 chapter 2. We'll read verses 1 through 11 and we'll look into Joel chapter 2. It's a passage where the Lord gives a word to the nation of Israel. He says, turn to me with all your heart. And so we'll see that here in Joel chapter 2. Let's begin reading at verse 1. I'll read to verse 11. And we'll get into our study. Joel chapter 2 verse 1. Blow the trumpet in Zion. 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, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come great and strong, the like of whom has never been. Nor will there be, nor will there ever be any such after them even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness. Surely nothing shall escape them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses and like swift steeds so they run. With noise like chariots over the mountaintops they leap. Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array. Before them the people writhe in pain. All faces are drained of color. They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like men of war. Everyone marches in formation. They do not break ranks. They do not push one another. Everyone marches in his own column. And when they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down. They run to and fro in the city. They run on the wall. They climb into the houses. They enter the windows like a thief. The earthquakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark. The stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives voice before his army for his camp is very great. For strong is the one who executes his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it? So as we look at this cherry portion of scripture, remind you of chapter one. Let me give you a synopsis that leads into chapter two. In chapter one we saw a description. A description that was given to us of a swarm or swarms of locusts that entered in and devastated the nation, the land of Israel. As we looked at chapter one we saw that the land was completely stripped of bare vegetation and that is presented in chapter one as judgment that came from the Lord upon them. Now when this was happening, everyone should have awakened from the drunkards it says to the priests. Everybody should have experienced sorrow and they should have come to repentance. You see offerings had ceased. The land is ruined. The vines are dried up. The joy is stripped away. So God calls for repentance beginning with the priests. And as the priests repent, well their repentance should have motivated the people to also cry out to God. And so we saw that the devastation was used as a picture of a yet future judgment. A judgment that is referred to as the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a period of time. It's not a 24-hour day, but it's a period of time. It's a period of time that is also referred to as the tribulation. And it extends to a portion of time in history, biblical history that is referred to as the millennium. And so this time period called the day of the Lord includes God's judgments, but it's going to conclude with Jesus' future reign on the earth. Now portions of this day include what is called the great tribulation. And we know that when you study the book of Revelation, especially chapters 6 through 19, you have what is called the tribulation that continues to what is referred to as great tribulation. And that great tribulation results in worldwide destruction. Now Isaiah in chapter 13 verse 9 said it like this. He said, Behold the day of the Lord comes cruel with both wrath and fierce anger delay the land desolate and he will destroy its sinners from it. So this terrible destruction by Locust serves to be a picture of a greater future destruction. Chapter 2 is a continuation of what began in chapter 1. Now as we saw in chapter 1, Joel presented the plague of Locust as a picture of future destruction. He's continuing that theme as we enter into chapter 2. So when we begin at verses 1 and 2 here in chapter 2, he begins with a cry, Blow the trumpet in Zion, 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. A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness like the morning clouds spread over the mountains of people come great and strong the like of whom has never been nor will there ever be any such after them even for many successive generations. Now when he begins and says, Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain, that gives us a location, that's referring to the city of Jerusalem. Mount Zion is in the city of Jerusalem. And so blowing a trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in what he refers to as my holy mountain, my holy mountain would be in Jerusalem because that's where the temple is. And so Zion and the holy mountain refers to the city of Jerusalem. There's a command that goes forth and he says, sound a trumpet. Now that trumpet that he's saying sound is an alarm. Sound the alarm is what he's saying. Sound an alarm for the inhabitants. Why should they sound an alarm? He says because the day of the Lord is at hand. And so he's giving us a picture here even though there are some things that will be fulfilled and are being fulfilled in the devastation and the swarms of locusts. He's actually given us a picture not of only that which is presently happening there in the in the nation but a future destruction that will take place in that time that is referred to as the day of the Lord. And so this alarm is going to be sounded for Jerusalem. And when you look at it in a prophetic sense it will be sounded at the beginning of the tribulation. We believe strongly that the church will be removed before the seven-year period called the tribulation. And when the church is removed the enemies of Israel are going to gather together to attempt to destroy Israel. Numbers chapter 10 verse 9 says when you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets and you will be remembered before the Lord your God and you will be saved from your enemies. And so there's a cry for an alarm to go forth so that God may deliver them. Now in verse 2 he speaks of a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness like morning clouds. So again what Joel is doing is he's combining events that are transpiring with future events in order that he might illustrate what's going to take place in this yet distant future. What he's doing is and I want you to notice this in verse 2 he speaks concerning this people great and strong the like of whom you've never seen. We know that this can be a picture of the future but also this is a picture of armies that are presently getting ready to do battle against the nation. But he's making it very clear that these locusts are so thick that they black out the sun and so shall the day of the Lord be. I had an article that I don't have anymore because I threw away the book but it was years ago it spoke concerning swarms of locusts that were so thick in recorded history that the sunlight itself was blacked out because they were just so thick and miles of them and so this is what you have a picture of. You have a picture of destruction that's taking place on the one hand it's literally taking place where these locusts are surrounding and coming into the nation of Israel. On the other hand it's a picture of yet future things that will take place in this day that is called the day of the Lord and continuing this description verses 3 and 5 he says a fire devours before them behind them flame burns and then he gives this beautiful picture the land is like the Garden of Eden before them but behind them desolate wilderness nothing shall escape them and so as they're proceeding these locusts they're destroying everything in their path and that's the picture they're still beautiful lush foliage in front of them but when you look behind them he says it's nothing but destruction their appearance is like the appearance of horses like swift steeds so they run locusts when you look at them can't have an appearance of horses and so he's describing them with a noise like chariots over mountaintops they leap like the noise of a flaming fire that devours a stubble so you can hear the sound of them that's the description like a strong people set in battle array he goes on before them the people ride in pain all faces are drained in color they run like mighty men they climb the wall like men of war everyone marches in formation everyone and they do not break ranks they do not push one another everyone marches in his own column when they lunge between the weapons they're not cut down they run to and throw in the city they run on the wall they climb into houses they enter the windows like a thief so you can get the picture of these locusts as they land on the buildings and they're scurrying up climbing in finding their way into into the houses and all and so he's making it very clear that what's taking place is an invasion of locusts but it's a picture of the yet future now they're relentless they cannot be stopped and so is a clear picture when god brings judgment man is helpless verse 10 the earthquakes before them they hem the heavens tremble the sun and moon grows dark the stars diminish their brightness the lord gives voice before his army his camp is very great for strong is the one who executes his word the day of the lord is great and very terrible who can endure it so in verses 10 and 11 when he says the earthquakes before them and the hem heavens tremble that's a picture of the trem of the tribulation the question in verse 11 is a good question who can endure it now in mark chapter 13 verse 20 we read unless the lord had shortened those days no flesh would be saved but for the elect's sake whom he chose he shortened the days when this tribulation occurs destruction is so incredible and devastation so complete that unless the lord shortened the days no human flesh would survive when you begin to read concerning the tribulation as is recorded in revelation chapters 6 through 19 you have a series of escalating judgments that come on on the earth and ultimately it is in the final destructions as you get to the very end there's such devastation and such destruction that jesus in making reference to that says that it's necessary for the lord to put an end to it or else all flesh would not survive and so in verse 12 now therefore says the lord turned to me with all your heart with fasting with weeping and with mourning rend your heart and not your garments return to the lord your god for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and he relents from doing harm who knows if he will turn in relent and leave a blessing behind him a grain offering and a drink offering for the lord your god here's something for you something to think about in the midst of judgment he's saying god is willing to forgive but it requires genuine repentance repentance i'll talk about that for a moment with you repentance repentance isn't emotion sometimes people think that they're not repenting because they're not feeling some deep emotion sometimes they may think they're not even saved because when they repented they didn't feel a great amount of tears well up in their eyes and and they didn't begin to pour out in anguish so they think that they must not have really repented when i began to date marie i remember on one occasion she was speaking to me and she said that she wasn't really quite sure about her own salvation because she said she said when you got saved and your life was changed you speak concerning the depth of anguish you had and how it impacted you and there was a certain emotionality to it and she said i didn't have that i i didn't have all this emotion she said it just made sense to me that i should give my heart to christ that i should ask for forgiveness that i should get right with god it just made sense to me she said but i don't know if i'm saved because i didn't have this this sense of anguish or this this terrible repentance i didn't have that and and i shared with her then as i share with us now repentance is not necessarily an emotion repentance is a decision it's a decision of the will it's a determination that you make to agree with god to change your mind the word repent in the new testament greek is the word metanoia it means a change of mind it speaks of a change of direction you are proceeding in one direction and you change your mind and now you're going in the opposite and and there's not necessarily a lot of emotion i mean if you're driving somewhere and you find out you're going in the wrong direction and they say you should have taken a left instead of a right and you had taken a right but now you're making a u and you're going back in the right direction you don't pull over for a while to contain yourself because you're crying so hard oh i turned right i should have left out i'm so miserable no you just make a u turn and you go in the right direction you don't have to feel deep emotion when you repent you simply have to have a change of direction a change of mind it works within your will and and you make a determination god is right i am i am wrong and so when the lord says turn to me with all your heart once again we use the term heart to refer to our emotions we americans say oh i love you with all my heart what does that really mean well we're really speaking of our emotions but if a hebra was speaking about their emotions he wouldn't say his heart he'd say man i really feel it in my kidneys now nothing about that how come we don't have any valentine cards pictures of kidneys you know i love you with all my kidney so what we do is we have taken the heart and we have used the term heart for us as americans in the way that we speak and we have used the word heart as our emotion but the the old testament as well as the new testament when speaking concerning the heart is not speaking concerning the emotion it is speaking concerning the will it speaks of the mind it's what it is and and so the heart is really something that you guard you guard your heart it's not your emotion that you're guarding because out of it springs the well springs of life but what you're guarding is your mind so that you're not deceived by the common culture and the deceitfulness of false teaching so you guard your heart with all diligence so that you are not taken away from god through a false message that comes and deceives you and convinces you to follow a different god when the lord is speaking here and says turn to me with all your heart he's saying make sure that your will is adjusted to mind that your mind is being impacted by my word so that when you actually turn to me you're going in the right direction so there are sometimes that we may be thinking i must not truly be repentant because i'm not feeling all kinds of things that other people in their testimonies said they feel but marie when she said but it just made sense to follow god was truly repenting she was making up her mind to follow god and she made a choice to turn from that which took her away from him so the lord here is speaking and he makes it very clear that we are to turn to him now when he says turn to me in verse 12 with all your heart there are evidences that you really are doing that fasting yes weeping there can be a brokenness yes there's mourning because of what you've done but what he wants us to do is to rend our heart and not our garments he wants it to be something that's inside and not just on the outside i'll give you an example outside religion i know this isn't right i don't you don't need to write me and tell me but when i grew up the little boy now is raised in the catholic church and it was ash wednesday and you would go and you'd get your ashes and the priest would put a sign of the cross on your forehead i have a lot of people here who know exactly what i'm talking about you did it for me having those ashes was a very cool thing as a little boy it just was and when i would come with after getting the ashes freshly put on my my forehead i would want my mom to take me to the store so i could walk around the store so people could see my ashes that's the truth i'm not lying i mean i did so i really wanted them to say oh what a good little catholic boy what a holy little boy so that outward thing meant an awful lot to me it really did i like the idea of having those ashes my mom knew that ashes were important to me but i can still remember my mom forgetting to go to get the ashes on ash wednesday my mom used to smoke she smoked for a long time she took her cigarette ashes and she put ashes on her forehead i know my mom was a terrible woman rend your heart and not your garments may it be an inside activity not an external one true repentance is something that takes place from within and then works its way out that's why when jesus is speaking concerning outer emblems of religiosity that's why he speaks concerning the things that people can see fasting praying giving he said when they do these things to be seen by men they receive their reward these were external activities of religion god says i don't want you doing the outward things without an inward reason yes you're going to fast yes you're going to give yes you're going to pray yes those are part of the discipline of being a follower of god yes you'll do those things but you'll do them with the right reason so when god speaks here he says listen all of this is taking place not only in their day but this is going to take place in the latter times too if you repent god is saying first of these who are having this occur then i'll show mercy to you but also in that end time there will be people who go through that tribulation who do repent and god will indeed show mercy to them who can endure this because a day is so terrible well unless the lord were to shorten those days no flesh would survive and so god says turn to me with all of your heart in verse 15 blow the trumpet in Zion consecrate a fast call a sacred assembly gather the people sanctify the congregation assemble the elders gather the children and nursing babes let the bridegroom go out from his chamber the bride from her dressing room let the priest who minister to the lord weep before the porch in the altar let them say spare your people oh lord and do not give your heritage to reproach that the nations should rule over them why should they say among the peoples where is their god and so blow the trumpet in Zion he's saying i want you to call a sacred assembly gather them together they're to be gathered together to hear from the lord so they have the opportunity to turn to him to truly repent now he says this includes everybody elders children even those who are newly married and he says priest i want you to be an example to these people i want you to show them what it means to really have a sense of needing to be right with god so he says i want you to weep i want you to cry out for the people i want them to see your example i want you to live out what faith really is the people do follow the example of the leaders and when the leaders really believe something seriously those people who actually trust the leadership of the spiritual leader the priest in this case ministers in our day when they trust that those people really are sincerely seeking the lord then they're going to follow those examples and that's why the lord says you need to be an example of genuine sorrow over sin now as this is taking place versus 18 and 19 the lord will be zealous for his land pity his people the lord will answer and say to his people behold i'll send you grain new wine and oil you will be satisfied by them i'll no longer make your approach among the nations well this could be something that's going to occur at that day obviously but also when you look at it as being part of what is referred to as the day of the lord at the end of the great tribulation period he's just making a promise i'm going to take care of my people now when you read some of the prophets as it pertains to this great and terrible time called the great tribulation or the day of the lord one of the interesting and powerful scriptures is found in zechariah 13 verses eight and nine and listen to what it says it shall come to pass in all the land says the lord that two thirds in it shall be cut off and die one third shall be left in it i will bring the one third through the fire will refine them as silver is refined test them as gold is tested they will call on my name i will answer them i will say this is my people each one will say the lord is my god two thirds when you begin to read concerning the tribulation this great day of the lord and you see the escalating judgments that fall upon the nation the judgments that come in than the greater judgments that come in than the greater judgments after that and you realize that in the nation of israel in our day there are six or seven million inhabitants when you consider that two thirds of those people are going to be cut off that is huge devastation when you're looking at and if you just use basic numbers i don't have obviously an exact number let's say there are six million living in israel at the time four million of those people will die four million that's a huge amount of people to die in one small land and so he's saying this is what's going to take place the tribulation is going to be so intense and such a purging and such great devastation that two thirds will be cut off but god is going to be zealous for his land and he's going to pity his people and he's going to he's going to deliver them notice verse 20 i will remove far from you the northern army and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land with his face toward the eastern sea his back toward the western sea his stench will come up his fellow odor will rise because he's done monstrous things now this had partial fulfillment when as syria entered and took the northern kingdom captive in uh early seven hundreds before christ the southern kingdom juda uh was spared for another hundred years but there's a future fulfillment that's taking that's being noted here and that takes place during the tribulation when russia invades in the book of ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 ezekiel speaks concerning this he says in ezekiel 38 21 through 23 i'll call for a sword against gog through all my mountains gog is another name for russia i'll call for a sword against gog throughout all my mountain says the lord god every man's sword will be against his brother and i'll bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed i will rain down on him on his troops and on the many people who are with him flooding rain great hail stones fire brimstone thus i will magnify myself and sanctify myself and will be known in the eyes of many nations and then they shall know that i am the lord ezekiel 39 3 and 4 then i will knock the bow out of your left hand and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand you shall fall upon the mountains of israel you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you i will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beast of the field to be devoured ezekiel 39 12 for seven months the house of israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land so when it speaks concerning his stench coming up his fellow odor will rise because he's done monstrous things there are going to be people who have been destroyed this russian invading army that's going to come down to attack israel during those days their bodies will be laying out there are going to be people who are hired to actually go and bury bodies and they'll be burying the dead for seven months and so when you look at this small nation israel and you begin to consider what a very small place it really is and the nations of the world all joining in against this nation when you look at russia one of those powerful nations in the world deciding to invade and as russia comes down god is saying i'm actually ezekiel says how god says i'll put a hook in their mouth and i'll drag them so they're going to actually come in against israel it would seem in an unwilling fashion it may be because they have an alliance and therefore they're going to honor their alliances but whatever the case may be they are going to come against israel that will take place now you have to imagine when joel wrote this when he was speaking concerning such a devastation and all of that this was 800 years before christ and yet you have a prophetic picture of something that is yet in the distant future that we can see fulfilled in our own time where russia which is to the north of israel can come straight down and invade which is ezekiel 38 and 39 says it's going to take place and when russia comes down to invade israel then god says i'm going to destroy them and there's going to be a work that god does on behalf of israel to protect his people there as that tribulation is purged the unbelief and people come through that tribulation and there are going to be people who are repenting and turning to god through jesus christ messiah god says i'll take care of this invasion and i'm going to do it in a way that is going to cause people to know that it is me in verse 21 fear not old land be glad and rejoice for the lord has done marvelous things do not be afraid you beast of the field for the open pastures are springing up and the tree bears its fruit the fig tree and the vine yield their strength be glad then you children of zion rejoice in the lord your god for he has given you the former rain faithful he'll cause the rain to come down for you the former rain and the latter rain in the first months the threshing floors shall be full of wheat that shall overflow with new wine and oil so i will restore to you the years that the swarming locus has eaten the crawling locus the consuming locus and the chewing locus my great army which i sent among you you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the lord your god who has dealt wondrously with you and my people shall never be put to shame then you shall know that i am in the midst of israel and that i am the lord your god there is no other my people shall never be put to shame fear not the tribulation period leads to the return of jesus christ that he might establish his kingdom and when he rules the world will once again be beautiful his grace is going to overflow and be present he speaks of the early and latter rain that speaks of the rainy seasons in october and may and he's saying the crops will be watered during that time and they'll no longer be locus devouring crops there'll be plenty for the people and he's saying that god is as a result of all of this to be glorified so he's just making a promise to restore the people but as he does so notice verse 38 it shall come to pass afterward that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions and also on my men servants and on my maid servants i will pour out my spirit in those days now there are two fulfillments of this let me share both of them with you obviously this is picturing the end of the tribulation jesus returning jesus establishing his millennial reign and when jesus begins to reign at that time he pours out his spirit on all flesh ezekiel tells us in chapter 36 verses 26 through 28 i will give you a new heart put a new spirit within you i'll take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh i'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes you will keep my judgments and do them then you shall dwell in the land that i gave your fathers you shall be my people i will be your god in zechariah 12 10 speaking of the same time i'll pour out on the house of david and the inhabitants of jewsland the spirit of grace and supplication then they will look on me whom they pierced yes they'll mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves who are firstborn this is in reference to when jesus christ rules and reigns god during that period is going to pour out his holy spirit on the people they'll have new hearts and they'll be following him and yet on the day of pentecost jesus had said terry in jerusalem until you receive power from on high so on the day of pentecost as is recorded in acts chapter two 120 we're waiting in an upper room there in the city of jerusalem and as they were together in one accord there was a rushing mighty wind flames of fire began to settle on them the day of pentecost fully arrived and the holy spirit baptized them because jesus had made the promise that if they tarried that he would baptize them with the power of the spirit and the result was that they poured out of that upper room into the courtyard below and they began to speak in languages that they had never learned now there were people gathered during that time for the celebration of the pentecost festival something like 16 or 17 nations are mentioned in acts chapter two and they begin to say we hear them speaking in our own languages they're magnifying god the glorifying god how is it that these people can speak in languages they never learned well some begin to mock and say well they're just drunk they're filled with new wine the apostle peter stands up men of israel these men are not drunk with wine as you suppose seeing that it's too early in the morning for the bars to be open but this is that which is spoken of by joel the prophet who said and then he quotes right here it shall come to pass afterward that i'll pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughter shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions on my men servants and my maid servants i will pour out my spirit in those days this he said is fulfilling at least in part that which was spoken of by joel yes there's a complete fulfillment that occurs when jesus rules and reigns but this day of pentacos where the holy holy spirit was poured out is what has been referred to as the birth of the church it's the birthday of the church if there's anything that the church needs today it's the power of the holy spirit it is the power of the holy spirit i really believe in rightly dividing the word of god i i believe in applying god's word to daily in daily practice i believe in meditating on god's word i believe in memorizing god's word i especially believe in obeying god's word but i'm telling you that we can get so caught up with certain aspects of our discipline of life that we fail to realize that what is going to strengthen and what is going to make all of living for christ possible isn't just by reading but it's by being empowered by the spirit to be able to put into practice the things that we are reading there are a lot of christians today who are living lives that are lacking in spiritual power i was sharing with somebody before just recently and and i've said this in this church before but i was just telling them the other day we were having a conversation they'd never heard the story so i shared it with them and some of you have heard me say this before but when i was in the world before i got saved i had gone up into big bear spent uh spent the night there i was on my way home and as i was driving down the mountain coming home i put my car into neutral and i just coasted because i didn't need to be wasting gas i thought i can just put into neutral and just coast and then when it levels out i'll just drop it back into drive put my foot down on the gas and take off so i was able to travel down the hill for a few minutes and then i dropped it into drive when i started leveling out put my foot down on the gas but i had run out of gas i didn't even know it i put my foot down on the accelerator and there was no power there at all so i look at the at the fuel gauge and it's unempty it was absolutely dry but the funny thing is i didn't know that because i was traveling at 55 60 miles an hour down that mountain and there are a lot of people today who live their lives like that they don't even know they're empty they have a momentum from some testimony that they had five years ago or something got it done in the past and they've been running on that momentum since then there's nothing fresh in the tank they're living on testimony they're living on the past and god wants to do something now and go right because god is the god of now because god wants to fill us with his spirit and i'm telling you there are so many conversations i have in this fellowship and elsewhere where people will speak to me and say pastor i really don't understand what's wrong with my my spiritual life and we talk about the basic things but are you filled with the spirit are you walking in the spirit of god as god's power really come upon you are you walking in his fullness i don't even know it's kind of like ax 19 where where paul encounters the Ephesians and and he sees there's something different about them so we asked him a question have you received the spirit since you believed and they look at him and say we haven't so much has even heard of the spirit then what were you baptized into oh we're in the baptism of john oh john baptizes for repentance what you need is a baptism of the holy spirit what you need is the power of god that filling of the spirit that occurred in my life when i got saved when when i was introduced to the scripture as it promises that god will induce me with power is what has made the difference in my life to this day think about it for a moment put yourself in my place i got saved but three months after salvation i went into the army any veteran here knows that one of the hardest places to walk with the lord is in the military there are so many opportunities to send so many temptations it's just around you i mean we had we had beer machines in our barracks i mean you know you get your paycheck and you go off to town and you blow the whole thing on a weekend and there are just so many temptations so much opportunity to send they bring pot into the barracks you know on the weekend you can smoke grass and party the whole weekend that's that's that was my environment what kept me solid with the lord and yes i did blow it i did fail i did not live as a perfect christian haven't yet but what kept me solid a couple of things one christian fellowship the lord had some christian men in the barracks there one friend named daniel rendon who was very close to me and others they had what are called the navigators which is a christian organization that was there on uh fort bragg that i was part of that helped me but the power of the holy spirit resident within me gave me the ability to walk with jesus and to live a victorious life in the midst of darkness and that's what we need today and a lot of times people don't understand that god has made a promise i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh i'll pour it on you peter says this is that which was spoken up by the prophet joe who said because there's 120 people are out there magnifying god and becoming witnesses instantaneously because of the power of the spirit that in due to them with the ability to do that we need that today instead of and and it sounds like sour grapes when i say this instead of getting caught up with the christian entertainment that so many believers are caught up with what we need to be caught up with is the power of the spirit god working in our lives god changing us god strengthening us god giving us new tastes god giving us new thirsts and that's what god wants to do in us god wants to he says i want to give you this power i want to flood upon your soul i want you to be strong i want you to be victorious i don't want you to fail i want you to have everything that has been provided for you through jesus christ we need to hunger and thirst for these things guys we really do we need to start saying lord fill me with your spirit work in my life make me different god you have gifts that you have made available i would like to exercise those gifts you have graces and offices i would like to occupy something that brings honor and glory to you lord i don't want to be failing regularly anymore i want to have victory i'd like to become a great testimony i'd like to be a great witness i'd like to be able to do those things empower me to do that and as and as i as i walk in your spirit may i hunger for your word so that your word and your spirit working together can make me into a warrior who can stand up for jesus christ wherever it may be and to be open about my faith so that people will know that in this room there's at least one who really loves jesus you see sometimes when people come to this fellowship and they see david rosales at this age they think he's always been this way no i had to grow to where i'm at right now and so when i went to secular college i would pray and i'd say god used me as a testimony as a witness in this class you see i i already understand what the world is i already know the temptation of the world i lived in the world long enough i understand where my classmates are coming from i know they like to party i know they like to drink i know they like to do drugs i mean what's going on today isn't brand new it was happening when i was going to school i know these things so lord it's my first day in class and i want to be given an opportunity if given that opportunity i want to take it and say i'm a believer in jesus christ which is what i learned to practice when i went to secular school so when they'd say and sometimes in class they'd ask you can you introduce yourself because sometimes in college they'll do that i don't know if they still do it now but they did it when i went to school who are you say something about yourself that would be my opportunity my name's david rosales just got out of the army i'm a born again christian that was my opportunity now i've got something to live up to over the course of the semester i gave my testimony i follow the lord and i would say that and i would make it clear because i wanted people to know i was basically drawing a line in the sand and i was telling the professor and everybody else this is one person who's going to follow jesus in this classroom it's important to do that when i'd go on to the job site when i took a new job one of the very first things i would tell my employer so i'm born again i'm a believer in jesus christ one of the very first things i can still remember one employer actually a boss his name was jerry who said my first day he said to me okay you're going to be answering phones sometimes you'll take phone calls for me but there are certain people that when they call i want you to tell them i'm not here and i'm sitting there and jerry's there and he's in the desk next to mine he says just tell him i'm not here and i tell jerry no this is my first day on the job no i said i'm not going to lie for you because i'm a believer in christ and i don't lie so i'm not going to lie for you you see they didn't pay me enough i was making three and a quarter they're not paying me enough to lie you're you know and i told them listen if you don't want to talk to them you let them know you don't want to talk to them but i'm not now that took a lot of nerve for a 26 year old kid sitting in the office with this man but i did that why did you do that because you wanted to be a jerk or smart no because i wanted to let him know from the beginning this is who i am this is what i do this is what i believe and so that came not just because i can be obstinate and not because i was just a hippie rebel which i was but that came because i'm gonna have a different life and i need god's power to have a spine and i used to pray when i was in the army i would walk through this one place it was a three mile walk run that i used to do actually a run but as i was walking to it i would stop and i would pray and i'd say god give me a spine i used to pray that all the time give me a spine give me a moral backbone i want to have something to stand up for something that i believe in and i started praying that when i was 20 years old give me a spiritual spine i want to stand up for jesus because i knew where i was at there were tons of people who would enjoy knocking me down so i said without your strength i can't make it we need the power of the holy spirit we need it we need his power within us to strengthen us and god said i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh so i asked the lord pour out your spirit on me and we ought to all ask god to do that this was there was a foretaste of this on the day of pentacos this will be complete when jesus rules and then finally verse 30 through 32 i will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoke the sun shall be turned into darkness the moon into blood before the coming of the great and terrible day of the lord and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the lord shall be saved for in mount zion and in jerusalem there shall be deliverance as the lord has said among the remnant whom the lord calls during the tribulation there will be great signs in uh matthew 24 verses 29 and 30 we read immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light the stars will fall from heaven the powers of the heavens will be shaken then the sign of the sun of man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn they will see the sun of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory with power and great glory ral used to be really upset because he thought it said with power and great glory and we have to say no it's great glory not great glory ral it's okay he's not that special those who call on the name of the lord shall be saved that's true today too isn't it those who call on the name of the lord shall be saved