I was thinking as we were singing
that song, how precious it is to read the words or sing the songs of those that have been
with us. We knew them. How wonderful it
is for the blessed privilege to be able to fellowship with
God's people. And I thank the Lord for that. Thank the Lord for you. May God
has been pleased to give us another day that we can be together and
we can fellowship. I want you to turn with me to
the book, back to the book of Obadiah. Obadiah. We began looking at this book
last time and I had it in my mind that I was going to try
to finish the verses, but I'm going to just look at verses
11 to 16 this morning. As I began to read these blessed
verses, my heart was drawn to just, let's take our time and
see what the Lord has to say to us. Obadiah, verses 11 to 16. In the day that thou shouldest,
oh no, I'm sorry, in the day that thou stoodest on the other
side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces
and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem,
even thou wast as one of them. 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. Neither shouldest thou have spoken
proudly in the day of distress. 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, nor have laid hands on their substance in the
day of their calamity. Neither shouldest thou have stood
in the crossway to cut off those of his that did escape. Neither
shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain
in the day of his distress. For the day of the Lord is near
upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be
done unto thee. Thy reward shall return unto
thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my
holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea,
they shall drink and shall swallow down, and they shall be as though
they had not been. what these verses set forth.
And I want us to remember of whom we're speaking. It was
two brothers, Jacob and Esau. And these two brothers are representatives
of one or the other of all men or women born into this world. We are either going to be proven
to be a Jacob or an Esau. Jacob, the scripture sets forth,
was loved of God. In Esau, the scripture bears
out, was hated of God. So as we look at these two men,
let's, let's just ask the Lord. If you've, if you've not asked
the Lord, if I've not truly asked the Lord, Lord, please. Number
one, forgive me for failing to ask for your blessing upon these
verses. Let's ask him, ask him in your
heart, ask him. He said you have not because
you asked not. I want to ask. I want the Lord to speak to me.
Now, as the Spirit of God speaks of these two men, Jacob and Esau,
twins. These boys were born just moments
apart. They grew up under the same parents. They heard the instruction out
of those parents. But oh, the difference that was
found in these two men. The older of the two, Esau, the
scripture bears out that he cared nothing for the things of God. He cared nothing for the instruction
of the Lord. He cared nothing for the blessing.
And when he got the chance, because he was the older and was entitled
by the word of God, the law of God, he was entitled to the birthright. He was entitled to the blessing
of the family. But when it came time for that
boy to hear what was getting ready to happen to him, or know
what was getting ready to happen to him, he was gonna starve to
death, he thought. He sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob. Scripture says, for a meal of
pottage. He gave it up now. I want us
to just stop and realize now, realize. Let's get it out of
our mind that we're talking about two boys that lived on this earth. We are. Hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of years ago, this is either one or the other of
us right now. This is one or the other of us right now. I
need God to speak to me. I need the Lord to speak to me.
I need the Lord to do something for me. Here's two boys, and
now we're gonna see one of them who would have received the birthright,
refused it, gave it up for virtually nothing. Now let's just look
at this, and I want us to realize that as the Spirit of God is
speaking, speaking concerning what One should have done. You're gonna keep seeing this
over and over. You should have, you should have,
you should have. And realize this is God's word. This is God's instruction to
us. Let me, let me be instructed
of the Lord. Verses 10 and 11. I'll start
with verse 10 here and we'll go from there. for thy violence
against thy brother. Now the Lord is speaking to Esau. He's speaking to Esau, but he's
speaking to everyone left to themselves with a spirit of indifference. You're gonna hear this word now
numerous times in this message, indifference. I just don't care. I just don't care. I don't care. For thy violence against thy
brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off
forever. For in the day that thou stoodest
on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away
the captive, his forces and foreigners entered into his gates and cast
lots upon Jerusalem, even thou was as one of them. Now this, the Lord is reprimanding,
reprimanding Esau. He's totally exposed for the
unkindness that he showed his brother, Jacob. While the enemies or the strangers
of the Jews fought against God's people, capturing them, warring
against them, leading them off as trophies of their battle,
casting lots for them, and treating them as if they were nothing
more than just toys, nothing, nothing, make sport of them,
acted with no sympathy toward the people of God, acted with
no sensitivity They just didn't care. They just didn't care. And what made the offense so
great was that Esau, he was Jacob's brother. He was
bone of his bone. He was flesh of his flesh. a brother that one would think.
Sympathy would have been shown and love and kindness was, that
was due. It was his brother. Jacob, instead
of being the one that was shown some kindness and respect, he
was, he was hated. Hated. And the reason he was
hated, I'm going to show you this in just a minute. The reason
he was hated, because God loved him. Now here we are, we're living
in a world. We're living in a world, and
we've got people all around us, and people are born into this
world every day, and people are dying every day, and there's
only two kinds in this world. They're either Jacob's or Esau's.
And his men are being born in this world. We're seeing the evidence of
this right now. I just don't care. I don't care. I don't care for the things of
God. I'm just indifferent. It just doesn't matter to me.
This is the issue. The more I looked at this book,
Obadiah, the more I was convicted. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. We're
all guilty. By nature, we're all guilty.
Now, you that hear my voice right now, those that'll hear this
on sermon audio or wherever, if they hear it, let me ask you
this, honestly. Is that your attitude by nature? It's mine. By nature, this is
mine. I just don't care. I just don't
care for the things of God. Here's the, The gospel, I got
to thinking about the gospel of God's grace that's been preached
here at Katie now for over 70 years. How the Lord's raised
up the truth of the sovereign grace of God. Mercy to be found
totally in the Lord Jesus Christ. And how many people have come
through and sat under the sound of the gospel. sat and listened
to the message of God's grace in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and walked away with this attitude. So, the Lord is going to set
forth what's going to happen. And I read these words again,
and I read them again, and I read them again, and I was convicted
in my heart, and I'm thinking, Lord, thank you for mercy. Thank you for your kindness.
Thank you for forgiveness. Lord, help me. This is the issue
of the day. Man by nature is indifferent
to the things of God. It is honestly, Take it or leave
it. If it's convenient, I'll be there. If it's not convenient, I won't.
Oh, Lord, help us. Indifference. Actually, when
it comes right down to it, and here again, I'm gonna preach
to me. You listen in on it. Let me tell you what indifference,
what the heart of indifference is. Hatred. I hate, I hate. Let me show you that. Turn to
John. John chapter, John chapter 15. John chapter 15. John 15, verses 16 to 19. John 15, verse 16. Listen to
the words of our Lord. Even as I'm preaching these words,
I'm thinking to myself, these are hard things to hear. But thanks be unto God that he'd
give us a heart to hear them now and admit our guilt now and
ask for forgiveness now. Lord, that you didn't leave us
to ourselves. John chapter 15, verse 16. You have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you and ordained you. that you should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
ye ask in my Father's name, he may give it to you. These things
I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates
you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were
of the world, the world would love his own. but because you're
not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
Therefore, the world hateth you. Now, according to these scriptures,
the reason that men, women hate the things of God and hate the
people of God is because God has loved them before the foundation
of the world and chose it to salvation in Christ. That's the
reason. And the world hates that. It
hates God Almighty getting all the honor, the glory, and the
praise. It hates the things of God. He saw a picture of all
left to themselves to do what they want to do. He despised
the birthright He despised the things that gave the Lord the
glory and considered those things to be nothing more than just
to be pilferage. Don't worry about it. Jacob,
on the other hand, he sought after by the grace
of God. He sought after the things of
God and received the birthright and received the blessing. And Esau, who did not want the
blessing. He did not want the birthright.
He didn't want it. He didn't want it. Jacob didn't make him give it
up. He gave it up because he wanted to. He gave it up because
he wanted to. He was indifferent to the things
of God. And he gave it up because I just
don't care. And he gave it up. Esau hated
him. Esau hated him. Esau did what he wanted to do.
Beloved, we all do. We all do. We do what we want
to do. Thanks be unto God that God would not leave us to ourselves. Because if he left us to ourselves,
I can tell you what we would do. We would do the same thing. Oh, but I want you to consider,
I want you to consider the emphasis that the Lord put on some words
here. Here again, as I began to read
them, I want you to look at verses 12, 13, 14. Let's just read a
few of those. Look at verse 12. The Lord's
speaking now to Esau, but thou, and that, I'm gonna put some
emphasis on thou. But thou shouldest not have looked
on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger. Neither shouldest thou, Esau,
have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their
destruction. Neither shouldest thou have spoken
proudly in the day of distress. 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, nor have laid hands on their substance
in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldest thou have stood
in the crossway to cut off those that did escape. Neither shouldest thou have delivered
up those that did remain. in the day of distress, thou,
thou. Here the Lord reveals unto Esau
that the day of Jacob's calamity, in these days when the Lord has,
because the Lord loved him and chastened him, whom the Lord
loveth, he chastens and discourages. And whenever Jacob, the one that
the Lord loved, was chastened, because of God's love for him.
Esau was glad. You're getting just what you
deserve. You're getting just what you earned. You should not. Oh, the correction that was given
unto Esau, and the word that's heavily laid on him. The Lord
told him, you, it reminds me of whenever David had sinned
against God, took Bathsheba, and had her husband killed. Thought he covered it up. And
God sent Nathan, sent a prophet. This prophet told David the story
about a little lamb. You know the story. David heard
that story, how this man and this, you know, taking the only
lamb that a neighbor had. It was the only one. He had all
kinds of cattle and lambs and stuff like that. And David listened
to that story and made him some man. He said, you tell me who
that was. And I promise you, I'll take
care of him. And Nathan, the prophet, looked at him under
the inspiration of God and he said, thou art the man. You're the man. You did it. And I'm thinking to myself, This
act of disobedience, this act of indifference, this act of
just don't care, do care. By nature, this is me. This is
me. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We're all guilty. We're all guilty. We're all deserving. Thou art
the man. Oh, the sin, the great sin of
indifference, indifference. And that God would allow us to
hear it and give us a heart to be convicted of it and grant
repentance for it. Call on the name of the Lord.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Listen, I'm just telling you this is the way we are. This
is the way we are. And you're the only hope we got.
is that the Lord would grant repentance to us, give us repentance. Oh, how long, how long, how long
did I hear? Didn't care, didn't care. I'm
just telling you, God's grace is sufficient forever and we're
all guilty. I want you to turn with me to
Matthew chapter 11, Matthew chapter 11. and listen to the words. We've read these words before.
Matthew chapter 11, verses 24. Matthew 11. Matthew 11, verse 20, then began
he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were
done because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin, Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done
in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented
long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, oh brethren,
please ask the Lord now to give us ears to hear. I want the Lord
to speak to me. But I say unto you, It shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee. Let me bring this to home here. Almighty God has been pleased
to send the gospel. He'd been pleased to send the
gospel. Other places, yes, but he'd been pleased to send the
gospel to Katie. He'd been pleased to send the gospel of God's grace
to Katie Baptist Church. And I thank God for that. I thank
God for his mercy and grace And not only did he send the gospel,
he was pleased to bless it. Bless it to the hearts and salvation
of some of his people. Bring them out, call them out
of darkness. And he'd been pleased by his grace and mercy to continue
to bless and teach and ground and solidify that which he started,
that which he had begun. And look, and he's kept us here.
He's kept us here. We're still here. That in itself
is a message of God's grace, God's honor, God's glory. That's
a message. That's a mighty work, a mighty
work of grace. And the Lord told Chorazin and
Daseida, if the mighty works that were
done in thee, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah. If the Lord would have permitted
that the gospel be preached there, if it was not preached there,
it's because the Lord didn't send it. Because he worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. But if the mighty works
that were done here had been done there, he said they would
have repented. I still can't explain the depth of that. I
just, I hear his word and I bow to it. But he said, I'll tell
you one thing, in the day of judgment, it's gonna be more
tolerable for them than it will be for you, because you heard.
Oh, the great sin of indifference, to have heard the word of God,
and then say, I don't care, I just don't care. Oh, Lord, Lord help
me. Oh, There was an apostle. There was an apostle named Judas.
He walked with the Lord. Heard the Lord preach the gospel. And that apostle left to himself. There was 12 of them. 12 of them. And as far as we
know, 11 of them heard the gospel and God blessed it. And he blessed it. According
to the immeasurable wisdom of Almighty God, according to God's
will, there was one apostle that heard the gospel preached from
the mouth and the heart of the Savior Himself and refused it. And it was the Lord Himself that
said unto Judas, Luke 22, 48, when Judas betrayed him. And
I looked at that passage and I wrote this down and I highlighted
one word in there. Betrayest thou. Betrayest thou the son of man
with a kiss. I thought, but for the grace
of God, that's what I'd have done. That's what I'd have done.
Oh, beloved, back in, back in, Obadiah, let's hear the word
of God's warning. I just want to set forth these
scriptures as the Lord has. Verse 15, 16, Obadiah. For the day of the Lord
is near upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be
done unto thee. Thy reward shall return unto
thine own head, for as Ye have drunk upon my holy mountain,
so shall the heathen drink continually. Yea, they shall drink and they
shall swallow down and shall be as though they had not been. It is an eternally dangerous
thing, especially to hear the gospel and then treat it with
indifference as if it's nothing. I'm telling you this blessed
word of truth, this blessed word of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to just say it
again. Salvation is of the Lord. If the Lord allows it to be blessed
to your heart, you are an eternally blessed person. Lord, bless it
to me. All who've been made honest in
heart can admit that the same Spirit, I myself have been indifferent. I've been indifferent. Lord,
I am the sinner. Lord, I'm the one. But I've got
a word of comfort for you. I was waiting to get to this
part. I want to be honest with you. I want to be as honest as
these scriptures are honest. I got a word of comfort, a word
from the Lord of mercy. there is mercy found in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord has revealed to you,
if he's revealed to me, Marvin, you've been indifferent. Lord,
give me a heart to cast myself upon you for mercy. He's the
only hope for indifferent sinners like us. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Salvation is of the Lord. But I'm telling you, if God's
given you a heart to call upon him, that desire didn't come
from you, I'm telling you. Salvation is of the Lord. Beloved,
let's just remember, every redeemed sinner struggles. Yeah, but you
don't know the struggles that I've had because I've done I
want you to turn with me, I'm gonna wrap this up. I want you
to turn with me to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon chapter five. There's hope, there's hope for
sinners. Now if you're good and you don't
need this, well, if you see yourself as somebody
that's guilty, I'm looking for guilty sinners. I'm looking for
guilty people. I want you to look at Song of
Solomon. I've just got a couple other comments here. Song of
Solomon, chapter 5, verses 2 and 3. Song of Solomon 5. Now here's every redeemed sinner's
struggle. This is every redeemed and regenerated
sinner's struggle. Let me tell you what it is right
now. I'm going to read it to you. This is your struggle. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verses
2 and 3. I sleep, but my heart waketh. It's the voice of my beloved
that knocketh, saying, open to me, my sister. My love, my dove,
my undefiled, for my head is filled with you. My locks with
the drops of the night. Here's our answer. Here's the
answer of every redeemed, regenerated sinner that still possesses a
heart. That old heart. One belief. Verse three. I've put off my
coat. How shall I put it on? I've washed
my feet. How shall I defile them? Every true believer still possesses
a heart of unbelief. Difference. The apostle said,
he kind of wrapped it up. I see in me, that is in my flesh,
it dwelleth no good thing. to will is present with me. But
how to accomplish that which I want? I don't find it. That's
our problem. That's the struggle that every
believer still has. But for those that the Lord will
not leave to themselves, He knows how to convict us. He knows how
to draw us. We see the battle. Still staying
right there in Song of Solomon, chapter five. What does he do? Well, Song of Solomon 5.4, my
beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels,
my heart moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved,
and my hands dropped with my fingers, sweet smelling myrrh
handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved. My beloved
had withdrawn himself and was gone. My soul failed when he
spake. I sought him, but I could not
find him. I called him, but he gave me
no answer. The watchmen that went about
the city found me. They smoked me. They wounded
me. The keepers of the walls took away my veil and all how
we need it. I need the convicting word of
God. Lord, teach me. Lord, tell me. Don't leave me to my indifference
to perish. Lord, convict me by your word. I charge you, oh daughters of
Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love. Beloved, Almighty God was pleased
through a prophet named Obadiah to send a word of truth, a word
of truth concerning what we are by nature. And we need to hear
it. I know man by nature is gonna
say, well, don't tell me these hard things. Tell me how good
I am. Tell me, let's sing, Jesus loves
me, this I know. Don't deal with these hard things.
Beloved, these things are so. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. The Apostle Paul said, I'm chief.
I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, the mercy that God has shown
us, his people, by showing us what we are by nature. showing
us who He is, merciful, and giving us a heart to bow before Him. For His glory and our eternal
good, Lord, speak to me. Amen. All right.