Salvations Trumpet
Joel 2:12-18 NKJV
[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? [15] Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; [16] Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. [17] Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” [18] Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.
Are you looking forward to the day of the Lord? Do you look up into the clouds to see if the Lord is near?
Do you hope for the reign of His judgment over the wickedness we see?
When was the last time we wept and cried out to God to spare His people!
Mourning in the sight of man’s heart.
Praying that His wrath would be overshadowed by mercy.
Mercy is wanted, wrath is deserved.
Who can endure it?
That’s an easy answer. No one can endure the wrath of God. No one can withstand the judgment. Hearing about the wrath and punishment and destruction of God should bring us a certain level of fear.
If we are not secure in the promises of Christ the fear is paralyzing.
God is loving, merciful, kind and gentle. He is also Holy, Just and Righteous. But it took me a long time to realize that He is jealous and wrathful too. We don’t like to see our loving Father this way. But if He is Holy He has to judge the wicked, right?
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up— And it shall be brought low—
Isaiah 2:11-12 NKJV
We Repent.
Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
In Joel’s day Judah was not right with God, so the day of the LORD would be nothing but darkness and gloominess to them.
All God wants is for us to have a sincere and true repentance. I truly believe that He wants to restore us to Himself. Why else would He send His only begotten Son?
He gives the way out of the wrath!
‘Turn to me with all your heart! ‘
Hear the Fathers love in this scripture, hear the desperation.
Sincere repentance is done with all your heart, giving everything you can in surrender to God.
Sincere repentance is an action. Sincere repentance is more than an emotion.
Mourning, crying and weeping over your sin in the eyes of a Holy God!
Who can endure!
I have to say this. In True repentance if action and emotion are absent, it isn’t real true repentance. If there’s no change in your heart and thoughts can it be real?
As we start to see our world unravel this is very well a great question to start to wrestle with.
We hear a lot about the Rapture, the Harpazo, the taking up by the Lord.
“Are you pre-trib or post-trib” question circle around Evangelicals.
But are you looking forward to Day of the Lord?
Does the sound of that make you tremble and fear?
The Lord has given us so many warnings.
If we could cry out without self absorbance. If we could pray for the Lord to relent and show His Mercy. If we could change our hearts.
Oh how the Lord Blows the Trumpet of warning. Why do we wait to get right with God only when we see death and destruction at the doors of our world and hearts!
Blow the Trumpet! Send a warning! Enemies are close to the camp!
We turn to the Lord when the enemy’s destruction is already at the gate and knocking on the doors!
The Lord calls for the trumpets to be blown to bring His people together and to warn them. The stubbornness of our hearts don’t take heed to the warnings until time is close. We ignore them because we believe we have time.
Just because you ignore the warnings does not stop the events that are about to take place.
But the warning calls for an action. What happens If we ignore the warnings?
Are you looking forward to the day of the Lord ?
When we are right with God, it’s strange we actually want the day of the LORD to come. We long for Him to show His strength because we know that we abide in Him. We start to see things as He sees them. We see the evil that men do in this world.
I find myself asking “Ok Lord when, when is enough enough?”
I think that His Longsuffering with us is running thin. I believe that the warnings are coming stronger and more often. You can tell by the fear in people’s eyes.
If we follow Christ like we say we do, what will you do? If you see the destruction of humanity and the depravity of lost hearts, where is your Trumpet of Faith being blown?
We tend to be people of action-less faith.
Now is not the time for that.
The Prince of Preachers,Charles Spurgeon, said this;
You cannot have back your time; but there is a strange and wonderful way in which God can give back to you the wasted blessings, the unripened fruits of years over which you mourned. The fruits of wasted years may yet be yours.”
You want God to relent! You want God to save and restore! Rend your heart! Cry for the people! Pray for God to spare them through the Blood of the Lamb! Fast for their souls!
Weep and mourn for their Eternal destiny!
Please be a person that blows the Trumpet to warn the people. Please be the one to to actually live a life of repentance. One that has been restored and saved from the very judgment and wrath that is near!
No, we can not get that time back that we have wasted.
But we can spend the rest of our days being the Trumpet of the Lord’s Salvation for the next soul!l to be Redeemed!
Are you looking forward to the Day of the Lord!
When the Lord finally comes to bring us into His fold may He see the love and joy in your hearts and eyes. May He find you with a Trumpet of faith in your hand!
Pastor Ed