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[0:00] So take your Bibles, and if you start in the middle, hit Psalms, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and then keep going forward, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos Obadiah, and that black Bible in the chair in front of you, where is it, find page, actually find page 656, 655, it's on page 656, 656, but they don't have the number up there, like that makes any sense.

[0:46] Why can't they make it so difficult? Find page 655, or you can take your device and just look it up that way. Anyway, Obadiah, the book of Obadiah in the Old Testament, I'm going to preach through the book of Obadiah.

[1:01] Yes, Obadiah. I'm sure you probably have not heard a message on Obadiah, at least I haven't heard a message on Obadiah, I don't think I've ever heard a message on Obadiah, I don't think I've ever heard anybody quote from the book of Obadiah, let alone preach through the book of Obadiah so the next two weeks before I'm going on vacation, hallelujah.

[1:23] Was that out loud? Sorry. We're going to do the first 14 verses this morning of the book of Obadiah, and then next week we'll do 15 to 21. I'm going to read the whole book though, I know, 21 verses, but I'm sure you'll get through it.

[1:38] It takes like three minutes or so to read through it. So I'm going to read through the whole book, but this morning we're going to do the first 14 verses of the book of Obadiah.

[1:51] Obadiah, 21 verses, starting in verse 1, the vision of Obadiah, thus says, Sovereign Yahweh concerning Edom.

[2:02] We've heard a report from Yahweh, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, Arise and let us go against her for battle.

[2:13] Behold, I'll make you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock and the loftiness of your dwelling place who say in your heart, Who will bring me down to earth?

[2:28] If though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares Yahweh.

[2:41] If thieves came to you, if robbers by night, oh, how you will be ruined. Would they not steal until they had enough? If great gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? Oh, how Esau will be ransacked and his hidden treasures searched out.

[2:58] All the men allied with you will send you forth to the border, and the men at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you. Those who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. There's no understanding in him. Will I not on that day, declares Yahweh, destroy wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountain of Esau?

[3:17] Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Taman, in order that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. Because of violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered in shame and you'll be cut off forever.

[3:34] On the day that you stood aloof, on the day the strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots toward Jerusalem, you too were as one of them. Verse 12.

[3:44] Do not gloat over your brother's day, the day of his misfortune. Do not rejoice over the sons of Judah in the day of their destruction. Yes, do not make your mouth big in the day of distress.

[3:55] Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their disaster. Yes, you. Do not gloat over their calamity in the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth in the day of their disaster.

[4:06] And do not stand at the fork of the road to cut down their fugitives. And do not imprison their survivors in the day of their distress. For the day of Yahweh draws near on all the nations.

[4:18] As you've done, it'll be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. Because just as you drank on my holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually.

[4:29] They will drink and swallow and become as if they had never existed. Verse 17. But on Mount Zion, there'll be those who escape. And they'll be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.

[4:41] Then the house of Jacob will be a fire. And the house of Joseph a flame. But the house of Esau as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them. So there will be no survivor of the house of Esau.

[4:51] For the Lord has spoken. Then the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau. And the Cephala, the Philistine. Also they will possess the territory of Ephraim. And the territory of Samaria and Benjamin, Gilead.

[5:03] Verse 20. And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel who are the Canaanites as far as Zarephath. And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharoth. Will possess the cities of Negev.

[5:15] The deliverers will send Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord's. Hey girl.

[5:30] Is he everything you wanted in a man? You know I gave you the world. You had me in the palm of your hand. So why your love went away?

[5:43] I just can't seem to understand. I thought it was me and you, babe. Me and you until the end. But I guess I was wrong. Don't want to think about it.

[5:55] Don't want to talk about it. I'm so sick about it. Can't believe it's ending this way. Just so confused about it. Feeling the blues about it. I just can't do without you.

[6:05] Tell me, is this fair? Is this the way it's really going down? Is this how we say goodbye? Should have known better when you came around that you were going to make me cry.

[6:17] Is breaking my heart to watch you run around because I know that you're living a lie? That's okay, baby. Because in time you will find what goes around, goes around, goes around. Comes all the way back around.

[6:30] Later on in the song, he says, I was ready to give you my name. I was ready to marry you. He says this later on in the song.

[6:41] Let me paint this picture for you, baby. You spend your nights alone and he never comes home. And every time you call him, all you get is a busy tone. I heard you found out that he's doing to you what you did to me.

[6:52] Ain't that the way it goes? You cheated, girl. My heart bleated, girl. So it goes without saying that you left me feeling hurt. Just a classic case scenario.

[7:03] Tell as old as time, girl. You got what you deserved. That's a secular song. But even the world understands this concept.

[7:19] What goes around, comes around. You will reap what you sow. And that's because this principle, what goes around, comes around.

[7:36] It's rooted in the very character of God himself. He's the one who came up with it. You will reap what you sow. You know what? There is a cry room right there.

[7:48] If you guys want to use that cry room right there in the corner. You guys can use, yeah, you can use this. Turn that line up. Caitlin, why don't you help them out with that? That'd be great. Yeah. Poor guy. He doesn't want to listen to me.

[8:02] Although he's giving you lots of amens more than you people are. I have 11 children, so I know what all those things mean. He's saying amen the whole time. Right? He's saying amen, hallelujah.

[8:17] This principle of you get what you deserve, or excuse me, what goes around, comes around, that's from the character of God himself. He's the one who came up with it.

[8:29] You will reap what you sow. And that's what we see as one of the underlying themes of this short Old Testament prophetic book.

[8:40] What goes around, comes around, because Yahweh God, the sovereign one of the universe, he loves his people. And if you come against his people, what goes around, comes around.

[8:57] He is for his own. And if there's any way you can put a title on this short little prophetic book, it's this. Yahweh is for his people.

[9:09] Yahweh is for us, his people. Don't mess with them. Yahweh is for his people. It's for us, his people.

[9:20] To those who love him, to those who fear him, to those who've called upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He's for us. Don't mess with them. Why? Why? What goes around, comes around.

[9:35] Don't mess with God's people. Yahweh is for us, his people. Don't mess with them. Another way you can put this, the sovereign Lord God is on our side.

[9:54] Just point out, in verse one, the vision of Obadiah, thus says Lord, and the word in the New American Standard is Lord, and then God is capitalized.

[10:04] Lord, in the Hebrew is Adonai, which means sovereign, or master. Capital G, capital O, capital D, is from the word Hayah, which is Yahweh.

[10:16] So he's sovereign Yahweh. The sovereign Lord. The sovereign Lord God is on our side. He is sovereign over all the nations, but he loves and is committed to his people.

[10:34] He will keep his promises, and will vindicate his people at the right time. And do you know how this promise is going to happen to you as a follower of Jesus?

[10:47] Do you know how? Do you know what brings you such great confidence of that? It's this. The Father resurrected Jesus from the dead. He vindicated his son, and if he vindicated his son, he'll vindicate all those who follow his son.

[11:03] That's the hope that you have. The fact of the matter is, how do you know this is a fact? That God is for his people. He resurrected his son. So you have that confidence.

[11:15] You got another amen. The kid's awesome. I love this kid. I love this kid. God will make all the wrongs right. Don't fret, oh American, over your rights being taken away from you.

[11:33] God will make the wrongs right. I'm not saying you don't vote. I'm not saying you don't do all those things. But why do you fret when evildoers are prospering?

[11:45] We just read that, remember? Psalm 37. We rest in the Lord. We trust in him.

[11:58] What's the worst they can do? Kill us? And I get to be with Jesus. How can this book encourage us and warn us?

[12:15] It says we're going through this two weeks, today and tomorrow. Next Sunday, excuse me. How is this going to encourage us? How can this book encourage and warn us? I'll give you three. There's probably more, but I'll give you three.

[12:27] Number one. Take courage, Saint. The Lord will avenge us as people. So be assured. Be assured. Be assured. If you mess with God's people, then you're messing with God and he will not leave you unpunished.

[12:45] Which is why the call to the gospel is for anyone here. If you are not a follower of Jesus, you should repent and put your trust in Jesus alone. Turn from sin.

[12:57] Put your trust in Jesus Christ who died on behalf of sinners. God should condemn us and yet because of Christ he won't.

[13:09] Trust Christ. Take courage, Saint. Take courage, Christian. The Lord will avenge us, his people. So be assured. Number two. God is very gracious to us.

[13:23] Be humbled by his love. We are undeserving of his love and grace toward us. You don't deserve it. You never will deserve it.

[13:36] You never have. You never will. You don't get what you deserve. That's called mercy. So don't be prideful and arrogant about God defending you.

[13:49] That's what happened with Israel. God's for us, man. So we're going to go do whatever we want. Are you stupid? Don't gloat over those who stumble and fall.

[14:07] Ha, ha, ha. Because what happened to them may end up happening to you. Because what goes around comes around. Be careful.

[14:21] God is very gracious to us. So be humbled by his love. Number three. You will reap what you sow. Be gracious. You know, I'm very happy.

[14:34] Very thankful that when you, when you show me grace, but why do I have to show you grace? Wait, wait, wait, wait. What? If you want people to be gracious and compassionate towards you, then you display grace and compassion towards others.

[14:52] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other. What does Paul say, Ephesians 4, 32? Just as God in Christ also has forgiven you, been gracious to you, been kind to you, shown love to you.

[15:08] We're very happy for people to show us grace and mercy, but I'm not going to show you grace and mercy. I'm going to judge you. You reap what you sow.

[15:24] You want people to be gracious to you? Then sow to the Spirit, as Paul says in Galatians 6, verse 7, verse 8, excuse me, and be gracious.

[15:40] Obadiah seems as dated in 9th century BC, during the reign of Jehoram. It could have been later. It's unlikely Obadiah was making a reference to any Babylonian invasion, 586 BC, but either way, Judah was ravaged, the southern kingdom.

[16:01] And you'll see, Esau, which is known as Edom, did nothing to help their brother. They actually did the opposite. So the title for the book is, Yahweh is for His people, so don't mess with them.

[16:17] Because if you do, judgment comes. Judgment comes. Verses 1 through 4. Judgment comes. Notice the first, or the second word, the vision of Obadiah.

[16:32] This is God's prophetic revelation given to Obadiah. His name means servant of Yahweh. We don't know anything else about him. This was the word of the Lord given to Obadiah.

[16:47] Thus says, sovereign Yahweh, concerning, Edom. Who's Edom? It's from Esau. Remember Jacob and Esau? The firstborn of Isaac.

[17:00] These two guys were Adits from the womb. We know. We have twins. They were kicking each other in the womb. Weren't you? And they're still kicking each other. It's funny.

[17:11] When they do jokes between the two of them, they both get it and they're both laughing. Everyone else is like, what? But they're like laughing. So then we start laughing because they're laughing. Anyways. They struggled with each other even from the womb.

[17:23] Esau means hairy. He had hair all over him. Edom means red because, if you remember, back in Genesis, he sold his birthright to Jacob because he wanted that yummy red stew stuff.

[17:42] Chunky noodle soup, I guess it was. Esau married two Canaanite women, later a daughter of Ishmael. Esau settled in the rugged mountains south of the Dead Sea.

[17:53] The area had vast wilderness, narrow valleys, rugged mountains. I mean, it was really an impenetrable fortress, defense. They actually had great wealth, believe it or not.

[18:09] They had copper mining taking place as a nation. Plus, here was the plus, plus, not just plus, but a plus plus. They controlled about 70 miles of what was known at that time called the King's Highway.

[18:26] It was the highway that went north to south and even kind of east to west. It was the connection that everyone went through this route and they controlled about 70 miles of that. So you can imagine, a lot of bling bling came to them.

[18:40] They were exacting tolls. They had great wealth because of this. And not only that, they were known for their wisdom. It was, was it Elihu?

[18:51] One of the friends from Job, he was from Edom. Great wisdom. But they also had great hatred for Israel, given what happened with Jacob.

[19:07] If you remember, when Israel came out of Egypt, they denied Israel passage. They wanted to come through the King's Highway.

[19:21] And Edom said, ah, nope, can't do that. No, sorry. Israel, though, was instructed by God to be kind to Edom, but Edom hated Israel throughout the history. Saul, they were subdued by David and Solomon.

[19:35] They rebelled against Jehoram. Later, they were controlled by Assyria and Babylon. By about the 4th century BC, they were forced to leave their territory supported by the Nabishans. And they moved to southern Palestine and became known as the Edomians.

[19:49] It was Herod, was Edomian. And after 70 AD, you're never heard from again, Edom at all. They were cut off forever. There's going to be resurgence that you find out later on, at the end of time, towards the end.

[20:06] But when we come to this passage about Edom, in a sense, Edom represents something. Edom, in a sense, actually represents God's judgment against the nations, or really the Gentiles to its fullest extent.

[20:21] So this truly happened in history, but it's also a picture of what will happen in the future, not just with Esau, but with all the nations that come against God's people, who threaten God's people.

[20:33] And notice, it says, the vision of Obadiah, thus says, sovereign Yahweh concerning Edom, is directly addressed to Edom, and yet, it's God's people, Judah, specifically.

[20:49] They were the immediate recipients of this prophetic book. So these words give encouragement and promise hope to God's people, to us. Why?

[21:00] Because God takes seriously those who go against His people. Just as He vindicated His Son by resurrecting Him from the dead, He will vindicate His people.

[21:13] Obadiah shows us the Old Testament theme of how God's people suffer, but later they will face future vindication and salvation. It's this theme in the Old Testament. And it all comes back to Christ.

[21:26] And the theme in the Old Testament is God's people suffer, and yet, they'll be vindicated by God. And you see the ultimate revelation of that in Jesus. He suffered, He died, and yet was vindicated.

[21:37] And that you see that theme here in Obadiah. Suffering comes, and yet God will always vindicate His people. So it serves as an example to us.

[21:49] Not just the principle of you reap what you sow, but also you don't gloat over those who stumble and fall. Because what has happened to them could happen to you.

[22:00] Remember, it's all by God's grace. It's all God's grace. Notice again, verse 1, thus says, Sovereign God, Sovereign Yahweh concerning Edom.

[22:16] It came supernaturally from Him. He owns the world. He owns history. No one can thwart God's purposes, God's plans, God's ways, or God's work. He's in charge.

[22:27] It says, verse 1, We have heard a report from Yahweh, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, Arise and let us go against her for battle, her meaning Edom.

[22:43] It's going to be done in the future, even though it's rendered in the past tense. And it will come from the nations. They're going to fight against Edom. Notice the urgency, the sense of urgency. Arise!

[22:54] The nations are going to quickly respond and bring destruction upon Edom. Notice, it says this in verse 2, Behold, I'll make you small among the nations.

[23:06] You are greatly despised. So certain would be her punishment and judgment that Yahweh spoke of it as already be none. They would be reduced to total insignificance, not just politically, but numerically.

[23:21] The nations have major hatred, disdain, and contempt. They'd be openly hostile to Edom. Look at verse 3. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you.

[23:34] You who live in the clefts of the rock and the loftiness of your dwelling place are saying in your heart, who will bring me down to earth? Edom was arrogant. Why? Because of their strategic location.

[23:47] They were in the rugged mountains there near the Dead Sea. They thought they were impregnable, invincible. Gorgeous, up to 5,700 feet.

[23:59] It was difficult for armies to maneuver. It's in a prideful heart. Who's going to come against us? This is impossible. And notice he says here, you who live in the clefts of the rock could be a reference to Selah or Selah, the capital of Edom which is located on a very high plateau.

[24:19] That's what they would do. The cities were built on top of these rugged mountains for security, for vacation, protection. So that selfish pride and inflated self-exaltation, they flaunted a challenge to the nation saying, who will bring me down to earth?

[24:40] Who's going to cut us off? Yahweh. Look at verse 4. Though you build high like the eagle, eagle swift, strong, lofty, tireless.

[24:57] Though you set your nest among the stars, it's high above us all. Notice, from there I'll bring you down declares Yahweh.

[25:09] No one's greater or higher than the Lord. He was the one who bring them down. the sovereign of the universe. So, Christian, don't worry.

[25:24] Do not fret, follower of Christ. Why do you fret and worry over what's happening in our world? Yahweh is the one who brings every nation down underneath His rule and reign.

[25:36] No one can thwart the arm of the Lord. No one. Have you forgotten that? Have you forgotten that?

[25:48] Have you been wrapped up in this political game and you've forgotten who your God is? Hmm. Come on.

[26:01] How do you buy into the political culture? No matter who gets elected, does not God put people in place and will He not tear them down?

[26:18] I'm not saying, you know, vote, go ahead, vote. Sure, we have that gracious rights as Americans to do that. But don't forget who's on the throne and who rules and reigns.

[26:34] Our perilous times that we see, we need this. We need to be reminded of this. Don't mess with God's people because if you do, judgment comes.

[26:47] If you do, thorough judgment comes. Verses 5 through 9. Asking these rhetorical questions. If thieves came to you by night, if robbers by night, would they not steal until they had enough?

[27:02] Grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? So here's the idea. A thief, not that there's anybody here who's a thief, they only take what they need and then they leave quickly, right?

[27:16] They get what they have to get and then they're out. Contrary to normal practice, though, the nations wouldn't do this. It would be worse.

[27:28] They would strip Edom totally bare. Notice verse 6. Oh, how Esau will be ransacked and his hidden treasures search out all the treasures from the king's highway.

[27:44] It'd be gone. Notice back up to verse 5. If thieves came to you, if robbers by night, notice he says, oh, how you'll be ruined.

[27:55] He stops here. Obadiah was astonished at the ruin. Their devastation would be overwhelming. They're just not going to take just a few things.

[28:09] Everything's going to be gone because judgment's going to be thorough. Ransacked means they're going to dig it all out. Searched out anything that's hidden or covered, they're going to be bringing out.

[28:22] Painstakingly seeking and finding that stuff, these nations would seek it all out and take everything away. He'll be thorough. Notice what happens in verse 7.

[28:35] Three different groups he brings up. All men allied with you will send you forth to the border. Men at peace will deceive you and overpower you. Those who eat your bread will set an ambush for you.

[28:47] Those allied, those who made a covenant with Edom and reneged their promise and take them captive. Second, those who made peace, their neighboring nations, Edom wasn't really a great nation in terms of having this great huge army so they made peace with the other nations so they would protect them.

[29:07] Their friends would betray them, treacherously deceive them and then overpower Edom. And then those who eat your bread, these shared in the prosperity of Edom.

[29:19] Most likely poor tribal groups, even these were set an ambush and deceive Edom. And look at the end of verse 7 and he says there's no understanding of him. In other words, there's going to be a surprise.

[29:32] They're not going to expect it. All three that they thought were on their side. Because what goes around comes around.

[29:47] Which leads to why would judgment, oh it doesn't lead to that, no, wait, no, I want to go through verse 8 and 9. Look at verse 8. Will I not on that day declares the Lord destroy wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountain of Esau?

[30:01] Notice even her leaders are going to be judged. Even their wise men are going to be judged. God is going to be thorough with this judgment. When he says on that day Edom's initial judgment, that's true, but it's also foreshadowing what will take place in the eschatological future.

[30:21] The prophets saw the fulfillment and as time unfolded he would see a greater fulfillment in the future. Sovereign Yahweh will bring his purposes to pass.

[30:32] He always intervenes on behalf of his people for the sake of his name. All the time. Edom was known for a wise men, for sages, but the sovereign one will remove them.

[30:47] And once their wise men were gone, it would leave their warriors leaderless, vulnerable. Look at verse 9. Then your mighty men will be dismayed with Taman.

[31:00] Taman is the grandson of Esau, another title for Esau. In order that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter, God's thorough judgment will come upon them.

[31:10] And the Hebrew thought for everyone was that a majority of them, there would be a remnant left, but most of them would be judged. Now we come to the reasons why they would judge.

[31:21] Why would judgment come upon them? Because what goes around comes around. Look at verse 10. Because of your violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered in shame and you'll be cut off forever.

[31:38] The violence that they did, and this was extreme wickedness by Esau towards Jacob. It wasn't some flipping little evil thing that they did to Jacob. No. It was because of this wickedness they'd be a laughing stock.

[31:58] Yahweh commanded Israel not to hate Esau because they were brothers. And yet Esau treated Israel with such disdain and hatred. And because of this violence, this extreme wickedness that you brought on Jacob, I'm going to shame you, says the Lord.

[32:18] Cut off, they would no longer exist as a nation. And you don't even hear about them today, do you? You don't hear about Edom today. They'll be totally wiped away.

[32:29] Some will be saved and enter God's kingdom. You'll see that in the book of Amos. Why would judgment come? Because what goes around comes around. And look at what he does. He gives specific reasons as to what's going on.

[32:41] Look at their hostile omission. Verse 11, on the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast thoughts for Jerusalem, you too were one of them.

[32:54] You see that phrase on the day? It's nine times. Nine different times he says on the day, on the day, on the day, on the day. As strangers and foreigners invaded their land, Edom did nothing.

[33:07] Nothing. But they joined in on the fun. They stood aloof, the guilt of omission. They saw it standing aloof in a hostile sense.

[33:24] They were actually waiting like vultures ready to take some of the spoil. You're going to see they were watching, gloating, entering, looting, blocking, delivering, killing.

[33:37] This was totally unnecessary. What were they doing? Hostile omission. Notice, they ate leftovers.

[33:48] We hate leftovers. Edom loved the leftovers. Look at verse 12 and 13. Do not gloat over your brother's day, the day of his misfortune.

[33:59] Do not rejoice over the sons of Judah in the day of their destruction. Yes, do not boast in the day of distress. Notice the do nots. Eight times he says do not. Do not, do not, do not, do not.

[34:12] Don't gloat. Don't celebrate with hateful kind of joy at Judah's downfall. Notice the words he gives here in verse 12.

[34:25] Misfortune, destruction, distress, disaster that came upon him. They're being destroyed and destroyed and then distressed me in their painful anguish.

[34:39] They were displaying pride and arrogance at the pain, hurt and heartache and destruction, disaster that Judah was facing and they did not care. Look at the end of verse 12 where it says, yes, do not boast in the day of distress.

[34:56] Literally, it's make your mouth large or talk so big. They belittled and taunted, saying, what happened to Judah?

[35:09] Whatever happened to us? You're getting there. And not only did they stand in hostile aloofness, but notice verse 13, do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their disaster.

[35:25] Yes, you do not gloat over their calamity in the day of their disaster. Eden became an active participant in the calamity. She took advantage of Jerusalem and helped themselves.

[35:41] One writer said this, quote, enrich themselves handsomely. They went after the leftovers, plundering Judah like the enemy.

[35:53] Not only did they not assist their brother, they engaged in taking the plunder of the helpless while still gloating over it. Hostile omission, they ate the leftovers, and then they delivered the escapees.

[36:05] Look at verse 14. Don't stand at the fork of the road. Fork, you know, some type of narrow pass, or fork. You know what Edom did? They stationed themselves at specific locations to see who from Judah was trying to escape.

[36:18] They intercepted them and delivered them to the enemy. Nice. They were jerks. Or they would cut them down themselves.

[36:31] Or they would prison them, prison their survivors in the day of their distress. They would deliver up any of the survivors that none would be able to escape. Notice, do you see here?

[36:42] Edom had a huge lack of mercy and compassion. salvation. See, this is why that principle that I brought up earlier, you want people to be gracious to you, then you be gracious to other people.

[37:03] They stood aloof in hostility, watching the enemy ravage Judah. They plundered any of the leftovers after the invaders were gone. them. And then they guarded the escape routes, betraying, intercepting, and delivering escapees to the enemy.

[37:17] This is horrible. And then one thing I also want to point out, look at verse 13 again. It says, do not enter the gate of my people.

[37:31] don't miss this. This was God's covenant people. Not only does this denote ownership, but also an enduring continuing relationship between Yahweh and his people.

[37:48] And we have that. The Father has this relationship with us through the new blood covenant of Jesus Christ. We are his people for those of us who are in Christ. We belong to him.

[38:01] We belong to the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given us grace and mercy in Christ, so this should produce thanks and praise and grace in our own lives.

[38:15] What goes around comes around. They be covered in shame. They will not escape the judgment from the Lord. Look, when people come against God's people thinking they're going to get away with it, they better watch out.

[38:29] no one will escape God's judgment. No one. Which is why if you're here and you're not a Christian, realize this, you will not escape God's judgment.

[38:42] You won't. Unless you repent and trust Christ. Turn from your sin and put your hope in Jesus who died for sinners. He was the one who suffered on behalf of sinners and was vindicated by being resurrected from the dead.

[38:57] God, you won't have to face condemnation. You can face hope, love, and forgiveness and be made right with God. Learn from Edom.

[39:10] Learn this lesson from them. I want to reiterate these lessons that we can take away from this book, the book of Obadiah. I'll put them up here on the screen for you again. Number one, saints, take courage.

[39:24] The Lord will avenge his people. Be assured of that. Don't forget this. If you mess with God's people, then you're messing with God and he won't leave you unpunished.

[39:37] Don't mess with God's people. Number two, God is very gracious to us. Be humbled by his love. We're undeserving of his love.

[39:51] We don't deserve it. It's grace, unmerited favor. Undeserved favor. You don't deserve God's grace. That's why it's God's grace. So don't be prideful and arrogant about God defending you, about God saving you.

[40:13] God didn't have to save you. God doesn't need you. What makes you think God needs you? He doesn't need anything. He doesn't need anyone. He gets more glory from you being saved from you not being saved.

[40:28] That should humble us. Don't gloat over those who stumble and fall either because what happened to them may end up happening to you.

[40:42] Which leads to the third. You'll reap what you sow. Sow. Sow. be gracious. If you want people to be gracious and compassionate towards you, don't be like Edom.

[40:59] God has been so gracious to save us in Christ. Display that grace and compassion towards each other. That's how people know that we're Christians. We love each other as Christ loved us, as the Father loved His Son.

[41:12] Yahweh is for us, His people. Don't mess with His people. Don't mess with them.

[41:24] What goes around comes around. Would you pray with me? Thank you, Lord, for this prophetic word from Obadiah.

[41:40] And we can read it with our New Testament glasses on and understand it in even greater ways as we see it through the eyes and through the lenses of Christ.

[41:54] Thank you for vindicating your Son who suffered and died on our behalf. And for those of us, for those that trust you and fear you and adore and embrace your loving kindness and hope in you, you will vindicate us as well.

[42:18] So we pray, work in us and our hearts. Thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you for your grace to us. Help us to be assured, to be humbled, and to be a people of grace.

[42:37] Jesus, because you've been so gracious to us, because Jesus, you humbled yourself to die on our behalf, and because Jesus, you were vindicated, we know that we will be too.

[42:54] I encourage you to take this time to fill your mind with God's word, to examine your heart, proclaiming the gospel to yourself.

[43:13] We're going to celebrate this by partaking of the Lord's Supper. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, this is for you, maybe you say, hey, I'm not a member here of this church.

[43:25] Look, if you come from a church of like faith and practice, our preference would be that you would have been baptized by immersion, but you may come and partake of the Lord's Supper with us.

[43:42] If you don't know Christ, it's not for you. And I also want to encourage you if there's something you have against another person, Christian or non-Christian, and you have not gone to reconcile with them, and if you've gone to reconcile, there's one thing, but you haven't gone, you haven't made an effort at all, maybe you should wait.

[44:10] First go reconcile with a brother and sister in Christ or with that person. The next time we celebrate the Lord's Supper, take with us, because God has reconciled with us, so we should be ready to reconcile with each other.

[44:27] So fill your mind with the gospel truth, examine your heart, and then a few moments we'll sing, and then we'll give you instruction about how to partake of the Lord's Supper and how to pick it up.

[44:44] So take this time, just, you know, Lord, silence, and let the word of God richly fill your mind. Kyiv, Sophia, I'm going to continue to share your tongue.

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