Good evening, everyone. Turn, if you would, to the Old
Testament book called Nahum. It's in between Micah and Habakkuk. Nahum. The name of the message is, is
God against you? Is God against you? Now the name Nahum means comfort. It means comfort, but in this
prophecy, there's no comfort for the city of Nineveh. And
this is a prophecy against it. Let's read chapter two of the
book of Nahum. Thirteen verses. Nahum 2, verse
1, he that dashes in pieces is come up before thy face, keep
the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify
thy power mightily. For the Lord hath turned away
the excellency of Jacob as the excellency of Israel. For the
emptiers have emptied them out and marred their vine branches.
The shield of his mighty man is made red. The valiant men
are in scarlet. The chariots shall be with flaming
torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly
shaken. The chariots shall rage in the
streets. They shall jostle one against
another in the broad ways. They shall seem like torches.
They shall run like the lightnings. He shall recount his worthiness.
They shall stumble in their walk. They shall make haste to the
wall thereof, and the defense shall be prepared. The gates
of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. And Hezeb shall be led away captive. She shall be brought up, and
her mage shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering
upon their breasts. But Nineveh. is of old like a
pool of water. Now this so far we're reading
here a prophecy that Nineveh shall be
destroyed. It says, but Nineveh is of old
like a pool of water, yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand,
shall they cry, but none shall look back. Take ye the spoil
of silver, take the spoil of gold, for there is none end of
the store and the glory out of all the pleasant furniture. She
is empty, note this, she is empty. And void and waste, and the heart
melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in
all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness. Where is
the dwelling of the lions and the feeding place of the young
lions? Where the lion, even the old lion, walked in a lion's
whelp and none made them afraid. The lion did tear in pieces enough
for his whelps and strangled for his lioness and filled his
holes with prey and his dens with raven. Now look at this
in verse 13. Look at this statement. Behold,
I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts. And I will burn her chariots
in the smoke. And the sword shall devour thy
young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from
the earth. And the voice of thy messengers
shall no more be heard. Now turn, if you would, to Genesis.
Genesis chapter 10. Genesis chapter 10. What we just
read there is a prophecy about the fall of Nineveh. Now Nineveh
was a great city in the ancient times. It's a city spoken of being built
in Genesis chapter 10. And it was an evil city. It was
an evil city. Look at Genesis chapter 10, verses
8 to 11. And Cush begot Nimrod. He began
to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before
the Lord. Wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter
before the Lord. In the beginning of his kingdom
was Babel, and Erech, and Akkad and Kalma in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asher
and built Nineveh. Nineveh was a very prosperous
city. Turn back if you would to Nahum,
but turn to chapter one. Nineveh was a very prosperous
city in the ancient world. We see in the book of Nahum in
chapter one the words The Burden of Nineveh, the Book of the Vision
of Nahum, the Akashite. Now, what does the Burden of
Nineveh mean? Well, she repented once. Remember
when Jonah went through and preached through that city? She repented
once, but she returned to her wicked ways. She returned to
her wicked ways again. And the burden is that now this
city will be totally destroyed. Now this city will be totally
destroyed. This book was written about 100 years since the repentance
of the Ninevites when Jonah went through. Nineveh was one of the
world's largest cities at that time. The inner city was surrounded
by a wall eight miles long, eight miles long and 100 feet high. A hundred feet high. So wide,
they say, that three chariots could race around it, the top
of the wall. And beyond this was an outer
wall. And there was an inner city, an outer city, in what
we would call extensive suburbs. Turn, if you would, to Jonah,
chapter three. Jonah. The expanse of this city
was termed a three-day walk. It was so huge. It was so huge. Look at this in Jonah 3, verse
3. This city was huge. It was a great city. Jonah 3.3, so Jonah rose and
went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh
was an exceeding great city of three days journey. Three days
journey. One professor of old said that
this vast city is estimated to be 216 square miles in size. And then we see this prophecy.
is about the fall of Nineveh. Look at verse 2 of chapter 1.
Nahum, chapter 1, verse 2. And we see the vengeance of the
offended, true and living God upon this city. Nahum, chapter
1, verse 2. God is jealous. Oh, he's a jealous
God. He will not share his glory with
anyone, will he? No one. God is jealous and the
Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth, and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies. Now vengeance is described as
retaliatory punishment for wrong done. The scripture declares
vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. We are not to seek vengeance
as God's people, because vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. He will
repay. And so we see the truth of verse
three. Look at, look at Nahum chapter
three, verse 11. Look at this. We see the truth that Nineveh
would be hid. It would be hid. It would be
destroyed and it would be hid. Now this is important. Look at
this in Nahum chapter three, verse 11. Thou shall be drunken,
thou shall be hid. Thou also shalt seek strength
because of the enemy. Now the Lord used the armies
of the Persians, the Medes, the Arabians, and the Babylonians
to utterly subdue this city. To utterly subdue this city.
That's bought forth in Nahum chapter one, verse eight. It
says, but with an overwhelming flood, he will make an utter
end of the place thereof. In darkness shall pursue his
enemies. Even these great armies could not have taken Nineveh
unless God allowed. They could not have taken this
city unless God allowed them to. God made a way for them to enter.
According to secular accounts, unusually heavy rains caused
the rivers to flood and undermine the city walls. A Greek historian says the river
not only broke down the walls, but it also inundated part of
the city. And this is brought forth in
verse 6 of chapter 2. Turn there, if you would. The
gates of the river shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. Remember, the walls were 100
feet high, 100 feet high, 8 miles long. So wide that three chariots could
race around to the breast. And this would take a lot of
water to destroy those walls, wouldn't it? It'd take a lot
of water to destroy those walls. But the Lord has a lot of water,
doesn't He? He does. He can make the waters rise.
He can make the waters fall. However, He's to have it done.
And as the walls began to break up, the king remembered an oracle
to the effect that Nineveh would only fall when the river itself
declared war against it. So he abandoned all hope. The
king of Nineveh abandoned all hope of saving himself. He built an altar from a huge
or for him a huge funeral pyre and he heaped up large quantities
of gold and costly goods and shut his concubines and eunuchs
in a chamber in the midst and then he burned himself and his
family and his concubines and his eunuchs all in the palace. And it was reported that the
slaughter was so great that the blood of the multitude of the
slain mingled with the river and changed its colors, its color
for miles. And then there was unparalleled
looting. We saw a little bit of stuff
on the news in the last few months about that kind of stuff. And
these armies came in and they just looted. They put people
to the sword. They ravaged the city. They plundered the spoil of the
city. And remember, this was a rich, ancient city, very rich,
ancient city. Centuries of wealth had been
accumulated. Centuries of what the wealth
of the world had poured into Nineveh as a result of the Assyrian conquests.
One historian said that the invading armies plundered the spoil of
the city, a quantity beyond counting. The great host of the enemy took
all the silver, all the gold, all the copper, ivory, anything
precious. Any precious materials was taken
away. Look at verses 8 to 10 here in
Nahum chapter 2. But Nineveh is of old like a
pool of water, yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall
they cry, but none shall look back. Take ye the spoil of silver,
take the spoil of gold, for there is none end of the store. There
was such a vast amount of gold and silver in this city, and
it was all taken, plundered. And glory out of all the pleasant
furniture, she is empty, look at that, and void. and waste,
and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much
pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather dark
blackness. So the enemies plunder the silver
and the gold. All the wealth of this city was
taken, and God allowed it to happen. He allowed it to happen. He had
that rainfall. that undermine those walls. Could you imagine how the citizens would feel as
this great city is stripped of everything? The ones that are
still alive, how they would feel watching the city stripped of
all things, plundered, people being put to the sword. And then they were carried away
in captivity. Then the people were carried away in captivity
who lived. Now their hearts would melt at the great destruction. They'd melt with fear, wouldn't
they, over their enemies. They would tremble in fear. And
it is said this was interesting. Remember it said it was hid,
that Nineveh was hid? Over there in verse 11 of chapter
3, thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid, thou also
shalt seek strength because of the enemy. The ruins of Nineveh were not
discovered until 1840. Until 1840. And when they found the ruins
of Nineveh, it said that there was nothing of any value left
in the city. Nothing of any value. She'd been stripped bare. Now one may ask, what caused
all this? Well, we find the answer, look,
in verse 13 of chapter 2. With these words, Behold, I am
against thee, saith the Lord. Our Lord not only speaks these
words against Nineveh, but He speaks these words to all who
sin against Him. These words are to all in Almont,
Michigan, whose sins have not been washed away in the blood
of the great sin offerer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Deliverance
is only to be found in Christ and Christ alone. Because God
poured out His wrath. God poured out His judgment.
in the room and place of His people upon the sinless, spotless
Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only as we stand beneath
the cross, the cross of Christ, only in Christ are we protected
from the greatest of all judgments, which is yet to come. Which is
yet to come. The people of Nineveh who died
such violent deaths, they faced a much more terrifying judgment
after their deaths. And this is true for all who
die without Christ. The scriptures declare it is
appointed unto man once to die. But after this, the judgment, it does not It makes not much difference
what death you are appointed to in this life. But it does
make, it does make a great difference
whether or not you are appointed to that judgment. When you come before him at that
time, will you hear, I am against thee? Sayeth the Lord of hosts? Or will you hear, Well done,
thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of the Lord. Have you bowed to the Lord Jesus
Christ? Have you said to Him, Lord, save
me or I perish? Save me or I perish. If you do
not bow to Him here, you bow to Him You'll bow to Him one
day. You'll bow to Him at the Great
White Judgment Throne. And there's no one who's going
to miss that appointment. Now, we may make a doctor's appointment. We call a doctor and say, Doc,
I can't make it. I've got something else I've got to do. No one will
miss that appointment at the great white judgment throne.
No one. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. That's as sure as the sunrise
in the mall, if it be the Lord's will. Look at verse 13 again. Behold,
I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn
her chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young
lions, and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the
voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard. What words? Behold, I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts. If you are not delivered from
that awful statement, I am against thee, the Lord says. And you
will face the wrath of almighty God in this life and in the life
to come. And that wrath is eternal wrath.
It shall be always coming. Always coming. It'll have no
end. No end. And the prayer of God's
people is that sinners would be made willing in the day of
God's power, that you'd bow your knee now to Christ. That you'd be born again by the
Holy Spirit of God and be delivered from the wrath to come, because
that's what God's people have been delivered from. So if you're
a born-again, blood-washed saint, rejoice. You've been delivered
from the wrath to come. And we saw God's wrath poured
out in that city, didn't we? What's the opposite of mercy?
We just saw it, total destruction, right? No mercy. No mercy. Vengeance is mine,
saith the Lord. I will repay. See, this magnifies the mercy
that we have received, we who are God's people, that we have
received in Christ. It will never become commonplace
to the believer in Christ to ponder the mercy of God, to
say like Paul said, I have obtained mercy. I did not seek it. I did not ask for it. He made
me well in the day of his power. And so we see the utter wrath
of God fall upon that city. And think of how the wrath of
God, if you're a believer, the wrath of God do you and do me, fell upon our Savior. My, oh my. Listen to the psalmist's cry
in Psalm 31, verses one and two. It says, deliver me in thy righteousness.
And we are delivered in Christ, who is our righteousness. Bow
down thine ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be thou
my strong rock for a house of defense to save me. What do we cry out to God constantly? God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
We don't just cry that out at conversion, do we? We continue
to cry that as believers. God, be merciful to me. Don't
leave me to myself. Don't leave me to myself. I'll
make a wreck of things. Don't leave me to myself. And the great need of sinners
is to be reconciled with God. That's the great need of sinners,
to be reconciled with God. Colossians 1 20 and 21 says and
having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to
reconcile all things to himself And you who were sometimes alienated
and the enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath
he reconciled See when we fell in Adam we were
no longer reconciled to God and because of our sin. And we're all sinners, aren't
we? Whether one believes it or not, we're all sinners. We all deserve
the destruction and the wrath for our sins that fell upon that
city. You see how I say we don't get
what we deserve? God's people don't get what we
deserve? Not at all. The great need of sinners is
to be reconciled to God. Would you remain an enemy of
our great God? Only through the reconciler,
our Lord Jesus Christ, can that enmity be put away. As one preacher
of old said, If you do not flee to Christ in this life, then
throughout eternity, these words will ring in your ears. I am
against thee, saith the Lord of Hosts. I am against thee, saith the
Lord of Hosts. So I beseech you, as gospel preacher,
I beseech you, be you reconciled to God. And there's only one
place where you can be reconciled with God, and that's in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one place where the grace
of God is found And that's in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as I said this morning, we're to come to the Lord like children. We're to come to Him with childlike
faith. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Oh, if you do not
know Him, may God bring you grace. May He bring you grace. preacher said this Jack Shanks
you don't go to get you don't go get grace no God brings grace
to you we don't seek it you don't go to get grace God brings it
to you and he says and if your attitude is not right before
him he will not bring grace and you will never have it oh we saw that right this morning
He hides the things from the wise and prudent, doesn't He?
And reveals them unto babes. Reveals them unto babes. So the
believer in Christ rejoices that we have complete forgiveness
of all our sins. And if one desires forgiveness
of all their sins, it's only found in Christ and Him alone.
The Scripture declares, and ye are complete in Him, for the
believer. Now imagine that. In ourselves, We're incomplete,
aren't we? Because we're sinners with no
way to save ourselves, no ability, no desire, really, until God
gives us a desire to flee to Christ. And never forget that
if you have fled to Christ, it's because God made you willing.
He gave you that desire. So you and I who are children
of God in Christ, we have nothing to boast about. Absolutely nothing. And sinner friend, if you desire
your sins to be forgiven, flee to Christ. He's the only hope. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And that's what
He does for God's people. Gives us rest. Rest from our
labors. And what is this completeness
spoken of in Colossians 2.10 when it says, And ye are complete
in him which is the head of all principality and power. Complete
in him. Complete in Christ. What is this
completeness? It is the fullness the believer
in Christ has. In Christ the believer has fulfilled
the law of God. Something we could never do.
In Christ, God's justice is fully satisfied. So that wrath that
fell upon that city, that wrath that we read about,
when God says, I have something against you, I'm against you. He's no longer against his people.
What's the scripture say? If God be for us, who can be
against us? No one. The justice of God is
satisfied. It doesn't have a claim on the
believer anymore. The law of God is satisfied. It has no claim
on the believer. Because that which was due for
our sins, that wrath again that we read about, that fell on Nineveh,
fell upon our blessed surety. Fell upon our substitute. Now just let that sink in. We read about the terrible wrath. We read about the wrath of God
falling on Sodom and Gomorrah. Now imagine that for eternity. My oh my. So God's people again, We've received an ocean, a depthless
ocean of mercy in Christ. So the law has no more claim
on the believer. They are complete in Christ.
They are safe in the city of refuge. Remember when that manslayer,
when he was fleeing the avenger of blood, he'd run to that city
as fast as he can. Now if the avenger of blood caught
him outside the city, that was the end of him. But as soon as
he entered into those city walls, he was safe. And he could stay in that city
until the death of the high priest, which pictures Christ, our great
high priest, dying in our place. And then he's set free. My oh my. So God's people are complete
in Christ. The law of God holds no terror
for us anymore. Because it's wrath against us
has been satisfied. Appeased. I like this word. Extinguished. The wrath of God against the
believer has been extinguished. When you extinguish a fire, it's
not going on anymore. That wrath we saw that fell upon
Nineveh, which was due, we who are God's
people, fell upon Christ. Oh, what wondrous love is this.
Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. That Christ would do that for
me. And if you're a believer, He
did it for you. And the believer is now completely
righteous in Christ. We don't feel that way, do we?
Because we're still sinners. We're but sinners saved by grace.
But in God's eyes, when He looks upon us, He sees Christ. He sees Christ. And now we have spiritual life. We were once dead in trespasses
and sins and had no care for the things of God. Now we have
spiritual life. Now we desire to come, gather
together with the Lord's people and hear the gospel preached
and proclaimed. Scripture says this, and if Christ
be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life
because of righteousness. And that righteousness is Christ's
righteousness. What is revealed in the preaching
of the gospel? The righteousness of God. Who
is the righteousness of God? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's revealed
in the preaching of the gospel. And if we are complete in Christ,
now let this just sink into your soul. As I was preparing this,
this just blessed my heart so much. Think about this. If we are complete in Christ,
God will never say, I'm against you. He will never say to His people,
I'm against you. Never. Because He's for us. He's for
us. And again, if God before us,
who can be against us? Now that's undeserved mercy,
isn't it? That's undeserved grace. If we got what we deserve, the
wrath of God would fall upon us and consume us like a candle
before a huge furnace. I remember reading one commentator
said that the wrath of God would consume us like a candle before
a blow furnace. He said the big steel furnaces
just gone. My oh my. So if we are complete in Christ,
then God will never say I'm against you. Because he's for us. And all
through this life, we who are the people of God, we need much
comfort, don't we? You need much comfort? I need
a lot of comfort. I need a lot of comfort. I'll
be the first to admit it. I need a lot of comfort. There's
things that occur in my life that bring sorrow and sadness
and grief. And I know it's so for all of
you, too. I know it's so for all of you. And we need comfort,
don't we? Just because we're in the world
and we're the Lord's people doesn't mean that we're safe from all
the things that the world faces. No, we actually struggle with
them when the world doesn't. Because before the Lord saved
me, I didn't really have a problem with sin in my eyes. It didn't
bother me. I drank iniquity like water.
That's what the scripture says, eh? Didn't bother me at all. Did
it bother you? Now it bothers me. I sin more than I want to. Is it so with you? Do you desire
to be sinless? I never forget talking to Brother
Donnie Bell one time about that, and we were just, we were talking
about how much we just desire to be sinless, desire to be in
glory with the Lord, because struggling with sin is hard. Even to save men and save women,
it's hard. It's a struggle. So we need comfort,
don't we? We need comfort. And in our weakness,
he is strong. He is strong. He's our shield
and our defender. And so what a comfort it is to
hear these words, if God before us, who can be against us? in
light of that text there. In light of that, those words
right there in Nahum chapter 2, Behold, I am against thee,
saith the Lord of hosts. In light of that, there is much
comfort for God's people when the Scriptures declare if God
before us, who can be against us? Oh, hallelujah. Oh, praise His mighty name. Why
do we come together Here to hear the gospel preached and proclaimed
again and again and again? Turn, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Why do we come and hear the gospel?
Why do we desire, as God's people, to come and hear the gospel again
and again and again? Well, the answer's found in 1
Thessalonians chapter 5. Look at verses 9 to 11. And look
at this. Paul's writing. to the young
church at Thessalonica. He's just received a report from
Timothy. We've been going through this book on Wednesday nights,
and it's been wonderful because we saw that he's received a report
from Timothy, so now he's writing back to Thessalonian believers.
And he's had a good report from them about their faith. They're
a very young church. He was only there for three weeks preaching
the gospel to them. And then he had to flee the city.
So he sends back Timothy to comfort them, and build them up in Christ
how by the preaching of the gospel and here we see why we come again
and again and again to hear the gospel preached look at this
in first Thessalonians 5-9 and think of that wrath that fell
upon Nineveh right we saw that wrath that fell upon Nineveh
Nineveh look at this look at this wonderful statement here
and first Thessalonians 5 verse 9 for God has not appointed us
to wrath Why? The believer says, why me? Because it pleased God to do
so. Because it pleased God to do
so. Look at this. We are not appointed to wrath,
but to obtain salvation. It's a free gift. It's given
to us. To obtain salvation, how? By
our Lord Jesus Christ. in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ in him alone. Look at this, who died for us.
Again, Paul's writing believers and he's saying Christ died for
us. He died for us. What? That whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Now, look at this in verse
11. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together and edify one another, even as ye Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together and edify one another, even as also ye do." Comfort. God's people are comforted when
the gospel is preached and proclaimed. It's wonderful. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith the Lord. Tell her that her iniquity is
pardoned. How? In and through Christ alone. But if you are not in Christ,
do not stay where you are. Oh my. Come and beg God to save you. Beg God to save you. Beg God to save you by the precious
blood of the great sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
despise what you hear or you will hear no more. And then all hope is lost. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. And it is impossible. It is impossible
to have peace. It is impossible to have peace
with God apart from Christ. It's impossible. No Christ, no
peace with God. In Christ, peace with God. How do you hear about Christ?
How does one hear about Christ? Well, by the preaching of the
gospel. This is why it's vital. Every time someone's in this
parable, this is why it's vital that the gospel be preached and
proclaimed. Some come here and never hear. Some come and never
hear. God's taken away their hearing. And they await only the judgment
when they will hear these awful words. I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts. Oh, I pray God will give you
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because he's the
only hope for sinners. He's the only hope for sinners. May God be glorified through
the preaching of his word. Heavenly Father, we thank you
again for allowing us to gather here tonight and to look into
thy word and to see the destruction of a great city, possibly one
of the greatest cities of the ancient world, utterly destroyed
and hid, destroyed, pillaged. Oh, Lord. As we've seen thy wrath fall
upon that city, that great city, may we who are the people of
God realize the great wrath that
we've been delivered from and what great mercy we've received
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to think
upon these things. Help us to wonder at thy love
for your people. that caused you to go to Calvary's
cross and to die in the room and place and to face that very
wrath that we saw fall upon that city, the wrath of God, to have
it fall upon thee in our place. Oh Lord, help us to think upon the mercy
that we've received this week, we who are your people. And oh,
may you use this message to draw in your lost sheep, oh Lord. Oh Lord, we who are the people
of God rejoice in the wonderful words of God before us, who can
be against us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.