There is a story about a father and his son.
The two were extremely close.
Since the mother had died of cancer a few years earlier the two grew closer than ever.
The boy grew up to be a young man.
And suddenly he was called up to fight in the war.
The father’s heart was broken as his son left.
One day the father got a report he had been dreading.
His son had been killed in combat.
A few months later there was a knock at the door.
It was a young man, whose arm had been blown off in battle.
Beneath his good arm was a photo wrapped in brown paper.
The young man spoke and said,
Sir, you don’t know me but I wanted you to know that your son saved my life.
He took the bullet so I wouldn’t have to.
And your son meant so much to me I painted this picture of him.
The soldier handed the picture to the proud father.
The father unwrapped it to find a badly painted picture of his son.
The father was actually a wealthy man that collected fine art.
And he took his Picasso and Van Gough paintings down and instead put up the picture of his son.
Years went by and the father grew old and weak. And he died.
His house was to be auctioned, and people from all over the world came to his estate to bid for the Picasso and other famous paintings.
The auctioneer started the auction with the painting of the young son.
Groans swept across the crowd.
And they shouted, “Come on! Get on with the good stuff, take that worthless thing down.”
The auctioneer ignored the jeers and said, “Who will make the first bid? A pound, anybody?”
Up from the back came the old gardener and asked if he could buy it.
The gardener had known the boy as he was growing up.
He bought the picture for £1, and began to walk down the aisle with the picture tucked under his arms.
Suddenly the auctioneer slammed down the mallet and said, “Sorry everyone. The auction is over. In the Will it reads, ‘Whoever has the son, gets it all.’”
And that’s exactly what the Bible says!
Whoever has the Son, gets it all.
In Christ we have it all!
2 Corinthians 1:20 – “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are YES in Christ.”
We keep that text in mind as we read from Zephaniah chapter 3…
Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-17
The prophet with royal blood.
Descended from king Hezekiah.
He prophesied sometime during the reign of reforming king Josiah.
God speaks through Zephaniah.
The day of the Lord is coming.
A great judgment day.
Judah has failed to walk with God.
There is one way and only one way to avoid great national tragedy: humility.
Two key verses...
Zephaniah 2:3 “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.”
“Zephaniah 3:11-13” On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and the humble, who trust in the name of the LORD.”
Pride and hope can never belong together.
If we want to have a future hope, we must let go of our pride.
We tend to think that a person is proud if they look in mirror too much.
Or if they boast about things they own or have done.
But the greatest and most grotesque pride of all is seen in the one who says:
I’ll do it my way.
Those who feel they don’t need God.
There is no hope for those who will not come to God in humility.
But there is a stunning hope for those who do.
Zephaniah is given a vision of the distant future.
A time when the humble remnant will be blessed.
1. What is Judah to do?
v14 Judah is to celebrate.
And celebrating means singing, shouting aloud, being glad, and rejoicing!
As pastor and deacons gathered for prayer the other day, M led us in a chapter from Nehemiah.
And one question he asked was,
Do we really know what it means to celebrate?
The people of God are often called to celebrate.
2. Why is Judah to celebrate?
v15 Judah is to celebrate because the Lord has done four things for her...
He has taken away her punishment.
(Punishment for Judah would include the coming Babylonian exile.)
He has turned back her enemy.
He is with her.
He has taken away cause for fear.
And all that sounds remarkably like what God has done for us too.
Through the cross of Christ, God has taken away our punishment.
Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” (1 Pt 2:24)
Through Christ our enemy Satan has been defeated. (Col 2:15)
Through Christ God is with us and nothing can separate us from God’s love. (Rom 8:39)
And Jesus says, “I am with you always” (Mat 28:20)
So we too have no cause for fear. No need to worry if God’s for us or not.
No need to dread his punishment.
Your punishment and enemy are taken away…
No need to fear anything in life at all.
He is with you…
He is mighty to save…
In other words he is strong enough!
But most of us stay at this point.
Hallelujah! We’re saved, no punishment, no fear…
But it gets even more amazing…
v17, He will take great delight in you.
This is a picture of God with eyes open wide, a smile on his face, enjoying his people.
He will quiet you with his love.
This is a picture of God drawing near to comfort one who has been distressed.
He will rejoice over you with singing.
This is a picture of God standing over us singing a song of joy that we are his.
Can you imagine what God’s song over you sounds like?!
What a thought – almost too holy for words.
What a promise!
But is it truly possible? Isn’t that a bit belittling to God?
That God will rejoice over his people with singing?
Well, if God idolizing his people – yes.
But he’s not. He’s simply delighting in them.
The Amplified Bible brings out the meaning well:
“He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.” You see, in the Hebrew there is something about his quietness that is a refusal to discuss your past shortcomings.
What the Lord is saying reminds us of Isaiah 62:5…
“as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”
One day God will rejoice over his precious and spotless Bride (Revelation 21:1-4).
What he is saying also reminds us of what Jesus says in Luke 15 about the lost sheep... The Shepherd says... ’Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
What he is saying also reminds us of what Jesus says in Luke 15 about the lost coin... “when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ’Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
What he is saying also reminds us of what Jesus says in Luke 15 about the lost son... "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21"The son said to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22"But the father said to his servants, ’Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”
You see, When Israel humbles herself before her God.
When the lost sheep is found.
When the lost coin is recovered.
When the lost son comes to his senses.
When a sinner repents and begins a life with God.
There is joy in heaven.
God rejoices over us with singing.
And when we go to meet him we will hear that song loud and clear!
His joy over the church – the bride of Christ.
But how do you feel about that?
Really… How does that make you feel?
Just imagine for a moment that you were in the Royal Albert Hall.
The most beautiful voices in the world are performing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
They are singing it all for you! Yes… you!
But you are blind and deaf.
And you can’t hear a word of it.
Not a single note.
And you don’t even realize they are singing.
What a tragedy that would be.
My question tonight is, Can you hear the singing?
John Piper says something I think is crucial:
Quote, “We must banish from our minds forever any thought that God admits us begrudgingly into his Kingdom, as though Christ found a loophole in the law, did some fancy plea-bargaining and squeaked us by the Judge. No way! God himself, the Judge, put Christ forward as our substitutionary sacrifice, and when we trust him God welcomes us with bells on. He puts a ring on our finger, kills the fatted calf, throws a party, shouts a shout that shakes the ends of creation and leads in the festal dance.”
It’s true isn’t it! Sometimes we talk and pray and think and act as if God were frowning down on us like a mechanic on a broken down car....
It seems some people just can’t hear the singing...
They simply can’t imagine that God is literally overjoyed by them.
So, let’s think for a moment why some people can’t hear the singing...
1. Those who are walking in sin cannot hear the singing. God is not rejoicing over those who are still proudly resisting him. God is saddened. His judgment will one day have to deal with the proud. They need to turn away from sin and turn to God.
2. Those who have grown luke-warm cannot hear the singing. They can’t hear the singing because they have walked away from close fellowship with. They’re neither cold nor hot toward God. They need to repent and pray with David, ‘Restore to me the joy of your salvation’.
3. Those who don’t understand God’s love for them cannot hear the singing. All they can hear are stern and harsh words from God. I strongly question if they are truly hearing from God. It is true that God disciplines us and allows us to pass through difficulties. Like Hebrews says, He disciplines those he loves. But he disciplines us with a loving look on his face, not with a look of doubt, impatience or anger.
4. Those who are listening to the devil’s accusations cannot hear the singing. All they can hear is Satan’s taunts and accusations about how bad they are...
The Bible says, Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
My friends, in Christ we have it all!
We can be sure that God delights in us and rejoices over us with singing.
I pray that you may by faith hear his beautiful voice now;
even as you will hear it loud and clear when you meet him face to face.
And may hearing his voice cause you to sing, shout, be glad and rejoice – may knowing this change and energise our times of worship, give us hope, and keep us glorying in Him who loves us.
