Scripture referenced 11 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Acts 17:28 opening remark about being in God, living and moving and having our being
28 ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
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Keep this verse
Isaiah 40:8
prayer before sermon, the grass withers and flowers fade but the word of God stands forever
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
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James 1:17
offertory prayer, everything good and perfect comes from God
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
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James 4:6
takeaway point, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
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Romans 1:28
reference to God turning someone over to a reprobate mind
28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
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Romans 3:10
no one righteous, no not one, used to frame need for grace
10 As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.
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Philemon 1-25
prior week's sermon referenced, Paul pleading for Onesimus and framing grace
Keep this verseColossians 4
overlap with Philemon characters shown, previewing next week's study
1 Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
3 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
4 that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
15 Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.
16 When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
18 The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
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Colossians 4:18
closing verse quoted, Paul's greeting in his own hand, grace be with you
18 The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
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James 4:8
draw near to God and He will draw near to you, introduced the closing song
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark opened with something he admitted he rarely does: a sermon from the Old Testament. Tucked between last week's message on Philemon and next week's start of Colossians, he walked the congregation through Obadiah, the shortest book in the Bible at 21 verses. The book is, as he put it, a very dark cloud of impending judgment, and he wanted to sit in that darkness long enough for it to mean something.
What was said
Obadiah delivers a word from God against Edom, a kingdom that descended from Esau, the older brother of Jacob. Pastor Mark traced that family line back through Genesis, reminding the congregation of the birthright sold for a bowl of stew and the long, bitter rivalry between Esau's descendants and Jacob's. That shared blood made the Edomites' hostility toward Israel something more than ordinary national conflict. It was a family feud carried across centuries.
The specific charges God brings against Edom through Obadiah are arrogance and abandonment. Edom trusted in its geography, cities built high in the cliffs and easy to defend, and it trusted in its alliances. God's word to them was that the height of your dwelling and the loyalty of your friends will both fail you. Even the allies who ate your bread will lay a trap for you.
The second charge is harder. When strangers invaded Jerusalem and plundered God's people, Edom stood by and watched. Pastor Mark put it plainly: if anyone picked on my little brother, it was over for them. You stood back and watched someone beat your little brother. You might as well have been hitting him yourself.
The book then widens its frame. The day of the Lord, a phrase Pastor Mark said he usually preaches about with joy and expectation, appears here as something dreadful for everyone who stands as an enemy of God. As you have done, it will be done to you. The only silver lining in the whole book is a single line about those who will escape on Mount Zion, and Pastor Mark identified those as the people who trust in the Lord alone.
He brought in a piece of historical record from the Easton Bible Dictionary, noting that Edom, after existing as a people for roughly seventeen hundred years, has utterly disappeared. Their language is forgotten. Their capital, Petra, is empty. The prophecy was not abstract. It was fulfilled.
From there, Pastor Mark stepped back into familiar territory. He connected Obadiah to Philemon, which the congregation heard the week before, and to Colossians, where they are heading next week. Paul, who knew the Old Testament and knew what it meant to be under the judgment of God, began and ended every letter with grace and peace. That, Pastor Mark said, is not a formality. It is the whole story, the dark cloud of Obadiah and the light that breaks through in the gospel, the unmerited favor that is available to anyone who will receive it.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor said he rarely preaches from the Old Testament partly because he is mercy-gifted and finds the Old Testament points toward mercy rather than showing much of it directly. How does knowing that the Old Testament is pointing forward to mercy change the way you read its harder passages?
- Obadiah describes Edom's sin as arrogance, a confidence in their high position and strong allies that made them ask 'who will bring me down to earth?' Where do you see that same kind of false security show up in your own life, or in the culture around you?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,062 words
0:00
Hey. Good morning, church family. How are we all doing? It's good to be here with you. It really is.
0:06
And we're here to we're here to worship, here to hear from God. We're here to sing to God. And I think of that the verse, I don't know if it was acts or whatever it was, but it was in him we live and we move and we have our being, and we're here, to to give him praise. And and he's created us, to to do just that. And so why don't we stand up and and give him praise?
0:44
Alright. Here in Swornweer,
0:48
here in Swornweer Land, many dream has
3:28
Thank you, Carl. We have a couple of announcements this morning. If you are interested in membership here at First B, we don't talk about it a whole lot of the time but Gary, would you wave your hand back there? Gary is one of our elders right now and he is the guy who leads the discovery class. He'll be doing that today in the connect hour time between services at ten in my office right down that hall and y'all are welcome to go join Gary.
3:53
Just ask any questions you want. He'll answer most of
3:55
em
3:55
probably and if you are considering membership here, the discovery classes today. It's also every third Sunday of the month. So, the connect hour happens between services. So that's between ten and eleven. That's further down the hall into the fellowship hall.
4:11
There are always goodies and snacks, hot drinks, cold drinks, and other good stuff to eat, and just to get together. Monday nights, that first beat. There that's quite the triumvirate right there, ain't it? So that happens Monday nights at first b. During the same time as Awana is happening in this room, that's happening down there.
4:30
What you preaching on this week? Out of the overflow of the heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Alright. 06:00, meal music, and a message.
4:38
Next Saturday, that's January 21. Next Saturday, there's a memorial service right here in this room for Earl O'Jay. Earl O'Jay passed over the Christmas holidays, and we're having a memorial service for him, January 21, 11AM in the morning. This is this is the, last time I get a chance to announce it before all of you. If you know Earl, if you're friends of Dave or Jim or Barbara, Barbara also passed over the Christmas break.
5:05
But if you want to come to that memorial service is here, January 21. The twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth, Don and Marlon Young will be here for our church on fire weekend. They they are missionaries with the College of Prayer. That's what their main missionary pursuit is, College of Prayer and they go all places all over the world and they lead this kind of seminar for people to have direct experience with God. So it's about prayer and hungering for God.
5:35
It's gonna be really good. So plan on being a part of that. Twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth with Don and Marlin right here at first b. Oh my goodness. Renzi, do you have any other build up, spotlights, anything for this?
5:47
There is gonna be a talent show.
5:49
Yes. There's gonna be a talent show like we like to do at least once a year. The only thing I can say is there'll probably be some video announcements coming up.
5:58
Okay. Very good. Talent show twenty seventeen, February 11 at first b. Put it on your calendar. Save the date.
6:05
Plan on that. For anything else, you can check your bulletin. There should be if there are any other announcements, they'll be in there. Would And you stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song. Welcome.
8:42
And be thou my vision. Let's sing that together. God, I do thank you. I thank you for the wisdom that you impart, and it and it really is so valuable and and just life and understanding that that you give. And we're we're human.
12:26
We can get it wrong, And yet you are are right. And I and I thank you God for your word that that shows us that. Your righteousness and the the righteousness that we can have. And it's not on our own, but it's it is through through you. And so I continue, God, to just press in and lean in, on your righteousness, your wisdom that comes, from your word.
12:52
Like, the verse in Isaiah says, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of God, it it will stand forever. And so, as we approach our our our when we listen today, God, I I pray that we would listen with ears knowing just that, that your word, it it will stand and it will last forever. Amen.
13:24
Let me hear your words above all, are the voices above all the distractions in this world. Let's sing that again, shall we? Let me hear. Let me hear your words above all other voices above all
14:54
Let us speak your words. Let us speak your words more than ours, more than ever. Let us share your brings love that never fails. Everything else will fade away, but we'll hardy of words. When the grass will wither, flowers will fall.
15:39
The grass will wither and the flowers will fall. But the word of our God will last forever again. Grass will wither and the flowers will fall. The The word of our God will last forever. Your words bring light.
16:04
Your words give us life that's never ending. Your words bring us love that never fails. Everything else will fade away, but we will remain. Are your words let's sing that again.
17:04
Would you pray with me? God, again, I thank you for your words. They give life. They give us understanding. They give us meaning.
17:11
They give us purpose because that is who you are. That's what you do. And I thank you, God, for every gift that comes from you. And it says that everything that's good and perfect, it it comes from you, and that is in indeed true. And I thank you God for the gifts that you give, and I thank you God for what we placed in these offering plates.
17:29
And we we don't just drop money. We drop ourselves in there as we give ourselves to you, our time, our talents, our treasure, and I pray that you would use it, multiply it, and that, the gospel would continue to spread here in the valley and all over the world. In Jesus name. Amen.
19:58
The thing about doing the study the way that I do it is when you're in the middle of a book, it feels like you've got such momentum and you're going and like Romans. We've been in Romans for a whole year. It was one year preaching through Romans and every Sunday, y'all knew what was coming. I knew what was coming and that's pretty easy flow for me. I don't like having the agenda over my head.
20:21
I don't like thinking, okay, what is it lord that I want to get them told about this Sunday? I don't think like that. I don't usually think I think all of scripture is good and so we need to expose ourselves to it in a some sort of an orderly fashion. So I chose chronologically through the New Testament. We study Jesus' life in the book of John, which is a late book, and the life of the early church in Acts as a framework.
20:45
And then so far, we've been going forward through the books as they're written. James, the early books of Paul, first and second Thessalonians, Galatians, first Corinthians, second Corinthians, Romans, and then we got away from Romans. And where do we go? Well, the next book that he wrote was Philemon. So that's what I did last week.
21:05
I did the book of Philemon all in one sermon. There were not a whole lot of people here. The Nixal alert scared us all. I thought about not coming. And so it said, you know, it will it will come and it will not stop, you know.
21:17
Not really. I didn't think about not coming. But Philemon was all one book, 25 verses, and we went through that last week. And I as I considered going forward this week, I wanna start Colossians. That's next week.
21:31
We will start in the first part of Colossians. But before I get there, I I couldn't help it. I started thinking about I never preach from the Old Testament. Never preach from the Old Testament. Part of that is because I'm a mercy gifted guy and the Old Testament to me just mercy's there, but there's not a lot of mercy there.
21:50
It's pointing towards when there will be mercy, but there's not a lot there. And so I was looking at Philemon. It was fun to do a whole book in one service. And so I thought, well, what's the shortest book in the Bible? It's Obadiah.
22:03
Obadiah has 21 verses. In words, it's longer than Philemon, but Obadiah is 21 verses in Hebrew. So, we're going to do Obadiah this morning. We're going go through that. It's kind of between Philemon and Colossians, not chronologically but as we walk through it, we will see that it is a very dark cloud of impending judgment.
22:27
I thought about this and I started preparing the sermon and then I started preparing a new testament sermon alongside and prepared them both at the same time thinking that it's the week of January 20. We've got a new president coming in and the dark cloud of impending judgment might be saying a political statement. I've thought about this before that, but you know what? If the shoe fits, wear it. You know?
22:51
If the shoe ends up fitting, we'll wear it. I promise. The vision of Obadiah. Obadiah, just Obadiah. It doesn't give us his last name.
23:01
It doesn't give us his father's name. It doesn't tell us anymore about him. There are several other people in the Old Testament referred to as Obadiah, but it doesn't give us any more information than that. It's the vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom.
23:21
Now we have heard a report from the Lord and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, arise and let us go against her for battle. So, the God that we serve and the God that we love, the God that we know through Jesus Christ had some very harsh words of judgement that were coming all throughout the Old Testament and this was concerning Edom. Now, it says, arise and let us go against her for battle. Who is her? Well, her is Edom, the land or the Kingdom Of Edom and if you're looking at a map of this part right off the Mediterranean Sea, Kingdom Of Israel is right here, Kingdom Of Judah and all of these kingdoms around them, you recognize the Moabites and the Ammonites.
24:15
The king of Kingdom Of Edom was a pretty good size kingdom around them and it's it lasted from the thirteenth century BC until about up till one hundred twenty five BC when they were defeated by the Hasmoneans. This Kingdom Of Eden right here geographically is a very large area and it's easy to defend because they've got the hills, you know. The cities are built on hills and they're easy to defend, the capital especially. And so the Kingdom of is who this is about. I'll get to where they come from in a little bit.
24:52
Most of you are gonna know that. This is at its largest extent. This is how far it extended, and you see it's encroaching up on Judah. It's encroaching up into God's people's territory. You can see looks like the cliffs of insanity, doesn't it?
25:09
It's like you can see that this is a fairly easy place to defend. People have to climb up to get up to where you are. A lot of the cities, like I said, were easily defended. Verse two says, behold. Now this is the Lord God speaking.
25:26
Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You are greatly despised, hated. Does Edom look small? This is Edom, like I said, and it was thirteenth century to 01/25. They grow and expand kingdoms back then.
25:45
Geopolitical lines were not nearly so harshly drawn as they are today. But this is about where it was in 600, BC, about there. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place. Most of the time, when God says cleft of the rock, it's a place of safety when he's speaking his people.
26:12
It's always a place of safety. I have guided you and I have held you and I have placed you in the cleft of the rock because if you're in the cleft of a rock, you've got your whole perimeter is surrounded by something that's pretty hard to get into. You who live in the clefts of rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, the high being high up in your dwelling, far away from anybody who would come to defeat you. Those of you who say in your heart, who will bring me down to earth? Arrogance.
26:47
The arrogance of the heart of the people of Edom or of the kingdom of Edom is what Obadiah is channeling, transferring this message from the Lord God. Who will bring me down to earth? In their arrogance, they felt that way. The Lord says, though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there, I will bring you down. Now, the scariest thing about I will bring you down is declares the Lord because he can do it.
27:18
He's almighty God. There's no doubt about what he can do. And you do not want to be like Edom, an enemy of God. If you find yourself in the position of being against God Almighty, you are in a bad, bad position. If thieves came to you, if robbers by night oh, oh, oh, oh, how you will be ruined.
27:43
This is kind of a little parenthetic expression. Oh, you can hear that. Would they not steal only until they had enough? If burglars break in, they're gonna get the good stuff and then leave. He's saying it's gonna be worse than that.
27:57
It's gonna be a lot worse than that. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? If the whole team of people came through to steal your food, wouldn't there be something left behind? Obadiah is transmitting a message that's saying, God's not going to leave anything behind for those who are enemies of God, Edom. Oh, how Esau will be ransacked.
28:23
Now, Esau, y'all remember Esau from the story in Genesis? Do y'all remember? This is the line. Sarah and Abraham, you know, God makes the promise to Abraham. Whom you bless?
28:35
I'll bless. Whom you curse? I'll curse. I will bless all the nations in the earth through your seed, the child of promise being Isaac, but they took things into their own and Abraham and Hagar and Sarah made a plan and had Ishmael and the Ishmaelites come from this, not the child of promise, come from this and they have been made into a great nation. God said that he would make them into a huge nation.
29:05
Sarah and Abraham have Isaac. Isaac and Rebecca have Esau and Jacob. Esau is the older brother. Jacob is a younger brother, but he comes out grabbing on the heel of Esau. And he's a deceiver and he's a trick he's a trickster.
29:19
Esau's a a ruddy, red complected hunter, and he sold his birthright for a pot of stew. Do you all remember that? Old Testament stuff. This is Sunday school stuff. This is stuff Raydad usually preach about.
29:33
Esau and Jacob, those two brothers. Jacob, also known as Israel, and Esau became the father of the Edomites. So, all of the Edomites were the descendants of Esau and all of the descendants of Jacob were the children of Israel, the 12 tribes, right? So, there we go. So, Obadiah continuing on verse six.
29:56
Oh, how Esau will be ransacked and his hidden treasures searched out. There's not going to be anything left. All of the men allied with you will send you forth to the border. Who's you? Edom.
30:13
All of the men allied with you, Edom, they will send you forth to the border. And the men at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you. Where where is Edom taking its security? In its geographic location, in its height, you know, it's easy to defend. They're taking it in that they have allies, but he's saying even your allies are gonna send you out to the borders And the men who are at peace with you, people you have no squabble with, are gonna deceive you and they're going to overpower you.
30:47
They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. You think you have friends? Edom, enemy of God, but you don't. There is no understanding. There is no understanding in him, in Edom.
31:04
I don't know why. I just thought of this King James version. All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border. There's something Shakespearean about this. The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee.
31:19
They that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee. There is none understanding in all of the land. In him. Whoo. Obadiah continued.
31:29
This is why I don't preach from the Old Testament very much. Y'all are quieter today than I think you've ever been. I'm not Charles Finney. Charles Finney, during the great awakenings, used to preach 28 messages in a row on impending judgment to where people were crying. I don't know why they kept coming back.
31:46
28 messages in a row he would preach night after night after night in a place, in a tent usually, and he would preach 28 times and never give an altar call, never give any hope at all of salvation. When you felt that I am an enemy of God and you continued coming knowing that I am in open rebellion against the almighty. Is there any hope? Is there any hope? And he would not answer you with any hope for almost a month.
32:12
Well, I'm not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy wise men from Edom and understanding from the Mountain Of Esau? Then, your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, that's the southern part of Edom. So that everyone may be cut off from the Mountain Of Esau and by slaughter. Because of violence to your brother Jacob. Now Jacob had tricked Esau out of his blessing and the Edomites therefore just hated the Israelites because of what they did.
32:45
In Shiloh, Georgia, bless our hearts, that were being transmitted, I think. People in Shiloh might watch this, but there was a long going family feud over the hall tree. Do you all know what a hall tree is? What you hang your hat and coats on? Somebody was supposed to get the hall tree in the after the funeral, you know, and somebody else got it instead.
33:08
And I don't know the people. It was four generations before I was born that that hall tree was transferred to the wrong person. But I knew two sides of the family that didn't speak to each other over. I think selling your birthright, you becoming Israel and him becoming Esau and the Edomites, that was a big deal. So, Obadiah, because of violence to your brother Jacob, the land of Edom against the land of Israel, you will be covered with shame and you will be cut off forever.
33:36
On the day that you stood aloof. On the day that strangers, you're related. They're Semitic people. The Edomites are Semitic people. They are closely related with the Israelites but they hate them.
33:54
On the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem. You too were as one of them. How many of you have siblings? That that you that you would fight tooth and nail with yourself. Y'all would keep yours but if anybody ever picked on my little brother, it was over for them.
34:24
He's saying that you stood back and watched someone beat your little brother. You too were as one of them. You might as well been hitting him yourself. Do not gloat over your brother's day. The day of his misfortune and do not rejoice over the sons of Judah in the day of their destruction.
34:47
Yes, do not boast in their day of distress. Do not enter the gate of my people. Says the Lord. Keep thinking the capital M there reminds me. This is God speaking.
35:01
This. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their disaster. Yes, you, Edom. Do not gloat over their calamity in the day of their disaster, and do not loot their wealth in the day of their disaster. Don't take advantage of what's happening.
35:21
Do not stand at the fork in the road to cut down the fugitives and do not imprison their survivors in the day of their distress. So, he's given very direct quotes. This probably was prophesied right around that 600 at the peak of their empire. And they're encroaching, right? Do not do this.
35:47
Now, that's where the lightning bolt hits. This dark, dark, dark cloud right here, the very next thing is for the day of the Lord draws near on all nations. It expands beyond just Edom. The day of the Lord draws near on all nations. Now, every time you've ever heard me mention the day of the Lord, it has been expectantly and joyfully and happily looking forward to the day of the Lord.
36:07
When we would ultimately and finally be saved, reunited with our savior, Jesus, and entering a heavenly eternity. But if you don't know Jesus, the day of the Lord is a awful, dreadful, fearful thing. Draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
36:38
Because just as you drank on my holy mountain, all the nations will continually drink on yours as implied. They will drink and they will swallow and become as if they'd never even existed. But on Mount Zion, there will be those who escape and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions. This is the only silver lining right there.
37:01
In this super dark cloud, the silver lining is there will be those who escape. And who are those who will escape? Christians. Those Jews who looked forward to the Messiah and those Christians who look backward toward their Messiah or those who knew and followed him while he was here. But on Mount Zion, there will be those who escape and it'll be holy and the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
37:30
The house of Jacob, Jesus belongs to that house. The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph, a flame but the house of Esau will be a stubble, fire, flame, and stubble. Esau is not going to last in that fight, is he? And they will set them on fire and consume them so that there will be not even one survivor of the house of Esau. It's not a good position to be in to be an enemy of God.
38:01
For the Lord has spoken. Then, those of the Negev will possess the Mountain Of Esau. So, and those of the Shephelah, wonderful, grassy plain. The Philistine Plain, they'll have it all. Also possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead, and the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of Negev.
38:36
I could go over a geographic lesson. These are all places around there but he's saying all that you have and all that you think is yours will be immediately and utterly taken away and your enemies will have it. The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain Of Esau and the kingdom ultimately will be the Lord. So that's the end of the book of Obadiah right there. Anything happy about that?
39:04
Yes, if you're a Christian, if you are of the house of Edom, there is nothing there. There's nothing there. That's what frustrates me about the Old Testament. So many of those people were past the point. You know, in Romans, we had that he'll turn you over to a reprobate mind where you will no longer be convicted of your sin, but you'll still be under the judgment for it.
39:33
That's a hard thing for me. I like grace. I really, really like grace. I like to preach grace. I understand Greek better than Hebrew and so I like to stay in the New Testament.
39:45
The takeaways from this to me are these. The enemy of God is not a position to be envied. Everybody likes an underdog but that's a hopeless fight. To be arrogant is not a good thing. You wouldn't know that from television or politics.
40:06
You wouldn't know that. Cockiness is viewed as a positive in a lot of ways, but arrogance is not a good thing. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Don't be so high and mighty. Security in your earthly wealth is illusory.
40:25
It's temporary, and it is just an illusion. Trust in the Lord alone because there will be some who escape and they will be those who trust in the Lord alone. Now, Israel was supposed to be a light to the nations. They were supposed to be extending this light of God and this call to come into the house of God. To all of their neighbors, they're supposed to be.
40:47
They hoarded the blessing. We sometimes hoard the blessing. I'm asking you, don't hoard the blessing. Share it. Share it.
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Trust in the Lord alone. For the day of the Lord does draw near on all nations. That's for sure and those who remain enemies of the Lord, there will be no survivor. Utterly destroyed, eternally destroyed. And Finney would just end the sermon right there.
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For twenty eight days, do you love God? Do you want for your life to be a godly life? Do you want that? I can't stop right here because I know the rest of the story. I've got the New Testament.
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So, Obadiah, the dark cloud that it is, points us toward, I think, things like Philemon. Last week's sermon on Philemon, what made an it illustrated a point. Paul was pleading for Philemon. I mean, pleading for Onesimus, a runaway slave. He was pleading for Philemon, the owner, the master of the slave, Onesimus.
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He was pleading for him to receive him as a Christian brother and to treat him well. He doesn't say set him free, but he does say, I know that you'll do more than I have asked you to do. He does say, receive him as a brother. If if you value me and my friendship, you'll receive him as you would me. It's great.
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Philemon is good. It's one page, 25 verses. If you hadn't read it, read it. The whole enchilada was last week. He starts with grace and peace and he starts first Corinthians with grace and peace.
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He starts second Corinthians with grace and peace. He starts first Thessalonians with grace and peace. He starts second Thessalonians with grace and peace. Paul, this guy who knew the Old Testament very very well and understood the judgment of God and understood what it was to be under that judgment. Started every one of his letters with grace and peace.
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Knowing that there's no one righteous, no, not one. No one can stand when it comes to almighty God looking and judging. So, he starts with grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way he starts the book of Philemon. The way he ends it 25, verse 25 is, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
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It's not just a formality to sign off or own this way. He's meaning it. God's unmerited favor is available and that's what I want for you to have. So, Colossians, we're going to Colossians next week and Colossians four is really interesting. For those of you who heard all about Philemon, this is ridiculous, I know.
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That's Philemon, the whole book, and this is Colossians, just the fourth chapter. And if you were to look at it like I've looked at it this week, you would see, y'all can't see that from there. Green, Paul, and Christ Jesus are mentioned. Paul and Christ Jesus are mentioned. Archippus is mentioned.
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Archippus is mentioned here, right there. Grace to you and peace. It's mentioned right there. It's right there. Onesimus is right there.
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Onesimus is right there. Philemon lived in Colossi. So, Philemon was a fairly wealthy guy. He had a church meeting in his house in the city of Colossae. From Colossians four and Philemon, we see that these were happening at almost exactly the same time.
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So here we go back into our chronological study of the New Testament. He says, Mark, Mark is right there. Aristarchus, he's right over here. Luke is right there. Demas, all of these same people he's mentioning.
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And then he goes right here and says, Philemon, I have sent Onesimus back to you in person. That is I'm sending my very heart. I love this guy dearly. The guy that I wish to keep with me so that on your behalf, he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel. He's saying, I love Onesimus, and I'm sending him back to you personally.
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Over here, he says, as to all of my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant, fellow bond servant in the Lord, he's bringing you information. For this, I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know about all of our circumstances here in our imprisonment in Rome and that he may encourage your hearts. And with him is Onesimus. So for those of you who were here last week, Philemon is getting a letter personally, individually addressed to himself from Paul and his church, Colossi, is getting Colossians. Colossians is a wonderful, wonderful book about God, about Jesus, about grace, about peace, about how we should live our lives in front of outsiders, how we should walk day to day in our common affairs as Christians.
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I can't wait to get into Colossians with you. The last verse of Colossians says this, I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you. So as I'm closing here, I wanna say that too.
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But I do wanna say this, and it's Martin Luther King Junior, doctor reverend, reverend doctor Martin Luther King Junior weekend and he said something that I think helped. He's a baptist preacher. He definitely believed in Jesus. He fought the fight that he fought because he believed in Jesus because he believed not only in the grace of God but he believed in the justice of God and he said, the moral arc of this universe bends towards justice. The moral arc of this universe is long, he said, but it bends towards justice.
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And what you have given, you will be repaid unless you get the grace of God. Does that make sense to you? It's never too late for you to hear the message of grace and say, I'm an enemy of God. I do not deserve it. I don't understand it but I want it.
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I want his grace. I want his mercy. I don't want to be punished for what I've done and I want to repay anybody I've hurt. Paul says, grace be with you. That grace comes from one place, the gospel.
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Now, if you wanna know what happened to Edom like in history, what has happened to Edom? I I pulled this from the Easton Bible Dictionary. There are many prophecies concerning Edom. Isaiah 34, Jeremiah 49, Ezekiel 25, Joel three, Amos one, all of Obadiah, Amalekai, and they have been remarkably fulfilled. The present desolate condition of that land is a standing testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies.
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After an existence as a people for about, they say here, seventeen hundred years, they have utterly disappeared. Their language is ever forgotten forever. And in Petra, which was before that Selah, their capital, where kings kept their court and where nobles assembled there, no man dwells. It is given by lot to the birds and beasts and reptiles. As closely related in blood and in languages they were to the Israelites, they were and chose to be enemies of God.
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God, would you help us to see our lack, to see our fault, to see our flaws? And lord, as you draw all, if you are lifted up, you say you'll draw all men to you. God, I thank you that we're not living in that time where we had to look forward to and guess about your way of salvation. We have it so clearly delineated in the New Testament. The message of the cross, though
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it
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may be foolishness to those lord who are perishing, it is the power of God for those of us who believe. So God, would you draw today? Would you alert us as to where we stand? Would you give us who trust and believe in you a greater confidence in your ability to save and change and transform? And Lord, for those who are enemies and rebels against you, would you draw their hearts close to you, Lord?
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Would you let them see the error of their ways? Would you draw them into your family? In Jesus name, Lord, the only way. Amen. Would you stand with us and sing?
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From James four eight, it says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you that God is not far off and that we can come to him as we are And this is a song and a prayer really about that.
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God, I'm running.
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God, I'm running for the heart, run for the
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heart till I am so long on fire. Lord, I'm holding for your ways, waiting for the day when I am so on fire till I am so on fire.
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Let's sing that chorus again, shall we?
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We had on brawning for your heart, brawning for your
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heart till I am a sold on fire.
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Lord, I'm running for your
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ways waiting for a day when I am a sold on fire till I am so on fire. Lord, restore the joy I am. I for I am a sold on fire till I am a sold on fire I am a fire Alright. Sold
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From Colossians, let the word of Christ richly dwell within you and all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks to him, to God the Father. Amen. Amen.
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