 Zephaniah chapter 3 beginning at verse 1. Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted to the oppressing city. She has not obeyed his voice. She has not received correction. She has not trusted in the Lord. She has not drawn near to her God. Her princes in her midst are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. The Lord is righteous. He is in her midst. He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He never fails. But the unjust knows no shame. What a powerful statement. Now in chapter 2, as we've been going through Zephaniah, we saw that judgment was prophesied. And that judgment is coming not simply on the nation of Israel. But as we went through chapter 2 here in Zephaniah, we saw that judgment was coming to the entire world. Zephaniah was declaring that because of Israel's idolatry, judgment was certain. Now some judgment came in the course of their ancient history through other nations. When you read the history of Israel, you see that many times the Lord brought chastening and judgment upon the Jewish nation. And there are many times that you'll see in the history of Israel that they went through oppressive and very, very difficult times. As you study your Bible, you'll see that various nations attacked them and many times were thorns in their flesh. You'll see that there were people called the Philistines. And very often the Philistines would plague them. But there were others that you see in the Bible that are spoken of as oppressing them and coming against them. The Canaanites, the Sidonians, the Hivites, Moabites, of various peoples that came against the nation of Israel. Egypt enslaved them. Assyria decimated them. Babylon took them captive. And Rome ruled over them. When you look at the history of Israel, they were an oppressed nation. We know that after Jerusalem's destruction in 70 A.D., that Israel suffered captivity and persecutions for centuries. But the 20th century saw them rise again as a nation. And they are still at the center of the world's anger to this day. Ultimately, when you look at prophecy, in the end of the tribulation, Israel will once again be the center of the world's attention. So during the time of Zephaniah, judgment has come upon the people. But future judgment is being predicted. And again, it's a judgment that is not local. It is a worldwide judgment. God is going to bring judgment on Jerusalem. He'll do so during a time referred to as the tribulation. Jerusalem will be the center of the attention of the world. In the Old Testament book of Zechariah in chapter 12 verses 2 and 3, we read, Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples. All who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. For the longest time, people believed that this particular prophecy that when I just read out of Zechariah was something that was either fulfilled already or that Israel no longer was the center of prophetic activity and rather the church took the place of Israel. And part of the reason, if not a large part of the reason that people began to think so is because Israel didn't exist as a nation. For centuries, it ceased existing. And so theologians in order to try and interpret and understand scripture as it pertained to prophecies like the one I just read out of Zechariah, began to think that perhaps there is a replacement where the church has taken the place of Israel and they began to apply specific prophecies that related to Israel. They began to apply those prophecies to the church because there was no nation of Israel. And so when you read so many scriptures that pertain to the nation of Israel being in existence during the last days and all, because there's no nation of Israel, there are those who would say this can't pertain to a nation that doesn't exist because they didn't see that God was going to begin to draw them back even though God said that he would. And indeed he did. And as he began in the 20th century to draw people back to Israel and as it became a nation once again in 1948, we have a clear review of what's taking place because that nation that was prophesied concerning in the Old Testament exists to this day. And we see the things that Zechariah and other prophets have spoken concerning Israel. We see those prophecies being fulfilled right in front of us. And so the judgment that's being spoken of in chapter two here in Zephaniah is not only experienced in Israel, but it will be international. And that's what we saw last time we were together. We saw that Zephaniah spoke of judgment that was from the West, the East, the South, and North in scope. And he made it clear it's going to be devastating and it's going to be worldwide. So we saw that last time we were together in chapter two. Chapter three opens up with God returning to the theme of judgment on his people. Now he reveals the light of understanding that people have determines the extent of judgment on them. Privilege brings with it responsibility. You see he refers in verse one to the nation in this way. He says woe to her who is rebellious and polluted to the oppressing city. The oppressing city would be the city of Jerusalem that he's referring to. And then he speaks concerning this city. She has not obeyed his voice. She has not received correction. She's not trusted in the Lord. She has not drawn near to her God. Her princes in her midst are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. So this is obvious that he's speaking concerning the city of Jerusalem. And that's what he's referring to. Now remember with me that the nation of Israel had great privilege. In Romans chapter two, verses 17 through 23, the apostle Paul said this. He said, if you are a Jew, you are relying on God's law for your special relationship with him. You boast that all is well between yourself and God. Yes, you know what he wants. You know right from wrong because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a beacon light for people who are lost in darkness without God. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that in God's law you have complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don't you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you do it? You condemn idolatry, but do you steal from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. Privilege brings responsibility and there is great responsibility for the one who knows the Word of God, but refuses to obey it. And that's what the Lord is saying to the nation as he speaks of this oppressing city. When he speaks to her as an oppressing city there in verse one to the oppressing city, that word oppressing in the original language means to destroy, to treat violently, to mistreat or to suppress. He's speaking of a city and that city is Jerusalem and then he describes that city as being rebellious, as being polluted, as being disobedient, unwilling to receive correction, faithless and resistant to drawing near to God and he speaks a woe to her and that's what he does in verse one when he says woe to her who is rebellious and polluted to the oppressing city. Now, Jerusalem is the city where the temple stood and the city that the priests served in. When he speaks to her as being polluted, that word polluted means to be defiled, stained. He's speaking of them being disqualified from the priesthood. Again, as a nation, the nation of Israel had tremendous advantages granted to them by the Lord. In Romans chapter nine, verse four, it says they are the people of Israel chosen to be God's special children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them, gave his law to them. They have the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. You see, the priests had God's word and in it were instructed concerning God and the ways of God. But instead of consulting God's word, they ignored it and did not properly teach the people. When we looked in chapter one at verse six, Zephaniah had said they have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him. They had tremendous light, but they lived as if they didn't have any at all. Instead of living in holiness and spiritual purity, they were polluted and defiled within their hearts. It wasn't the outer thing at all. It was the inner condition of the heart. You know in the New Testament when the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking of the religious leaders, he's speaking to the Pharisees, he teaches them that they are like whitewashed tombs. He said, beautifully adorned on the outside, but within he said you are filled with dead men's bones in all manner of decay. And a lot of times because religious people can act outwardly religious, they can fool quite a number of people because people have a kind of an interesting view of what it means to be religious. If you ask somebody what is a religious person, very often they'll tell you, well, it's a person who prays, it's a person who goes to church, it's a person perhaps who serves at a church and they have all kinds of ideas about what they are, but they can't read a person's heart. They don't know what's going on inside of them. I mean, it's very easy for somebody to on one hand have an appearance of righteousness, but on the other hand, to be far away from God, simultaneous, and that's what was taking place there in the nation of Israel. They had turned back from following the Lord. They were not seeking the Lord, nor were they inquiring of him. They had had opportunity to receive tremendous light, but they lived as if they didn't have any at all. Instead of living in holiness and spiritual purity, they were polluted and defiled again within their heart. Now when you look at what they had in terms of advantages, they had the temple of God, they had the word of God, they had the priesthood of God, yet with all of those advantages, the temple, the word, the priesthood, they were still rejecting him and that's why they're called rebellious, polluted, defiled, the oppressing city. By not abiding by God's word in obedience, they were instead mistreating and suppressing. Notice what it says in verse two. She has not obeyed his voice. She has not received correction. She has not trusted in the Lord. She has not drawn near to her God. She heard God's commands, but will not obey. She heard God's correction, but would not learn lessons of the past and apply them to the present. She did not trust in God. Instead, as we've seen, she yielded over to idolatry. She had not drawn near to the Lord that they might be loved, but they ran in the opposite direction. She was acting as if she didn't know God at all. What are the signs of somebody who believes or has a relationship with God? Well, this says she has not obeyed his voice and Jesus would have said that a person who loves him, he said, keeps my commandments. He said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say? So in the life of a genuine believer, obedience is going to be one of the earmarks. It says she hasn't received correction. You know, one of the wisest things that you can do and I can do is to not turn my ear away from correction, but to listen to what the Lord has to say through his word and sometimes through somebody that he sends to you or to me to bring that word of correction. Not everybody wants to receive it. A person who is reproved often and yet hardens his heart shall fall. And sometimes that without remedy. There's somebody that I'll use as an illustration something here, it's recent. It's something that's going on right now. At least it has been for a little while now. And somebody had come on Facebook and had made some statements that were incorrect. And so, I'm not, what do you call it? I'm not a Facebook, I don't sit there reading every pose and say, I better say something. I'm gonna crack this. I don't do that, I don't like it personally. I'm not somebody who does that. But this was something that I noticed and I thought, I wonder what this is? And then I got a letter from somebody who said, have you noticed this? Is there anything you can do about it? Well, there's really nothing I can do about it. But I did write the person who was posting some things that were error. And I did write and say, I just want you to know that the theology that you're presenting on your page is incorrect. And you really need to rethink what you're saying. And I got a response from this person who told me that they had been in our fellowship, had heard me preach over 1200 times. And they are in disagreement with me and began to want to argue. And so it's been an ongoing kind of thing where I'm attempting to say, listen, this is what the scripture says. And what you're writing is incorrect. And I finally got to the point, and this has all been with charity and love for the person, of course. But I said, it finally has gotten to the point where they're not listening at all. And I said, you need to understand, this isn't a conversation, this is a correction. No, we're not conversing over my opinion about something. You're sharing heresy, you're sharing error and you're causing people to stumble. This is not really a conversation. This is a correction. And they don't receive correction. They don't want to be corrected. Because after all, they've listened to at least 1200 of my messages, thus they know everything that I have to say. Every illustration, every story, everything I teach, they already know. But somebody said to me, well, I've watched a lot of shows about doctors, but I don't think I'm gonna go into an operating room and try and perform an operation. Just because somebody listens to a lot of messages doesn't mean that that person knows what's in the message and how the message was actually developed. Every message that a person teaches, every message that I prepare is several hours in preparation, several hours. So it's not something I say, well, what am I teaching tonight, Zephaniah? How many minutes? Well, I got 10 minutes, that's plenty of time. It's nothing like that. It's hours and hours of proof taxing, going from commentary to others to look to see what does it say. Is there anything in the Old Testament that says something similar? Are there any references that I can draw from? That's hours and hours of preparation. But sometimes people don't understand that. They think that you just walk out and you just talk and God just says, open your mouth and I will fill it. And so all these things just come flowing out and that's not how it works. You have to prepare, you have to discipline, you have to study, you have to do these things in order to be able to present the truth because the one whom God will listen to, the one he hears is the one who trembles at his word. And so you never take the word of God lightly. You never do that. You never say to yourself, well, I think that I can teach any more than somebody can walk into the airport and say, I think I'm a pilot. You know, I enjoy watching shows about flying. I'm pretty sure I can do that too. You know, now you wouldn't go to a pilot who got his pilot's license by watching aviation shows. But sometimes people think that because they can read and they've gone to Bible studies that they themselves are also teachers. One of the marks of an individual who is called by God, one of the marks of somebody who's gonna grow is the capacity to receive correction. And that's what he's saying here. He's saying this city is an oppressing city who has not obeyed and has not received correction. He also says in verse two, she has not trusted in the Lord, she has not drawn near to God. So there's no trust in the Lord and she's not drawing near to him. He goes on into verse three and says this, now this I've found interesting as I was preparing the study. Her princes in her midst are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. What is he speaking about here? He's speaking about government. Her princes and her judges speak about governors, government, the government officials and the judges are in it for themselves. Now I know we don't have anything like that today. This is something that happened then. He speaks about them being roaring lions. They make a lot of noise. He speaks about them being evening wolves that don't leave anything, anything behind basically. They leave not a bone until morning. So the princes make a lot of noise and the judges devour the helpless working day and night for their own profit. Notice he says in verse three, they leave not a bone till morning. They are filled with insatiable greed leaving nothing for any others while getting everything they can for themselves. Let's see, who can I get mad right now? Marie, honey, don't get mad, no. All right, do you mind if I? Oh, I don't care if you mind. I don't want to insult you, I really don't. But the reason I hesitate to say this thing sometimes is because my passion is deeper than you might know. It's a lot deeper than, and it can come off as a real anger. And it is real, but I don't want you to say, what's that old man mad about up there? So I try to be careful. And I also know that we can be hypersensitive and miss the whole point of an illustration. So please have open ears because I only have a couple of things I'm gonna say here but I want you to see it with me because the Bible is relevant to today and the attitude of the government during the time of Zephaniah was that they are greedy for things for themselves. And I don't care today about politicians who stand up and say, oh, this is really you, I'm really fighting for you. I don't believe that for a moment. Not for a, do you? I don't believe that for a moment. But I do know the track record of one and the other one to me is an unknown. That's kind of where I'm at right now. Probably you're in the same boat. One is an unknown to me. I'm still trying to figure out. The other one, I already know. I've known this one for many years, many years. The one who said we left the White House broke, who's the same one who pillaged all the stuff out of the White House when they left and had to give it back. Now to me, yeah, clap, I think that's good, yes, it's true. You're not mad at me, okay, I'll keep going. We left broke, how much are you worth now independently, individually, $45 million? What kind of job have you had where you tell me you feel my pain? What kind of job have you had? How many years at work have you spent? How many years did you work? How many times did you get up at 4.30 in the morning and work a full day? Come home sweaty, tired with your back hurt? How many times in over 40 years? How many years have you been off the governmental? How many years did you make your own income? See, I think about these things. Please don't tell me that you're on my side when you don't have a clue what I go through. Please don't. Don't please don't try and do that to me. Because you make $650,000 a speech, a speech. And you tell me you're on my side and you understand. You tell me, here we go, you tell me that you believe in the rights of women yet you receive so much money from Saudi Arabia who won't even allow a woman to drive and you care about women. Oh, by the way, you are pro-abortion and as far as I understand, at least 50% of those babies in the womb are women or potentially gonna grow up to be women. Please don't lie to me. Don't tell me that Benghazi was over a video and don't lie to the grieving families the way that you did. How dare you do that? And how dare you think I'm gonna trust you? It bothers me tremendously, ravening wolves, ravening wolves, greedy and taking the marrow out of the bone and then telling me you're a public servant. See, it looks like I'm mad, huh? That's in my heart. I see that. I see that. President of the United States, the most transparent presidency that will ever exist. I still can't get straight talk from that man. He's made over $12 million since coming into office. How do you do that as a president? Did you know that if he were to be paid the salary to live the lifestyle that he lives, it would require a salary of $1 billion a year? Did you know that? Did you know that his average, he averages vacation time is over $7 million a year just in his vacations? Did you know that? Probably not because it's not reported. People aren't interested. Now listen, when the Bible speaks concerning princes in the midst, roaring lions, judges evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning, we have that right now. But people, when you tell them that, they think, oh, you're just a Republican. Listen, I'm more independent than Republican just so that, you know, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter, but I'm just letting you know. I don't think either one of those parties represents my heart, and it's difficult. So I'm not up here just bashing the Democrats. I just don't know what Trump's all about. I just don't know. I think that in some, well, I don't know, I don't really wanna go that far into it. I will just say, one person I know what they'll do, they're telling me, the other one is saying something, but I really don't know what they're going to do because they're an unknown quantity to me. In this particular case, I just assume go with an unknown quantity and take a chance then to go with what I know I oppose. And by the way, if Clinton gets into the White House, and no, I'm not telling you who to vote for, I'm just telling you who I'm not voting for and hoping you're in agreement. One of the things, I got in a discussion at the question and answer period at the recent festival I went to with a believer who came up and said, I'm not voting for anyone. And I said, you realize, of course, that the next president of the United States is gonna have the opportunity to actually bring in to the Supreme Court at least four, maybe five justices who can live. Sometimes they can live if you get a younger one. They can be justices for up to 50 years. Do you realize that if you bring in a president that legalizes everything you and I are in opposition to, that we basically have yielded this nation over to evil? Because we are refusing to cast our vote and say, I don't believe in this, I will not go for this. Listen, people talk about, well, we voted for Obama and I say, you voted for Obama. I didn't, I didn't. 25 million, 25 million evangelical Christians didn't even cast a vote at the last presidency. And I'm telling you, you're handing evil over, handing people the opportunity to continue doing evil. When you resist standing up and saying, I'm casting my vote, you're just handing it over. I can't do that. Even if my vote is like throwing it in a trash can, at least I said, no, this is what I believe and this is where I'm gonna take a chance. I'm watching people right now, here we go, I'll keep going a little bit longer, but I'll get back to where I promise you. I'm watching people right now, there are people from what is called the evangelical world that are surrounding Donald Trump. I am greatly concerned for the advice he's getting from some of these people who I preach against their doctrine quite often because these are not solid Bible teaching people, what they are and I feel so bad because it sounds like I'm gossiping, but I've been in meetings. I don't come and tell you the places I go and the things I do. I don't want you to walk around thinking, oh, he's special because I'm not. I don't tell you a lot of stuff. I don't come up and say, oh, by the way, I was in this political meeting here, I heard this speaker here and this and that, I don't do that. I don't like to do that, but I'll tell you I've been there, I've seen it, I've been around, I watched it and I can tell you that some of these people that are advisors are people who have to learn some basic things about the Bible, let alone advising somebody and as I see that, I get concerned. We have to pray that God will surround whoever the present it is with people who love God's word and do not fear man. We have to pray that. We have to, we have to, because this scripture here is speaking, concerning those times and how it was with Jerusalem and as it will be in the future. Again, her princess, speaking of her politicians in her midst are roaring lines. They make a lot of noise, but don't do anything. Her judges are evening wolves. They stay up late hunting that leave, not a bone till morning. Now let's talk about her religious leaders. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. The word insolent when it says her prophets are insolent, that word insolent means reckless. They are reckless because they fail to give God's word accurately and faithfully. The Bible makes it very clear through Paul to Timothy that in the last days, that people will no longer put up with healthy teaching, but they will heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears and will turn aside from the truth and be turned aside to fables. And the body of Christ is in that position right now. If you want to have a big church, all you need to do is say what the people wanna hear. Entertain them. Don't tell us hard things. Don't give us Bible studies. Entertain us. You see, we are incapable of listening to anything more than 15 minutes. All you need to do is to see what has happened to us, to us as a people, where you will watch a program and they have rapid technical changes that you can actually take a stopwatch and you will see a change of the angle of the camera every two and a half to four seconds normally. You are so caught up. We are so caught up with new angles on everything. So if someone's speaking to you, you'll see them from the face. Then you'll see a side shot. Then you'll see something from behind. Then you'll see somebody else while the voice is here. You know this, you watch television. It's called rapid technical changes. And we have been caught up with it to the degree that we cannot listen with attention too long. That's why if there's something very important that the president needs to say, they have what is called a talking head. That's why you don't see the president and someone behind him juggling to entertain you. You see a tight shot in an oval office or in a rose garden. You'll see a tight shot where it's just him, his shoulders and he's speaking to you. Why? Because we are distracted. So easily we have been habituated to that. So much in our society that if you ask somebody, can you give me your phone and all your computers and all of your electronics that you communicate with for a month for a million dollars, people will go through withdrawals because they can't. They can't even drive without texting. That's how habituated we are. And through that what has happened is we have stopped having face to face relationships with people and we have people watch me right now who could be here but are at home because I can turn TV on and watch or I can watch on computer. And it's undermining, does that sound like a complaint? No, that's a word from the Lord. It's true. We are undermining the effectiveness of one-on-one ministry and real life through just looking at computer screens and phones. Now, am I complaining against the technology? No, I think it's great and it's a tool that we can use. I mean, when I was in Europe in 75 and I called Marie, my wife from Europe and I still remember I was in Germany and I went and I called the operator in the hotel and I said, can you put through a phone call for me? This is the phone number. And the operator said, yes, I'll call you back when I have them on the line. A half hour later, the phone in my room rings. I get on the phone, they say, we have your party on the line, sir. And then I get to talk to Marie. Today, you get your cell phone out. Yeah, I have it in my pocket. If I wanna call New York right now, I just open it up, I go to whoever I want, I push a button and then I get impatient. It's taking four seconds, what's going on? Right? That's a fact, that's a fact. My son just called me, Joey, I saw you, it's a fact. It's a fact, isn't it? What are we doing? May I speak to you from my heart for a while, I'm going to, so you can say yes, thank you. I'm greatly concerned for the estate of the church quite obviously because I am watching the church entertainment oriented to the degree that we have gotten to the point where we can't concentrate on what God wants for us. We won't, we refuse to. And this is a sign of the last days and we're just not even aware of it. We're just not aware of it. We are living in the last days. You know, a lot of people associate this term last days with things that like way back when guys like Hal Lindsey and others up to where we're at right now, we're writing books about these signs and all of these things that are gonna happen and we're all curious and we have our notebooks filled and know it's about what's going to happen and we're right in the middle of it ourselves and we are existing as people today with no love for the word, no love for the power of the Holy Spirit, no love for fellowship, no love for service, no love for any of the things that make for what a Christian actually is. We get mad, we're in a church, we get mad at somebody because they didn't smile at us or they didn't pat us on the back or they didn't say thank you. So we can just run down the street and take our nonsense with us and we can just pollute that place too and the leaven moves from place to place from place to place and because we wanna build up our congregations with lots more people, we don't care who's showing up and they're bringing with them no love for the Lord but an awful lot of animosity and anger because they won't put up with correction because they won't put up with the word of God because they aren't interested because it's not entertaining. That's where we're at right now. In this nation, how could we know as a nation the qualities of people who are running for office and still vote for them? Knowing that they lied, knowing that they're not telling us the truth, knowing that they have made money off of innocent people, knowing of things that they've done. I can tell you so many things and I have to be careful not to because I don't wanna turn it into that but we as a nation are just not interested as long as I get free stuff but somebody's gotta pay for that free stuff. Somebody has to, somebody with a job has to. That's what happens but we don't understand it. I mean the fact that people were voting for a socialist, it should cause every school teacher who teaches that subject concern because people don't even know what it is but they think it's okay because you call it democratic socialism. What happened to us? We've had wars fought over that one single issue. Wars, what happened to us? Disinterest, apathy and the church is asleep. And the priests and the prophets in the Old Testament stopped giving the full counsel of God, allowed the people to go into sin and what happened is the undermined, the confidence of the people and the things of the Lord. He refers to them as insolent and treacherous people. Treacherous speaks of guilty of betraying someone's trust. The prophets and the priests. He said the priests have polluted the sanctuary and have done violence to the law. They have allowed the world to think that the sanctuary is not worthy of respect. By not sharing the word of God correctly, the world lost any respect for the faith of believers. Romans 2 24 says the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Because the Jews did not reverence and respect the holy things of God, the unbelievers did not respect the holy things of God either. Because the church bringing it to 21st century doesn't respect the holy things of God, the world doesn't respect the holy God. And so we have to be careful because we can see these are the kinds of things that are happening right now. Now notice verse five, the Lord is righteous. He is in her midst. He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He never fails. But the unjust knows no shame. Though those who are performing evil deeds seem to get away with it, God intends to bring judgment. And his patience comes to an end. And he ultimately judges and he does so in righteousness. Revelation 19 verse 11 says, I saw heaven open, behold a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war. See God is righteous but the unjust simply continued to sin. And they have no shame at all. Which I think it's interesting. It says the unjust knows no shame. They have no shame at all. Instead of shame, they actually glory in their sin and they refuse to be ashamed. I was reading today a newspaper article where a woman said at the age of 16, at the age of 16 she had two abortions. At the age of 16 she had two abortions and she says, and I feel no remorse so sorrow over it at all. I don't feel anything. She's being used as a role model for young women. No shame at all. No remorse for her abortions. No remorse for sin. The unjust knows no shame, the scripture says. Well, verse six, I have cut off nations. Their fortresses are devastated. I have made their streets desolate with none passing by. Their cities are destroyed. There is no one, no inhabitant. I said surely you will fear me. You will receive instructions so that her dwelling would not be cut off despite everything for which I punished her but they rose early and corrupted all their deeds. Therefore wait for me says the Lord until the day I rise up for plunder. My determination is to gather the nations to my assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, all my fierce anger, all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. So I've cut off the nations. Instead of repenting when God desolated them, they ignored it. And they're eager even to do more evil, he says. When you look around the world there are many ancient ruins. They're empty, they're barren but people don't think about that city anymore. It's because they don't learn from the past. They don't ask the question what led to the devastation? In verse eight he says, wait for me says the Lord until the day I rise up for plunder. So God's patience ultimately comes to an end and he unleashes terrible judgment. The Lord is not slack as some men count slackness. God's patience is strong and long because he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And he shows great patience but ultimately time comes when the Lord is going to bring judgment. In verses nine through 13 he says, I will restore the people a pure language. He says I'll restore the peoples a pure language that they all may call in the name of the Lord to serve him with one accord from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia of my worshipers the daughter of my dispersed ones shall bring my offering. In that day you shall not be ashamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against me for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteous and speak no lies nor shall the deceitful tongue be found in their mouth for they shall feed their flocks and lie down and no one shall make them afraid. The time of judgment is so filled with devastation that Zephaniah now begins to conclude with a promise. The day of the Lord has ended. The sun is now shining brightly. It's a new day. There's no longer gonna be blasphemy. There'll no longer be false teaching. There'll no longer be vulgarity and profanity. The way people will be speaking during that day will be filled with purity and joy with encouragement and praise to God. It's interesting how verse nine says they may all call on the name of the Lord to serve him with one accord. So people will be united. They'll call on the Lord and they'll serve him together. He says in verse 10 from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my worshipers, my dispersed ones are gonna return. They're gonna come back to Israel. They're gonna worship the Lord there including the Ethiopians. And this has taken place after the tribulation when God brings his peace on earth during a time called the millennial reign. In verse 11 he says you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds. You see those who have received Messiah will be cleansed from their sins and have no trace of shame. Their sins are forgiven. They completely are humbly refreshed in his grace and mercy. Here's something for you and I think it's practical and I hope it makes sense. Have you ever said or perhaps heard someone say God has forgiven me but I haven't forgiven myself? Anybody ever hear something like that? Anybody ever hear that? God's forgiven me but I haven't forgiven myself. Where's the Bible say I have to forgive myself? What I have to receive is the forgiveness he's granted to me. And let me tell you something, it's no secret but maybe it needs to be said right now. When God forgave you of your sins he forgave you of every single one of them. Everyone, the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. What you need to do instead of wasting your time saying oh I didn't forgive myself for that sin, oh I didn't forgive myself for that way of thinking is you have to say thank you God for I am in Christ. Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new. I am brand new in Jesus Christ. Listen, if you get caught up, and boy this is a subject I shouldn't approach because it takes a long time to develop, but one of the big mistakes you can make is trying to be the one who forgives yourself. Listen, you sinned against God. You have received the repercussions of sin. You have sown to the flesh, and from the flesh you do reap corruption but the Lord Jesus Christ has said, behold I make all things new. I wash you, I cleanse you, I completely forgive you. I will take you and I'll take you out of the Myrie clay and I'll put you on a solid foundation. I will lift you up, I will hold you, I will be with you, I will welcome you into heaven. What else do I need? When I have the complete forgiveness of Jesus Christ, I simply bask in it. I just receive it and I say thank you God because when I came to you and I said to you please forgive me a sinner, you said yes I will. And from that point on, I'm born again. My life is brand new. I have joined the spirit peace with God and the love of God in my life. That's basic Christianity. That's basic Christianity. That's what Jesus Christ offers you. You know, the woman is caught in adultery. In adultery. A terrible sin, one of the capital offenses in the nation of Israel. And the religious people take this woman and bring her to the feet of Christ and basically you can almost see it as they bring her in by force and throw her down in front of the feet of the master, Jesus himself and she's there in shame. Perhaps she had a moment to grab something and put around her because they say to him we caught her in adultery in the very act. Do you think that these people who burst into that room said we're gonna give you a few moments to get yourself decent? They grabbed her and I have no doubt that she grabbed something, whatever it might have been, wrapped herself and out she goes out the door. They throw her at the feet of Christ, master. And he's in the middle teaching. He's teaching in the middle of a teaching. We caught this woman in adultery in the very act. And you can see the people around Jesus as they're listening. And here comes these self-righteous people. And Moses in the law says such should be stoned. But what do you say? Here's a test case. Now they're already betraying their hand because notice how they spoke. They didn't say this woman was caught. They said such should be stoned. They've already told you what she is. To them she's such. She's an example. She's a test case. That's what she is. And Jesus is there at one place in scripture that you see him writing. And he makes as if he doesn't hear them as they're speaking. But they continue. Finally he stands up. The one who is without sin. Let them be the first to cast a stone at her. And beginning with the oldest to the youngest, they fade away. So it's just Jesus and the woman basically there. Woman, where are your accusers? You see according to Mosaic law, if you have a capital offense, you have to have two witnesses. Woman, where's your accusers? So he went by the law. I have none, Lord. Neither do I accuse you. Did he say so go and continue committing sexual sin? What did he say? Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. I'm giving you grace and forgiveness. He didn't say go back to sin. He said forsake it. That's what happens when you get saved. All those people who might have a right to stone you to death are left without anything because Jesus sets you free. We need to accept that. And listen, when that happens in your life, you praise the Lord. You have joy in your heart. You're grateful to God and you sing songs of praise and worship to him. That's how your heart becomes a worshiping heart because all you need to do is realize how great your sins are in contrast to how holy he is. I brought nothing into my salvation except the sins that he forgave me for. I cast myself at his feet and I said, God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. And he said, I forgive you. I don't accuse you. Go and sin no more. And that's what causes us to be able to have the joy of God. We are cleansed of our sins and we have no trace of shame. Their sins, he says in verse 11, are forgiven and they are refreshed in his grace and his mercy. In verses 12 and 13, I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people. They shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness, speak no lies, nor shall the deceitful tongue be found in their mouth for they shall feed their flocks and lie down and no one shall make them afraid. I in Tandy says to care for those in greatest need and I will completely care for them and they shall be in peace. Sing, verse 14, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad, rejoice with all your heart. O daughter of Jerusalem, the Lord has taken away your judgments. He has cast out your enemy. The king of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more. It's like what it says in Isaiah 11 verses 6 through 10, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, the little child shall lead them, the cow and the bear shall graze, their young one shall lie down together, the lion shall eat straw like an ox, the nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole and the weaned child shall put his hand in a viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people for the Gentiles shall seek him and his resting place shall be glorious. He says the king of Israel is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more. In verse 16, he said in that day shall be said of Jerusalem, do not fear Zion. Let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God is in your midst. The mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. The day of wrath is over. There's no need to have any fear. Your God is with you. Let not your hands be weak is another way of saying God is so good. So be busy on his behalf. When he says in verse 17, the Lord your God is in your midst. The Lord will rejoice over you. Isaiah 65, 18 and 19, be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing. Her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem. Joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her nor the voice of crying. When the Lord is ruling and reigning in that millennial kingdom there'll be joy throughout the entire earth. Listen, one of the things about worshiping the Lord in song is that we can do so because we have been forgiven. We have been saved. And our songs, our songs of joy. When I first got saved there was a group that had a song out that said that in essence and I'll just paraphrase one of the lines of the song was it spoke about how God gave us a new and a fresh and a joyful song because we were already singing the sad songs for a lifetime. And that was true. We had a lifetime of sad songs. But when the Lord, when the Lord Jesus Christ saved us of all people on the face of the earth we have the greatest reason to sing songs of gladness and praise. Songs of joy and triumph. Songs of just the rejoicing of the things that God has done in our life. I do pray that the Lord will stir up songwriters in this generation who will once again focus their attention in their lyrics so that God will get the praise because today I listened to a lot of Christian music and as I was coming to the office today I turned on a Christian station and I changed it because I thought I'm getting tired of hearing songs about Jesus that sounds like they're singing to a boyfriend. I, you know, when I first got saved I was taught something I'll share with you and it's brief, but it's this. You know, the songs that we learned to sing were simply Psalms or verses out of scripture that were set to music, that's what they were. So the songs that I was brought up on were songs that spoke about what God has done in my life. And there was a subtle change. There was a subtle change where it stopped being songs of praise to him and it began to be songs of how I feel about what he did. And what we have today is a lot of songs that are about how I feel about what he's done in my life and it's become man-centric rather than God-centric. That will give you some insight into why some of the younger vocalists and worship teams are going back to the hymns today because the hymns have been rooted in a lot of theology whereas a lot of the songs that are on contemporary Christian radio stations today are written about my feelings for God and it's almost like he's a boyfriend of mine rather than my savior. In that millennial kingdom, I promise you we aren't going to be running around saying how happy and how good I feel about me. What we'll be doing at that time is worshiping him and that's why it's so important for us to learn to do that now, not later. That's why it's important for us to learn how to worship full voice to God about how good he is. Has he been good to you? Maybe I'm speaking to myself. Has he been good to you? I don't know. He's been good to me. He's been good to me. I mean, listen man, one more thing. You know, a long time I'd be driving my car and I'd be playing some whatever rock song it was and I'd be singing full throat, I didn't care. But I'd be singing a wild thing or whatever crazy thing was on at that time. And then you get saved and you whisper in church. You know, when you climb in the car and you turn on a secular station, there you're rapping all that stuff you shouldn't be saying. It's in all nasty words and things. And then you come to church and you don't sing because you don't know the words. Huh? Because you don't know the words. But if I put on some of the garbage that's on today, a lot of people at St. Thomas say, I know every word. How'd that happen? Because you spend more time listening to that than you do praise the God. That's why. We've got to come back to first things, don't you think? I mean, when we're with the Lord Jesus Christ, I promise you I'm not going to miss the old songs. I'm going to want to sing a new song. A song of praise and worship and glory and thanks to God who is mighty and has saved us. And that's what's going to take place. The Lord your God is in your midst. The mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Think about that. The Lord is pictured as singing his love song to you. What a beautiful picture. I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly who are among you to whom its reproach is a burden. Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame. Gather those who are driven out. I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame. At that time, I will bring you back. Even at the time I gather you, I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth. When I return your captives before your eyes, says the Lord, the time will be wonderful for Israel. It'll be wonderful for the church also. They will have gone through that fiery furnace but God purifies them and God blesses them. Even as the Psalmist said in Psalm 66, 11, and 12, you brought us into the net. You laid affliction on our backs. You've caused men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water but you brought us out to rich fulfillment. When we stand before the Lord Jesus, we're not going to complain and we're not going to question his wisdom. When we stand before the Lord Jesus, we will understand the purpose behind every trial, every sorrow, every burden, every heartache and then we will know even as we are known, God will work in our life and we will rejoice as he sings his love songs over us. Can you imagine that? And it's not that far away. It's not.