Levi Lusko - Roar Like a Mother

And when, as the Book of Joel describes, we go through hard things, we suffer loss, and we face various griefs, there’s a tendency to back down; there’s a tendency to run away because we feel afraid at times. And you know what? It is scary to grieve. It is scary to do the things that God has called us to do. In those moments, we are tempted toward worry and anxiety, but we must remember the roar is there to call us to our destiny.

Even though we feel fear, we can actually flip it, and we can use our fear to help us understand what God is calling us to do. As you find your way to Joel 3, if you’ve ever wondered where the world is heading, if you’ve ever wondered where history is moving toward, or if you’ve ever wondered how this is all going to end or play out, we have in front of us the answer: Joel 3:14 — Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem. The earth and the heavens will tremble, but the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

To put it bluntly, history is on a collision course with the roar of the Lord, which will thunder from Zion, and the whole world will tremble and grow dark as He roars. Now, in God’s sovereignty and His providence, we’ve come to this theme on Mother’s Day, so let me just say to you, happy Mother’s Day from my heart to yours, to every mom in the house. I love that our culture has sort of collectively decided that the word «mother» is shorthand for the most intense of anything. Have you noticed that? If something’s heavy, it’s not just heavy; it’s heavy as a mother, right? If something’s hot, it’s not just really hot; if it’s actually crazy hot, it’s hot like a mother. If you got hurt and someone asks, «How bad did it hurt?» you’re like, «Dude, that hurt like a mother.» I think that should be a compliment to all the moms-that that’s the pinnacle of all things, right? We’re trying to build bridges here, and when asked, «Were you really scared?» I say, «Dude, I was scared like a mother.» I was actually totally scared like a mother.

Wow. For better or for worse, we have picked this word to be the modifier of intensity, right? If something escalates to mother status, it is like the absolute top of the mountain. Interestingly enough, this is a language device that Jesus Himself employed. Now, I don’t know how you were going to finish my sentences there, you sinners. I just meant it wholesomely because I’m a man of God. Jesus, though, wanted to convey how much He loved the Jewish people, how much He loved Israel, that He had come and had been sent to His own, but tragically His own received Him not. So, seeking to convey His love for them in tears while weeping over the city of Jerusalem, He chose to communicate that love through a very interesting visual picture. He said, «Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.» He gives a sweeping summary of the Old Testament, describing how bad they had been historically. They had to use the adage «kill the messenger,» as people had called them to repent over and over again, and they had chosen to take out the messengers of repentance. He says, «How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.»

When seeking to communicate the depths of His love, Jesus could do no better than to say, «I love you how much? Like a mother.» In understanding Jesus’s love like a mother, we can see it in His service. He served like a mother, washing feet; He sacrificed like a mother, for there’s no greater love than to lay down your life for those you love. He chose to say, «I love like a mother, I served like a mother, I lived like a mother, and I long for you like a mother as well.»

So now we have these two sister themes: the love of a mother and the roar of the Lord. So I’ve titled this message «Roar Like a Mother,» which is the title for this talk today. At the world’s end, the roar of the Lord and the love of a mother come together in a very interesting way. According to the prophet Hosea, he said, Hosea 13:8, «I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage. Happy Mother’s Day! And there I will devour them like a lion; the wild beast shall tear them.» There is nothing quite so furious as a mother’s love.

I remember first seeing this up close when, as a child, we went roller skating. It was evening, and we got into the minivan after a really intense skate session. You know, we did the backward skate, the limbo-all of it! I’m telling you. Remember the roller rink? There was the arcade over there; you would put your quarter up-that was your place in line to play the video game. But afterwards, we were all piling into the minivan and about to drive away when my mom started the minivan up. The headlights turned on, and there was a man in a trench coat standing in front of our car in a creepy fashion, with this evil look in his eye. Then he opened up his trench coat, and he was wearing nothing! A flash! I didn’t even know that was real. We were horrified. My baby sister, who is here, and we were all there. And man, my mom, you know what she did? She shifted that sucker into drive. She said, «You mess with the wrong mom!» She chased that man all around that parking lot! I swear to you, she would be in prison today watching this message on the Pando app if that man had not jumped behind a dumpster. I’m telling you, right? She was like, «I will tear up your rib cage!» It was just intense-her desire to protect. I saw that fury that can cause a grown woman to lift up a car. Jesus understands that there’s nothing like the fury of a mama bear. You don’t mess with a mama bear’s cubs.

Now, context-wise, let’s just remember where we are. If you’re just jumping in now, parachuting into Joel 3, we’re glad you’re here. You’re like, «What happened? What did I miss?» What’s happened in the book so far? Oh, we got to catch you up on the locusts. We got to catch you up on the soldier horse army, right? We got to catch you up on the Day of the Lord Apocalypse. Now, basically, what we are in now is the battle of Armageddon-history’s last chapter. So you’ve missed a lot, but I’ll tell you really quickly what’s the deal here, okay?

Whenever we read prophetic literature in the scripture, we have to remember a concept called prophetic foreshortening. That is to say that mountain peaks can be layered upon mountain peaks upon mountain peaks. So you look like you’re just seeing one wall of mountains, but you may actually be describing mountains that are miles apart in separation. So it is when we read the prophets. So we read Joel; it opens up with a locust plague, and we think, «Oh, he’s talking about people dealing with a crisis because they were agricultural and depended on their gardens for livelihood-not like a big cutesy vanity project like my wife’s garden, right? That will just cost us a lot of money and time but never actually really nourish or feed anybody.» Happy Mother’s Day, Jenny. I love you! We’re so great! Shots fired, and I lost all the women.

They depended on their food to live, right? That’s all they had. There were no grocery stores; they couldn’t do a Costco run. So when locusts swept in and the plague wiped out all their food, they were destitute. And we’re like, «Oh, he’s talking about an actual instance of a plague.» Yes, he is. There’s your first wall of mountains: the immediate right need for the book was to speak to events in his day. But that’s not all; there were also events he was pointing them toward, imminent events, that is to say they weren’t there yet but they were coming relatively soon because the reason for the locusts was to get God’s people’s attention. Because even though they had the truth of who He was, they weren’t following Him; they weren’t walking with Him.

So it was actually a vehicle of His love that caused Him to discipline them in that way by allowing the locusts to come. You know, David the psalmist once wrote, «Before I was afflicted, I went astray.» What does that mean? That means, «I wasn’t doing good. I wasn’t going the right way, but the affliction that God allowed to come my way was a tool of His love.» No father loves his kid if he doesn’t discipline them- you' d raise a messed-up person. No discipline seems pleasant in the moment, but guess what? None of us who like discipline want to be undisciplined. Do you want to be undisciplined financially and just spend, spend, spend, spend, spend? Have no self-control and then have no money and be frustrated? No, you want to be disciplined financially. No one wants to be undisciplined when it comes to health-have no self-control when it comes to eating three double Whoppers, right? No one wants the result of being undisciplined, right? We’d all love abs, but nobody wants to do a sit-up.

You see what I’m saying, right? So discipline isn’t pleasant in the moment, but it’s desirable if we can learn from it. So God allowed the locusts to get the people’s attention so they would turn their hearts back to Him, and He told them, «If you don’t, something even worse is coming-not locusts, but what locusts seem like: an army! There’s going to be an invasion!» Right? And this is not just the immediate; it’s the imminent. But there’s a third plane of mountains, and that is the ultimate prophecy. The ultimate prophecy speaks to the prophet’s day, a coming day, and then far off in the future it points toward, hello, hello, hello-the day of the Lord-and that’s, of course, what we’re talking about using as shorthand the roar of the Lord: the roar of God who will come in vengeance, the roar of a mother as He comes like a mama bear whose cubs have been messed with. And so that’s what we’re pointed toward in this final chapter of the Book of Joel.

In context, Joel 3 culminates in a beautiful picture of Eden being restored. What’s beautiful about the day of the Lord is what comes immediately on the back end of it when the eternal state is ushered in and when we get to dwell forever in a place called heaven. Have you ever wondered what heaven’s going to be like? Come back in two weeks; we’re going to get to the section of the book that ends with a beautiful picture of what life looks like when our banishment from Eden is over and our exile has come to a conclusion. The next two weeks are going to be incredible-next week we’ll talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit, and it lines up in God’s grace with Pentecost-it’s going to be incredible! And then we’ll talk about heaven in two weeks.

But before the final eternal state, there’s the judgment- the judgment of the nations, and that’s what he refers to here in a court scene. Can you imagine that? The charges are now being brought: verse 2, «I will gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.»

«Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon, and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done; for you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasure to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.»

There’s a proverb, and that is: «Sow to the wind, you reap the whirlwind.» That’s essentially what we find here, as Joel is trying to articulate what the Book of Revelation describes in great detail, and that is the judgment of all flesh- everyone and every standing before God to give an account. This, by the way, is what should give us courage and comfort when we think about the injustices in the world. Because all of us go, «Gosh, it’s so awful; why doesn’t God do anything?» This date has already been fixed; God has already appointed the day — it’s already circled on His calendar where He will judge the world.

So when we go, «God, why aren’t you doing anything?» And some people, honestly, will turn from following God on the basis of «He hasn’t judged.» But He just hasn’t judged yet! He will! Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess. This moment is coming! So when we hear about some horrendous murder, rape, children being abused, and go, «Why doesn’t God do anything?» He’s going to! He’s going to! Why hasn’t He yet? Because He doesn’t delight in the death of the wicked, and He wants to give those who will be judged the opportunity to repent. God does not desire any to perish, but He wants everyone through repentance to experience eternal life. So this day is already fixed. Why is He holding back the judgment? He’s holding back the judgment because of His mercy. But this moment is coming, and when it comes, everything will come out. Why? Because God has both a bottle and a book. You need to know this about our God: He’s got a book, and He’s got a bottle. In fact, we’re told in Revelation 20: 12, at this judgment scene that describes from another vantage point and another aspect of it, because it’s not just a single event, right? The first coming of Jesus was 30 years; the second coming, or the day of the Lord, will be a similar period, with lots of different things that take place. And we see them compressed from certain perspectives but expanded from others.

In Revelation 20:12 it says, «And I saw the dead, both small and great, standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.» Of course, we know that no one who goes to heaven will be permitted or admitted unless their name is found written in the Book of Life. On the other hand, for God’s people, we can take comfort knowing that God does not just have a book; He also has a bottle. Psalm 56:8 says, «Lord, you number my wanderings; put my tears into your bottle; are they not written in your book?» What is He saying? There’s a crossover there: God catches every suffering of His people, His sons and daughters. So He catches every tear. But oftentimes, what causes us to tear up is the sins that were done against us-the harm done against us. And those actions are indeed written in the book.

Do you see? Everything is kept there. We don’t always get the action or the outcome of what He wrote down-like when Mordecai saved the king’s life, right? And he didn’t get a reward for it. And then one day, the king couldn’t sleep, and so he commanded the books to be brought in. They kept records of everything that happened, and he couldn’t sleep, so they- I love this guy-he’s like, «Yeah, bring in the court reporting. Read it to me.» And they’re reading, and he’s like, «Wait a minute! Stop! What? Someone saved my life, and I didn’t know about it? There was an assassination attempt?» And someone’s going to save my life? «Who? Who? Who? Who saved my life?» «Mordecai the Jew did.» «Oh my gosh! Did we ever thank him or reward him or honor him?» «Right? And no, actually, it says we didn’t do anything for him.»

You’re telling me someone saved my life, and he didn’t even get a thank you note? Now hold on. Pause. «Mordecai, who did this good deed and got nothing for it except his life becoming more complicated the more he served the king and more he served the Lord, the more enemies showed up?» What if he threw up his hands, walked away from God, or quit the job angrily and said, «You see what I’m saying?» But God keeps records. God-some of you mothers-you feel like, «God, no one sees what I’m doing.» Let me tell you something: God sees every single thing you’re doing. He sees what’s done in secret, and He will reward you openly! Just because the reward hasn’t come doesn’t mean it’s not coming! Just because the judgment hasn’t come doesn’t mean it’s not coming! He’s got your tears in a bottle; He intends to make the devil pay for every difficult thing that was brought against you. He intends to bring a harvest of righteousness in your life for every time you faithfully went forth, sowing while weeping.

And every harm done, every difficulty, every low blow, God has it all taken into account. And in the end — hear me-every wrong will be made right! So any verdict we would reach would be premature. Thank you so much for tuning in to this message from God’s word. We’re going to jump right back into it in a moment. But really quickly, if you are a parent of a teenager or a youth pastor, we want to invite you to come join us in Bigfork, Montana this summer, July 25th to 28th for Movement Conference, where we have youth groups and family groups coming-some to camp, some to stay in hotels-all to experience God in worship and His word. It’s going to be powerful! We just added Passion Music to the lineup. There are so many great guests coming: KB, Lisa Harper, Chad Beach, Matt Prater, Willie Robertson, and the list goes on! There’s Kane the band- we’re both going to be speaking-but it won’t be the same without you! So please register your family, register your youth group, join us-do it now so that you’re not worrying about it later. yMVMNT24.com. We just believe God’s going to raise up mighty men and women to do His work in this world, and we’d love for the teenagers in your life to be a part of it. Thank you so much! Now back to the message!

Our Father does all things well! When He comes, Jesus said in Matthew 25, «In His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.» Now, as I said, there are multiple different aspects to this. There’s not just a judgment; there are multiple different judgments. There will be judgment for believers. That judgment is not a life-death judgment; that’s an award ceremony for what we did with what we had while we could.

I believe, like a golfer with a handicap, it will be factored in what you had given to you, what complexities were yours, right? So if you were given much but you did little, you won’t receive the same award as someone who had little but with little did much. Do you see? So it’s not about, «Oh yeah, she did that, so I can roughly benchmark myself with how much my sister’s doing or how much that youth pastor’s doing, or how much that ministry is doing over there.» They might have far more challenges than you; you might have far more opportunities than them. God has entrusted you with the level of influence and opportunity and connection and the family you were raised in, right? So God expects a return on investment with what you’ve been given.

So the Bema judgment is one aspect for the believer; there’s the life-death judgment -heaven, hell. But there’s also this judgment of the nations. What is the basis of this judgment that Jesus referred to, that Joel referred to? This boils down to the phrase «My people and My land.» He takes it personally, it would seem, when people come against the nation of Israel. Why is that? Because God is a covenant-keeping God! Whenever He makes a covenant, guess what? He’s going to keep it! Heaven and earth might pass away, but not one word that proceeds from the mouth of God!

So He makes a covenant with Noah that He will never again destroy the earth by water, and guess what, honey? He hasn’t! He has made a covenant with Adam. He has made a covenant with Moses. He made an everlasting covenant with David; rather, that his seed would sit on David’s throne; and in Revelation, we find that Jesus will rule and reign on the throne of David forever! But He also made a covenant with a man named Abraham. One aspect of the Abrahamic covenant- because that’s what theologians do; they make the covenant name really official by just adding «-ic» to the end of the person’s name-this is David’s covenant- it’s Davidic. It’s Noah’s covenant; that’s the Noachic covenant. There’s Abraham’s covenant. What should we call it? Abrahamic! Yeah, that’s it! That’s what we’re going to call it!

So the Abrahamic covenant goes like this: Genesis 12:3 — «I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.» I believe that one of the reasons that God has blessed the United States as He has has been for our alliance with Israel. I believe we cannot expect for there to be continued blessing where there’s not support of political Israel, of the actual nation of Israel, as they’re tied through genealogy to Abraham.

God takes it personally, like a mother bear, when her cubs are messed with. Zechariah 2:8 says, «Thus says the Lord of hosts: He sent me after glory to the nations which plunder you; he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.» Like you having your eye poked by someone’s finger, that’s how God feels when the land and His people are messed with-because God’s a covenant-keeping God. Throughout history, you can see it has not historically gone well when people come against the nation of Israel, even though so often far outnumbered, far swallowed up by a sea of hatred all around it.

But how has that worked? You think about Balaam, right? You know the story with the talking donkey, right? You’re like, «Shrek?» No, no, this is Balaam! No, this one did not like waffles! Okay? Balaam was a sorcerer who would cast spells and incantations using demonic power over people, and he was for hire. He would use that, just any money that would come, he’d use that gift. Now, I believe that he had a supernatural ability that God intended to be harnessed for good, but he was choosing to use it for evil.

We can utilize gifts that God has given us that are meant to do good, and they can be perverted and used for evil. Adam had the ability to speak over things, and whatever he called it, that’s what it was. That gift, which is in your mouth too, can cause life or death to flow. You can speak life over someone; you can speak death over someone. It’s both in the power of the tongue because God entrusted that ability to us.

So Balaam had this ability to speak blessings and pronounce curses, and a king named Balak hated God’s people and wanted them cursed. So he thought, «I’ll give Balaam a ton of money, and he’ll curse God’s people.» And you should read the Bible sometime because it’s highly interesting and hilarious. God is going to such great lengths to stop Balaam from cursing the Jews because He knows exactly what will happen if he successfully curses the Jews. Balaam’s in big trouble because of the covenant that God made with Abraham, and He’s a covenant-keeping God. Are you with me?

So Balaam is heading on his donkey to go curse God’s people, and God sends an angel with a sword that only the donkey can see and not Balaam- not Balaam! And the donkey’s like, «Ah! Donkey angel with sword! Must go!» So he tries to turn around, and Balaam’s like, «Stupid F-150! I’m trying to go this way!» And he hits the donkey with his stick. The donkey won’t stop, and finally, he’s trying to urge it on, and so the donkey goes into the wall-the rock wall-and crushes Balaam’s foot against the wall. And Balaam is like, «If I had a sword, I would kill you!» That’s what he says! And the donkey rears back and goes, «Haven’t I been a good donkey to you all these years? Isn’t this out of character for me? Don’t you think that maybe something’s going on that makes me not want to go forward?» And then, right then, Balaam, who by the way, had just been talking to a donkey, doesn’t skip a beat. He just responds back to it-he doesn’t say, «Wait! You talk?» He says, «If I had a sword, I’d kill you!»

And the donkey goes, «Don’t you think?» And Balaam looks up, and there’s an angel with a sword, and Balaam’s like, «Thank you, donkey! Thank you!» But he still nonetheless persevered and persisted and went to curse God’s people. Balaam’s got him all the money. He gets up on a mountain, cracks his knuckles, gets all his witchcraft mojo on, and then he stands up on the mountain and tries to curse Israel who’s down below. And every time he opens his mouth, God messes with him so that blessings come out instead of curses.

So he’s like, «I’m going to tell them they’re-» Oh, you’re going to like this one. He’s like, «May God bless you and keep you, and cause His face to shine upon you and be merciful to you. May you become strong and victorious and destroy the stupid king over here!» And he’s like, «No, no! Like all red-faced and mad!» He’s like, «I don’t know what happened! Performance anxiety-I apologize! May you increase in might and be rich and wealthy and strong!» Right? Like… and finally he’s like, «I don’t know-man, you’re on your own!»

Right? Like it just does not work to curse what God has blessed because God will make a way where there is no way. Ask the Assyrians, ask the Babylonians, ask Pharaoh, who sent horse and rider chasing down God’s people, and they ended up drowned in the sea! Ask Nebuchadnezzar, ask Haman! There was one specific person whose entire life purpose was to annihilate the Jewish people, and what happened to him? He ended up hanging from the gallows he built to hang Mordecai on. God has a personal love and affection for His people, and that has been established!

And God, I believe, still has a remaining plan for the nation of Israel, and our hearts as Christians should be to long for God to bring Israel to know Him because not all Israel that’s physically is spiritually saved. Romans 2 talks about it; it’s not about a circumcision of the body but a circumcision of the heart. And God has a plan for Israel’s eyes to be opened just like He has a plan for every single people around the world to come into a saving relationship with His Son.

Now, when we come to faith in Jesus, if you have put your faith in Jesus, the Book of Romans tells us that we’ve been grafted into the olive tree, which is a metaphor for Israel. We are His, by redemption. Okay? So we are, spiritually speaking, sons and daughters then of Abraham, and I’ve got good news for you: God’s covenant, which is based on Jesus, not your good deeds, not how awesome you are, it’s based on Jesus-now has brought you into that covenant, and God extends protection over your life as well. Any attack or harm done to His church, Jesus views it as personal harm done to Him.

Now you’re like, «Levi, I’m going to need chapter and verse for that. I studied all week; I’m ready for you!» Acts 9:4: Paul the Apostle, previously named Saul of Tarsus, was trying to destroy the church. Jesus, like the Balaam story, knocks him to the ground. He’s blinded with the great light, and he says, «Who are you, Lord?» And what does He say? He says, «Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?» «I am Jesus whom you’ve persecuted.» Now hold on! He wasn’t persecuting Jesus; he was persecuting the church, and Jesus says, «You’re messing with me, bro.»

He takes harm done to His church as harm done to Him, and so in this moment when He is prepared to write the wrongs and to deal with all these grievances, all these issues, He’s ready to empty out the bottle and open up the books, and it will all be laid bare, and every mouth will be stopped. He sort of calls the peoples of the world who are against His chosen to war. That’s the best way I can describe verses 9 through 13: it’s Him throwing down the gauntlet.

Here’s what it seems will happen as a part of Jesus’s return, visible and glorious, on a white horse, with a sword coming out of His mouth, and the armies of heaven, both angelic and saintly, alongside of Him, prepared to rule and reign with Him. In that moment as He steps down, He will do so, by the way, to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, in Israel-and there needs to be an Israel for that to happen. And guess what? Since 1948, there has been an Israel again, which there wasn’t before that for almost 2,000 years since the Roman general Titus, under his father Vespasian, tore the city brick from brick and drove the nation of Israel scattered to the wind. For 2,000 years, they persisted as a people without a country until all of a sudden, in relatively recent history, we have the Jews once again living in this nation of Israel.

And it should not surprise us one bit that there’s satanic hatred whipped up into a frenzy again and again and again from all the other surrounding nations that are far more numerous than them and want to destroy them and want there to not be an Israel! Why? Because Satan hates whatever God loves, and God has chosen to set His love for His own purposes upon the nation of Israel. So when Jesus returns to Israel, He will be glorious and powerful.

There will be a very bad plan on the part of the Antichrist who will deceive the nations, and he’ll tell them, «We need to destroy that Jesus!» And we’re like, «Are you kidding me? He just came down bright like the sun, and your plan is to destroy Him?» Right? It reminds me of when Lazarus got raised from the dead in John 11. You remember that story? «Lazarus, come forth!» The Jewish leaders were like, «Dang it! Everyone’s getting saved and believing in Jesus because he raised Lazarus from the dead!» And you know their plan was, «Let’s kill Lazarus!»

Come on, guys, don’t you have a whiteboard? Can’t you like go brainstorm this and come up with a better plan? He just raised him from the dead; you think that’s going to stop him? So when Jesus is there on the Mount of Olives, here’s what happens: People are going to say, «We’re going to attack Him!» And so you know what Jesus does? He goes like this: «Hit me with your best shot,» right? Like, literally, He’s going to pull a Clint Eastwood and say, «Go ahead, make my day!»

And that’s what these verses are! He says, «All right-proclaim this message among the nations: prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack!» He says, «In fact, if you’re going to come, come all together, every one of you! Let’s get everybody here to step up to this!» He says, «But you’re going to need weapons! And I don’t think you got enough!»

He’s looking at all the nuclear arsenals on earth; He’s looking at every warhead; He’s like, «I don’t think that’s enough! Okay, let’s get the farmers involved too.» So look what He says-He says, «Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears!» He’s saying, «Take anything you can find and turn it into a weapon!» Do you see? He’s being sarcastic here! He’s like, «Get your toothbrushes and turn them into shanks and shivs! Whatever you got, let the weakling say, 'I’m strong! '» Jesus is talking trash!

He loves like a mother, talks trash like a sailor, okay? Because that’s what this is. It’s essentially His heart to wipe the smile off His enemy’s face-those who have come against God’s people. And by the way, He takes personally anything that comes against you! If you’ve ever grieved, I want you to take comfort in the rage and the fury of Jesus. He so hates the grief that has broken your heart that He has already planned out in advance, 2,000 years ago, exactly what He’s going to say the day He smashes death’s face in! He’s going to say, «I thought you had some sting! Where’s your victory now?»

He has already, like, pre-planned His taunt over the grave for that last final day. I’ve said it before; I' ll say it again: Jesus is amazing! And here on this day, He is just having fun! «Come quickly all you nations from every side! Assemble there! Bring down your warriors, Lord!» So now He’s going to call down His angelic warriors, and we’re going to see, «Oh shoot!» Right? Because now all the angels are now visible in that moment, and He’s going to tell the nations, «Be roused, nations! Let them advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat!» That’s a word that means «The Lord judges.» That’s where He’s going to choose for this to happen «For there I will sit to judge all nations on every side!»

Now He says, «Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Come trample the grapes, for the winepress is full, and the vats overflow so great is their wickedness!» And here the Lord will roar from Zion!

Now, I’ve read in commentaries that that phrase-the Lord will roar- this is coming! This is where history is heading! If you wondered, this is it! This is what history’s last chapter looks like. That phrase ended up becoming a part of the battle cry for the nation of Israel. And I love that! I love that they associated the roar of the Lord with them running toward battle! My hope, my prayer for each of you, what I sense the reason God has us in this moment for such a time as this, is for us to realize and to understand the power of running toward the roar!

We don’t need to be timid; we don’t need to be scared; we don’t need to be afraid! We can run! And when I say run, I’m talking about the race of faith! That every single day that you get up, it’s another day to continue to run toward the roar-to run toward the roar of Him who has a voice like thunder! My point is, we’re on the winning team! Do you see what reason we have to be afraid? If God is for us, who can be against us? How is it all going to turn out? With Jesus victorious and us by His side!

So we have no reason to be dismayed, to be discouraged. Jesus would say to us, «Why the long faces? Don’t you understand what I’ve done? Don’t you understand that it is I? Don’t you understand that I have risen and that all my plans shall come to pass?» So we can run toward the roar! All of the Christian life is a run toward what God has for us. Now, it’s not a feverish sprint, okay? You’ve got to pace yourself, right? It’s a long-distance run. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit would settle you into your gait and that you would gradually and consistently just continue to move toward that finish line when you’re going to hear God say to you, «Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Lord!» That every day, you would just continue to run and build up your endurance.

You get better and better at running by doing one thing and one thing only-running. That is what we are to see this life as-a picture of. So we’re running toward the roar- the roar of, number one, His glory. Let’s run toward the roar of God’s glory in the difficulty of figuring out all these things. I mean, it’s challenging to understand all of the factors involved in God’s sovereignty.

Part of you, if you’re like me, goes, «Hey, wait! Time out! How can the nations be judged for doing God’s bidding? Because didn’t God invite the locusts in when His people were off track? Cause yes he did! And didn’t God invite the Greeks in and the Romans in and the Babylonians in? Didn’t God invite Egypt in to do His bidding to some degree when they came against God’s people? Wasn’t it because God had turned off the force field because He was needing to get His people’s attention? Yes!

Here’s something we need to just noodle on for a second. God’s sovereignty allowed Him to utilize the sinful decisions of people to accomplish His purposes, but that does not remove the culpability of those who were involved! Figure that one out and you’ll be God! So what’s the greatest example of this of all time? The cross! How did the cross happen? Through the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, who from before the beginning of time had already decided that you were worth Him spilling His blood!

So Jesus is a lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, but that does not take away or change the sinfulness of Pilate and his cowardice, of Judas and his betrayal, of the hatred and animosity and envy of the Jewish leaders who lied and sought to get this all pushed through! So it accomplished God’s purposes at the end of the day, but all along the way, there were the sinful choices of people.

That is to say, God did not make them do those things; they chose to do it! Just like they chose to sell Joseph into slavery-his brothers-God accomplished what He wanted with it, but those who chose sin in the moment still have their day of reckoning. That should give us great comfort! That no matter what comes against us, God’s going to use it for His glory! And there will be a day where the wrongs are made right, and in it all, God is going to receive glory!

The same glory that day unto day waterfalls, and the aurora borealis, every star in the night sky, every beautiful scene in the depths of the ocean all declaring the glory of God! And when we choose to open up our lungs and praise Him, guess what? We’re participating with that great big old lion inside of our lungs-that’s released through thanksgiving and worship!

We, through our roar, are joining into the symphony of roar that day unto day, night after night-never stops! And that we’ll get to participate in forever! So let’s run toward the roar- the roar of His glory! This, secondly, the roar of your story! Lions hunt by sending a big lion to the front of what they’re trying to kill, and it roars, and the wildlife or animal will be scared of the roar and run away straight into the jaws of the two lions they didn’t know were behind them. By running away from the roar, it runs toward certain death!

So it is in your journey! I believe God wants your life to be a roar story! And so He’s going to call you to do things that scare you! Especially if you’re in grief, there can be a lot of acts of obedience toward healing that will be scary in the moment. And if you live your life running away from the roar because you’re scared, giving in to your fears, you will have to abandon your destiny and your calling and your birthright in the process!

But if you’re willing to turn your journey into a roar story one day at a time, you can flip it and use your fears as a diagnostic indicator to sniff out your calling because the enemy is only trying to keep you back from what he’s scared of, and that’s why he never opposes actions and acts that keep us sedentary -lazy! If you choose to spend a whole afternoon eating chips and watching Netflix, there’s never going to be any resistance! You’re not going to be afraid, right? You’re like, „This is easy! It just happened!“

Right? The resistance comes when you try and step out in faith- to start that business, step out in faith to share the gospel, step out in faith to send that text inviting someone to come to church with you, or to do a good deed. That’s where there’s friction; that’s where it’s difficult, right? And so when we feel that fear, that same old fear, we can go, „Okay, wait a minute! I know what’s going on here! You’re trying to keep me back from what God has for me! I’m not going to let that happen! I’m going to run toward the roar so that my story can be a part of His glory!“

And then, of course, at the end of the day, history’s last chapter-what is it going to be? It’s going to be the roar of His victory! And we can settle our hearts and be calm in our anxieties knowing how things are all going to turn out when Jesus returns!

So what about between now and then? What about between now and the day when Jesus returns? And by the way, if you’ve been picturing the valley and the battle of Armageddon to be this epic clash of titans, the demons-then you’ve just watched too much „Kamen“ as a child, to be completely honest with you! If you see it like demons and like the „Gen Z“ crowd-I have no idea! And you’re, „No! You’re better off!“ I’m going to be completely honest with you!

If you’re seeing the demons and the angels fighting, and they’re having a totally hard match fighting against the forces of the Antichrist-no! Don’t picture like „Endgame“ where it’s like, „Oh my gosh! Captain America’s lost his shield again, and it’s all going bad! We don’t know who’s going to win here!“ Let me tell you how it’s all going to go! Alright, 2 Thessalonians! We’re told this exact phrase; I think we might have it up here on the screen. This is Him destroying the lawless one who will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and the splendor of His coming!

If you’re going to take a photo, take it very quickly, because you will miss it if you blink! He will roar once, and it will all be over! And that’s why it says when the nations are approaching, He’s seated; He doesn’t even need to stand up! He’ll be there on His seat-give one roar, and it’s done! But what about between now and then?

Between now and then, we R-O-A-R! R: remember! Remember His love for us; remember what really matters! Remember this moment of standing before God! We, secondly, occupy! R-O-A-R. O: occupy. Jesus said in Luke 19, „Occupy until I come.“ What does that mean, Levi? That means He has a Great Commission-a plan to save the whole world! He does not want one person to end up in hell; He does not want one person to end up judged! He wants every single person to repent and experience the power of everlasting life! And you and I are meant to be a vehicle of that happening!

So we are to be a part of the Great Commission! We are to be a part of everyone everywhere coming to know the love of Jesus! That’s why He said it’s not the small commission; it’s the Great Commission! Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature! Now, if you’re thinking, „Alright, Great Commission! I’m going to need a soapbox! I’m going to need a street corner! I’m going to start yelling at some angry sinners about how they need to turn or burn! Get right or get left!“ Right? I’m going to really see them — it was a good rapture joke! „I’m going to really get after it! I’m just doing something big for God!“

Hold on! Hold on! You can cancel your soapbox order from Amazon, ladies and gentlemen! Some of you are like, „Wait, I’m buying it right now! What are you talking about?“ Here we go! 1 Thessalonians 4, these are Christians who were quitting their jobs because they wanted to be ready for the end of the world, and they were making all kinds of mistakes with how they were living! And Paul said, „Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands just as we told you.“

We talk a lot about the power of Sabbath-one day off out of seven. Do we remember there are six other days in the week, and God’s blessing is on those too- not just the day of rest! He intends for the other six days, besides the day that we give to Him, to be a day where we report for duty, occupying until He comes! By punching in at our jobs with a quiet, sweet spirit and a work ethic of integrity and excellence, doing what we said we would do, doing more than is asked of us, under-promising, and over- delivering, and minding our own business.

And then one day, someone’s going to tap on our shoulder, and go, „Hey you!“ You’re like, „Yeah, that’s me; what’s up?“ They’re going to say, „What’s the deal with you?“ „What? I don’t know-what do you mean?“ „I’ve just been minding my own business, doing excellent work, never complaining, and not being a total jerk! It’s crazy, I know!“ „Yeah, what’s the deal with you?“ „I don’t know; God changed my life! God touched me with His grace! I can know more about this Jesus whom you serve?“ I guess so!

You see what I’m saying? This is how we change the world! It’s not these big, loud, flashy things that get the gospel into the whole world; it’s each of us uniquely occupying our individual spheres! We think about the world geographically, and we should; we care for the nations! Here at Fresh Life, we long for our Muslims to come to know Jesus Christ around the world, and Hindus to come to know Jesus Christ around the world! We want everybody to know Jesus! And so geographically, yes, what about the world of sports, the world of medicine, the world of fashion, the world of aviation?

You see what I’m saying? The world of real estate! You and I each have individual access to people, and if we will mind our own business and live a quiet life, and work hard with our hands, it will open up doors for us to have coffee and conversation and be positioned around other people who will go through hard things, who we can point to our Savior who has given us a life built on a rock so they can come to know Him too! In Jesus' name! Come on! Do we have a vision for the next 40, 50 years? Can we see ourselves saying, „Hey, God, I’m going to occupy till I come! You send me into that classroom! You send me into that boardroom! You send me into that ambulance! I’m going to be there. Whoever you put, send me someone to bless! Send me someone to pray for! I dare you send me someone to care about! In Jesus' name! I don’t care who gets the credit!“

You see what I’m saying? Occupy! R O A is assemble! Assemble together with God’s people! Because those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of our God! And if you get off track in any of the previous things — remembering, occupying, or assembling-what do you do? Repent! You repent, which is to say, if you get off track, turn around!

Has there ever been a time in your life when you were more madly in love with Jesus than you are right now? More passionate about His word? Taking more opportunities to share your faith? More excited to worship? If that’s the case, extrapolate out the next 10 years. If something doesn’t change, you will not get closer to Him by accident! You will continue to drift and remain, and end up far more off course than you are today unless you repent!

Repentance is that tiny little action to trim your sails and to get your bearings and to get back on the heading that’s going to take you towards where you want to be when you stand before Jesus to hear what He thought about what you did with the life that He was willing to bleed for you to have. R-O-A-R!

I want to close as we began, talking about the love that causes a mother to roar with fury and protection. I don’t know how I didn’t know this, but apparently mother hens-that Jesus said, „I’m like that!“ — if a fire comes through a prairie, they will gather their chicks under them and sit down as low as they can and let the fire come across them and consume them. And after the prairie fire is over, if you’ll come, you’ll find a scorched mother hen! And think, „Is it just death?“ But if you tip it over, it’s like a miracle cycle of life! Little alive baby chicks will come scurrying out! Why? Because greater love has no one than this-that someone would lay down their life for their friends! That’s Jesus!

We talk about His judgment and the sword coming out of His mouth-that’s not what He wants! He wants you to be saved! That’s why He was willing to go through the flames of death and judgment for you! Yes, He’s the lion of Judah, but He is a lamb slain, wounded for our transgressions, pierced through for our rebellion. And if today you put your sins and your soul in His pierced hands, He will save you and forgive you! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done; it doesn’t matter where you’ve been! He became a curse for you so you could walk in God’s blessing!

Does not the donkey and Balaam tell you anything? It’s this: God would much rather bless you and use you than curse you! So I pray, Father, for my brothers and sisters, especially those who, like me, have reason to trim their sails a bit, to check some things, to tweak some things in the calendar, the budget, and to how we spend our time-to keep our life that’s a race of faith moving towards You! And I pray for any who' ve come today who don’t know You that You would draw them into a saving relationship with Your Son, Jesus Christ.

If you’re here and, while your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed, you would say, „Man, I don’t have that hope; I don’t have that peace; I don’t have the knowledge of everlasting life! And I don’t know when I die if my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life-it can be! He’ll write it in right now! And then you’ll get to heaven and find out it was written there from before the foundation of the world because God’s sovereign! God knows all things; He’s omniscient! If that’s you, I’m describing, and you say, 'Pray for me, Levi; I want to be saved! I want to come to know Him! ' Or I’m a prodigal son or daughter-I’ve wandered; I want to come back to the Father’s house today! If that’s you, I’m describing, church online, Pando app, YouTube, and Spotify, every single person who can hear the sound of my voice-you’re not too old; you’re not too young!

If you hear and understand and sense the Spirit calling you, open the door of your heart to Him! He’ll come in! Say this prayer with me, church family; pray it with us. Dear God, please come into my heart and save me! Thank you for the cross! Thank you for the resurrection! Thank you for new life! I give You mine. In Jesus' name!