We turn to Zephaniah 3 again this Lord's Day. We read portions of what we read last Lord's Day as well. Zephaniah 3, verses 8-13. Zephaniah 3, 8-13. This is God's wholly inspired inerrant word. Therefore, wait for me, declares the Lord, for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger. For in the fire of my jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed. For at that time, I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. And from beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, the daughters of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you've rebelled against me. For then I will remove from your midst your proudly exalted ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountains. but I will leave in your midst the people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. Those who are left in Israel, they shall do no injustice. They shall speak no wise, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue, for they shall graze and they shall lie down and none shall make them afraid. Father, we do need to learn to wait, even as we were reminded last Lord's Day, and we're reminded again. So teach us to wait as we consider your word this morning, in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Well, I will tell you the past few days, I've had to do a lot of waiting, mostly because of my own foolishness. I've had to wait for some of you to email me or to call me on the church phone, because I put my cell phone in the kitchen sink. That was not a good move. Speaking of the kitchen sink, I turned the garbage disposal on and left an SOS pad in the garbage disposal. So I had to wait for the drain to go down. Amy bleached it all, and then the water went down. But on top of that, being the nice husband that I am, I did laundry for us, but I overloaded the washing machine, and I saw the spin cycle was at 15. I thought, well, that's good. That's a nice number. Then I looked again, and it was at 18. That's not good. But it did go down to 17, and I kept waiting and waiting and waiting, but it stayed stuck on 17. And I just stood and watched. and kind of went away and came back hoping while I was waiting that somehow the spin cycle would magically start working on its own. Of course, Amy knew what to do. She halved the load and the spin cycle was working just fine. Thank you. Let me remind you, last week we said we need to wait wisely. Well, most of the time this past couple of weeks, I have not been very wise. I've had to wait. Sadly, Even as we're reminded to wait upon the Lord, sometimes we too do we not panic. and we don't wait wisely. We may watch, we may wait, but we forget the third thing, and that is we're supposed to work, we're supposed to labor for the Lord. And so even until he comes again for us, our Savior, we need to be reminded to watch and to wait, but also to work before our Lord appears for us. And that's what we said last week from Zephaniah 3, 6 through 10. Jehovah is speaking and he reminds the citizens of Judah in verse 6 that he had destroyed all the wicked nations that were surrounding them. And he had hoped and said in verse 7 that you certainly would have come to your senses seeing those nations destroyed. You won't be as wicked as they were, but sadly we read that that's not the case. And so now in the future, the Lord will have to cut off the citizens of Judah. as well. And it's at that point the Lord says, therefore wait for me. He's talking though at that point to his faithful remnant, those who did trust in him. And he says in verse 8, wait until I vindicate my name, wait until I appease my righteous jealousy, and I'm going to do that when I wipe out sinful men from the face of the earth. But the focus of our passage is really not on the condemnation of the wicked. It's mentioned in verse eight. But the great theme that we began last week in verses nine through 10 and continue today in verses 11 through 13 is we sometimes have to wait for the full mercies of God. Even as those who've seen the full revelation of God in Christ, we know that we still have to wait. Well, we mentioned four of those mercies last week from nine and 10. And we're going to specify five more demonstrations of God's mercy. Just the fact that there are nine indications of God's mercy in these few verses is a wonderful reminder to us of just how merciful and kind and gracious God is. Well, verse nine reminds us, as Jehovah promises, that God's people will be granted His pure, cleansing speech. And we said last week, we really believe that's the speech of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as it's revealed to them. And when that gospel is revealed to them, secondly then, they will, in response, call upon the name of the Lord and be saved from their sins. And then thirdly, those who do so will serve him, we said, with one accord, as the verse before us indicates, verse 9, literally could be translated, work shoulder to shoulder, work side by side with other believers who've called upon the name of the Lord in the service of his kingdom. And verse 10 reminds us as well that we will worship the Lord along with others from around the world. Yes, even the remote region beyond the river Jews and Gentiles will bring their offerings to the Lord across the globe before our Lord returns, and that's worth waiting for. We also emphasized last week that the time of this waiting comes to an end when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed, and that revelation of the Messiah doesn't occur in just, I mean, it does begin to occur, sorry for that. Let me back that up. It does begin to occur in his first advent. But as his kingdom continues to spread in this age, as more people hear the gospel, as more people call upon his name, as more people serve him, as more people worship him, we see even more how it's being fulfilled. And we ultimately, of course, are waiting for the complete fulfillment of Zephaniah's prophecy when God's justice and mercy are on full display at the Second Advent. And when King Jesus returns, he will fully vindicate his own name. He will execute divine wrath upon the wicked and display his eternal mercy on the righteous, who by his grace have called upon the name of the Lord. And so when we see the phrase as we begin verse 11, on that day, just as verse nine says, at that time, and verse eight tells us, for the day when I rise, don't think of it as a one-time incident, don't think of it certainly as a 24-hour period, but rather consider it the entire gospel age. And it is during this age that the mercies described for us in verses 9 through 13 begin to be bestowed upon God's people. And God's people, from our text, are identified as those, in verse 11, who inhabit the humble, who inhabit my holy mountain. In verse 13, they're identified as those who are left. in Israel. And so some would limit this promise of mercy upon only physical Israel. Many of us grew up believing that, being taught that. Those of Jewish blood who will once more dwell in Jerusalem in a restored geographical nation and kingdom in the future. But let me remind you, Those given the gospel, those who call on the name of the Lord, those who serve and worship him in verses 9 and 10 are not just those of Jewish blood. They're both Jews and Gentiles, are they not? And so as we consider five more manifestations of God's mercy in verses 11 through 13, we'll examine them and see that they are promises to both Jews and Gentiles in this gospel age. So as we begin, let me first emphasize that day of verse 11 is the day when Jews and Gentiles alike make up the true Israel of God. And this, of course, is a major, major teaching of the Apostle Paul. Paul himself, who was brought up in Judaism, who was a prominent Pharisee, who, in his own words in Philippians 3, 5, was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Yet God, in his infinite wisdom, chose Paul and Paul's ministry and Paul's teaching to be apostle to the Gentiles to demonstrate that with the coming of Jesus, true spiritual Israel of God consisted of all who called upon the name of the Lord and are members of his church. Providentially, our study in Philippians chapter 3, this upcoming few weeks, we'll be discussing this straight on. And so we're not going to look at Philippians 3 this morning, although we could. We could also turn to Ephesians 2 to reinforce what we're saying here, that Jews and Gentiles would be gathered together. You may recall, Chuck read that portion of God's word for us during the distribution of the elements. last Lord's Day, and let me just share with you two verses from there. In Ephesians 2.12, when Paul addresses the Gentiles, he said, remember, you are, before your conversion at times, separated from Christ, you are alienated from the commonwealth in Israel. But later on in verse 19, he says, or 18, you are fellow citizens with the saints, you are now members of the household of God. But I want us to turn to Romans 9 and then to Galatians. And we're not going to spend a whole lot of time exegeting each verse here. But I just want us to see these two reminders of the fact that what we're saying is true and to emphasize that the mercies of God in Christ extend to all ethnic groups today. And that's the clear teaching of the New Testament. And that, I believe, is the fulfillment of what Zephaniah is telling us. in his third chapter. So as we read Romans 9, we read beginning with verse 1, Paul says, I'm speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit. And we know, of course, that same Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write these words. I've great sorrow, I have unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed. I were cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. He knows that they've been cut off. He's willing to trade places with them. They're Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, came the Messiah, who's God over all, blessed forever. Paul, recognizing the great truth of Jesus, gives us a brief doxology there as well. But still, it's true. Those who had inherited all these blessings had rejected him just as they had in Zephaniah's day. And then verse six, Paul goes on, it's not as though the word of God it fills, for not all who are dissented from Israel belong to Israel. And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. It's only through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And this means that it's not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. And then Paul goes on from there and talks about the difference between the descendants of Isaac and, of course, of Esau. And so we see very clearly, even from this, that some of the Jews are excluded from being the true Israel of God. Well, who replaces them? Look at Romans 10, verse 11. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in Jesus will not be put to shame. And it's really interesting that as we read verse 11 of Zephaniah 3, It begins with these words, on that day, you shall not be put to shame. Well, who are these people that won't be put to shame? There's no distinction, according to verse 12, between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. And again, let me remind you, the Lord Jehovah is the Lord Jesus himself, one in the same God. And so those who recognize him as Lord, indeed, whether Jew or Gentile, are blessed by him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Again, echoing what we read in Zephaniah 3.9, for at that time I will change the spirits of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them who call upon the name the Lord. And so we are reminded from Paul's words in Romans just as we are throughout the book of Galatians. And I know we studied Galatians in Sunday school a few months ago and we kept coming back to this great truth, but let's just be reminded in a couple chapters of Galatians. Galatians 3, we'll pick it up with verse 27, Galatians 3 verse 27. As Paul continues to talk about the unity of God's people, regardless of their ethnicity, he says this, verse 27, for as many of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. See, it doesn't matter where you come from, Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, whatever, when I left out Australia, it doesn't matter. If you've been baptized into Christ, you're one with Christ and with his people. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free. There's no male. There's no female. We're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring. See, you are the true Israel of God. You are the true descendants of Abraham. You are the heirs that we just read about in Romans according to promise. What unites us as God's people? Obviously, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. are rejoicing in his death on our behalf. That's how Paul ends the book of Galatians, chapter 6. Notice Paul, who could have been bragging about how great his Jewish heritage was, but he knows that gets him no standing before the Lord. So what does he say as he concludes all of this? In verse 14, he says this, far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, eye to the world. What is Paul saying there? Paul's saying, you know what, it's not my Jewish blood that saved me, it's Christ's blood. that saves me. And we can say that as God's people today, right? Regardless of our ethnic heritage, we are saved and we boast not in ourselves, but in the Lord Jesus. Because circumcision counts for nothing, nor does uncircumcision. What matters is a new creation. What matters is we've been made new by the Holy Spirit as we have embraced the gospel We have called upon the name of the Lord to be saved. As for all who walk by this rule, if that's your creed, then peace and mercy is upon them. And peace and mercy is upon us. But notice how Paul identifies us at the very end here. the Israel of God. Brothers and sisters, the Church of God is indeed the Israel of God. The promises of mercy that are extended on that great day in Zephaniah 3 are extended to all of God's people now in this age. And let me read then, Zephaniah 3, 11 through 13, and be reminded of all of these mercies. On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me. For then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones. You shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. And those who are left in Israel, they shall do no injustice. They shall speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. where they shall graze and they shall lie down and none shall make them afraid. And as we read that, the description of what ultimately awaits us, you may say, well, this all has to do with our time in heaven, in glory, when there'll be no more sin and there'll be no more sinners. But let me emphasize, just as we explained earlier, and let me remind you again, our passage is fulfilled in both the first and the second advents of Christ. and the time between them as well. So we do well to consider that day of verse 11, and we need to see that it begins with life on earth for believers. This isn't just something that awaits us in glory. It ends with our lives in heaven, but it begins with our lives on earth. And we're going to see that as we consider each term separately. in just a minute. But in theological terms, what I'm saying to you is this, we have a picture here in verses 11, 12, and 13, not just of our glorification, but we have a wonderful picture of our justification and of our sanctification as well. And that's why we do well to heed what Paul reminds us all in Philippians chapter three, verse 20. This is one of those times where the chapter division are clearly not inspired by the Lord, because what we see in 20 and 21, we really need to add the first verse of chapter four as well. So let me do that for us now. Paul's just told us in Philippians three that those who've rebelled against God, those who are enemies of the cross will be destroyed. But then Paul says in verse 20 of chapter three, our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. See, waiting for the full fulfillment, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Yes, that's the ultimate goal. That's the glorification. But notice what Paul then says right away. Therefore, because that's true, my brothers, my brothers whom I love and my long for, my joy and my crown, I want you to stand firm in the Lord. My beloved, don't retreat. Be ready to fight the good fight. We're gonna talk about standing firm a little more as we consider Ephesians 6 in Sunday school. But the point here is this, while we wait, we work. The glorification awaits us as a result of our justification and our sanctification. So let's then consider then those five terms separately a little bit this morning. As we turn back then to Zephaniah 3, we're reminded On that day, you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me. And we just read the same thing in Romans 12, 10, 12. Those who believe in him shall not be put to shame. This, of course, does not mean that we will callously continue in our sins. and not be remorseful or ashamed. See, Zephaniah has already said that's how the unjust people act. In Zephaniah 3, 5, the unjust shows no shame. Ultimately, as we said, and I'll keep saying this, we will have no shame and it will all be gone in glory when all our sin is gone. Sin and its shame will be completely vanquished in our glorified state. Yet, even for us as the redeemed people on earth, there is a sense in which we no longer face the shame of our sin. We who've been made right with God, we who've been justified by the righteousness of Christ, have had the curse, the penalty, the shame of our sin removed by Christ's death as our substitute on the cross. And we now are also set apart. We're sanctified, separated from sin, yes, even in this life. And I want you to turn back to Titus because we read Titus 2 as our New Testament reading with the intent of seeing that what Paul is telling us here is exactly what Zephaniah is saying will take place. We wait for that glorification, but as we wait, we are God's justified, sanctified people who see the shame of our sin gradually, along with the practice of our sin, going away from us. And so we read in Titus 2, verse 11, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. And of course, that grace has appeared in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The grace is extended to us as Christ dies on the cross to save us from our sins. And we are made right with God. We are justified because of his death on our behalf. Verse 14 goes back and reminds us, he gave himself for us to redeem us from all. lawlessness. It's really fascinating to me. Paul goes back and forth from the past first event, looking forward to the second event, and that intertwining time in which we live. And that goes back to what we said in Zephaniah, the gradual, continual fulfillment of that promise. So there we are now, as justified saints because of Christ's redemption. So what's the result? Verse 12 is the result. We have been training to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age. Or as he says in verse 14, he gave himself to redeem us so that he could purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. And with that zealousness for good works, and with, by God's grace, the ability to do those good works, the shame of our sin becomes less and less not perfectly until what we read in verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. When the glorious Son of God returns for us, we will share in his glory. We will be the completely purified, the fully redeemed saints of God. Isn't that worth waiting for, beloved? Isn't that worth saying? Praise be to God, the shame of my sin has been removed on the cross, and now I want to demonstrate that by living a sanctified, godly life until my Savior returns for me. So please, beloved, watch, wait, and work. And as we go back to Zephaniah, we see the second mercy of God, second demonstration of the mercy of God in our text this morning. And it's a sovereign God who's at work. The grace and the mercy that comes because it is the Lord who's doing the wonderful things that he's doing in and with his people. And so we read in the middle of verse 11, I will remove from your midst your proud, exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. but I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly, and they shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. See, the Lord's the one who will remove arrogant, pride, self-exalting individuals. He's the one that will also remove pride and arrogance and self-exaltation in our own lives. And that will leave only those who are lowly and gentle in spirit in his kingdom. The haughty are replaced by the humble. Only those who reject self-righteousness, only those who see themselves as helpless sinners will be allowed on Jehovah's mountain in that great day. And these citizens of Zion are further described for us. In Zephaniah 3, at the very end, Zephaniah goes back to describing the citizens, the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem, the true Israel of God. And so, similar phrase, behold, at that time, in verse 19, I will deal with all your oppressors, and I will save the lame, I will gather the outcasts, I will change their shame, into praise, no more shame for sin. They will rejoice over me, and they will be renowned in the earth. At that time, I will bring you in. At that time, when I gather you together, for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples when I restore your fortunes before the Lord, before your eyes, says the Lord. And yes, God is now gathering the weak, the lowly, into his church here on earth. He is exalting those who are humbled and he's humbling those who are exalted. And see the Jews of Zephaniah's day arrogantly thought They could inhabit God's holy mountain. They could worship in Jerusalem even though they were described already for us that we considered a couple of weeks ago in verse one of chapter three as rebellious, those who continually sinned against the Lord as defiled. They were unclean because of their sin. They were the oppressing city, the city that was unjust in the way they dealt with other human beings. And as a result of that, God says, because of your arrogance, I will destroy you. And of course, that happens. The Babylonian exile comes, and Jerusalem is destroyed. And it's almost 600 years later, that day of our text arrived, when Christ inhabited Jerusalem. And he began the process of removing the haughty of his day from the true people of God. And in mercy, he replaced them with the lame, with the outcast, with the weak, and with the lowly. Doesn't that sound to you like I just summarized his gospel ministry? Rejecting the haughty, being kind and gracious to those who are meek and humble. So many places we could turn to, to just summarize what we've said today. But I want us to turn to Matthew 23. It might not have been the first place you would have thought of, but in Matthew 23, Jesus has had it with the arrogant religious leaders of his day, the scribes and the Pharisees. And he pronounces seven woes, seven condemnations, seven curses upon the religious leaders, those whom everyone thought were the great religious people, the spiritual giants of their day. But notice in chapter 23, verse 11, Jesus says, the greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. That theme constantly appears in the New Testament, does it not? And of course, our Lord Jesus is the greatest example of that. But he doesn't just give us that general principle. He then says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You neither enter it yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Not only do you not enter the kingdom, you hinder others from entering. And then what an incredible condemnation comes next from the lips of our Lord. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites. You travel across sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. So you get religious followers and you think you're all going to be blessed in heaven. Our Lord Jesus makes it very clear, no haughty, no self-righteous, no arrogant raggers will be in heaven. When Christ returns, he will once and for all remove all such people from his presence. But humble sinners will spend eternity glorifying God and enjoying him forever. Our Lord taught the same as he began his public ministry when he said this, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Beloved, may God grant to all of us to find his mercy more upon us. May we remove all the sinful foolish pride in our own lives as we dwell in Christ's kingdom here on earth until we stand face to face with him in glory. The humble and lowly people of God are described next for us in verse 12 of Zephaniah in this way. In verse 12. I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. It's interesting to note that verse nine tells us those who become his people are those who call upon the name of the Lord. And now verse 13 in parallel to that, or verse 12 rather, tells us that those who call upon the name of the Lord will have refuge in him. See, those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from their sin, they are able to rest safely and securely in their Savior. He's brought them victory over all their enemies. He is their fortress. He is their hiding place. Do you remember David's testimony? We sometimes sing this hymn based on Psalm 18, verses one and two. I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. That's really the shared testimony of all God's saints today, is it not? Isn't that your testimony, brothers and sisters? The Lord Jesus Christ is your refuge. You've called upon his name. You now in mercy have received saving faith. because of the Lord Jesus. Really, you have full trust and rest in the Lord. That's the picture for us with the idea of Jesus being our refuge. I love our catechism at this point. It summarizes very well what is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace. Nothing we can manufacture, deserve on our own. whereby we receive the Lord Jesus and we just rest upon him alone for salvation. Not anything we can do, not the works of our hands, but all of what Christ has done for us. And that's what Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 remind us. And many of us can recite it. And I'm doing this without it in front of me. It's always dangerous. For by grace, we have been saved through faith. And that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works. lest any of us should boast. We boast not in our own works. We boast in the cross of Christ, as we've been reminded earlier. We boast that we have the shed blood of Jesus removing our sin. The shame of sin is gone. We now can rest and trust in the Lord completely. In the true Israel, on that day in which we now live, we have been blessed with the pure speech of the gospel. We have been called, we have called on the name of the Lord. We have now the joy of serving and worshiping Him with the saints around the world. We've escaped that shame and penalty. for our sins that we deserve and we now come to his holy mountain in complete humility lowliness of spirit as we rest and receive Christ Jesus and we have experienced the blessing of now being free to speak and to act in a righteous manner. And that's what the next portion of Zephaniah tells us. But I skipped something. I skipped something very important. Let me remind you, too, that we have this wonderful, glorious picture of receiving and resting upon Jesus alone with the same image that we see throughout scripture. We are the little sheep. We are the flock of the Lord. Notice verse 13, they shall graze and they shall lie down. Jesus, our good shepherd, died for us, he takes care of us, and we must now simply trust and rest upon him as he makes us lie down in green pastures, as he leads us beside still waters, as he restores our souls, as Psalm 23, two and three, so wonderfully. Remind us and as I said those who humbly Rest in Jesus are given this great mercy in the Lord Jesus that we read in verses Verse 13. They shall do no injustice. They shall speak no lies and nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue Yes, let me say it one more time. This will only ultimately happen in glory But even now on earth God has called us to a life of righteous deeds righteous words. Many of us can quote Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 as we just did, talking about the glorious, glorious truth that we're saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. But how many of us can also then go on and recite verse 10? Verse 10 tells us, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God We're prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So we are God's people, called then to be righteous in our deeds and in our words, and it's because of God's mercy we're able to do so. And so chapter four, verse 25 reminds us, therefore having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak truth. with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. The injustice, the deceit, the wicked talk of the people of Israel are not how we live, beloved, day in and day out. By God's grace, we are becoming more and more just, righteous in our behavior and in our speech. And that's not just true for us individually. It's true for us corporately together as well. We often read Ephesians 5, 25 through 27 as a premarital counseling text or as a reminder to husbands how they're supposed to treat their wives. And it's true. Paul starts it with Ephesians 5. Husbands, love your wives. but notice how and notice the great joy for us as God's people today. Christ loved the church. He gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot without any wrinkle or any such thing that she may behold it. that she may be without blemish. Paul went out of his way to keep emphasizing that. We're cleansed, we're sanctified, we're holy, we're without blemish. We are those who are spotless and one day we'll stand before the Lord in glory, completely glorified as his pure bride. And so we rejoice in all these great mercies of God in Christ Jesus because that day has come with the coming of our Lord Jesus. And that day continues now in our lives. And there's one more phrase that Zephaniah gives us. The fifth great mercy extended to us at the end of verse 13. None shall make them afraid. None shall make them afraid. Beloved, why do we fear? How many times in scripture do we hear the words, the two simple words, fear not? We have nothing to fear. God has taken away our sin. God has given us his Holy Spirit. Jesus is assuredly coming back for us who are his people. And Paul reminds us in that glorious section in Romans 8, much of which we could probably recite. But let me remind you, he does talk about our being justified, but the end of verse 30, he tells us that those who are justified are also glorified. And then he says, What then shall we say to these things? If God's for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not also with him graciously give us all things? The father graciously gave up Jesus. Jesus graciously surrendered all of his divine prerogatives as he left heaven's glory and became a man for us. And if he did all that, what in the world do we have to fear? Why do we worry? about anything. Paul sums it all up. I'm sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, just in case you missed something, Paul just throws that in, right? Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Your Savior died for you. Your Savior loves you. Your Savior is coming back for you. What do you have to fear? Whom do you have to fear in this life? We know the answer. The answer very simply is nothing, no one. But we do struggle, don't we? And our Savior tenderly says to us in the pages of Scripture, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Your shepherd who died for you assures you that it's your father's good will to give you his kingdom. And let me assure you, the Father's goodwill always comes to pass. You who are citizens of his kingdom, your king is coming again, just as he did the first time. So you keep waiting for that day. You keep working until that day, watching for the time when the fullness of the mercies of God in Christ are fully revealed, the culmination of that great day. Let me also say, if your heart today causes you to recognize that you're not part of Christ's little flock, if you've not received the mercies of God in Christ, I exhort you to heed these words of the Lord Jesus, the one who just told his little flock not to fear. A few verses earlier in Luke 12 said this. I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he's killed has authority to cast in hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. This is the same one in Zephaniah 3.8 who will come to destroy all the wicked. You see the holy, merciful Savior who will come again to welcome those who are waiting and watching and working for him. He's the same, holy. just judge who will condemn unrepentant sinners to hell. So I exhort you, turn from your sins, receive, rest upon him alone for salvation. Excuse me. Rest assured that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Excuse me. Let's break. Father, we do marvel at the mercies of God in Christ Jesus. We thank you that Zephaniah didn't just say these things would happen. They did. Jesus, our Savior, came and he has redeemed us. He is gathering people from around the world to himself. And he is coming again. How we rejoice. Father, we have to confess that we do not watch, we don't wait. We don't work as fervently as we should. Forgive us for oftentimes shamelessly continuing to sin. Forgive us for not seeking to do those righteous deeds and words that you call us to do as your people. Forgive us for our arrogance. Forgive us for being fearful. But once more, we marvel and rejoice in knowing that our standing with you is not based on our performance, but on what our Savior has done for us. So help us to watch, to wait, to work until he comes again. And if there are those, Father, apart from the mercies of God in Christ today, would you please bring them to yourself? Would you cause them to bend their knee to see that there is no hope apart from Jesus? and will one day come again. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.