Seeking the Lord: The Key to Faith and Redemption
This podcast episode focuses on the themes of judgment, repentance, and the hope of restoration as presented in the Book of Zephaniah. Pastor Josh Massaro emphasizes that the people of Judah and Jerusalem have turned away from God, rejecting His voice and correction, which leads to their impending judgment. He highlights the serious consequences of their pride and lack of relationship with God, illustrating how this disconnect results in a failure to trust and obey Him. Despite the bleak outlook, Pastor Josh reassures listeners that God's grace and the promise of restoration remain available, calling for individuals to seek a deeper relationship with the Lord. As the discussion unfolds, he encourages a personal and intimate approach to faith that fosters genuine trust and obedience, reminding us that true salvation and transformation are possible through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
The Wednesday Evening Service at Middletown Baptist Church on November 20, 2024, features an insightful sermon from Pastor Josh Massaro, focusing on the poignant messages found in the book of Zephaniah. The episode begins with a welcoming tone, where Pastor Josh expresses his gratitude to the audience for joining in this exploration of scripture. He shares the importance of understanding God's justice, mercy, and long-suffering, particularly as it relates to the nation of Israel's history of rebellion against Him. Through the lens of Zephaniah, Pastor Josh illustrates how God remains patient and offers hope for restoration, even to those who have turned away.
Throughout the sermon, Pastor Josh delves deeply into Zephaniah chapter three, elucidating the prophet’s condemnation of Jerusalem for its moral and spiritual failings. He emphasizes the city’s hypocrisy, where those who claimed to worship God lived in blatant disobedience. Pastor Josh paints a vivid picture of the consequences of ignoring God's voice and rejecting His correction, drawing attention to the need for humility and repentance. He challenges congregants to reflect on their own lives and the health of their relationship with God, urging them to draw near to Him and cultivate a genuine faith that leads to obedience.
In the latter part of the sermon, Pastor Josh brings forth the hopeful message of salvation available through faith in Jesus Christ. He reassures listeners that despite the heavy themes of judgment and rebellion, God's grace is always extended to those who seek Him. This message of hope is not just about personal redemption but also about the call to evangelism, encouraging the church to actively share the gospel with those who may feel lost or unworthy. The episode encapsulates a profound journey through scripture, leaving the audience with a renewed sense of purpose and the motivation to seek a closer relationship with God and to spread His message of grace.
Takeaways:
- God's long suffering and mercy allow for redemption even for those who rebel.
- The importance of seeking a personal relationship with God to trust and obey Him.
- Judgment is a serious aspect of God's character, but grace offers hope for salvation.
- A lack of shame indicates a seared conscience, distancing people from God.
- God desires genuine obedience stemming from a loving relationship, not mere compliance.
- The call to action for believers is to actively share the gospel with others.
Thank you for joining our podcast. Visit our website at https://middletownbaptistchurch.org/
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This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
00:00 - None
00:23 - Beginning Our Study in Zephaniah
10:20 - The Call to Draw Near to God
17:08 - The Justice of God Amidst Rebellion
29:26 - The Nature of God's Judgment and Grace
35:55 - Hope in Jesus Christ
Pastor Josh
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Pastor Josh
My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Pastor Josh
Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Pastor Josh
All right, we're going to go ahead and continue our Bible study in the book of Zephaniah.
Pastor Josh
And I've really enjoyed this as I've been studying through this book.
Pastor Josh
It's a short book, but I think there's a lot to learn when it comes to God's justice and his forgiveness and his mercy.
Pastor Josh
And one of the attributes of God that I'm very thankful for is his long suffering.
Pastor Josh
He's a long suffering, merciful God who is willing to be patient with us.
Pastor Josh
And so I'm thankful for his patience in my life, and I'm thankful that he hasn't given up on me yet, and he hasn't given up on the nation of Israel.
Pastor Josh
And we know that even though he's addressing their sin here in this passage of Scripture, and we're going to see at the end of this book that there is a plan for restoration, actually a promise for restoration.
Pastor Josh
And that's a beautiful thing that God would still allow these people who have been rebellious, these people who have rejected him, to still have that hope of salvation.
Pastor Josh
And that's what it is to us today.
Pastor Josh
I mean, think about throughout history, how many people have rejected the Lord, but yet he still offers mankind that gift of grace.
Pastor Josh
And, you know, a lot of people will ask the question, how long?
Pastor Josh
How long is God going to extend this grace?
Pastor Josh
Well, we don't know, but we want to continue to utilize that time.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says in the New Testament, redeeming the time because the days are evil.
Pastor Josh
And so we don't know how long we have to present the gospel message to people around us.
Pastor Josh
But nonetheless, we have been given this time for an opportunity to do that.
Pastor Josh
So, Zephaniah, chapter three, if you have your Bibles, turn there with me.
Pastor Josh
Zephaniah, chapter three.
Pastor Josh
We're going to get through as much as we can here this evening.
Pastor Josh
Last week, if you remember, if you were here, if you weren't here, I'll try to catch you up with this.
Pastor Josh
Last week we looked at God's judgment to the nations outside of Israel, right?
Pastor Josh
So we know that at this point in time, Israel is split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom, which has already been judged by God because of their rebellion.
Pastor Josh
And then you have the southern kingdom, the kingdom of Judah, which at this point in time had not been completely judged by God through the oppression of outsiders.
Pastor Josh
But he's promising that judgment if they continue on in that path.
Pastor Josh
But then we see that God says, hey, nobody's getting away with this.
Pastor Josh
Nobody is going to get away with rebellion.
Pastor Josh
And so he started to list all these different nations geographically around Israel.
Pastor Josh
And he mentioned, okay, because of this, they're going to be judged.
Pastor Josh
Because of their rebellion, they're going to be judged.
Pastor Josh
And ultimately it was the fact that none of them turned to the Lord.
Pastor Josh
They were in their pride.
Pastor Josh
And we saw that the defining elements of these individuals that God was going to judge was that they were stuck in their pride.
Pastor Josh
And in their pride, they were not willing to humble themselves and come to God for His mercy and his grace.
Pastor Josh
And the Bible says that we must have meekness, humility to understand God's grace.
Pastor Josh
We cannot come to him in our pride, and we cannot come to him in our selfishness and say, lord, okay, I've got it under control, but now just bless me.
Pastor Josh
That's not the way that it works.
Pastor Josh
And we even saw that he listed out this city called Nineveh, which Nineveh was the capital city of the place at the time.
Pastor Josh
And he says, hey, you guys think that you have it all under control.
Pastor Josh
You think that you have all the riches, you think you have all of the power, but God is going to lower you down to a level of complete desolation.
Pastor Josh
And so he says, okay, Judah, Jerusalem, there's going to be judgment.
Pastor Josh
But don't think it's just you, it's everybody.
Pastor Josh
And now he comes back and puts his focus on Judah, specifically the capital city of Judah, which would be Jerusalem.
Pastor Josh
And so what we're going to see here is that he describes Jerusalem here in the first few verses.
Pastor Josh
And it sounds like he's describing Nineveh, but really he's describing the city that claims to be the capital of God's people.
Pastor Josh
And so he says here in verse one, woe to her that is filthy and polluted to the oppressing city.
Pastor Josh
And so when he says her, he's personifying the city of Jerusalem as a lady.
Pastor Josh
And he says she, this city of Jerusalem is wicked.
Pastor Josh
They are oppressing.
Pastor Josh
They are filthy and polluted.
Pastor Josh
And so from the way Zephaniah mentioned all these cities before, we would think that he's talking about Nineveh or the Philistines.
Pastor Josh
No, he's talking about Jerusalem and he's talking about that because we see the people that he lists here.
Pastor Josh
And he's going to list the prophets, he's going to list the priest, he's going to list the sanctuary, he's going to list the law, and he's going to say, hey, these are all the things that I have against you right now.
Pastor Josh
And so he's talking to his people that claim to be those that worship him.
Pastor Josh
Now, remember back in Zephaniah, Chapter 1, one of the things that God said that he would judge would be people that would say one thing and then do another.
Pastor Josh
Hypocrites.
Pastor Josh
They say that they love God, but yet their actions don't follow that.
Pastor Josh
They say they worship God, but their actions don't follow that.
Pastor Josh
So he says, I have a big problem with that.
Pastor Josh
People that say one thing and do another.
Pastor Josh
So now he's going to tell them what they really are.
Pastor Josh
He says, she obeyed not the voice, she received not correction.
Pastor Josh
So whose voice?
Pastor Josh
God's voice.
Pastor Josh
So?
Pastor Josh
So they've closed their ears, they've stopped listening, and they've stopped obeying God.
Pastor Josh
And what he has called them to do.
Pastor Josh
It says, she received not correction.
Pastor Josh
So they're rejecting the correction of God, which is a dangerous place to be.
Pastor Josh
It's one thing to live in ignorance, it's another thing to hear what God has said and then reject him in that.
Pastor Josh
That's a scorner.
Pastor Josh
The Bible talks about that in the Book of Psalms, chapter one, right?
Pastor Josh
Don't sit in the seat of the scorner.
Pastor Josh
The scorner is someone who knows the truth of God, but yet rejects that, that hates the truth of God.
Pastor Josh
So he says, they don't obey God's voice, they don't receive correction.
Pastor Josh
She trusted not in the Lord.
Pastor Josh
They lacked faith, so they lack obedience, they lack correction, they lack the change or what we would say on Sunday morning.
Pastor Josh
They lack the repentance to follow in that correction.
Pastor Josh
And then they lack faith.
Pastor Josh
She trusted not in the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And then what we see here is really the biggest offense, the most serious offense.
Pastor Josh
And it's there at the end of verse two.
Pastor Josh
She drew not near to her God.
Pastor Josh
And so he repeats here four times where he says, they did not do this, they did not do this.
Pastor Josh
They did not do this, they did not do this right four times.
Pastor Josh
And so in repeating these four phrases, the prophet here, Zephaniah, tells Jerusalem the city the root of their problem.
Pastor Josh
They didn't obey his voice, they did not receive correction.
Pastor Josh
They did not trust the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And the worst offense of all was saved for last.
Pastor Josh
God wanted a relationship with them.
Pastor Josh
God has, from the very beginning, desired to have a relationship with people.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't want to force people.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't want robots following him.
Pastor Josh
He wants people to choose him in love.
Pastor Josh
And so what we see here is this.
Pastor Josh
He goes, hey, you don't seek after me.
Pastor Josh
You don't long for that relationship that I want with you.
Pastor Josh
And so they rejected his desire and went their own way.
Pastor Josh
And he says, that's your deepest issue, right?
Pastor Josh
The obedience stems from that relationship.
Pastor Josh
You listening to correction stems from that relationship.
Pastor Josh
You know, your trust stems from that relationship.
Pastor Josh
So.
Pastor Josh
So you're not going to be able to listen to the Lord and obey him and follow his correction and trust him if you have no relationship with him.
Pastor Josh
Because we trust what we believe in.
Pastor Josh
We trust what we love.
Pastor Josh
And so what he's saying here is that there's a lack of love, there's a lack of a connection, there's no intimacy.
Pastor Josh
And he says, that's the core issue.
Pastor Josh
And so the reason why you're so far away, the reason why you're so far into your sin, the reason why there's this judgment, the reason why this rebellion is taking root in this city is because there is no relationship with God anymore.
Pastor Josh
And so correction, it came, but the city did not receive it.
Pastor Josh
The people did not receive it.
Pastor Josh
Instead, it was something that they would say is, well, these are just tough circumstances or, you know, things are coming against us.
Pastor Josh
These other.
Pastor Josh
They're blaming other people, right?
Pastor Josh
They're blaming other things.
Pastor Josh
And so God never gave them a reason to stop trusting.
Pastor Josh
He never proved himself unfaithful, and he doesn't prove himself unfaithful to us.
Pastor Josh
Over and over again, we can see God's faithfulness, yet still there are people that are going to reject him.
Pastor Josh
And now they're openly denying him and contradicting his word and his promises.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, they're coming to a place in their life where they lack faith.
Pastor Josh
And that all goes back to that relationship.
Pastor Josh
So for us, what does that look like today?
Pastor Josh
That looks like this.
Pastor Josh
You know, if we are not seeking after God in a personal way, in an intimate way, in a loving way, we are going to fall into the same trap of not trusting the Lord.
Pastor Josh
We're going to lack faith.
Pastor Josh
We're not going to receive his counsel.
Pastor Josh
We're not going to get to a place in our life where we're hearing him and obeying Him.
Pastor Josh
Because I think that a lot of times in our life we flip that we say, well, you know, I need to just really work hard in obeying Him.
Pastor Josh
Well, that is true.
Pastor Josh
But we're never going to desire to obey him unless we understand him and trust him and understand where he's coming from and understand his love for us.
Pastor Josh
And so he says, draw near to me.
Pastor Josh
If you go back to the very beginning, one of the issues that he had with them was that they were not drawing after him.
Pastor Josh
They were not seeking after him.
Pastor Josh
Zephaniah, Chapter two, verse three.
Pastor Josh
Remember what he said?
Pastor Josh
He said, seek ye the Lord.
Pastor Josh
I think that could be the theme for Zephaniah's preaching, right?
Pastor Josh
There's going to be judgment.
Pastor Josh
There's chance for you to have redemption.
Pastor Josh
There's a chance for you to have forgiveness.
Pastor Josh
But what do you need to do?
Pastor Josh
Seek ye the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And so, if I could tell anybody today, you know, hey, what's the best advice to have a restored relationship with God?
Pastor Josh
What's the best advice?
Pastor Josh
And coming to a place of revival.
Pastor Josh
What's the best advice?
Pastor Josh
To come to a place in our life where we have that renewed strength in God.
Pastor Josh
It's seeking the Lord.
Pastor Josh
It's seeking His Word.
Pastor Josh
It's seeking that private time with him, that alone time with Him.
Pastor Josh
It's seeking a true, substantial prayer life.
Pastor Josh
It's getting into the Word and digging deeper into the Word.
Pastor Josh
Folks, I know that there have been times in my life where I have just read my Bible to check a box.
Pastor Josh
Well, I better read my chapter today.
Pastor Josh
I better read my devotional today because I don't want God to get upset with me.
Pastor Josh
But yet there's no personal nature to that.
Pastor Josh
There's no intimacy, there's no love there.
Pastor Josh
It's just, well, I gotta check my box.
Pastor Josh
And God never wants that.
Pastor Josh
God wants that personal time in which we dig deeper into His Word.
Pastor Josh
We mind the depths of Scripture.
Pastor Josh
And so that's what he's calling them out on.
Pastor Josh
He says, hey, you're not drawing near to me.
Pastor Josh
Now we know what the promise is in James, chapter 4, verse 8.
Pastor Josh
Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.
Pastor Josh
That is what God has always wanted, for us to grow closer to him so that we can understand his presence in our life, so that we can understand his goodness and his love and how caring he is and how long suffering he is.
Pastor Josh
And so to get to a place of restoration, to get to a place of revival, to get to a place of substantial change in our life, it has to be that we are seeking after Him.
Pastor Josh
And if we're seeking after him, we seek after his word.
Pastor Josh
And so there's that whole challenge there in those first four verses, he says her prophets are light.
Pastor Josh
Now I was like, what is he talking about there when he says her prophets are light?
Pastor Josh
Well, basically, it's a term for being fickle.
Pastor Josh
It's a term for being wishy washy.
Pastor Josh
Like, they're here one day, they're here the next day.
Pastor Josh
They're feeling this about God today, but now tomorrow they're feeling this about God.
Pastor Josh
And so it's characterizing people that are not staying steadfast in trusting in Him.
Pastor Josh
They're kind of being blown about by the waves of the ocean.
Pastor Josh
Their whims are being the fuel for their faith.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here is that God doesn't want us to be wishy washy.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't want us to be fickle.
Pastor Josh
He wants us to be steadfast in our faith in Him.
Pastor Josh
And so he says her prophets are light.
Pastor Josh
And mind you, the prophets are the ones that are supposed to be the mouthpiece of God.
Pastor Josh
The prophets are the one that are supposed to be preaching the truth to these people.
Pastor Josh
But yet what we see is they've compromised because of whatever reason.
Pastor Josh
And so it says here, her prophets are light and treacherous persons.
Pastor Josh
Meaning this isn't just something that's small, insignificant.
Pastor Josh
No, they're treacherous.
Pastor Josh
This is a serious thing.
Pastor Josh
They have bad intentions.
Pastor Josh
And so we go a little bit further.
Pastor Josh
Her priest, remember, priests are at that time period, the basically the mediators between God and man.
Pastor Josh
So the prophet is the mouthpiece of God.
Pastor Josh
Then the priests are the ones that are the mediators, right?
Pastor Josh
So if I want to bring my sacrifice to God, I bring it to the priest.
Pastor Josh
And then the priest then on my behalf offers that sacrifice.
Pastor Josh
And so he talks about the prophets.
Pastor Josh
Those are the ones that are speaking forth the truth.
Pastor Josh
And he talks about the priests.
Pastor Josh
He says her priests have polluted the sanctuary.
Pastor Josh
Essentially, you could phrase it this way.
Pastor Josh
The priests were having profane things in what is holy.
Pastor Josh
So we have people that are no longer preaching the truth, but they are preaching lies and they're fickle and they're bouncing all over the place.
Pastor Josh
And then we also have the people that should be having things sanctified, should be treating things holy in the sight of God, but yet have polluted that with evil things.
Pastor Josh
And so we would say that these are people that have allowed the influence of the world, the pagan ways, to seep into their worship.
Pastor Josh
And then he says they have done violence to the law.
Pastor Josh
So not only have they violated their cultural norms, but they have now, at this point, violated the law of God, which is in their.
Pastor Josh
In their sight, in their culture.
Pastor Josh
That's the Word of God.
Pastor Josh
That's the Bible, essentially.
Pastor Josh
Now, of course, they didn't have the New Testament.
Pastor Josh
They didn't have all the.
Pastor Josh
All of the fulfilled Word of God.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, the Word of God was the law.
Pastor Josh
And for them, they were disregarding the power and the truth of the Word of God.
Pastor Josh
And any society, any culture, any person that begins to start to question the validity of the Word of God, the power of the Word of God, will eventually, if not stopped and changed, will get to a place where they not only violate the law, but then they begin to change the Word.
Pastor Josh
They begin to add to the Word, they begin to take away from it.
Pastor Josh
And so this is what's happening here in this society back then.
Pastor Josh
And so they have questioned the Word of God.
Pastor Josh
So first four verses.
Pastor Josh
This is God's condemnation against the people of Jerusalem, the place where there was supposed to be worship, the place where all of this is supposed to be focused.
Pastor Josh
And I skipped verse three, but it says, her princes within her are roaring lions, her judges are evening wolves.
Pastor Josh
They gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
Pastor Josh
And so he condemns the princes, the royalty, he condemns the judges.
Pastor Josh
And so he goes all the way across the board and condemns them for their rejection of the law, their rejection of their relationship with God.
Pastor Josh
So we would say, well, we're not there.
Pastor Josh
We're not that bad yet.
Pastor Josh
I would challenge you to say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
Look at culture, look at our nation, look at the world, look at the church at large, folks.
Pastor Josh
A lot of these things that are being described here in Zephaniah Chapter 3 are happening today.
Pastor Josh
And I would even venture to say in worse ways when it comes to validating, or let me say it this way, not validating the Word of God in our midst.
Pastor Josh
And so they don't obey his voice, they don't receive correction, they don't trust the Lord, they don't draw near to God, and therefore they are called out for their sin.
Pastor Josh
But we see now, okay, so a lot of people would say, well, this.
Pastor Josh
If you were just to read this on your own, without understanding the context, without understanding who God is, you might say, wow, God's being kind of harsh with these people.
Pastor Josh
I thought that these were the people that he loved, right?
Pastor Josh
Shouldn't he be a little bit more patient?
Pastor Josh
Shouldn't he be a little bit more gracious?
Pastor Josh
Well, that's a dangerous place to be to start to question God's motives.
Pastor Josh
But lest we think that maybe God is acting a little bit too much here, he begins to start talking about how God is a righteous judge, starting in verse number five.
Pastor Josh
And I love how it's put here in this first phrase, because we must go back and remember that God is a God of justice, God is a God of holiness.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore he has every right to judge these things.
Pastor Josh
You and I don't have the right to be the final judge in somebody's life when it comes to their destination, even their morality, even their faith.
Pastor Josh
And as a pastor, a lot of people will ask me, well, do you think that person's saved?
Pastor Josh
And I can only say, well, you know what?
Pastor Josh
Looking at the fruit in their life, I could make a judgment call, but I cannot see that person's heart.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that only God can look on someone's heart.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, we cannot judge somebody in the concept of perfectly judging them, because none of us are perfect, right?
Pastor Josh
Jesus talked about that.
Pastor Josh
You know, he without sin, cast the first stone.
Pastor Josh
That doesn't mean that we don't make judgment in our life.
Pastor Josh
Meaning, okay, this is a dangerous situation, or this is a situation that we shouldn't be a part of.
Pastor Josh
There must be justice and there must be judgment in our life when it comes to being a Christian.
Pastor Josh
But when it comes to condemnation, that is not our role.
Pastor Josh
We cannot condemn when it comes to the eyes of God.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, we see that there's only one person who can condemn those that are in sin.
Pastor Josh
And it says, verse five, the just Lord is in the midst thereof.
Pastor Josh
It's a simple phrase, but it's an important phrase theologically to understand.
Pastor Josh
It is the just Lord in the midst thereof, meaning this is God's decision in his justice, in his holiness.
Pastor Josh
And so this made the unrighteousness of God's people even more tragic.
Pastor Josh
God had been nothing but righteous to them, nothing but faithful to them.
Pastor Josh
But yet they respond in what?
Pastor Josh
In rebellion, in sin.
Pastor Josh
And so eventually, they put themselves on the wrong side of God's righteousness, and therefore they have to face God's judgment.
Pastor Josh
And thankfully, as Christians, thankfully, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you no longer walk in condemnation.
Pastor Josh
That's Romans, chapter eight.
Pastor Josh
And so we live.
Pastor Josh
I believe we live in the age of grace.
Pastor Josh
And I'm thankful for that fact.
Pastor Josh
I'm thankful the fact that in the New Testament it says that even when I am not faithful, God is faithful.
Pastor Josh
But the person, even today, that is unsaved the person who has never come to an understanding of faith, never trusted in God for their salvation, they are living in condemnation.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, what we do as Christians is that we proclaim the grace of God.
Pastor Josh
And that's what they needed back then.
Pastor Josh
They still needed the grace of God.
Pastor Josh
Everyone throughout all of history needs the grace of God.
Pastor Josh
We need God's intervention in our life for us to have any hope, for us to have any chance.
Pastor Josh
And so the just Lord is in the midst thereof.
Pastor Josh
And so this just is there to explain the dichotomy, the difference between God's perfection, His holiness, his justice, and the rebellion of the people in their sin.
Pastor Josh
Because there's sometimes temptation for a culture, for a people, for a church, for individuals to say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
Maybe this isn't as bad as it's made out to be.
Pastor Josh
And when we really.
Pastor Josh
One of the things that I've had to walk through with my own life and maybe counseling other people's lives is, you know, I want to see this sin as bad.
Pastor Josh
But I just keep coming back.
Pastor Josh
I just keep coming back.
Pastor Josh
Why do I keep coming back?
Pastor Josh
How can I get victory over this sin?
Pastor Josh
And one of the things that helped me out a lot in that was this, to see the sin the way that God sees it, to see it truly from his perspective, right?
Pastor Josh
The God of the universe, the Creator of the universe, the one who is perfect.
Pastor Josh
He then creates us, we reject him, we turn our backs against him, and then we commit sins that put him on the cross, right?
Pastor Josh
And so what we have to do in our life is to see the sin as bad as it truly is.
Pastor Josh
And we have to see that it's not something that we cozy up with, that we get comfortable with, that we get as close as we can to.
Pastor Josh
You know, one of the common questions that I will hear is, well, how much can I do without sinning?
Pastor Josh
Like, that's actually a statement that multiple times I've heard in my life, like, what are we allowed to do as Christians?
Pastor Josh
How close to the.
Pastor Josh
Essentially, it's this.
Pastor Josh
How close to the line can we get without sinning?
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
And, you know, that's a tough call in some areas.
Pastor Josh
In other areas, it's very clear.
Pastor Josh
Like, if you do this, okay, let's say, let's use lying as an example, right?
Pastor Josh
You tell the truth, you're okay.
Pastor Josh
The moment you don't tell the truth, you're lying.
Pastor Josh
That's a sin.
Pastor Josh
But there are other things in Scripture that admittedly, there are some gray areas on, well, how close can we get without actually offending God's law?
Pastor Josh
Well, I will tell you this.
Pastor Josh
The danger in that is the closer that you get to the line, the easier it is to fall over that line and get into a place of sin.
Pastor Josh
Paul mentions this.
Pastor Josh
He says, you know, all things are lawful, but yet not all things are expedient.
Pastor Josh
Meaning, that's not everything in my life is necessarily a sin.
Pastor Josh
Out and out.
Pastor Josh
But there are some things in my life that are not beneficial to me as a Christian.
Pastor Josh
And so the way I.
Pastor Josh
This is how I explain it to my kids.
Pastor Josh
And I think that you guys are more mature than my children.
Pastor Josh
But let me just explain it to you the way that I explain it to them, and maybe you'll understand it.
Pastor Josh
You know, I tell my kids, you're going to stumble, you're going to slip, you're going to slide around in your life, because we're all human.
Pastor Josh
And so the closer that you get to that line, when that stumble comes, you're going to be closer into going farther and farther over that line.
Pastor Josh
It's going to be a lot harder to get back.
Pastor Josh
The farther that you can stay away from that line, the better.
Pastor Josh
So that when you do stumble a little bit, when your conscience is offended just a little bit, you're not going to go over the line and commit a terrible sin that's going to cause you issues in your life and ultimately, you know, having God disappointed and saddened with your decisions.
Pastor Josh
And so I always tell them, like, look, we don't want to get as close to the line as we can.
Pastor Josh
We want to try to get as far away as we can.
Pastor Josh
And I think there's biblical precedent to that.
Pastor Josh
I think when the Bible says flee youthful lust, it means get away from that.
Pastor Josh
Get away from the lust.
Pastor Josh
Get, you know, it says.
Pastor Josh
It says, you know, get away from the enemy, get away from the sin.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here in this case is that these people in Jerusalem, these people in rebellion, were basically getting cozy with sin.
Pastor Josh
They were getting as close as they can to it.
Pastor Josh
They were still saying that they followed God, but their lifestyle didn't look that way.
Pastor Josh
So the just Lord is in the midst thereof.
Pastor Josh
And then this is.
Pastor Josh
This is true, right?
Pastor Josh
He will not do iniquity.
Pastor Josh
Because the same people that are hearing this message are questioning.
Pastor Josh
They're saying, well, why would God judge his own people?
Pastor Josh
That's just wrong.
Pastor Josh
You ever heard someone say, well, my God that I worship would never send anybody to hell.
Pastor Josh
My God would never judge anybody because he's a Loving God.
Pastor Josh
Well, when you say that God's judgment is sin, you're essentially questioning his character.
Pastor Josh
You're questioning whether or not he has sinned or not.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
That's what you're really doing.
Pastor Josh
You're saying that if he judges someone, that's an iniquity.
Pastor Josh
That's sin.
Pastor Josh
Well, it says right here he will not do iniquity.
Pastor Josh
Meaning when he judges them, it's not sin.
Pastor Josh
When he judges them, it's not wrong.
Pastor Josh
He goes on to say this every morning.
Pastor Josh
Doth he bring his judgment to light?
Pastor Josh
He faileth not, but the unjust knoweth no shame.
Pastor Josh
That's a really bad place to be when there's no more shame.
Pastor Josh
The conviction of God is no longer real to individuals.
Pastor Josh
They have a seared conscience.
Pastor Josh
They rejected the goodness of God.
Pastor Josh
They rejected his grace.
Pastor Josh
And so God brings his justice to the nations around Judah.
Pastor Josh
And Judah is warned about this justice as well.
Pastor Josh
And they're warned about what would happen if they rejected God.
Pastor Josh
Instead of learning from the nations around them and the judgment of the Northern Kingdom, these people dedicate themselves to ungodliness even more.
Pastor Josh
Like, they get to a place where it's not even shameful.
Pastor Josh
It's almost like shaking their fist to God saying, let's see what you can do.
Pastor Josh
And that's a scorner.
Pastor Josh
Romans, chapter one.
Pastor Josh
We don't have the time to dig into that passage of scripture tonight, but at great lengths, I would encourage you to study Romans 1, because the Bible talks about people who desire the things of the flesh they desire the things of the world they desire all these terrible, fleshly, dark things.
Pastor Josh
And then eventually God says he gives them over to their reprobate minds.
Pastor Josh
So what happens is that God says, okay, you want that sin, you want the outcome of that?
Pastor Josh
There it is.
Pastor Josh
You have it.
Pastor Josh
It's not our job to make a decision on who that is yet.
Pastor Josh
All we do is preach the gospel.
Pastor Josh
But God does say, to a point, there is going to be justice, there is going to be judgment.
Pastor Josh
Now, thankfully, God is a God of grace.
Pastor Josh
And that's why I'm saying we live in the church age.
Pastor Josh
So, like, I don't know about you, but, like, if you're talking to somebody who says, well, I've done too much in my life, God can't forgive me.
Pastor Josh
I don't know if you've ever talked to someone like that.
Pastor Josh
I know, certainly I have, trying to explain the gospel.
Pastor Josh
And they go, yeah, he'll forgive you, because you went to Christian school and you went to Bible college and You're a good enough guy.
Pastor Josh
But he can't forgive me.
Pastor Josh
And first of all, everyone's a sinner.
Pastor Josh
Everyone's guilty in the eyes of God.
Pastor Josh
It doesn't matter what degree you're at.
Pastor Josh
But I will say that God can forgive.
Pastor Josh
God will forgive those that come to him in humble submission, in repentance and in faith.
Pastor Josh
Doesn't matter what you have done.
Pastor Josh
I mean, think about all those individuals in Scripture.
Pastor Josh
Think of.
Pastor Josh
I could pick out a ton of examples.
Pastor Josh
I'll pick out a few.
Pastor Josh
Think about Peter.
Pastor Josh
What did Peter do?
Pastor Josh
He denied Jesus, right?
Pastor Josh
If anybody.
Pastor Josh
If anybody did too much, it was Peter, right?
Pastor Josh
Peter, right before that, promised, I would never do that to you, Jesus.
Pastor Josh
I would actually die for you.
Pastor Josh
And then all of a sudden, what he denies, Peter is forgiven.
Pastor Josh
Right there by the Sea of Galilee, on the seashore, by a fire with some fish there, Jesus goes through that wonderful time where he goes three times, do you love me?
Pastor Josh
And those three times are there to remind Peter that, hey, you know what?
Pastor Josh
You are forgiven.
Pastor Josh
We understand that.
Pastor Josh
So Peter, right?
Pastor Josh
Forgiven.
Pastor Josh
Think about Saul, who later was Paul.
Pastor Josh
I mean, the guy literally persecuted Christians.
Pastor Josh
He literally was fighting against God, not just by what he said, but physically what he did.
Pastor Josh
But yet God forgives him.
Pastor Josh
So the question is not can God forgive?
Pastor Josh
The question is, are you going to be willing to trust in that forgiveness?
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here is that verse five, God is going to bring his judgment to light.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't fail.
Pastor Josh
But the unjust, the ones who are not forgiven knoweth no shame.
Pastor Josh
Meaning they're not willing to see their wrongs.
Pastor Josh
They're not willing to come to God.
Pastor Josh
And so he's going to say a couple more things here, Verses six and seven.
Pastor Josh
We're going to end at verse number seven here tonight.
Pastor Josh
It says, I have cut off the nations.
Pastor Josh
Their towers are desolate.
Pastor Josh
I made their streets waste that none passeth by.
Pastor Josh
Their cities are destroyed so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
Pastor Josh
Meaning this is a complete destruction.
Pastor Josh
This is a complete judgment.
Pastor Josh
And really, one day, folks, we know that God's judgment is a complete judgment.
Pastor Josh
Right now, God's extending grace to people.
Pastor Josh
But the Bible does say that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that is the judgment.
Pastor Josh
So there's not a second chance.
Pastor Josh
I've heard folks say, well, you know what?
Pastor Josh
When I want to live my life the way that I want to live it, and then if God is really gracious, he's going to give me a second chance.
Pastor Josh
After I go it's not how it goes.
Pastor Josh
That's not how scripture lays it out.
Pastor Josh
I don't believe that there's second, third, fourth chances after we leave this world.
Pastor Josh
Okay?
Pastor Josh
So what I would say to you is this.
Pastor Josh
Yes, God is gracious.
Pastor Josh
God is extending that patience.
Pastor Josh
But there is going to be a point where his grace ends and his justice begins.
Pastor Josh
And therefore, you know what?
Pastor Josh
There is that complete victory over evil.
Pastor Josh
There's that victory over sin.
Pastor Josh
And so that's not something to play around with.
Pastor Josh
And I think all the more the reason why we should be more passionate about telling other people about Jesus.
Pastor Josh
We should be all the more passionate about sharing the gospel with people.
Pastor Josh
That's why I remember very early on in my ministry, I said, if I have a chance to speak in front of people, I never want to miss that chance to give some element of the gospel, some element of an invitation to trust in Jesus.
Pastor Josh
I mean, we could be in Genesis, we could be in Zephaniah, we could be anywhere.
Pastor Josh
I'm going to.
Pastor Josh
And that's.
Pastor Josh
I believe that is my role, is to proclaim the gospel truth through any passage of scripture that we see.
Pastor Josh
Because the Bible is not just a help book.
Pastor Josh
It's not just a history book.
Pastor Josh
It's not just a book of, you know, logic and reason.
Pastor Josh
It's a book of salvation.
Pastor Josh
And I think that so many times the Bible can just seem to people as a storybook about morals.
Pastor Josh
Like, well, look at Daniel.
Pastor Josh
He was strong in the lines, Denny.
Pastor Josh
And yes, he was, but how could he be that strong?
Pastor Josh
And how did that salvation come?
Pastor Josh
It was through faith, right?
Pastor Josh
His salvation came ultimately through faith in God.
Pastor Josh
And you say the Old Testament people didn't get saved by faith.
Pastor Josh
The Old Testament people got saved by their.
Pastor Josh
By their sacrifices.
Pastor Josh
Well, that's totally opposite of what Hebrews chapter 11 says.
Pastor Josh
Hebrews chapter 11 goes through all the great saints of the Old Testament.
Pastor Josh
And it says, by what faith?
Pastor Josh
By faith, by faith.
Pastor Josh
It's all about faith in the Lord.
Pastor Josh
It's all about faith in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
Now, for them in the Old Testament, it was looking towards a messiah.
Pastor Josh
For us, it's looking back to a Savior.
Pastor Josh
And so we see that there is a complete judgment, but there is still hope.
Pastor Josh
Verse 7.
Pastor Josh
I said, surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction.
Pastor Josh
So their dwelling should not be cut off.
Pastor Josh
Howsoever I punished them, but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
Pastor Josh
Meaning this.
Pastor Josh
He says, I gave you an opportunity to fear me.
Pastor Josh
I gave you an opportunity to receive instruction.
Pastor Josh
I gave you an Opportunity not to be cut off.
Pastor Josh
But then, howsoever, I punished them, but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
Pastor Josh
And so they had not drawn close to God.
Pastor Josh
They had rejected him.
Pastor Josh
They had no more shame.
Pastor Josh
And God is going to judge now.
Pastor Josh
That sounds really bleak.
Pastor Josh
It sounds like, hey, wow, who has a chance then?
Pastor Josh
Who could ever be saved?
Pastor Josh
And that was actually.
Pastor Josh
If that was actually a question that the disciples asked Jesus, if you remember, like, how could anyone be saved?
Pastor Josh
And what did Jesus say?
Pastor Josh
Says, with me, with God, all things are possible.
Pastor Josh
Meaning it's a miracle.
Pastor Josh
Like, salvation is a miracle.
Pastor Josh
I think sometimes we don't see it that way.
Pastor Josh
I think sometimes we see a miracle as someone walks in tonight with leprosy and that they no longer have leprosy.
Pastor Josh
Would that be a miracle?
Pastor Josh
Yes.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
A lot of times we are looking for visual signs and wonders to be called a miracle.
Pastor Josh
And of course, those are miracles, of course.
Pastor Josh
But I think so many times we forget that salvation is literally a miracle.
Pastor Josh
The fact that an unsaved person, a person who is in rebellion against God, can come to know him in faith, and that there is this gift that's offered to them, and then at that moment, they are.
Pastor Josh
If they're truly saved, they are transformed into a new creature.
Pastor Josh
That is a miracle.
Pastor Josh
That is exciting.
Pastor Josh
That's what we.
Pastor Josh
That's why we do what we do, folks, I'm going to tell you.
Pastor Josh
To see an individual's change in their life, to see them come to Christ, to see that light bulb go off in their minds and their.
Pastor Josh
In their eyes, that is what it's all about.
Pastor Josh
Because the Bible says, yes, we are to come to Christ, but we never see in Scripture that coming to Christ is the end.
Pastor Josh
What is Jesus?
Pastor Josh
Last thing, he goes, all right, everyone believe in me now.
Pastor Josh
I'm gonna leave.
Pastor Josh
No.
Pastor Josh
He says, believe, yes, but then teach other people how to believe.
Pastor Josh
Like, that's what we're here for.
Pastor Josh
And so when we see this in Zephaniah, we see people rejecting and we see people living in sin.
Pastor Josh
And we see, like, if we were to end in verse seven, there would be no hope.
Pastor Josh
It would be like, well, Jerusalem failed.
Pastor Josh
Nineveh failed.
Pastor Josh
We're going to fail.
Pastor Josh
America is going to fail.
Pastor Josh
But starting not next week, but the week after, we're going to look at God's plan for redemption for the nation of Israel.
Pastor Josh
Now, I'm of the school of thought that this is something that has not happened yet completely.
Pastor Josh
I believe that this is what's going to happen at the very end.
Pastor Josh
At the end of the tribulation, at the end of time, in the millennial kingdom, I believe that this is going to be the nation of Israel restored and there's great salvation in that.
Pastor Josh
But I will also say that I think by extension God is explaining how his salvation comes to all mankind through faith and through repentance.
Pastor Josh
And so we're going to study verses eight through the end of the chapter in a couple weeks and finish this and see that there is hope.
Pastor Josh
Like we always want to leave people with hope.
Pastor Josh
If I came to you in a counseling situation or a confrontational situation and I just, you know, I wouldn't do this, but if I did come to someone and say, hey, look, this is your problem with your life, this is the sin in your life, this is the issues in your life.
Pastor Josh
And look, you know what?
Pastor Josh
Sorry, you're just, you're a failure.
Pastor Josh
There's no hope, right?
Pastor Josh
That person has now left with no hope, thinking, well, now I've just, I'm completely broken.
Pastor Josh
And God never breaks his children's spirits.
Pastor Josh
He never does that.
Pastor Josh
He sometimes needs to break their heart, but he doesn't break their spirit.
Pastor Josh
And so one of the things that we do as Christians is, yes, there are going to be some tough moments where we need to talk about things, but we always leave an individual with hope in what Christ can do in their life.
Pastor Josh
That's what God always does.
Pastor Josh
He always leaves folks with hope.
Pastor Josh
Hope for repentance, hope for revival, hope for salvation.
Pastor Josh
And when a person loses hope, it's when they lose everything else.
Pastor Josh
And so one of the things we need to preach to our church, we need to preach to our country, we need to preach to the world, is that there is hope and that hope is in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
Yes, God is a judge, but in his long suffering grace, he is extending an opportunity.
Pastor Josh
And I think that that's one of the reasons, all the more why we as a church and as individuals need to get busy about the gospel.
Pastor Josh
We need to get busy about going and reaching people for the cause of the kingdom.
Pastor Josh
And there are some things that we're going to be trying to institute here at the church that will not be traditional in the sense of this is a traditional ministry.
Pastor Josh
But there's going to be opportunities for us as a church to reach people around us that need the gospel.
Pastor Josh
Because really what happens is that we say as a church, you know, we're a beacon of light to the community and we are, you know, anybody can walk on this property and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ on a Sunday morning.
Pastor Josh
But how many people are going to do that, right?
Pastor Josh
The Bible doesn't say wait, and then they'll come.
Pastor Josh
It's not.
Pastor Josh
What's that.
Pastor Josh
There's a movie.
Pastor Josh
It's like, if you build it, they'll come.
Pastor Josh
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Pastor Josh
So there is that principle, I think, like, obviously, if we built this big, you know, cathedral in Middletown, people would want to come out and see what's going on.
Pastor Josh
We throw a big event.
Pastor Josh
People would want to come and see what's going on.
Pastor Josh
But what does the Bible say?
Pastor Josh
There's a word.
Pastor Josh
Go, right?
Pastor Josh
Go.
Pastor Josh
And it's been something that I have been challenged with in my own personal life and pastoral life.
Pastor Josh
How are we going?
Pastor Josh
You know, what are we doing to go?
Pastor Josh
And some of you say, go.
Pastor Josh
I'm not called to be a missionary.
Pastor Josh
Well, you are called to be a missionary, just maybe not in another land.
Pastor Josh
You are called to be a missionary where you are, and to go to Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, into the uttermost part of the earth.
Pastor Josh
That's the church's goal.
Pastor Josh
And so that is the plan for the church.
Pastor Josh
That is the goal for the church.
Pastor Josh
And I believe that's something that we need to do in light of what Zephaniah is talking about here, the judgment of God.
Pastor Josh
We don't go, and I'm getting on a soapbox here, and I won't go too much longer with this.
Pastor Josh
We don't go to people and say, jesus can make your life better.
Pastor Josh
The church is here to give you a community.
Pastor Josh
The church is here to give you entertainment.
Pastor Josh
The church is here to give you some kind of peace.
Pastor Josh
Are all those things true?
Pastor Josh
To some degree, yes.
Pastor Josh
But the purpose of the gospel is not to just make your life better.
Pastor Josh
The purpose of the gospel is to save you from destruction.
Pastor Josh
The Bible actually says you are dead before you're saved.
Pastor Josh
So you have a death sentence in your life.
Pastor Josh
And so therefore, the gospel is a necessity for life.
Pastor Josh
So if we see it that way, we deal with things differently.
Pastor Josh
I believe.
Pastor Josh
I wasn't there, but I believe Zephaniah is not up there going, guys, please hear me.
Pastor Josh
Like, this might help your life.
Pastor Josh
No, he's up there going, thus saith the Lord.
Pastor Josh
There's judgment coming.
Pastor Josh
You need to repent.
Pastor Josh
You need to seek after God.
Pastor Josh
And.
Pastor Josh
And so I think that's how we should preach the message.
Pastor Josh
With love, with grace, with meekness, with humility.
Pastor Josh
And so I have great respect for Zephaniah.
Pastor Josh
I have great respect for those that were the prophets there speaking to people that were already in rebellion.
Pastor Josh
So we'll come back in a couple weeks to conclude our study in the Book of Zephaniah.
Pastor Josh
Hope this has been a good study for you.
Pastor Josh
I don't know how many of you have actually gone through a formal study of the Book of Zephaniah.
Pastor Josh
Maybe some of you that have been in church for a long time, you have.
Pastor Josh
I'm sure most of you have read through it at some point in your studies, but it's not one that you hear quite frequently.
Pastor Josh
Most of the minor prophets, short of a couple of the ones that we know of really well, like Jonah and the others, we don't hear a lot of the prophets.
Pastor Josh
One that's a really deep one, if you want to get to sometime, and it's a tough one to get through, is Obadiah.
Pastor Josh
Obadiah is all about the judgment of the Edomites.
Pastor Josh
And, you know, it's.
Pastor Josh
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, right?
Pastor Josh
So all scripture we need to go through.
Pastor Josh
So there are passages that are more difficult than others to wrap our minds around.
Pastor Josh
But when you understand the context and you understand the way that it connects to us today, I think it would be, you know, appropriate to portray that to our children.
Pastor Josh
Because, you know, for my kids, you know, they know all the great classic Bible stories.
Pastor Josh
If.
Pastor Josh
And I don't know if you guys know this.
Pastor Josh
There's this, like, there's a number that you can call that.
Pastor Josh
If you call the number, there's a recording that does Bible stories.
Pastor Josh
And they have, like, the long version and the short version I used to do when I was a kid.
Pastor Josh
When I was a kid, this guy came into our church and he gave us a little card and we called it.
Pastor Josh
And so when I was a little kid, I would do that.
Pastor Josh
I would call in and hear Bible stories.
Pastor Josh
And I was sitting around with my kids.
Pastor Josh
We do family worship.
Pastor Josh
And I was sitting around one day, and I was thinking, like, I wonder if that guy still is recorded on that phone number.
Pastor Josh
So I rack.
Pastor Josh
I called my parents.
Pastor Josh
I'm like, do you guys have that card?
Pastor Josh
They're like, I don't know.
Pastor Josh
Can't find that.
Pastor Josh
I was looking everywhere.
Pastor Josh
And so, of course, you know, you have the Internet.
Pastor Josh
So I Googled it and found.
Pastor Josh
And I found the same.
Pastor Josh
I remember the guy's voice, and he goes through the Bible stories.
Pastor Josh
And, you know, there's the short version, like, if your kids, you know, you get the kids to bed faster.
Pastor Josh
There's a shorter version.
Pastor Josh
There's a longer version.
Pastor Josh
My kids always want the longer version, right?
Pastor Josh
They're like, dad, can we do the long one?
Pastor Josh
Cause they just want to prolong their night.
Pastor Josh
And, you know, but, you know, he doesn't talk about some of these.
Pastor Josh
And so that's one of the things, like sometimes with our kids, I want to tell them, like every so often, give them an obscure Bible story that they need to.
Pastor Josh
That'd be cool to know, and just kind of go through that with them.
Pastor Josh
And that helps them understand the bigger picture.
Pastor Josh
So I will digress and all that, but appreciate you guys being here and going through the Book of Zephaniah with us.
Pastor Josh
Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Pastor Josh
If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
Pastor Josh
You can also email me directly at joshmasaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates.
Pastor Josh
Thank you so much.
Pastor Josh
God bless.
Pastor Josh
Have a wonderful day.
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