[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason, and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching from God's words you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to Him. If you're ever in the Madison, Alabama area, we'd love for you to worship with us on Sundays at 8:30 or 10:30am if you have any other questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, find
[email protected] Be sure to also check out our Bible study podcast, Madison Church of Christ Bible Studies. Thanks again for stopping by.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: I want to say something, and I hope you'll forgive me as I do this.
There's been something that's been, you know, kind of on my heart for a little bit in the last several weeks. There have been some things that I feel like, needed to be said. And so I hope you won't throw tomatoes at me or, you know, shoot the messenger, so to speak.
But I want you to know this, life is not about football.
Okay, well, that's good. I really appreciate you not throwing anything in my direction. Life is not about football. Now, I recognize what state we're in. I recognize the season. I recognize, you know, how passionate we are here in the south about such a sport. And I just want to remind us all, no matter what we're going through, that that is not what life is all about.
Now, having said that, there are a lot of things about football that apply to life. There are a lot of things about a lot of different sports and different things that you go through that I think have some application to what life is all about. And I know you guys all have your favorite team and you all want to support them the very best you can, and that's a good thing to do. I'm sure all of you have, like, a special time, a game in particular that is probably your favorite of all time. Maybe that. That one play that that mattered the most in a big championship game or something. But for me, I'll tell you that my favorite moment in college football happened with my team in a national championship game back in 2009. Actually, the game was played in 2010 and we were playing.
My team was playing another team that was formidable, totally deserved to be there. Two teams that were powerhouses. And it was going to come into, you know, this collision as they played each other in this national championship game. And I couldn't help but just thinking about that game. What all was required to get there.
I think about the sacrifices that had to be made, the amount of training that took place, the conditioning, the getting your body ready, working out and strengthening muscles and executing like, the plays the right way, studying the playbook, knowing all of those things, knowing that the team is relying upon you to be in that one spot at that right time to make that play, or that you cover that block when that person is coming in. And I think about all the discipline that's required, the sweat, the blood, the tears, all those things that they work on, what they put in their body with food, how they use their bodies with every aspect of it to the very best they can with full discipline and all of those things. And I. I think about that circumstance, and then you imagine it all culminating into your objective. Your goal is to win that national championship. And so, you know, there my team is, I'm excited about it, knowing that we're playing another team that's exceptional and that. That it's going to be unbelievable. And I think maybe the first series of the game, the quarterback on the opposing team took a shot in the arm, got really hit hard, and in the process, his arm kind of went limp and they took him off the field and he didn't get to play anymore.
Wasn't an injury that hurt so much. It just killed the nerve at that point. And he couldn't find, throw the ball, couldn't touch it and all those kinds of things. So the game goes on. My team actually wins the game, and I'm excited about it. But I can't help but say that, you know, there was something in the back of my heart that just felt so terrible for this young man who had given so much, and all of his hopes and dreams had kind of collapsed around him. And you know how it is after a national championship game. There's confetti everywhere. Guys got their hats on sideways, they're screaming and yelling, they're shouting at the top of their lungs, they're calling out family and friends, and there's this celebration everywhere. And they put a microphone in front of those guys and they all honor God and. And it's just so pretty to hear them say those things.
But then they found their way to this quarterback, and his name was Colt McCoy. And I know you guys know what I'm talking about.
And in this moment of absolute defeat, chaos all around him, someone came and put a microphone to his lips and said, I know you're disappointed. What are you thinking?
And, you know, he rattled on for a few minutes about like, his passion for the game and how much he had worked hard and we were ready. And I love my teammates. I love being with them. I'm so proud of them for the effort. And I would have given anything to be out there with them. And he's saying all these things, but then you can see it in the interview. There's a pivot.
There's a moment where his heart changes, and he says this.
And I always give glory to God.
I never question why things happen the way they do.
God's in control of my life, and I know that, if nothing else, I'm standing on the rock.
Well, folks, my team just won the national championship. I never got out of my seat, but the moment I heard these words, I literally jumped to my feet and said, yes.
Yes. How often do we see people in those great moments of victory praising God. But how often do we see someone in the midst of that chaos, that destruction, that horrible environment around him, when all of the things that he had worked for were gone and done and away and he's finished with college football and all those kinds of things? And in that moment, to have the right perspective, what I want you to understand is this.
What happened to Colt McCoy was terrible, but it was also a defining moment. Because in that moment, what was in him, or rather, who was in him, came bubbling out.
Because, see, in those moments where chaos is all around you, you look for the comfort that you find from within.
And it was that moment that what he was in Christ mattered more than anything else in this life.
And what he could say with confidence is, I'm standing on that rock.
He was hidden in Christ. He was molded into the shape of Christ, and he expressed from the heart who he really was in that moment.
Well, God has a way, I think, sometimes in the midst of chaos in our lives and the things that we go through, the circumstances that we experience, he has a way of taking those moments and refining us. In fact, the Bible says that it tells us that sometimes when we go through trials and difficulties and we're challenged in our faith a little bit, if we'll stay strong, if we'll keep that purpose, and if we'll drive deeper and find something deep inside of us to work even more and to stay faithful in that moment, that God, on the other side of that, refines our faith and makes it stronger and more powerful and more exemplary.
And that's a powerful thing for us to remember. And if I think about it, that's really what this book in Zephaniah is all about.
This Prophecy is from a man who is expressing to the people of Judah what, one more time, how frustrating it is for God to see his people wandering off into other places. And when you think about Zephaniah's name, it means hidden by God or sheltered by God. And what that is is the idea that he's kind of kept safe. He's kind of in a place of refuge, and that's what his name means.
He was a descendant of King Hezzatah. He prophesied in the midst of the rule of Josiah. And we'll learn a little bit more about that in just a few moments.
But this was 25 years before the Babylonian captivity. So all the things that we're going to read about, that you hear about, those are things that led up to the Babylonian captivity. Assyria is the power at play in this moment. But Israel's kind of holding their own, or Judah is holding their own. But ultimately, God is raising up another nation in Babylon who will come in and take his people captive. And he's telling them that this thing is coming. And so he uses it and the concept of this, the day of the Lord. Now you're gonna see that in all of these minor prophets, because God was giving them the same message to share with others.
But in this case, it's more ominous maybe, than it is in others.
It's tough. The day of the Lord comes over and over, and it's meant to be the day when the Lord shows up on the scene and brings wrath to those who are his enemies.
But here's the other part of it that I think maybe we overlook is the rescue and the restoration of those that are found faithful. And so I know we're going through these prophets, and there's a lot of things that we kind of dig into a little bit here, and it's kind of ominous and it's deep and it's dark and all those things. But I want us to focus in. When you think about this, I want you to focus on that last part is the remnant of faithfulness and what that means to be in that position.
So here's how the.
The book starts.
And it's kind of interesting because here in this one, Zephaniah has given us a little bit of his chronology. And that's kind of. Kind of interesting and kind of a little bit different because we don't always see this. But he's doing this for a very specific reason. He's trying to show his connection to Hezekiah. So you see Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of. Of Judah. So he's drawing some, some connections here, and we need to explore those a little bit. Who is Hezekiah, for example? Well, without getting into all of these things, one of the things that we know about Hezekiah was that he was kind of the king that God wanted his people to have. He had the right kind of heart about him. He. He did the right things. He got rid of idolatry. He. He took care of the, the temple, he built it back up and, and restored worship, practices and those kinds of things. He sought the Lord with all of his heart. He had the right kind of heart. In fact, it says that Hezekiah was the kind of king that everything that he did fell in line with what God's will was. And that's why he prospered, because God was with him, helping him along the way.
He also sought God in times of darkness, times of need.
You may remember where the Assyrian army gathered at the foot of the mountain there in Jerusalem, and they're threatening taking over the city. Hezekiah stops and he prays to God. And that night an angel of God comes in and wipes out 185,000 Assyrians, just lays waste to all of them again. Because he trusted in God. He had that kind of faith. There was a time where his life was about to come to an end and he wanted more time. And so he prayed for God to give him more time. And God answered that prayer by giving him 15 more years.
This was a guy who trusted in God. And you think to yourself, okay, so Judah must be in good hands, right? Here's a good king doing all the right things.
But the problem is Hezekiah passed away. And with that, his son Manasseh was named the king.
Manasseh was terrible. He was evil. He allowed all those things that Hezekiah had done. He allowed all those things to come back. All the moving out of the. The false gods, they were all brought back in.
And really he was evil. I mean, like a bad, bad king. And you may look at the divided kingdom and look up in Israel and see they really didn't have many good kings. Judah had a few good ones, but this Manasseh was not. Manasseh was terrible. But after he passed away, his son Ammon became king. And Ammon was so bad and had so many enemies that he was ultimately assassinated. And that's what brought Josiah into the kingship at the age of 8. So let's look at these connections real quickly. Zephaniah is the great, great grandson of Hezekiah, and Josiah, the eight year old king, is Hezekiah's great grandson. So they were second cousins. Now this may not mean anything to anybody except for this.
Zephaniah was not of the line, the royal line.
His father and grandfather came from a different set of sons, okay? And so he was not on the kingly side of things, but he was family. And so because he had that close relationship, he was brought into the palace and spent time with the young king. And in fact, a lot of people believe that it was Zephaniah's message that became the pivot point in helping Josiah seek the Lord. So let's look at him. He became king at the age of eight, says at the age of 16, that all of a sudden he started seeking out the Lord.
Now I can't help but think that Zephaniah was an advisor to him and that he was talking to him and saying, hey, I'm sharing this message. I'm this warning. And Josiah in that moment began to fear God and seek after him. But at that age of 16, he began to do it on his own. So I want to say to all you kids in the youth group, you know, if you haven't already, now is the time for you to turn your heart. Trust in God, grow in your faith, seek him with all you got.
By the age of 20, he had removed all the idols. And not only that, but he had killed all the priests of those false idols.
And at the age of 26, he went back into, after two generations of the temple not being used again, he came and cleaned it out again. And while they were cleaning up, someone found the Book of the Law and they brought it to him and they read it to him and he ripped his clothes apart and saying, hey, we as a nation must repent. He read, read the Book of the Law out loud to all of the people of Judah, and they decided to set a course in a better direction.
But this message from Zephaniah came on the early part of this stage, before these reforms began to take place. You can read all about that in 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings. But it's a very fascinating thing to think about these two in proximity to each other at a time where Judah had really lost its way.
So Zephaniah was pivotal in starting those reforms, but also the message that we need to be reminded of with Zephaniah is that it's a message that talks about wrath and talks about the punishment and the destruction that's coming, but also this idea that there's a restorative aspect to it where God is going to take the remnant of the faithful people and bring them back into a relationship with him in a very close way, in a very intimate way. And so let's read a little bit more about this. In verse 2 and 3 of chapter 1, Zephaniah says this. He says, I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, declares the Lord. I will sweep away man and beast. I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth, declares the Lord. So, man, you read that, and that sounds pretty ominous.
And so I want you to capture that part of this was there was a reversal of creation. If you think about when God created the heavens and the earth, and we get that story of creation in Genesis, one of the things we find out on day, what, 4, 5 and 6, that the fish and the fish and the birds and the beast and man were all made on those days, well, here it is in reverse order. Kind of the message is not necessarily the specifics of it, but kind of in opposition of what took place in creation, where God took chaos and created order. Out of that, God is going to take the order it exists now and create chaos. He's going to reverse that thing. And so a lot of times when you read stuff like this, it's like, okay, there's things that apply to the people there in Judah, and then there are things that may have an application later in life. And it may be that this is something that God is talking about, maybe eschatological, some of the end times things. And there's several places in Zephaniah where that's the case. For example, there's another place where it talks about how God will ultimately unify their voices in one pure voice.
And it's probably an allusion to the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out and all of those followers of Jesus were speaking in unknown tongues, and everyone in there was hearing it in their own native tongues. Probably one of those things where in this moment it's talking to them about praising God, but also it had an effect on something much further down the line. So Zephaniah is one of those kind of books that's talking about this. And so here, whether they understood it as their cataclysmic event, or whether they understood that it was time for them to listen to what God was saying. That's the message. Turning over to verse four and five, it says this. I will stretch my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place the remnant of baal, the name of the idolatrous priests, along with the priest, those who bow down on the roofs to the host of heavens, and those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom. Milcom. That word kind of means king, but it's actually specifically kind of another name that is used for Molech, the God of the Ammonites, and that particular God in their worship to him, they would offer up their children as sacrifices to.
To their God Molech. And so what God is saying here is he's seen all these things. He's watched them say, hey, that they love God, but then go to their roofs and pray to the stars. He's watched them offer up sacrifices to Molech. And he said, that's it. I've had enough of it. So he says, in this elimination, he's going to take out all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, remove those false gods, take those conflicted spiritual leaders and get rid of them.
But then here are the two things that I think we need to focus our mind on.
The idolatrous and the complacent.
He mentions this in verse 12. He says, that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill. They're saying God doesn't have any power. He doesn't do good things or bad things. It's just life. We just live life. And that's how it goes. And so he's addressing not only those that we know went off into adultery, but those who found themselves kind of complacent about it as well.
And then he gets into the day of the Lord, and I told you, it's ominous, it's harsh, it's difficult. When I read, I go down to verse 14, and he says this. The great day of the Lord is near.
Near and hastening fast. Judgment is coming. It's coming. Harsh.
And then he says this, the day of wrath.
Listen to what he says. It's a day of distress and anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, gloom, clouds, thick darkness, a trumpet blast, a battle cry. It's like, oh, my goodness, like I find myself, and if I can be you guys for just a moment, as you're listening to us preach these sermons, it's like, oh, do we have to hear this one more time? I mean, don't you find yourself going, we? Wow, that's hard to hear that over and over. Have you ever been a parent and like spoken to your children and it feels like you're getting onto them all the time, like you're just saying the same things over and over and nothing's changing. That's kind of what we're seeing here. And it's kind of a downer, right? It's kind of frustrating. I read it and I'm like, come on, get it together. Like, find a way to turn your hearts and do the right thing. He said these things over and over and he sent messenger after messenger after messenger. And we find ourselves going, come on, like, wake up a little bit and change. And I guess what I want you to understand is, yes, there is catastrophic destruction coming upon the enemies of God.
But don't fail to miss this point. God's repetitive going after them over and over again is a sign of his absolute full out pursuit of his people coming back to Him.
Understand it. God is not. He's telling them to get it right, but he is not looking to destroy them. He is looking to bring them back. And, and I love it because there's kind of mercy in the middle of all this. There's a refining expectation that God has for those who will turn their hearts and come back to Him.
He says this before the decree takes effect.
It's coming, it's drawing near. I'm telling you it's coming near.
But please listen to me. Before the decree takes place, before it ever comes into fruition, I'm giving you this opportunity to, to come back. He says, before the day of the Lord and the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord all you humble of the land. Do his just commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility, perhaps, and catch this terminology, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
What's he saying?
This idea, this concept of being hidden, you know, while God has these decrees and they're definitive, what I want you to understand is they're wrapped in his mercy, his love for you, his desire for you to come back.
It's what he was telling them in those days and it's what he's telling us today as well.
And while we have breath in us, he's giving us opportunities. Every single day that you wake up is an opportunity to devote yourself to Him.
And if you've wandered off to come back.
And he gives this. Every day is as the Bible says, they are new every morning. His mercies are new every morning.
And he's given us a chance to return to Him.
But let's kind of focus in on those words again.
He says what he wants us to do, and he says, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of anger from the Lord, or from the day of anger and the Lord.
The idea that Zephaniah, whose name means hidden by God, would kind of use this terminology is kind of a way to say, hey, you know what my name means, and I'm hidden in God. I have this relationship with Him. I'm protected from Him, I'm sheltered by Him.
And maybe if you'll do these things, you'll find yourself sheltered as well. You'll find yourselves hidden by God.
So what was the requirement for us to be hidden by God? Well, it's things that are very familiar to you because the things that he told them are the very things that Jesus told us and his followers after him told us. First of all is seek God and seek his righteousness. We know Matthew, chapter 6. When Jesus was speaking in the Sermon on the Mount, one of the first things he said was, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. What's he talking about? The provisions of life, the things that you really need. God's going to take care of those things. You don't have to worry about that. You just seek him, his righteousness, and he'll provide those things for you. But also in Acts, chapter 17, it reminds us that his apostles were telling people, hey, just understand, God can be sought after. And he's not far from any of us. He's available to us. And when we seek after him, he is present in that moment. But then also In Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 6, it says, without faith, it's impossible to please Him.
For he who comes to God must believe that he is or that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who do what Diligently seek him, pursue him, turn to him, find out more about Him. But then the second thing is this. Humble ourselves.
Jesus said it this way. He said, whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Whoever exalts himself will be brought low.
Then I'm reminded in James as he's talking to them about, you know, the idea of pride. And he said, you know, God gives more grace to the humble. And he tells them, you know, to submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you and draw near to God. And he'll draw near to you. Ultimately, what he comes down to, the conclusion of that little paragraph, is simply this.
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he'll lift you up.
So if we seek the Lord, if we humble ourselves, and then also if we're active in doing his commands, it's one thing to know what God says, it's another thing for us to put those things into practice. That's why Jesus said in that Sermon on the Mount, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, whoever follows those commands. Well, look at John, chapter eight. One of the things that is said there is we prove that we abide in God by doing his commandments in First John, chapter five. What we find out is that it's actually proof of our love for God. When we get out of ourselves and we obey his commandments and we follow those things, it's very much the proof that we love God, that He is our priority in life. And so that's what it means to be hidden by God, that we do these things and we find this shelter, this place of hiding in Him.
But what happens to those who don't do that? Or how do you describe those who are not hidden in Christ? Well, this is the way the prophet describes it. He says, woe to her who is rebellious and defiled the oppressing city.
She listens to no voice, she accepts no correction, does not trust in the Lord and does not draw near to her God.
Now you may say to yourself, okay, well, yeah, that doesn't sound great, but it doesn't sound like super rebellious. It doesn't sound like, you know, this person has animosity toward God. It's just saying they kind of have found a way to just be where they are. They're not necessarily looking for, you know, someone to tell them what to do, to change their life or anything. They're not necessarily looking to just go full sail into God. They don't necessarily need God so much a part of their lives that they have to change some things. And I'm afraid when I say this out loud, that there could be people among us who have in their mind, hidden from God. Because when you look at these words, you may say, well, that sounds like they're hidden, like they're outside of God's awareness and those kinds of things, that they've just kind of taken themselves out of the picture altogether. They're not really forthright up, you know, up front. People who are, you know, speaking about their faith and those kinds of things. They're just kind of people who have kind of stepped back and said, I'll just live my life and everything will be fine. I'll kind of stay out of the crosshairs of God. And, you know, I'm not necessarily looking to change anything, but I'm not going to be a bad person or what have you. And we create this mentality that says, I'm not doing anything wrong.
But again, I want to remind you that he warns us against those who are rebellious, but also those who are complacent. And so the question I have is, are you hidden or are you hiding from God?
Because ultimately, what is really meant here is these people are not sheltered when God's wrath comes.
They're not sheltered. They're not hidden away.
They're not protected in that moment.
They're laid open to that judgment.
And so again, while he's talking to them, I want him to talk to us, too, to remind us of where we need to be.
And I can hear the Lord speaking through Zephaniah. You can almost hear his frustration a little bit in what he's saying.
Like, you know, I really thought these people would understand. Surely they have paid attention and seen, like, how I've handled our enemies before. They've seen, like, how I've wasted their land. Like, there's no one on the streets, they're scraped clean. There's no inhabitants, there's no people there. Their places are desolate. That's what happens to people who stand in opposition to me. You know, I just really, really thought that my people would kind of hear that, see it, and trust in me in this moment and. And make sure that they find themselves kind of loyal to me.
He says, surely you will fear me and accept correction. But notice the last part of that verse. But all the more, they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt, like the Jew that place all of God's people there in Judah.
I mean, a big, big chunk of them had so rebelled and so turned their heart away from him that they were finding themselves in this position.
So the day of the Lord for them is a reckoning for those who are found in that situation. And again, I know this is hard, but hold on and hold onto. The next aspect of this is while it is a fearful thing, it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of God on that day. If we're rebellious or complacent Think about the joy and the beauty of having a relationship with him and falling under his protection, being restored, because through all of those things, we remain faithful.
He says this in chapter 3, verse 12.
But I will leave in your midst the people humble and lowly, and they shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. Those who are left in Israel, they shall do no injustice, speak no lies. There shall be no found in their mouth a deceitful tongue.
Listen to these words. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Okay, there's chaos all around. There's destruction everywhere. But those who are found faithful. Do you hear what he's saying? Oh, man. They're going to get fed.
They're going to have such a calmness about them. They're not going to have a fear of anything else. Why?
Because God is with them.
I think back to in the 70s. I don't know exactly how old I was.
There were tornadoes that were coming through the Decatur area.
Sirens were going off.
The people on the news were saying, find shelter now. It's right in this area. Get there quickly, cover up. Get in the bathroom, put a mattress over your head, all those things, you know. And we're waiting for my father to come home.
He was working a later shift, had a broken leg, and we knew that he would not be able to get out of the car and get into the house quickly. So we were all standing by the door waiting for his car to pull in. And he pulled in, and all of us ran to the car and grabbed my dad and kind of helped him stumble into the house. And we got into that sheltered place. And I know, logically speaking, my dad didn't stop a storm.
I know that he was not the reason we were not hit by that tornado. I understood it completely.
But there was something powerful about my phone speaking in my.
There you go. That's kind of cool.
There was something very powerful about my father's arrival and the calmness that it brought to all of us. Like, everything's gonna be okay. We're here together.
And I think to some degree, that's kind of what's happening in this situation, because God not only provides that restoration to the faithful, but he also brings with it this huge, dynamic celebration. And if you're focusing on this message, this is the part that we want to hold onto while there is destruction, while there is chaos everywhere around. I want you to hear the words, what it says God is doing for us. It says, 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 exalt over you with loud singing. And I want you to capture this. God zeroes his attention not on the destruction, although that's coming, but on those who are found faithful.
And he's right there in their midst, bringing them the comfort that he says. And notice what it says.
He's in their midst.
That's the part that's the most important.
That's what matters the most, is that God is with us.
Chaos may be rolling all around us, but because our hearts are settled, him being there in our midst brings us to that peace. So what does he say about it? He says, in this moment, he's gonna rejoice over you. And the expression there is like this exceeding joy. Like this is like bubbling over, it's overflowing. Like God is so excited that you're right there in his presence. And it says he will quiet you with his love. What it's saying is that that pure essence of God's love, what that really means. And if you've ever experienced true love, you know what a comfort that is to feel that embrace.
And to know that you're among a person who accepts you and loves you and is so thankful for you, that is such a blessing. But he will quite. He'll bring a peace and a calmness. Even though the stuff around you is terrible. He'll bring a peace.
But then this next part, he will exult over you in loud singing. And literally the translation is like spinning in, like, this outburst of song. It's like kind of what happened when Colt McCoy said what he said. And I rejoiced in that moment, jumped out of my chair and threw my hands up and said, yes, that's the love that God has for you.
For those who give all they've got in service and devotion to him who, in the midst of chaos all around them, they find themselves faithful.
And God, in that moment, rejoices. I think about Luke 15. When the prodigal son comes home. You remember what happens. The Father runs down and meets him and throws himself on him and kisses him and says, go get a ring and a robe and kill the fatty calf. Let's celebrate.
That's what God does in showing celebration. And I don't know. Listen, there are beautiful voices in this room.
I mean, I hear some of you singing. And I know exactly where you are in the auditorium. I can hear your voices. Some of you sing like birds.
Well, you know, God Created music.
God created singing.
And I just imagine his voice is absolute perfection.
And he's singing, rejoicing over the remnant of people who are faithful.
That's something for us to be reminded of. So when the chaos and disorder and rebellion are all surrounding us, God is seeking the faithful remnant. You may say, well, what does that look like now? How do we live that way here in this life and today?
Well, we have these words from Colossians, chapter three.
Since you've been raised with a new life, okay, when we were baptized into Christ, we come up out of that water, we're given this newness of life, this forgiveness of sins, this new walk with God says, set your heights on the realities of heaven. In other words, don't focus your time so much on all the things that you can accomplish here. Yes, be successful. Yes, work hard, all of those things. But don't let your end all be what you accomplish here. Let it be the reality of there's something deeper spiritual out there that I can pursue. And it's heaven with God. It's my life with Him. So I'm preparing myself and living every day in view of that. And it says it this way. It says, for you died to this life and your real life.
Catch the words hidden with Christ and God.
And when Christ, who is your life, stop for a second. Is Christ your life?
Is he the reason that you do everything that you do?
Is he the thing that brings joy to your life when you wake up every morning? Is he the focal point of your daily walk and your expressions with other people? The way you treat your family, the way you love your spouse, your.
The way you talk to your co workers, the way you treat your friends? Is he the focus of your life? Because when he is is revealed to the whole world, you will share in his glory. In other words, there's a day coming when Jesus will return.
And the Bible says this in second Thessalonians, chapter one, it says, when Jesus returns, there's gonna be this kind of separation that takes place.
And it says he's going to come. And I know these words, they're not fun to hear. Inflaming vengeance to those who do not know him and those who do not obey his gospel.
Not my words, that's his words.
But for those who are found faithful, it's righteousness and joy and elation.
And now we know that God sings over us.
So the question is, the day of the Lord is coming.
Jesus will return.
Are you hiding or are you hidden?
Because hiding means I'm just kind of staying back letting life happen not digging into what it means to follow him but hidden in Christ means no. I've latched onto that humility, that righteousness. I've latched onto what he's called me to be obeying his commandments and living for him and being purchased by the blood of Christ and my sins washed away and renewed in his spirit every day.
And when I do that I have this joy that awaits me. I don't have to fear when the Lord returns. I can actually with expectation have hope and excitement and being thrilled at his coming.
The day is coming.
Are you hiding or are you hidden in Christ this morning? If you have a need in any way if you want to get your life right if you want to be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins if you're ready to walk this life in full view of eternity focusing on that reality then I encourage you to come while we stand and sing.
