JOEL’S TRUMPET CALL                   July 14, 2019

LYRICS:
THEY RUSH ON THE CITY;
THEY RUN ON THE WALL
FOR GREAT IS THE ARMY THAT CARRIES OUT HIS WORD
THEY RUSH ON THE CITY
THEY RUN ON THE WALL
FOR GREAT IS THE ARMY THAT CARRIES OUT HIS WORD
THE LORD UTTERS HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY
THE LORD UTTERS HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY
BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION, ZION
SOUND AN ALARM IN MY HOLY MOUNTAIN
BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION, ZION
SOUND AN ALARM

I’ve had this song in my head for days.  With the minor key and the upbeat tempo it has the sound of a Jewish worship song of victory. 

BUT . . .  the lyrics are from Joel Chapter 2  and they have nothing to do with victory.

The army carrying out the word of the Lord is a devastating invading force of judgment coming to utterly destroy Israel.  It’s the most devastating army ever seen before and not to be seen again for ages – if ever.  For eleven verses, Joel describes the army as an army of God’s judgment to destroy and make absolutely desolate everything before it.

The Book of Joel Chapter 2:
¹Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming;
Surely it is near,
² A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
³ A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
⁵ With a noise as of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
⁶ Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces turn pale.
⁷ They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each march in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.
⁸ They do not crowd each other,
They march everyone in his path;
When they burst through the defenses,
They do not break ranks.
⁹ They rush on the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
¹⁰ Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
¹¹ The Lord utters His voice before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?

Friends, the Spirit of the Lord speaks this prophecy to the church right now. Judgement is soon coming.

Verse 1 tells the timing for this:

   “For the day of the Lord is coming;
   Surely it is near,”

And in verse 11:

  “The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
   And who can endure it?”

The “Day Of The Lord” is imminent and unavoidable. 

Just as there was a specific and certain day when God closed up the ark of Noah and the rains came, the Day Of The Lord is coming in His timing – and He’s saying it will be soon.

This prophecy from the Lord by Joel warns of the imminent and disastrous judgment coming not only to unbelieving Israel, but to the apostate Christian Church.

The Gaither song and the response of the large audience in the video are typical and representative of the ignorance and wide-spread deception throughout the church today.  Incredibly, they rejoice and celebrate the imminent worst devastation ever to be seen since the beginning of time. 

WAKE UP!

THEN, beginning in verse 12, the Lord says:

¹² “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
¹³ And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,

God is calling His people, His remnant, to repentance.

What is the repentance that God requires?  Most teaching about repentance today is sterile and emasculated. Typically, it is an analytical word study of the Hebrew and Greek; the emphasis being on changing our mind toward something, resulting in a change in behavior. 

Yes, that is part of it, but only part!

The Lord is calling: “Return to Me with all your heart”, a heart change –  not mental correction.

He calls for:

     Fasting
     Weeping
     Mourning
     Rending your heart, not your garments

Jesus says of Holy Spirit in John 16:8  ^“8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;”

The Holy Spirit convicts.  He doesn’t just point out where we’ve been thinking wrongly.  Conviction is grievous.  It’s more than enlightenment regarding wrongful behavior and attitudes.  To a sensible person conviction produces great regret and remorse (Fasting, Weeping, Mourning).

God says to rend your heart – tear it, break it – He doesn’t say correct your thought patterns and attitudes.  True repentance results in a broken heart toward our Lord.

For starters, if you understand that since our birth, the only thing you and I deserve, is eternity in Hell; then everything in our lives to date, other than eternal Hell and torment, is and has been a wonderful gracious gift from God.  And, in return we often turn our backs on Him and even spit in His face as we deny, ignore, and disobey Him.  How shameful and despicable that is. A broken heart is entirely appropriate.

Regardless, He is worthy of our total faithfulness, devotion and continual praise simply because of Who He Is, even without His goodness toward us.

To those who think that this smacks of emotionalism, and it’s not appropriate for someone of a more staid and analytical make-up, God says:

     Fast
     Weep
     Mourn
     Rend your heart

however that happens for you.  Perhaps you need to reconsider your ”make-up” in light of God’s view of what is called for.

Admittedly, as always, there is a counterfeit of the real and true, and that ultimately is always Self-centered.  That would be pure emotionalism, and further offense against the Lord.

Today, God’s call to repentance thru Joel (and this message) is specifically to any born-again believer who remains in the apostate church.  The “mystery of lawlessness” and the “spirit of error” rule in the institutional church and ALL denominations are apostate; they have fallen away from Jesus Christ and the true gospel.  In fact, Jesus himself has departed from the institutional churches.  He’s no longer there.  Even most of the “house churches” have replicated the spirit and error of the failed institutional churches.

The churches have sold out to man-centered, world-centered, “ministries” which have now been conquered by the Gates of Hell and embrace the antichrist spirit.  Very soon “He who restrains” (Holy Spirit) will be taken out of the way (see 2 Thess. 2:7 below) and you who remain in the apostate institutions will be sealed in your deception and you will worship the antichrist right into the eternal lake of fire.  Your demise will be sealed if you remain.

If you remain there hoping for a turn-around in the apostate condition, (and perhaps you hope to be a part of the solution) you have a false hope.  You are deluded.  In pride and deception, you presume you can effect change when Jesus is not in it.  He and His Church are “outside the camp”.  The Rubicon has been crossed as false gospels are promulgated and God is blasphemed.  You are a member of an institution that is an enemy of Christ.

Paul writes under inspiration of Holy Spirit in Galatians 1:

^“8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! ⁹ As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

Come Out and Repent of your stiff-necked holding on to apostasy!

If you remain in the apostate church because you are comfortable there; you are part of the apostasy, and you are lost. 

There is no place for the Bride Of Christ in the institutional church today. 

Again, Christ is not there!  If it’s still not too late, Come Out and Repent of forsaking Jesus Christ in favor of deceiving spirits!  Soon the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way.  He will no longer restrain the powerfully deceptive work of the antichrist, and you will find yourself sold out to the enemy of Jesus Christ.

^“14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,”

“I will dwell in them  and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
¹⁷ “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will welcome you.
¹⁸ “And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,
Says the Lord Almighty.” in 2 Corinthians 6 (NASB)

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus commands:

2:7   He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
2:29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
3:6   He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

You, as a born-again believer are charged with “having an ear”.

John 10:27  “my sheep hear my voice”

The devastation, destruction, and desolation prophesied by Joel is imminent as The Day Of The Lord approaches at an ever increasing pace, and the apostate church will be judged.  Do not be among them!!

Jesus asks, “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?” Luke 12:57

The only answer I can come up with for otherwise intelligent people to be so blind is DECEPTION.  Plenty of very smart people embrace Mormonism, and most professing Christians are embracing the rampant apostasy in the institutional church.  Let’s be straight, deception only gets a start in  your own perverse heart and then is fed by the spirits of error and lawlessness from the world and the antichrist.

Do nothing simply on my (or anyone else’s) say-so.

John 16:13  ¹³ But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 

He will guide you  into all truth, and will disclose to you what is to come.

If you do not have Him, I urge you to be born again. http://www.lastdayswarriors.com/salvation.html

In the last chapter of Revelation, the angel tells John:
^“17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”

That is the heart of this message.  Repent and Come!

And; Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!

Duncan
July 14, 2019
duncan@1st-love.com

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2 Thessalonians 2:7

^“7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.”

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A Prayer:

Lord.  Talk to me about my heart.
Speak to me and show me my sin.
I want to walk in truth and righteousness with You.
Shine your light in my innermost parts,
    so that I can be rid of any and all things
    that are not worthy of You and Your Name.
I was born in sin, depraved.
You picked me up, made me new, and planted Your very life in me.
You made me Your very own child.
You have chosen me for the bride of your Son.
I hear your trumpet call to forsake all things unholy.
All things of Self
All things of the World
All things of other gods
Take me into repentance and cleansing
So that I can be a worthy and suitable bride,
    without spot or wrinkle,
So that I can be a child worthy of Your Name.
So that I can bless and honor You.
So that I can worship you in spirit and in truth
    with all my heart.
You are my life, oh God!