Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Nahum. Jonah, Micah, Nahum. Let's ask our Lord's blessing. Thank you this evening for the
blessed privilege to be able to once again assemble in the
precious name of the Lord Jesus. We ask your blessing. Lord, you
said we have not because we ask not, and we ask tonight. Lord,
bless the Word for the comfort of your people. According to
your eternal covenant of grace, would you save your people? Save
sinners, we ask. Bless this word to the spiritual
birth of those that you have everlastingly loved for Christ's
sake. Amen. Somewhere between 100 and 150
years, before the prophet Nahum penned
this book. Almighty God sent a prophet to
the city of Nineveh. He sent Jonah to the city of
Nineveh. And the Lord sent that prophet
with this message. Forty days, and this city is
going to be destroyed. Well, the people of Nineveh at
that time, the scripture sets forth, repented of their ways,
and the Lord was pleased to spare that city from immediate destruction. One of the last verses of the
prophet Jonah, the Lord told Jonah when Jonah pouted, said
that the reason that he fled the first time was because he
knew that God was merciful. He said that he was doing what
he did because of the integrity of God. We don't justify our disobedience
before God. Almighty God told Jonah, He said,
you were glad for the gourd that I gave you. Should not I have
mercy on a city where more than 60,000 children, those that don't
know the difference between the right hand and the left hand,
Is it not right for me to show mercy to this city where all
of their kids, all those kids were? I began to think on that
statement this afternoon after I was going over these notes
and I got to musing upon that thought. And I thought to myself, Those kids that were there that
God was pleased to spare that city for, who knows? But that from the lineage of
those children that God had a people and He was going to spare that
city for a while for the sake of those that He had everlastingly
loved, I don't know. But I do know this, God spared
that city for a while, but now, somewhere between 100 and 150
years later, another group of people are raised up. All of those that were there
surely are gone. And they've turned back to their
idols, back to their false religion. And God has sent another prophet. to this city, Nineveh. And He's going to set forth the
destruction of that city. God's going to destroy that city.
Well, in chapter 1, the Lord announces what He's going to
do. Now, I'm going to skip the second
verse of this first chapter until the end of this message. I'm
going to come back to that second verse. And I'm telling you that
so you won't wonder, wonder why I didn't preach on verse 2. I'm
going to come back to it. Lord willing, we'll deal with
this at the end. The burden of Nineveh. The book
of the vision of Nahum the El-Kashite. The Lord now announces what He's
going to do to Nineveh. He says the Lord is slow to anger. He's been patient. He's been
100 to 150 years. He's allowed this city to be
here. Slow to anger and great in power
and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath His way
in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds or the dust of
his feet. Almighty God is going to destroy
all the workers of iniquity. And then the Lord instructs Nahum
to ask this question, verse 6, who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by Him. I was studying just yesterday,
looking ahead and reading, and when our Lord said in the book
of John, He was getting ready to go to the cross, and He said,
now is my soul troubled in the contemplation of the wrath of
Almighty God that would be spewed out onto him for this reason,
he was going to be made sin. And the undiluted wrath and fury
of Almighty God, the Lord said, my soul is troubled. And here
the Lord is saying, this is what I'm going to do to Nineveh. And
who can stand before his indignation? In verse 8 of chapter 1, it says,
"...the completeness of his fury against his enemies." Look at
verse 8, "...but with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end
of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies." Then
in chapter 2, the prophet declares why. The Lord is going to destroy
him. Look at verse 13 of chapter 2. Behold, I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts. I will burn her chariots in the
smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lines. I will cut off
thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall
no more be heard. I'm against you. I'm against
you. Let me show you why. I want you
to turn to Ezekiel 29 verse 3. This is why. Almighty God is
against not only Nineveh, but all the workers of iniquity.
This is the reason. Ezekiel 29. Verse 3, "...Speak
and say thus, saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee,
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst
of the rivers, which hath said..." Now whatever comes next is the
reason that God is against all the workers of iniquity. is mine
own, and I have made it for myself." This is what Pharaoh said concerning
the River Nile. Nebuchadnezzar said it about
Babylon. Oh, look at this great battle
that I have made. And man, left to himself, says
this about the own redemption of his soul. His own restoration
before God. Look what I've done. Look what
I've accomplished. Look who I am. I've got reason
to be patted on the back. I'm against you. Man does what
he wants to do. Man wants to rebel against God. And God Almighty will allow a
man to do just exactly what that man wants to do. If God is pleased
to leave that man to himself, remember, whose fault is it? That man's. If God leaves a man
in reprobation, the Lord said, I hardened his heart. We dealt
with that last Sunday. But I'm telling you, no one will
lay at the feet of the Lord of Heaven. That man's rebellion,
and call it God's fault. Man does what he wants to do.
I'm against you. I'm against you. Romans 8.31
says, if God be for us, who can be against us? But if the Lord
be against us, who can be for us? What difference
would it make if the whole world stood with us and God is against
us? Well, in chapter 3 of Nahum,
the prophet describes the result of God's judgment. raised up
a pagan army. And though Nineveh thought that
she was invincible, oh, Lord have mercy on the cities, on
the countries that think they can't fall. Almighty God raised up an army. And this is what happened to
Nineveh. Nahum chapter 3, verses 1 to
3. Woe to the bloody city. It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey departeth not. In that, the prey departeth not,
it's talking about Nineveh being the prey of the invading army. I'll show you that. Let's just
read on. The noise of a whip. The noise of the rattling of
the wheels and of the prancing horses, the jumping chariots,
the horsemen lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering
spear, and there is a multitude of slain and a great multitude
of carcasses. There is none end of their corpses. They stumble upon their corpses. Why? Why did this come about,
verses 4-6? Because of the multitude of the
whoredoms of the well-favored harlot. the mistress of witchcrafts
that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through
her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy
face. I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms
thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth
upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing
stock. And it shall come to pass, that
all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say,
Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her? Whence shall
I seek comforters for thee?" Look at verse 9 and 10. Ethiopia
and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Putt and
Lubom, I looked that up, those were cities. that were confederates
to Assyria. Putt and Lugum were thy helpers. Yet was she carried away. She
went into captivity. Her young children also were
dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets, and they cast
lots for her honorable men. And all her great men were bound
in chains. Look at verse 19 of Nahum 3. There is no healing of thy bruise. Thy wound is grievous. All that
hear the announcement of thee shall clap their hands over thee,
for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually." From the
announcement until the execution of Nineveh's destruction, we
learn this one thing. Everyone, every person, Every
rebel against God that bows not to God Almighty, the Sovereign
Lord of Heaven. Everyone that scoffs at the truth
of his right to do whatsoever he chooses to do. To show mercy
to whomsoever he will, or to withhold that mercy from whomsoever
he will. Everyone that will not bow and
kiss the Son, God Almighty is going to judge. But alongside
this message right here, this message of judgment to the enemies
of Almighty God, the prophet was instructed to announce mercy
to the objects of his eternal love. Now, I want you to turn
back to verse 2 of Nahum chapter 1. In chapter 1, after reading
what we just read, after seeing the backdrop of God's wrath,
God's long-suffering, He's long-suffering, and He did not destroy Nineveh
for somewhere between 100 and 150 years, but destruction came. And destruction shall come to
every rebel, but you that know Him." I'm telling you, here's
the comfort that we have. Nahum 1, verse 2, God is jealous. The Lord is jealous for the love
of His people. Almighty God chose His own. Chose them in Christ from before
the foundation of the world. And He will not bear that they
have another. He will not allow them to choose
one over Himself. He will not allow His elect to
think that they are of this world, that they belong to themselves.
1 Corinthians 6.20 You're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify
God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." John
17, verse 16, the Lord praying His high priestly prayer said,
they're not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. The
Lord would die Himself and did so, rather than allow His elect
to perish. I lay down my life for the sheep. And He will not allow anything.
The stand between His people, the heart of His people, and
Himself, Ezekiel 36. We've read this numerous times.
I'll read it again to you. Ezekiel 36, verses 26 to 28. A new heart also will I give
you. A new spirit will I put within
you. Oh, I was mulling over that a
moment ago. Before I got up and I was reading
over these Scriptures again, I began to think of that precious
promise right there. I'm going to give you a new heart.
I'm going to give you a new will. I'm going to give you a new desire.
I'm going to give you a new love. I'm going to take away the stony
heart out of your flesh. As I told someone today, I was
talking to them about this very thing right there. I said, I
know that the presence of sin is still there, but it does not
have dominion over God's people. It doesn't rule. It wars against
the nature of our new man, our new mind. He said, I'm going
to give you a heart of flesh, one that's not hard and adamant
against me, and I'll put my spirit within you. What a promise. I'm going to put my spirit in
you. The Spirit of Christ. God's Holy Spirit. And cause
you to walk in My statutes. And you shall keep My judgments
and do them. You shall dwell in the land that
I gave to your fathers. You shall be My people. I will
be your God. What a promise! To Nineveh. That place that Almighty God
was pleased to leave as reprobates. To leave alone. Now God Almighty
is pleased to show mercy to His people. The Lord is jealous. Jealous. Jealous for the love
of His people. Secondly, jealous for the trust
of His people. He shall not trust the arm of
flesh. His desire is that we lean upon
Him and when we stray. And we do. Always. He lovingly chastens us and brings
us back. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. How often do we need a spanking?
How often do we need to be brought behind the woodshed and taught? And it's for our good. It's for
our good. It's for His glory. God Almighty
is jealous for the love, He's jealous for the trust, and He's
jealous for the company of His people. Two or three are surely gathered
tonight together to meet in the presence of the Lord in His name,
to hear His Word, and we have this promise He is in the midst. He said, I'm there. I know He hears. I know He hears
right now. I know He knows the heart of
His people. He knows the wanderings of our mind right now. You don't
know my mind, but I can tell you this, here I am. Here's a
marvelous thing. I can sit here trying to be consistent
reading a set of notes, and I can catch myself with my mind wondering,
how can that be? Oh, it happens. As I've said
before, try praying. Try reading. Try hearing. Try hearing what I'm saying.
And just saying, you know what? I never missed a word of it.
Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Oh, he's jealous
for our company. Jealous for the honor of His
Son. This is My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. You hear
Him. Here's the Word of God. Here's Almighty God setting forth. I know, Pat, what He's going
to do to rebels. I know what He's going to do. And do you know what my hope
is? That He's taken this rebel and had mercy on this rebel.
And the Lord Jesus Christ bore the guilt of this rebel by nature
and made it His own. Almighty God made Him to be sinned
that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's mercy. Why? Because God is jealous. Jealous for His people's love
trust, company, the honor of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the servant of Jehovah, the chosen surety, the only Savior of sinners,
the mighty King, the Priest. God's jealous. He's jealous.
He's a jealous God. I want my wife to love me. I want her to trust me. I want her to enjoy my company. I'm jealous for her because I
love her. The Lord Jesus Christ is jealous
for His people. He loves them. I'm amazed at that. Someone said,
I can't understand how Jacob have I loved and Esau have I
hated. Somebody said, I just can't understand
how God could hate Esau. They said, oh, I understand that
part of it. The part that amazes me is that he loved Jacob. What
was in Jacob that would cause God to love him? Nothing. Nothing. Almighty God, who is the merciful
God, who is love. God is love. And God Almighty is going to
love a people eternally that He's chosen to love. Through
nothing in them, loved them freely. It means without a cause. Without a cause. The cause was
known totally in God Himself. God is jealous. Secondly, in
verse 3, the Lord is slow to anger, and He is great in power. For the sake of Christ, for the
sake of Christ's honor, for the sake of Christ's glory, Jehovah
is patient, forgiving for Christ's sake. Christ who has borne the
guilt, the death. And here I am, struggling, struggling,
struggling to preach. Struggling to be consistent.
Weighing my words heavily. Looking at what Almighty God
has to say. Struggling. I don't even want
to mispronounce a word. And I know I do. I don't want
to. I want to be consistent for the
sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and His long-suffering to His
people, to His elect, when Almighty God restrained Himself in the
days of my unregeneracy. I think back when I was growing
up in all of the shenanigans that I
got into, I just manifested what I was.
Didn't even think a thing in the world about it. Just trying
to come up with something to do. When I was in school and college, an almighty God, slow to anger,
for Christ's sake, And you know what he said that his slowness
to anger was according to? Because he was great in power. Great in power. I'm just like you are. Catch
me at the right moment. And everybody just thinks, well,
you know, Marvin's real nice. Just catch me at the right moment.
Glenda's seen it. You catch me at the right moment.
And buddy, I'm off that quickly. I try to hide it. I really do.
I try to hide it. But I have no control over my
passion. I have no control over it. I mean, I try to catch it. I
try to get it back under control. But I'm telling you, it'll be
inside me, Neil, before you'll ever see it. But it's there.
It's there. It's time, people, if you knew
what I was thinking. If you knew what I thought, and
I'll try my best, but Almighty God is slow to anger and great
in power. He's powerful to be slow to anger. He's powerful to be long-suffering. And He was slow to anger, to
spare, Those of your family, my family, those through whom
you came into this world, slow to anger, for Christ's sake,
who through the period of time... I mean, I can sit and relate.
I know something. I can go back. My mom and I have
talked about this. Of all of her family, of the
heritage We came through in south Louisiana. I got to thinking
about it and talking to her one day about it. And how through
the lineage going back through false religion and false religion
and false religion and false religion, just back and back
and back and back. And the long suffering of Almighty
God that was shown mercy for Christ's sake for one of His
elect, that God Almighty would restrain Himself, slow to anger,
for the sake of that One that He's everlastingly loved and
purposed to show mercy to. I'm lost in that thought. And
then I come down and I think to myself, here I stand, according to His sake. His long-suffering. His slowness to anger. He who
is all-powerful, bears with patience those that He's pleased to bear
with. He's sovereign. Verse 3 again, the Lord is slow
to anger, great in power, will not at all acquit the wicked.
The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind. in the storm and the
clouds are the dust of His feet. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind,
the storm, clouds, dust of His feet. He works. He worketh. All things after
the counsel of His own will. Amos 3, 6, "...shall there be
evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" My friend, all of these calamities,
listen, according to Nahum 1, 3, "...he hath his way in the
whirlwind, in the storm, the clouds, or the dust of his feet."
It does not matter. It doesn't matter. You can contribute
it or attribute it to whatever you think it is. You can attribute
it to global warming. You can attribute it to El Nino. You can attribute it to whatever. Changing of the polls. I'm telling you that everything
that happens that men call evil, He's fire. He's hurricanes. He's
famines. He's calamities. Earthquakes. God Almighty has His way in the
whirlwind and in the storm. It is God Almighty that's speaking
and men don't hear. How many times did you read in
the Old Testament, the Lord said, I withheld the rain. I sent the
earthquake. I sent that storm Yerakladon
that Paul talked about being in the sea with. Who sent it? God sent it. Almighty God moves. And men refuse to hear. Close their ears against Him.
The judgment of God is a strange work. And men fail to see His
hand in all of these things. And he's doing this in judgment,
speaking, telling men, I'm going to destroy this earth. And he's
doing this for the good of his people. Telling them, in all
of these things, I'm going to preserve you. I'll keep you. But it's the Lord that's running
this earth. Nineveh? destroyed because of
pride and arrogance, resentment against God Almighty. But in
the midst of it, God sets forth His jealousy, His love for His
people. In verse 7, of Nahum 1, the Lord
is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. And He knoweth
them that trust in Him, Oh, that's such a sweet verse. He knows them that trust Him.
I think about Peter. I mentioned this last Sunday.
Peter, lovest thou me more than these? Three times the Lord asked
him. The third time the Scripture says Peter was grieved because
the Lord asked him the third time, lovest thou me? And Peter
said, Lord, You know all things. You know I love You. Oh, how many times do I not exhibit
it? How many times do I not exhibit
my trust? How many times do I fail in resting
as I should? But Lord, You know. You know. The Lord knows those that trust
Him. The Lord is good. And all that
He does is pure. All that He does is right, holy,
just. He's not going to acquit the
wicked. He's not going to let them off. And the Lord's good
in that he's fair. He's just. He did not pass by
the transgression of this sinner right here. He made his son sin
and dealt with it. and absolute justice. He's good. He's a stronghold. A stronghold
of mercy. In the day of His power, the
Lord is good. And I'll tell you this, if He
passes by the majority of this whole state, if He passes by
the majority of Fairmont, or Katie, and he shows mercy to a remnant
according to his purpose, the Lord is good. He's good. He's done that which is right. There's nothing but goodness
in almighty good. All good gifts cometh down, whether
it's In providence, whether it's in salvation, mercy, whatever
it is, all good, perfect gifts cometh down. The Father of lights. He's working all these things
according to His good pleasure. Working them together for good.
Whatever is going on for those that love God. For those who
are called according to His purpose. Whatever happens in this world,
in this country, in this state, whatever happens, I can tell
you this, that Almighty God has His way. And the storm and the
whirlwind, He's not going to pass by. He's not going to acquit
the wicked. He's right. He's fair. He's just.
But He's merciful. Merciful to those that He's been
pleased to show mercy to. In my heart, I cry this evening,
Lord, have mercy on me. For Christ's sake.