All right, well, let's take our
Bibles and turn back to the book of Obadiah. Obadiah. We've been looking at this precious
book. One chapter, one chapter. Almighty God moved upon this
man, Unlike many of his prophets who wrote numerous chapters,
God was pleased to speak through this man in these few words,
21 verses in this whole book. And the spirit of God moved upon
a prophet named Obadiah to reveal God's will and wisdom. to his
people. The wisdom of God to send his
son to suffer, die, redeem a people from the enemies of God Almighty,
the enemies of his people. In this book, we're going to
learn something of God's mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, we're going to suffer in
this world. Now, the Lord has promised that.
Scripture says, 2 Timothy 2.12, Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Persecution from
this world Those that hate God, they hated me, the Lord said,
before they hated you. But we're going to suffer, suffer
persecution. But in the midst of these trials,
these physical, spiritual trials and tribulations, for those that's
been everlastingly loved in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who
were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that
they should be holy and without blame before God in love, we've
got some promises. We've got some promises that
were given unto us in Christ. Promises that were given to a
people of God's choosing that deserved wrath. We deserved just
exactly but God Almighty is going to spew out upon those that have
left this world in rebellion against His Son. We were born
with the same nature. There's no difference. There's
no difference. There's none that doeth good. When Almighty God
looked upon this earth after man was created and multiplied,
the scripture says, Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that... Now
listen to these words. Every imagination. You think about things that we
think about. How many things we think about
in this world, in this life, every day, every day. And listen,
the scripture says that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only, was only, was only evil, evil. Man by nature was, I don't think,
I think evil. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. If we don't think upon him, as
he is, holy, just, right. We think evil, evil. Man from the fall is corrupt,
spiritually corrupt. Crown of his head, sole of his
foot, spiritually dead. Has no power whatsoever to save
himself. no power whatsoever to save himself
from the corruption that is due his rebellion. God saw that every imagination
of thoughts of his heart was on the evil continually. Oh,
but in Genesis 6, 9, thanks be unto God, scripture didn't end
there. But But Noah, Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Every thought was evil continually,
and Noah too, but. Now, with that foundation being
set, verse 16 verses of this book, verse 16 verses of the
book of Obadiah, set forth the surety of the judgment of Almighty
God. Go back, we looked at two different
messages and it's dealing with two men, two men, Jacob and Esau. You go back and you read those
16 verses and I can tell you what the first 16 verses are
gonna say, what the subject of those first 16 verses is. Man
is a sinner. Man is a rebel against God. And
God is angry with the wicked every day, every day, every day. That's what the first 16 verses
of Obadiah set forth. Now, after having looked at those
first 16 verses, I'd like to look today at verses 17 to 21. And it starts off like this,
bless the Lord. It starts off like this, verse
17, but. Oh, the preciousness when it
comes to mercy being needed to spiritually impotent sinners
against God. What a great word to set forth
God's pleasure to show mercy, but. upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance. I looked that up. An escaped remnant. Isn't that
sweet? But, there's gonna be an escaped
remnant. People of God's choosing. Now,
to identify the objects of this distinguishing grace, We have
to understand some things. But upon Mount Zion, verse 17
says, shall be deliverance. This Mount Zion, who is this? Well, let's just consult with
God and let's see what God has to say concerning this Mount
Zion. The scripture sets forth in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 28, in verse 16. This is what the Lord
says. Therefore thus saith the Lord,
behold, I lay in Zion, or a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation, He that believeth shall not make
haste. There has been eternally laid,
the scripture said, and I'm going to tell you what it means. He
shall not make haste. I'm going to tell you what that
means. I'll tell you, when I read that, Mitch, I even wondered,
okay, now what did the Lord mean by that? So I had to look it
up. This tried stone, This precious
cornerstone has been laid, the scripture says, and it's going
to stand sure. It's going to stand as a sure
foundation. And the Holy Spirit moved upon
the apostle Peter. It says that concerning this
sure foundation, this foundation that those that believe are not
going to make haste The Spirit of God moved upon the Apostle
Peter to tell exactly what that meant. In 1 Peter 2, verse 6,
this is what it says, Therefore also it is contained in the Scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. He's not going to be made to
be exposed and left to himself. He's not going to be left to
himself. He's going to be delivered. He's going to be helped. God's
going to save him. This chief cornerstone is going
to stand for a people. And these people are known as
Mount Zion. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance,
deliverance. Now, those that have been delivered,
we've got to remember something. They've been delivered from something.
What have they been delivered from? Well, I can tell you what
it is. It's the justice of God. God, again, I'm telling you,
in this book, 16 verses says man's a sinner, man's a rebel,
man's wrong. That's Esau. This book's about
two men. Everybody's included in this. There's either going to be all,
there's going to be Esau or there's going to be a Jacob. And Esau,
Esau, God's going to judge. I've loved, Esau, I've hated,
and God gonna deal with it. So here in the book of Obadiah,
we're seeing something. We promised in that first verse,
17, verse 17, upon Mount Zion, there's gonna be deliverance.
Now, what are they being delivered from? Well, look at the last
two verses Just before that, for 1516, when I say the last
two verses, there's not but 21 verses in this. I gotta make
sure I don't go back to that chapter before this. It's only
one chapter. Look at verse 1516. For the day of the Lord is near
upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be
done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon
thine own head, as ye have drunk As you've been bided, as you've
taken in, as you've treated foolishly, as you've drunk upon my holy
mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea, they
shall drink, they shall swallow down. They shall be as though
they had not been. Brethren, we need some deliverance
because I'm gonna tell you something. We're guilty by nature, we're
guilty. And we need some mercy. So the
scripture says that Esau is gonna be judged and God's gonna pour
out exactly what he deserved, he's gonna drink exactly what
he wanted. He wanted to have nothing to
do with the blessing He wanted nothing to do with God. He wanted
nothing to do with the goodness and mercy of God. God's gonna
give him just exactly what he wants. But upon Mount Zion, there'll
be deliverance. And for there to be deliverance,
there's gonna have to be, for a spiritually impotent people,
there's gonna have to be a deliverer. God's gonna have to do something
or his people that they can't do for themselves. Let me just
read this to you. Romans 11, 25 to 27. The apostle Paul was moved to say,
for I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness
in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
come in, And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there
shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. This is my covenant unto them
when I shall take away their sins. It's going to be deliverance.
That's what Obadiah said. That's what God moved upon Obadiah
in verse 17. I know what he said in first
16 verses. I know what happened. I know
what God has said concerning what man deserves and what's
going to happen to him. But upon Mount Zion shall be
deliverance. God's going to save his people.
He's going to save them from their sins. But not only has
the Lord promised that upon Mount Zion there shall be deliverance.
There in verse 17. Next says, and there shall be
holiness. He's gonna deliver a people and they're gonna be holy. They're
gonna be holy. Without blame. No spot. no wrinkle, nothing, nothing
in opposition to God. They're going to be holy. Be
ye holy, for I am holy. They're going to be made righteous,
perfect in Christ. They're going to be delivered
and they're going to be holy. Now, beloved, For there to be
holiness found in the midst of a needy people is going to have
to be a new creature made. God's going to have to make a
new man. We failed in Adam. We're not reformed. We're not reworked. We're not just kind of patched
up. God is going to have to make
a new man. He's going to have to make a
new man in Christ Jesus. I want you to hold your place
but turn to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel 36. This is what the Lord says. There's going to be deliverance.
Esau, and all like him, that according to the wisdom of God,
who'd been left to do what they want to do. I don't judge them. But there's going to be deliverance,
and there's going to be holiness. And Ezekiel chapter 36, verse
24, 28. Now listen to this. That's what God said. Verse 24, I will take you from
among the heathen and gather you out of all countries. I'll
bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water
upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, from
all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you. new spirit will I put within
you. And I'll take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh. I'll
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.
You shall keep my judgments and do them. You shall dwell in the
land that I gave to your fathers and you shall be my people and
I will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleannesses, and will call for the corn for increase
in you, lay no famine upon you. I read those verses again, and
I thought to myself, oh, the depth, oh, the depth of the wisdom,
the knowledge, the mercy, the grace, the power of God. I'm
going to make a new man. I'm going to make a brand new
man. I'm going to make a new creature.
Paul the Apostle exhorted God's saints, regenerated by the grace
of God, concerning this new creature. He said in Ephesians chapter
four, verses 23, 24, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and
that you put on the new man. which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. Man fell in Adam. But God has elected a people
under salvation. This is what he said. There's
going to be deliverance. There's going to be a remnant.
There's going to be an escape. I'm gonna save my people. There's
gonna be a deliverance and there's gonna be holiness, holiness before
God. According to God's promise, not
only back in Obadiah, not only is there gonna be deliverance
and holiness upon Mount Zion, I'm still in verse 17. Last part. And the house of Jacob shall
possess their possessions. They're going to possess their
possessions. You notice how the scripture
reads. Now these possessions that are
promised to Mount Zion, everlastingly be loved in the Lord Jesus Christ. These possessions. they're going
to possess there. God's given them something. He's
going to give them something that they didn't produce. They didn't, they can't, they
can't. But these possessions, they can be nothing else as the
gift of almighty God and the indescribable and unimaginable. possessions possessed of God's
people through the power of His Holy Spirit according to His
covenant mercy in Christ Jesus. What these possessions are, what
are they? Hold your place, still right
there. Turn with me to Ephesians 1, Ephesians chapter 1. They're going to be delivered,
they're going to be holy, and they're going to have their possessions.
They're going to have them. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 2
to 6. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us. all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
these possessions, these blessed spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. According as he hath... Here
they are. They're going to have their possessions. These people, they're going to
have them. According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. Oh, what possessions. What has the Lord given us? Well, he chose us in Christ. You're
mine. Predestinated us. to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ Himself and redeemed us by His blood,
saved us by His grace. God's people, they're going to
be this Mount Zion. They're going to be delivered.
They're going to be holy. and they're gonna have everything
that God has ever promised them in Christ. They're gonna have
it all. We're heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. The Lord has a people, and he's gonna
save them. These people that are the oppressed
of this world, those that Esau and all like him hate, God said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love, and I'm gonna save you. I'm gonna
save you. You're gonna have everything
that I've been pleased to give you, and everything that we have,
we have in Christ Jesus, the beloved of the Father. The Lord's got these people,
people, for those that have been delivered from the judgment of
God. Back in Obadiah, verse 1, verse 18, it says, And the house
of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame. I'll just hold it. I'll be right,
rest up in just a second, Lord willing. The house of Jacob shall
be a fire, and the house of Joseph I'm going to, I'm just going
to tell you, I have over the last week plus trying to seek
and find and ask for the mind of the Lord on this. And this
is what I truly believe after having looked at this, he's talking
about the house of Jacob be a fire, the house of Joseph and most
of the writers. And I, I, I'm going to tend to
agree with what they're They're saying, what they're saying is
these two men, the house of Jacob, who's Jacob? The beloved. Esau hated, Jacob I love, Jacob
I love. The house of Jacob, and who's
Joseph? Who's Joseph? Of all the, you
know, of all the sons of, Isaac that God delivered. Who was Joseph? He was the one out of all the
sons that God used to save his people. So these boys are types. These boys are types. These boys
are types of God's love, God's deliverance. They're pictures,
they're set forth. And as I've read, and saw, and
looked, and of all the people that could be mentioned, God
was pleased. He said in verse 18, the house of Jacob shall
be afire, and the house of Joseph aflame. God's gonna deliver his
people. He's gonna deliver them. through
his chosen, through his elect. But he said something also in
that 18th verse. The house of Esau gonna be stubble. They shall kindle in them, devour
them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of
Esau, for the Lord has spoken it. According to the Lord's word,
he's going to make His church, His beloved, His bride, the bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's gonna make His church be
fire to all of His enemies. He's gonna save His people. He's
gonna make the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph, types,
two boys that are types in pictures. The house of Jacob, Jacob I've
loved. Joseph, the deliverer of all
the sons. Joseph was chosen to be the deliverer,
one that Lord raised up, you know, in the house of Egypt there,
Pharaoh, and made him and said, if you want corn, if you want
to eat, if you want to live, if you want to be delivered,
you go see Joseph. He's a type, he's a picture.
Oh, but for Esau, house of Jacob, fire, house of Joseph, a flame,
the house of Esau, for stubble, kindle them, devour them. There's not gonna be any of them
remaining for that house. For the Lord spoke in it. The Lord said, it's not my word,
like a fire, Jeremiah 23, 29, so shall my word goeth out of
my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I pleased, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. So here we see the
Lord, he's got people he's gonna deliver, gonna deliver them. They're gonna be delivered, there's
gonna be holiness, they're gonna have all the possessions, the
house of Joseph, Jacob, fire, house of Joseph is gonna be aflame,
house of Esau gonna be burn up. And then verses 18 and 19, and they of the south shall possess
the mount of Esau, and they of the plain, the Philistines, and
they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of
Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead, and the captivity of
this host of the children of Israel, Israel shall possess
that of the Canaanites, and even Zarephath, and the captivity
of Jerusalem, which is in Sephardad shall possess the cities of the
south. These cities that were mentioned right here, these cities,
these were cities that had been either overtaken by the enemies
of God, but the cities that had overtaken God's people, God said,
you ain't gonna have them. I'm gonna just sum this up so
we can understand. These cities right here, 19 and
20, these cities are representative out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. Cities that this world thought
belonged to us. These are ours. We'll have them. God said, no, you're not. You
go back and read those verses. They of the south shall possess
the Mount of Esau. Esau, the rebel against God. God's people gonna have him.
Esau not gonna have him. And they of the plain, the Philistines,
they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, Samaria, Benjamin,
They're all gonna possess. Gilead, the captivity, the host
of the children of Israel, shall possess the Canaanites. You see
what I'm saying? God said, my people are gonna
have what I give them. Out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, tongue, God has a people. And they're gonna have that which
God has been pleased to give them. This is what God said. Verse 21, and saviors shall come
up on Mount Sion to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom
shall be the Lord's. The saviors, the saviors, there
is but one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So when it says the saviors
here, we know that the Lord is the savior of his people. But these saviors refer to those
who declare life in Christ, the saviors, the preachers. I'm going to send you pastors
after my heart. I'm going to send preachers.
He pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. But God calls preachers. He calls
them and refers to them here, if you look at it, as a lowercase
savior. These are men. These are men.
Flesh and blood men. that preach the gospel of God's
grace. Savior shall come up upon Mount
Zion to judge the Mount of Esau. Let me tell you what I'm doing
right now. As God has called me to preach the gospel, I'm
pronouncing the judgment of God according to God's word. I don't
have any ability to judge or to pronounce judgment from myself,
but I can tell you what God's going to say. I can tell you
what God said. He that believeth on the Son,
as He said forth in the Scriptures,
hath life. I understand that everybody says,
I believe in Jesus, I love Jesus. But the Jesus that they say they
believe in, if He's not the Lord God of heaven, the Lord Jesus
Christ, then He's not God's Savior of his people, the one they're
saying that's impotent, unless they, by their free will and
by their choice. The Savior shall come up upon
Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Ephraim. They're going to
pronounce God's judgment. Here's what scripture says, and
the kingdom shall be the Lord's. It's the Lord's. Men are standing
in pulpits. If they're not called of God
to preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ
Jesus, they're not telling you the truth. They're not preaching
the gospel of God's free grace. And the kingdom, the kingdom
of God is the Lord's. It's the Lord's
kingdom. It's the Lord's pleasure. Everything
belongs to the Lord, and he's gonna do with it as he will. Last verse, last passage. Malachi,
last verse for this one. Malachi chapter one. Listen to
what the Lord says here. Malachi chapter one, verses two
to five. I have loved you saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou
loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated
Esau, and laid his mountain and his heritage waste for the dragons
of the wilderness. Whereas Edom saith, listen to
what he's saying here. Edom saith, all those who are of Esau, Edom
saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build the
desolate places Thus saith the Lord of hosts, they shall build,
but I will throw down and they shall call them the border of
wickedness and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation
forever. And your eyes shall see and you
shall say the Lord will be magnified on the border of Israel. is one chapter. And found in that
one chapter, Almighty God has been pleased to set before our
eyes the fullness of His mercy to whomsoever He will have mercy
and His judgment. I am a just God and I'm a Savior
and Obadiah. 21 verses sets forth the glorious
truth of God's mercy. If the Lord has been pleased
to show mercy to anyone here, I want to just say this, cast
yourself upon him for life. In him is life. I pray God bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake.