The book of Nahum, the three-chapter
book of Nahum, entitled The Gospel of Nahum. As you remember, our
Lord was preaching on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. And He began in the books of
Moses and the prophets and the Psalms, that's all the Old Testament,
and expanded unto them the things concerning Himself, how Christ
must suffer And that's the gospel. It's entitled The Gospel of Nahum,
but it's really, like so many of these small prophets, it's
hard to find the gospel here, isn't it? If you read it, three
short chapters, and yet I can only find three or four verses.
The gospel means good news. And the rest of this book is
dire warnings and prophecies of destruction and death and
condemnation. Look at chapter 1, verse 1, the
burden of Nineveh. Now, Nineveh, it's the same Nineveh
that Jonah was told to preach to. He lived in the time, Nahum lived
in the time of Isaiah and Micah, so the prophecy is similar. But Nineveh is like Sodom was. Nineveh is like Israel was, became. Nineveh is like the United States
of America and the world in general. And our Lord called it this present
evil world. So this is full of warnings to
unbelieving, sinful world, people. But Nahum had a burden for Nehuvan,
and we should too have a burden for people and people of this
world. Look at verse 2. God is jealous. The Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance.
He reserveth wrath for his enemies. Verse 5. The mountains quake
at his presence, at him the hills melt. The earth is burned up
at his presence, the world and everyone in it. You know, you do not hear, you
will not hear modern religion deal with these prophets much,
if any at all. Because their belief, the belief
of modern man is God has changed. Right? And the God of the Old
Testament is just too severe to most people. And their belief, the belief
of modern religion, is based on one verse of Scripture. John 3, 16. At the exclusion
of 100,000 other verses that tell us about our God. John 3,
the very chapter, they do not go on to verse 18. John 3, 18,
it says, those that don't believe are condemned. John 3.36, those
that don't believe the wrath of God abides on them. No, you
won't hear modern man, modern religion, I preach much from
these, if any at all. The conception, the belief of
modern man about God is he has basically one attribute, love. And that's it. God is love. That's all he is. That's what
man said. You know better, don't you? God
is love. I'm grateful. I'm thankful. But
God's chief attribute is holiness. He cannot explain death by the
love of God. He can't explain all the pain
and suffering and evil. He can't explain hell. Why is
there a hell if God is only love? Would you send somebody to hell
if you loved God? Would you even create a hell?
If God is only love, why did he create hell? So, modern man,
he thinks God has changed when God himself said, I change not. At the exclusion of so many declarations
of who God is by God himself. You see, God is who he is according
to what he says about himself, not what man thinks or says. Scripture says God says he is
a consuming fire. Right? Where is that found? In
the New Testament. Hebrews 12, 29. God is angry
with the wicked every day. This is what Scripture says God
is holding. God is just. God is righteous. Scripture says
God will by no means clear the guilty. It doesn't say that.
He said, God hateth all workers of iniquity. Doesn't He say that?
God said that. You will never hear a modern
preacher say that. And Jesus, what about Jesus?
Well, Jesus loves you. Where does it say that? Where
does it say that? Byron used to say, I'll give
you a thousand dollars if you tell me where it says that. Let's
say that. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, think
not that I have come to bring peace, but rather division, a
sword. He didn't come to unite, he said,
I came to separate. Division. He said, I've come
to bring fire on earth. Isn't that what he said? Fire on earth, because our God
is a consuming fire. And this same Jesus, the Lord
Jesus, in Matthew 7, He called the vast majority. He said, many
will say to me in that final day, many will stand before Him
someday and say, we've preached in the name of Jesus. We've cast
out devils in the name of Jesus. We've done many wonderful works
in the name of Jesus. Only to hear him say, he will
say, I never knew, depart from me you workers of iniquity. Isn't that what he said? That's
what he said. I never knew you. Cast them,
bind them hand and foot. This is Jesus. Bind them hand
and foot and cast them into the lake of fire. They'd be weeping
and wailing in nation and people. That's what Jesus said. The truth, the Bible, God calls
everything and everyone that man highly esteems an abomination
to him. Doesn't it? That's what it says.
Verse 2, God is jealous. In Exodus 34, He said, The Lord
whose name is jealous. That's His name. What? Look at Deuteronomy 4 with me. Deuteronomy 4. And the Lord says
this over and over and over in Scripture. God is jealous. Deuteronomy 4, verse, let's see. Verse 14, the Lord commanded
me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments that you
might do them in the land whether you go home or possess it. Take
ye therefore good heed unto yourselves. You saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the Lord had spoken to you in Horeb out of
the midst of the fire. lest you corrupt yourselves and
make graven images, a similitude of any figure, male or female,
any beast on earth, likeness of a winged fowl, verse 18, a
likeness of a creeping thing or a fish. What does he mean by that? Exactly
what he says. To not make any kind of image
and put it on your wall or anywhere around your neck, or don't do
it, God said. It says in verse 23, take heed
of yourselves lest you forget the covenant, the word of God,
the Lord your God, and make a graven image or likeness of anything.
Verse 24, the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Do you have pictures of those
that you love, don't you? Do you bow down to those? Do
you, every night, you get your picture out and you cross yourself
and you go, oh honey, I love them? Of course not. It's just a picture. But the
Lord tells us not to make any pictures because He said, you saw nothing. There's no description of Jesus
Christ's description, except in Revelation 1. You can't paint
that. Like the sun that shineth in the street, you can't paint
that. But people do. And do they worship
them? Yes. Do they worship Mary? Yes. Statues? Do they put a cross
around her neck? Why? The Lord plainly said now, and
He said, I'm jealous, chapter 5 verse 8. He keeps saying this doesn't He?
Chapter 5 verse 8, Thou shalt not make thee any graven image,
Deuteronomy 5 verse 8, Thou shalt not make thee any graven image
or any likeness of anything in heaven or in earth or in the
waters. Don't do it. What does He mean by that? Don't
do it. Don't bow down to them, don't
serve them. I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God. I visit the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children. Verse 10, oh here's
good news. Showing mercy unto thousands
that love me. Look at verse 11. Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. That means to use his name in
any way that's not in fear and reverence and respect. Don't use it in any flippant,
familiar, careless way. And religion is the worst. People put God's name on their
bumper sticker right beside Donald Trump. Right beside Dale Earnhardt's
name. That person can't possibly know God. David said, Unite my
heart to fear His name. Fear God, fear using His name,
desecrating His name. Wouldn't dare put His name where
somebody could desecrate it. David said, Make mention, His
name is exalted. You don't throw your mother's
name around like that, your father's name around like that. You don't
throw your wife's name around like you wouldn't dare do. And
God, His name is above everything. You just don't use it except
carefully, fearfully, reverently. It says the Lord will not take,
will not hold him guiltless at taking his name in vain. And
God's name is on everybody's lips. Now, you want to tell me in light
of God's Word, does God love everybody? 99% of the people are taking His
name in vain. He said, I will not hold them
guilty. Didn't He? You read it with me. You read
it with me. I'm not making this up. Chapter 6 of Deuteronomy. Look
at this over and over again. God is Spirit. They that worship
Him, worship Him as Spirit and in truth. They really worship
Him. It's not in name only. Don't crawl near with your lips.
The heart is far from it. They don't use God's name just
so people will know they're religious. Oh, no. Chapter 6, verse 11. He warned them that when your
houses get full of things and you dig wells or found wells
you dig not. Vineyards and olive trees and
you plant them and you eat and are full, beware lest you forget
God. Verse 13, Thou shalt fear the
Lord thy God, serve him, shalt swear by his name, that is, he
that blesses himself in the earth blesses himself in a God of truth.
You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the people
around you, lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled upon
you. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God, and on and on it goeth, and on and on it goeth. Isaiah 42. Turn there real quick.
Isaiah 42. And you know these scriptures.
Isaiah 42. It says, God is jealous. And here's what He's jealous
of. Isaiah 42 speaks of the Lord
Jesus Christ, doesn't it? He says, Behold my servant, whom
I uphold, mine elect. And some people hate the sound
of that word, elect. So abused it. He goes on to say,
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, a discernment,
understanding. You and me, we understand. He shall not cry,
lift up, cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised
reed shall he not break. Smoking flats shall he not quench.
What good news. Verse four, he shall not fail.
He didn't come to try to do anything. The Lord Jesus Christ of Scripture
didn't come to this earth to try to save somebody if they
let it. Oh no, no. Scripture says He came to do,
He said, my meat and drink is to do the will of God that sent
me to finish the work He gave me. I came to finish this work.
Anybody says that He came and tried and offered and that, they
don't know God. And that's taking His name in
vain. That's another gospel. It's robbing
him of his glory. God is jealous of his glory.
We'll see that in a minute. He shall not fail. Thus saith
God the Lord, verse 5, who created the heavens and the earth? Jesus
did. Jesus Christ created the heavens
and the earth. Well, people argue, well, he's just the Son of God.
No, he's God. Yes, he's the Son of God, but he's God. Explain
it. Don't have to. That's what the
scripture says. That's what Thomas said, isn't
it? Isn't that what you say, Thomas? His people know him. His elects know him. Verse 6,
I the Lord have called thee, and righteousness will hold thy
hand. I'll keep thee and give thee
for a covenant of the people light to the Gentiles, open blind
eyes, bring prisoners out of the prison, those that sit in
darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name.
Who is Jehovah? I am Jehovah. Who is Jehovah? Jesus Christ is Jehovah. That
is my name. And my glory will I not give
to another." That's what he's jealous of,
his glory. And man steals his glory across
the board. Man that doesn't give God any
thought, any thanks, For anything, when everything we have is from
Him, is robbing God of His glory. A man that is full of pride is
robbing God of His glory. And God will someday rob him
of his brain and his mind where he doesn't have any sense. He'll
die in ignorance and weakness without God. Because he's robbed
God of His glory. And all God requires is give
Him the glory. Just give Him thanks. Man robs
Jesus Christ of his glory when he says that you must accept
him. When Christ came down here for a bunch of unacceptable,
unworthy rebels to save wretches, John Newton said, wretches like
me, to make us accept it. And it robs God of His glory.
It robs Christ of His glory to tell worthless sinners, won't
you please accept Him. He's jealous. He's jealous of
His glory. Go back to Nail. We're in Nail. I said it's hard to find the
Gospel, but it's here. All right, look at verse 2. God
is jealous. God revengeth. God is furious. He taketh vengeance on his adversary.
He reserveth the wrath of his enemy. The Lord is slow to anger. There it is. Great in power. He's slow to anger. Peter said
this, you need to take into account, brethren, talking to God's people,
the long suffering of the Lord is salvation. All right, how
long did you go and rob God of His glory? How long did you live
and not give God a thought and took credit for Him, proud of
yourself and whatever, bragging about it? How long were you in
false religion and you pretended that you He accepted Jesus and
all. How long were you in that? But
God. He slowed anger. Great in power. You know, He's able to save to
the uttermost, to the guttermost, and to those in the pew, the
self-righteous most. He's able to save a thief on
a cross or a Saul of Tarsus. He's able to save. He does the
saving. And that's His glory, He said. And He's going to get
all the glory from both of them. The thief and the religious man. Christ is going to get all the
glory. All the glory. Because He does
the saving. He is the power of God in the
salvation. Go on, it says, He will not at
all acquit the wicked. He won't acquit the wicked. He
will not clear the guilty. Isn't that what it said? Look at verse 3, it says, He
hath His way in the whirlwind. What's that? That's a tornado.
That's a hurricane. Well, God didn't want this to
happen. Well, you need to find another God. Or start calling on whoever did
make this. The devil did this. Well, then
you need to pray to him. You need to pray to him to stop
this. Who does all things? Romans 1.18,
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all of them.
The wrath of God. All these things. Men don't see
it that way. It's coming from God. He had
this way in a storm. The clouds are the dust of His
feet. He's talking about his wrath,
really. My, my. And he goes on to say
the mountains shall melt. And the Hebrews 13, 12, talks
about one more time he will shake the earth. And only those things
that cannot be shaken will not be shaken. All right, let me
ask you some questions. All right, a few questions, and
I want you to answer me in one word. You know, you know the
truth. You know the truth. The truth is not a what, not
a thing, it's a person. Christ is the truth. I just told
you the answer to every question. But I'm going to ask you anyway,
okay? An average person can't answer that. All right, our gods
are consuming fire. Why doesn't the fire of God fall
on us? One word, tell somebody. Our Lord went through hell on
Calvary Street. The fire of God fell on the sacrifier. He's the burnt offering. You
know that, don't you? I think 99 out of 100 people
know that. Why doesn't God deal with us after our sin? We're
sinners. We still sin. Why hasn't He dealt with us after
our sin? Why? One word. He dealt with Christ
after our sin. We know, John, don't we, the
only reason that God doesn't send me to hell right now is
Jesus Christ. Not anything I've done, or ever
quit, or not done, or promised to do, or vow to do, or what
I have become. It's what Christ became. He was
made sin. Alright? How can God punish me,
though? He won't clear the guilty. How can God punish me and yet
justify me? Give me a word. To me, it's just
doctrine. It doesn't matter. Our salvation
depends on it. How can God be holy and just
say, I won't clear the guilty? I won't clear the guilty. Well,
I'm guilty. How's He going to clear me? He laid on Christ the
iniquity of his own. God's people. All right, he talks about power. What's the power of God? Who
is the power of God? Christ. Christ. Blessed are thou. Bless your
blood and reveal it to Him. Our Father in heaven. Verse 7,
here's the gospel. The Lord is good. In the midst
of all this anger and wrath and judgment and vengeance, the Lord is good. He said to Moses, And Moses said,
Lord, show me your glory. Remember? Where's that? Somebody
tell me where that is. Exodus what? 33. That's not by
accident. Who lived 33 years on this earth? Man came up with chapters and
verses. But God said, put this down here. He said, I will make
all my goodness pass before you, Moses. Where is all the goodness
of God? One word, somebody. He said, I will proclaim the
name of the Lord to you, Moses. What's his name? Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is good. The Lord told
Moses, there's a place by me, Moses, and I'm going to stand
you on that. I'm going to come down and stand
on that, that rock. Somebody tell me what that rock
is. Come on, lift it up. As an old army sergeant would
say, I can't hear you. Moses, there's a place in the
rock, cleft of the rock. I'm going to put you in it, because
you can't see. I'm a consuming fire. I'm going to put you in the cleft
of this rock, Moses, so I won't consume you when I pass by. Somebody
tell me what that cleft of the rock is. Verse 7 says he's a stronghold
in the day of trouble. A refuge. Somebody tell me where you find
refuge. Christ. Listen to Revelation
5. Listen to this. Everybody in
glory. Everybody's been saved. Chosen
by God, redeemed by Christ, they're all saying this. Right now, as
I speak, they're all saying this at the top of, shouting this
at the top of their lungs. They're singing a new song. I
heard them. They're saying, worthy is the
lamb that was slain to receive power. Meaning, for us to say,
all power is given him in heaven and earth. What are men saying
about this Jesus death? He has no hands but your feet.
No hands but your hands. No feet but your feet. He can't
do anything unless you... That's a powerless Jesus. Those
people aren't going to be in glory. They don't know Him. They're
going to be shocked when they see the Lord Jesus Christ as
He is and hear what He says to them. All of them are saved. Thou art
worthy because thou was slain to receive power and riches. It's all His. God needs your
money. He said, all the gold, the silver,
the mines are mine. You got it because I gave it
to you. You didn't earn it. I gave it to you. Man, that wisdom. And strength? All strength. And honor? And glory? And blessing? That's what they're
all saying. Every creature in heaven, earth, under the earth,
in the sea, I heard them say, blessing, honor, glory, power
unto Him that sits on the throne, unto the Lamb forever and ever. Amen. That's what they said next.
Amen. Oh, it's good news. It's great
news. You've heard the gospel. Verse 7 says this, the Lord knows
them that trust in Him. He knows. How does He know? Well,
the foundation of God stands assured, having this seal, the
Lord knoweth them that are His. Why? He chose them. He said that
to His disciples. After he asked, who do men say
that I am? They said all sorts of things.
Who do you say that I am? He said, thou art the Christ, the
Son of the Living God. He said, have not I chosen you?
You know me because I chose you. Here in Nahum, look at, this
is good, look over, there's gospel here. But it's like religion
in the world, that's hard to find. It's hard to find. It's fitting, but it's hard to
find. It's hard to find today. Down in verse, look at verse,
chapter, let's see, verse 12. It says, though they be quiet,
and many, you know, false prophets say, peace, peace, there is no
peace. It's calm before the storm, you
know that? And there are many. Well, everybody,
that's what everybody believes. No, no, not everybody. God has
a remnant. He doesn't believe anything like
you. It's exactly the opposite of what you believe. He says, it's all going to be
cut down. And now he says to his people, though I afflicted
thee, I afflict thee no more. Verse 13, here's the gospel.
I will break his yoke that is our adversary. From off of the
altar, verse 5, bonds in son. Down in verse 15, look at this.
Have you heard this before? Behold, upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that publisheth
peace. Where? In Jesus Christ. Only. All those who trust him
and him alone, there's peace with God. There's peace with
God. And the Lord breaks the yoke
of bondage to the world, to religion, the God of this world, for His
people. It goes on throughout the rest
of this book. Just glance at it with me and
I quit. Chapter 2. Chapter 2, down in verse 10,
says it's empty, it's void, it's waste. That's the way the world
was when God created life and that's what He's going to do
to it when He ends it. Because he's got a new heaven
and a new earth, didn't he? And it says in verse 12, the lion
did tear in pieces. Who's the lion? Satan is a roaring
lion, seeketh whom he may devour. And he devours many. Chapter 3, verse 1, woe to that
bloody city. Woe. Why is all this, verse 4,
in a multitude of fourdoms, the harlot, the mistress? That's
false religion. I'll do the Scripture. I'll do
the Scripture. Verse 7, Nineveh is laid waste.
Verse 10, carried away captive. Verse 10 says the honorable men,
the great men, are bound in chains. Not one single leader, world
leader, is not held totally captive to the God of this world under
His dominion. And money. Not one. You won't
find one anywhere. And down in verse 16, multiply
the merchants above the stars. World of materialism. That's
all it is. Not worshipping God. Worshipping
God. Shepherds. Verse 18, the shepherds
slumber. They can't bark. Isaiah says,
the dumb dogs. That's where that term, D.D.,
came at the end of the name. D.D. Dumb dogs. Can't bark. Love sleep. That's these so-called
creatures. Wouldn't dare bark. Nothing to
warn people of. Nothing to be afraid of. God
loves you. It's the opposite of what they're saying. Fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now, in verse 19,
there's no healing of that bruise. The wound is grievous. It's incurable. Oh, my. I quit. That's it. But to God's people,
the good news. And if you've heard this, Now, now, you have few people
hear this, this, the truth, this truth that you read it with.
You read it with it. You know this thing. Why do you
know this thing? The Lord's been good to you.
He's been so good to you. He's made all His goodness pass
before you. He's proclaimed His name to you. His name is Jesus
Christ. He's shown you salvation. He's
saved you. How? He's made peace for you. Who?
Jesus Christ.