Don't Laugh too Soon

I'm most of you aware that I've spent the last three weeks up in Katoomba with about 5,000 teenagers.

Always a joyous experience.

And we've been looking over those three weeks at the book of Revelation.

And what a joy it has been to revisit this book.

It is pretty clear as you look at Revelation that Jesus is the victorious king.

He's the ruler, the Lord of all.

He is the one who has all the power.

He deserves all the praise, all the glory.

He is the one who has victory over Satan.

One of the things we'll remind of particularly that Satan cannot get to Jesus in any sense.

Demons cannot move an inch without his authority and without his word.

He has everything in the palm of his hand and in control.

It's been a great reminder to see that he is indeed the victorious king over all the universe of all that is.

Jesus.

And this is the God that we've come to join together this morning.

To worship.

To honour.

To praise.

In humble submission.

As Revelation 4 says,

Jesus is the king.

The king.

He is the king.

But if he is, why is it that Christians are often sidelined and squeezed out in our world if Jesus is our king?

If he is God and king and ruler and Lord of all that is, then you'd expect Christians to reign triumphantly in society.

But they don't.

You'd expect Christians to be the first ones consulted on their opinions on things.

But they're not.

You'd expect people would look to Christians for guidance on how to live well and how to raise their kids and how to shape society.

But they don't.

Instead, Christians are pushed to the edge in society and mocked.

In some countries, they are killed, certainly financially squeezed.

If you're a Christian and you express a Christian opinion in the Sydney Morning Herald, you'll be mocked more than anyone else.

If you go to university or TAFE and you stand up as a Christian, you'll have caught abuse on campus more than anyone else.

The common voice is that the Christian church is a spent force.

That's the common voice of our society.

I mean, one of the reasons for it is that, frankly, Satan can't get to Jesus.

And so he has a crack at his people instead.

He can't get to Jesus, the victorious king.

He's going to do everything in his power to make us a bunch of apathetic losers.

But I wonder how you feel when people say Christianity is a spent force.

Maybe they're right.

Maybe we are done for.

Maybe being a follower of Jesus actually is old hat.

That what we're doing here this morning is just not worth doing anymore.

But then again, people have said this sort of thing all along.

It's not the first time that God and his people have been written off.

In fact, I guess people have always done it.

And we see it here in the book of Obadiah.

People who have made exactly the same mistake of writing off God and his people just a little bit too soon.

Obadiah is an unusual prophet because he tells us basically nothing about himself.

He just launches straight into it.

And so what we've got to do is we've got to get some of what Vandal was referring to about understanding the bigger picture of the Old Testament.

We've got to pull some of that pictures together to put the jigsaw puzzle pieces in so that we can understand a little bit of Obadiah.

So let's put some of those jigsaw puzzles in, those pieces in, and let's jump right to the beginning of Genesis where it tells us that we are living in a world that was good in the beginning.

But it is now broken.

Broken because we have all decided to go it alone, ignore God the creator.

We have chosen to live, to relate, and to rule his world our way without his word being our authority.

If we pick and choose what is right and wrong, we make the decisions, not God.

And so basically the vast majority of the Old Testament is about the mess that we make when we try to live and rule and relate with our God at the center of our lives.

But in the middle of that mess, God makes some very big promises.

From Abraham, he says, he's going to become a special nation, a special people, and God's going to give these special people a land called the promised land.

And that from these people in this nation, from their blessing will spread to all of the world.

But along with the promises come warnings.

God says, if you're going to be my special people and I'm going to give you special land, then you need to treat me like God.

If you don't treat me like God, I will punish you.

And the major punishment you're going to receive is I'm going to throw you out of the land.

I'm going to throw you away from my presence.

And they didn't listen.

They were eventually thrown out.

A huge army from Babylon marches into Jerusalem in one occasion.

And if you weren't slaughtered in the first attack, you were carted off into slavery into Babylon.

Jerusalem, the capital, was reduced to rubble because the people of God chose to not be the people of God.

God said, I will give you the land, but if you go off chasing idols, if you go off being unfaithful to me, then there will be consequences.

And so the consequences came, and that's the way it was for 70 years.

Maybe you don't need to go and do that college course.

I think I maybe just summed up the whole Old Testament just there.

Let's pray and finish right now.

We need to know this before we make any sense of Obadiah.

Because this prophecy that came from Obadiah was delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

God had warned them that this was going to happen, and it did.

There are two main parts to this prophecy.

Verses 1 to 16 are directed against Edom and the descendants of Esau, who lived next door to the southeast across the other side of the Dead Sea.

And verses 17 to 21 focus on the vindication of Israel and the final establishment of God's kingdom on earth.

The main point, I think, of the prophecy seems to be that God's oppressed people should take courage because he is still king.

He is still master of the universe.

He has not lost control.

How do we know that?

How do we know that he's the master of the universe?

Well, he could not proclaim this judgment upon Edom if he was not their God and king.

So as God punished his people for obedience, what was Edom doing?

It's pretty simple, really.

Edom had written off the people of God and written off their God.

Edom had taken advantage of the situation.

They had seen Israel's calamity, and they thought,

Excellent opportunity to boot some people while they're down and to rub some salt into the wounds.

But they'd made a mistake.

God had not finished yet.

He isn't done for.

His promises still stand.

He is still king.

And he still rules.

So let's pick it up.

Vision of Obadiah.

I want you to have your Bibles open.

Page 895.

If you're using a pew Bible.

If you're not, then it's...

Obadiah is between Amos and Jonah.

So take it easy.

You'll flick straight past it if you don't take it slowly.

Between Amos and Jonah.

So let's launch straight into it.

Verse 1.

The vision of Obadiah.

This is what God says about Edom.

We've heard a message from the Lord.

An envoy was sent to the nations to say,

Rise up and let us go against her for battle.

Edom is about to be in some very serious trouble here.

There is an old saying,

Pride comes before a fall.

And this is what's about to happen to Edom.

See it there in verse 2.

See, I will make you small among the nations.

You will be utterly despised.

In spite of how it looks,

God is going to reverse it all.

Israel looks like nothing at the moment.

And Edom looks like the grand, you know,

poobah of the world.

But God said he's going to all change.

Edom thought they were on top of the pile.

That they were untouchable.

They were in the big league.

No one can bring them down from the big league.

Oh, how many times over world history have we heard that sort of thing before?

And God's response is there in verse 4.

Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars,

from there I will bring you down.

They are suffering from the self-deception of pride.

When a person is in bondage to pride,

they take whatever opportunity that they can to exalt themselves over others.

Nations, adults, even children all have one thing in common.

Apart from the grace of God,

apart from God working in us

and changing us to be more like Jesus,

we will derive our pleasure from other people's failures.

It's the heart of sin.

It soothes our inadequacies

and it magnifies our successes.

And God says to not just to nations,

but to adults and to children from there,

I will bring you down.

I will bring you down.

And so from verses 5 to 9,

there is a terrible picture of what the future holds for Edom.

It's going to be so bad that they wish they had just simply been robbed

and everything that they had was just done away with

and they were just destitute.

Verse 5,

If thieves came to you,

if robbers of the night,

oh, what a disaster awaits you.

Would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

If grape pickers came to you,

would they not leave a few grapes?

You see, the point is that the land of Edom

will have nothing left.

It's heading for extinction.

God is saying here

that a thief would be more merciful than I will be for you.

You know, when,

I've never heard a story when someone's been robbed,

their house has been robbed or something like that,

that they've come home

and everything's gone.

My underwear is gone.

My socks are gone.

The curtains are gone.

The knives and the forks are gone.

Everything's gone.

My goodness, they've flogged the dog kennel as well.

Everything's gone.

And the dog that's in it.

It's like, I've never heard that story.

They take the valuables

and they leave the rest.

And God says,

I won't be like that for you, Edom.

I won't be like that.

I will destroy everything.

Down to verse 7.

All your allies will force you to the border.

Your friends will deceive and overpower you.

Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you,

but you will not detect it.

Even their friends are going to turn against them

and stab them in the back

and they won't even see it coming.

And why is this going to happen?

Why is Edom going to disappear from the map?

The reason is there in verse 10 to 14.

And it all came down to what Edom was doing

when Israel was facing God's punishment

for their unfaithfulness.

In these verses,

Israel is called Jacob and God says to Edom,

because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

you will be covered in shame.

You will be destroyed forever.

On that day,

you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

and cast lots for Jerusalem.

You were like one of them.

A terrible picture of how Edom took advantage

of Israel's day of disaster.

They looted with the looters.

They waited at the crossroads

as Israelites attempted to escape

from the Babylonians.

The Edomites were there with their swords

cutting down those who were trying to escape.

And those they didn't cut down,

they captured them,

handed them back to the Babylonians.

Because,

Edom has made a terrible mistake

because it was the people of God.

And even though they are being punished

for their disobedience,

they are still the people of God.

And so,

God says to the Edomites in verse 15,

the day of the Lord is near

for all nations.

All nations.

All nations,

including Edom,

those nations around Edom,

and every nation since,

and every individual since,

as you have done,

so it will be done to you,

your deeds will return

upon your own head.

And just like you drank

and parted in your victory

on my holy hill,

so all the nations

will drink continually.

They will drink and drink

and be as if they had never been.

They're going to face the consequences.

Every nation that looks so strong

will be destroyed.

Amen?

Don't give me any nukes you've got.

Don't give me any troops you've got.

Don't give me what your economy's like.

Every nation that looks so strong

will be destroyed.

Obadiah says that God

has far from finished with Israel.

He is still God.

He still rules.

He won't be defeated,

nor his purposes thwarted.

And that is how the shortest book

of the Old Testament finishes up.

Edom has been gloating

because Israel has done it tough.

But the tables are about to be turned.

Edom is going to end up as nothing

and the kingdom of God

will still flourish.

There will be no survivors

from the house of Esau.

But, in verse 21,

it says this,

deliverers will go up on Mount Zion

to govern the mountains of Esau

and their kingdom

will be the Lord's.

Obadiah,

these words from Obadiah

were fulfilled in a surprising way.

He says that Edom will disappear

and it has.

I've got a world map

sitting on my desk.

There's no Edom

on my world map anywhere.

It's gone.

It was overtaken so many times

that not even a trace

of it exists anymore.

Not even a trace

of it exists anymore.

But there is another kingdom

that has grown and flourished

all over the world.

Verse 21 says that it's God's kingdom.

When Jesus came,

his first public words were,

the kingdom of God

is at hand.

The kingdom of God

is at hand.

The deliverer has come

as Jesus walked up

that hilly road

to Jerusalem.

People were there

waving palm branches

and laying them

at his feet

because they recognized

the king

and the deliverer

has arrived

at his city.

But Jesus brought deliverance

in an unexpected way.

You see,

the crown that Jesus wore

was a crown

with thorns in it.

The deliverer

was nailed to a cross

as a criminal

and he dies there

as a substitute.

A perfect sacrifice

for the sins of the people.

Opening the way

for us to be right for God.

Right with God.

Opening the way

for us to be forgiven

for all of our apathy

and unfaithfulness.

And then he rose,

he ascended,

and he rules with God

over a kingdom

that has no borders.

And frankly,

it's a kingdom

that doesn't look

like much.

If you're not convinced

by that,

have a look around you.

Just ordinary people

have taken Jesus' claim

to be king seriously.

It's a kingdom

that people laugh at.

Certainly plenty

who have laughed

at this king.

People take delight

in sidelining

Christians

as irrelevant people

of the past

and some of that

is actually justified.

Obadiah got it right

when he said

to the Edomites,

you can laugh, guys.

You can mock.

But God's kingdom

is going to stand forever.

He's going to still be here

when you're all gone.

When we're all gone.

When all of our vain

attempts to immortalize

our lives

have long been demolished.

God's kingdom

will still stand.

Long after the great powers

of this world

have come

and gone,

his kingdom

will still stand

because he is

the sovereign king

of all that is.

Friends,

can I just

implore with you

a moment

and just bear with me

for this one.

We need to get this.

We need to get this,

right?

We need to get this

day by day.

God is not just

our king

here at St. Paul's

or the king

of the Christian church

in Sydney

or the world.

He's the king

of all

the universe.

He's the God

of all

the universe.

There may only

just be

a handful

of us here

and thousands

out there

at the moment

at Chatswood,

but he is their God.

They may not know it,

but he is their God.

He is their king.

He is their ruler.

So brothers and sisters,

we should not

listen to the world

that says

that we are done for.

We should not believe

the lie of Satan

that it's all

just too hard

and so just

shrink back

in apathy

and hang on tight

and just hope

to the end.

We should never

shrink back

and say

it's just too hard

to hold the gospel

out there.

But have we?

When we see

the task

of bringing

the kingdom

of God

to Chatswood,

does it make you weary?

Does it make you

downcast?

Do you feel defeated?

Do you feel like

one of the Israelites

there

being cut down

on the roadways

and just think,

oh look,

hang on,

look,

I've got heaven

so that's good.

You know,

stuff the rest.

As long as I know

where I'm going,

that's awesome.

Do you feel defeated

before you even begin?

My understanding

is we're three years

into a vision

here at St. Paul's

and are you tired

of it already?

Are you tired

of it?

Are you tired

of it as if

we were fighting

a battle

of flesh and blood?

Let me remind you

that Jesus

is their king too.

He is their God too.

The message of judgment

that over die

proclaimed

was proclaimed

to a king,

to a people,

to a nation

that did not recognize

their God and king

and he called them

to repent.

One of the ways

that I think

Christians reveal

their weariness

in the battle

is what we tend

to do

is we,

you know,

batten up the windows

and down the hatches

and we put on

bulletproof vests

and,

you know,

we become a Christian

subculture

within the culture.

We hang on

for dear life

and,

you know,

we've got heaven

and that's going

to be fantastic

and we're just

going to hang on.

We're just going

to hang on

and so we fight

about the things

that are in here

as we batten

down our hatches,

we start fighting

about the things

within the building

and other things

like that.

We do Christian stuff

but in the end

the world can go

to hell in a handbasket.

We become proudly

self-righteous

and confident.

We are the people

of God.

We've been forgiven.

They haven't.

And we enjoy

totally relevancy

and we get judged

for the things

that Israel

was judged for.

Friends,

that's why Israel

was judged.

That's why the Israels

were judged.

They were told

to be a blessing

to all the earth.

No, no,

we've got sacrifices

to make.

We've got songs

to sing.

We've got temples

to build.

We haven't got time

to be a blessing

to the world.

I wonder what

your response

has been to the vision

set by St. Paul's

leaders a few years ago

to see a thousand

people giving glory

to God in this place.

Do you think

it's ambitious?

Do you think

it's ambitious?

Do you think

it's not possible?

Do you think,

I mean,

seriously,

come on.

Do you think

it's not possible?

Maybe you've heard

the mocking,

the laugh,

the ridicule,

you've read

the Sydney Morning Herald

and you've written

this world

that is written

of God

and his people.

Maybe you've

forgotten the word

of God

that clearly

proclaims

that he rules

the world.

He didn't just,

he's not just

the ruler of Eden

back in history

but he rules

the world now.

He's the king now.

He's the one

who holds the stars

in the sky now.

He's the ruler

of every life

out there in Chatswood

right now.

They can't even

draw a breath.

They can't even

raise a mocking hand

or humble,

sorry,

or mumble

a blasphemous curse

under their breath

without the God,

the king,

allowing them

to give them

that breath itself.

He is their king.

He is their God.

They might not know it

but one day

they will.

one day calamity

is coming

and friends

we're going to do

everything we can

to make sure

that does not happen.

He is the God

who turns the course

of nations

and history

and lives

as he pleases.

No Christian

should ever have

the jitters

that this world

is careering

out of control

towards a meaningless end

or that the task

that God has given us

to reach disciples

of all nations

is impossible.

We must never forget

that we're involved

in a war

and that means

wartime lifestyle.

It's pretty obvious

if the Christians

around you

are getting killed

as they are

in many parts

of this world

it's pretty obvious

them were involved

in a fight.

I'm not so sure

in Australia

that we realise

they're in a fight

with all our creature

comforts,

our achievements,

our laziness

and our busyness

that we realise

that we're actually

a war.

A war

that we are told

to take the fight to.

A fight to them.

Not,

you know,

let's all go

and get gun licences

and,

you know,

and buy some rifles.

I mean,

I'm a strong believer

in that personally

but,

not that we're encouraged

to do that.

But we fight

with different weapons.

We fight

with different weapons,

not the weapons

that they use.

We fight

with different weapons.

We are called,

friends,

to pray.

We are called

to proclaim Jesus

and persevere

in godliness.

That is the fight.

We fight

with prayer,

with proclaiming Jesus

and persevering

in godliness.

We must realise

that the fight

is on

but Jesus

is the victor.

Satan prowls

around like a lion

wanting to devour us,

wanting to distract us,

to move us

into apathy,

to move us

into ungodliness.

Do we believe

for a moment

that God,

that Jesus

is victor

and that for any moment,

at any point in history,

that if he so chooses

he could but stamp his foot

and the nations

will bow to him

in worship?

Do we actually

believe it?

Well therefore,

do we pray for it?

Not qualified prayers

but do we pray for it?

Do we pray

and preach

and persevere

in godliness

and give

and administer

and plan

and order

our church life

as if

we believe it?

I'm expecting therefore

that we'll have more people

at four o'clock

this afternoon

prayer meeting

than maybe we've had

in the past.

He is God.

He is King.

He is Lord.

He has the victory

through the Lord Jesus Christ.

He commands the winds

and they obey.

He places the stars

in the sky

and continues

to hold them

in the sky.

He knows the depths

of the universe.

He speaks but a word

and the world

is formed

and he is our God.

He is our King.

God is not finished

with St. Paul's

but he's also

not finished

with those 30,000 people

out there

in our neighbourhood.

So let's take up

the weapons

that he's given us.

2 Corinthians 10.

We don't fight

with the weapons

of this world.

We don't fight

with the weapons

of this world.

Let's take up

the weapons

that he's given us

of proclamation,

of prayer,

of perseverance

and godliness

and get into

the battle.

Jesus is the King

of all of Chatswood.

Amen.