All right, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Zephaniah. Zephaniah is right near Habakkuk,
if that helps. Zephaniah. And this evening,
we're going to be doing an overview of this book of Zephaniah. We're
going to be looking at all three chapters. And I'm going to take
one point, one point for each chapter. And I've entitled this
message, A Message of Judgment. repentance and rejoicing. And those are going to be the
three things we're going to take out of this message in this prophecy
of Zephaniah. Now, this little book, this little
book was written during the time of Josiah, king of Judah. You can read that in verse 1,
the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, the
son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah,
the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, son of Ammon, king
of Judah. Now, this king was a godly king. This man did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord. And if you were to read his account
in 2 Kings, chapter 23, God says this about Josiah. He said, there
was no king before him like Josiah. That turned to the Lord with
all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might, according
to the law of Moses, neither after him rose there any like
him. What a word. What a word concerning
this king. And so during the time of the
writing of this book, there was a Reformation taking place in
the land. There was a Reformation in the
time of Judah. They were turning to the Lord.
This king, he was the leader concerning Judah, and he himself
turned to the Lord. with all of his heart. He was
throwing down those idols, all of those false gods. He was tearing
down those vineyards, and he was setting the worship of God
again. What an exciting time this was. This must have been an exciting
time in Judah for God's people. This prophecy now may have been
instrumental, which I do believe it was. This prophecy was given
the time of Josiah and surely it was heard by Josiah and was
instrumental in his turning and serving God now even though this
this time this book was written was a time of where the nation
was serving God yet we read this message is kind of strange You
figure at a time where everyone was turning to the Lord, you
would have an overflowing message of joy that that would be the
first word. Well, you would expect, well,
good job. You're doing such a great job.
That's not what the message of this book and how it begins. Even though this book was written
where there were changes going on in the nation to serve God,
yet God had decreed that a message of judgment was necessary. A message of judgment should
be preached to the nation, and they should understand that Judah
was to be destroyed. In that same 2 Kings 23, listen
to what it says. Notwithstanding, even though
God had raised up a good king and everything seemed to be going
well, notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness
of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against
Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him
withal. And the Lord said, I will remove
Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will
cast off the city Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the
house which I said my name shall be there." Isn't this something,
that though men were turning to God, yet God still had decreed
before that they should be destroyed, and God is God is giving this
message through the prophet Zephaniah here. So even though they were
turned into God, even though there were men who appeared to
serve God, yet God had promised judgment. He did this for a very specific
reason. For three reasons, actually.
One, a warning. A warning. Judgment was to be
preached so that you should warn the wicked to turn from their
wickedness. And this message in Zephaniah
is also to be preached. A message of repentance is to
be preached. And it was then for those who
repented, a message of joy. Now this book can be divided
into three divisions simply by each chapter. The first chapter,
we're going to read a message of judgment. A message of judgment. Look at this in verse 2. I will
utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
I will consume man and beast. I will consume the fowls of heaven,
the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks. That word there
means idols. I will consume the idols with
the wicked. And I will cut off man from off
the land, saith The Lord. That's the first division here
and this goes on all the way through this first chapter. Now
the second division in chapter 2 is a call to repentance. Look at that. Gather yourselves
together. Yea, gather together, O nation
not desired. before the decree bring forth
before the day past the chaff before the fierce anger of the
Lord come upon you before the day of the Lord's anger come
upon you listen here it is seek the Lord all you make of the
earth which have wrought his judgments seek righteousness
seek meekness it may be that you shall be hid in the day of
the Lord's anger a message of repentance And then thirdly,
you're going to see in chapter 3, a message of bliss. A message of bliss. It begins in verse 8, to those
that wait upon me. Therefore, wait upon me, saith
the Lord, until I rise up to the prey, for my determination
is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to
pour upon them mine indignation, even my fierce anger, for all
the earth shall be devoured with fire of my jealousy. For then
I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may call
upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent, a
message of joy in a time of judgment. joy out of judgment. Now, let's
go through each one of these. First of all, I want you to see
the message of judgment is coming. Judgment is coming in chapter
one and two. They both speak of judgment.
This is spoken of, first of all, a warning to the nation of Judah
that God will destroy this nation for their sins and rebellion.
I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the
Lord. I will consume man and beast, I will consume fowls of
the heavens, fish of the sea, and the idols with the wicked,
and I will cut off man from the land, saith the Lord. Now notice
who's doing this, God. God says here four times, I will. I will. No one else but me. I will consume. I will consume. I will consume. I will cut off. This is God speaking. This is
the decree of God Almighty concerning judgment. This will come to pass
because God said it would. Whatever God decrees, we should
learn this. Friends, if you don't learn anything
else, you should learn this. Whatever God decreed in eternity
will come to pass in time. Everything God decreed in eternity
will come to pass in time. And now, we know that this according
to the nation of Judah, did come to pass. We know it did come
to pass when the Babylonians came and sieged Jerusalem, and
listen, they utterly destroyed it. They utterly destroyed Judah. In 2 Kings chapter 25, it speaks
of this prophecy being fulfilled. by the king of Babylon besieging
the city and capturing all the people, destroying the temple
of God and carrying away the gold and the silver, and they
burn that city with fire. Just like God said. Just like God said. This surely displays then for
us the immutable counsel of God. This is not just a history lesson,
is it? We don't just see the immutable
counsel of God concerning past events, but we also should learn
this. Whatever God has decreed in eternity
will come to pass. If it has not yet come to pass,
it will come to pass. This is not a history lesson
about the destruction of Babylon, but it is telling us of God's
coming judgment. God's coming judgment. This is
not only a prophecy of the things that happened in the past, but
it is a prophecy of things that must shortly take place. Even
the judgment of God upon all flesh. Just as God promised to
destroy the land of Judah, you pay attention now, this is very
important. God will destroy or burn this
earth. God will come in judgment and
everything you see now will be destroyed. Everything that man
has built, everything that man has made will be completely eradicated
from the earth. God will come and destroy all
that is on the earth, and at the same time he will come in
wrath and vengeance upon all who have sinned against him. The judge of all the earth will
come and judge every man according to his works." Now listen to
what God says. See this not as a prophecy concerning
Babylon, but see it as a prophecy concerning the coming judge,
Jesus Christ, upon the earth. When he comes, he says, I will
utterly consume all things from off the earth. I will consume man and beast,
I will consume the fowls of heaven, the fish of the sea, the idols
and the wicked, and I will cut off men from the land. This is
exactly what Peter said. Go to 2 Peter. Hold your place. Go to 2 Peter and chapter 3 and
see if it's not exactly what Peter said. 2 Peter chapter 3
and look at verse 10. He says this, But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are
therein shall be," what? Burned up. Burned up. God will come in the last day
in fire and destroy all upon the earth, all things in it with
fire, And he in holy justice will give every man his just
reward. Now you pay attention, when he
comes, he will give the righteous man his reward, eternal life,
joy in heaven. And he will give the sinner his
just reward, eternal death and damnation. My friends, make no mistake about
this, judgment is coming. judgment is coming. God will
come in judgment upon this earth and all sinners that have ever
lived upon this planet will stand before Jesus Christ and they
will be judged and listen, none shall escape. None shall escape. All men shall stand before the
judgment bar of Christ and be judged with strict holy justice. I'm going to ask you a question. Do you and I really believe that? Can you see that dark day coming? God has said he'll do it, and
it will be done. You can go to 1 Thessalonians
and read that with me if you want to. 1 Thessalonians. Paul
speaks about this as well as Peter. 1 Thessalonians chapter
5 and verse 1. But of the times and seasons,
brethren, I have no need that write unto you. For you yourselves
perfectly know that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. That's what Peter just said.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety, Then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and
they shall not escape. They shall not escape. Just as
the day of Josiah, when all seemed to be going well, all seemed
to be going well, the nations seemed to be turning to the Lord,
and yet God He did not repent of His judgment. He did not repent
of His judgment, of His coming judgment. Even so, though all
the children of God who are saved by His grace, now listen, we
will not prevent this. We will not prevent this day. This day is coming. Now I know
that the objects of God's mercy are the only things keeping the
judgment and justice of God from consuming this earth. You realize
that? That you and I who are believers
in Christ are the only thing restraining God's judgment at
this point. Why? Because God has the people. And He must first gather His
people before He will destroy anything. Just as He must have
gathered Noah into the ark before judgment came, even so God must
gather in all His people before judgment comes. But when that last one is brought
in, when that last one is brought in, you can be sure of this,
judgment's coming. judgment is coming therefore let us who believe
we should be what sober that's what Paul says in in in that
passage in Thessalonians he said this see chapter 5 he said but
you brethren should not be in darkness as that that day should
overtake you as a thief For you are all children of light, and
the children of day, and are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as
do others, let us watch and be sober. Let us who are of the
day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith, and love,
and helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us
to wrath, but obtained salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, that day is coming. but it's not against us. You
listen. It's for us. So when I'm preaching
judgment to the children of God, what should this do? This should
move us to be sober-minded. This should move us to put on
the breastplate of faith and love and helmet of salvation. Why? Because this is not for
our damnation, but rather for our glorification. Therefore, let us who are believers
be sober. Let this message move us to faith,
love, and hope. Look at this now in chapter 2.
Look at this now in chapter 2. We see this. The Scripture says,
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together one nation, O
nation not desired. Before the decree bring forth,
before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the
Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come
upon you. And we who are made aware of
the judgment to come, this should move us, this should comfort
us to know this, that God is gathering His people. God is
going to gather His people. Who are these people? They're
a nation not desired. What is He going to do? He's
going to gather sinners together. Before this day of judgment,
before this day come, He is going to gather them. He's going to
gather them. Now, this word literally means, before the day
the decree is born. Now this day of judgment, I want
you to know this day when this day of judgment comes, it comes
as it was set forth in eternity. The decree of judgment was ordained
before the foundation of the world just as Christ was a lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. So judgment was also decreed
before the first day and God's counsel will stand Decrees will
come forth. He said my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure Now then if you believe this
If you believe that God will damn all those who do not fully
obey the law of God Then why is the church in our
day so silent Why are we so silent not to warn
men of this coming day? We know it's coming. We should
not hesitate to warn men. Why are we not warning those
of God's wrath to come? I know this, it is not a popular
message. Is it? This is not a feel-good
message. This is not one that gives you
warm fuzzies. Judgment. Men don't like it. Sin. Men don't like to hear about
sin, righteousness, and judgment. Yet, we must preach it. We must
declare it's coming. It is decreed before the day.
Before God ever made anything, He decreed a day in which all
men will be judged. Therefore, we who know this and
believe this, we must, as ambassadors for Christ, we must take this
message of judgment into the world. We are not to leave this message
out. We're not to leave the message
of Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness in this church building, but
we're to take it out in this lost and dying world. We must
tell people of His coming judgment. and nothing will stop it. It's
been decreed. It's coming. Now, listen to this. When you tell men of this, they
will mock you. They will ridicule you. They
may smile and nod. They may even have a somber look
on their face, but they don't believe it. You know how I know
they won't believe it? Because they won't repent. Those who really believe it are
made to see it. They will repent. But men will mock you and we
should not be ashamed of this message. It is God's message.
Make no mistake, if you're not telling men of the judgment of
God and the sin, the depravity of man's condition and man's
need of Christ's perfect, complete salvation, then you are not preaching
the gospel. This gospel is not to tell you
how to live in this world. This gospel is not to tell you
how to be wealthy, how to be happy, how to be successful,
how to be a good citizen. That's not the gospel. The gospel
is a person, and we're to point you to Him, because you are under
the condemnation of God. And He is the only hope for you. That's what we're to be preaching.
Christ. We're to be pointing men to Christ.
Listen, if we're not telling them of judgment and sin, why
would they need Christ? We speak of judgment because
that manifests man's need. God is coming in judgment against
every sinner, and except you be as holy as God, you will be
cast into eternal hell. Man has a need, friends. He's
a sinner, and he has need. And the only need is Jesus Christ. A message of salvation without
judgment is meaningless. Isn't it? Smile. God loves you. What about sin? No, don't worry
about that. God loves you. What about judgment? No, no,
no. That's a meaningless gospel. What good is God's love if it
doesn't save you from anything? You see, God's love has meaning
in this. I'm a sinner, and I need salvation
that only He can give. And so then what do we do? We begin to preach the gospel
where man is. He's lost. He's lost. Man is always lost in sin. Now listen, if a man has always
been saved, that's too long. Isn't it? We begin where man is. Where
is man? He's dead. That's where we begin. Man is dead in trespasses and
sin. If we preach the depravity of
man and the judgment of God, then and only then can we point
men to this second point, which is repentance. The second point
of this message in chapter 2 is repentance, because judgment
is coming. because God willed to consume
the earth and judge the sinner. Here's what man needs. Repentance
and faith in Jesus Christ. Look at that again in chapter
2. He said, gather yourselves together. Yea, gather together,
O nation not desired, before the decree bring forth, before
the day pass as a chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord
come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon
you. Listen. Seek Ye the Lord. Seek ye the Lord. Now this gathering, this is a
phrase as though men would gather up straw to be burned. That's
what it means. To gather up straw. This plainly
reveals this, that man is nothing more than dried up straw before
the wrath of God. How hopeless is straw before
a fire? Can straw withstand the flame?
So than it is with man in his own righteousness, he cannot
stand before the holy bar of God's justice. Scripture says
that there is none righteous, no, not one. Therefore, God says this to the
straw. God says this to those who have
no righteousness, no strength, and no life. Listen. Seek ye
the Lord. Seek ye the Lord. My message
then is this to the sinner. Seek the Lord. Listen, don't
seek the preacher. There's nothing in the preacher.
Don't seek your mom. Don't seek your dad. There's
nothing in them to help you. Seek ye the Lord. This message then is only for
those who are straw. This message is only to those
who need salvation from their sins. In Mark 2, verse 16 it
said this, Repent and believe the gospel. Repent and believe
the gospel. This seeking of the Lord is only
for sinners. It's only for sinners. Those
who know their end, those who see that God will judge them,
they have no strength to stand before God in that great day.
They have no righteousness. Those that have no goodness,
those that have no merit, this is the word to you. Seek the Lord. How do you seek
Him? All you meek of the earth, which
have wrought His judgment, seek righteousness, seek meekness.
It may be that you may be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.
What are they seeking? Refuge. Isn't that what it is? They're seeking a refuge. When
you seek the Lord, you must seek Him in meekness. You must seek
Him for righteousness. Seek the Lord. Go over to Isaiah chapter 55.
Look over a few pages of Isaiah chapter 55. Look at verse 6. This is what Isaiah said, the
same thing. The more you read the Bible,
I know the more you see this, it repeats itself, doesn't it? It does. Listen to what he said. Seek ye the Lord. When? While
he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Well, how does one seek the Lord?
How does one turn and seek the Lord? Here it is. Let the wicked
forsake his way. This is repentance. This is turning
from your way. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man. You know what that way is? Free
will works religion. That's the way that just seems
right to a man. But the end thereof is destruction. Therefore, you must turn from
your religious way. Men think the way to God is by
working, by merit, by obedience to the law. Listen, if you are
to seek the Lord, you must repent of that. You know what? Men need to repent from their
religion more than they do their iniquities. People say, well,
I repented of this sin, I repented of that sin. No, repent of your
religion. Turn from your way. Why? Because there is only one way
to God. There are not many ways to God.
Jesus said, I am the way. No man comes to God but by me. You must forsake your way. Let
the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts. You know, you preach the gospel
to somebody and they say, well, you know, I thought. Oh, no,
don't do that. Don't do that. That's what Naaman
did, didn't he? He said, I thought it should have been this way.
Well, you need to forsake that. If you're ever going to be saved,
you have to forsake your thoughts. You have to forsake what Mommy
taught you and what Daddy taught you and what your preacher taught
you if it goes against the Word of God. You've got to get rid
of it. That's what repentance is, is turning from your way
and from your thoughts. And what do you do? You return
unto the Lord. You seek the Lord and you return
unto Him. How? By faith. You return by seeking The only
one who can save you. I'm here to tell you tonight
there's only one way to God is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's
the only way. God sent His Son into the world
to accomplish righteousness that you can't. God sent His Son into
the world to offer Himself a sacrifice for sin that all your offerings
could never offer, could never suffice. Scripture says, by His
one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Therefore, to return to the Lord is to believe on Christ alone.
It is to turn from your ways and believe on Him as the way.
It is to turn from your thoughts and see what God says. Salvation
is not by works, but by grace, only through Jesus Christ. He
is the only acceptable righteousness, and He is the only acceptable
salvation. Now listen to this, you sinners. Judgment is coming. Repent. Seek the Lord. How? In meekness. Bow down. Confess. And turn to Christ. And listen to this. Don't wait. Don't wait. Listen to me. It is an urgent message. You should repent now. You should
not wait. What's that hymn? It says, Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. And listen, if you tarry till
you're better, listen, you will never come at all. If you're
waiting for a better day to come, it'll never come. You should
repent now. Why? You are a sinner and judgment
is coming. You should repent because everyone
that repents has this. Look at this in Isaiah. He said,
and he will have mercy. Isn't that sufficient enough
to repent? believe God swears I will have
mercy to everyone that forsakes his way and the unrighteous man
his thoughts and returns to the Lord he said I will have mercy
and listen to this he will abundantly pardon everyone who repents if
you are lost tonight and without Christ I pray God would destroy
every one of your defense cities now then that's Go back to your
text quickly. The rest of this chapter from
verse 4 on to the end, God is talking about destroying the
nations or the allies of Judah that surrounded them. In order
for the Babylonians to get to Jerusalem, they must first conquer
all of the other nations that surrounded them. Jerusalem and
Judah leaned heavily on those other nations. They put out these
fortified, fenced cities. They relied on allies to help
them against the Babylonians. God said, that's not going to
help you. And so the rest of this chapter
is talking about Gaza, it's talking about Moab, it's talking about
the Ethiopians, it's talking about all those nations surrounding. He said, listen, I'm going to
destroy them too. There's a lesson here. In order
for a man to repent, God must take away every crutch and every
source of a man's strength. He must take away all a man's
helps. If God is ever going to save
you, He's got to put you in the dust. If you're lost and without Christ,
I pray this, that God would destroy all your defenses. I pray that God would kick out
all your crutches from underneath you so that you would fall before
His feet and plead for mercy. You realize there's no mercy
unless you're at His feet. This is what God does for all
His people that will repent. He brings them to the end of
themselves, to the end of their strength. I pray that God would
humble you. I pray that God would cause you
to seek Him by destroying your self-righteousness. I pray that
God would cause you to see that only through Christ is the law
fulfilled. I pray that God would cause you
to see that He is the only refuge and rock of defense against the
judgment of God. You know, the picture is so beautiful
about that Passover. You remember that the firstborn
was where? He was in the house. The blood
was sprinkled on the doorpost and the lentil, and God in judgment
came upon Egypt that night. But the firstborn was saved. Everyone that repents and believes
on Christ you listen You are as safe as that firstborn I'm
gonna tell you this you are as safe as Christ How safe is that Paul said my
life is hid with Christ in God How safe is that? To all who
repent, to all who come, may God destroy, as God destroyed
all these surrounding nations, may God take away everything
that you depend on and bring you to nothing. And
when He does, you will repent and believe. How do I know that's
what happened to me? Is that not what happened to
you? Is that not what happened to Paul on his road to Damascus? Is that not what happened to
every saint in this scripture? Yes. We're brought to nothing. I pray that God would make that
city that used to be a joy, a desolate. Look at verse 15 of chapter 2,
and he said, This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that
said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me. How has she become desolate,
a place for beasts to lie down? Everyone that passeth by her
shall hiss and wag his hand. Isn't that where God brought
you before he made you repent? That city of sin you once rejoiced
in, this old body of death you once bragged about, is brought
to nothing. Only then will you repent and
believe. Now to you, who have believed. Here's the rejoicing part in
chapter 3. In chapter 3, verses 1 through
verse 7, it talks about God reproving the nation of Israel for not
heeding His warnings. Now, many that believe this speaks
of the nation of Israel during the time of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but I think it does speak of that. But I think it also bodes
well to speak of His children. All of God's people, His church,
we come from a state of rebellion. We come from a state of rebellion. We did not trust in God. We did not believe just like
Israel. We had our idols. But look at verse 5. It says this, the just Lord is
in the midst thereof. He will not do iniquity. Every
morning doth He bring His judgment to light. He faileth not, but
the unjust knoweth no shame. We had no shame until the Lord
had come in our midst. Isn't that right? We had no sin
of ourselves until the Lord shown us Jesus Christ. When He showed
us Christ, what did we see? We saw our sin. We saw our need. That's what the job of the Spirit
is, isn't it? To reprove us of sin, righteousness,
and judgment. To those you have believed and
you have repented and turned to Christ, We who continue to
believe by the grace and power of God, I have a message of joy
and comfort for you. Look at verse 8. Therefore, God's
instruction to those who have repented, God's instruction for
us is this. Therefore, wait upon me, saith
the Lord. Wait how long? Until the day
that I rise up to the prey. For my determination is to gather
the nations that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them
mine indignation, even my fierce anger. For all the earth shall
be devoured with fire of my jealousy." Now listen, we wait on the Lord
until He comes. Until He comes in judgment upon
the prey. But notice what He'll do for
us. He says, for then will I turn to the people a pure language. that they may call upon the name
of the Lord, and serve him with one consent." We know this, that salvation,
when it comes to us, it made us humble. We saw our sin, we
saw our shame, we understood, we fell short of the glory of
God and found our only hope in Jesus Christ. And we know that
through the Word of God that all of our sins have been washed
away. That His blood has purged our
sins. But let me ask you this, you
who are believers in Christ, is that your experience? We know it's true. But our experience
is something different. We have not yet fully experienced
this truth. Because the old man of sin is
still attached, the believer, then let us look to God who says
to his people who are saved, I will give you a pure language. One preacher said that this is,
when he come, when the gospel comes in power to us, we begin
to speak a different language. A different language than we
spake before. We speak the language of repentance
toward God. We speak the language of confessing
our sins, the language of prayer for the pardon of sin. We speak
the language of faith in Christ, the weak and feeble. And as we
grow, we grow more in strength and assurance, believing our
interest in Him, And in believing the everlasting love of God,
the covenant of grace, we speak the language of Christ's love,
of love to His people. We speak the language of His
truth and His ordinances. We speak the soul-abasing, Christ-exalting,
free grace-magnifying language of praise to our God. When God comes and saves a man,
he speaks a new language. It is a pure language. A language
of salvation by free and sovereign grace. That's the language that
God says he will give his people. Do you have this language? Do
you understand this language? That we are saved by a covenant
of grace? That Christ is all our salvation. So what do we do? We wait. We wait. And as we wait, let us speak
this language to the lost, and perhaps God would give them to
speak this language. Isn't that what He says? He said,
I'll give a people a pure language that they may call upon the name
of the Lord to serve Him with one consent. And I know this. God has promised to take away
our shame, the shame of our dead works. Look at verse 11. It says,
In that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy doings. Isn't
that going to be a wonderful day? Now listen, right now, you
don't need to be ashamed for your doings. Why? Because Christ
has put them away. Christ has put them away. wherein
thou hast transgressed against me, for then I will take away
of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou
shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain." God promises to take away the
shame of our sin, and listen, He did do that, didn't He? When
Christ died, He took away our shame. How? For God hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we should be made the righteousness
of God in him. Therefore God commands you now
to rejoice. Look at verse 14. He says this,
to you who speak a pure language, to you who shall not be ashamed
because of Christ has removed your sin. This is what he said.
Sing. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout,
O Israel, and be glad. Rejoice with all the heart, O
daughter of Jerusalem. Why? The Lord hath taken away
thy judgments. So when judgment comes, what's
left to judge? Judgment's coming, but we who
have repented and believed, what is left to judge? in that day
and at that time the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be..." What? None. None. Why? Because Christ hath removed
our judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy.
There is no one to accuse you in that day. Isn't that what
He says? There is therefore now No condemnation
of those who are in Christ Jesus. No one to accuse you. The enemy
is cast out. The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst
of thee. Thou shalt not see evil any more. Would to God we'd get a hold
of this. Whatever takes place is not evil. How do you, how can you say that?
This is really bad. You don't know how bad this is.
God said, thou shalt not see evil anymore. You know what?
Same scripture says this, that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. God said, I know my thoughts towards you, thoughts
of peace and not of what? That's how you know it's not
evil, because God has ordained that you shall not see evil anymore.
And in that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear not,
and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God is
in the midst of thee, is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over you with singing. And here's a promise, I will
gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly who are
of thee to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at
that time will I undo all that afflict thee, and I will save
her that halteth, and gather her that is driven out, and I
will get them praise and fame in every land where they have
been put to shame. And at that time I will bring
you again, even in the time that I will gather you and I will
make you a name and a presence among all people of the earth,
when I have turned back your captivity before your eyes."
Listen, who said it? Sayeth the Lord. God says, I'm
going to gather every one of them, and when it's done, and
I come in judgment, what's going to happen to His people? They're
going to be praised. They're going to have a name
of praise. So what's the point of this message?
Here it is, judgment's coming. Repent. Believe on Christ. And all who believe, you listen.
Rejoice. At what? At judgment. Rejoice
at his coming. Wait for it. You that speak a
pure language, wait for it. I pray God give you grace to
benefit from this.