The Kingdam of the Lord

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:06.160 The scripture passage for this night is the book of Obadiah. It is one 2 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:09.349 of the twelve minor prophets. It is near the end of your Old Testament. 3 00:00:11.949 --> 00:00:17.030 This is the vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom. 4 00:00:17.910 --> 00:00:21.699 We have heard a report from the Lord and a messenger has been sent. 5 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:27.339 Among the nations, rise up, let us rise against her for battle. 6 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:30.940 Behold, I will make you small among the nations and you shall be 7 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:35.340 utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live 8 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:38.770 in the clefts of the Rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in 9 00:00:38.850 --> 00:00:43.210 your heart, who will bring me down to the ground, though you soar 10 00:00:43.329 --> 00:00:48.009 aloft like an eagle, though your nest is set among the stars. From 11 00:00:48.049 --> 00:00:52.759 there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. If thieves came to 12 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:57.159 you, if plunderers came by night, how would you have been destroyed? 13 00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:03.399 Would they not steal only enough for themselves? If great gatherers came to you, 14 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:07.109 would they not leave gleanings? How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures 15 00:01:07.390 --> 00:01:11.989 sought out. All of your allies have driven you to your border, and 16 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:17.349 those it peep with. You have deceived you. They have prevailed against you. 17 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:21.140 Those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you, and you 18 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:26.060 have no understanding. Will I not, on that day, declares the Lord 19 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:30.859 destr Roy the wise men out of Edom and the understanding out of Mount Esau, 20 00:01:32.969 --> 00:01:36.209 and your mighty men shall be dismayed, Oh Taman, so that every 21 00:01:36.290 --> 00:01:41.129 man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter because of the violence done 22 00:01:41.530 --> 00:01:45.609 to your brother Jacob. Shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off 23 00:01:46.849 --> 00:01:51.359 forever. On that day, you stood aloof on the day that strangers carried 24 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.760 off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem. You 25 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:59.599 were like one of them. But do not gloat over the day of your 26 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:02.750 brother, in the day of his misfortune. Do not rejoice over the people 27 00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:07.030 of Judah in the day of their ruin. Do not boast in the day 28 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:09.349 of distress. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of 29 00:02:09.389 --> 00:02:14.430 their clanity, and do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his 30 00:02:14.629 --> 00:02:20.939 calamity. Do not loot his wealth in the day if his calamity, do 31 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:23.979 not stand the crossroads to cut off Fusitives, and do don't hand over his 32 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:30.090 survivors and the day of distress, for the day of the Lord is near. 33 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:34.169 Upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done 34 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:38.969 to you. Your deeds shall return on your own head. For as you 35 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:44.639 have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually. 36 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:50.000 They shall drink and swallow and shall be as though they had never been. 37 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:55.479 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it she'll be 38 00:02:55.560 --> 00:03:00.830 holy, and the House of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The House of 39 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:05.509 Jacob should be like a fire, and the House of Joseph of flame and 40 00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:08.509 the House of Esau stubble. They shall burn them and consume them, and 41 00:03:08.629 --> 00:03:13.300 there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has 42 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:19.500 spoken. Those of negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of Chavala shall 43 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:23.979 possess the land of the Philistines. They shall pal US possess the land of 44 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:29.650 Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. The exiles 45 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:32.330 of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites 46 00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:38.849 as far as zero faft, and the exiles of Jerusalem, her and Sepharad 47 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:45.759 shall possess the cities of Negeb. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to 48 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:52.199 rule Mount Esau, and the Kingdom shall be the Lord's. This is the 49 00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:00.189 word of God. Please be seated. As I said, it is a 50 00:04:00.389 --> 00:04:03.430 very real blessing to me for me to be up here with you today. 51 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:11.819 Tuson is very near and dear to my heart. I was not raised in 52 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:15.379 the Christian church, but it's in this city where the Lord found me at 53 00:04:15.459 --> 00:04:23.500 a ministry event of Campus Crusade for Christ fifteen years ago, fifteen years ago, 54 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:28.290 I think today. Actually I think I moved down to Tucson. It's 55 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:31.329 also there that I met my wife, my bride, whom I love. 56 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:35.769 Where we dated, were we engaged, we were married in the city. 57 00:04:35.889 --> 00:04:39.519 We made our first home in the city. This is where my eldest child 58 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:44.680 was born. So my son, Christian, is a Tusson native. And 59 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:46.399 this is where I studied. I went to the University of Arizona and I 60 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:51.600 got a degree in history. So it shouldn't be too suppressing if my introduction 61 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:55.870 is going to be a story from history. I'm actually going to draw you 62 00:04:55.990 --> 00:05:00.269 back to the battle of turnout, which happened o over four hundred years ago. 63 00:05:00.310 --> 00:05:05.110 Now, this is not a battle that I expect you to be aware 64 00:05:05.149 --> 00:05:11.740 of. It was not large as far as European warfare goes, and it's 65 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:16.660 certainly not held and as high esteem, were considered as important as other battles 66 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:23.730 you've heard of, like agincourt or Waterloo. And yet, as Americans, 67 00:05:23.769 --> 00:05:29.170 we should feel a certain amount of sympathy and connection to those men who fought 68 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:33.370 in the battle of turnout, because at this battle there were brave men who 69 00:05:33.370 --> 00:05:39.639 were fighting for independence, who are fighting for a young democracy, a young 70 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:45.839 republic, were fighting to defend the ideas of freedom and liberty against a tyrannical 71 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:51.589 foreign monarchy. Now, this young republic was not America, but it was 72 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:57.670 the Netherlands, the fledgling Dutch republic, and this tyrannical foreign monarchy was not 73 00:05:57.829 --> 00:06:03.029 England, but with Spain. And this war they fought in, although, 74 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:09.699 like our declaration, are sorry our war of independence lasted quite a bit longer. 75 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:15.060 Our war lasted eight years, whereas the Dutch war of independence lasted for 76 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:21.490 eighty years. It's colloquially referred to as the eighty years war. I cannot 77 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:28.009 fathom what it would be like for eighty years of warfare, not only in 78 00:06:28.209 --> 00:06:33.079 some foreign, distant land, but at home, in your backyard, in 79 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.720 your neighborhood, with your father's and your uncle's and your brothers and your son's 80 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:44.360 fighting for your own nation. Indeed, one of the generals who fought at 81 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:46.750 this battle called it not only a battle for the Dutch nation but for the 82 00:06:46.790 --> 00:06:53.550 Dutch soul. So it can be when our nation is at distress. It 83 00:06:53.629 --> 00:06:58.149 has a very real impact on our own souls, on our own reality, 84 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:01.180 and so I figured that this would be a good thing to address this evening, 85 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:04.660 as we live in a nation that is in many ways in turmoil, 86 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:11.660 certainly because of the pandemic that faces us. We ask the Lord God humbly 87 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:15.410 that it would not last for eighty years, but also the general turmoil that 88 00:07:15.529 --> 00:07:18.850 we see every time we turn on the TV, because the fact is, 89 00:07:18.970 --> 00:07:24.689 as Americans, we have not had eighty years of struggle. Our longest war 90 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:29.810 of continuous warfare was the Vietnam War, which lasted for nine years, and 91 00:07:29.930 --> 00:07:33.199 that's meaningful because that war ended in many ways because the American people could no 92 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:40.079 longer suffer it. We had grown war weary and we demanded an end to 93 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:45.149 that war after nine years. So prolonged natural suffering, national crisis can have 94 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:48.790 a very real impact on our souls, and the book of Obadiah speaks about 95 00:07:48.829 --> 00:07:56.069 this directly. It is a time of great turmoil for the Nation of Israel 96 00:07:56.670 --> 00:08:00.699 and for the neighboring nation of Edom, and it's going to tell us a 97 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:03.899 lot about what it means to belong to a nation and what it belonged means 98 00:08:03.939 --> 00:08:09.259 to belong specifically to the nation of the Lord, called here in this book 99 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:13.649 the Kingdom of the Lord. I think by understanding what it means to belong 100 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:16.089 to the Kingdom of the Lord, we can understand how to have rest when 101 00:08:16.129 --> 00:08:20.850 our nation is in unrest. So we're going to have three points today as 102 00:08:20.889 --> 00:08:24.610 we go through this book. My hope was, regardless of my own preaching 103 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:28.480 ability, at least we read a whole book of the Bible together today. 104 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.279 That's a good thing. But we will go through it together with three points. 105 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:43.509 First Edam Safety, Second Edam Sin and then Third Edam's destruction. So 106 00:08:43.750 --> 00:08:52.110 the verse the Bible begins in verse, And the vision of Obediah thus says 107 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:56.019 the Lord Concerning Edom, we have heard a report from the Lord. A 108 00:08:56.220 --> 00:09:01.259 MESSENGER has been sent up among the nation's rise up. Let us rise against 109 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:05.100 her in battle. I will make you small among the nations and you shall 110 00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:11.129 be utterly despised. And in a sense we can hear eatam speaking back, 111 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:18.690 saying flippantly good luck. So Edam is on the other side of the Dead 112 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:22.370 Sea from Israel and many of its villages were indeed up in the mountains, 113 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:26.600 which an ancient war fin meant that they were rather unassailable. They were very 114 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:35.000 safe places. But what God says is you've taken pride in these things and 115 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:39.350 who you are and where you are, and they are nothing to me. 116 00:09:41.909 --> 00:09:46.470 The pride of your heart has deceived you, and that's something certainly we can 117 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:50.350 all relate to. This is why John Calvin said our hearts are idol factories. 118 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:56.899 They make it their business every day to deceive us in our own pride. 119 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:58.700 Now so it is with Edom. We're in the high mountains, we're 120 00:09:58.700 --> 00:10:03.899 in the rocks, no one can come and destroy us now. I asked 121 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:07.090 my daughter permission to share the story. I don't usually share stories, but 122 00:10:07.210 --> 00:10:11.850 it was a very fun one because a couple weeks ago my daughter went in 123 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:16.929 to the doctor's office and because she's five, that meant that she was going 124 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:20.330 to get shots. She's a very bold young woman. I love that about 125 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:24.799 her. So Elizabeth goes up to the doctor, the receptionist, I'm sorry, 126 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.120 and knocks on the window, you know for the reception of slides it 127 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.080 up, says kind of help you and she says yes, please, I 128 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.039 would like to know where I can hide when the doctor comes and gives me 129 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:43.350 shots. Now that receptions did not tell her where to hide, her boldness 130 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:46.789 is cute, but part of what makes the story funny is you can't hide 131 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:52.019 in the doctor's office from the doctor. You've come here to get the shots. 132 00:10:52.820 --> 00:10:56.220 But it's far more absurd to think you can hide from the Lord in 133 00:10:56.340 --> 00:11:00.700 the world that he's made. The Bible says it's the Lord God who raised 134 00:11:00.700 --> 00:11:05.730 up the mountains. He set their foundations before you existed. But now Edam 135 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:09.009 says to the Lord, into the people of Lord, I'm going to hide 136 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:13.730 in the hairy mountains you made and I'll be safe. So this can happen 137 00:11:13.809 --> 00:11:18.570 in our own hearts and the hearts of the nation's what we what Edam, 138 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:24.120 safety is is really the pride of their own heart and how prophetic it is. 139 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.200 Especially earlier this week and I saw it with it, we were going 140 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.990 to be reading Psalm fifty three. Because the fool says in his heart there 141 00:11:33.110 --> 00:11:37.549 is no god. The fool says in his heart that justice will not come 142 00:11:37.669 --> 00:11:43.070 to me because I am safe. Now there are homes in the Catlina mountains, 143 00:11:43.350 --> 00:11:46.029 just like there are homes back in Phoenix on Campel Back Mountain. They're 144 00:11:46.070 --> 00:11:50.419 very wealthy. It's a good picture that in modern society, for us it's 145 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:56.539 very often wealth that we presume will hide us from our sins, and it 146 00:11:56.620 --> 00:12:01.019 can seem for us that often the rich do get away and they do hide. 147 00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:03.210 But here, in no small part in the book of a die, 148 00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:11.129 the Lord is reminding us no one, no one, can escape my justice, 149 00:12:11.970 --> 00:12:16.440 not the wealthy in their homes with their vast panoply of resources, not 150 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.440 the fortresses high up in the mountains, because it all belongs to God. 151 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.720 The psalmist themselves says, where can I go to escape from you? If 152 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.000 I go up to heaven, you are there, and if I make my 153 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:31.750 bed and shield, you are there. So a god first says about Edam's 154 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:37.429 safety is that they have none, and so it is with all of the 155 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:43.820 enemies of God. They have no safety. And this is further drawn out 156 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:52.100 by the Lord saying how much more full his plundering of Eden will be, 157 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:56.059 because if thieves had come, they would have left something. Now I don't 158 00:12:56.059 --> 00:13:01.570 know if any of you have been robbed. I do not consider it an 159 00:13:01.570 --> 00:13:03.570 attack on this fine city, but the only time I was robbed was at 160 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:09.250 speedway and Campbell at about one in the morning. Maybe I shouldn't have been 161 00:13:09.250 --> 00:13:11.409 at at one of the morning. That's a good lesson for young men. 162 00:13:11.450 --> 00:13:15.240 Nothing good happens at in the morning. But I was simply going to friends 163 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:22.399 house and someone jumped out and demanded money. Whether or not it was just 164 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:26.919 an aggressive, mentally ill person or true robbing, I don't know. I 165 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.470 was afraid. I gave them my wallet and then I made tire tracks up 166 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:37.509 Campbell. The thing about being robbed is how much it penetrates you, how 167 00:13:37.549 --> 00:13:41.019 much it makes you feel vulnerable for days, weeks, months years after, 168 00:13:43.179 --> 00:13:46.379 because it's strips away this veil of security that you had that it doesn't happen 169 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:50.299 to me, and then you realize something as simple as driving down the road, 170 00:13:50.460 --> 00:13:56.769 I can get robbed. But God saying that would have been better for 171 00:13:56.850 --> 00:14:00.210 you, because the thief didn't take my car, and even if he had 172 00:14:00.289 --> 00:14:03.409 taken my car, he wouldn't have gone to my house and take my computer. 173 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:07.049 Even if he goes to my house and takes my computer, you wouldn't 174 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:09.769 have pundered my bank aout. There would have been something left over. So 175 00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:13.559 it is with the grape gatherers. They would have left something, they would 176 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.759 have left the stock. The Lord says, Here's the problem with your pride. 177 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:22.679 Not only do you think you're safe, but you've lied to yourself about 178 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:28.110 the totality of my punishment, to which there is no end, and that's 179 00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:33.789 something that we need to hear, because we we can kind of newter the 180 00:14:33.990 --> 00:14:39.460 justice and punishment of gone and consider it something less than an all consuming fire. 181 00:14:39.259 --> 00:14:45.019 It would be better for you for thieves to rob you, because when 182 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.940 I come with my punishment, nothing will left your main. So the first 183 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:52.330 part this of this champ of this book, is that Edom has enough safety, 184 00:14:54.330 --> 00:14:56.610 and the next part is edam sin and in contrast to that, God 185 00:14:56.649 --> 00:15:00.690 says you have a lot of sin, you have no safety. Have a 186 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:03.970 lot of sin, specifically because of the violence against your brother Jacob. And 187 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:11.919 here it's a good time to go a little further back in history. In 188 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:15.960 this book, Esau and Edom are used interchangeably his names, because we know 189 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:22.190 Edom is the nation that came of Esau, Jacob's brother, the son of 190 00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:31.230 Isaac. Now it is my hope that, as men and women who would 191 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:35.299 call ourselves reformed, the story of Jacob and Esau comes quickly to our mind. 192 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:39.860 It is very often that when we come to study and understand the doctrine 193 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:46.620 of election, we turned to the book of Romans, where God uses as 194 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:52.250 a specific example of his election. What but the story of Jacob and Esau. 195 00:15:52.009 --> 00:15:56.529 Esaw, the older brother, Jacob, the supplanter, the Steeler, 196 00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:02.450 but Jacob have I loved and Yesaw, I hated, and at that moment 197 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:04.919 of God's divine not because of the merit of the men, and that's going 198 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:08.320 to be very important understand for the rest of the book. God didn't choose 199 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:12.799 Jacob because he knew Jacob to be better. Jacob doesn't do a lot of 200 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:18.950 great and his life. He's a liar, he's a stealer. God chooses 201 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:22.350 him, but we do see is. How does he saw respond in the 202 00:16:22.389 --> 00:16:26.350 book of Genesis? What is his mother say to Jacob? You need to 203 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:33.820 leave, or else what he will kill you. I think that's a very 204 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:37.179 intentional callback in genesis to the story of Kane and Abel Right, because this 205 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:42.860 first great sin after the fall is fratricide. Is a brother, out of 206 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:48.610 jealousy and anger, murdering his brother and God saying his blood cries out to 207 00:16:48.690 --> 00:16:52.850 me for justice. There's a very real sense it in the Bible. Fratricide 208 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:59.730 is the picture of evil. It's your brother, whom you love, who 209 00:16:59.809 --> 00:17:03.440 you are bonded to, who you have this divine connection, and you kill 210 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:07.799 him. Is a crime against God himself. It is so wrong. And 211 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:11.759 yet that's what Esau wanted to do to Jacob, was murder. And so 212 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:18.670 from that time forward Edom has been a nation of trouble to Jacob, whom 213 00:17:18.710 --> 00:17:22.950 we know that God renames Israel. So from that first end, then he 214 00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:27.190 between Jacob and Esau. Then through the generations, through hundreds and hundreds of 215 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:33.380 years, the story is basically Esau continuing trying to kill Jacob. And we 216 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:40.220 know even more so is that this story was actually promised and prophesied in genesis 217 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:45.970 chapter three, because when God promises Eve that her offspring would crush the head 218 00:17:45.970 --> 00:17:51.569 of the serpent, the promise is that the seat of the serpent will try 219 00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:55.529 to bruise his heel, and sets in motion across the whole of the Bible 220 00:17:55.809 --> 00:17:59.599 the seat of the serpent trying to snuff out the seat of the woman. 221 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.559 And so Esaw seat of the serpent, hater of his brother, murderer in 222 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:07.799 his heart, does not get to snuff out the line. We know that 223 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.720 Christ comes from Jacob comes from Israel. But even now, all these long 224 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:17.029 years, Edam has been plotting the destruction of the seat of the woman. 225 00:18:17.309 --> 00:18:21.109 And now, at this moment, Edam is taking its chance. And there's 226 00:18:21.150 --> 00:18:23.589 two really important ways that this takes, and this is important. It's in 227 00:18:23.630 --> 00:18:26.779 our confession. So we said eat him. Safety hasn't a see if he 228 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:30.859 eat eatam. Sin Is great because it's both sinned, an omission and comission. 229 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:38.299 On that day you stood aloof the day the strangers carried off the wealth 230 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:44.490 of Jacob, that foreigners entered his gates and cast off lots for Jerusalem. 231 00:18:45.210 --> 00:18:49.970 You were like one of them, which should be particularly galling, because he's 232 00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:55.569 saying you should have known better. You were his brother. So you committed 233 00:18:55.609 --> 00:19:00.000 what we call a sin of omission, and the Westminster shorter catechism puts this 234 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:03.440 brilliantly. It's a very well worded document. We are fans of that here. 235 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:07.359 What is sin, and we save sin, is first a lack of 236 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.950 conformity to the law of God. Here's what he's saying. You didn't do 237 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:18.390 basic goodness. EVIL, murderous villains came to your brother. We're plundering his 238 00:19:18.509 --> 00:19:21.509 gates, were killing his people, we're stealing as well. Then you stood 239 00:19:21.549 --> 00:19:27.539 there and you watched. Now it's a very important hermoneutic for prophecy. I 240 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.900 had a professor say this. It was very helpful for me. The prophecy, 241 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:34.180 as we read it, should be more about the promise than the fulfillment, 242 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:40.089 and oftentimes we can be very we can try to find the fulfillment right 243 00:19:40.130 --> 00:19:42.329 where. We want this to mean this, and that can be dangerous because 244 00:19:42.329 --> 00:19:47.049 the Lord will reveal in time the fulfillment. But it's hard and same time 245 00:19:47.289 --> 00:19:52.490 we see clear principles, and what we have to see the book of Obedi 246 00:19:52.690 --> 00:19:55.920 saying is that the sin of a mission is not some small thing that matters 247 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:04.039 less. We live in a nation where our federal government does not actively murder 248 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:14.509 millions of babies, but God does not hold it guiltless because abortion for most 249 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:21.190 people is a sin of omission. The federal government lets it happen and I 250 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:23.819 don't think any of us here would say that's any less of a sin because 251 00:20:23.859 --> 00:20:30.180 it's a sin of omission. sinsible mission are terrible, awful things where people 252 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:33.700 are letting evil happen, they are encouraging it when they could stop it, 253 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:40.690 and so Edam's sin is terrible. The Great Gall and anger in our hearts 254 00:20:40.769 --> 00:20:45.849 when we think about our federal governments sin of omission and allowing abortion happen is 255 00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:49.039 the gall and anger that we should feel against Edom. They are allowing the 256 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.960 murder of innocence and they are doing nothing. So we don't want to blow 257 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.440 by that quickly because it happened a long time ago. That's what Edom is 258 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:02.960 doing. And then it's committing a sin of comission because you said you're like 259 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:04.230 one of them. What are they do? They gloat over the day of 260 00:21:04.269 --> 00:21:08.349 your brother, they rejoice over the people of Jerusalem, they enter the gate 261 00:21:08.470 --> 00:21:11.190 of the people, they gloat over the disaster. They lute his wealth, 262 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:18.230 they stand at the crossroads and they cut off his fugitives. Now this has 263 00:21:18.269 --> 00:21:22.539 happened before and the book of numbers there are fugitives that the book of Edom 264 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:26.740 cuts off from the people of Jacob. So this is a repeated sin of 265 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:32.099 now comission by Edom. We're not only are they allowing the murder of innocence, 266 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:38.369 but they're using it to profit. And there is something so particularly sidious 267 00:21:38.410 --> 00:21:45.529 about profiting from evil. And yet, as you sit there in your chairs, 268 00:21:45.609 --> 00:21:48.960 I know you can think in your minds a hundred examples of people in 269 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:56.759 this world who profit from evil, who search out the darkness and Sordid deeds 270 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.990 of this world and then monetize it and trade market and brand it and are 271 00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:03.990 proud of it. And in fact God says in the book of Romans that 272 00:22:04.109 --> 00:22:07.950 this is a sign that I've given them over destruction, that they not on 273 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:14.150 even do evil, but that they approve of it. So again we see 274 00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:19.819 an example in modern conducts, if sin of omission, comission, and when 275 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:25.660 we're reading these small prophets, one of the most important who hermoneuter keys, 276 00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:30.089 that we can hold on to is that we have to take the sin seriously 277 00:22:30.809 --> 00:22:33.170 and it can be so easy when we're reading it at three in the morning 278 00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:37.450 and we haven't gotten the coffee in our system yet and maybe our daughters will 279 00:22:37.490 --> 00:22:40.690 gone up a little bit earlier than we had planned, which happened to me 280 00:22:40.769 --> 00:22:44.519 today, and maybe gets into my quiet time when I hadn't planned it, 281 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.039 and we just read about all the sin. There's this violence. Oh, 282 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:49.519 I guess that's bad. Moving on, every awful and wicked thing that we 283 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:53.799 mourn in our country now we need to see in you. They're letting the 284 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:57.869 innocent die, they are capitalizing off its wealth, they're committing the evil themselves. 285 00:22:59.309 --> 00:23:04.950 We should be outraged, and I'm going to quote Calvin again. It's 286 00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:11.269 not just because I'm from Calvin Presbyterian Church. Calvin says a dog will bark 287 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:18.180 when someone attacks it's master, it's master. How can I not say anything 288 00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:22.220 when someone attacks my Lord? And what's clear in the scripture is that the 289 00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:25.140 people of God belonged to him, and attack on them as an attack on 290 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:30.130 the Lord, like a dog at the least we should be furious, we 291 00:23:30.210 --> 00:23:33.130 should bark, we should be upset. So Israel Safety? They have none. 292 00:23:33.490 --> 00:23:40.650 It's our EDEM's sin. They have none edem's wow, I said both 293 00:23:40.730 --> 00:23:44.799 of those wrong. I got a little excited. I Apologize. EDEM safety. 294 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:51.559 They have none edem's sin. It is great. You know where that 295 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:55.710 story is going. If someone has committed great and terrible sin and they have 296 00:23:55.950 --> 00:24:03.829 no safety to pretend them, what's coming? Destruction. Destruction like we can't 297 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:10.420 imagine. We can't imagine any user's war. We can't imagine the ferocious destruction 298 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:15.259 that God brings on his enemies, starting in Verse Fifteen, for the day 299 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:21.019 of the Lord is near upon all of the nations. As you have done, 300 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:26.450 so it shall be done to you. Your deeds show return on your 301 00:24:26.490 --> 00:24:32.450 own head. For as you drunk, you have drunk on my Holy Mountain. 302 00:24:32.809 --> 00:24:37.490 So all the nations sell drink continually. They shall drink and swallow, 303 00:24:37.569 --> 00:24:44.319 and it shall be as though they had never been. The WESTMAN's a confession. 304 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:47.000 When it's talked about, scripture has this beautiful line. Why do we 305 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:49.559 believe? The scriptures the word of God, and says they're we believe in 306 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:53.869 the word of God because the testimony of spirit, but then also comments on 307 00:24:55.029 --> 00:24:59.589 the beauty of its composition. And this is as good of poetry I and 308 00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:03.109 I like poetry a great deal. This is as good a poetry as you 309 00:25:03.150 --> 00:25:04.789 will find. As you have done, so it shall be done to you. 310 00:25:04.869 --> 00:25:08.299 Your deeds shall return to your own head. You have drunk on my 311 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:12.859 Holy Mountain. So all the nation shall drink continually. But they're not drinking 312 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:18.980 good things, are they? They had come to Jerusalem to drink of the 313 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:25.769 wine of the people of God, and instead they will drink the wrath of 314 00:25:25.890 --> 00:25:30.890 the Lord God Almighty. And that is the beautiful symmetry in God, that 315 00:25:32.089 --> 00:25:40.200 the power of his Providence, the creativity of his plan, that God's punishment 316 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.119 on the nation is, in a sense giving them what they wanted. And 317 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.119 we see that in our own sins. So often our sins can form us 318 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:56.069 into their own image and then they kill us. So what happens when you 319 00:25:56.109 --> 00:26:02.430 are gluttonists and you overeat, but that you become gluttony and then the food 320 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:07.619 itself begins to kill you? What happens when you give yourself the sexual immorality, 321 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:11.059 in that you are around people who are sexually immoral and the sins that 322 00:26:11.099 --> 00:26:14.740 you've committed against others are now committed against you by the very people that you 323 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:19.410 surround yourself with? What happens when you are full of anger. But the 324 00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:22.730 you become angry to people who see you, they see the dark clouds on 325 00:26:22.809 --> 00:26:26.529 your shoulder, they see the hatred and the lack of joy in your eyes. 326 00:26:26.609 --> 00:26:29.809 You become anger and it kills you. We know that anger has a 327 00:26:30.410 --> 00:26:33.440 very real biological effect on the human heart. It tears it apart. Stress 328 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:37.759 does it does it to the brain. Anxiety, fear, a lack of 329 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:42.200 Rust in God begins to create problems in our neurological interface. It has a 330 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:45.799 real effect in a brain. God is saying, if you want sin, 331 00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:52.869 you can have it and it will destroy you and what you've come seeking, 332 00:26:52.990 --> 00:26:56.309 you'll find it and it will be your ruin. We again see this in 333 00:26:56.309 --> 00:27:03.619 Romans one. The punishment for sin is often what but more sin. So 334 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:07.579 Edom's given to the sin they wanted. They drink what they didn't know what's 335 00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:14.259 coming. And then I think there are two key verses to this book and 336 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:17.849 one of them is the bottom of verse eighteen, when it says there shall 337 00:27:17.890 --> 00:27:26.569 be no survivor for the house of Esau. Another word for that, if 338 00:27:26.650 --> 00:27:33.039 we were not believers, would be genocide. They will be no survivors in 339 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.759 this house those who belong to the House of Esau I will snuff out, 340 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.839 and he says that repeatedly in this book. And I think we've come to 341 00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:45.750 we've talked about Edam's safety. There is none edem sin. There is Great 342 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:49.109 Edam's punishment. There are words that apply to this. It is terrible and 343 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:53.829 awful in the truest sense the word awful. It should fill us with awe 344 00:27:55.789 --> 00:28:00.059 and it grates against the modern non Christian conscience. And you will see many 345 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:03.220 who hate God, the fools who say in their heart there is no god. 346 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:10.259 They will say that this is proof that God is bad, which is 347 00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:15.849 insane, because we have established that the Edomites are murderers, that they are 348 00:28:17.210 --> 00:28:19.130 liars, that they are war profiteers, that they are the worst of the 349 00:28:19.210 --> 00:28:22.970 worst. So God says, I will punish him, and then the world 350 00:28:22.009 --> 00:28:26.400 looks at God and says he's a genocideal maniac, because the world is full 351 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:33.400 of fools. Instead, we remember what Psalm fifty three is told us, 352 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:37.759 that there are none who do good, but instead a nation of people who 353 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:41.549 have hated God. What's interesting about Obadi is how it reflects on the book 354 00:28:41.589 --> 00:28:48.829 that immediately precedes it, which is the book of Amos. The Book Amos 355 00:28:48.869 --> 00:28:52.750 also talked about the destruction of Edom, but it says this. In that 356 00:28:52.789 --> 00:28:56.180 day I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen and repair its 357 00:28:56.259 --> 00:29:00.220 breeches and raise up its ruins and rebuild. It is in the days of 358 00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:08.019 old that they may possess the remnant of Edom. Now we have here what 359 00:29:08.140 --> 00:29:12.730 we should call in a parent not a real but an apparent contradiction, because 360 00:29:12.730 --> 00:29:17.210 an Obadiah says the house of Yesha shall be destroyed, but in the book 361 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:18.849 of Amos it says, but there will be a remnant of Edom that is 362 00:29:18.890 --> 00:29:30.559 possessed in the use of David. So I think to understand that we need 363 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.559 to keep going forward, and I will tell you this is my small amount 364 00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:37.640 of biblical wisdom I've earned. That is almost always the answer in the Bible. 365 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:45.549 Keep moving forward. Right the Scriptures interp the scriptures. So here are 366 00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:48.430 the next three verses. Those of neigheb shall possess Mount Esau and those of 367 00:29:48.470 --> 00:29:52.900 Safala shall possess the land of the Philistines. They shall possess the land of 368 00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:56.019 e Fra Him and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead, 369 00:29:57.259 --> 00:30:02.259 the exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of 370 00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:07.609 the Canaanates as far as zero feff, and the exiles of Jerusalem, who 371 00:30:07.650 --> 00:30:11.849 are in Sarahid, shall possess the cities of Negeb. So we have this 372 00:30:12.930 --> 00:30:15.890 basically to the north, south, east and West. The people of God 373 00:30:15.970 --> 00:30:19.769 will inhabit what God's given them. Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to 374 00:30:19.890 --> 00:30:27.480 rule Mount Esau. But whose kingdom is now ruling? The Kingdom is the 375 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:34.440 Lord's. So what he's saying is the Kingdom of Edom will be destroyed and 376 00:30:36.269 --> 00:30:38.710 although I can't always tell you what problems be filled, you can fulfill that. 377 00:30:38.750 --> 00:30:41.789 You can look at this ones for film yourself. Go get to map 378 00:30:41.869 --> 00:30:49.980 and find eat'em on it. It's not there, but we know neither is 379 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:53.900 the ancient Israeli kingdom. There is now a nation there the calls of Israel, 380 00:30:55.259 --> 00:30:56.980 but a very cursory level of history will tell you that there are some 381 00:30:57.019 --> 00:31:04.690 stuff that happened in between. The Kingdom is the Lords. The Kingdom of 382 00:31:04.809 --> 00:31:11.569 Edom is destroyed, but what God promises is a remnant of Edom that can 383 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:17.289 exist only in so far as they no longer belong to edom they have one 384 00:31:17.410 --> 00:31:26.039 hope that they belong to the kingdom that is the Lord's. So what is 385 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:30.000 the Kingdom of the Lords? What is the only hope of the Edomites to 386 00:31:30.119 --> 00:31:33.349 survive this burning hot fire punishment this to come? Well, I want to 387 00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:41.509 go back to this battle of turn out, turnouts, excuse me, where 388 00:31:41.549 --> 00:31:47.029 it was a Protestant and reformed in Netherlands, by and large, that was 389 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:52.619 fighting against Catholic Spain. And even the most secular of historians admit that the 390 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:56.700 main cause of the Dutch were of independence was this and edict by the King 391 00:31:56.779 --> 00:32:02.329 of Spain, pronounced in the low countries that Protestant worship was not allowed, 392 00:32:05.170 --> 00:32:07.650 not for a period of time because it infectious disease, but forever. It's 393 00:32:07.769 --> 00:32:14.130 wrong, you can't go to church. And so the Dutch people rebelled. 394 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:19.519 And so the battle of turnout, although it was a battle for Dutch independence, 395 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:24.160 was, at its core, not reading into it, a battle for 396 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:27.759 the right of people to God, to worship. And so that's why, 397 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:32.670 after it was over, the survivors of the battle rode to him called we 398 00:32:32.829 --> 00:32:38.029 gather together, because for them the benefit of that battle was not that the 399 00:32:38.069 --> 00:32:44.819 Dutch nation exists. The benefit of that battle was that they could gather together 400 00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:51.940 and be the people of God in Evere Real Sense. They weren't fighting for 401 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:55.740 the Kingdom of the Netherlands, they were fighting for their right to participate in 402 00:32:55.819 --> 00:33:00.049 the Kingdom of God. They were not fighting to establish a kingdom of God 403 00:33:00.490 --> 00:33:04.569 in this swamp in northern Europe. No offense, it's a swamp. That's 404 00:33:04.569 --> 00:33:09.250 a geological reality. They wanted to participate in the king of Lord. Calvin 405 00:33:09.289 --> 00:33:14.119 says this. Calvin says that when we call God king, it is not 406 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:20.559 an empty title. For God to be King it means three things. God 407 00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:28.150 is King where there are people who serve him, people who are ruled by 408 00:33:28.190 --> 00:33:34.589 his word and people who are silent in front of him. So I ask 409 00:33:34.670 --> 00:33:37.549 you where the Kingdom of the Lord is now, and the answer is here 410 00:33:38.750 --> 00:33:50.460 on Santa Rosa Avenue, and that is amazing. Although we come full of 411 00:33:50.539 --> 00:33:57.130 Sin Ourselves, we come here in submission to our king, we come here 412 00:33:57.529 --> 00:34:01.089 to be ruled by his word and we are silent in his face because he 413 00:34:01.210 --> 00:34:05.809 is truly our king. And so again, as jeating this passage, Calvin 414 00:34:05.849 --> 00:34:09.719 says the saviors that go up to Mount Zion follow after this savior who went 415 00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:15.519 up to Mount Zion. Now my son's name is Christian. I named him 416 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:20.320 after the pilgrim's progress, which is my favorite book. But what is Christian 417 00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:27.789 literally mean? It Means Little Christ, which was their way of saying Christ 418 00:34:27.949 --> 00:34:30.789 follower. And again and again the scripture say this. If you love me, 419 00:34:30.909 --> 00:34:35.989 feed my sheep. The bride of the Lord is the prize for which 420 00:34:35.989 --> 00:34:37.820 he died. The church fathers have said, if you want God is your 421 00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:42.900 father, you must love the church as your mother. The one hope for 422 00:34:42.940 --> 00:34:47.980 Edom to exist is the Kingdom of the Lord not to belong to their prideful 423 00:34:49.019 --> 00:34:53.730 worldly kingdom, which had no safety and which had many sins, and not 424 00:34:53.929 --> 00:35:00.409 even by becoming a part of the militaristic kingdom of Israel in his day. 425 00:35:00.889 --> 00:35:06.329 There one chance is that the savior of the Lord Would Ascend My Zion and 426 00:35:06.449 --> 00:35:08.480 would put under his feet, as God had promised to his mother Eve, 427 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:13.199 that God would put the nations under his feet, including the mountain of Edom. 428 00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:17.280 The thing that they thought was their safety has to be the thing that's 429 00:35:17.320 --> 00:35:23.269 removed for them if they have a chance to live. So I'll end with 430 00:35:23.349 --> 00:35:28.670 this, if you ask me, my favorite sermon of all time until about 431 00:35:28.670 --> 00:35:31.550 a couple months ago. There's a wonderful sermon that is very applicable here. 432 00:35:31.590 --> 00:35:37.019 It's called the curse Motif for the appointment by ARCI Sproul, and in it 433 00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:39.019 he explains what it is to be cursed by God, and that's what this 434 00:35:39.139 --> 00:35:42.980 is describing. That's what Edom's fad is. That's what all of our fate 435 00:35:43.059 --> 00:35:45.059 is, unless we are in the Kingdom of the Lord, which is the 436 00:35:45.099 --> 00:35:52.210 church. But then that changed when I heard a sermon by Pastor Wanghee of 437 00:35:52.289 --> 00:35:58.530 early reign church in China, and I believe this was several months ago. 438 00:35:58.530 --> 00:36:01.929 I should say I didn't hear till more recently. We know our brothers and 439 00:36:01.969 --> 00:36:06.280 sisters in China being persecuted, but we know, like the s year war, 440 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:10.159 that persecution has gone on for decades, since the communist regime has taken 441 00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:15.239 root in that nation. The Church of Christ has been known our persecution for 442 00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:20.989 now pretty close to eighty years, and in China it is a state crime. 443 00:36:21.110 --> 00:36:29.510 It is treason to say the China sinful. The book of Obadiah preached 444 00:36:29.550 --> 00:36:36.380 against China is sinful, despite China having no safety and having many sins and 445 00:36:36.500 --> 00:36:39.619 it's punishment coming. It's a sin. And so what our brother did as 446 00:36:39.659 --> 00:36:44.940 he went and preached a sermon, and the point of that sermon was that 447 00:36:45.059 --> 00:36:47.849 the president of China, geeseping, is a sinner. So I would encourage 448 00:36:47.849 --> 00:36:51.969 you. You will hear at least one good sermon this evening if you go 449 00:36:52.130 --> 00:36:54.449 home and watch it. It's on Youtube. There is a translation to it, 450 00:36:57.010 --> 00:37:02.719 and he says that the only hope that geeseeping has is for us to 451 00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:08.400 tell him that he's a sinner. The only way he can escape the burning 452 00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:12.679 hot wrath of the Lord, coming as sure for him as it came for 453 00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:17.789 Edom, is to acknowledge that he's a sinner, to abandon the the deceit 454 00:37:17.909 --> 00:37:22.829 of his pride, to abandon his worldly kingdom and run to the Kingdom of 455 00:37:22.869 --> 00:37:25.550 the Lord. And as little Christ's follow up on Mountain Zige at, that's 456 00:37:25.670 --> 00:37:31.579 his only chance. And for that the church was rated and destroyed. For 457 00:37:31.699 --> 00:37:36.739 that his wife was beaten in imprisoned. For that he himself is in prison 458 00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:42.340 now and for all likelihood, for the rest of his life. We should 459 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:45.090 not draw one to one comparisons. We know that. We know not to 460 00:37:45.130 --> 00:37:46.730 dare to be a Daniel. We know not to pick up our stones and 461 00:37:46.849 --> 00:37:52.250 slay the Goliathe in their life, which is unemployments. We know the scriptures 462 00:37:52.329 --> 00:37:55.369 more full than that, because what it's saying to us today is you, 463 00:37:55.530 --> 00:38:01.440 who belonged to the Kingdom of the Lord, tell this world that their kingdom 464 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:09.360 is not safe. Tell this world that their kingdom is full of in and 465 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:15.349 the punishment is coming, because there will be a day, to quote Calvin's 466 00:38:15.869 --> 00:38:19.110 definition of a king, there will be a day when everyone will listen to 467 00:38:19.190 --> 00:38:22.550 his voice. There will be a day when every knee will follow his word, 468 00:38:23.630 --> 00:38:28.300 there will be a day when everyone will be silent in front of him. 469 00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:31.940 Until that day, the only hope of the nation's the only hope of 470 00:38:32.059 --> 00:38:38.099 Tucson, the city that I do dearly love, the only hope is Christ. 471 00:38:38.900 --> 00:38:43.690 But what's so interesting is in so many of the prophets they end beautifully. 472 00:38:43.730 --> 00:38:45.929 Maliki, example, the coming of the Messiah. This is about the 473 00:38:46.010 --> 00:38:51.449 coming of Messiah, but it says that that scene in the church. So 474 00:38:51.610 --> 00:38:55.599 this is an encouragement as much as the charge. This city has no safety, 475 00:38:57.320 --> 00:39:00.880 the city is full of sin. It's punishment's coming. And it's only 476 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.360 hope, and a very real sense, is you, because this here is 477 00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:07.599 the Kingdom of the Lord. This here is the safe place that will be 478 00:39:07.719 --> 00:39:14.070 spared the wrath of God. This here is Zion, where we follow the 479 00:39:14.150 --> 00:39:16.469 king. So my encouragement to you is that the word of the Lord does 480 00:39:16.510 --> 00:39:25.300 not return void. Jewish tradition holds, amazingly, that Obadiah was not an 481 00:39:25.380 --> 00:39:32.219 Israelite, that he was an Edomite, that that's who God sent to tell 482 00:39:32.300 --> 00:39:37.980 the people that you're not safe, your sins are many, your only hope 483 00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:40.130 is in the day of the Lord. So that is my encouragement to you, 484 00:39:40.170 --> 00:39:45.809 you who belong to the Kingo of God. Just as Obadai and EATA 485 00:39:45.809 --> 00:39:47.329 might with sent out to his own people, we are sent to minister, 486 00:39:47.449 --> 00:39:52.920 to this city, who guidd so many wonders for me and as I'm sure 487 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:58.880 he's done for you. Also tell them the hope and security we have in 488 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:00.239 the to come in Kingdom of the Lord. And then, last I'll do 489 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:04.679 send on this because this is a very unpopular that's the best way to end 490 00:40:04.679 --> 00:40:08.750 the sermon. Isn't a very unpopular note. It is right and good to 491 00:40:08.909 --> 00:40:14.869 remember ourselves when we are persecuted, that God will punish those who who persecute 492 00:40:14.869 --> 00:40:20.070 us. Now we do that with the healthy, deep well of humility, 493 00:40:20.190 --> 00:40:23.340 knowing such also were some of you by brothers and sisters. Now and in 494 00:40:23.420 --> 00:40:29.099 the coming years, I think we confess quite freely that they will be those 495 00:40:29.139 --> 00:40:32.699 who glowed over you. They will be those who laugh at your misfortune. 496 00:40:32.739 --> 00:40:38.929 They will be those who plunder your gates. There will be those who come 497 00:40:39.369 --> 00:40:45.409 to hurt you. God will save some of them in His mercy and bring 498 00:40:45.449 --> 00:40:49.889 them into this kingdom, just as he brought Paul, the persecutor of the 499 00:40:49.929 --> 00:40:57.280 church, into their own brotherhood. We need to be ready for that persecutor 500 00:40:57.559 --> 00:41:00.519 to come in. We know in the book of acts that it's difficult for 501 00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:07.349 some. They see Paul right when Paul shows up. That's who God brings. 502 00:41:07.269 --> 00:41:10.550 He brings the ones that persecute us, the ones that kill us, 503 00:41:12.070 --> 00:41:14.829 and so we can rest that God will punish those who hate him, who 504 00:41:14.869 --> 00:41:17.619 hate us, but also rest easy knowing that he's going to bring those here. 505 00:41:19.260 --> 00:41:22.260 And the brothers and sisters, there's nothing you can do to get Edem 506 00:41:22.300 --> 00:41:30.380 to like you. You can't do that. God chose Edom for destruction. 507 00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:34.769 God passed over Edom Jacob. He chose Jacob, he's loved Edom, hates 508 00:41:34.809 --> 00:41:37.969 Jake, and there's no amount of being winsome that's going to make the world 509 00:41:38.050 --> 00:41:42.650 suddenly like the Church of Christ. It's just not going to happen. Our 510 00:41:42.730 --> 00:41:45.650 Lord, Jesus Christ, said they hated me, they will hate you. 511 00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:51.960 So my unpopular encouragement is that the world is going to hate you, but 512 00:41:52.079 --> 00:41:57.760 they hated our savior to and our hope is not to win their friendship or 513 00:41:57.840 --> 00:42:00.039 to convince them to like us. Our hope is to tell them that there 514 00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:05.309 is a way out of the coming wrath here in the Kingdom of the Lord, 515 00:42:05.389 --> 00:42:09.989 here were God's people gather together. And so let's after we pray, 516 00:42:10.030 --> 00:42:16.260 let's respond by singing that him, celebrating not only God's freeing a certain group 517 00:42:16.300 --> 00:42:21.820 of our brothers and sisters to worship, but our own freedom to gather together 518 00:42:21.940 --> 00:42:23.460 in the Kingdom of the Lord. We no longer belong to eat him. 519 00:42:24.059 --> 00:42:29.019 We no longer, believing, belong to France, Sir Ireland or even America. 520 00:42:29.099 --> 00:42:30.929 We belong to the Kingdom of the Lord, and that's a great thing. 521 00:42:31.329 --> 00:42:32.010 Please pray with me,