Mike Bickle emphasizes the urgent need for the church to respond to the escalating crisis in our nation, drawing parallels from the book of Joel. He highlights the 'Psalms 2 crisis' where societal leaders reject God's influence, necessitating a 'Joel 2 response' of repentance and prayer for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Bickle believes we are in the early days of a significant generation leading to the Lord's return, where both darkness and light will intensify. He calls for believers to gather in prayer and fasting, seeking God's mercy and intervention in the face of moral decline. The sermon encourages a proactive stance in faith, believing for a third great awakening in America and globally.

Well, let's turn to Joel chapter 2. You have a handout there on your seat there. You can follow along. I like to lay out the key points that I'm gonna make, not all of them, but some of them in the notes, and put the verses so you can look right at them. Let's pray. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. Father, we love your presence. We ask you that you would magnify your Son in the hearts of the people, and Holy Spirit, we recognize your presence tonight. And Holy Spirit, we ask you to do what you do best and what you enjoy most. You would take the things that belong to Jesus, you would impart them to us. We thank you in the name of Jesus, Amen. Amen. Well, we are living in a very significant hour of human history. I mean, I'm talking about the whole of human history. We are approaching, and I believe in the beginning of an hour, that's going to see events, positive and negative, that will continue to escalate over the next, I mean, I don't know, several decades, maybe longer, maybe shorter. I don't know. Maybe shorter, maybe longer, nobody knows, but it will lead to the coming of the Lord. Now, it's interesting that there's more in the Bible about one generation of history than any other generation. And that is the generation that the Lord returns. And it's my opinion. It's not a prophecy. It's not a revelation, but it's a opinion that I feel strongly about, that we're in the early days of that generation. And if that's true, then what the Bible says is going to happen, both the positives and the negatives, they're going to continue to intensify. And the reason I believe we're in the early years of that generation is because of the biblical signs of the times. There's many things that Jesus said the prophets said, the apostles said, that are happening for the first time. Most of them are happening for the first time on a global level. They're recognizable. Not all of them, but most of them are. This is a new phenomenon. And we're supposed to understand when those things begin to happen and unfold in a more intensified way, we're supposed to understand that we're in an hour of history that's unique from all other hours of history. Well on Sunday night, the first night of the conference, I talked about the escalating crisis that's taking place. And it is escalating rapidly. We saw it in Psalm 2, that the kings of the earth and the leaders of the culture, the leaders of society, not just in America, we can see it clearly in America, but across the nations, they are wanting to remove the influence of the Word of God out of culture completely. They don't want God's standards. They don't want God's salvation. They don't want Jesus's leadership. And the Father revealed to King David in Psalm 2, I'm not going to go through that again, that he was very displeased by that development in society and that he would not be silent, but he would break in in power. That he's angry with the escalation of the moral darkness. He's not neutral, but he's angry about it. That anger is not a contradiction to his tender love. Matter of fact, it's an expression. He's saying, I'm going to do something about the moral darkness. I'm going to do something about the resistance to my son and his leadership. And one of the most glorious things he's going to do is pour out his spirit in an ever-increasing way. And we're seeing that on a global level right now. Let's look at paragraph A. I want you to notice a very simple sentence. I want to encourage you to learn this simple sentence in paragraph A and say it. I say this sentence many times. The Psalm 2 crisis. That means the leaders of the society, the leaders of culture, are more and more promoting darkness and lies and deception. And they're coming against Jesus's leadership. The Psalm 2 crisis requires a Joel 2 response. So we're going to look at tonight. But it results in an Acts 2 outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now that outpouring of the Spirit began on the day of Pentecost, but beloved, there's a greater measure. There's a greater scope of that outpouring that the Bible describes very clearly. And we're seeing the increase in the escalation of that as well. So the dark is getting darker, but the light is getting lighter. Jesus said the wheat and the tares would mature together at the end of the age. I'm asked often, is it going to get better or is it going to get worse? And the answer is yes, both. There's going to be greater perversion and darkness in society like no other time in history. And that escalation is going rapid. And I mean, I'm I'm locating it just the last four or five years it is going. The pace is increasing in a remarkable increase. I've been a pastor 40 years and I've been paying attention to the moral darkness in society very closely for 40 years. And they many would agree, I would say if not all would agree, the increase of darkness is so rapid the last three or four years. Those of you that are younger, you might not have a frame of reference of how remarkable in a negative way this is. The Joel 2 crisis, the promotion of darkness and lies against Jesus's leadership, beloved, that darkness is being echoed by many in the church. It's popular. So many in the church, I'm not saying most, but millions and millions, they're standing with the popular tide of culture and they're embracing and echoing the lies and they're promoting the darkness. And they're calling it even the love of God and finding Bible verses to back up that dark posture of heart. It's a big crisis. Let's read it again, the Psalm 2 crisis. It requires a Joel 2 response. That's tonight. We're gonna look at that. But it's gonna result in an Acts 2 greater outpouring of the Spirit, because the Spirit's already been poured out, but I'm talking about a greater historic breakthrough of power. You know, here in America, we've had two great awakenings. One in the 1700s, one in the 1800s, where the power of God was released in such a manifest glory that whole cities were aware of the presence of God in their city. I mean, people were converted driving down the road. People were weeping and flocking and, I mean, rushing into churches to hear the Word of God. When the presence of God is manifest in geographic areas, in those kind of historic ways, unprecedented numbers come to the Lord and the church embraces a new level of purity and wholeheartedness to the Lord. Well, we've had two great awakenings in America. We didn't have one in the 19th, in the 20th century. I mean, we had some different moves of God in a certain way, but not a great awakening like I described. Many nations in their history have seen a great awakening, but beloved, there's gonna be a third great awakening coming to America, and there's gonna be a global great awakening as well. I mean, where, I don't mean where a few thousand get saved. I'm believing God for three, 400,000 new converts in Kansas City. That's a city, the metro area of about 2 million people. Three, four hundred thousand new converts is what I am absolutely convinced is gonna happen. I believe in a city like New York, you know, just say 15 million. I believe there'll be two, three, four million new converts. Those kind of numbers in the cities across the earth. Well, I encourage you, this paragraph, A, to learn this simple sentence. I use it all the time. When I'm talking to church leaders, or I've had the opportunity to talk to a number of governmental leaders, leaders in our national and state government, and I like to say this phrase to them. There's a Psalm 2 crisis, and then I go through Psalm 2, and they go, yeah, that's pretty obvious. I go, but there's a Joel 2 response God's looking for. Then we go to Joel 2, then I go, there's an Acts 2 outpouring that is going to be the result. Very simple statement. I want to encourage you to use it. I want to encourage you to buy into it and share it. Paragraph B, the Holy Spirit is calling the church to understand what the Bible says about the coming revival and the coming crisis. Did you know there are over a hundred and fifty chapters in the Bible? 150 chapters that describe the positive and the negative in the generation the Lord returns. 150 chapters. You know, if you added up Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you have 89 chapters, almost 90, but there's a hundred and fifty. I mean, there's almost twice as many chapters in the Bible about the generation the Lord returns, almost twice as many as the generation He came the first time. Same Bible, same Jesus, same Holy Spirit, and the Lord wants us to be familiar with those passages. Lots of very important information is in those hundred and fifty chapters. You say, where are they? Where are those chapters? We've got a list of them on our website if you want to begin to look at them. Again, I believe we're in the early days. You know, we might be three, four, five decades out. Maybe a little bit longer. Maybe a little, maybe shorter. Nobody knows. But the signs of the times are increasing globally so discernible, so recognizably. I look at and I say, the crisis is going to intensify, the Bible says. But the glory is going to intensify, the Bible says. But God wants us to understand the response He's looking for. God's not neutral about how He wants us to respond. He really cares about what we do at the heart level and what we do in our lifestyle responses. Paragraph B, He requires the response that's outlined in the book of Joel. Very simply, very simply, we're to turn to God with all of our heart and we're to prioritize praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a turning of the tide of darkness. You say, well, the darkness is going to increase. It's in the Bible. Why do we pray for a turning of the tide of darkness? Because there's going to be regions across the earth that have intensified darkness more than other places. There will be regions across the earth that will have the glory of God in an intensified way more than other regions. No one knows for sure what region will be at what level of intensity of darkness or glory. So, my posture, as I say, Lord, wherever you've put me, I'm gonna gather believers and we're going for the double portion of the glory in the region of the earth I live in. I'm gonna lay hold of that and I'm gonna join in with other believers around the world laboring for their labor, I mean their region as well. I'm not gonna sit back and let darkness increase. We may see a revival so glorious in our part of the earth, the region you live in. And I don't know how big a region is. You say, how big is that? Only the Lord knows those things. But the invitation is put out. He says, come to me with all of your heart. Prioritize gathering together in your weakness, in your brokenness. Beloved, we're all weak and broken people. There are no super saints out there. I love it how what Misty Edwards said earlier today. She goes, there's no super saints. There's only believers who refuse to quit. That will believe God and press in and refuse to quit and refuse to let darkness win the day in the part of the earth where God has planted them by his leadership. Look at my city and my region, my nation, and I don't know how big the region is. And I say, not here. Darkness is not going to accelerate and overcome here. I'm believing God for an outpouring of light and who knows how far it will go. The Lord doesn't tell us. He just says, you press in and you let me answer you. Let's read Joel 2. Just a few verses. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Joel chapter 2. Blow the trumpet. Now Zion we're talking about in the midst of the people of God. Sound an alarm on my holy mountain. Now Zion many times in the Bible is talking specifically about the city of Jerusalem. But here is we're understanding God's heart. He's saying in the midst of the people of God. That's the application for us right now. The midst of the people of God blow the trumpet. I'm not calling the unbelievers to pray and fast. I'm calling believers to pray and fast. Not the unbelievers. Beloved, the responsibility, the opportunity is in the people that have covenant relationship with Jesus. We have access to his heart. We're joined to him by the Holy Spirit. We're part of his body. We're in his kingdom. We're priests and kings. We have a tremendous opportunity and access to who he is and to his father and to the throne. The scripture puts the responsibility and gives the opportunity to the covenant people, the church of the Lord Jesus. The Word of God says blow the trumpet. Sound an alarm. Sound it in the midst of the people of God. In the holy mountain. Look at this. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. Why? Look at verse 11. Because the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it? Verse 12, therefore since the day of the Lord is coming, the Lord says turn to me with all of your heart. With fasting, with weeping, with mourning. Blow the trumpet in Zion, he says again by the Holy Spirit. He emphasizes consecrate a fast. To consecrate a fast means to dedicate that time of fasting before the Lord. Call a sacred assembly. A sacred assembly, an assembly means a gathering of people. A sacred assembly means a gathering of believers that are committed to fast and pray in that gathering. There are one-day sacred assemblies. Governor Jindal in Louisiana is calling a solemn assembly on January 24th. It's remarkable. We got a governor calling a sacred assembly. Governor Perry of Texas a few years ago in the Houston Stadium, he called a solemn assembly. A governor did. Beloved, I know of a few other governors, born-again believers. They're talking solemn assemblies, calling the body of Christ to cry out, not to God generic, but to Jesus. These men are calling out to Jesus, not to the God of Islam and Buddha, but Jesus. And they're crying out for his mercy and his leadership. I mean, it's remarkable. I don't know that a governor's ever called a solemn assembly like this. I know President Lincoln and Roosevelt called a day of prayer. I don't know that any of them ever called a stadium or an arena gathering for a day of passing a prayer. And other governors are taking hold of this. It's a big day. Governor Brownback was with us two nights ago, and he, I mean, I love my interaction with him. He says this, this is the wisdom of God. These are the things that God's doing. I love it. Governors, senators, congressmen are buying into this, and men and women. Wow. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Again, Zion, in our application of it right now, we're talking about in the midst of the people, and I'm blowing the trumpet tonight. This conference actually has been a blowing the trumpet conference. We don't always do this, but the Holy Spirit really impressed us. Blow the trumpet in this conference. Make the young people aware. It's not business as usual. As I said on Sunday night, we're entering in, I believe, the next two or three years into a time frame in our nation, and it will never be the same. 2016, the next election is, I've heard a number of congressmen, senator-type, I mean, guys in those positions said that 2016 will be the most significant election in the history of America. I heard a few of them say that, and I said, excuse me, in the history of America? These men love God. They go, yeah, and they went on and spoke a half hour to an hour why it will be the most significant hour in the history of America. I was going, wow, I didn't expect congressmen and senators to talk this way. My heart was cheered, and I can imagine the Holy Spirit saying, I have my men and women everywhere. I'm stirring up my people, because, beloved, in the next two or three years, it's going to be really intense in terms of some negative things that are about to unfold in this nation without the supernatural hand of God breaking in. There is no remedy in the human arena for the trouble our nation is in. There are human things we can do that we must do. We must fast and pray. We must use the act of intercession called voting. How many of you know voting is an act of intercession? We have to preach the gospel. That's another thing we do. There are human things we do, of course, but there's no remedy to our nation if the invisible hand of God doesn't break in in mercy. And, beloved, there is no remedy right now that men and political leaders can pull off without the break-in of God. And God says, you know the way. I'll break in. I've promised it in my word. And yes, there are things you must do, but they won't succeed unless I break in. But when I break in, I'm requiring your partnership and cooperation with me. Verse 28, notice. And when you read the whole chapter, I'm skipping some verses here in the notes, but when you read the chapter, there's a sequence and there's a flow of thought. And I'm presenting the chapter in context of the flow of thought that was intended to be understood. That was intended to be understood, I believe, by Joel. Meaning there's a few verses out of here, but when you read the whole thing, you can see the sequence Joel is making. He's blowing the trumpet in Joel chapter 2. Notice what he says in verse 28. Afterwards. After what? Says, afterwards, after verse 12, the people cry out to me and they turn to me with all their heart after they blow the trumpet and gather together. Because the blowing of the trumpet is not only a warning, the trumpet blast is a warning that crisis is coming, but the trumpet blast is also the rallying cry to the house of prayer. I'm talking about in the Old Testament. When they blew the trumpet, it meant danger is on the horizon. And when they blew the trumpet, it had a second meaning. It meant gather, people of God, gather before God and cry out to Him. We'll just call that gather to the house of prayer. I don't mean a ministry or that kind of thing. I mean the church gathering to cry out together. So when we blow the trumpet, we announce the looming crisis. When we blow the trumpet, we announce the great promises of revival. When we blow the trumpet, we gather the people together. Those are all dimensions of blowing the trumpet. Verse 28, afterwards. Afterwards. I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh, on all the nations. Beloved, not just on Israel. Though I labor in prayer for God's outpouring of His spirit and salvation for the Jewish people, but all nations, all flesh. Not just a few leaders. There's an outpouring of the spirit that started on the day of Pentecost. But this thing, the promises for all nations, all flesh, where sons and daughters will move in the spirit of power all over the nations of the earth. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. In that place of the word prophesy, they'll experience the power of God. They'll speak under the power of God. They'll interact with God by the Holy Spirit in power. Well, how far is this thing going? Verse 30. I'll show wonders in the heavens. The heavens means the sky above. He goes, I'll give signs in the sky that will declare my truth, and I'll do miracles on the earth. This is gonna get intense. Well, this is all gonna happen after the Lord returns. No! Verse 31. It's before the Lord returns this takes place. Look at verse 31. Underline the word that happens before. The great and the awesome day of the Lord. Now, I want you to notice in verse 31, the day of the Lord is called great and awesome. But look at verse 11. The day of the Lord is called great and very, very terrible. Meaning it's very severe, but it's very great as well. It's great and terrible. Paragraph C. The theme of the book of Joel. It's only three chapters. I've taught the book of Joel a number of times over the years. It's three little chapters. It's a pretty easy book to cover in a Bible school course, but oh, it moves me. I've taught it over the years, and I mean every time I teach it, I walk away from the course. I go, I'm really serious this time Lord. I mean, I really mean it. I mean teaching this book, reading it, grappling with the promises and grappling with the warnings. It will mark you. I'm telling you, it will mark you. The theme of the book of Joel is the day of the Lord. Now, the day of the Lord is an interesting term in the Bible. The day of the Lord speaks of those very few. It's very few days where God breaks in to human history in a unique way where He manifests His power in a way far above the norm. There's a few times in history, in the Old Testament, where the prophets called what happened in a series of events, the day of the Lord. Because it's a day, it's God's day. That's why it's called the day of the Lord. It's His day. It's the King's day. Jesus is the King. It's His day. He shows His power for His people, and He manifests His power against His enemies in a unique and a dramatic way. Now, the ultimate day of the Lord is when the Lord returns. I don't think it's so far away. I don't know if I'll see it in my lifetime, but I think, I believe a number of you will, or at least if you don't, your children or their children will, but I believe that a number of you will. I can't be sure. I might. I don't know. Things are escalating so quickly, and you never know with God. You never know. Things may speed up in a rapid escalation, and things may slow down. But I know one thing. Things are definitely unfolding in a dramatic way. Well, in the Old Testament, there are what I call the lesser days of the Lord. There's a few time frames in history where it's called the day of the Lord, and they give us a picture so we can learn from the events that happen in those days, and we can get insight into the grand, the ultimate day of the Lord that is yet to come. So I study, you study God's people. We study the lesser days of the Lord through history in the Bible. There's a few of them, and we gain insight onto what the greater day of the Lord is going to look like, and that's a remarkable reality. Let's look at paragraph D. It's called a great day. I believe for those that love Jesus, what's coming in the days ahead. It's already happening in Africa. We saw the videos of Reinhard Bonnke. I mean, remarkable. I mean, could you fathom the new hour we're living in, in gospel prosperity? I mean, where the gospel is prospering, the preaching of the gospel in the nations. I mean, Reinhard Bonnke saw 1,000,000 people saved in one meeting in Nigeria. 1,000,000! Can you see it? Beloved, it's a new day. It's a new hour. Well, it's a great day. I believe we're going to see miracles beyond any time in history. Signs in the heavens, signs of the earth, the power of God bearing witness to the preaching of Jesus and his leadership. Paragraph E. It will be a very terrible day for the people that stand against Jesus. That day is going to be very, it's called very terrible. When God calls a time frame in history very terrible, that's, that's intense. We're leading up to the ultimate day of the Lord. Again, I don't know when, but the decades are unfolding. We're getting closer. We're getting closer. And the Psalm 2 crisis that's growing so rapidly, that crisis, that cry against Jesus in the culture is escalating so fast. That's part of the crisis of the hour. It's going to lead to something far more intense. Says in Haggai 2, look at this, that all God's going to shake all the nations and all the nations are going to come to Jesus. That doesn't mean everyone's going to get saved. That's not what it means. It means there will be a spirit of revival in every nation of the earth. There'll be a visitation of power in every single nation of the earth. Look what it says in verse 14, Matthew 24. The gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the nations of the world. And I mean that the idea is preached in power. But notice that as the gospel is going forth in power, tribulation is increasing. There's an increase of power in the church while there's an increase of trouble and crisis in the nations. Now I would like just for the increase of the glory of God to leave it there. If my vote counts, it doesn't in this regard. Lord, let's not do the negative. Let's put everybody's free will on hold for a while. Let's simply have glory. That'd be awesome. Well, it's not going to work that way. He's going to let everybody operate in their free will and sin will escalate. Perversion is increasing. But God says I'm going to shake the nations. So we see that the gospel of the kingdom is going to be preached. Now the gospel of the kingdom, now listen to this very important, is much more than the invitation to personal salvation. The gospel of the kingdom begins by the invitation to receive Jesus in your personal life. But the gospel of the kingdom is more than a personal reception of forgiveness. The gospel of the kingdom is the message about a king who's going to take over the earth. There's a personal response, we call that being born again, but there's a global cosmic response where God breaks it in power and takes over the leadership of the earth and drives evil off the planet related to the second coming. His judgments are released in the earth. His powers released in the earth. That's part of the gospel of the kingdom message. I've had people say the gospel of the kingdom is being preached everywhere. I go, well, the message of personal salvation is and I am excited. That's only part of the gospel of the kingdom. There's a king coming. The king has the rightful authority over every nation and the nations, the kings of the nations are resisting that king and God won't have it in that way. The great king that the Father is exalting Jesus is going to have a confrontation with the kings of the earth. That's part of the message. Are you a gospel of the kingdom preacher? Or are you, you know what? I'll just do gospel of how to get forgiven and I'll just leave it there. I won't do the king thing. I'll do the forgiven thing and just leave it and see what happens. I'm a gospel of the kingdom preacher. I want to see people get saved individually, get born again, but I want the message of the king and his rightful reign over the nations. I want to see what the Bible says about the kings of the earth resisting him. I want to see what the Bible says about the body of Christ participating with Jesus and the release of his glory in the earth. All of that is contained in the gospel of the kingdom message. Haggai chapter 2, all the nations are going to be shaken when the king confronts these earthly kings. But the nations are going to come to Jesus. His beauty will be made manifest in a most glorious way. Well, I want to take just a minute and give you a little bit of the story of Joel 1 and 2. Very brief. I have quite a few notes on the internet on Joel 1 and 2. If you want them, they're free. I would encourage you to study the book of Joel because the book of Joel is a picture of the lesser day of the Lord related to Joel's generation. There was a lesser day of the Lord, but it is a picture of the greater ultimate day of the Lord at the end of the age when Jesus returns. So we study what happened in Joel 1 and 2 in the lesser day and it gives us a model to understand the ultimate day of the Lord. So we're not confused. Many people in the nations are confused. What's happening? I said I could tell you read Joel 1 and 2. There's also, there's already been a dress rehearsal of it in Joel 1 and 2. It's all written out. I can tell you where God's leading things. I can tell you what God wants his people, how he wants them to respond. Well in Joel 1, ever so brief, being a Bible teacher, this kind of tortures me because it's such a glorious chapter, but ever so brief and just move on. Joel 1 is powerful. At a quick read, you might not catch the implications. Joel 1, there was a great economic crisis in the land and the economic crisis, God told the people, cry out for mercy, gather in fasting and prayer, turn your heart to God because the economic crisis and a great drought was coming on the nation and an agricultural crisis and a food, a food shortage and there was disruption in society. America is touching some of the things in Joel 1, but Joel 1's the beginning of the story. God told them when the economic crisis and the drought, the social chaos, food shortage, when those things start happening, you better cry out to God because Joel 2 comes next. Joel 2 is military invasion and I believe Joel's talking to the same generation because Joel 1 and 2, for my research and study, I've studied many, many commentaries, studied men and women of God that are scholars and I've taken much insight from them. It's not my own interpretation, but Joel, the day of the Lord, activities, we're going, I'm just throwing out a number, there's not an exact number, but it was unfolding over a 30 or 40 year period, not a one day period. Back in the early days, Joel's saying, cry out to God, fast and pray, the economic crisis and the people of Jerusalem, they were like, well, Joel, just calm down, this, there's always a drought every now and then, we're gonna be fine. He says, you better call out, God's talking to us. Even though the devil is often involved in the details, God is involved in sovereignty and he has power over the devil. Some of it's God, some of it's the devil, some of it is just the sin of man and there's a combination of those things. I don't want to go into that right now. Joel said he was blowing the trumpet back when the economic crisis and we, Joel, Joel wouldn't have known this, but it was 30, 40 years where the negativity, the negative was increasing, increasing, increasing, increasing and there were gaps, there were lulls where God took his hand off in the, in the, in the sense of the intensity were let up like birth pangs. He says, now, I'm giving you a chance to respond. But in the lulls, when the intensity was lessened, the people of God went on business as usual, not paying attention to the Lord. They go, oh, the trouble's over and Joel says, it's not, it's a lull because there's a greater intensity coming soon and the thing built for about 30 or 40 years and that lesser day of the, of the Lord in the book of Joel ended. I mean, it led to 586 BC, the greatest crisis in Israel's history in the Old Testament. The greatest crisis where the city of Jerusalem was utterly destroyed in 586 BC. But I believe Joel was leading up a couple decades ahead of time and it kept getting more intense, more intense. They wouldn't respond and the Lord says, I'm trying to get their attention. Beloved, I believe America is in that same trajectory right now. I believe there's going to be so much pressure right around the corner without the intervention of God that the idea that the next five and ten and twenty years will be like the last twenty is unreality. Unreality. There are so many financial pressures going on. It's just like Joel chapter one. Much of the church in America trying to figure out how to use the Bible just to get happier, to get more stuff, to validate their compromising lifestyles, twisting verses about the grace of God, to back up and give them confidence, how they can live passive, how they can live in compromise and still claim Jesus. Beloved, that's not the answer. That's not the answer. Things are going to get more and more intense and the outpouring of the Spirit is being offered to us as a nation. And I want to stand in the gap and I want to do my part. I'm going to spend all of my strength. I'll be 60 years old at my next birthday and I'm going to spend all of my days getting the people of God to turn with all of their heart to God and to gather in fasting and prayer and to cry out for the breaking in of the greatest revival of history and the stemming of the tide of darkness in our communities and in our nation and the nations of the earth. Well after Joel 1, drought, economic crisis, civil unrest. Sounds like America to me. Joel 2. Joel came back and they thought they recovered. They thought, you know, 9-1-1, Katrina, social unrest, economic pressures, 2008 setbacks, all kinds of darkness, gay agenda exploding across our nation and being promoted like it's God's will or something like that. What's happened in the last five or ten years? Joel came on the scene and says, guys, Joel 1's the beginning of that 20, 30, 40 year cycle. That's more of a 30, 40 year cycle. He goes, Joel 2 is coming next. Military invasion. And they go, well, no, no, no, we just went through such intensity. I think it's over. We've had enough. He goes, no, you're only in a reprieve right now by the mercy of God. Then there was three waves of military invasion over 20 years. There was a wave from Babylon, 10-year gap. The second wave from Babylon, another 10-year gap, and the third wave annihilated the nation. But in the gaps, the people of Israel said, well, oh, I guess we got through that one. And Joel said, no, no, another wave is coming. They go, well, five years went by, it didn't come. He goes, oh, it's coming. The Lord may let five or ten years go. He may let more time. It's a reprieve to give mercy to respond. They didn't. And that lesser day of the Lord in 586 BC, it just crushed the nation. And God saved a remnant. That's another story for another time. It happens suddenly. It happens suddenly when it escalates. Because that first wave of military invasion, again, it terrified Israel. Then it left. Ten years. Okay. I think it's gone. The second wave. Oh, no. It's over. That was close one. The third wave suddenly came upon them. Beloved, don't get used to business as usual. Because business as usual, those days are over. I mean, this next five and two, two and three years, actually, five and ten years, they are so significant. Your children, your grandchildren, I'm talking to you 20-somethings. Yeah, you're gonna have children and grandchildren. Your lives, there's so much that is in the balance of the covenant people of God responding to God and taking a stand for his promises or letting things go as they go. Right now, the prayer movement's exploding. It's growing fast in America. It's growing fast across the earth. Governors in America, senators, congressmen, I mean pastors, students, university professors, homeschooling moms, I mean, they're calling prayer meetings and days of prayer. It's all over. It's encouraging, but the majority of the body of Christ is not responding. Those that are responding, the numbers are growing fast. But far greater numbers of born-again believers are not responding. They're going, well, let's not get too crazy. I mean, 2008 passed and most of you know 2008 was when there's great economic pressures. They go, that's gone. That was a few years ago. We made it. Uh-uh, uh-uh. Another wave is coming far worse than 2008. We're in a reprieve right now. Read the book of Joel. Paragraph G. These forerunners, that's a term we use, meaning they're just declaring what is going to be obvious. In a short amount of time, declaring what the Bible says is coming. That's what a forerunner does. They're day of the Lord preachers. They're preparing the great increase of the power and they're creating and they're proclaiming the increase of the crisis and they're calling the people of God to wholeheartedness and to come before God in fasting and prayer. Paragraph G. Look, read this with me. These forerunners are these day of the Lord messengers. Some are preachers with a microphone. Most of these forerunners don't have a microphone. They're social media. They're a campus ministry of 10 or 12 people, one-on-one discipling. They're talking to other people, leaders or non-leaders. These are forerunners. These are day of the Lord messengers telling the good news of the great day and telling the ominous news of the terrible day. But for the people of God, it's a great day. For the people who stand against the king, it's going to be a very, very terrible day. Even though that day, that ultimate day might be a while before that happens, but the intensity leading up to it is clearly in front of us now. Top of page two. Homeschooling moms are forerunners. I believe, I believe the most powerful discipleship makers in church history are moms in their homes. Did you know that you're involved in the Great Commission when you're talking to little Billy and Susie that are three and four years old, you're actually doing the Great Commission? Thought, well, I have to get on a plane and go to another nation to do the Great Commission. No, the Great Commission is every city and nation outside of Jerusalem. The nations is everything outside of Jerusalem. You're in the nations. Little Billy and Susie, just because they're got your blood in them, doesn't mean they're not a person you're not. You're doing the Great Commission. You really are. 2,000 years later, I think moms have done more work in the kingdom than any one group in the body of Christ. Really, really. Don't, I've heard, had some ladies, well, once I raise my kids, I'm gonna really get into missions. I go, well, you're really just, I'm gonna get into the Great Commission. I mean, you're doing it right now. That's not discipling. Well, I know, but that's, oh, what do you mean you know, but? You're doing it. It's that, and there's more besides, but beloved, you're doing it. So don't think, well, I'm a college student. I get married, have a couple kids. Hopefully, then when I'm 46, ah, then I'll do it. No, do it now. Do it now. Call prayer meetings with little Billy and Susie and the other kids next door. Have a solemn assembly. Fast till noon. I mean, give them a cookie at 8 in the morning and then fast till noon. Give them two cookies at 8 in the morning, whatever. You know what I mean. Maybe fast till 1030. Okay. Job at page two. Here's the response. It's so simple. Doesn't take a Bible teacher. The Lord tells us what he wants. Isn't that great that we're not left guessing? I've got to talk to some of these political leaders, and I say, I'm positive I know what God wants. They're, really? I said, positive. Positive? Yes. Turn to Joel chapter 2. This is what he wants. I promise you that's what he's after. It's not the only thing he's after, but I promise you that's what's on his mind. Let's read it again. Verse 12. Turn to me with all of your heart. You know why God wants you to turn to him with all of your heart? Because he turned to you with all of his heart. Did you know that he loves you with all of his heart? That's why he wants you to love him with all of his heart. Because he wants a relationship of wholehearted love. He's not lonely. He doesn't feel rejected if you don't love him. He's like, oh no, he doesn't love me. I just feel so hurt, Father. He doesn't love me. He loves his other stuff more. No, Jesus isn't hurt by that. He's not needy. He's not lonely. He loves you. He goes, I want wholehearted people. I'm a God of wholeheartedness. I love wholehearted. I want a wholehearted relationship. You're not earning anything. Some people say, well, if you do it, you're earning your legalism. That legalism is the most misused term that I have listened to for 40 years. I've heard so many people. When they get pushed on dedication, legalism, which is code for I don't want to invest my energy in the relationship. If you say legalism, I've seen a lot of preachers. They back away. It's like the plague. They said the L word. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just be uncommitted. I'm sorry. I'm into grace. Beloved, the grace of God empowers you to be wholehearted, to throw your strength into the relationship. Legalism is code for quit bothering me with the issue of commitment to Jesus. I'm just gonna rest in the Lord. Beloved, he loves you. We're not talking about earning salvation or earning love. We're talking about responding in gratitude because he loves you with all of his heart and for some reason he wants all of your love because that's the kind of God he is. Isn't that amazing? I serve a king who wants all of my love. I say, why would you want all my love? I'm not that cool. I mean, I don't love that well. I'm kind of... Why are you that interested in me? And his answer is because I'm the God of love and everything I'm about with my people is wholeheartedness. And I'll give you grace and power to be wholehearted if you want it. It's about covenant love. He says, look at this, verse 13. Rends your heart. Well, that means tear your heart. You know, sometimes we're stuck in a situation in life with compromise and to break our agreement with that compromise, it tears us. I mean, it hurts. Had the guy say, I really love her, but it's a relationship that's completely out of the will of God. I go, well, I know, but you love Jesus. There's a tear that's involved. The guy says, well, I need this and I want that or whatever. I don't want to go through all the illustrations, but my point is there's a tear, but you know what? The love of God. He tore his son. The father tore his own heart and sent his son to you and his son's body was broken and torn. He knows about tearing the heart for the sake of love. He knows all about this. He's the God who tore his own heart for love. He knows the glory of love. He's not asking you to duty-bound love him, serve him in duty-bound way. He goes, no, I tore my heart because I love you. I'm, I'm, this is what I value. Tear your heart. Sometimes, I mean, there have been issues over my life over the years. It's like, ouch! Because that's okay. It's, I'm worth it. It's worth it. Your liberty is worth it. Just keep on moving towards me. Tear your heart. That's when I'm a, that's beautiful that God tore his heart for you and me. Return. Why? Here's the confidence. No matter how broken you are. No matter how deeply in bondage you are to something, I want to give you courage from Joel. God's gracious. If you'll take one step, he'll take ten. If you'll tear your heart, say, Lord, I want to obey you. I mean, I'm not good at follow-through, but I want to be yours. The Lord says, oh, I'll be gracious with you. Joel says he'll be very tender in his mercy. The devil comes and tells you God's got a big hammer, and he's waiting for a reason to crush you. No. He's filled with mercy. Micah chapter 7 says he delights in showing mercy. He loves to show you mercy. He loves it. He has great kindness. Look at this. He relents. That means he changes his mind. What? How could the God who knows everything change his mind? He relents. The harm that was coming to a nation. God says, I change it. I change what's going to happen. Like, he relents. Like, oh my goodness. This is awesome. Verse 14, who knows? Who knows the measure? Like, Joel, I want to know how far will the darkness in America go, and how far will the revival go in my area, in my nation? And Joel goes, in verse 14, who knows? Oh, come on, Joel. Give me some more details. I want to know, is it going to be phenomenal for me in my future because of my prayer and crying out to God. Joel goes, well, God will hear it all, but who knows what's going to happen in your city and nation. Like, mm. I agree with Reinhardt. America will be saved. A blood-washed America. I heard him say for years. I see nothing but a blood-washed Africa. I used to listen to him preaching. Now he's saying a blood-washed America. I tell you the truth, it will happen. I was having lunch with me, and I mean, he was 75 years old. I tell you the truth. This thing is going to happen, and I'm going to be part of this. I'm looking at him and going, glory to God. Yes, Reinhardt, I'm in. I'm going to be like that when I grow up. Verse 15, blow the trumpet. Call the sacred assembly. Again, the sacred assembly is the one day. It's sacred, meaning it's holy to God. It's an assembly because the people gather five or ten, 20 or 30, 5,000 or 10,000. A stadium or a college classroom. It hasn't really been a basement, a garage. They assemble together a prayer room in a church, a boardroom in the marketplace, a homeschooling gathering of moms. All the coaches on the little league team that are believers, and they're bringing their kids out to the soccer team. Those dads gather together. That's a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Now I've been involved in a number of solemn assemblies. And at first I was so excited. I remember I started preaching Joel chapter 2, I mean like 35 years ago. I remember I was pastoring in St. Louis like 35 years ago. And I called my first solemn assembly. I was so excited. I mean I laid it out. I was in my 20s and Joel 2 and everybody was exciting and we called it and man everybody showed up. I mean all 10 of us is what I mean. My little church. And we're doing it. And the prayer meeting was pathetically boring. It wasn't exciting at all. But here's what I learned. We've done a bunch of them over the years. Here's what I learned. God's saying that's all I asked. I didn't ask you to make the meeting awesome. I just told you to come to it. We offer our prayers in our weakness. I mean we pray that surely this doesn't move you. Because our prayers don't move us, we think they don't move God. We offer our prayers in weakness, but beloved they ascend in power because of the blood of Jesus. Because I'll show you wonders. Verse 30. Look at this. Before. But look at verse 28. After the prayer and fasting. I don't mean you pray and fast and you it's not like you pray and fast you deserve an outpouring. It's not that. It's a lifestyle. It's a culture in the church that has prayer and fasting in the culture of the church. It's not the one kind of desperate move one time. It's we want many of these gatherings in the life of our spiritual families. It's not a one-time event that he's talking about because it's a 30 or 40 year escalating crisis happening in Joel's day. It took 30 or 40 years for the thing to come to a head. Beloved, I believe we're in that trajectory. We're in that pathway and it's revival and great crisis and I believe both of them will happen. But to what degree in what part of the nation? I don't know. But I'm pressing into this thing and tonight we're going to cry out to God for a while. Look at paragraph B. He relents from harm. This is so remarkable. The sovereign God, I mean the Genesis 1 God, I mean Genesis 1 thing. Earth exists. Boom! There's an earth. I mean that's power, right? Stars exist. Boom! Stars. I mean that's power. He's powerful. He says I'll change what's going to happen weakened broken people through the blood of Jesus and covenant with me. Tell me the things I tell them to tell me. In other words, they just pray the Word of God back to God and they turn their heart. He goes I'll actually do more and I'll stop the harm that's coming. The invisible hand. Beloved, prayer and fasting is critical for America. We're in a Joel 1 economic drought, food shortage and I realize that foods not shortage here is not there and all that kind of stuff. I understand that but I mean it's that picture of Joel 1 social upheaval crisis. We're on our way to an intensified Joel 1 on to a Joel 2 military problems. I believe even on our own shore is well within the reach of your lifetime. Saying no way. Yeah way. Israel said no way. God says you don't understand. I am shaking you. Yes, the devil's attacking you, but I'm shaking you. Look what it says in Zephaniah. It's gonna take, I'm gonna go real quick here. I want you just to highlight these passages so you can read them on your own. Zephaniah 2. Zephaniah says the same thing Joel 2 says and adds a few more ideas. I believe Joel and Zephaniah were contemporaries. I can't prove it but I believe because of comparing passages in certain ways that they were contemporaries or very close to it. Look what Joel, look what Zephaniah, a fellow prophet. Might have been a little bit after him possibly. It's hard to know for sure. Look at verse 1. Gather yourself together. That's a solemn assembly. Again whether fives and tens or 20,000 and 30,000. Gather together. Look verse 2. Before the decree is issued. What? Gather before the decree is issued. What decree? Before the decree of heaven says judgment and shaking, heaven is about to speak. Before the decree is issued, gather is what Zephaniah said. Cry out to God. Turn your heart to God. You're not gonna earn anything. You're gonna position yourself in unity with his heart before the decree of heaven is released. Beloved, look at America. There is sexual perversion and moral darkness exploding in our nation. There is 50, 60 million babies blood crying out in our nation. There's pulpits that are now beginning to support and celebrate the darkness that's in the culture. There's that escalation of the gay agenda that has become a central conversation in our in our culture. Political leaders, military leaders supporting it, applauding it. I mean this thing I could give you 25 more things. Those are just a few off the top that I've already mentioned. You think there isn't a decree about to be issued in heaven? It might. Maybe it is. Maybe there's a decree that's issued in heaven before it's released on the earth. Zephaniah look at here. He says before the anger comes on you. Before the nation comes in crisis is what that means. Before the great crisis. Cry out the crisis can be stopped. Oh Look at verse 3. I love it. Seek the Lord. That's Joel 2 language. Zephaniah and Joel say the same thing. I love this look. Pay attention. Verse 3. It may be that you will be hidden. You'll be protected. Zephaniah says you don't know. You cry out. Maybe your group may, I don't mean just your little group of three, but I'm saying your region, your era, maybe God will cause it to be, I'll just use the term, a pocket of mercy. I look at that and maybe I go Lord will it be? He goes you just cry out and believe me. I go Lord, I want to cry out because before the decree is issued it can be stopped. And I have a little bit of that on the notes. You can read it there. Look at Amos chapter 4. Verse 7. God makes it rain on one city and not rain on another city, meaning he's actively involved. This city gets rain. This city doesn't get rain because I'm talking to the cities. And sometimes the wicked city gets rain because God's giving them mercy. They're in a reprieve and if they don't repent more happens. But the rain sometimes is just a reprieve of mercy and sometimes they go well, we got the good stuff. Things must be good. God says no, I'm being tender to you to get your attention right now. Remember in Joel's day, the day of the Lord was a 30-40 year series of events that built up to that final cataclysmic day of 586 BC when the city of Jerusalem was burned to the ground nearly. Entirely city was decimated. Most severe crisis in Israel's history. Paragraph C. You know it, so I'll be brief. If my people Not the unbelievers, the people of God cry out. God will heal America. God will heal your city. God will heal your family. He'll heal the part you're representing in your covenant relationship with him. Read that. Look at this one, Jeremiah 18. Look at this. God says the instant I speak concerning a nation to destroy it, when I give the decree in heaven that nation is going to be destroyed. If that nation turns, I'll relent of the disaster. I'll change what I was going to do. That's remarkable. It doesn't take the whole nation. It takes a remnant. Yeah, I don't know how big the remnant is, but it takes the people of God. I don't know how many it takes. God won't tell me. He won't tell you. I'm just getting everybody to do with it. I can't. Look at this. Read this, Jeremiah 18. I don't know if you got that. God says the instance I speak, the instant I speak concerning a nation to destroy it, if the nation turns to me, I will relent. I will change the plan and I'll save the nation. Lord, I'm putting my city and my nation right there. There are a few other nations too. Look at 2 Chronicles 34. I'm just going to read these next couple of verses and we're going to respond to the Lord. Look at this. He's talking to the young kings. Josiah was a young king. The prophet Jeremiah sent words. Well, no, several prophets did. That's not Jeremiah here. But several prophets. The young king heard the words of judgment of the Babylonian destruction coming. The one that Joel's talking about. And God says to the king, he says, because your heart was tender, this is individual, because you humbled yourself. When you heard the words of judgment, you didn't just cast them off. You humbled yourself. You were tender because of that. Look at verse 28. Your eyes won't see the trouble. I look at it and I go, what? God says that young man, he was tender. He humbled. When he heard the words of judgment, he didn't say, oh, that's just old testament. It doesn't really matter. I'm going to do what I want to do. All this rigmarole language is going on some circles. This king humbled himself and he said, God, Lord, you said trouble's coming to my city of Jerusalem and the Lord says, yeah. He goes, oh God, forgive me, forgive. And the word of the Lord comes. Look at verse 28, second chronicles 34, 28. It's right there on your notes. God says, tell that young king his eyes won't see the trouble. I'll spare him. Lord, you spare cities and nations and people, families? He goes, yes, I do. Really? I like this. You mean it matters? Even if the judgment came to Jerusalem, he got spared? God says, yeah, I'm going to do that. I know how to cause it to rain on one city and not on another city. I know how judgment to hit one area, but not another area. I know how to do all of that. Look at Isaiah. I mean, Ezekiel, we'll just go to the very end. Ezekiel 4 will end with this. He tells the angels. This is a declaration to the angels. These are the angels before the throne. He says angels. Verse 4, Ezekiel 9. Go through the midst of Jerusalem. This is still all talking about the same day I've been talking when Israel got decimated. Now Ezekiel's talking about it. 586 BC. All of these verses are talking about the same timeframe. God tells the angels go through the city of Jerusalem. Now look at this. This is such an amazing verse. Mark the heads of the men who cry out over the sin of the city, who intercede, who stand in the gap. Mark the men, mark the families that line up with me and cry out. They sigh over the abominations. They're grieved over them. They agree with me. They take a stand. He goes, protect them is the idea. But the others, they're going to be destroyed. I'm not happy that someone's destroyed. That's not my point. But I want to tell you this. Zephaniah, let's just look at it one second. Go back to paragraph B. I want you to see verse 3. Seek the Lord. Paragraph B, Zephaniah 2. Worship team come up. Seek the Lord. It may be that you will be hidden. You'll be protected. Maybe the rain will come on your city and not on another city. It might be that that king, that you won't see the evil in your day. It may be the crisis is delayed three or four decades and the revival only you see in your day. Maybe not. It may be that the city may be visited, but God will mark the foreheads of the families that cried out to him. We don't know. But I know this. It matters to God that we cry out to him. It matters to God that we give him all of our hearts. It matters. We break our unity and our agreement with immorality. We break our agreement with false doctrines about Jesus and the grace of God even. I mean the distorted grace message is polluting the church. The teaching on grace that's not the biblical presentation, but has the biblical terms. And young people tricked by the terms because they don't know the Bible. Beloved, we're going to usher in the evening. Jay's going to lead us. Chris. We're going to cry out to God. We're going to take some time and ask the Lord as we turn our own heart to him. Beloved, crisis is not just coming. It's here. It's escalating. Next five or ten years. Then the next five or ten years. I don't know. Revival is here and it's escalating. I mean, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go as deep in God as he'll let me go with a group of people all over this nation.