Sunday, September 23, 2018

Comfort in God’s Mercy and Judgment - Part 1


Nahum 1:1-7 “The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit
the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.”

Last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our sermon series through the books of the Minor Prophets in the Bible. These were weighty times in history, but there are times in life today when some messages can hit you like a lot of bricks because they carry a great burden. The reality is that Lord God Almighty is the true comfort and the clear choice for us still is to turn to God.

Exodus 20:1-6  And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth
 generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Pastor Kyle gave us five comforting divine character qualities that Nahum wants us to remember. (1) That God’s jealousy means He loves us. Exodus 34:14 says: For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. We are used to the negative human jealousy; that passion of peculiar uneasiness which arises from the fear that a rival may rob us of the affection of one whom we love, or the suspicion that he has already done it; or it is the uneasiness which arises from the fear that another does or will enjoy some advantage which we desire for ourselves and is awakened by whatever may exalt others, or give them pleasures and advantages which we desire for ourselves. But divine jealousy is being suspiciously vigilant; anxiously careful and concerned for. God is concerned for His people. Kyle tells us to not get hung up on what Father God wants to get out of our life. Almighty God redeemed us and bought us for a price, therefore owns us and we belong to Him. That fact is comforting. The Lord God purchased us back from sin and death with the atoning blood of Christ. That fact is comforting also. Yet, God desires for us to respond to Him in repentance of sin and acceptance of Salvation, in a choice for commitment and obedience. Why? Let’s go to point #2 to see more clues.

Let’s continue Pastor Kyle’s message from the book of Nahum in the next post.
In Christ, Brian




No comments: