The Remedy For Judgement | Pastor Shane Idleman

And I don't know how many of you are following, you know, on what's going on in our country, mainly with the backup generators and the power grid issues and the military bases. And, you know, China, they actually found where they were in, they hacked into the power grid and all that. And they weren't doing anything, they were just waiting. And you see, you see, it's all in line, there's lots of stories, but it's people of God, there is a remedy for judgment that we can actually, we can be that remnant, because God often would say, "If the remnant cries out, if my people cry out, he will spare, he will relent from certain things because we are here and we are worshipping him, we are putting him first." And I just want to borrow a few things from the book of Joel, but I came across this quote actually, this morning, revival is the inrush of the spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse. Revival is the inrush of the spirit into your heart, into your body that threatens to become a spiritual corpse, dying spiritually, and revival revives that. And we know there's a lot of people just spiritually speaking who are dead to the things of God, and we want to awaken them. And a reminder from last night, when the voice of the Lord has awakened the church, the voice of the church will awaken the Lord as we cry out to him, basically no cry, no revival. There has to be a cry, there has to be a desperation, and a severe national crisis hit the nation of Israel, a severe national crisis, and we might someday face that. And there is a remedy for that. But God is gracious, remember this, God is gracious and slow to anger and merciful. It talked about that last night, his mercy outpaces his judgment. And you see it as you read the Old Testament, you're like, "When is God's going to have enough?" Even in the promised land and the people, he would deliver them, and then they would complain, and then there would be a judgment, and they would deliver them, and they would complain, and they would be a judgment, and then you get into Leviticus numbers due to astronomy, and Moses is writing, and the people are still doing it, and then Joshua goes in and conquers the land, and things are okay for a little while. But then judges appear on the scene, and they have to judge the nation of Israel,

and they drift from God, and God brings the Philistines to judge them, and then he raises up a judge to deliver them, and then they get wayward again, and then he raises up another judge to deliver them, and then we get into kings and chronicles, and they go astray, and God brings them back, and they go astray, and God brings them back. And there is a cure for remedy. There's a remedy for judgment that God talks about often, and he would say, "Tear your hearts, not just your garments." You'll hear that phrase a lot, "tear your hearts, not your garments," and what that could mean for us today is we simply complain, and we don't do anything. When we -- oh, they would tear their garments, and they would act like they were a humble, and they would act like they were really seeking the Lord. But God said, "No, tear your heart, because you're just going through the motions." And so an interesting thing happened. When God judges a nation -- and again, I know there's Old Testament. We're in the New Testament. We're at the church age. You know, theologians are all over the place on exactly what God does with nations now. Does he just look at us as individuals, but we also see that he's going to judge the nations and sheep and the goat, and, you know, all we know is that there are principles to follow, and we do know that you can just look at a land, look at how America, if you look at how it was initially built from the peregrine -- peregrine -- so, pilgrims and peregrines together. But they came over and making God's law such a foundational part of our history. And people, of course, you know, I get criticism about Native American Indians, and yes, of course they should handle things differently. And the slavery, of course, absolutely. But in the midst of all that Christians were seeking the heart of God and wanting to evangelize, why don't you hear about David Brainerd? Next time people throw that in your face, he evangelized the Native Americans. He'd spent many times -- I have his journals -- he talks about how a sweet spirit of God would come upon that place and they would be converted and just amazing things happening.

And so you see that God had his hand in this nation. And a lot of the Middle East was actually Christian before it became Muslim. borders on which nations thrive and other nations don't thrive. And what happened here is God basically, what happens is because He cannot reverse, because the truth is truth. When He throws it out there, there is judgment when there is besetting sin, even as an individual. He's gracious and merciful, but if there's a besetting sin that's unrepented of, that's where reaping and sowing comes into play. You don't live your whole life without God disciplining you and trying to get you back on track. And so this judgment was very severe. There was locusts. Have you ever seen a lot of locusts? Where are we going back from Idaho? Is the road moving? I've never seen anything, and the kids want to get out, like, can I get out? Those things will get in. I mean, it was just the road for miles. The thing is that time of season where they're crossing, I don't know what, you're driving over them and they're hitting the wind at shield and it's just, I can see how that could present a problem. And so what happened is God allowed the locusts to consume the landscape, to wake them up. And that's why it says the word of the Lord came to Joel. And God said, "Here this, you elders, you leaders of the land, give ear all you inhabitants. Has anything like this happened in your days or even the days of your fathers?" Hear this. If you hear, God will hear. That's what he was saying. Basically, hear this. When you hear what God is saying and you respond, but remember, hearing is obeying.

Technically speaking, everybody could hear the word of God tonight and not obey it. And you would leave here thinking, "Oh, I heard the word of God." But really, the power to set you free comes in the obedience of obeying what you hear and basically anytime, if he who has ears to hear, let him hear what Jesus is saying. Hear this, you elders, God is saying, "If you hear me, I will hear you. Tell your children about it. Let your children tell their children and their children another generation." Basically God's saying, "Yeah, tell them the good news and the bad news. Tell them the good news and the bad news. If you proclaim God's judgment as well as his mercy, the remedy for judgment." I forgot. That's why it's going to be a little different. I changed the title because it was, "The remedy for judgment was the word if," so there's a lot of ifs in here. If you do this, if you do this, if you do this. So basically, if you proclaim God's judgment as well as his mercy. So when we tell our kids, "Tell your kids about this, let people know." And I want my kids to know about the fear of the Lord and the respect and reverence for him, but also how his mercy is greater. And you run to him. You don't run from him. You run to him. And he said, "Tell them, tell them about the judgment." Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning of understanding. And we're going to talk about this a little bit, but I want you to remember, get that word in your mind, repent. Here's why that word is so powerful. It basically means, "I agree with God." You say, "I agree with God and I'm repenting.

I'm turning to what he wants me to do." And so here's what happened. What the chewing locus left, the swarming locus is eaten. And what the swarming locus have left, the crawling locus have eaten. And what the crawling locus left, the consuming locus have eaten. In other words, everything is devoured. And unlike today where we can get food from different places that when the crop was gone, it was very devastating. They hit rock bottom. For a nation has come up against my land, God says, "Strong without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. The field is wasted." And I'm not going in exact order. There's lots more scriptures. That's why you see the ellipses skipping down to a few spots here. And he says, "The field is wasted." So that's what happened. The field is wasted. The land is mourning and the grain is ruined. The new wine is dried up. By the way, that would be grape juice. The new wine, old wine fermented, but new wine is the juice. That's a lot that has happened. The field is wasted, the land mourns. What does that mean? Basically it means the fruit of disobedience is this. Your work becomes futile. Feudal. Have you ever been there, you're trying, you're doing all this stuff and it's just

you can tell God's not in it. The work is, there's nothing they can do. The field is wasted, their work is futile. There's nothing that's being productive. There was deep sadness, as he said, the land mourns. The grain is ruined. What produce is ruined, what is produced is ruined when we're in disobedience. What gives life, it's supposed to give life, brings death. And then also the anointing has failed. The anointing has failed, says the oil, the oil has failed and they use the oil for cooking and different things, but primarily the priest would use it as the anointing oil. And that word anointing is very interesting. It basically means, let's say we had two twins up here. Both gifted, both sounded the same, they sang the same. And we use that a word, one is anointed, one is not. With the one who's not anointed, you say, oh well that's, they sound great, they're gifted. But the one who's anointed begins to touch your heart, begins to touch your soul. There's the same, it's the same, but God has anointed. There's a special gifting on that person. It's registering, you might be filling that conviction, filling the worship and there's something there that anointing is way beyond gifting. And it's so, so special and important. And so what is the Lord say after this? He says, "Gird yourselves up and lament." You priest, you leaders, well, you ministers

before the altar, in other words, the leadership, the priest, the prophets, well to God, cry out to him. And the cry of repentance, it sees the condition of the people from God's view. And if there's no compassion, folks in your heart, you have to, you have to spend some time and look at things how God looks at them. See compassion from his perspective. Gird yourself, basically prepare for mourning, prepare for a solemn repentance. Come lie down all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God, for the grain offering and the drink offering have withered from the house of your Lord. Basically, if you humble yourself, I will move, God says. That's secure, that's secure, that's a remedy for judgment. If you humble yourself, I will move. And all night, it's not always about the length but the depth of our worship. We can go long, praise God for that. But it's always about the depth of our worship, not necessarily the length. And the offering was withheld. The offering was withheld. Worship was severely hindered. So we see the big picture now how all of this was affected because of disobedience to God. And it's interesting, years have gone by, decades have gone by. God would use the prophets and go and speak to his people and try to woo them back to him.

So here he says, here's what God says to get to the heart of the matter. Consecrate a fast. Consecrate a fast. Call a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants into the land, into the house of the Lord. You're God and cry out to the Lord. Folks, this is a little view of what Ren the Heavens is. We're calling a sacred assembly and for those who can, you consecrate a fast, you don't feed the king's stomach. You want more of God and you exchange that appetite for a greater appetite. If you consecrate yourself basically and you cry out to me, I will prioritize, answer and deliver you. That's what consecration, it consecrate a fast. It's a, it's prioritizing God. And then it goes into chapter two, blow the trumpet and Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand. Basically awaken the watchmen, awake in the watchmen, blow the trumpet and Zion. And that's what I wish many pulpits were doing here in our nation is, is sounding that alarm and blowing the trumpet and awakening the people to turn back to God. That's why I say business as usual

is not gonna cut it in these dire times. We've got to get back to that desperation there's a cultary pendant. He says, "Now therefore says the Lord, "turn to me with all of your heart, "with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." Listen, God is giving a condition, a remedy for judgment. And here's what I like about this. You can actually prevent judgment with this remedy. Where the Bible talks about God actually changing his mind. And we hear this a lot, turn to me with all your heart. What does that mean? It's an internal, whole person surrender. It's not ritualistic, but reform of the heart. All of the heart is giving God everything. And then here it's that famous word again. So render your heart, rip open 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 relands from doing harm. It's the way I read, He's saying, "I don't want to do harm. "I don't want to do this, but your choices are forcing me." Have you ever seen that with your kids? You don't wanna spank? I guess we can't spank anymore. So they say, right? And so, but you don't wanna do that. But you know, you know that that discipline

is gonna get them to stay on the right path. Basically, God runs when we end. God rips open the heavens when we rip open our hearts. And then it actually goes on to say, it's something incredible. Who knows if He will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him? Wait a minute, He's judging the people. He's destroyed the land with the locus. He's allowed them to come in and take the provision so they focus on Him. But if you do these things, if you consecrate a fast, call on the name of the Lord. Prioritize me, repent and turn to me. Who knows, He might relent, stop what He's doing and leave a blessing behind. Also, in Joel, in Joel, many of you know, from the book of Acts, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Right after this, He says that. And so when Peter quotes, He's saying this is what Joel spoke of many, many years ago, that God will pour out His spirit on all flesh. Sons and daughters will prophesy. What's interesting is that has a meaning for us now, of course, but it had meaning for them back then as well. It had meaning for them back then as well. So here's the promise. Number one, it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

All flesh, if you repent and you turn completely to God, you surrender everything. The spirit will come upon you. The spirit will come upon you and you will begin to experience that incredible gift. But then promise number two. And it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Maybe that is somebody here this evening. Maybe you've had a religion, but not a relationship. Maybe that's why it came up here instead of just doing an all worship night. Is it God wants to get your heart? Do you truly know Him? Have you repented? Have you repented of your sin? And do you believe that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life? And you've given God everything. And it shall come to pass it, whoever does that, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord, not might, not I'll put you in the backup list. Shall be saved. It's interesting. There is so much joy that follows obedience. So much joy that follows obedience. The peace of repentance and the pleasure of surrender. Did you get that? Joy from obedience, peace from repentance and the pleasure of surrender.

So why are we so, why are so many people against those things? Because they believe the lie that there will not be joy and I'll have to do things God wants me to do and my life's gonna be miserable and I'll have to do like my cousin that's a Christian. He's weird and I don't wanna do any of those things. But you have to remember the joy of obedience, the peace of repentance and the pleasure of surrender, it's incredible. So my challenge again tonight has been what it's been all week to you. Well, starting last night, but even the weekend before that, taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. You have to cry out and say, "God, I need all of you. I want to get rid of these things that are pulling me away from you. I want to get rid of these addictions that are pulling me down. Listen, you can't play with an addiction. It will eventually take you down. You don't beat it up. It beats you up." Give that to the Lord and say, "God, take this. Take everything out of me that is not of you. I want to experience a fresh feeling of your spirit in my heart this evening and he will do that." Baptism is something maybe your baptize as an infant. Like I've mentioned many times I was at the Roman Catholic Church, just sprinkled me. That's not a believer's baptism. Or maybe you did it.

You think you did it at seven. You didn't really mean anything or you did it at twelve. I don't know if I've ever, I don't know. I need to do it, but I don't want to. We just want to, we want to get rid of all those different reasons and just encourage you to get baptized. What it really is, it's a, it represents the death, burial and resurrection of your newness of life. You're coming in, you're obviously, you're already a Christian, but it's representing it's reflecting what Jesus did for you on the cross. And it's also a public profession of your faith. It's a public, I believe in Jesus. I get baptized every Sunday if I could. I want the world to know. I want the world to know that Jesus has saved me and set me free. And for the believer, which is the majority here, I just, I mean, we're all wired differently. Pastors have different callings. If my lane is this lane of revival and awakening the church and getting you to, to understand the fullness of the spirit or wanting more of the spirit, getting rid of bitterness. Anybody come in bitter, you just can't get rid of bitterness and envy or maybe jealousy and gossip or, or a critical heart. There's critical hearts in this room. Don't make me go around and point fingers. Let God do it. Let him point the finger at your heart. I know I can, I can, and there's arrogance. There's things that are holding us back from the fullness of the spirit. And so during worship, as always, the front will be open. If you'd like to come and just, you know what, Lord, tonight I am going to lay this down at your feet.

I want to be a changed person. I want the fullness of the spirit again. And we're doing communion as well. So I'm going to give a full message on Sunday or not full message, but a shorter message will take it together on Sunday. But tonight is for those who are believers. So if you're a believer, what you do is you take both elements and you go back to your seat or you come forward and you remember what Jesus did on the cross. That blood was shed for you. I mean, what about if there's just 10 of us? Was the blood still shed? What about if it was just you? What a time to reflect and the body that was broken, those whips and being beat. And you remember you look, if you can see his face, of course we don't know what he looked like exactly, but just see him on the cross and see what he's done for you. And that's why I said every, anytime you come together, do this in remembrance of me. Remember what I did for, I don't know about you, but I need to remember because my mind starts going a different direction. The news pulls us away, busyness pulls us away. We forget just how important that relationship is, but Lord, I just pray even now in advance for our guest speaker tomorrow night, Lord, it's going to be incredible. And then we come back Saturday that actually all that rain, raining on Halloween, I love it, that we drive people into the church, Lord, drive people into the church, the rain of revival, quenching the darkness, Lord, just we thank you for that. We pray that we are prepared that night, maybe for extra people and just to be full of your spirit, Lord, so you can lead us, when we're full of your spirit, we're more easily led. And I pray you'd speak specifically to those people right now that this message was for, those who need to repent and return to you, and those may just need to repent and get the fullness of the spirit back into their heart and into their life. In Jesus name, amen.

[Music] (upbeat music)