A Witness

Yesterday, I was sitting at a light while a young woman with a headset on loudly sang a current pop Christian song, walked out in traffic against the light, and gave the cars she was dodging the finger.

This Weekend

The pastor is away this weekend, so there will be no prayer meeting today and no Bible study tomorrow.

Why Do You Want to Know?

Some desire to know merely for the sake of knowing, and that is shameful curiosity. Some desire to know that they may sell their knowledge, and that too is shameful. Some desire to know for reputations sake, and that is shameful vanity. But there are some who desire to know that they may edify others, and that is praiseworthy; and there are some who desire to know that they themselves maybe edified, and that is wise.

—Bernard of Clairvaux

found at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apuritanatheart.com%2Fasides%2Fwhat-is-the-reason-we-desire-knowledge%2F&h=YAQBbStujAQB3trpJ8WTXOLU9kC1xeofzN0y0B5Yau1WJoQ

A Reason to Be a Happy Pastor

"..., be amazed that they come back for another sermon.  'If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons,' Charles Spurgeon wrote. 'it would be a righteous judgment upon them, and they would soon cry out with Cain, "My punishment is greater than I can bear."'"  But our people come back Sunday after Sunday.  Ponder that, and you'll increasingly be a joyful pastor."  C. J. Mahaney, "Happy Pastors" in "Tabletalk, September 2011."

"Who Deserves the Better House?" Sermon: Haggai 1:1-15

“Who Deserves the Better House?”

[Haggai 1:1-15]

October 2, 2011 Second Reformed Church

            What excites you?  What do you get so much joy out of that you would be willing to do for free, if you were able?  If you had a billion dollars, tax free, what would you do?  What gives you joy?  I suspect some of us are thinking, “I would do nothing.”  Or, “I would just watch TV,” or “I would just lie about the beach,” or something like that.  But that would grow old – doing nothing, merely being on vacation or being retired – eventually – if you didn’t do anything, it would not be enough.  What gives you joy?

            We recently looked at the book of the prophet Zephaniah, who was preaching about 600 B.C.  And we saw that he was telling the people of Judah that if they didn’t repent and turn back to God, they would be taken off into captivity.  About one hundred years earlier, Isaiah prophesied, “I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling” (Isaiah 44:28, ESV).

Between 605 B.C. and 586 B.C., God sent Israel into captivity by the Assyrians, and then Judah by the Babylonians.  No one was left in Israel and Judah except for the poorest of the poor – the people who never would have been noticed before the exile. Still, God promised to bring a remnant back.

And God kept His Promise:  in 538 B.C., led by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, about 50,000 of the millions who were taken into captivity returned to the land and began to rebuild the nation – and they did so with the blessing and the support of Cyrus, the King of the Persian Empire.

Ezra records:  “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:1-4, ESV).

About two hundred years before Cyrus came on the scene, Isaiah wrote, “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb:  ‘I am the LORD, who made all things,        who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, “She shall be inhabited,” and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins”; who says to the deep, “Be dry; I will dry up your rivers”; who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose”; saying of Jerusalem, “She shall be built,” and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid”’” (Isaiah 44:24-28, ESV).

So God used Cyrus, the King of Persia, to free God’s people and send them back to the land that God gave to them, to rebuild the Temple, and all of Israel.  What happened in the years immediately following the exile is recorded in the historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah and in the prophetic books of Haggai and Zechariah.

From the historical books, we know that the people began to rebuild the Temple, beginning with the altar, so they could offer sacrifices.  And we know that they worked diligently and sacrificially.  Ezra records, “According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments” (Ezra 2:69 ESV).  Gold was the major item they gave.  Now, remember, these people had just come out of exile.  61,000 darics of gold is about 1,100 pounds.  Based on this weekend’s sale price for an ounce of gold, in today’s money, these 50,000 exiles gave $29.9 million in gold.  They were passionate about rebuilding the Temple and worshipping God; they were joy-filled in giving the gold for the rebuilding of the Temple.

And for two years, they worked to restore the Temple.  But, then, neighboring countries began to get nervous about Israel’s rebuilding, so they pressured the people to stop the rebuilding.  And then Cyrus died; they lost the support of the Persian Empire.  The pagan nations encouraged the Israelites to rebuild their own houses first, to meet their own needs first, and to take a little time to enjoy themselves first.  “After all, you’ve been in exile; you deserve a break.”  And for the next fourteen years, they ignored the Temple and her repairs.

This morning’s Scripture begins sixteen years after the people returned, fourteen years after they had given up the work that God sent them back to do – with all of the supplies from Cyrus and the nations.

“In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”

“Lord, we believe in Your Work, but this just isn’t the right time.  You don’t know what it’s like to work on a budget.  You don’t know what it’s like to have to pay bills.  Maybe I can give to missions next month.  Maybe I can give to the building fund next month.  Maybe I can give next month.  I’m paying for school and prescriptions, and .…  What Lord?  My time?  Well, now isn’t a good time.  My daughter is going to be in a show next month, and I have to give all my time to rehearsing with her.  I have to visit family today.  I have to paint the walls of my den.  I have to buy a present for my mother.  I need to wash my hair.  Maybe I can help with the yard work next month.  Maybe I can do jobs around the church next month.  Maybe I can clean next month.  Let’s see about next month – right now, I don’t have the time or the money to do anything.”

They were lying.  Maybe they had deceived themselves.  Maybe they were afraid.  But they were lying.

“Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ‘Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?’”

God said, “Wait a minute:  you’re spending lots of time and money making sure your house is fixed up.  And I don’t mean that you are doing those things which are necessary to make the house a safe shelter for you and your family.  You are spending time and money installing paneling in your homes.  You are spending time and money doing things to make your house as nice as or nicer than the Jones’, while My House lies in ruins.”

Understand, it was not a sin for them to panel their houses.  Their sin was putting paneling their houses – and all the unnecessary things they were doing – above rebuilding the Temple.  It is not necessarily a sin to do things that please us – God has given us this world – all of Creation – to enjoy.  But it is a sin when we put our enjoyment over God and His Will for us.

  “Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”

The Israelites were working hard – they were working hard to please themselves – to provide all kinds of unnecessary things for themselves for their pleasure.  Bigger boats, bigger houses, saunas, swimming pools, Mercedes, BMWs, going to the right clubs with the right people for the right events.  But they were miserable.

They were working twenty-five hours a day, but it wasn’t enough.  “If there were only more hours in the day; if I could only clone myself.”  They were eating themselves into obesity, but they weren’t satisfied.  They were drinking themselves under the table, yet, when they woke up, they needed “another.”  They had hundreds of dresses and suits and pairs of shoes, but they look at them and said, “I have nothing to wear.”  They made six-figure salaries, but the money “burned holes in their wallets.”

Notice, the problem was not that they were lacking anything.  God had blessed them beyond all reason, and they were fat, drunk, dressed to the nines, and miserable.  Still, they thought they didn’t have enough of anything yet to return to the work that God had set before them.  They were ungrateful.  Abusive.  Self-abusive.  Empty.

Still, these were God’s people – this is the Church.  You and I can get caught up in our “stuff” – and neglect the work and the worship of God.  You and I can make things which are good into sin by valuing them more than God.  What stops you from coming to Second Reformed Church more frequently?  What keeps you from being more generous with your money and your time?  There are real emergences – there are real needs – that must be addressed.  But we need to ask ourselves if we have gotten caught up in paneling our houses to the neglect of the House of the Lord.  After all, who deserves the better house?

Do we ever think:  if I only get this one thing done, then I’ll go to church.  If I buy one more of these, then I will give more money to the church.  If I just one more, one more, one more….  Have we become addicted to putting paneling on our walls?  Have we made having our homes magazine worthy an idol?  Or anything else?  What are you obsessed with?  Where do you spend your time and money?  Where do you overspend your time and money?

Let me give you a personal example:  I love books.  I love the feel of books and the look of books.  I love reading books and learning from books.  And that is a good thing.  I am called to preach and teach and study as a pastor.  As a Christian, I am to do everything I can to know God better and to become more like Jesus.  Books are wonderful things.  But, for me, there is a danger of enjoying books to the neglect of God.  I have to always be on guard against my books becoming idols for me.

Putting it humerously, I would be committing idolatry and neglecting God if I said to myself, “I’ll increase my giving to the church after I buy this book on financial stewardship.  I’ll spend more time working and teaching at the church once I buy and read this book on time management.  I’ll just skip worship this morning so I can read this book on loving God.”  And so forth.

What keeps you from taking part in the life and worship of God’s Church?  You may get distracted – obsessed with something that is perfectly fine to do or buy or enjoy, but when it displaces God, when it makes us neglect God, His Worship, caring for the things He has given us and the people He has brought us into fellowship with – then we are sinning.

Television is not necessarily wrong, but if you say you can’t read your Bible, you can’t come to worship or Bible study or something else that is going on because you cannot miss your show, then you are sinning.

And that’s not to say that sin isn’t pleasurable – it is – most people wouldn’t sin if it weren’t pleasurable.  But here’s the thing about sin – the pleasure we receive from it is fleeting – at best.  God told Israel – their stomachs were never full, their thirst was never quenched, they were never warm, and they never had enough money.  Sin cannot satisfy.

But the creatures of Heaven are satisfied; their joy is full.  Why? 

John wrote, “And before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.  And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created’” (Revelation 4:6b-11, ESV).

True satisfaction – true joy – comes in worshipping God – which is what all of God’s people will be doing eternally in the Kingdom.

            “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.  And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

            God told Israel to get up and get back to work – restore the House of the Lord.

            And we might wonder why – why is God so intent on having a house – a temple?  Didn’t God tell David, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ (2 Samuel 7:5b-7, ESV).

            And didn’t Jesus say,  “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-24, ESV)

            And Paul said, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man” (Acts 17:24, ESV), and “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19, ESV).

            The point is not that God was looking for a place to stay; God doesn’t need temples or sanctuaries.  But God told Israel He wanted the Temple rebuilt for two reasons:  first, it pleased God to have a temple on the earth, and second, God was glorified in having a temple on the earth where His people could come to worship Him.  And God’s being glorified is the most important thing to God.

            So God told Israel that He had taken their blessings away:  there would be no more grain or wine or oil until the people got back to work.  That meant there was no food for the people or the animals.  It also meant that there were no provisions for offering the grain sacrifice.  God cut the people and the animals off from food and worship until they got back to rebuilding the Temple. 

“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.  Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, ‘I am with you, declares the Lord.’  And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.”

Twenty-three days after God confronted Israel, rebuked them for their sin, and withheld provisions, Israel repented and got back to the work of the Lord and His Worship.

What will it take for us to turn away from those things that take us away from the work and worship of God?   What will it take for us to see that our joy and our satisfaction can only be met in God and following after Him wholeheartedly?

Keeping up with the Jones’ will never satisfy; we will never find real joy in pursuing things that take us away from God.  If you and I desire real satisfaction and everlasting joy, let us work hard to find ourselves in the Presence of God, as His obedient sons and daughters, in all the ways the God calls each one of us to live.

Let us pray:

            Almighty God, You have promised to give Your people abundant, everlasting life, and still we turn away from You, looking for something better.  We tell You that You can wait while we enjoy things that only harm us.  Open our hearts and minds that we might understand that You are our Joy and Satisfaction.  Show each of us how we might be more joyful in You, by making You and Your Kingdom our first priority.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

October Sermons

D.V., I will preach the sermon schedule will be as follows:

10/2/11 Worldwide Communion  Haggai 1:1-15  "Who Deserves the Better House?"
10/9/11 Guest preacher:  Rev. Dr. Solomon Tivade
10/16/11 Haggi 2:1-9  "The Latter Glory of This House"
10/23/11 Haggi 2:10-23  "Blessing Blight and Mildew"
10/30/11 Reformation Sunday  Joshua 3:7-17  "A Box, Feet, and Rocks"

Join us at 10:30 AM for worship!

When Worlds Collide

D.V., we will resume our study this Thursday evening at 7PM.  Please read chapter two and join us!

Sunday Bible Study

Due to our pulpit exchange on Sunday, we will not have Sunday morning Bible study.  Please join on on October 2, 2011 at 9 AM (D.V.) as we continue.

Thursday Evening Study

In order to allow people to go to the lecture on baptism at North Reformed Church, our evening study tonight is cancelled.  We will resume, D.V., on September 29 at 7 PM.

"God Will Restore Joy" Sermon: Zephaniah 3:9-20

“God Will Restore Joy”

[Zephaniah 3:9-20]

September 18, 2011 Second Reformed Church

            Is there hope for the sinner?  Is there any way to become right with God?  Or is the judgment we have seen over the past several weeks all there is?  Hopefully, we have also seen that God will restore His people in His time – we see that very explicitly this morning.

            Judah had been involved in idolatry – adultery against her Husband, God.  They were arguing that they could worship God and idols – other gods – and be faithful to the God Who brought them up out of the land of Egypt.  And God, through the prophet Zephaniah, exposed their sin and told them that judgment was coming.

            God’s Judgment was coming against His own people – His bride – Judah for the sin of adultery.  God’s Judgment was coming against the nations around Judah for attaching her and taking her into captivity.  And God’s Judgment was coming against Jerusalem and her leaders for abusing the people and corrupting the Holy.

            We concluded last week with God’s Promise that He would tear Jerusalem and her people apart like a wild animal and then bring down His Fire upon them.  If we had any doubt about whether this was for purification or for destruction, we need only to read verse nine, as we begin this morning’s text:

            “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord.  From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.”

            God promises, as He tears them apart and pours down His Fire upon them – they would suffer in battle and in exile in Babylon – God would cleanse their mouths; God would purify their mouths.  This is symbolic of their whole person.

            James tells us, “How great a fire is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:5b-6, ESV).

            And Jesus said, “Hear and understand:  it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person” (Matthew 15:10b-11, ESV).

            God knows the only way any of us will have clean mouths – clean speech – the only way we can be right with Him is if He cleanses us and makes us right with Him.  So God tells them that He will change their speech, so they will be able to call upon the Lord and serve Him.

            This is the same thing we see throughout the Scripture:  “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.  Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.  The venom of asps is under their lips.  Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.  There is not fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10b-18, ESV).

            What is the solution?  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ!” (Romans 7:25a, ESV).  “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1, ESV).

            “Yes, Judah and Jerusalem; I, your God, am sending you into captivity – punishing you for your sins.  But I, for My Own Reasons, have already decided to change you and bring you back to the land that I gave you.”  The work of salvation for Judah and Jerusalem and for the entire remnant that returned and still returns to God is God’s Work Alone.

            The remnant will return from Babylon and all over the earth; the remnant will turn and repent and believe savingly in the salvation that God Himself provides.

“On that day you shall not be put to shame  because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.”

What might Judah have expected – even if the great hope of return came to pass?  They might have been met with jeers and taunts from the nations:  “Where was your God when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed?  I bet you’re not so high and mighty now!  I bet you won’t say ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One God’ anymore!”

But God promised them that the mouths of the world will be shut; the remnant will not return in shame.  We know from the Scripture – and it is confirmed in secular history – that the remnant were not merely let go by Cyrus, the Emperor of Persia, but Cyrus sent them back with his blessing and with papers to protect them and to secure for them supplies to rebuild.  So God is known in their return as the Victor over the greatest kingdoms known up till that day.

God told them that He would remove the prideful and the arrogant from their midst; the remnant who returns will be humble and perfected by God.  But is that what really happened?  We read in Haggai and elsewhere that the remnant did return with all the support of Cyrus and Darius, but they quickly turned away from God and neglected the rebuilding of the Temple and the worship of God.

In reality, the remnant that returned did not become wholly humble and never prideful.  So, how are we to understand this?  We understand it on two levels – in fact, all of this text on two levels:  first, the Scripture must have something to do with the remnant who actually returned, so we understand this text to mean that they were comparatively pure – compared to the people who were taken into captivity out of Judah, they were pure – they were not perfect and holy, but they had received the Lord’s Discipline and were different people.  Second, we understand this to be referring to when Jesus returns for the remnant which is His Church, whom He will perfect and make holy, removing all possibility for sin from them in the New Erath and the New Jerusalem.

And this is what they will look like – comparatively when they first return, and ultimately, when Jesus returns:

“But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly.  They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue.  For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”

            God will be the Shepherd to His remnant.  They shall return to the land, and they will turn to the Lord and not to themselves or other nations or idols.  They will be just and truth-tellers; their tongues will be under control to the glory of God.  And God will lead them like sheep, providing for them in body, soul, spirit, and mind, and they will have no fear.

“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!  Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

 O daughter of Jerusalem!  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.  The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.”

            Judgment will be over, and God will restore joy to His people.  They will rejoice with all of their heart in their God for the Lord will take all of His Judgments away.  What does that mean?  That means the debt will be paid.  There will no longer be a judgment against them.

            They will find their true joy in being in the presence of God.  Their enemies will be gone, and since, God the King is in their midst, all fear will be gone as well.  Does this remind you of another passage?

John writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.’ He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4, ESV).

These things occurred comparatively with the remnant of Judah as they returned from the Medo-Persian Empire, but they will occur ultimately and completely for the entire remnant of God’s people when Jesus returns to restore the Creation.

“On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:  ‘Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.  The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.’”

This is really quite astounding – God addresses Zion – which another name for Jerusalem, and He tells her not to become idle.  The Kingdom is not just sitting around on a cloud.  Keep your hands strong – able to work.  And understand this:

God is your Savior.  God told them as He had said in the past that He would provide a savior for all those who would believe in Him, yet here it is clear that the Savior will be – and we know He is – God, Himself.  Jesus could not receive the Wrath of God and live if He were not God Himself.  God is the Savior.  You cannot earn your salvation.  You bring nothing to the table but sin.  But God has chosen, Himself, to provide salvation for His remnant – for His Own Reasons.

But listen to this:  they were told and we are told – God rejoices over us with gladness.  God is filled with joy and gladness that He has saved the remnant for Himself.  If you believe in Jesus Alone for salvation – God rejoices and is glad that He saved you.

Not only that, but God says He will quiet His remnant with His Love.  God cherishes His people like a bride, and He promises to do what is necessary to calm us down and give us comfort and hope in Him by way of His Love for us.

And not only that, but God says He will exult over His people with loud singing.  God sings loudly because He is so in love and so joy filled over His people and His salvation of them.

Of course God doesn’t have a physical body – except in the Person of the Son, but, can you picture a bridegroom – after the “I dos” of the wedding – shouting and singing and holding his bride, as though to never let her go.  Zephaniah says that is what God will do for the remnant.

“I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.”

What is God saying?  Here God is saying that their salvation – the becoming holy of the remnant is a process.  There is confusion today in the Church about the different between justification and sanctification.  Justification is the one time legal declaration of “you are accounted as sinless – free to go.”  That is what Jesus secured when He cried out “It is finished,” on the cross.  Sanctification is a process by which God the Holy Spirit works in us to progressively make us holy – and which will only be accomplished in fact – totally – when Jesus returns.

“Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.”

We read this promise again in the words of John, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death’” (Revelation 21:5-8, ESV).

God removed oppressors – enemies – from Judah in a way He has never done or promised to any other nation; Israel is the only nation God ever called as His people.  But God promises the entire remnant of Earth that God will – upon His Return to earth – take care of our enemies and His – and cast them into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels – where they will be tormented for all of eternity.

And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise

 and renown in all the earth.”

            According to God’s Law, people with certain physical defects or diseases, or people who come from other countries, and women, were not allowed in the main sanctuary.  God says that He will remove all impediments to coming into His Presence for worship.

“At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

God tells Judah and Jerusalem that when the world sees what God is going to do to them – the slaughter that will occur – and then their being taken off into captivity – the world will think that God has cast them away and that they were – effectively – dead.  But God tells Judah and Jerusalem – the whole remnant of Israel – that God has a surprise for the nations.  God is going to bring the remnant back to the land and God is going to restore them – God is going to bring His dead bride back to life – so much so that the nations will praise them because they know that the God of Israel is the Only Real God.

What may we conclude?

First, we can conclude that God always keeps His Promises.  God keeps the Covenant.  God is always faithful.  No matter how often we turn away and do what is wrong in God’s Sight – if we have been saved by faith alone in Jesus Alone – we are God’s people forever and always, and, as Paul writes, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Second, we can conclude that God is passionately in love with all those who believe savingly in the Savior, Jesus Alone.  If you are a Christian – God is passionately, head-over-heels in love with you.  He is your husband, and He is working all things together so you will become perfect and holy, in the Image of His Son – our Brother – Jesus.

And third, we can conclude that in God’s Time, He will remove all evil and sin from the world and restore joy in His Kingdom – in the New Earth and the New Jerusalem – where we will be perfected and holy and glorified by our God and Savior, Jesus.

Let us pray:

            Almighty God and Savior, it is hard for us to receive Your Fatherly Discipline when we sin, but we thank You with great joy that You chose to take our sin upon Yourself and suffer for us, that we might be Your beloved, whom You will restore and glorify in the Kingdom which is to come.  Help us to live with that promise before us, that the day is soon coming when You will restore our fortunes to us, bringing us in and gathering us together, to make us renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, for You are our Treasure and the Hope of our Joy.  And it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

"God Will Judge the Leaders" Sermon: Zephaniah 3:1-8

“God Will Judge the Leaders”

[Zephaniah 3:1-8]

September 11, 2011 Second Reformed Church

            Josiah, a good king – a king who followed after the ways to the Lord, had risen to the throne in Judah.  He had discovered the Law of God and had it read to the people.  He repented of his sin and removed the idols from the Temple and from the high places.  But the people did not repent.  They believed that they could worship God and idols and still be faithful to God.

            God sent Zephaniah the prophet to speak to the people, and he told them that God was angry with the sins of Judah, and God was going to bring judgment on Judah because she was His beloved bride – His child who needed to receive His discipline to be led in the way of righteousness.

            Zephaniah told the people that God would not only judge Judah, but He would judge the nations who had attacked Judah and tried to destroy her.  And God gave them an additional hope in telling them that the day would come when a remnant from Judah would return to the land, and a remnant from every nation would turn and repent and believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

            In this morning’s Scripture, Zephaniah prophecies specifically against the city of Jerusalem.  The people had thought, “Yes, God will take His Judgment against the nation, but God will never touch His Holy City – God will never touch His Temple; Jerusalem and her inhabitants are safe.”

            But God told them they had put their faith in the city and the Temple and not in Him:  Jerusalem – and her leaders in particular – had rebelled against God – they had tried to overthrow Him.  They had defiled the holy places.  They had oppressed God’s people in leading them astray rather than being the good shepherds that God had appointed them to be.   She refused to listen to the voice of God.  She refused His Fatherly discipline.  And truth begins with teachableness – she despised the truth; she despised correction.  She did not trust in the Lord; she did not draw near to the Lord.

            The leaders in Jerusalem thought they were above God’s discipline because of who they were and where they were, but God told them they had committed the unforgivable sin; they had committed the one sin that cannot be forgiven.  Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31, ESV).

            The sin against the Holy Spirit – the unforgivable sin – is refusing God’s Salvation – today, we understand this is through Jesus Alone.  So, the person who refuses to receive Christ and dies cannot be forgiven.  The leaders of Jerusalem were telling God, “Yes, Lord, there are many people in Judah who need Your discipline, but not in the Holy City.  It’s a wonderful thing that You will provide salvation for all those who will believe – thankfully, we don’t need it.  But we do know people who do need help – people who are not so involved with Your Temple and all things religious.”

            The leaders thought themselves as faithful – the true spiritual leaders of Jerusalem, but God told them through Zephaniah that God would judge the leaders.  The leaders God appoints are to be good shepherds to His people:  they are to lead the people in such a way that they do not have want.  They are to lead them besides still waters and make a place for them to lie down in green pastures.  They are to restore the souls of the people and to lead them in the paths of righteousness for the sake of the Lord.

            But that is not what they did.  God describes them like this:

            The officials were roaring lions.  They went about seeking someone to devour.  The officials weren’t interested in justice; they were interested in being able to punish people.

            The judges were “evening wolves that leave nothing until the morning.”  Wolves hunt during the day.  If they have gone until evening without eating, they become ravenous.  The people who came into their courts had no hope, but were devoured immediately and completely.

            The prophets were “fickle, treacherous men.”  Rather than proclaim the Word of the Lord, the prophets “adjusted” their message as it profited them to do so.  They would speak whatever would fill their coin purses and get them to be asked back to speak again.

            The priests profaned the holy.  Rather than showing the people that God is Holy through worship, the priests ate food that only belonged to God, they took bribes, and they engaged with temple prostitutes.  They flaunted their profaning of the holy.  They broke the Law of God with violence and abandon.

            Still, they said, “This is the Temple of the Lord – the Holy City, God would never let anything happen to it or us.”  Where would God go if He didn’t have the Temple to inhabit?  Where would God go if this church building no longer existed?   If we were not here to worship God, God might shrivel up and die, right?

            “But the Lord is with us!”  They objected.

            God told them to consider His Character – in verse five:  Yes, God was within her, and He is Righteous.  The author of Hebrews wrote, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31, ESV).  God was there – God is here – and that’s a wonderful thing if we are right with God.  But God is Righteous – God is Holy – God will not tolerate the slightest evil to remain in His Presence.

            “God is Righteous and does no injustice; God is the same day by day by day.  Leaders of Jerusalem – cheats, liars, unjust, rebellious, and uncaring – where is your shame?  Do you really think you can stand before the Face of God?” 

            God said, “Look what I have done for you:  I have cut off the nations – I have given you this land, made you My people.  I have killed your enemies so no one is left to stand against you.  I have given you their streets and their cities.  I have made you a mighty nation – My people – the people of the One Holy God.”

            “I thought, surely, if I made you My people and gave you the land of Canaan and defeated all of your enemies for you, you would be My people and follow Me in love and humility – that you would accept My Fatherly Discipline.  If you had, I wouldn’t be in the midst of cutting you off and bringing judgment upon you.  But the more I showed you My Love, the more you turned away and became more and more corrupt.”

            We know God is not really astonished – God is Sovereign over all and everything occurs according to His Plan.  Yet, God speaks in our text to the leaders in astonishment to shock them into seeing what they were doing.  God speaks to us in astonishment to shock us into seeing what we are doing:  “You say, ‘everybody sins,’ like it’s no big deal.  But I came to earth in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, allowing you to put Me to death, so I could pay the debt for Your sin.  Does that really sound like ‘no big deal’?”

            God gives us leaders.  Paul wrote, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.  Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.  Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?  Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.  For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.  Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience” (Romans 13:1-5, ESV).

            What does God say?  All positions of authority and all persons who occupy positions of authority have been put there by God.  That means that President Bush was given his position and authority by God.  It also means that President Obama was given his position and authority by God.  God’s Will is never trumped; whomever God would have in authority is in authority – for our good or our punishment.

            What does Paul say the two reasons are for government – for leaders?  We are given two reasons in the Word of God for leaders and government:  to protect the people and to punish evil.  The leaders in Jerusalem were doing evil and abusing the people – they had forsaken their call to leadership.  They thought they were autonomous and didn’t need God; they had forgotten that God gave them their positions, and they were amenable to God for their authority.

            God is the Sovereign Ruler and Lord over all earthly authorities.  Everyone who has authority has it because God created the authority and appointed the person to serve as leader for a time.  I was called to be the pastor of this church.  God created the pastorate of this church, and God placed me in leadership in this church – and I do well to remember that.

Each of us has some form of authority – whether it be in the church or in our jobs or in our family or in our relationships.  In whatever form of authority God has given us, we ought to acknowledge Him and submit to His Will, serving as He has shown us to serve through the example of Jesus – as Paul wrote, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look out not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:1-8, ESV).

As those who have authority by the will of God, we are to serve as leaders in the way that Jesus served.  (And we are given that mind of service by Christ Himself, so we don’t have to find it or work up to it.)  We are to serve in love and humility, looking out for others as well as ourselves, and serving sacrificially for the sake of others.

Consider for a moment that you are God.  You have a disobedient people who will eternally perish if you don’t intercede somehow.  You can’t let them off the hook – justice has to be served.  So, what you do is you come to earth in the form and person of a human being, and then you are killed by your people – as you take the punishment for their sin.  That is how we ought to serve each other as leaders.

Now, there is a fine line between humble service and allowing oneself to be used and abused.  God does not call us to seek out abuse; God does not call us to be doormats.  But God does call us to go a very far distance to show others what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.  That is the point after all – we do not humbly serve as leaders to get others to look up to us – as if such a scenario were possible.  We serve others humbly that they may know Jesus Christ and His Gospel.

            God works through earthly authorities to bless, discipline, and punish.  Just as God rules over all, God has given us leaders to rule over us.  God has entrusted them with the roles of seeking after our good, disciplining us for our good, and punishing evil so it will not arise again.

            We ought to obey our leaders, so long as they don’t require us to sin – Paul mentions paying taxes as one thing Christians must do.  You may think taxation is legitimate or you may think it is not, but if it is the law, and we are not required to sin in paying our taxes, we must pay our taxes as a witness to the fact that we believe that God has put all authorities in power.

We ought also be in prayer for our leaders and encourage them whenever possible – that they would be humble and submit to God in all things, seeking to lead in love and justice, rooting out evil, that all people might know the God who gave them their authority.

            God is intolerant of people abusing the authority He has given them.

We ought to encourage our leaders to repent when they have sinned, not damning them as thought we have never sinned – “vengeance is the Lord’s” – but calling them to do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.  In this country we have the opportunity to write to our elected officials to encourage and rebuke, to praise and persuade our leaders and to vote people in or out of office as they fulfill the call on them to serve.

And some of you might be thinking, “Well, it does no good.  They won’t listen to us.  And as one person goes out and another comes in, it’s always the same.”  Whether that’s true or not is not the point:  leaders are responsible to God – ultimately – as are we.  And our role in government – in leadership – is to help the leaders God has given us to do what is right and pleasing in God’s Sight.  Our leaders’ sin does not excuse our sin.

            God is always Just, and as He is Pleased and Wills, He is Merciful and Gracious. As we have already see in Zephaniah, God promises judgment, and then He promises that a remnant will return – not just from Judah, but from all of the nations.

            Yet, it would take exile to bring the remnant back to God.  God spoke through Zephaniah and told the leaders of Jerusalem, “Wait for me…for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.  For my decision is to gather the nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all of the earth will be consumed.”

            God said, “I will descend on you like you have descended upon the people I gave you to care for; I will descend on you like a wild animal and tear you apart.  I will gather you with the nations and pour out fire upon you.”

            James wrote, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1, ESV).  We will be judged based on the authority we have been given.

            And Peter wrote, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt away as they burn!  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (II Peter 3:10-13, ESV).

Judgment will come, but it is not a judgment of annihilation – the fires that burn do not destroy.  The judgment – for the remnant – is a judgment to purification – it is the fire that burns to refine gold.  Because God has chosen to be merciful and gracious.

On the Day of Judgment, God will not annihilate everything that is, but will purify and refine – the remnant – the elect – all those who believed savingly in Jesus Alone – perfected and made holy, into the Image of Jesus, God’s Son.

With that in mind, let us submit to our leaders in humility, recognizing them as God’s servants, and as we serve as leaders, let us serve in a way that brings glory to our God.

Let us pray:

            Almighty God, Ruler of All, we bow before You, ashamed that we have not been good leaders and we have not respected our leaders and humbly submitted to them.  Teach us to lead and to follow well – that we might reflect the Image of Your Son, Jesus, that His Gospel would be known through our leadership, and all nations would recognize You as the Sovereign King.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.