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Nahum 1:15
Did you catch the alphabet that time did you catch it? Hopefully you're looking and saw that next time you'll see it next Sunday. I told you that from that Psalm 111 that in the Hebrew it has each letter of the Hebrew alphabet so when they wrote that for Congregational singing you can see each letter of the of the English alphabet being used.
So I thought that was. I thought that's kind of neat next week. You can say and also let you know when we get to Z. It's over right so the song's over Turning your Bibles. Will you please to Nahum chapter 1.
I do believe that the Lord has shown our nation a measure of continued grace a measure of mercy a measure of common grace that the Lord could have ordained or allowed any number of things to have happened and The what he did ordained to happen I think happened in a way that is good for our nation but I want to encourage us with something and that is that in seasons of prosperity or Seasons where you feel like things are going your way as well as in seasons when?
Times are dark things are difficult. You're in a valley things are not going your way in both these seasons. We ought to be celebrating the gospel Nahum chapter 1 we're going to finish this chapter this morning and the sermon title is simply this feasting for the future now in Nahum's day the timing the seasons the National it's all right.
She's not distracting me. I just can't my brains not going but the national the national. Sense of how things were going on. Was probably not like it is for us today and that is there was much doom and and gloom.
Wickedness reigned in the land a foreign power was oppressive. But God looks at his people during those dark days and he says to them keep your feasts.
So.
Feasting for the future looks like in the church. So here we are week 15 I believe and we're finishing chapter 1 praise the Lord for his kindness to this church in the book of Nahum. Would you stand with me as we read our text?
We'll just read verse 15. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news. Who publishes peace? Keep your feasts Oh Judah fulfill your vows. For never again shall the worthless pass through you.
He is utterly cut off. Father help me today. Help my mind to be clear. Help my heart to be full. May Christ have the preeminence Holy Spirit. Would you be with us today to bless to encourage to equip to challenge to convict?
To quicken all of the things that we need even things that we need that we don't understand that we need we pray that you would provide. Help us to understand the gospel from this text today. Help us to understand the right way that a church should live and let us be that church.
Let us be a healthy church. We believe here that Christ is worthy of a healthy church. So let us strive toward that always seeking to reform according to the scriptures. Lord bless us. We thank you. We bless those who are unable to be here with us today.
Watch over them protect them. Lord bring them back to us safely soon. We pray today that you would speak to us from your word and May Christ be glorified in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. I want to begin This sermon this morning just with a comment on.
How we should read?
The Old Testament and Particularly when it comes to Old Testament prophecy, so there's sort of a flat.
Wooden.
Understanding of the Old Testament. Old Testament prophecy that I would say is actually not biblically warranted. But it only allows the Old Testament to speak to its immediate Context so all the Old Testament is about is about in its immediate context and nothing else.
The problem with that is when you get to the New Testament read saw read Paul Read Peter read John. Listen to what Jesus says that's not how they read the Old Testament. They understood that the Old Testament first and foremost.
The Old Testament did absolutely historically speak to its immediate context. Amen. We're not denying that it spoke Immediately to its historic context. The grammar matters the historical context matters.
These aren't stories. These are true. These things happen. These are biblical Narratives, this is the truth of God. But listen when you get to the New Testament the writers help us to understand That these prophecies these writings also speak past their immediate Context so we need to understand that the historical and literal sense of the text is Also pointing us to something greater.
It's it's pointing us to Christ. It's pointing us. Yes folks even to the church. It's pointing us even to the kingdom of Christ. And here's why I mentioned that I mentioned that because in our text today is really a great example of this.
Don't read Nahum 115 and think boy. That's only about the immediate context of the liberation of God's people from Nineveh. If you read that you're gonna miss so much of the Bible.
This text.
Points us not only to the immediate liberation, but also to God's people. So let me read that of all time pointing us to the Church of Christ. So let me just read it again. Keep your feast. Oh Judah. So we're on the second half.
Keep your feast. Oh Judah fulfill your vows for never again. Shall the worthless pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
To be clear. Yes, this deals with the literal actual historical overthrow of Nineveh and it deals with it's either speaking of I've told you Sennacherib the figure Sennacherib or the figure Ashurbanipal.
It deals with Judah to keep her Old Testament feast. It deals with Judah keeping her vows that she made while under a Syrian Tyranny, but it's a real poor Understanding of God's Word this morning to just stop there and say boy.
That's real nice for them. But that's an error. That's not how we're to read the Old Testament. That's not how we're to read the Bible these things like some people them churches may even find it Unfathomable to preach on a him like how that doesn't even matter for us and I'm saying yes it does.
Because it points us to Christ it points us to an even greater Reality not just the overthrow of one city. Yes. Nineveh is overthrown. Sennacherib is no more Ashurbanipal is no more Nineveh is overthrown, but it points us to the greater reality that one day all God's enemies will be overthrown.
They'll be destroyed the overthrow of Satan himself the celebration of the church Living in Christ's victory. I'm just telling you today. Don't chop up the Bible In such a way that you miss that the scriptures come together to tell one cohesive true narrative One story one grand truth.
What is that? God in his grace rescues one people for the glory of his name through the redemption that is secured by the life.
Death.
Burial and Resurrection of Christ. If you're reading the Bible in any other way, you're missing it. And I encourage you to stop and read it the way that it was intended. Nahum 115 beloved is part of this great Glorious narrative.
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him. Who brings good news. Who publishes peace. Keep your feast. Oh Judah fulfill your vows for never again. Shall the worthless pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
Now let me talk about this title that I've chosen today for a bit feasting for the future. Feasting for the future and we have two commands in our portion of the text. What are they number one? Keep your feast Oh Judah.
That's in the imperative. That is a command. God is commanding Judah to keep her Old Testament mosaic feast. The second is fulfill your Vows, so these feasts that are appointed by God under the Mosaic Covenant.
Keep them they're commanded to keep them. Judah that is and she is told to fulfill her vows. That is the promises that she made to God when she was desiring to be out from under a Syrian tyranny. Well, you you've done that stuff before right.
God if you get me out of this situation, I promise I'll do this and let me just make a comment of that on that. You need to be careful what you promise God. Meaning you should take that seriously. Because the Lord says here do what you promise.
Fulfill your vows. Just an off-topic. Kind of but not really numbers 30 verse 2 says if a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind Himself by a pledge. He shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
God knows what you promised him and God comes for the account and that's what he says to Judah. Keep your feast. Fulfill your vows now what is important here for us is this? Don't miss this. When these commands are given I need you to pay attention and grasp this thing is important.
When these commands are given Nineveh is not overthrown. You understand? Let's just do the math in our brains for just a moment. We know so I've given you 650 because it's just a general. Just kind of thing.
It's close, but it's just like a general date. So 650 is when this prop years the point is this is coming to the people of God while they're still under the reign the tyrannical reign of Nineveh, okay, so there is an already not yet going on here.
There is a there is a commands that are associated with a future that has not yet been fully realized. Okay, so today Judah it looks like the wrong person's in power today Judah it looks like the enemy is.
Winning.
What should you do?
Feast.
That's what the text says. Why?
Victory is.
Inevitable.
Certain God has made promises to you and the promises of God are Ironclad and all the promises of God are yes, and amen. In Jesus Christ feasting for the future God has prepared a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
Even when things don't look like it victory is certain. The church is.
To feast.
Obama Robertson says it this way of this passage the Christian gospel provides the fullest possible framework for permanent celebration of victory. Death has lost its sting Church in the midst of this fallen world.
The joy of the gospel compels Christians to celebrate Christ's victory with undivided hearts and enduring hope.
That's the foundation and let's walk through an outline together building what I on what I just said. I want to discuss number one finality. Number one Finality. So verse 15 keep your feast. Oh Judah fulfill your vows.
And let me just address this in this first point for never again shall the worthless pass through you. He is utterly cut off now the way the phrase the worthless you remember back in verse 11 it's there just look in your Bibles real quick from you came one who plotted evil against the Lord a Worthless counselor.
So in the English, it's the same word in the Hebrew. It's the same word worthless. There is the same word worthless in our text. And if you remember back a few weeks ago when we talked about that, we said the word worthless.
There is the Hebrew word Baleel. Baleel is overthrown. Baleel is no more. Baleel is cut off. He is finished. This is seen Immediately in the destruction of Sennacherib or maybe the destruction of Asher Bannipel, but it's more fully realized.
It's ultimately realized in the overthrow and destruction of Satan himself. Baleel. And this does not mean friends that Satan is not active in our world today. You would be foolish to say Satan is not active in our world today.
He is active, but it does mean he is ultimately now. Powerless to stop the advance of the people of God. Let's just think about that for a moment. We have a promise here just like the promise of Genesis 3 15 that the evil one is finished.
He's done you ever chopped off the head of a snake. I'm talking about literally chopped off the head of a snake. I have what happens its body flails around. For a bit, but it's over now. This is not Diminishing or underselling the real evil that Satan inflicts on our world today.
But it's it's highlighting the finality and the certainty of his doom. Maybe a for you history buffs. Maybe all all two of you in here. Maybe an analogy would be like the Civil War the Battle of Gettysburg.
When the Confederate Army lost the Battle of Gettysburg for all intents and purposes. The war was over now the war dragged on for maybe or almost another two years. But for all intents and purposes the South had lost all its resources and ability really to to win.
The war so it was over but it kept dragging on for a while now. Listen the cross, of course is infinitely more sure.
Than that.
Jesus has won a victory. He has secured perfect righteousness. He has given a sufficient and perfect Substitutionary death on the cross bearing the wrath of God for sinners and he has risen again in Triumph.
And what has happened? Balliol is cut off for the never again. So the worthless pass through you. He is utterly cut off. In other words, it's over. It's over. He will continue to flail and he will continue certainly to cause pain and difficult Difficulty as we as we await the Lord's return, but lo his doom is sure.
For the future.
Satan has been crushed. Point one finality. Secondly, let's talk more specifically about feasting. Number two feasting. So you have the text here Keep your feast. Oh Judah what is being said there? Well Nahum is saying to them Essentially you need to be a faithful Jew under the Mosaic Covenant.
That's what you need to do. You need to do what God has commanded you to do. And what God has commanded you to do is to feast that is to Celebrate the Jewish festivals. The feast.
These.
Ordained Celebrations. That God has given you so, you know what? I'm talking about like the Feast of Passover the Feast of Booths these things. These celebrations by the way that ultimately pointed to the coming Messiah.
That is what Judah is to do because God has granted them victory. They don't can't see it yet, but they're there to participate in the feasting and trust the promises of God to come. So this has an even greater fulfillment in the church.
Paul says in Romans 2 a Jew is one inwardly and Circumcision is a matter of the heart now. This is not to say that the church in the tribe of Judah are the same thing. Of course, we're not saying that but it's to say that Judah in our text typifies and points us forward to the circumcised of heart.
It points us forward to the church of the Living God. So in essence, I think that we could say warranted from the text not just however many years ago to To let me do the math real quick like 3 ,000 years ago or whatever the case it was almost 3 ,000 years ago.
We're not just saying well that just applied to them, but there's an application for the church. That is Judah you feast because victory is certain but the same is true for the church feast even greater Fulfillment even greater reality feast church feast.
Victory is certain now. There are specific ways that the church should carry out this Feasting so let's walk through that. Some people try to keep the feast of the Mosaic Covenant. That's not what we're talking about those of they're over right we do not feast the feast of the Mosaic Covenant.
You're not real spiritual if you're like, well, I keep Passover. That's not spiritual. God hasn't commanded you to do that. That's not for you. In fact, it has been fulfilled and abrogated in Christ.
But.
This is not to say that there is not religious. I'm choosing my words carefully. So hear me care. This is not to say that there is not religious celebration in the Christian life. There is. Christianity is a Religion, I know it's popular to say Christianity is not a religion.
It's a relationship. I get it and to us. There is a degree or there is a measure of truth. There's a Modicum of truth in that statement. I get what people are trying to say. But if we just take the state statement on its surface and we take it as a whole, it's not a helpful statement.
It's not a good statement. It's not a biblical statement. Christianity is a relationship. Yes. It's a relationship with God, but it is also a religion. We don't we don't put these two we don't pit them against each other.
Christianity is a religion. It is the only true religion to keep your feasts. There is religious Obligation, let me walk through some of those we see this for example in the ordinances. We celebrate the victory of Christ though.
We've not seen the fullness of the reality. We celebrate the victory of Christ in the ordinances of baptism in the Lord's Supper. Do you rest in Christ? Well, yes, do you regularly partake of the Lord's Supper?
Well, no. Well, how then are you celebrating Christ's triumph? Oh, I'm not worried about those religious things. I just have my own way of doing it. Do you know what the Puritans called that? Americans call that super spiritual the Puritans called that will worship in other words your idolatrous.
God has given you a way to celebrate his victory. God has given you a way to keep your keep his feast. God has given you a way to to proclaim the gospel to one another and you say I.
Got a better way.
The Bible does not look favorably upon such a position. This is ultimately idolatrous. Okay, that's similar with baptism. Oh, I'm a Christian, but I don't need to be baptized. But God says that you to God says it's a sign of your union with Christ.
It's a public declaration of the victory of Jesus and it's a public declaration of our willingness to follow him. You understand right? Here's what I'm pushing back against. I'm trying to choose my words carefully.
I'm trying to help you understand that keeping our feast means that you don't get to just do whatever you want to do. Whatever you feel like to do and then you get to call it Christianity. Our world that's a plague in churches that we'll just do whatever we want to do.
And if it feels right, it's okay, and this is Christianity.
False.
We have to keep what God has given us to keep so many more examples we could talk about the Lord's Day or the Christian Sabbath that that idea of one day and seven a Moral obligation to rest and to worship with God's people.
We do this on Sunday because Christ's resurrection is on the first day of the week. Keep your feast Oh Judah. Well, we have an even greater religious celebration in Christ. We do these things that we are obligated and commanded to do because of the victory of Jesus.
Think about that for a moment. The religious duties. The religious duties of the Christian life. They are not a burden to the people of God.
They are a.
Celebration. What does God command you to do. Not to go back into bondage not to go back into slavery. God commands his people to celebrate the victory that they have in Christ. Why would anyone despise these things.
Rejecting religious obligation in the Christian life does not flow from a born-again heart. Think about that. Okay. Baptism the Lord's Supper Sunday corporate worship preaching prayer Bible intake Christian fellowship discipleship Evangelism these things are all.
Kind gifts.
These are gifts. These are means the the the Puritans would say it this way. These are means of grace. These are avenues channels not of salvific grace. Not if you just do if you fulfill your part and God will do this part.
That's what we're talking about. But God has given his people these wonderful ways to celebrate Christ. Keep your feast. This is a good command. These are not slavish duties. We do these out of a heart that have been the hearts that have been set free from sin a heart that delights in God and What he has done for us in Christ.
Keep your feast. Oh Judah fulfill your vows for never again. Shall the worthless pass through you. He is.
Utterly.
Cut off.
The tyranny is over and you're required to celebrate. Think about that for a minute. The tyranny of the evil one is over the tyranny of sin is Over and what God requires you to do is what? Celebrate right.
And you say no, I'm free. I'm free. I don't have to do those things that you're talking about.
I'm free.
You're free from celebrating Christ. Why would you even want freedom from celebrating Christ. That doesn't sound like freedom at all. You know what that sounds like to me. You know what that is. That's tyranny.
Tyranny. Yeah, it's tyranny of self. Here under your own slavish sinful desires. Let this not be true of us. Let us not be self-governed in our worship. Do you understand this morning that whatever governs your worship?
That's what you worship. Okay, whatever governs your worship. That's what you worship. So if culture governs your worship you say hey. We've got to have all these hip songs. We we don't want to you know, we don't want to be too focused on Christ.
We we don't want to be like too blatant. What kind of do culture drives our worship. You know what you worship. You don't worship Christ you worship culture. Or what if self drives worship. I'm just gonna do whatever feels right to me, you know what you're worshiping.
You're not worshiping God. You're worshiping Self, so let us then be governed in our worship by Christ. Governed by his word let the scriptures regulate the scriptures alone. Regulate our worship as we celebrate the gospel and this is not tyranny.
This is kindness from God.
He's telling his people.
Because victory is.
Secured.
So if you've neglected religious matters That God has instructed you to do. Consider what you've heard. We don't do these things. To gain favor with God we do these things only because of the done of Jesus Christ.
This is how we celebrate the victory that Christ has given us in his perfect work in his beautiful sweet precious perfect righteous life in his pleasing aroma sacrificial death to God Bearing our sins and in his glorious resurrection.
This is how we celebrate. Do not neglect what God has told you is important. Keep your feast.
Ho Judah.
I'll make a couple of comments and move on just because the present time of year. It's applicable. There are other things that we can do sometimes in the year to celebrate Christ's victory. We're not commanded in the scriptures to set aside a Specific day of Thanksgiving unto God, but this is something that we can do.
We have the freedom to do to celebrate Christ's victory to honor the Lord to feast together in triumph. You'd be surprised to hear me say this, but I want to make it clear. We are not commanded in the scriptures to have a specific day set aside to commemorate the birth of Christ.
Well, this is something that we can do to celebrate. We know we don't want to hold anybody's conscience captive. There are some people they're like, I just can't do it. Okay, but I'm gonna do it. Why.
Cuz I'm celebrating the victory of Christ. I got my Christmas lights up already. Why not cuz I'm a maybe cuz I'm kind of a weirdo. Maybe that's part of it. But also I'd really like to believe cuz I love Jesus, right?
I just want to celebrate what he's done. Think about this is the gospel. God came to rescue us. We didn't deserve it. We we could we couldn't earn it. We didn't want to earn it. We're going our own way.
If God left you to your own devices, you'd be in a ditch somewhere today. You wouldn't be here, but instead he came he rescued us. Hey, how did he rescue us. Not just by waving his hand but by taking on human flesh.
The Son of God came born.
Lowly state born of the Virgin Mary laid in that that that that.
Manger.
Grew up in a poor Jewish family. Obedient and in every aspect of the law of God everything that you have scoffed at shaking your fists of God turn your back on. Jesus kept. He did it all and all these things are pointing to him.
All the feasts all the sacrifices you think as Jesus Participates in these things. It's a beautiful thing to think about that. He's participating in the very things that are the shadow and substance of who he is.
And then he takes our sins to the cross, can you imagine anybody doing that for you.
Your sins.
Right. We're really like in America. We're really like big on justice. I mean, you know in a sense like I ain't doing that for you. I'm not paying what you owe. Can you imagine? Charles Carter. I was gonna use him an example he gets because he I just don't see this happening in his life.
But he speeds through town and he gets pulled over. He got a $500 speeding ticket. He comes up. I'll use Kermit as example. He usually comes up to Kermit says hey, man, I sped through town. Would you pay my fine?
Yeah, I can imagine Kermit be like no I'm not paying your fine. Why. I didn't do that. You did it you pay it and guess what? That's that is justice right. You did it you pay it. The gospel is God himself came down to pay for our.
Sins.
What glorious truth we have? Celebrate. Keep your feast.
Next.
Finality feasting. Thirdly. Let me just mention faithfulness. So he says fulfill your vows. I'm gonna make a theological point here. It's necessary. You're not saved by your faithfulness. You're not justified by your faithfulness.
You are not awaiting some future.
Justification.
Based on how faithful you are, you know why. That would be a horrible gospel. It'd be sad and it would be hopeless because on my best days My faithfulness is lacking on my best days. My faithfulness is tainted with sin.
I'm distracted or I fail to love God as much as he deserves or I do what I'm supposed to do. But it's with half-hearted motivation or I do what I'm supposed to do. But it's really because I'm trying to manipulate God or whatever the case may be these matters.
Continue to plague our devotion to God even as we make the effort to fight sin.
Nevertheless.
The gospel by God's power does produce in the people of God.
Faithfulness.
So we're justified By Christ alone. It's not even faith alone. Listen carefully. It's not even faith alone in the sense of just abstract faith. We just got to believe and you're justified. No, no, it's faith alone in Christ alone.
That's a package deal goes together. So you're justified not by your faithfulness hear me church. Not by your faithfulness not by what you do. You're justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
It's the only hope we have now what happens is in our hearts and by the power of grace and the power of God's Spirit. We seek to live out what God has wrought and We fulfill our vows. There's an analogy of marriage here.
Christ is the bridegroom and we are the bride. He has made vows to us he has made promises to us and he has kept every one of them and he will bring them all to fruition and. Then in the wedding ceremony, the bride has made vows as it were to her husband.
So for example in our baptism We have publicly declared our allegiance to Christ. We have made a vow that Christ is our King that we will follow him and by the power of the Holy Spirit in our Hearts, we now seek to carry that out to fulfill our vows.
We seek to do what we have said we would do before the Lord. We seek to live it out to trust him to follow him to submit to his lordship in our lives to love his word. To love his people. When you join the church, you made a vow as it were in a sense.
You promised to love and serve this body by God's grace. We seek to fulfill this vow together. We seek to live faithfully together to to love one another to be involved in one another's lives to hold one another Accountable to help one another with with spiritual and physical needs we take church membership.
Seriously, why it's not vow for the sake of the vow. It's that the vow is connected to the victory. Keep your feast Oh Judah fulfill your vow. Why for? Because never again shall the worthless pass through you.
He is utterly cut off as an example. We take church membership seriously because we believe the devil is defeated. Show me a church. It doesn't take membership seriously, and I'll show you a church that hasn't embraced the overthrow of the evil one.
That hasn't embraced the victory of Christ. You understand the gospel. You can't just rip it out and just say well I'm just gonna hold on to this and it's not gonna affect anything else like you embrace the gospel it permeates everything.
It affects everything in fact everything that we do here as a church. Flows out of or to or from all that Jesus has done for us. We desire to live faithful holy lives under God because of what God has done for his people in Christ.
And this is not merely a debtor's ethic ethic. So the idea is sometimes it's like this. Well, Jesus died for me. So man, I got to live for him. That's not merely what we're talking about. We're talking about a grace fueled joy-filled Holy Spirit wrought consecrated life unto our Holy God Governed by the Scriptures.
Listen church. Will you consider your walk with the Lord today? Does your life commend the gospel. Does it show forth the Lordship of Christ. Does it reflect an Enjoyment of the gospel. Are you feasting for the future?
Fulfill your vows. I might add here as well. This is a good place to add That there is both celebration in the Christian life and solemnity. There's a time to feast and there's a time to fast part of a life of faithfulness will include times of fasting times of morning sin times of solemn assembly times of tears.
It's why I think we should use terms like celebration and feasting. But not necessarily party. The Christian life you could say is celebration but you wouldn't necessarily want to say the Christian life is just one big party because there's times of heartache.
We're feasting for the future. This implies that there's an already but not yet understanding of the kingdom. Right already. Jesus has won already. Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose again already. I'm born again already I'm justified already.
I'm counted as righteous before God already. I see the people of God gathering all over the world. I have all these already, but I also have a lot of not yet.
I'm not glorified yet.
Satan still prowls around like a roaring lion. The church still has to be wrought with apostasy and disunity. Deceitfulness it's already it's not yet. We have these truths. So there's a time for a sobering look at life is what I'm saying even as we look ultimately to the final overthrow of Nineveh the final vanquishing of God's enemy and the full installment of every blessing promised by God to us in.
Christ.
Before I move on. Let me just ask it Has there been a measure of sobriety in your life a measure of solemnity a measure of hey. Let me just pause for a second and remember that these there are big things going on.
And am I where I need to be with Christ. Just consider this. I have one final point. So we've considered finality feasting faithfulness. And the last thing I want us to think about is fruitfulness. If I want to zoom out on the verse for a second and just read it all together again.
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news who publishes peace. Keep your feast Oh Judah fulfill your vows for never again. Shall the worthless pass through you. He is utterly.
So an argument that I'm trying to make looking at the big picture is that when the people of God are feasting and faithful. That they'll also be fruitful. Now this goes back to last week and we considered last week the proclamation of the gospel.
The feet of those who bring good news. So let me just kind of tie the whole verse together if I can so here's a picture of the Christian life. Just Walk this from the verse. A picture of the church today.
We are the feet carrying the good news. We are declaring the good news of Christ. We're declaring what God has wrought. We are declaring the victory of Christ over death hell in the grave and then we are fellowshipping.
We are gathered together under proper leadership practicing the right or ordinances sitting under right right preaching. We're fellowshipping and gathering with fellow believers. And as we're doing that we're feasting.
We're seeking to live holy lives. We're resting in the triumph of Christ over sins over the devil over demonic powers over death and and and then in all of that we have a real expectation of or a serious expectation of faithfulness.
We're fulfilling our vows as it were we're doing what the scriptures teach us to do and in all that we have a serious also expectation of fruitfulness. Now now God doesn't say to the people of Judah here be fruitful and multiply.
But I think that this is a biblical command and promise and I'm not talking about in this instance Physical fruitfulness. So that's wonderful. But let me just speak here of spiritual fruitfulness and Multiplication.
So our our feasting and our faithfulness is not merely inwardly focused. But it's also done as a testimony before a watching world of the hope that we have in Christ. One of the reasons not the only reason but talk about means of grace earlier.
But another reason that God has ordained that we do the things that we do is because it bears witness on a watching.
World.
Now.
I'm not for a second going to take away from last week. We must use words to commend the gospel. You can't just use actions. You must use words to take the gospel to our neighbors and the nation's. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news who publishes.
Peace.
I'm just adding here this there is a testimony to the world when you feast for Christ and When you're faithful for Christ, this is a testimony and an indictment on the world around you. So it's not either or I'm either going to proclaim the gospel or I'm going to celebrate Christ in my religious duty.
No, it's not either or it's both and I'm going to take the gospel and I'm going to articulate it in words at the same Time. I'm going to go all in on the local church. That's why I can't I can't deal with missionaries or evangelists or Director of missions or BCM whatever the case may be.
I cannot deal with any person that would say I'm gonna be involved in this thing at the expense of the local church. Well, I'm not against those things. But if you're involved in those things at the expense of The local church then you're just trying to proclaim the gospel and you're not showing forth what the gospel produces in your life.
These things go together. That's my argument here. So let me give an example with our tech. So our our world today Has made Sunday just another day Sunday in America and it wasn't always this way but in America today Sunday is another day.
It's another day to shop. It's another day to hunt. It's another day to play sports. It's another day to have business. It's just another day. It's just like all the other days. But when your life shows the world around you, hey, you know what pause actually Sunday's not just another day.
It's it's a day set aside by God to rest and to worship and to gather with the church. When you do that, what I'm arguing is you're bearing witness for Christ to a watching.
Now I'm not saying they're gonna agree with you and I'm not saying that's gonna bring people to conversion. But you're in and of itself, but you're you're bearing witness. Hey, why can't we get old Jim Bob to come over and and and and and play the game on Sunday or whatever well cuz Jim Bob he going to church, right?
Why can't we get Jim Bob to work extra hours on Sunday? Well, cuz Jim Bob is anything's a lot of the church. I may make people mad. But it's bearing witness or here's another example your children they have a friend over or maybe you have a friend over you have a guest over for supper and after supper you just include them in your Family's routine and so you gather around and you have family worship and they're part of it and they're looking around.
They're like what this is weird, right, but you're bearing witness to them. You're showing them something different. You're showing them. Hey, there's something about the gospel that's taken root in our lives and we're not just like everybody else.
Christ is king of this home. And I could go on and on and on baptism Lord's Supper Evangelistic Christmas caroling whatever a thousand examples. I'm just arguing here when we celebrate Christ in feasting and when and we honor Christ in Faithfulness what we are doing is we're bearing witness of Christ into a dark world.
And is that not friends what our world needs today? Is that not what our nation needs today? I'm very grateful. I'm open. I'm I got nothing to hide here. I'm very grateful I think God has been merciful to us that Donald Trump is the next president of the United States.
I think this is a wonderful mercy of God. But listen to me if we get that and we don't get the gospel. We're sunk our nation needs Christ and one of the ways that we bear witness to Christ is by understanding this text and Keeping our feast the feast of God and fulfilling our vows.
These things matter these things do not go unnoticed and the point I'm trying to make under this heading is that these things will bear fruit. It doesn't mean people will love you. Sometimes it's the opposite.
Sometimes they ridicule you for choosing church on Sunday over the world. It may even cost you you don't get the promotion because your boss knows that you know, you're committed to the church but you're bearing witness and God is faithful and I'm arguing that God is going to use these things in the life of the church to bear fruit for the glory of King Jesus and Over the life of a local church God will bring lost persons through to faith through the Proclamation of the gospel that is combined with the testimony of the feasting and faithful lives of the church.
Do you hear me this morning? Are you understanding this? Are you are you getting this? I hope this makes sense to you. We must be committed to these things as a local body. We must be committed to these things because Jesus has brought the victory even Greater than the overthrow of Nineveh is the overthrow of our sin.
Even greater than the overthrow of Asher Bannipel is the overthrow of Satan. Even greater than having peace and security in the land is having peace and security with God. What God has done in Christ deserves ought to be we should celebrate.
You shouldn't say I got to go to church today. You should say I get to go to church today. You shouldn't say we got to do family worship today. You should say we get to do family worship tonight. You shouldn't say I got to go share the gospel this person.
You should say we get to share the gospel why God has given us the victory. And we live lives of celebration feasting.
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news who publishes peace. Keep your feast. Oh Judah fulfill your vows for never again. Shall the worthless pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
So here's my exhortation.
Keep on feasting.
Feast for the future. All the promises of God have their yes in Jesus. He has won the victory. We live now in light of his victory even as we await that final day when Jesus comes.
Back.
We'll land the plane here. What does all of this mean. So listen to me tune in. Okay, what does all this mean for those? Outside of Christ today this may apply to you in this room. Children, please. Listen to me.
This may apply to you. I know that we have unconverted children in our midst adults. This may apply to you. We may have unconverted adults in our midst if you're outside of Christ. The complete opposite is true of you for the unbeliever.
In this text, you're not in Judah. In this text, it's 650 BC and you're in Nineveh. Now you think about Nineveh in 650 BC. They're looking around and think it's always gonna be this way. It could never change.
Not not knowing that 38 years is all they had left. Well, this is gonna be this way always. I'll always be okay. The time that I have is endless. I pity those people over in Judah and always giving up their Sundays trying to eke out some semblance of joy.
Following God while there's so much carnality and pleasure in this world that I find happiness in and so that you you continue. Behind what you think is the safety of the walls of Nineveh. You're eating and you're drinking and you're buying and you're selling and you're planting and you're building.
I Say to you today sudden destruction awaits your soul. In any moment of happiness that you thought you experienced in this life will one day vanish forever.
This is this is.
Heavy, but it's true. It will vanish forever in the lake of fire. You'll face the torment of a holy God day and night righteously judging your sins. That's the reality of those who are outside of Christ.
But I say to you if you just hear me today that Jesus ready stands to save you full of pity.
Love and.
Power, but you got to come out. You've got to leave the faulty shelter of Nineveh and you come over here to Judah. Trust Christ. This day leave the pleasures of this world and stake your all in Christ.
Give him your life. Give him your future. Give him your sins. Leave nothing back hand it over to him.
Will he receive me?
I don't know if you'll receive me if he knew everything that it but not only does he know everything that you've done if you'll. Come to him. You've got the guarantee and promise. He's paid for everything.
You've done. Give it to Christ. Repent of your sins and believe the gospel. Romans 4 25 says that Jesus was raised for our justification. His perfect life his substitutionary death his victorious resurrection results in this grand in the.
Justification of his people.
God declaring his people Righteous in Christ based upon the merits of Christ. The the tyranny of Satan is over. The work is Completed but you must believe the good news. You're hearing this morning. You must repent of your sins fleeing in of a trust the gospel that you've heard today.
And if you do You can feast with us as we march toward The promised land. Let's pray father Help us to understand the joyous obligation that the church has To celebrate the victory you've given us in Christ.
Oh God, let us enjoy the gospel. Let the gospel not be something that we just look at and we put up on the shelf. And we go about our day and maybe every now and then we pull it down and we think well isn't this neat?
Isn't this nice. Let the gospel bury itself deep in our hearts and minds and Let it affect every thought every action every deed. Oh God, would you sin revival even to this church?
To this place.
May we celebrate the victory of Christ? May that bear witness to this lost place. I Love my city. But there is so much lostness here, there's so much sin and rebellion. Oh God, would you save sinners in Perryville, Arkansas?
And would you help us use our church to do it proclaiming the gospel while simultaneously? Living out the realities of the gospel. You're good. Thank you for your mercy Upon this nation and upon me and upon the people in this room.
Work today as you see fit. You will always get it, right? You're sovereign and we would have it no other way in Jesus.