Weeping from the door post to the altars:

We have to make up our minds if this Book is absolute or obsolete. It's either got the answer for our generation or forget it. We have to make up our minds that preaching is not a profession, it's a passion which is drawn from broken hearts.

Listen to Joel:
Joel 1:13-20 (GW) 13 Put on your sackcloth and mourn, you priests. Cry loudly, you servants of the altar. Spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God. Grain offerings and wine offerings are withheld from your God's temple. 14 Schedule a time to fast! Call for an assembly! Gather the leaders and everyone who lives in the land. Bring them to the temple of the Lord your God, and cry to the Lord for help. 15 This will be a terrible day! The day of the Lord is near, and it will come like destruction from the Almighty. 16 Food disappears right before our eyes. Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God's temple. 17 Seeds shrivel up in their shells. Storehouses are destroyed. Barns are ruined. The grain has dried up. 18 The animals groan. Herds of cattle wander around confused. There's no pasture for them. Even flocks of sheep are suffering. 19 O Lord, I cry to you for help! Fire has burned up the open pastures. Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards. 20 Even wild animals long for you. Streams run dry. Fire has burned up the open pastures.

The Book of the Prophet Joel is a three-fold vision that should serve as a prophetic insight into what is facing the modern church. This three-fold vision can be divided into these revelatory observations:

1. That which they were presently facing - in this case an actual plague of locust that had come in and devoured the land
2. That which was soon to come - the invasion of the land by the armies of Judah’s enemies.
3. That which was conditionally promised - an outpouring of the Spirit of God as a result of the repentance
Not unlike in the days of the Prophet Joel, the church of today is in much the same condition as Judah was in that day. Judah had allowed the idolatrous worship of Baal, the people were walking in lawlessness and the priest had ceased to teach the law and were no longer serving God with a pure heart.

Hear Nehemiah:
Nehemiah 1:1-11 (GW) 1 These are the words of Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah: During the month of Chislev, in Artaxerxes' twentieth year as king, while I was in the fortress at Susa, 2 one of my brothers, Hanani, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had survived captivity and about Jerusalem. 3 They told me, “Those who survived captivity are in the province. They are enduring serious troubles and being insulted. The wall of Jerusalem has been broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.” 4 When I heard this, I sat down and cried. I mourned for days. I continued to fast and pray to the God of heaven. 5 I said, “Lord God of heaven, great and awe-inspiring God, you faithfully keep your promise and show mercy to those who love you and obey your commandments. 6 Open your eyes, and pay close attention with your ears to what I, your servant, am praying. I am praying to you day and night about your servants the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against you as well as the sins that my father's family and I have committed. 7 We have done you a great wrong. We haven't obeyed the commandments, laws, or regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. 8 Please remember what you told us through your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me and continue to obey my commandments, though your people may be driven to the most distant point on the horizon, I will come and get you from there and bring you to the place where I chose to put my name.' 10 These are your servants and your people whom you have saved by your great power and your strong hand. 11 Lord, please pay attention to my prayer and to the prayers of all your other servants who want to worship your name. Please give me success today and make this man, King Artaxerxes, show me compassion.” I was cupbearer to the king at this time.

We feel a little nervous these days of talking about human depravity.

• Well, heaven knows, there has never been as much depravity around as we have today.
• Look at the iniquity that was on the earth when the prophet Elijah came on the scene.
• The nation was in bondage to idolatry, and impurity, and infidelity, and indifference.

And it's my contention this morning that this pulpit is no place for puppets.
In this day in which we live it's prophets that we need.

Look at the heart of Daniel:

Daniel 9:2-20 (GW) 2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from the Scriptures the number of years that Jerusalem would remain in ruins. The Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem would remain in ruins for 70 years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and looked to him for help. I prayed, pleaded, and fasted in sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God. I confessed and said, “Lord, you are great and deserve respect as the only God. You keep your promise and show mercy to those who love you and obey your commandments. 5 We have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commandments and laws. 6 We haven't listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the common people. 7 You, Lord, are righteous. But we—the men of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, and all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far—are still ashamed because we have been unfaithful to you. 8 We, our kings, leaders, and ancestors are ashamed because we have sinned against you, Lord. 9 “But you, Lord our God, are compassionate and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. 10 We never listened to you or lived by the teachings you gave us through your servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has ignored your teachings and refused to listen to you. So you brought on us the curses you swore in an oath, the curses written in the Teachings of your servant Moses. We sinned against you. 12 So you did what you said you would do to us and our rulers by bringing a great disaster on us. Nowhere in the world has anything ever happened like what has happened to Jerusalem. 13 This entire disaster happened to us, exactly as it was written in Moses' Teachings. Lord our God, we never tried to gain your favor by turning from our wrongs and dedicating ourselves to your truth. 14 So you were prepared to bring this disaster on us. Lord our God, you are righteous in everything you do. But we never listened to you. 15 “Lord our God, you brought your people out of Egypt with your strong hand and made yourself famous even today. We have sinned and done evil things. 16 Lord, since you are very righteous, turn your anger and fury away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Jerusalem and your people are insulted by everyone around us because of our sins and the wicked things our ancestors did. 17 “Our God, listen to my prayer and request. For your own sake, Lord, look favorably on your holy place, which is lying in ruins. 18 Open your ears and listen, my God. Open your eyes and look at our ruins and at the city called by your name. We are not requesting this from you because we are righteous, but because you are very compassionate. 19 Listen to us, Lord. Forgive us, Lord. Pay attention, and act. Don't delay! Do this for your sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” 20 I continued to pray, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel. I humbly placed my request about my God's holy mountain in front of the Lord my God.

Tell me what you hear in these men that is missing in our houses of worship today?
• How many warnings did the Kingdom of Judah receive to repent and return to the place that God had desired?
• How many warnings has the Body of Christ received to repent from our spiritual harlotry and religiously disguised idolatry and come back to fidelity in Jesus?
•Where is the weeping over our lost family members? Where is the passion for the heart of the Lord?

We have all changed and not for the best…
Lucifer has taken our fight, taken our passion, taken our prayers for the lost and replaced them with Lord Bless Me! Lord Comfort Me! Lord help Me! Lord Give me!

Who will weep for the lost as one who has lost an only child?

Let’s Pray
Lord Restore the weeping heartof your servants, Lord Restore our fight, Lord forgive our many sins and the sins of our families and this nation. Send a refreshing from the Lord that will lift us from the depths of lethargy and self serving prayers. Raise up your people and let the world gasp at the changes you have made in us. Enough of the laughter of a secular world that ridicules and mocks your people Lord. Raise a people in this hour that have not only your heart, but your mind.
In Jesus Name Lord, Be glorified in your Church and among your people forever.
Amen