1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,569
Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church podcast,

2
00:00:03,697 --> 00:00:06,593
where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

3
00:00:06,689 --> 00:00:09,657
My name is Pastor Josh and I
want to thank you for listening to

4
00:00:09,681 --> 00:00:10,685
this podcast.

5
00:00:10,985 --> 00:00:14,625
I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

6
00:00:14,665 --> 00:00:16,245
you in the word of God.

7
00:00:16,745 --> 00:00:20,145
Now, come along, let's look
into the Bible and see what God has

8
00:00:20,185 --> 00:00:24,825
for us here today, day by day.

9
00:00:24,945 --> 00:00:26,525
I hope you've had a.

10
00:00:26,705 --> 00:00:31,425
A good day so far, and I can
tell you I've had a good day.

11
00:00:31,725 --> 00:00:34,341
One of the reasons why I'm
having a good day is because this

12
00:00:34,373 --> 00:00:37,149
is actually the third time
that I've been able to preach today.

13
00:00:37,317 --> 00:00:39,925
So third sermon I'm excited to
do three.

14
00:00:40,005 --> 00:00:43,053
If I could preach three times
every day, that would be a dream.

15
00:00:43,109 --> 00:00:45,381
But don't get a chance to
preach three times every day unless

16
00:00:45,413 --> 00:00:46,861
you guys want to come up to
the church.

17
00:00:46,973 --> 00:00:48,381
And I would just love to do
that sometimes.

18
00:00:48,413 --> 00:00:48,725
That's why.

19
00:00:48,765 --> 00:00:50,581
That's one of the reasons why
I got the podcast going.

20
00:00:50,613 --> 00:00:52,469
It just lets me talk to the.

21
00:00:52,517 --> 00:00:53,765
To the microphone there.

22
00:00:53,805 --> 00:00:56,961
So hopefully tonight I don't
get confused with the two other sermons

23
00:00:56,993 --> 00:01:00,129
that I preached earlier on
today, but I had a chance to preach

24
00:01:00,177 --> 00:01:03,273
at a Christian school and then
also do a memorial service up at

25
00:01:03,289 --> 00:01:05,073
the Veteran Memorial Cemetery.

26
00:01:05,209 --> 00:01:09,689
And so if you have your
Bibles, let's turn to the book of.

27
00:01:09,817 --> 00:01:11,845
Does anyone remember where we
started last week?

28
00:01:12,225 --> 00:01:13,145
Zephaniah.

29
00:01:13,185 --> 00:01:14,657
I've got some good students here.

30
00:01:14,761 --> 00:01:16,489
If you didn't remember that,
that's okay.

31
00:01:16,617 --> 00:01:20,669
You will get that for the next
however long we're here.

32
00:01:20,777 --> 00:01:22,585
Going to be getting the book
of Zephaniah.

33
00:01:23,285 --> 00:01:27,501
Now, Zephaniah is a book of
the Bible in the Old Testament.

34
00:01:27,573 --> 00:01:29,797
And so if you don't know where
it is, you can flip around there

35
00:01:29,821 --> 00:01:30,637
in the minor prophets.

36
00:01:30,701 --> 00:01:31,581
Eventually you'll find it.

37
00:01:31,613 --> 00:01:33,225
And I like that name, Zephaniah.

38
00:01:33,645 --> 00:01:36,125
You don't hear a lot of people
name Zephaniah these days.

39
00:01:36,285 --> 00:01:39,325
Maybe if we have another child
in the future, that name's coming

40
00:01:39,365 --> 00:01:39,709
around.

41
00:01:39,797 --> 00:01:41,389
No, Alicia says no.

42
00:01:41,437 --> 00:01:42,101
No Zephaniah.

43
00:01:42,133 --> 00:01:44,485
But anyway, Zephaniah means God.

44
00:01:44,645 --> 00:01:46,785
God hides, God protects.

45
00:01:47,145 --> 00:01:50,497
And we're going to see here in
this case that God does protect his

46
00:01:50,521 --> 00:01:54,681
own, that God honors those who
humbly submit to him in faith.

47
00:01:54,833 --> 00:01:59,257
But we also know that God as a
just God, is a God who must enact

48
00:01:59,361 --> 00:02:03,129
justice and judgment upon
those that rebel against him.

49
00:02:03,297 --> 00:02:09,073
And so God is amazingly holy
in every aspect.

50
00:02:09,129 --> 00:02:12,953
And so when he does enact
justice, when he does demonstrate

51
00:02:13,009 --> 00:02:14,949
punishment upon those that are Guilty.

52
00:02:15,097 --> 00:02:16,557
It's done in a way that's perfect.

53
00:02:16,621 --> 00:02:20,981
And so one of the things that
sometimes we struggle with is God

54
00:02:21,133 --> 00:02:23,325
demonstrating judgment upon
different people.

55
00:02:23,365 --> 00:02:26,397
In the Old Testament and the
New, and even today, there are some

56
00:02:26,421 --> 00:02:28,901
people out there that teach
that, you know, if God is loving,

57
00:02:28,973 --> 00:02:30,933
he will not judge those that
are in sin.

58
00:02:30,989 --> 00:02:34,021
And that's contrary to his
character because God must be that

59
00:02:34,053 --> 00:02:34,685
righteous judge.

60
00:02:34,725 --> 00:02:37,677
In his holiness, he must deal
with sin.

61
00:02:37,821 --> 00:02:41,713
But we also do know that God
in His holiness, offers a way for

62
00:02:41,869 --> 00:02:44,809
forgiveness, and that is
through repentance, that is through

63
00:02:44,857 --> 00:02:49,137
humility, that is through that
opportunity to trust in him and him

64
00:02:49,161 --> 00:02:49,761
alone.

65
00:02:49,913 --> 00:02:52,325
And we see that theme
throughout the New Testament.

66
00:02:53,025 --> 00:02:54,345
We see it in First Peter.

67
00:02:54,425 --> 00:02:58,241
God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble.

68
00:02:58,393 --> 00:03:00,457
And that's essentially what
Zephaniah is doing here.

69
00:03:00,481 --> 00:03:00,777
He's.

70
00:03:00,841 --> 00:03:01,961
He's giving a prophecy.

71
00:03:01,993 --> 00:03:05,565
And not all prophecies are
necessarily things about the future.

72
00:03:05,865 --> 00:03:08,145
They are in many cases that
way in the Old Testament.

73
00:03:08,185 --> 00:03:10,105
But really all prophecy is.

74
00:03:10,145 --> 00:03:11,925
Is speaking forth truth.

75
00:03:12,345 --> 00:03:16,105
And so what Zephaniah is doing
is he's speaking the word of God

76
00:03:16,145 --> 00:03:17,257
to the people there in Judah.

77
00:03:17,281 --> 00:03:21,833
And he says, look, if you
continue on in this path, God will

78
00:03:21,929 --> 00:03:22,377
judge.

79
00:03:22,441 --> 00:03:23,873
This is a certainty.

80
00:03:24,049 --> 00:03:24,985
And so that's a warning.

81
00:03:25,025 --> 00:03:26,737
Zephaniah is preaching now.

82
00:03:26,881 --> 00:03:28,825
He is preaching the literal
word of God.

83
00:03:28,865 --> 00:03:31,753
That's how God spoke to his
people, through the prophet.

84
00:03:31,849 --> 00:03:36,025
And so Zephaniah is preaching
repentance, he's preaching judgment,

85
00:03:36,105 --> 00:03:40,065
he's preaching God's grace,
but he's also preaching God's justice.

86
00:03:40,225 --> 00:03:44,177
And we have to celebrate, as
much as we celebrate God's love and

87
00:03:44,201 --> 00:03:47,925
his grace and his holiness, we
also have to celebrate his justice

88
00:03:48,545 --> 00:03:50,085
and his righteousness.

89
00:03:50,385 --> 00:03:53,201
And so what we see here in
Zephaniah is last week we started

90
00:03:53,233 --> 00:03:56,845
this, and he talks about this
complete and utter.

91
00:03:58,145 --> 00:04:00,505
You know, in this case in
verse two, he says, I will utterly

92
00:04:00,545 --> 00:04:02,497
consume all things from off
the land, say at the Lord.

93
00:04:02,521 --> 00:04:04,299
He's talking about a complete judgment.

94
00:04:04,417 --> 00:04:07,503
He's talking about a judgment
upon a nation if they reject.

95
00:04:07,679 --> 00:04:11,607
And we're going to pick up
here in verse number seven tonight.

96
00:04:11,791 --> 00:04:15,575
Last week we talked about
these individuals who were posing

97
00:04:15,655 --> 00:04:16,359
as priests.

98
00:04:16,407 --> 00:04:19,527
They were posing as religious
people, but they were hypocrites.

99
00:04:19,671 --> 00:04:24,751
They were mingling the truths
of God with the truths of the false

100
00:04:24,783 --> 00:04:27,743
God BAAL and the false God Moloch.

101
00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,687
And they were taking in those
practices and they were mingling

102
00:04:30,751 --> 00:04:33,453
that with the practices that
God had told them to follow.

103
00:04:33,599 --> 00:04:35,529
And therefore they were living
hypocritical lives.

104
00:04:35,577 --> 00:04:37,305
And God said, I'm going to
judge that.

105
00:04:37,385 --> 00:04:40,089
I'm going to judge those
spiritual leaders that are misleading

106
00:04:40,137 --> 00:04:43,425
those people there in
Jerusalem, there in Judah.

107
00:04:43,585 --> 00:04:46,537
And so really, the first
chapter is God going through all

108
00:04:46,561 --> 00:04:49,449
the different types of people
that he will judge if they don't

109
00:04:49,497 --> 00:04:52,865
find repentance, if they don't
come back to him in repentance.

110
00:04:52,985 --> 00:04:54,561
And so we're going to pick up
in verse number seven.

111
00:04:54,593 --> 00:04:56,001
And he says this.

112
00:04:56,153 --> 00:05:00,595
He says, hold thy peace at the
presence of the Lord God.

113
00:05:00,675 --> 00:05:01,635
Now, what is he saying here?

114
00:05:01,675 --> 00:05:04,827
Well, essentially God is
addressing the royalty in Judah.

115
00:05:04,851 --> 00:05:05,291
Now he.

116
00:05:05,363 --> 00:05:09,971
He shifts gears from the broad
spectrum of all of Judah and from

117
00:05:10,003 --> 00:05:11,259
the religious leaders of Judah.

118
00:05:11,307 --> 00:05:13,195
Now he's going to speak to the leadership.

119
00:05:13,235 --> 00:05:16,815
He's going to speak to the
royalty there in Judah.

120
00:05:17,155 --> 00:05:18,587
And what does he say?

121
00:05:18,691 --> 00:05:22,371
Well, verse number seven is a
nice way to say, be quiet.

122
00:05:22,563 --> 00:05:25,267
Instead of trying to respond
to me, instead of trying to get ahead

123
00:05:25,291 --> 00:05:28,299
of me and give me excuses, you
need to just listen because I'm going

124
00:05:28,307 --> 00:05:29,653
to tell you the whole story.

125
00:05:29,819 --> 00:05:32,777
And so God addresses the
royalty of Judah in a way that they

126
00:05:32,801 --> 00:05:34,089
aren't used to hearing.

127
00:05:34,257 --> 00:05:37,845
He tells them to be quiet and
listen to his pronouncement of judgment.

128
00:05:38,265 --> 00:05:41,497
And he says, a sacrifice of
judgment is going to be made against

129
00:05:41,561 --> 00:05:42,753
a wicked nation.

130
00:05:42,849 --> 00:05:46,457
He says, hold thy peace at the
presence of the Lord God, for the

131
00:05:46,481 --> 00:05:48,321
day of the Lord is at hand.

132
00:05:48,393 --> 00:05:51,769
This is speaking specifically
to the judgment that will be seen

133
00:05:51,817 --> 00:05:53,753
there at that time coming in
the near future.

134
00:05:53,809 --> 00:05:57,507
But also we know that, that
ultimately the day of the Lord is

135
00:05:57,651 --> 00:06:01,075
evidently going to be coming
at the end time completely, to judge

136
00:06:01,115 --> 00:06:04,171
all those that are in sin, to
judge all of those that have rebelled

137
00:06:04,203 --> 00:06:06,211
against God for all of history.

138
00:06:06,363 --> 00:06:09,011
So he says, for the day of the
Lord is at hand, for the Lord hath

139
00:06:09,043 --> 00:06:12,615
prepared a sacrifice and he
hath bid his guest.

140
00:06:13,115 --> 00:06:16,135
And so what it says here is
that God is ready to judge.

141
00:06:16,435 --> 00:06:19,603
And this needs to be a reality
for many people, because for a lot

142
00:06:19,619 --> 00:06:22,605
of people, they put off repentance.

143
00:06:23,545 --> 00:06:26,497
It's kind of like this idea
of, well, I'm going to just hope

144
00:06:26,521 --> 00:06:28,697
that it goes away, and
eventually God's judgment will go

145
00:06:28,721 --> 00:06:28,881
away.

146
00:06:28,913 --> 00:06:31,233
But what we see is this is an
inevitable thing.

147
00:06:31,409 --> 00:06:32,001
Verse 8.

148
00:06:32,033 --> 00:06:35,041
And he says here, and it shall
come to pass in the day of the Lord's

149
00:06:35,073 --> 00:06:35,361
sacrifice.

150
00:06:35,393 --> 00:06:38,681
So he's talking about the day
of judgment, that I will punish the

151
00:06:38,713 --> 00:06:44,121
princes and the king's
children and all such as are clothed

152
00:06:44,233 --> 00:06:45,553
with strange apparel.

153
00:06:45,609 --> 00:06:46,999
And what's he Talking about here?

154
00:06:47,137 --> 00:06:51,467
Well, he says that this
warning is not just for individuals

155
00:06:51,531 --> 00:06:54,323
that are under the king's
rule, but this is for the king and

156
00:06:54,339 --> 00:06:56,427
the princes and all of the family.

157
00:06:56,531 --> 00:06:58,715
And so this is a complete
judgment upon that.

158
00:06:58,755 --> 00:07:01,595
And even in the case of
context, remember who is the king

159
00:07:01,635 --> 00:07:02,115
at this point?

160
00:07:02,155 --> 00:07:04,895
Does anyone remember, we read
about it early on.

161
00:07:05,395 --> 00:07:06,699
He's a good king.

162
00:07:06,867 --> 00:07:07,603
Josiah.

163
00:07:07,659 --> 00:07:08,963
Josiah is the king.

164
00:07:09,139 --> 00:07:11,875
And so this is a warning even
for those that would be considered,

165
00:07:11,915 --> 00:07:13,557
hey, they're godly leaders.

166
00:07:13,691 --> 00:07:15,209
This is a warning to stay on track.

167
00:07:15,257 --> 00:07:16,561
This is a warning to say, you
know what?

168
00:07:16,593 --> 00:07:17,785
I need to be cognizant.

169
00:07:17,865 --> 00:07:22,921
I need to be aware of the
ability for me to drift off if I

170
00:07:22,953 --> 00:07:24,153
become complacent.

171
00:07:24,329 --> 00:07:26,873
I've heard a lot of preachers
get up and say, I would never do

172
00:07:26,889 --> 00:07:27,977
this or I would never do that.

173
00:07:28,001 --> 00:07:30,897
I used to do that all the time
with my children before I had children.

174
00:07:31,001 --> 00:07:34,361
I remember when Alicia and I
would go out to, like, eat at a restaurant,

175
00:07:34,393 --> 00:07:36,537
and we would see these kids
that were, like, making noise.

176
00:07:36,641 --> 00:07:39,971
I remember saying, man, I will
never let my children act up in a

177
00:07:40,003 --> 00:07:40,451
public place.

178
00:07:40,483 --> 00:07:41,947
I just don't know what these
people are doing.

179
00:07:42,051 --> 00:07:43,931
And then I realized when I
started to have chillin.

180
00:07:44,003 --> 00:07:45,179
It's not as easy, okay?

181
00:07:45,267 --> 00:07:46,347
It takes some discipline, right?

182
00:07:46,371 --> 00:07:49,939
And if we're not aware of
that, the default setting will be

183
00:07:49,987 --> 00:07:51,043
that there will be chaos.

184
00:07:51,099 --> 00:07:51,651
There will be.

185
00:07:51,723 --> 00:07:53,139
There will be confusion.

186
00:07:53,307 --> 00:07:56,435
And so the warning here is not
just for an unruly king.

187
00:07:56,475 --> 00:07:58,035
It's for a king who is a.

188
00:07:58,115 --> 00:08:00,851
What we would consider a good
king, following the word of God.

189
00:08:00,963 --> 00:08:03,899
But there always can be the
path of divergent.

190
00:08:03,947 --> 00:08:07,155
It always could go off, and it
could always be a time where we could

191
00:08:07,195 --> 00:08:08,857
fall into that trap of prayer.

192
00:08:09,031 --> 00:08:12,933
And then he says here, and all
such as are clothed with strange

193
00:08:12,989 --> 00:08:13,469
apparel.

194
00:08:13,517 --> 00:08:17,225
Or you could say it this way,
clothed with foreign apparel.

195
00:08:17,685 --> 00:08:20,821
And so the priests and the
leaders of Judah were ashamed of

196
00:08:20,853 --> 00:08:22,061
their national identity.

197
00:08:22,133 --> 00:08:26,637
So much so that they love to
look like the enemy.

198
00:08:26,781 --> 00:08:31,429
They love to look like those
pagan nations that were around them.

199
00:08:31,597 --> 00:08:36,126
They wanted to be so much like
the worldly nations around them that

200
00:08:36,150 --> 00:08:38,774
they would actually emulate
those nations around them.

201
00:08:38,814 --> 00:08:40,182
They would wear their apparel.

202
00:08:40,238 --> 00:08:43,390
They would identify with those
pagan nations.

203
00:08:43,422 --> 00:08:45,206
And so what is he speaking to here?

204
00:08:45,230 --> 00:08:46,958
He's speaking to worldliness.

205
00:08:47,126 --> 00:08:49,862
We talked about that on Sunday
morning about separating ourselves

206
00:08:49,918 --> 00:08:53,734
from the influence of this
world, because who we associate with

207
00:08:53,774 --> 00:08:56,886
will eventually lead to who
influences us, right?

208
00:08:56,950 --> 00:09:00,494
So if I associate with the
world, I'm going to eventually be

209
00:09:00,534 --> 00:09:01,768
influenced by the world.

210
00:09:01,886 --> 00:09:04,717
I'm eventually going to
compromise to the ways of the world

211
00:09:04,781 --> 00:09:08,277
and ultimately fall into a
path of living like the world.

212
00:09:08,421 --> 00:09:12,261
And so the judgment, the
condemnation, is against the individuals

213
00:09:12,333 --> 00:09:15,725
who clothe themselves with
foreign apparel to look like those

214
00:09:15,765 --> 00:09:16,845
people that are around them.

215
00:09:16,885 --> 00:09:18,861
Because they were looking at
it from this perspective.

216
00:09:19,013 --> 00:09:20,325
Look at these foreign nations.

217
00:09:20,365 --> 00:09:21,597
Look at their success.

218
00:09:21,741 --> 00:09:23,661
Look at the pleasure that
they're having.

219
00:09:23,773 --> 00:09:25,909
Look at the freedom that they
have, right?

220
00:09:25,997 --> 00:09:29,819
The seeming freedom of living
a life of that pagan worship.

221
00:09:29,947 --> 00:09:32,627
And it seemed to many of the
people that were living in Judah

222
00:09:32,651 --> 00:09:34,779
at the time that these
foreigners were actually having more

223
00:09:34,827 --> 00:09:35,803
success than they were.

224
00:09:35,899 --> 00:09:38,651
And so what they would say is,
hey, we'll still practice worship

225
00:09:38,683 --> 00:09:41,475
the way that God tells us to
worship, but we want to look like

226
00:09:41,515 --> 00:09:42,255
the world.

227
00:09:42,875 --> 00:09:46,507
And I'm going to tell you in
practice today what that looks like

228
00:09:46,531 --> 00:09:47,259
is, hey, you know what?

229
00:09:47,307 --> 00:09:50,411
We're the church, but we want
to look as much as we can like the

230
00:09:50,443 --> 00:09:51,043
world.

231
00:09:51,219 --> 00:09:54,323
Instead of saying we want the
world to be influenced by the church,

232
00:09:54,419 --> 00:09:57,747
we take the world and allow
the world to influence what we do

233
00:09:57,771 --> 00:09:58,839
within the church.

234
00:09:59,027 --> 00:10:03,727
And that doesn't always look
like what we expect it to look like.

235
00:10:03,871 --> 00:10:05,167
Sometimes we say, well, you
know what?

236
00:10:05,231 --> 00:10:05,943
We look the part.

237
00:10:05,999 --> 00:10:08,263
We look good, we look like a church.

238
00:10:08,439 --> 00:10:10,511
And I would say, that's one
step of it.

239
00:10:10,623 --> 00:10:14,047
But I'd also say how we act,
how we think, how we respond, how

240
00:10:14,071 --> 00:10:14,935
we deal with people.

241
00:10:15,015 --> 00:10:17,135
You know, there's ways that
the world teaches today.

242
00:10:17,175 --> 00:10:21,055
That is not what the Bible
says is a unified church, right?

243
00:10:21,175 --> 00:10:24,391
Get what you can, cut other
people down, talk behind their back.

244
00:10:24,423 --> 00:10:26,239
The Bible says, no, that's not
the way to go.

245
00:10:26,327 --> 00:10:29,487
And so these individuals were
adopting the strange apparel of the

246
00:10:29,511 --> 00:10:33,345
world, and they were expecting
to receive the blessings of God.

247
00:10:34,005 --> 00:10:37,925
And so all of those people
there were allowing themselves to

248
00:10:37,965 --> 00:10:40,045
be infiltrated by the ways of
the world.

249
00:10:40,085 --> 00:10:43,145
And God judges that God is
opposed to that.

250
00:10:43,445 --> 00:10:46,829
Verse nine, it says, in the
same day also will I punish all those

251
00:10:46,997 --> 00:10:49,501
that leap on the threshold.

252
00:10:49,693 --> 00:10:52,053
Now, that's a phrase I had to
look up, right?

253
00:10:52,109 --> 00:10:55,991
Because I'm like, is God
really mad when they leap on the

254
00:10:56,023 --> 00:10:56,511
threshold?

255
00:10:56,623 --> 00:10:58,115
What is he talking about here?

256
00:10:58,855 --> 00:11:01,375
What we can see is that this
was an idiom.

257
00:11:01,415 --> 00:11:04,351
This was a phrase that would
have been used at that timeframe

258
00:11:04,463 --> 00:11:08,335
about changing their
perspective on things, jumping ship,

259
00:11:08,375 --> 00:11:10,275
if you will, go into another place.

260
00:11:10,655 --> 00:11:12,831
And so there's a lot of
commentators that would talk about

261
00:11:12,863 --> 00:11:13,079
this.

262
00:11:13,127 --> 00:11:16,935
This would be basically
bringing pagan customs and superstitions

263
00:11:17,015 --> 00:11:18,435
into the house of God.

264
00:11:19,535 --> 00:11:22,807
We saw that obviously
throughout the Old Testament, they

265
00:11:22,831 --> 00:11:26,467
would take elements of pagan
worship and they would try to cross

266
00:11:26,531 --> 00:11:29,787
over that threshold and bring
that into the house of God.

267
00:11:29,891 --> 00:11:31,355
And that's what we were
talking about before.

268
00:11:31,435 --> 00:11:36,979
Taking things that are worldly
focused, idolatrous, pagan, fleshly,

269
00:11:37,027 --> 00:11:39,815
and trying to infiltrate that
with the stamp of the church.

270
00:11:40,355 --> 00:11:43,067
And so I would warn us against
that because what it says here is

271
00:11:43,091 --> 00:11:46,259
that it says that, that
ultimately it says which fill their

272
00:11:46,307 --> 00:11:48,761
masters houses with violence
and deceit.

273
00:11:48,923 --> 00:11:53,525
And so the outcome of bringing
that into our midst is what it says

274
00:11:53,565 --> 00:11:55,425
there, violence and deceit.

275
00:11:56,325 --> 00:11:58,221
And the Bible has a lot to say
about that.

276
00:11:58,253 --> 00:12:02,629
But what we can see here is
that ultimately when we compromise

277
00:12:02,797 --> 00:12:06,445
our values, when we compromise
our truth, and when we try to mingle

278
00:12:06,485 --> 00:12:09,373
the ways of the world and God
is never going to be pleased because

279
00:12:09,429 --> 00:12:12,749
why it leads to sin, it leads
to violence, it leads to division,

280
00:12:12,797 --> 00:12:16,817
it leads to deceit, it leads
to these lies that ultimately produce

281
00:12:16,881 --> 00:12:19,645
themselves in actions that are
not God honoring.

282
00:12:19,985 --> 00:12:22,257
I talked to the Christian
school group today and I was talking

283
00:12:22,281 --> 00:12:24,849
to them about, hey, you hear
all the rules and how you should

284
00:12:24,897 --> 00:12:27,233
act and how you should live
and how you should be different.

285
00:12:27,329 --> 00:12:30,473
But a lot of times we see that
from a perspective of performance.

286
00:12:30,569 --> 00:12:33,913
Really, how can I try to
follow all the rules?

287
00:12:33,969 --> 00:12:35,329
How can I look the part?

288
00:12:35,457 --> 00:12:38,205
And what the Bible says is
really, this is a heart issue.

289
00:12:38,705 --> 00:12:42,941
It's never really an issue of
how much you have in your willpower.

290
00:12:43,093 --> 00:12:45,725
Because there are some people
that might have a stronger willpower

291
00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:46,149
than others.

292
00:12:46,197 --> 00:12:48,861
But eventually what the Bible
tells us is that we're all gonna

293
00:12:48,893 --> 00:12:52,685
fail if it's fleshly focused,
whether it's good intentions or not.

294
00:12:52,725 --> 00:12:55,277
Like, I could sit here today
and I could wake up and I could say,

295
00:12:55,341 --> 00:12:58,885
I'm gonna try my best not to
and then fill in the blank with that

296
00:12:58,925 --> 00:12:59,501
sin.

297
00:12:59,653 --> 00:13:04,093
And I might go a period of
time in my day where I feel like

298
00:13:04,109 --> 00:13:05,421
I've accomplished that.

299
00:13:05,573 --> 00:13:08,853
But the very moment that I
trust in my own flesh to accomplish

300
00:13:08,909 --> 00:13:11,579
these things is the moment
that I'm focusing on self.

301
00:13:11,757 --> 00:13:13,047
That's self worship.

302
00:13:13,191 --> 00:13:17,079
A lot of times we think of
idolatry as a figure outside of ourselves.

303
00:13:17,247 --> 00:13:22,687
Like, so we think of a little
statue of BAAL or a big statue of

304
00:13:22,711 --> 00:13:26,399
Moloch, or maybe even today we
understand, you know, like the phone

305
00:13:26,447 --> 00:13:27,583
can become an idol.

306
00:13:27,719 --> 00:13:31,183
But do you know that the Bible
says that we can actually put the

307
00:13:31,279 --> 00:13:34,231
focus on ourselves and lift
ourselves up to a point where we

308
00:13:34,263 --> 00:13:35,595
have become our own idol?

309
00:13:36,215 --> 00:13:39,291
We're humanistic in our focus
in our society.

310
00:13:39,363 --> 00:13:42,259
Today, there is a strong push,
and there always has been.

311
00:13:42,387 --> 00:13:44,995
And it's packaged different
ways, but there's always been a push

312
00:13:45,035 --> 00:13:45,891
for humanism.

313
00:13:46,003 --> 00:13:49,115
It's always about inflating
yourself, lifting yourself up.

314
00:13:49,195 --> 00:13:51,987
From the very beginning in the
garden, right, the original lie was,

315
00:13:52,011 --> 00:13:53,827
hey, you can be like God.

316
00:13:54,011 --> 00:13:56,427
And that has progressed and
progressed into.

317
00:13:56,491 --> 00:13:58,055
Look at our society today.

318
00:13:58,475 --> 00:13:59,019
That's this.

319
00:13:59,067 --> 00:14:01,971
That's what we're seeing over
and over and over again.

320
00:14:02,083 --> 00:14:05,615
And Satan does that through as
we see there, Verse nine, deceit.

321
00:14:06,815 --> 00:14:10,655
And so what happens here is
that God is telling them that he

322
00:14:10,695 --> 00:14:14,887
will judge those that
specifically are leaders, but all

323
00:14:14,951 --> 00:14:19,775
folks that allow the worldly
ways to infiltrate into their lives

324
00:14:19,855 --> 00:14:21,255
and then affect their lives.

325
00:14:21,375 --> 00:14:24,399
Now, of course, there's
repentance, and of course there's

326
00:14:24,447 --> 00:14:24,911
grace.

327
00:14:25,023 --> 00:14:28,375
And of course there's
ultimately God's forgiveness to those

328
00:14:28,415 --> 00:14:29,983
that come back to him in humility.

329
00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:32,317
But what he's saying is, you
need to wake up to this.

330
00:14:32,471 --> 00:14:35,393
Because what's happening here,
and we're gonna see it here in a

331
00:14:35,409 --> 00:14:39,041
few verses, there was a sense
of complacency with these people

332
00:14:39,073 --> 00:14:39,965
in Judah.

333
00:14:40,465 --> 00:14:42,497
They were the ones that
thought they were better than the

334
00:14:42,521 --> 00:14:43,001
Northern Kingdom.

335
00:14:43,033 --> 00:14:44,329
And the Northern Kingdom had fallen.

336
00:14:44,377 --> 00:14:45,553
They were the ones that were pagan.

337
00:14:45,609 --> 00:14:46,505
We're okay.

338
00:14:46,665 --> 00:14:48,285
Everything's gonna be all right.

339
00:14:48,825 --> 00:14:50,849
And so there is this sense of complacency.

340
00:14:50,897 --> 00:14:54,625
And with that sense of
complacency comes apathy, right?

341
00:14:54,705 --> 00:14:58,025
I become complacent, and then
I become apathetic, Meaning I don't

342
00:14:58,065 --> 00:14:59,473
care about what's going on.

343
00:14:59,639 --> 00:15:01,157
We're okay, God.

344
00:15:01,221 --> 00:15:02,165
We don't need anything.

345
00:15:02,245 --> 00:15:03,109
We're good.

346
00:15:03,277 --> 00:15:05,093
Don't try to change what we're
trying to do.

347
00:15:05,189 --> 00:15:08,525
Isn't that what we are in our
society today, in our churches today?

348
00:15:08,565 --> 00:15:11,125
Like, hey, what if God pulls
me to do something else?

349
00:15:11,165 --> 00:15:13,205
No, I don't want to do that,
because that's not what I'm comfortable

350
00:15:13,245 --> 00:15:13,589
with.

351
00:15:13,677 --> 00:15:15,261
I'm complacent, I'm apathetic.

352
00:15:15,293 --> 00:15:18,013
And so what we see here in
this case is that God says, you need

353
00:15:18,029 --> 00:15:21,225
to wake up to the reality of
what you're actually doing.

354
00:15:22,205 --> 00:15:24,197
And so judgment is upon those leaders.

355
00:15:24,261 --> 00:15:25,925
But then we see verse 10.

356
00:15:25,965 --> 00:15:27,105
He shifts gears.

357
00:15:27,565 --> 00:15:30,605
And now the judgment is going
to be promised to the merchants.

358
00:15:30,685 --> 00:15:33,597
And the merchants are those at
this time period that would deal

359
00:15:33,621 --> 00:15:34,413
with the money.

360
00:15:34,549 --> 00:15:36,213
And obviously they were
selling goods.

361
00:15:36,229 --> 00:15:38,349
And we're going to talk about
two different industries.

362
00:15:38,517 --> 00:15:41,397
But really what he's
addressing here is those that are

363
00:15:41,421 --> 00:15:44,385
putting their trust and their
faith in finances.

364
00:15:44,725 --> 00:15:47,225
They're putting all Their hope
in their money.

365
00:15:47,525 --> 00:15:50,237
So we're seeing God go right
down the line and show all the things

366
00:15:50,261 --> 00:15:50,901
that he hates.

367
00:15:50,973 --> 00:15:53,111
He hates those religious hypocrites.

368
00:15:53,183 --> 00:15:56,071
He hates those compromise
compromisers, the ones that bring

369
00:15:56,103 --> 00:15:58,223
the worldliness into worship.

370
00:15:58,319 --> 00:16:01,015
And now he's going to talk
about those who love money.

371
00:16:01,175 --> 00:16:04,135
We know what the New Testament
says about that, that the love of

372
00:16:04,175 --> 00:16:08,087
money, not money itself, but
the love of money, is the root of

373
00:16:08,111 --> 00:16:08,335
evil.

374
00:16:08,375 --> 00:16:10,815
It's the root of all different
types of sin.

375
00:16:10,935 --> 00:16:13,995
Because of our prideful hearts.

376
00:16:14,575 --> 00:16:17,503
And I mentioned this morning
to the Christian school and I've

377
00:16:17,519 --> 00:16:19,275
said this within our own church.

378
00:16:19,785 --> 00:16:24,033
A good thing can become a bad
thing if it becomes the first thing.

379
00:16:24,209 --> 00:16:26,113
I can tell you there's a lot
of things in our life that in and

380
00:16:26,129 --> 00:16:27,529
of themselves are not sinful.

381
00:16:27,617 --> 00:16:28,201
Right?

382
00:16:28,353 --> 00:16:30,353
Money in and of itself is not sinful.

383
00:16:30,489 --> 00:16:32,561
A hobby in and of itself is
not sinful.

384
00:16:32,673 --> 00:16:37,289
Loving another human being is
not sinful unless that comes first

385
00:16:37,337 --> 00:16:38,885
before our love for God.

386
00:16:39,225 --> 00:16:41,257
And so what he's going to say
here is this verse 10.

387
00:16:41,281 --> 00:16:44,465
And it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord, that there

388
00:16:44,505 --> 00:16:50,389
shall be the noise of a cry
from the fish gate and then howling

389
00:16:50,477 --> 00:16:54,133
from the second and a great
crashing from the hills.

390
00:16:54,309 --> 00:16:57,357
Now, if you were to read that
in and of itself, you would say,

391
00:16:57,381 --> 00:16:58,381
what is he talking about there?

392
00:16:58,413 --> 00:17:00,157
The fish, the fish gate.

393
00:17:00,301 --> 00:17:03,373
Well, the fish gate was a
specific gate there in Jerusalem.

394
00:17:03,429 --> 00:17:06,733
That would have been the gate
that the fishermen would use for

395
00:17:06,789 --> 00:17:07,741
their commerce.

396
00:17:07,773 --> 00:17:11,133
They would bring in the fish
from the different areas and they

397
00:17:11,149 --> 00:17:12,125
would come and they would trade.

398
00:17:12,165 --> 00:17:14,665
So it was the gate to the fish market.

399
00:17:14,825 --> 00:17:16,769
So it was a place where they
would get money.

400
00:17:16,817 --> 00:17:19,865
It was a place where they
would bring in those finances that

401
00:17:19,905 --> 00:17:21,409
they were loving so much.

402
00:17:21,577 --> 00:17:26,329
And then we see in verse
number 11, he says how ye inhabitants

403
00:17:26,377 --> 00:17:31,089
of Maktesh, for all the
merchant people are cut down.

404
00:17:31,217 --> 00:17:33,553
All they that bear silver are
cut off.

405
00:17:33,689 --> 00:17:36,745
Now, I had to look up what
Maktesh was, but Maktesh was a place

406
00:17:36,785 --> 00:17:39,153
where the silver merchants
would be.

407
00:17:39,209 --> 00:17:44,285
And they were obviously known
for loving money and pushing things

408
00:17:44,365 --> 00:17:47,517
upon people and allowing
themselves to be overtaken by the

409
00:17:47,541 --> 00:17:48,613
love of that money.

410
00:17:48,749 --> 00:17:50,549
And so what does the Lord say here?

411
00:17:50,677 --> 00:17:53,613
Well, he says that the
merchants and those with money, that

412
00:17:53,629 --> 00:17:53,973
they.

413
00:17:54,069 --> 00:17:56,541
That they would put their
faith and trust in their riches.

414
00:17:56,653 --> 00:18:01,333
Now God promises to cut those
people down in their idolatry, the

415
00:18:01,349 --> 00:18:02,745
idolatry of money.

416
00:18:03,485 --> 00:18:07,269
And the Bible tells us that
this isn't just a, an Old Testament

417
00:18:07,317 --> 00:18:07,629
concept.

418
00:18:07,677 --> 00:18:09,199
This is a New Testament concept.

419
00:18:09,317 --> 00:18:11,891
Colossians chapter 3, verses 5
and 6.

420
00:18:12,043 --> 00:18:13,963
Mortify, therefore your members.

421
00:18:14,099 --> 00:18:15,515
You know what that word
mortify means?

422
00:18:15,555 --> 00:18:16,819
It means kill it.

423
00:18:16,987 --> 00:18:19,867
Mortify, therefore your
members which are upon the earth.

424
00:18:19,971 --> 00:18:21,627
And he talks about these
different sins.

425
00:18:21,691 --> 00:18:23,255
He says, fornication.

426
00:18:23,595 --> 00:18:27,723
And we know that fornication
is anything, anything sexual outside

427
00:18:27,819 --> 00:18:29,067
the bond of marriage.

428
00:18:29,171 --> 00:18:33,747
Fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,

429
00:18:33,891 --> 00:18:38,485
and covetousness, which is idolatry.

430
00:18:38,865 --> 00:18:42,137
So the Bible actually says
that when we love money and we covet

431
00:18:42,201 --> 00:18:44,049
money, that is idolatry.

432
00:18:44,137 --> 00:18:48,313
And what basically happens is
that money becomes our idol.

433
00:18:48,489 --> 00:18:51,633
And you don't have to have a
lot of money to love money.

434
00:18:51,809 --> 00:18:55,313
I think that was sometimes a
concept that I didn't grasp when

435
00:18:55,329 --> 00:18:55,889
I was.

436
00:18:56,017 --> 00:18:59,889
When I was a young man out of
college, I was working at a Christian

437
00:18:59,937 --> 00:19:00,313
school.

438
00:19:00,409 --> 00:19:03,887
And if you know anything about
Christian schools, any teacher that's

439
00:19:03,911 --> 00:19:05,791
working at a Christian school
is not gonna become a millionaire

440
00:19:05,823 --> 00:19:07,575
off of the salary of that
Christian school.

441
00:19:07,615 --> 00:19:10,183
Okay, if there is a Christian
school that's like that, let me know,

442
00:19:10,239 --> 00:19:10,447
okay?

443
00:19:10,471 --> 00:19:11,415
I'm gonna spread the word around.

444
00:19:11,455 --> 00:19:14,039
But the reality is we were
getting paid very little.

445
00:19:14,207 --> 00:19:16,511
And I would hear a preacher
get up and say, you know what?

446
00:19:16,543 --> 00:19:18,831
The love of money is the root
of all sin.

447
00:19:18,863 --> 00:19:21,607
And I'm like, well, trust me,
I can't love the money that I don't

448
00:19:21,631 --> 00:19:22,515
have, okay?

449
00:19:23,135 --> 00:19:24,759
And I had to have someone sit
down next to me.

450
00:19:24,767 --> 00:19:27,487
And they say, it's not about
how much you have, it's about how

451
00:19:27,511 --> 00:19:28,775
hard you're trying to hold on
to that.

452
00:19:28,815 --> 00:19:29,237
Right?

453
00:19:29,351 --> 00:19:30,481
And so I didn't have much money.

454
00:19:30,513 --> 00:19:32,801
So I love that money so much
that I'm like, I can't do anything

455
00:19:32,833 --> 00:19:33,097
with it.

456
00:19:33,121 --> 00:19:34,369
And that's all I can focus on.

457
00:19:34,457 --> 00:19:36,993
The truth is, it doesn't
matter how much is in our bank account.

458
00:19:37,089 --> 00:19:38,105
What matters is our heart.

459
00:19:38,145 --> 00:19:39,449
It always goes back to that.

460
00:19:39,577 --> 00:19:42,137
And so what we can see here in
this case is that God hates that.

461
00:19:42,161 --> 00:19:45,441
He lists all these sins and he
says, and covetousness, which is

462
00:19:45,473 --> 00:19:48,281
idolatry, for which things
sake of the wrath of God, cometh

463
00:19:48,313 --> 00:19:49,649
on the children of disobedience.

464
00:19:49,697 --> 00:19:52,737
And so the Bible speaks very
strongly in the Old Testament and

465
00:19:52,761 --> 00:19:56,321
the new of those folks who
desire money more than anything else.

466
00:19:56,473 --> 00:19:58,601
These folks were desiring
money more than God.

467
00:19:58,633 --> 00:20:00,665
They were desiring the silver
more than God.

468
00:20:00,705 --> 00:20:03,845
And therefore God says, I'm
going to judge you unless you repent.

469
00:20:04,185 --> 00:20:08,809
And so the judgment was placed
upon the originally those spiritual

470
00:20:08,857 --> 00:20:11,441
leaders that were misleading
them with false teaching.

471
00:20:11,593 --> 00:20:14,977
There was judgment upon the
leaders who had compromised to the

472
00:20:15,001 --> 00:20:15,745
worldly ways.

473
00:20:15,825 --> 00:20:18,761
There was judgment upon those
that love money, the merchants.

474
00:20:18,873 --> 00:20:22,401
And now we're going to see in
verse number 12, judgment promised

475
00:20:22,473 --> 00:20:23,925
to the complacent.

476
00:20:24,545 --> 00:20:27,417
And these are the people that
we would say that they're not out

477
00:20:27,441 --> 00:20:30,165
there doing these horrible
pagan things.

478
00:20:30,905 --> 00:20:33,257
They're people that are just complacent.

479
00:20:33,441 --> 00:20:36,745
It says, and it shall come to
pass at that time that I will search

480
00:20:36,785 --> 00:20:39,041
Jerusalem with candles, man.

481
00:20:39,073 --> 00:20:41,285
This shows that God is serious
about this.

482
00:20:41,705 --> 00:20:44,561
Even when it gets dark, he's
going to search with candles and

483
00:20:44,593 --> 00:20:48,005
punish the men that are
settled on their lees.

484
00:20:48,585 --> 00:20:49,977
Now, this is interesting here.

485
00:20:50,041 --> 00:20:51,881
What he basically says is this.

486
00:20:52,073 --> 00:20:56,309
That word lees is a archaic
term for complacency.

487
00:20:56,477 --> 00:20:59,365
And so he says, I'm going to
punish those who are settled in their

488
00:20:59,405 --> 00:21:00,005
complacency.

489
00:21:00,045 --> 00:21:03,389
The Lord promised judgment
against those who felt that God was

490
00:21:03,437 --> 00:21:05,865
distant or detached from their lives.

491
00:21:06,365 --> 00:21:10,541
And so because of that
perceived distance from God, they

492
00:21:10,573 --> 00:21:11,685
just became complacent.

493
00:21:11,725 --> 00:21:14,705
They didn't care anymore about
their relationship with God.

494
00:21:15,325 --> 00:21:18,053
And so the Lord says, I'm
going to judge those people who have

495
00:21:18,189 --> 00:21:20,585
gone to this place of complacency.

496
00:21:21,455 --> 00:21:23,311
And what now, what was their.

497
00:21:23,463 --> 00:21:25,303
How could we say that they
were complacent?

498
00:21:25,439 --> 00:21:30,287
Well, it says there, verse
number 12, that say in their hearts,

499
00:21:30,431 --> 00:21:34,155
the Lord will not do good,
neither will he do evil.

500
00:21:34,615 --> 00:21:38,239
And some people believe in
this case that, you know, God isn't

501
00:21:38,287 --> 00:21:39,615
interested in my matters.

502
00:21:39,655 --> 00:21:41,503
He's not interested in my life.

503
00:21:41,679 --> 00:21:45,655
This is the classic
theological teaching of Deism, that

504
00:21:45,695 --> 00:21:48,949
God is this great clockmaker,
that he sets everything in motion

505
00:21:48,997 --> 00:21:49,877
and he just backs up.

506
00:21:49,901 --> 00:21:52,069
He doesn't want a personal
relationship with me.

507
00:21:52,157 --> 00:21:53,661
He doesn't care about my life.

508
00:21:53,773 --> 00:21:55,429
He has bigger things to deal with.

509
00:21:55,557 --> 00:21:56,901
And that's really what they're
saying here.

510
00:21:56,973 --> 00:22:00,125
Some people believe that God
is just this great clockmaker who

511
00:22:00,165 --> 00:22:03,425
creates the universe, winds it
up, and then just lets it go.

512
00:22:04,445 --> 00:22:09,701
Those who believe this way
don't understand the closeness that

513
00:22:09,733 --> 00:22:12,105
God desires for us in our relationship.

514
00:22:12,645 --> 00:22:16,241
Those who believe that there
is no God or that he doesn't want

515
00:22:16,273 --> 00:22:19,161
anything to do with man
totally miss out on what the Bible

516
00:22:19,233 --> 00:22:21,769
actually says about the
character of God.

517
00:22:21,817 --> 00:22:24,137
God wants a personal
relationship with us.

518
00:22:24,161 --> 00:22:26,145
He wanted a personal
relationship with Israel.

519
00:22:26,225 --> 00:22:28,201
He wants a personal
relationship with you.

520
00:22:28,353 --> 00:22:30,365
And so these people are
saying, you know what?

521
00:22:30,665 --> 00:22:32,865
The Lord will not do good,
neither will he do evil.

522
00:22:32,905 --> 00:22:33,945
He just is just up there.

523
00:22:33,985 --> 00:22:35,805
He's just this being up in the sky.

524
00:22:36,385 --> 00:22:37,441
And isn't that.

525
00:22:37,513 --> 00:22:40,353
I mean, even more so maybe A
few years ago.

526
00:22:40,409 --> 00:22:43,145
Nowadays we're seeing on the
rise atheism, just basically, there

527
00:22:43,185 --> 00:22:43,905
is no God.

528
00:22:43,945 --> 00:22:44,337
Or.

529
00:22:44,441 --> 00:22:47,577
Or agnosticism, which is like,
well, there might be a God, but how

530
00:22:47,601 --> 00:22:48,765
could I ever know?

531
00:22:49,385 --> 00:22:53,153
But even so, even with people
that would claim to be religious

532
00:22:53,209 --> 00:22:56,953
in our society today, they're
not really understanding that it

533
00:22:56,969 --> 00:22:58,545
is a personal walk with God.

534
00:22:58,585 --> 00:23:00,761
It's more just, hey, there's a
big man upstairs.

535
00:23:00,913 --> 00:23:02,329
He cares about certain things.

536
00:23:02,377 --> 00:23:02,993
But you know what?

537
00:23:03,049 --> 00:23:04,665
How could I really even know?

538
00:23:04,785 --> 00:23:05,169
I don't know.

539
00:23:05,177 --> 00:23:07,417
If you've ever shared the
gospel with somebody.

540
00:23:07,601 --> 00:23:10,401
If you have shared the gospel
with somebody, at some point, you've

541
00:23:10,433 --> 00:23:13,363
probably heard the answer to
this question.

542
00:23:13,419 --> 00:23:15,935
Okay, if I was to ask you,
hey, are you going to heaven?

543
00:23:16,435 --> 00:23:18,483
I think that's a kind of an
interesting question to ask someone

544
00:23:18,539 --> 00:23:22,179
because you can always kind of
tell where they stand when they answer.

545
00:23:22,347 --> 00:23:24,815
And a lot of times people will
say yes.

546
00:23:25,155 --> 00:23:27,315
And then you say, well, why do
you think that?

547
00:23:27,475 --> 00:23:30,347
And then you'll see sometimes
the human nature come out, well,

548
00:23:30,371 --> 00:23:32,875
I think that I'm a good person.

549
00:23:33,035 --> 00:23:35,395
I think my good outweighs my bad.

550
00:23:35,555 --> 00:23:38,127
So that individual is trusting
in their own works, right?

551
00:23:38,211 --> 00:23:41,223
That individual is trusting in
this idea that, hey, I might be a

552
00:23:41,239 --> 00:23:41,719
good person.

553
00:23:41,807 --> 00:23:44,007
There's other people that
would say, oh, no, I.

554
00:23:44,151 --> 00:23:45,047
I'm not going to heaven.

555
00:23:45,071 --> 00:23:46,315
I'm a bad person.

556
00:23:46,735 --> 00:23:48,431
And they have no concept of that.

557
00:23:48,463 --> 00:23:49,887
There could be forgiveness for that.

558
00:23:49,991 --> 00:23:51,247
I've already done enough wrongs.

559
00:23:51,311 --> 00:23:53,871
But then you'll also find
people that will say this, well,

560
00:23:53,903 --> 00:23:57,719
I hope that I will go to
heaven, but how can we ever really

561
00:23:57,767 --> 00:23:58,355
know?

562
00:23:59,255 --> 00:24:00,663
And these are all fallacies.

563
00:24:00,719 --> 00:24:03,511
These are all terrible
interpretations of scripture.

564
00:24:03,543 --> 00:24:06,741
The Bible says in First John,
chapter five, these things are written

565
00:24:06,773 --> 00:24:08,269
unto you that believe in the
name of the.

566
00:24:08,317 --> 00:24:11,029
Of the Lord, that you can know
that you have everlasting life.

567
00:24:11,157 --> 00:24:14,445
There is an assurance when it
comes to our faith.

568
00:24:14,605 --> 00:24:18,757
And so these people here that
are listed in verses 12 and 13, they

569
00:24:18,781 --> 00:24:19,109
were.

570
00:24:19,197 --> 00:24:20,585
They were complacent.

571
00:24:21,325 --> 00:24:27,677
I was reading excerpts of the
book the decline and Fall of the

572
00:24:27,701 --> 00:24:30,165
Roman Empire, and some of you
are like, wow, that's a heavy read.

573
00:24:30,205 --> 00:24:31,893
Okay, I was reading excerpts
of it.

574
00:24:31,909 --> 00:24:33,957
I wasn't reading the whole
thing, but recently I was reading

575
00:24:33,981 --> 00:24:39,555
through it and I saw this
basically highlighted.

576
00:24:40,255 --> 00:24:44,263
There were attitudes that were
characterized in the end of the Roman

577
00:24:44,319 --> 00:24:46,999
Empire that I would say are a
lot similar to what we have today

578
00:24:47,047 --> 00:24:48,035
in our society.

579
00:24:48,495 --> 00:24:49,175
It said this.

580
00:24:49,215 --> 00:24:52,715
The people regarded all
religions as equally true.

581
00:24:53,775 --> 00:24:55,335
We see a lot of people saying
that today.

582
00:24:55,375 --> 00:24:55,791
Right.

583
00:24:55,903 --> 00:24:58,703
Well, all you gotta do is be,
you know, serious about something

584
00:24:58,759 --> 00:24:59,797
and that's enough.

585
00:24:59,991 --> 00:25:02,753
The philosophers regarded all
religions as false.

586
00:25:02,809 --> 00:25:04,641
Like basically, it's all about man.

587
00:25:04,713 --> 00:25:07,073
If you're a religious person,
it's just a distraction.

588
00:25:07,209 --> 00:25:10,521
And then it said the
politicians regarded all religions

589
00:25:10,593 --> 00:25:11,897
as equally useful.

590
00:25:11,961 --> 00:25:15,297
Meaning there were people that
use religion for their own purposes,

591
00:25:15,361 --> 00:25:16,017
right?

592
00:25:16,201 --> 00:25:19,465
And we saw that in the fall of
the Roman Empire and we're seeing

593
00:25:19,505 --> 00:25:20,885
that happening today.

594
00:25:21,385 --> 00:25:25,177
And so there is this judgment
that comes upon these different people

595
00:25:25,241 --> 00:25:26,439
and they don't care.

596
00:25:26,617 --> 00:25:27,211
They don't care.

597
00:25:27,243 --> 00:25:27,955
Verse 13.

598
00:25:28,075 --> 00:25:32,075
Therefore their good shall
become a booty and their houses a

599
00:25:32,115 --> 00:25:33,035
desolation.

600
00:25:33,195 --> 00:25:36,339
They shall also build houses,
but not inhabit them.

601
00:25:36,427 --> 00:25:39,443
And they shall plant
vineyards, but not drink the wine

602
00:25:39,499 --> 00:25:39,915
thereof.

603
00:25:39,955 --> 00:25:44,451
And so the Bible tells us very
clearly here that these people are

604
00:25:44,523 --> 00:25:47,531
so complacent that they don't
even care.

605
00:25:47,643 --> 00:25:50,443
They're building things,
they're planning for things, and

606
00:25:50,459 --> 00:25:52,499
they don't even care about the
judgment that is to come.

607
00:25:52,587 --> 00:25:54,795
Their minds are so focused on
what they have in front of them,

608
00:25:54,835 --> 00:25:56,615
they don't care about what God says.

609
00:25:57,475 --> 00:26:01,331
And I can tell you that that
is very similar to our society today.

610
00:26:01,523 --> 00:26:03,171
There are people out there
preaching the truth.

611
00:26:03,203 --> 00:26:05,891
There are people out there
warning people, but that is not enough

612
00:26:05,923 --> 00:26:07,499
for many people because they
just don't care.

613
00:26:07,587 --> 00:26:08,539
I don't want to hear it.

614
00:26:08,627 --> 00:26:09,775
Don't tell me this.

615
00:26:10,715 --> 00:26:14,835
And I'm going to tell you here
today, don't be opposed to hearing

616
00:26:14,875 --> 00:26:18,571
about God's judgment because
that allows us to understand that

617
00:26:18,603 --> 00:26:20,171
God is a righteous judge.

618
00:26:20,323 --> 00:26:22,955
And I would even say that as a
Christian, if you are a born again

619
00:26:22,995 --> 00:26:26,003
believer, don't shy away from
the preaching of the word of God

620
00:26:26,059 --> 00:26:29,175
that steps on your toes, that
gives you conviction.

621
00:26:29,835 --> 00:26:31,875
I know that sometimes I would be.

622
00:26:31,915 --> 00:26:34,659
I heard a lot of preaching in
my life because I went to a Christian

623
00:26:34,707 --> 00:26:35,107
school.

624
00:26:35,211 --> 00:26:37,331
We would have chapel on
Tuesdays and Thursdays.

625
00:26:37,363 --> 00:26:38,923
I would go to church on
Wednesday night.

626
00:26:39,019 --> 00:26:41,331
I would go to church on Sunday
morning, Sunday night.

627
00:26:41,483 --> 00:26:44,219
I would get sermons basically
throughout the week, all week.

628
00:26:44,267 --> 00:26:45,299
And that was a good thing.

629
00:26:45,387 --> 00:26:47,935
But also I do remember when
preachers would get up and hit the

630
00:26:48,035 --> 00:26:50,655
topics that I was convicted on.

631
00:26:50,735 --> 00:26:51,487
You know what I would do?

632
00:26:51,511 --> 00:26:52,039
I would just.

633
00:26:52,127 --> 00:26:54,543
I wouldn't really physically
do it because that would be kind

634
00:26:54,559 --> 00:26:55,015
of weird.

635
00:26:55,095 --> 00:26:57,559
But I wanted to just put my
fingers in my ears and just go, I

636
00:26:57,567 --> 00:26:58,087
don't want to hear this.

637
00:26:58,111 --> 00:26:58,687
I don't want to hear this.

638
00:26:58,711 --> 00:27:00,255
I don't want to be responsible
for this.

639
00:27:00,375 --> 00:27:04,015
And sometimes we don't do that
physically, but sometimes Spiritually,

640
00:27:04,055 --> 00:27:05,063
we just say, you know what?

641
00:27:05,079 --> 00:27:06,487
I just don't want to think
about that.

642
00:27:06,631 --> 00:27:09,087
But the truth is that when
that conviction comes, that's a good

643
00:27:09,111 --> 00:27:11,515
thing, because that's God
trying to call out to you.

644
00:27:11,895 --> 00:27:13,359
That's God pricking your heart.

645
00:27:13,407 --> 00:27:15,797
And you have to make that
decision on whether or not you're

646
00:27:15,821 --> 00:27:17,469
going to be sensitive to the
Holy Spirit.

647
00:27:17,597 --> 00:27:19,693
Are you going to be sensitive
to the Holy Spirit's call in your

648
00:27:19,709 --> 00:27:20,677
life for conviction?

649
00:27:20,781 --> 00:27:22,245
All of us want the comfort.

650
00:27:22,405 --> 00:27:26,997
The Bible says that the Holy
Spirit is a comforter, and we, hopefully,

651
00:27:27,061 --> 00:27:29,025
you strive for the comfort of
the Spirit.

652
00:27:29,325 --> 00:27:31,317
That's an exciting thing, to
be comforted by the Spirit.

653
00:27:31,341 --> 00:27:34,485
If you've never experienced
that, folks, that's something that

654
00:27:34,525 --> 00:27:39,557
is undeniably a miracle, that
you can feel the comfort of the Spirit

655
00:27:39,581 --> 00:27:42,003
in the midst of a difficulty,
and we welcome that.

656
00:27:42,019 --> 00:27:44,867
But a lot of times, we don't
welcome the conviction of the Spirit.

657
00:27:45,011 --> 00:27:47,291
And the conviction of the
Spirit is what leads us to a place

658
00:27:47,323 --> 00:27:49,655
of comfort, because we need to
get that right.

659
00:27:50,035 --> 00:27:51,219
God chastises.

660
00:27:51,307 --> 00:27:52,935
He disciplines his own.

661
00:27:53,355 --> 00:27:57,083
And if there's an individual,
and I'm gonna go out on a limb here,

662
00:27:57,099 --> 00:27:58,683
and I'm gonna say, if there's
a Christian that says, you know what?

663
00:27:58,699 --> 00:28:00,851
I haven't felt the Holy
Spirit's conviction in a very, very

664
00:28:00,883 --> 00:28:03,091
long time, there is an issue there.

665
00:28:03,243 --> 00:28:04,915
There is a problem there.

666
00:28:05,075 --> 00:28:09,949
A little while back, I don't
know what happened to me, but I must

667
00:28:09,997 --> 00:28:14,181
have hurt something in my back
that made my right pinky go numb.

668
00:28:14,333 --> 00:28:15,437
I could not feel my pinky.

669
00:28:15,461 --> 00:28:16,653
And it was the weirdest thing.

670
00:28:16,749 --> 00:28:20,573
It was like two weeks, and I
kept saying, like, man, I just don't

671
00:28:20,589 --> 00:28:21,613
feel my pinky.

672
00:28:21,789 --> 00:28:24,565
And Alicia was like, oh, you
probably tweaked something in your

673
00:28:24,605 --> 00:28:24,781
back.

674
00:28:24,813 --> 00:28:25,469
And I'm like, yeah.

675
00:28:25,517 --> 00:28:28,157
So all of a sudden, I would
just keep hitting it and bumping

676
00:28:28,181 --> 00:28:30,053
it and getting it cut and
bruised, and I was like, I'm not

677
00:28:30,069 --> 00:28:30,765
even feeling this.

678
00:28:30,845 --> 00:28:33,649
Eventually, I got the feeling
back, and I started, man, why do

679
00:28:33,657 --> 00:28:34,609
I keep hurting my pinkies?

680
00:28:34,657 --> 00:28:37,801
Because I was so used to not
feeling anything that I would just

681
00:28:37,833 --> 00:28:40,201
bump it around and not do
anything, not care about it, jam

682
00:28:40,233 --> 00:28:40,521
it back.

683
00:28:40,553 --> 00:28:41,393
I didn't, you know.

684
00:28:41,489 --> 00:28:42,785
And then I started feeling
that again.

685
00:28:42,825 --> 00:28:44,089
I'm like, wow, that's weird.

686
00:28:44,177 --> 00:28:45,105
That feels different.

687
00:28:45,185 --> 00:28:48,321
And for some of us, the Bible
speaks of searing our conscience,

688
00:28:48,393 --> 00:28:50,625
so much so that we don't even
feel the conviction of the Spirit

689
00:28:50,665 --> 00:28:51,873
anymore, folks.

690
00:28:51,969 --> 00:28:55,513
That's a dangerous place to be
that we have grieved the Holy Spirit

691
00:28:55,569 --> 00:28:58,353
so much that we have now
seared our conscience to the fact

692
00:28:58,369 --> 00:29:01,963
that when the Holy Spirit is
calling us, we go, yeah, I just,

693
00:29:02,059 --> 00:29:02,707
I'm complacent.

694
00:29:02,731 --> 00:29:03,571
I don't care.

695
00:29:03,723 --> 00:29:06,779
The Bible says that is the
characteristic of these people back

696
00:29:06,867 --> 00:29:11,435
at this time is they were so
numb to the call of God to be repentant,

697
00:29:11,475 --> 00:29:14,683
that they had just been so set
in their ways that God says, I have

698
00:29:14,699 --> 00:29:15,771
to wake you up.

699
00:29:15,923 --> 00:29:20,003
And so please, if anything, be
sensitive to the preaching of the

700
00:29:20,019 --> 00:29:20,659
Word of God.

701
00:29:20,747 --> 00:29:23,187
Be sensitive to what the word
of God is leading you to do.

702
00:29:23,251 --> 00:29:25,611
The Bible says that when that
conviction comes, that is a time

703
00:29:25,643 --> 00:29:27,641
to embrace and repent and submit.

704
00:29:27,763 --> 00:29:29,301
Because remember that principle.

705
00:29:29,413 --> 00:29:32,125
God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble.

706
00:29:32,165 --> 00:29:34,445
I don't know about you, but I
want God's grace.

707
00:29:34,605 --> 00:29:36,285
I'm desperate for God's grace.

708
00:29:36,405 --> 00:29:38,101
I need God's grace every
single day.

709
00:29:38,133 --> 00:29:39,645
And so how do I find that grace?

710
00:29:39,765 --> 00:29:40,781
By humility.

711
00:29:40,853 --> 00:29:43,133
In saying I admit that I am
wrong God.

712
00:29:43,229 --> 00:29:44,941
First John, chapter one, verse nine.

713
00:29:45,053 --> 00:29:47,773
If you confess your sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our

714
00:29:47,789 --> 00:29:49,477
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

715
00:29:49,581 --> 00:29:52,949
That doesn't mean that we just
keep getting resaved over and over

716
00:29:53,037 --> 00:29:53,859
and over again.

717
00:29:53,957 --> 00:29:57,207
What that means is that yes,
I'm saved and yes, I am a child of

718
00:29:57,231 --> 00:29:59,831
God, but yet there is
something in my relationship with

719
00:29:59,863 --> 00:30:03,103
God that I have driven a
divide in, in my life.

720
00:30:03,239 --> 00:30:06,635
It's like, I use this analogy
a lot with Micah.

721
00:30:07,255 --> 00:30:08,999
I can pick on Micah, cause
he's not here.

722
00:30:09,087 --> 00:30:10,335
Micah's my nine year old son.

723
00:30:10,375 --> 00:30:13,951
And you know, I know that he
loves me and he knows that I love

724
00:30:13,983 --> 00:30:14,631
him.

725
00:30:14,823 --> 00:30:18,599
He knows that nothing can
change in the fact that I'm his dad.

726
00:30:18,727 --> 00:30:21,167
But there have been times
where I've gotten onto him and he's

727
00:30:21,191 --> 00:30:23,271
gotten in trouble and he's
gotten so mad that he goes, I'm not

728
00:30:23,303 --> 00:30:25,087
talking to you, I'm just
gonna, I'm gonna turn around and

729
00:30:25,111 --> 00:30:25,907
go somewhere.

730
00:30:26,071 --> 00:30:26,795
All right.

731
00:30:26,955 --> 00:30:30,715
There has been a break in our
fellowship, but there's not a break

732
00:30:30,755 --> 00:30:31,803
in our relationship.

733
00:30:31,859 --> 00:30:32,315
Right?

734
00:30:32,435 --> 00:30:35,155
And so in the relationship, I
am his dad, he is my son.

735
00:30:35,275 --> 00:30:38,483
But he has turned his back
because he's mad at me.

736
00:30:38,619 --> 00:30:40,611
And there needs to be that restoration.

737
00:30:40,763 --> 00:30:42,907
And so sometimes as
Christians, it's not that we lose

738
00:30:42,931 --> 00:30:45,667
our salvation, it's because we
are so upset with something that

739
00:30:45,691 --> 00:30:48,307
God is doing or we're so
focused on what we're doing that

740
00:30:48,331 --> 00:30:49,803
we have turned our backs
against him.

741
00:30:49,859 --> 00:30:51,603
He's waiting for that Repentance.

742
00:30:51,659 --> 00:30:52,995
He's waiting for that relationship.

743
00:30:53,035 --> 00:30:55,051
But we have turned and we need
to come back.

744
00:30:55,083 --> 00:30:57,515
And that's what biblical
revival really is.

745
00:30:57,675 --> 00:31:01,755
Biblical revival is not when
we go out and get a tent and a preacher

746
00:31:01,915 --> 00:31:03,451
yells really loud at us.

747
00:31:03,603 --> 00:31:05,243
That can happen at a revival.

748
00:31:05,339 --> 00:31:05,979
Okay, I'm not.

749
00:31:06,027 --> 00:31:07,851
I'm not opposed to getting
under a tent.

750
00:31:08,003 --> 00:31:09,315
I like tent meetings.

751
00:31:09,475 --> 00:31:11,419
I'm not opposed to a preacher
getting a little animated.

752
00:31:11,467 --> 00:31:12,027
Animated.

753
00:31:12,091 --> 00:31:13,819
I'm not opposed to doing extra music.

754
00:31:13,987 --> 00:31:16,267
But that in and of itself is
not the revival.

755
00:31:16,331 --> 00:31:18,275
The revival is what happens in
our heart.

756
00:31:18,395 --> 00:31:20,415
Revival starts with repentance.

757
00:31:20,825 --> 00:31:24,065
Revival starts with, I need to
change what I'm doing to get back

758
00:31:24,145 --> 00:31:27,177
to a refreshment and a renewal
in my love for God.

759
00:31:27,321 --> 00:31:28,769
That is revival.

760
00:31:28,937 --> 00:31:30,505
Revival is not more people.

761
00:31:30,665 --> 00:31:34,577
Now, more people can be a
result of revival, but revival is

762
00:31:34,601 --> 00:31:37,561
something that happens in the
heart of the individual, between

763
00:31:37,633 --> 00:31:39,849
God and the child of God.

764
00:31:39,977 --> 00:31:43,321
And so what we can see here in
Zephaniah is that God is pursuing

765
00:31:43,393 --> 00:31:47,493
them, but he's also warning
them of the dangers of rejection,

766
00:31:47,649 --> 00:31:49,825
rejecting the conviction.

767
00:31:50,205 --> 00:31:53,797
And so what we see in verses
14 through 16, and this will be the

768
00:31:53,821 --> 00:31:57,645
last thing we look at here
tonight, is the description of the

769
00:31:57,685 --> 00:31:59,757
intensity of the judgment.

770
00:31:59,941 --> 00:32:00,637
Verse 14.

771
00:32:00,701 --> 00:32:02,093
The great day of the Lord is near.

772
00:32:02,189 --> 00:32:04,077
It is near and hasteth greatly.

773
00:32:04,181 --> 00:32:07,725
Even the voice of the day of
the Lord, the mighty man, shall cry

774
00:32:07,885 --> 00:32:09,185
there bitterly.

775
00:32:09,565 --> 00:32:12,173
Man, I don't know if you just
caught that, but what does it say

776
00:32:12,189 --> 00:32:12,485
there?

777
00:32:12,565 --> 00:32:16,045
It says, in God's judgment,
even the voice, the day of the Lord,

778
00:32:16,085 --> 00:32:18,101
the mighty man, shall cry
there bitterly.

779
00:32:18,213 --> 00:32:22,597
Doesn't matter how strong that
we are, how powerful that we think

780
00:32:22,621 --> 00:32:28,477
we are, God will bring in his
judgment, wrath upon everyone, and

781
00:32:28,541 --> 00:32:30,025
everybody will feel that.

782
00:32:30,885 --> 00:32:33,301
And so what I can see here is
that it doesn't matter how much money

783
00:32:33,333 --> 00:32:37,277
you have, it doesn't matter
how much power you have, it doesn't

784
00:32:37,301 --> 00:32:38,669
matter how much position you have.

785
00:32:38,717 --> 00:32:41,877
Ultimately, God's judgment
will reach us in a place that we

786
00:32:41,901 --> 00:32:42,309
will feel.

787
00:32:42,357 --> 00:32:43,133
Verse 15.

788
00:32:43,269 --> 00:32:47,477
That day is a day of wrath, a
day of trouble and distress, a day

789
00:32:47,501 --> 00:32:52,109
of wasteness and desolation, a
day of darkness and gloominess, a

790
00:32:52,117 --> 00:32:55,021
day of clouds and thick
darkness, a day of the trumpet and

791
00:32:55,053 --> 00:32:57,825
alarm against the fenced
cities, against the high towers.

792
00:32:58,325 --> 00:33:02,213
And I will bring distress upon
men that they shall walk like blind

793
00:33:02,269 --> 00:33:04,665
men because they have sinned
against the Lord.

794
00:33:04,965 --> 00:33:05,949
It shows the reason.

795
00:33:05,997 --> 00:33:09,157
God's not arbitrarily just
doing this because he doesn't like

796
00:33:09,181 --> 00:33:09,549
these people.

797
00:33:09,597 --> 00:33:10,957
It's because of their sin.

798
00:33:11,101 --> 00:33:13,941
And their blood shall be
poured out as dust and their flesh

799
00:33:14,093 --> 00:33:15,005
as the dung.

800
00:33:15,085 --> 00:33:16,509
Neither there's in this man.

801
00:33:16,557 --> 00:33:17,945
Catch this in verse 18.

802
00:33:18,485 --> 00:33:21,077
Because there's the certainty
of judgment.

803
00:33:21,261 --> 00:33:22,661
And then he says, you know what?

804
00:33:22,733 --> 00:33:26,185
In judgment, there's nothing
that you can do.

805
00:33:26,485 --> 00:33:30,381
Neither their silver nor their
gold shall be able to deliver them

806
00:33:30,413 --> 00:33:31,725
in the day of the Lord's wrath.

807
00:33:31,845 --> 00:33:33,145
There will be people.

808
00:33:33,575 --> 00:33:38,655
There has been people
throughout history that have claimed,

809
00:33:38,695 --> 00:33:39,295
hey, you know what?

810
00:33:39,335 --> 00:33:40,303
I've got enough money.

811
00:33:40,359 --> 00:33:42,159
I can fight this, right?

812
00:33:42,247 --> 00:33:45,935
When I stand before God, or
if, you know, if God's judging me,

813
00:33:45,975 --> 00:33:47,111
I can say, you know, I have enough.

814
00:33:47,183 --> 00:33:48,367
I can buy my way out of this.

815
00:33:48,391 --> 00:33:50,435
You can't buy your way out of
God's judgment.

816
00:33:51,375 --> 00:33:53,319
You can't use your silver and gold.

817
00:33:53,367 --> 00:33:54,559
You can't use your power.

818
00:33:54,607 --> 00:33:57,815
You can't use your persuasion
to get away from the Lord's wrath.

819
00:33:57,855 --> 00:34:00,847
It says, but the whole land
shall be devoured by the fire of

820
00:34:00,871 --> 00:34:01,915
his jealousy.

821
00:34:02,355 --> 00:34:05,575
And I'm thankful that I serve
a jealous God.

822
00:34:06,315 --> 00:34:08,867
I know that sometimes people
see jealousy as a negative thing.

823
00:34:08,891 --> 00:34:09,819
But remember God.

824
00:34:09,907 --> 00:34:11,603
Remember his defining attribute.

825
00:34:11,739 --> 00:34:13,467
His defining attribute is his holiness.

826
00:34:13,531 --> 00:34:16,495
And so when God is jealous,
he's perfectly jealous.

827
00:34:17,035 --> 00:34:19,515
And what that means is that
God doesn't want us to go around

828
00:34:19,595 --> 00:34:21,075
and share our love with other people.

829
00:34:21,155 --> 00:34:21,731
It's the same thing.

830
00:34:21,763 --> 00:34:23,435
Like, I'm jealous for my wife.

831
00:34:23,475 --> 00:34:25,931
And the concept, like, okay, I
love my wife.

832
00:34:26,043 --> 00:34:27,805
I don't want to share her with
anybody else.

833
00:34:27,875 --> 00:34:28,321
Okay?

834
00:34:28,433 --> 00:34:29,337
There's nothing wrong with that.

835
00:34:29,361 --> 00:34:30,625
I think that's biblical, right?

836
00:34:30,705 --> 00:34:30,969
That.

837
00:34:31,017 --> 00:34:32,961
That's that healthy jealousy, right?

838
00:34:33,033 --> 00:34:33,697
It's not jealousy.

839
00:34:33,721 --> 00:34:35,281
Like, well, I'm jealous of
that person's getting good.

840
00:34:35,313 --> 00:34:37,057
And that's a selfish jealousy.

841
00:34:37,201 --> 00:34:40,377
And so God is jealous over his
children because he doesn't want

842
00:34:40,401 --> 00:34:43,537
his children going to Moloch
and going to these pagan gods.

843
00:34:43,601 --> 00:34:45,025
He doesn't want them to go to
the world.

844
00:34:45,065 --> 00:34:46,729
He doesn't want them to go in
their own power.

845
00:34:46,777 --> 00:34:49,817
He wants them to see him for
who he is and to experience that

846
00:34:49,841 --> 00:34:50,001
love.

847
00:34:50,033 --> 00:34:52,985
And so it says, they're
devoured by the fire of his jealousy.

848
00:34:53,025 --> 00:34:56,577
For he shall make even a
speedy riddance of all them that

849
00:34:56,601 --> 00:34:57,765
dwell in the land.

850
00:34:58,265 --> 00:35:02,161
And so this speaks to this
idea that no matter what we think

851
00:35:02,193 --> 00:35:06,657
we have in our own strength,
men might trust in silver and gold,

852
00:35:06,801 --> 00:35:10,513
but it will not do them any
good in the day of God's judgment.

853
00:35:10,649 --> 00:35:13,457
When we stand before God, we
cannot appeal to how much money we

854
00:35:13,481 --> 00:35:17,897
have, what positions we had
within the church, whatever it is,

855
00:35:18,001 --> 00:35:19,097
we cannot stand before Him.

856
00:35:19,121 --> 00:35:21,681
The only thing that can stand
on our account is the blood of Jesus

857
00:35:21,713 --> 00:35:22,285
Christ.

858
00:35:22,845 --> 00:35:24,825
That's the only thing that matters.

859
00:35:25,405 --> 00:35:27,869
Because you know that in
Matthew, chapter seven, what happens?

860
00:35:27,997 --> 00:35:29,181
You guys know the story.

861
00:35:29,293 --> 00:35:33,501
There are all these people
standing in front of Jesus, and these

862
00:35:33,533 --> 00:35:34,781
people are getting judged.

863
00:35:34,813 --> 00:35:38,341
And they're like, wait, I did
things for you.

864
00:35:38,373 --> 00:35:39,957
I cast out demons.

865
00:35:40,141 --> 00:35:41,981
I prophesied in your name.

866
00:35:42,093 --> 00:35:43,733
And he says, depart from me.

867
00:35:43,829 --> 00:35:44,109
Right?

868
00:35:44,157 --> 00:35:45,149
I didn't know you.

869
00:35:45,277 --> 00:35:46,589
You're a worker of iniquity.

870
00:35:46,717 --> 00:35:47,869
What was the difference?

871
00:35:47,917 --> 00:35:48,965
He didn't know them.

872
00:35:49,005 --> 00:35:49,925
There wasn't a.

873
00:35:50,045 --> 00:35:51,749
And it's not that God doesn't
know these people.

874
00:35:51,797 --> 00:35:54,011
He knows them intellectually
in his omniscience.

875
00:35:54,043 --> 00:35:55,895
He's saying, I don't know you personally.

876
00:35:56,315 --> 00:35:58,427
And so that's the only
distinction at the end of the day,

877
00:35:58,451 --> 00:36:00,099
it's the blood of Jesus Christ
on our account.

878
00:36:00,147 --> 00:36:03,611
That is what we can stand on
when it comes to our hope and our

879
00:36:03,643 --> 00:36:03,811
faith.

880
00:36:03,843 --> 00:36:07,051
And so I would encourage you
to think about that not just for

881
00:36:07,083 --> 00:36:10,011
your own life, but for the way
that we deal with other people around

882
00:36:10,043 --> 00:36:12,135
us, how we share our faith
with people.

883
00:36:12,675 --> 00:36:14,491
Does God want us to be holy people?

884
00:36:14,563 --> 00:36:15,171
Yes.

885
00:36:15,323 --> 00:36:16,819
But it's the heart of it.

886
00:36:16,947 --> 00:36:18,385
It's the heart of holiness.

887
00:36:18,555 --> 00:36:21,917
The heart of holiness is that
God has done this for me, and I'm

888
00:36:21,941 --> 00:36:26,865
responding in repentance and
in humility.

889
00:36:27,645 --> 00:36:29,973
And that's all of what chapter
two is about.

890
00:36:30,149 --> 00:36:31,997
We're going to get into our
study in chapter two.

891
00:36:32,021 --> 00:36:37,173
And it's the desire of God
that we seek him, that we seek after

892
00:36:37,229 --> 00:36:37,825
Him.

893
00:36:38,365 --> 00:36:41,709
And I would encourage you to
never lose your desire to seek after

894
00:36:41,757 --> 00:36:42,385
God.

895
00:36:43,285 --> 00:36:46,357
The moment we get into that
place of complacency is the moment

896
00:36:46,421 --> 00:36:48,995
that we fall into that
delusion that.

897
00:36:49,085 --> 00:36:51,435
Remember at the very beginning
that deceitfulness.

898
00:36:52,655 --> 00:36:54,275
And what I would tell you is this.

899
00:36:55,575 --> 00:36:56,271
We have to.

900
00:36:56,303 --> 00:36:59,199
And you'll hear this phrase
over and over again in my preaching

901
00:36:59,247 --> 00:37:03,431
because it's infiltrated my
own life and it's helped me understand

902
00:37:03,623 --> 00:37:05,247
why sometimes I go astray.

903
00:37:05,271 --> 00:37:08,943
And it's this, think
biblically about things sometimes.

904
00:37:08,999 --> 00:37:13,559
I know the theological truth,
but I don't think about it biblically.

905
00:37:13,607 --> 00:37:16,703
I take it from the perspective
of, I know the Bible says this, but

906
00:37:16,759 --> 00:37:18,309
this is different in my situation.

907
00:37:18,447 --> 00:37:20,377
I would encourage you to think
about everything through the lens

908
00:37:20,401 --> 00:37:21,325
of Scripture.

909
00:37:21,825 --> 00:37:23,825
And what does that mean for me today?

910
00:37:23,865 --> 00:37:25,673
What that means for me today
is this.

911
00:37:25,809 --> 00:37:29,809
As I come into a place in my
life where I might say, you know

912
00:37:29,817 --> 00:37:30,225
what?

913
00:37:30,345 --> 00:37:31,233
Trust my heart.

914
00:37:31,289 --> 00:37:31,553
Right?

915
00:37:31,609 --> 00:37:33,005
I'm gonna trust my heart.

916
00:37:33,425 --> 00:37:36,165
You Know, I'm gonna use a
silly analogy.

917
00:37:36,545 --> 00:37:41,505
It's this, like, maybe you're
watching a movie, and the main character

918
00:37:41,545 --> 00:37:44,795
at the end of the story says,
you know what I'm gonna do?

919
00:37:44,985 --> 00:37:47,375
I'm gonna go to my friend and
he's gonna give me this advice.

920
00:37:47,415 --> 00:37:50,035
And the friend goes up to him
and says, just trust your heart.

921
00:37:50,375 --> 00:37:52,503
Trust your heart and
everything will be fine.

922
00:37:52,639 --> 00:37:54,959
And at the end of the movie,
the person trusts their heart and

923
00:37:54,967 --> 00:37:56,839
they come out on top and
everything works out.

924
00:37:56,927 --> 00:37:59,087
And what we could be tempted
to do is think, well, if it worked

925
00:37:59,111 --> 00:38:03,815
for that person on Netflix or
whatever movie you're watching, then

926
00:38:03,855 --> 00:38:05,855
that must be able to work for me.

927
00:38:06,015 --> 00:38:08,687
And I know this is silly, but
you guys see how this worldly wisdom

928
00:38:08,791 --> 00:38:09,327
seeps in.

929
00:38:09,351 --> 00:38:12,217
And so we start thinking, I
know the Bible says this, but it

930
00:38:12,241 --> 00:38:12,921
worked for that.

931
00:38:12,953 --> 00:38:15,145
And so therefore, what I'm
going to do is I'm going to trust

932
00:38:15,185 --> 00:38:15,705
my heart.

933
00:38:15,785 --> 00:38:16,921
What does the Bible say about that?

934
00:38:16,953 --> 00:38:20,201
Well, thinking biblically, the
Bible says that our heart is wicked,

935
00:38:20,313 --> 00:38:25,377
it's deceitful, it's going to
lie to us because our heart wants

936
00:38:25,401 --> 00:38:26,201
what the heart wants.

937
00:38:26,233 --> 00:38:29,033
And that's the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, the

938
00:38:29,049 --> 00:38:29,925
pride of life.

939
00:38:30,705 --> 00:38:33,929
And so, just in that little
simple conversation, that simple

940
00:38:33,977 --> 00:38:36,921
analogy, we can see how
something from the world can infiltrate

941
00:38:36,953 --> 00:38:40,181
our minds and sound good, but
it's not, because it's not thinking

942
00:38:40,213 --> 00:38:40,589
biblically.

943
00:38:40,637 --> 00:38:42,077
So we go back to repentance.

944
00:38:42,181 --> 00:38:44,025
Let's think about repentance
and judgment.

945
00:38:44,565 --> 00:38:47,173
If I start telling myself,
well, everything's okay because I

946
00:38:47,189 --> 00:38:49,373
don't see the world on fire
right now, maybe some of you are

947
00:38:49,389 --> 00:38:50,717
like, I think the world is on fire.

948
00:38:50,821 --> 00:38:52,781
But maybe in your own life,
you might say, everything's going

949
00:38:52,813 --> 00:38:54,733
okay, I must be okay.

950
00:38:54,869 --> 00:38:59,053
The truth is, is that it's
sometimes when we least expect in

951
00:38:59,069 --> 00:39:02,101
our lives that we can fall
into the trap of complacency.

952
00:39:02,133 --> 00:39:05,161
Because I'm hoping that most
of you are not struggling with BAAL

953
00:39:05,193 --> 00:39:05,817
worship.

954
00:39:05,961 --> 00:39:08,121
If you are struggling with
BAAL worship, come talk to me after

955
00:39:08,153 --> 00:39:08,761
the service.

956
00:39:08,873 --> 00:39:12,425
We need to have an
intervention or Moloch.

957
00:39:12,465 --> 00:39:12,753
Okay?

958
00:39:12,809 --> 00:39:15,845
Either one of those might be
getting you in trouble here.

959
00:39:16,425 --> 00:39:17,565
But here's the thing.

960
00:39:18,385 --> 00:39:22,365
So a lot of times it's not
that, but sometimes it's.

961
00:39:22,905 --> 00:39:26,005
And sometimes it seeps in
very, very subtly.

962
00:39:26,745 --> 00:39:29,005
We start to make a little bit
of a compromise.

963
00:39:29,345 --> 00:39:31,057
We allow the worldly ways.

964
00:39:31,161 --> 00:39:33,017
We wear the foreign apparel.

965
00:39:33,121 --> 00:39:35,105
Now, I'm not talking about,
like, foreign apparel.

966
00:39:35,145 --> 00:39:36,921
Like, we have our
international meal and people dress

967
00:39:36,953 --> 00:39:37,097
up.

968
00:39:37,121 --> 00:39:37,777
I'M not talking about that.

969
00:39:37,801 --> 00:39:41,617
I'm talking about the apparel
of the world, right?

970
00:39:41,721 --> 00:39:44,889
And we try to look like the
world enough just to get into that

971
00:39:44,937 --> 00:39:46,449
system and just get enough of that.

972
00:39:46,537 --> 00:39:48,393
And the Bible says, hey, you
know what?

973
00:39:48,489 --> 00:39:49,705
Don't be the way of the world.

974
00:39:49,785 --> 00:39:51,297
And so that might be a
temptation for you.

975
00:39:51,321 --> 00:39:52,057
You might say, you know what?

976
00:39:52,081 --> 00:39:53,985
I've allowed the world's ways.

977
00:39:54,025 --> 00:39:55,721
I've worn the foreign apparel.

978
00:39:55,793 --> 00:39:59,337
I've allowed myself to get to
a place where I try to be a little

979
00:39:59,361 --> 00:40:01,873
bit like the world and a
little bit like what God tells me

980
00:40:01,889 --> 00:40:02,537
to be.

981
00:40:02,681 --> 00:40:05,193
But then it might be this, it
might be that you are that person.

982
00:40:05,249 --> 00:40:05,665
That's.

983
00:40:05,745 --> 00:40:08,689
Maybe you're not literally a
fish merchant or a silver merchant,

984
00:40:08,737 --> 00:40:14,161
but you've allowed your
possessions to grip you, to hold

985
00:40:14,193 --> 00:40:14,965
you in.

986
00:40:15,345 --> 00:40:17,393
You know, it's not wrong to
have something.

987
00:40:17,449 --> 00:40:19,593
It's wrong if that something
has you.

988
00:40:19,769 --> 00:40:22,033
And so I would encourage you
to think about that materialism in

989
00:40:22,049 --> 00:40:22,297
your life.

990
00:40:22,321 --> 00:40:24,165
Man, I struggle with that.

991
00:40:25,205 --> 00:40:26,357
I can be honest with you guys.

992
00:40:26,381 --> 00:40:27,341
I'm always honest with you guys.

993
00:40:27,373 --> 00:40:28,437
I try to be honest with you guys.

994
00:40:28,461 --> 00:40:32,005
And I try to be as transparent
as I can be as a pastor.

995
00:40:32,045 --> 00:40:34,933
Sometimes it's hard when I'm
driving through my neighbor and I

996
00:40:34,949 --> 00:40:36,221
see my neighbor gets this new car.

997
00:40:36,253 --> 00:40:37,741
It's like, I want that.

998
00:40:37,933 --> 00:40:39,165
Why can't I have that?

999
00:40:39,245 --> 00:40:41,701
Or I see a house come up on
the market and I go, I want that

1000
00:40:41,733 --> 00:40:42,309
bigger house.

1001
00:40:42,357 --> 00:40:43,677
I want that nicer thing.

1002
00:40:43,781 --> 00:40:46,061
And that materialism can seep
into my life.

1003
00:40:46,093 --> 00:40:48,909
And without me even knowing,
that's what my lifeblood is, that's

1004
00:40:48,917 --> 00:40:49,797
what I desire.

1005
00:40:49,901 --> 00:40:51,613
Well, if I could just have
this, I'll be happy.

1006
00:40:51,629 --> 00:40:54,667
I'm going to tell you every
single time in my life, when I have

1007
00:40:54,691 --> 00:40:57,163
obtained something that I
thought I want, it might have been

1008
00:40:57,179 --> 00:41:00,467
good for a moment and then it
fell off.

1009
00:41:00,571 --> 00:41:01,499
It's like, what?

1010
00:41:01,587 --> 00:41:02,243
I want more.

1011
00:41:02,299 --> 00:41:03,091
I want something different.

1012
00:41:03,123 --> 00:41:04,387
I want something better.

1013
00:41:04,571 --> 00:41:06,555
That's what that's talking
about there with those merchants.

1014
00:41:06,595 --> 00:41:09,683
They just wanted more and they
wanted more, and they just kept consuming

1015
00:41:09,779 --> 00:41:10,619
and desiring.

1016
00:41:10,667 --> 00:41:13,295
Folks die to the material desires.

1017
00:41:13,595 --> 00:41:15,067
Is it wrong to have material things?

1018
00:41:15,131 --> 00:41:15,619
No.

1019
00:41:15,747 --> 00:41:17,795
Jesus had, you know, clothes
and food.

1020
00:41:17,875 --> 00:41:18,811
He didn't have a house.

1021
00:41:18,843 --> 00:41:21,935
But we know at least at that
time, Jesus had to take in certain

1022
00:41:21,975 --> 00:41:22,223
things.

1023
00:41:22,279 --> 00:41:26,087
And there was, you know, they
had money, they had to buy food.

1024
00:41:26,191 --> 00:41:28,095
And so there wasn't anything
wrong with having something.

1025
00:41:28,135 --> 00:41:31,175
But it's that idea of desiring
materialism before anything else.

1026
00:41:31,255 --> 00:41:34,999
And then we see, I think, the
group of People that we all probably

1027
00:41:35,047 --> 00:41:38,431
fall into the most is that
complacent group, that group that

1028
00:41:38,463 --> 00:41:41,423
just isn't affected by God's word.

1029
00:41:41,479 --> 00:41:44,239
It isn't affected by God's teaching.

1030
00:41:44,327 --> 00:41:46,837
And we just say, you know,
it'll be okay, it'll be okay.

1031
00:41:46,991 --> 00:41:48,545
When is pastor gonna get done?

1032
00:41:48,665 --> 00:41:50,177
My football team's on at 1:00.

1033
00:41:50,201 --> 00:41:50,953
We gotta get out of here.

1034
00:41:50,969 --> 00:41:51,665
We gotta get food.

1035
00:41:51,705 --> 00:41:54,329
I mean, I've been there, I've
been sitting in a service and all

1036
00:41:54,337 --> 00:41:56,265
I could think about is what I
was gonna eat after the service.

1037
00:41:56,305 --> 00:41:57,865
I'm like, oh, where are we
going to eat today?

1038
00:41:57,985 --> 00:41:59,353
I can't wait for that now.

1039
00:41:59,409 --> 00:42:00,057
Not so much anymore.

1040
00:42:00,081 --> 00:42:02,193
I'm kind of distracted during
the preaching, but back when I was

1041
00:42:02,209 --> 00:42:04,645
in the pews, that's sometimes
what I would think about.

1042
00:42:05,385 --> 00:42:10,217
And the truth is that Satan
will not always use just out and

1043
00:42:10,241 --> 00:42:11,857
out evil things to distract us.

1044
00:42:11,881 --> 00:42:15,085
He'll just use things that we
like and he will distract us with

1045
00:42:15,145 --> 00:42:15,745
that.

1046
00:42:16,685 --> 00:42:19,405
Fathers, he'll distract you in
how you're raising your children.

1047
00:42:19,525 --> 00:42:22,293
Wives will distract you on how
you're raising your children.

1048
00:42:22,389 --> 00:42:24,365
It, it'll be all the way
across the board.

1049
00:42:24,405 --> 00:42:27,477
He's trying to get us to keep
our eyes off of the thing that matters.

1050
00:42:27,661 --> 00:42:29,925
Now we have an election coming
up, okay?

1051
00:42:30,005 --> 00:42:32,853
And everyone's waiting their
bated breath about what, you know,

1052
00:42:32,869 --> 00:42:33,885
we're going to say about this.

1053
00:42:33,965 --> 00:42:35,105
I'm going to say this.

1054
00:42:35,605 --> 00:42:36,797
I think you should get involved.

1055
00:42:36,861 --> 00:42:37,349
I.

1056
00:42:37,477 --> 00:42:38,917
This is my personal preference.

1057
00:42:39,061 --> 00:42:40,829
Vote how God is leading you to vote.

1058
00:42:40,877 --> 00:42:41,357
Be involved.

1059
00:42:41,421 --> 00:42:43,381
Don't just be a bystander, okay?

1060
00:42:43,413 --> 00:42:44,285
That's my opinion.

1061
00:42:44,405 --> 00:42:45,621
You could have a different opinion.

1062
00:42:45,693 --> 00:42:47,429
I'm not going to tell you who
to vote for, but I'm going to tell

1063
00:42:47,437 --> 00:42:49,485
you to vote for the way that
God leads you to vote and according

1064
00:42:49,525 --> 00:42:50,385
to his word.

1065
00:42:50,685 --> 00:42:53,465
But I will say this, I will
say this.

1066
00:42:54,445 --> 00:42:58,065
Politics can become a distraction.

1067
00:42:58,525 --> 00:43:00,957
I'm not saying that it is a
distraction in and of itself, but

1068
00:43:00,981 --> 00:43:02,165
it can be a distraction.

1069
00:43:02,245 --> 00:43:04,317
And so what we have to do is
we have to deal with it and think

1070
00:43:04,341 --> 00:43:04,637
about it.

1071
00:43:04,661 --> 00:43:06,285
What do we say biblically?

1072
00:43:06,445 --> 00:43:07,693
Think about it biblically.

1073
00:43:07,829 --> 00:43:11,957
Now I'm going to tell you, I'm
going to tell you for the most part,

1074
00:43:12,061 --> 00:43:13,069
I can tell you one thing.

1075
00:43:13,157 --> 00:43:18,181
There will be a lot of people
next week, or however long it takes,

1076
00:43:18,373 --> 00:43:20,625
there will be a lot of people
that are going to be upset.

1077
00:43:21,485 --> 00:43:24,997
That's one thing I can say
very clearly in our country that

1078
00:43:25,021 --> 00:43:26,757
I feel like I'm very confident
I'll be right there.

1079
00:43:26,781 --> 00:43:28,265
Will be a lot of people upset.

1080
00:43:28,925 --> 00:43:30,869
And the truth is, one way or
the other, people are going to be

1081
00:43:30,877 --> 00:43:31,213
upset.

1082
00:43:31,269 --> 00:43:33,585
And what I would tell you to
do is pray.

1083
00:43:34,375 --> 00:43:35,687
Pray for the Lord to work.

1084
00:43:35,791 --> 00:43:38,671
But what I will say is that
understand that our world is not

1085
00:43:38,703 --> 00:43:39,007
shaken.

1086
00:43:39,071 --> 00:43:43,703
If somebody is somewhere that
we don't agree with our King of kings

1087
00:43:43,759 --> 00:43:47,567
and our Lord of Lords is Jesus
Christ, there are people that we

1088
00:43:47,591 --> 00:43:48,135
can vote for.

1089
00:43:48,175 --> 00:43:49,527
There are people that we can trust.

1090
00:43:49,591 --> 00:43:51,047
There are people that we can
say, you know what?

1091
00:43:51,071 --> 00:43:52,855
I think that they're better
here or better there.

1092
00:43:52,935 --> 00:43:55,487
But what I will tell you is
that Jesus Christ is the one that

1093
00:43:55,511 --> 00:43:56,463
we look to.

1094
00:43:56,639 --> 00:43:59,457
And so, again, this is not a
message to say, you, you better go

1095
00:43:59,481 --> 00:44:00,761
do this, you better go do that.

1096
00:44:00,793 --> 00:44:04,045
But I will say, and I would
encourage you to be a part of this,

1097
00:44:04,585 --> 00:44:07,745
to speak the truth of the word
of God.

1098
00:44:07,905 --> 00:44:11,569
And so this is always going to
be my guide because this will never

1099
00:44:11,617 --> 00:44:12,445
fail me.

1100
00:44:12,905 --> 00:44:14,569
The people have failed me.

1101
00:44:14,737 --> 00:44:16,085
People have failed me.

1102
00:44:16,865 --> 00:44:18,481
My possessions have failed me.

1103
00:44:18,593 --> 00:44:18,913
Everything.

1104
00:44:18,969 --> 00:44:20,185
My health has failed me.

1105
00:44:20,265 --> 00:44:21,449
And so what do we do?

1106
00:44:21,497 --> 00:44:25,611
We point the truth to what has
never failed.

1107
00:44:25,643 --> 00:44:28,755
And the Bible says, the grass
will fail.

1108
00:44:28,795 --> 00:44:32,171
The grass will fade, the flesh
will fail, but the word of God will

1109
00:44:32,203 --> 00:44:32,955
stand forever.

1110
00:44:33,075 --> 00:44:35,683
And I will tell you that the
word of God is where we set everything

1111
00:44:35,739 --> 00:44:35,979
in.

1112
00:44:36,027 --> 00:44:37,923
So repentance.

1113
00:44:38,059 --> 00:44:38,731
What does that mean?

1114
00:44:38,763 --> 00:44:42,043
That means that when the Word
of God is spoken to me, I listen.

1115
00:44:42,219 --> 00:44:45,587
And so I would encourage you
to do that, not just this week, but

1116
00:44:45,611 --> 00:44:46,963
for the rest of your life.

1117
00:44:47,139 --> 00:44:50,695
And know that as God judges,
he also offers.

1118
00:44:51,545 --> 00:44:53,145
He offers forgiveness.

1119
00:44:53,265 --> 00:44:54,329
He offers grace.

1120
00:44:54,377 --> 00:44:56,665
But that only comes to those
that humble themselves in submission

1121
00:44:56,705 --> 00:44:57,329
to the Lord.

1122
00:44:57,417 --> 00:45:00,521
So we're going to look at next
week what it means to seek the Lord

1123
00:45:00,633 --> 00:45:02,965
in the midst of judgment.

1124
00:45:03,825 --> 00:45:06,385
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1125
00:45:06,425 --> 00:45:07,225
podcast.

1126
00:45:07,385 --> 00:45:09,925
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1127
00:45:10,305 --> 00:45:12,577
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1128
00:45:12,601 --> 00:45:14,645
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1129
00:45:14,773 --> 00:45:19,165
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1130
00:45:19,665 --> 00:45:24,089
You can also email me directly
at joshmusaroiddletownbaptistchurch

1131
00:45:24,137 --> 00:45:26,897
dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast.

1132
00:45:27,041 --> 00:45:31,645
Please subscribe and follow
along for future podcasts and updates.

1133
00:45:32,065 --> 00:45:33,137
Thank you so much.

1134
00:45:33,281 --> 00:45:34,113
God bless.

1135
00:45:34,249 --> 00:45:35,265
Have a wonderful day.