you have your Bibles tonight, turn to the book of Obadiah again. And I appreciate the opportunity to be able to study and to preach through this book. I've learned a lot and I hope that the Lord's spoken to you through this book and it'll give you a deeper thirst and hunger for the word of God. But I appreciate this book And these four lessons or sermons are in no way exhaustive. I'm sure this book could be preached on for over a year and still not be able to get all the good out of it. We know that, that the word of God is alive, but I'm thankful for what we've seen thus far. But we've been looking at a tale of two brothers And tonight, the final night, we'll be looking at verses 15 through the end of the book, a tale of two brothers. And tonight we're going to look at God's judgment and his deliverance. And the word of God is balanced. It gives us warnings, but yet it also gives His people hope at the same time. And in this short passage tonight, we see both of those things. In verse 15, the Bible says, for the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, as thou hast done, speaking to the nation of Edom, it shall be done unto thee, thy reward shall return upon thine head, thine own head. So, first of all, in these first two verses, we'll be looking at the subject of the judgment of God. It said, for the day of the Lord. And this is a phrase used all throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And the day of the Lord is an extraordinary visitation of divine judgment. And if you're a student of the word of God, you know that the book of Joel, his prophecy, it deals with the day of the Lord. And the theme is the day of the Lord cometh. In Joel chapter two and verse one, the Bible says, blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and a thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains, a great people and a strong. There not being ever the light, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. And so here in the book of Obadiah, as well as other prophecies in the Bible, a lot of the prophecies have a two-fold application. It has to do with the day in which the prophets wrote, the coming years, the generations in which they lived, about doom coming, destruction maybe coming upon Israel and Judah, but also on nations of Assyria and Babylon. But yet, whenever the Bible speaks of the day of the Lord, it also points and it looks to a future event that is even future from today, in which we know is the day of the Lord. And so, we see that this is a time of judgment. Why judgment and why wrath from God? Many people, if they would describe God, they would say, well, doesn't the Bible say in 1 John 4, 8 that God is love? Well, yes, he is. But in Isaiah 6, the Bible says that the seraphims, that they cried one to another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. As we mentioned last week, holiness is the Lord's chief attribute. And he can't do anything contrary to his own nature, so he must punish sin, he must punish the wicked of the world. Here in this verse 15, we see also that God's judgment, that it is imminent. It means that it is near. It says, the day of the Lord is near. This means that we shouldn't set a date because even Jesus said that no man knew but God the Father. But there is coming a time of God's impending wrath upon the unbelieving world. And 2 Thessalonians, In chapter two verse one it says, now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us is that the day of Christ is at hand. So we believe that somebody forged a letter from Paul or some of the other apostles saying that the day of the Lord's already here. and the church at Thessalonica was worried, and in verse three, the Bible says, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped. so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Even in Paul's day, it had already begun. Only he who now letteth, or hinders, will hinder. leadeth will let until he be taken out of the way. We understand that to be the Holy Spirit of God that lives within each believer. Verse eight, and then shall the wicked be revealed, the Antichrist whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure, in unrighteousness. So the Bible teaches us that whenever the Holy Spirit is removed from this earth, it's gonna be removed in the rapture of the church. Paul says, behold, I show you a mystery, that we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. So what does that mean that if the rapture, if nothing is left to take place on God's calendar, but the rapture could happen at any moment, if the Holy Spirit was to be removed from this earth, In our church tonight, those in churches and those who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world, that have refused to come to the Lord in repentance and in trust in the finished work of Christ, it says that they will have a hope. that they will be deceived, that there's no way that they can be saved during the time of tribulation. That's what the Bible teaches. There will be a great multitude saved, but those who hear the gospel and reject it will have no hope. Don't think that you'll be able to have a second chance after the rapture if you are here tonight and if you have heard and understand the gospel of God. You won't. There is also a false teaching going around. It's probably been going around ever since the word of God was published, but that Christian saved right now will have to endure the tribulation, the wrath of God. And some people say, well, maybe not all of the tribulation, but we'll have to go through some of it. Well, that's a false teaching according to the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 5, 9 says, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So if you're saved tonight, Don't be troubled that you might have to go through these things. God has saved us from these things, not only from an eternity in hell, but upon his wrath and judgment that he will pour upon an unbelieving world in that day. So when is it? We said that it's imminent. We're not sure the rapture could take place at any moment setting these chain of events in action. Like I said, in a twinkling of an eye, you that have been in this church, those who attend the house of God each week and that deny the truth will not come to God, they will have no hope in that day. Paul says, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Peter, he says the same thing. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. So what does our Lord tell us? He said, take ye heed, watch and pray, for you know not when the time is. And tonight, if you've rejected the Lord, if you've been playing games with the truth that's been given you, you better come to the Lord before it's too late. God's given you another chance, even on a Wednesday night, that you might repent of your sins and come to Christ in the free pardon of sin. The Bible says to prepare to meet thy God. We will all have to stand before our Lord one day. Some on the grounds of salvation, other on the grounds of condemnation for eternity. I'm sure those, that multitude there Friday night, they would have never thought, and their families would have never thought that they would have ever left this world on that dreadful night, but they did. Things happen. We don't like to bring them up, but the Bible tells us and warns us to prepare to meet our God. And the writer of the Hebrew says that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And it's fearful for those who are not prepared, who haven't taken the word of God and the warning seriously. Not only is God's judgment imminent, but the Bible teaches us here in these verses that it is universal, that it will come to all people, that it will come to all nations. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. If you've read the book of Romans, and you know first Paul, he begins to indict those heathen, those who were steeped in gross sin. And then he comes to the hypocrite and he says that God is against them as well. Then he brings in God's people, the Hebrews. And then finally he just says the whole world is guilty before God. And Revelation 20 tells us that the small and the great, the people from Edom, the Americans, it doesn't matter if you're religious or you're not religious, the presidents of this world, the peasants, the rich and the poor and the black and the white, all will stand before God and be accountable for their sins before Him. These verses tell us also that God's judgment, it is a righteous judgment. It's consistent, it's proportional. It says in verse 15, as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee, thy reward shall return upon thine own head. You know, we've all heard the word karma, and it's a Hindu or a Buddhist term, and it means that things that that teaches that people that have even lived in their past lives and their lives now, what they've done, that these things will come back on them, that they will decide their fate in the future and in their next lives. You know, Christians shouldn't be adopting the language and the terms of the world. I don't believe in karma, but I do believe what the Bible says. God said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. God will mete out a just and a righteous punishment. Galatians 6, 7, be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And in Romans 2, the Bible speaks a lot about the judgment of God. It says that he will judge according to truth. says that he will judge according to men's deeds, says that he will judge, he will not have respect for persons in that day. It says that he will judge the secrets of men. So God is all-knowing. He doesn't just hear testimonies from witnesses or other accounts, but God, He saw exactly what Edom had done to their brother nation, Jacob. And He knew exactly what was going on. He knew what was in their heart. And so He was able to mete out a just judgment upon them. And many people call this that God executed poetic justice against Edom. You know, they exalted themselves that we found out, but it says that God, he would cover them in shame. God, he would bring them down. Edom, they had hated their brother Jacob and that they had turned against them. But the Bible teaches that soon their allies would turn against them and push them out of their land. says that they looted Jerusalem, they went in there and they took things. God said that he was going to wipe them out financially, even their hidden treasures, he was going to take everything away from them. As they had cut off those who were trying to flee of Jerusalem, he said, even all of you will be cut off by slaughter. So God, he knows how to bring about the right judgment. Think about Pharaoh who tried to drown all of those male boys there in Exodus. What happened to Pharaoh and his armies there? They were drowned. Think about Daniel in the lion's den. The lions didn't eat him, but the men accused him. They were thrown in the lion's den and they were ate. The Hebrew boys that were thrown in the fiery furnace, they didn't burn up alive, but the men that threw him in there, they did. You think about Haman who was hung on his own gallows. God knows how to bring the right judgment upon the sinner, upon the wicked nations of the world. And as we've heard it preached several times that there is going to be a greater condemnation upon those that hear the Word of God, have had opportunities, have known the truth, been privileged to go to a Bible-believing church and reject the truth, They're going to receive the greater condemnation because it's a just punishment. It's right, it's the proper punishment for those who have had so much light but yet rejected it. Verse 16, for as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. So this is a wicked scene that we see in the word of God where after Jerusalem was ransacked and people were taken prisoners and taken captive, we see that the Edomites and the other nations, they drank and they just had a party here on the Lord's land. But God, he says, in return, you're gonna have to drink the bitter cup of my wrath and judgment. And Jeremiah 25, 15 says, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me, take the wine cup of this fury at my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send to drink it. And then in verse 21, guess who we see? One of the nations that he lists there is Edom. So we see that God's wrath is described as a cup given to nations, given to individuals to drink. But we see in this verse that God's judgment is everlasting. It says, so shall all the heathen drink continually. We had mentioned last week, I believe, in Ezekiel 35, how that the Bible talks of Edom having a perpetual hatred against Israel. How that they had hated them all through history and that they never changed. They always hated their brother nation. Well, just as they had perpetually hated their brother, God, he was going to allow their punishment and their wrath to last forever, to last continually. And people say, well, was that right of God? Is that fair that he would allow, I mean, would he really? just let them suffer forever and forever and forever. Well, that's what the Bible teaches. And God, he is the one who has made us, he is the one who has given us an eternal soul. And his plan and desire is that we be faithful, that we be obedient to him, that we are obligated to him forever. So just as those who have rejected the eternal life that God has offered them, so comes eternal punishment. There is not a time of hell and then a person burns up and continues no more. But the Bible says, in the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night. So the people that have been in hell for thousands of years, they're still there. The only time they're getting out is to stand before the great white throne of judgment and then be cast back into the lake of fire forever and forever and forever again. Bible tells us in these verses that God's judgment is certain. If you'll skip to verse 18, and the house of Jacob shall be afire, and the house of Joseph aflame, and the house of Esau for stubble. And they shall kindle in them and devour them. Just what Esau and Edom wanted to do to Israel, Israel is actually going to devour them. And there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it. God's judgment is certain because he has said it. He has spoken it. It's written in the word of God. God, he doesn't use words lightly. He's not just trying to fill up some more space in the prophecy of Obadiah, but he's warning us yet again that if the Lord says it, it's gonna happen. You're not going to be the exception. God's not going to overlook just you. God is no respecter of persons on the basis of judgment. All the accounts will be settled one day if you don't settle them today. And history teaches that five years after the Babylonians, they took Judah captive, that they also went after the Edomites. History tells us that after three century AD, that there's really no history of the Edomites, that they vanished. But some believe because of this prophecy that the Edomites and other types that we find in the Bible, that they will have a national revival in these times yet just to be overthrown by the Lord and Israel here in the last days. But also we see in these verses that God's judgment can be avoided. God's judgment can be avoided. If you'll turn over to the right just a few pages to Nahum in chapter one. The Bible says the burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkishite. God is jealous and the Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. But thank God the Lord is slow to anger. He's long-suffering, he allows nations and people to repent, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked, because he's holy, remember, he can't just overlook or just drop the charges against the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. Who can stand before God in all of his fury and vengeance? But verse seven says, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. So the Bible teaches that there is a way that judgment can be avoided. We say, but upon Zion shall be deliverance. Some are delivered, some are saved. And in the Old Testament, it was people that put their faith in the God of Israel, Jehovah. But today, in the age in which we live, it's specifically putting your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how can judgment be avoided if he is just, if he is holy, if he must punish the wicked? How can he just ignore what I've done? Well, God, he doesn't let no sin go unpunished. He must empty his wrath upon the sin of the world. But there is someone that has drank that bitter cup of God's wrath for you and for me and for the sin of the whole world. Jesus, he said, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. What was he talking about? The wrath of God upon the sin of the world. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. It's not that God just allows these sins go unpunished, but he is able to show us grace, and he is just because God God's Son, Jesus, has experienced our wrath and taken it upon himself. As the Bible says, he can still be just and the justifier of those that put their trust in him. So would you want to stand before God tonight? If you were to meet him tonight, would you want to stand before him on your own merit? What you've done yourself? Could you be confident if you had to stand before him? Or would you rather, as the book of Nahum says, trust him? He knows those that trust him. And thank God there is safety in him. There is salvation in him. For by grace are ye saved through faith. Saved from what? Saved from hell? Saved from God's wrath upon you. Look at verse 17. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness. And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. There shall be holiness. You know, a lot of Protestant denominations and other religious systems today, they do teach a coming kingdom, but it's going to be man. It's going to be the world and the religious systems efforts to bring in that kingdom. But the Bible teaches us that there shall be holiness. There is not holiness in the world apart from possessing it through faith in Christ. So it's not the UN that's gonna bring it in. It's not some worldly religious system that's going to bring in the kingdom. But it's going to be whenever the Lord returns to this earth. Isaiah in chapter 52 says, Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion. Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. It's going to be holy because Christ has returned. The king of the kingdom, he is holy. The people are going to be glorified and they're going to be holy. And all of the unholy, All of the Christ rejecters, they will be expelled. And it says that Jacob shall possess their possessions. So we see that God's people in the kingdom age, they will have their promises that God has made them realized in this day. You know, in Genesis 15, the Bible says, in the same day, the Lord made a covenant or a promise with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. And most people say, well, Israel's never fully possessed the land that God has given them for an inheritance. They have never fully possessed it. They have at some times possessed part of it. or a lot of it, but not all that God has promised them. But here in this verse, the Bible says that Jacob, that Israel, that they shall possess their possessions. You know, God, he has not given us these promises. God, he has just not just given us words just to put a smile on our face just at the end of this day and at the end of this life, but we've got promises that are eternal. And they're good because of the one that has made them to us. The Bible says we have been sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. God, he has given each believer the Holy Spirit to indwell them, which is the earnest or the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. So that's saying we've received the Holy Spirit, and we've got all of these promises, but this is just the beginning. This is just the down payment. We've got everything else before us to look forward to, and Israel's gonna possess their possession, but what God has promised the church and the saints, we will possess what he has rightly given us as well. We're almost done tonight. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the great charity, the great love chapter, the Bible says, and now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. Faith, hope, charity, or faith, hope, and love. We possess these things. We have faith in the word of God, in the promises that he has given us. The Bible says, for we walk by faith and not by sight. We have faith in the things that we don't see now, but what God has promised us. But the Bible says, beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. One day we're going to see him, and we're gonna say bye to faith, cause we're gonna see him. We have hope in what God has promised us. But the Bible says in Romans 8, for we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? Whenever we see these things, our hopes and everything that we've longed for in the word of God is going to come to pass. We're gonna say goodbye to hope. but then that leaves love. But the Bible says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? It says, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That means forever and ever, because of God's love towards us, that nothing shall separate us from him. We're almost done. Verse 19, it says, God not only says it's gonna happen, but he says this is how it's gonna take place. This is how it's all going to come together whenever I give Israel their possessions. They of the south of Israel shall possess the Mount of Esau. God's people, they're gonna possess Edom's, that wicked nation, their property. And they have the plain of the Philistines, another archenemy of God's people. And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host, those who have been taken of the children of Israel, shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath. And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. So it says, this is how it's gonna happen. And all I can say right there is say amen. God not only says it's gonna happen, but he tells you how it's going to happen, because he knows. Verse 21, and saviors shall come up on Mount Zion. What's this saviors? We know there's only one savior, but this word savior, it's like in the book of Judges, the judges, the deliverers that God raised up. They're gonna come on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Whenever the Lord comes back, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Amen. But not only that, but we also see God's grace here in the millennial reign that he's going to appoint Those sinners saved by grace, those who have suffered for his name, those who have been faithful to be able to rule and to reign with him. Remember Christ, he mentioned to the 12 apostles that they would be set on 12 thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel. The Bible says if we are faithful and if we suffer, we shall reign with him. And also to some, the Lord will say, well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. So what do we say to these things in Obadiah? Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And God's will is going to be done. What he has given us in the Bible is going to come to pass. But as the loss today, it's a wake up call for you to get into the will of God. First of all, to be saved, to repent of your sin. And then, for those who are saved, it should be, a great motivator to continue on working. Last night I was trying to get up some leaves and it got dark. And I was reminded the Lord said there comes a day, there comes a time whenever there's gonna be darkness, it's gonna be too late to work. But we ought to work while it's day. As Christians, we ought to be about the Father's business while we can, while we have opportunity. Preacher, ask what I have. Man, let's stand tonight for an invitation. Page 321. 321.