Introduction

Good day to all, let us examine the second chapter of Joel, the theme of which is God's people will never be put to shame! If you are God's people, you will never be put to shame; God's promises, protection, and grace will surely be fulfilled in you. However, the problem lies in many not knowing whether they are God's people. In truth, it becomes clear when refined in the fire. The first chapter of Joel speaks of the day of the Lord, a destruction coming from the Almighty. This chapter continues to discuss destruction, but God does not truly want to destroy His people, but rather the world. Many do not have this understanding, thinking that destruction is meant for God's people, but it is not.

Who Can Endure the Day of the Lord?

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is close at hand— (Joel 2:1)

The Lord God calls people to turn back to Him, but people are half of the world, half of God. Man's heart must return to God, so you cannot worship both Mamon and the Lord God. The Lord God cannot tolerate spiritual adultery within people, wanting to be both a prostitute and erect a monument to oneself; wanting to gain benefits from God and from the world; wanting to love God and love the world, this is doomed! Chinese Mingding Destiny's requirements are still quite high, speaking of wholeheartedly turning to God. Let us carefully examine these people, can they endure the Day of the Lord? That is a day of darkness, gloom, clouds, and blackness. See if you are living in such a day.

a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.(Joel 2:2)

Joel foresaw the day of Jesus' return. That is not the end of God, nor the end of God's people. God's people will certainly not be put to shame. That day belongs to this world. However, can you endure it?

Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste—nothing escapes them. They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. They rush upon the city; they run along the wall; they climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. Before them, the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that carries out his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?(Joel 2:3-11)

I want to sound the alarm for everyone, the day of God is coming, are you prepared? If you are not prepared, your mere self cannot resist the things described in the scriptures. Those things are like thieves, wherever they go nothing grows, and it becomes a desolate wilderness after they pass. If you are God's people, these things are not prepared for you. Joel saw only a vague picture, but in Revelation, old John saw it in more detail, describing more clearly the days before Jesus Christ returns, almost like a nuclear war. Nuclear bombs are not eggs, they are very different. Some people throw eggs at politicians without causing life danger, but if a nuclear bomb is dropped, no one within a few kilometers will survive.

What will it be like when Jesus returns? Some feel regret: the world is so beautiful, why does God want to destroy it? You see it as good, but I do not find this world lovely at all. The news and what people see are all disasters, but these disasters are far different from the disasters before Jesus Christ returns! Everyone must know that this world is not ruled by ghosts, but by our God! Our God is truly going to deal with this world, so do you still want to choose to love the world? When the Day of the Lord approaches, those things that look like horses and run like cavalry are countless, sweeping across. We do not know if this is the spiritual world or the worldly world. If it is the worldly world, then that day is not far from you.

We can foresee that future wars will all be wars of robots and drones. It is not easy to raise a child from a young age to adulthood, it takes more than twenty years, and it is difficult to teach them something, but making robots only requires copying. Now look at the drone performances, they are lined up very neatly, how obedient! The scriptures describe it this way, they charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead, and plunge through defenses. Those things do not care about weapons at all, they simply do not care about this matter. So who is leading this artificial intelligence? Don't think that artificial intelligence, Newton's laws, or quantum mechanics were invented by people. In fact, God has been revealing these things to people generation after generation, allowing them to know these things, and the current artificial intelligence is the same.

We should not think that the people who invented artificial intelligence are so great, God is great for inventing these things! Our God is so powerful, preparing to manifest His power in this generation, this is God's plan. The question is, who can endure such a day? You can value your children, but you cannot endure this day, no one can escape this day. Whether you can prepare well really depends entirely on your own destiny, but no one has listened to Joel's words for two thousand eight hundred years, and even fewer will listen to me. Because many people think that this is not the case, buying cows, cars, and houses is not delayed, life goes on as usual; marrying wives, marrying husbands, and having children are not missed. These last days are like the days of Noah, before the flood came, people married and were given in marriage, farmed and built, bought and sold, life went on as usual, but this day cannot stop the day of God.

If people spend all day with the heart of living a small life, they will definitely not be able to stop the arrival of that day. Someone asked me to pray for his son to get married soon, but the last wife he married had already made his son very miserable. As a result, he is still obsessed, thinking that marrying another one may be different. I have to tell you, if your heart is full of living a life, then you are not God's people and you will be put to shame; if you are God's people, you will never be put to shame. Why do you not thirst to be God's people, but cling to the things of this world? I am very strange what these people have in their heads, can their vision and pattern be slightly elevated to the height of God, or elevated to the level seen by Joel?

I really rarely see someone say that they thirst for the kingdom of God, and ask me what should be done for pastoring. Occasionally when I meet such a person, I have to cheer loudly, I really want to open champagne to celebrate, finally there is another person seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness! Look at what people have made of their lives in this world? I once told my brother to adjust himself and not live his life in the presence of ghosts. Thinking about it, you know where the road will lead in the end. As a result, he first puts all the things of God aside, and his head is full of taking care of the elderly, making money doing business, his son getting married, and living his life. People can live like this because they have not done the right thing, and if they do not do the right thing, it will be worse to go on. That is the day of God, can people endure it?

Rend Your Heart

Everyone must not do superficial work. That kind of tearing clothes, putting on sackcloth and ashes to express determination, is useless if people do not change in their bones. What exactly are the things we have in our bones? Do not think that you can escape without repentance. If you are only outwardly, and do not bear witness as I cry out to God, love God according to what I say, build God's church, and be God's people, you will be left with nothing when this day comes, at most only a pile of bones.

We must rend our hearts and return to God, because people cannot endure that day, and those who are double-minded must repent, do not think it is okay. Maybe you think that the days as I say cannot be lived, struggling between caring for the elderly at home or loving God. But these two are not contradictory, but merely people's excuses. We always have excuses to put God down, but we have no excuses to put down money. Such a heart will surely invite disaster, either locusts, grasshoppers or worms will gnaw you until nothing is left! That is really not a path.

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.(Joel 2:13)

Isn't the calamity that God has sent enough? Everyone think about it, the things we pursue are only for this life, and in the end we pursue a lot of calamities. God has already sent enough calamities, don't you still rend your hearts and return to God? Many people say: where is God? God cannot be with double-minded people. God has abundant grace and mercy, and sends down some calamities so that people can rend their hearts and return to God.

And who knows but that he may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her private chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2:14-17)

Isn't this passage stimulating enough? You cannot endure this day, we must know that this day is not prepared for God's people, but prepared by God for this world, and at the same time it is to pull God's people out of this world. Even if you are a bridegroom or bride, a person who lives a small life, living a happy and loving life, you must come out, because you cannot endure this day! Now the church is doing those father schools or mother schools, including what couples camp, are actually talking about the things of living a life. But I think it is better to rend your heart, this day is coming, and many people are still living their lives, they just do not see that the day of God is coming to destroy all of this. The family is managed very well, but when disaster strikes, they will find that their two brushes are useless and cannot be endured at all.

If God gives people a chance to rend their hearts and return to Him before disaster strikes, that is God's grace. If there is not even a chance, and they are chewed up or trampled by these things that look like horses and run like cavalry, where can they reason? Living a small life is quite corrupt, even toilet lids and kitchen knives are particular, but they are not particular about being God's people. It is useless to believe in the Lord with a double mind, it is no different from the Israelites who died in the wilderness. If you rend your heart and return to God, there is still a chance, but if you harden your heart with a rigid heart, then disaster has already been prepared for you. This is not what I said, it is what the prophet Joel said, do not blame me. You can disbelieve what I say, but you must believe what Jesus said. That day is like the days of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, maybe your house will be gone by then, it will be enough to suffer when sulfur fire comes down.

## To Be a Spiritual Person

**And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Joel 2:28-31)**

Peter once quoted this passage, but I find his reference not entirely appropriate. Yet, because he cited these words, many began to pursue the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, seeking visions and dreams. **Your perspective and vision must be elevated to God's height, your pattern must be elevated to God's pattern. Only by being a spiritual person can you receive God's protection**. Blood, fire, and billows of smoke – you must understand that the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud appeared during the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. The pillar of cloud in front, the pillar of fire behind, one for protection, one for guidance. Blood refers to the blood of Jesus Christ; this is no small matter. **Fire, blood, and billows of smoke are the characteristics of being protected by God.**

This great and dreadful day comes as destruction from the Almighty. If destruction comes from God, how are God's people protected? God's people are protected by the outpouring of God's Spirit. The Spirit of God will be poured out. Revelation makes it clear that God's people will go through the Third World War. Some will not survive it, while others will, but those who suffer greatly do so because they lack the Spirit of God. **We must allow the Spirit of God to continually pour into us, filling us, so that we, as God's servants, both men and women, may have the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire, and the billow of smoke, and be protected by God.**

If one relies on oneself, there is no solution when the water turns bitter after a nuclear war, but the Spirit of God can do it. If the Spirit of God fills us, we will not be harmed if we drink any deadly poison, as the Bible says. However, given our current spiritual stature, we would likely not fare well if we drank poison now. **We must be spiritual people, constantly filled with the Spirit of God. Let our minds be transformed from being fleshly to being spiritual. If you are a fleshly person, you will not withstand the disaster.** Look at the trivial matters we are concerned about, whether it is for our children, our business, or the anxiety of finding a wife for our son. People always have countless reasons to make themselves miserable, which ultimately stems from a lack of insight. A spiritual person sees through all things and is no longer distressed. Distress arises from a lack of insight, from being worldly and fleshly.

On the day of the Lord, God will shake the heavens and the earth. If you are shaken along with it, it will be like being on a free roller coaster, because you are not a spiritual person. **Spiritual people see things differently, seeing things in the spiritual realm, the plan and heart of God in this generation, and how God has arranged things in eternity for this generation. They will know what a blessing it is to build God's glorious church!** Remember, disaster is not prepared for God's people.

I am repulsed by those who treat serving God as a hobby, serving God when they have time and prioritizing other things when they do not. I am not like that. Do not think that I only began to serve God wholeheartedly after becoming a pastor. Even when I was working, I was simultaneously working and shepherding people. Although I was not as victorious then, my service was still wholehearted, with all my soul, and with all my strength. I know that my hope and all my grace are in Jesus Christ. I can live without work, and my business can fail, but I cannot live without God! I made a very wise decision. From the time I believed in the Lord when I was young until now, my God has always been first. I can do without anything else.

My work and all my money are from God. Giving offerings is not a problem at all, nor is giving time. Therefore, you will not see me without time to serve. Recently, I received a call from an elderly sister. I did not necessarily have to take this call, but because of my love for God, I always have time to take such calls. Some people are far from this. Think about why you do not have time. Where does your time go? The things you do seem to have high priority, but upon closer inspection, that is not necessarily the case. Lovers always find time to meet. Some people wait for their girlfriends to put on makeup, enduring an hour in the cold wind without complaint, because that is love. At this time, love is patient and kind, recited with affection. Why then, is there no time or such patience for loving God?

**If you are a spiritual person, God will surely protect you, and this disaster is indeed prepared for those who are not spiritual. Be a spiritual person, and the people of God will not be put to shame.** Although this day has not yet fully arrived, we can already see the signs. There are already enough disasters. One brother's colleagues are diagnosed with cancer one after another. It is anyone's guess who is next. Previously, they did not have time to love God, but now that they have cancer, they have time. I told him to let go, but he still thinks that the world cannot function without him. When he gets cancer, he will not be able to let go even if he wants to. This is how it was with someone I used to serve. He could not let go of anything. After he died of cancer, the world continued to function as usual.

People think that their work is indispensable, but in reality, the world can function without anyone. This has been proven by experience. You are not that important. If you still think you are important, you are mistaken. **Be a spiritual person, always having time to serve God, always putting God first, dedicating oneself as God's people to God. Everything we have comes from God. If you still believe that everything is earned through your own efforts, then you are an Esau, living under a curse.**

## The People of God Will Never Be Put to Shame

**You will have plenty to eat, until you are satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. (Joel 2:26-27)**

If you are a spiritual person, you will never be put to shame. From the time of Abraham until now, the people of God will never be put to shame. If you are a Joseph, a person of God, a spiritual person, even if you are sold into Egypt or placed in prison, you will not be put to shame because God is with you, regardless of the circumstances. Since the creation of the world, all who belong to God will not be put to shame, meaning that God's promises and protection will not fail. You do not need to rely on anything else; simply choose to rely on God, and God will not fail you. Walls can fall, and trees can bend, but relying on God will never fail or collapse! God is our rock. The people of God will never be put to shame, from eternity to eternity, from now to forever! If you do not believe this is true, my life is clear evidence.

**The reason people live in such a chaotic state is simple: you are at odds with God, and God is at odds with you. Those who are worldly and fleshly are at odds with God.** How many of us are fleshly? How many are of God? We value our work as much as we value God, always having time for work but never having time to trust in God. Then we become miserable. Will we not tear our hearts and return to God? Therefore, I must tell you what it means for the people of God not to be put to shame.

**Then the Lord was zealous for his land and took pity on his people. The Lord replied to his people: “I am sending you grain, new wine, and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. (Joel 2:18-19)**

The people of God are not put to shame because you are the people of God and have everything. Your business will surely prosper, and the work of your hands will be blessed, because God is with you.

**I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will rise; its smell will ascend, because it has done such great things.” Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in faithfulness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. (Joel 2:20-24)**

The people of God will never be put to shame! How can the people of God lack anything? The people of God will surely have prosperous days.

**I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the swarming locust, the hopper locust and the destroying locust— my great army that I sent among you. (Joel 2:25)**

In the past, you were a worldly person, but now that you have become a person of God, God will restore all that the locusts, the swarming locusts, the hopper locusts, and the destroying locusts have eaten. What is wrong with trusting in God? Why must you rely on people? Do you now know what it means to never be put to shame?

**Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. (Joel 2:27)**

Do not think that the Israel mentioned here refers to the Israelites you normally speak of. **The true Israel refers to those who have the heart of Jacob, the genes of Jacob, and the heavenly hope in their hearts who become the true Jacob.** Those who once tried to love God, loved for a short period of time, and saw God's faithfulness, but later forgot, are not the true Israel. People do not know God's faithfulness, and God will restore all that the locusts, the swarming locusts, the hopper locusts, and the destroying locusts have eaten.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but do not think that you can simply shout, Lord, save us! You must be a spiritual person for God to save you. Otherwise, when God calls you, you will still think that God is trying to harm you. We always want to love this world, but this world is not lovable. What will you do when loving the world leads to disaster? Zion, Jerusalem, and Israel all refer to God's church, those who build the church, and the people of God. So, what kind of person are you?

If you are firm, you will find that nothing will happen, because the people of God will never be put to shame. God's promises will never fail. Some of our sisters say that their husbands do not allow them to attend gatherings. However, after persevering for a period of time, you will find that nothing will happen. Only if you kick him out will he not have the chance to kick you. If you are firm, nothing will happen, because trusting in God will not lead to shame. Can God not even handle these trivial matters? Where is our faith? Many of us have experienced such things, but I hope that you can listen now, always find a way, always be firm, and not use other things as excuses.

**The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Joel 2:31)**

This means that even with such great disasters that the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, the people of God will still not be put to shame, because this disaster is arranged by God. Everyone should look carefully. Perhaps the person I mentioned who loves the world is your son or your husband. If they are not the people of God, it is normal for disaster to come upon them, because they love this world. The people of God will surely prosper, so at the end of this world, the Lord Jesus will lead us to reign on earth for a thousand years. **God will lead us to reign, using an iron rod to govern this world. This world and the things of this world will pass away, but the people of God and our God will be completely united, forever and ever.** This is also what I hope for. Amen!

May God bless you all!