The Great Restorer — Don Wilkerson

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P .O. Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 or calling 214 -963 -8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Amen. Turn with me if you will to the book of Joel. The book of Joel. And while you're turning there, I just want to express my thanksgiving to you.

Thanks to you for those of you that prayed for me. While I had a false alarm in the hospital. A lie from the devil. A false pain. A pain that was not, thank the Lord, what it appeared to be. And also contrary to what one of you said, when you heard that I was in Florida in a hospital, they said, oh yeah, sure, he's in the hospital in Florida.

He's on the beach somewhere. Well, I forgive you. I know who you are. I forgive you. Unexpected visit to a hospital. And by the way, it's no place to go to get a rest. Somebody said to me, to visit me in the hospital while I was about to be admitted.

And I said, well, at least you'll get some rest. Well, I find that you don't get any rest in the hospital. So it's good to be back. And again, thank you for your prayers. And the second chapter of Joel, I want to talk to you tonight about the great restorer.

The Promise of Restoration in Joel

The great restorer. And from this is found from Joel chapter two. We're reading some verses and ask you just to leave it open there. We'll spend most of the time referring to these verses. We'll pick it up at verse 21, chapter two.

Chapter two, verse 21, Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring. For the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month.

And here's what happens as a result of that. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great army which I send among you.

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

And it will come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

Jesus as the Great Restorer

The great restorer. I heard a young man in a service that I was at. He stood up in it and gave a testimony. And in the meeting there were a number of other unsaved young people there. And he shared very simply and very sincerely what Christ had done in his life.

And then he turned to the other young people. And those that he knew, some of them were on the fence. Some of them had not really yielded to the Lord, and yet were in a desperate situation. And he turned to them and almost in a pleading voice, he said something very profound, very amusing, but also profound.

He said, fellows, he said, try Jesus. He said, I tried him. He worked in my life. And he said, I beg you, I urge you, just try him. Just give him one chance. And then he said this. He said, just try him for 30 days.

Just try him for 30 days, and if you're not satisfied, he'll give you a return on your miseries. Well, that's some kind of a money-back guarantee. That's a pretty good 30-day guarantee. If I say so myself, try Jesus, and if you're not satisfied, he'll give you a return on your miseries.

Well, you know something? I've never known anyone who's tried Jesus ever to be disappointed. Disappointed and turned off of the church, yes. Disappointed in other Christians and the way they act, yes.

But never, never disappointed with Jesus. I've met backsliders. Who have confessed that the best days and years of their lives were when they served the Lord and walked with him. I've yet to hear anybody stand up in the church, or I've yet to have anybody share with me personally and said that they ever regretted, even when they've been in a backslidden state, to ever tell me, I regret the day that I ever accepted Jesus and turned my life over to him, or to say that it was a mistake.

In fact, we might say that if heaven has a consumer complaint department, it doesn't get very much business. And as the old chorus goes, Jesus never failed me yet. There's an old chorus we sing, never failed me yet.

Never failed me yet. Jesus love never failed me yet. This one thing I know that where I go, Jesus love has never failed me yet. Now, one of the reasons for this is because of the prophecy contained here in Joel's prophecy.

When he says, I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. Now, among the many names for Christ that ascribe and describe who Jesus is and what he does for his people, there is this term restorer.

And Joel says that he is a restorer of the devastation that is left by the locusts. And we'll take a look in a moment at what that means. Also, it says that he is, as our restorer, he is the one who removes our reproach.

And in so doing, he restores our good name, or he gives to us a good name. Believe the effect of his work. And another part of the promise is that he says, my people will never be ashamed. Twice he says, my people will never be ashamed.

In Isaiah 58 and 12, you don't need to turn to it, but the name of the Lord as restorer also appears there. Isaiah 58, 12, it says, and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach and the restorer of paths, the restorer of paths to dwell in.

In the book of Ruth, chapter four, Boaz, who is a type of Christ, is described in these terms. It said, blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without kinsmen, that his name may be famous in Israel.

And he shall be unto thee a restorer, a restorer of thy life and a nourisher of thine old age. For my daughter-in-law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons hath born him. And in this verse, Boaz is pictured, first of all, as a kinsman redeemer, which is a type of Christ.

He became flesh and he dwelt among us full of grace and truth. He became our kinsman redeemer and a part of the blessing and the promise of our redemption is that the Lord will restore to us that which has been eaten away by the effects of the locusts or the sin that has devoured us.

And that is the crux of my message tonight. Now, before looking at what the restorer does or what he restores, it's important to note the historical setting of this prophecy and promise. Israel had experienced a great national calamity in which a swarm of locusts called an army invaded the land and leaving it desolate.

Now, nothing in all of Israel's history up to that time compared with such a judgment or the type of judgment that it was. In fact, Joel says, you ask the old men, ask the gray haired men, and they'll tell you that you've never seen anything like this or they've never seen anything like it in their day.

In fact, chapter one, verse two says this, hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days or even in the days of your father? In other words, you've never seen anything like this.

And here God chose a tiny little bug, which in itself can be stamped on by a man or a child. And God put an army of them together to become a mighty creature in his hand to tell his people that when they sinned, that they're going to have to deal with him.

In other words, nothing is insignificant in the hand of God. In fact, somebody said a fly with God's message could choke a king. God takes a little bug, puts them all together, and it becomes a national calamity.

And the result was, listen to verse 10 of chapter one. It says the field is wasted. The land mourneth for the corn is wasted. The new wine is dried up. The oil languisheth. Verse 19 says, oh Lord, to thee will I cry for the fire.

The fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. And that reference to the fire and flame is still talking about the locusts. The locusts are likened to a fire that came.

Now the locusts who often would attain the size of a grasshopper were known or are known to come in a thick cloud, all proceeding together in the same direction. First they crawl, then later they leap.

And as they proceed, they devour every green thing that lies in their path. They advance more slowly than a fire, but the effect that they leave is often as great or greater than a fire. If there are fields of wheat or barley or vineyards or grows of olives and figs in a few hours, they're deprived of every green thing.

And even they will, they will take the bark off the tree. It is said if they come to a building, they will go up the side of the building, go over the roof, come down the other side. Nothing will stop them.

The only thing that does stop them is the cold of night. But then in the morning, as it warms up, they continue their devouring journey. If they come to a pool of water, the first ones into the water will die, but they provide a bridge for the rest of them.

And the rest of them go right over top of the dead ones and it becomes a bridge for them to continue. And so Joel uses the condition and the calamity that's left by the locusts as a call to the nation to repent.

Look at chapter two, verses 12 and 13. He says, therefore also now saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, fasting and with weeping and with mourning. Bend your heart and not your garments and turn to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil.

And Joel says on the condition of your repentance, upon the condition of your repentance, the people were promised safety and blessing and a future outpouring of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Verse 28, and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.

And the Spirit's outpouring is promised, is symbolized by the promise of rain. And you see, only rain could stop the devouring effect or this invading army. Only a rain, a great rain would come and could stop it.

Verse 23, be glad then you children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the former rain moderately and he will cause to come down to you the rain of former rain and latter rain.

Threefold Fulfillment of Joel's Prophecy

Now, all of this is a, actually it's a twofold picture, really a threefold picture. One, it's a picture of what was happening then to Israel. And in fact, it is believed that the locusts and in chapter one, verse four, it says, then where the palmer worm hath left, hath the locust eaten.

And that which the locust hath eaten, the canker worm eaten, that which the canker worm hath eaten, left hath the caterpillar eaten. And so the locusts are pictured with four different types. There are four different types of locusts.

And it is believed that they may symbolize the four different invading nations that came upon Israel. And so it was a prophetic word to that hour in that day. Also, it is a picture of what is to happen yet in our day and what God wants to do in the last days, that there's going to come judgment, but if God's people will repent, he will pour out his spirit.

But then there's also a third application and it's a personal one. You see, whenever we turn to the Lord by rending our hearts, which simply means repentance, the great restorer, the great restorer goes to work.

My friend, you can count on it. When you lay down your sin, when you repent that the end result of that is that God is going to restore to you that which the effects of sin and iniquity have eaten out of your life.

Psalms 23 and three says, he restoreth my soul. Mark 9, 12, Jesus is speaking. And he said, Elijah verily cometh first. And when he said Elijah, he was speaking of himself. And he said, and when he comes, he restoreth all.

God by his very nature is a restorer. Jeremiah was given a picture, even before he, as he went to them with a word of judgment, he still gave his people a picture. And he said, yes, this judgment is going to come.

And yet, if you'll repent, this is what God will do. And he took him to a potter's house and he saw there a marred vessel in the hand of the potter. And this is what he said, Jeremiah 18, four, don't turn to it, listen.

So he made it again, another vessel as seemeth good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, oh, house of Israel, can not I do for you as this potter? In other words, and to restore my people to the glory that they once knew.

Restoration of Lost and Wasted Years

Now, what does the restorer do? What does he restore? And restore simply means to heal or to do over. It means to rehabilitate or to rebuild and refurnish, refurbish or convert. And there are certain things that the great restorer promised to do for his people if they repented.

Now, the first thing he said is this, that Jesus is a restorer of the lost years. He is a restorer of the lost and wasted years. You see, sin is a destroyer of years, but Jesus promises that he will restore the wasted years.

Again, verse 25, and I will restore to you the years, the years, note the word years. One of the devastating effects of living in sensuality or in, or for your own pleasures or for your own self is that it robs you of the best in working with drug addicts and alcoholics for so many years.

The tragedy of burned out bodies and minds and the devil has robbed them. I've had them tell me and said, look, I went from a child to a man. I went from child to adulthood. I had no adolescence. I had no teenage years.

The devil robbed me of all of that. There's one thing I've heard over and over again, all the time. And I've had young men, young ladies tell me, I don't know where it's gone five, 10, 20 years. I talked to a brother in this church a few weeks ago.

He's 34 years of age. He spent half of his time in jail. He has spent half of his life in jail. Well, thank God the Lord has saved him in jail and changed him. I remember another fellow came to me one time.

He was about 30 years of age. And when I heard his story, I looked into the face of one of whom the canker worm and the locusts have eaten away the most precious years of his life. Here he was chronologically.

He was 30 years of age, but in terms of life experiences, he was like a 60 year old man. But in addition to that, because of his sin, he had dropped out of school and he had about a fifth or sixth grade education.

Emotionally, he admitted that he was about a 12 year old. And so when I looked into his face, I had to ask myself, who am I talking to? Am I talking to a 60 year old man? Am I talking to the sixth grader?

Should I talk on that level? Emotionally, am I speaking to an adolescent or am I talking to a 30 year old? And I realized that I was talking to all of those had caused him to lose the best year of his life.

Ecclesiastes, listen to it again. Don't turn. Ecclesiastes 5, 15 and 16 describes what I'm talking about. It says, as he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

In other words, Solomon says, a man lives and he dies. And the sad thing is that he has nothing to show for it in the end. And let me ask you tonight, are you sitting here? Is it going to be written in your obituary?

Is it going to be put over your tombstone? He lived and he died and he carried nothing with him. I don't know anything worse than that, my friend is to live and have nothing productive to show for it.

Joel 9, 25 says, now my days are swifter than a post. That means a runner. They flee away. They see no good. And when it says they see no good, it means they are joyless. Think of some of the years already that some of you have wasted in sin or in foolishness or whatever.

And some of you have spent too much time already sitting in a bar somewhere or going after drug pursuits or chasing a skirt somewhere or chasing this or chasing that. Or maybe you've gone after legitimate things.

And yet if it has no eternal value, then my friend is nothing. It's nothing. But wasted years also means wasted opportunities. Have you ever thought what your life might have become if sin did not ruin it?

Think of what God could have done in your life and with you if you'd only surrender to his purposes. And all again, I've heard it from people that said, oh, I was blind so long. I've wasted years. The best energy of my life.

I want to serve the Lord. I want to give it to him. But I gave some of the best years, the best energy that I had for the devil. Isaiah 58, 12 says, mine age has departed and is removed from me like a shepherd's tent.

I have cut off like a weaver my life. I have cut off like a weaver my life. And that phrase is a picture of a weaver having started to make a tapestry. And then suddenly before it's finished, he pulls it off the loom and the work that might have been done is left undone.

Want you to look, you look at some of the young people outside these doors and what you're going to see is an unfinished tapestry. In the prime of life, they were pulled off the loom of God's divine purposes.

And now they walk around as damaged goods, like a highly valued tapestry being dragged through the streets. Oh, the tragedy of it all to be an unfinished tapestry. Ephesians 6, 16 says, make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.

No one who is trying to satisfy his lust or his cravings for evil pleasures can make the most of his opportunities. Isaiah said, mine age has departed. That describes a man or a woman or youth who's old before his time.

And result is that you come finally to a place that you look back on a life of shattered dreams that lie in the closet of your mind. Dreams that you once had that never will fulfill. Goals that you once had that never can be realized.

Aims and ambitions that have gone the way of all the flesh and the locusts have eaten them all the way. And I ask you tonight, is that your testimony or will that be your testimony? Will you let the devil pull you off the tapestry of the weaver's loom before God is finished with you?

If you have not, as Joah says, if you've not turned to the Lord, then this is your end result. Joel says, the field is wasted. The field is wasted. That field can be you tonight. The field is wasted. The land mourneth.

Does your land mourn because you've wasted, wasted years? The corn is wasted. The new wine is dried up. The oil languished. In other words, there's no fruit. There's no productivity of your life. Feel like a waste.

Ah, but I'm going to tell you, here's the good part. Here's the good part. The promise is to those who repent and I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. Now, listen to me. I got to come up with my own.

Bob has, are you with me now? And David has a look this way. I got to come up with my own. I haven't come up with it in any way, but are you with me? And will you look this way? You know, in one sense, we can never recapture the wasted years and wasted opportunities.

And yet, you know, the marvelous thing that the scripture teaches and Joel is teaching us here is that in Christ and in comparison to our former life and practices, one day with the Lord is as a thousand days elsewhere.

Hallelujah. You see, God has a different view of time and years than we do. I found out that his arithmetic is different. It goes something like this. 30 days with Jesus is better than 30 ,000 days with the devil.

Now it doesn't say it that way. I just kind of multiplied it. Here's what it says. Psalms 84 10, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the courts of iniquity.

You know, I did some calculating. A thousand days is 2 .75 years. That means that one day with the Lord is equivalent to two and three quarter years of earthly and fleshly living. Now, based on that, only 25 days living with Jesus and dwelling in his courts and serving him is like living 70 years.

The fella had it right. Tried Jesus for 25 days. The point is this, when you live for Jesus than anything, you'll live apart from him. With Jesus, you have more peace and more joy and more of everything than a whole life that proceeds it.

God's worst is better than the devil's best. The Lord's doorstep is better than to dwell in the lap of the devil's luxury. The psalmist didn't say one year in thy courts is better than a thousand days.

He didn't say a half a year or a quarter of a year. He said one day, hallelujah, is better than a thousand years and elsewhere. Praise the Lord. And Joel said, if the people repented, if they called in a solemn assembly and would weep between the porch and the altar, he said, then the land and the ground would produce, talking about us.

He says, fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice for the Lord will do great things and you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God that has dwelt wondrously with you.

You see, the reproduction of the land is a type of the kind of spiritual fruits that begin to grow out of our lives. That's the work of the Restorer. And everything that we cannot do or be in sin begins to grow out of the soil of our hearts once Christ comes and dwells within us.

And Joel's prophecy said, I'll restore to you, I'll give you more. I'll give you more if you'll just turn to me, hallelujah. Now another promise is made to Israel and that is that the Lord will restore the name and reputation of his people.

Restoration of Name and Reputation

You see, sin is not only a waster of years, but in the process it rips you off of a good name. Joel 2 .19 says, yea, the Lord will answer and say to his people, behold, I will send you corn and wine and oil and you shall be satisfied therewith.

And I will no longer make you a reproach, a reproach among the heathen. You see, whenever Israel sinned, they always became a laughingstock among the other nations because the other peoples knew the God that they served.

And they knew that when they were right with their God, that they were invincible, nobody could touch them. And when they would look upon them and see that the locusts had come, they must have, they just shook their head and said, boy, there must be trouble down in Israel.

They knew, they knew and they would become a laughingstock and other people would say, what's happened to the Jews? Something must be wrong. And Israel thus became a disgrace and a reproach and an object of scorn to both friendly and unfriendly nations.

Psalms 109 .25 says, I became a reproach unto them when they looked upon me, they shook their heads. Now, let me tell you, some of you know what I'm talking about. You see sin, there is a sin that brings a reproach upon us that ruins our name, that ruins our reputation and our honor.

Proverbs says a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. But a man or woman's sin brings a disgrace to their name and their reputation is not worth a nickel. Proverbs 14 .13 says, righteousness exalteth the nation, but sin is a reproach.

It's a reproach to any people. And I've seen that reproach. I've seen the reproach that a man suffers or a woman suffers when they are unfaithful in their marriage. Reproach of a man who loses everything.

He loses his job and no longer can he be a breadwinner. But I'm going to tell you, you can always get your job. You can always get another job. But once you lose your reputation, you can't get that back so easily.

But you see, sin divides and separates a man from his wife. It causes a father to be a reproach to his own children. It causes a son or a daughter to be a reproach to his mother and dad. And many a man tonight walks these streets, or maybe you sit here tonight in shame and humiliation.

And you have people who love you and people that look upon you and they do exactly what Israel, Israel's enemies did to them. They shook their head, wagged their head and said, oh, what's happened to so-and-so?

What's gone wrong? Proverbs 19 and 26 says, he that brings dishonor on his father and causes his mother to flee shall be exposed to shame and shall be a reproach. Proverbs 28, 7 says, whosoever keepeth the law is a wise son, but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.

I've seen it. I've seen it so that a mother is ashamed. A mother is ashamed to look upon her own son or daughter. Or a father was embarrassed. The Bible also warns of the effects of adultery. It says, not only is it a sin against the Lord, but he said the scripture says the after effect upon it is upon one's name and reputation.

Listen to Proverbs. Don't turn there. Proverbs 6, 32 and 33. It says, but whosoever committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. In other words, it says it destroys your relationship to the Lord.

It destroys your vertical relationship to God. But he said that's not all. Its effect is also felt outwardly and horizontally. The next verse says, a wound and dishonor shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

And some of you could stand here tonight. You could tell. You could tell of the disgrace that you once went through. And hopefully the Lord has removed that disgrace. But you know the disgrace of having fallen into sin.

And not only to feel ashamed before the Lord, to be a reproach to people. Be it in the church or be it in your family. You know when King David made this statement. You know he said my sin is always before me.

And when he said that God had already forgiven him. And I believe what he meant is that the memory of it, the reproach that it caused him among his own loved ones, his own family. He said that sin is ever before me.

Sure God looks upon us as if we've never sinned. But we have to look on ourselves and other people look upon us. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. That's a law God does not violate in morals anymore than in the harvest of the fields.

And yet the wonderful thing is that God, God has a power to bring good out of evil. And even to get good out of your wasted years and even to recover the loss of your name. And that's what's proclaimed here in Joel.

He says remove sin and you remove the reproach. Remove sin and you remove the reproach. Chapter 2 verse 17. Let the priest, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thy heritage to reproach.

In other words, give not your people to reproach. Yes, the canker worm and the locust eats away the fruits of righteousness and goodness and temperance and meekness and all that is good and decent. It divides marriages and families, but the Lord says, I will restore what the locust has eaten, including I'll give you a good name.

He turns an unfaithful man into a faithful man. He turns a daughter who brings shame into one who brings honor. He turns a laughing stock into one who people look upon and said, can you believe what's happened to so-and-so?

He turns a frown on a mother's face into a smile. Jose, the addict becomes a fanatic in a good sense. Mary, the prostitute has become a Jesus person. She no longer sells her body. She gives out the love of Jesus.

Jesus can turn a bum into a blessing. Hallelujah. And in so doing, a name that once was mud. Hallelujah. He removes the reproach. You see, the locust not only eats the years, they eat the fruit and the harvest of the fields.

You cannot have back your time, but there is a strange and wonderful way that God can give you back the wasted blessings, including your family, your friends, your children, and the unripened fruits of years over which you've mourned.

Yes, the fruit of wasted years can be yours. Hallelujah. I was in the hospital. Young man came into the hospital dressed immaculately. I looked upon him and oh, I was so blessed because I remember that young man, how he came to the Lord and he struggled and struggled.

He was an embarrassment to himself and to his leaders and other people. But God finally got a hold of his life and he came into my, by my bedside and he told me a beautiful story of how the Lord had removed the reproach.

He said, Brother Down, he said, I'm married. I've got a child on the way. He works two jobs. He says, I work two jobs. He said, because I've got to pay my bills now. And oh, and he just began to tell me a whole, a whole beautiful story of how the Lord had, had restored that with the years at Eden and just in a very short time, only God can do that.

And God can do that. Third promise in Joel's prophecy is that the Lord will turn personal shame, personal shame into self-respect. Verses 26 and 27, and you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God that hath dwelt wonderfully with you and my people shall never be ashamed.

And then he repeats it again in the next verse. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord, your God and none else. And my people shall never be ashamed. Now you see, sin not only makes other people feel you're a disgrace, but it makes you feel ashamed of yourself, ashamed of yourself.

You see, it's twofold. A reproach is that what you are to other people. Shame is that what you feel within yourself. Proverbs 18 and three says, when the wicked man comes, then comes also contempt and reproach along with shame, reproach along with shame.

You know something, outside these doors are men and women who indulge in sin, no longer for the pleasure that it brings. They're now trying to numb the feelings of shame and guilt and the loss of self-respect.