God Is Not Done With You Yet | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

You can turn in your Bible with me to Joel chapter

Joel 2 · chapter mention

2, Joel chapter 2, and I'm going to believe this

Joel 2 · chapter mention

morning for some unique things to happen. And

while you're turning there, we're going to switch

gears. I meant to do this right after worship,

that's why I forgot, but we are... We have the

privilege this morning of receiving nine new

people into membership. Amen? Isn't that awesome?

Praise the Lord. And so I am going to call their

names and ask them to come down here to the front

this morning. Sam and Kathy Smith. Amen. Now,

they turned in their application like months

and months ago, and so this should have come

a lot sooner for them, but here they are. Amen.

Abigail Hill. Tim and Jesse Butler. Are they

here? Oh, they're in Kids Church. That's why

I meant to do it right after worship. So standing

in for Tim and Jesse is Ben and Charlene Butler.

Amen. And last but not least is Jack and Gina

Piper. Amen. Did I get everybody? I think so.

Okay, so Tim and Jesse, we actually, oh, one

more. Yes, Logan, come up here. Now, the reason

I miss Logan is because he was already a junior

member, and he is transferring to become a full

-fledged member. He turned 18, and we're excited

about that. Praise God. Isn't this amazing? Jesus

is building his church. Now, some of these are

up here because they're part of our pastoral

team. Jack and Gina are preparing to move to

Petersburg. They're already ministering there

regularly and will pastor that church. And we're

excited about that. We're believing for their

house to sell in Monmouth. When they're not here,

they're in Petersburg, and they drive two hours

either way. And we're thankful for their sacrifice.

Amen. And then Ben and Charlene have joined us

as youth pastors, and so they're part of our

pastoral team. And so we're excited about what

God is doing in the house. Amen. Praise the Lord.

We believe that membership, you don't necessarily

find membership in the Bible per se. In fact,

there's not a lot of instruction on how every

single local church should do everything. We

find membership to be a step of covenant. And

covenant is something that you do find in the

Bible. And this is about one another. Amen? And

so when a person has grown in their faith to

the point where they are ready to covenant with

the church, that's how we view membership. Membership

is to the body at large, as we are all part of

the kingdom of God no matter where we go, right?

But this is commitment not just to the kingdom

at large, but to the local family that is right

here in Lincoln, Illinois, and in Petersburg,

Illinois, Faith Church. And we're thankful for

that. And so I just want to ask you some questions.

And candidates, you can respond by just saying,

I do or I will, whatever is appropriate. Will

you purpose in your heart to walk in unity with

your brothers and sisters as long as it depends

on you? Live at peace with all men. Will you

with the help of the Holy Spirit guard your testimony

and live in a manner pleasing to the Lord? Will

you as unto the Lord give as the Lord enables

you to support the various works of the ministry?

Will you give yourself to prayer and to the word

as you grow in him? Will you come under and support

the covering of this house as we pursue the vision

that God gives to us? Will you offer the gifts

that God has given to you, not only to bless

the Lord, but to minister to others, both the

believers already here and those that are lost?

Finally, above all things, will you clothe yourself

with love, encouraging and spurring one another

on until the appearing of Jesus Christ? Praise

the Lord. Amen. Glory to God. Glory to God. Just

hold steady here a minute because I'm going to

ask the church, those that are members here and

those that are part of the church, all of us,

will you receive this group of members into the

family, spurring them on and encouraging them

in their walk with the Lord and continue in unity

so long as it depends upon you? Will you not

only minister to them with your gifts, but will

you receive ministry from them as the Lord has

gifted them? And will you clothe yourself with

love and freely give to them what you have freely

received from the Lord? Hallelujah. And so, it

is with an open heart. that we fully receive

each of you today into membership of Faith Church.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I'm going

to ask the current elders that are here, and

I'm going to ask Dennis and Linda as well. as

our missions pastors to join us up here and lay

hands on them as we commit them to the Lord and

pray over them. I'm going to ask the rest of

us. Oh, good thing Dennis and Linda are here.

The DECOs are out celebrating their 50th anniversary.

That's kind of important, don't you think? Yeah,

I think so too. Church, stretch your hands towards

these right now and just pray over them. Hallelujah.

We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We

just lay hands on these, God. We thank you for

them joining to the house. We bless them in the

name of Jesus. We thank you, Father, for your

hand upon them, God. Lord, we just lay hands

upon them. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. In

Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.

We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We

give you glory, God. We give you glory, God.

We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. We

give you praise, Lord. We give you praise. We

magnify your name. Father, we... pray over these

right now. We know that they walk through life

just as we do. And we know that it's filled with

victories. It's filled, Lord, with battles. It's

filled with ups and it's filled with downs. And

I ask God in Jesus' name that as they are united

covenantally, they are united to this family,

that your strength And that your favor, the favor

that is on this house, would be on them in Jesus'

name. And God, we thank you for using them in

ministry, in works of righteousness. God, we

thank you for helping them walk with you day

by day in Jesus' name. Amen. Glory to God. Glory

to God. Give Him praise. Give Him praise. Give

him praise. Hallelujah. Glory to Jesus. Glory

to Jesus. You can all be seated. We will have

certificates for all of you, but our copier is

acting up and not printing well. And so we want

it to be acting right when we print those. And

so we will have those for you. And we're thankful

for God working in your lives. Glory to Jesus.

Amen. Well, are you in Joel chapter 2? And so,

Joel 2 · chapter mention

if you are in Joel chapter 2, I want to read

Joel 2 · chapter mention

probably one of the most famous verses in the

Pentecostal world, and it's the verse that Peter

quoted in Acts chapter 2. I'm not going to read

Acts 2 · chapter mention

the whole thing, but I'm going to read part of

it, and starting in verse 28. And it shall come

to pass afterward that I will pour my Spirit

on all flesh. Everybody say, 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 menservants and my

maidservants, I will pour out my spirit in those

days. And I will show wonders in the heavens

and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars

of smoke. And the sun shall be turned into darkness

and the moon into blood before the coming of

the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it

shall come to pass that whoever calls on the

name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount

Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,

as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom

the Lord calls. Glory to God. Glory to God. Father,

I thank you for your word. I ask God that you

would just anoint this moment. And cause your

word to go into our hearts. Lord, often as I'm

reading it, it just goes into me and it just

ministers to me. And I ask that that would happen

today in Jesus' name. Amen. Now given the choice

between seeing visions and dreaming dreams, after

reading this, I want to see visions. I just want

to say that. It's the young men that see the

visions. I'm not ready to dream dreams yet. It's

the old men that dream the dreams. I feel like

in my life I'm hanging in the balance. My grandsons

are here. Is Papa old or young? That's right.

You seniors in the house, is Pastor young or

old? Oh, hallelujah. Which crowd I like more?

I'm in that in -between place. Anybody else in

the in -between place? I see sons pointing at

their mothers. I feel like I'm in the in -between

place, and I am neither young nor old. Sometimes

I feel really young, and sometimes I feel really

old. That's the way that it is. I believe this

morning, God wants to do something in your life.

And it does not matter if you're young or old.

It does not matter if you're male or female.

And it does not matter what nationality you come

from, what your culture is, what the culture

of your family is. Every family culture is different.

And God speaks the language of your family. Aren't

you glad for that? And so God wants to do something

in your life. He wants to unlock something in

your life. Thank you, Lord. And so Joel came

along and the timing of the prophet Joel as to

when he prophesied this is very much in dispute

because he doesn't mention anything in his letter

that would connect it to a historical event.

And so some scholars think that Joel was written

long before Isaiah, which we're going to get

to Isaiah in a little while in the message this

morning. And some believe he was closer to Malachi

than Isaiah was. And so there's about a 500 -year

span of arguing over when this book was written.

For our purposes this morning, it does not matter

when it was written. Because the promises that

are in it are yes and amen in Christ. How many

of you believe that if somebody is looking for

help, that they ought to be able to find it at

a church? That if somebody needs food, that if

they call the church and I answer the phone and

they say, I need food, that it would be wrong

for me to say, Sorry, we don't have any. Because

the churches exist to provide. Amen? And to give.

In fact, the calling to social ministry is very

real. To take care of the poor. To feed the hungry.

To clothe the naked. To visit people that are

in prison. Amen? It is very simple. Sometimes

the church is not very good at that. Sometimes

the church is good at having services. I thank

God for the Tuesday food distribution. You know,

if nothing happens other than the fact that we

give food away, that's a good thing. Amen? We're

doing the work of the kingdom. We're doing the

work of the kingdom. But God wants to do way

more than meet your physical needs. God wants

to touch you in your spirit. And Joel's prophecy

here is an amazing prophecy. I'm not going to

attempt to preach every point of this prophetic.

I want to draw a few things that I believe that

God wants to speak to us this morning. And the

first one is this. When God pours His Spirit

out, He pours it out in abundance. He is a liberal

God. Some of you aren't too sure about that because

your view of the word liberal is different. God

is a liberal God. He gives liberally. There's

perhaps some ways that we should take up that

liberality and become like Him. He gives abundantly.

I want to read from the pulpit Bible commentary.

I don't often do this. But the word for God pouring

out His Spirit is the word Shafak. It is a Hebrew

word. And the word shafak, which is employed

by the prophet to express the outpouring of the

Spirit, implies the bestowal of the gift in great

abundance. I don't even quote Calvin often, but

listen to this. As Calvin clearly pointed out,

For shafak, he says, does not mean to merely

give in drops, but to pour out in great abundance.

Hallelujah. But God did not pour out the Holy

Spirit so abundantly or copiously under the law

as He has since the manifestation of Christ.

In the Old Testament, There are some awesome

stories. Elijah standing before the prophet Baal

and calling down fire. Hallelujah. It's an awesome

story, isn't it? But the only one that experienced

the fire was Elijah. In the Old Testament, it

was here a little, there a little. Some awesome

things happened to prove God's reality. But the

abundance after the resurrection of Christ, of

the outpouring of the Spirit, is for everybody.

Glory to God. Hallelujah. The Spirit was indeed

communicated in Old Testament times, but that

communication was restricted in two ways, in

quantity and in the number of recipients, the

former comparatively scanty and the latter few.

Whereas the word here applied to its communication

implies a rich supply. like a copious rainfall.

After the specification of the time and the mention

of the blessing, with its implied plentifulness,

comes its wide diffusion. God has not limited

himself to the few. He has made himself available

to the many. The term all flesh does not mean

that every single person in the world is going

to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The term all flesh means that all types of people,

any type of person, can receive the outpouring

of the Holy Spirit. God's blessing for your life

is very real. Amen? And it is abundant. And so

the author, Joel, goes on and he describes some

of that flesh. First of all, it is open to your

sons and your daughters. Amen? Now can I say

something? That in this society that Joel is

preaching to, this is a radical statement. The

Holy Spirit is not just for the men, but the

Holy Spirit is for the women. The Holy Spirit

is not limited. to anybody's life in this room.

Paul said it like this. There is neither male

nor female. But that the blessing and the abundance

of God can be poured out on everybody. Glory

to God. That's so good. Because you know what

men do? Men try to draw lines. And they try to

say, this is what makes you in. And this is what

makes you out. God destroys all those lines.

And he says the abundance of the Holy Spirit

is for everybody, male and female. And he goes

on, having said your sons and daughters, he says

your old men shall dream dreams. I want to pause

here a moment because I think that this is one

of the primary things that God wants to speak

to us. this morning. Your old men shall dream

dreams. Why does he speak this out? Just meditating

on this. These are people that have lived a while.

We have young people in this room, and we have

older people in this room. If you're not afraid

to say how old you are, is there anybody in this

room 75 or older? Wow. Is there anybody in this

room 80 or older? Is there anybody in this room,

I'll go up, 85 or older? 86 or older? 87 or older?

88 or older? Nancy and Brother Bob, can we just

honor them right now? In Jesus' name. When you

get older, there's one thing that's inevitable.

You suffer loss. You suffer loss. And it's not

just in your family. It is in life. I was listening

to the 100 -year interview of Dick Van Dyke.

He said the hardest thing is that everybody that

I've done life with is no longer here. And it's

difficult. Do you know what he has suffered?

Loss. Loss. Ways that you once cherished are

not there anymore. And you wish that those old

ways could come back. The things that you valued

aren't valued by the generation of today. And

that's true no matter which generation gets older.

That's always forever true. But you suffer loss.

And along with loss comes A biblical thing called

mourning. Loss equates mourning. There was an

ordained pastor that I was reading. and he was

writing as an 81 -year -old retired pastor, and

he was really remembering the outpouring of the

Holy Spirit and the way that God used to move

around the altars, and he was lamenting that

it isn't that way anymore. And there were different

ones responding, saying, well, you know, it's

not the same, but it's still there, or it's a...

You know, it's different. You need to change.

And it hit me. This pastor is mourning. He is

in mourning something that has been lost that

he perceives is no longer there. Mourning. I

want us to turn to Isaiah chapter 61. This is

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

one of the foundational verses of faith church

and the ministry of Jesus. Verse 2. To comfort

all who mourn. Now, The power of this verse is

that it is not just talking about those that

have been widowed or are widowers in the family

sense. The power of this verse is that it is

talking about people that remembered Israel when

it was free. And now it's not free. And they

remembered Israel when it was walking right with

God. And now it's not walking right with God.

and so they are in mourning. How many of you,

when you read the newspaper about America, sometimes

your heart begins to grieve? All is not well

in the United States of America. And for the

Christian, it can move us to grieving, to mourning.

And Isaiah was identifying with the people that

were mourning over their nation. But the truth

applies to any that have suffered loss. That

God does not leave you in the state of your mourning.

And that's important. Now, there's a progression

here. And at the end of verse 2, it says, to

comfort all who mourn. And if you are in a fresh

place of suffering loss, then you are supposed

to be in the place of mourning. Don't let people

move you out of that place too quickly. That

is God doing a work inside of you. And the first

thing that God does when we are mourning is He

comes alongside of us and He comforts us. He

comforts all who mourn. He is not saying, come

on, buck up and get over it. He's not saying

that. Jesus said, come to me all who are weary

and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And

you shall find rest for your souls. What is the

work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus said? It is

the work of comforting. And if you have suffered

loss and you are grieving, perhaps you got fired

from a job you love, or perhaps a business that

you started has Come to the place where it can

no longer go on. Guess what you are probably

going to feel? You're going to feel a measure

of mourning. Even when Elijah mourned, God didn't

at first come alongside and call him to change.

He first came alongside of him and comforted

him. And I want to thank God for the comfort

of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And if you're in that

place this morning, I want you to know you are

not alone and that there is a God that is coming

alongside of you. And that work of mourning is

the beginning of healing and opening up your

soul to the Lord. And it is good to surrender

to that mourning and just let that mourning happen

before the Lord. It is a good thing. But mourning,

can go on for too long. And when mourning goes

on for too long, the work of the Holy Spirit

begins to shift. And then the next thing that

happens is that consolation comes. The King James

word here is appointed. To appoint those who

mourn in Zion. And what that word embodies is

the beginning of a turning point. That you are

no longer in the place of mourning, but now you

are in a place of preparation. Because you've

lost something, but God is not done with you.

Amen? You've lost something, but God is not done

with you. Because if he was done with you, you

would not be here anymore. I'm telling you what,

as long as there is breath in these lungs, there

is purpose for this life. And you need to declare

that over yourself. That as long as there's breath

in my lungs, I have a reason to live. As long

as there's breath in my lungs, I have purpose

in my life. And so that season of mourning comes

to an end and God begins to turn you around and

say it is time to engage in life again. Oh, hallelujah.

There's no time frame. There's no specific time

frame. Sometimes I wish that it were more like

in the Old Testament where you could just shut

everything down. In the Old Testament, when it

came time to mourn for 30 or 60 days, they would

shut everything down, and those were the days

to weep. And those were the days to just pour

your heart out. And then those days would come

to an end. But in today's culture, we don't have

that. We have a few days where maybe a celebration

of life, and then you're on your own, and you're

supposed to just muddle through life and just

get over it. And sometimes I think it takes a

little bit longer than that. And some people

that I talk to say that those initial stages

of mourning can be a year and sometimes longer.

But there comes a moment when the mourning is

over and the equipping begins. And a person begins

to say, so what now, Lord? What now? What now?

And the first thing that God does is he equips

you. Is he sweeps away the ashes. And he gives

you beauty. That's a good day, isn't it? That's

a good day. When the ashes are gone, that was

what... burned up yesterday the ashes that you

hang on to by looking in the past all the time

the ashes were yesterday's sacrifice and that

was a good moment but it is over and it is no

longer gone and you clear the ashes away so that

that which is new can come hallelujah Oh, glory

to God. I want to speak over somebody whose children

no longer live with you, and since they've moved

out, you have been in a state of mourning. And

they're not gone, but it's not the same. And

you are in a state of mourning, and in fact,

you don't even know what to do. But I'm telling

you, God has new purpose for your life. Hallelujah.

Things, in fact, that you thought were not a

blessing are going to become a blessing because

things are opening up in your life. God has not

called you to just meander wishing the ashes

would reform and become what they once were.

They will not. But God has new beauty for your

life. And he has a new plan. Oh, hallelujah.

The other thing he does is that he replaces that

spirit of mourning that has been on your life,

that once had a place for your life, but now

it is no longer supposed to be there. Now he

wants to give you the oil of joy. Hallelujah.

Oh, my God, my God, my God. And some people think,

well, this should not be. If I really loved the

thing that I lost, or if I really... love the

one that I lost, then I've got to keep myself

in the place where I am not happy anymore. Because

if I'm not happy anymore, that somehow expresses

that I still am having love for the person in

the past. And can I tell you, that is a lie of

the enemy that wants to keep you from healing.

what you will find is that you have room enough

in your heart to love the people that God gave

to you in the past and walk in the joy of the

Lord and walk in the joy of the Holy Spirit.

And I just right now, there might be somebody

here this morning that would say, it's been a

long time since I really laughed. It's been a

long time. In fact, since that diagnosis, five,

six, seven years ago, I've not really had joy.

God wants to begin to pour the oil of joy over

you again. What is this? I'm beginning to dream

again. What is this? God is putting something

in my heart again. Can you feel the Holy Spirit

in this room right now? What is this? Something

is being awakened inside of me that has been

dormant. It's the oil of joy. It's the garment

of praise. He wants to make you dance again.

Maybe physically dancing now means I'm just rocking

back and forth like this. But it's on the inside.

I feel the joy of the Lord in this house. Come

on. Your old men shall dream dreams. And God

doesn't want it to just stop there. He doesn't

want just the spirit of heaviness to be gone.

He doesn't want you to just have feelings of

joy again. He is going to call you. once again

with a renewed purpose and renewed vision for

your life. He is going to plant you in a field.

You are going to be called the planting of the

Lord. Hallelujah. Why? So that God might be glorified.

So that God might be glorified. Anybody that

you know that has suffered loss, do you know

what the end of that loss is if they will submit

and surrender to God? that He might be glorified.

Hallelujah. If we can see the end from the beginning,

we feel like nothing is ever going to heal. We

feel like nothing is ever going to get to the

place. But when we come before the Lord and we

say, God, pour Your Spirit out upon me. I know

it's for me. He begins to renew you. And He begins

to do things in your life that you never thought

were possible. And He plants you. He plants you.

to grow anew and you begin to have like 2 .0

happening in your life and God is glorified in

a way that you never thought possible. And they

shall rebuild the old ruins. And so As I was

preparing this message, I found that thread again,

the Assemblies of God minister page of this 81

-year -old man. And I said, I wrote to him, and

I said, you're grieving for the moving of the

Holy Spirit. But your grieving is going to turn

to joy. And God is going to give you a dream

again. And it's going to move you. They shall

rebuild the old ruins. Now, they're not going

to look exactly the same as they did. But they're

going to be there. And they're going to be filled

with life. And the wells that were once stopped

up are going to flow with water again. Why? Because

you got a dream. You've got to dream. They shall

repair the ruined cities. The desolations of

many generations. These are the mourners. These

are the people that have suffered loss. And now

strangers are going to feed their flocks. Sons

of the foreigner shall plow. And vine dressers.

And you, the mourners, the ones that have suffered

loss, shall be priests of the Lord Most High.

You know where the fulfillment of this is? Right

now. Right now. Everyone in this room is a priest

standing between God and man. With responsibility

and authority and purpose. There is nobody in

this room that the church can do without. There

is nobody in this room that doesn't have an assignment

from heaven. The old men shall dream dreams.

I know I've lost a lot. I know the way that things

used to be that I really liked. But my eyes are

set, not in the rear view mirror, but on the

future. And like Caleb, they stand up and say,

God, give me this mountain. just translating

that here. God, the outpouring of the Spirit

that I once knew. That faith church, faith church

is experiencing a little bit of it, but I've

dreamed a dream. And I've seen this place full.

Hallelujah. And I'm asking God to give us the

mountain of revival. And I'm asking God to give

us the mountain of souls coming into the kingdom.

of lives transforming in the name of Jesus. I've

asked God that in my time that I have left, as

I keep sowing and I keep sowing and I keep sowing,

that God is going to move like He said He would

because God has given me a dream. Hallelujah.

How many of you could do with a new dream in

your life? I'm not asking you if you're old or

not. How many of you could do with a new dream

in your life? Come on. You could do with something

of substance from God. And I'm not talking about

you just coming up with something to fill your

time that you enjoy doing. I'm talking about

something of substance that's going to make a

difference in the kingdom of God. Driving back

the kingdom of darkness. seeing the kingdom of

God come forth in Jesus' name. Who would like

that kind of a dream in your heart and in your

life? Hands are up all over this room. Hallelujah.

Glory to God. Glory to God. And so Isaiah ends

chapter 61, and he says, I will greatly rejoice

in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God,

for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

covered me with the robe of righteousness as

a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and

as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Hallelujah.

These are people that were in mourning. And in

a spiritual sense, church, I want to call you

out of mourning in the name of the Lord. When

you remember what God has done in the past, in

revivals, I want to remind you that the best

is yet to come. That we're not looking at the

past just to say how great it was. The best is

yet to come. Hallelujah. We're not just remembering

the past just so that we can just cherish it

and just say, well, I'm glad that was a part

of my life. No, God, we are hungry for you to

move now. In Jesus' name. God, do it again. God,

do it again. God, do it again. Thank you, Father.

Thank you, Father. Your young men shall see visions.

Some of you younger people, it's not either generation

is not lesser or greater. It's this. Some of

you young people have never experienced the move

of God in much capacity. You've not seen yet

what it looks like when God pours His Spirit

out on a city or in a region. And God is not

saying that you are lesser because of that. In

fact, He's going to give you a special gift.

And it is the gift of vision. And He's going

to cause you to see things that people in your

generation are not seeing. He's going to cause

you to know things about God and about what God

is going to do that people in your generation

do not know and do not see. He's going to give

you a vision for what is going to be fulfilled

in your life. Your young people shall see visions.

Your older people shall dream dreams. And the

two of them working together will see God do

incredible things in our time and in our day.

Amen. Praise God. You young people, when you

hear about what God has done, I hope that...

two things will happen. One, you'll say, wow,

that is amazing. Our God is amazing. But the

other thing I hope that will rise up within you

is a hunger that says, but God, I want to see

it in my lifetime. I want to see it in my generation.

I want to see it in my school, in my junior high,

in my high school, in my time. I want to see

the reality of who you are happen in my day.

In Jesus' name. Your young men shall see visions.

And God does a new thing. Pour out my spirit

on all flesh. There's a whole lot of reasons

why God pours out his spirit. I want to close

right now. And I want to just ask you to present

yourself before the Lord and say, God, I want

you to do it in me. And if you could, just posture

yourself for the abundance of the Holy Spirit.

In fact, just right now, just bow your heads

around this room. And just begin to talk to the

Lord. And just begin to say, God, I need the

infilling of your presence in my life. I need

the infilling of your spirit in my life. Hallelujah.