Text:
Joel 2:28 (Acts 2:17):
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Micah 6:8:
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Theme:
What Is A Man Supposed To Do
Introduction:
- The Book of Joel was written by the prophet Joel, a resident of Judah who was commissioned by God to prophesy to the same people.
- One of the books of Minor Prophets à Minor because Joel did not write much although it was just as important.
- Joel prophesied around the same time as Isaiah during the reign of King Uzziah
- The Book of Joel is written in four (4) primary divisions or areas of focus:
- The prophetic warning of the plague of locusts and the drought that was to overtake the land.
- The call for the repentance of the people and their turning to God. God would return the land to its former prosperity.
- The prophecy of the Messiah.
- The prophecy of consequences to befall the enemies of God
- The Book of Malachi was written by the prophet “Malachi” and contains the only information on this prophet.
- The last of the books of Minor Prophets à Minor because “Malachi” did not write much although it was just as important.
- “Malachi” is believed to not be the proper name but instead the title of the prophet à Malachi means messenger or angel.
- The Book of Malachi is written in four (4) primary divisions or areas of focus:
- The introduction where the prophet reminds the people of Jehovah’s love for them
- The rebuke of the leaders who lead the people to despise the name of Jehovah and to a cease from worshipping God.
- The rebuke of the people for their intermarriage with idolatrous heathens.
- The warning of the people as a whole to prepare themselves for the coming of God, His judgment, and His Son!!!!!
- The texts that have been given provide a commonality between the two books of Joel and Malachi.
- Both deal with our theme for today…WHAT IS A MAN SUPPOSED TO DO
Body:
- Our text in Joel 2:28 surfaces information on a tradition categorization in the church between the YOUNG and OLD
- The young men are known to have the strength while the old men are known to have the wisdom.
- Proverbs 20:29, “The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.”
- The young have the role of the student while the old generally have the role of the teacher.
- For children à Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
- For men à 1 Timothy 5:1, “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;”
- Even for women à Titus 2:3-4, “The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,”
- Regardless, BOTH YOUNG AND OLD are called to serve GOD and not MAN!
- Psalms 148:12-13, “Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.”
- Matthew 6:24 (& Luke 16:13), “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
- The young men are known to have the strength while the old men are known to have the wisdom.
- Although the Bible commonly addresses responsibilities of the men and women as well as the young and the old with regard to serving God, it also provides very gender specific information for the man.
- God explicitly answers this question through His Word è WHAT IS A MAN SUPPOSED TO DO
- Although we constantly deal with the thick line between the young and old, what does God want the young men and the old men to be doing.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:”
- “young men shall see visions”
VISION
Specific because the young need clarity!
A supernatural presentation of certain scenery or circumstances to the mind of a person either while awake or asleep. a vivid apparition, not a dream
proposes a revelation for immediate direction, as in the ease of Abram (Ge 15:2 and frequently); Lot (Ge 19:15); Balaam (Nu 22:22), and Peter (Ac 12:7). In another aspect it deals with the development of the Kingdom of God as conditioned by the moral ideals of the people; such are the prophetic visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Micah, and the apocalypses of Daniel and John.
Given in answer to Prayer
2Ki 6:17
Afflictions Prepare For
Job 42:5; Isa 29:18
Heart Purity Essential to
Mt 5:8
Believers Alone Possess
Joh 14:19
The Holy Spirit the Author of
Joh 16:14,15
Uses the Telescope of Faith
Heb 11:27
- Young men are critical to the church and to God’s Word being carried to the world!
- Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
- The young are the church of today and NOT only tomorrow!
- “old men shall dream dreams”
DREAM
General because the old have the wisdom through experience to see beyond “right now” and won’t be swayed by the temptations of the world.
i.e. “ALSO dream dreams”
Job 33:15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Isaiah 29:8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
Dream can be from Vanity…worldly pleasures and desires à
Ecclesiastes 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
Isaiah 29:7-8 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
Jeremiah 23:28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
- Both dreams and visions are ways that God communicates with men
- Numbers 12:6, “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”
- Job 7:14, “Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:”
- Daniel 1:17, “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
- Man in the role of HEAD-SHIP requires this communication from God for direction
- 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
- The man’s “place” is as the “head” of the woman!
- Headship and NOT superiority or domination
- Be ACCOUNTABLE for and LEAD…not dominate or boss around!
- The man’s “place” is at the feet of Jesus!
- Luke 8:41, “And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:”
- The man’s “place” is as the “head” of the woman!
- 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
Conclusion:
- With the core expectation of communication between God and man, there are still some prerequisites that must exist for God to hear the cry of His creation
- So, now we ask again, regardless of the age, WHAT IS A MAN SUPPOSED TO DO?
Micah 6:8 then seals it all for us, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
- “do justly”
- Treat folks right!
- Scales of Justice are balanced by God
- “love mercy”
- GIVE and FORGIVE
- “walk humbly with thy God”
- We are to WALK humbly with God
- He will walk with us, but will we walk with Him?
- However, the most critical requirement is found in the first clause of Joel 2:28:
- We are to WALK humbly with God
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh”
- God will pour His Spirit upon our flesh to give us a new life more abundantly!
- What is a man supposed to do…LET GOD POUR HIS SPIRIT ON AND IN YOU!!!
There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s vein
And sinner’s plunge beneath that flood…lose all their guilty stain
- If you want to WALK RIGHT
- Let Him pour His Spirit on you
- If you want to LIVE RIGHT
- Let Him pour His Spirit on you
- If you want to LOVE RIGHT
- Let Him pour His Spirit on you
- What is a man supposed to do?
- Know God!!!!
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