that's the prayer of your heart today, that it's your desire that the Spirit of God meet with us in this service, in this hour, at this time, and that He would meet the needs that we have. Let's go ahead and open our Bibles now to Joel chapter two, and we'll dismiss the children to go to the creche with Mrs. Schor, and the rest of us, Joel chapter two. And kind of picking up where we left off, we'll pick up a little bit of what we talked about last week just to get us back kind of where we were in our study as we finish what we started last week. But let's begin with prayer and just ask God's blessing again upon this time. Father, we're thankful for the Word of God. We're thankful for what we just sung about, and that is that Spirit of God descend upon my heart. Father, in the quietness of the next several minutes in church, we pray that the Spirit of God will give us grace to hear from heaven. Father, I pray that you would give us clarity of vision spiritually. I pray that you give us clarity of heart spiritually. Father, that we would be perceptive. Lord, we don't want to despise the day of small things. We don't want to miss the still small voice of God speaking to us. Father, I pray that you protect this time from any hindrance. And Lord, this is precious truth that we're going to consider. Father, it's powerful truth. But Father, your Word is alive. Your Word is quick. Your Word is powerful. I mean, academically, it'd be a very dull thing to just study the academics of the Bible. But Father, it's not an academic book. It's a living book. It's a book that transforms and changes lives. It's a book that impacts us where we live. And so we do ask that the Spirit of God would be pleased to give us grace to get the message that you want us to get today. Help me please, as I speak, I pray that the Spirit of God would guide my lips and I pray, Lord, that you anoint me with the Holy Ghost and with power and that you fill me with your Spirit, Lord, that what is said would not be with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect, Lord would be in demonstration of the Spirit and of power by your grace and by your help. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Alright, so again to get us back into the story, Joel is written at a time period where, and all the prophets, we talked about this last week, all the minor prophets and the prophets were looking ahead. God was giving them information about what would take place. And even in this book, Joel, it speaks about Pentecost. It speaks about what Peter said. This is what Joel was talking about when he said that the sons and the daughters should prophesy. When Pentecost took place and there was speaking in tongues and the powerful demonstration that God was there, it goes back to the book of Joel, the same book that we're looking at. The same prophet, looking ahead, also saw things that would take place in the last days, things that would happen in Revelation when God brought His judgment upon the earth. But it was also a historic book. When those prophets wrote and they wrote truths, God had both a future application for them and a present application for them. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And so we know as we come to this prophetic passage and see what God was doing then, that we understand today that God's doing something today. And that there is truth here that would challenge our hearts in this area of what the Bible speaks about when it speaks about repentance. Jesus said a couple of times, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. that we know salvation is by faith, we know salvation is by being born again, we know salvation is that somebody calls upon the name of the Lord, somebody accepts what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross and he paid the price for their sin. But for a sinner to get from point A to point B to receive Jesus Christ by faith, there has to be a turning from the world and a turning back to God. And so what we studied last week, we're looking at, they're in this time of famine, this time of pestilence and these destruction of crops has taken place. And then we got to Joel chapter two, verses 12 and 13, and looked at what the Bible speaks about when it speaks about repentance. And so the verse primarily that we looked at last week, Was verses 12 in the beginning of verse 13 therefore also now saith the Lord turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and Rend your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil And so we got through a good portion of that scripture last week, but we're gonna conclude that scripture today. But what we looked at last week was that statement, therefore also now sayeth the Lord, turn ye even to me. We talked about what it is, what it looks like to turn to God. And so we talked about that when God says, turn ye even to me, that it's not something where God says tomorrow. I mean, the message title was Today is the Day to Turn to God. Guess what? Today, the message title is Today is the Day to Turn to God Part Two. If in our hearts last week, God was working in our hearts and the Spirit of God spoke to us about something that needed to be done last week is when we needed to do it. But you know what? By God's grace, we could do it today as well. I like what Morris Gleiser says as you listen to Morris Gleiser preach, he'll often say to the congregation, you know what? I don't want you to miss tonight because tonight is the most important message of the week. Then it gets to that night and he says, I don't want you to miss tomorrow night because tomorrow night is the most important message of the week because he says the most important message of the week is the message that you are at presently. It's that point where God is speaking. And so, as God says, turn ye even to me, we've got scripture that says, today is the day of salvation. As we witness, as we speak to people about accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, and we present the gospel to them, there ought to be an urgency in our hearts that would say to them, look, today is the best day, because you don't know about tomorrow. What is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and then what? Vanishes away. Just like that puff of vapor, that opportunity needs to be grasped while it can be grasped. And so immediately, and we talked about completely turning even to me with all your heart. that it's not half-hearted, but that it's wholehearted, that it's willful, that it's a decision that I am definitely making, that I am turning to God. It's a hard thing today, we're talking about it in Sunday school, it's a hard thing today to get people to commit to anything. I think anyone that's older in our church this morning would agree with that, that back in your day, when somebody said they would do something, they did it. And that they would sign up and say, I'll be a part of that. I'll do something about that. I'll help with that. But that today, there's this idea of very low commitment. And yet God says, turn ye even to me with all your heart. That is commitment, completely. That is sacrificial. It says, and with fasting. You read about people going on hunger strikes. You read that they're in prison for something. They're going to go on a hunger strike. They're going on a hunger strike to prove something. Listen, when's the last time that you went on a hunger strike because you said, I've got to have more of God? I've got to have more of God's blessing. Our family needs more of the blessing of God. Our church needs more of the blessing of God. Our community needs more of the blessing of God. We need the power of God. So I'm going to do away with food for a little while, because I'm earnest about seeking after God. Then it says, and with weeping, that's sorrowfulness. The Bible says, a humble and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. If you ever find yourself weeping in prayer, praise God for it, because a humble and a contrite heart, thou wilt not despise. God cannot look at the tears of a person that, and by the way, tears show sincerity, don't they? Unless they're angry tears. But sorrowful, sorrowful tears show a level of sincerity. God, I am sincere. I desire to get right with you. I desire to be close with you. I mean, we can look at that and say, that goes right to the heart. Tears are just, if they're, again, legitimate, not just onions and us trying to work things up, but that God has actually broken our heart. Praise God. Praise God. But not just with weeping, but then it talked about with mourning. And that's the idea of regretfully. This idea that you look at and say, God, I am so sorry for that. I've shared this story before, but when I was in high school, I said something I shouldn't have said to a girl that was in my youth group, and I didn't think anything of it. I should have probably, I shouldn't have said it, but it wasn't... It wasn't extreme, but I shouldn't have said it. Well, to me, it wasn't a big deal until my mom and dad that Sunday night. And this was like the Saturday before that I said it. Sunday, my parents found out about it. And Sunday night, I found out that my parents found out about it. And they talked to me. And they said, you're not going to camp tomorrow unless you apologize to her. And I mean, I'm telling you, I was a strong-willed young person. And I pity my parents. And I praise their patience. Because they stuck to their guns. And they said, no, you're not going to camp tomorrow unless you apologize. And I'm like, all right, OK, I'm going to apologize. And I get up the courage to apologize. And I did sincerely. I went up to her and I said, so and so. And we'd probably laugh about this now. I hope she'd laugh. I just like to say, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You know what she said? No big deal. I want to ask her, do you think murder's a big deal? Because it's about to happen, right? No big deal. Listen, it was a big deal to me. You know, when we look at our sin and we say to God, no big deal. Our sin put Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. God doesn't look at that today and say, no big deal. See, if we can look at any sin, we've talked about taking God's name in vain. Our society says, oh my gosh, God, golly gee, Jesus. And they think, no big deal. But what does the word of God say? The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Right? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain, because that one sin would have demanded the death of the Son of God. And so mournfully, that we look at our life and say, dear God, what have I done to the Lord Jesus Christ? What has my sin done to Jesus? And then submissively, it says, in turn, Unto the Lord your God and that's us coming to God and we've turned from our sin and Seriously, I skip that I skipped a phrase and I'm sorry about that. Seriously is rending your heart and not your garments That means that it wasn't just me saying to God God, I'm sorry It's that I have I've dealt with it internally not externally. I haven't changed what I'm wearing. I've changed what I'm doing and See, they would rend their garment, they would tear their garment as a sign of grief, and they thought that showed it. And God says, I don't care about that, I care about you taking the rubbish out of your heart and casting it aside to follow me. And so what God desires us to do is what the Bible says in Proverbs 28, 13, He that covereth his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. So this person has said to God, God, this sin is awful in your sight and I reject it because I want you. See, somebody can't get saved. We talked about it before. Somebody can't get saved and hold on to that which put Jesus Christ on the cross. There are a lot of churches today that aren't keen about preaching against sin. They don't care. They just say, God accepts you. God loves you. You're just fine the way you are. And it sounds so good, but it's so unbiblical. Because God says, come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. We talked about Sunday night, this past Sunday night. What conquered hath Christ with Belial? What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? We want to walk with God. We've got to get rid of the things that God despises, that God has nothing to do with. so that we can walk with God. But having done that, then we come back to what I was beginning to say about submissively, we've rejected this, we've dealt with this, we're mournful, we're sorrowful, we really desire God, now what? We come and submit ourselves to Him. We put ourselves under the Lord, our God. It says in our text here, turn ye even to me, verse 12, and verse 13, Turn unto the Lord your God. Put yourself in a position of submission to God. Remember when Joseph was sold into slavery and then he became a prisoner because of the lies of Potiphar's wife, and then in prison he was forgotten, but then he's exalted to a position of second in command? When he got that position of second in command, they took Joseph through the streets, and they had a person crying before him, and what they were crying was the phrase, bow the knee. That's a powerful statement, isn't it? Bow the knee. And there's been a very good song written about that, and the song says, bow the knee, bow the knee, he is king of all the ages, bow the knee. The Bible says, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. It doesn't matter today if somebody's a blasphemer. It doesn't matter today if somebody's an atheist. It doesn't matter today if somebody's an evolutionist. There is coming a day where they're gonna bow the knee before Almighty God and confess who He is. But can I say to us today, it'd be wise for us today to bow the knee. And if we're gonna turn to God is this passage speaks about that there has to be in our hearts that submission to God of bowing the knee and putting ourselves under Him. Putting ourselves under Him. Why should we bow the knee before Jesus? Why should we bow the knee before God? In our text here, because we are turning to Jehovah. Notice when it says, turn unto the Lord your God, the word Lord is all in caps. When that word is all in caps in our English Bible, it's going back to the word Jehovah. It's a covenant name of God. It means He's the self-existent and eternal one. He's self-existent. He's eternal. Isaiah 45.6 says that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else. Okay, we've talked about recently as well, you try to think about God, you better not try for too long because you can really fry your brain trying to think about who God is. God has always been. He alone exists. Our existence is inside Him. He is the eternal one. He is self-existent. You know, as we flew to Ireland and as we flew back, you look out of the plane and you look down and You know, from very high up, you can't even see with detail the houses. You can't see the lorries. But you get down closer and you realize, I mean, these are just little things. And you begin to say with David, what is man that thou art mindful of him? Because we're little people, but in comparison to what we see as far as the earth, we're nothing compared to the earth. I did a little study on this to see what size is all about. And I found that 1.3 million Earths can fit in the sun. OK, so I'm nothing compared to the Earth, but 1.3 million Earths can fit in the sun. So the Earth is nothing compared to the sun. But did you know there's a star called Betelgeuse? It's got a radius from the center to the perimeter. Its radius is 936 times the radius of the sun. Are you staying with this so far? We're much smaller than the Earth, but 1.3 million Earths can fit in the sun. But the sun, the radius, of the sun times 936 equals Betelgeuse. And I was thinking, here's a little bit of science for you. I'm not a scientist, but I figured out how to do this, all right? If you had a cup and you put a golf ball in it, it's going to displace so much water, right? But you have something twice the radius of the golf ball, and it's not going to displace twice as much. It's going to displace many more times as much, right? So each time it's bigger radius-wise, it's multiple times bigger volume-wise. Does that make sense? If you don't get it, talk to me afterwards. We'll do a science project together. Okay, it's 936 times the radius of the Sun. There's another star, VY Canis Majoris. I like the name. It kind of reminds me of the cartoons with the coyote, you know, where they use the big words and stuff. Canis Majoris, largest known star, 1,800 to 2,100 times the radius of the sun. Are you starting to feel kind of small? Now, Canis Majoris is one star that's out there. So then I have the question, how many stars are out there? Well, according to space.com, who are they, right? The number of stars would be one with 24 zeros after it. The Milky Way alone is estimated to have 100 billion stars. Are you feeling small this morning? See, God's universe is incredible. And the Bible says that he holds the universe in the span of his hand. It's incomprehensible. And you look at the universe and you say, God, how did you make it? How did you make it, Jehovah? Genesis 1.3, and God said, Let there be light. And there was light. Genesis 1.6. And God said, let there be a firmament. Genesis 1.14. And God said, let there be lights in the firmament. And 1.16. God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night. And then it says, he made the stars also. Don't you love that little phrase? He made the stars also, the stars that the world marvels at and says, my, it's so big, it's so vast that there must be life out there somewhere else because I don't believe in God. And we got here somehow, so there's gotta be life out there somewhere else, but we can see millions and millions and billions of light years away, and it's not there because God created the earth and put man on the earth. And my point is this, why do we submit ourselves to Jehovah? because he's a self-existent one. See, it would be very foolish today to look at this truth in the Word of God and say, but I don't really care. No, he's the creator, he's the designer, he's the one that made us. So we're turning to Jehovah, but secondly, because we're turning to God, the Lord your God, the Lord your God. And I'm gonna go through this very quickly because you might think, how do you explain God to people that don't understand God? But can I say about the idea of God that it's in every culture? Have you ever thought about that? Evolution, you know, they say it all just kind of happened. But why in every society is there a belief in a higher power? Do you ever think about that? So, I mean, it's kind of built into us, isn't it? There's kind of this idea that there is God, but the problem is this, there's all these ideas about God. So what do we do to bring people into understanding of who God is? Well, we do what Paul did. As Paul was there on Mars Hill in Athens, Acts chapter 17, you can turn there if you want, He says to the people there at Mars Hill, these are idolatrous people that are worshiping all these gods. I mean, it's not one god, they've got multiple gods. Just in case they don't have their bases covered, they've got a god for this, and a god for this, and a god for this, and a god for this, and a god for this, and a god for this, and Paul's walking by, and there's this one inscription, an altar to the unknown god, just in case we missed a god. And they had, hadn't they? And Paul tells them about it. We'll have an altar for this god too. And so here's Paul, and let's think about how Paul points out who God is to people that don't know God. He says, first of all, he points out that he's unknown without revelation. Verse 23 of Acts chapter 17, if you're there, it says, for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare, I unto you. Paul, how are you gonna help these people? They believe in God, but they don't know the God. Paul's gonna help them how? By telling them who God is. You know, the word of God is the illuminator, isn't it? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. If I meet somebody, they say to me, I envy your faith, I wish I had your faith. I try to point out to them, look, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. You want to come to faith, get in this book. Read what it says. And we talked in Sunday school this morning about a verse in Romans chapter 10, verse 14, how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent? See, God had pity on these people at Mars Hill as he sends them a messenger. They've got an altar to the unknown God, that God they didn't know, the one true God. sends him a preacher to tell him about him. So he's unknown without revelation. He has to be made known through revelation, through the word of God and his preachers. He is creator. Verse 24. says God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he's Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. They have these little idolatrous temples and these little idols in the temple, and Paul says that's foolish. Think about it. The God that made all this, why would he come and be put into this little place? He doesn't dwell there. He's the God that made everything. By the way, about Jesus Christ, Genesis chapter one says, in the beginning, who created? God created. John 1.1 says about the Lord, in the beginning was a word, the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Then it says, all things were made by Him. Who's Him? Jesus. Who created? Jesus. Genesis 1.1, who created? God. We're talking about, we just talked about Jehovah. Jehovah's false witnesses declare that Jesus Christ is not God. The Bible declares that Jesus Christ is God. So we can therefore say Jesus is Jehovah. He is the creator, designer, God. And so he's creator. Then he's independent of his creation. Verse 25 says, neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needeth anything. seeing He give it to all, life and breath and all things. Everybody do this and we'll try not to suck all the air out of the room, but everyone take a breath. Guess who gave that to you? There's one answer today and the answer is God. He gives to all life and breath in all things. I can't offer to God anything today that he didn't give to me. Anything that I have today, I could rightly say it's God's because I'm just a steward of it because God has entrusted it to me because he's the, he's the creator. He's independent of his creation. He doesn't need me to help him. He helps me. He's over every law of life, verse 26. He hath made both of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell in all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times appointed and the bounds of their habitation. And so evolution says mankind evolved. And if that's true, then they're right. What they said a hundred years ago about some tribes or some people, they are less evolved and others are more evolved. According to evolution, the Bible says one blood, the Bible says equality among the nations because God made each one. And then he put the bounds over them. He determined the times appointed, you know, This is interesting. But in Psalms, the Bible says the days of our years are threescore years and 10. Okay, a score is 20. So threescore is 60 and 10 is 70. And then it goes on to say, if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, 80 years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow for it soon cut off and we fly away. But the Word of God says that, generally speaking, the average age is 70 years. Do you know if you Google that, what's the average age of the planet? It's like 69 point something. Interesting. Why? Because he at the point of the times. See, God is over that. God is sovereign over that. He's over every law of life. He put the bounds of our habitation. He's approachable and findable. Verse 27, Paul said that they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. So Paul is saying, look, he's the creator. He's the one that gave the law. He's the one that gave life. But guys, he is the one that if you seek him, you can find him. Isn't that a precious truth that Paul puts it into this passage that God is approachable. Because somebody could think, well, he's a creator, he's a designer, he doesn't have time for me. But that if you seek him, he is approachable, that if happily they might feel after him and find him. He's a person, verse 28 and 29, for in him we live and move and have our being. As certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring, for as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. And so they looked at it like we can take and carve out this ivory, carve out this marble, carve out this stone, carve out this tree. and bow down and worship it, and that is our God. And Paul says, wait a second. We ought not to think that the God that is likened to gold and silver, why? Because we are the offspring of God. Paul says, just look in a mirror, you're flesh and blood. You've got personality. And that God created us like him. The word of God is very clear about that as it speaks about in Genesis 1.27, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. And then verse 30, he points out that he's the judge and it says, in the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed the day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. We've talked about in our study of Revelation, there's coming a day, the great white throne judgment is gonna take place. And every unbeliever that rejected the gospel is going to resurrect on that day to stand before God and give an account of everything that they've ever done. Because he's the judge. And if I ask the question from that verse right there, who's the judge? It says the ignorance that God winked at, but then it says he will judge the world in righteousness, and it goes back to God. But guess what? John chapter 5, verse 22 says, for the father judges no man, he hath committed all judgment unto the who? Son. Who's the judge? God is the judge. Who's the judge? Jesus is the judge. Who's Jesus? Again, Jesus Christ is God. He's not just the judge, but he's the sacrifice as well as the living one And as Paul says, he lives and we can live as well. In verses 31 through 33, he talks about the resurrection. So what's the point? Well, we looked at he is Jehovah, so he's a self-existent one. Now we've looked at what Paul said about him being God. He's the creator. He made all the laws. He's the one that gives us life. He's the one that doesn't need anything from us. He is the judge. that man is going to give an account to someday. And so we can look at what the Word of God says here, back in our text, as it says, turn ye unto the Lord Jehovah, our God. And understand why it's important that we submit to Him. And we're studying, we're studying in Revelation, chapter 21, verse 8, this Thursday. And what it says, it says, but the fearful, and the unbelieving, and abominable, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And I don't suppose there's a much sadder verse than that in the Scriptures. But as I studied it, I came to understand, what's it mean fearful? I never really understood that, versus unbelieving. Do you know what the fearful is? We're gonna study this on Thursday, but the fearful is a timid person. I just don't know. I just don't see. I just can't understand. I just can't, you know, the way I see it, where the unbelieving is somebody that is disbelieving. I will not believe that. I will not obey that. I will not yield to that. And then, of course, the other sins that you're looking at are sins that people have committed. And my point, as I consider that with you just now, is that what we talked about last week, turn ye, has a lot more to do with the unbelieving and with the murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, all liars, those that are in sin, turn from that sin to God. But can I say today that what Jewel gives us in the text if that person responded to what is talked about and desires to turn, then this is helpful, what we'll look at just now. But for somebody that's timid, maybe they're over here, they go, I wanna get rid of my sin, I wanna deal with that, I understand, I wanna do that, but there is timidity, a bit of fearfulness that what Joel shares in the word of God, just here in this passage, can help that person that's ready to repent to repent. And what it is, we've already, we've considered God, but we're gonna, more specifically, very briefly, it's not gonna take us long to go through this now, consider who God is. Because it says in our text, turn unto the Lord your God, and then three words, do you see them? For he is, for he is. People can turn confidently unto God because of who he is and who is he this morning. You know, he's a God of grace. It says in our text again, rend your heart and not your garment. Turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious. He's gracious. You know, if I ask the question today, why should God let you into heaven? or should God let you into Heaven? Do you know what the right answer is to that? Without Christ? The answer is He shouldn't. Isn't that true today? If we just ask the question, God, why should God let me into Heaven? Setting Christ aside, setting everything aside, the answer is God should not let me into Heaven. There's nothing that I could offer to God today and say, God, this is why you should let me into heaven. The only answer for us to be able to say, God, you should let me into heaven is because of what we just read, and that's God's gracious. It's God because you're gracious. See, my wife had the kids in the children's class, and they were singing a song Everything's OK in my father's house, in my father's house, in my father's house. I'm talking about how wonderful the father's house was, God's house. And my wife just said to the kids, she said, kids, what if you got home today, and you went to go into your house, and you opened the door, and your dad was standing there, and he said, this isn't your home. This isn't where you live. That's a good illustration. If God isn't your father, if you've not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, and you get to that door, God's gonna look at you and say, I'm sorry, you're not my child. And God used that for one of our kids to get saved, all right? Because they got convicted about that. They go, well, I want that to be my house. I want that to be my dad. But can I say today, God will not be your God without grace? Because you don't deserve it. See, nobody here today deserves God's goodness in giving them the gift of everlasting life. In fact, the Bible says, John 6, 44, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. That's grace. That's grace. That's God reaching out to that unbeliever and saying, look, it's true. It's real. My son died for you. And God engaging that unbeliever in the truth of the word of God. I witnessed this past week to a young man, Jamie. And we prayed. Don Dillman and I were together in South Queens Ferry. And before we went out to pass out flyers, we just prayed. And I asked the Lord. to give us an opportunity to speak to somebody and that God would engage them in the conversation, that they would be drawn to that conversation. And there are these tree trimmers. It was really loud when we were going past them, but we had to come back past them. They were finishing up, one of them standing by their truck. He's got his, you know, those big heavy ear muffs that protect their hearing. I thought he had it on. So as I went past him, I was going to hand him a flyer. And I turned to do that, and as I spoke to him, I realized it was up a bit so he could hear me. And he actually moved it up further and started talking to me. He had dreadlocks. He had earplugs in his ears. And he had a friend across the other side of the vehicle that was out of my sight, in his sight, that was also listening a little bit and going to cause some problems. And so as I'm talking to him, we're having a great conversation. That guy does cause problems, and they're gonna go get snacks, and the other guy's honking the horn, come on, let's go get our lunch and stuff. He lets them go. He stays through all that, listening to the Word of God. As I walk away from that, having talked to him for 15, 20 minutes, a guy that's never read the Bible, a guy that's never thought about God, you know what I see? I see God's grace. That's God's grace. And if he gets saved, that's God's grace times a million. That's him getting something that he totally doesn't deserve. If you think today that you're only gonna turn to God if you deserve it, don't ever turn because you don't. Anybody that's gonna get saved is gonna turn to God and they're gonna come to God and if God said, why are you here? I'm here because you're gracious. I don't deserve to be here, but I'm here because of who you are. The answer is God is gracious. The second thing that Joel encourages us about, about God, is that God is merciful. He's a God of mercy. We ask the question, God, why should God let you into heaven? The answer of yourself, He shouldn't. And if you ask the question, why should God not cast everyone into hell right now? The answer is what? He should. If we got exactly right now what we deserve from God, we'd get immediate destruction and casting into hell. The only thing that saves us today, even just now in life, is the fact that God is a merciful God. The Bible says in Revelation 118, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. I don't know about you, but I don't today want to stand in a place with an angry God, and the only thing keeping back the anger of God is the fact that what we see here is true, and what we'll see a little further down is true, and that God is a God of mercy. That's a fearful thing, isn't it? Do you know, if we got what we deserve today, it'd be eternity in the lake of fire. When God was really working on the Isle of Lewis, The revival was taking place during the 1950s. There was a dance taking place near where the church was. But the conviction of God became so great in that place that the people from the dance came to the church. And this one girl kind of got up towards the pulpit and she laid down on the steps and she was crying out this to Duncan Campbell, Is there mercy for me? Is there mercy for me? Do you know what? Praise God. There's mercy, isn't there? See, again, I can't begin as a preacher to take us to the place of the judgment seat of God, or the great white throne judgment, or the door to look into the fires of hell, but all I can say is it's real. And the only thing that we have is, as somebody that would come to God, why would God receive me? Here it is, here it is. You might feel like, why should God forgive me of my sin? Why should God save me? Because He's merciful. Because He's merciful. then he's a God of patience. He's a God of patience. What's it say in our text? He's slow to anger. See, I look around at a world that is shaking their fists at God, saying, oh, there is no God, we're gonna change his Bible, change his book, tear out this, tear out this, tear out this, take him out of this, take him out of this, take him out of this, and a society that is immoral and wicked and unashamed like we talked about. And we'd ask the question, why hasn't the destruction of God taken place, and here it is, we already saw God's mercy, but because he's slow to anger. He doesn't have a short fuse. God, you can't quickly make, God is gracious when we sin. If he wasn't, I mean, what hope would we have? He's slow to anger. the church of Thyatira in the book of Revelation, she had committed physical and spiritual adultery. She was idolatrous and involved in fornication, sexual sin. And the Bible says this about what God did. It says in Revelation 2.21, and I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. So what does God do? Over here, we've got the person that needs to turn to God and God is saying, turn ye even to me. And we talked about God expects that immediacy. But what if they don't? That God in his mercy gives space. I mean, that's a very clear scripture that God doesn't immediately discipline or chase in someone just as soon as they mess up. God graciously and mercifully gives them a space to repent. to repent. There's a song that says, someday you'll hear God's final call to grace. You'll have no chance or footsteps to retrace. This could be it, my friend, if you but knew God's final call. See, it could be the day God's knocking on a sinner's heart saying, get right, get right, get right, get right. But you know, tomorrow may be silence. Because God tried, God worked, and you didn't respond. See, God is slow to anger, but that doesn't mean that he's constantly gonna plead with you, plead with you, plead with you, plead with you, plead with you, plead with you. You're not guaranteed another day of the mercy and the grace of God asking you to get right. But we can rejoice today. We can find comfort today. He's slow to anger. So right now, as I'm standing here thinking about getting to God, look, he's gracious. Look, he's merciful. He's slow to anger. I need to get over there while it's okay to get over there. because that anger could come, that grace could be removed, and judgment could fall. Then if we do, if we run to Him, you know, it's like that story of the prodigal son, isn't it? Where He takes that child and He loves that child. And so the Word of God says He's a God of pleasantness. It says, and of great kindness. See, how does, if you're born again today, you know what I'm talking about. How does God treat you? Wow. God is a loving God, isn't He? Isn't He good to you? Doesn't He care for you? But if I took you down to the shelters in Princess Street Gardens early in the morning, and walked into those places that smell like latrines, and see the men rough sleeping there, and see them in the morning take that needle and inject it into their arm, does Satan treat his people well? Walk with me down in the meadows along the park benches where the drunkards sit, they're drinking early in the day. And let me ask you again, does Satan treat his people well? Let's walk down to the place of prostitution and see the haggard faces of those that have been immoral all their life and ask the question again, does Satan treat them well? Let's go to the gambling house and see the sorrowful look on the faces of the men that have lost their living, lost their income, lost their family, lost their home, because they got addicted to money. And ask again, does Satan treat them well? See, the Bible says in Psalm chapter 1, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the sea of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And it says, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. It says, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. I was in in Getty in Israel. It's an oasis. That's where David hid from King Saul. It's still an oasis because the water's flowing through there. They actually bottle the water and export the water there. So I mean, it's a good spring. But there's life there right along the water, but everywhere else is the Dead Sea. It's barren cliffs. It's just complete lack of life. And David, picturing something like that says, hey, I want to be like a tree planted by the river's water that has that constant flow of life. And if you're a Christian, you've got that. But then it says, the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drive it away. It doesn't satisfy. See, Satan, I try to tell young people when I meet young people, Satan destroys. Every single time. Satan just wants to take a life and snuff it out. God wants to give you life. He wants to give it more abundantly. He's a God of great kindness. Then lastly, this morning, He's a God of pardon. It says, and repenteth him of the evil. See, God today over the ungodly says, my wrath is against you and I will judge you. But when somebody turns to that same God and says, God, I'm sorry, please forgive me of my sin, I pray you take it away, I claim the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a gracious God, you're a merciful God, you're a God of long suffering, you're a God of great kindness, God says, okay, I'll remove my judgment. See, He repented Him of the evil. He repented Him. You know, today, the thing is this, if somebody is not saved, it's not that someday you'll stand to be condemned before God, you're condemned already. The Bible says in John 3.18, He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. but because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." What do you need? You need a pardon. I saw, the last couple of weeks, there's been some death row people in the States that have had a stay of their judgment. I've heard of others that have been executed. But if somebody got a pardon, a pardon is that which says, you are set free. You know, when I got saved by God's grace, God set me free. The chains of sin were broken, the bondage of my sin was broken, and the damnation of my sin was taken away. You know, that's great, isn't it? I would go to my dad if I knew my dad would forgive me. If I transgressed against him and I knew dad's a merciful guy, dad's a gracious guy, he's kind. And if I say I'm sorry, he'll take away the judgment that I deserve. I'd go to my dad. What's keeping you from going to God today? You start thinking about anything in your life that Spirit of God begins to deal with your heart about and say, you need to repent about that. What's keeping you from going to a merciful God, a gracious God, a God that is patient, a God that is so long suffering. You know, I'll say this in summary. I read it in my Bible, you can read it this afternoon if you want, but the book of Nehemiah, read Nehemiah chapter one. You know it says in Nehemiah chapter one, when Nehemiah found out that the walls of God, or the city of Jerusalem were destroyed, that he wept. that he mourned, that he fasted, that he prayed, that he confessed the sins of his people. Isn't that interesting? It's exactly what we're reading about in the Word of God, how somebody gets right with God and then God takes him, he puts him back in Jerusalem to do an incredible work for God in bringing back the glory of God to that city. What do we need today as a people? We need the glory of God to be seen. Wherefore should the heathen say, where's their God? But what's the need? The need is biblical repentance. Maybe you're there already, maybe you're right with God, you're walking with God, and you have that close fellowship with God. That's great, that's where the blessing is. But maybe today that the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart about turning to God. Don't delay, don't delay, but turn ye even to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garment. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would take the Word of God deep into our hearts. And Father, thank you and please you through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And Father, we've hit some heavy truths in the Word of God, but Father, they're not heavy at all compared to what it'll be like someday to stand before the Holy God, someday to Understand, as you understand, eternity in heaven and hell, and life in judgment. And so I pray today, Lord, if somebody needs to repent, if there's sin in anyone's heart that is unconfessed, unforsaken, God, that they deal with that sin. Lord, maybe the sin of unbelief and the sin of not getting saved and rejecting God's mercy, rejecting God's grace. Father, we pray today would be the day of their salvation, that they'd humbly find a place where they can bow their head and invite Jesus Christ to come into their heart to be their Savior, that they would receive all the things that we talked about, who you are. And Father, I pray that we'd live in the fear of God. So bless your word to our hearts today. Thank you for it. It's in Christ and we pray.