The true writer of this book
is God the Holy Spirit. Obadiah, shortest book in the
Old Testament. It consists of only 21 verses,
but we will see today that there's a lot packed into these 21 verses. Let's read verse one. It says,
the vision of Obadiah, thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a rumor from the
Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Arise ye,
and let us rise up against her in battle. Now notice in verse
1 who's speaking. It's the Lord God speaking. It's
the Lord Adonai. The Hebrew word for Lord there
is Adonai. It's the Lord Adonai. And this
name points to his supreme power, and his authority. He has all
power and all authority. And this word was often combined
with a divine name to reinforce the notion of God's matchlessness. Nothing can compare to our God. And that's why this word used
with Yahweh. So it's Adonai Yahweh. The second
name for God there is Yahweh, which means he who is or is present. He who causes to be all that
is. What a picture we have of our
Lord, then. What a picture we have of our
great God. He's all-powerful. By Him, all
things consist, whether they be invisible or visible, whether
they be things in heaven or things on earth. He's all-powerful. He's Adonai Yahweh. He's the
mighty one. That's who our God is. He's a
supreme power and authority in a matchless sense, too. That's
what's being brought forth here. He is supreme authority and power
in a matchless sense. You cannot compare his power
and his authority with anything. Doesn't sound like the God of
religion nowadays, does it? That's because the God of religion
is a lie. This is the God of the Bible. This is the God who
saved me. Did he save you? This is the
God who keeps us if you're saved. The one who has all power in
a matchless way, all ability in a matchless way. He is supreme
over all. Again, this is the God of the
Bible. And we see from these two names that he is all powerful
and ever present as well. What a comfort that is for we
who are God's people to know That no matter how many times
we fail and fall, which we do continuously, He's ever-present
with us. He'll never leave us nor forsake
us. He won't say, well, I've had enough of you, Wayne. Isn't
that wonderful? You put your name in there, too.
He'll never say that. He'll never say, well, I've had enough of
your sinfulness. You're just a lost cause. No. Christ redeemed His people, and
He keeps His people. And it's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. The one who has all power, all
might, in a matchless way, is the one who saved us. God incarnate
in the flesh. So what a comfort that can be
for every born-again, blood-washed saint. Does it bring you comfort?
Oh, it comforts my soul. Comforts my soul to know that
this is the keeper of my soul. This is the one who left the
glories of heaven to save my soul. Adonai Yahweh. The theme of this book is the
condemnation of Edom. And we need to know something
about the history of this ancient kingdom. Edom, in the Bible,
is also known as Seir, Hor, or Esau. And Edom was a naturally
fortified country. It was surrounded by red sandstone
cliffs more than 5,000 feet above sea level. It was a very formable
place. And the city was entered through
a narrow winding canyon called the Sig, which was about 15 feet
wide. Kind of like the valley that the Persians
tried to get through when the Spartans held the pass. Very similar. And they say it was easily defensible
from just a dozen men to a formidable army. It could hold back an enemy
because of those sheer cliffs and then that small winding canyon. It wasn't a straight canyon.
It was a winding canyon. And look at what the people say
in verse 3. They're very proud. They're very proud. Look at Obadiah
verses 2 and 3. Behold, I have made thee small
among the heathen. Thou art greatly despised. Look
at this, though, in verse 3. The pride of thine heart hath
deceived thee. Thou that dwellest in the clefts
of the rock, whose habitation is high, and saith in his heart,
who shall bring me down to the ground? See, they were full of
pride. Because of their fortifications,
and they lived in the cliffs. They cut out homes in the cliffs. And in their pride, they said,
who will bring us down? Sounds a lot like natural man,
doesn't it? That's the picture here. This
is a picture of natural man. Who will bring me down? Exalted
in pride and self-righteousness. And we see clearly here the sin
of pride brought forth before us in these verses. These are
our people full of pride. And the fall of Edom was to be
God's judgment on it because of the offensive sin of pride. God's judgment fell upon them.
And we see it. We see it here. And note the
pride in their hearts had deceived them. Look at verse three. The pride of thine heart hath
deceived thee. Well, that's true of all natural
men, isn't it? Before the Lord saved me, I was
deceived by the pride of my heart. Was it so for you? We were blinded. And it says, thou dwellest in
the clefts of the rock. Oh, they're comfortable and feel like, oh,
we're fine, we're fine. How many people have you talked
to that say, oh, I'm fine. I'm fine. Well, they're fine
in their refuge of lies, aren't they? But that's going to come
crumbling down one day. It's going to come crumbling
down one day. So this pride has deceived them. Turn, if you would, to Proverbs
chapter 16. Proverbs chapter 16. The Lord condemns the pride,
condemns the sin of pride, in the Scriptures. And we're going
to see here in Psalm 16, verses 16 to 19, that the Lord hates
pride. Hates pride. First and foremost
is a proud look. He hates a proud look. Look at Proverbs 16, verses 16
to 19. How much better is it to get
wisdom than gold and to get understanding rather be chosen than silver. The highway of the upright is
to depart from evil. He that keepeth his way preserveth
his soul. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit
before a fall. Better is it to be of a humble
spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Look at that. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a
fall. And pride, pride, as some commentators have said, is the
sin of sins. I think all sin is sin, but pride
is a rough one. And even we who are saved struggle
with our pride, don't we? We sure do. We sure do. What does the root of pride say,
though? The root of pride says I can
do things without God. I'm my own man. And we see it all around us.
Now think about the world we live in. It proclaims with its actions
and its words, no God. I've been listening to all this
stuff about the vaccine and all that, which I'm so thankful they're
making a vaccine. I sure am, it's wonderful. But if you notice when you watch
the news, and don't matter what channel you watch, there's no
mention of God giving those men wisdom and those ladies wisdom
to find that vaccine. Now we believe that, don't we?
We believe that it's God who's given them the ability to do
that. And it's wonderful, we praise God for it, we give Him
all the glory for it. But if you notice, the world
has no care for God. No mention of him. No mention
of anything he can do. And you know what? I was talking
to Donny Bell last couple weeks, and Donny mentioned that he said,
when this virus has accomplished that which God wills for it,
then it'll be gone. And that's true. That's true. But God has given these people
knowledge now to be able to figure out how to maybe vaccinate us
against it. What a blessing. We need to count that as a blessing
from God. Because it is. He's the one who sent this virus,
right? And when the time's done, it'll be gone. It'll be gone.
My oh my. But think about the world we
live in. It proclaims no God. It proclaims do it by your own
strength or by your intellect. natural man is vaulted up with
and we as believers have to fight against that too, don't we? We
have to fight against pride. I never forget what John Claude
told me out west and when I came here he said, always remember
that Christ gets the preeminence. Always remember that. He gets
it all, he gets all the glory. He is the preeminent one. And
that was wonderful advice. Because it's so true. We can
get puffed up by our own pride. Oh, we can. And we as believers
struggle with pride if we're honest with ourselves. But why
do men get offended when you tell them they're sinners? Why
do men get offended about that? Because it offends their pride.
It offends their pride. It bruises their pride. Think
about modern religion. It's so full of pride. with its
claim of free will and the denial of God's absolute
sovereignty. They deny God's absolute sovereignty. Well, that's nothing but pride.
That's what that is. The root of that is pride, the
pride of man. It's the pride of man on full
display. The true believer proclaims with Paul that we can do nothing
in ourselves. Paul wrote these words. He said,
I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me. There's
the key. Through Christ. Through him, beloved. The only
reason we have our being and move and live in this world is
because of our king. And he even gives breath to the
unsaved. He's the giver of all life. And there's the key, we mentioned
that in the last few sermons. I've mentioned it where in Christ,
in Christ, in Christ, that's the key. That's the theme all
through this word. The types and shadow in the Old
Testament, they point right to Christ. In the New Testament,
mark it out. If you have a computer program,
type the words in Christ and the exact, and see how many times
that's mentioned in the scripture. It's incredible. In Christ, that's
the key. Are you in Christ by God's grace? That's the key. The key is Christ. He's our strength, isn't he?
He's our redeemer. He's the keeper of our souls. He's our Sabbath, isn't he? You know what Sabbath means?
He's our rest. I was talking to a brother in
Oregon this week. Dear, dear friend. And as I was talking
to him, he was talking about just different things and putting
so much pressure on himself. And he believes the gospel like
we do. And I said, brother, it's finished. It's not about your
performance. He come from a very Armenian
background where it was a lot of dues. And he's still got some
grave clothes, beloved. And I have gray clothes fall
off here and there, too. We all do. I said, it's done,
brother. Now we rest in Christ. Boy, by
the end of the phone call, we were both about shouting hallelujah.
It was wonderful. Because that's the truth. He
is our Sabbath, isn't he? He's our rest. See, religion
tells you everything you gotta do, and grace tells you what's
done. Christ did it all. He did it
all. He's our Lord. He's our God.
And He's the one who's speaking in this book. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
Almighty, the God, the Son, who became a man. He came here. Why? And bring this home if you're
one of His to save you from your sins, to save me from my sins.
He did that for us, willingly, as we saw last week. Willingly. He was a submissive servant to
Jehovah. And how did he do that? How did
he save us from our sins? By the shedding of his precious
blood. He gave his life for us. He did it on purpose. He did it willingly. Oh, how
that should make our hearts rejoice. Therefore, we have nothing in
ourselves to boast in, do we? Do we have anything to boast
in? Christ, that's all, right? Just Christ. Nothing to boast
in in ourselves. We boast about his wonderful
sin-atoning work. What was his words? It's finished. It's over. He won the victory. It's incredible. Now we just
rest. Now we just, we serve Him and
we rest, don't we? We rest in that blessed truth.
The work's finished. And that truth is all through
this word, isn't it? It's all through the Bible. Types
and pictures and shadows. And then in the New Testament,
we have We don't have the shadow anymore, do we? We have the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he accomplished. My, oh
my. Now note and keep in mind through
this study that we see the Lord's distinguishing grace to his people
and his hatred to his enemies. And this truth is marked in every
page all through the whole scripture, all through the Bible. What the
Lord saith by the servant Malachi, may and ought to be the contents
of the word of God upon all these occasions. Was not Esau Jacob's
brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated
Esau. My, turn if you would to Malachi chapter one, or read
that section. Oh, God will avenge his people.
He'll avenge his people, and here keep his people. Here keep
his people. And here vanquish the enemies
of his people, and here vanquish his own enemies. And our enemies
are his enemies, and his enemies are our enemies. My oh my. But we don't have to do anything.
We just stand back and watch what the Lord does, don't we?
We've seen his mighty hand at work. We've seen how he deals
with situations. It's incredible. This is Malachi
chapter one, verses two to five. I have loved you, saith the Lord.
That's Jehovah. 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 mountains and his heritage waste for the
dragons of the wilderness. Look at that. Well, another name
for Edom is Esau in the scriptures, too, for the nation of Edom. Whereas, look at this, here it
is, whereas 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. Look at that. And they shall call them. the
border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord
hath indignation forever. Oh my. And your eyes shall see
and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border
of Israel. So now we've seen what he said
about Edom there in verse four. Let's go back to Obadiah knowing,
knowing that this is a, we will see the destruction of Edom.
And remember, this is a picture of natural man, outside of Christ. Let's read verses 3 to 9 of Obadiah,
and we see that Edom will be humbled. And how will they be
humbled? By Adonai Yahweh. By Him and Him alone. I ask you
who are the people of God, did He not humble us when He saved
us? Were we not brought low into the dust? Oh, we were, weren't we? I like
what Brother Scott Richardson said, the believer makes his
headquarters in the dust, at the feet of our great God. My. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar
was eating dust for a while, and when the Lord returned him
back to his right mind, he said, God is God. He rules over all. Look at this in Obadiah, chapter
one, verses three to nine. The pride of thine heart hath
deceived thee. Thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose
habitation is high, and saith in his heart, who shall bring
me down to the ground? You could just hear natural man
there. I hear myself before the Lord
saved me, right there. My. Though thou exalt thyself
as an eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars,
thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. Remember, they
had their homes in the cliffs. If thieves come to thee, if robbers
by night, how art thou cut off? Would they not have stolen till
they had enough? If the grape gatherers come to thee, would
they not leave some grapes? How are these things of Esau
searched out? Again, that's Edom too. How are
his hidden things sought up? All the men of thy confederacy
have brought thee even to the border. The men that were at
peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee. They that eat thy bread have
laid a wound under thee. There is none understanding in
him. Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy
the wise men out of Edom and understanding out of the Mount
of Esau? and thy mighty man, O Timon, shall be dismayed, to
the end that every one of the Mount of Esau may be cut off
by slaughter. Now the descendants of Esau were
the Edomites, and they flourished greatly in temporal things. They
were very wealthy. And the Dukes of Edom are spoken
of in Genesis 36, 15 to 19, and they had high titles. They had
high titles. They were well known among natural
man. Well spoken of. And they were
natural man and they sought the things of the world. Look at
the end of verse nine. The mighty men of Edom are cut
off. Here we see the distinguishing
grace of God. Why are we not cut off? We who
are God's people. If this is a picture of natural
man, why are we not cut off? Who are God's people? Only because
of the grace and mercy of God. That's the only thing that made
us differ. Let us never forget that. That's
the only thing that made us to differ. Edom's cut off. So here we see
the distinguishing grace of God. They perish in their sins, and
Jacob is safe. My oh my, God destroys the wise
men of Edom in the understanding of the Mount of Esau. They are
dismayed and bought to their end, cut off by slaughter. You've heard me say many times
that God will avenge his people. seen it I've seen it in my own
life and I've seen it in the lives of other believers and
it's a very sobering thing to witness my oh my why did this destruction here
come upon Edom well we know from the pride but let's read verses
10 to 15 as well did you know that Edom committed violence
against Jacob Against Israel? Against the Israel of God? Look
at this. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall
cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. Remember, Israel
were sons of Jacob, and the Edomites were sons of Esau, part of the
dukes of the Edomites. And that day that thou stoodest
on the other side, and that day that strangers carried away captive
his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots
upon Jerusalem, even thou was as one of them, they joined in
with those who plundered Jerusalem. But thou shouldest not have looked
on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger. Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced
over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction.
So they rejoiced with the enemies of God at the destruction of
the children of Judah. Neither shouldest thou have spoken
proudly in the day of distress. Imagine them saying, look what
we've done. We got him. Thou shouldest not have entered
into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Yea,
thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day
of their calamity. Neither have laid hands on their
substance in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldest thou
have stood in the crossways to cut off those of his that did
escape. They were even hunted down the
ones that were trying to escape. Neither shouldst thou have delivered
up those of his that did remain in the day of distress." So the
Edomites we see here, they rejoiced when Israel was attacked, when
Jerusalem was attacked, when it was plundered. They rejoiced.
They should not have gloated about this. They should not have
spoken proudly. They should not have helped to
loot the city or cut off the fleeing Jews. as they sought
to escape. They should not have handed them
over to the enemy among those who remained. And the picture
drawn here is one of an utterly cold and heartless lack of restraint
in Edom's cruel treatment of the people of God. Edom was completely without mercy. You know how we'd be treated
if it wasn't for the restraining grace of God? Just read Fox's book, Christian
Martyrs. Make sure you got a box of Kleenexes
with you. My, my oh my, one for the restraining
grace of God. Here we see utterly cold and
heartless lack of constraint again. Edom was again completely
without mercy, showing not one shred of compassion. to their
brother Jacob. Perhaps this betrayed family
relationship was one reason why their doom was so final. They proved themselves time and
time and time again to be an enemy of God. They proved themselves to be
an enemy of God's people. Look at verse 15. That true spot
forth says, as thou hast done, so shall it be done to thee. My. Let's read verses 15 and
16 together. For the day of the Lord is near
upon all the heathen. As thou hast done it, it shall
be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return unto
thine own head. Oh, my. Remember, we who are
God's people, we don't get what we deserve. Here we see people getting what they deserve.
If we got what we deserved, every one of us would be in hell, right?
But by the grace and mercy of God, we don't get what we deserve. For as ye have drunk upon my
holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea,
they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall
be as though they had not been. I. Edom here went against their
own brother, Judah. And it was God's purpose to exhibit
what an example of God's severity against his enemies is. Well, He spares His blood-bought
people. Those outside of Christ perish. And perish according to God's
justice and law. And our Lord, He's long-suffering
with this world, isn't He? He's long-suffering with us,
too, isn't He? I know He's long-suffering with
me. Oh, He is. He's so merciful. He's long-suffering. But when the last sheep of the
eternal covenant is saved, it's all over. It's all over then. The day of judgment will come,
and the Lord will repay those who are his enemies. Matthew says this the son of
man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of
his kingdom all things that offend and Them which do iniquity and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire and there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth and Then shall the righteous shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who hath ears to
hear, let him hear. Now when it says there in Matthew
13, 43, when it says, then shall the righteous shine forth as
the sun in the kingdom of their father, remember, that's only
by the grace and mercy of God, because we are clothed in the
spotless righteousness of Christ. It's wonderful. That's the only
reason we're gonna shine forth. was because of the righteousness
of Christ. Now, if we stop there, my, that's pretty humbling, isn't
it, what we just read? But praise God for verse 17.
Oh, verse 17, and the rest of this chapter, look at this. Let's
read verse 17 and 18 together. But upon Mount Zion shall be
deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house of
Jacob shall possess their possessions. house of Jacob shall be a fire
and the house of Joseph a flame and the house of Esau for stubble
and they shall kindle in them and devour them and there shall
not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken
look at verse 17 look at verse 17 beloved note here it shows
deliverance who is the deliverance for Zion that's we who are the
people of God love it look what it says again but upon Mount
Zion shall be deliverance it doesn't say well it might be
there's another one of those hinge words right big door swing
on little hinges they shall shall be deliverance and there shall
be holiness in the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions
We got three promises here, beloved. Three wonderful promises of God
right here before us. In Mount Zion's the true church,
all those whom the Lord hath chosen out of the midst of prideful
sinners, all those who Christ has redeemed with his precious,
precious blood on Calvary's cross, all those who were justified
when Christ rose from the dead. We have deliverance, beloved.
It's wonderful. What's the greatest pride of
which man is guilty? Well, it's found in the religion
of today. God cannot. God is trying. Just exercise your free will.
That's so prideful. And they also say, well, you
can come to God anytime you want. No one would come to God. because none of us by nature
want to come to God. We're made willing in the day
of his power, beloved. Then we run to God, don't we?
Heaven being granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then, of course, one of the most prideful statements, God's
done all he can do. Now the rest is up to you. I
despise that statement. My, that just puts God down here. No, let's put God way up high,
and we're in the dust, aren't we? We're nothing without Him,
beloved. We're nothing without our great
God and King. Sinners are so boastful. And
think of this, in religion that way, they're basically putting
God in a corner, aren't they? saying, well, you can only do
what we allow. That's so prideful. Remember
what we saw? Remember who it is? Adonai Yahweh,
the matchless one. That's who saved us from our
sins. That's who this great deliverance
spoken of in verse 17, that's who's performing that, Adonai
Yahweh. Oh, men dwell in the false fortress
of their prideful free will. And you know what? If they stay
there, it's going to be revealed to them that's a refuge of lies.
And he's going to come. Then walls are going to come
crumbling down. Oh, my. Look at this or 17 upon Mount
Zion shall be deliverance. How may one ask? By divine deliverance. Our deliverance, as the people
of God, is a divine deliverance. It's God who saved us from our
sins. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance.
How, one may ask? By divine preservation. It's
God who keeps us. We can't keep ourselves. Oh,
my. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance. How, again, one may ask? By God's
never-ending, all-sufficient grace. That's how we're delivered. Again,
upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance from all trouble. How? By God's
almighty power. And He has delivered us, hasn't
He? Time and time and time again. He's ever with us. Remember,
Adonai Yahweh brings forth the matchless power and might of
God and the fact that He's ever present with us. can never leave
us nor forsake us. Even in our darkest times, he's
with his people, ever comforting us, ever giving us grace and
strength in time of need. And upon Zion shall be deliverance
from great temptations. How many temptations has God
delivered us from? How many times has he delivered
us from things we may have even prayed for that we wanted, but
would have been our destruction? Oh, he's such a great deliverer.
And in this, upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance from falling
away from God. Again, I love the persevering
grace of God because I know that if he didn't keep me, I'd be,
like Donny Bell says, a gone Jesse. Goodbye, that's what would
happen to every one of us if God didn't keep us. No, he keeps us, doesn't he?
He keeps us, it's wondrous. It's wondrous. My, oh, my. And at our death, oh, think of
these wonderful words at our death. Upon Mount Zion shall
be deliverance. Think of that. Think about our
death. Oh, think of the great deliverance from all our sin.
Never sin again, beloved. We'll be in the presence of our
King. We'll see Him face to face. Oh, what a great deliverance.
Oh, my. Even so, Lord, come quickly,
right? Oh, my, Lord. Oh, we desire to see our King.
And you think of this too, I was thinking about this as putting
this message together. Each day that passes, we are getting closer
and closer to seeing our king. You wake up the next morning,
you're 24 hours closer to seeing your king than you were yesterday.
Isn't that wonderful? We don't think like that, do
we? I just was thinking about, it just hit me. I thought, well, Lord, wow, time
is so short. And we're, each day, every step
we take, we're getting closer to the Lord, going to see Him.
When we die or when He comes back. Oh, it's absolutely wonderful. And we're seeing Him face to
face in that day, and we'll be totally free. Then we'll be totally free,
won't we? We'll be totally free then. Totally free. Free from our sin. No more struggle. Free from our sorrows. Free from,
no more tears. Ah, it'll be wondrous. And remember,
heaven is only heaven because Christ is there. That's the only
reason heaven's heaven. Because our king is there. Because
we're going to see him face to face. In this deliverance, this
salvation is the salvation of a remnant. Salvation of a remnant. Those who are saved by Christ
are the despised or rejected people of Adam's race. Listen
to this. Actually turn there. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses
26 to 29, if you would. And this is the description of
God's people. I see myself here. Oh, it's amazing. 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 to 29. God's people are remnant. Compared
to the rest of the world, those who are saved at any time in
history are comparatively few compared to the number of people
in that time. Look what it says here. For you see your calling, we're
called by the grace of God, aren't we? Not of anything we do, not
of anything we say, by the grace and mercy of God. You see your
calling, called with an effectual call by the Holy Spirit of God.
Brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. Now, I remember Brother
Henry saying, foolish there, it just means common. God's called
common people like you and I. He's not called, no, some, there's
some he calls that are wealthy, it says here, it says, not many,
wise after the flesh, not many mighty men, not many noble are
called, but God hath chosen the foolish things or the common
things of the world to confound the wise. They look at us and
they wonder what happened to us. Oh my. And God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world. Think of that in light of the
base things of the world. Remember when the Lord first
showed you grace and showed you what you are and what I was and
what I, still I'm a safe sinner now, what we are in front of
him. It put us in the dust, didn't
it? It put us right in the dust, beloved. He humbled us, and he
showed us. We were the base things of the
world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen. Look at that,
isn't that wonderful words there? Hath God chosen. If you are a
child of God, if you're a born again, blood-washed saint, God
chose you. He chose you. That's wondrous,
isn't it? Would we ever have chosen God?
We know the answer, right? None of us would have. The scripture
here declares God chose you if you were one of his people, if
you were born again by his Holy Spirit. Yea, in things which
are not, to bring to not things that are. Why? Why? What's the
first thing man wants to do? I remember when I was in religion,
I've told you many times, when I was in religion, you know,
go knocking on doors and Right, tell people about, you know,
what, do the thing that I had to do there, but I was so full
of pride when I got home. Oh, we knocked on 50, why can't
other people do this? Just so full of pride. Now, we
want to tell people about Christ, don't we? We want to tell people
about what Christ has done for us. When God opens that door,
there's no stopping us telling people about what Christ has
done for us. But to use that thing as a prideful thing, men
like to boast. We're naturally wired to boast.
We are. We're naturally wired to brag.
And we're naturally wired to talk about ourselves, aren't
we? We are. Now, I like asking people when
I meet them, I like asking questions about it because that's how I
get to know the person. And I love that. We engage. But
oftentimes, I have to keep myself in check too. Let the other person
speak, because we want to start talking, don't we? No. But we like to boast in the things
that we've done. We do. It's natural for us to do that.
Natural for us. But look what it says here in
verse 29, that no flesh should glory in his presence. There
is no one in heaven glorying about what they did on this earth. Now look at that. See, religion
tells you you're going to get all these special crowns and
it's going to be so big we couldn't fit through the door here. No. Christ is our reward. Everyone
in glory has the same reward. And that's Christ. And no one,
no one can brag about what we've done on this earth because we
are saved by the grace of God plus nothing. Everything we do
we do in service for him and he enables us to do that The whole world lieth and in
the wicked one But those who are in Christ are
called out assembly and they glory in God We don't glory in
ourselves and we're a remnant But let these words cheer you
who are the people of God. Fear not, little flock. It is
your father's good pleasure. Adonai Yahweh's good pleasure.
Jehovah, the self-existent one's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Isn't that wondrous? That's words
from our master. And this is still applicable to his church
today. Now the fact that few in this
world are saved is no cause for us to despair. If God has saved
us, though we be few, we will accomplish his purpose, won't
we? We will accomplish his purpose by his own right arm. So let
us go forth. Let us go forth knowing that
the Lord will do his will. Let's look at verse 17 again.
But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall
be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. Well, it is through holiness
that deliverance is established in Zion. We see here that holiness
is the essential link in the golden chain of this blessedness
here before us. Without holiness, there could
be no deliverance. Without holiness, we would not
see God. No possessing of our possessions
of our eternal inheritance unless we're made holy But this holiness
in our text is not a holiness of our making It's not a holiness of our making
what's the what's the fruit of the spirit called it's called
the fruit of the spirit, isn't it? It's not called the fruit of our works
or the fruit of our flesh. It's called the fruit of the
Spirit God the Holy Spirit works that in us and Turn if you would
to Isaiah chapter 63. Isaiah chapter 63. This holiness
is the promise of grace. It's the work of grace. It's
God's work. And it's the result of grace.
Those who believe in the sovereign redeemer shall be saved. And
their holiness shall be that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
we're clothed in his perfect spotless righteousness. Remember our sins were imputed
to him and his spotless righteousness is imputed to us. Isaiah 63 verses
1 to 4. Nody comes from Edom where he's
vanquished all the pride of men. We read about that. Look what
it says. Who is this that cometh from
Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength,
I that speak in righteousness mighty to save, all Christ is
mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, all red, blood red, beloved, and thy garments like
him that treadeth in the wine fat? I have trodden the winepress
alone, and all the people there was none with me. He did it alone,
didn't he? He died on Calvary's cross all
by himself. For I will tread them in mine
anger and trample them in my fury. their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments and I will stain all my raiment for the day of
vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed is come
now turn if you would to Revelation chapter 19 keep your finger in
Obadiah because we'll be going back there look at this we saw
there we saw there in Isaiah and he's adored in red apparel
Oh, look at this in Revelation chapter 19. And I saw heaven
open, verse 11. I saw heaven opened. And behold,
a white horse. And he that sat upon him was
faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven falled him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that
with it should smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress up the fierceness
and wrath of God. We know he did that alone. And
he hath on his vestures and on his thigh a name written, King
of kings and Lord of lords. Adonai Yahweh, Jehovah, the self-existent
one. Who is this deliverer? It's none
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has sorted things out
and punished unrighteousness. He brings Edom down and he exalts
his people. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
not willing that any of his chosen ones shall perish. And God delays
his judgment, doesn't he, on the great prideful swell of mankind. We see the long-suffering of
God active every day, don't we? We see it. And then when that day comes,
when that lost sheep is saved, as I said earlier, it's all over.
And our Deliverer is Himself the Holy One. He's the Holy One,
therefore those who are in Him are made holy. We're not holy in ourselves,
are we? But in Christ we're made holy. And our great Savior obtained
deliverance for us upon the grounds of His absolute holiness. He
was without sin. He was the perfect, spotless
Lamb of God. And He obtained deliverance for
us upon the grounds of absolute holiness, righteousness, justice,
and truth. And God's great object in our
deliverance is to make us holy, to be fit for His presence, to
be fit for His presence. And one day, we'll stand before
Him, right, without blame. Unspotted. Right now we're clothed
in the righteousness of Christ, so when God sees us, he sees
the righteousness of Christ. Think of what it'll be like for
us when we see him face to face. Oh my. And the people of God
are a holy people, being made holy by Christ. With his spotless
garment on, as holy as the Holy One. The gospel is holy doctrine. The ordinance of God are holy
ordinances. Believers' baptism, the Lord's Supper. Let's read
verse 17 again. But upon Mount Zion shall be
deliverance, and there shall be holiness. There shall be deliverance,
and there shall be holiness. And then look at this last promise.
In the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. We have an
eternal inheritance, beloved, waiting for us, which we cannot
tarnish. We cannot ruin. Because it's
an eternal inheritance. And it says here, the house of
Jacob shall possess their possessions. And there shall not be any remaining
of the house of Esau. None of them. My oh my. So take heart, little flock.
Take heart, little flock. We shall soon possess all our
possessions. And this is the message of Obadiah.
It's a spiritual message to all the elect children of God who
have believed in and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read
the last verses, 19 to 21. And they of the south shall possess
the Mount of Esau, and they of the plain of the Philistines,
and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of
Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. In the captivity of the
host, the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites,
even until Zeppepiah, in the captivity of Jerusalem, which
is Shepard, shall possess the cities of the south. And Savior
shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and
the kingdom shall be the Lord's. There's only one Savior, isn't
there? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one Savior of sinners. And in closing, I'd like us to
consider and to think upon this week these three promises. There
shall be deliverance, there shall be holiness, and we shall possess
our possessions, which is the gift of eternal life, in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my, we're made holy in Christ. He's delivered us, hasn't he?
Oh, what a great deliverance. He saved us from our sins. How?
By the shedding of his own precious, precious blood. Glory to our
great God and King.