The Day of the Lord is Coming

Joel 2:1-11

The fear of God was not in the hearts of the leaders of Israel or its citizens, but God had placed a spiritual watchman named Joel to cry out, sound the alarm, the day of the Lord is coming.  In the 64th chapter of Isaiah, verse one, we're told the people had for years asked Yahweh to open the doors of heaven and come down.  “If only You would tear the heavens open and come down so that mountains would quake at Your presence.”  They were looking for a God to do their bidding, not much different than the people of our day.  Joel has a message, you are going to get a small sample of what you have been asking for, but know this, a Holy God does not allow sin in His presence, and that is as true today as it was in the time of Joel.

“Blow the horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain!  Let all the residents of the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord, is coming; in fact, it is near—a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dense overcast, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come.”

Not the day they were planning, it was a day of darkness and gloom, and yet so many each day go out of this life with the wrong expectation of standing before a holy, pure, God.  Sin is absent from heaven, yet we have all sinned and fallen short, all, the Pope, Billy Graham, Sister Teresa and you and me.  Jesus is the only way anyone is going to have our sin debt paid.  He did it all for you, but until you agree and bow before him, giving Him permission to come into you and make you a new person in Christ, you're not ready for the “Day of the Lord.”

A fire destroys in front of them, and behind them a flame devours.  The land in front of them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland; there is no escape from them. Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like warhorses. They bound on the tops of the mountains. Their sound is like the sound of chariots, like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for war.

Their appearance is like that of horses, very critical, judgment has come from the Lord, His watchman have declared what is going to happen, but no one knows if it was an army from the north or an Army of Locusts.  What is clear it was a fire, leaving not one thing standing, no food, no jobs, and no hope.

Nations writhe in horror before them; all faces turn pale. They attack as warriors attack; they scale walls as men of war do.  Each goes on his own path, and they do not change their course. They do not push each other; each man proceeds on his own path. They dodge the arrows, never stopping. They storm the city; they run on the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like thieves.

We try to understand what is stated, it’s like an incredible war machine, and we come up with something like “Desert Storm, ” but that is so weak, maybe what General Sherman did to cities like Atlanta is closer, but it is still much worse.

The earthquakes before them; the sky shakes.  The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars cease their shining.  The Lord raises His voice in the presence of His army.  His camp is very large; those who carry out His command are powerful.  Indeed, the Day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful—who can endure it?”

The watchman have moved past locust, and vast armies of God Himself and His command brings judgment on the nations, Judgment day has come!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

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It was all Gone

Joel 1:5-20

Joel is not clear about who-done-it, was it a mighty army from a foreign nation or was it a nation of locust.  It is not clear but what is clear is the nation was awakened, much like a drunkard going through withdrawals when there is no more alcohol and no hope of getting any more.

“Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.  For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions' teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.  It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.”

Israel’s food supply is gone, can you imagine such a scene, you go to the store for food, but it is long gone.  You ask your neighbor for food, but he/she has already asked all the other neighbors, the fields and trees are gone, and there is no food!

In the time Joel is writing, the proper response to a catastrophe was grief and by wearing sackcloth, not something you would want to wear for its style or comfort.  Sackcloth is a very rough, uncomfortable fabric that irritates the skin.  We also have the priests lamenting that the offering was cut off from the temple, and also their food supply, because it came from what the people brought to the temple as sacrifices and offerings.  All the people who worked and made their living off the food supply were without work and food, it was all gone, no food for people or animals, even the fruit trees were destroyed, and it sure looks as if all will starve.

We see the priests are to remove their nice clothes and put on sackcloth and spend the night at the temple.  They are also instructed to hold a sacred fast and to gather the elders and all the residents of the land to come to the house of the Lord.  The purpose is to confess corporate guilt before the Lord.  That brings a question to mind, why do we as a church not call an assembly to confess our corporate sin as a nation before God?  How long as it been since the pastor or priest has called a sacred assembly to confess the sins of your nations before our Father?  Today is a good day to begin, and let it begin with you and me.

In verses 15-20, judgment is on them, and sin has brought judgment on all of the people, but it has also brought judgment to the animals, and even the wild animals cry out to the Lord for water and food, but none is to be found. “Woe because of that day!  For the Day of the Lord is near and will come as devastation from the Almighty.  Hasn’t the food been cut off before our eyes, joy, and gladness from the house of our God?  The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.  The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down because the grain has withered away.  How the animals groan!  The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture.  Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.  I call to You, Lord, for fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have devoured all the trees of the countryside.  Even the wild animals cry out to You, for the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Joel introduction

 Joel 1:1-4

The author of Joel is God’s Holy Spirit as it is in all the books of the Bible, but he used a man named Joel  his name meant (“Yahweh is God”), and the only biographical information we have is that he is the son of Pethuel.  So what do we know from history about Pethuel, he is the father of Joel the prophet.  It is also one of the shortest Books in the Old Testament.  It begins with a terrible locust plaque and is followed by a plea for confession of sins.

My mother was born on March 12,1909, and left her earthsuit in 2002.  Mom grew up during the great depression and lived with her family of 8 brothers and sisters on a farm in Young 

County at the crossroads of 209 and 578, and it was called Murray, Texas.  Now you may be a little confused where one can find Murray, it is fourteen miles southwest of Graham and was founded in 1874 by Thomas Price and J.J. Murray soon followed.  In 1880 the post office was established and named for Murray.  Murray was a fast growing town, and in 1886 it was a community of twenty-seven, and in 1980 the post office was closed, and the population was an incredible twenty-nine people.  Why did I tell you all of that?  Because I wanted to, but it has little to do with mother’s story of the locust plague that hit the farm.  She told us the sky would turn dark when the locusts came in thick flying clouds, and the crops and even the trees were stripped.

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The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land!  Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?  Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.”   We find this person Joel and we address him as a minor prophet and yet he is God’s spokesman for this time and place.  He is addressing both the elders and the inhabitants of the land, and he is asking a question; “Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?  Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.”  A plaque of locust had attacked the land, and they had never seen anything like it!  This is Joel’s account: “What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten.  What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.” 

I have read that  Joel " was so unusual that it served as a warning of two future events: a coming war and the Day of the Lord.” (Taken from page 1483 of the HCSB)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Men who God used in the early Church

May 20, 2017

 Colossians 4:12-18

Yesterday, we examined verses 7-11 and looked at the ministry of Jewish men who were traveling with Paul, and today it is the Gentile men’s life and ministry we will study.  Epaphras and Paul are quick to remind them, “Who is one of you” a servant of Jesus Christ greets you.  Paul introduces him as a prayer warrior, a man who is always struggling on your account in his prayers.  And what is the theme of his prayers; that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

If we go back to Colossians 1:7-8, we find it was Epaphras who informed Paul about the church at Colossae.  Paul had not been there at this time, so it was Epaphras that informed Paul about the actions of that church.  In his letter to the Church at Colossae Paul refers to Epaphras as a fellow slave and a faithful servant.  In chapter 2 and verse one Paul makes it clear he has not yet visited that area. 

In verse 14, “Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.”  The 14th verse tells us the profession of Luke, a physician and once more we see the hand of God using this doctor in a mighty way in the life of Paul.  We also have Demas a companion of Paul who began strong and yet later abandoned the gospel ministry because of his love for worldly things.  I’ve seen the old thief pull this on many a pastor, and I’m reminded that his goal is to destroy and it matters not how long it takes to do so.

Now back to the beloved physician Luke, who gave us the book of Acts and the longest book in the New Testament the book of Luke.  Its focus is the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.  Now both the book of Acts and Luke are dedicated to “most honorable Theophilus.”  

There is a high possibility that Luke was not an eyewitness to the life of Jesus Christ, but he often refers to others being eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus Christ.  But in the book of Acts we see Luke using “they and them”, but later in the book he changes to the first-person plural (“we,” “us”).  So we know that the doctor joined up with Paul and ministered to him and with him.  No one knows whom the person Theophilus is, but it's assumed he was a Gentile believer, who had both wealth and may have held some governmental authority and power.

As we look at verses 15-18, one wonder’s why are we not taking to heart this letter, for it was to be passed on to us also?  “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”  (Go to Philemon, verse 2 to understand who Archippus is.)

“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Paul Encouragers

Colossians 4:7-11

We first heard the name Tychicus in the Book of Acts, 20:4 and he was a native of Asia.  Paul was in Ephesus when a riot broke out, and it was after the uproar had ceased Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them then he departed for Macedonia but first went to Greece.  A group of men accompanied Paul and Tychicus was one of them.  In the book of Ephesians, once more Tychicus’ name comes up in chapter 6, verses 21-22.  Paul is sending him out as a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord as his messenger.  In 2 Timothy 4:12, Paul is telling Mark to come as soon as he can for only Luke is with him and that he sent Tychicus to Ephesus with a message or letter.  We also have a man named Demas who began right, but Paul tells us his love for the world drew him away, not so with Tychicus.

Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother is from the area of Colossae.  Paul is in prison in Rome under house arrest when Onesimus came to have his encounter with Jesus Christ, look at Philemon verses 8-14. “Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.”

 I also looked at Easton's Bible Dictionary:

“Useful, a slave who, after robbing his master Philemon (q.v.) at Colosse, fled to Rome, where he was converted by the Apostle Paul, who sent him back to his master with the epistle which bears his name. In it, he beseeches Philemon to receive his slave as a "faithful and beloved brother." Paul offers to pay to Philemon anything his slave had taken and to bear the wrong he had done him. He was accompanied on his return by Tychicus, the bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians (Philemon 1:16, 18).”

Do you recall that Aristarchus from Thessalonica was also with Paul when the riot broke out in Ephesus and he also was with the group that left with Paul?  It was Aristarchus and Gaius who were dragged from the theater when the riot broke out in Ephesus.  Aristarchus also became a fellow prisoner in Rome with Paul. 

And in Colossians 4:10, we have the name Mark, Barnabas’s cousin and they have already instructed that when he comes to you, welcome him.  Who is this Mark, we need to return to the book of Acts 12:12, but before doing so first visit Acts 12:1-5, it is the account of Herod killing James the brother of John with the sword, and arresting Peter.  The night before Peter was to be executed the following morning, God sent an angel to free him.  And Peter went to the house of Mary mother of John his other name was Mark, where many were praying.  In the 25^th verse of chapter 12, we find John Mark going with Barnabas and Saul or Paul to Jerusalem.  In Acts 15: 37-39 we find that John Mark has dropped the ball with Paul on a mission trip and it caused a tiff between Paul and Barnabas.  It was only later that Paul became convinced of John Marks usefulness in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

The last Jew on the list who was with Paul in Rome and a servant of Christ is Justus, and we have no other account of him.  Each day as a follower of Christ we make choices, some are good, in fact, I believe most are good, but we also choose wrongly, and that is what Demas did when he desired the things of this world that are passing away.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Why Pray?

Colossians 4:1-6

I’ve told you I’m a mess, and so thankful that God loves messes, and yet often I awake from my cluttered life and wonder why; why do I live in such defeat.  Now I find myself in some good company, the apostle Paul also lived, at times, a defeated Christ life.  Look with me at Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”  Paul goes on to explain that his flesh has learned how to operate outside of Christ, and there lies the battleground.   The key to winning this battle is found in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Now the problem a mess like me encounters is letting my emotions be in the fallback position, and depending on the old ways of getting my needs met outside of Christ.

 If we read Colossians 4:1 in today’s English, we would exchange the word slaves for employees, so read it that way.  The word bondservant also is used, and it was a slave who chose to stay with his master, even after he was released.  “Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”

But beginning in verses 2-6 we are given further instructions on how to live this life on planet earth.  Start with verses 2-4, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”

We are told to be steadfast in our prayers, and yet many of us fall so short and could it be we just do not understand why and whom to pray to?  In the book of Daniel 9:18b, “For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.”  And in 19a we hear a very dependent Daniel pleading with God; “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act.”  I know of no other who is all knowing, all loving, all merciful, and who can forgive sin.  That is why one should be steadfast in prayer!

It is evident we should pray, but about what, any and everything, and yet these mighty should be high on the list.  Pray for understanding and wisdom, and you will find instruction on doing so in Proverbs 2:6-8 and Proverbs 3:5.  If you do not have a thankful spirit ask the Father to fill you with thanksgiving and you will find insight in Philippians 4:6 & 7.  My wife is a prayer warrior, and each night we lay in bed and intercede, and anyone who is in Christ can bring one who is in need before the throne of God.

Paul is writing this letter to the church at Colossae, while in his first time in a Roman prison, go back and read what he is asking the church to do.

It is verses 5 & 6 where I often get in trouble, shall we read them with a desire to do as instructed.  “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” 

I served on the homeowner’s board in my area and it was not a fun job.  Last week at a board meeting I was offering to do an act of kindness, but one person, an astute person was putting up roadblocks that I knew were not in the covenants.  I told you I’m a mess and that night I allowed my emotions to rule, saying that is just stupid, and I said it more than once, I was right in what I said but very wrong in how I said it.  I left wisdom at the door, and my speech was not gracious.  Today, I must write a letter to the Board asking them to forgive me, especially the lady who I was addressing.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Employees - Bosses - & Obedience

May 17, 2017

 Colossians 3:22-25

“Slaves obey your earthly masters in everything, and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.”

Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that our adversary, the thief, or devil has a plan for your life, and it is a long-term goal, to do these things, kill, steal and destroy.  Now I want to illustrate how he is setting you up as a child to bring about his plan of messing up your life by using non-compliance to obeying your parents.  The old snake may have set you up with parents that just wanted to be your buddy; a child needs parents, not buddies, often buddies are not there to guide you in life.

So one who enters the workplace without the discipline of obedience will be shocked to find that the boss was not making a suggestion but a command.  He requires you to perform in keeping with his desires, and anything short of that will not bring blessing but curses.  I'm sure each of us living in the West will understand we have the freedom, most of the time, to quit one job and look for another.  A slave did not have that option, so change slave to an employee.

Employees work as unto the Lord, but once more we have the discipline of obedience, and if you have not learned to obey your parents will you obey the Lord?  Or will you be like so many employees, when the boss is away the children will play.  In sales, I found many very skilled and talented people who had never been disciplined in obedience, and it always came back to haunt them.

My dad taught me a job worth doing, is worth doing right the first time, and all that we do should be to honor the Lord.  When I was in the early stage of my career, it was about doing a good job, making more money, and earning my bosses approval.  But as I grew up in my understanding of my relationship with Jesus, it became clear that He was the source of all my skills, gifts, and talents, and it was He that I was to please.

Will you have bosses that are not fair?  Sure you will, and sometime you may not get the job and someone who is not as qualified gets it, that’s a guarantee.  And sometimes you will work for someone who is very insecure and they will try to harm you or even fire you. You need to go back to this verse, “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.”  Someone told me, or maybe it was in a sermon, to take all your troubles and trials to the Lord and leave them there, and Jesus said to pray for your enemies, the boss could fall into that slot.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice