Revival Is the Answer — Ian Paisley

Joel’s Promise to Restore the Eaten Years

I want to speak this morning on the verses twenty-five to twenty-seven of the book of Joel. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you.

And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and none else.

And my people shall never be ashamed. This text of Scripture underscores the fact of truth versus the fancy of fiction. Lost years can never be retrieved literally by man. That is a human impossibility.

We cannot recall, we cannot retrieve, we cannot restore the past. But what is impossible with man is gloriously possible with God. God is a God of miracles, a supernatural, omnipotent God who can reverse all the laws of nature and can do for his people the impossible.

The Locusts’ Devastation of Israel

If you read this book, you will find that an awful calamity had fallen upon the land. Blight had succeeded blight, dearth had succeeded dearth, and devastation had succeeded devastation. God sent locusts and they devoured the harvest.

God sent the canker worm, and what the locusts had left, the canker worm devoured. God sent the caterpillar, and what the locusts had left, and the canker worms had left, the caterpillar devoured. God sent the palmer worm, and what the locusts had left, and what the canker worm had left, and what the caterpillar had left, the palmer worm devoured.

And it was desolation, dearth. The garden of Israel became a desert. The beautiful, prosperous valleys became a wilderness, a place of unfruitfulness, a place of barrenness, a place of dearth, and a place of terrible devastation.

And then God gives this promise. God says, I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. There are three things in my text which I want you to note. First of all, you have those eaten years, and what years they were.

Secondly, you have those exciting years, when God restores the years that the locusts have eaten. And then you will notice those entertaining years. For ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and the Lord's people shall not be ashamed.

The Dead Years of Sin

For the Lord will dwell among them. And again it says, the Lord's people shall never be ashamed. The fact of truth versus the fancy of fiction. First of all, they're the dead years of sin. Every believer in this house this morning can look back to a period in his life when that period can be described as the dead years of sin.

We were unregenerate. We were afar off from God. We walked in the ways of the unregenerate, the ungodly, the unbloodwise. We were sinners naturally, and we were sinners practically. And there was the dead years of sin.

By the locusts devoured them. The canker worm devoured them. The palmer worm devoured them. The caterpillar devoured them. And today as we look back on that part of our life, when we lived under the domination of the devil and under the motivation of hell, we can say that we're dark, that we're dead years of sin.

But one day God saved us. One day we were born again. One day we had a spiritual birthday. And what happened? The Lord restored to us the years that the locusts had eaten. And instead of darkness, there was light.

Instead of bitterness, there was sweetness. Instead of evil, there was goodness. For I have been born again. God did the miracle. If there's someone here today, and you're still in that period of the dead years of sin, let me tell you, God can do the miracle for you this morning.

The Deceiving Years of Success

God can restore in a second of time by the new birth the years that the locusts have eaten. But secondly, those years are the deceiving years of success. You see, the children of Israel plowed their fields.

The children of Israel sowed their grain. The children of Israel harvested their corn. The children of Israel attended to their vineyards, and attended to their fig trees, and attended to their husbandry with great dedication.

And they saw success. A great harvest. A bountiful supply. The vines never had so many grapes. The fig trees never brought so many figs. The corn never grew so tall. And the stocks, the years of corn, were never so heavy.

And my, they were deceived. They thought they were going to have a wonderful and a bountiful harvest. And just as the corn was ripening, and just as the figs were ready for gathering, and just as the vine was ready to give up its grapes, one morning they went out, and although it was morning, there was a darkness over the land.

Swarm after swarm of lucas were coming in from the sea. And soon upon the fig trees, and on the corn stocks, and on the vines, there settled down this great army of destruction. And all that was success in the morning was ruined in the evening time.

It was the year, the deceiving years of success for them. And then when the lucas ceased their destruction, they said, we will at least salvage something from the overthrow. But when the lucas ceased, then came the canker worm.

And when the canker worm ceased, then came the caterpillar. And when the caterpillar ceased, then came the power worm. And all their success was totally and utterly destroyed. The years, the deceiving years of success.

Have we not seen that in the church of Jesus Christ? When we have sowed, when we have livered, when we have worked, when we have prayed, and when we have preached. And we thought that we saw a harvest coming.

We thought that the corn was going to be reaped in a manifold harvest of seeds. We thought that the vines were putting forth their tender grapes. We thought that the fig trees were going to yield a great harvest.

And then suddenly the blight came. And we were totally and utterly deceived. How many times has the church been almost on the border of revival. And revival has been plucked from it by a cruel act of destruction.

The Disappointing Years of Sadness

Thirdly, the disappointing years of sadness. How sad those people were. That all their labors were destroyed. That all of their works were destroyed. That all their dedication was in vain. That all that they had put in to bringing about the manifold harvest was utterly stolen from them by the curse of the locust, the canker worm, the caterpillar, and the pammer worm.

How sad at heart those people were when they sat in their houses surrounded by devastation and destruction. How sad we should be in our hearts today that the walls of Zion are broken down. How sad we should be in our hearts that the times of prayer no longer have their joy.

That the prayer anchors are largely forsaken by the people of God. That the old zest and zeal for the things of God is sadly lacking in the hearts of the people of God. How today we should lament the disappointing years of sadness.

The Devastating Scourge and the Depressing Storm

And then those years were characterized by the devastating years of the scourge. The scourge did not go on for one harvest. After the scourge they ploughed again. They sowed again. And they were about to reap again.

But the scourge still remained. Back came the locust. Back came the canker worm. Back came the pammer worm. Back came the caterpillar. And another harvest was wiped out. But they ploughed again. And sowed again.

And when they thought in the third year that they would get a harvest, I know the locust still came back. The pammer worm still came back. The canker worm still came back. And the caterpillar still came back.

It was destruction year after year. Like our own circumstances. This scourge that has been amongst us year after year. And then you will notice something else. There were the depressing years of the storm.

The winter blast just stirred up the destruction. The storm had not ceased. The storm still blew its icy blast over the countryside. And the whole of Israel was entirely and totally depressed and distressed.

The Distressing Years of Slackness

The depressing years of the storm. And then, sickly, they were the distressing years of slackness. For what happened? When they had no success, they stopped their labor. No longer did they plough the field.

No longer did they attend to the grapes in the vineyard. No longer did they look after the fig tree. Slackness came upon them. They became a nation of idlers. How true that has been in the church of Jesus Christ.

A few disappointments. A few battles. A few hardships. A few attacks of locust, worm and caterpillar. And the church immediately ceases to pray. Ceases to labor. Ceases to strive. Ceases to hold up the standard.

There is nothing but desolation abroad. There is nothing but a forsaking of God's ways. And God's truth. And the keeping of God's commandments. This is a terrible story of darkness. I commend you to read the first two chapters.

And to look how far down Israel went at this time. The sacrifice was cut off from the house of God. The temple was forsaken. The altars of God were not frequent. How like our day. And the old relish. And the old dedication of heart and mind and soul.

God’s Sovereign Restoring Work

Is sadly lacking among the people of God. But God had something to say to them. Look with me at verse 25. And you will see the exciting years. We have had the eaten years. But here are the exciting years.

I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. The canker worm and the caterpillar and the hammer were my great army. Which I sent among you. Where did this destruction come from? God ordered it.

Governed it. It was a destruction. Because of the sins of the people of God. And because of their backsliding. And their departure from the ways of God. But God said. I am going to do a restoring work.

Now let me say from this pulpit today. Only the free grace of God can do that. No effort of mine. And I should make an effort in prayer. No effort of mine. And I should make an effort to be dedicated totally to the Lord.

No effort of mine. And I should make an effort to be out and out living a holy life. But no act of mine can bring about this supernatural intervention of God. It will be by the free grace of God. Look at the beginning of this text.

I will. I will. The sole prerogative of the Almighty. The hallmark of the covenant of grace. I will do it. We need to take a look at that word grace again. Could I spell it out to you? In the form of a simple acrostic.

Glorious Grace

The G of grace stands for glorious grace. For let me tell you, friend, that grace is the glory of the Lord. Old Sandy Peaton, the Scottish covenantor said, Grace is young glory. And when grace ceases to be a child, it becomes glory.

And that is the right definition of grace. It is glorious grace. And that is what the church needs today. That is what sinners need today. Glorious grace. The R in the word stands for reconciling. It is reconciling grace.

Reconciliation Through Christ’s Substitution

There is only one thing that can reconcile us to God. And it is the imputation of our sins on the blessed Son of God. And the dealing of those sins with God's wrath. And the putting of them away by judgment.

That is the only way of reconciliation. By this word reconciliation, it is on the lips of all these old ecumenical preachers. You hear it every day. I do not find anything in this Bible about ecumenical reconciliation.

But I find the Gospel says, Be ye reconciled to God. It is not my job. It is not my job to reconcile man to man. Neither was it the job of Jesus Christ. Because two people came to Christ and they were having a row.

Two people out of one family. And there is no family squabble worse than a family squabble. And they said, he said, tell my brother to give me...