Exposition by Max A Forsythe
The
Reformer's Fire
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Yes, we did include the first part of chapter two in our passage last week. So will we include it again with the second part of chapter two again so that our understanding of true repentance is well understood. O Palmer Robertson The "contrast between true and false repentance is underscored by the apostle Paul, who says in 2 Corinthians 7: 10: 'For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death'". This simple truth from Paul well illustrates the difference of the Christian life from that of the world. In the world, emotional depression leads to more depression and sometimes even to suicide when the individual can find no way out of a hopeless situation.
But, for the Christian, even as Martin Luther experienced it, abounding grace covers over our sinful nature and every failure on our part to put on the life in Christ. Sadly, the very emotions that the good Lord gave us to lead us to Him, can more often than not lead us further away from Him as we wrap ourselves up in personal contemplation or even schemes of personal improvement. Some years ago, I was pushed into some counseling outside of the church. The depression of the person involved came from a constant self contemplation under the tutorage of a long series of psychobabble gurus. We began by talking about the Holy Spirit being able to use depression and we were able to create some simple tasks that overcame the debilitating cause of much of the depression. In less than a week it looked like we had a new person, but after my three sessions were over and the failure of the counselee to participate in the ministries of any church, all that seemingly had been accomplished was undone. And the person went on to try another in a long line of self help programs!
Quite evidently the repentance that had been stated had been a sham and only a short gloss upon a long desperate lifestyle. Like the fleshpots of Egypt to the Israelites of Exodus, the person preferred the captivity of sin to the freedom of the Spirit. At least I learned a lesson from those counseling sessions. All repentance should be analyzed according to biblical principles. In Joel 2: 12-14 we see such an analysis and the incentives for true repentance. James Montgomery Boice summarizes and outlines true repentance in three words that begin with the letter "c":
Confession - Contrition - Conversion
12 "Now, therefore," says the Lord, "
Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him -
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?
We see in these verses that Joel focuses upon the heart and not upon the outward signs. God wants us to be heartbroken over our specific personal sins. Now much of the evangelical church is comfortable with a generic state of sinfulness, but the personal prying of specific commandments and the way they show us how far and wide we stray is another matter. Until you have been confronted with the Word of God or the depression of experience and shown specific sins that you are guilty of, there is usually little sorrow. Luther, had a list of personal failures to contend with, so did Francis of Assisi and every great forgiven saint of Christ's true church.
For many who come into the church from a life on the wild side, this humility of knowing specific sins is not a luxury, but a necessity to seek the forgiveness of Christ in God. But for people who grow up in the covenant family of the church, this humility is harder to come by. I can remember my teenage years in my home church. Those of us within the Covenant families were far too confident in our calling and put off many of our friends who already knew from experience what we needed to learn. It is for this reason that most of Billy Graham's work has been most effective with people who are already nominally Christians and members of some standing and time. It is for this reason that revivals must begin in the churches of Jesus Christ. It is here that the faith has grown stale, jaded and powerless to challenge the sinners on the outside.
When was the last time you cried because you had sinned? When was the last time you realized that your words or your witness had not glorified our Father? This is the heartfelt confession and contrition that proves your conversion. Further, being sorry for your sins is not enough, you must go on and put specific actions behind you and quit doing those things you know that displease our Lord! Conversion is God's coming to you as Joel would describe it in the passage before us. The proof of His coming may be found in the blessings that He gives to us.
Verse eighteen is a turning point in chapter two of Joel's prophecy. The Restoration described is both local and cosmic, and also both immediate and future. Now we have to be careful here. There is a growing attitude in evangelical churches that the blessings of wealth, size and prosperity of individuals and Christian organizations is indicative of God's greater blessing upon those who are obviously successful.
Now it is true as Joel clearly says that if we seek God's face He will provide the "grain, new wine and oil", enough to satisfy fully". And generally, the disciplines of the Christian life will improve the financial stability of families, villages and congregations. In my area, there were two congregations that began a generation ago on the wrong side of the tracks. Both congregations have prospered and their families have not only grown in the Lord but proved their obedience to Him. Now they are located on opposite sides of snob hill - on the far right side of their city. And their godly impact on the city is well proven in comparison to the old churches who have drowned themselves in liberalism.
O Palmer Robertson lists four blessings from Joel which may prove the truth of sincere repentance in the lives of individuals and congregations
1. He answers their prayers
2. He satisfies their desires
3. He removes their reproach
4. He destroys their enemies
In verse nineteen of Chapter Two in Joel we read: "The Lord will answer and say to His people," This is a great principle of the Christian faith. We are not alone. God Himself is with us" as an old hymn goes. Day by day, at morning, afternoon, evening and night. He is there, always available when we humble ourselves and turn to Him. I will always remember one honest liberal professor at Seminary, no matter what question you asked him, he would always pause, close his eyes and pray before speaking. Even though he had swallowed a lot of liberal ideas, he had been raised aright and knew the Lord of heaven and earth personally. Much of the evangelical church could profit from such regular pauses. Morning and evening, meal time and at odd moments of the day, we are always invited to turn to Him in prayer and to know of His presence.
Also in verse nineteen we read that "And you will be satisfied by them". This means that when He gives us sufficient food, drink and comfort for our needs, we will have enough and to share. I am reminded of the Christmas gift our little Logan County Mission (PCA) one gave to missionaries in the Sudan. 150 pound bags of grain were carried up over the mountains into Ethiopia to help feed the starving farmers there. One lady was given enough wheat to feed herself for a month. She immediately gave back a tenth of that and went on to feed three other ladies beside her self!
In the last phrase of verse nineteen we read: "I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations." Do you know what the attitude of the worldly is towards Christ's Church today? Obviously, it is an attitude which is well deserved from these last few decades. In the military when serious fighting must be done, the forces who give and take casualties may learn to respect one another even grudgingly. During World War One, at Gallopoli the Australian diggers and Johnny Turk as they became affectionately known fought desperate battles against one another and in the prospect learned to respect each other. So much so, that long after the war, the Turks allowed the Aussies to come in and raise a memorial to their fallen comrades.
Yes, we are in a life and death struggle with the humanists, the secularists and the worldly. What have we earned from them in the last half century. It isn't respect, because we have not fought a good fight worthy of respect. And as we come to the fourth blessing that the Lord gives to His people who sincerely repent and follow Him, neither has the Lord stretched out His hand against the enemies who attack Him through their attacks upon His people.
In verse twenty, there is an interesting phrase "But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land." Augustine notes that in Roman times, a great plague of locusts was drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. The dead locusts rolled in by the tide caused a pestilence that killed thousands of citizens in the Kingdom of Masinissa. Other reports have piles of dead locusts along the coast of the Red Sea at three and four feet deep.
The Northern Army here is also symbolic because that is where the ancients looked for the dwelling of their Gods. I once read that since the earth is not perfectly round, that the pear shape may indicate like a spinning top where up and down might be in our milky way at least. Since, the earthly bulge is most noticeably above the equator, the northern emphasis in the Old Testament and in the pagan religions are not entirely fanciful. In Joel's thinking, the northern destroyers which he viewed as sent from God, that force now appears to be godlike in its dimensions. Isn't this the power of Satan, which Joel describes in the last phrase of verse twenty? The beast that will one day be thrown into the sea?
Yes we know that the great spiritual battle continues and the Christian warfare has not yet ceased. We know that we have enemies and even a great enemy who encourages his little demons to harasses us and even persecute us as they and he are able. So while we may hope that our own institutional enemies may be destroyed, we may have to wait until the last Great Day for final and complete satisfaction. Yes the last few verses here well indicate the restorative cycles in history and in the environment, but they also point forward to that last Great Day when our Lord returns. Until then, may we in the words of verse twenty-seven "know that [He is] in the midst of Israel; [He is] the Lord [ our] God And there is no other." That knowledge is indeed the greatest blessing that we may ever know. He is ours and we are His, both now and till the end of time.
Resources Used:
Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary.
Hubbard, David A. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Joel & Amos.
Robertson, O Palmer. Welwyn Commentary Series: Prophet of the Coming Day of the Lord.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213
Joel02b 04 February 99
|
Return to |
Return to |
Return to |