Prophesy, Dream Dreams And See Visions For The Glory Of God.

Joel 2:28, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Closing message JoelBibleSchool by Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 6/1/08

I thank God for blessing our SpringJoelBibleSchool. Through the Bible School God we all could receive hope and vision for our Summer ministry. We could also find the true way of restoration in God. God sent 27 people to this BibleSchool, 11 through our NIU ministry and 16 from our Triton UBF ministry. We all could participate in one way or another. It was precious Koininia in which we spurred each other on to draw near to Jesus. Let us think briefly about this obscure, but powerful book, holding onto one word of God in our hearts.

A recurring theme in this book is the judgment of God manifest in the form of locust plague. God provided a beautiful vineyard for the people of Judah. They could enjoy the fruit of this vineyard, from generation to generation, if they only decided to live for the glory of God. But they did not. Rather than glorify God with their lives, they become complacent and fell into many sins. God tried to turn them around but to no avail. Finally he sent the plague of locusts calling his people to repentance. Look at verse 1:13. “Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn;  wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth,  you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.”

We discovered the meaning of subjecting Judah to such harsh treatment in verse 19a, which reads,  “To you, O LORD, I call,…”  God was drawing his people to himself. Before the plague of locusts they were crying out to each other, drunken accolades like, “You’re my best buddy forever” or curses too wicked to mention here. But after God’s divine discipline they were crying out in prayer to God for redemption and salvation. All of our hardships and trials are opportunities to draw near to God and cry out to him.

True restoration begins with repentance. Look at verses 2:12-14, “ “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”  13 Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity  and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. ” “Even now” means that whatever our spiritual condition may be, no matter how far we have drifted away from Jesus, God is ready to extend his hand of mercy to those who take hold of it with humble, repentant hearts. Then God will work to restore their fortunes to make them fruitful people. Look at verses 2:23-25, “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. ^[e] He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. 24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—…” God is eager to restore the lives of those who rend their hearts. To all those who are experiencing hard trials repent of your sins and cry out to Jesus. “Who knows? He may turn and have pity  and leave behind a blessing—…” (2:14a)

God is eager to, not only restore our fortunes, but also our spiritual lives through his word and Spirit. Look at verses 28-29,  “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.“ So many of our young people are living in despair, with no hope and no vision for themselves and definitely not for their nation. So many have nothing important to say to their fellow Americans. But God promises his people that when they repent of their sins and cry out God he will restore their inner spiritual lives. Our young people will be able to speak the word of God to their generation, like all of you through this Joel Bible school. Many have prayer topics to give the word of God to their peers through 1:1 Bible study. Our old men will dream dreams of the Kingdom of God and dreams of the glorious work of God that will happen through the up and coming disciples of Jesus. I have dreams of the work of God, exploding, when all of you grow to be able to teach the Bible and raise disciples. This usually takes 25 years of ministry. Young men will see visions, like Tim’s vision for a student group on campus and his vision for a NIU UBF website to post ministry photos. And Augustine and Sarah’s vision for the CRMS Bible club or the Jennifer’s vision to be a blessing to the Christian fellowship at the High School. Many in our ministry had vision for 3,000 members at Purdue ’08 with 1,000 foreign delegates. God has fulfilled this vision and we are all excited. May God fill all of you with his hope, vision and word this summer.

Lastly, we were all comforted by the fact that God is our refuge. Look at 3:16b, “…But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. “  There is a popular song, “It’s All Because Of Jesus I’m Alive.” This is so true. It is all because of our refuge and stronghold Jesus that we are alive. The trials of life do not have to crush us. Our sins do not need to harass us like a plague of locusts. We don’t have live in desolation. We don’t have to taste eternal condemnation due us for our many sins. No. There is a very true and real hope for those who repent and cry out to Jesus. God himself will be our refuge and our stronghold. When we are found, in Jesus, through repentance and faith, we enter into our refuge. We find shelter and peace. It is a healing place, a restoring place and place of strength. It is a place where we can grow in the love of Jesus and in the image of God. It is a place where we can serve God’s holy purpose in our lives and this place is available for anyone for 2: 32a reads, ” And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved;…”

Through our study of Joel, let us cease and desist from complaining about our life’s troubles and instead let us rend our hearts, that is repent, and cry out to Jesus. Then he will restore our lives, especially our spiritual lives and fill our hearts with his dreams and visions. With his Spirit dwelling in our hearts, we can give his word to the students of NIU and KishwaukeeCollege. Let us find ourselves in our refuge, Jesus Christ and live as areas of refuge for students until they can learn to cry out to Jesus. May God grant each of us clear direction for our summer ministry through the words of God.