From back to Nahum. Nahum chapter 1. This chapter starts out with the burden of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital city
of the Assyrians. This is the same Nineveh that
Jonah preached to. And they repented, and God spared
that city. But as time went by, they became
worse than before. Sometime when you have the time,
read chapter 3, you can see how wicked this city had become. And now God sends them a prophecy
of their destruction. The first time God sent them
a prophet, And he spared them. This time he sends them a prophecy
that he's going to destroy them. Now this prophecy was written
about 100 years after the preaching of Jonah. And about 115 years went by before
this prophecy was fulfilled and that place was destroyed. I'm
sure all those who heard that prophecy were dead. 115 years
went by. But we can be sure of this. God
will do just as He said He would. And He will do it in His time.
God is on His timetable, not mine. He'll do just as He said
He would. And He's given many proofs of
it. The flood. Sodom. He's given many proofs
of it. Now it says this in verse 2,
God is jealous. This means resentful of rivalry
in love. He is resentful of rivalry in
love. He loves His people. He loves
Israel. And He will not allow anything
or anyone to come between them and their worship of Him. He's
not going to let that happen. It also means this, fiercely
protective. He is fiercely protective of
his rights. What are his rights? All honor
and all glory. All honor and all glory belongs
to him. He's not going to share his glory
with another. And the prophet says here, and
the Lord revenges Judgment may be slow in coming, but it's coming. Judgment is coming. That's a
fact. That's a truth. That's a Bible
truth. It's coming. And God will deal
with every idle word and every idle thought of those outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's a strict judgment,
isn't it? Every idle thought. It's going to be brought into
judgment. We can't comprehend that kind of judgment. And he
says here, he is furious. You ever meet anybody furious? He's furious. This is strong
language here he's using. He's more than angry. He's furious.
The world is about to meet a furious God. In the Hebrew, that means
Lord of Anger. And he says here he will take
vengeance on his adversaries. In case they didn't get it the
first time, he repeats it. He will take vengeance on his
enemies. And he reserveth wrath for his
enemies. Kept in store. That's what he
says over there in 2 Peter. He reserveth it. It's kept in
store against the day of judgment. His wrath is. Men may think they've
gotten away with sin. There's a lot of people out there
who think they've gotten away with some things. Nobody's ever going to get away
with anything. We may not find it out, but God's already found
it out. They've already been found out. Already been found
out. They think they've gotten away
with it because God has not speedily judged them. But little do they
know and little do they realize that judgment is waiting on them.
They're headed for it. This world of lost men and women
is headed for judgment. He says here in verse 3, the
Lord is slow to anger. God's anger is not like our anger. You know, we get angry. and we
do foolish things. We get angry and we get out of
control. We lose our temper and we're
out of control. We say foolish things. But God's
anger is just and it is under His divine control and divine
wisdom. It's not a get-even type of anger
like men have. It's a just recompense. It is
a just recompense. But it says he's slow to anger. And the reason he's slow to anger
is because of his elect. His long-suffering scripture
says to us-ward. Long-suffering to us-ward. You
know, Noah preached for 120 years while he was building the ark.
And God held back his wrath. He held back his anger until
he brought Noah in the ark and then he unleashed that anger
on this whole human race and drowned them all. All that was
outside that ark drowned. He didn't destroy Sodom until
he first delivered Lot and his family out of it. And then he
burned it up just like he said he was going to. It's because God still has an
elect people on this earth that he's slow to anger. But when he takes them out, when
God takes out his elect, then he's going to unleash his anger
on this world. And it says here that he's also
great in power. He has the power to execute His
judgments on His enemy. We are not talking about a weak
God here. We're talking about one who has
the power to execute His judgment. And He will not at all acquit
the wicked. Our redemption in Christ is so
complete that God sees no sin in His elect. He sees no sin
in His elect. I thought today, while I was
reading that, He will not acquit the wicked. I thought He didn't
acquit me, He killed me in Christ. He put us to death in Christ
and then created us anew in Him. But He says here, He will not
acquit the wicked. And those that are not in Christ
shall have to face God's judgment. He says here in verse 3, the
Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm. Here's His
divine sovereignty that the prophet is pointing out. Both are His,
as all things are His. And He will accomplish His purpose
and will in whatever means He uses. He'll accomplish it. And
His will is always done because it says here, God hath His way.
He hath His way, whether it be against a nation or a man, God
hath His way. He's not frustrated. God is not
frustrated, never frustrated. He hath His way. Ask Nebuchadnezzar. Does God have His way? When Christ
stood in judgment hall, and they were mocking Him, they were slapping
Him, They stripped Him of His robe and they beat Him. Whose
way was being had when He was nailed to the cross
between those two thieves? Whose way was being had? In our trials, in our afflictions,
in our heartaches, Whose way is being had? God's way. He hath His way in the whirlwind
and in the storm. And notice His power here in
the next few verses. He rebuketh the sea. He demonstrates
His power here. He speaks of God's power. He
rebuketh the sea and it dries up. Power is when one speaks And
it happens. God said, let there be light.
And there was light. Christ said to those demons,
come out of him. And they came out. They came
out. Power is when one speaks and
it happens. And he has the power. The prophet
is setting forth here that God has the power to execute his
judgments. He has the strength to do just
as he says. And if He can do that, what do you think He can do with
a man? He can dry up the sea. What can He do with a man? It
says here in verse 5, the mountains quake at Him, at His presence. And the hills melt at His presence. The earth is burned at His presence. Nothing's ever burned at my presence.
Has anything ever burned when you walk in the room? No, he says here, if this earth
cannot stand before His presence, then how much less a sinful man? How much less a sinful man stand
before God? Who can stand, he said in verse
6, who can stand before his indignation? Who can stand there? Who can
abide the fierceness of his anger? How long? How long can a snowball last
in a black furnace? That's about how long a sinful
man can stand in God's presence. A sinful man cannot stand in
God's presence. He said, who can stand before
His indignation? Who can abide the fierceness
of His anger? No son of Adam can. No son of
Adam can abide His indignation or the fierceness of His anger.
Only those in Christ, only those in the Lord Jesus Christ have
no need to fear, for Christ has taken away the wrath of God.
In Him, there is no anger. There is no wrath. As I heard
said before, He's burnt ground. Where the fire burned once, it
won't burn again. Christ took this anger for us.
And He said, even the rocks are thrown down by Him. Even the
strongest cannot stand before Him. The strongest of men, the
strongest kings that ever walked this earth cannot stand before
God. Cannot stand before His indignation. Oceanechareth is who He's talking
about. He found this out. He found this out. God destroyed
him and his army. But right here in the midst of all this gloom and doom and
all this indignation and this judgment that's coming, Well, it's just like the sun
bursts forth. You ever see a real dark, cloudy
day and then you see a ray of light shoot through the clouds?
It just looks like a ray just shooting at a certain spot. And
he says here, right in the midst of all this, the Lord is good. Well, it doesn't sound like it. Well, it depends on where you're
standing. It depends on in whom you're
standing. He said the Lord is good. Here in the midst of all of this
gloom and doom is a shining light. The Lord is good. This is for
His elect. This is for that sinner who needs
mercy. This is for that sinner who needs
grace. This is for that sinner who needs forgiveness. The Lord
is good. He's good. Jehovah is good. He's all that is good. There
is none good, no, not one, but God. And He's good. It doesn't matter if I have a
bad day or not, He's good. My day, whether it's bad, doesn't
change the nature of God. It might reveal mine, but it
doesn't change His. He's good. God is good in nature. Any goodness we have comes from
Him. Is that not right? He depends on no one for His
goodness. We depend on Him for it. God has never done or willed
anything that was not good. Never. When He created the heavens and
the earth, you know what He said at the end of it? He looked over.
He said they were very good. Very good. He put goodness in
everything He made. He gave every green herb for
me. From it we get medicine. We get it from the plants. Animals
are good for clothing and food and service. Everything that
God made is for the good of His elect. Everybody. When Eve looked at that tree of knowledge
of good and evil, You know what the first thing she saw? It was
good for food. There was nothing wrong with
that tree. That tree was not poisonous. The poison was in
Adam's heart. But there was no poison in the fruit. It was good. God made everything good. Everything
God made was good. Like it's Creator, it's good.
Only that which is good can come from Him. Sin can't come from
Him. Only that which is good. Nothing
evil or sinful can come from God. Sweet water and salt water cannot
come from the same fountain, can they? Our Lord said that.
God is infinitely good. His goodness cannot be measured. Look how long it has rained on
the just and the unjust. I sat in my study today looking
at this. And what a beautiful day. What a beautiful day we
had. I had to go outside for a little
while, enjoy the day and the weather. Well, you know those
who hate God enjoyed the same day. They enjoyed the same sunshine
I was enjoying. Look at the sinfulness of man.
Look at the ingratitude of man. And yet God feeds them every
day. Every day. The Lord is good. And listen,
His will and pleasure is good. It says in Ephesians 1, 5, according
to the good pleasure, the good pleasure of His will. God can only will that which
is good. And He can only take pleasure in that which is good.
God can only do that, only that which is good. Unlike men who
glory in their shame and take pleasure in unrighteousness,
God only takes pleasure and wills that which is good. And He doesn't do it because
it's good. It's good because He does it. He gives it its goodness. But now listen. God's greatest display of his goodness is found in Jesus Christ. That's the greatest display of
God's goodness. The greatest display of God's grace, of his
redemption, of all his attributes, is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Moses asked God, he said, Show me thy glory. Do you want to see that? Do you
want to see God's glory? God's chief glory? Moses did. I believe every believer does. God, show me your glory. And
you know what he said? Okay, Moses, I'm going to do
this. I'm going to make all my goodness pass before you. And God has made all His goodness
to His elect pass before them in the person of His Son. We have in Christ God who is
good. We have in Christ a totally good
man. He's called the Good Shepherd. He wrought out for us a good
righteousness. He shed His good blood. He is
our good sacrifice offered up by our good high priest. He is
our good kinsman redeemer. He is our good friend. And through
Him we have a good hope through grace. He's good. All the goodness of God is seen
in Jesus Christ. And the work of the Spirit of
God in us is good. We are created new in Him. We are made a new creation, it
says over in 2 Corinthians, in Him. He says in Philippians 1, He
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it on the
day of Jesus Christ. The will of the Father is good. The work of the Son is good.
And the operation of the Spirit of God is good. It's good. Seeing that God is good, and
everything He wills and does is good, then everything that
happens to me and you as believers is good. So I said over there
in Romans 8.28, it's good. David said what? I read that
to you there in Psalm. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted. Can you say that? Can you truly say from the heart,
it's good for me, Lord, that you've chastened me? He said
that I might learn thy statutes. Good for me. He said, David said
in Psalm 23, goodness and mercy. shall follow me all the days
of my life. It says in Psalm 73, truly God is good to Israel. God's good. And He's good to
His people. A stronghold in the day of trouble. You ever have any trouble? Anybody
here without trouble? You're a stranger then. A stronghold
in the day of trouble. Job said, man that is born of
a woman is a few days and full of trouble. And every day has
its trouble. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. But we who have believed God
have a very strong refuge. Stronghold. Our lives, the Scripture said,
are hid with Christ and God, and that can't be touched. Everyone is under the sovereign
control of God Almighty. The heart of the King is in the
hand of the Lord like the rivers of water. He turns it wither,
so ever He will. And not only is the heart of
the king there, but everyone's heart. Everyone. Thou hast given me
power over all flesh. So it says in John 17. He watches over our steps one
at a time. You ever watch these little ones
trying to walk? They stumble and fall. You see little bumps
and bruises on their heads and scuffed knees and trying to walk. You didn't think that was so
hard, did you? Trying to walk. He says the steps of a good man. Is there any good man? There
are in Christ. There are good men and women
in Christ. The steps of a good man is ordered
by the Lord. Aren't you glad your steps are
ordered by Him? We're not out here just walking around willy-nilly.
They're ordered by Him. And here, listen to this. And
He knoweth them that trust Him. Boy, I don't know it all the
time. I don't feel it. Sometimes I suspect it. But He knows. That's all that
matters. That's all that really truly
matters. He knoweth them that trust Him. I get one with the issue of blood.
She came up from behind Him and touched the hem of His garment.
And she said, if I can just touch the hem of His garment, I will
be made whole. And that's the heart of every
sinner whom God saved. If I can just get to Him, I'll
be made whole. It'll be alright." It'll be alright,
won't it? And she came up from behind him
and then she tried to slip back into the crowd. And he said,
who touched me? And he didn't ask for information.
He was just drawing her out. Drawing that confession out of
her. Public confession. There are no secret disciples. Oh, He knoweth them that trust
in Him. He knows them because He chose
them. He knows them that trust in Him
because He gave the faith that trusts in Him. Faith is a gift
of God. He knows them because He made
them. He made them. Thou hast made
us and not we ourselves. God made every person here that
believes the gospel, God made every one of us believers. God did. And He knows them because He
hears their cries. They cry to Him. They cry to
Him for mercy. They cry, Abba Father, Father,
Father. You know the cry of your children,
don't you? I could shut my eyes and you could talk and I could
tell you which voice belongs to my son. I could do that. He knows the voice of his children. And they will not taste of his
wrath that he's speaking of in this chapter. That's why he says
the Lord's good. But there's a few that know it.
There's a few that know The Lord's good. Not many. There's a few.
There's a few. And here in verses 8 through
10, 11, he gives another declaration. He goes back to this judgment's
coming. He says, but with an overrunning
flood, he's going to make an utter end of the place thereof.
And darkness is going to pursue these enemies. Utter eternal
darkness. Oh, what do you imagine against
the Lord? He will make an utter end. Affliction shall not rise.
That's the second time. He'll make such an end of it.
There won't need to be a second time. No, He'll make such an
utter end of it. While they be folding together
as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, God's going
to devour them as stubble fully dry. You ever see a brush pile
that's been laying around for a while, dried up? You ever see
it go up in flames? Goes up quick, doesn't it? Burns
quick for a while. He said, I'm going to burn them
up. I'm going to burn up. This is the truth. God's going
to burn up everyone outside of His Son. He's going to do it. Look here in the last verse. This last verse, he's going to
close with good tidings and joy to Judah, to his people. And he says, Behold upon the
mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. You know
what this good tidings is? It has to do with your salvation
and the destruction of the wicked. What was good tidings to Israel? That God was going to destroy
the Assyrians. That He was going to destroy their enemies. They
rejoiced over that. We have many enemies. Sin, Satan,
the world. The world is your enemy. It's
not your friend. Not your child of God. It's your
enemy. And he says, Behold upon the
mountains the feet of Him that bring us good tidings, that publishes
peace. Peace with God through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ who is our peace, who
publishes Christ, who preaches Christ. Oh Judah, he says there,
keep your solemn feasts. Perform thy vows. For the wicked
shall no more pass through thee. God will make an utter end of
this wicked world. He's going to be utterly cut
off and you're not going to be pastored with them again. There'll
come a day, sin, Satan, temptation, sorrows will not touch us again. It'll not touch us again. In
the midst of all this gloom and doom to Nineveh, to the Assyrians, God is sending good news that
he's going to set the captive free. We're going to set Him free.
The preaching of the gospel is the savor of life and the life
of some, the savor of death and the death of some. He's going to deal harshly with
the unbelievers while showing mercy to His elect at the same
time. Truly, truly, the Lord is good. Truly, the Lord is good.