Turn with me to the book of Obadiah. That's just before, if you find
Jonah, just one book back. There it is. Obadiah. I would like to look at this
little book. It's a small book as far as being
compared to different books. One chapter, 21 verses. But this is the Word of Almighty
God. And being God's Word, we consider
this book to be that which is due our reverence and our respect,
our consideration. I began to look at this little
book, and I say that meaning small in size, and as I began
to look, I started seeing some things that I knew that the Lord
was saying through this prophet. And as I looked at it, I considered
first that I might try to deal with the 21 verses today. But as I considered the passage,
I've kind of changed my thought on that. And I think what I'm
going to do is look at the first four verses this morning and
then, Lord willing, look at verses five to nine tonight and then
possibly the next service. That's not what I normally would
do. I had looked at some different
books. We're going through different books on Wednesdays and Sunday
nights. But I think that this may be
where we may stay for service or two or three. Before I read
it, I would like to just give you a little background on it,
and I think was a real help to me and will be to you. This prophet
is writing under the inspiration of God's Spirit, and he is saying
something that we've heard before. It's concerning two men, basically. Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau are pictures. Esau is a picture of all those
that Almighty God has purposed to leave to themselves. Jacob
is a picture of God's elect. Jacob and Esau. Knowing that,
it will be a real help, I think, as we Consider, I'd like to read
the first four verses. The Scripture says in Obadiah
1, the vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning
Edom, We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is
sent among the heathen. Arise, ye, and let us rise up
against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small
among the heathen. Thou art greatly despised. The
pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. Thou that dwellest in the
clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart,
Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself
as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars,
Well, I bring thee down, saith the Lord." Now, I want us to look at this
passage of Scripture in light of a few other passages. Turn with me to Genesis 25. Genesis
25, and I'd like to read verses 29 and 30. Now, you've heard
this. Passage right here, spoken of,
preached out of. Genesis twenty-nine, I'm sorry,
Genesis twenty-five and verse twenty-nine says, And Jacob sawed
pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And
Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage. for I am faint. Therefore was
his name, that is Esau's name, called Edom." Edom means red. That's what it is. Esau's name
is Edom. Now, the Scripture says this
is the vision of Obadiah. This is the report. This is a
message sent by Almighty God. to this prophet, to these people,
the vision of Obadiah. Obadiah means the servant of
God, God's messenger. And here we see, in this little
passage right here, four verses, we see God's sovereignty in justice
and mercy. Mercy to an undeserving people
for the sake of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. and justice
to a people left to themselves. What did the Lord say concerning
Jacob and Esau? Well, he said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. Now, did God have a right to
say that? Absolutely. He said, I'm the
potter, you're the clay. The potter has the right. to
do what he will with his own. I have the right to make one
vessel under honor, to make another vessel under dishonor. Who, man,
has the right to question Almighty God? The Lord is not silent concerning
his sovereignty. This is the vision. This is the
vision of Obadiah. Now, how would a man know anything
concerning Almighty God? How would a man know anything
about the mind of God Almighty unless God told him? How would
he know? If God was silent, completely
silent, how would a man know anything? The vision of Obadiah,
the servant, the worshipper of Almighty God. Thus saith the
Lord concerning Edom. Genesis 36, verse 1. says, these
are the generations of Esau who is Edom. So when you read something
and you see Edom, that's who he's talking about, the land
of Esau, the heritage of Esau. God's word concerning Esau is
this, I hate you. Someone says, I don't see how
in the world God could hate anybody. He's the Lord. He has the right. Jeremiah, this is what God said
concerning Edom. This is the message. This is
the word. This is the report that is being
delivered. We've heard a rumor from the
Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Paul the apostle
said, We are ambassadors for Christ's sake, as though God
did beseech you He said, by us, Almighty God sends a preacher. He sends, he raises up a man. That man of himself has nothing
whatsoever to say. What does an ambassador, what
does an ambassador from the United States say to Russia or Japan
or any other country? What does an ambassador, does
he go over there and just say, okay, Tell you what, fellas,
this way I see it. I've listened to both sides and
I've kind of mulled that thing over in my mind. I'll tell you
what I think about it. Now, an ambassador is a spokesman
for the country, for the government that he represents. This is what
our government says. I am a mouthpiece. I'm a voice. That's what John the Baptist
says. Who are you?" they asked him. He said, I'm a voice. One
crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord. This
is what my Lord has got to say. So all I say this morning is
concerning what God has said. This is the vision. This is the
report of Obadiah. This is the same report of every
man that's ever been sent of God. One message concerning the
mind and will and purpose of Almighty God. I will be exalted. I'm God. There's none else. I'm the Lord. The vision of Obadiah. We've heard a rumor from the
Lord, and Ambassador is sent among the people. And this is
what he said, Arise ye and let us rise up against her in battle. Now, this rumor, it came from
the Lord. through Jeremiah the prophet.
That's what Obadiah, we heard a rumor. We've heard this. This has been preached. This
is what God has said. This rumor said, rise up, arise,
and let us rise up against her in battle. Now let me show you
something. Turn back to Jeremiah 27. Now this is what God has
purposed to do. Jeremiah 27. Verse 1, In the beginning of
the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came
this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith
the Lord to me, Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon
thy neck, and send them to the king of Edom, to the king of
Moab, to the king of the Amorites, to the king of Tyrus, to the
king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which came to
Jerusalem, unto Zedekiah the king of Judah, and command them
to say to their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
Lord of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters, I have
made the earth, and man, the beasts that are upon the earth
by my great power, by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom
it seemeth meet unto me, and now have I given all these lands,"
what lands? Well, to Edom, all these kings
that he just read. We read a moment ago, "'Now have
I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of Babylon, my servant, and the beast of the field have
I given him also to serve him.'" Now, this is the rumor. It's
what God said. It's what God said to Edom. It's
what God said to Esau. I'm going to overthrow you. I'm going to send a king in here
who's powerful. I'm going to overrun you." Nebuchadnezzar,
at the direct, design, purpose, word of Almighty God. God Almighty
said back in Obadiah, chapter 1, this is what God said. It
was the word that was sent by an ambassador. The sin among
the heathen. These men, these kings, Nebuchadnezzar,
these men. Arise ye. This is what God said. Arise. Stand up. There is the
Word of Almighty God. What did God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, God in flesh, God's men, when He came to Matthew, it was
sitting by the customs table, you know, taking taxes and stuff. That was His job. He was a publican. And he came, and the Lord walked
by Matthew, and what did he say? Follow me. What did Matthew do? He followed
him. Right there. Right there. You
think Matthew mulled that over in his mind and he said, Well,
I'll tell you what I think I'm going to do. I'm going to exercise
my free will. Maybe. If I decide to follow
him, I'm telling you, Almighty God spoke to him, and he spoke
to him in power. made that man willing in the
day of his power to do exactly what Almighty God said, this
is what you're going to do. Gave him a heart to do that.
Left to himself, that man would have never done that. But the
Lord God Himself spoke, I do as I will. He does as His will. Army of heaven, inhabitants of
the earth, no man stays His hand. No mind says to him, what do
you do? He speaks and it is the Word
of God Himself, power, Almighty God. This is what the Lord God
says, arise ye, Nebuchadnezzar, you get up. And here's what Nebuchadnezzar
says, let us rise up against her in battle, doing exactly
what God said he would do. Nebuchadnezzar, God was going
to use him to send judgment. against his enemies. A picture,
a final judgment against all the enemies of God Almighty,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the people of God. Arise up, the
Medes, the Persians, the Russians, the Iraqis. It doesn't matter
who they are. I'll tell you exactly who they
are. They're pawns in the hand of Almighty God. to do as He
purposed. If one evil nation is raised
up by God Almighty to punish another evil nation, if God raises
up Iraq to go against Iran, or if He raises up Russia to go
against this, if God Almighty has purposed to direct one evil
nation to do something to another evil nation, He causes them to
do what they do at His direct decree. He causes all these wars
to start, to cease, according to His purpose. He has absolute
dominion and authority over all men. He maketh the wrath of man
to praise Him. This is what God says. Thus saith
the Lord God concerning Edom, We have heard a rumor from the
Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Arise, ye,
and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, he said, I
have made thee small among the heathen. Thou art greatly despised. Behold, I made you small among
the heathen. the land of Esau. As far as territory,
it was a small place, a mountain of seer, a little small place. They were small in territory.
They were small in number. They had been reduced to a relatively
few by wars. They had been engaged, and they
were small in honor. The Lord says, You are greatly
despised. They were a proud people. He
says in verse 3, "...the pride of thine heart hath deceived
thee. Thou that dwellest in the clefts
of the rock, whose habitation is high, that sayeth in his heart,
Who shall bring me down to the ground?" Proud men are worthless. They're worthless. I'm talking
about pride in heart. Now, there's a certain amount
of pride that I know is good. We ought to take pride. in our
work. You ought to take pride and do
it to the best of your ability. But I'm talking about pride as
far as being exalted, lifted up. Pride. Pride, the Scripture
says, cometh before fall. Proud characters. Arrogant, despicable
in the sight of others. Somebody that kind of just lifts
themselves up. You know it. I mean, they talk
to you like you're dirt, you know. Like, you don't know what
you're talking about. I don't know why I even waste
my breath on you. I don't know why I even showed
up today. I talk to that kind of stuff.
They wrongly estimate their worth. They're lightly esteemed by others.
Is that not so? Arrogant people. I mean, you
know, you listen to them and you think, who do you think you
are? You think I'm some kind of dummy.
You think I don't see straight through you. I am telling you,
humiliation and shame is going to be their lot before Almighty
God and men. The proud says, with our tongue
we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is
Lord over us? By nature, man is deceitful. Scripture says concerning Edom,
Esau, those left to themselves, the pride of your heart has deceived
you. A man that's deceived believes
what is not true. Deceived. He believes it. In
his heart, he's not deceived. He doesn't see himself as being
deceived. If a man knew he was deceived,
he wouldn't be deceived. He'd say, I've got that one figured
out. I'm not blind anymore. That's
by the grace of God that a man knows. A woman knows and realizes. I was deceived, but He's opened
my eyes to see Him, to behold Him, and to see something of
myself. 2 Thessalonians 2 says men perish
because they receive not the love of God, the love of the
truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall
send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. It's
amazing. We were talking yesterday about
how is it that men can just read Scripture, just black and white. There's some Scriptures that
to a believer is so obvious I mean, you read it and you think, how
do you miss that? God hath, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse
13, one of my favorite verses, we're bound to give thanks to
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God, and think
about this, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. through sanctification set apart
by the Spirit of God, through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. God chose you to that, loved
you with an everlasting love, the Lord Jesus Christ, praying
in John 17, Father, I pray not for the world, but I pray for
those that you've given me out of the world. Thine they are.
You gave them to me. I pray for them. He told the
Pharisees, and they asked him, they said, why do you leave us
in doubt? If you're the Christ, tell us
plainly. Just be straight up about it. Shoot straight with
me right here. Now, why don't you tell me? He
said, I told you. But you believe not. Why? Because you're not my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. You think, how can
men be deceive when they read something like that, because
these things are spiritually discerned, not carnally discerned. You say to a believer, you say,
it's so plain, it's so obvious. That's right. God's given you
eyes to see, ears to hear, heart to believe. But man by nature
is deceived. The pride of your heart has deceived
you. Pride of heart. You say in your
heart, the pride of your heart. Now let me ask you something.
Where did man by nature, where did he get that idea? Scripture
says the pride of thine heart has deceived you. You think man
by nature thought that up all by himself? Let me tell you where
he got it. Turn with me to Isaiah 14. Isaiah
14. Let me read you something. Isaiah
fourteen, verse twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. Isaiah fourteen, How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations? in thine heart," this is what
Lucifer said in his heart, "'I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will sit also among the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.'"
Who said that? The devil. He said, you said that in your
heart, and back in Obadiah, the pride of your heart. Those of
Esau's race, Edom, those that God Almighty has left to themselves. You know what the Lord said to
the Pharisees? You are of your father. You're of your father,
the devil. You think just like he thinks.
You love what he loves. You seek what he seeks, his own
honor. The pride of your heart has deceived
you. Edom Esau, he thought, you that
dwell in the clefts of the rock, back in Obadiah 1, whose habitation
is high, that says in his heart, who shall bring me down to the
ground? The Lord said, that's what you said. That's what you
said in your heart. Who's going to bring me down?
Man by nature. Do you know what he says in his
heart? Who's going to bring me down? Who'll bring me down? Edom lived in these mountains
and hiding places and nooks and crannies. He'll never find me. He'll never search me out. Man
by nature hides. He hides in false religion. He
hides in false monetary security. He hides in false thoughts of
temporary life. What does the man by nature say?
I tell you what, I'm going to tear down the barns I got and
build me some bigger barns. I'm going to store up all this
stuff that I got. The Lord says, you fool. You fool. Today, tonight, Your
soul is going to be required. And then when it's all said and
done, who's going to have your stuff then? The pride of your heart has deceived
you. You dwell in the clefts of the
rock. Your habitation is high. You
think in your own security. Pride of heart is presumption. Who will bring me down? Who can
bring me down? I have a free will. I could do
what I wanted. I heard a man that was preaching
somewhere out in Texas, I believe. This may be true, may not be
true. If it's not true, it's still a good point. Preaching. There was a fellow in that town
that had him a real big business. And this preacher said, I'm preaching
this week. Won't you come hear me? Ask him
every night, you know, I'm going to be preaching five nights,
you know, won't you come hear me? You know, I can't do it. No, I'm just not going to be
able to make it tonight. I'm real busy, tied up. I've
got stuff that I've got to do. Wish I could, preacher, but,
you know, I just don't have time, to be honest with you. About
the third, fourth night, he said, you know, this thing's winding
down, you need to come hear me. He said, let the Lord save you.
You ought to come on. If you don't, the Lord is going
to put you in hell if you don't, you know. He wants to save you. If you let Him, He wants to be
merciful. If you let Him, you need to. Last night He comes up and He
says, You won't come tonight? No, I don't believe He will.
He's real busy. He said, I'm telling you, the
Lord wants to show mercy to you if you'll let Him. You just come
on now and give him your heart." He said, if you don't, he's going
to put you in hell. He said, no, I don't think so. How's that? He said, well, if I can keep
him, you know, if I can keep him from saving me, I've got
a free will. And I can keep him from putting
me in hell, too. Pride. Pride. The pride of your heart. shall bring me down." That's
what he said. Who shall bring me down to the ground? Men build
these houses of security. They think upon the sands of
instability. They think that their intelligence,
they think that their might, they think that their power can
keep God from doing whatever they please to do. Psalm 22 says,
"...the kings of the earth." set themselves and the rulers,
they take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed,
saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords
from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord will have them in derision."
You see, pride of heart is destruction. Last part of verse three says,
Who shall bring me down to the ground? I'll tell you the answer
to that. Look at verse four. He said,
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set
thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith
the Lord. Pride says in their heart, deception
of heart, Who shall bring me down? The Lord says, I will. God can send darkness on the
noblest intellect. I think back over the last years
and years and years. I remember growing up as a boy,
and I'm telling you, I thought, you know, as I know all you do,
and rightly so, you ought to think highly. of your parents
respectfully, speak respectfully. Boy, if nothing grates on me,
faster hear somebody talk to their mama or daddy with disrespect. That just, hmm, well, that's
another story. My dad raised up, and I've watched
him, and I've watched everything he did. Most of you, a lot of
you know my dad. I'm telling you, he taught me
stuff. You know, this is the way you do it. And nobody is
smarter than my daddy. I mean, I think to myself, I
remember coming up as a boy, man, I'm so glad that, you know,
that I am my dad's son. I just, I'm so proud of him.
He's just so smart. He's so big. He's so wise. He's so able. He's just, you
know what? You know where my dad is right
now? He's in a nursing home, has Alzheimer's,
doesn't know his name. I just talked to him and he just,
you know, just, I looked at him and he just doesn't hardly look
back, you know. Almighty God sent darkness on
the noblest intellect. the most joyous of all homes. I was reading a story about Charles
Lindbergh. Man, what a fellow. Got in that little airplane,
you know, Spirit of St. Louis. Took off. Flew all the
way over the ocean. Landed over there in Europe.
I mean, what a, oh, what a feat! Can you imagine? Somebody slipped
in there and kidnapped his child. Well, you think all that honor
and glory and stuff, you think Charles Lindbergh would have
swapped that to get that little child back? Almighty God can
bring financial distress to the most successful business. He
can bring the most mighty monarch to be a grazing animal. What did he do to Nebuchadnezzar?
Nebuchadnezzar stood up. Look at this mighty babbler.
Look what I've done with the might of my power." For he said
in his heart, and while the words were still in his mind, God said,
you're brought back. Almighty God can bring a man
down, don't you ever doubt it. Man by nature thinks he's something. Outside of Christ, man is nothing. You're nothing. Nothing. A worm. Less than a worm. Scum. Boy, your man says, don't tell
me that. I'm not that bad. Yes, you are.
Yes, I am. Pride is the great enemy of man
against Almighty God. Strikes at his throne, his glory.
The Scripture said he resists the proud and gives grace to
the humble. Pride and arrogance, the evil
way, and the froward mouth, the willfully stubborn mouth. The Lord says, I hate you. It's God's honor to put down
pride, humbles the proud, and then exalts the humble. But even
in the surety of the proud being brought down. I will leave you
this morning with this thought. Even in the surety of Almighty
God bringing the proud down, I see some hope for a sinner. Those that God has eternally
loved are born in pride, conceived in come forth from their mother's
womb, liars. These that he has purposed not
to leave in arrogant pride and rebellion, but has dealt with
their pride and rebellion in another, their guilt, their pride,
their arrogancy charged to their substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. In him they are just due of God's
wrath. has been put away in his blood. Where we have all sinned and
come short of the glory of Almighty God, we deserve death just like
any other rebel. Let me ask you this, is God just
in doing what he does for Esau? Is he? Sure he is. He said, I'm
a just God and I'm a Savior. Almighty God, who is rich in
mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ. By grace you are saved. Jacob,
in Genesis 32, verse 9, said this, I am not worthy of the
least of all thy mercies. It is not. that all those who
are Jacob's, and those that Jacob is a picture of. The Lord said,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Are they deserving in themselves
to be consumed? Yes, they are. Why? Because they're
just like every other man. In themselves, they're rebels
against God. It's not that we're better, it's
not that we're more faithful than the men of Edom, those that
God leads to themselves. So don't think, well, you know,
at least I believe. You know, I find pride, you know,
in it. No, you don't. You better not.
It's that God Almighty has purposed not to leave some to themselves.
That's the bottom line. I'll have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy, on whom I will, I'll have compassion. It's the mercy
of Almighty God that brings any sinner down, down in his own
estimation of his worthlessness, down in his realization of his
lack of ability, down in humility before the God of all creation,
down in repentance before Him who is Lord. Here's the evidence
of new life, new birth. God Almighty brings a man down. Man must be born again. In that first birth in which
he's born, he's not going to bow. This is what all men by
nature say. Who will bring me down? Almighty
God brings some down in judgment, leaves them to themselves. But
He brings some down in mercy. He brings them down. Only as
He has created us in Christ Jesus unto good works will a man, by
God's grace, have a broken spirit. Lord, as You said, I am. I am. For Christ's sake, have mercy
on me. Let's pray. Our Father, how thankful
we are that you've given us this morning to come together and
symbolize ourselves in your name. We realize that, Lord, all that
we are, we are by your grace. All that we have, we have by
your omnipotence. Lord, forgive us where we think
too highly. of ourselves. Forgive us, Lord, in that we fail to give
unto you just due. Only in our substitute, our representative,
only in the righteousness of our blessed Savior do we have
hope. Lord, we pray you to hide these
words in our heart. For Christ's sake, amen.