Nahum 1:8-9: A Complete and Overwhelming Flood

Nahum’s Warning of Judgment and Refuge

So this week we're going to be going over chapter 1 verses 8 through 9 and.

We're going to read.

There we go. We're going to read the first. Let's see, what is it the first seven verses? Starting at verse 3 in. Whirlwind and storm is his way and clouds are the dust beneath his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry.

He dries up all the rivers. Bastion and Carmel wither the blossoms of Lebanon wither. Mountains quake because of him and hills dissolve. Indeed the earth is upheaved by his presence. The world and all the inhabitants in it who can stand before his indignation.

Who can endure the burning of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up. The Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of its sight and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Whatever you devise against the Lord. He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice like tangled thorns and like those who are drunken with their drink. They are consumed as stubble completely withered from you has gone forth one who plotted evil against the Lord a wicked counselor.

So once again Nahum doesn't pull any punches and we see that God is a Righteous and just God who's going to pursue his enemies. Okay, and he's going to also protect those who take refuge in him, which is a great comfort to us.

God’s Wrath, God’s Goodness, and the Comfort of Refuge

So last week just a quick recap who can stand before his indignation who can endure the burning of his anger. That's it. That's a rhetorical question Obviously to which the answer is no one. No one is going to be able to stand before God's indignation or endure the burning of his anger.

God's wrath is likened to fire that will burn melt consume. It's kind of like when we hear The scriptures in the New Testament talk about hell, right? It's a place of flames hot, right? And we're gonna either be burning not maybe not physically because at that point.

Well right now they don't have physical bodies, but You ever hear that term? Oh, he burned with envy like this internal angst right having that forever. Even the rocks which are the hardest of things will be broken into pieces.

It's a picture once again of nothing being able to stand in God's presence. Then we have the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and this is great comfort for God's people. When we look at our out at our at our society today, and we see what's going on.

We see how there's a Continual raging against God's standard a raging against his kingdom and his righteousness. This should give us comfort. He knows those who take refuge in him. Even the destruction and wrath.

Even during this destruction and the wrath God is still good. He is sovereign in the midst of it. He's still working all things together for good for those who love him. We're going through that book all things together for good by Thomas Watson on Wednesday nights.

I encourage you to come out and listen. God will keep his covenant and keep his people. This is something that we learned in Job right when God sets his covenant love upon you He keeps you and will keep you to the end even through the midst of whatever wrath or judgment is happening.

We are perfected by that that that judgment right. God disciplines those he loves. God's people will take refuge and comfort in him. Right. So when things go wrong the question becomes what do you turn to first?

Right. What is it that you think of? Right as God's people we need to take our comfort in him. He's our strength. We go back to the word. We read the Psalms we call we fellowship with our brothers and sisters and remind ourselves.

That God is still on the throne and that he will have victory over this. God knows those who were his and they know him. Ultimately we have salvation in Jesus Christ. Okay, so let's start this week. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of its sight and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

The Flood of Judgment and the Meaning of Baptism

The goodness of God assumes that he will care for his children and then punish those who seek to harm us. God's goodness does not mean that he will not bring his foes and his people's foes to justice.

Often we hear people say God is too good to punish anyone. Actually, the opposite is true. God is too good not to punish sin. God is so holy and so just that he cannot allow unrepentant sin to go unpunished.

If he did He would be unjust. If God allowed Adolf Hitler to go unpunished for the millions of lives slaughtered God would not be just. But he is just and sin will be punished like an overwhelming flood.

God's wrath will sweep the wicked away. Now a lot of times you'll get pushback and people say well, how could God allow something like the Holocaust? Right and Ray Comfort does a great job in explaining something like that.

He says when I look at the Holocaust, I know that hell must exist because whoever did this deserves hell. Right, so that actually can become an argument for the justice of God and being exiled from God's presence and us getting what we Deserve now.

Yes the people who who perpetrated the Holocaust Should get hell, but so should we we violated God's law over and over and over. It's only by the the the grace and the mercy of God that we have a relationship with him.

Verses 8 through 11 alternate between metaphors of destruction and historical comments. Five metaphors described in of his ends and an overwhelming flood into darkness entangled among thorns. Drunk from their wine and consumed like dry stubble.

With an overwhelming flood the word a bar is flood. He will make an end of Nineveh. The word a bar occurs four times in Nahum and it's translated differently each time. It's a significant word root, especially in verse chapter 3 verse 19 where it gives the sharpest warrant for Nineveh's destruction.

Why does Nahum begin with this word a bar? Because the opposite has been Judah's experience since they have been flooded by Nineveh's aggression. Nineveh of the Israel was overwhelmed by Assyria because Assyria was a huge nation.

I just want you to keep in mind. They were the superpower at the time and they were brutal brutal people the way they crucified people. They take a pointed stick and stick it through the bottom of the person right out through their mouth.

They would flay people. They would put hooks in their eyes in their nose in their breasts and pull people around by. They were Brutal brutal people and the northern tribes and then now the southern tribes are starting to the northern tribes felt it already.

But now the southern tribes are starting to feel a serious pressure. Okay, they were flooded by that. Okay, God is going to overwhelm them in a flood. Okay, God will make a complete end of these Syrians with a literal overflowing.

Some translations used the word cataclysmic flood in in the flood of his presence. Remember how God flooded the entire world and spared only eight people, right? We learned about that last week pastor talked about Noah.

He will do that here as well only on a much smaller scale. Water and floods are symbols of God's judgment upon his enemies and yet also. They are also deliverance and comfort for his people. Okay, we're gonna learn about that in two seconds.

So Noah's flood with its cataclysmic Universal impact is dramatic expression to the major themes that will be carried by flood imagery throughout the Bible. The first and most far-reaching of floods demonstrates God's sheer power, right?

This is Noah. As he has created a world teeming with life. He could easily destroy it. God declares I'm going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens. Every creature that has breath of life in it.

Everything on earth will perish and as we learned in the past This is deconstruction language. God is taking this away and then he's going to re Regroup his people and reconstruct them. The flood also Expresses God's hatred of sin as God sees how humans have corrupted the good world He has created in his righteousness God determines to wipe out evil.

So he says to Noah I'm going to put an end to all people for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Some people say well, why doesn't God get rid of all evil right now? Because if he did we wouldn't be here.

There is a place that God created. Okay where there is no evil the question is how do you get into that place? You don't get into it in the condition that you're in right now. You need a Savior you need a payment for your sins.

You need redemption and cleansing by God's Spirit and that's what he does. He offers that to us in Jesus. Most commonly flood imagery is used to picture God's determination to punish sin. Whereas judgment came in the form of a literal flood in Noah's time later references often use flood Figuratively to represent any retribution.

God brings either on his own people for example Jerusalem referred to as Abraham Ephraim in Isaiah 28 or on their enemies as we're learning on a Syria in Nahum 1 8. So Isaiah 28 2 says behold the Lord has one is has one who is mighty and strong.

Like a storm of hail a destroying tempest like a storm of mighty. Overflowing waters he cast to the earth with his hand this he's talking about a Syria coming in like a flood on the northern Tribes. So that flood language yes, it can mean literal water.

But it can also be figurative in that he's gonna flood them with another army or or one of their enemies. Like the worldwide deluge of Genesis. Flood images often suggest that God works on a large scale.

Bringing nation against nation like he did there to accomplish his purpose. Jeremiah pictures God's use of Pharaoh's armies in this way see how the waters are rising and he's talking about Pharaoh's army they overflow the land and everything in it and The towns and those who live in them the people will cry out at the noise of end of enemy chariots.

The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines. Okay, so he describes their army, and they're coming after the Israelites as a flood. So oh I don't want you to see that so quickly in it back this way all right, so is there is there any New Testament?

Examples of a flood. And he anybody remember what Peter has to say. I showed it to you two seconds ago. Let me just go all right first Peter 3 right. Because they formerly did not obey. When God God's patient waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few that is eight persons were brought safely through water.

Baptism which corresponds to this now saves you not as the removal of dirt from the body. But as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All right as good Baptist people we get to talk about baptism right now.

I'd looked for an opportunity overflowing waters right so how could this possibly an over an overwhelming flood. Be good for God's people. Okay, how does this correspond to baptism? Let's take a look in water baptism.

We are brought under the water symbolizing the flood or the judgment. But we don't stay there. We are raised up out of it because of Jesus. He is our ark when we are in Christ. We are in God's ark. The judgment we deserved fell upon Christ and him at his death.

Such that his death is our death. When he was raised to life after making payment for our sin. We were raised with him such that his life is our life. He is our ark sparing us from the judgment of the flood so the judgment comes the water comes and Washes away the wickedness and while we are in Christ. We are preserved.

Okay, this is what baptism is. This baptism. This is what baptism corresponds to not just the immersion of water, right? It's Water what about just an appeal to but it's an appeal to God for a good conscience not the cleansing of dirt from the body the Holy Spirit circumcises us and renews our mind such that we have faith in Jesus for our salvation and Trust that that is enough to save us.

And yesterday morning I had Mormons come to to my house. It was a pre-planned visit and I was just Questioning them and one of the verses in the Book of Mormon that they point me to is that they say that we're saved by grace.

After all we can do that's not grace. That's not grace. Trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation means that he paid the price for your sins. He absorbed all of it. There's nothing that you do that's going to earn you favor in God's sight.

So you're saved by grace after all you can do. Have you done all you can do. Who on earth would think that's good news? It's not. Only the gospel is good news that when we're buried with Jesus when he died on that cross, that's where we died.

When he raised to life we raised to life. That's where we live. It's a death burial and resurrection of Christ. We are in Christ. We've been judged already. Right. We're dead to sin and alive to Christ because of the Spirit.

Jesus is resurrection becomes our resurrection and we are saved from God's judgment. The waters pictured in baptism. We once were under God's judgment. We died to that at the cross and we were raised from death to life.

Out of the water and out of judgment and into God's Spirit. Now rivers of living water flow from inside of us. Okay, so we've been judged already if we are in Christ. The second metaphor darkness Describes the kind of end that Nineveh will experience.

He will pursue his foes into darkness. Now an ending can be good or bad, but Nineveh's will be be in complete obscurity and oblivion. All right, and look at that word. He pursues his enemies. Do you think you're gonna outrun God?

Where can you go that he's not there? That's right. You're not gonna win that fight and it's also Pursue here. It is the verb meaning to pursue to chase to persecute. It means to chase after to pursue someone in a hostile manner as when Abraham pursued lots captors.

Remember that he went after them if they they took lot or the way Pharaoh pursued Israel. It refers to the Lord's pursuit of persons or nations to punish and judge them. It refers to hunting chasing after animals.

It takes on the sense of persecuting persons and harassing them. God is going to get his enemies. Figuratively, it describes the chasing. Chasing rewards or strong drink to pursue one's enemies to darkness means to utterly wipe them out.

That's what verse 8 is talking about in a passive sense. It means to be chased in its passive stem it refers to what has vanished or passed away. So God is going to chase his enemies. He's going to judge them and there will be no more.

Darkness, what is darkness the absence of light? I hit the button too quick again. I gave you the answer. Maybe I need coffee.

Darkness, Spiritual Blindness, and the Need for God’s Light

So.

We hear a lot lots lots of word lots of mentions of darkness, right? Our minds were once dark and they were enlightened after the spirit comes inside of us, right? Based on physical properties darkness becomes a rich source of metaphor for spiritual realities.

If light symbolizes understanding darkness represents ignorance. Folly a science a silencing of prophetic revelations. The state of the human mind unilluminated by God's revelation, it's a sign of falsehood when you're in darkness and.

The loss of walking in God's truth because the darkness has brought on blindness. Right. We need light. We need God's light to illumine us such that now we can see even when we read the the word of God.

Right that things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned the man in the flesh cannot understand them. We need God's light so that way when we read the scriptures we can understand what we're reading.

Okay, and apply it to our lives. I'll have the spirit apply to our lives. Sometimes when you read the scriptures don't just read the scriptures. Let the scriptures read you. Right let them illuminate to you the things that you have to change.

It's so easy when you hear a message or you read a scripture and be like oh so-and-so really needs to hear this. They really need to hear this and all of a sudden it's like I Really need to hear this.

Shut your mouth. Okay shut your mouth. Think about how this affects you. Now you can share it with other people of course. Okay, but you want to see how the Spirit affects you, okay? Look at what Jude says.

These are hidden wreaths at your love feast as they feast you without fear. Shepherds feeding themselves. Waterless clouds swept along by winds. Fruitless trees in late autumn twice dead uprooted. Wild waves of the sea casting up the foam of their own shame.

Wandering stars. For whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. Have you ever tried to picture utter darkness and yourself being completely in the dark forever? You start thinking about that.

It's debilitating. You know you're like gosh. Whatever I need to do. I'll do. You know we have one life to live. Let's let's live our lives for Christ. Let's leave everything out on the field that God's given us, okay?

Complete Destruction, Divine Justice, and Human Responsibility

Mean idea in this verse one nine whatever you devise against the Lord. He will make a complete end of it. Distress. Will not rise up twice. The idea is resistance is futile. Futile because God is invincible.

There's no battle that God fought that he lost. There's no trial that that Jesus advocated that he lost. Right if We always ask all God we always say to be all God's on my side. You need to be on God's side.

Right don't think that you're gonna draft God into your you know your activities during this. Oh, I got God on my side. You need to repent and be on God's side. You need to be doing what God told you to do and recognize when you look out at the world.

We see what's going on. Ukraine and Russia both sides are wrong. They're both sinful. There's issues on throughout this whole thing. You can't stand on one side. Oh God's on this person's side. You need to recognize that we need to be on God's side.

Both sides need to repent. The United States needs. We all need to repent for crying out loud. Don't get me going. All right, Nineveh would not go quietly however yet their resistance against Israel's Omnipotent God was futile.

Whatever they plotted against the Lord would fail. We are reminded of the psalmist words Psalm 2 why do the nation's rebel and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire against the Lord and his anointed one Jesus.

They say let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints. The one enthroned in heaven laughs the Lord ridicules them then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath.

Listen when someone says what is a woman you need to laugh. Are you kidding me? You're so deluded. You don't know what a woman is.

This is what we're afraid of.

No.

No, you know what I got. I gotta read this and I was gonna read it from the pulpit this morning. It's Deuteronomy if you want to follow along with Deuteronomy 20 Verses one through four. I went over this with my brother last week.

Listen to what? The Word of God says when you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and People more numerous than you. Do not be afraid of them. For the Lord your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt is with you.

When you are approaching the battle the priest shall come come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them here or Israel. You are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be faint-hearted.

Do not be afraid or panic or tremble before them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. You might say well, that's the Old Testament that was when they were fighting, you know.

The Canaanites and all these lands guess what happens in John chapter 14 first line. What does Jesus say? Let not your heart faint. Let not your heart faint. Do not be troubled. This is our high priest standing in the midst of the disciples saying listen, I'm leaving.

Okay, but I'm gonna send you the comforter go into battle. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. God will deliver you. We cannot look out at the the nation the world and start walking in fear. We have to walk in obedience to God's Word and trust that he has a plan and a purpose in the midst of this.

Okay, if we're a little bold the righteous are as bold as a lion. Fear of man is a snare. Okay, put your bold on let's go. About 100 years earlier a serious King Sinatra had challenged the Lord Disresulted in his own destruction and that of his army this time.

None of them would have no second opportunity this time to oppose God. For he would completely destroy them. This is the second time that Nahum uses that word complete and he's going to use it another two times in this section through Verses 9 through 15 for a total of four times and it's designed that way.

So this word Kala is a feminine noun meaning completion. Complete destruction. Annihilation in the sense of completion. God told Moses that Pharaoh would let the Israel right? Yeah, the Israelites go by driving them completely out of Egypt, right?

So the Israelites were completely out of Egypt. Complete destruction or annihilation was most often attributed to God. Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would make a determined end to Israel. Nahum spoke of God's judgment by which he made an utter end of his enemies.

So.

God is not a revenging God. He's an avenging God and he's going to bring justice upon his enemies. He's going to pursue them. Okay. Now, why is it a complete end? Why would he use that word complete? Any ideas?

He's gonna bring a complete end to these Syrians. Yes, all. Right the story's ending right. He's gonna bring it's gonna be complete. Total, right? How would the Assyrians pursue their enemies? Right? How would they destroy them completely?

They wanted utter domination. Completely wipe them out.

Okay.

Matthew 7 1 for the judgment you pronounce with the judgment that you pronounce You will be judged and with the measure you use it. It will be measured to you. Yes, Jerry. Yes, right. So yeah, that's that's God meeting out justice.

You're gonna the the penalty is gonna fit the crime. Now when we judge other people the measure by which we judge them is the measure that we're gonna receive in return. So when these Syrians come in and completely wipe out Israel, okay God's gonna use that measure upon them.

We have to be careful how we judge people we judging people in love. Are we wearing a lab coat trying to point them to the Savior Savior, or are we wearing a black robe trying to condemn them? All right, very important.

Proverbs 131 therefore therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and have their fill of their own devices.

All right.

We pray sometimes on Wednesdays and sometimes from the pulpit that they that people would fall into the pit that they dug for others. In other words, we want them to experience the same thing that they were going to try on someone else.

Perfect example is Nahum on Naaman, right? He he's he puts up the gallows. He's getting ready to hang. I forget who was right and he's hung on that gallows himself. All right, so he receives the punishment which he was going to use on someone else.

Isaiah 311 woe to the wicked it shall be ill with him for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. Be careful how you judge Job 4. As I have seen those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

You're gonna reap the consequences of the sin, right? You can choose the sin. You don't get to choose the consequence. God does. Assyrian pride desired vengeance. Reminiscent of Lamech's taunt Lamech said I have killed a man for wounding me a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is seven hold seven fold then Lamech's is 77 fold. Because of this hubris a Syria made a complete end of the ten northern tribes. So here you see. You got you have people it's the nature of the human heart.

If we get pricked we're looking to do worse damage to our enemy. That's not what we're called to do biblically like Jerry said it's an eye for an eye tooth for a tooth. Okay, when you go beyond what the punishment deserves, that's the measure that you're gonna receive in return.

Right.

Though Nahum through Nahum. I'm sorry God held a Syria to its own standard as a Syria claimed the right to execute total vengeance upon a vassal who plotted against it. God would execute total vengeance against a Syria for breaking its treaty obligations to him.

Remember a Syria was In covenant with God's people they were taking money, right? There was a there was a covenant between them. So when you break that covenant like Lawrence brought up a couple weeks ago God's gonna hold them to the standard of that covenant.

You hurt God's people. God is going to bring that back upon you. So their punishment would be complete because their punishment on others was complete total. It was the measure that they used. Matthew 7 1 through 5 judge not that you be that you be not judged.

For with the righteous judge for with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged and with the measure you use it It will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye? But not notice the log that is in your own eye or how can you say to your brother?

Let me take the speck out of your eye. When there is the log in your own you hypocrite first take the log out of your own eye. And then you will see clearly to take this take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Now this does this is not saying that you shouldn't judge. Okay, you judge with the right standard and you judge in humility. If you have a log in your own eye or you're suffering first from a certain sin now.

You're gonna tell other people you're gonna condemn other people for committing the same sin that you have an issue with. Not good not good. You need to repent of that sin you did to turn from it. You need to walk in victory over it right now.

It doesn't mean that you can't tell somebody hey listen, brother I saw you doing something you know in love. Trying to persuade them you know snatch a brother Away from that sin and help him overcome it right come alongside pray for them work with people.

All right, love people if you love somebody when you see them doing something. That's that's wrong. That's gonna injure others or injure their relationship with God. You lovingly want to tell them. Let's not do that.

Here's what the word says about that. Okay, it's a difference between loving somebody and helping correct them or Keeping judgment on somebody and pointing a finger saying you're condemned for what you're doing.

Right. Okay.

Remember what happened to a Syria Nineveh? 150 years prior they were granted repentance. All right when Jonah preached they repented they act they did actually repent and Israel was spared judgment and Only a generally generation later.

They were back to their old ways. So they went back to being a Syria and conquering the the lands around them. Jesus did say in Matthew 12 41 the men of Nino Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it.

For they repented at the preaching of Jonah and now one greater than Jonah is here. The generation that heard Jonah did repent, but the subsequent generations didn't follow. Assyrian history does not show a great or lasting effect as the result of Jonah's reluctant preaching.

Right, so When we recognize that Nineveh a Syria same thing Was a wicked city and God granted them repentance such that They're gonna rise up at the judgment and they're gonna point to Jesus and say you should have repented you had Jesus.

Right. Nineveh in a Syria didn't have that they just had Jonah. Right, how much more severe will it be for those? Who's who knew Jesus when he when he physically was here?

Okay.

Who rejected him like the Pharisees and the Jews of that time to know to see him and then to see his death and resurrection? And deny him. Even Nineveh is gonna look and say You should have repented. Are you kidding?

Right. So again before we before we point the finger at someone else we have to look at our own our own self. Does Jesus death burial and resurrection mean anything to us? Are we truly living humble repentant lives acting justly loving mercy and walking humbly with God?

Right. We know Jesus. How similar this was to the children of Israel in the Old Testament as they wandered through the wilderness. Time and time again, they incurred severe displeasure of the Lord and then there was a turning to him in repentance when he acted against them.

But it had no lasting effect and they again incurred his severest displeasure. The writer to the Hebrews uses this To telling the effect when he says today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.

Okay, so we know. We know the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. We have the testimony of the Scriptures. We have so much today that God has blessed us with we have the proclamation of the gospel.

We have a better sign the sign of Jonah, which again is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. So before we judge people. Harshly or with the wrong? Standard we have to look at our own hearts. Have we turned have we repented.

Do we trust in Jesus? Okay. Remember God's gonna pursue his enemies. It's only those who take their refuge in him that will be spared. Again, when Jesus is your ark, you've you will come through the waters of judgment.

Purified that the water will purify us rather than punish us.

Okay.

God’s Final Victory and the Call to Repentance

So various of the leaders of the Assyrians had plotted evil against the Lord. But this is the message given to all who seek to work against God with that whatever they plot against the Lord He will bring it to an end.

No lasting success can ever come to those who are the enemies of God. No blessing can ever come upon any who do not acknowledge the Lord to be the one who is in some Supreme control of all things. So again when you look out at the people who are raging against God.

Okay, we actually need to have pity on the fact that they don't know what a what a man or a woman is. Ridiculous ridiculous. God help. God help them. But Nahum gave them some good news. He said trouble will not come to Israel a second time once God wiped out the Assyrians.

They were gone. They the Israelites didn't have to worry about them anymore. He meant that torment would not come again from the Assyrians. He could say this because he knew that it was his plan that the whole Assyrian Empire would shortly be utterly destroyed.

The Assyrians were to find out that the things they depended on for their protection and their joy would backfire upon them. How many people in the government in the world are depending on money? Depending on pleasure on toys all these things that they're accumulating.

That's not going to help them. That's not gonna help them in God's judgment in God's wrath. Matthew 1230 whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters. So that's the question.

God's going to pursue his enemies. His enemies are those people who resist him and fight against him. There's no neutrality. You are either with Jesus or against Jesus. If you haven't repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus.

You're his enemy you're against him. You're not gathering with him, you know gathering Pete God's people into his kingdom. You're scattering them. Not making a decision is a decision. Right. You need to recognize who Jesus is.

We have to recognize our own sinful state before him and recognize he's the solution to the problem. Government is not the solution to any of our problems. Government adds to the problem. All right, the only solution to our problem is Jesus as King he's Lord.

We need to repent trust in him him alone any. Final questions were right at the end. Yes, sir.

And Israel was given they fell short. And.

God's in control. We have to remember God's in control, but we're also responsible for our actions. We can't just do whatever we want to say. Well God's in control. He must the sovereignly decided I do this.

You know, you're responsible for God's moral will. You're responsible for what he's revealed to us in his in his word. Morally, you are called to act in a certain way. Claiming that God's sovereign and you don't have to act in a certain way is is is negating your responsibility.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes, God does thankfully actively restrain the evil in men's hearts. And and for his people he changes their hearts such that they're now inclined towards good. All right, but we have to overcome the world the flesh and the devil.

We're still in this temptation period one day we're going to be delivered from that right and in In justification where we're delivered from the penalty of sin and sanctification. We're delivered from the power of sin and in glorification would would deliver from the presence of sin.

Right, so we have that promise that there's gonna come a day we're gonna be in a place with God where there is no sin right now. We're in that testing for that temptation phase. All right, we have to remain faithful.