WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.260 Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast, where you can listen to audio from our most 00:00:09.260 --> 00:00:13.940 recent sermons and more. Thanks for listening, and be sure to add this show to your library 00:00:13.940 --> 00:00:16.860 if you'd like to automatically receive new episodes each week. 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:33.560 Well, good morning. If you have your Bible, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join me in Joel 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:39.660 chapter 2 this morning. As you turn there, I want to thank our kids. I know we still got some of them 00:00:39.660 --> 00:00:44.720 in the audience with us today, so give them a round of applause for leanness in worship. 00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:52.840 It's just such a wonderful encouragement to see not the future church, but the church now, 00:00:52.840 --> 00:01:00.180 as we emphasize evangelism, discipleship, growth across all ages, and to see them come up on stage 00:01:00.180 --> 00:01:05.160 and lead us in worship is super encouraging. So thank you, kids. Thank you, Dawn, and your team, 00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:10.900 and your volunteers who serve every single week, investing in these kids, pouring into these kids, 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:17.300 being in community with these kids, and we're so, so grateful for that. If you're a first-time guest, 00:01:17.300 --> 00:01:21.960 I want to thank you also for being here. At the end of the service today, me and my wife will be back 00:01:21.960 --> 00:01:26.720 here to my left. Would love for you to stop by. It's a wonderful place. If you have any questions 00:01:26.720 --> 00:01:31.200 about our church, we'd be happy to answer those questions for you. But if you don't have any 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:35.520 questions, if you're just here visiting, if nothing more, if you wouldn't grant us the opportunity 00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:39.840 to just be able to shake your hand and thank you for being here, for worshiping with us, 00:01:39.880 --> 00:01:44.440 we would really, really appreciate that. Also, a couple of things, something that should have been 00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:48.640 on your chair. You'll see we got our kids camp. We got a card that's right there. It's a wonderful 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:53.500 opportunity to scan this QR code. Parents, to get your kids registered for kids camp this summer, 00:01:53.800 --> 00:01:58.600 a wonderful summer time that we're going to have with them. And so please, you want to make sure 00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:02.480 that you connect with that. And then at the very end of the service, I'm going to do our message, 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:07.580 and then we'll have the team come up and do another time of response and leading us in worship. 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:11.140 And then the very last thing that we will do together is to take the Lord's Supper. 00:02:11.600 --> 00:02:16.380 And so if you're here and you're a follower of Jesus, regardless if you're a part of our 00:02:16.380 --> 00:02:22.020 denomination, regardless if you're a member of our church, we want to invite you to partake in the 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:27.420 Lord's Supper with us at the end of the service. And so if you missed these as you came in, 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:32.880 they are located in the very back of our auditorium, right underneath our sound booth upstairs. 00:02:32.880 --> 00:02:37.900 And so you can slide back right now would be a great time to get those so that you could do that 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:43.580 with us, like I said, at the end of the service. So as we get into Joel this morning, I want to read 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:50.500 to you the first part of Joel 2.13. The first part of this verse says this, 00:02:51.340 --> 00:03:12.140 Would you pray with me? God, we come to you this morning, Lord, and we thank you for what a privilege 00:03:12.140 --> 00:03:17.900 and honor it is to gather together as your people to worship you. God, I thank you for our kids. 00:03:18.980 --> 00:03:25.880 I thank you for their heart for you. God, I pray that they would grow in their relationship with you. 00:03:26.420 --> 00:03:34.380 Just as Lord, I pray that all of us do. God, as we go into a time of reading your word and the 00:03:34.380 --> 00:03:39.620 preaching and teaching of your word, God, I pray that all that will be said will be done in a manner 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:44.960 that will bring glory and honor to your name. God, I pray that all that's said and done will be done 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:52.000 through the power of the Holy Spirit. And God, we ask for your spirit to work and move of the lives of 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:58.680 each and every single individual here. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. 00:03:59.140 --> 00:04:04.840 Well, there's kind of a catchphrase about the minor prophets, right? That these are minor prophets, 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:12.800 but with a major meaning, a major emphasis, a major message. And we see this in the minor prophet of 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:18.460 Joel as we started last week. Last week, a quick little recap. We don't have the time to go through 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:24.980 everything by any means, but we see that tragedy has come to God's people. And this tragedy has come in 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:33.120 the form of locusts and that these locusts have completely wiped out the crop, the land. It's 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:41.140 barren. There's no hope. There's economic disaster. There's famine. There's even limitations on worship 00:04:41.140 --> 00:04:51.400 and sacrifice. And so God's people are devastated. And so God calls them in Joel chapter one to repent. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:05:00.340 And so we looked at repentance last week, that God uses tragedies, that God uses circumstances 00:05:00.340 --> 00:05:07.220 and very loving what the world would look at as a punishment. What would the world would look at 00:05:07.220 --> 00:05:16.000 as a terrible crisis is that God in his goodness uses these moments to draw us to himself and his kindness 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:23.620 and that we can begin with whatever tragedy, whatever we face every single day by looking at it with an 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:29.300 opportunity of repentance. But we talked about last week that repentance isn't just simply saying, 00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:36.580 I'm sorry. Repentance isn't simply saying, well, I'm not going to do that again. To repent is to truly have, 00:05:36.820 --> 00:05:45.860 to desire, to lean into, to be dependent on God for an actual change of heart. And God desires 00:05:45.860 --> 00:05:52.200 this type of repentance, not just an acknowledgement that I've done wrong, not just simply a sorry from 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:58.220 the lips because God wants your heart. That's what God wants. God wants your heart. 00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:07.060 Only before God desires anything of you or from you, God wants your heart. Jesus, as he began the 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:13.420 Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five and going through the Beatitudes, begins to give several 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:21.860 phrases that would stand in opposition, both culturally and religiously of the day. And he says this, 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:32.040 blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Very interesting phrase. We see this and this 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:38.720 begins to make sense to us. In our understanding of the gospel, we know these things and we see this. 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:44.060 And so this lands with us hopefully well. But let me tell you how this would have landed when the 00:06:44.060 --> 00:06:51.360 people of Jesus' time would have heard this phrase, pure of heart. This was a challenge. This was a call. 00:06:51.520 --> 00:07:00.540 Carried with it an idea of straightness. It carried with it an idea of honesty, of purity, of clarity. 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:08.100 And from this pure of heart, there was two implications that came from this. And one is of the inner 00:07:08.100 --> 00:07:17.460 moral purity as opposed to the image of purity or ceremonial purity. And so one implication of this 00:07:17.460 --> 00:07:23.260 phrase was like, hey, before you Pharisees, before you religious doers start trying to figure out how to 00:07:23.260 --> 00:07:29.020 clean up all the outside of what needs to be done, that what God is desiring from you before there's an 00:07:29.020 --> 00:07:38.960 external purity is that there would be an inner purity of what's there. But also it carried another 00:07:38.960 --> 00:07:47.840 other implication. Same meaning, different implications. That it was this picture of an undivided heart. 00:07:47.980 --> 00:08:00.480 So the call to the Lord is one of an internal purity, but also internal unity for the Lord. 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:10.860 That there's not division amongst who you are. There may be unity in action, but if there's not unity in 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:18.040 heart, then the unity of action is just the performance of religious rights and wrongs. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:30.040 And so Jesus says, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the inner pure, blessed are the undivided 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:40.600 hearts, for they, they shall see God. They shall see God. And again, kind of two implications of this, 00:08:40.780 --> 00:08:49.020 for they shall see God when we, like I can look out and I can see you, right? It implies a closeness. 00:08:49.020 --> 00:08:59.640 So blessed are the pure of heart, for they will experience closeness with God. Closeness with God both in 00:08:59.640 --> 00:09:10.280 eternity, that we will be with him, that this earth is not our final destination, that what awaits for us 00:09:10.280 --> 00:09:18.160 is not wrath and judgment and eternal punishment, but that blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God, 00:09:18.160 --> 00:09:28.780 for there's this eternal closeness, but also blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God. Now remember who's saying this? 00:09:28.780 --> 00:09:49.700 Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. So it's this earthly clarity of beginning to see God for who he truly is, to see Christ for who he is, to see the power of God's word for who he is, through his word, through his nature, and through his people. 00:09:50.660 --> 00:10:01.280 So Jesus begins, and we see this in Matthew 5, 8, and talking about the importance of your heart, and in my heart, and in our pursuit of him, that we can, like, let's push these 00:10:01.280 --> 00:10:09.320 religious works to the side, let's push these do's and don'ts to the side, and let's lock in, and let's ask the question, like, man, like, how's your heart? 00:10:10.420 --> 00:10:21.040 How's your heart? You ever had that day where it's just like, it's tough, it's hard, like, like, your heart grieves, but you've got to, you've got to get up, and you've got to move 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:28.600 on, and you've got to power through, right? And so you, you get everything done, you get your job done, you get the kids where they need to be, you get the bills paid, you get, you get dinner 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:35.900 cooked, you get food on the table, you get it cleaned up afterwards, like, like, you do all of the things, but inside, like, your heart's falling apart, and spiritually 00:10:35.900 --> 00:10:42.500 speaking, Jesus says, like, we can be those people that run and chase and do all of this, but that what we have need to be concerned, and what he's 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:48.340 concerned is, how's your heart? How's your heart? Not how's your checklist? 00:10:51.040 --> 00:11:00.300 How's your heart? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So, so here's, here's the difficulty with that 00:11:00.300 --> 00:11:07.440 for us. Here's the difficulty, and this is what Joel 2 is, is going to help us in getting this, this problem solved a little bit 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:19.880 for us, is that, um, we have a heart problem. We, you and I, we, we, in, in our sin nature, in our, in our sinfulness, however we want 00:11:19.880 --> 00:11:25.780 to look at that with where we are, that, that, that you and I have a heart problem. Matthew 15, 19, again, from the 00:11:25.780 --> 00:11:33.540 words of Jesus says, for out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual morality, theft, false witness, 00:11:34.280 --> 00:11:43.680 slander, right? For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual morality, theft, false witness, 00:11:44.420 --> 00:11:50.940 slander. Jesus is speaking here in, in Matthew 15 about what defiles a person, what makes a person 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:58.500 dirty. And, and he says that, that we are defiled from the inside out, not from the outside in. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:06.540 So, what defiles us is not what we do, but what defiles us is who we are. And then based off of who we are 00:12:06.540 --> 00:12:11.400 at our inner being, at our heart, then becomes where our, where our actions come through, right? 00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:20.880 So, the, the concern and the issue is, is the heart. Jesus, Jesus says that these evil things, they, they, they come 00:12:20.880 --> 00:12:28.240 from our innermost nature. They, they aren't accidents. They aren't mere mistakes. They, they reveal how corrupt we are 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:34.640 in, in, in our fallen nature. R. T. Frant says, says this in his commentary. He says, the heart is the source 00:12:34.640 --> 00:12:42.060 of man's true character, and therefore of his purity or impurity. It is not merely the, the seat of emotion, 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:51.000 but the true person as he really is, not just as he appears outwardly. Like, you and I, we all have this 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:57.640 opportunity in this, this ability to clean up, to polish up, to make the outside look better than what 00:12:57.640 --> 00:13:03.880 the inside really is. So, so again, the question this, this morning is, how's your heart? How's your 00:13:03.880 --> 00:13:09.740 heart? I want to ask you two questions that are going to be questions that we come back to over and over 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:16.940 and over as we have, I'm sure, people in here who, who, who don't trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:20.680 Savior, and as we have people in here who do trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. 00:13:20.680 --> 00:13:26.740 There's probably a mixture of, of us in here. There are those of us that are common, and we're set, and we're firm 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:31.880 in our foundation, in our relationship with Christ, and then there's some of us who are maybe unsure, right? 00:13:31.920 --> 00:13:36.300 Or there's some of us who are maybe questioning this, or there's some of us who are definitely skeptics, and we're 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:41.140 like, no, no, no, no, no. And so, but there's two questions that can encompass all of us, whether we find 00:13:41.140 --> 00:13:46.200 ourselves, is number one, do you need to, do you need to turn to Jesus? Like, when you evaluate your heart, and we'll 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:50.360 begin to see that Jesus is, is the one who fixes this. Jesus is the problem solver. 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:54.740 Jesus is the doctor. Jesus is the heart surgeon, right? He's the one that, that changes this. Do you need 00:13:54.740 --> 00:14:00.260 to, do you need to turn to Jesus? Do you need to turn for repentance and salvation? Or are you, are you 00:14:00.260 --> 00:14:07.420 part of God's people? And, and do you need to return? Do you need to return? Do you need to return to God as, 00:14:08.420 --> 00:14:18.620 as you've, as you've, as you've wandered? Right? Like, I, I got saved. I got new status. I'm a new 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:28.820 person. I'm a new identity. All of that defined by in Christ. But I still have this, this part in this 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:36.120 journey in this world that I'm, that I'm walking in and through, and God, praise God for this, that as I'm 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:40.680 walking and journeying through this, that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in me, is 00:14:40.680 --> 00:14:46.940 taking all that that is not him, and he's working those parts and those pieces out of me in a beautifully, 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:51.120 wonderfully difficult and hard process in my life right now. 00:14:53.160 --> 00:14:58.940 And, and, and, and in the course of the last 23, about to be 24 years that Jesus Christ has been my 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:03.720 Lord and Savior, right? Like, I, I'm sitting here sometimes progressing faster, sometimes progressing 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:08.940 slower, but guess what? Like, even as a guy that shortly after saved felt called into ministry and was 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:13.780 being discipled and being led to do what I'm doing today, because this is what I believe that God called 00:15:13.780 --> 00:15:20.380 me to, that there are points in time still to this day that I wander, that I choose the lesser, 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:28.640 that, that I choose that of the flesh. And, and here's the point that we're gonna see in Joel 2, 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:33.720 is that when I do that, God's not like lightning bolt, there you go, fool. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:41.040 You can giggle at that a little bit, I guess. But I feel like that's how God talks to me when I do 00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:46.960 things like that, you know. That's not what he does. He's good and he's gracious and he's like, 00:15:48.400 --> 00:15:56.980 put his arm around me like, like, return, buddy. Return, come back. Come back. And, and I think, and 00:15:56.980 --> 00:16:05.620 like, those of us who have wandered and know, you can amen this, like, you know that your salvation 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:12.980 story is so important to your testimony of faith, but yes and amen in your wandering and in your 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:20.760 returning to the Lord, right, is equally powerful and so relatable because we wander. So here's what I 00:16:20.760 --> 00:16:26.500 don't want. I don't want you thinking that this message this morning and the reason why we began 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:32.420 in the way that we began this morning is just for people who don't know Jesus to turn to him. We do. 00:16:32.420 --> 00:16:36.520 If you don't know, if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I want to tell you this. We've 00:16:36.520 --> 00:16:42.020 been praying for you all week and we prayed for you this morning. We prayed that today that God would 00:16:42.020 --> 00:16:52.460 radically save you as only he can. But for the rest of us who do know Jesus, maybe you're in a drift 00:16:52.460 --> 00:17:00.520 right now. Or maybe you're in full-blown rebellion right now. Or maybe you're somewhere in between 00:17:00.520 --> 00:17:09.240 right now. And in our heart is that you'll just return. That you'll just return. But we've got to 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:13.920 deal, we've got to deal with the heart. So let's, let's look at this. Joel 2, we're going to read verses 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:21.560 1 through 11 to start this morning. Blow a trumpet in Zion. Sound an alarm on my holy mountain. 00:17:23.100 --> 00:17:30.120 Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of the Lord is coming. It is near. Just 00:17:30.120 --> 00:17:33.820 kind of pause here. Like this is, this is God saying there's going to be a judgment that's coming. 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:41.300 There's going to be a judgment that's coming. A day of darkness and gloom. A day of clouds and thick 00:17:41.300 --> 00:17:47.460 darkness. Like blackness, there's spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people. 00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:55.720 Their life has never been before, nor will it be again after them through the years of all generations. 00:17:57.140 --> 00:18:01.700 Fire devours before them and behind them a flame burns. 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:08.680 The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness and nothing 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:16.160 escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses and like war horses they run. 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:23.660 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of mountains like the crackling of a flame of 00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:31.500 fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in 00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:38.140 anguish all faces grow pale. Like warriors they charge. Like soldiers they scale the wall. 00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:45.260 They march each on his way. They do not swerve from their paths. 00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:50.940 They do not jostle one another. Each marches in his path. 00:18:52.620 --> 00:19:01.420 They burst through the weapons and are not halted. They leap upon the city. They run upon the walls. 00:19:01.900 --> 00:19:07.340 They climb up into the houses. They enter through the windows like a thief. 00:19:08.540 --> 00:19:17.400 The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened. And the stars withdraw their shining. 00:19:19.020 --> 00:19:30.060 The Lord utters his voice before his army. For his camp is exceedingly great. He who executes his word is powerful. 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:36.460 For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome. Who can endure it? 00:19:37.580 --> 00:19:42.100 Right? Like parents maybe like not the bedtime story to read, you know, tonight. 00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:46.660 Right? Here's what God does and here's what I want to see. I want us to see the warning signs. 00:19:47.360 --> 00:19:49.760 See the warning signs. See the warning signs. 00:19:50.620 --> 00:19:54.280 Joel chapter 1, right? Locusts. Locusts come. God's getting their attention. 00:19:54.780 --> 00:20:01.320 Getting their attention. He says, blast a trumpet. Blow a trumpet. The day of the Lord. Judgment is coming. 00:20:01.580 --> 00:20:05.020 Here's the thing about the day of the Lord. Here's the thing about judgment with God. 00:20:05.320 --> 00:20:08.900 God's not looking like sneaky, sneaky surprise. Here you go. Right? 00:20:09.100 --> 00:20:11.900 God's saying like this is going to happen. This is going to take place. 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:15.320 And what we know by God, that God stands by his word. 00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:18.260 And so if God says it, we can hold to it. 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:21.840 And he says judgment will come in the form of an invading army. 00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:28.080 And just in the descriptions of this, of what we see in the descriptions of what is going to take place. 00:20:28.360 --> 00:20:33.160 Like this is not an invading army that's just going to kind of come along beside and be like, it's okay. 00:20:33.300 --> 00:20:35.760 Like you're ours now. We came to set you free. 00:20:36.040 --> 00:20:38.140 No, no, no, no, no. They're coming to destroy. 00:20:39.100 --> 00:20:44.460 It says that one of the descriptions of what they do, it says like before them, it's like the Garden of Eden. 00:20:44.780 --> 00:20:47.680 And then behind them is like a wasteland. 00:20:48.040 --> 00:20:49.700 Why? Because they've destroyed it all. 00:20:50.540 --> 00:20:58.380 It's the picture that they are like horses with war horses that will trample over and on top with the chariots that are coming. 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:00.820 What is happening is destruction. 00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:04.720 And God in his kindness, God in his mercy, God in his goodness is like, 00:21:04.840 --> 00:21:08.980 I don't want you all of a sudden to be out there in the field trying to deal with the locusts. 00:21:09.040 --> 00:21:13.520 And then you hear the rumbling of the horses coming and you had no clue what this is taking place. 00:21:13.800 --> 00:21:16.180 God in his mercy says, look, here are the warning signs. 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:18.560 It's like, folks, like pay attention to this. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.720 But so many times you and I miss it. 00:21:24.600 --> 00:21:31.520 So many times in our sinful ignorance, we look past the caution signs of what God gives us. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.040 Because we're looking ahead to what we believe is next. 00:21:39.080 --> 00:21:47.580 When I was, how many of you, show of hands, we've got teenagers in the room, got some husbands who maybe haven't shared some secrets with their wives. 00:21:48.760 --> 00:21:50.980 How many of you have ever gotten a speeding ticket? 00:21:51.100 --> 00:21:51.840 Raise your hand. 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:53.340 Leave them up in the air for a second. 00:21:53.860 --> 00:21:55.020 I want to see what we're working with. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:57.120 I want to see whose hands are down. 00:21:59.860 --> 00:22:02.340 Oh, that, Bryson, come on, you can do better than that. 00:22:02.520 --> 00:22:04.260 All right, all right, it's right here, man. 00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:05.400 I could see, I was like, really? 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:07.260 All right, all right, all right. 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:09.980 How many of you have had more than one? 00:22:10.080 --> 00:22:10.740 Raise your hand. 00:22:14.700 --> 00:22:15.500 All right, you put them down. 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:18.040 How many of you have had more than three? 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:18.680 Raise your hand. 00:22:18.760 --> 00:22:24.900 That was a delay. 00:22:25.020 --> 00:22:26.320 I feel like somebody got nudged. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:27.460 I'm not going to say who, James. 00:22:27.820 --> 00:22:31.660 All right, so I got my, I've had one. 00:22:32.300 --> 00:22:33.080 I've had one. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:34.260 I've had one. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.600 Now, my wife has had one, too. 00:22:35.780 --> 00:22:36.740 I found out last night. 00:22:36.780 --> 00:22:37.500 I didn't know this. 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:42.240 Like, she got her first speeding ticket, like, her first week with her driver's license. 00:22:42.820 --> 00:22:47.000 Now, her mom and dad are here this morning, so I'm going to call my mother-in-law up on stage to tell about that. 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:47.460 I'm just kidding. 00:22:47.560 --> 00:22:48.000 I'm not going to do that. 00:22:48.140 --> 00:22:52.960 Never give your mother-in-law a microphone when you're a pastor because then that just, it's freedom, right? 00:22:52.980 --> 00:22:53.760 Do whatever they want to. 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:57.540 So, I got my, I've had one speeding ticket, one speeding ticket. 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:07.400 I was traveling from North Augusta to the Clemson to see some friends of mine, and I was in the big, booming metropolis of Abbeville, South Carolina. 00:23:09.080 --> 00:23:09.340 Yep. 00:23:09.460 --> 00:23:16.180 Those of you, and so I'm on the road, and I'm headed there, and it's 55 miles an hour. 00:23:16.280 --> 00:23:16.620 How do I know that? 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.160 Because I, like, those signs, like, I'm looking for them. 00:23:19.600 --> 00:23:20.500 Speed limit signs. 00:23:20.840 --> 00:23:21.980 I don't like to go fast. 00:23:22.020 --> 00:23:23.240 I've never liked to go fast. 00:23:23.280 --> 00:23:24.100 Like, slow and steady. 00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:25.120 That's me. 00:23:26.260 --> 00:23:27.280 55 miles an hour. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:28.480 Now, let me say this. 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:30.000 Let me say this. 00:23:30.420 --> 00:23:34.580 When I drive, I follow the speed limit, kind of, right? 00:23:35.780 --> 00:23:36.140 Right? 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:44.440 So, so, if you're, if you, if you're not paying for your own auto insurance, this does not apply to you, right? 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:50.600 If you're, if someone else is paying your auto insurance, then you drive whatever that sign says, or less. 00:23:50.920 --> 00:23:54.340 But, like, I would go, like, 60 in a 55. 00:23:56.060 --> 00:23:56.460 Right? 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:05.080 So, I'm leaving Abbeville, and I see I'm coming out of, like, 35, and it jumps from 35 to 55, so I jump up to 55. 00:24:06.020 --> 00:24:07.400 And then I jump up to 60. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:14.480 And I'm running about 62 miles an hour, my Jeep Cherokee, heading up to hang out with some buddies in Clemson, South Carolina. 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:16.480 And there's a turn that's coming up. 00:24:17.300 --> 00:24:18.440 This wasn't my first trip to Clemson. 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:19.640 I've gone to Clemson many times. 00:24:20.060 --> 00:24:23.200 And I know that the speed that I'm at, I can take that turn. 00:24:23.280 --> 00:24:25.880 But there's a yellow sign right there to let me know that there's a turn. 00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:28.340 But I pay attention to those yellow signs, really. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.200 Like, who really pays attention to those yellow signs? 00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:35.040 So, I go around that turn at 62 miles an hour. 00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:38.120 And there, and there, silver cars. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:39.600 It's very, I love them. 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:40.560 I appreciate them. 00:24:40.660 --> 00:24:43.480 One of our South Carolina Highway Patrol officers. 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:44.960 Boo! 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:46.900 Right? 00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:48.360 Throws on his lights. 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:50.500 Pulls me over. 00:24:51.600 --> 00:24:52.680 I'm terrified. 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:55.560 He said, do you know how fast you're going? 00:24:56.380 --> 00:24:56.860 I said, yes, sir. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.140 I was going 62 miles an hour. 00:24:58.800 --> 00:24:59.500 He says, you were. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.320 He said, that's a problem. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:03.540 And I said, why is that a problem? 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.620 He said, because you're in a 40 mile per hour zone. 00:25:09.860 --> 00:25:13.000 Now, sometimes, you know how you say things without thinking through them? 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:16.080 I said, I don't think so. 00:25:16.080 --> 00:25:21.260 I said, I think I was going 62 and a 55. 00:25:21.760 --> 00:25:29.100 So, if I'm getting a ticket, I would really prefer a 62 and a 55 and not a 62 and a 40 that you just told me. 00:25:30.300 --> 00:25:31.460 And he said, would you see that yellow sign? 00:25:32.620 --> 00:25:36.160 And I said, yeah, thinking like, no. 00:25:37.780 --> 00:25:38.820 And he said, that's a 40. 00:25:39.620 --> 00:25:41.160 So, you're in a 62 and a 40. 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:43.300 So, you're going to get a ticket for that. 00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:45.920 Now, it's a different ticket than a regular speeding ticket. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.960 But here's my point. 00:25:50.520 --> 00:25:57.620 All along that road, and since then, to this day, this old man pays attention to them yellow signs. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:25:59.840 Here's my point. 00:26:00.820 --> 00:26:08.460 You and I get so comfortable just looking, spiritually speaking, for the speed limits and the stop signs 00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:16.780 that we miss those warnings that God graciously gives us that we think are irrelevant and don't matter. 00:26:18.360 --> 00:26:21.760 But God in his kindness, he's given them to us. 00:26:22.320 --> 00:26:23.300 He's given them to us. 00:26:23.760 --> 00:26:24.720 He's given them to us. 00:26:25.340 --> 00:26:33.940 Like, we're just like, if we heard the rumbling of the army, then maybe we got time. 00:26:35.500 --> 00:26:37.520 And God's like, well, it doesn't have to be that way. 00:26:38.380 --> 00:26:41.520 It doesn't have to be that way because I'm giving you the signs. 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:42.500 I'm giving you the cautions. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:44.020 I'm giving you the warnings. 00:26:45.500 --> 00:26:47.440 You're like, well, Bo, what are they? 00:26:48.360 --> 00:26:50.400 Well, it's his word. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:53.120 You get the warning of God's word. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:54.300 Right? 00:26:54.340 --> 00:26:55.520 One of the beauties of God's word. 00:26:55.660 --> 00:26:59.860 Like, if you want to know, like, what does God expect in the do's and don'ts of your life? 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:02.340 Go to the Bible. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:04.580 Wonderful ways. 00:27:04.660 --> 00:27:04.960 Do this. 00:27:05.020 --> 00:27:05.620 Don't do this. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:07.880 This is what your life should look like. 00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:11.140 All, again, again, your do's and don'ts do not save you. 00:27:12.620 --> 00:27:16.180 But in the transformation of your heart, of the expectation of your life, of the warnings, 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:17.420 it's like, where does it line up? 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.900 In his word, the do's and don'ts, his word tells us, 00:27:23.280 --> 00:27:23.960 hey, guys, guess what? 00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:25.300 Jesus will return. 00:27:27.580 --> 00:27:29.620 And in his return, there's judgment. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:31.960 Now, guess what? 00:27:32.100 --> 00:27:33.600 It may happen now. 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:36.720 It may happen then. 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:38.900 We don't know. 00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:41.120 But we know. 00:27:42.220 --> 00:27:43.460 His word tells us he'll return. 00:27:44.580 --> 00:27:48.000 His word tells us that heaven and hell are real. 00:27:49.220 --> 00:27:51.720 And his word tells us that eternity is a long time. 00:27:52.860 --> 00:27:55.260 And that your destination is one of two of those places. 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:57.060 That's it. 00:28:00.600 --> 00:28:07.840 And his word says, if you want security in this, all right, here's the warning. 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:09.100 Come to Jesus. 00:28:10.060 --> 00:28:10.960 Come to Jesus. 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:12.160 Come to Jesus. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:13.380 So God gives us his word. 00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:15.720 The second thing that God gives us is God gives us his people. 00:28:16.860 --> 00:28:17.680 God gives us his people. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:18.820 Right? 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:22.940 Like, you and I are this wonderful family that God gives us. 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:29.440 And that you and I are given with a purpose to work in the sanctification process, 00:28:29.860 --> 00:28:34.220 in the equipping process, in the bettering process of one another. 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:37.600 And so God gives us one another. 00:28:37.900 --> 00:28:42.240 So that's why I've said it a thousand times and I'll continue to say it a thousand times. 00:28:42.320 --> 00:28:48.260 It's not about a personal relationship with Jesus that neglects all of those that God puts around you. 00:28:49.260 --> 00:28:53.460 But God gives you a wonderful host of brothers and sisters in Christ to come alongside you. 00:28:53.540 --> 00:28:57.180 Not to just say the good, easy things to you, by the way, and to me. 00:28:57.620 --> 00:29:02.240 But to say the hard, difficult things that we need to hear time and time again. 00:29:02.580 --> 00:29:07.300 And the third thing that God gives us as these warnings as a part of who we are is he gives us his Holy Spirit. 00:29:08.380 --> 00:29:09.360 He gives us his Holy Spirit. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:15.860 Not that we have to go seek and find the Holy Spirit, but as God's people and the promise that the Holy Spirit will come upon you 00:29:15.860 --> 00:29:21.900 and the Holy Spirit, as a believer in Jesus Christ, he indwells within us and he speaks and he leads and he guides 00:29:21.900 --> 00:29:23.980 and praise the Lord, he convicts us. 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:34.160 And that when he convicts us, we should celebrate God because there's a reason, because in his goodness, he's convicting and not judging. 00:29:35.760 --> 00:29:38.800 And so there's repentance that's there. 00:29:39.760 --> 00:29:46.040 So the question for you and for me, are you going to act or are you going to ignore? 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:50.440 Are you going to act or are you going to ignore? 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:55.380 Are you going to act on the warnings of God and the response that God's called you to? 00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:56.240 Are you going to ignore? 00:29:56.600 --> 00:29:57.360 And here's the deal. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:04.280 I'm going to tell you, it happened a hundred times before I drove past that sign that I didn't get a ticket. 00:30:07.820 --> 00:30:11.120 That one time, judgment happened. 00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:14.020 The consequences were there. 00:30:14.940 --> 00:30:17.000 And the pain and the suffering was there. 00:30:18.360 --> 00:30:21.020 So you're going to act or you're going to ignore. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:23.060 Let's keep on to verse 12. 00:30:25.180 --> 00:30:40.220 Yet even now, declares, Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:41.740 Here's the question for you. 00:30:41.780 --> 00:30:44.520 Not just act and ignore, but whole or part? 00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:46.880 Whole or part? 00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:49.200 So are you ready to act? 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:51.180 All right, so what next? 00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:52.880 Well, here's what God's word said. 00:30:52.980 --> 00:30:59.360 God's word says, return with all of your heart an undivided heart. 00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:01.160 Remember back what Jesus said? 00:31:02.300 --> 00:31:04.420 Blessed are the pure of heart. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:17.160 And it was that concept that your heart was unified, unified in Christ, and not divided with this section going to Christ, and then the other 99 sections of our heart divided up amongst all the idols that we want to pursue. 00:31:19.300 --> 00:31:28.900 Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. 00:31:29.840 --> 00:31:31.600 Let me ask you this, is your heart divided? 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:33.520 Is your heart divided? 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:35.520 Here's the answer to that, yes. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:37.060 Yes. 00:31:38.620 --> 00:31:38.980 Yes. 00:31:40.260 --> 00:31:42.480 So God says, return, return to me. 00:31:42.620 --> 00:31:44.960 Jesus, in his words in Matthew 14. 00:31:46.040 --> 00:31:52.680 I want you to get that Jesus so many times, the Bible will tell us that great crowds would begin to follow him. 00:31:54.200 --> 00:32:05.380 And I began, I think that the reason why these things begin to happen is that great crowds begin to follow Jesus after a miracle, after a really profound teaching, because they didn't get it. 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:10.780 Because they believed that this was just like some easy new fluke thing. 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:16.740 They could be who they wanted to be, do what they wanted to do, follow this new radical Jesus guy. 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:26.000 And when the crowd began to get, to be a little too much sometimes, Jesus would turn and say some things that would fend the crowd. 00:32:29.080 --> 00:32:35.560 So it says, now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, verse 26 of Luke 14, 00:32:35.560 --> 00:32:47.780 And if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 00:32:48.420 --> 00:32:50.940 I just imagine that some people walked away. 00:32:51.760 --> 00:32:52.420 He's not done. 00:32:52.520 --> 00:32:53.220 Verse 27. 00:32:54.860 --> 00:33:01.200 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 00:33:02.040 --> 00:33:07.940 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it. 00:33:08.520 --> 00:33:16.500 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying this man began to build and was not able to finish. 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:26.980 Or what king going out to encounter another king in a war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000. 00:33:28.120 --> 00:33:34.580 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 00:33:35.340 --> 00:33:40.100 So Jesus says, look, if you're going to follow me, you need to consider this. 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:42.300 You've got to bear your cross. 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:45.540 This is a picture of suffering. 00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:47.040 This is a picture of work. 00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:48.400 This is a picture of enduring. 00:33:48.740 --> 00:33:50.160 This is a picture of difficulty. 00:33:51.320 --> 00:33:53.220 There's no easy believism. 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:56.120 There's no I'm good. 00:33:57.220 --> 00:33:58.020 Verse 33. 00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:04.940 So therefore, any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. 00:34:06.320 --> 00:34:08.660 And I imagine that crowd thinned. 00:34:10.140 --> 00:34:10.660 Thinned. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.460 Now, I'm not against big crowds, right? 00:34:15.220 --> 00:34:16.400 I like big crowds. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:19.880 We see in Revelation, there's going to be a big crowd with Jesus. 00:34:20.680 --> 00:34:32.200 I think the piece of this is that Jesus, of what he's pushing toward, is saying, like, look, on the surface, we can have these false, fake reasons for wanting to come to Jesus. 00:34:32.380 --> 00:34:35.440 But we need Jesus to say, but you need to take an inventory. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:37.480 Where is your heart divided? 00:34:38.740 --> 00:34:40.000 I think Jesus is love, right? 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.360 Like, I love my wife. 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:43.380 I love my kids. 00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:44.940 They love me. 00:34:45.080 --> 00:34:46.820 God's glorified and honored in that. 00:34:47.040 --> 00:34:58.420 Here's the point of the beginning of that, is Jesus is like, you've got to take all that is the most sacred to you, whatever it is, and your eyes are not locked and fixed on them. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:01.060 Your eyes are locked and fixed on me, is what Jesus says. 00:35:03.380 --> 00:35:04.120 I'm your all. 00:35:04.220 --> 00:35:05.000 I'm your pursuit. 00:35:05.860 --> 00:35:06.720 I'm your purpose. 00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:07.800 I'm your meaning. 00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:13.320 If you want to be my disciple, this is what this looks like. 00:35:13.740 --> 00:35:20.460 So, wholehearted relationship for Jesus begins in relationship with him and then builds on a daily walk with him. 00:35:21.100 --> 00:35:22.040 This is who we are. 00:35:22.180 --> 00:35:23.060 This is what we do. 00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:27.160 That you and I, we need to stop setting aside for God. 00:35:28.580 --> 00:35:32.660 We need to stop setting aside the things that we're okay with for God. 00:35:32.980 --> 00:35:45.160 We've got to stop setting aside just the things we're comfortable with for God and start acknowledging that all that we have, that all that we are, that all that we hope for is his. 00:35:46.680 --> 00:35:47.640 Is his. 00:35:49.040 --> 00:35:58.500 And that the belief of our heart and an undivided and a unified heart for him is, Lord, do with it as you wish. 00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:00.280 Do with it. 00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:02.540 Do with all. 00:36:02.720 --> 00:36:06.640 Lord, take my life and do with it as you please. 00:36:07.640 --> 00:36:10.420 God, take my marriage and do with it as you please. 00:36:10.780 --> 00:36:13.900 God, take my family and do with it as you please. 00:36:14.160 --> 00:36:17.060 God, take my talent and do with it as you please. 00:36:17.340 --> 00:36:20.860 God, take my hopes and dreams and do with it as you please. 00:36:21.100 --> 00:36:27.160 God, take my finances and my retirement and my savings and my paycheck and do with them as you please. 00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:29.940 God, take my hobbies and do with them as you please. 00:36:29.940 --> 00:36:35.740 God, take my morning from when I wake to the morning to the evening when I go to bed and do with it as you please. 00:36:35.740 --> 00:36:42.400 God, God, as I sleep in my heart and in my mind, set in them whatever you wish and do with them as you please. 00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:44.980 This is the call. 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:50.780 This is the hope for our heart. 00:36:50.780 --> 00:36:56.740 So he says, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning. 00:36:57.720 --> 00:37:02.000 When we've done wrong, here's what you and I want to pay the price. 00:37:02.640 --> 00:37:04.760 We want to pay the price and get it over with. 00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:16.160 The state trooper, when he pulled me over that day, he said, if you want to, you can come to court and you can appeal this ticket. 00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:18.760 Or you can just pay it. 00:37:20.080 --> 00:37:23.280 And I thought in that moment, like, I was so terrified. 00:37:23.660 --> 00:37:26.360 This was on a Friday and I knew this was before cell phones. 00:37:26.600 --> 00:37:29.340 So I had to tell my dad until Sunday because I wouldn't talk to him until Sunday. 00:37:30.560 --> 00:37:31.780 But I just wanted to be done. 00:37:33.180 --> 00:37:34.320 I just wanted to be over with. 00:37:35.380 --> 00:37:36.540 I just wanted to let my dad know. 00:37:36.600 --> 00:37:37.760 I wanted to pay the price. 00:37:37.900 --> 00:37:38.600 I wanted to be done. 00:37:38.640 --> 00:37:39.400 I want to take care of this. 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:40.140 All of this. 00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:41.660 I was angry. 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:42.460 I was annoyed. 00:37:43.300 --> 00:37:44.300 But I just wanted to be gone. 00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:45.720 I wanted to just pay the price and be done. 00:37:47.380 --> 00:38:00.980 God says, though, like, return to me and then allow what's going to come from you to come from your heart so that when we return to him, when we've wandered, like, there is some weeping. 00:38:01.660 --> 00:38:02.660 There's repenting. 00:38:02.980 --> 00:38:04.000 There's fasting. 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:05.240 There's mourning. 00:38:05.540 --> 00:38:07.380 But it's not done out of show. 00:38:07.640 --> 00:38:09.600 It's done out of response. 00:38:11.060 --> 00:38:11.500 Response. 00:38:12.220 --> 00:38:15.160 Verse 13, second half of 13 through 14. 00:38:16.660 --> 00:38:23.220 Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:25.320 He relents over disaster. 00:38:25.580 --> 00:38:34.420 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. 00:38:34.620 --> 00:38:35.540 So here's the challenge. 00:38:35.640 --> 00:38:36.960 It's what we've been building toward, right? 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:37.960 Return to the Lord. 00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:39.100 Return to the Lord. 00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:40.040 Return to the Lord. 00:38:42.500 --> 00:38:43.680 Why should you do this? 00:38:45.620 --> 00:38:46.640 Why should you do this? 00:38:47.980 --> 00:38:48.280 You know what I mean? 00:38:48.340 --> 00:38:56.340 But this just kind of feels like, I mean, here's this God and it's the locust and it's an army. 00:38:57.860 --> 00:39:00.300 Like, this is an unrealistic expectation. 00:39:00.300 --> 00:39:09.340 Why should I return or why should I turn to Him? 00:39:10.600 --> 00:39:11.620 Why should I turn to Him? 00:39:12.820 --> 00:39:18.060 And so Joel, in this, he helps us understand who God is. 00:39:19.240 --> 00:39:25.940 He says, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:39:26.040 --> 00:39:29.620 He relents over disaster. 00:39:30.620 --> 00:39:31.620 So he gives these descriptions. 00:39:31.620 --> 00:39:32.460 So he gives these descriptions. 00:39:32.460 --> 00:39:34.880 He says that he's gracious. 00:39:36.080 --> 00:39:37.200 He's gracious. 00:39:38.140 --> 00:39:41.780 He freely offers his forgiveness. 00:39:42.420 --> 00:39:44.200 He freely offers favor. 00:39:44.720 --> 00:39:48.080 He freely offers kindness and mercy to people. 00:39:48.340 --> 00:39:50.220 Even the people who don't deserve it. 00:39:50.260 --> 00:39:52.140 Because there's not any of us who do. 00:39:53.660 --> 00:39:54.620 That he's gracious. 00:39:55.660 --> 00:39:59.240 That he freely gives us the gift of conviction. 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:06.020 If you're convicted over your sin, celebrate that. 00:40:06.600 --> 00:40:09.440 Because it's evidence of the Holy Spirit in you. 00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:11.080 And this is what God does. 00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:12.340 He's gracious. 00:40:13.160 --> 00:40:14.800 He's gracious and he's kind. 00:40:15.040 --> 00:40:16.780 Then he says, he's merciful. 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:18.220 He's merciful. 00:40:18.220 --> 00:40:23.980 When we deserve punishment, and we deserve punishment all the time. 00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:25.880 But he doesn't punish us. 00:40:27.100 --> 00:40:27.860 He doesn't. 00:40:28.860 --> 00:40:33.860 In fact, what he does, what the Bible tells us, is that he blesses us instead. 00:40:34.560 --> 00:40:41.980 And when we're found in him, that he doesn't punish us, that we still, like you and I, we're still messy, messed up people. 00:40:42.380 --> 00:40:45.680 But instead of punishing, he blesses us. 00:40:48.600 --> 00:40:52.380 The Bible tells us that you and I, we've been blessed in every spiritual realm in Christ Jesus. 00:40:53.740 --> 00:40:54.900 Every single one of them. 00:40:56.440 --> 00:40:59.360 So where does the punishment go? 00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:04.240 Well, we went to Jesus on the cross. 00:41:06.140 --> 00:41:07.180 He's merciful. 00:41:08.780 --> 00:41:10.480 Jesus paid the price. 00:41:11.740 --> 00:41:12.560 So we didn't have to. 00:41:13.580 --> 00:41:15.260 It says he's slow to anger. 00:41:15.700 --> 00:41:16.820 He's slow to anger. 00:41:19.060 --> 00:41:22.340 This is a phrase that's hard for us to process. 00:41:22.620 --> 00:41:25.020 So I want to do the best that I can to explain this. 00:41:25.140 --> 00:41:25.980 He's slow to anger. 00:41:26.120 --> 00:41:29.160 And it means that he is patient, but don't get him wrong. 00:41:29.240 --> 00:41:29.840 Wrath is coming. 00:41:31.600 --> 00:41:33.940 He is patient, but wrath is coming. 00:41:34.460 --> 00:41:41.700 So here's the desperate cry for you to turn to Jesus if you've never turned to Christ and trusted him with your salvation. 00:41:42.140 --> 00:41:46.900 You either stand in his forgiveness through the cross or you stand in his wrath because of your sin. 00:41:48.600 --> 00:41:50.520 But he's slow to anger, so there's time. 00:41:51.680 --> 00:41:52.340 There's time. 00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:54.200 There's today. 00:41:54.860 --> 00:41:55.640 There's now. 00:41:56.120 --> 00:42:09.680 There's this moment for you, regardless of where you came from, regardless of where you find yourself, regardless of how you got here today, regardless of what brought you here today, to put your faith, your hope, your trust in Christ, and his work on the cross. 00:42:11.380 --> 00:42:13.080 And to ask for God's forgiveness. 00:42:14.860 --> 00:42:18.080 So you can stand in his forgiveness or you can stand in his wrath. 00:42:19.720 --> 00:42:22.080 It says he abounds in steadfast love. 00:42:23.120 --> 00:42:25.060 He abounds in steadfast love. 00:42:25.120 --> 00:42:29.380 And this word steadfast means that his love is overflowing and available. 00:42:30.420 --> 00:42:33.340 That the overflow will not cease. 00:42:34.380 --> 00:42:36.540 But that the overflow is continual. 00:42:37.220 --> 00:42:39.320 And it's available and it's available to all. 00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:41.200 So I don't care how bad you've messed up. 00:42:41.240 --> 00:42:46.600 I don't care what terrible, nasty, evil things that you've done that his love is overflowing. 00:42:46.700 --> 00:42:47.980 His love is available for you. 00:42:48.400 --> 00:42:51.800 I don't care how far back you feel like you are. 00:42:52.020 --> 00:42:53.520 I can't come back. 00:42:53.580 --> 00:42:54.200 I can't return. 00:42:54.380 --> 00:42:55.000 You don't understand. 00:42:55.240 --> 00:42:55.620 No, no, no. 00:42:55.680 --> 00:42:56.820 I do understand. 00:42:57.160 --> 00:42:57.980 Been there, done that. 00:42:58.040 --> 00:42:59.440 Got the scars to show you. 00:42:59.980 --> 00:43:04.600 And within that, his love is overflowing and his love is available. 00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:08.720 Look at who Jesus brought alongside him. 00:43:09.680 --> 00:43:10.860 Tax collectors. 00:43:12.700 --> 00:43:13.340 Thieves. 00:43:15.460 --> 00:43:16.100 Prostitutes. 00:43:17.700 --> 00:43:19.000 Demon-possessed people. 00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:21.440 The outcast. 00:43:22.100 --> 00:43:23.120 The rejected. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:26.520 And he says, no, let me tell you about God's love. 00:43:26.680 --> 00:43:30.280 It's overflowing for you and it's available for you. 00:43:30.380 --> 00:43:31.980 And they latched on to it. 00:43:33.240 --> 00:43:34.240 But you know who else? 00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:36.920 There's even some other religious. 00:43:38.180 --> 00:43:39.260 For me too, Jesus? 00:43:40.320 --> 00:43:41.320 Yeah, for you too. 00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:45.940 So there's not a soul in this world. 00:43:46.100 --> 00:43:50.940 There's not a soul in this room that his love is not overflowing and available for. 00:43:50.940 --> 00:43:52.720 And then here's this last piece. 00:43:53.080 --> 00:43:56.100 It says that he relents over disaster. 00:43:56.520 --> 00:43:59.380 And there's this cool picture that we begin to see with this. 00:43:59.480 --> 00:44:03.340 When we repent, God has announced judgment. 00:44:05.160 --> 00:44:05.620 This is it. 00:44:05.700 --> 00:44:06.740 God has announced. 00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:08.820 And Joel 2, judgment's coming. 00:44:10.080 --> 00:44:10.960 Judgment's coming. 00:44:11.820 --> 00:44:14.340 And he's announced to you and I apart from Christ, right? 00:44:14.580 --> 00:44:15.380 Judgment's coming. 00:44:16.200 --> 00:44:16.780 It's coming. 00:44:18.200 --> 00:44:24.120 But that God deserves the right to relent over disaster. 00:44:24.120 --> 00:44:26.120 To relent over judgment. 00:44:27.020 --> 00:44:28.260 So here's what that means. 00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:31.440 That when we repent, 00:44:32.460 --> 00:44:33.680 when we repent, 00:44:34.480 --> 00:44:40.480 God is free in who he is to alter his announced judgment. 00:44:41.340 --> 00:44:42.100 Here's what that means. 00:44:42.340 --> 00:44:43.880 It's still coming. 00:44:45.960 --> 00:44:47.460 But you'll be found in his forgiveness. 00:44:48.680 --> 00:44:50.080 You'll be found in his mercy. 00:44:50.720 --> 00:44:56.020 Because God always forgives the repentant. 00:44:56.900 --> 00:44:57.360 Always. 00:44:59.360 --> 00:45:00.400 Verse 15. 00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:03.620 Blow the trumpet in Zion. 00:45:03.620 --> 00:45:04.220 Blow the trumpet in Zion. 00:45:05.940 --> 00:45:07.140 Consecrate a fast. 00:45:08.360 --> 00:45:09.820 Call a solemn assembly. 00:45:11.060 --> 00:45:11.840 Gather the people. 00:45:13.580 --> 00:45:15.000 Consecrate the congregation. 00:45:15.260 --> 00:45:16.400 Assemble the elders. 00:45:16.980 --> 00:45:18.380 Gather the children. 00:45:19.340 --> 00:45:20.580 Even nursing infants. 00:45:21.920 --> 00:45:23.960 Let the bridegroom leave his room 00:45:23.960 --> 00:45:26.020 and the bride her chamber. 00:45:27.020 --> 00:45:28.880 Between the vestibule and the altar, 00:45:29.020 --> 00:45:29.660 let the priest, 00:45:29.940 --> 00:45:31.500 the ministers of the Lord, 00:45:31.740 --> 00:45:32.460 weep and say, 00:45:32.840 --> 00:45:34.120 spare your people, O Lord, 00:45:34.180 --> 00:45:36.820 and make not your heritage a reproach. 00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:39.100 By word among the nations, 00:45:39.780 --> 00:45:42.480 why should they say among the people, 00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:44.160 where is their God? 00:45:45.960 --> 00:45:46.440 Lastly. 00:45:49.240 --> 00:45:50.220 Come to Jesus. 00:45:53.060 --> 00:45:53.980 Come to Jesus. 00:45:55.240 --> 00:45:57.100 You ever had somebody say to you, 00:45:57.780 --> 00:46:00.080 we need to have a come to Jesus conversation? 00:46:03.080 --> 00:46:05.900 That conversation is never intended to be good. 00:46:09.700 --> 00:46:10.940 When the call 00:46:10.940 --> 00:46:14.480 is to come to Jesus, 00:46:16.600 --> 00:46:19.260 oh, it's better than you could ever possibly imagine. 00:46:22.220 --> 00:46:23.280 Come to Jesus. 00:46:25.040 --> 00:46:26.120 Come to Jesus. 00:46:27.120 --> 00:46:28.620 Well, I don't understand it all. 00:46:29.500 --> 00:46:30.220 Neither do I. 00:46:31.060 --> 00:46:31.780 Come to Jesus. 00:46:32.860 --> 00:46:34.920 Well, boy, I'm still going to mess up. 00:46:35.080 --> 00:46:36.300 I'm still going to do things wrong. 00:46:36.840 --> 00:46:37.720 Oh, trust me. 00:46:38.560 --> 00:46:38.960 Yes. 00:46:40.200 --> 00:46:40.880 I know. 00:46:41.880 --> 00:46:42.740 Come to Jesus. 00:46:43.820 --> 00:46:46.200 Well, I don't know that if I can be as good. 00:46:46.300 --> 00:46:48.000 I don't know that I can work out all the things 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:49.020 that I need to work out. 00:46:49.260 --> 00:46:50.660 I don't know what's next. 00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:51.720 I don't know what's there. 00:46:54.600 --> 00:46:55.560 Come to Jesus. 00:46:58.640 --> 00:46:59.480 Come to Jesus. 00:47:02.640 --> 00:47:04.220 1 Timothy 2, 5 and 6. 00:47:05.700 --> 00:47:06.780 For there's one God 00:47:06.780 --> 00:47:10.460 and there's one mediator between God and men. 00:47:11.900 --> 00:47:13.080 The man Christ Jesus. 00:47:15.120 --> 00:47:17.200 Who gave himself as a ransom for all. 00:47:18.780 --> 00:47:21.000 Which is the testimony given at the proper time. 00:47:24.360 --> 00:47:25.320 We have Jesus. 00:47:25.320 --> 00:47:33.700 We just two weeks ago celebrated and talked about. 00:47:34.460 --> 00:47:35.880 He died on the cross. 00:47:36.940 --> 00:47:41.760 He died on the cross for your sins past, your sins present, your sins future. 00:47:43.060 --> 00:47:45.200 He did so to pay for you. 00:47:46.140 --> 00:47:46.460 For you. 00:47:46.660 --> 00:47:49.580 There's a payment on your account for you. 00:47:51.800 --> 00:47:53.840 For all who will come to him. 00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:56.740 For all who will receive him. 00:47:58.420 --> 00:47:59.120 How's your heart? 00:47:59.120 --> 00:47:59.140 How's your heart? 00:48:00.740 --> 00:48:01.660 How's your heart? 00:48:04.080 --> 00:48:06.540 You know the answer to that question. 00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:11.600 Do you need to turn to Jesus for the first time? 00:48:13.060 --> 00:48:21.600 Do you need to set today that Jesus Christ, to surrender to him as the Lord and Savior of your life? 00:48:22.740 --> 00:48:25.880 To admit that you're a sinner and capable of saving yourself. 00:48:26.600 --> 00:48:31.540 To believe in Jesus Christ for who he is and what he's done and to confess him as Lord. 00:48:32.460 --> 00:48:34.460 I want to ask you if you've never done that. 00:48:34.580 --> 00:48:38.080 Would today be the day of your salvation and will you turn to Jesus? 00:48:39.560 --> 00:48:40.540 The second thing. 00:48:42.260 --> 00:48:43.500 Have you wandered some? 00:48:45.100 --> 00:48:46.020 Have you wandered some? 00:48:47.380 --> 00:48:57.840 I'm not talking about like you're some awful, menace to society, evil person out there. 00:48:59.120 --> 00:49:01.140 Man, has that path just wandered a little bit? 00:49:02.820 --> 00:49:04.660 Maybe that path wandered a lot. 00:49:06.020 --> 00:49:08.760 Man, you feel like I'm too far gone. 00:49:09.920 --> 00:49:11.380 I'm just here out of guilt. 00:49:13.820 --> 00:49:15.400 Do you need to return to Jesus? 00:49:17.040 --> 00:49:18.400 You should return to him. 00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:23.660 Not like the prodigal running home, met by the Father. 00:49:24.660 --> 00:49:29.360 Would you return to him today and live in the blessing of your salvation? 00:49:31.020 --> 00:49:35.080 Are you going to act or ignore the warning signs that God's word gives us? 00:49:36.520 --> 00:49:40.020 In your heart, is this something that you're trying to manage the parts? 00:49:42.020 --> 00:49:43.100 Or do you give him all? 00:49:46.700 --> 00:49:48.140 Will you return to Jesus? 00:49:49.340 --> 00:49:50.420 Will you come to him? 00:49:51.340 --> 00:49:52.300 Would you pray with me? 00:49:55.040 --> 00:49:56.660 God, we thank you for today. 00:49:57.640 --> 00:49:59.640 For your kindness and for your mercy. 00:50:01.320 --> 00:50:12.020 Lord, as we prepare to take the Lord's Supper together, acknowledging and recognizing the work done by Christ on the cross. 00:50:13.500 --> 00:50:18.700 God, in the power of your Holy Spirit, I pray that our hearts will be examined. 00:50:18.940 --> 00:50:25.740 Lord, if there's anyone here who has not come to you, professing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, 00:50:25.860 --> 00:50:28.840 I pray that today would be the day of their salvation. 00:50:30.460 --> 00:50:34.600 Today, in your drawing and in your leading and in your pursuing of them. 00:50:35.520 --> 00:50:37.880 Lord, they would lay down any hindrance. 00:50:40.480 --> 00:50:42.720 To stop them from coming to you. 00:50:44.180 --> 00:50:46.260 And receive your grace and mercy. 00:50:47.300 --> 00:50:49.040 Your kindness, your compassion. 00:50:50.180 --> 00:50:54.140 And today, Lord, become a child of the living God. 00:50:56.020 --> 00:51:00.240 Or God, today, is there sons and daughters in this room 00:51:00.240 --> 00:51:05.320 who are on a path of wandering or a path of rebellion? 00:51:07.540 --> 00:51:08.700 Living in the old. 00:51:09.760 --> 00:51:12.300 Allowing the dead to rise up from within them. 00:51:13.900 --> 00:51:18.220 Lord, today, they need to repent and return to you. 00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:26.660 God, in the power of your Spirit, speak as only you can to know. 00:51:28.660 --> 00:51:30.340 That's it for this week's message. 00:51:30.880 --> 00:51:33.120 Be sure to check back next week for a new episode. 00:51:33.740 --> 00:51:37.940 And in the meantime, you can visit us online at willowridgechurch.org 00:51:37.940 --> 00:51:42.360 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 00:51:42.820 --> 00:51:43.740 Thanks again for listening.