FBC Morning Light – December 8, 2022

Well, a good Thursday morning to you. I trust your week is going well. You know, I worked for an individual one time who had the philosophy that there's nothing but a little money won't solve.

Throw some money at it, it'll solve the problem. That was this guy's approach. When there was a problem that came up, a crisis with an individual or with a small group of people or whatever, his answer was, basically, buy them off.

Throw some money at it, and that'll solve the problem. I remember distinctly him saying that.

There's nothing but a little bit of money won't solve. Well, that's not true.

That isn't true. And it's especially pronounced in the book of Zephaniah, in chapter 2, verse 18, where it says, neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the

Lord's wrath. Admittedly, there are some things in this world, and it's corruption and so forth, where some problems will go away if you just throw enough money at it.

And because of that, because of the truth of that statement, there are many people who think that, you know, if I can just get enough money,

I can solve any problem. Well, this is a problem that no amount of money is going to solve in the day of the

Lord's wrath. Now, Zephaniah is a book of prophecy to the people of Judah, the land of Judah, and Jerusalem, and he starts off in this book talking about the coming of the day of the

Lord. And it's a day where the opening verses of chapter 1, it's a day where it says the

Lord will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, verse 2, chapter 1.

He says, I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land. This is the coming of the day of the

Lord. Now, there is an aspect of this in which it was fulfilled in the

Babylonian captivity, when the Babylonians came and they conquered Judah, they took a bunch of people captive, they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the temple.

But this was just a foretaste of the ultimate coming of the day of the

Lord. And it's not a pretty thing. So, for example, in chapter 1, verse 14, it says, the great day of the

Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the

Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out in futility. That day is a day of wrath, day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers.

Again, you know, Zephaniah was prophesying this coming judgment upon Judah. But once again, as is the case in these

Old Testament prophetic books, there's a sort of telescopic view that they have.

They're looking at an immediate expression of fulfillment, but there's an ultimate fulfillment of the coming of the day of the

Lord. Though we read of this in the New Testament, for example, in the book of 2

Thessalonians and other places that the day of the Lord is coming, and it's not something to look forward to.

It's a day of his judgment and justice to be meted out on the earth. Oh, what to do then?

What to do? Well, chapter 2 gives us an answer. Chapter 2, verse 3, it says, seek the

Lord, all you meek of the earth who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility.

It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. So what to do?

What to do is to seek the Lord. Seek his face, seek his mercy, seek his grace.

To turn from your wickedness, to turn from your sin, and to seek the Lord. This is what he's calling us to do.

He's calling on man to repent. Before that great day of the Lord comes.

So as we think about this, again, this is what, second or third time this week we've talked about the coming of the

Lord's judgment and his righteous wrath poured out upon the wickedness of this world.

And again, it may sound like a terrible thing to be talking about in the Christmas season and so forth, but you know what?

We're at the end of the Old Testament in our Bible reading, we're into the New Testament, the book of Revelation, and this is one of the great themes.

It's a great theme that deals with the end of time. That yes,

God in his grace has sent his Son to be the Savior of those who will turn to him, and those whom he has called to himself.

But there's also a message for the end of time, that men need to repent, and they need to do so quickly, speedily, for the day of the

Lord is coming. It's a day of wrath, a day of trouble, a day of distress.

The only way to be free of that day of wrath is to seek the

Lord while he may be found, and that day will be a day of great blessing instead. I'll be sure that you are seeking him.

Our Father and our God, we are troubled by our world and all that is going on in it, and we are troubled when we think of the coming judgment and the outpouring of righteous wrath upon a sinful, defiant world.

But Father, I pray that that trouble would cause us to turn to you and seek you while you may be found.

May we be trusting in you as our God, trusting in Christ as our

Savior, that we may be found in him, and being found in him, we shall be delivered from the wrath to come.

This is the great promise of your Word. May we be trusting in it, we pray, in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

All right, well listen, I hope you have a good rest of your Thursday, and I trust the Lord will bless you in a good day.