only one that will ever see it, but write it 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:34.740 out to God in a song of praise, in a song of 00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:42.759 heartache. Fourth, the church must, must be a 00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:46.259 place of restoration. If God restores his people, 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:51.619 all of us, Church virtual, if God restores us, 00:31:51.859 --> 00:31:55.880 what does this mean? Oh, here's the final week 00:31:55.880 --> 00:32:00.880 record. We must be patient with one another. 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:08.000 We must be slow to write people off. But pastor, 00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:10.299 they hurt me. They stabbed me in the back. They 00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:12.579 stole from my business. They hurt my family. 00:32:15.990 --> 00:32:18.509 Doesn't God have the right to do that for us? 00:32:19.890 --> 00:32:22.589 Doesn't he ultimately, can he ultimately say 00:32:22.589 --> 00:32:25.569 to us, Munster Church, you put my son on a cross? 00:32:28.250 --> 00:32:34.309 But he doesn't, so we shouldn't. Third, if God 00:32:34.309 --> 00:32:37.589 restores his people, we must be eager to walk 00:32:37.589 --> 00:32:41.549 with repentant sinners. Everybody look to your 00:32:41.549 --> 00:32:45.109 right, not awkwardly. Everyone look to your left. 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:49.859 Everyone look behind you. Some of you tried to 00:32:49.859 --> 00:32:51.779 do that without actually moving. That was awkward. 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:59.500 Everybody look here. We all walk together. This 00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:02.720 is what hesed looks like in the midst of community. 00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:05.400 And those two words, and I'm going to end it 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:09.039 here, even now. If Hosea teaches us that God 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:12.380 pursues us when we wander, Joel teaches us this. 00:33:12.619 --> 00:33:16.930 Even now. after the damage, after the loss, after 00:33:16.930 --> 00:33:25.509 the failure, God's hesed still speaks. The candidates 00:33:25.509 --> 00:33:28.509 at Dort remind us today that repentance is God's 00:33:28.509 --> 00:33:32.710 gift, restoration is God's work, and perseverance 00:33:32.710 --> 00:33:37.309 is God's promises. And hear this. If you don't 00:33:37.309 --> 00:33:40.970 hear anything else, hear this. That is good news 00:33:40.970 --> 00:33:47.000 for a church on a journey. Yet even now, return 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:53.019 to me. That invitation will always be available. 00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:54.700 Let's pray.