WE CAN BE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY
Zephaniah 1:1, 4-6,
14-16, 2:3
GOD'S WORD TO US
V:1. "The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son
of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during
the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah: "
A. When the Lord speaks, the best thing to do is to listen.
1. When the Lord
speaks, the best thing you can do is to take His Word
seriously.
2. When the Lord speaks, the best thing is to expect that
He will do what He
says He will
do.
3. The Bible is
the Word of the Lord to all believers.
a. The best
thing we can do is to believe that He is talking directly to us.
b. The best
thing we can do is to expect that what He did in the past, He will
do in the future.
LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY
B. What can we learn from the genealogy of the prophet
Zephaniah that the Word presents to us?
1. The name
Zephaniah means "Jehovah of darkness".
2. Zephaniah's
fathers name is Cushi which means black.
a. He was the son of a black man.
3. Zephaniah's grandfather's
name was Gedaliah.
a. The name
means God is great.
4. Zephaniah's great
grandfather's name was Amariah.
a. His name means
"stand by Jehovah"
b. He was a high
priest
5. Zephaniah's great
great grandfather's name was Hezekiah.
a, The name means
"strength of Jehovah."
b, He was king of Judah .
C. In Zephaniah's
genealogy is a King and a high priest.
1. Zephaniah was
one of God's prophets.
2. Jesus our Lord
and Savior is Our King, High Priest and Prophet.
a. He is our
King because He is Lord over us.
b. He is our
High Priest because He makes intercessions for us
to God the
Father.
c. He is our
Prophet because He knows the end from the beginning.
3. Zephaniah's message is one of darkness.
1. It is a
wake up call to Israel
to recognize the state that they were in.
2. It is a
wake up call to recognize the coming judgment of the Lord.
3. It is a
wake up call to us to recognize that God is Great.
a. It is a
wake up call to us that we need to stand by our Jehovah God.
b. It is a
wake up call to us to trust only the Lord Jesus.
THE WILL OF THE FATHER
Zephaniah 1:4-7
V:4. "I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem .
I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan
and the idolatrous priests."
A. Jerusalem is the Holy capital of the world.
a. The name Jerusalem
means "City of God "
b. The name also
means "foundation of peace"
B. The name Judah
means "I will praise Jehovah".
1. Watch This
2. The nation of Israel
was settle around the City of God
to be at peace with God
and to give
Him praise.
C. The nation of Israel
committed spiritual adultery by worshipping idol gods in the
city of God .
1. The consequence
of their idolatrous behavior was to be cut off from God.
2. They broke
God's commands.
3. They were
unfaithful to God.
4. They rejected
the true and living God for gods made with their own hands.
5. They rejected
eternal life in favor of dead idols.
6. They rejected
the power of God for powerless idols.
D. As a result, God promised to destroy all the altars of baal
and their pagan priest.
1. The Lord our God is a jealous God.
2. He will not share His glory with anyone.
3. He will destroy those who oppose Him.
E. God will make corrective measures to bring back to Him.
1. He chastises
those He loves.
2. Unforgettably,
sometimes He destroys that which we rely on to get us to
rely on Him
FOOLISH TO WORSHIP IDOLS
V:5. " those who bow down on the roofs to worship the
starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molech,"
A. The nation of Israel
was commanded by the Law presented to
them by Moses
not to worship
idol gods.
1. God gave the Law
to Moses around 1490 BC.
2. This Word of the
Lord was given to Zephaniah around 630 BC.
3. The nation of Israel
was a stubborn people who refused to follow God's commands.
4. They had
continuous warnings from God for 830 years of their disobedient behavior.
5. God had been
tolerant with Israel ,
but now He would execute His judgment
on Israel .
B. Israel's sins were
numerous.
1. I think their
worst sin was the worship of idol gods.
2. They degraded
themselves by swearing by their idols and the Living God in the
same breath.
3. They had the
evidence of the Living God in their lives
on a daily basis,
yet they chose
to worship dumb idols.
4. They had seen
the power of God work in their lives more times than they could count,
yet they chose
idol gods.
5. God had
chastised them over and over again, yet they remained disobedient.
6. It is foolish to disobey the Almighty God.
FOOLISH TO TURN AWAY FROM GOD
V:6. " those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him."
A. They turn their back on the Living God by worshipping
idols.
1. They attributed their existence and their
progress to the works of something
made with
their own hands.
2. They held
themselves accountable to superstitious beliefs.
3. They had the
truth in front of them, but they chose the lies of the world.
B. As a result of their false beliefs, they did not trust
the Living God or seek His
counsel or
guidance.
1. Their lack of
trust in the Living God affected generations after them.
2. They degraded
themselves to a low standard of living by rejecting the
true and Living
God.
3. They rejected
the righteousness of God for a sinful state.
Zephaniah 1:14-16
THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS SECOND COMING
14 "The great day of the Lord is near — near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on
the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.
15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and
anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of
clouds and blackness,
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified
cities and against the corner towers.
A. To the Israelites the Lord was foretelling the coming the
destruction of Jerusalem
and the 70 year
captivity of the nation in Babylon .
1. The
consequences of Israel 's
repeated worship of idols was their destruction and
captivity.
2. The destruction
of Jerusalem began in 586 BC, 44
years after the Word of The
Lord came to
Zephaniah.
3. The Israelites
did not believe that God would destroy their city or His temple.
4. They did not
believe the Word of the Lord.
5. Unbelief of
God's Word is the key to your destruction.
B. To us, the Church, The great day of the Lord will began
with the second coming of
Jesus Christ.
1. We must believe
that Jesus is coming back and that He will judge the living and
the dead.
2. We do not know
the exact time when will come back, but it maybe sooner than
you think.
3. Jesus will not
come back until the Gospel has been preached to the ends of
the earth ( Matthew 28:19).
4. That time is
now. The Bible has been translated into most languages of the world.
5. Our job is to be
ready for immediate return.
THE WISE DECISION
Zephaniah 2:3
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what
he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the Lord's anger.
A. The God we serve is a loving and a forgiving God.
1. He constantly
gives us opportunity to repent and turn to Him.
2. He constantly reminds
us of His power and His authority.
B. The recent wide spread floods in the city of Houston
Texas
counties is a
testimony to the greatness of God.
1. Only God can
cause the moisture in the air to collect into clouds then drop
billions of
gallons of water in area to flood thousands of homes in a few hours.
2. Only God can
stop the rain and give blue skies and dry weather.
3. We could
attribute that to nature. But who created nature?
C, God gives us the solution to our sins and a relationship
with Him.
1. Seek Him.
2. Humble yourself
before Him.
3. Follow His
commandments.
4. Seek the
righteousness of the Lord.
SEEK THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART.
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Parkway, Houston Texas
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