O Shameless Generation | Hidden Treasures

We continue. our sermon series in Zephaniah,

Hidden Treasures, as we journey with this minor

prophet speaking to the people of Judah, the

people of God, and we continue in chapter 2.

We'll be going verse 4 through 15, and what's

interesting about this section that we're going

to look at is we're going to look at kind of

the reach of God's justice. One of the things

that Zephaniah is really hitting strong on, like

many of the prophets do, both minor or major,

again that's just size of book, and the size

of of message, so to speak, is God's justice,

that God is still making a way for those pagan

Gentile kind of cities around and people and

tribes around to see the way he disciplines and

loves his children. hopefully comes with an opportunity

for them to turn toward Yahweh, turn toward the

God of gods, the Lord of lords, which I always

find interesting and bring it to a kind of parental

place today on Mother's Day, is the way we discipline

our children is a way people can see the Jesus

that we love. Think about that for a minute.

For some of us, that may bind us real tight and

go, oh, pastor, I don't like that you just said

that. Because maybe you're more of a heavy -handed

disciplinarian. Or maybe there is zero discipline

in your house and it's chaos. And we can actually

see the way people have kind of their faith in

Christ in the way that they discipline their

children. That that is actually an example we

can give that our discipline is fair and just,

right? A God that is slow to, and believe me,

I'm looking right in the mirror when I say this

verse, that if our God is slow to anger and abounding

in steadfast love, though there is chiding, as

Hebrews tells us, which is an active discipline

rooted in the love of the gospel. And that is

how we, if we have the honor and opportunity

to be parents, that is how we should be. Same

thing with our Lighthouse teachers and our youth

group leaders and all of those things, which

I do want to just thank Lisa and her entire team

for the year that they have given us in Lighthouses.

They celebrate kind of the end of the season

next Sunday along with our youth ministry leaders.

Let's just give them a hand quick because that's

not easy. A gymism that you guys have heard a

lot, and I'll continue to say, if you've served

in nursery as a Sunday school teacher or in youth

ministry, when you get up to heaven, I believe

that your room will not be by the ice machine.

That that is definitely something you have earned

in that sense. That as we start in a couple weeks

the call for youth ministry leaders and children's

leaders, that is a... Carrot we can dangle. Anyway,

so the reach of God's justice. As Zephaniah is

talking to Judah, as Zephaniah is talking to

everybody looking at the small little Judah right

now, we hear the voice of Zephaniah last week

calling Judah a shameless nation. Now, some of

us, we think, well, it's shameful what they are

doing or not doing. But the shameless part points

to not only the loss of moral grounding. but

to a people that no longer care if they sin.

That one way you can tell your spiritual walk

has issues is if you're sinning and there's no

conviction. Or you're sinning and you go, ah,

you know what? God's going to forgive me anyway

in the end. I don't think you want to take that

chance. I think to have that active relationship

with God, much like we have active relationships

with each other, if we sin against one another,

we want to make it right. We want to bring reconciliation,

whether easy or hard. You don't want to be that

person that doesn't want to extend forgiveness

in grace, because I guarantee you there will

be a time in life when you want that from somebody

or from God himself. They're not even worried

about sin in the sense that they just don't care,

and that is shameless. Unmoved by God's holiness,

unaffected by their spiritual condition, and

now we move into our set of passages for today.

That the shamelessness is not just in Judah,

but it's in the world around. We're going to

talk about specific cities today that represent

and maybe can be recognized in us that maybe

that's where we are. in our walk with God. Pride,

mockery of God, and rebellion. What they did

then can mirror in our hearts today when we feel

we're good. We live under the banner maybe of

once saved, always saved, so I can do whatever

I want. That is not the definition of Christian

liberty. That we understand and recognize God's

sovereign in our lives. We live to serve him,

to love him, and to love others. So this call

to repent of God's powerful declaration of judgment

is not only over Judah. There's a lot of times

we can read the Old Testament and go, wow, he

was just a disciplinary parent to Judah. It wasn't

just about Judah. It was about all these other

towns and nations. Zephaniah reminds us that

God's justice is not bound by borders. His judgment

sweeps across the known world back in this day.

You had Philistia to the west, Moab and Ammon

to the east, Cush to the south, and Assyria to

the north. That is going to be that kind of box

we're going to be in today. That this sermon

is not only a warning, but of scope. That God's

sovereign over all people, not just those that

are believers. And how he cares how the nations

reflect and reject his holiness. So a little

bit of context before we dive in. These nations,

the ones that I mentioned and we're going to

go to kind of town by town, were traditional

enemies of Israel. These were constant enemies.

They were constantly having battles throughout

the Old Testament. And each had mocked and oppressed

God's people. They took an aspect of God's character

or what the Israelites, one of the aspects that

the Israelites worshipped and thanked God about

God, they mocked it. Their downfall would be

a sign of God's covenantal justice. and warning

to Judah. Zephaniah likely preached during the

start of King Josiah's reform, late 7th century

BC, at the time when Judah might have been a

bit proud and insolent that they were kind of

doing good. We're in that good place, so now

we think we're better than everybody. When we

maybe have been done being disciplined or a season

of discipline by God, we may try to go to a spiritual

eliteness and pride cometh before the fall. The

listing of our cities and the directions suggest

the complete surrounding judgment. So you have

Judah and then you have all the towns around

it. I think it's great and deep the way that

this declaration is coming from Zephaniah. So

let's dive in. First, Philistia. Start with verses

4 through 7. So verses 4 through 7, then we're

going to do a little rabbit trail on the word

remnant. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon

shall become desolate. Well, become a desolation.

Ashdod's people will be driven out at noon, and

Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants

of the seacoast, you nation of, I don't know

how to say that word. The word of the Lord is

against you. O Canaan, land of the Philistines,

I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.

And you, O seacoast, shall be the pastures with

meadows and shepherds and folds for flocks. The

seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant

of the house of Judah, and on which they shall

gaze. And in the house of Ashkelon they shall

lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will

be mindful of them and restore their fortune.

So Philistia, cities like Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod,

and Ekron are named. And what do we see? God

promises total desolation. Wiped out. Gone. Now

again, some of us, we struggle with the God that

does this. Because there are times we think God

should just be this loving God. And not discipline

anyone. And maybe that's because you think that's

what you need in life. And I'm here to tell you

that if that's you, you probably need some discipline.

You probably need not to come in first place.

You probably need to be taken down a peg or two.

And again, I'm looking in the mirror first before

I say that to any of you. But the thing here

we have to recognize is that God promises total

desolation, yet he speaks of a word remnant.

He says this word. It is one, in my mind, one

of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture

is this word remnant. You want to see it done

a lot, read the prophet Isaiah. But there's a

remnant inheriting the land. So allow me a moment

to do a little rabbit trail on the word remnant

in the Old Testament. Whenever you see the word

remnant in the prophets, it's worth pausing.

It's word taking a little bit of a time out.

This is not a throwaway word. It is loaded with

significance, both biblically, both apocalyptically,

meaning end times, and both theologically. In

the Old Testament, especially in the prophetic

books like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Zephaniah,

the remnant refers to the faithful few who survive

judgment, exile, or destruction. Let me say that

again. The faithful few that survived judgment,

exile, and destruction, not because of their

strength or merit that they were that awesome,

but because of God's covenant faithfulness. The

remnant is based because God is a covenantal

God. It is based in that. Without the covenant,

there would not be a remnant. These are the people

who still cling to God, who walk in humility,

and who look. Towards salvation. Not just for

themselves, not just for their people, but for

the world. In Isaiah 10, the remnant is described

as those who return to the mighty God. Micah

says God will gather his remnant like a shepherd

gathers sheep. And here in Zephaniah, even the

nations are judged. We hear that a remnant shall

inherit the land. So as reformed believers, how

do we engage this? How do we walk through this?

Because this seems to echo themes of election.

Evan read in Romans that God predestined, that

God has this choice, this covenantal choice for

us. And he chooses us, not because we're great,

but because we need God. God's sovereignty preserves

his people, not based on what they've done, but

according to his gracious purpose. If I ever

find out that any of you use this term election

as a place to stand over somebody, please believe

I'm going to call for a conversation. Because

to me, that could be seen as spiritual abuse.

That when we use this term, well, we are elect.

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. No. Please never do

that. Because that is not at all the right understanding

of being part of God's elect. That God's election

shows his sovereign purpose because we need it.

Not because we've earned it. If you think that

you've earned God's election, you and I have

a lot to talk about. The Cairns of Dort, section

7, speaks clearly. Election is the unchangeable

purpose of God whereby he has chosen in Christ.

To salvation, a definite number of particular

people. You go to the end of the Belgic Confession,

which to me is one of the most missional documents

we have in our Reformed Confessions, our three

forms of unity, which are what? The Heidelberg,

the Belgic, the Canons. Oh, that was fun. Thank

you for doing that. The last article on the final

judgment, it says, until the elect is complete.

That is when Christ will come again. The beautiful

thing about that is we don't get to choose that.

We just have a job to do. What is that job? Point

people back to the cross. Point people back to

Jesus. So the remnant is a sign of both judgment

and mercy, much like a prophet would say. Though

judgment falls, God keeps a people for himself,

pointing us forward to Christ and his church.

And today, we who remain faithful amid a world

of compromise are the spiritual remnant hidden

in Christ and preserved by grace. Let's come

out of that rabbit hole of remnant and jump in.

So in Philistia, we've seen the mixture of God's

judgment and restoration. God's wrath is real,

but he wants to preserve his people. You liken

that to if you grew up in a house where there

was more physical discipline, right? Whether

you got spanked, right? Whether you got a belt,

whether you got some other weapon. There's no

other way to say that. Disciplinary tool. Or

if you were like my little kind of 4 '12", no,

that would be 5 feet, 4 '11", grandma, her three

fingers. Just pop you right in the mouth. You'd

come out of nowhere. Like a ninja. Right? I told

you that story before. I was in junior high.

I mouthed off. She whacked me on the mouth. And

I turned to her and said, at that point I could

look down at her, was, Grandma, why would you

do that? And she looked at me cold as ice and

says, because it doesn't leave a mark. You better

believe. I laughed when my cousin, who was a

year younger than me, like next week got the

same thing. And we never talked back again. But

that is, so when we discipline, even as parents,

a lot of us may feel it or even say it. This

hurts me more than it hurts you. That though

you discipline your children, you still love

them. If your disciplinary tool is to maybe physically

or verbally discipline, but then never come back

and show compassion or mercy to your child. then

Colossians is kind of calling you out because

you're discouraging your kid. That a Christ -like

discipline has discipline, but it also has compassion.

Because how would we like it if God just striked

us but never came back to pick us up? We have

to model that, and God is modeling that in Philistia.

But in Moab and Ammon, we got something else

in verse 8. We see. I have heard of the taunts

of Moab and the revelings of the Amorites, how

they have taunted my people and made boast against

their territory. Therefore, as I live, declares

the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall

be like Sodom and the Amorites like Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits and

a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall

plunder them and the survivors of my nation shall

possess them. This shall be their lot in return

for their pride because they taunted and boasted

against the people of the Lord and the hosts.

The Lord will be awesome against them for he

will famish all the gods of the earth and to

him shall bow down each in its place all the

lands of the nation. And God will be awesome

against them. I hope and pray that that is never

turned toward me. Because we see the word awesome,

but it doesn't feel that way. That God will be

awesome in his desolation toward them. These

nations insulted and taunted God's people. Pride

and mockery are highlighted. Verse 11 speaks

of God reducing their gods to nothing. A clear

assertion of Yahweh's supremacy. The language

anticipates the universal worship of God. To

him shall bow down each in its place all the

lands of the nations. Where have we heard that

before? The book of Revelation. At every knee

will bow, every tongue will confess. We sing,

holy, holy, holy, that that will be the congregation

of the Lord in the end times. But the insults

and the taunting. Now. We're kind of a sports

family. A lot of you are sports families. Taunting

is one of the worst things we can see in kids'

sports. But it happens all the time. The worst

is when it's adults to kids. That's absolutely

terrible. But as I manage my son's C League team

in Munster, one of the first things that I taught

them is we win with grace and we lose with grace.

So last week, a little bit of a flex, when we

had more of a walk -off win, right, for our first

win, it's okay to cheer, but you get in line

and you shake hands anyway. That we understand

that in life, the boastful will be disciplined.

It says it over 30 times in the scripture that

those puffed up with pride, meaning we think

we are doing all the things, that God will. Discipline

us. Why? Because he says it in the very first

commandment. You will have no other gods but

me. I've said it before. I'll say it again. What

is he speaking to? When we become our own gods.

When we put ourselves so up in high and lawfully

places that our job and our opinion is to look

down and judge people. Be careful. God will humble

the prideful. And that is what's happening in

Moab and Ammon. But an even different and even

more interesting to me kind of judgment happens

in Cush and Assyria. So starting with verse 12.

You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.

And he will stretch out his hand against the

north and destroy Assyria. And he will make Nineveh

a desolation, a dry waste like a desert. Herds

shall lie down in her midst. All kinds of beasts,

even the owl and the hedgehog, shall lodge in

her capitals. A voice shall hoot in the window.

Devastation will be on the threshold, for her

cedar work will be laid bare. This is the exultant

city that lives securely, that said in her heart,

I am and there is no one else. What a desolation

she has become. A lair for wild beasts. Everyone

who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

Very different. A lot of animals. These animals,

don't go so deep with it, right? It's what happens

when things become deserted, when things have

crumpled. The animals take over, right? Whether

it's a town, whether it's an abandoned house,

or your garbage can, right? When things are just

left with no signs of life, what happens? The

animals come in. Interesting. Note here. Now,

unless I know some of our squirrels are just

demonic that we have on our street, but they

don't come at it right away. Animals will kind

of check and see to make sure. They're not all

dumb, most of them are, but they have a survival

instinct in them. So what happened? These places

have become desolate for a while. But the interesting

thing is, when things become destroyed, we...

tend to want to build them back up. We see that

with hurricanes. We see that with tornadoes.

When a town gets leveled, and I'm not saying

that that was God's judgment on them. That's

not what I'm saying. But we see a rush, whether

it's the Red Cross or other organizations, to

come and try to rebuild and restore those towns.

That doesn't happen here. We need to clock that

for a minute. That we need to see that not only

are they devastated, not only are they completely

torn down, there is no one there to rebuild and

the animals take over. You see, Cush is mentioned

briefly signaling God's justice even in the distant

places. Cush would be the farthest of these towns.

Showing God's judgment, but God also chooses

to restore what he wants to restore. And it should

go and kind of serve us to tell us of our interpersonal

relationships with one another, that restoration

he always wants. Never does God say to you, it's

okay to say to that person, you're dead to me.

That is not, you are there to rebuild. Even if

those relationships have been hurt and hard for

decades, we are called to rebuild them. We are

called to make them right. Will they ever be

flourishing? Probably not. Will you ever necessarily

trust those individuals? Probably not. But forgiveness

needs to be shared and received for that reconciliation

and that restoration to happen. So isn't it funny,

even the most distant desolation, the most distant

hurt and pain that we may have in our life, God

calls to restore. Assyria, once a dominant empire,

is mocked for her arrogance. I am and there is

no one else. Her end is desolation. Nineveh,

proud and untouchable, shall become a wasteland.

Proof that no empire stands forever. Because

it's all about God at work. God's kingdom. Okay,

that was fun. We nerded out on some of the history.

Thanks, Jim. What do we do today in 2025? Well,

friends, there is a kingdom. That is continuing

at work. There is a kingdom that is bringing

people low if they need to be low or lifted up

if they need to be lifted up. It is the kingdom

of Christ. The Belgian Confession, Article 37,

speaks of the final judgment when Christ will

bring justice to all nations and vindicate his

people. We are living in that time. These sweeping

judgments in Zephaniah previews this great day.

No sin will escape. No rebellion will stand.

Verse 11 hints at a hope beyond judgment, a remnant,

if you will, a time when all the lands of the

nations will worship the Lord. This anticipates

the Great Commission that we talked about before

the baptisms, but it also speaks of Pentecost,

when the church has a job to do and is set on

its ways. Again, we'll get to that Labor Day

weekend. We're going to start a whole journey

in the first eight chapters of Acts. The judgment

that Zephaniah is talking about prepares the

way for the kingdom of Christ. A kingdom of peace

and justice. And that will reign. And friends,

spoiler alert, where does that kingdom come?

From God, through Christ, in us. In the church.

That we are to be people of peace and justice,

of reconciliation and hope. How do we do this?

First and foremost, friends, we do it by trusting.

And I'm going to land the plane here today. My

question, what are you trusting in this morning

before we get to what Zephy's telling us then

and now? Are you tempted to think God doesn't

see what is happening in the world? Have you

just thrown the baby out with the bathwater and

said, God's clearly not at the wheel because

of, insert whatever your observation is. Do you

think God's not in control? He still is. Zephaniah

tells us, even if all of the nations around are

desolated, the remnant of God still remains.

Do we mock or ignore God in our own pride, like

Moab or Ammon? In those little secret spots that

no one really knows, so we don't talk about it.

Do we actually mock God's power? Do we ignore

because we think we have a better way? Third

question, where is your security? Is it in your

culture, your nation, your wealth? Or is it in

the Lord? This is a constant theme in Zephaniah.

Constant theme in the entire Bible. Don't put

your weight in the material things of the world.

That's where we're going to be in August. Jesus

uses the word store up. Don't store up all these

things where they will be destroyed because you

can't take it with you. The call to Judah is

also a call to us. Be faithful, be humble, be

found in God's justice, in God's grace. Are you

seeing those that don't think they're being seen?

Are you lifting up those that remain down? You

have the power to do all of that because the

kingdom of Christ is coming through you. If you

claim Christ as Lord and Savior, the kingdom

of Christ is coming through your hands and your

feet in what you say, in what you do, in what

you post. Be faithful. Be humble. Be found in

God's justice and grace. What is Zephaniah trying

to tell us? What is he saying then and what is

he saying now? Then he was saying God's justice

swept over every direction. No one was exempt.

I repeat, no one was exempt. The nation's pride

led to their fall. Yet God's promises to preserve

a remnant and bring about global worship shine

through. What is he saying now? Our world mirrors

those nations. Arrogant, dismissive, self -centered.

But God's justice is still active. And so is

his call to humility and repentance. Through

Christ, all nations are invited to bow and worship.

We are the remnant. And we are also his ambassadors.

Sent to the family you find yourself in, the

job you find yourself in, the communities you

find yourself in, the churches you find yourself

in. We. are the remnant of God's justice and

grace. So let's be active in that. Let's pray.