Sermon Tone Analysis

A Call to Repentance

The day had come.

They had been warned over and over again.

They had simply refused to believe the warnings.

But as they emerged to face the day, the truth was upon them.

There was no denying it.

They were about to face a disaster of epic proportions.

The roar of the locust wings was almost deafening.

And if that wasn’t enough, the crunch, crunch, crunch sound as the bugs consumed all green plant matter was ever present.

A plague.

A disaster.

The warnings they had ignored had come from the prophets.

God would not tolerate a lukewarm, dispassionate expression of religion much longer.

God desires a relationship with people.

He is not interested in a religion that doesn’t include a deep-abiding, soul-changing relationship with Himself.

Those in Judah had reduced their relationship with God to simple obedience to the religious practices, but their hearts were not in it.

They simply went through the motions.

The prophets had warned them over and over that God desired more.

Even King David had said, - For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

- The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

If it doesn’t include the heart, frankly, God is not interested in your religious service.

It is in this context that we come to the verses we need to focus on today.

It is my hope that this call from Joel will echo down through the centuries to you here today.

And that, as Joel spoke to the people of Judah, you will respond and come and pray this evening.

Please turn in, or turn on, your Bibles to .

A Call to Repentance

PRAY…

PRAY…

This short passage is the turning point for this entire book of our Bible.

In the preceding portions of the book, Joel has been lamenting.

Crying out to God and warning his hearers about the impending doom.

Then, this happens, and the rest of the book is given to rejoicing that God has relented from the disaster.

So, again, the whole book pivots on these 6 short verses.

The question I would hope you are asking is this: why did Tony land on this passage as one of his last 3 sermons at Immanuel?

I’ll tell you.

I have told you before that we are on an unsustainable path.

I declined the raise the trustees proposed because I don’t believe the church can afford to pay more.

And just so you know, I declined the raise BEFORE I knew I was going to another church.

With every number that measures church health on a downward trend, it just doesn’t make sense to raise any spending category.

And I tell you that to tell you this: I do not believe it is too late for Immanuel Baptist Church.

Listen now: I do NOT believe it is too late for Immanuel Baptist Church.

But the time to act is right now.

Yet, what kind of action is required?

If the church is in decline, what action do we need to take?

I have heard several folks say, “God can bring Immanuel back to health.”

And I say, “Amen!

God can certainly do that.”

However, why would God bring this church back to vitality?

Let’s make it wider, why would God bring ANY church back from decline to vitality?

I believe the answer is in the verses before us.

The one thing Immanuel Baptist Church needs to do is the very thing the prophet Joel writes about in the passage before us today.

So, here is one thing, in 3 steps, that Immanuel Baptist Church needs to do in order to be a church God would want to revitalize.

1.

Return to the LORD

1.1.

Return to the LORD

1.1.

Return to the LORD

1.2.

Yet even now because the locusts are swarming all over the place.

The plants in the fields are being eaten up.

Yet even now as the disaster swirls around us.

Yet even now as the only visible future is one of destruction and hardship.

Yet even now there is something to do.

1.3.

And the LORD says, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.

Weeping and mourning for the destruction taking place, certainly, but could Joel have another reason to weep and mourn in mind?

They are to return to the LORD.

I am convinced that there is a double meaning to this passage.

The first is the tragedy of the judgement they are living through.

The second is the realization of their own sinfulness that brought about this judgement.

Do you see? Don’t return to the LORD because of what He has allowed to happen that you don’t like!

Return to Him in humility because He is just and you have brought this destruction on yourself!

1.4.

Return to the LORD because He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster God takes no pleasure in disciplining His children.

Listen now!

He takes no pleasure in disciplining His children.

But He knows that sometimes children need to be disciplined to learn what to do, or what not to do.

And the recipients of discipline CERTAINLY don’t enjoy being disciplined.

So, Joel says, return to God and count on the fact that he is full of grace, giving us what we cannot possibly earn.

Return to God counting on the fact that God is full of mercy, not giving us what we indeed earned.

Return to God counting on the fact that He is slow to anger, not ever in a rush to punish.

Return to God counting on the fact that He is abounding in steadfast love, not hating, but loving patiently and kindly even through the hard times.

Return to God counting on the fact that He relents over disaster.

God allowed it and God can stop it.

1.5.

And then Joel asks the question that is at once hopeful and haunting in verse 14, Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Who knows if God won’t do the unexpected when His children return to Him.

Who knows if God won’t grant a blessing instead of a punishment?

God can certainly do that.

But the question is who knows whether He will.

The answer is kind of implied.

The worst that can happen is already happening.

The locusts are here, and they are destroying everything!

We must return to God because He is the only one who can stop this disaster.

1.6.

I don’t know if the plight of Immanuel at this point in time is as dire as Judah dealing with the locusts, but I do know this.

For this church to not just survive, but thrive, each and every member must return to God and plead with Him.

Who knows whether He will not turn and relent?

To do nothing is to accept things as they are and continue down the same path.

Return to God and see what He will do.

2. -16

2.1.

Pray urgently together

Pray Urgently Together

2.2.

Notice that the elders, the children, even nursing infants are all included.

There is no member of the community that is left out.

The need is so urgent that even the newlyweds are called out to join in the assembly.

In ancient Jewish tradition, newlyweds were not required to do anything for the first year of their marriage.

But Joel says here that even that rule should be broken so they can join the assembly and fast and pray together.

2.3.

This is a quick point, but so important.