In the sermon entitled 'Heed the Call,' Trent Moody delves into the book of Zephaniah, focusing primarily on chapter 2, verses 1-3. Moody discusses the context of Zephaniah's prophecies, which were directed at Judah during the reign of King Josiah. He identifies four main groups responsible for the impending judgment: corrupt religious leaders, political figures, businessmen, and the general populace's indifference. Moody emphasizes the importance of understanding God's long-suffering nature while warning against complacency. He contrasts temporal judgments, such as war and famine, with the eternal judgment to come. The sermon urges individuals and nations to heed God's warnings, seek righteousness, and embrace humility to possibly find refuge in the day of the Lord's anger. Ultimately, Moody stresses the need for self-examination and repentance, highlighting that God's warnings are opportunities for salvation and spiritual growth.

We'll go ahead and turn in your Bibles to the book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah, and we're going to be, I'm going to focus on chapter 2 verses 1 through 3, but I'm going to read chapter one to bring us into some context. Zephaniah is right after the book of Habakkuk and right before Haggai. So near the end of the Old Testament. Zephaniah, and we will begin reading in chapter 1.

Thus says the Word of the Lord. The Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place. The names of the idolatrous priest with the pagan priest, those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord but who also swear by Millcombe. I know the name for that would be Molech.

Those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him. Be silent in the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He has invited his guest. And it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. In the same day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's houses with violence and deceit.

And there shall be on that day, says the Lord, the sound of a mournful cry from the fishgate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a loud crashing from the hills. Well you inhabitants of Miktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down, and those who handle money are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become booty and their houses a desolation. They shall build houses but not inhabit them.

They shall plant vineyards but not drink their wine. The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the Lord, the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out.

That day is a day of wrath, a 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. I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land." In chapter 2 verse 1, our focal passage, gather yourselves together, yes gather together, O undesirable nation.

Before the decree is issued or the day passes like chaff, Before the Lord's fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you, seek the Lord, all-unique 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. Let us pray. Our Father, truly terrifying and sober words Truly terrifying and sober words from your prophet.

Oh God, help me to rightly divide the word of truth. Oh God, show us the seriousness of sin and the wonders of salvation. Please guide us, oh Lord, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Sobering prophet, sobering words from the man that God had called to say and to deal a sobering message to the people of God, specifically to a nation, his people.

And I want to express to you the challenges of preaching from an Old Testament prophet. And I went here, I'm obviously going to be in 2 Peter again to finish up chapter 3 which Scott read this morning. And I was amazed at this passage of scripture. It really gripped me and I felt that I must preach upon it. But one of the challenges of preaching an Old Testament prophet is the temptation to try to ascribe everything that you read to our present circumstances because there is great similarities.

Realizing that God wrote the book of Zephaniah specifically for those people living in Judah at that time, But the Word of God teaches us in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. And that's really my desire for us today is that this passage of Scripture would be that work of God that would make us thoroughly equipped for every good work, that we would be complete. That is a process. It's not proper biblical interpretation to try to ascribe this passage of Scripture onto Hope Baptist Church or to America because that wasn't specifically who it was written for but it was written for our instruction. There's good reason, good and reasonable doctrine.

There is good and reasonable reproof, corrections, and instruction for us from this small book of Zephaniah. I'm not preaching through the entirety of this book, but again I've been struck with this passage of Scripture that has really captured my thinking, And I'm just fascinated with how clear Zephaniah is on what was taking place in Judah in his time. And there are obviously similarities to what we see in our day. So it's not being ascribed point for point exactly to us, but yet there are point-for-point principles that we can pull from this passage of Scripture. I hope that's clear.

I'm not trying to ice-a-jeed and feed into the text what's not there. I just want to pull from the text what is there and then apply it to our current circumstances. So as we look at this, I was really amazed in my studies at how much it relates to where Scott was preaching even this morning. A lot of the things he said were things that were already in my mind and that I was thinking about this text. From the book of 2nd Peter which says this, I think it's important, 2nd Peter 3, 1 and 2, beloved I now write to you the second epistle in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets.

Guess what? Zephaniah is a prophet. He's a holy prophet and he wrote the holy Word of God for his people and I believe this example that we have before us here, I believe is one of the prophets that Peter was speaking about. Because in 2 Peter chapter 3 he's beginning to go in to the day of the Lord. He's coming into this how these scoffers are totally ignorant of what's going on and he's talking about the long sufferingness of God.

Why is God long suffering? As I studied this I'm just amazed at the long sufferingness of God. How can God be that patient? I'm thankful for it, but I don't ever want to presume upon the patience and longsufferingness of God. And I want you to feel the weight of this.

This is a weighty passage. I woke up this morning and I said, I feel like I'm going to be a prophet of doom this morning. That's not my goal, I promise you. Because there's hope here. There's hope.

And that's what I want you to get but you gotta you gotta feel the weight before you understand the greatness of the hope. Zephaniah lived during the time of King Josiah and we all know Josiah as the king that had found the book of the law of the Lord and he instituted great reforms. He was the great great-grandson of Hezekiah. Some have termed Zephaniah as the 11th hour prophet. And there is no doubt that he had great influence upon Josiah in his reforms.

However, the amazing reforms and the revival of Josiah's time did not galvanize Judah in godliness and obedience. In fact, Josiah's reforms only lasted until his son began to rule and then he did, as the word of God says, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the paganism and the idolatry that Judah had lived in from the time of Hezekiah and really before Hezekiah but specifically from Hezekiah to Josiah and at the time of Zephaniah when he was prophesying it was deeply entrenched into the very fabric of their nation. And I'm gonna show you that in just a moment in chapter one, what that looks like. So, Zephaniah's warning is that the great day of the Lord is near.

We heard that very thing this morning. These things will shortly take place. That is something that I do want to differentiate between the temporal day of Lord or the judgments of God that would affect us temporally. In other words, it could affect us through war, through famine, through disease, through economic collapse. That's a temporal type of judgment.

And the difference there between what Scott was talking about this morning is the eternal judgment of God at which point there is no more hope. He read that in that last verse, he who is unjust let him be unjust still. He who is filthy let him be filthy still. There's no more hope of turning. And he ended his message by saying that, but there still is hope today.

You can turn today. Today is the day of salvation. And that's really where I want to end this message as well, is that there is hope. But this culture was so entrenched in paganism and syncretism with the world around them that it was almost natural for them to re-embrace the paganism relatively quickly after Josiah's reforms. It was tremendous.

It was amazing what God did during the times of Josiah, but there was another passage that you read that God says, I'm still going to bring judgment because of the sins of Manasseh. He filled the land with innocent blood. And I think about our day and I think about how our land is filled with innocent blood and I think how can God be long-suffering anymore? Zephaniah identified four main reasons for God's judgment. In chapter one we see this.

You'll see that much like in the days of Zephaniah, we too are ignoring the warnings of God regarding the day of judgment. In chapter 1, Zephaniah points out four main reasons and four people groups, if you will, for the judgment of God that was approaching. These are why this took place at least partly why what he lists as reasons why. The same four reasons could be raised again in our day point for point. So you'll see that not much has changed.

There's really nothing new under the sun. The wickedness of man's heart is the same today as it was in Zephaniah's day. So I want you to look back in chapter 1 and beginning with verse 4 look at what he says he says I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem I will cut off every trace of Baal that should fill a red flag up, why is Baal in the midst of Judah? Every trace of Baal from this place, somebody says, the names of the idolatrous priest with the pagan priest, those who worship the host of heaven on housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, the covenant name of God, Yahweh. They swore oaths by Yahweh and yet at the same time they worshiped the host of the heaven on their housetops.

But who also swear by Milcom or Molech, and I'm sure that all of you are familiar with the idolatry that went along and the sacrifices that went along with Moloch. Burnt human sacrifices. So, encapsulating this first group of people, they're the religious leaders, the priest of the land, those who were to be taking their offerings to the Lord, those who were to represent the people before the Lord, and yet there's a syncretism if you will. They specifically had pagan religious leaders. They were idolatrous, he says, with the pagan priest.

Then he describes them as those who worship on the housetops, the host of heaven, and those who swear oaths by the name of Yahweh, by the name of the Lord. And so we have a syncretistic priesthood. Syncretism being that they aligned not only with the Lord but also the things of the world and they brought them together because they wanted no offense for anyone. We don't want to be offensive. We want to be tolerable and tolerant of all things and all beliefs is what they wanted to do.

They really had a small view of God to think that you could mix in the covenant name of God with idolatrous practices and false gods and Baal. And then they had apostate priests. Verse 6, those who had turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him. They had the name of priest but it was name only. They were totally apostate from it.

There are actually those in our land today who profess to be religious leaders, even Christian leaders who do not seek the Lord and do not call upon the name of the Lord. They're priests in name only. They're totally apostate. The second group of people that he mentions here is found in verses 8 and 9 and he says well let me back up to verse 7 because it's so profound he says be silent in the presence of the Lord God for the day of the Lord is at hand for the Lord is prepared to sacrifice he has invited his guests what are you saying is, I've already prepared the day. It's coming.

There's no turning back. The day is here. I've already invited my guest. Verse 8, it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. In the same day I will punish all those who leap over the threshold who fill their master's houses with violence and deceit.

So these, now we have, the first point we had religious leaders, now we have corrupt political leaders. Sound familiar? They're clothed with foreign apparel, he says. Idolatrous clothing, perhaps. Some understood this to even be transgender clothing, which was forbidden in Deuteronomy 22.

Men wearing women's clothing and women wearing men's clothing was forbidden by God. You're blurring the distinctions that God had made. Some understand this as clothing that was given in a pledge and they were taking advantage of the poor. Also, this clothing could be imitating the foreign nations in their dress. Could I say worldly clothing?

Trying to identify with the things of the world and their... What did they say about John the Baptist when he came? You're looking for soft clothing? Look where? King's palaces.

Who's this? It's the kings and princes. They're in foreign apparel. You want to see a man clothed in soft clothing, go to the king's palace, but this man, He wore sackcloth and a leather belt, camel's hair. They wanted to be like the world.

Then he describes them as those who leap over the threshold. This is interesting terminology here, not 100% clear on exactly what this means, but perhaps a couple of things could be understood from this. One would be an eagerness to do evil. The threshold is that part of which the door, you're going out of the door, in the door, and they leap over the threshold, they're running quickly to go do evil. They don't take time to slowly walk, they leap over it.

Another would perhaps be spiritual superstitions in their religious worship. We saw that in Dagon in the Old Testament. The next group of people that they list, so we have priests, we have political leaders, and then we have in verses 10 and 11 whom I call businessmen and bankers. He says in verse 10, and there shall be on that day says the Lord the sound of a mournful cry from the fish gate. Seems kind of odd to us.

What is the fish gate? A wailing from the second quarter and a loud crashing from the hills. He describes for us what this fish gate is. He says, Well, you inhabitants of Mictesh, for all of the merchant people are cut down, all those who handle money are cut off. So it's a reference here to money handlers, it is a reference here to those who are dealing dishonestly in their business practices, perhaps false weights and measures, and pretty interesting that we are beginning to see, even now, today or yesterday, some of what I understand to be God's judgment upon the banking system, even in our nation, if you've not heard, with the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.

The sixth largest bank, I think, or sixth, it's one of the top 20 anyway. What do you understand about that? When you see something like that happening, do you think, wow, they just had poor monetary practices? Or do you say, this is the hand of God? I want to get into that more here in just a few moments.

The fourth type of person we see is this. I call this the people who have the spirit of indifference. It's the common man but they're indifferent about what is taking place. Verse 12, and it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps." So he's gone through the priesthood, he's gone through the political leadership, he's gone through the businessmen and the bankers and now it says if anybody's left he's going to search Jerusalem with lamps. Imagine someone going into a room now with a flashlight and they're going in, they're searching every crevice and corner.

God is going to search his people with a lamp. And He says, and punish the men who are settled in complacency. Jay Horsley, though I wouldn't agree with everything that he says, I believe he nails this interpretation. He says this. The next verse, verses 7 to 11 which I've read, he says describes almost district by district the judgments that were going to come on the city of Jerusalem.

And then in verse 12 he tells of the thoroughness of God's scrutiny of the city and the reason for its judgments. So he lists those reasons there. The priest, you had a corrupt priesthood, you had corrupt political leaders, you had corrupt businessmen and bankers, and now you have a corruption and an indifference among all people. He goes on and he says, and it will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit who say in their heart notice what they say the Lord will not do good nor will he do evil." Zephaniah describes the reason that these inhabitants of Jerusalem were in such a poor spiritual condition with a very telling figure of speech. His figure of speech is rendered in the King James as this, men that are settled on their lees.

What does that mean? I'll get there. The Revised Standard Version updates it a bit and says, people who rest complacently on their dredges. What is the dredge? Pictured here is undisturbed wine.

The leaves are like dredges and undisturbed wine in barrels or bottles or whatever was stored in, if it was not stirred or turned over would settle. They're settled on their lees. These people were totally indifferent to what was going on around them. They saw total corruption all around them and they said God will not do good and God will not do evil. Why did they say that?

Because they understood the long sufferingness of God that we read about in 2nd Peter chapter 3 and they say where's the promise of his coming? Is God slack concerning his promises? He's not going to do anything, He doesn't bless those who try to do good. He doesn't judge those who try to do evil. He's not going to do good or evil.

And they were indifferent. I tell you that is a very dangerous place to be. The New American Standard describes this of people being stagnant in spirit. Of course, the King James says they are settled in complacency. Speaking either literally or figuratively, he says, it is obvious that the conscience of these people had not been exercised for a long time.

When wicked men are allowed to go on too long without disturbance they become set in their sensual ways and they sink so far into moral degradation that it is often impossible for them to recover. He says the great symptoms of their indifference was that they didn't think that the Lord cares, rewards or punishes. So to borrow a phrase from the prophet of Amos, they are at ease in Zion. At ease because of what they knew, but because, Not because of what they knew, but because of what they ignored. These are not atheists in profession, but in practice.

They profess to know God, but they live like practical atheists. They live totally as if God was dead. They don't take the time or the effort to deny God in their thoughts and work out a philosophy of it. They just live like it doesn't matter. They live in complete disregard for their creator who showers them with life and all blessings.

So they rest at complete ease in their evil. He goes on one more little paragraph and he says God promised to come and search his city and people as with a lamp or a candle and reveal all that was going on there But these men were so spiritually blind that they didn't see their destruction coming. Even though God warned them over and over and over again, they didn't believe that it would happen. But eventually the day came and God sent an army to destroy them and such a tragic cost in human life and property could have been avoided if they would have given heed to God's numerous warnings. Brothers and sisters, God gives warning after warning after warning.

One man said pain is God's megaphone to get our attention. So brothers and sisters the Bible and history teaches us that God sends warnings before he sends judgments. The Bible is full of that. He gives warnings to his people over and over and over again. A case study of God's people throughout the Bible we would see these very things both Old and New Testament shows us that God is not sitting idly by in the heavens but he is the first calls I use that word that phrase very specifically he is the first calls In the book of Isaiah chapter 45 verse 6 through 7, Isaiah says this, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides me.

I am the Lord and there is no other. I form the light, I create darkness, I make peace, and create calamity. I, the Lord, do all these things." I'm reading an interesting book right now by a man named Ludwig Lavatar. He notes in his book regarding this verse in Isaiah, he says this and I believe it's very important to the point that I want to make today. He says, in all public calamities to which the human race is subjected, now let me say this, he wrote back in the 1500s, same thing was going on then.

He says, the human race is subject to things that are especially come to be considered. By whom and for what reason do these evils befall the human race? Now concerning these questions, the judgment or understanding of the world is corrupt. So in other words, he's saying the way the world sees these calamities, for instance, that collapse of that bank, the world looks at that and they say, oh, the economic practices and their monetary policy and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and this is why all of these things happen and you know what if we just did this we could fix it next time. But what Lavator is saying, he says the mass of men looks to secondary causes rather than to the first and moving cause." Remember what I said, the first cause.

Hence, it happens that it is not sufficiently evident to them either what plans they should make or how they should conduct themselves. They're not sure. Maybe we should try this. Maybe we should try this. Now, of these public calamities, and he lists some, pestilence, famine, war, not the least is scarcity and famine, concerning which we have undertaken this discourse.

He's writing because they were experiencing, his congregation, this is a book of sermons, his congregation was experiencing famine, they experienced pestilence, they experienced scarcity and all sorts of troubles and he's writing and preaching this sermon to these people for their good and for their benefit and he's wanting them to understand the reasons why they happen and he's saying don't look at it like the world looks at it and say oh it was just bad monetary policy or oh we should have had better security at the at the biological weapons lab no that's not exactly the problem and indeed he says we prove by testimonies and examples from sacred literature that the true and first cause, The author and producer of such great calamities and property is God. Isaiah 45, I the Lord do all these things. For this whole work must be attributed not to secondary causes, he says, not to natural phenomena, not to the malice of men, but to God who efficaciously uses these external means to rouse the impious, to chastise us by their hand, by the hand of these things that happen. So when you see something take place, the first thing in your mind should be, God did this.

The second question will often come to your mind, why? Don't first think I should have had a better policy. Maybe we need a handbook on this. That's not the route to take. What is God doing?

It should be like an alarm bell. That's what he talks about. He's talking about the sounding of an alarm. That alarm was to sound them because of a raging enemy army was coming. The alarm was ringing.

God's ringing an alarm. He's given warning after warning after warning. God is so long-suffering. I do not want you to view the things that are happening now in our world and in our country as happenstance or merely acts of malicious men, but I want you to see it as it truly is God working all things according to the purpose of His will. A large part of that involves God purifying our faith through trials, temptations, and persecutions, and whatever else.

It also includes God's chastening hand against his people when they begin to conform to the world and its ways and God punishing the wicked for their wickedness. God is both and God is very long-suffering but we need to understand there's an end. Scott preached about the end of that this morning. There's an end to it. There's a day at which there will be no more opportunity for the unjust to become just.

For he who is unjust, let him be unjust still. For he who is filthy, let him be filthy still. God will not allow, because of his great love for his people, he will not allow them to stay in a state of indifference very long without warning and if unheeded temporal judgments and at the same time judgment upon those wicked nations and people who may inflict the chastisement. Oftentimes God punishes his own people, chastises them because of pride and then sometimes those the hand by which he does that he punishes them because of their pride in doing it we see that in the Old Testament with God's people God is God fear the Lord this is the longest introduction ever I promise the message is short the message is short So I believe that God has sent many warnings to our nation and to us as individuals and to our church. So what is God doing?

I don't know. Other than he's going to bring glory to himself in everything that he does. Am I a prophet and going to prophesy to you from what Scott said this morning? No I am not. I'm not the prophet.

I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. I'm just here to tell you what this prophet said and that there are relative things with our day. When will he do what he does? I do not know. I know this.

God is faithful. I know God is good. I know God is long-suffering. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He's way more long-suffering than I thought.

The longer I live and I see the culture and the fall into total ruin, I'm amazed every morning when I read the newspaper and I see what else they're pushing. I think how can God allow this another moment? He is so long-suffering, he's so patient and whatsoever... Oh let me back up but God's patience does not last forever. God will not be mocked and whatsoever a man or a nation sows That man or nation will also reap.

Our nation is sowing corrupt seeds. Let me ask you a question. Do you believe that God is going to send judgment upon this nation in our time? I say God already has. I say God already has.

In Romans chapter 1 verse 18, the Bible says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness because what they may know be what may be known of God is manifest in them for God has shown it to them For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their faults, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things listen therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness. In the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting, Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whispers, backbiter, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who know the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such things are deserving of death not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them this is the judgment of abandonment God gave them over You want to see the judgment of God?

Look in our society, God is giving them over to a debased mind. That is a type of judgment of God. Judgment's not coming, it has come. Are you ready? Zephaniah was the 11th hour prophet.

Amos said, repent and you may be spared from the judgment of God, but not Zephaniah. I'll show you what Zephaniah says. Listen to what Zephaniah says. Gather yourself together. Yes, gather together.

O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued or the day passes like chaff, before the Lord's fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you, seek the Lord, listen, 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 with Amos it was you could escape it in Zephaniah a hundred years later from Amos it was it's coming there's nothing you can do about it but it may be that you will be hidden in that day. This is repeated twice here he says gather yourselves together yes gather together the point is John Gill I believe nails it the best he says search yourselves And so here's my call to each one of us this morning, myself first and primary. Search yourselves as some would render this word and that very diligently. As stubble is searched into or anything searched for in it let the body of the people inquire among themselves what should be the cause of these things what public sins prevailed among them for which they were threatened with an utter destruction.

What was it? And he goes on, and let everyone search into his own heart and his own ways and consider how much he has contributed to the bringing down such sad calamities upon the nation. Thus it became them to search and acquire in their state and circumstances of affairs in a way of self-examination or otherwise the Lord would search them in a way of judgment. Shake it out, fan yourselves as others, remove your chaff by repentance and reformation that you may not be blown away like chaff in the day of God's wrath as afterwards suggested. So this idea of gathering together is not calling for the assembly to come together.

He's wanting every individual to bring all of your thoughts, examine yourselves, bring all of these things. Before I was describing it to my kids, you put on a hoodie and you pull the strings and what happens? It gathers your hoodie in. God wants you to gather all of your thoughts in and everything that's going on in your mind and consider yourselves, test yourselves, examine yourselves, pull these things in. And you think, well I'm not doing these things, I'm not promoting transgenderism and all of this other nonsense, but brothers and sisters, sin is not only commission but omission.

Who did he give a hard time to? Those who are settled in complacency, those who are resting on their leaves. Are we just kind of like, okay, it's bad, I'm just going to try to float on through this thing. We cannot stay silent. We cannot sit on our leaves.

He calls them the undesirable nation. This word undesirable is pointing to something. It means those who have not turned pale, they don't blush. They can sin in the daytime. They can put it on Instagram.

They can put it on TikTok, and they can say, how many likes do I get? They're shameless. A nation not ashamed of their evil works, but bold and impudent. And yet such was the goodness and grace of God to them that he calls them to repentance." That's what Zephaniah is doing. Gather yourselves together.

Gather yourselves together. I want you to look at something. Notice in verse 2 of chapter 2, before the decree is issued, he's saying you can do this now, you can gather yourselves together, don't be that unblushing nation. Understand that you can turn from this. There is a day coming before the decree is issued.

Don't wait until Revelation 22 to think, now I'll do it. Today is the day of salvation. If you're sitting here resting on your knees, you need to understand you are not guaranteed another moment. The moment could be coming when there is no more moments to turn and he who is unjust will be unjust still. What will be your thoughts when that moment comes?

One second after. Utter terror. Second after, utter terror. Seth and I is talking about temporal judgment. God's mercy in giving us time and warning to repent.

And then lastly, he tells us to seek the Lord in verse 3. Seek the Lord all you meek of the earth. Who is this that needs to seek the Lord? The lost? Well yes the lost but he's saying here the true believers need to seek the Lord.

All you meek of the earth? The meek shall inherit the earth. But he says the meek of the earth need to seek the Lord. So you can be sitting here this morning and you could be trying to live in obedience to the Lord, you're loving the Lord, and the call is seek the Lord. You could be one of these whom he describes as who have upheld his justice.

What does he say? Seek righteousness. Seek humility. This message is for all of us. He's talking about preachers and politicians and businessmen and everybody else.

We need to seek the Lord. We need to call out to God. We need to pray with passion and zeal and diligence and understanding when we gather together this room should be this full on prayer meeting night and we should be crying out to the God of heaven have mercy on us oh God We are sinful people in the midst of a land of sinful people. Have mercy on us. Seek righteousness, seek humility, consider all the things that you are seeking after.

What are you seeking after? What do you spend your time doing? One man said, that which you seek after in your free time is what you love. Most of what we seek after, let's be honest, are temporal blessings and temporal benefits, good jobs, more money, nicer house, newer cars, etc. Etc.

Etc. What shall we be seeking? Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Is it wrong to have a job that pays well? No.

But what are you seeking after? It's a sobering thought for Judah there was no more promise of averting the day of the Lord's anger, but rather the righteous and humble may be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. The day was set, it would not be stopped, but perhaps the righteous could be spared or hidden. Do I know what's going to happen in the history of America in the future? I have no idea.

I see signs and warnings. I hear an alarm bell. One of the most dangerous things I believe is when we think we're above the judgment of God. Have you read the news and look around this world and you see other people suffering and you see Christians suffering? What is your view of Christian suffering?

We have people sitting in this room right now who have family and friends suffering as Christians and not just for their faith. They're actually suffering along with the wicked. Some are in the midst of war. Some are in the midst of famine. And where is God in all this?

As Scott said this morning, God will go with us. He is our reward, He is our high tower, He is our refuge and strength, our ever-present help in time of trouble. So I want to show you something real quickly and then we're going to close and I have more to say here but I want to show you two things. Is it right to understand that Christians can suffer temporal judgments and experience them from God's hand? Yes.

In Acts 11, 27, we read about Agabus and he stood up and prophesied that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar and he says then the disciples each according to his ability determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. Believers were suffering famine. Could that happen to us? It could. Oh, no, not with our systems.

Man, they're good, they're right. It's like, it's direct line, like when we need the food, it arrives at the store. We're good. Until that truck doesn't drive anymore. I'm not saying I know.

I don't know what God's going to do. But don't think we're above it. That's haughtiness and arrogance and God will not have it. Next we see it in Romans chapter 8, the beloved Romans chapter 8, the best the best book in the best book and the best verse or chapter in the best book and the best verse in the best chapter of the best book Romans 8 35 to 37 who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation distress persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword As it is written for your sakes we were killed all the day long we were counted as sheep for the slaughter yet in all these things in these things Christians in these things that I just read, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. I hate to bust our Americanized concept of prosperity That will never go away because we are so smart and so good.

But if God determines to bring judgment on this nation's for its wickedness and innocent bloodshed, the murder of innocent pre-borns, our pride, our true biblical injustice, Do you think that we will not feel as Christians the heat of that day? God would not be unjust for us to feel it. None of us are truly innocent apart from the grace of God. The only reason that we stand before God innocent is because of the suffering of another, Jesus Christ, the Holy One. And He has spared us from the wrath to come.

The part that Scott was talking about this morning, the end, the wrath of God to come. So brothers and sisters, my words to you is this, and I'm sorry I've gone on so long, it's just so deep in my heart for each of us is I love you. Don't settle and sit on your leaves. Fear God and keep His commandments and seek the Lord, seek His righteousness, seek his humility, and love God with all that you are. Don't in pride think that we're above experiencing difficulties, because we're not.

I love you. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your mercy and grace, and I pray, Lord, that the somber warnings of this text would sink into our hearts and minds, and oh God, that you would be honored in it. Oh God, turn us heavenward. Give us hearts that seek you with all that we are.

I love your people. I pray for each one of them today. I pray that they have not felt this as a stinging chastisement from me. That's not my intention, but just a warning that, oh God, we deserve so much worse than you've given us. You're so good to your people.

You're so merciful, so long-suffering, so kind, and so gentle. Help us to love you more. I ask these things in Christ's name.