Do you ever come home from church and think, “I think I understood the message this morning—but what am I supposed to do with it?” Well, if that’s ever happened to you before, it’s not going to happen to you today. This morning, each of us is going to leave here knowing exactly what to do with what we’ve heard. If you haven’t been with us over the past few weeks, we’re in our third week in our study of the book of Joel. And in many ways, the passage we’re looking at is the crux of the whole book. Joel has been preaching for a verdict. He wasn’t just preaching a fluffy, feel-good, self-help message. He was preaching to the people about their real condition. And in preaching to them about their real condition, his goal wasn’t to get them angry or depressed. His goal was to get them to do something. But here’s the crazy thing—he wasn’t trying to give them an inspiring motivational talk to get them to fix their problems in their own strength. Because here’s the reality—they weren’t capable of fixing their own problems in their own strength, were they? Remember what their immediate problem was—they were suffering through the aftermath of a terrible locust invasion. Their livelihood was destroyed. Their economy was in shambles. Their future was hopeless. They weren’t even able to worship because there wasn’t any grain or healthy animals to sacrifice. They were looking at starvation—both physically and spiritually. If I was preaching to them, let me tell you what I would have said. I would have told the people to get busy cleaning up the dead bugs. I would have told them to start plowing the fields. I would have told them to start sending out teams to get food from other areas. But that’s not what the Prophet Joel did, is it? Now, there was a time for all those things eventually. But now wasn’t that time. The first thing the people needed to do was to seek God’s face and His favor in a uniquely desperate way. And that uniquely desperate way is called a Solemn Assembly.
Folks—over the past couple of weeks, I hope you’ve had your eyes opened to exactly how desperate our situation is. In our world, in our region, and in our community—we are rapidly heading to the time when God will pour out His wrath on His creation. Throughout the Bible, and here in Joel, that time is called the Day of the Lord. Just as God poured out His wrath on creation the first time with water in Noah’s day, He will pour out His wrath with fire in the Day of the Lord. Joel reminds us that the Day of the Lord is near. He’s not saying that to give us a timeline. He’s saying that the cup of God’s wrath is almost full and his longsuffering and patience has almost come to an end. Peter describes it like this in 2 Peter 3:9-10: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” Folks—that day is coming. We can see the evidence all around us. Christians are being brutally slaughtered around the world. Around the world, 40-50 million babies are being murdered in the womb each year. That means that every two minutes around the world, enough babies are aborted, that if they were allowed to grow up, they would fill this sanctuary. Sexual sin is promoted and celebrated—both heterosexual and homosexual. And on top of that, the seeds of anarchy are being sown around the world. We can see it in places like Egypt and Libya and Syria—and even closer to home in places like Ferguson and Baltimore and Chicago. And you need to understand that this isn’t something that we’re sheltered from here in our community. All you have to do is pick up a paper or watch the local news. Better yet, spend some time counseling the ladies who come into the Abel Center. Or talk to a school counselor or teacher. Or spend some time with one of our local social workers. Or talk with local law enforcement. Romans 1:29-31 says, “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” If you open your eyes, that describes even our area pretty well, doesn’t it? Make no mistake about it—the Day of the Lord is near. We don’t know when. But we do know that the cup of God’s wrath is closer to overflowing than it’s ever been before. I believe that we’re in a uniquely desperate time—every bit as desperate as the people in Joel’s day. And because we’re in such a uniquely desperate time, I think it’s time for us to call a Parkview Baptist Church to a Solemn Assembly the way Joel called his people to a Solemn Assembly. But if we’re going to do that, then the first question we need to answer is—What is a Solemn Assembly? Look at verses 12 through the first part of 13:
JOEL 2:12-13a
Let’s be clear about this—what we are doing here today is calling Parkview Baptist Church to a Solemn Assembly. A Solemn Assembly is a gathered, focused time of corporate prayer and fasting. I think most of us understand what prayer is, but there’s a lot of confusion about fasting. As Baptists, we’re much more familiar with eating than we are NOT eating. And if you’ve spent much time watching or listening to the prosperity gospel false teachers on TV, then you’ve probably got a really warped sense of what fasting really is. So let’s start with a definition: Fasting is voluntarily denying yourself a normal bodily function or activity for the sake of intense spiritual activity. I want you to notice a couple of things about that definition. First, it’s completely voluntary. So, even though I’m calling us as a church to do this—I can’t command you as an individual to do it. If you want to be part of this, it’s between you and the Lord. I’m not going to manipulate you to do it, and I’m not going to try and shun you if you don’t. It is completely voluntary—like prayer. Completely necessary—but completely voluntary. But notice this—it is voluntarily denying yourself. We don’t like to deny ourselves, do we? That’s one of the reasons that this is so crucial to us at this time. The Bible identifies many different kinds of fasts. There are supernatural fasts where God has supernaturally sustained certain people without food or water for long periods of time. Those are supernatural and unless you’re being prepared to lead a couple million people through the wilderness for 40 years—you’re probably not going to be called to a supernatural fast. But the kind of fasting we’re called to is far less radical than that. Some people do an absolute fast. That’s abstaining from all food and water for a period of time. The most common kind of fast is abstaining only from food for a set period of time, but not from juice or water. Then there are partial fasts. Remember in the Bible how Daniel and Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego only ate vegetables and only drank water for 10 days. And John the Baptist only ate locust and wild honey. Listen—when we’re talking about fasting, the purpose isn’t to do damage to your health. If you have sugar problems or heart problems or other kinds of medical dietary issues—it’s not a sign of faith to go against your doctor’s orders and fast from food. It’s not a sign of faith, it’s a sign of foolishness. But even if you are physically incapable of abstaining from food for a sustained period of time, you can still fast. Some people who are unable to go without food will prepare the food they have to eat without any kind of flavor at all. Something like a diet of boiled chicken and plain white rice—no seasoning at all, not even salt. But here’s the thing—I know that some people’s bodies cannot tolerate any changes in your diet at all. If that’s you or your kids—then you can fast from other things besides food. Fast from television. Fast from social media. Fast from your phone. But listen to me—fasting isn’t like some Catholics treat Lent. Practicing Catholics are supposed to give something up for the 40 days of Lent. I’ve had Catholic friends who will give up things like water skiing. Lent is the 40 days before the Wednesday before Easter—usually February and March. Nobody goes water skiing in February and March anyway. What I’m saying is—don’t pick something to fast from that isn’t practically essential to your daily existence. If you’re not going to fast from food, then fast from something that you will miss as much as you would miss abstaining from food. And giving up TV for the day won’t cut it. A few weeks maybe. The object isn’t to “just do a little something.” Neither is it to do harm to yourself. The object is to voluntarily deny yourself something for the sake of intense spiritual activity. The intensity of your self-denial is what will direct you to the intensity of your spiritual activity. But look at that definition again. Notice what the purpose of fasting is. The purpose of fasting is for the sake of intense spiritual activity. It is NOT to try and manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do. It is NOT to try and impress each other with how spiritual we are. The purpose of fasting is to go completely against the desires of our flesh to give up something that sustains us. And we do that to show ourselves and God that He is the only one who really sustains us. When that happens, we are driven to the place where we are crying out to God that He has to be the one to fix what ails us. He’s the only one—we can’t do it. So that moves us from “the what” to “the why”. Why am I using my God-given authority to call Parkview Baptist Church to a Solemn Assembly now? To see why, let’s look at the second part of verse 13 and verse 14:
JOEL 13b-14
Here’s the reality folks—this thing is too big for us. There are lots of things we can do in our own strength. We can build buildings. We can have great programs. We can even attract lots of people to sit in our pews. We can have awesome music and stage shows and attractional ministries. We can do some service in the community to make ourselves feel good. We can do LOTS of stuff that in the end, won’t matter a hill of beans. Because verse 11 says that the day of the Lord is great and very awesome—who can endure it. And 1:15 and 2:1 say that the day of the Lord is NEAR. The fact is, our buildings, our budgets, our backsides in these pews don’t mean a thing when the world around us is going to hell. We can look at school shootings and terrorism and economic problems and drugs and child abuse and human trafficking and abortion and start to think that those things are the problem. Folks—at their core, all of those problems are heart problems. And the only solution to a heart problem is to have old, cold, dead hearts of stone turned into hearts of flesh. And the only one who can do that is Jesus. Our neighbors and the nations need new life. And while we’re charged with bringing them new life through the gospel—we can’t possibly do it. God has to do it in us, and for us, and through us. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” I don’t like laboring in vain, do you? I don’t like spinning our wheels, do you? I don’t like looking at the pictures of our neighbors in the obituaries and realizing that statistically, at least 6 out of every 10 of them are suffering eternal torment right now. The job of bringing New Life to Our Neighbors and the Nations is too big for us. Because of that, we desperately need to cry out to God to do it through us. That’s why I’m calling us to a Solemn Assembly of prayer and fasting. Because the problem is way too big. And even if we fill this place to the rafters, we’re way too small. Therefore we will voluntarily deny ourselves for the sake of intensely crying out to God. The question is—how are we going to do it? How are we going to go about this Solemn Assembly of prayer and fasting? Look at the second part of verses 15-16
JOEL 2:15-16
At this point, if you’re a member here, you might be thinking, “Wait a minute preacher—I didn’t sign up for this.” And if you’re a guest here with us, you might be thinking, “Mark that church off my list—that’s a little bit too radical for me.” Well, let me tell you what’s wrong with that kind of thinking. What’s wrong with that kind of thinking is, you obviously haven’t opened your eyes to the condition of the world around us. And you really don’t grasp the fact that the only thing that’s keeping God from pouring out His wrath on creation right now is His incredible patience and long-suffering. Either that or you still think we can fix things on our own if we just get the right preacher, or elect the right politicians, or support the right causes, or get the right education. Well we can’t. So the first thing we do to call a Solemn Assembly is to announce it like I’m doing this morning. I’m not going to blow a trumpet, but you get the picture. The next thing we need to do is to consecrate it like verse 15 says. Consecrate simply means to set a special time aside for it to happen. For us, that time is going to be for the next 21 days. I would suggest, if you are able, fast from food at least one day per week for the next three weeks. The typical Hebrew fast would last from sundown on one day until sundown the next day. That’s what I intend to do—start at sundown on Wednesdays and break the fast after sundown on Thursdays. If you’re not able to fast from food because of health reasons, then spend the next 21 days denying yourself something that will be a real sacrifice—television (including the Super Bowl), your phone, a complete media fast—whatever it is, do it for the next 21 days. We will break the fast and conclude the Solemn Assembly when we come together as a church for the Lord’s Supper on Sunday, February 7th. So, we announce it and we consecrate it. Verse 16 says that we also gather for it. In other words, this is for everybody. Notice that Joel is calling the both the elders and the children. He’s even calling folks on their honeymoon to this time of fasting and prayer. So, whether you’re our oldest member or our youngest member—or even if you’re not a member at all, I’m encouraging each of us to participate. From today until February 7th—that’s how we’re going to do this. That just leaves us with one more question. What are we going to be crying out to God for? Look at verse 17 to see what Joel called the people to cry out for:
JOEL 2:17
The worst thing that can happen is if we just do this to say we did it. I don’t want to be a part of that. That’s not what God wants us to do. That’s why back in verse 12 he said to rend our hearts and not our garments. The worst thing we can do is make this some sort of outward show without any inward impact. So the whole purpose of this is to corporately cry out to God with all of our heart. And here’s what I want us to ask Him when we do.
For the next 21 days, as you are fasting and praying to the Lord, I want you to cry out to him first of all for salvations and baptisms. Several times I’ve asked you to make a list of unsaved people you know and start praying for them. I’m asking you again. Cry out to God that we will see our neighbors and the nations saved. Cry out to God that we will see this baptistery used every week. That’s not too big for God, is it? Then cry out to Him for it.
Next, I want you to cry out to God for personal deliverance from any besetting sins you might have. A besetting sin is the kind that you can’t seem to get away from. Is it gossip? Is it pride? Is it lust? Is it pornography? Is it lying? Is it worry? You know what it is. Cry out to God to deliver you from it. That’s not too big for God, is it? Then cry out to Him for it.
Next, I want you cry out to God, begging Him to raise up leaders in our midst. Cry out to Him to make Parkview Baptist Church a leadership pipeline. Not just leadership for this church—but pray for Him to raise up pastors in our midst who will revitalize some of these dead and dying churches around us. Pray for him to raise up missionaries in our midst who will take the gospel to the really hard places around the world. Pray that God will raise up godly community and business leaders in our midst who will change the culture of our area from one of scarcity and defeat to one of abundance and hope in Christ. Pray that God will raise up church planters in our midst—men who will reach our culture and our world through exciting, multiplying new works. Is that something too big for God to do? Then cry out to Him for it.
Next, I want you to cry out to God for this church to experience supernatural unity. I’m not talking about the kind of unity that comes from all of us being the same and liking the same things. I’m talking about Ephesians 5—mutually submitting to each other kind of unity. I’m talking about truly intergenerational unity. I’m talking about truly multi-ethnic unity. I’m talking about unity in the midst of socio-economic diversity. In other words, I’m talking Revelation 5 kind of unity—every tribe, every tongue and every nation maintaining their cultural distinctives in the midst of sold-out praise and worship. Folks—not even that is too big for God. I’m asking you to cry out to Him for it.
Finally, I want you to cry out to God that He will turn and relent and leave a blessing of revival behind him. We’ve talked a lot the past couple of weeks about all the bad news that’s around us. And when we see all of the debt and death and depravity—it’s easy to forget that the world has been in these places before. And time and time again throughout history, God raised up a group of people to cry out to him. And time and time again throughout history, He brought revival. One of those times was in 1904 in a little coal mining town in Wales. On October 31, a young preacher named Evan Roberts took a train back to his hometown. He wanted to preach, but was only allowed to speak a for a few minutes after his home church’s regular prayer meeting. There were only 17 people there to hear him that night. He kept preaching. And he kept praying. And God turned and relented and left a blessing of revival. Here’s what the local newspaper had to say about it: “A remarkable religious revival is now taking place in Loughor. For some days a young man named Evan Roberts, a native of Loughor, has been causing great surprise at Moriah Chapel. The place has been besieged by dense crowds of people unable to obtain admission. Such excitement has prevailed that the road on which the chapel is situated has been lined with people from end to end…. Many who have disbelieved Christianity for years are returning to the fold of their younger days. One night, so great was the enthusiasm invoked by the young evangelist that, after his sermon which lasted two hours, the vast congregation remained praying and singing until 2:30 in the morning. Shopkeepers are closing early in order to get a place in the chapel.” Here were some of the published results of the revival in Wales: In two months, 70,000 were saved. In five months, 85,000. In six months, more than 100,000 saved. Folks—there are 107,342 people living in Mercer and Tazewell Counties—60% of whom are completely unclaimed by any religious community. We have Bluefield College and Bluefield State College both right in our backyard. If God could save more than 100,000 people from a poor, rural, coal mining area like Wales in six months… all starting from a guy preaching to 17 people after a regular prayer meeting… don’t you think He can do it again here? Or, for some reason, do you think the problem here is too big for Him. Well, I’m here to tell you it isn’t. All I’m asking you is—for the next 21 days, cry out to Him in fasting and praying like you’ve never done before—not because it’ll MAKE God do anything. But because He’s asked us to—and we don’t have any other choice. And as verse 14 says, “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him.”
