Only One Thing Is Wrong, Part 2

Janie Greer what God wants to do is you want to change of heart that leads to a heartbroken repentance in those areas where my heart has been broken over how my sin hurt God how my sin drove out his presence from my life. Those are the areas of her benefit that really change me. The reason some of you can't repent effectively is that you don't really see core desire or love God in your post. :-) Minutes. Come, come back to me looking at a part of the Bible that you probably thought much about the minor prophets. If you miss any of the previous messages there available online. Janie Greer.com looking at the book of Joel in the time in Israel's history. They were facing God's judgment over their sin, as will see even God's judgment is an expression of his love. How can well pull up a chair and listen in as Pastor JD titled this message. One thing is what the cutting locus is left, the swarming locust is the what the swarming locusts laptop locus is even what the hobby locus as well. But destroying locus is now we have a record of a modern locus flag that occurred in the region of Palestine around 1950. Witnesses said that within a few days. There was literally nothing living plant wise left in the region. Literally everything is gone like the locus flag. The devastating power of sin Joel explains is total and it gradually destroys everything in its path progressively. Joel says that unless Israel wakes up, God is going to send them the armies of Babylon and the Israel life a horde of locusts you notice it for the next two chapters describe this coming invasion about a lot of Israel.change their ways described in terms of the locus for watchdog initiated for nations, gives my land.

That's prophecy about Babylon powerful beyond number like locus. It's either light lime seat like locus is laid waste my behind and splintered my victory is stripped off their bark is thrown it down there branches are made white. The fields are destroyed before them. The ground mourns the Lamb is the garden of Eden before they get there in the behind.

It was a desperate wilderness that's just like locus flag nothing escapes the mess with the rumbling of chariots that the sound of the swarms they leap on the tops of mountains by the crackling of a flame devouring the stubble.

What you're seeing there is God saying your sin, because this kind of destruction in your life possible.

Locus is an illustration of that and if you don't wake up worse when it comes the armies of Babylon. What you're seeing there.

Watch this little nerd moment what you're seeing. There's an illustration of what theologians call the passive and the active dimensions of the wrath of God and your see how they work together.

Here's your definition, the passive wrath of God is God simply allowing us to suffer the natural consequences of our sin is okay. That's what you chose.

I'll let you experience that the active wrath of God is the lightning bolt of judgment from heaven, and what you see in stories like this one. Listen, is that the passive and active wrath of God work together in the active wrath of God is usually Justin affirmation of or an extension of his passive wrath is God simply affirming to you the choice that you already made for yourself. Nobody has help me get my mind around the wrath of God is much as CS Lewis one of these ways that sin is like a cancer cancer that never stop growing and multiplying growing as long as you're alive until you kill it, it will just keep growing until it consumes the host sin is like that is it. So there's a lot of things in your soul that probably would need to worry about. If you only were around for 70 or 80 years, but Scripture says God created you to live forever either in heaven or hell. This is so, what is it like when selfishness, jealousy, unchecked lost materialism cowardice.

One of those things look like when they've grown unchecked in you for a million years. He said hell is exactly the technical term for what that state would be. In other words, God doesn't destroy. Sin destroys and when you understand that lesson, you'll start to see earthly experiences of God's judgment like this plague of locusts, will start to see them as expressions of God's mercy because God is trying to let you see were sin is taking you before it is too late for you to return any experience of the painful consequences of our sin before it is too late. Is God's mercy and love. Trying to wake you up. He's not trying to pay you back for your sin. He's trying to bring you back from your sin. So what is it that God says to them what is you want from in chapter 2 verse 12. Yet even now declares the Lord returned to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and mourning in wind that means tear tear your hearts and not your garments thing to notice here is that what he's describing is a repentance that grows out of love. That's the key thing is not talking about changing your baby is talking about a repentance arose out of a broken heart to the words with all your heart, fasting, weeping morning tearing your hearts. He's describing repentance that comes from a broken heart, not just the bit will, but a heart that is heartbroken over what it sin did to God because that's the only kind repentance that actually works and I think that knowledge on Scripture, and whatever my own life but feels a bit about me. What bothers me about my sin is that it caused some painful circumstance or cause me to be embarrassed or I feel guilty or ashamed like a great Christian. What a very good pastor and then I make a change.

When that's the source of my repentance resolutions to change are always really short-lived. They don't go that deep what God wants to do is you want to change of heart that leads to a heartbroken repentance in those areas where my heart has been broken over how my sin hurt God how my sin drove out his presence from my life. Those are the areas of repentance that really change me. The reason some of you can't repent effectively is that you don't really cherish or seek or desire or love God, which is the connection to fasting for a lot of people treat fasting like it's a scheme to earn God's favor. Like, it's like self-inflicted punishment, minor something like a punishment were double.

See all look at amenities really hurt himself with that hunger and so I'm gonna forgive it sin. Muslims around the world are about to go to us monthly: Ramadan and their calendar that's amount what they will all fast from dawn till dusk.

If you ask him what is the motive for your fast they will explain this as a way of getting forgiveness for our sins and in getting the favor of God on our lives right there a lot of Christians you think basically the same way. I'm in a fastener earn God's approval. If that's how you think you don't understand the Bible at all, because the Bible says you will earn God's forgiveness. God's forgiveness is given freely as a gift. It's company given to you not because you put yourself through hunger because Jesus put himself on the cross. It's a gift that God given to you so fasting for the Christian is not an attempt to earn God's favor, God gave that in Christ fasting for the Christian is an expression of longing for the God who is given us his favor already and saying to him.

I desperately need your presence in my life.

I need your power in my life. I need your love flow through my life I need in my family. I needed my kids I need in our church and I am heartbroken that I don't have it. Things are not okay what I need. God is I don't just need you to fix my marriage.

I don't need a little more financial help. I don't need a new boss. I don't need for this person leave me alone what I need is your presence and your power in the center my life I want that even more than I want, so you cry out to God and you say, not okay with my kids growing up not following Jesus. I'm not okay with that and I want that I want your presence and power in their lives more than food, and I'm expressing that you were when we as a church say I'm not okay with the amount of people in our community who still don't know Jesus not okay with the families in our church who keep splitting up.

I am not okay with the injustice that still affects people all over our community and I'm not okay with the tragic amount of people around the globe. Yet even hear about Jesus and God. We need your presence and power in your love outworking in this church. We want that more than we want food itself.

God's presence and his power flow through a repentance that grows out of love for him, which may make you ask the million dollar Bible question what how I get that love back. I lost that loving feeling toward you get back where where does where does that love come from if you don't have it concrete? That's what we started with Hosea.

That's why Hosea is the first book in the minor prophets because Isaiah starts with a glorious demonstration of the love of the heavenly father the heavenly husband who came for you again and again and again and again. It is in light of the glorious love of God for you that love for God grows in you.

You were Joel grounds repentance.

He says it himself and his own Weigel 213 return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love you Berlin's over disaster return to God in repentance because of who you know him to be. It is the love of God for you, which produces love for God in you and not what the whole New Testament teaches first John 419 we love we love will I would love to look at and earn God's favor. We love because it brings God's blessing know we love because he first loved us. Which is why we so often tell you around here that the gospel is the core of every dimension, every inch of growth in your life.

The gospel is not an entry right you go through to become a Christian and leave behind is not the dobby board off of what you jump into the pool of Christianity.

The gospel is the pool itself because every inch of growth in your life comes from being aware of the greatness of the love of God for you. You will only role and repent of your sin. The more that you immerse yourself in the free and the gracious love of God. What God promises will happen when they do several things here. Verse 14. Who knows whether he will not relent turn and relent leave a blessing behind her and relent.

The total mercy mercy is God withholding from us. The judgment that we deserve leave a blessing behind him. That's called grace. Grace is God giving us blessing and goodness that we don't deserve mercy withholding. What we do deserve grace given us. What we don't deserve you broke into my house and stealing my stuff and I call you if I said I'm not to call the cops and send you to jail. That's mercy I'm shielding you from the judgment you dessert if I say, your financial needs and you tell me cell masterwork you a check for $10,000. That's grace I'm giving you what you told Sir by the way, don't try that.

I'll just call the cops. But you see the distinction there between mercy and grace God giving us not just withholding mercy by giving us grace.

He goes on to describe what that looks like verse 19 the Lord answered and said to his people. Behold, I'm gonna send among you grain and wine and oil, and you will be satisfied that we think of that as new blessings God like I'm in a poor blessing back in your life that what I wanted to really get serious with God. The summer before my junior year of high school I would know that time it been pretty focused on pleasing only myself and doing things my way. Like most people who live that way.

I was pretty unhappy but that summer and that summer I put God back into the center of my life and my mom and dad gave me a verse that became something about being function like a like verse for me that I have used have given you several different times in Matthew 633 they told me that Jesus promise about seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Jesus said all these things will be added to you and they said all these things Jesus is referring to is all the other things you'd like you need in life if you put in person relationship first in your career you put him first in your finances, you will be amazed at how God continues to just pour out blessing on your life and here I am, what 25, 26 years later and I can tell you there is not one single area of my life that I can say that out given God.

I look at the quality of friends or God is put in my life. I look at the beautiful family that God has given to me. I look at the marriage you got it. So to make the church of these allow me to be part up financially. Financially I was taught.

If you will put God first.

Give him the first and the best make sure that he is first in your finances. You'll be amazed at how God just goofy, ways of poor blessing back out on you financially and I can tell you is never failed me. Not one time that's what God is saying, I will fly one up lets you do it that you gotta come back to something else though this is important you will be satisfied with call that contentment, what, what's the greater gift. By the way, was a greater blessing for God to dump stuff on your life or for God to enable you to be happy with what he's given you contentment is probably a greater gift than any of the grain and the wine and the oil because contentment is learning to be happy in him regardless of what you have 10 contentment has more to do with your character than it does with the amount of your possessions. So sometimes God will bless you with more stuff sometimes or give you greater contentment and stuff you already have. Sometimes God bless you.

But take away the pain sometimes will give you joy and peace that goes beyond the pain sometimes affects the marriage sometimes or give you peace that passes all understanding and the ability to walk on water in a broken marriage. He just will poor you you will you will pour out blessing of these types multiple ways. He goes on a verses in the Old Testament for 25 I will restore to you the years, the locus of the swarming Helgeson Satan and I will restore what the hopper the destroyer.

The cutter my great army. All these locus I will restore what they have taken from you. What that means listening is retroactive restoration. Has there ever been any other expression of grace like this. God will literally take blessing and not just put in your life presently go back and make up for all the cursing that came in your life your simple choices.

That's how much God wants to bless and restore an end. Love you. Sometimes, by the way, you'll experience that on earth.

Other aspects about your noggin, experience it until you get to eternity may be of a good example. This is Job in the Bible.

Job after suffering so much. Job was not suffering for his sin, but he suffered at the very into Joe too little verses are tucked in right at the end of people to rewrite a renewal notice is is a God multiplied at the very end to the gym at seven times more than he did at the beginning of the words God said I'm a back and pay you back all that suffering that you went through a nominal multiplied in your life. Sometimes that'll happen on earth. Other times, you will not experience it until you we get to eternity. But one thing I can tell you is you will not look back at the end and fill one tear of regret over anything that happens. So here's my question. Where has sin destroyed your life. This divorce destroyed. Your heart is destroyed, your family, have you made decisions that you look back on and say why can I go back and talk to 19-year-old version of me.

Why can I go back to high school version of me.

Why can I go back to 30 overs and insight don't do that you feel that pain of despair because you thought you lost something you're never going to get back returned to me, says the Lord returned to me and I will restore the years the locust has eaten translation. Your life is not over. If you return to God's promises that all you went there was to be swallowed up in goodness and it is a restoration that will last forever. When you been there 10,000 years, and your bright shining as the sun you have no less days to sing the glories of God's grace in the moment that you first begun. That'll free you from despair and will free you from bitterness because what will happen is you will start to realize that nobody has ever taken from you, what God will not restore in abundance in eternity. Couple of the promises he gives here. He's probably the best one verse 18 verse 28 it's a come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, young men shall see visions. Peter picked this verse up in the New Testament in the first sermon ever preached after Jesus's resurrection is is what God is promising here when you repent these promised me his presence, a new experience of his presence to come in your life. The spirit of the Almighty God himself is going to come into you and that is the greatest gift I could give to you because God's presence is more satisfying than pleasures is more constant than relationships that last longer than anything else.

You will get is the greatest of all the gifts that he could ever give you if you are a believer you have the spirit of the Almighty God created the galaxies and raised Jesus from the dead inside of you this morning go to the person next year. I look at look at it there believer they got the spirit of God inside of him Yahweh to look like you don't either canceled or thinking about you, but the point is that creator has few that creator. Love that person and not diffused himself into them permanently. The other dimension that he says here the Peter talks about your sons and your daughters will prophesy, he said that is a promise that God not only had his presence fries. He wanted to empower us for mission. You see the way that you know you have the Holy Spirit is not that you feel serene feelings of peace at night when you go to bed. The way that you know that you have the Holy Spirit is that you are in power for mission. Jesus say you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and then you will be my witnesses in dose you you will be able shut up about me anything something when you been revived and restored when you've experienced what we talked about in Joel to you will not be able to keep your mouth shut. You have some to say what happens when you fall in love when you summon you some you you are annoying the heck out of your friends about your new boyfriend.would you shut up but you can't help but you can talk and talk on the topic is your love, but when your team wins a national championship. Some of you Carolina fans know where those two coworkers of yours out and all their thinkers count down the days like next year we can have redemption come and were not shut up about you can't help it. You're excited about.

You want to talk about it or how about this one was everybody I have ever known who is remodeled their house has people over for dinner immediately when it's done right. Wife is you want people see how awesome the additions that you put on your house are when God has remodeled and revived and restored your house you didn't want to tell somebody that's how you know the Holy Spirit is in you is a God didn't just revive and restore use of the you feel better on the inside. God wanted him some witnesses and the Holy Spirit comes on you to help you with that. You can find greater joy now than anything else in your life. The book of Joel open with God telling Joel go tell your children about this. What you children tell their children and their children. Let them tell another generation soma churches that happening in our church that God spirit really on the search you tell your friends what we got so much focus on the one version 1 how badly do you want the presence of God.

How badly do you yearn for it in your family not badly be your yearn for it in our church.

How badly do we yearn for internation that's an easy question.

Here's the answer as seriously as we take sin in our lives and as severely as we hunger for God's presence and those two things are shown by how heartbroken you are over your sin and how much you fast is an expression of your need for God's power in your life were the greatest revivals ever in church history happened in Korea in the early 20th century.

It's beginning always gets traced back to one event early in the 20th century when the Korean church was very small.

Just a few hundred believers in the whole country prayer service of several of the leaders of the Korean church again what you've done it before. Believers in the entire country of Korea, a prayer service. One of the church leaders want to create church leaders are Mr. K stood up and say that he was trembling as the Holy Spirit told me to stop praying because I have sand in my heart that I haven't dealt with church leaders.

Mr. Lee is initially I've been jealous of you. I felt badly about you have tried to slander you subtly behind your back is intricately donated you said I confess that because it grieves the Holy Spirit. Your forgiveness everybody was shot because especially in that culture. At that time he was never good engineers out that way everybody, look around.

What did Mr. Lee who visibly was very surprised. He said very quickly that of course brother.

Of course I forgive you and they embrace the name Braden. What followed after that was what bartenders described as a poignant sense of mental anguish develop on the believers because of Albert Sansone driven on the presence of God living in the convention sands that we broker them to pray for forgiveness, that little prayer meeting which was scheduled to last only an hour or so stretched on until 5 AM the next morning that another similar events led to this massive outpouring of God spirit the country of Korea and in one year, one year, 50,000 Koreans came to faith in Christ and I was in a country were before that only been a few hundred, lapsed Christian church, people that would identify with a whole different religion that became Christians in the local college campus in Pyongyang, which is now a horse in the north where this started. 90% of its students came to faith in Christ.

90% did not lapse Christians coming back, but the people were Christians all coming to faith in Christ. That day South Korea's most thriving missionary sending olives in the world and all went back these believer said when we took sin seriously and we hunger for God.

Many things are wrong in our lives. Many things wrong in this church. Many things are wrong in our community. Many things wrong in our nation but in reality, only one thing is wrong. We have fallen away from God and we no longer love pursue him and not shown by how casually retreat our center by how little we yearn and hungering around the presence of God to take her sin seriously as we can for God's presence diligently, as were able to challenging message from Pastor Jenny Greer listening to Summit life. If you'd like to hear this message again. If there's a friend you think would benefit from it can find online Jenny Greer.com this message is titled only one thing is wrong and it's part of our series, come back to me that my only call dive deeper into the never want this program to be a replacement for your local church.

We prayed all the things you learned serve the church.

Every rent like a listener from Florida, which was recently living daily at 9 AM in the program has really blessed my life and helped me in extraordinary ways is challenge my spiritual life and encourage me to give more to live closer to God.

That's what this is all about is your learning and growing through this ministry.

Like Paul, by supporting financially generous and one-time donation by sending you a new 20 day devotional from Pastor Jane, 833-5220 Jenny clear.com if you need information you recently devotional tax sign up online dating I'm doing all right here on