Zephaniah 3:12-20

[0:00] Good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to be here with y'all. I appreciate Brother Gary giving me an opportunity to stand and present the word of God.

[0:12] ! I had confirmation as to what I was going to be preaching. Because the very first of y'all's Bible drills came from Zephaniah chapter 3 and that just happened to be where we're going to be tonight.

[0:27] And I know there was a gentleman back here, I kept facing forward, but someone back here was talking about during prayer requests how he's heard somebody say that, you know, we didn't need to pay any attention to the Old Testament.

[0:41] We should just, you know, do away with the Old Testament. I've heard it said that the New Testament church needs to divorce itself from the Old Testament.

[0:51] But folks, I got news for you. It's within the 66 books of the closed canon of Scripture for a reason. The Old Testament is where God tells us that he's going to abolish death.

[1:07] And the New Testament is where he does it and where he shows us how he does it. He does it through Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father. But the Old Testament is just as important as the New Testament.

[1:20] It's all the Word of God and all the Old Testament points toward Jesus Christ, points to Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. And what He's done for all of mankind, for all that will repent of their ways and believe the Gospel.

[1:38] You know, I've said many times that, you know, we can have Judaism all day long without Christianity. It went on for 2,000 years, beginning with Abraham. Judaism survived all that time without Christianity, but you cannot have Christianity without Judaism.

[1:54] God promised Abraham that the entire world was going to be blessed by his seed. And Abraham being the father of the Jewish nation. So, I totally believe and I'm totally on board with we need the Old Testament.

[2:10] Now, all that being said, if we read the Old Testament and can't find a way to apply what we are reading in the Old Testament to the New Testament church or to the Gospel, chances are we're interpreting it wrong.

[2:26] There's got to be a way to do that. Now, there are promises. I'm not one that believes in replacement theology. I do not believe that the church has replaced the nation of Israel.

[2:38] I believe that Israel has been set on the back burner. The New Testament church has been at the forefront of this thing for 2,000 years now. Ever since Jesus Christ came and was killed and buried and resurrected and ascended back to the Father.

[2:52] The New Testament church has been on the front burner. But Israel is going to have her day one day after a while. And I do believe that. So, there's people out there that believe that God is completely, totally done with Israel.

[3:07] That she had her chance and she blew her chance. But that ain't what my Bible teaches. That is not what my Bible teaches. So, all that being said, Zephaniah will be in chapter 3.

[3:19] Praise God, we won't be in chapter 1 or chapter 2. Zephaniah 1 and 2. There's a lot of judgment that God is pronouncing. He's pronouncing it on His own people.

[3:30] He's pronouncing it on Judah. He's pronouncing it on the city of Jerusalem. He's pronouncing it on the surrounding nations. Even to go as far as pronouncing judgment on the Ethiopians.

[3:41] In Zephaniah 1 and 2. God is pronouncing all this judgment. And even on into Zephaniah chapter 3. But just like most other places in the Bible.

[3:54] If we look and we see judgment. We look and we see the fury of God. We look and we see the wrath of God. We see His anger towards sin. His anger against people rebelling against sin.

[4:06] We also find hope. And we find that in Zephaniah 3. So, all that being said, we'll pick up in verse 12. Of Zephaniah 3.

[4:19] Zephaniah 3 verse 12. Says, I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people. And they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity.

[4:31] Nor speak lies. Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall feed and lie down. And none shall make them afraid.

[4:41] Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Be glad. And rejoice with all the heart. O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy.

[4:54] The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not.

[5:05] And to Zion, let not thine hands be slapped. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy.

[5:17] He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly who are of thee, To whom the reproach of it was a burden.

[5:34] Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee, And will save her that halteth, And gather her that was driven out, And will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.

[5:47] At that time will I bring you again, Even in the time that I gather you. For I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, When I turn back your captivity before your eyes, Sayeth the Lord.

[6:02] So back to verse 12 in Zephaniah in chapter 3, It says, I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.

[6:14] Verse 13, The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, Nor speak lies, Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall feed and lie down, And none shall make them afraid.

[6:30] So again, Just to recap what we just said, In the first two chapters of the book of Zephaniah, You find basically the same principles, Not only in Zephaniah, But through all the minor prophets, Really you see much judgment that is pronounced by Almighty God.

[6:49] You see God fed up. And what's so surprising about this though, Is He's fed up with His own people, Rebelling against Him. He's fed up with those that He has made a covenant with.

[7:02] I know earlier someone was talking about the old covenant, And the new covenant. God made a covenant with the Israelites. And God is a covenant keeper, Is He not?

[7:14] God has always kept His side of the covenant. He's always kept His side, As we would say nowadays, Of the bargain. But the people of God, Many times, They'll go for a little while, They're just like the Israelites.

[7:27] You look in the book of Judges sometimes, And there's a cycle that continues over, And over and over in the book of Judges, Where the Israelites, They would be given over by God, Into the hands of their enemy.

[7:40] They would be given over as slaves, Into the hands of their enemy. They would be oppressed by their enemy. And over time, They would shout out to God. They would cry. Out to God. And God would come, And He would deliver His people, And they would serve God for a while, Then they would slack off.

[7:55] Again, This is a vicious cycle, Not only in the book of Judges, But all throughout the Old Testament. We see the Israelites doing this, Over and over. But folks, We have no right to sneer down, Our noses at the Israelites.

[8:08] We as the church, Of the living God, Are just as guilty, Of doing the same thing. We are just as guilty, Of denying God, Of denying the gospel, Of denying the goodness of God, Denying the righteousness of God, As the Israelites were.

[8:23] But praise God, There is a remnant, That God will keep. There has always been a remnant, In the scripture, For Satan, Himself, And all the forces of evil, Have tried to quash the word of God, They have tried to quash the plan, Of God, They have tried to derail, Everything that God, Has had in motion, But praise be unto God, His plan cannot, Be derailed, His plan cannot be faltered, It is a perfect plan, He is a just God, He is a strong God, He is a mighty tower, He is the everlasting Father, He is the Prince of Peace, He is omniscient, He is omnipotent, And He is everywhere, Omnipresent, My God's plan will not be thwarted, He has always had a remnant, He will always have a remnant, And that remnant will look unto Him, That remnant will cry unto Him, And God will rescue His people, Every time that the remnant calls out for Him, How many times in your life, Since you have been saved, Whether it has been a year, Or whether it has been five years, Or fifty years, How many times have you thought in your life, I can't go on another step,

[9:25] I can't go on another mile, I can't continue in this way, This is happening in my life, That is happening in my life, All this negativity, Is coming my way, How many times have we done that, But God comes through for His people, God hears the cries of His people, I praise God, That He is not only a God, That hears the prayers of His people, But He acts on behalf of His people, When they cry out to Him, Could you imagine a God, Whose ear is too heavy, Or whose arm is too short, But according to the Bible, His ear is not too heavy, Nor is His arm too short to say it, And His ear is not too heavy, To hear the cry of His people, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, That's my God, I get excited about the Word of God, I know where I come from, I know what God saved me from, Every deep and dark detail, Is no more your business, Than your life is my business, But I know what God saved me from,

[10:25] I know where I was at, I was just like the Israelites here, I was just like them, I'd rebelled against God, I'd rebelled against the things of God, I'd rebelled against the Word of God, I'd went against everything, That God had put in place, But hallelujah, He came to me, And He came looking for me, And He convicted my heart, He showed me my ways, That's what we're talking about here, In verses 12 and 13, Of the third chapter of Zephaniah, Again he says, I will leave in the midst of thee, An afflicted and a poor people, And they shall trust, In the name of the Lord, The remnant of Israel, Shall not do iniquity, Nor speak lies, Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found, In their mouth, For they shall feed and lie down, And none shall make them afraid, God says He will leave, A remnant of people, It will be a poor people, And it will be an afflicted people, And this remnant, They will call upon the Lord, They will trust, In the name of the Lord,

[11:27] They will believe, In the name of the Lord, I praise God, That it's a poor and afflicted people, That do this, Jesus Christ said Himself, I came not to call the righteous, But sinners, To repentance, Those who are afflicted, And those who are poor, They are poor in spirit, Jesus says, In the sermon on the mountain, Matthew 5, And three, Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Those who are poor in spirit, Those who are faltered, Those who are whole, Those who are lame, Those who are blind, Those who are deaf, To the spiritual things, These are the ones that God, Reaches down, And saves, God hates a proud look, Does He not?

[12:08] Is that not in Proverbs chapter 6? Does that mean God doesn't save the proud? God will humble the proud, God will humble the proud, Then He can save them, But God cannot save a proud heart, He will not save a proud heart, He hates a proud look, He hates, He hates the haughty things, He hates these things, But God will humble a man, James chapter 1, Talks about, Talks about the poor man, Rejoicing in that he is poor, Rejoicing that he is exalted, But the rich in that he is made low, Why would a rich man do that?

[12:46] Why would a rich man rejoice, That he has been made low, Because when he is made low, Hey, that is where God can reach down, And do something, That is where God can reach down, He can grip that heart, He will show us just how black, And evil, And wicked, And mean, And nasty, That we really are, But praise God, He doesn't leave it at that, He doesn't leave it at just us, Knowing our evil, And knowing that we deserve hell, He offers us redemption, Through the only begotten Son, Of the Father, Jesus Christ, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I thank God, He didn't leave me where I was, God says, He'll have a poor and afflicted people, And this will be His remnant, And they will trust, In the name of the Lord, Folks, That's me, That's you, If you're here and you're born again, We're poor, We're afflicted, I'm not talking about, How much money you've got in the bank, I'm not talking, I'm not talking about, Whether you're a millionaire, Or I ain't got two pennies to rub together, That's not what I'm talking about, But at some point in our life, God brought us to the point,

[13:47] Where we realized, We were spiritually bankrupt, That we were nothing, Without the grace of God, That we were nothing, Without the blood, Of Jesus Christ, And we were nothing, Without the gospel, Of Jesus Christ, Had a hard time, When I first started preaching, I didn't understand, Brother Gary, You might understand this, But when I first started preaching, I didn't understand why, Every time that I preached, People were falling all over the altars, And getting saved left and right, I didn't get that, I didn't understand it, But one night in Romans 1, God opened my eyes, Where Paul says, For I'm not ashamed, Of the gospel of Jesus Christ, For it is the power of God, Unto salvation, Folks, It's not in me, And it's not in you, And it's not in my testimony, No matter how glorious, Your testimony might be, You might have been a drunkard, You might have been a pill head, You might have been a prostitute, You might have been a murderer, Or any other number of things, And God redeemed you, Out of that sin, That may be the case, But that, Is not what is the power of God,

[14:49] Unto salvation, It is the gospel, The good news, That although man be a sinner, God is a marvelous, And powerful, And strong, And able, And willing, Savior, Through Jesus Christ, Hallelujah, Amen, That's good news, That's good news, God reached down and saved me, And now I'm part of this remnant, I'm part of a remnant, That God has left here, We've got remnants, We've got people within the remnant, That have been here for a while, They've gone on to be with the Lord, They've gone on to glory, But we've got people that are still here, God has always had a remnant, He has always had people, Whether you be in the Old Testament, Or whether you be in the New Testament, Or whether you be right here in 2025, In Bristol, Tennessee, God has always had, A remnant of people, That will testify, Of his goodness, That will testify, Of the gospel, That will testify, That God is a marvelous Savior, That will testify, That Jesus Christ,

[15:50] Did exactly as we said earlier, Came to seek, And to save, That which was lost, God has always had a remnant, Of people to do that, Again in verse 13, The remnant of Israel, Shall not do iniquity, Nor speak lies, Neither, Shall a deceitful tongue, Be found in their mouth, So God has left this remnant, That is poor, And that is afflicted, And that will trust in his name, That will trust in him, In general, And we are no longer, Known by our sin, We are no longer known, By our past, Now any number of people, Could walk through this door, Or that door back there, And say Spencer, I knew you back when you was a teenager, I knew you went into your twenties, And into your early thirties, And you used to do this, And this and this and this, And they wouldn't be lying, But folks it's just like Paul, Wrote to the church at Corinth, Just like Paul, Wrote to the church at Corinth, And he said, As were such some of you, It was past tense, He named off a whole list, Of sins, That some of them Corinthians,

[16:52] Used to commit, He says, As such were, Some of you folks, That was a past lie, Hey lying, Is no longer part of my life, Deceit is no longer part, Of my life, Sin is no longer part of my life, I'm not saying that I'm, That I'm perfectly sinless, And neither are you, We all commit sin, Every day of the week, Every hour that we're awake, We'll commit some sin, Or another, But the difference is, That almighty God, Has forgiven me of my sin, He has taken the blood, Of his precious son, He has washed it, He has cast it as far as the east is, From the west, And has been thrown into a sea of forgetfulness, Never to be remembered again, Before I was saved, Before I was saved, My sin didn't bother me, But folks, That's confirmation, I know what I got, And I know when I got it, And I know who done it for me, It's confirmation, Because now when I sin, The Holy Spirit that dwells within, Convicts my soul, He lets me know, Hey, You're part of the remnant, You are part of this poor and afflicted people,

[17:52] That believe, And trust in the name of the Lord, And lying, It should not be found in your mouth, The seat should not be found, Sin should not be found, In your life, And that drives me to repentance, And I can go to God, And I can repent of whatever it is, And God looks down, And says, You're one of mine, Hallelujah, You are one of mine, Through Jesus Christ, Not of any works of my own, Not of anything, That I have done, Could do, Or anything along those lines, It is all in the finished work, Of Jesus Christ, That I have been redeemed, I couldn't feed enough hungry mouths, I couldn't clothe enough naked bodies, I couldn't put enough money, In the coffer plate, At the church house, I couldn't help enough people, In need, To buy my way into heaven, That way, As I were to be bought, It has been purchased, With the blood, Of Jesus Christ, Hallelujah, Rest in that, Rest in the gospel, Stop, Stop trying to work your way to heaven, It's already been bought, It's already been done,

[18:53] Christ said in John 19, It is finished, It is finished, The work of redemption was complete, The will of the Father, As far as the redemption of mankind, Was complete, At that time, Jesus Christ gave his life's blood, That you and I, Could be saved, That you and I, Could be redeemed, Let's move on just a little bit more, Verse 14, Sing, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O Israel, Be glad, And rejoice, With all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, So, This is a call to worship, But it's a call to God's people, It's a call to this remnant, What remnant, Are we talking about here anyway, This is a remnant of the Jews, It's a remnant of the seed of Abraham, God, As I said before, Has pronounced judgment, He's done told them, Hey, Judgment's coming, There's going to be armies come, There's going to be wickedness come, There's going to be all these things come, They're going to destroy your country, They're going to destroy this city, They're going to destroy the temple, They're going to do all of these things,

[19:56] But he tells them here, I'm leaving a remnant, And sin will not define your character anymore, It won't define your person anymore, And he tells them here, Verse 14, Sing, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O Israel, Be glad, And rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, Sing, He's saying, Celebrate this, Celebrate, Folks, We should celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ, Every day of our lives, Every time that we gather, Amongst our brethren, With those of life, And precious faith, We should be celebrating, The death, The burial, And the resurrection, Of Jesus Christ, We shouldn't have to wait till Easter, Every day, Every year, To do it, I'm glad for the, I'm glad for the gospel, I'm glad for his resurrection in August, I'm glad for it in January, I'm glad for it at Christmas time, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, If it wasn't for the resurrection, What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 15, We'd be of all men most miserable,

[20:58] If in this life only we had hope, If Christ is not risen, Our faith is in vain, And this preaching is in vain, Is what Paul said, If he's not risen, I'm thankful that I serve, A living Savior, I'm thankful that I serve one, Who is eternal, Who is eternal, His love is eternal, His salvation is eternal, Everything about God, Is eternal, Everything about God, And I've said many times, That includes his love, But that also includes his fury, That also includes his vengeance, That also includes his wrath, All these things, Are eternal about God, You've got people out there, This world is full of them, Unfortunately, Church houses are full of people, Who say God is love, God is love, And I praise God, That 1 John tells us, That God is indeed love, But folks, He is also a God of wrath, The book of Exodus says, His very name is jealous, The book of Deuteronomy says, Vengeance is mine,

[21:59] Saith the Lord, I will recompense, He is a God of love, And I thank God for that, That He is also a God of judgment, He is also a God of judgment, We need not forget that, We need to warn the world, Of that very thing, But He's calling His people here, To rejoice, To celebrate, But He tells them why, In the very next verse, In verse 15, The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy, The King of Israel, Even the Lord, Is in the midst of thee, Thou shalt not see evil, Anymore, He tells them to celebrate, He tells His people, This remnant, That He's promising to leave, He's telling them to celebrate, He tells them why, The Lord hath taken away, Thy judgments, This is why, We should celebrate, The resurrection of Jesus Christ, This is why, We should celebrate, Salvation, This is why, We should celebrate, The blood that Jesus Christ shared, That you and I could have life, And have it, More abundantly, Abundantly, Because it takes away,

[22:59] The judgment, Of an almighty, Christ, Holy God, Amen, The Bible says, It's a fearful thing, To fall into the hands, Of the living God, It is a fearful thing, But praise God, The judgment's been removed, He has taken away, The judgments, And we should celebrate, Because of that, The Lord hath taken away, Thy judgments, He has cast out thine enemy, Not only, Is the judgment, Of almighty God, Taken out, Folks, God is not my enemy, I was the enemy of God, When I was lost, And in sin, Don't take my word for it, Read Paul's letter, To the Ephesian church, I was the enemy, Of God, I was a child, Of disobedience, I was a child, Of wrath, But still yes, Still yes, Me being all those things, God looked down, God looked down, In his mercy, And God looked down, In his compassion, God looked down, And saved my soul, And I can celebrate this, I can celebrate that,

[24:01] The Lord has taken away, The judgments, He has cast out the enemy, Folks, God has cast out the enemy, Satan, Has been defeated, In Jesus Christ, We fight a defeated foe, He knows that he's defeated, Hey folks, Satan was around, Long before you or I, Either one were, Satan, Satan, Satan has been here, Ever since God created him, As an angel, And the Bible says, In the book of Psalm 119, The word of God is forever, Settled in heaven, So Satan knew, What the word of God said, As well, Satan knows, That he is defeated, He knows the beginning, Of the book, He knows the end of the book, And quite frankly, He knows it better, Than you or I do, Either one, But praise God, He is a defeated foe, He is defeated, God has cast out the enemy, Sin, Death, Hell, And Satan himself, Have been defeated, By the death, The burial, And the resurrection,

[25:01] Of Jesus Christ, All of our enemies, Have been cast out, Then you might say, Well, I fight these demons, On a daily basis, I fight these demons here, And I fight them there, They come whispering in my ear, They do this, And they do that, Hey folks, One of these days, Satan is going to be put in his rightful place, I understand in the Bible, In the book of Revelation, He's going to be thrown into a bottomless pit, Then he'll be released for a season, But one day after a while, Sin is going to be cast in, Death is going to be cast in, And Satan himself will be cast, Into the lake of fire, Forever, And ever, And ever, Hallelujah, And we won't ever have to worry about him, Do we?

[25:41] Never have to worry about him, Again, Never have to worry, About being tempted, Never have to worry about being tried, The Bible says, Revelation 21, 4, There'll be no more death there, It says, God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, There'll be no more sorrow, There'll be no more death, There's not going to be any heartache, In that land that we're going to, There's not going to be, Anything along those lines, Why?

[26:03] Because sin won't be there, That's why, Somebody said, During prayer request, So many people saying, I've heard it too, Why do all these bad things happen to children?

[26:15] Why do bad things happen to this one? Why do bad things happen to that one? Why do bad things happen to me? I'll tell you why, It's a result of the fallen world, That we live in, It is a result of sin, Well what could that one year old child, Have ever done, To deserve that, I didn't say the child deserved it, I said that, We get sick, Because of sin, We die, Because of sin, Romans 6 and 23, Says, For the wages of sin is death, But the gift of God is eternal life, Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, We will all physically die, One day after a while, That is a result of sin, That is, That is what is due to us, But we only die once, Those of us that are in Christ, And Christ is in us, We only die once, We will live forever with Him one day, This is reason to celebrate folks, This is reason to celebrate, The Lord has taken away the judgments, He has cast out the enemy, The King of Israel, Even the Lord, Is in the midst of thee,

[27:16] Thou shalt not see evil, Anymore, The King of Israel, Is in the midst of thee, Now understand in this context, He is talking about Israel itself, He is talking about, The Jewish people, The Israelites, And he is saying, The King of Israel is in the midst of thee, But folks, Fast forward to the church, Hey, God doesn't live, In the temple that is made by hand, He is not there in the ark of the covenant, He is not following us around, In a pillar of cloud, Or a pillar of fire, God dwells on the inside, Inside of everyone that is repentant of their wickedness, And believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, God takes up residence in His people, He is in the midst of us, He is within me, He is within you, If you're born again, And if you're not born again, He can be within you, If you just believe the words, Which we preached this evening, You repent of your ways, And believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, What's not to believe, And what's not to appreciate, God's offering, Offered away a salvation in Jesus Christ,

[28:18] You don't have to earn it, You can't earn it, If we could, But folks, I'd be in trouble, And you'd be, You would be too, Because none of us can follow the law, James says, If a man, If a man can't get the whole law, Yet offendeth him one point, He is guilty of all, And a person sitting in this room right now, Has never told a lie, Nobody, Sitting in this room, That has never told a lie, Every one of us are guilty of that, So therefore, Just like Paul, Paul wrote to the Roman church, In Romans chapter 3, All that sinned, Come short of the glory of God, But even though all sin, And even though God, Before the foundation of the world, Was ever laid, Knew that man would rebel against Him, He knew what man would become, He knew what Adam and Eve would do, Before He ever created them, Even so, He made a plan of redemption, He already had a plan of redemption in place, Before the foundation of the world was laid, John saw it, He saw Him in the book of Revelation, He saw Jesus Christ as a lamb slain, Before the foundation of the world,

[29:19] The plan was already in place, It wasn't plan B for God, He knew what was coming, And He knew how He was going to fix it, Through Jesus Christ, Verse 16, In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not, And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack, This is the verse that, Y'all used for your Bible drill, Just a little while ago, In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not, And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack, Folks, If God is in the midst of us, And He is, Praise God, If God is in the midst of His people, Why would we fear?

[29:54] Did Jesus not teach Himself, Not to fear man, That was able to destroy body, But to fear God, That is able to destroy both body, And soul, In hell, We have no reason to fear man, We have no reason to fear death, We have no reason to fear sickness, We have no reason to fear poverty, We have no reason to fear, Any of these things, Because God, Is in the midst of His people, And He says, Let not their hands be slack, Folks, We don't need to quit pushing forward, We don't need to quit working, And praise God, We ain't working for salvation, We're working because we have salvation, We're working because, That's what God expects of His people, Don't let your hands be slack, Don't stop pushing forward, Don't stop looking toward the mark, Of the high calling of God, That is in Christ Jesus, Don't stop looking toward that mark, Don't stop pressing toward that mark, We have no reason to, Folks, The church of Jesus Christ, The blood of the church, Has no reason to quit moving forward,

[30:56] Because the victory is already won, In Christ, We have no choice, But to move forward, Because the victory is already there, And we don't need to fear, In moving forward, Because God has promised, That He will be in the midst, Of His people, Verse 17, The Lord thy God, In the midst of thee is mighty, He will save, He will rejoice over thee, With joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy, Over thee with singing, God has called His people, Just a couple of verses before this, To rejoice, In His salvation, To rejoice, That their judgments, Had been removed, Or His judgment upon them, Had been removed, But here, He's saying, The Lord thy God, In the midst of thee, Is mighty, He will save, He is strong, And He is mighty, To save, According to the scripture, He will rejoice, Over thee, God has called His people, To rejoice, In His salvation, And the Bible here, Is telling us, That God will rejoice, Over His people, He will rejoice, Over His people, He will rest, In His love, He is God,

[31:57] And we are His people, Hallelujah, And He's rejoicing, Over us, Not because we've done anything, He says, He will rest in His love, This doesn't mean, That He's tired, The Bible says, The God that watches over Israel, Never sleeps, He didn't rest, Because He was tired, At creation, He rested, Because it was complete, He rested, Because His work was finished, And He will rest, Over His people, Why?

[32:30] Because the work of redemption, Is complete, Because salvation, Is complete, And it is complete, In Jesus Christ, It is not complete, Through us, It is not complete, By us, It is complete, By Jesus Christ, And He alone, He alone deserves the glory, He alone deserves the honor, He alone deserves, The recognition, Our job is to bring Him glory, Our job is to give Him glory, And why should we not, He saved our unworthy souls, He will rest in His love, He will joy over the evil singing, How about that?

[33:07] The God of the universe, Think of this, The God, Who spoke everything into existence, The God, Who could joy over the beautiful stars, Who could joy over, Over the galaxies, Who could joy over the sunrise, Or the sunset, Or any other number of beautiful things, He chooses to joy, And to sing, Over His people, He chooses to joy, And to sing, Over me, A lowly sinner, That He has saved, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, God, This shows the great love, That God has for us, And the great perfection, That is in His salvation, That He can rest, In that work, Knowing that it's finished, And knowing that it's complete, And He can joy over us, With singing, Verse 18, I will gather them, That are sorrowful, For the solemn assembly, Who are of thee, To whom the reproach of it, Was a burden,

[34:08] Behold at that time, I will undo all that afflict thee, And I will save her that halteth, And gather her that was driven out, And I will get them praise, And fame, In every land, Where they have been put to shame, At that time, Will I bring you again, Even in the time that I gather you, For I will make you a name, And a praise among all the people of the earth, When I turn back your captivity, Before your eyes, Sayeth the Lord, These last three verses here, Is the ultimate restoration, For the people of God, In this context, Yes, The Israelites that we're talking about, The people of Judah, The people particularly, In the city of Jerusalem, If you want to get down, Splitting hairs with it, But his remnant, His remnant, There is promised, A complete restoration one day, Folks, I've been redeemed, I've been saved, And I know that I'm saved, I said earlier, I know who done it, I know the day that he done it,

[35:08] And I know it was nothing of me, It was all of God, When it happened, I've been redeemed, I've been saved, But I've not been completely restored, We find salvation in all three tenses, In the scriptures, We find that we are saved, Past tense, We find that we are being saved, In the present tense, And we find that we shall be saved, In the future tense, My restoration is not complete, I am redeemed completely, Totally, And utterly, In Jesus Christ, Yes, But I am promised, In this scripture, That one of these days, I'm not going to have this body, Whether I'm taken out of here, In the rapture, Whether I go by the grave, One way or the other, I am promised, A new body, That is likened and fashioned, Under that which Jesus Christ, Himself has, A body that is immortal, A body that is eternal, A body that can worship God, Without hindrance, A body that doesn't get sick, A body that doesn't tire, I am promised this, In the scriptures,

[36:09] Of Almighty God, And if you are born again, You are promised the same, Hallelujah, I'm glad I ain't taking this body, To heaven with me, Amen, This body is broke, This body is broke, Some of y'all are more broke than I, Have bodies that are more broke than mine, But folks, If we are in Christ, And He is in us, We are promised a new body, One day after a while, And we will be able to worship God, And praise Jesus Christ, For His salvation, For His redemption, For all of eternity, And not worry about hindrance, And not worry about sickness, And not worry about tiring down, In the process, He says, I will gather them, That are sorrowful, For the solemn assembly, I will gather them, That are sorrowful, That puts us right back, To the first verse, That we read tonight, In verse 12, Where God says, I will leave in the midst of thee, An afflicted and a poor people, He says, I will gather those, That are sorrowful, And He goes on,

[37:10] In the next couple of verses, In verse 19, And He talks about those, That have been driven out, Those that have been driven away, Those that have been shamed, By the nations, That are around them, Folks, That was Israel's problem, Their problem, Was the worship of false gods, And their problem, Was the worship, Their problem, Was idolatry, As a whole, They were adopting, The ways, Of the outside countries, And the outside, The pagan religions, That surrounded them, But still yet, God decided, I'm going to have a remnant, I will have a people, And they will trust in my name, They will believe on me, He says, Behold, At that time, I will undo all that afflict thee, I will undo all that afflict thee, God is going to put to rest, Our enemies one day after a while, I'm not saying, I'm not saying, That you should praise God, For the unbeliever, That comes against you, That one day, That unbeliever, He or she is going to hell, Absolutely not, You pray for that person, You pray for that person, You treat that person with kindness,

[38:11] You treat that person with kindness, You'll heap hot coals of fire, Upon their head in doing so, You let God deal with their heart, You present the gospel to them, You tell them, And show them, About the love of Jesus Christ, But you don't dare be happy, That somebody is going to hell, I don't wish my worst enemy, To go to hell, I want us all to go to heaven, I want us all to be there, And I want it for the glory of God, I don't want it for myself, God here telling the Israelites, Telling these people of Judah, He says, I'll get you fame, Where you once had shame, I'll get you a name, Among the people, Folks, Our job is not to worry about our fame, And our job as Christians, Is not to worry about people, Knowing who we are, We want people to know, Who Jesus Christ is, We want people to know, About salvation, We want people to know, Regardless of what they've done, We want people to know, That Jesus Christ, Told the religious bunch, And the gospel, That the harlots,

[39:12] And the publicans, Would find a place, In the kingdom of God, Before the religious people did, Why was that? Because the harlots, And the publicans, Are the ones that believed, John the Baptist, When he came out of the wilderness, Preaching the gospel, Of repentance, That's why, Praise God, Again, He came to seek, And to save, That which was lost, He came not to call, The righteous, But sinners, To repentance, We must understand, That we are not righteous, There is no righteousness, In us, Our righteousnesses, Are as filthy rags, As Isaiah put it, But, We seek the fame of Christ, We seek the fame of Christ, Christ said, That a city which is on a hill, Cannot be hid, He said, Neither he that has a candle, Does he place it under a bushel, But he puts it upon a candlestick, So that all that are in the house, Can receive the light, Of that candle, He says, Now ye, Are the light of the world, Ye are the light of the world, Folks, He was talking to people, That were around him, This was the beginning,

[40:12] Of the sermon, On the mount, And Jesus Christ, Was there preaching to people, And anyone, That would believe his words, He was saying, Now ye, Are the light of the world, Now folks, We have no light, In and of ourselves, We have no light, In and of ourselves, Christ is the light, Christ is the light, We are luminaries, We are just like the moon, The moon makes no light of its own, It reflects the light of the sun, We reflect the light of Jesus Christ, We reflect it into a dark world, That people might see, Their need for salvation, That they can have only, In Jesus Christ, Seek the fame of Christ, Seek to make his name known, Not your own, Seek to make his gospel known, And seek it all for his glory, The Bible says, Excuse me, The Bible says, That one day after a while, Every knee will bow, Every tongue will confess, That Jesus Christ is Lord, To the glory of God the Father, Make sure, That people see Christ in your life,

[41:12] And know about Christ, Before that day comes, Because not everybody is going to do it willingly, You read that scripture, In the original language, That it was written, Where it says, Every knee will bow, It means, Some will be crushed, Some will be made to bow, Some will be forced to bow, But either way, They will bow, They will acknowledge, Jesus Christ is Lord, That it will voy,