This morning we turn to one of the minor prophets, the prophecy of Zephaniah. The prophecy of Zephaniah. And chapter 3, and verse 12. Zephaniah, chapter 3, verse 12. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Zephaniah, his name means Jehovah has guarded or kept, appears to have been born in the wicked reign of Manasseh, but his prophecy was delivered in the reign of Josiah, who reigned in Judah from 640 to 609 BC. Josiah was the last good king to reign in Judah. And in spite of that king's godly reforms, So much change was superficial, almost cosmetic. And the unbelief and the wickedness of that kingdom remained. Now there are basically three parts to Zephaniah's message, which I can't go into in any detail, but I will make reference to these three parts. In chapter 1, from verse 2 to 18, you have a solemn announcement. The announcement is one of judgment, which Zephaniah says will come upon the world and will also come upon Judah. It will overtake sinners suddenly and unexpectedly, and the judgment will prove most dreadful in its effects. So a solemn announcement. This is followed by a gracious invitation. Chapter two, verse one, right up to chapter three, verse eight. A call to seek the Lord, to gather themselves together, Verse three, seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth. Seek righteousness, meekness. I call to inquire after God for mercy and grace, that when the judgment does fall upon the kingdom, they will be spared, they will be hidden on that day. Further reference is made in the latter part of chapter 2 and chapter 3, verses 1 to 8, to the judgment which is impending. Solemn announcement, gracious invitation, then thirdly, wonderful promise Chapter 3, verse 9 through to 20. In this passage, we are told that sinners will be saved. They will be brought together in one company. They will experience deliverance from evil, but they will rejoice to know God delighting in them. There's one particular verse that ever appeals to me in this section. In verse 17, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. So there is the outline of the prophecy as a whole. Now we're in chapter three. The first part of this chapter deals with Judah, a guilty city, if ever there was one, described in verse one of chapter three, filthy and polluted. A city that has not obeyed the voice of God and has received not correction, who's not trusted in the Lord and has not drawn near to her God. The Lord's people are exhorted to wait upon God, trusting in him and looking to him for help for better days. And it's in that context that we have these words I will leave in the midst of thee, that's in the midst of Jerusalem, an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Now there are three things to observe from the text I think this morning. The first is the remnant. I believe in the midst of thee a people, though the city is sinful and though it is guilty and though it is reserved unto judgment, amazing that in the midst of her is this professing people. The remnant. Secondly, the suffering, an afflicted and a poor people. And thirdly, the confidence They shall trust in the name of the Lord. Now, with God's help, we'll look at these words this morning, I hope, to our prophet. The first heading, then, is the remnant. This is God's word used of these people in verse 13. The remnant of Israel. And what is a remnant? Well, it's a small portion of the whole. It's the faithful few who hold the line. And it's a word that is used in the New Testament twice in the epistle to the Romans, for example, had not the Lord left us a remnant, Paul says, we would have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. And in chapter 11, verse five, he says, even so at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. In the worst of times, God has a faithful company. That company may be very small, but sometimes it can be quite numerous. But the company is made up of men and women who have been chosen by God, and who have been separated by grace, and they differ because of their integrity, and because of the truth that is in them, the sincerity, the grace. Now this is according to God's purpose and it's according to his promise. As to his purpose, if we look at the classic chapter On this, in Ephesians chapter one, we'll see that from before the foundation of the world, he chose a people who would be before him. Not only accepted by him, but who would serve him, and who would keep a good, sound relationship with him. And it's not only according to purpose, but it's according to promise. When the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16 said that he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it, he meant that in every age, no matter how dark, no matter what the declension, no matter if there was great apostasy, I will build my church. The church shall be there. And the gates of hell will not prevail to extinguish that light or utterly destroy that church. That is God's promise. And we may wonder God's reasons for this. If we go back in church history, we'll see that even in the dark ages, when ignorance generally prevailed and superstition was the order of the day, yet there were good men whose writings have been preserved and have come down to us. Men who did have some wrong ideas, some faulty doctrines, but who in general, maintained the faith of God's elect right through those years. And it has been ever since. Now why is it that there's always been, as it were, a Noah? There's always been an Abraham. A lot. and Elijah. I believe it is because God would magnify his distinguishing grace. God will make these people different to the generality who depart from the living God and depart from the faith. And in the universal darkness, it is to the glory of God's grace that where that grace is given, people stand and they maintain their ground. And they would be the first to say, it's not with us, they would say it's all by the grace of God. So that's the first reason why it always is, that there always is a remnant. The second reason is this. These people, however few they are, however frail they feel, they are God's witnesses to the rest, who may have turned aside and sadly, tragically turned away. In the prophecy of Isaiah 4310, ye shall be my witnesses, saith the Lord. And in a way, in the most desperately wicked time, the most terribly unbelieving time, we have a role that we never appreciated before, and that is to bear witness to God, his Son, and the truth. And the third reason why God acts this way is because it will introduce better times. Whenever scripture speaks of a remnant, it is not as if that remnant will always be a remnant. The figure used in Isaiah chapter 6, for example, is that of a tree that has been cut down. And it seems as if the tree is finished. There's no future for the tree. Yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and shall be eaten as a tile tree and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves. So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. And the remnant is likened to a little shoot coming out of a fallen, apparently dead tree. Will it always be a little shoot? And that little shoot will itself become a tree, Erlan. So sometimes, in the history of God's church, we seem to be very few who keep to the old paths and maintain the old truths. And we can become very disheartened. We seem to become fewer and fewer. But no, God preserves the remnant that his gospel may be maintained, his church may be preserved, but his intention in future days is to make of that seed, of that shoot, something great. The kingdom will grow until the boughs of it stretch across the heavens Well, who is it that makes up this remnant, even today? How can we describe this remnant? Well, there are certain features about them, and we need to do a little heart searching here as to see if we are within, within the circle of the remnant. The first thing that can be said of the remnant is that the Lord is very precious to them. The world may abandon itself to secularism and humanism, to godlessness, but they won't leave their God. They say with the psalmist, whom have I in heaven but they? There is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. To them, the Lord is precious. In the words of Isaiah 26, the desire of our soul is toward thy name. These people love God. Love him more than popularity. Love him more than peace. love him more than anything else in this world. To them, he is gold, fine gold, altogether lovely, the chief among 10,000. A second characteristic of them is that they are prayerful. Now, in the book of Job, In chapter 37, we are told of the hypocrite. And the scripture says of the hypocrite that he will not call upon God always. If he does offer prayer, it is only for effect. He will soon give up prayer. But of the godly, that's not true. This is the generation of them that seek thy face, that seek thy face. Oh, Jacob. They constantly resort to prayer. They are found regularly in the presence of God. They come with their petitions for God's glory and his people's good. They are prayerful. And the third characteristic of the remnant, the first is that they esteem God more highly than any other. The second is that they give themselves to intercession and to supplication. And the third is that they are zealous for the Lord of hosts and ever attempting to do great things for God. Even though that presents difficulty, even though that may bring hardship, they'll not move on this. The people that do know their God shall do exploits, the book of Daniel tells us. They're not prepared to be sitting in a holy huddle being comforted by ministry to their own souls, they fain would do exploits for the Lord, accomplishing something in their generation for God. And that must ever be the motivation. Once we are satisfied with our own spiritual conditions, satisfied with our own numerical strength as a church, we're all but finished. God hasn't put us here to be at ease, he's put us here to serve him, to advance his kingdom, and to see impact upon the community, upon the county, and upon the country. That is what motivated the Apostle Paul, Peter, and others in the early church. And the same spirit must stir and move us in our day. This is the spirit of the remnant. So what's their comfort? Their comfort is that God takes account of them and has his eye upon them. You think of Isaiah 57. To this man will I look. And again, in Isaiah 66. To the humble and the contrite, to the man who trembles at my word, even in the midst of prevailing unbelief, to this man I will look. That is, he will look favorably and kindly and generously upon them. He'll look after them, He'll supply them with their needs. He'll see that they do not want. The second thing about them is this, that he recognizes what they're doing. And he honors them for that. Now, in the book of Revelation, and chapter three, we have one of those letters to the seven churches. And this is what is said to the church at Sardis. Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Now do you notice that? Thou hast a few names. He knew their names. And He delighted in their persons. Why? Because they hadn't gone with the great majority into unbelief and into sin. So not only does the Lord take account of the remnant, but He has a precious relationship with them. He regards them as his friends. And he keeps them. He keeps them like the mountains round about Jerusalem. The Lord preserves his faithful people. They are Now my friends, before I leave this point, it is faithfulness, such faithfulness that counts in the end. Some people think it's activity that matters most. How much are we doing? We must be doing something, that's for sure. But we must put no confidence in our busyness. It's not activity, it's not even success. Some may boast of getting huge numbers, large congregations, and so on, but that's not the end of it. What we must be aiming at and seeking to demonstrate is faithfulness to God, his word, and his church. Be thou faithful unto death. That is what glorifies God. And at the end of the day, when we stand before our Saviour, what we wish to hear is well done, good and faithful sermon. Good because a genuine believer. Faithful because we've held the ground. All for grace to be kept in the remnant. And I would strongly advise you, my dear friends, not to be influenced by others in this regard. Your conscience is before God. And therefore, you must do what is right, not what you think will meet others' approval. Take your stand for what your conscience tells you, and having done that, stand. The remnant. Now secondly, the suffering. is something said of the remnant here, I will also leave in the midst of thee, that's in the midst of the kingdom, the midst of the city, an afflicted and poor people. It's not perhaps what we would have expected. These people are here described. They're not the prospered. They're not the victorious. They are an afflicted and poor people. Two things, afflicted and poor. Those who make up the remnant are afflicted. That is the name of God's people, all thou afflicted, Isaiah 54. And the apostle told the early Christians in Acts 14 that they must through great tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. The Lord's true people are an afflicted people. In what way? For they have many things to cope with, to counter, and hopefully to overcome. Not so much with the others you've given in to the world and the flesh of the devil. Not so these people within the remnant. They are fighting. They are resisting. And how comes their affliction? Well, first of all, they are afflicted by the body of sin which is in them. They have a fallen nature. It's ever moving them to sin against their profession. It's ever suggesting to them that there's a path which is easier than this, even though it be a compromised path. It's the source of every evil thought, every profane purpose. And the Lord's true people are afflicted by that inner corruption, which is sometimes so strong Secondly, they're afflicted by Satan's temptations. There is not only an enemy within, but there's an enemy without. A roaring lion, as Peter describes him, going about to devour Christian people. And they are afflicted by temptations such as the world knows nothing of, and the so-called carnal Christian knows nothing of, but they are oppressed, particularly assailed by the evil one, might I suggest, because they are faithful. The story told of a man going out with his servants in time passed going shooting, shooting ducks. And his way was to shoot the ducks as they rose from the swamps and the water and then order his servants in to secure the ducks. One day he took his gun and he shot at the flying ducks and there's one of his victims that fell like stone from the sky. The servant anticipated his master's order and ran to secure this duck, only to find that his master said, leave that one, he's dead. After the others that were wounded but not mortally. I sometimes think it's so with Satan. He doesn't tempt some people because they're stone-dead spiritually. No need. No need to go for them. But for those who are struggling because they've got life, those who are resisting, those who are seeking to escape the enemy, after them, he says, And so the faithful believer becomes the object of temptation. He may be afflicted sometimes with the very society of wicked persons in the world. Now the world we know hates the people of God. And sometimes we have to put up with the misunderstanding and the misrepresentation of a world that is no friend to grace, afflicted again. And sometimes we have to put up with such behavior even in the church. And that's always sad. Paul, when he's listing his various afflictions, in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 26, he says, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. The apostle knew what it was to suffer, not only at the hands of the wicked, but even at the hands of the godly. Afflicted. Those who make up the remnant can be vexed. They can be made very sorrowful. Paul speaks of his tears. Christ knew those tears when he wept over Jerusalem. Paul knew them when he tells the Ephesians. He had visited them from house to house with tears. To keep your place among the remnant is hard. And sometimes you'll suffer for it. Sometimes you'll break under it. But no way will you give up your place because you're made of better stuff. Because you will be true. And true to the end. an afflicted people, and secondly, a poor people. And this word could be used in a temporal sense, couldn't it? And Christ speaks of the poor having the gospel preached to them. And James speaks of the poor in this world. rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom. But there is such a thing as poverty of spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus said, the first of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. And it's true of those within the circle of the remnant. that they're spiritually poor, so they feel. They're aware that they have no good naturally in them. They are poor. They'll search in vain to find in them naturally any likeness to God, any righteousness. But even after they're converted, when they examine themselves, they'll be saying, I'm poor and needy. Such little grace. Such a small amount of knowledge. Such feeble experience. when we have done all, to quote the words of Christ, we are unprofitable servants. How humbling is this? And only all trouble in our personal lives and church life is caused because people think too highly of themselves. They step over the mark. Cause difficulty. But one of the remnant will never do that. Because he knows that there's no reason to think highly of himself. He's not worthy to be called an apostle. He's the least of all. He's the chief of sinners. Poor. And so poor that he's utterly dependent upon Christ and he comes to him time and again for more help, more strength, more pardon. He can't stand alone. That he can't do without him. He's got no confidence in himself for his ability to live the Christian life. He lives by the faith of the Son of God. He learns every day, without me ye can do nothing. And then thirdly and finally, we've seen the remnant, the suffering, the confidence. And they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The word name is used there because it includes everything by which God makes himself known especially in Christ. They will trust in the name of the Lord. They will trust in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. They will trust in the blood of Christ for their forgiveness. They will trust in the Spirit of Christ for their power to live godly in this world and to be sanctified. And they will trust in the fullness of Christ to meet their every need. So you see, my friends, These people are on their own. They are despised by the majority. I can't tell you how many times I've been called a puritan, an antiquarian, something that came out of the ark and even less fluttering. That makes no difference, does it? I've never, I've never been the servant of men. I'm the servant of God, as you are. The Master pleases what of men. We look to Christ to maintain us, whatever the world says. and whatever the professing church says. One day, I have to die. One day, I stand before my savior. One day, he will review my life. I live so that that day will have him say, well done. That's all that matters. and my confidence is in him to keep my conscience clear, to maintain me in the good way, and bring me without fall, without regret. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Let us stand for prayer. O Lord, keep us. We hear those words, be faithful unto death. Give us to be among the righteous who hold on their way and work stronger and stronger. It's not in our power to maintain us in the good way, but it is in thine. By thy grace, we pray, keep us with the remnant, the little flock, till we reach heaven. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.