Some Assembly Required
Preached on February 13th, 2005 at 11:00AM by Pastor Brian Greene - 00:41:03
Listen to the sermon: Some Assembly Required
Joel 1:13-14 (King James Version): Gird yourselves, and lament (be sad) ye priests: howl (cry out), ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth (humbleness), ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the House of your God (because of the catastrophe).
Sanctify (set aside) ye a fast, call a SOLEMN (earnest; sincere) ASSEMBLY, gather the elders and the inhabitants of the land into the House of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.
Joel 2:15 - 19: Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify (set aside) a fast, call a SOLEMN ASSEMBLY:
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, ASSEMBLE the elders, gather the children, and (Change to the Message Bible Version here) … even the nursing babies, Even the men and women on their honey moon - interrupt them and get them there.
Between the Sanctuary entrance and the altar, let the priests, God’ servants, weep tears of repentance. Let them intercede: “Have mercy, God, on your people! Don’t abandon your heritage to contempt. Don’t let the pagans take over and rule them and sneer, ‘And so where is this God of theirs?”
At that (The Fasting Solemn Assembly), God went into action…He took pity on His people. (KJV states, “Then will the Lord be JEALOUS for his land and pity His people.”)
God answered and spoke to His people, “Look, listen - I’m sending a gift: Grain and wine and olive oil. THE FAST IS OVER - eat your fill! I won’t expose you any longer to contempt…
In reading chapter one, we discover that a natural catastrophe has occurred in the nation of Judah (Praise). A plague of locust has destroyed not only the nation’s food supply, but also its economy. And God uses Joel (whose name means “Jehovah is God.”) to explain that He is using this national calamity in order to get Judah’s attention because something bigger is about to occur if things in that nation don’t change!
Everything is negative and gloomy in chapter one and part of chapter two until verse 18 of chapter 2, which states “Then will the Lord be jealous for His land and pity His people.”
The thing that changed everything was the Fasting Solemn Assembly.
It seems like nowadays you cannot purchase anything without having to assemble some pieces together in order to get it to function properly. Last evening, I was in a store looking at an ottoman and the box stated that in order to use it properly “some assembly would be required.”
When I was in High School, we had a function called “Assembly.” This is when my entire grade or the entire school would “gather together” in the auditorium to see a special event, as ordered by the Principal.
There are times when God has told His people that He wants everyone’s attention and not just the attention of a few people. This is one of those times! God needs us to assemble together in Prayer & Fasting during this Lent Season Consecration (February 9th to March 27th) as a church and a congregation.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES of Solemn Assemblies
- 1st Samuel chapter 7 (Called by The Prophet Samuel).
- 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 (Called by King Jehoshophat).
- Esther chapter 4 (Called by Queen Esther).
- Jonah chapter 3 (Called by The King of Nineveh).
- Acts chapters 1 & 2 (Called by The Apostles).
In each case the Solemn (serious, earnest) Assembly (gathering) was called together by a leader (a principal). And in each case, the solemn assembly resulted in tremendous success & victory for God’s people. This is the result we are after for Pentecostal Tabernacle.
APPLICATION
During this Lent Season Consecration join a church or our church in fasting (going without food for at least one meal). Choose one week and spend that time with God in Bible reading and prayer. But remember: “Some Assembly is Required” in order for some things to work properly. So try to join us once per week during our Morning Prayer time. Join us during our Tuesday evening time. Join one of the Ministry Groups offered. Our Christian lives will not function properly without our assembling ourselves together with other believers.
