Now let's go back to the book
of Nahum, chapter 1, the prophet Nahum. Just three chapters in
this book, this prophecy that starts out with a burden. It says in verse 1, the burden
of Nineveh. You know what Nineveh is, the
city of Nineveh. That capital of that wicked empire,
Assyria, that was such a a thorn in the side and a threat to Israel
for so many years. And you know what's amazing about
it is how God used Assyria to administer judgment and chastisement
to the nation Israel, but there came a time when God was finished
with them. His long-suffering would cease,
He'd had enough. And therefore He displayed His
wrath upon that nation. One hundred years before Nahum,
Jonah had preached to Nineveh, and God brought that city, that
great city, to repentance and spared them. And then they reverted
back to their old ways, their ways of idolatry. What a testimony
to the total depravity of fallen men, that without God, without
His power, without His goodness, without His grace, we'll be doomed
to eternal damnation. And so God sent Nahum to preach
this burden, this heavy message of God's wrath upon them against
their sin, against their idolatry and their unbelief and their
cruelty. That's a testimony to all men and women that he that
believeth not shall be damned. Without Christ, there's nothing
but damnation for the best of us and the worst of us, for we
have no hope. Just like that rich young man
who came to Christ, and asked the question, what good thing
must I do that I may have eternal life? Well, we have to realize
that there's no good thing that we can do to have eternal life.
Salvation is not by good things that we do. In fact, the scripture
says there's none good but God. We saw that. And when that man
approached the Lord and said that, the Lord there wasn't even
denying his own goodness. He was just meeting that man
where that man was. That man, that young man, did
not believe that Christ himself was God in human flesh. And therefore,
not believing him to be God in human flesh, the Lord just asked
a logical question. Well, then why do you call me
good? Because there is none good but God. Now, do you realize
the implication of that statement? There's none good but God. That's an absolute statement. You know, man by nature doesn't
like absolute statements. We don't like those absolutes
that have no room to wiggle around, room to
go either way, you know, to give your opinion, to veer this way
and that way. That's why Pilate, you remember
when he brought the Lord up on trial, he asked this question,
he says, what is truth? Well, truth, to most people,
truth is whatever you behold it to be. But when somebody comes
along and sits down absolutes like this, when the Lord said
in John chapter 14 and verse six, I am the way, No other way
to God. No other way of salvation but
Him. No other way of righteousness
but Him. No other way to escape the wrath
of God but Him. That's absolute. Somebody says,
well, there's got to be other ways. What about all those people
who don't believe this? That's the way we reason. Isn't
that right? But see, reasoning here has to
begin with God. That's what Nahum begins with
here. This whole first chapter has to do starting off with the
fact that he's showing that the wrath of God against the Ninevites
and ultimately the salvation of God for his people, his chosen
people who don't deserve salvation and cannot earn salvation. It's
by grace. It's, it's centered in and founded
upon the character of God. The character of God, there's
none good, but God. I've entitled this message, The
Goodness and the Severity of God. God's goodness intrinsically
in himself is always operative in everything God does. Even
when God shows wrath, He's showing forth His innate goodness. Why
is it that God must punish sin? Because He's good. He's holy. He's righteous. And He cannot
do anything but punish sin. That's why it says here in verse
three, look at verse three of Nahum one, the Lord is slow to
anger. And that's his long suffering
we talked about last time. And great in power. Somebody
said he can do anything he wants to do. That's true. But all that
he wants to do is good. Now that doesn't mean that he's
always gonna show mercy and grace and kindness. Even in wrath,
God is good. Understand that. Because that's
what he is in himself. And he says, and he will not
at all acquit the wicked. Somebody says, well, does that
mean he saves people who aren't wicked? No. It means he won't
acquit them in their wickedness. In other words, for God to save
a sinner, for God to justify a person, the sin issue has to
be taken care of. God's justice must be satisfied. Why? Because he's good. He's
holy. God's law must be perfected and
performed and satisfied. Why? Because he's God. That's
what the law is. It's a reflection of God's goodness.
And whenever a sinner stands before God without goodness,
what does that sinner get? He gets the severity of God. That's what Nineveh is getting
here. That's the burden of Nineveh, the wrath of God, the judgment
of God upon Nineveh. So what's the hope of any sinner?
The only hope of any sinner is to be found in the very personification
and working out of the goodness of God, which is found only in
the person, the glorious person, and the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way that we're
going to be found good before God. Not good in ourselves. but
good as we stand in Christ who is our goodness, who is our holiness,
who is our righteousness, who is our sin bearer. Look back
up there in verse seven. It says the Lord is good and
strong. In fact, the issue there is he
is strength itself. God is strength itself. He's
strong to condemn. He's strong to stand up against
sin and to deal with sin. That's why he will by no means
clear the guilty. That's why he must punish sin.
That's why the soul that sinneth must surely die. Shall not the
judge of all the earth do right? Yes, he will. And he is strength
itself. But he's also strong in salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you what, if you
want to see the greatest display of the goodness and the severity
of God, Look to Christ on Calvary. There you can see both the goodness
of God and the wrath of God, the severity of God, working
consistently together upon that glorious person, the head of
the Son of God incarnate, God in human flesh, all of the goodness
and the severity of God right there. The goodness of God appointing
him to be our substitute and our representative, sending him
to establish righteousness and to shed his own precious blood
as the payment for the sins of his people, his church, his sheep,
God's elect. The severity of God, the wrath
of God coming down upon him is to the point that he in his very
soul, in his mind and heart, in his being, he cried, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Look back up at verse six
of Nahum 1. Who can stand before his indignation? What is God's indignation? What
makes God indignant? You know what indignation is?
It means it brings forth anger. It brings forth disapproval.
Not anger in the way of emotion with God. It's not just blood
popping through his veins and all of that. But it's his justice
against sin again. Well, we turn back to Micah. Micah said this. He said, I will
accept the indignation of God. Why? Because I've sinned against
God. I'm a sinner. What's Micah saying there? You
remember back in Micah chapter six, he said that. Well, he's
simply saying this. He's saying if God ever judged
me upon the basis of anything in me or of me or from me, or
if God decided one day that he was going to give me what I deserved
or what I've earned, then I would not stand. I would be damned
forever. That's right. Lord, if thou Lord
shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? None of us. None
found among men. Because in God's sight in ourselves,
there's none righteous. No, not one. There's none good.
No, not one. We're sinners. We fell in Adam
and that's our legacy. And until God comes along in
sovereign mercy and sovereign grace and lifts the beggar off
the dung heap and brings him to Christ, we have no goodness,
no righteousness, no holiness to plead before God. So what
did Micah say? He said, I'll accept his indignation. That's what I deserve. I'm a
sinner. But Lord, where's my hope? Micah went on to say, until
he pleads for me, until I have a ransom, Job said, until I have
an advocate, until I have a representative, until I have a lamb to offer
to God, like Abraham's lamb, like Abel's lamb, the blood of
the lamb of God. That's the only thing that's
gonna plead for me and remove that indignation. Look back at
verse seven again. He says, the Lord is good. And
my friend, as far as goodness goes, now listen to me very carefully.
As far as goodness goes, that's all you can say. I know we humans, in our everyday
lives, we talk about this person as being good and that person
as being good. And I know what we mean by that. You know, a
believer, a true believer who says, we're not even beginning
to compare that person with God, but technically speaking, let's
put it this way. Somebody said, well, you're getting
technical. No, scripturally speaking. Let's get scriptural. The only
thing you can say about goodness is the Lord is good. The Lord
is good. I'm glad that we can look around
our community and we can see men who are responsible men. who are responsible workers,
responsible husbands and fathers, women who are responsible mothers,
workers, and all that, wives, children who are responsible,
I'm glad of that. But scripturally speaking, when
it's all over, here's all we can say, the Lord is good. And
being that's the case, Then where are we gonna find goodness? Not
looking to a preacher, not looking to a man, not looking to what?
Looking to God, looking to the Lord. The word Lord there, look
at it again. It's capitalized, that's Jehovah. That's the God of the covenant.
That's the God of redemption. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. The God who promised to send goodness into the world. Do you know what goodness is
in this world? It's an invasion. You know what
an invasion is? We're being invaded. Usually
when we speak of an invasion or being invaded, it's something
bad, isn't it? You see all these weird movies and science fiction
movies about aliens invading us, you know, and all that. Well,
there was a time in history when goodness invaded this earth.
It was a time set up and set forth by God. In the fullness
of the time, God sent forth his son. Made of a woman, made under
the law to do what? To redeem them that were under
the law. That's his goodness right there.
That redemption which Christ accomplished in his obedience
unto death as the savior of his people. That's goodness right
there. Look to the cross. Look to Christ. And the only goodness that ever
came to this earth and invaded this earth went under the severity
of God and the wrath of God on the cross. Think about that. And he even accepted for a while
voluntarily the severity and wrath of men. He made this statement,
he said, no man takes my life from me. He said, I give it freely,
willingly. We couldn't have touched him.
You remember what happened in the garden when they came to
take him by force and all he had to set forth is two words,
I am. In the King James version, I
think it says, I am he, but that's not really what he said. He said,
I am. And you can put anything that applies to God. and God
alone after that I am. Because that's who he is. I am
good. He is. Why do you call me good
if you don't believe I'm God in human flesh? There's none
good but God. The Lord is good. And strong,
look in verse seven, and he's a stronghold in the day of trouble,
in the day of sin, in the day of our fall, in the day of indignation. The only strength, the only power
of salvation is not in us. It's not in our will, but it's
in the goodness and the power and the will of God. And he knoweth
them that trust in him. Here's the light you see coming
forth out of the character of God. And that word, no, there
is not just being aware of them. You know, I'm aware of a lot
of things. I don't really know. I'm aware that, uh, that, uh,
uh, Barack Obama is our president, but I don't know him. I don't
really know him. I don't know his likes, his dislikes.
I know something about his politics, but I don't really know him. But God's more than aware of
those that trust him. He knows them because this is
his foreordaining love. This is his electing love. They
wouldn't trust him if he didn't know them. The Lord knoweth them
that are his. And that's his goodness and his
strength. But my friend, it's his severity
too which fell upon Christ, his wrath. The only hope for Nineveh
is to trust the Lord. The only hope for Judah and Israel
was to trust the Lord. The only hope for us is to trust
him. Look at verse eight, he says,
he says, but with an overrunning flood, he will make an utter
end of the place thereof and darkness shall pursue his enemies. God must act according to justice
in whatever he does. Listen, people today, they talk
about the goodness of God and the grace of God and the mercy
of God at the expense of or ignoring the justice of God and the wrath
of God. And any preacher who preaches
the wrath of God, the severity of God, the indignation of God,
is made fun of as a hellfire and brimstone preacher. Oh, we
don't want to hear that. But let me tell you something,
if the gospels preached are right, you will hear both the goodness,
the mercy, the grace of God, the love of God, as well as the
justice and the wrath and the severity and the indignation
of God, mainly as it fell on Christ. for the salvation of
his people. Well, in the rest of this chapter,
he brings out the justice of God in condemnation and in salvation. Now look at verse nine. He says,
what do you imagine against the Lord? What do you imagine against
the Lord? He will make an utter end. Affliction
shall not rise up the second time. Now you know what he's
saying there? This is interesting. No matter what men try to imagine
or do to stand against God and justify themselves, It's almost
like this, it's almost like Nineveh. Now Nahum is preaching, I believe,
in Judah. Some people believe he's actually
in Nineveh doing this, I don't believe he is. I believe he's
preaching in Judah, but he's talking about Nineveh. The subject
is Nineveh and God's judgment against Nineveh, and he's giving
comfort to the people of God, of the Old Covenant there. knowing
that their great enemy who is so cruel and so bothersome to
them was going to be destroyed and therefore you have God's
Comfort, you know Nahum's name means consolation and comfort
and what he's telling him. He says now now Judah your consolation
your comfort your salvation is only in the Lord and But it'd
be like this, it'd be like none of us saying, well, wait a minute
now, we don't deserve that, we're better than that. Well, what
do you imagine against the Lord? How would you answer him when
he brings these charges? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? How do you answer him when charges
are brought in God's court of justice? And remember this now,
God looks on the heart. He don't just see what I see
of you and what you see of me. He didn't see the outward appearance,
he sees the very heart. Those wicked thoughts, those
evil motives, those forgettings to give him the glory, to thank
him, those wandering thoughts. Those are the things, God sees
those, you see. So what would you imagine against
the Lord? How would you answer him? How
would you answer him to say, I don't deserve this? Well, you
can't. He will make an utter end. What he means here is God's judgment
is going to be complete. It's going to go to the farthest
nth degree to prove that whoever God's severity falls upon, it's
done so because they deserve it. And God judges justly. You see,
whatever we imagine against God, it won't work. That's what Nahum's
saying here. God's judgment, it'll be right,
it'll be complete, it'll be thorough, and then he says, shall not rise
up the second time. What he says there is that when
God does it, it'll be one time, there's no second chance. No need. God's judgment is right. I heard a preacher say one time
on TV, he says, God is the God of second chances. Oh no. Oh no. And let me tell you something,
God's not even the God of second chances in salvation by his son. How do I know that? Well, there's
two things. Number one, how many times did
Christ have to die on the cross? One time. Hebrews chapter 10,
read it. By one offering, by one offering,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. One time,
no second time. And secondly, secondly, that
payment had to be paid one time, it'll never have to be paid again.
Oh, Augustus Toplady, the writer of Rock of Ages, he penned these
words, he said, payment God cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding
shirt, he's saying, and then again at mine. People talk about
how multitudes will go to hell for whom Christ died. They don't
know the goodness of God, and they don't know the severity
of God. No, there's no second time here.
It's one time. God judges, one time. Christ
died, one time. There's only salvation in Christ
for all time. Look at verse 10. He says, for
while they be folded together as thorns and while they are
drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully
dry. Men by nature are together, entwined
together like thorns. You ever had a thorn bush and
it's all entwined together? You try to get it apart, can't
do it. And that's what he's saying here.
Men by nature are together, entwined together in opposition to the
Lord. Remember in Acts chapter four
when he said, the kings of the earth stood up and the Jews and
the Gentiles, they all entwined. These who are naturally enemies
were entwined together in one area against his holy child,
Jesus, and against his purpose to save by grace. So even enemies
are entangled like thorns. Look at verse 11, he says, there
is one come out of thee that imagineth an evil against the
Lord, a wicked counselor. Now some of the historians identify
this as a particular king. Remember his name was Sennacherib. You can learn to pronounce that
later, Sennacherib. And you remember, he's the one
that is told of in 2 Kings chapter 18 and in Isaiah chapter 37.
Remember the one, we read about him, I think, several weeks ago.
He's the one who sent that wicked letter to Hezekiah, king of Judah,
which he just, I mean, you talk about a letter, you talk about
a sermon that blasphemes God from the very beginning and lifts
himself up Some people think that's who he's talking about,
this wicked counselor here, and it may be, but I can tell you
this much. Whoever it is, it's indicative
of all false prophets and all false leaders. Anyone who stands
against God, this describes him. One come out of thee that imagineth
evil against the Lord, a wicked counselor. Look at verse 12.
He says, thus saith the Lord, though they be quiet and likewise
many, Yet thus shall they be cut down when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee,
I will afflict thee no more. Though they be quiet means though
they be confident. They might be so sure of themselves. And many people in false religion
are, aren't they? I've had people tell me, I just
know that when I die, I'm gonna wake up in heaven. And I hope
they're right. But I'm gonna tell you something,
if they're not trusting, In the God of this book, the God of
all sovereign grace, if they're not trusting in the true Christ
instead of a counterfeit, though they be quiet, though they be
confident, it will not be well with them. Though they be confident, and
he says, though they be many, multitudes. I've heard people
say, well, that many people can't be wrong. Where do you read that
at? Not in the Bible. Though they
be sure in their own strength and in their own self-judged
or self-imagined goodness, they will be cut down. They'll be
brought down by the indignation of the Lord. When the Lord passes
through, did you notice that he said there? He said, when
he shall pass through. Whenever I read language like
it, it always reminds me of the Passover. What'd the Lord say? He said, I'll pass over you No,
he didn't say that. He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. They're right. Whose blood is
he talking about there? He's not talking about the blood
of animals, even though he did for a time sanctify them according
to the flesh in that way. But the ultimate lesson there,
the ultimate issue there is eternal salvation by the goodness of
God. brought forth in the severity
of God, in the slain of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. When I see his blood, I'll pass
over you. He says here, when I pass through,
it'll be judgment. Now, in the end of verse 12,
he says, though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no
more. I believe he's talking to Judah there, his covenant
people there. Judah had been afflicted. Assyria
had been allowed by God and used of God to afflict Judah for their
sins. And he says, I will afflict you
no more. Well, I think about, again, Christ
on the cross there. When that great enemy, sin, afflicts
us, Satan, the curse, was finally defeated on the cross of Calvary. We'll be afflicted no more in
condemnation. For who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. And there's come in a time, because of what Christ
accomplished on Calvary, that we will be no more forever afflicted
by sin. We'll be glorified, we'll be
made like him. will be perfectly conformed to
his image. Look at verse 13. He says, for now I will break
his yoke from off thee and will burst thy bonds in sunder. Judah's
gonna be set free from the oppression of Assyria because Assyria is
gonna be destroyed. Now, you remember I told you
that the actual Assyrian empire and Nineveh wasn't totally destroyed
until 100 years after Nahum. He prophesied at this time, didn't
actually take place till 100 years, but it did come true.
God's long suffering. And so don't ever think that
because it doesn't happen immediately, that is not true. But he says,
I will break his yoke from off that you won't be afflicted by
them anymore. And I'll burst that bondage and
you'll be set free. Just like we've been set free
from the condemnation and guilt of sin by the blood of Christ,
by his death on the cross. Set free, he said. And Christ,
when he said, come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest, we rest in him from that bothersome affliction,
for we know that our Our destiny is sealed in the liberty of God's
grace in Christ. And then look at verse 14, he
says, and the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee
that no more of thy name be sown. Out of the house of thy gods
will I cut off the graven image and the molten image. I will
make thy grave for thou art vile. Speaking of Assyria here, he
will destroy them for their sins. He's going to make them, the
language here is like, I'm going to make it an unmarked grave.
In other words, nobody's going to remember your greatness. Nobody's
going to remember. I was talking to Stan the other
day about his trip to Turkey. And I mentioned this last week
about how they went through Ephesus, and there used to be a vital,
influential church there, which is there no more. But we got
to talking about, what was it, stay in the Temple of Diana,
I think it was that's there. That was one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. Do you know where the seven wonders
of the ancient world are now? That's right, they're all but
dust, aren't they? And I thought about that, I said,
That's like an unmarked grave. Historians still remember that.
I bet most of you couldn't even name the seven wonders of the
ancient world. I know one of them was the Hanging Gardens
of Babylon, wasn't it? Wasn't that one of them? Maybe
some of you historians can. But where is it now? It's like
an unmarked grave. It's not there. Everything that
man can make, the best of men, according to the flesh, is destroyed.
That's what he's saying here about Assyria. See, you got to
think about this like this. Assyria and Nineveh, they were
so revered by the ancient world. They were so feared. Oh, what
a great nation. It's like people had in their
minds that could never be lost, could never be destroyed. God
says, I'm gonna cut you down for your images and your idolatry,
and I'm gonna make you like an unmarked grave, because you're
vile. You're vile. Well, that's the
destiny of all men and women without Christ, isn't it? Oh,
I know you'll have friends and family who'll remember you and
think fondly of you, but there's coming a time it'll be just like
an unmarked grave. What do we need? We need Christ,
the victor over the grave. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? You see, the grave will have
no victory over them who stand before God in the blood and righteousness
of him who conquered the grave. Look at verse 15. Behold upon
the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that
publisheth peace. Paul quoted this in the book
of Romans chapter 10 when he was talking about the preaching
of the gospel. He says, oh Judah, keep thy solemn feast. Each one
of those feasts under the old covenant had some significance
in portraying and picturing and prophesying Christ and the great
salvation that God would bring to his people, spiritual Israel,
God's elect out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation in
and by Christ. He said, perform thy vows. That
means believe God. rest in God, trust God. And he says, for the wicked shall
no more pass through thee, he is utterly cut off. Speaks of
deliverance from Assyria. Later on, Isaiah speaks of deliverance
from Babylon. All those wicked empires, all
those wicked empires that afflicted those people, God says they're
gonna be taken care of. And the apostle Paul uses that
verse to show how God's people will be saved by grace under
the preaching of the gospel, the gospel of liberty wherein
we are delivered from sin and from Satan and from the curse
of the law by the blood of Christ. All right.