Sovereign Grace Chapel, located at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord.

Okay, I'm going to be in Zephaniah chapter three. Zephaniah's right before Haggai. It's about three little books back from the New Testament. Zephaniah chapter three, and I'm gonna begin reading in verse 14, read through 17.

Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. This is good stuff, folks. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy. The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not, and to Zion, let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing.

I'm gonna stop right there. I really liked that. I did.

But let me read you something. This is by Lorraine Bettner. Lorraine Bettner was a Presbyterian. I can't help that. Sorry. He wrote a couple of really good books, and although he did actually mention sprinkling babies, and I don't believe that, but some of the other stuff he wrote was really good. This is one.

Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. That's pretty good. The entire process, election, redemption, and regeneration is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

That's pretty good. I'm gonna tell you something, that's exactly what I see right here in Zephaniah. That's exactly what I see here. This is the word of the Lord, from Zephaniah. The Lord, thy God, saves his people. That's it.

My title today is called In the Midst of Thee. I'm gonna start in verse 14. If you look at verse 14, you see four things. Sing, shout, be glad, and rejoice. That's some good words. That's some good words. Zion, Israel, and daughter of Jerusalem. Why? Why should you sing? Why should you shout? Why should you be glad? Why should you rejoice? Well, listen. The Lord, thy God, Yahweh, is the reason. He's the reason. Understand what he says here. And I love this part, I really do. In verse 15, the Lord hath taken away thy judgments. Thy judgments.

Now listen, folks, let's be very clear here. These were righteous judgments. You can read the rest as F and I. There's a whole load of stuff I'm not gonna get into other than the fact of this. Listen, these believers and Old Testament people who weren't believers, they rebelled against God. They rebelled against his word. And God was gonna send them into captivity only for a time, only for a season. But it was because of their rebellion. And listen, folks, Old Testament knew even believers rebelled against God, especially before God saved them. We still do now.

But here's the thing. What'd he say? The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. Oh, I like that. Like I said, they were righteous judgments, they were real judgments, Judgments against them. We all sin and come short of the glory of God. And we all still do. We all still do. Nevertheless, I'll throw that word in there for me. Nevertheless, the Lord has taken away thy judgments. Literally, this means turned off, Walter. I like that. You had judgment against you, he turned it off. Now, he didn't turn it off without a reason. He had a reason, oh yes. But I like that. Matter of fact, it's talking about turning off the judicial verdict against you, which was well-deserved, which was needed. It was need, that he would punish us, that he would have judgment against us, why? Because we had sinned. and come short of the glory of God. But he turned it off. He turned it off. Oh, I like that. And I'm gonna tell you something. It was the Lord that did it. The Lord taken them away. The Lord Jesus Christ took them away. That's what I'm saying. Jesus Christ has taken away thy judgments by taking those judgments into himself. He bore in his body on the tree our sins. And the judgment for sin is death. And he died that death that we couldn't die and survive.

Oh my, he turned off your judgments, taken away, but here it is. The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, why? Because justice has been satisfied in Jesus Christ. The law has been satisfied in Jesus Christ. Oh, I like that. His precious blood was shed for our judgments, for our judgments. Oh my, and they're paid. paid in full. It is finished is what he said, and it is finished is what he meant. I don't owe a debt to God now. In Christ, I don't owe a debt to God. What do you mean? Even in the future? What am I gonna do? Tomorrow? No, no. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. He didn't say I didn't sin, he just said God won't impute it to me. Why? Because the Lord has taken away thy judgments. Now either he did or he didn't. And if he didn't, I still owe him and I'm doomed. And if he didn't take away your future sin, you're doomed. That's just the truth of the matter. Because God will punish sin. and he did punish it for his people in Jesus Christ. And he paid the debt we owed.

The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. There's no qualifier here. He took them away totally and he took them away completely. Praise his name, praise his name. Because here's the thing, there is no judgment against his people. His people, oh my. And not only that, oh I like this part too. Not only that, he hath cast out thine enemy. Had an enemy, had an enemy. Found out in the Garden of Eden. That's where it was promised. What happened to Calvary? He bruised the head of the serpent, Satan. The devil can't touch you without the express written consent of God. That's the truth. I know a lot of people talk about a lot of things. They don't know what they're talking about. But even in the days of Job, he couldn't touch Job until God led him. And God put a boundary on him. So, okay, touch his stuff, but don't touch him. And then he said, okay, touch him, but don't kill him. And guess what? Satan toed the line every time. And guess what? He still toed the line.

God has cast out your enemy. That's not saying you won't be tempted. That's not saying you won't be tested. That's not saying you won't go through tribulation, but God's cast the enemy out. The prince of the power of the air, as he is called in the epistle, hath no power over you. God has cast him out. Oh my. What's it say? Fear thou not. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not, fear thou not. What are you supposed to do? What? Sing, shout, be glad, and rejoice. Oh, I like that, I do. And we have a reason to. We have a reason to. Oh, I'm gonna tell you something. The Lord is in the midst of thee. The Lord is in the midst of thee. Oh, I like that, I do.

Now verse 17, this is where I wanted to go. I'm not gonna keep you too long today. The Lord thy God is what? In the midst of thee. In the midst of thee is mighty. Oh, I like that. This is the Lord thy God. Yahweh thy Elohim. Jehovah thy Elohim. Who is the Lord? He's thy God. He's thy God.

Oh, Israel, oh daughter of Jerusalem, what are we to do? We are to be glad and rejoice. I like that. More joy. The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, is mighty. He will save, he will rejoice over. He's gonna rejoice over thee with joy. We'll get to that in just a minute, but here it is. In the midst. And here's the thing. In the midst of thee. Of thee. Oh, I like that. The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee. What's that mean? He's the center of all of his people. He's the center. All of the people of God are to sing, to shout, to be glad and rejoice. Why? Because the Lord's right in the middle of it. Oh, I like that, I do.

Oh, and I'm gonna tell you something, he's in the midst of his people. I'm gonna tell you, always, always.

Oh, but what's the first thing he actually lists here when he says this? The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee is mighty, mighty. Oh, I like that. Walter said it a few weeks ago. He is the Lord God almighty. The maker of heaven and of earth. And he, it is he that made us and not we ourselves. He's the maker of his people. The creator of his people. Oh. Oh.

I'm gonna tell you something. The Lord God in the midst of thee has all power. All power. There's no power around that God didn't give it. Walter covered this wonderfully well. I'm gonna tell you, but I won't say it again. It don't matter. Satan has no power except what God gives him. Oh my.

The king's heart is in the Lord's hand. And not only that, what's it say? He turns it. Withersoever, he will. And I don't care how much people wanna fight about it. The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. You may not like it, but that doesn't matter. It's true. It's true. Yes, it also says Pharaoh hardened his heart, which was also true. But it does say the Lord hardened his heart. And actually, I think it says it first.

Why does that upset people? Well, some people it doesn't upset, because it's okay for God to do that in the Old Testament, but he can't do it in the New. Jesus came and changed everything. No, he didn't. Jesus came and fulfilled everything. He didn't change anything. The law is still true. Thank God I'm not under it. Thank God he sent, he had Abraham cast out Haggai and her son. You know why? because the law can't abide with grace. And grace is not going to abide with the law. It doesn't make the law not true. It doesn't make the law not good. It just makes me and you who believe free from the law of sin and death.

Because I'm gonna tell you something, the law never fixed anything. The law never made anyone righteous, but Jesus Christ has taken away thy judgments. You know what he did? He made you righteous in God's sight, in God's sight. Oh my, why? He got all the power. I got power over all flesh, living flesh, dead flesh, big flesh, tall flesh, whatever, all flesh. Why? that I might give everlasting life to as many as the Father gave to me."

Oh, my goodness. And the Lord has taken away thy judgments. And the Lord is in the midst of thee. What? With power, with might. Oh, it's like this. Oh, my.

The Lord thy God is wherever his people are. What did David say? This is Psalms 139. You don't have to turn there. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, thou art there. Thou art there. Behold, thou art there. Even there, here it is. Even there shall thy hand lead me. Oh, that's good stuff. And thy right hand shall hold me. Hold me. Oh my goodness. What does the Lord do? The Lord thy God in the midst of us? He leads us and he holds us. Ah, that's good stuff. Oh, he leads us by his hand. He holds us by his right hand. The Lord stays in the midst of his people. Oh, I like that, gosh.

Luke 24 and verse 36. This is after the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As they thus spake, speaking of the disciples, Jesus himself stood. Where? In the midst of them. In the midst of them. And saith unto them, peace be unto you. Oh, I like that too. I'm gonna tell you this, in the midst of thee, he speaks peace. I'm gonna tell you something, if he speaks peace, you got peace. You got peace. Oh, I'm gonna tell you, you have, You have peace with God. You have peace with God. Whether you know it or not, whether you feel it or not. Because I understand. Circumstances affect us. And lots of times, not well. But circumstances do affect us. But you still have peace with God. You know why? Because he said it. That makes it so. That makes it so. Oh, hmm. He who is our peace speaks peace to his people. Where from? Right in the midst of them. Right in the midst of them. Oh, I like that too. And you have peace with God.

And here's the thing, Matthew 18 verse 20 says this, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there, Am I? Where? In the midst. In the midst, oh. In the midst of them. Oh. There am I. The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee. He's in the midst of us, believers. Mm. He spoke to us 2,000 years ago. He ain't changed his mind. He ain't changed his mind. He hasn't changed his way, he hasn't changed his walk, he hasn't changed his work. What Christ said is always true, whether we know it or not. I'm gonna tell you something, he's in the midst when we gather in his name. That's what it says.

And let me point this out, just one little quick aside here, because of this word, this word he uses here, the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee. That word thee can be used as a singular word or a plural word. It's one of them weird words. It just depends upon who the subject is. And I'm gonna tell you, in this case, it's used for both. Because he's in the midst of his people. But I'm gonna tell you this, he's in the midst of thee. He's in the midst of you. Oh, what's it say? It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The Lord is in the midst of thee. That gave me a little chill bump there. The Lord is in the midst of his people. Every single individual believer. And he is in the midst of us as a group. When we gather to hear the gospel preached, and we gather to preach the gospel, the Lord is in the midst of thee. Oh, that's good stuff. Oh.

And here's the thing, the Lord in the midst of us is mighty and gracious and merciful. He leads us, he holds onto us, and it's all by what? His mighty power. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. You understand, he's not gonna lose anything he's got a hold of. Nobody's plucking us out of his hand. Nobody says unto him, what doest thou? Because if it's your business, he'll tell you, and if it's not your business, you just listen. His word tells us. He is mighty, he is mighty, oh my. and he's in the midst of thee. He leads us and he holds us and he gives us peace. What? By his power. He's got the power to do it. And he says, he's done it. He's done it. Oh my. And what's it say? It says, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. Three words. He saves his people. The Lord saves his chosen people. Chosen in him before the foundation of the world. All that the Father giveth to me will come to me, shall come to me. And I will in no wise, what? Cast him out. You know why? Because I'm gonna be in the midst of him. I'm gonna be in the midst of him.

The Lord has taken away our judgments. He's cast out our enemy. And the Lord has saved his people from their sins. That's what the angel told Joseph. Call his name Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people from their sins. Now, did he or didn't he? That's what he came to do. Did he or didn't he? The Lord, what? The Lord hath taken away thy judgments and cast out thine enemy. I'm saying he did it, folks. This was looking forward to our Lord Jesus Christ, and we're looking back. And 2,000 years ago or thereabouts, our Lord Jesus Christ did save his people from their sins. Says it in Hebrews. The Lord Jesus Christ has sanctified and perfected forever those that he sanctified. How'd he do it? By one offering, by one offering of the Son to the Father, of Jesus Christ to the Father. What? The offering of his own blood shed for us. shed for us.

Mark 16, verse 16 says that, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, if you want, I'll give you the really deep theological meaning of that. It means he that believeth in Jesus Christ is saved, and he that believeth not is damned. That's it. That's what he said, that's what he meant, And you can take it out of your Bible if you want to. I know places do. You won't find it other than in italics in IV. But this is what Christ said and this is what he meant.

John six and verse 47 says this. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. In John 11, 25, put it even better, as far as I'm concerned, Jesus saith unto her, I am, I am the resurrection and the life. What? He that believeth in me, here it is, folks, though he were dead, though he were dead, yet, yet shall he live. You wanna know why? The Lord thy God's taken away thine judgments. and he's cast off thine enemy, and the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, and he is mighty. He is mighty. He will save. He will save. He's not asking for your cooperation. He's not asking for your work. We're talking about his work right here.