[0:00] Zephaniah chapter 1. I don't know if you realize this, but God is not the author of all this junk that's going on on the planet.
[0:10] It was never God's plan for sin to run rapid. It was never God's plan for rape and violence and murder and adultery and wars and all that junk that takes place.
[0:23] God had this wonderful place called the Garden of Eden, and man rebelled against God, and man has since been in charge of this earth. So he has stepped back and let Satan and man do their thing, and that's why there's so much wickedness and so much junk.
[0:40] But God says there's coming a day when he's going to stop this. He's going to take control again, and he's going to show who he is, and that's the day of the Lord.
[0:52] Turn with me, if you would, to Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 1. In Zephaniah chapter 1, these first verses, God tells the nation and the world, judgment is coming.
[1:03] Zephaniah 1.1, the Bible says, The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amnon, king of Judah.
[1:19] We need to always know that we are studying the word of God. This book right here is not a Baptist book.
[1:30] It was around long before there were Baptists. It is the word of God. And so Mr. Zephaniah is getting the word of the Lord. Look at the verse, underline it, the word of the Lord.
[1:43] That's what we study. We study God's word. And by the way, Zephaniah didn't write it. It came to him. He didn't come up with it. He didn't have a plan and think, I'll write this down. He said, God spoke to me.
[1:55] It came to me. God gave me his word. The authority of our pulpit and the church is that we are people of the book. Zephaniah is ministering during the days of Josiah.
[2:08] In your Bible, in verse 1, circle that word, Josiah. He is the king of Judah. And he came into his ministry at the ripe old age of 8 years old.
[2:18] At 8 years old, he was made the king. And by the time he was 25, he turned the country upside down. He led a revival that he said, we're getting rid of the idols.
[2:30] We're bringing back the worship of God. They found a copy of the word of God, which had kind of been like it is today, put away and hidden and dust covered. And nobody got into it. They found a word of God.
[2:41] And it shook him to the roots. And he said, we've got to change our country. But what ends up happening is it's pretty much an external change.
[2:51] They learned the form, but not the power. They learned how to act like people that love God, but not really have that. And so that's what's going on. Zephaniah is writing a book.
[3:02] He's alive in the days of Josiah, the king of Judah. And this is a letter written for those guys, or this is a book of prophecy for them.
[3:12] There are two major themes in this book. You might write this down at the top of that. Chapter 1. Number 1, God's wrath. God's wrath. That's supposed to motivate you to repentance.
[3:26] Just remember, when Jonah goes out, he preaches God's wrath, and it motivates him to repentance. And when he sends his men out, he says, basically, the message goes like this. I'm going to tear your backside up.
[3:37] You better get right. That's basically the message that he's given Zephaniah to give out. It is God showing his mercy and his love and saving those who will honor him.
[3:48] So as you read this book, it's going to be a dark book. As we go through it, you're going to find out that God is angry. God is mad. He is fed up with all the filthy junk going on the planet.
[3:59] He created a world to do different than this, and he is coming down here, and he is going to straighten up things. But at the same time, he's going to show his love and his mercy. He is right, he is good, and he is merciful at the same time.
[4:14] This is an interesting thing. If you're a Bible student, look at Zephaniah 1 and verse 3. But I wish you'd do this through the whole book. I've done it through the whole book. Zephaniah 1, 3. I want you to notice a number of times God said, I will.
[4:27] This is not coincidence. This is not what nation is doing to nation. God said, I will. Look at this. I will consume man and beast. I will consume the fowls of the heavens.
[4:39] I'll get the birds. I will consume the fishes of the sea and the stumbling blocks, the idols and other junk that you wicked people are using. I will cut off man from off the land, says the Lord.
[4:50] I am fixing to tear everything I did up. I'm the one that gave you birds and fish, and I'm the one that gave you animals, and I'm the one that did it all for you. And I am coming down there, and I'm fixing to undo it.
[5:03] God's judgment is coming. It is going to affect everybody on the earth. Humans, beasts, fish, birds. It's first going to come against Jerusalem and Judah.
[5:14] It will get all the nations around about them, all of those in Gaza and Palestine. The day of the Lord would have two references or two fulfillments.
[5:26] Now, you need to understand this. There was a first fulfillment when he said Babylon is going to come and destroy you. And Babylon came and destroyed Jerusalem and Judah and Israel, and Babylon ate up all those countries around there, and all these horrible things took place.
[5:42] But then later on he's going to say this, but that's not all I'm doing. I'm coming against the whole world. That's going to be Book of Revelation stuff. He's going to come against the world, and he's going to say, I'm God.
[5:54] I'm here. I'm tired of what you guys are doing, and I'm going to show you my power. So it's fulfilled two ways, Judah and the nations that surround it, and then the whole world.
[6:05] He speaks on universal judgment. The entire world will be affected. That's what you get in the Book of Revelation. The fact is, if you take Zephaniah and you go to the Book of Revelation and start in Revelation chapter 6, and you see how God's going to destroy the ocean, and the sea will turn to blood, and all the animals are going to die, and people are going to die, and things are going to be torn all to pieces, that's what's going on.
[6:27] God will show his wrath towards false worship. Josiah had tried to get rid of the idols and tried to stop the Baal worship and tried to get everything straightened out in his country, but it didn't really work, because even though the people got rid of the idols, they never got rid of them out of their hearts, and so it all came back.
[6:46] But God said, I'm going to take care of it. Look at Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 4, if you would. Zephaniah 1, 4. And upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, I will cut off the remnant of Baal.
[6:59] There's still some left that like Baal, and I am coming after them. From the place and the name of the Chimerims and with the priest. Idolatry.
[7:11] See, Baal, he's a god with wicked sex acts involved in their idolatrous worship. He was a god of fertility, and here are God's people who know better than the mixed filth with God.
[7:26] They know better than trying to put the world in the church. They know better than that. They had pagan priests leading idolatrous worship. They were respecting false gods and stealing the worship of the one true God.
[7:39] They were, are you going to believe this? They were following their horoscope. They were into the planets and the stars and all that kind of stuff. The zodiac.
[7:49] Look at Zephaniah 1, 5. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops. Them that worship and that swear by the Lord and that swear by Malchum.
[8:01] Would you underline real quickly in your Bible, they were going up on the top of their house and worshiping the host of heaven. I hope you're not doing that. I hope you can respect and honor the creation of God, but you don't think stars and horoscopes and dumb stuff like that works because God hates that.
[8:21] God said, I made the stars. The stars don't rule you. The stars don't determine your future. You don't need to know what your sign is. You don't need to know what your sign is. You don't need to have a star to tell you what to do.
[8:34] You don't need to consult your horoscope. You need to consult the God of heaven who created even that. He made the stars. He is the creator. We worship him, not what he made.
[8:46] Say amen right there. He made the stars. He made the stars. They tried to have it both ways. The creation and the creator. They wanted to worship the stars and worship the God of heaven.
[8:58] They were mixing the world with worship, trying to do both at the same time. I hope you're not doing that. But so often we do that. We want to go over here and find out what the world thinks.
[9:11] We want to know what so-and-so on a TV show has to say. Say we want to know what Oprah says. We want to know what Phil says. And we want to know what everybody else says. And then we want to come to the Bible and the God of heaven saying, hey, I'm God.
[9:23] Listen to me. I've had it when you listen to everybody else. I'm God. Pay attention to me. But then there was another thing going on in Judah. There were a lot of people that just weren't religious.
[9:34] They didn't care about the horoscope. They didn't care about Baal. They didn't care about God. They were just doing their thing. Look at Zephaniah 1 and verse 6. Them that are turned back from the Lord and those that have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him.
[9:49] Some people just don't care. It's like, man, I got a business to run. I got money to make, life to make. I got vacations to enjoy. I got things to do. I don't really have time for God.
[10:01] He is just not that important. And God said, I'm coming. I'm coming. And I'm going to judge that. Judgment is coming. And God's people should hear and repent.
[10:14] Here's the question. How do you respond when you read the Bible and you know God's judgment is coming? When we hear this verse, we read the book of Zephaniah, we consider what we're studying this morning.
[10:25] Does it affect us? Do we just listen to it like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Talk on, talk on, Austin. Say what you got to say. Tell us about the book of Zephaniah. I got to get out of here. I got places to go, people to see, and things to do.
[10:36] I don't have time for this. Is that the attitude that we have? That's kind of the attitude of a lot of these people. How are you acting? Do we react correctly to the word of God? Do we decide to honor God and his word?
[10:48] Are we to continue in our pride and our sin? How will you respond to this message today? Now listen to this. Here's the message today. I'll sum it all up for you real quickly.
[10:59] God's coming and he's bringing judgment. God's coming and he's bringing judgment. This world cannot do what this world wants to do and get away with it. You can't think, well, God's way off up there and he's not interested in what's going on down here.
[11:14] We'll just do our thing till we die. God said, that ain't happening. I'm coming. And I'm bringing judgment. But God now tells them what he's going to do.
[11:24] He kind of lets us know, what's it going to look like when I do this judgment? Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 7. Here's a description of what he's going to do. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God.
[11:36] For the day of the Lord is at hand. The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. He has bid his guests. Now listen to this. Basically, he started off in the first six verses saying, I will bring repentance.
[11:48] I will bring wrath. I will come down there. I'm coming down. Don't make me stop this car. That's basically what he's saying. Now he's got to say that. He's finished.
[11:58] He's ready to start talking. And he said, hey, shh, shh, shh, shh. I've got shh, shh. Just listen up. Look at it. Hold thy peace at the presence of God.
[12:10] God's here. Time for you to be quiet. Time for you to know what he's going to do. Look at the verse. The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. And he has bid his guests. Now that may not read too clearly to you until you read the whole book.
[12:22] So let me just tell you what it meant. You see, when you prepared your sacrifice, it was for God to eat. But what God was saying is God said, I have prepared a sacrifice. And you're it. And I'm inviting Babylon to come over here and just tear you apart.
[12:34] I've had it with your junk. You are my people. And you abuse everything I do for you. So I'm going to bring the nation of Babylon over here. And they are going to tear you apart.
[12:46] They're going to be silent. God is here. And he is speaking. In this book, 19 times he will mention the day of the Lord. It's a short book, but 19 times.
[12:57] No more help now. God is preparing a sacrifice. They now have no one to call on for help. His plan is to offer them, Jerusalem and Judah, as a sacrifice to Babylon.
[13:10] Babylon, his guests will come, and they will destroy the country. God's like, y'all just come on. Tear them apart. Come on. Go with me to Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 8. His judgment's going to fall on all levels of society.
[13:23] No one's going to escape. Political leaders are going to fall. Zephaniah 1.8. It shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children and all they that wear strange apparel, those that are clothed in strange apparel.
[13:41] They were more concerned about what the world was doing around them than what God in his will was. Slowly, worldliness was choking out the work of God. They dressed in strange apparel, meaning not...
[13:53] They were dressing in foreign apparel. They were more concerned about how the lost world lived and how the lost world did things than they were about how God did and they tried to fit in with the lost world. They didn't want to fit in with God's people. God said, I'm coming and I will punish.
[14:06] He said, then there are people in your country that are using violence and deceit. Look at Zephaniah 1.9. He said, in the same day, will I punish? You ought to underline that. You're not getting away with it.
[14:17] He said, I will punish all those that leap on the threshold which fill their master's houses with violence and deceit. So what happened, there were people that for their strange gods, they were using violence and deceit.
[14:30] The fact is, they would jump across the threshold, jump into the house, grab stuff and take it from those people. There was meanness going on in the name of religion in Zephaniah's day.
[14:42] Businessmen would get wiped out. Zephaniah 1 and verse 11. How you inhabit Submectish for all the merchant people are cut down. All they that bear silver are cut off.
[14:53] God said, getting the politicians, I'm getting all you people are so wildly crazy about your fanatical worship of a false god. And I'm getting all those rich businessmen that are not honoring me.
[15:06] And I am going to take care of that. I'm going to get those that don't care. Some of you would say, well, well, well, well, well. I am not like the political people. And hey, I'm not like the businessmen that are just ripping people off and doing wrong.
[15:17] And I'm not like these religious nuts that are doing a bunch of crazy stuff. I just don't care. I just want to live my life. Live and let live. That's me. Zephaniah 1 and verse 12.
[15:28] It shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles. He's going to get out his spotlight and go to looking around and punish the men that are settled on their leaves. They say in their heart, the Lord, he ain't going to do nothing.
[15:41] Look at that. The Lord, he ain't going to do nothing. God ain't going to do anything. The Lord will not do good and neither will he do evil. So, hey, we're all right. We're kind of soaked up. We're just relaxing on our own life.
[15:54] We're relaxing our own morals. We're part of the world and we realize that. And hey, we might have some Jewish religious customs, but we're just part of everybody else. And God ain't going to do nothing anyway.
[16:04] God says, watch me. I'm coming. Watch me. I'm coming. Go with me, if you would, to Zephaniah 1 and verse 14.
[16:15] By the way, these people that say in their heart that, they're like, they're not obnoxious atheists. They're like closet doubters. They come and they're like, hey, we're not against God.
[16:28] We're not against the church. We're not against the Bible. We just don't know what we think about all this. Yeah, just live and let live. They're so focused on this world, they forgot the next. Everyone will feel the wrath of God.
[16:40] I will punish, he said. And his judgment is coming quickly and horribly. Look at Zephaniah 1 and verse 14. The great day of the Lord is near.
[16:53] It is near. And it hasteth greatly. Even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty man, shall cry bitterly. So Zephaniah's talking to Josiah's guys and everybody's alive in his day and time.
[17:06] And he says, listen to me, I know we've had a revival. I know we've gotten rid of the idols, but our hearts aren't really right. Everybody's still doing the same old junk. Money is more important than God is.
[17:16] And politics is more important than God is. And life is more important than God is. And God said he's going to bring judgment. And Zosiah, listen to me, it's close. It's real close.
[17:27] And it's hurrying up to get here. It's coming. By the way, if you read the book of Revelation, that's exactly how it's written. That's exactly what it says. That's exactly how it says. It's coming and it's coming quickly.
[17:39] And it says they will weep. It's near. It's near. Twice. It hasteth greatly the day of the Lord. And men shall cry there bitterly. The mighty man.
[17:50] The guy who's great with a sword. And the guy who can go into battle and whip people. The mighty man like we studied in the day of David. They're going to be crying. It's going to be a scary time. And that judgment was going to be horrible.
[18:04] Look, if you would, at Zephaniah chapter 1 and verse 15. This verse alone. I mean, this is not the kind of verse you memorize. You don't memorize now.
[18:15] You memorize now. I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. That's what you memorize. You don't memorize this one. But this is the word of God. Look at what it says. That day, that day is a day of wrath.
[18:32] Underline that. Wrath. A day of trouble and distress. A day of wasteness and desolation. A day of darkness and gloominess.
[18:44] A day of clouds and thick darkness. Verse 16. A day of the trumpet and alarm. Against the cities, against the high towers. Look at that.
[18:55] What dark words of horrible judgment that was going to come on Judah. They had sinned. And they would now suffer the consequences.
[19:08] There's a big lesson there. God will let you sin. God will let you choose to do what you want to do. God will let you choose to walk off. But God will say, look, I'm not going to let you get away with that. You're my people.
[19:19] You don't do that. They sinned. And now they would suffer the consequences. Zephaniah 117. Look at that with me if you would. And I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord.
[19:37] And their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung. I wish you'd look at this verse. Here they are living comfortably. Comfortably.
[19:49] The fact is, tonight you're going to find out in the days of Solomon they were eating and drinking and being merry. There was peace on every side. And everybody owned their property. And life was good. But that's changed.
[20:00] Now the two countries are split. And now they've gone into worse and worse sin. And they've pulled farther and farther away from God. Or farther and farther away from God. And all of a sudden, God says to Zephaniah, you go tell them, I'm coming and I'm bringing judgment.
[20:15] And he said it'll be a day of distress. Underline that in the Bible. Distress. He said people will walk around like blind men. You won't know what to do. You won't know where to go. You won't know how to do it. And here's why it's going to happen.
[20:26] Because you sinned against the Lord. And here's what's really horrible in the verse. Just read the verses. He said, your blood will be poured out like dust. Their blood is going to fill the streets.
[20:41] It's in the book of Revelation, by the way. He's talking to Judah now. He's not talking to us yet. But he said, hey, the blood is going to fill the streets and their flesh is going to be like excrement.
[20:52] It's going to be like waste material out of the human body. We're just going to throw out your bodies. You're dead and it's over and it's horrible. Their money and their material goods won't help them now.
[21:07] Somewhere along the way, men decide that money is more important than God is. Jesus thought that too, by the way. Didn't he say that to us? He said, hey, you got to serve God or mammon, but you can't serve both.
[21:17] You got to hate one, love the other. Look at Zephaniah 118. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath.
[21:28] Your money won't get you out of trouble. It's the day of the Lord's wrath and it will all be devoured in the fire of his jealousy. Speedy riddance of all of them.
[21:39] Money and the love of money will not help a bit. God wants to be loved and he hates it that people love money and the world and things when they love him.
[21:52] That's a constant truth throughout the whole Bible. This is a horrible time. This day of his wrath is coming. But it's not as dark as you need to see it.
[22:04] I mean, you need to understand it's horrible, but he's actually calling on them to repent. You see, before you get saved, you need to understand, like if you're here and you're not saved, you need to understand that God wants you to know that you have sinned against the Holy God, that your sin separates you from God, and that there's a hell, a lake of fire, and horrible, horrendous, eternal judgment.
[22:27] And God paints a horrible picture. Because he wants you to hear that enough and go, wow, I need to get right with God. And so look at what he says to them. In 7i 2.1. He's calling them to repent.
[22:39] He said, gather yourselves together. Gather together, O nation. Not desired. You're not doing what you ought to do. You're kind of humiliating me. You're kind of ashamed of what's going on here.
[22:51] But I want you to come back. Y'all get together. Gather together. Verse 2. Before the decree, bring forth. Underline before. Put a circle around before.
[23:02] Before the decree, bring forth. Before what I'm saying happens. Before it ever happens, guys. Before the day passes the chaff. Before the fierce anger of the Lord coming upon you.
[23:13] Before the day of the Lord's anger. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. Before. Death is moving. Hell is coming. And before that, get right.
[23:25] God's judgment is coming. And before it happens, get right. Look at it. You should underline it. Verse 2. Or circle. Before. Before. Before. Before. See what God said.
[23:36] He says, it's going to get bad. It's going to get really bad. So get right with me now. Before the bad stuff starts happening. Verse 3. Seek ye the Lord.
[23:48] All ye meek of the earth. Which have wrought his judgment. Seek righteousness. Seek meekness. Look at this. It may be. You shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.
[24:01] Hey guys. Did you just read chapter 1 with me? Did you just hear how bad it's going to be? Did you hear how it's going to come on the politicians? And the businessmen? And the religious people?
[24:12] And the people that don't care? Did you realize it's going to come on you? He said, guys, before it happens, get right with God. Get right with God. Before it happens, get right with God. And it may be that God will take care of you.
[24:26] I'll tell you this. There's a great tribulation period coming on the earth. And it's going to get really bad. Get saved. Escape it. Before it comes. The call for them is to seek God before the judgment starts.
[24:40] God is just preparing a people that will really love him. That's all he's doing. And finding a people that will really love him. He will destroy all the other gods and call on men everywhere to worship him.
[24:50] Zephaniah chapter 2 and verse 11. Look at it. The Lord will be terrible upon them for he will famish all the gods of the earth. He will hunger all the gods of the earth.
[25:01] He will destroy all the gods of the earth. And men shall worship him. Everyone from his place. Even all the owls of the heathen, of the Gentiles, of the pagans. The word of God is going to spread all over the world.
[25:14] People are going to be getting saved everywhere. God now tells of his coming judgment on the nations around Judah. They too will be destroyed along with their false gods. God will give their land to the remnant of his that will believe and obey.
[25:27] Zephaniah chapter 2 verse 9. Therefore as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Amnon as Gomorrah. Even the breeding of nettles and salt pits of perpetual desolation.
[25:41] The residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. I want you to underline two words. Remnant and residue. Remnant and residue.
[25:51] Now listen to me. In all this nation that supposedly knew God, the majority of them don't really know God. They were born Jewish. They should know God.
[26:02] They've had the truth preached to them, but a lot of them aren't saved. And they're going to end up getting destroyed, but God always has a remnant. Underline that. A remnant. A piece.
[26:13] A part. A residue. Something left of people that will honor God. God's people heard all that he said, but still refused to get right. Verse 3.
[26:24] Chapter 3, verse 1. Woe to her that's filthy and polluting. Polluted to the oppressing city. Look at verse 2. Please don't be these people here.
[26:35] She obeyed not the voice. She received not correction. She trusted not in the Lord. She drew not near to her God. You're in chapter 3.
[26:46] God is screaming at them and saying, it's going to get bad. Things are going to fall apart. I'm going to destroy the world. But I don't want to destroy you.
[26:58] I love you and I care about you. Please seek me. Seek me now. You guys have rejected me and turned your back on me. But please come to me. But here's what they did.
[27:09] Verse 2. She obeyed not the voice. She received not correction. She trusted not and she drew not near to God. Will that be you this morning? Will you hear about heaven?
[27:21] Will you hear about Jesus dying on the cross for you? Will you hear about hell? Will you hear about punishment? Will you hear all that and reject God and continue in your sin? God's judgment is coming on the entire world.
[27:32] Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 8. Therefore wait ye upon me, said the Lord, until the day that I rise up and pray. For my determination is to gather the nations. That I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them my indignation.
[27:46] Even all my fierce wrath for all the earth shall be devoured. With the fire of my jealousy. Okay.
[27:58] Bad day. We're in Zephaniah. I mean, I just can't really help it. Just saying what it says. And you might be thinking, man, God's so mean. Why is he so mean?
[28:11] He's so mean because we rebelled against him as a human race. We shook our fists in his face. We told him we weren't going to listen to him. We wanted to do our own thing. But he's not doing anything wrong.
[28:24] He is warning you that the judgment's coming, Judah. He is warning you, Jerusalem, that the judgment's coming. He's warning all the nations around the judgment's coming. He's warning the whole world the judgment's coming.
[28:35] You can be saved. He doesn't do wrong. You need to know that. God never does wrong. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 5.
[28:47] Read it. It says he never does wrong. Zephaniah 3 verse 5. The just Lord is in the midst here. Underline the just Lord. That means the good Lord. The right Lord. The righteous Lord.
[28:58] The one who doesn't sin. The one who doesn't do wrong. Look at verse to the next part. He will not do iniquity. Underline that. He don't do wrong. He don't do twisted, perverted junk.
[29:09] He doesn't lie. He doesn't cheat. He doesn't steal. He's not doing it. He's not the author of sin. He's not doing it. He will not do iniquity. Every morning does he bring his judgment to light.
[29:20] Oh, if you study the Bible, you watch the world, you know God's always doing right. And every day you just see how right he is. Look at this. He fails not. He fails not. But then the unjust, the lost guy, he doesn't even know shame.
[29:33] Like the lost guy has got to the place in his life where it's like, I don't really care. Nobody gets embarrassed anymore. Nobody gets embarrassed anymore. You can twist what the Bible says about marriage.
[29:44] You can twist what the Bible says about sex. You can twist what the Bible says about either. And nobody cares. But God doesn't do wrong. You can mock God and not even let it bother you.
[29:55] But God doesn't do wrong. That's what Zephaniah says in chapter 3 and verse 5. He keeps his word. The lost will not recognize his wrong.
[30:08] But God will never do wrong. You may reject it and say, hey, I didn't do anything wrong. I'm okay. But mark this one down. God's never wrong. Now, here's the beautiful thing that's going on.
[30:18] I need you to go with me to Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 9. God is going to restore the nations to his favor. Here's hope. Here's the millennial kingdom. Now, listen to this real quickly. It's time to quit. But watch this. Would you look this way just a second?
[30:30] You see, in the very beginning, God created the earth and he made the garden of Eden. He put man in there and he only made one rule. He said, you can eat anything you want out of this garden, but just stay away from that one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[30:43] And when man disobeyed God and was kicked out, it wasn't man that came looking for God. It was God who came looking for man. And God came down and spoke to Adam and said, Adam, hey, I've got a plan. My son's going to die on a cross and you're going to have victory because of what Jesus did on the cross.
[30:58] And then all through the Bible, man just gets worse and worse. And by the time you get to Genesis 6, man is such a wicked, filthy, vile center. God's like, I'm fed up with this. I'm wiping you all off the planet.
[31:09] We're starting over with only eight guys. Hope you all do right. And guess what? They just kept on doing wrong. And mankind all through the Bible just stinks, stinks, stinks.
[31:19] For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. And then all of a sudden the nation of Israel is so bad, God sets them to the side and says, I'm not going to use you.
[31:30] And he puts the church into place and the church starts carrying the gospel. But he's going to bring Israel back and he's going to set up his kingdom for a thousand years. I know you don't know much about that yet, but if you keep coming, you're going to learn about it.
[31:41] Listen to what it says. Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 9. Then, for then will I turn to the people of pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord.
[31:54] That sounds like a verse in the New Testament to serve him with one consent. Everybody's going to be able to get saved. The gospel's going to run around the world. Verse 7, chapter 3, Zephaniah 3, 13.
[32:04] God will put a remnant in place. The remnant of Israel. Those few out of the big crowd who would really believe God. They shall not do iniquity.
[32:15] They won't speak lies. They won't have a deceitful tongue. They shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid. I know. I know I told you about horrible judgment.
[32:26] I know I've told you about it happening. But I'm asking you to come seek me because I've got this big plan. And I'm going to set you all up a kingdom like I told you I would. And you're going to be happy again. Just obey me.
[32:38] Just obey me. God has a plan for his people. He wants us singing and a happy people. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 14. Sing, O daughter of Zion.
[32:51] Shout, O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Guys, if you just knew what I had planned for you, you'd be singing songs. You'd be happy.
[33:01] I've got great plans for you. I know I'm shaking you up because you don't love me. But I'm shifting this place. And I'm finding those who will trust me and believe me. God is going to bless them and restore his kingdom.
[33:14] Look at Zephaniah 3, 15. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy. The king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of the underlying it.
[33:26] Jesus is going to be in the midst of you. The Lord in the midst. And thou shalt not see any evil. Evil anymore. And listen to this. And God's going to sing over you.
[33:39] God's going to sing over you. Zephaniah 3, 17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee. In the midst of thee. Look at that in verse 8, 15. Again in verse 17. In the midst of thee is mighty.
[33:51] He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. Go with me into a little house on Roseway Circle in Rome, Georgia.
[34:06] When our little baby comes home and a pretty little mama is holding Chris in her arms. Loving him and giving him everything he needs. And singing over him and all that sweetness.
[34:17] And God said, I'm going to do that with you guys. Y'all are mine. Y'all are mine. I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to sing over you. God loves you. And God wants you to be saved.
[34:28] But let me just tell you, if you won't listen today. If you won't hear the warning. If you won't hear that the judgment's coming. And if you won't say, I don't want to be judged. I don't want to go to hell. I want God to work in my life. But God wants to save the hurting.
[34:42] Verse 19. Zephaniah 3.19. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee. I'm going to stop everybody hurting you. I will save her that limps, halts.
[34:53] I will gather her that was driven out. I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. He says, I'm going to fix all the mess that's happened to you. I'm going to fix all the mess that's happened to you, Israel.
[35:05] Come here. Come here. My people, come here. Come here, people. I know people have made fun of you. I know people have been rough on you. I want to hold you. I want to love you. I want to sing over you. I'm going to undo all the junk that's happened to you.
[35:18] Zephaniah 3.20. God's people will once again be great and highly blessed. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I will gather you. For I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth when I turn back your captivity before your eyes.
[35:36] God says, I got big stuff. I got big stuff. And I want you to underline this as he ends the book. Says the Lord. Says the Lord. Now look at me right here and I quit. Ready?
[35:46] Finally, Josiah tried to bring about a revival. He tried to get all the people to get rid of the idols. He tried to get the Baal out of the place, but it didn't really work. People were only faking it. And so a lot of people had the name of cultural Christianity.
[36:00] They had the name of loving God, but they didn't really love God. And they were still doing their own thing. They were still living their own lives. They were faking it. Kind of like Southeast America where everybody knows God, but they're not truly saved.
[36:12] And God said, I'm sending judgment. And it's going to get rough. And those of you who are faking it, and those of you who don't mean it, and those of you who are playing games to me, I'm going to shake up your life. I'm going to destroy the place.
[36:24] Because I am God, and I deserve to be first. I made you. And he said, but come on. Come on. Y'all come back.
[36:35] Y'all come back. Come on back. Come on back. Love me. Seek me. Let me hide you. I got big plans for you. Let me hold you in my arms.
[36:47] Let me sing over you. Let me destroy all this wickedness. Let me turn things back like I had them in the beginning. Come on. Come back to me. Now, where are you this morning?
[36:59] Still? Half-hearted? You don't really love God, but you don't not like him? You say, I'm not mad at God. I'm not happy with God.
[37:10] I'm just, it's okay. Whatever. Is that where you live? He didn't like that. Is money your drive and passion? He didn't like that. Is building a name for yourself in politics or popularity where you are?
[37:25] God's saying, I don't like that. Seek me. I am your creator. I am your savior. I am your Lord.
[37:36] And I want to do big stuff in your life. But turn from your sin. And turn to me. I am your savior.