09.14.2008 Zephaniah - A Foundation for Transformation

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09.14.2008 Grace Summit Sermon from Grace Summit on Vimeo

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Communion Time (during Worship)
2 Tim. 2 Timothy is getting ready to lead. Paul is laying out strong language:
2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with [me,] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
And then – vs. 8
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel,

He is laying out how hard it is going to be to fulfill the commission – but in the midst of it – Remember Jesus Christ – you might think, we are Christians, isn’t that what it is all about? But when we are working and living, we sometimes forget what it is all about – and we take communion to remember Jesus Christ.

Message:
This week, during one of the Men’s times, we were talking about the difficult areas in life – our greatest struggles – sometimes it feels like the harder you try, the more you desire to change in something – it seems that things get worse. These things keep on coming up and getting you. Today, I’d like to give a secret – a solution to that – the problem is, I don’t have one. There is not a magic formula to changing, to overcoming the areas of difficulty in our lives. Victory is attainable – it comes with struggle and a life-long battle – that is what Paul was telling Timothy – the hardworking farmer, the soldier – he didn’t use that because he liked talking about it – but it is a battle, a competition, it is working the ground.
As we discussed this, I knew what I would be speaking about – and we will be talking about Zephaniah – there are 3 chapters – it is on 1116 in the pew bible – I’ll do a brief survey – I want to give a bit of a background.
It is not about what changes us, but the principles lay a foundation for transformation. We will look at these three principles – and they make victory attainable.
Lord, I thank You – that the victory is possible. We want to remember that it is about Jesus Christ in our lives. We sang in that song – we want to be desperate for YOU – we can be desperate for so many other things – relationships, a job, health, things – we need to be desperate for You – longing for You. Help us today to long for You – to want and think about and focus our attention on You.
Zephaniah was a prophet to Judah around 620 BC. It was during the reign of Josiah, a young king of Judah. Most likely, these messages were before the reforms and were the impetus for those reforms. It is about Judgment. In 722 BC, Israel fell to the Assyrians, then in 586 BC, Judah and Jerusalem fell. Zephaniah was proclaiming their destruction. In 586, the Babylonians came in and took them away. Z is calling them out to what is about to happen.
Zeph 1:1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, 2 "I will completely remove all [things] From the face of the earth," declares the Lord. 3 "I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea, And the ruins along with the wicked;
What a great way to start a message! I am going to destroy everything! You don’t hear much today about judgment, do you? Right after Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, God pronounced judgment. Cursed and pain you will have. Then he says to Adam – Hard work and sweat and trouble will be your life. Then throughout scripture, there is this sense of judgment on mankind. It ends in Revelation at the Great White Throne judgment. The books will be opened and they will be judged for how they lived.
Zephaniah – the name means, the Lord has hidden – or the Lord hides. But the other hand of judgment, there is a way of escape. We know that way of escape is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Through His death and resurrection we can escape. Z talks about hiding from the judgments of God. It is the same with us – as we believe on Him, we will not be judged for our sins because Christ was judged for us. We will never experience that; Christ was judged for our sins. And as much as we don’t like to hear this, those who don’t have Christ will be judged themselves. People have a choice to make – He took our place –and if they refuse that, they will stand before God and they will be judged for every sin. But for those of us who have trusted in Christ, we will be hidden from that.
Then in verses 4-18, the judgment of the people of Judah – the people of God. In verse 4 we see how this is going to take place.
4 "So I will stretch out My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, [And] the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests.
Why is He judging the people of God? They have become unfaithful. They have begun to worship other gods. Baal is the name of a Canaanite master/lord. That was their lord – and you see throughout the Old Testament Israel turns to Baal – a god of fertility (family, field and flock). Baal – the god of prosperity – and of sexual immorality – in many ways, Baal is the god many worship today!
5 "And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven, And those who bow down [and] swear to the Lord and [yet] swear by Milcom, 6 And those who have turned back from following the Lord, And those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him. "
They have adapted the ways of the culture around them. Milcom was an idol of worship – having to do with child sacrifice. The lowest point – where the nation of Israel is offering their children up for sacrifice, literally, in their worship of other gods – and that is why judgment is about to come. That is why God judges – the violence and immorality that is going on. They have hit the lowest level in verse 6
6 And those who have turned back from following the Lord, And those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him. "
What God demands? Our full devotion. All of our worship. He demands our whole heart. We need to understand – having a heart that is fully devoted is foundational. To live the Christian life successfully, we must strive toward giving God our whole heart. Any thing that moves us away from that takes us down. We need to bring this back into our reality.
We live in a therapeutic society or culture – we focus on rehabilitation and recovery and all of that is helpful – but Scripture focuses on transformation – which is a different thing. It is full devotion to Christ that produces transformation. When we struggle, we tend to follow rules and steps and formulas – that is what we are looking for to change, but it must begin with full devotion to Christ – because if you follow all the steps but don’t have that, you may see some progress, but never experience transformation. It is great to have accountability and steps to take and things to work on, but that doesn’t always work – change comes when we are fully sold out and given to Christ. That must come first. It is a matter of focus and priority. It is about our relationship with God. That is how we become whom we are supposed to be. What happens is we give up and lose sight of the relationship and it becomes work and work and work without the focus and ‘remembering Jesus Christ.’
Chapter 2 – God offers Israel an opportunity to repent.
2:1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, 2 Before the decree takes effect-- The day passes like the chaff-- Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you. 3 Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord's anger.
With all this going on, and the judgment, there are some who are faithful and God is calling them to humble themselves – no matter how bad it is in culture, it is possible to be different, to be faithful.
2:4-15, God speaks of the judgment of the nations around Israel.
3:1-7, the judgment on Jerusalem and the leadership of the people. When a nation falls, you can go back to the leadership and see that they have become corrupt – so God judges them.
8 – he calls His faithful people to repentance.
8 "Therefore, wait for Me," declares the Lord, "For the day when I rise up to the prey. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal. 9 "For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
I still have a people that is faithful to Me and I will bring about a transformation in their lives. –
10 "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, Will bring My offerings.
God will bring His worshipers – all along, God wants our worship – He wants our heart. It almost doesn’t sound right, but it is the most right – what God desires is to be worshiped, adored, and praised. He desires His people to do that. It is a different look at religion. Even reading through this last night – as I look at my own life, I think, what does God desire? That I be a good pastor, father, etc? Yes, but what He really wants is for me to worship Him – for my kids to worship Him. As I’ve been praying for our kids – that needs to be my prayer – that they would fall in love with Jesus Christ. This is our need of prayer. We focus so much attention on other things; we struggle and get worse and worse. He wants us to worship Him – not just in singing – but praising and giving Him our full attention and devotion.
11 "In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain. 12 "But I will leave among you A humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. 13 "The remnant of Israel will do no wrong And tell no lies, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their mouths; For they shall feed and lie down With no one to make them tremble."
This is how God wants our relationship with Him – these words are so different from what we normally think of – God wants people to worship Him and leave a humble and lowly people – not successful, accomplished people. But a humble and lowly people who will take refuge, cover, hide in the Name of the Lord.
Hurricane Ike is coming – He is not interested in the ones who will ride it out – He is interested in the ones who come to the shelter – HIS shelter!
To the few and faithful ones, He says,
14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout [in triumph,] O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all [your] heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
This is a call to worship – and when you hear something repeated – Verily Verily – Truly Truly – I really want you to get this one! He says it 3 times! This is what I want in your relationship – SHOUTING, REJOICING, EXUBERANCE, wholehearted devotion and connection to Him. Our faith is one of exultation and joy – not shame and guilt and duty! When you look at it that way, it changes everything, doesn’t it?!
He tells them to shout for joy right after He pronounces judgment! You can rejoice and shout! He is not saying, you can be happy and feel really nice about how things are going – He is saying when you are going through the difficult times and the feelings are gone, you can make a decision to Rejoice and shout for joy!
He goes on,
15 The Lord has taken away [His] judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies.
The secret to faithful Devotion:
1) God has forgiven you.
In understanding these things, this is foundational. This is what you need to gain victory that is available in your hardest struggle. God has forgiven you. He has taken away the judgment. He has forgiven completely. He who has been forgiven much loves much. We need to recognize how much we have been forgiven. When you first give your life to Christ, you are very in-tuned to what you have done and how He has saved you from all that. A person who does not believe he has sinned greatly will love God little. There has never been a person who thinks he is doing okay who loves God deeply.
15b The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more.
2) God is with you. When it says He is with us – it means He is on our side. He is not going to leave us – it gives us the courage and confidence we need to be fully devoted to Him. It takes away the fear to know He is on our side. Then in 16, 17 – he takes what He first said and repeats them backwards –
16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: "Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. 17 "The Lord your God is in your midst,
Do not be afraid, He is with you.
A victorious warrior! A warrior who saves. When the people had been captured, the victorious warrior would come in and save them and bring them back – that is what God has done for us – He has rescued us from our sins.
17 "The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy!
3) God Loves You
These are pretty simple secrets – not very profound – but the secret of living the Christian life.
He sandwiches in between the rejoicing part – remember the Bridegroom and the Bride – like at a wedding – in comes the bride – and the groom is excited and rejoicing for that day – Sandwiched between – He will be quiet in His love. This shows the depth of His love. When your kids are running cross country – you are yelling and screaming and parents lose themselves in the joy and excitement of it all. But then there are times – in His love for us and our love for others – like if your kid goes on a mission trip and they share what God has done – and you don’t jump up and yell Hooray! – but you sit in satisfaction in what he has done. There are times God is cheering and other times He is quiet in His love. There are times when you do something and God says to heaven, Hush – and watch! It is really true! God Himself quiets and rests in His love for you.
It is to the extent that you understand these 3 truths that you will have a restored heart of worship and the result is transformation in our lives. That will take care of the rest. Let’s pray.
Lord, we need to rest in Your love. All of Heaven will rejoice in us – shouts of joy. Other times You quietly look upon us in satisfaction – it s all through Your Son, Jesus Christ and what He has done for us – not our activity. In Your name we pray, amen.