God Rejoices Over Us!

I finished up my sermon series through Zephaniah yesterday, which focused on Zeph. 3:14-20.  Have you read Zeph. 3:17 before?

The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

Have you ever thought about what that would look like?

I picture it like a father wrapping his little son up in his arms, singing over him while just smiling and laughing.  And there’s nothing more than love that makes the Father want to do it.  Just the fact that the son is in the father’s arms is enough to make Him rejoice over Him!

Repentance Requires Fear and Correction

The title of this post was the main point of yesterday’s sermon, as I continued to preach out of Zephaniah.  I focused on the text of Zeph. 2:4-3:8, which could easily be a passage people look at and decide they don’t care much about!  It contains a lot of names of nations and some references that might not make sense initially.

Instead of getting into the specifics of the judgment pronounced on each nation, I encouraged our people to look at the overall theme of those judgments:

God is the God of all nations and people.  All will stand before Him in judgment one day. Up to this point, Zephaniah has only dealt with the people of Judah, but now shifts that focus on to the nations surrounding Judah.  Some could think that God will only judge those who are considered to be His (like the people of Judah), but the Bible teaches that all nations and people, whether considered His or not, will come under his judgment.

There’s a dangerous ideology today called

Faulty Crutches

Every winter from 6th grade through 10th grade, I always seemed to end up on crutches.  It was basketball season and my ankles would just never hold out!  The athletic trainer at my high school eventually told me that I should pick between basketball and football, because my ankles probably wouldn’t be able to handle both of them.  So my sophomore year of basketball was my last one…

Anyway, the idea of crutches came to my mind as I was reading through Zephaniah.  In yesterday’s sermon, I preached through Zeph. 1:7-18, pointing out that the people of Judah were trying to depend on something other the Lord to hold them up in the day of judgment.

Verses 7-11 describe what was the judgment of God on the people of Judah by the Babylonian invasion in 586 BC.  Zephaniah was warning them, but they apparently didn’t listen.  What’s interesting is Zephaniah’s use of the term The Day of the Lord.  Day of the Lord is a phrase that occurs often in the prophetic books of the Bible.  It is recorded more in Zephaniah than in any other OT book.  The Day of the Lord is an expression that signifies a time in which God actively intervenes in history, primarily for judgment.  It also refers to the future return of Christ and judgment of the world.

Zephaniah prophesied that judgment was coming.  It was coming for the people of judah, and it still is coming for all people who will one day stand before the Lord in judgment.

There is nothing but obedience and commitment to the Lord God that will hold us up on that day of judgment.

But in the text I preached on yesterday, Zephaniah pointed out 2 “faulty crutches” of the people of Judah, which I believe are still prevalent today.  I call them faulty crutches because when they go to lean on them in the time of judgment, they will fall.

1. Complacency (v.12). Different English Bible translation use different words to express this attitude, but it’s basically this apathetic attitude toward God, that He won’t do anything, whether good or bad.  This is seen a lot today, where people believe God doesn’t exist, and they are indifferent toward Him and His Word.
2. Wealth & Possessions (v.18). Neither their silver nor their gold would protect them from this judgment.  People today rely on wealth to give them value and worthiness in this world.  The problem is that while they’re building their kingdoms on earth, they’re forsaking their eternal life with Christ in Heaven.  Nobody’s earthly kingdom gets them into the kingdom of God.  Jesus’ parable of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 teaches us that wealth and possessions are not necessarily a bad thing, but that if they are favored over a relationship and commitment to Christ, then we’ll be walking away sad one day when that judgment comes.

There is nothing but obedience and commitment to the Lord God that will hold us up on that day of judgment. Hebrews 9:27 says: And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…

No reincarnation.

No purgatory.

Just one death and one judgment.  What are leaning on to hold you up when that day comes? I hope it’s a firm commitment and obedience to the Lord God.

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This post is part of the Monday Morning Rewinds.  What are Monday Morning Rewinds? Click here to see my original post explaining them.

Yesterday I finished my sermon series that coincides with the Truth Project material that our church’s community groups are working through.  The main text of this sermon was Genesis 1:26-31.  You can listen to the sermon on our church’s media page.

Idolatry and Inescapable Judgment

Yesterday, I began preaching the new series Revive Us Again: Studying Zephaniah.  This sermon focused on God’s judgment and idolatry in Zeph. 1:1-6, and had this main point: idolatry cannot coexist with righteousness.  Here are some other highlights:

• Not all people accept the warnings of God’s Word. From the verse of Zephaniah 1, we learn that Zephaniah is speaking God’s words to the people of Judah.  We also learn that he is the great-great grandson of Hezekiah, one of the good kings of Judah, and is prophesying in the time of King Josiah of Judah.  Not only is Zephaniah a relative of Josiah, but his royal lineage might have given him a position to be listened to by Josiah.  If there’s anything we should remember about Josiah, it’s that he was 8 years old when he became king and he eventually brought great reformation to Judah.  Zephaniah’s message from the Lord as prophet was working hand-in-hand with Josiah’s actions from the Lord as king.

New Sermon Series– Revive Us Again: Studying Zephaniah

I have actually never pointed at someone or reached out and touched their nose while preaching...

This new sermon series starts this coming Sunday!  In this series, I will preach through the book of Zephaniah over 6 Sundays.  The details of the series can be found on our church’s announcement page, and you can also find a PDF file there that has a helpful paper on how to read, interpret, and apply the minor prophet books of the Bible.

Often, the prophetic books of the Bible can be troublesome for people to read because of all the imagery, events, nations, and judgment presented in them.  Many people probably skip over these books or don’t consider them of great value because they’re scared by them.  Hopefully this brief paper will help people be able to understand what they are reading.

I’m excited about this series because