WEBVTT 00:00:02.559 --> 00:00:05.759 And scene. Okay. Having a conversation about 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:08.960 Zephaniah in the middle of the dairy aisle of 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:10.980 a supermarket is something I never thought I 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:13.160 would check off my list. But we did. And the 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:15.320 people walking by looking at it is very strange 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:18.000 as we're talking about it. That a lot of you 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.760 have said the same thing. Zephaniah just seems 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:24.440 angry. Like he's just really mad about something. 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:26.879 And unfortunately or fortunately, depending on 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:28.879 how you want to look at it, prophets usually 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:31.940 were. Because one of the things that prophets 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:34.560 were kind of dealt with in their job and their 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.759 roles is a burden to tell the people of Israel 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.920 just how bad they were. Now, there are some of 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:42.259 you that, if you're being honest with yourself, 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:45.880 kind of are going, I wish I had that job. I would 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:48.740 really like to just have the Lord ordain me to 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:51.439 go and tell people how bad they are. There are 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.000 some pastors who think that's their job. I will 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:55.280 never be one of them because I've got to first 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.359 look in the mirror and tell myself how bad I 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.939 am first. And it really loses its luster after 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:01.920 you beat yourself up to go and try to beat other 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:05.099 people's up. But Zephaniah had a job to do. That's 00:01:05.099 --> 00:01:08.150 the difference with prophets. That's what's different 00:01:08.150 --> 00:01:11.269 with people that are called by God to bring those 00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:13.989 things. Well, pastor, you said in your first 00:01:13.989 --> 00:01:16.049 and second sermon that we can be prophets of 00:01:16.049 --> 00:01:19.370 the Lord. Absolutely. But it isn't necessarily 00:01:19.370 --> 00:01:21.530 about judgment. It's more about reconciliation 00:01:21.530 --> 00:01:25.430 and restoration. It's our job. But Zephaniah 00:01:25.430 --> 00:01:28.170 is calling out some very specific things. And 00:01:28.170 --> 00:01:32.879 so now we turn to chapter 3. The title of the 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.719 sermon is Woe to Her. I brought it up first sermon. 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:39.319 I'll bring it now. The word woe, we can look 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:41.980 at that as a lot of different definitions of 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:45.099 the word woe. You have woe. I think I said this 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:47.540 first sermon. I go to Uncle Jesse in Full House. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:49.939 I don't know why, but that's just something I 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:53.200 do. I can see John Stamos saying that. If you 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:54.859 don't know who that is, feel free to look it 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:56.680 up today. It would be a waste of time, but go 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:59.200 ahead. But woe could also mean something really 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.640 big. Like, woe. Like what is going on or something 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:05.000 unexpected or something really awkward, we can 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.319 throw that word in there. The word woe today 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:14.460 is not a good word. The word woe is W -O -E. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:18.039 It's used as more of a pre -warning of the things 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:21.759 to come. Woe to that person that if they don't 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:24.780 whatever, then something's going to happen. Prophets 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:31.460 use this term a lot. Jeremiah, Isaiah. Zephaniah, 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:34.900 Malachi, Micah, all of them use this word woe 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:37.960 because it should kind of prick your ears up. 00:02:38.060 --> 00:02:40.139 It should be like, okay, I probably should listen. 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:42.800 It's kind of like when Jesus in the gospel says, 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:44.840 either in the beginning or the end of a teaching, 00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:47.719 those with eyes to see and ears to hear, he's 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:51.659 really saying, take this and go deeper. Woe to 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:55.319 her. Because the first thing that Zephaniah is 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:56.900 going to call out, and he's been building to 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:00.430 this, is the rebellion. of those people that 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:03.830 said that they love the Lord. That this is one 00:03:03.830 --> 00:03:06.909 of the really specific judgments of Zephaniah, 00:03:06.969 --> 00:03:10.610 and I title it today, When Rebellion Wears Its 00:03:10.610 --> 00:03:15.150 Sunday Best. Now, I could sit down with a lot 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:16.949 of you that have been in church longer, let's 00:03:16.949 --> 00:03:19.409 say 30 years, and one of the things that have 00:03:19.409 --> 00:03:22.150 changed drastically kind of in church cultures 00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:24.750 is, you know, pews to chairs. Again, we don't 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:26.710 need to bring it up, but that has been a big 00:03:26.710 --> 00:03:30.129 change, but also how people dress on Sunday mornings. 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:33.139 When we were going through the 150th anniversary 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:36.580 in 2020 and we were getting just globs and globs 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:38.580 of pictures and different memorabilia of Munster 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:41.599 Church over 150 years, it's a long time. This 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:45.740 August will be 155. It's just the difference 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:48.349 in attire. Now, I'm not here to spread any kind 00:03:48.349 --> 00:03:50.969 of judgment. You know, our kind of, what we kind 00:03:50.969 --> 00:03:53.030 of say here at Munster is just wear something, 00:03:53.210 --> 00:03:55.870 right? That's kind of the goal. It's a very low 00:03:55.870 --> 00:03:58.069 bar, but that's what we're saying. But back in 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:01.129 the day, I remember this growing up, it was shirts, 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:03.669 it was ties, it was dresses, it was all of those 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:05.949 things. Mine, more shirts and ties than the dresses. 00:04:06.110 --> 00:04:09.490 But understand that it was something different. 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:12.870 But Sunday best kind of carried this, kind of 00:04:12.870 --> 00:04:15.330 this moniker, if you will, of, you know, we almost 00:04:15.330 --> 00:04:17.139 use that to describe, how you could go to an 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:20.639 event, right? Oh, what is the dress for this 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.060 wedding? Oh, it's your Sunday best. That meant 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:26.120 something. That Sunday best usually meant some 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.680 kind of button -down shirt, knot, jeans, you 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:31.980 know, all of those things. And one of the things 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:36.500 that Zephaniah is calling out is just that. So 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:38.560 far, Zephaniah has taken us on a journey from 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:41.759 God's judgment to Judah, to a call to repentance, 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.199 to the sweeping judgment of all the nations, 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:47.029 what we did last week. And now in chapter 3, 00:04:47.089 --> 00:04:51.550 the focus shifts back to Jerusalem. So we've 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:54.550 done the initial kind of heart punch, gut punch. 00:04:54.750 --> 00:04:56.750 We've now gone to how this affects everybody 00:04:56.750 --> 00:04:59.870 else. Now it's back to us. Now it's back to the 00:04:59.870 --> 00:05:03.370 church. The city of God. This wasn't a flattering 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:07.209 judgment. The people who had received the covenant, 00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:11.829 the temple, the promises, they still stand condemned. 00:05:11.870 --> 00:05:16.810 Why? Zephaniah makes it very clear. Their rebellion 00:05:16.810 --> 00:05:22.949 hides behind a mask of religion. That for their 00:05:22.949 --> 00:05:27.149 dirty, dusty lives, they were masked by the tie 00:05:27.149 --> 00:05:32.009 of their tie. Their Sunday best. They draw near 00:05:32.009 --> 00:05:35.189 with words, but their hearts are far from the 00:05:35.189 --> 00:05:38.990 Lord. So as we explore this today, we see God's 00:05:38.990 --> 00:05:42.660 deep concern. Not just a fleeting concern, but 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:46.100 a deep part of his heart, not just for what we 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:50.019 believe outwardly, but also how we live. Hypocrisy 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:53.160 is not hidden from the eyes of God. And yet, 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:58.300 God's grace is not hidden from those who repent. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.220 We're going to dive into that today. A couple 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:03.199 things historically, just to kind of wrap through 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:07.509 this minor prophet. That Jerusalem had all the 00:06:07.509 --> 00:06:09.350 right spiritual structures, right? Jerusalem 00:06:09.350 --> 00:06:11.490 had the temple, the priesthood of believers, 00:06:11.629 --> 00:06:14.389 the line of Aaron, the Levites, the scriptures. 00:06:14.470 --> 00:06:16.709 They had the scrolls. They had all the things. 00:06:17.529 --> 00:06:21.810 But what Zephaniah is actually exposing is the 00:06:21.810 --> 00:06:27.050 eternal rot, the injustice, the pride, the disobedience, 00:06:27.149 --> 00:06:31.610 and the unteachable spirit. So I'm going to just 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:34.560 say right now, umbrella of grace. Because I think 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:36.420 Zephaniah is going to give both barrels to all 00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:39.839 of us today, myself included. Despite Josiah's 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:42.639 reforms that were starting, this prophecy shows 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:46.899 that the people had not turned back into sincerity. 00:06:47.699 --> 00:06:50.420 They've not turned back in sincerity. They were 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:53.959 not sincere with the God that they claimed they 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:58.930 loved. All right, so let's jump in. Verses 1 00:06:58.930 --> 00:07:02.250 through 5, woe to the oppressive city that Jerusalem, 00:07:02.610 --> 00:07:06.310 the city of God, was known as an oppressive city. 00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:10.589 Friends, that's gross. That is a gross understanding 00:07:10.589 --> 00:07:14.550 of how believers should live. That if we are 00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:17.430 living just to oppress others, I think we've 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:20.350 missed it. And even in the Old Testament, Zephaniah 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:24.470 is calling this out. Let's jump in. Verses 1 00:07:24.470 --> 00:07:28.899 through 5. Woe to her. who is rebellious and 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:32.699 defiled, the oppressing city. She listens to 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:35.519 no voice. She accepts no correction. She does 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:37.920 not trust in the Lord. She does not draw near 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:42.100 to her God. Her officials within are roaring 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:46.779 lions. Her judges are evening wolves that leave 00:07:46.779 --> 00:07:49.779 nothing till the morning. Her prophets are fickle, 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:53.379 treacherous men. Her priests profane what is 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:57.540 holy. They do violence to the law. The Lord within 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:00.819 her is righteous. He does no injustice. Every 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.620 morning he shows forth his justice. Each dawn 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:08.560 he does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.060 Up until that last slide, I would think you would 00:08:13.060 --> 00:08:15.019 be talking about a Gentile city. You would have 00:08:15.019 --> 00:08:17.779 been talking about Syria or Babylon. You wouldn't 00:08:17.779 --> 00:08:20.860 be talking about Jerusalem. But this is exactly 00:08:20.860 --> 00:08:24.079 what Zephaniah is doing. He is calling it out. 00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:27.300 I don't think he knew he only had one chapter 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:29.519 left because of the way we canonize the scriptures. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:35.500 But he does. Jerusalem is being called up for 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:40.639 being rebellious, defiled, and oppressive. Four 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.820 major changes have gone on. From the fruitful 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:46.720 city of light, city of God, good things are happening. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:49.259 Yahweh's name is being proclaimed. Things have 00:08:49.259 --> 00:08:53.120 changed. So let's break it down. She listens 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:58.360 to no one. She listens to no voice. What does 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:03.860 that mean? She's unteachable. She accepts no 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:08.139 correction. What does that mean? She is proud. 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:12.500 Not proud as how proud I was of my Jack. My Jack's 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:14.220 double yesterday in his game. Not that kind of 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:16.539 pride. A little bit of a flex. But he did. It 00:09:16.539 --> 00:09:19.179 was a great hit. This is pride in a bad way. 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:23.399 Because she accepts no correction. Meaning... 00:09:23.899 --> 00:09:26.919 You feel yourself high of high, top of top. No 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:29.539 one can correct you. That is a very, very evil 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:33.360 pride. She does not trust in the Lord. So she 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:37.000 is faithless. She does not draw near to her God. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:42.879 She is spiritually distant. Let me read those, 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:47.179 the four again. And again, as I kind of clench 00:09:47.179 --> 00:09:49.279 up in conviction, I understand if you are as 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:53.840 well, that we are unteachable. We're proud and 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:57.039 not in a good way. Faithless and spiritually 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:02.460 distant. Now I want to reverse it. Because in 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:05.059 20 years of pastoral ministry, it's the reverse 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:08.980 that I see as people tend to fall by the wayside 00:10:08.980 --> 00:10:12.000 in their faith. First, they feel they're spiritually 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:16.580 distant. Then all of a sudden, faith drops to 00:10:16.580 --> 00:10:20.480 the floor. They become proud in the fact that 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.289 they're in their rebellion. Because God has not 00:10:23.289 --> 00:10:25.909 smited them, God has not struck them down, thinking 00:10:25.909 --> 00:10:29.769 God's like Zeus. And so therefore they become 00:10:29.769 --> 00:10:33.370 unteachable. They become defensive. Whenever 00:10:33.370 --> 00:10:36.289 a word is brought to them, they dismiss it, or 00:10:36.289 --> 00:10:38.690 they try to then bring out their own double barrels 00:10:38.690 --> 00:10:43.129 and shoot back. None of that lines up with the 00:10:43.129 --> 00:10:46.269 Beatitudes that Jesus gives us in the Sermon 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:49.330 on the Mount. One of the things about our leaders, 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:53.590 her leaders are predatory. Friends, that is not 00:10:53.590 --> 00:10:57.509 a good thing. That means that they have leaders 00:10:57.509 --> 00:11:00.490 looking at people who are vulnerable and taking 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:04.629 advantage. Her prophets are reckless. Her priests 00:11:04.629 --> 00:11:12.090 profane the holy city. So if I'm an Israelite, 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:15.370 if I'm in Judah or Jerusalem, if I'm reading 00:11:15.370 --> 00:11:21.980 or hearing these words, I would go, oh no. Something 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:23.899 bad's about to happen because we've already heard 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:25.940 about some of that the day of the Lord in the 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:30.720 last couple things Zephaniah had said. Yet, God 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.419 is in her midst. God is in our midst. Doing no 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:37.639 wrong. God doesn't do wrong. We're the ones that 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:41.740 do wrong. Morning by morning, giving what? Justice. 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.080 Justice means when you do something wrong, there 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:49.820 are consequences. That is justice. Mercy is it's 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:53.879 not death. There's grace, there's forgiveness, 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.500 reconciliation. Sometimes the greatest danger 00:11:57.500 --> 00:12:00.080 in our lives or in the church is not from the 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.120 world, but from spiritual complacency within 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:08.299 God's people. Complacency. It's one of the worst 00:12:08.299 --> 00:12:10.440 things I think a believer can be called. You've 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.840 become complacent in your faith. How can people 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.340 call that out? You've become unteachable. You're 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:18.539 too proud. You're faithless. You're spiritually 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:23.320 distant. It kind of speaks for itself. We must 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:27.399 ask ourselves, are we teachable? Do we accept 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:30.919 correction from Scripture, from the Spirit, from 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:34.700 one another? Oh, I've seen this all too many 00:12:34.700 --> 00:12:37.700 times. When people come and they want to bring 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:42.080 this double -edged sword to slice open a fellow 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.879 sheep, to slice open a fellow brother or sister. 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:46.700 You want to know why this was a double -edged 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:50.279 sword? To fight the flaming arrows of Satan. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:55.240 Not necessarily each other, but it happens all 00:12:55.240 --> 00:13:00.960 day, every day, even in the church. Church leadership 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.059 must be examined in light of these verses. Are 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:07.019 our leaders servant -hearted or self -serving? 00:13:07.730 --> 00:13:09.909 That's been kind of a little bit of my road the 00:13:09.909 --> 00:13:12.470 last couple weeks as one of the leaders of our 00:13:12.470 --> 00:13:15.149 church looking at how we do what we do, why we 00:13:15.149 --> 00:13:17.710 do what we do, and not basing our leadership 00:13:17.710 --> 00:13:20.750 of Munster Church on assumption or the understanding 00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:23.450 of this is how we've always done it. That there 00:13:23.450 --> 00:13:27.509 are times to look into these things. More times 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.169 than not, it's after something happens that we 00:13:30.169 --> 00:13:34.409 have to kind of react to it and grow and learn 00:13:34.409 --> 00:13:37.679 from it. Oh, to be a church or an organization 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.960 that can be proactive in all things. It's one 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:44.080 of the things I love about a ministry of our 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.259 church that does not get a lot of play because 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:48.620 you don't want it to. And that's our safe church 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:51.559 policy. Our safe church team led by an amazing 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.899 group of people that are there for when something 00:13:54.899 --> 00:13:57.220 happens. It's something that the denomination 00:13:57.220 --> 00:14:00.559 instituted 20 years ago and now is requiring, 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.980 hopefully, every church by 2026. We're already 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:08.240 there. Little brag on the church. Our safe church 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.379 manual is actually used by the denomination to 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:14.299 give churches as they start their own. Whether 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:18.139 it's one person or a team. That you have a group 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:21.259 of people looking at how we make decisions. How 00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:24.000 we do what we do. Our council also being one 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.279 of those. That it's okay to examine church leadership. 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:32.549 And again, I had... I'm not that good in my scheduling. 00:14:32.590 --> 00:14:34.929 Just ask my wife and my family. The fact that 00:14:34.929 --> 00:14:37.149 we announce our nominees today, and this is the 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:39.710 text. Believe me, I did not put that together. 00:14:39.789 --> 00:14:43.529 I am not that good. But what happens when we 00:14:43.529 --> 00:14:45.730 ignore these warnings? What happens when we, 00:14:45.750 --> 00:14:47.870 in our pride, our faithlessness, our distance 00:14:47.870 --> 00:14:49.950 to God, go, yeah, great, that's for somebody 00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:52.429 else, not for me? Well, let's look at these two 00:14:52.429 --> 00:14:57.720 verses, 6 and 7. I have cut off nations. Their 00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:00.320 battlements are in ruins. I have laid waste their 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:02.940 streets so that no one walks in them. Their cities 00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:05.519 have been made desolate without a man, without 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.240 an inhabitant. I said, surely you will fear me. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.879 You will accept correction. Then your dwelling 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.620 would not be cut off according to all that I 00:15:14.620 --> 00:15:17.539 have appointed against you. But all the more, 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.820 they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt. 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:26.289 God's even saying, I'm going to do these things. 00:15:27.049 --> 00:15:30.309 Like a parent watching their kid in some level 00:15:30.309 --> 00:15:33.590 of disobedience going, if you touch that, you 00:15:33.590 --> 00:15:36.009 will be grounded. Right? Or if you liken that 00:15:36.009 --> 00:15:38.649 to, what is it, Nemo? Right? Finding Nemo? That 00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:41.909 it's, do not touch the butt. It was boat. But, 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:43.970 and what does he do? He stares right at dad and 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:48.470 just goes, what? Right? And then he gets kidnapped. 00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:51.470 Maybe that's the lesson, right? You disobey mom 00:15:51.470 --> 00:15:53.230 and dad, you're going to be kidnapped. I didn't 00:15:53.230 --> 00:15:55.350 say that out loud. That is not what happened, 00:15:55.570 --> 00:15:59.870 okay? Don't rewatch Nemo today. But understand, 00:15:59.970 --> 00:16:03.610 these are warnings given for a reason. God doesn't 00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:06.950 bluff, right? He's not trying to play some cosmic 00:16:06.950 --> 00:16:10.210 poker game. God had judged other nations as the 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:14.210 example, expecting Jerusalem to fear and accept 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:21.539 correction. I hear a lot of stories about what 00:16:21.539 --> 00:16:24.379 my dad was like, Jim. He died again when I was 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:27.659 two. I don't have any memories of him. And I 00:16:27.659 --> 00:16:28.799 always think about what that would have been 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:33.700 like to have a dad like that. Dan now, my mom's 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:36.879 husband, my stepdad, but I consider him my dad, 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:39.059 it never got to a point, because I was about 00:16:39.059 --> 00:16:41.000 to start high school when they got married, it 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:43.539 was never kind of coming in for him to kind of 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:46.299 take that mantle of male leadership, headship 00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:48.080 of the house. He didn't do that. He actually 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.100 came in and discipled Lynn and I, and that was 00:16:50.100 --> 00:16:53.159 a great thing. So it was really the fear of my 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:54.659 mother, where some of you might have had the 00:16:54.659 --> 00:16:57.139 fear of your father in life out of like a reverent 00:16:57.139 --> 00:16:59.580 fear, a respectful fear. Mine was my mother. 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:03.720 Right, that I have a respectful fear of my, pretty 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.019 much still to this day, right, that it's still 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:08.500 there. And I think it's good. Now, she's a lot 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:11.900 less scary now since I got taller than her. But 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:16.440 understand that that respectful fear is part 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:20.940 of that. And what God is trying to show his people 00:17:20.940 --> 00:17:25.019 is it's okay to fear him. It's not fear as in 00:17:25.019 --> 00:17:27.900 the boogeyman. It's fear as in you are really 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.900 big. And in the snap of your fingers, these kind 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:33.180 of things can happen. I need to be in reverent 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:38.680 awe of who you are as Heavenly Father. But isn't 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:41.859 it funny that when we become distant to our Heavenly 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:45.339 Father, when we become faithless, when we become 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:49.579 prideful, isn't that when God tries to get our 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:52.799 attention? And the goal is not to ever get Dad 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:55.690 that mad, right? Like, ratcheting it up. Asked 00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:58.349 my boys how long car rides go. Right? We saw 00:17:58.349 --> 00:18:00.269 it even a little bit yesterday. It was like, 00:18:00.309 --> 00:18:03.049 we didn't even get past Lansing, and I was done 00:18:03.049 --> 00:18:05.549 with the drive. And we still had a half an hour 00:18:05.549 --> 00:18:08.450 to go. And it's like, I got to come up with some 00:18:08.450 --> 00:18:10.630 kind of, like, physical signs, you know, of kind 00:18:10.630 --> 00:18:12.990 of how, like, a volcano erupts. I'm working on 00:18:12.990 --> 00:18:14.730 it. But understand, you may have had that, too, 00:18:14.769 --> 00:18:17.650 growing up. Where all of a sudden, Dad, all of 00:18:17.650 --> 00:18:20.730 a sudden, would be like, and you knew to flee. 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:23.799 Right? You knew that. I'm seeing some people 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:26.799 nod. I know. I'm clocking those households. But 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.839 understand that the Bible also says that God's 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:31.599 slow to anger. We've already talked about this. 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:35.420 This wasn't, okay, you become prideful. There 00:18:35.420 --> 00:18:38.859 you go. You're gone. That he builds up to this 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:43.240 what we call or should call grace. It's hard 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:47.000 to look at discipline as grace, but it is. When 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.000 God gives us examples through discipline or correction 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.740 or the story of others, do we learn from them? 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:57.380 That is the power of testimony. How good God's 00:18:57.380 --> 00:19:01.339 grace is, but how hard his discipline is as well. 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:05.099 Especially for us that have gone through it. 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:08.759 It's not enough to see God's justice around us. 00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:12.640 We must stop and we must respond to it with humility 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:17.599 and change. That God just doesn't do stuff to 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:20.819 do stuff. That God works all things out for the 00:19:20.819 --> 00:19:23.400 good of those that love him, that are called 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:26.960 to his purposes. Guess what? That's all of you. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:30.579 That's me. We are called to his purposes, and 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:35.299 he wants to get us there. So that word remnant, 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.319 oh, I love it. I love it when prophets use the 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:39.980 word remnant. This is, we see, kind of that grace 00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:42.180 and that remnant purified, starting in verse 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:49.089 8. And we'll go through verse 13. Therefore, 00:19:49.190 --> 00:19:52.730 wait for me, declares the Lord, for the day when 00:19:52.730 --> 00:19:56.109 I rise up to seize the prey, for my decision 00:19:56.109 --> 00:19:59.789 is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to 00:19:59.789 --> 00:20:02.990 pour out upon them indignation, all my burning 00:20:02.990 --> 00:20:05.809 anger, for in the fire of my jealousy, all the 00:20:05.809 --> 00:20:07.730 earth shall be consumed. Go back to that real 00:20:07.730 --> 00:20:14.000 quick. For in the fire of my jealousy, all the 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.980 earth shall be consumed. That should terrify 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:19.980 us and cause us to rejoice, but we'll get there. 00:20:20.099 --> 00:20:24.700 Okay, next slide. For at that time, I will change 00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:27.920 the speech of the people to a pure speech that 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.319 all of them may call upon the name of the Lord 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.200 and serve him with one accord. From beyond the 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:35.660 rivers of Cush, my worshipers, the daughters 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:38.880 of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.960 On that day you shall not be put to shame because 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:45.700 of the deeds by which you have rebelled against 00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:49.700 me. For then I will remove from your midst your 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:52.400 proudly exalted ones, and you shall no longer 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:57.319 be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:03.859 in your midst a people humble and lowly. They 00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:06.880 shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. Those 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.000 who are left in Israel, they shall do no injustice, 00:21:10.180 --> 00:21:14.819 speak no lies, or shall there be found in their 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:18.119 mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.440 and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.740 So not only is this a remnant, this is the remnant 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:28.740 of promise, of covenantal promise, of understanding 00:21:28.740 --> 00:21:32.440 what God desires. The Lord will gather the nations 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:35.579 for judgment. It will be fierce. It will be comprehensive. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:39.059 But it will be refining like a fire refines. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.339 I always say this. This is something that my 00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:45.400 staff and my council hear all the time. That 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:47.460 is iron sharpens iron. It's not always done through 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:50.000 hugs and kisses. Right? When we have a grievance 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:52.059 against one another, when there's active conflict 00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:55.480 between two people, it isn't all peacetime. It's 00:21:55.480 --> 00:21:57.559 not all happy. Sometimes you've got to get to 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:00.410 the nitty gritty. But through that, through the 00:22:00.410 --> 00:22:03.309 fire of conflict and resolution and restoration, 00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:08.490 we grow. We become refined. So that fire that 00:22:08.490 --> 00:22:10.769 God's talking about, so we saw what the people 00:22:10.769 --> 00:22:13.609 were doing, why the fire came, now the fire does 00:22:13.609 --> 00:22:16.589 something else. But from this fire, a people 00:22:16.589 --> 00:22:19.910 shall emerge, and I love this, of pure speech. 00:22:21.250 --> 00:22:25.119 This is a reversal of the Tower of Babel. serving 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.420 with one accord, that they would be united in 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:32.359 their worship, that we would be humble and meek, 00:22:32.460 --> 00:22:36.960 the true remnant of a believer, that we'd be 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:42.039 living in justice and speaking truth, that we 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:44.880 would hold to a moral integrity of loving one 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:51.559 another through wrongs and through rights. So 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:53.920 this fire shows us a couple things as we round 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.200 third today. Our speech matters. Do our words 00:22:58.200 --> 00:23:02.700 reflect purity, peace, and praise? Or do they 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:05.579 reflect our own desire for a pound of flesh? 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.880 I was wrong, so I'm going to get mine. The church 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:14.259 is meant to serve God in one accord. How do you 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:17.599 do that? With unity. Something that is cultivated 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:21.539 and hopefully protected. Friends, we're going 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:24.299 to disagree about things. That's all. It's part 00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:27.619 of being human. But how we disagree actually 00:23:27.619 --> 00:23:32.819 shows who we worship and what we believe in. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.400 If it's of ourselves, then it will be about our 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:38.859 own name, making sure we're good. But if it's 00:23:38.859 --> 00:23:41.299 about Christ, it's about lifting his name through 00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:45.980 the process of reconciliation. Humility and honesty 00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:49.700 are traits of the faithful remnants. That is 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:52.180 something we want to be. How are these evident 00:23:52.180 --> 00:24:00.099 in our life together? Humility and honesty. If 00:24:00.099 --> 00:24:02.440 we're just going to be a church that tells each 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:04.519 other what we want to hear, lies to one another, 00:24:04.619 --> 00:24:07.339 doesn't really get to that truth, we probably 00:24:07.339 --> 00:24:08.799 should just hang it up because we're not doing 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.019 much. And we're actually tarnishing the name 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:15.029 of Jesus. Because we believe some things. Our 00:24:15.029 --> 00:24:18.410 confessions help us and raise up for us the importance 00:24:18.410 --> 00:24:20.890 of these things. Heidelberg Catechism, question 00:24:20.890 --> 00:24:25.490 and answer 122. Hallowed be your name. We are 00:24:25.490 --> 00:24:28.569 called to live holy lives and reflect the name 00:24:28.569 --> 00:24:33.390 we bear. Oh, this is going to hurt. I'm looking 00:24:33.390 --> 00:24:36.589 at myself first. That if I'm unwilling to forgive, 00:24:36.990 --> 00:24:40.170 then I probably shouldn't put Christian on my 00:24:40.170 --> 00:24:44.730 name. That doesn't come from me. That comes from 00:24:44.730 --> 00:24:49.710 Jesus himself. That if he says, if you are unwilling 00:24:49.710 --> 00:24:55.160 to forgive, then you don't know me. The Belgian 00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:58.119 Confession, Article 29, marks that the true church 00:24:58.119 --> 00:25:00.819 include the practice of church discipline and 00:25:00.819 --> 00:25:03.839 a sincere pursuit of holiness. Now, don't get 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:07.180 me wrong. There are churches that they love discipline, 00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:11.259 like a masochist. Like they love to just discipline 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:13.519 people. That discipline, I talked to some of 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:15.420 these pastors, and it's kind of like, ooh, we 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:22.539 got a discipline case this week. What? I want 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:24.579 to stop meeting with them. I want to call the 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:26.720 lunch right then and there because I don't understand 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:31.500 that joy of discipline. But if done the right 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:35.440 way, discipline can be a pursuit of holiness, 00:25:35.799 --> 00:25:40.480 not a pursuit of condemnation. Now, I've never 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.039 heard this from a pastor, and I hope I never 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.920 will, like, oh, I hope we get to excommunicate 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.329 them. But when we desire that pound of flesh, 00:25:51.589 --> 00:25:55.470 we've already excommunicated people in our mind. 00:25:56.509 --> 00:26:00.470 When we've shot that arrow multiple times instead 00:26:00.470 --> 00:26:04.869 of looking inward first, we've already excommunicated 00:26:04.869 --> 00:26:06.829 those people in our mind and our hearts. And 00:26:06.829 --> 00:26:09.930 what Jesus says is therein lies the sin as well. 00:26:11.069 --> 00:26:14.549 The promise of remnants with pure speech of one 00:26:14.549 --> 00:26:18.039 accord looks forward to Labor Day weekend. When 00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:21.339 we get into the book of Acts. That the Holy Spirit 00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:24.700 brings this about. That the remnant, that word 00:26:24.700 --> 00:26:27.259 again, I know, is an understanding that the Holy 00:26:27.259 --> 00:26:33.240 Spirit is going to come and dwell with us. Think 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:36.000 about that for a minute. And I'm landing the 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.720 plane. Think about the Holy Spirit for a minute. 00:26:38.900 --> 00:26:42.039 That a third of the Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit, 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:49.480 resides in you. resides in the church. So why 00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:53.059 wouldn't we want to live this way? If the Holy 00:26:53.059 --> 00:26:56.299 Spirit resides in us, and the Holy Spirit is 00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:58.640 the one that brings about forgiveness, reconciliation, 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:02.859 restoration, doesn't care about our Sunday best, 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:06.279 but wants our heart, is advocating for our heart, 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:11.450 then I think we should live that way. The Spirit 00:27:11.450 --> 00:27:14.130 reverses Babel and unites worshipers from all 00:27:14.130 --> 00:27:18.410 nations, and the church begins. Ever thought 00:27:18.410 --> 00:27:21.670 about that? Without Pentecost, we wouldn't be 00:27:21.670 --> 00:27:25.710 here. Munster Church would not be here for almost 00:27:25.710 --> 00:27:29.490 155 years. That without Pentecost, the church 00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:35.390 does not start. And part of the Holy Spirit's 00:27:35.390 --> 00:27:39.720 job is to remind us that Christ is the one. who 00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:42.660 purifies our lips and our hearts. He is the true 00:27:42.660 --> 00:27:48.500 prophet, priest, and king. And unfortunately, 00:27:48.619 --> 00:27:51.319 what Zephaniah is saying is, Jerusalem, you forgot 00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:54.900 about that. You have failed in keeping that. 00:27:56.259 --> 00:27:58.759 So friends, look inward this week. Again, it 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:00.660 feels like a prep Sunday, but it's not. That's 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:05.039 next week. It's that understanding of our own 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:09.079 humility, our own truth. And this is going to 00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:14.380 hurt. Our own trust. As a shepherd, it's hard 00:28:14.380 --> 00:28:18.240 to see when trust becomes very limited with a 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:20.160 group of people or with individuals or whatever. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:23.579 That when we can't trust people in the church, 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:28.359 the church suffers. But trust, if I asked each 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:30.039 and every one of you, is a very hard thing to 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:32.359 get in your life. For some of you, when that 00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:34.880 trust is broken, there's not a snowball chance 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.200 in whatever that it's ever going to be repaired. 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:42.880 Friend, then you don't fully get this. I'm not 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:44.539 saying that that person that hurt you needs to 00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:48.240 be on your Christmas card list. But there needs 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:51.900 to be grace and forgiveness. Why? Because if 00:28:51.900 --> 00:28:57.079 not, the cross didn't mean anything. And trust 00:28:57.079 --> 00:29:02.039 is hard. Isn't it funny that Proverbs 3 instructs 00:29:02.039 --> 00:29:04.519 us to trust the Lord with all of our hearts, 00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:08.500 to lean not on our own understanding, But acknowledge 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:11.140 him in everything, and he will direct our paths. 00:29:11.380 --> 00:29:13.440 It's a pretty cool promise. A little four -part 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:17.140 sermon. Read that today. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. 00:29:17.460 --> 00:29:21.619 It starts with trust. So next week, as Zephaniah 00:29:21.619 --> 00:29:24.099 brings this plane to a close, he's going to bring 00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:27.380 us to some of that grace. He's beaten us up enough. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:31.539 But what was he saying then and now? Well, then 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:34.980 Jerusalem had the trappings of religion, but 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:38.079 not in their heart. Her leaders were corrupt. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:41.039 Her people were unteachable. God promised to 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.920 purify a remnant from among them. So what is 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:48.140 he saying now? It's easy to wear the label of 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:50.640 Christian while resisting the voice of Christ. 00:29:51.059 --> 00:29:54.319 The church must not settle for appearance, but 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:58.420 seek sincere holiness, humility, and gospel truth. 00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:03.619 God's justice refines, but his mercy restores. 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:04.759 Let's pray.