The Rain | Mark Estes

Good morning, North Palm.

[applause]

>> Praise the Lord. Thank you. It's so good

to I I just want to say thank you for

for being here. Thank you for being who

you are. This is an incredible

community of faith and uh it's the

greatest privilege of my life to be a

part of this family. So, I just want to

thank you for that. I'd like to ask you

if you would turn your Bible to a

passage of scripture. You know, as as I

um recently finished going through the

Old Testament,

this passage uh was just been stirred

inside of me again. I shared with you a

couple weeks ago from Hosea chapter 6.

Hosea 6 · chapter mention

And it it mentioned in the last part of

what I shared with you about the rain

and I just feel like Holy Spirit is

really stirring that. So, if you will

open your Bibles and turn with me to

Joel chap 2. Joel chapter 2 verse 23-

Joel 2:23–27

27. And we want to want to look at that

a little deeper. The rain. Joel chapter

Joel 2 · chapter mention

2 beginning with Why don't we just go

ahead and begin with verse 21.

Joel 2:21. Fear not, O land. Be glad and

Joel 2:21

rejoice

for the Lord has done marvelous things.

Do not be afraid, you beast of the

field, for the open pastures are

springing up, and the trees the tree

bears its fruit, and the fig tree and

the vine yield their strength. Look at

verse 23. Then be glad, be glad then,

you children of Zion, and rejoice in the

Lord your God, for he has given you the

former rain faithfully. and he will

cause the rain to come down for you, the

former rain and the latter rain in the

first month. The threshing floors shall

be full of wheat.

The vats shall overflow with new wine

and oil.

So I will restore to you the years that

the swarming locust is eaten, the

crawling locust, the consuming locust,

the chewing locust, my great army which

I sent among you. You shall eat in

plenty and be satisfied and praise the

name of the Lord your God who has dealt

wondrously with you. And my people shall

never be put to shame. Then you shall

know that I am in the midst of Israel. I

am the Lord your God. There is no other.

My people shall never be put to shame.

Now, we can't read this without reading

the next two verses. And it shall come

to pass afterward that I will pour out

my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and

your daughters shall prophesy.

Your old men shall dream dreams. Your

young men shall see visions. And also on

my men servants and on my maid servants

I will pour out my spirit in those days.

Take a moment and lift your hands with

me. Come on everybody. Come on. Lift

your hands with me. Pray this prayer.

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,

>> open my ears

>> that I can hear what you have to say.

>> Open my heart.

>> Make it receptive. I give you permission

to move deep in my life to form my heart

>> to form my character. Jesus, have your

way in me today. Amen.

You know, imagine

you wake up one morning and you discover

that everything that you have spent your

lifetime building is gone.

The business has failed.

The relationship has collapsed.

Your health has changed.

and your future that you so carefully

planned

it just seems impossible.

You know that's the atmosphere

that Joel chapter 1 was written in.

Joel 1 · chapter mention

There was wave after wave of locust that

had consumed all of Judah's crops. The

fields were laying bare. The grain was

gone. The vines had dried up and even

the worship in the temple was affected

because there was no grain. There was no

wine to bring as an offering to worship

the Lord. And in Joel 1 verse 4, the

Joel 1:4

word says, "What the chewing locust left

the swarming locust has eaten." What the

swarming locust left the crawling locust

has eaten. What the crawling locust

left, the consuming locust has eaten.

Whatever survived one wave was consumed

by the next wave. And so the devastation

that Judah was facing was absolutely

complete. In Joel 1 verse 12, the vine

Joel 1:12

has dried up and the fig tree has

withered. the pomegranate tree, the palm

tree also, and the apple tree. All the

trees of the field are withered.

Surely joy has withered away from the

sons of men.

Look at that in Joel 1:12.

Joel 1:12

He said, "Joy has withered away from the

sons of men.

The loss has moved from the field. It's

moved from their crops. It's moved from

their finances. It's moved from their

provision. And it's moved into their

heart.

Their hope was gone. You know, some

losses do more than just change our

circumstances.

Sometimes you face loss and it drains

your joy.

Sometimes you you face loss and it

weakens your faith.

There are some losses that you go

through that even diminish your

expectation. It's like they steal your

hope.

But Joel doesn't end

with a withered field.

You see, the God who permits the ground

to become dry is also the God who can

command the rain to fall. Yes.

>> So, I want you to see that devastation

when you go through these these dark

seasons of the soul. When you go through

these times, it can become an incredible

awakening.

And so Joel wasn't reporting just an

agricultural emergency. He was

interpreting this crisis through the

lens of God. He was seeing spiritually

that the plague was really a warning

that the day of the Lord was near. That

there would there was coming a decisive

intervention of God that God was going

to at the same time bring judgment as

well as redemption.

And so the devastation exposed what the

prosperity

had concealed.

As long as the barns were full, as long

as the vineyards were productive, as

long as the bank account was there, as

long as the deals were coming, then the

people could assume that everything was

well.

It is well.

But when the crops disappeared,

when the bank account ran dry,

then their spiritual emptiness

was exposed.

The the real lack became visible.

You see, prosperity can make you feel

self-sufficient.

We begin with trusting our resources,

trusting our abilities, trusting our

accomplishments rather than putting our

trust in God. And so crisis reveals how

little control

we actually

possess.

But in the crisis, there is a call from

God. God calls in the crisis. In Joel

chap 2

verse number 12 and 13. Now therefore

says the Lord turn

to me with all your heart with fasting

with weeping and with mourning. Look at

verse 13. This is really interesting. So

rend your heart

and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God, for he is

gracious and merciful, slow to anger and

of great kindness, and he relents from

doing harm. So here he says, "Turn to

the Lord." The Hebrew word for turn here

literally means to turn back, to return,

to change direction. And so you see

biblical repentance is more than just

regret regretting the consequences of

your sin.

>> If you're really repentant then there is

a decisive turning of your heart from

sin toward God.

And so when in in the ancient culture

and you you see this in both the Old

Testament and the New Testament, when

someone would be griefstricken there,

they would literally rip their clothes.

They would tear those expensive

garments. But what God is saying is, I

want more than an outward performance. I

want you to rend your heart. Just don't

act like it on the outside. Just don't

put on a show for somebody. I want to

get the real you. I want you to render,

TEAR YOUR HEART.

So you see that genuine revival begins

when people humble themselves. When they

confess their sin, when they abandoned

compromise,

when they return with all of their heart

back to God.

So you can see in real life,

revival doesn't begin with music.

>> That's right.

But music is a sign of revival.

>> Revival doesn't revi revival doesn't

begin with crowds. But when revival

occurs, crowds will come. Revival

doesn't revival doesn't begin with

emotion. Although in revival there is a

deep emotional move. Rival Revival

doesn't begin WITH MANIFESTATIONS.

ALTHOUGH in revival there are

manifestations, there are healings.

There are demons being cast out. There

are all TYPES OF MANIFESTATIONS, BUT

THEY DON'T BEGIN WITH THAT.

Revival begins when you come to an altar

and you surrender EVERYTHING TO THE

LORDSHIP OF JESUS.

That's when revival begins.

It's when Holy Spirit convicts us.

When the BLOOD OF JESUS FLOWS FROM THE

CROSS OF CALVARY and it cleanses us.

and God restores

fellowship

with his people.

>> That's when revival

begins. So, we've got to go. We've got

to ask more than Lord, will you change

my circumstance?

No. We've got to cry out and say, "God,

what are you wanting to change in me?

So the rain

announces

restoration.

Joel chapter 2 verse 23.

Joel 2:23

He said, 'Be glad then, you children of

Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God,

for he has given you the former rain

faithfully, and he will cause the rain

to come down for you, the former rain

and the latter rain in the first month.

So, Judah depended on seasonal rain.

Now, the former rain would come in the

autumn and it would soften up the ground

and and the it got the ground where the

seed could be planted. And then the

latter rain would come in the spring and

it would cause the grain to mature and

and it would it would stimulate the

harvest.

And so one rain began the process and

the other rain brought it to a

completion.

So understand that God is the one who

initiates restoration.

Notice the language that he uses. He has

given and he will cause.

God is the subject of the action.

Restoration begins with God. It doesn't

begin with you. It doesn't begin with

your effort. It doesn't begin with your

intellect, your ingenuity, your

strength. Restoration begins with God.

>> The people don't manufacture the rain.

The people receive the rain.

Repentance doesn't purchase God's favor.

Repentance positions your heart to

receive the grace of God that he's given

freely.

>> So, we don't earn restoration because

we're religious.

We respond in faith. We respond in

obedience to God. And God IS GRACIOUS.

AND GOD IS MERCIFUL.

And so God's telling Judah,

"The locusts don't have the final word.

The drought will not have the final

word.

>> I will send the rain."

And so, Holy Spirit is telling many of

you today,

sickness

will not have the final word.

Addiction

will not have

>> the final word.

>> Divorce,

separation will not have the final word.

>> Lack, bank, bankruptcy, financial want

will not have the final word.

>> Depression

will not have the final word. Fear will

not HAVE THE FINAL WORD.

>> You see there are many there are things

there are some things in life that only

God can do.

>> We can plant but it's God that gives the

increase.

>> We can preach but it's God that convicts

the heart. We can prepare. We can

organize. We can counsel. we can

encourage, but it's only God who can

send a real spiritual awakening.

[applause]

In Zechariah

Zechariah 10:1

10 verse 1,

ask the Lord for rain

in the time of the latter rain.

The Lord will make flashing clouds and

he will give them showers of rain, grass

in the field for everyone. You see, when

the ground is dry, you have to look

toward heaven.

Here's some insight. God's faithful to

send the rain. He is faithful to send

the rain. that that phrase that's

translated the former reign faithfully

in Joel 2:23, he gives the former reign

Joel 2:23

faithfully. It conveys that the rain is

given in righteousness. That the rain is

sent faithfully. It's sent rightly. It's

it the rain is sent in keeping with

God's covenant of mercy. In that Hebrew

phrase, that word that's translated

former rain, it refers to that early

rain, that seasonal rain that's needed

to prepare the ground for planting. And

it's the same Hebrew word that is used

for teacher.

So you understand that the word is

taught Joel 2 is speaking about God

restoring the rainfall that is

necessary. You are God teaches you and

then he brings about and waters what he

was taught and there comes a harvest

from that teaching. God is restoring

what is necessary for the land to

flourish and for you to flourish. And so

the message is clear. God faithfully

provides exactly what you need to

prosper at the right time.

He knows exactly what the ground needs.

He knows how much it needs. He knows

when it needs it. Now, we can think that

the rain is late, but God is never

careless with the seasons of our lives.

His timing is purposeful.

>> His character is righteous. And his

promises are dependable.

You can count on God.

>> He will never let you down.

>> Now, notice what he said in Joel 23,

that there's joy that comes.

Joy comes before the harvest.

Be glad then, you children of Zion, and

rejoice in the Lord your God. Be glad

and rejoice in the Lord your God. Your

joy is not rooted in what you can see at

the time. It shouldn't be.

>> Your joy should not be rooted in what

you see in the circumstances right now.

Your joy should be rooted in the

character of the God who made the

promise.

>> I don't look at my circumstance to

determine my joy. I look to God to

determine my determine my joy.

>> Anyone can rejoice after the rain falls,

but faith rejoices when the clouds are

still gathering.

>> So, it's not denial.

Faith doesn't pretend that the locust

never came.

Faith looks honestly at the devastation

and then declares that the devastation

is not greater than God.

[applause]

Amen.

Habacook 3 verse 17 and 18. Though the

fig tree, listen to this, though the fig

tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on

the vines,

though the labor of the olive may fail

and the fields yield no food, though the

flock may be cut off from the fold and

there be no herd in the stalls, yet I

will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in

the God of my salvation.

See, you you you've got to grasp this in

your spirit. Faith is not a denial of

fact that says there's no devastation,

there's no problem, there's no

difficulty. That's not faith.

Faith goes deeper than surface facts.

Faith goes to the depth of truth.

>> And faith says, "Even in the

devastation,

even in the problems, even in the

difficulties, my God remains faithful."

Faith says, "My foundation is secure. My

hope is steadfast.

My joy is present and overflowing."

Faith says, "My God [screaming]

is good. Though I have been young, but

yet now am old, yet I have never seen

his righteous forsaken, nor his seed

begging for bread. That my God shall

supply ALL OF YOUR NEED according to his

riches in glory by Christ Jesus my Lord.

We rejoice not because every field is

already green,

but because the Lord of the harvest has

spoken

and his word never

fails.

>> Now, you need to get this. God restores

the years.

In Joel 2:25,

Joel 2:25

listen to what he said. He said, "I will

restore to you the years that the

swarming locust is eaten, the crawling

locust, the consuming locust, the

chewing locust, my great army which I

sent among you. I will restore to you

the years." God

doesn't just say, "I'm going to give you

another harvest."

He says, "I will restore the years." And

that Hebrew word

restore is shalom.

And it carries this sense of being

whole, making whole, compensating,

repaying. I will repay you. I will bring

something to completeness. And it's

related to that same idea of shalom

which was translated peace but also

means wholeness and wellbeing. So God

wasn't promising to reverse time.

The years would remain part of is of

Israel's history. That devastation was

part of their history. He was promising

such a renewed fruitfulness that the

devastation of the past would no longer

define their future.

>> Are you getting that?

>> Some of you are letting your trauma from

the past define your future.

>> But God is not negating what you went

through. He's just saying that's not

going to determine your future because

restoration is more than replacement.

>> God may not reproduce every circumstance

exactly as it existed before. But

restoration does not always it doesn't

always mean receiving the same

relationship, having the same position,

having the same opportunity, or even

having the same possession. God's

restoration can be greater than just

simple replacement.

What do you mean? Well, look at the word

of God. Joseph did not recover the years

he spent as a slave and as a prisoner,

but God redeemed those years by using

him to save HIS FAMILY AS well as the

nations of the world.

Naomi could not erase the sorrow of Moab

where she lost her husband and she lost

her oldest son and she lost her youngest

son. She God didn't ERASE THAT SORROW

BUT HE brought Ruth into her life and he

AND HE PLACED HER IN A FAMILY in the

redemptive line of Jesus Christ the

Messiah.

Hallelujah.

>> Peter couldn't go back and undo his

denial of Jesus,

but the resurrected Christ restored him

and empowered him to preach on the day

of Pentecost and 3,000 souls were added

to the church in one message.

[snorts]

>> Some of you listen to me this morning.

Some of you have lost years to

addiction.

Some of you have lost years to

bitterness.

Some of you have lost years to fear,

years to grief. I know what it is to

lose years to grief, to lose years to

rebellion, to lose years to broken

relationships, to lose years to harmful

ACTIONS BECAUSE SOMEBODY abused you or

somebody talked ABOUT YOU OR SOMEBODY

DID you wrong.

The promise doesn't mean the past was

insignificant.

>> It means the past does not control your

future.

[applause]

>> The locust may have eaten the harvest,

but it CANNOT DESTROY THE GOD WHO SENDS

THE RAIN.

So what you have to do is take those

BROKEN YEARS AND PUT THEM IN THE HANDS

OF JESUS AND LET JESUS RESTORE THE

BROKEN years that Satan came against.

[applause]

>> And I want you to notice that

restoration reveals God's abundance.

In Joel 2:24, the threshing floor shall

Joel 2:24

be full of wheat, and the vats shall

overflow with new wine and oil. Every

image speaks about a reversal

and of abundance,

the threshing floors are full, the vats

are overflowing,

the people are eating in plenty, and the

years are restored. You see, it's the

opposite of chapter 1. Every field

becomes full. Every dried vine becomes

fruitful. Every withheld offering is

restored. The joy that had withered

begins to live again.

>> Yet the purpose of restoration is not

personal comfort.

The purpose of restoration, Joel 2:26

Joel 2:26

says that the people will eat and be

satisfied and praise the name of the

Lord.

So restoration is intended to produce

worship.

THE GREATEST PROMISE THAT JOEL gives is

the promise of his presence. In verse

27, he said, "Then you shall know that I

am the Lord. I though I am in the midst

of Israel. I am the Lord your God and

there is no other. My people shall never

be put to shame. Did you hear that? He

said, "I am in the midst of Israel." So

the ultimate blessing is not the wheat

for provision. It's not the wine. It's

not the oil. The greatest blessing is

the renewed presence of God. among his

people.

>> So without the rain

or the rain without his presence would

only make them prosperous.

But when you have rain that is

accompanied by his presence, then he's

restoring them as a covenant people.

Faith is never a pursuit of blessing.

Faith is never a pursuit of

breakthroughs. Faith is never a pursuit

of an emotional experience.

FAITH IS WHEN WE PURSUE THE BLESSER.

>> WHEN WE HUNGER FOR THE PRESENCE OF

JESUS, [screaming] WHEN WE HUNGER FOR

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE HOLY

SPIRIT IN our life.

You see, if God restores the field,

but he does not possess the heart,

then the deepest purpose of restoration

is missed.

God restores us so that our lives will

testify of his mercy, that our lives

will reflect his holiness, that our

lives will carry his presence into a

broken world.

So the greater reign of the Holy Spirit,

he speaks of in verse 28.

He said, "It shall come to pass

afterward that I will pour out my spirit

on all flesh. Your sons and your

daughters shall prophesy. Old men shall

dream dreams. Your young men shall see

visions. And also on my men servants and

my maid servants. I will pour out my

spirit in those days." So Joel's

prophecy moves from this agricultural

materialistic restoration to a spiritual

outpouring. God would not only pour out

the rain on the ground. He's pouring out

his spirit on his people.

Rain revives dry ground. BUT IT'S THE

HOLY SPIRIT OUTPOURING THAT REVIVES dry

hearts.

RAIN PRODUCES FRUIT, BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

PRODUCES THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT AND THE

GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.

>> Rain brings life where there's been

barren, barrenness, but the Holy Spirit

BRINGS A NEW LIFE THAT'S ONLY FOUND IN

JESUS CHRIST.

And that promise was inaugurated at

Pentecost.

In Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit was

Acts 2 · chapter mention

poured out upon the waiting believers

and Peter stood up and he declared this.

This is what was spoken by the prophet

Joel. Pentecost wasn't a manufactured

emotional experience. It wasn't then and

it's not today. Pentecost is the

fulfillment and the inauguration of

God's promised last day outpouring. when

he said, "I will pour out MY SPIRIT UPON

ALL FLESH." AND SO, so Joel 2:28,

Joel 2:28

announced he he said, "On your sons and

on your daughters, on the young men and

on the old men." He said, "It' I'M GOING

TO POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON THE SLAVE AND

AND ALSO ON THE FREE. I'm pouring out my

spirit."

So, the Holy Ghost outpouring was not

for an elite class. It was for every

believer to receive his presence.

And the church is empowered to witness.

The church is empowered to serve. The

church is empowered to exalt Christ.

So listen, don't put God in a box.

Don't tell him he has to do things

according to your rigid formula, your

religious traditions. As I was going

through the book of Matthew and or the

Gospel of Matthew and and Mark and and

how the traditions of the scribes and

the Pharisees nauseated Jesus,

how they invalidated the word of God

through their tradition. We do that

today. We get caught up in the way

things do we do church. The way we do

church is not necessarily the way God

wants to move in your life.

>> We need a fresh outpouring.

>> We need another Pentecost. Not a

historical Pentecost, but we need a

renewed Pentecostal power in the church.

We need the spirit of God to convict

sinners. We need the Holy Ghost to

empower witnesses. We need the spirit to

distribute GIFTS AND TO HEAL BROKEN

LIVES AND TO REPRODUCE a holy character

and glorify Jesus.

>> [snorts]

>> So maybe today

you're standing in a locust eaten field

[snorts]

and you remember when your joy was

alive. You remember when your faith was

strong. You remember when your life was

fruitful.

But now

all you see around you is the evidence

of loss.

Joel doesn't deny

the devastation.

The fields were empty.

The vines

were dry.

The people's joy had withered.

But devastation

was not the final chapter.

And I submit to you this morning, God is

saying, "I will cause the rain to fall."

He is saying, "I am restoring the

years."

He is saying, "I am in your midst and I

will pour out my spirit." And that's

what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary.

He was devastated so that we could be

healed.