Turn with me to the book of Obadiah,
and Lord willing, I will try to finish this chapter,
this one book. My brother Scott was making the comments out of Matthew
11. Well, I was thinking to myself, how? And this is to our own. I don't know if the word is discussed. I don't know what it is, but
I was thinking. Or, you know, we think. We get
up and we we come to the services. And somehow we've got it in our
minds. That we Well, you know, we're
the elect of God, which is so. We believe God's gospel, and
that's so. And we are a peculiar people,
peculiar in this world, peculiar in this community, and that's
so. But, oh, how in the deepest recesses
of our nature, that sin that still is present with us. And you know, you that believe,
you know what I'm saying is so. Somehow we struggle with this
thought, you know. Well, really, we're just a cut
above. All these other folks out there
They don't believe what we believe. You know, I'm going to tell you,
God deliver us from the thoughts of thinking that we're something
outside of His grace. We are what we are by the grace
of God. as we might truly, by His Spirit,
be taught something. Just hearing Him brought down
to cast ourselves, you know, be taught of Him, learn of Him. Let's teach us something today.
Obadiah, just before the book of Jonah, right after the book
of Amos, one little section of scripture here. I tell you, think
about this. God has been pleased by His Holy
Spirit to give us 66 books. If this is all we had, this was
it, right here, the fullness of Almighty God revealed in this
one book. If this is all we had, this would
be enough. God is pleased to give us sixty-five
other books to set Himself forth. But just right here, Obadiah, I'm going to be dealing
with verses seventeen to twenty-one. Before we look at those verses,
though, I know this, the comfort, the peace, that a believer has is based on the Lord Jesus Christ
as He is set forth in His Word. Everything that we know about
Almighty God has been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit through
the Word of God. This is all we know, everything
we know, outside of His Word, outside of Him, as He is revealed
in the Holy Scriptures. We know nothing. How could we
know anything? How do we know? How? How? His Word is sure. His Word is powerful. eternal,
pure. His Word fails not. Heaven and
earth will pass away, not the Word of God. Verses 17 to 21, 13 times in
this passage, we find the word, shall. I shall. It's shall. some things that Almighty God
has said that He's declared they're going to be so. Well, to this point, Jacob, Israel,
a picture, a type of all God's elect, has suffered some persecution. That's the way that God has determined
that things are going to be. As I've said in the last few
The message before Brother Scott said the same thing over and
over and over. They that will live godly in
Christ Jesus in this life shall suffer persecution. That is God's
way. The Lord has promised some things
concerning His people. Though the Lord chastened His
people, This life, for a time, you rest assured, He Himself
is the remedy, and He shall provide through means known to Himself
only deliverance through the person of His blessed Son. The Lord has purposed that His
people shall not be lost eternally. Just that one statement that
I just heard my own self say, thinking, oh, the depth of the
comfort and the peace that God's people are promised and given,
that one statement, they're not going to be lost. They're not
going to be lost. Oh, we're going to know that.
We're going to know it. Right now, we know it in part.
We see in part. We know in part. We think. But
one of these days, up until this passage of Scripture
in verse 17, God has been telling Edom, Esau, this is the way I'm going to
deal with you. And I think to myself, what was the difference
between Jacob and Esau? What was the difference there?
Well, physical differences maybe. There were some things that one
was, the other one wasn't, this, that, and the other. What was
the eternal difference in those two boys? One thing, grace of
God. That was it. What's the difference between
you and anybody else? If you believe Him this morning,
you've trusted Him. Well, it's God talking about
coming to Christ. If you come to Him empty-handed, or, I'm
looking for mercy, blind Barnabas, called on the name of the Lord.
He called on the name of the Lord. I'll deal with that in
just a minute. What is that? Calling on Him. for mercy, blind, helpless, stinking,
good for nothing beggar, beggar. I've only seen just a few times
in my life, I guess some that I could really consider were
beggars. You know the first thing I noticed
about a beggar? Talk to him, you got to talk like, you
don't want to embarrass him or something. And another thing
I noticed about a beggar, he's brought to a point, he's just,
he's got no pride left. Got no pride. You know, sometimes
someone, I've had in my life, I've had folks ask me, You know,
you know, money, you know, can you help me? You know, I'm thinking
myself. First thing that first thing
goes through my mind when somebody do something like that, it aggravates
me, you know, that gum. You know, if you. Straighten
up, fly right, you get your act together, you know, you brought
this on yourself. Well, probably so. But you think about what
they have to come to ask you. No pride left whatsoever. For God's people, verse 17, but
upon Mount Zion there shall be, there's the first shall, there
shall be deliverance. God is going to deliver His people. Mount Zion, the elect, the church,
the bride, the beloved of Almighty God, chosen by Him There shall
be, but upon Mount Zion shall be delivered." Who is going to
deliver? Who is it? Joel chapter 2 verse
32 says, "...whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered." That's what Joel 2 says. "...whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." Set free.
Saved from evil. That's what the word delivered
means. Paul said in Romans 10, 13, "...whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." So delivered
means saved. Whosoever. Saved from what? "...but upon Mount Zion shall
be deliverance." From what? People talk about salvation.
Be saved. Saved from what? Saved from the
penalty of the law. Saved! Saved from sin, saved from Satan,
saved from self, saved from hell. And this salvation of this deliverance
is by the Deliverer. Now, you know, we talk a lot
about salvation. Salvation. Deliverance. Let's talk about the Savior,
the Deliverer. Let's talk about Him. upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance."
How is God going to do it? By the deliverer. Job 33, 24 says, deliver him
from going down to the pit. Why? I found a ransom. A ransom. I looked up the word ransom. It means to redeem a captive or seized property by the payment
or the compliance of demands. Ransom. Someone's kidnapped. A child, a wife, a husband, somebody
kidnapped, you know, took them, held them, bound them up, got
them seized, locked up in a room. gagged, feet tied, hands tied,
bound up, and they send a ransom note.
What's that ransom note? There's the demands. Ten o'clock
Tuesday morning, in the trash can over behind the library,
I want a million dollars dropped in small, unmarked bills if the
cops show up. I'm going to shoot this person.
That's the demands. That's the way it is. Are they
negotiable? No, not negotiable. That's a
ransom. That's what it's going to cost.
In other words, it's the demand or the payment to obtain the
release of a captive by paying the price that's demanded. I found a ransom. I found the
payment. Whatever it's going to cost releasing,
delivering him from going down to the pit, I found a ransom.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Men are captive to sin. Captive. People don't believe that. They
don't believe that. I'm not captive. I'm free. I
do what I want to. I can do anything I want to do.
If I want to walk out that building, I can do it. If I want to stand
right here, I can do it. If I want to talk, I can. If
I don't want to talk, I don't have to. I'm free. I'm free.
Well, I'll say this. There's a certain amount of things
you can do. But as far as making yourself righteous before Almighty
God and meeting the demands of Almighty God, what's the ransom?
You can't pay it. You can't pay it. You're dead,
and you're blind, and you're deaf, and you're dumb spiritually. You can't pay it. And on your
way outside of Christ, on your way to hell, by God's grace and
mercy, from Mount Zion, He said, release him, deliver him. He
found a ransom, men are captive, whosoever committed sin, is the
servant of sin. Man said, I'm not a servant.
I'm free. That's what they said. We're not in bondage. They're
sons of Abraham. Who do you think you are? God
is just. He can by no means clear the
guilty. Man preaches this gospel and
man by nature believes this gospel. They say, all we got to do is
say sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me. You know,
just wipe the slate clean, just put it away, sweep it under the
rug. A fellow comes up to you and takes a dagger and sticks
it in your heart and he pulls out and says, sorry, sorry, didn't
mean it. Let me ask you this, are you
still stabbed? Yeah. In order to show mercy to a chosen
people, God must deliver them, and that justly. His law must
be satisfied, for on Mount Zion shall be deliverance." Mount
Zion, the city of his choosing, the place of his presence, the
place of his hope. Mount Zion, refuge, refuge. Christ, the city of refuge. There were six cities back in
the Old Testament then, three on each side of the Jordan. Cities
were named and well-defined. I read some articles and writings
on this that said that these roads, all the roads that led
to the cities of refuge, had to be clean, no obstructions,
anything broken, fix it. Bridge down, fix it. Signs marked,
clearly marked, City of Refuge, City of Refuge, this way, this
way. If a man, unawares, didn't mean to accidentally kill somebody
else, accident, wasn't a murderer, It was an accident. He could
flee to the city of refuge, get inside the city of refuge. In
that bound, in the avenger of blood, couldn't touch him, couldn't
stay there, hope, peace, until that high priest died and he
was set free. Heard the case, did hear the
case. Yes, that was nice. He didn't
mean to do that. The city of refuge, deliverance. Paul said, I obtained mercy because
as a blasphemer and a persecutor, an injurious person, I did it
ignorantly, ignorantly, in unbelief. God treats mercifully His elect,
provided for them refuge, deliverance in the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy,
mercy, mercy. Secondly, this deliverance has
a requirement. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance,
and there shall be holiness. Holiness. Those that are delivered,
they must be holy. Holiness. Holiness has to do
with character, purity, majesty, holiness. I am the Lord that bringeth you
up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Ye shall therefore be holy, for
I am holy." Boy, I got thinking about that. Ye shall therefore
be holy, for I am holy. Hebrews 12, verse 14 says, ìFollow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see
God.î Now, letís just set this one thing down right now first. There is none holy but God. God. None holy as Jehovah. He is glorious. Holiness. Revelation 15 verse 4 says, He
only is holy. Holy and reverend is His name. I see these signs, you know,
people, one sign says reverend so and so, reverend this, reverend
that. Holy and reverend is His name. I saw a guy one time sign his
name, Reverend so-and-so, standing behind him, a croaker, and I
watched him sign his name. It just made me mad. God only is holy. But I'll tell
you this, God's people are described as holy brethren. I even think on that, Carl. How can that be? One way. One
way. The holiness of God's people
flows out of their relationship to Him. I know that in me, Paul
says, in my flesh there dwells no good thing. I know that. But I'll tell you this. as to
the relationship of God's people in Christ. God Almighty looks
upon them in His Son with our spot, loathed in His righteousness. There's no condemnation in Christ
to them that be in Christ Jesus. But there's one other thing that
we need to remember. There is a sense in which God's
people In Him, in Christ, there is a striving after and a walking
after conformity to His image. I know that we are plagued with
the presence of sin. I know that. And we war with
it. We strive against it. His calling, His people, is a
holy calling, and He calls His own. Not to uncleanness, but
to holiness. Psalm 100 verse 2 says, Serve
the Lord with gladness. Serve Him. Serve Him. Not moping and reluctantly. I
think about when my kids be at home, I tell one of them, I need
you to go out here and sweep that driveway or something
like that. You know, kind of just, oh, daddy,
oh, you know. Boy, God's people, I know in
themselves, I know that in themselves, there's no good thing. But there's
a spirit in which God's people, they strive after Him, long after
Him, serving, hunger, thirst after Him. He chose you that you might be
holy and without blame before Him in love. He didn't choose
us because we were holy, but that we might partake of the
sanctification of the Spirit. That is, that we might be sanctified,
set apart by Him under good works. God's people, they get, as a
day, set aside. We're going to come together
and meet together. We're going to hear of Him and long after Him. In
God's people, there is a desire and a hunger. I want to hear
of Him, long after Him, eat of Him, taste of Him, drink of Him.
Do you see yourself in that spirit of holiness? No, I don't. But
I hunger after Him, long after Him. Oh, I think on that one
day, I'm going to see Him as He is, and by His grace, The
presence of this sin just so easily beset me. I want to be
done with it. Lord, I'm striving. Help me. Help me. As God is saying,
I just can't do this. Who is sufficient for these things?
The sum of the believer's duty and desire is to be conformed
to God Almighty. to have his views, have his sentiments,
be as he is. It's the highest honor and duty,
longing after you. The Lord won't walk after you. I know. I know. Lord, I've just
failed you. I'm sorry. I'm just sorry. That's
an amazing thing. Watch a believer. Oh, in Christ Jesus they read
what the Scriptures declare them to be. Oh, what we are by grace. See Him as He is. We long for
that. And in ourselves we think, oh,
what a miserable example. Don't look at me. Oh, don't look
at Him. were justified by the imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Righteousness washed
in His blood and in the life to come, free from all sin. Oh, perfectly, with that spot,
with that wrinkle, or any such thing, and will appear so in
Christ. And this deliverance got a reward. House of Jacob shall possess,
verse 17, the last part says, their possessions delivered by
God's grace. House of Jacob. Verses 19 and 20 of this passage
talks about, they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau,
and they of the plain, the Philistines, and possess the fields of Ephraim
and the fields of Samaria and Benjamin shall possess Gilead
in the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall
possess that of the Canaanites and even Zarephath in the captivity
of Jerusalem shall in it which is in the bar ad and possess
the cities of there was places that God had promised I will
give you this one. This is going to be your land.
I'm going to give it to you. Promised land. It's going to
be yours. God's people had a hope. That was going to be given to
them. And those verses speak of those
lands that were promised for possession. But spiritually, God's people
had eternal possessions. This earth was created by Almighty
God, heaven and earth, created by him, is created good. God saw. God saw it was good. God made
it was good. In Christ we have a promise. We are going to be delivered,
we are going to be holy, and we are going to possess. is the portion and the inheritance
of His people. They shall forever enjoy communion
with Him. All spiritual blessings, possessions
of God's people, they shall have them. Mercy, grace through that
eternal covenant. All things pertaining to their
justification, their peace, their pardon to adoption, In other
words, in Christ, God has purposed, decreed, and given every spiritual
blessing needed or required to eternally be with you. It's going
to be deliverance. It's going to be holiness, true
holiness. And there's an appearance of
that. Even in God's people, even in themselves, there's an appearance.
God's called you to holiness. and possession. Verse 18 says,
The house of Jacob shall be afire, the house of Joseph aflame, the
house of Esau stubble. And they shall kindle in them,
and devour them. There shall not be any remaining
of the house of Esau. Why? Because the Lord has spoken
it. I looked up the house of Jacob.
The house of Jacob was comprised of two tribes. Judah and Benjamin. House of Joseph, that's what
it says. House of Jacob, the fire. House of Joseph, a flame. House of Joseph were the other
ten tribes. But here, that statement signifies
that all the people of God, all God's people, they're united. How? In Christ. House of Jacob be a fire, house
of Joseph a flame. But this fire and this flame
is not theirs. Malachi, the last book of the
Bible, Malachi 4, this is what God says, Malachi 4, verse 1
to 3, this is what He says, Malachi 4, verse 1, that shall burn as an oven, the
day is coming. And all the proud, all they that
do wickedly, that is, all those that have been left to themselves,
all those viewed in themselves, they do wickedly. You say, I
thought all men by nature were wicked. They are. to God's people, to Jacob, the
sons of Jacob. That's why they're not consumed,
that God doesn't save them. The reason that God's people,
God's Jacob, has not dealt with them is because He has dealt
with them in substitute. They are delivered, delivered,
say Robin, from their wickedness. Delivered. going to burn as an oven to proud,
and all the wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave
them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name,
saith the Son of Righteousness, arise with healing in his wings,
and he shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall, and
ye shall tread down the wicked. And they shall be ashes unto
the soles of your feet, in the day that I shall do this, saith
the Lord of hosts." I shall do this. I'm going to do this. I
can overdie. The house of Jacob, be afire.
The house of Joseph, aflame. Esau, stubborn. This is so because
the Lord has spoken it, and not one word shall pass away. Scripture
says we're more than conquerors through Him. That is Christ Jesus,
who loved us. But also, though God's elect
are to the outward appearance of men, they are weak. The word and message that they
preach, as it is blessed by the Holy Ghost, that message does one of two
things. By God's Spirit blessing the
gospel. And I'm going to tell you something,
it's this way right now. I'm talking about in this congregation.
I'm talking about right now. I'm talking about in this service.
I'm talking about right now. Right now. This message is either
going to be to the calling out of God's elect, or it's going
to be a word of condemnation to those who reject it. It's going to be a word of power.
It's going to accomplish the purpose to which it has been
sent. In that day, man left himself,
sat and heard the gospel, heard it preached, heard it set forth. The Lord said it would have been
better for you if you had never heard it than to have heard it
and rejected it. It's going to be better, he said,
for Solomon Gamara in that day. than for you, Capernaum. It's
going to be better in that day. If they'd have heard it, if I'd
have sent it to Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented, and
that city would have remained until this day. That scripture,
I read that and I think. He said, if I'd have sent it,
and I didn't, if I'd have sent it to that city and blessed it,
they'd have believed it. You know who we're dealing with?
You're dealing with God Almighty that does as He will. And He'll
send His Word here, and bless it for the salvation of Israel.
And He'll send His Word here, and He'll leave a man to himself
and judge him for rejecting it. In that day, faithful preachers
of God's Word, holy Word, The Scripture says, "...are clothed
with the spirit of judgment and burning." That's what Isaiah
4-4 says, "...and out of whose mouth proceedeth fire." That's
what Revelation 11-5, "...to purge the gold of God's elect,
and to consume the stubble." Jeremiah 5, let me just read
this to you. Let me just read this to you in closing. Jeremiah
5, verse 14. Now, let's see, Jeremiah 5, verse
14, "...Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, because
ye speak this word, behold, I will make My words," My words, it's
His words, "...in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it
shall devour them." One of two things will happen. Either God
will bless that word and will just consume a man. Consume him
and see him as he is. Put him away in himself, in mercy. Take him, charge him with guilt
of Christ. Nothing. Or leave him to himself
and consume him in judgment. God is going to use the means
of preaching to preach the gospel of deliverance. To some it will
be life unto life, and to some it is this morning, life unto
life. Lord, as you said, you are, you
are. To others it will be death unto death. The Word of the Lord
spoke in it. In that last verse, and the saviors
shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau. and
the kingdom shall be the Lord's. And the saviors, it says, the
saviors, that's what the word says, the saviors shall come
up on Mount Zion. There's only one Savior. There's
one Savior. The Savior. I shall call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people, his people, from
their sins. The Savior, Christ Jesus the
Lord. But here, there's a word that
says, Saviors. What is that? It's preachers. God called preachers. God called preachers. It's who
is referred to. 1 Timothy 4, 16, Thou shalt save
thyself and those that hear thee. Are they themselves? Are they
actually saviors in themselves? No, no, no, no. John the Baptist
is just a boy. Scripture says those that preach
the gospel of peace, how beautiful are their feet. Now, this is
hard. I'm going to be honest with you. This is a tough thing
to have to say. I mean, for a pastor to stand up and have to say,
but do you know what the Word of God says about them? What
I just said. I agree. Who is sufficient for
these things? I agree. And I tell you, in myself
and in my flesh, and I'm sure Brother Scott will tell you the
same thing, people, you know, it's hard for a pastor to have
to stand up and say, this is what God says about pastors,
about his pastors. But I realize again the responsibility
that a pastor has to be truthful before Almighty God and stand
accountable for what he says, what he preaches. The Scripture says, Saviors,
he said, I'll send you pastors after my heart. I mean, right
now, I'm I feel sweat breaking out just in just I'm sorry, but
it's just me in myself. I think. What am I doing standing
here? Who is sufficient? But God said,
I'll send you, I'll raise up, I'm going to play. Saviors shall
come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau. James 5, 19
and 20. Brethren, if any of you do err
from the truth in one, convert him. Let him know that he which
converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a
soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. What is
he saying when he says, I'll send you saviors? Those men,
those preachers, they're sent by the Spirit of God as the means.
They're just a mouthpiece. They're men saved by the grace
of God. That's what they are. They're
sinners saved by grace. But God has graciously, graciously
raised up, I think, about all these faithful men that are preaching
this morning in these pulpits. God Almighty has raised up men
to speak with the mouth of a man, just a voice. And God's people
hear the Word of God. God speaks to His people through
the mouthpiece of an earthen vessel. We have, Paul says, this
treasure, treasure in an earthen vessel. God raises up a man and speaks,
and I need to hear what's being said just like you. I need to
hear it. Saviors. And the kingdom shall
be the Lord. Psalm 22, 28, For the kingdom
is the Lord's. It's His kingdom. It's His elect. It's His people. I look out and
I think, my eyes are looking upon God's treasure. I'm telling you,
I'm not trying to just say things and puff you up. I'm telling
you, when you hear these words, you say to yourself, my goodness,
is that so? There's some folks that are sitting
here this morning, I'm convinced, that are just treasures of the
Almighty God. to him, because he views him
in his Son. Sin, his Son, is beloved, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Sin, his only begotten Son, and
shed his blood for him, laid down his life, made to be sin. It himself, perfect. God, man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. satisfied himself with the person
of his blessed Son, and then raise up an earthen vessel and
come tell his people. That's what I've done. Saviors,
preachers. The Lord reigns supreme, heaven
and earth. Reigns by His power. Reigns supreme
in creation and providence. And by conquering, the conquering
power of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us
of that. Obadiah says this is the vision
of God's kingdom, the vision, the message of Obadiah.