Scripture referenced 4 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Obadiah 1 primary text of the sermon, read and expounded throughout
1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle.
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Keep this verse
Romans 13:1-4
quoted to show God ordains authority and uses nations to bring judgment
1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.
2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,
4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.
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1 Peter 5:6-11
quoted as favorite New Testament paragraph on humbling yourself under God's hand and resisting the devil
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
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Colossians 3:16-17
used as benediction, letting the word of Christ dwell richly and doing all in Jesus name
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Carl walked through the book of Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament, as part of the ongoing Minor Prophets series. The message traced God's word of judgment against the nation of Edom and pressed the congregation to examine where pride shows up in their own lives. The through-line of the whole sermon was a single, repeated conviction: God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.
What was said
Obadiah gives us almost nothing about himself. All we get is "the vision of Obadiah," and then the message begins. The recipient of that message is Edom, the nation descended from Esau, who shows up in scripture almost always as an adversary to whatever God is doing. The word that comes is straightforward and dark: God has already sent the envoy among the nations, and they are rising up against Edom.
Edom's problem was not a shortage of resources or military strength. They had plenty of both. They had built their homes high in the rocks, they had strong military alliances, and they felt secure. Their problem was that all of that security had made them arrogant. "Who will bring me down to earth?" was their attitude. And Obadiah delivers the Lord's answer: I will.
Pastor Carl traced the roots of this conflict back to Genesis, to Esau selling his birthright for a pot of stew and carrying the bitterness of that moment forward into his descendants. The Edomites and the Israelites had been in a family feud for centuries. But when Babylon came against Israel, Edom did something worse than fighting against their brother. They stood back and watched. They were complicit, going in with the foreign invaders, looting in the chaos, cutting off Israelite fugitives at the border. God's charge against them was not just pride, it was that they used a moment of family weakness for personal gain.
The tone of the book shifts at verse fifteen. The judgment does not fall on Edom alone. "The day of the Lord draws near on all the nations," Obadiah writes, and as you have done, it will be done to you. Pastor Carl connected this to the principle of sowing and reaping, and to Romans 13, where Paul writes that governing authorities are servants of God and that those who do evil have reason to fear the sword. God uses nations as instruments, raising some up and bringing others down, and the cycle almost always involves pride on the way down.
There is one clear silver lining in the book, and Pastor Carl named it plainly: "On Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy." The humble survive. The kingdom at the end of Obadiah belongs to the Lord, not to any proud nation that built itself up high. The book closes with a great reversal, the possessed getting back what was taken, the powerful coming down, and the exiles returning.
Pastor Carl closed with 1 Peter, the passage about humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God, casting anxiety on Him, and resisting the devil who prowls like a roaring lion. He tied it directly back to Obadiah: pride is the posture of the enemy of God, and humility is the only way into the kingdom. The whole Bible, he said, really does come down to those two things in the end.
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.
- Pastor Carl described Edom as a nation that felt secure because of its geography, its wealth, and its military alliances. Where in your own life are you most tempted to trust in something other than God for your security?
- The sermon pointed out that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, and that this pattern shows up all through the Old Testament and is echoed three times in the New Testament. What does genuine humility actually look like in day-to-day life, and how do you know when pride has crept back in?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,605 words
Unless the pastor is upfront. That's the sign. And guess what? At first me, Carl will always start on time. Me?
No. Thank you. You are here this morning. And because you are here, let's make it special. Worship the Lord and feel his presence in this place.
Amen? Amen. And let's while while we worship, while we hear the songs, the lyrics, while we hear the sermon, let's have that sweet conversation in our hearts. Lord, speak something to me. Lord, touch my heart.
Lord, I need your help here and there. Lord, give me the strength to follow you, to serve you. Amen. With that in mind, let's worship the Lord like he's right here, which he is in the spirit. Amen?
By the power of the Holy Spirit, let's worship him. Amen.
Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements here and a few specials guests for the announcements too. I don't have a clicky clicker though, so you're have to run through those for me, Josh. Sorry.
It's happening. Tomorrow night, tonight actually is not happening. I just got this message. Seeking truth in your twenties is not happening tonight, but next week there'll be a friendsgiving. Friendsgiving is happening next Sunday night at the same place, North Roberta Drive out behind the airport.
This is for 20. So if you've graduated high school, we're counting you as 20 and then all the way up to 29. That's the the age brackets. Do you wanna say anything more? Okay.
Casey. Thank you very much. It's a Casey and Brian McCooey's place. That's happening. Seeking truth in your twenties next week, not tonight.
It is going to be long line at night. That's not that there's gonna be a long line waiting to get in the door. I hope so. But the long line night is to benefit the Good Samaritan Missions Food Bank. So if you will bring in canned food, non perishable items tomorrow night, they're gonna line up each of the different segments of Awana are gonna line up the cans and see who has the longest line of donated canned goods.
Long line night tomorrow night at Awana to benefit Good Samaritan Missions Food Bank. Men's lunch study Thursday. This past Thursday, there actually was lunch that showed up at the lunch study, but that's a rarity. Don't plan on a biblical meal, not an actual meal. But men's lunch study, Thursdays at 11:55 in the fellowship halls, so come and go as you need it and that is a great study that I am loving, enjoying that.
I have a special announcement this morning about a children's choir that is happening. I think Amy Jordan is gonna make that announcement. There she is. Yellow microphone is on. Mustard, I think you'll call it.
Yeah, I know.
You I
love this is my favorite audience, right?
That's right.
Okay. So if I'm up here, it's because it's important and it's exciting. Children's choir, I'm so excited this year. Lauren Feldman and Lisa Landis, there she is. They are leading it.
They came to us and before they could get it out, we said, yes. So the sixteenth, please sign up by then. We are actually closing registration. Please don't get mad. Because it's like a progressive learning for six weeks and they want them to be there.
If you have to be gone once, that's fine. It is ages seven to 18 years old. So high schoolers, middle school, please come and join. It will be right after this service. So say we're still in here till 10:15, we'll make sure your kids get down to the big youth room downstairs and they can start at 10:05.
So it'll just be thirty minutes every Sunday until the twenty first is when they'll perform. So have any questions? You can ask me or Lisa. Lauren's not here today, or she'd be up here. So anyways, sign up please this week sometime.
Again, we're gonna close registration next Sunday and they will start next Sunday at 10:05 with practices. So thank you. Appreciate
it. These are both exceptional music teachers, vocal coaches, and you really your kids, if they like to sing at all, please get them here because it's gonna be a really good thing. Operation Christmas Child processing opportunity. So we have the boxes out there, you're welcome to get those boxes and fill them and bring them in. That's happening, but also, Nevaeh has asked and volunteered to take a group down to Denver where there's a regional processing center.
And so when it goes through the processing, they need volunteers to do that portion too, and Nevaeh is going to take a group, if you will let her know, let us know that you want to go on that and we're going to take a group down to Denver. It sounds like a fun time. Spend the night down there, work all day at the processing center and then come back. There's more I'm sure there are more details than on that slide and I see you all squinting because you can't read it. If you want to know afterwards, we'll give you the information that you need to know to get in on that.
Is there anybody else? I don't see there's Danny. Danny Sheridan. Okay, fantastic. Thank you.
If like there's somebody that needs food right now, if you know of somebody that needs food right now, they are pretty stocked to be able to hand out things to people in need. So, just let let us know, let them know, and that's really good. If there's anything else that I'm forgetting, it's probably on the church website. That's that little QR code up there. It'll get you there.
Is there anything else I'm forgetting? Good. Would you stand with us? We're gonna continue in worship. Thankful.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness, no one can fathom. Amen? Praise him for for his acts of power. Praise him for his suppressing greatness.
Hallelujah. And take a look over there in that window. That's his greatness right there. Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the privilege to be here, God. I am so thankful.
I'm so thankful that we we are here gathered together as a church praising your name, worshiping you Lord. Jesus, I'm asking you Lord, please touch our hearts, touch our mind, and may we follow you and worship you and understand more of your love in our lives, Lord. May we get stronger and stronger as we gather, and then as soon as we leave these doors, give us the power and the strength to worship, to to share the good news about you, Lord. And sometimes, as I I as I heard the saying says, if it's necessary, take a Bible with you. But Lord, may we be kind to one another.
Maybe show compassion. Lord, I know that people are struggling in this valley with many many problems. And you are the only one that knows the heart of man. So we pray that you would give us the strength to be the instruments, so we can bless others with the good news that we have received from you Jesus. I am so thankful again.
Thank you for giving us the the privilege to be here to worship and to feel your presence in our hearts. What a gift we have through the Holy Spirit. In his name I pray. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Amen. Praise the Lord. I can hear the church singing and worship. Amen. We feel alive.
Amen. We're gonna we're gonna sing it's called a peppy song according to pastor Ray's statements. But I promise you the lyrics are so good. So it's the first time we're gonna do we're gonna try to do a country style. So follow us.
Okay? It's a Pepe song, but the lyrics. Oh, they're good. They're good. Good to the heart and Amen.
Praise the Lord. Pastor Ephesians.
Okay. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward, the elders to come forward, and would you pray with me? Lord God Almighty, thank you for the buried ways that we have at our disposable at our disposal to praise you. Lord, I thank you that each individual person is able to transmit a facet of your love.
That lord, maybe nobody else is able to do. You are so multifaceted. So I pray that you'd use us, that we would use the gift just as each one of us has been given a gift that we'd be using them for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God. I pray lord that you take these offerings and that you would do with them just as you see fit. Lord, we humbly place them before you saying use them lord.
Use us to do your will and your way. We don't want to be so high and mighty that we think we know it all. In Jesus name, Lord, we wanna be submitting to your spirit. And in Jesus name, caring for the goodness of the gospel to the very uttermost parts. Thank you for the good reports that are coming back from the from the other side of the globe, Lord, for people who have been on mission and are on mission right now.
I thank you for all of those who are dedicated to following you and Lord to presenting you. In Jesus name, I pray that your spirit would accompany the proclamation of your word. Amen.
Amen. There are times in our lives when we go up the hill and it's beautiful and it's great. There are times also in our lives when we go down the hill and it's not that easy, but we know that Jesus is always with us. Amen? Amen.
So with that in mind, let's worship the Lord. I hope I'm not gonna mess up this song because of course, Carl Carl always plays perfect. So no matter how much I practice, when we worship here, it's something different. So but we worship the Lord. Amen?
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. He bakes me lie down in green pastures. And he lids me. Besides still waters, he you prepare the table
Praise the Lord. Amen.
Amen. Amen. And it's time for children's church downstairs. And there they go. So, if you all are joining in for the first time, we are going through a study on the minor prophets and we started a couple weeks ago and we took two weeks in the book of Amos.
And admittedly, with fear and trepidation on my part, going into Old Testament minor prophets but I am enjoying the study of it so much that this week I had planned to preach on Joel because I was avoiding Hosea, the truth. And then I figured that Joel was probably later and not earlier, so I didn't want to not go chronologically, and so I decided to do Micah, and today we're going do Obadiah. I've been studying all of the minor prophets at the same time, if that's not evident. They all reinforce one another. They have slightly different audiences that I think we can, if the shoe fits, wear.
Right? Each of these, whether it's to the land of Edom, or Gaza, or Israel, or Judah, but Obadiah does not have a whole lot of personal biographical information in it, and it is a dark cloud of impending judgment. That's what it is. There is a silver lining sort of in the middle towards the end, and there's one at the very end, I think, but it's a dark cloud of impending judgment. Shortest book in the old testament.
Last week, we went way long. This week, we'll see. This is the vision of Obadiah. That's all the information we have about him here. He's mentioned elsewhere, but that's about as much as you're going to get about Obadiah.
It might be that he's writing this book in the eight hundreds BC, and it might be he's writing about five eighty seven BC because the circumstances that he describes are either one of those times would fit it, but we don't really know. We do know it's holy writ. Right? It's scripture, and we should pay attention to it. So this is the vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom. Now, mentioned Edom in Amos, and I mentioned that usually when the name Edom comes up, that's Esau's line. So from Esau down, the Edomites are almost always in scripture, the bad guys. When they show up, you know that they're gonna be contrary to whatever it is that God is doing or trying to do. Whether they are well off financially or not, they are usually fairly aggravated with the people of God.
The vision of Obadiah. Thus says Lord God concerning Edom, we have heard a report from the Lord. We, Obadiah, I think he's using the royal we. He just says, we have heard a report from the Lord, and an envoy has been sent among the nations. So Obadiah is getting the word from the Lord that the envoy is already being sent out from other nations around Edom.
Arise, the Lord says, and let us go against her, the her there is Edom. It's a message of impending judgment specifically for Edom, for battle. So God has made the decree, and the nations are rising up against Edom. So this is the kingdom of Edom in yellow down here. It lasted roughly the thirteenth century BC all the way up until one twenty five BC, so that's a pretty long reign of a kingdom.
They were eventually defeated by the Hasmoneans, those are the intertestamental Jewish body, right? The Maccabees, the Hasmoneans, that's happening between Malachi and Matthew in the four hundred years intertestamental silence. So the kingdom of Edom is overcome eventually, and the prophecy that Obadiah is gonna give and that Amos gave does come true. Spoiler alert, okay? It's a prophecy though, so it's on the front side.
Edom built their houses high up in the rocks. It's kind of a pretty place. This is just a ravine, a canyon. But this red area over here, like the yellow area before, it shows, it's a pretty big kingdom. It's on the other side of the Jordan, South Of Jerusalem, South Of Judah and East over that way.
Behold, God says, I will make you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. Hey, welcome to church. Does Edom look small in the yellow there? No.
It's way bigger than anything else near it. And if you take this map, it's even bigger than that, you know. But the arrogance of your heart has deceived you, Edom. You have great territory, and you're doing well financially, economically, and in battle, you're doing well. But your arrogance in your heart is what has deceived you.
Now, know universally shown throughout all Old Testament pericopes, all throughout the Old Testament, we see that God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. Then we see it echoed in the New Testament three different times. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And the Edomites are proud, arrogant folk. They trust in well, let's just let them let's let Obadiah talk.
You who live in the clefts of the rock, they literally lived up above the plains in the mountains into cave dwelling places and built their homes in that way. You live in the loftiness of your dwelling place literally, but he's using this literally and figuratively here, this is a poem. In the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to earth? That's pretty bold. But they felt like we've got the fortress, we've got we've got our place and it's a select place, nobody can approach us, we have the high ground, we are fine.
Nothing's gonna bring us down. Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there, I will bring you down. And this declares the Lord. So to be opposed to the Lord God Almighty, that's not a good position to be in. But we know that he resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble.
We know Edom is displaying pride right here, and they have since the beginning. Remember, Esau and Jacob, right? That whole deal. You can go back to Genesis and read that if you want to. I will bring you down, declares the Lord.
If thieves came to you, if robbers came in by night, broke in, stole all of our stuff, and it is a terrible, terrible feeling. They stole my hat, which is full of wallet, keys, everything else, you know, and her pocketbook, passport, credit cards, all the stuff. If the starter had been working on the Suburban, they would have stole the Suburban. It wasn't, so they didn't. Key was left in the ignition.
They didn't know that you had just hit it with a hammer and it'll be fine. If thieves broke in by night, if robbers came in, oh, how you'll be ruined. Would they not though steal only until they had enough? They didn't steal everything in our house. They just stole the quickest stuff they could get a hold of.
This, would they not steal only till they had enough? This is not utter ruin. It's aggravating, but it's not utter ruin. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? They're going to miss a few grapes, you know.
Oh, how Esau will be ransacked. Obadiah is delivering the word of the Lord. You've set yourselves up against the most high, and you are going to fall, and it's gonna be a great fall when you do. So if you remember, Sarah and Abraham, Abraham, Abraham gets the promise of God that he will bear a son, he'll be the son of promise, and so he and Sarah are gonna bear a son, but when that didn't happen, he took matters into his own hands, and he and Sarah even decided Hagar would probably be the way this works. So rather than believe God's promise, they trusted in the way of man, and Ishmael, and Ishmaelites were born out of Abraham and Hagar.
But God was true on his promise and Isaac did come along and Isaac marries Rebecca and they have Esau and Jacob. And you remember the story about the two brothers. Esau is older, but he sells his birthright for a pot of stew, angry about it ever since. He passes that down to his kids and it's been Hatfield's and McCoy's since the very time of that blessing. But God had the line of promise that was gonna go through Jacob, aka also known as Israel.
Right? So this is where it is, and Esau's people were the Edomites, and Jacob's people were the Israelites. Oh, how Esau will be ransacked and his treasures, his hidden treasures will be searched out. There's not gonna be anything left. All the men allied with you will send you forth to the border.
Now, is an showing us what's happening with Edom or with Esau, Esau's people. Edom has allied with the allied with the nations around them, and he's saying, you think that your military alliances are going to protect you? You think that you're good? All of the men that are allied with you are going to send you forth to the border first. You're going to be ones in line of battle first.
You eat them, and the men who are at peace with you will deceive you, and they will overpower you. This is what's going to happen, thus saith the Lord. They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. So you're trusting in your military might, you're trusting in your secure habitation, and you're trusting in your alliances that you've made, but those who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. There's no understanding in him.
That's There's no understanding in your in your alliance buddies. They don't get it. I love the King James version for some reason on this. I don't know why I memorized this a long time ago, but it sticks in my head. All the men of the confederacy thy confederacy have brought thee even unto the border.
The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee, and they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee. There's none understanding in him. Goodness gracious. This sounds like bad news if you're an Edomite. Right?
Will not on that day, declares the Lord. Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men from Edom and the understanding from the Mountain Of Esau. Will I not do that? Then your mighty men will be dismayed, oh Teman. And if you're wondering who Teman is, he is Esau's grandson from Genesis 36.
These are the chief of the sons of Esau, son of Eliphaz, first born of Esau, the chief Teman, that's Teman. Then your mighty men will be dismayed, oh Teman, so that everyone may be cut off from the Mountain Of Esau by slaughter. This sounds awful, especially for a powerful nation that's trusting in all of their military might and everything else. You're coming down. So that everyone may be cut off from the Mountain Of Esau by slaughter because why?
Now, if you remember from Amos, we had an oracle against Edom from Amos. Probably could be around the same time, it's not certain of that, but this oracle against Edom has the announcement of judgment, and then it has the reason, and then it has a punishment. That's what the color code was for the last couple of weeks. The announcement of judgment, and then the reason, and then the punishment, and so in this one, he's now given the reason. He was saying this is gonna happen, that's the announcement of judgment, and now he's saying the reason is because of the violence to your towards your brother, Jacob.
Now these are not literally Jacob and Esau, these are their people. This is the line of both. Because of your violence, Edomites towards the Israelites. Amos says this, because he pursued his brother with the sword and he literally of your violence towards your brother Jacob, you'll be covered with shame, and you'll be cut off forever. This is the announcement and the reason behind it.
On that day that you stood aloof, standing back and watching what was happening on the day that strangers carried off the wealth of Israel. Now, this could have been immediately after that Babylonian captivity 586, right right around in there, you know. Around that time when Babylon was coming and taking everything. It says, you stood back and you didn't protect your brother. You didn't take care of him.
You've declared him as an enemy even when outsiders, even outsiders like Babylon, right, came in. Can you all see family stuff going on in this? Anybody who has more than one child? I only have one. But if you see more than one child and and this plays out so often, it's like, I'm just gonna sit back.
But you know what? You're supposed to protect your little brother. I'm the bigger brother. I'm supposed to protect my little brother. Now we might fight like cats and dogs, but if somebody else messes with my brother, that's a big deal.
And it was supposed to be a big deal to the Edomites when somebody messing with the Israelites. On the day that strangers were carrying off Israel's wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and they cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, you too were as one of them. You were complicit with them, and you know better. Don't gloat over your brother's day, the day of his misfortune. Don't sit back and think he got just what's coming to him, that sorry joker stole my birthright.
And don't rejoice over the sons of Judah in their in the day of their destruction. You're not supposed to be happy that he's getting his comeuppance. And notice that God is giving Israel his chosen people their comeuppance for the same reason actually, pride, because God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. Don't be rejoicing. I see you over there smirking and smiling about it that your brother just got a whooping.
It shouldn't make you happy. Don't boast in the day of their distress. Don't enter the gate of my people in the day of their disaster, and that's what they were doing. Edom went in with Babylon to conquer Israel. Oh, that's that's rough.
It wasn't like Esau had not been taught. It wasn't like Edom had not been taught the land. Their ancestry was huge. It was really important, and they knew about the deal that God made with Abram and Sarah. They knew about it.
Yes, you do not gloat over their calamity in the day of their disaster, and do not loot their wealth in the day of their disaster. Disaster. You don't take advantage of the situation, you know better. Don't stand at the fork of the road to cut down their fugitives while they're in a weakened state. Don't take advantage of that weakened state.
I know you're always aggravated with them And don't imprison their survivors in their day of distress. Now right here, we hit the end of kind of a session. He's telling them what they ought to have done and they ought to do. It's forecasting what's coming. Right?
He's saying, you're gonna do this, but don't do it. Right? You're gonna do don't do it. Don't be a part of it. Don't have anything to do with this.
Don't do this. And then in 15, you would think it would be that the judgment of God is gonna fall on Edom. He's already forecast that. He's already given the reason for that, and punishment would be certainly the thing, but this little hinge right here seems odd upon first reading especially. We know that even as bad guys when we started reading this, we see what they've done and what they're going to do, and he's given them a direct command not to do it, and they're going do it anyway.
For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. Oh, it's not just Edom. And the day of the Lord for Israel was coming, right? That was coming the day of their downfall was coming. The day of the Lord draws near on all the nations.
That's a slightly different shift in tone. The judgment of God is coming on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. You proud people who are taking over other places and lands, and who are taking advantage of their calamity in their day of distress, you are subjugating people and oppressing people. Amos would say the rich are oppressing the poor, and he's specifically talking about the the powerful militarily, economically are taking advantage of the one in a weakened state.
As you have done, it'll be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. Now, is a biblical concept of sowing and reaping, you know. That's just the way that it works, and it's not karma. It's not the same thing as karma, but it has a little bit of that sound, doesn't it?
You knew better, and you did it anyway for your own benefit, and that's not gonna stand before Almighty God. God being Almighty and you setting yourself against him, that's not a good thing, because just as you drank on my holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually, and they'll drink and they'll swallow and become as if they had never existed. Almighty God raises up kingdoms, and then kingdoms fall, And the cycle usually involves getting too big for your britches, getting proud, and not being open handed, and not being a good neighbor, helpful. This reminded me of Romans 13. Actually, if there's not a good place to break this, I just used three and four.
Remember when it talks, but there's no authority on earth except for that which is ordained by God. And when you're living under Nero like Paul was when he wrote this, this time period, rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority of outside influence? Then do what is good, and you'll have praise from the same for it's it, the powers that be is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what's evil, be afraid For it does not bear the sword for nothing, for it it government is a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
In this case, God was using the Babylonians or the Assyrians or any group of the big cats around the little mice. Right? New Testament stuff, that is speaking directly to Christians under an oppressive Roman regime. He said, just keep your head down, make it your goal to live a quiet simple life, share the gospel, and live with it. Don't go against it.
You don't have to rise up against it. Micah, oh gracious. Micah is so good. Micah six eight fits into any conversation. But on Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy.
Did I mention there's one silver lining? That's it. There will be those who escape on Mount Zion. This is the place right outside of Jerusalem, right outside the old city, right there where the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, right where the church has its birth, right there near the cross of Calvary. On Mount Zion, there will be those who escape and it will be holy, completely of God, set apart, consecrated, and the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
What they're losing and what you're taking from them is gonna come back to them. This is the only silver lining I saw, and I think the last line might be two, but we're four verses away from that. On Mount Zion, there will be those who escape. And who are they? The humble.
God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. Then the house of Jacob will be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, but the house of Esau will be a stubble. You're going down, eat them, and they'll set them on fire and consume them so that there will be no survivor of the whole house of Esau. Why? Because they continued in their pride, and the Lord has spoken.
Almighty God has spoken. For those of the Negev will possess the Mountain Of Esau, and those of the Shephelah, really really good land, the Philistine Plain, and also possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead, and those names and places may not mean much to you at all, but God is saying there will be a great reversal. The enemies of God will come down in their pride, and those who are humbled before him and trusting in him will be raised up. 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 the Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev, and the deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain Of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord's. Okay.
The kingdom will be the Lord's, think is another silver lining. Right? How is it that we are going to arrive at the place of the kingdom of God? It's gotta be through humility. It has to be.
It's the only way. Humbly accepting the way that God has made and not persisting in our own humanity, which we see over and over. In Amos, there were seven nations plus one, right? And all of them were guilty. Roman says that all of us are guilty.
No, there's not one that's without sin, right? So we are all guilty, but we can agree with God about that sin and humility and he forgives it. He brings us out of the kingdom of darkness, which is every kingdom of this earth and into the kingdom of light. So takeaways from the book of Obadiah, enemy of God is not a position to be envied. Can we all agree on that?
So if we know the enemy of God is the one who is proud, then let's say, ourselves. Let's humble ourselves. I'll get to that in a minute. To be arrogant is not a good thing. I think we lift up pride, and we In English, there's a kind of pride where we say, that's good pride and that's bad pride.
School pride's alright. Not so certain about that. I think we've got a really overactive sense of team. Right? And so to be arrogant though is just not a good thing.
To be proud is setting yourself in opposition to Almighty God. Therefore, don't be so high and mighty. That's pretty good advice. Don't be too big for your britches. Trust your wife when she says you're getting too big for your britches.
Security in your earthly wealth is illusory. I haven't done any grammar all day. Hey, illusory implies a false impression based on a deceptive resemblance or faulty observation or influenced by your emotions that prevent a clear view. Think about that. When you're sitting pretty and economically everything's fine, and you've got a secure place, and you've got your fortress, That's an illusion because unless the Lord builds a house, they labor in vain who build it.
Right? Trust in the Lord alone because the kingdom is his. For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nation. So as New Testament believers, our mandate in the nations because the day of the Lord approaches on all the nations. It's not just the folks surrounding first century Israel.
For those who choose by pride to remain enemies of the Lord, there will be no survivor. That's just the way that Obadiah puts it, and he doesn't say anything about where he came from or what he did, and the Bible doesn't have to, but thus saith the Lord. He carried forward his message faithfully, probably around the same time as Jeremiah. There's some real close similarities between the two. It sounds like it's about that time.
This is this is something to pay attention to. If there's a place where you're feeling like you're secure because you've done it for yourself, I'd say be careful, lest you fall. Now, I'm gonna go that's the end of Obadiah. I got two minutes. Here we go.
This is my probably my favorite paragraph in the whole New Testament and it preaches so well and so easily. If you if you get a chance to memorize one paragraph, I think this is a really helpful one because the whole Bible really comes down to pride and humility when it comes down in the end. The love of God is available for the humble. If you resist that love and your pride, God will let you. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time.
Having cast all your anxiety on him because he cares about you, be sober and be alert. You do have an adversary. The adversary is the prosecuting attorney. He knows the list of charges, and you're guilty, but you've been declared innocent. Okay?
Be sober, be on alert. Your adversary, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. So resist him. James says, if you resist him, he'll flee. Greater is he that's in you than he who's in the world.
So resist him, firm in your faith. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world, don't feel like the lone ranger, after you've suffered for a little while. The God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ. He will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever.
Amen. Would you stand? I'm going invite the band back up. And we're going to sing one more To the only king forever.
I don't choose the song that would that to work with the sermon, but this works perfect.
As long as it's true.
Let's praise the Lord. Amen?
Bring our expectations. We trust the name of Jesus.
So I've got a couple of things that I forgot to say earlier. First of all, it's Veterans Day. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I missed that this weekend.
I'm thankful for you veterans. My dad was a veteran and I'm very, very thankful for that. Didn't work it into the message, but I'm very, very thankful for veterans. And a few weeks ago, a month ago today actually, I witnessed that wreck, the motorcycle wreck. So Bruce and Violet.
Violet is fine. Violet has a neck brace on just because, but she's fine. She's doing wonderfully. Last Wednesday, Bruce died. He had brain damage and he was in ICU for about three weeks.
And then he was moved to palliative care or hospice care for a day, and he was completely lucid and got to speak with his family, his daughter, his son. He spoke on the phone with another son and with the whole family, grandkids, everybody. And then, they asked me if I'd do the funeral on Friday. So I went over to the loudest funeral I've ever been a part of. We have 50 motorcycles leading the way before the hearse and it was a beautiful thing.
I'm gonna ask you today to pray for Violet Pence and for Ron Pence and for Amy Pence and for Thomas Pence that are are grieving right now. And it was a blessing to be a part of what's going on. And I just pray that God would use that. I'm gonna go to Colossians for the benediction and here we go. Sixteen seventeen says, y'all let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Be teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. Be singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Songs. By the way, the two songs that we kinda sang at the funeral were Simple Man and Wish You Were Here. And Old Friends by Chris Stapleton.
Be singing these with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do, whether it's in word or deed, be doing everything in the name of Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to him. Thanks to God the father through him. Amen.
Amen.
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