Comfort For The Oppressed - [Nahum 1:1-8]

The Greatness of a Song and the Burden of Nahum

Well, I'm thankful for those songs that remind us about the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of you here love music and I Typed into the search engine online. What makes a great song if you had a judge a song on its greatness?

What would you choose? What makes a great song. The first thing that popped up on the internet search was a great song connects with people. Number two a great song causes a reaction. You know, you cry you laugh you dance something that you do in response to a great song.

Thirdly a great song is memorable. Maybe you sing it throughout the rest of the day. Are there some hook in that that makes you sing it often? Next a song is well crafted. There's rhythm and rhyme and everything is put together properly.

And then lastly a great song stands the test of time. What's makes a great song? Well, I'd like you to turn your Bibles this morning to the book of Nahum. Nahum is in the Old Testament and we're gonna look at a song today a great song in Nahum 1 verses 2 through 8.

And it is a great song. It connects with people. It causes a reaction. It is memorable well-crafted and it stands the test of time. The book of Nahum chapter 1 verses 1 through 8. We have not been in Nahum for the last.

Last week I was gone last week and thankful for Steve to fill in for me. I think I notified Steve on a Friday. Please preach for me and of course I've learned in seminary that you ought to be ready to preach pray or die with a moment's notice and So Steve said yes, I will and then probably began studying ferociously.

Whenever I walk into a church, I think as a visitor if somebody tasks me on the shoulder and says will you preach today? I better have something right? I'll say yes, and then I'll Do a prayer lap in the parking lot or something as I think about it.

Nahum, Nineveh, and the Meaning of Comfort

When you turn to the book of Nahum, we don't normally study this book. Although we should and if you look at the name that's helpful in understanding the entire book. Nahum means comfort. Nahum means Consolation when you need consoling Nahum our Nehemiah.

Nehemiah same root and this is a book that is 100 years 150 years after the book of Jonah. Jonah, of course goes to Nineveh and he has a message of repentance. They repent but it doesn't stick. It doesn't stick around for long a century later 125 150 years later they are back to oppressing people.

Persecuting people. The Ninevites were Ferocious when you show up at different ports and other things that they would have you would be greeted by walls. That would be wallpapered with human skin of the enemies.

They were ferocious and now a hundred and hundred and fifty years have passed. They are no longer repentant. Nineveh being the capital of Assyria and they along with the rest of Assyria are oppressing God's people.

They're persecuting God's people. They're attacking God's people and Nahum is written so that the people of God Especially in Judah could understand properly what's going on? By the way, the Old Testament written in Greek called the Septuagint.

You'll see it written in commentaries and Bible tools and helps the LXX. The books of the Bible in order for us. It's Micah then Nahum in the LXX a Septuagint. It's Jonah and then Nahum. So you make the connection Jonah.

Repentance was was well established Nahum. They're back to persecuting God's people. Nahum was a message of judgment while Jonah was a message of mercy and forgiveness. We're gonna look today at verses 1 through 8 as we continue from two weeks ago and Essentially, here's the theme of Nahum and here's the theme of chapter 1.

God's people can receive comfort in himself when they're oppressed and persecuted. Now we could apply this to trials we could apply this to anything. But really this is the people of God are being persecuted oppressed.

Killed and everything in between and so where do you go for comfort? How do you deal with a situation when you're on the run when you're getting persecuted and we'll see. That chapter 1 is essentially kind of a build-up you think chapter 1.

Wow. It's it's wild enough, but chapter 2 and 3 it gets wilder because chapter 1 it's almost like the precursor. It's almost like the rumbling of a fight. It's the build-up, right? There's a there's a big hill over here and I can't see over it, but I could hear what sounds like a Thousand different horse hooves running my direction and so chapter 1 is we're standing here.

But we hear some rumblings in chapter 2 and 3 that we'll get there soon enough. It's almost like Jonah is a war reporter sometimes I like to watch those shows where they'll take a reporter and they'll insert them or inject them into into a company or a battalion or a group of men who are fighting and then they're interviewing and Understanding from a layman's perspective what's going on?

In chapter 1 verse 1 remember it says an oracle that means a burden that means it's so on Nahum's heart. He's got to preach it and not just because he feels like it, but this is a divine divinely inspired message.

Concerning Nineveh the capital city of Assyria. The book of the vision so as a vision but delivered not from a preaching style. But in a book of Nahum of Elkash very very Important to understand this is not just his made-up thing.

This is supernatural revelation to a Prophet and it is about comfort in a day of oppression. Well, let me give you the outline from two weeks ago that will continue today a little bit of review. But not a whole lot how to receive comfort in oppressive times.

Comfort in oppressive times not that we're really getting oppressed now and persecuted, but who knows it's probably around the corner. And if it's not this still helps us deal with any problem really since it's so God-centered.

Embrace the Whole Counsel of God and Look Up to the Triune God

Comfort in oppressive times number one. We saw last time embrace the whole counsel of God. If you'd like to have comfort you need to embrace the whole counsel of God. This isn't in the text per se but when you read things like verse 2 the Lord is jealous.

The Lord is avenging he's wrathful. He takes vengeance on his adversaries. He keeps wrath for his enemies. He's not going to clear the guilty the whirlwind the storm the rebuking the quaking you ought to say to yourself.

Whatever the text says about God I have to embrace because if I just pick and choose what I want with the Bible. It's not going to be helpful if you doubt parts of it or some of it. It's going to be comfort zapping by the way.

This is great advice, especially when you read what we call the minor Prophets the shorter prophets because you'll see this kind of message of doom. Regularly, we also saw last time if you want comfort in oppressive times look up not in or around in other words.

Comforts found in the triune God when you get your eyes on yourself. Trouble and you get your eyes on your persecutors trouble. Why did Nahum not start with it's gonna be okay. The the enemies are going to be taken care of.

He starts with the character of God the nature of God what God does. He doesn't start with the opponents as subject. He starts with God as the subject. That is a good way to deal with trials. If you have not read the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges subtitle even when God hurts.

You have to read that book that book will encourage you any person that comes in for any kind of counseling. If I just handed them that book They would be encouraged they would be helped because it talks about who God is.

And so the eyes here at the very beginning and even as Calvin would talk about they don't go to the enemy as subject. They go to God as subject. So when you're dealing with issues. Remember some trust in horses and some trust in chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Comfort is found not in Analyzing the oppressors, but do you see in verses 2 and 3 how many times all caps Lord? Yahweh the covenant-keeping God the Lord the Lord the Lord the Lord the Lord five times.

We always focus on ourselves that's our default. But here is looking up to this God who even his name remember Yahweh means he's a personal God. He's a covenant-keeping God. He's a God who keeps his promises.

He's a God who when he promises Abraham a Nation he's going to fulfill it. He's going to protect. This is who God is. The entire chapter is Unified and dominated by the character and nature of God. He exists he personally exists he is self-existent he is independent.

He does whatever he wants and he loves his people. Mayhem starts with Lord. What if I what if I were to tell you this whatever problem you have maybe it's oppression persecution, etc. Maybe this is just getting ready for all that.

But whatever problem you have what if I just reminded you about who God is. What if I just said to you. Behold the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him. Behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will care gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span?

Enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in the scales and hills in a balance. Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord or what man shows him his counsel. Whom did God consult and who made him understand.

Who taught him God the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding. Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. Behold, he takes up the coastland like fine dust.

To whom then will you like in God or what likeness will you compare with him? When you hear those words, what do you say? I hope you say that's the God that I serve. This is who God is. I need to be reminded not about my problems not about the issues those things we can deal with but we have to think about Who God is and by the way, those words were from the Bible true or false?

True, where were they from? Isaiah chapter 40. That's right. Good words to be reminded of number three we saw. When you need comfort praise the Lord for all his perfections. Praise the Lord for who he is.

Praise the Lord for All His Perfections

Embrace the whole counsel of God. Look up and Praise him for who he is. Verses 2 through 8 is really a praise song. You can even see it in some of the indentations of some of your study Bibles. It's like a poem.

It's a song. It's a song about God and it's about its attributes. And so here's what happens. When we're oppressed and we struggle. We tend to do what Israel did. We tend to groan. Don't we we tend to sigh we tend to complain.

That's our default. Sadly even as Christians we could fall into that. Remember Ephesians six chapters in the first three chapters. Here's what the Lord Jesus has done. God the Father chooses God the Son redeems the Holy Spirit seals.

We're in Christ. It's all for the praise of his glory. And then in chapter 4 He begins to say here's how you should live your life and he uses language of like clothing put off these old shabby clothes.

Put on these new clothes. Put off put on that's a Christian view of holy living. Don't lie. Tell the truth. Don't steal work. Don't do this and do this instead. So when we respond to trials with complaining and sign and blaming everybody else and all that this is that.

How do we put that off? Well, we put it off by repentance. That's true. But you put on something instead and I think that's exactly what's happening here in NAM. Instead of being like Israel grumbling and sighing and complaining and murmuring and all the things that we like to do.

Blameshifting right now. The focus is no. No, let's help you not do the negative things and do the positive things in this song of praise. This is a song to a sovereign God. Who's a warrior. Very very fascinating.

Do you notice it even says we saw this last week. He's. He is jealous. He is wrathful. And we were reminded two weeks ago that we must not think of God as a bunch of component parts. He has wrath. He has jealousy.

He has holiness. He is. He simply is he's simple. He doesn't he's not made up of all his attributes. He simply is he is love. He is goodness. I love RC Sproul when he used to talk about this. He said, you know, we are called human beings.

He said but that's not really right. We should be called human becomings. Because there's only one being who is by essence in nature God alone. God is one. He doesn't get better. He doesn't get worse.

He doesn't change. He's immutable. He's from himself. He's simple. That is he's not made up of a bunch of parts. We become we get older. We get frailer. We get grayer. Why does it sound like I'm talking about myself but God is and By the way, when you don't know if you can praise God for being jealous and wrathful.

That is who God is. You're like, well, that's not my God, but that's the God that you have to deal with. He is not a composite Portion of all his attributes. He simply is Lewis Burkhardt said from the simplicity of God.

It follows that God and his attributes are one. The attributes cannot be considered as so many parts that enter into the composition of God. And so we see this here. We want to praise him for who he is the only living true God hero Israel the Lord our God the Lord is One he is singularly Perfect.

Do you notice the text there? He's jealous. We talked about that a little bit last time. Did you know as I studied this idea about God being jealous for his own glory and for his people's protection? Some people in psychology said that God's jealousy was a result of quote territorial imperative of a primal mind.

Some others said that a jealous God is the result of vestiges of our reptilian brains and One other said jealousy of God is little more than quote the motive in homicide and wife-beating. They just somehow think there's a negative sinful jealousy.

Therefore we put that on God and therefore God is sinfully jealous versus God has no sin in him and he is a jealous God and When it is attributed to him, of course, it is a good thing because he's zealous for his glory.

He's jealous to protect his own honor and therefore his people. Verse 2 it's easier to understand if you understand these who God is he's avenging. He's he's full of vengeance. He has judicial Aspects to his nature.

He's going to judge sin. He's not going to just let it go. He takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. People want to deny wrath all the time. But of course, that's not true number four.

The Lord Disciplines the Ones He Loves

How do you get comfort? And now we move to some new territory. Comfort in oppressive times. Embrace the whole counsel of God look up praise the Lord for who he is. And number four. Acknowledge that the Lord disciplines the ones he loves.

In other words God uses oppressors and trials to refine his children. Now this is going to be developed more in the book of Nahum as we go. But I just want to insert that now so we can think through this clearly.

Judah is getting disciplined by the Lord as The Lord uses Nineveh and the Assyrians to oppress the people. Ninevites are responsible, but he uses these means these secondary means he uses trials. Just think of it your own life.

He uses trials to have a sanctifying effect. Do you know and I know you know this it's rhetorical. That the purest the church ever is is when she's persecuted. The persecutors aren't off the hook. Ninevites aren't off the hook, but God uses these trials.

You can think of James chapter 1. Count it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith faith produces what? Endurance. We can rejoice in our sufferings because we know they produce endurance.

Romans chapter 5. So what's happening to Judah is that she's being refined by the Lord as God uses Nineveh as a corrective. Stick as it were for chastisement. That's important to say now so we understand later.

The Coming Judgment on Nineveh and the Sovereign Power of God

Number five comfort in oppressive times. Comfort in oppressive times. Number five remember that God will eventually judge the church's oppressors. He will eventually judge. He's not inept. You're like how long Oh Lord.

This is happening. You're letting everybody get away with it, but vengeance is mine. I will repay verse 3. It's like he anticipates what's going through the minds of people you think. Wait a second. Why isn't God judging the Ninevites?

They're killing our people. They're oppressing us. They're persecuting. Why won't God deal with it? Answer. We ought to be thankful for this too. Not only before we were Christians, but now after the Lord Yahweh the covenant-keeping.

God is slow to anger. Will we ever be restored to have better fellowship with you Lord. What's going on why aren't you getting the oppressors? I thought you were a jealous God. I thought you wanted to be holding up your name in high honor and glory.

The Lord is slow to anger. And great in power and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. When you hear this language the Lord is slow to anger. It's mentioned some other places here are two Exodus 34 after the golden calf issue the Lord is slow to anger.

Another disaster in the wilderness the rebellion of Israel. Numbers chapter 14 the low is slow to anger. When Israel is in a bad spot, and they're not doing the right thing as the people of God. It's good to be reminded that the Lord is slow to anger even for the children of God.

But also in a bigger picture the Ninevites are oppressing the Assyrians and you're like well, aren't you gonna do something Lord? No, he will do something. But remember God is slow To anger and in case you think he's a weakling he he's inept.

It says what? He's great in. The exact thing that the Ninevites rejoiced in we have more chariots. We have more spears. We have more army. We are more powerful. We rejoice in power who doesn't. Except this God is great in power the only God great in power.

The power of God he's he's not just some kind of passive weakling. You know I always watch people on TV and they're like well if God was really to strike me with a lightning bolt right now. And then I then I would believe in God and they taunt God like that.

He's slow to anger and great in power. And by the way, all those Ninevites that oppress the people what the text say at the end of the verse. He will by no means clear the guilty. They're not going to get away with it.

Nobody gets away with it. If you're here today is not a Christian God is requiring perfect obedience from you entire obedience from you exact obedience from you. Perpetual obedience from you and you're not going to get away with it.

There'll be a day of accounting. He will by no means clear the guilty. Not not an evidence how great this God is how powerful. What would you write about? What's the most kind of like? Massive display of power that you might know about.

Well here he uses nature. Look at what he says his way is in the whirlwind and the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet. This song talks about how God is sovereign over nature. It's dramatic.

He controls nature. When I was a kid we grew up in Omaha. Or when I was when I was I grew up in Omaha and as a kid. We would always have to go in a certain corner of our basement when we had tornadoes and in the back of our yard.

There was a big telephone pole and the top had a siren and once a month that siren on the first Saturday of the month. Would go off as kind of a test this is the test and so you are supposed to be reminded that when the tornado comes get in that right corner of the basement.

How about? Earthquakes, how about thunderstorms? What he does is he uses nature to say God is sovereign over nature. Remember the song Oh tell of his might. Oh sing of his grace. Whose robe is the light.

Whose canopy space his chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form and Dark is his path on the wings of the storm. God wrecks the universe. God destroys the atmosphere. He's sovereign over it. You think that the Ninevites are terrible you think they despise God and they're gonna get away with it.

No, I love Psalm 18. The earth reeled and rocked. The foundations of the mountains trembled and quake because God was angry. Verse 4. Do you think he is do you think those in Judah would know this he God rebukes the sea and makes it dry?

Remember that that's an exodus and and you've got a mountain here. You've got a mountain here. You've got the hordes of the Egyptian army here and you've got the Red Sea here. And how do you get through that Red Sea?

By the way, if you ever watch movies and they describe they describe the rebuke of the sea and make it dry. What are the two shows that come to mind? The Ten Commandments. You've seen that movie, right?

And what's the cartoon version of the Ten Commandments? Prince of Egypt see there are pagans here that watch TV. I you just fell for that too easily and both Neglect to show that how do you get two million people?

Through the Red Sea in the watch of a night if it's streaming single file or you see on those two shows. It's pretty close. No way. It's gonna have to be a half a mile three-quarters of a mile a mile wide dry land and God gets them through.

So are they in any? Danger ultimately of the Ninevites when a God can do this he rebukes the sea. He didn't have to do anything to it. He just said see divide verse 40 drives up dries up all the rivers and.

Then he lists three names. Three places Bashan Carmel and Lebanon and if you wanted the best stuff if you wanted the most rich pasture if you wanted the most beautiful. Places and countrysides if you want to have the best trees for wood.

You'd go to these places Bashan and Carmel and Lebanon and they wither and they wither before the Lord. And he says this with wonderful poetry. So memorable so meaningful. What's the strongest thing around there?

What's the most stable thing around there verse 5 probably a mountain? What do mountains do before God? They quake before him the hills melt. The earth heaves as if to and fro. I mean we're thinking ice heaves ahead.

No, this is earthy earth is heaving itself and the world and all who dwell in it including the Ninevites. Naysa Nahum basically says all right. God is at his tribunal he's on the judgment seat and. Is he afraid of the Ninevites.

I'm not gonna be able to make sure I rescue my covenant people. He says in verse 6 Rhetorically who can stand before his indignation in light of the last verses. Who can endure the heat of his anger. I Think about ultimate judgment in hell here to eventually for those that won't trust in him.

His wrath is Drizzled out his wrath is dropped out. Here's wrath is kind of just Little little bits out. No, what's the text say because it's all at once. It's sudden. It's just dumped out. It's poured out like what what's judgment used in the Bible often of fire.

It's rat his wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. So much for the granite state. That's what we trust in rocks and granite something hard mountains hills the earth.

It's just all laid waste before God. The enemies of the church they rely on their power, but they don't know anything. The half of the power of who God is. Who can stand before his indignation. Skip down to verse 8.

We'll go back to verse 7 in a moment. But with an overfill overflowing flood. By the way, there is an end of the oppressors. It might not be on our timetable, but there's an end. He will make a complete end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

There will be a payday that day. When I was a kid we used to go to Kmart and we didn't have much money and so mom would say you know what? That's okay. We'll just put a couple dollars down and we'll put it in a thing called layaway, right?

Do this people still do layaway? They do. Kind of you put a little bit down and get it later. There's gonna be a payday one day the divine layaway program. It might not be in our timetable. But the sudden destruction of Assyria will be great.

Fascinatingly look at verse 8. It says he will make a complete end of the adversaries. That's what ESV says, but in the Hebrew it should read this way. He will make a complete end of her place. What he will make a complete end of her place.

What do you mean her place? Who's the her? Well, if you remember that the patron goddess of Nineveh was a lady goddess named Ishtar. That's who he's talking about. There's a myth in Assyria the descent of Ishtar to the underworld.

Ishtar's so powerful. She could travel to the underworld. No other myth gods could do this. But she could because she had to retrieve her lover and these other deities might not be able to travel around through the underworld.

But she could and she has got a place of worship in Nineveh and what's going to be her end. Destruction darkness and. Then now finally for some good news. You're like we came to church today. Could we have some good news?

Rejoice That You Don't Get What You Deserve

Number six. And finally. Rejoice that you don't get what you deserve. Rejoice that God is good. Verse 7. Now if you underlined anything in the first eight verses before I began preaching. Probably you underlined a little bit of verse 3.

And you probably underlined all of verse 7. I don't blame you. The Lord Yahweh is good. He doesn't have goodness. He is good by nature. He's good a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in Him.

God has a covenant with his people and he will defend them. He never fails to protect his people. The Lord is a stronghold of my life. David said of whom shall I be afraid? Jeremiah said O Lord my strength and my stronghold my refuge in the day of trouble.

He knows those that take refuge in him. You come to the Bible and you go. How do I interpret this passage? I'll tell you by the way a side note how people are telling me these days how I have to interpret the Bible.

They are telling me and therefore they want me to then tell you because if they get the pastor then they get the people. They want me to understand the Bible this way. I come to Nahum. I'm trying to figure out the passage and since I'm white I've got all kinds of biases as of being German and white and other things and that is preventing me from Understanding the scripture therefore I need people who aren't white to help me people who aren't German to help me and we need to kind of Globally come to the passage and figure out not who knows Greek who knows exegesis who knows systematic theology who knows historical theology?

But what your skin color is that will help you understand the Bible, you know, that is awful and don't you buy it? If I come to the passage, you don't understand it. I'm not gonna blame my whiteness for doing that.

I Might blame my lack of education or something else. But I come to the passage and one of the things I could do there are many when it comes to interpretation. But one is how would a Jew understand this?

He's writing to Jewish people and if a Jewish person person understood these words and could remember. Oh, yeah. See rebuked the winds the earthquake Sinai. He'd be thinking about the Old Testament and what would he or she be thinking about if I said the Lord knows?

Those who take refuge in him what would go through your mind. Answer remember there was a manslayer and If he needed to get away from the family of the person he accidentally killed. There were six cities three on one side of the Jordan three on the other where this man could run and they were called cities of refuge.

There's been an act committed and I'm on the run and I don't want to get slain. I need to go to the city of Refuge that's exactly what he's talking about here. No wonder the book of Hebrews says So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie.

We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. They were getting persecuted the recipients of the book of Hebrews there's persecution here and the answer is the same.

The Lord is good a stronghold and he knows those that take refuge in him. The focus and hope on Christ himself the refuge the anchor. Fleeing for refuge that's exactly what we had to do when we trusted in Christ because we were guilty of sin.

We had fallen short of the glory of God. Guilty of manslaughter as it were because if you hate somebody in your heart. You're like a murderer. If you lost in your heart with somebody you're like an adulterer.

We needed rescuing we needed the high priest to not only intercede for us on God's behalf, but to be the sacrifice for us. What explains that answer the first four words in English in verse 7 the Lord is good.

Why are you going to heaven dear Christian answer? The Lord is good. It's his goodness. He's a stronghold not just in temporal days of trouble. But that ultimate day of trouble as you know, Luther said there are two days in my calendar today and that day.

Today and Judgment Day and those who fled for refuge could go back to their cities when the high priest died. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing in the Old Testament when the high priest died you could go back to your life.

You'd be treated as innocent. What a connection. We by faith have fled to Christ for refuge. He's our eternal refuge and if Jesus Loved sinners on earth. What does he do now as the eternal refuge in heaven?

It doesn't love us any less. We've fled from the Avenger. We fled from our own sin from Satan to the city of refuge. No to the person. What's this text say he knows those who take refuge in him, did you know dear Christian your salvation is secure.

Because it's based on who God is. He is good and you say well, I'm not good. That's true. Even as Christians now, we're simultaneously just and sinful, but Jesus is our refuge. Listen to Psalm 2. This is how Psalm 2 ends.

Kiss the Sun lest he be angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all those who take what? Refuge in him blessed. Oh The rewarding life. Oh the blessed life. Oh The most wonderful life.

Oh the most joyous life not just they're blessed, but how blessed. David exclaims the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my rock in whom I take refuge now. For those people that aren't Christians.

This is a wonderful invitation for you to trust in this Savior because there will be a payday one day. You say well could God ever accept a sinful person like me? I've I've followed my own life and my own Desires and act like there was no God for 20 years 30 years 40 years 50 years.

I just have some news for you, but God's good. God is good. He's faithful and if you take him at your his word and he says I'd like you to lay down your arms of sin and I'd like you to trust in my son the Savior.

The Bible says he knows those who take refuge in him. That's by faith. But I also dear Christian wants you to be reminded look at the language. He knows Those who took refuge in him. Does deck say that he knows those who take refuge in him.

I regularly say this, but here's Gonna get. I'm gonna get to the good news. How'd your week go this week? How was your obedience this week now last service? I asked did anybody perfectly love God this week and love their neighbor.

And a little kid a younger kid. I Felt bad for the mom. What if we Christians sin. What if we didn't love our wives like we should have this week. I didn't. What if we didn't submit to our husbands this week as we should have we meaning you ladies?

What if I didn't surrender to God as much as I wanted to with my devotion this week. What if I I wasn't submitted completely to his will. What if I looked at other Christians? They seem to be obeying more and I'm not obeying like I should.

What if my prayer life was a wreck. What if I say to myself, you know what. I should treasure God more. I should desire God more. I know it's right, but I just don't do it. It's Romans 7. I know what to do and I don't.

I don't do it. Is there any good news for the Christian? All too often dear Christian. Here's what happens. We trust in Jesus for our salvation. I eat justification and we forget to keep trusting in Jesus for our sanctification.

You stand before Jesus now as a person who's in ongoing struggle with holy living. But you're still a child of God and by the way, this is present tense for Christians who struggle with sin. He knows those that take refuge in him.

He knows you and he's accepted you not based on your performance this week because dear Christian God only accepts perfection. If you want to be standing before God as a Christian this week by your own merits.