All right, let's take our Bibles and turn to the book of Zephaniah, Zephaniah chapter 3. Zephaniah chapter 3, it is third to the last book of the Old Testament. Zephaniah chapter 3, and I'll begin reading at verse 14. Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. You shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear not, O Zion, let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors, and I will save the lame and gather the outcasts, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all 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 of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord." The book of Zephaniah ends in unimaginable joy. But such an ending would never have been expected at all from the hearers or the readers of Zephaniah's prophecy once they are into chapter 1, chapter 2, and even into the beginning of chapter 3. they would have expected rather scathing words of despair with no hope of reprieve as the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord's wrath that Zephaniah prophesies against them in those earlier chapters comes upon them. But as we read, there's rejoicing, there's singing, there's gladness and salvation. Now, there have been a few hints of such blessing along the way. In chapter 2, verse 3, it speaks of a possibility of being hidden in the day of the Lord's anger if they humble themselves before the Lord, if they seek him out. But to learn at the end here that there really is a day of joyful jubilation planned for God's people is totally unexpected. and it proves the gracious nature of our God. Truly, it is marvelous grace, as we just sang. It is he who, as God expressed it to Moses in Exodus chapter 33, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy unto whom I will show mercy. In other words, It's all up to Him. It's not what we expect, but it's what God is. It's who He is. It will occur. There is a day of hope. And we see the same thing then here in Zephaniah, in the third chapter. In verse nine, we saw the certainty of this day. Verse nine, for at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech. Just as the day of wrath was certain in the first chapters where God says, I will consume, I will judge, so there is this certainty in the day of hope. I will restore, I will save, it will occur. There's no doubt about it. And then we saw the characteristics of that day of hope. In verses 9 and 10, it is that of restoration. 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 from beyond the rivers of Cush. My worshipers, the daughters of my dispersed ones shall bring my offering. God will, in this day of hope, he will purify his people, he will restore them to their former glory and former allegiance to God as his faithful worshipers and servants. And then verse 11, as we saw last time, is just simply amazing as the characteristics of this day of hope, and that's a clear conscience. Verse 11, on that day you shall not be put to shame what a glorious hope that is no shame judah had earned her guilty conscience because of her deeds in They included, in verse one, rebellion. In verse two, disobedience, obstinance, unbelief. She knew Yahweh was her God, and yet they worshipped all kinds of other gods they worshipped. Baal is mentioned in chapter one. They worshipped the stars, and they also worshipped, of all people, Milcom. by which they offered their children in sacrifice. But God says of these same people in chapter three, verse 11, that he would remove their shame. How? Why? Because he would do what only God can do. The next point, the next characteristic of the day of hope, no more sin. Look at what it says in the text, verse 11 through 13. 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, and 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. Those who are left in Israel shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down and none shall make them afraid." All of their proud rebellion, their multiple iniquities, their deceitful tongues will all be removed by God's gracious activity. Now, if there's no more sin, and therefore no more shame, that bears down on our consciences, then the next characteristic is even better than that. No judgment, only joy. Now it's odd to see this, as I said in this passage, Zephaniah gives, in verse 14, four imperatives of joy. Imperative is a command. Four commands for rejoicing, followed in verse 15 by three reasons for rejoicing. And the imperatives of joy are fourfold. Notice them. Sing. Shout. Rejoice. Exult. Now it's odd to read Zephaniah and see so few imperatives. You'd think that throughout his prophecy, he'd be writing at every page, repent, repent, repent. That's been the theme of God's prophets. You read all the other prophets, you find those. We come to the New Testament with the last of the Old Testament prophets. What was John the Baptist's message? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent. Now there have been a few imperatives. Chapter one, verse seven is be silent. Be silent before the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. In verse 11, there's another imperative. Wail, O inhabitants of the mortar, for all the traders are no more, all who weigh out their silver are cut off. Wailing. And then verse chapter three and verse eight. Therefore, wait for me, declares the Lord. Remember when we looked at that, that's like you've done something naughty when you're a kid and your dad says, wait till we get home. That's what this has, that has that meaning here. The Lord says, wait, judgment's coming. There's also a group of imperatives in chapter two, verse three, seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility. But now in verse 14, there's a cluster of imperatives. And unlike all the others that speak of judgment, wailing, being silent, waiting, these imperatives put the readers in a state of wonder. They're all related words. And they seem redundant in our ears. But when the Bible makes a list of such synonyms, It's the writer's way of highlighting a central point. And that central point is rejoice. Notice verse 14. Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Now, this repetition here is building with intensity, like a great musical composition. Sometimes you see in music these little letters above the staff. You see a P or a PP or a F or an MF or an FF. These are all dynamic signature signs. So if you see a P, that's pianissimo, meaning soft. It then, as the music builds a little bit, you have mezzo forte, meaning medium loud. And then it crescendos even more to F forte, meaning loud. And then finally it climaxes with a double F, forte fortissimo, very loud. And when the choir reaches forte fortissimo, you get goosebumps. What a sound. And Zephaniah has four parts to his melodious oratorio here concerning the joy of the Lord. The first is sing. Now that word sing means to have jubilant joy in the context of music. In other words, God's people are to be a singing people. And if God has removed our sin so that we no longer have a guilty conscience, why wouldn't you sing, right? When you have every reason for joy, as you meditate on the excellency and the attributes and the activity of the Lord in your lives, you will sing. And so we find throughout the scripture this term is used, Psalm 51, 14. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. Psalm 59, 16, but I will sing of your power. Yes, I will sing aloud of your mercy, for you have been my defense and refuge in the day of trouble. When we have that, when you go through trouble and the Lord's with you and he provides for you, that's reason for singing. Psalm 95.1, O come, let us sing to the Lord, shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. If you've been saved from your sins, you have all the reason to rejoice and sing to the Lord. Psalm 145.7, they shall speak of your great goodness and sing of your righteousness. God's people should have no trouble, no inhibitions to singing. In fact, singing is not optional. It is also an imperative to the New Testament believer, Colossians 3.16, it's on your outline, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Singing to the Lord is not reserved for the more musically inclined. Singing to the Lord is for all of God's people. I remember my dad, when he was leading singing in our church, to get the people to sing, he'd always say this, God has made the canary to sing its beautiful tones to its creator. But he also made the crow, and he too sings his beautiful sound to his creator. Some of you are canaries. Some of you are crows. But like the canary and the crow, you lift up your voice and sing in joy to the Lord God of your salvation. Singing is not reserved for only the songs for which you are familiar. God's people, when they get to heaven, are gonna sing a new song. And you know, It's not gonna be quiet. They're gonna sing out loud. God's people should joyfully learn to sing new ways to praise God. As the song, as the hymn in our hymnal says, let those who, let those refuse to sing who never knew our God, the children of the heavenly King must speak their joys abroad. The only reason for a Christian not to sing, other than being sick, laryngitis, I understand. But the only other reason for a Christian not to sing is if we're living in sin. David was the singer of Israel, that was his title, one of his titles, the singer of Israel. And yet for a year after his sin with Bathsheba, living in unrepentant sin, he says in Psalm 51 that he had lost the joy of his salvation. And the reason is relayed in Psalm 32 about the same situation. He says, God's hand was heavy upon me day and night. In other words, it was that guilty conscience. He felt the shame of all of his sin. But he goes on to say in Psalm 32 5, when I acknowledge my sin and confess my transgression to the Lord and he forgave the iniquity of my sin, David could end the Psalm with verse 11 saying, be glad in the Lord and rejoice and shout for joy, all that are upright in heart. Those who are upright in heart, those who are walking with the Lord, have every reason in the world to rejoice and sing out their praises to the Lord. Often, when I'm going through a problem, whatever, I find myself singing, singing hymns, and they bring comfort. I remember when my grandfather died, and I was at Christian camp with the kids, and I came home, We were expecting people at the house, of course, and I was out cutting the grass. And I was cutting the grass, I was singing at the top of my lungs. They could hear me in the house. I was crying through the tears, but it brought such comfort. That's what the hymns and psalms and spiritual songs do for us. Don't just sing them here, but sing them here. And sing loudly here. But sing them. They're a source of joy for us all. That's what the righteous do out of thankfulness for what God does for us. Psalm 100 verses one and two, make a joyful noise to the Lord. Come before his presence with singing. But then there's the second word, shout. That means to raise a noise. It's used in First Chronicles 1528 of the loud noise of trumpets that blared as the ark returned to Jerusalem. In Ezra 3, verses 10 and 11, the returned exiles finish the building of the foundation of the temple, and it says, then all the people shouted a great shout and praised the Lord. It's used in Joshua 6, when Israel's army shouted and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. In 1 Samuel 17, the Jews shouted when Goliath was killed by David and the Philistines routed. And when God, verse 15 here, takes away our enemies, it's what we must do as well. Shout to the Lord. Now who are our enemies? We'll get to that in a little bit. The third imperative, rejoice. Or your text might say, be glad. It's an emotional joy that is seen in the eyes. Have you ever seen someone's eyes light up when they're rejoicing? You remember when your kid, when they were small, and they asked for a particular thing they wanted for Christmas? They kept asking, and they kept asking, and they kept asking. He said, I'm not going to get that. You don't need that. And then Christmas morning or Christmas Eve, whenever it was, you open your presents. They open up that gift and find the one that they've been wanting. And they're so surprised that they can't say a thing. But their eyes, they just bulge. That's what we're talking about here. They were so excited, they hugged the present with joy and their eyes light up. Thank you, daddy and mom. This is the kind of joy we're talking about here that we should be praising God for, for all the things, that special gift of salvation that he has given us. We're to rejoice. Now in the Old Testament, many occasions cheered the man with gladness where this word is used. Exodus 4.14, when you meet a long lost relative, it comes unexpectedly. Proverbs 15.20, a wise son makes a father's heart glad. Proverbs 12.25, anxiety weighs a man down, but a good word makes it glad. but the most frequently cited reason for this word is the Lord and his salvation. Psalm 32 11 again, be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart. Why? Because of verse one, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. If that doesn't make your eyes light up, there's something wrong. Psalm 40, 16 says, those who love God's salvation will rejoice and be glad and say, the Lord be magnified. But then there's the fourth imperative, exalt with all your heart. The word exalt means to rejoice with triumph. It speaks of extreme joy. Psalm 28, seven, my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise him. Psalm 68, three, let the righteous be glad, let them exult before God, let them rejoice exceedingly. But that isn't enough for Zephaniah. He is saying rejoice exceedingly, but then adds with your whole heart. In other words, that has reference to emotions. Let it affect your emotions. Zephaniah wants them to worship God so that there's tears of joy, there's shouting, singing, whooping, dancing, rejoicing. Jonathan Edwards in his pamphlet, The Religious Affections, writes, the religion that God requires and will accept does not consist of weak, dull, and lifeless wishes raising us but a little above a state of indifference. God and his word greatly insist that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion. In other words, we are to cast aside all cautious, reserve, and sing out, sing loudly, sing passionately, sing joyfully. But of what should we be joyful? Zephaniah gives us three reasons in verse 15 to rejoice. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You shall never again fear evil. Notice the three reasons. First of all, it basically is centered in the Lord. Reason for the joy, simply the Lord, who he is, but also what he has done. Number one, he's taken away his judgments. Number two, he's taken away our enemies. And number three, he is in our midst as king, so we need not fear. Now these verbs are all prophetic perfects in the Hebrew language. It's a device to speak of certainty. The verbs are used as though God's people already are enjoying these blessings. Now we know they're not, experientially. But as far as God is concerned, it's already happened. It's like that passage in Romans 8, remember? My mind went blank. I thought of it, and then it's gone. What do I think of it? 2930. Yeah, for those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. Those are all past tense verbs. It's already a done deal in God's mind. And same thing is going on here. But notice the first one, no more judgment. Now put yourself in the shoes of these Jews who've read the first two thirds of Zephaniah's prophecy. You know As them, you know that God's judgments are coming. Zephaniah has pronounced it over and over and over again in those first two and a half chapters. And you know that those judgments are not corrective in nature, but punitive. All the woe and wrath that is pronounced against you is your deserved punishment. You know your sin. It's the day of distress, the day of devastation, words used by Zephaniah, the day of desolation, the day of darkness. In the words of Jesus, it is Matthew 10, 28, the destruction of both soul and body in hell. Mark 3, 29, it's eternal condemnation. In the words of Revelation 19 and 20, it involves suffering in the lake of fire forever and ever. This is the Lord's sentence of condemnation against sinners. But in Zephaniah, there's an imperative to rejoice. Wait, wait, wait, what? Rejoice? Where'd that come from? Why? Why do we rejoice? Because God takes the judgment all away. Now this goes further than verse 11 with the removal of our shame. It's one thing to remove the guilt from a sinner clearing his conscience. But it's a totally different thing to have the outraged holiness of God against sin removed. Because God is just. He must remain just. God's justice must be satisfied. It's God's nature. His wrath must be propitiated. And Zephaniah says that that's been accomplished. So much so that God actually dwells in their midst. And it's so much so, verse 17, it's repeated again. The Lord your God is in your midst. How can that be? How can God dwell with sinners? It seems contradictory to the rest of the book. Has all that he said been an empty threat? Well, history says no. 36 years after Zephaniah writes this, Jerusalem's destroyed by the Babylonians and they all go into Babylonian exile. 2 Chronicles 36, 16, the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and there was no remedy. But there's a dilemma. How can the Lord both pour out his wrath and take away his wrath? If God has rendered a verdict that is right because God is righteous, and if the judgment is correct because God is just, and if there's no evidence with hell because God is omniscient, and if there's no false witnesses because God is truth, how can God, who is just, not demand justice for sinners? Once you sin, it's too late. Divine wrath must come against you. So how can deserved judgment be taken away? The answer is found for us in the New Testament in Romans chapter 3. Paul is writing about this in verse 25, and it forms the basis for rejoicing and singing. Verse 25 of Romans 3, on your outline, God set forth Christ. as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate God's righteousness, his justice, because in his forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. Without this passage, we'd think God's deity would be in jeopardy because his attribute of justice would fail if he just forgave sinners. Sin must be punished. He's decreed it so, the soul that sins dies. Romans 1.20, we are without excuse. Romans 3.19, we are guilty with no hope of appeal. What Paul is doing in Romans, in those passages, is answering the critics of the gospel. If God is angry with the wicked every day, as the scripture says, if wrath is his holy reaction to sin, which demands payment of death, yet God passed over sins of those living in ancient times and did not demand their eternal death, but allowed animals to die in their stead, then those sinners were never really punished for their guilt, for their sin. How can God let the sinner go free without the sinner paying for his sin? How can God justify the ungodly? If a judge lets a criminal go free in our justice system, it's a travesty of justice. We call it a miscarriage of justice. Is God wrong then to justify sinners? No, because God justifies sinners based on a full satisfaction of his justice. How did that happen? God didn't fail to punish or overlook sins committed before Christ, nor did God never really forgive sins under the old covenant. Paul means that God postponed the full penalty due their sins until the fullness of time came when he would punish those sins in his son. So Romans 3.26, God remains just and righteous when he justifies sinners. Why? Because that which is required was paid in full by the infinite sacrifice of his son at the cross. But without knowing this, we can almost imagine Satan looking over Zephaniah's shoulder as he writes his prophecy. And when he sees Zephaniah write this line, God, I mean, God will bring distress upon all men, consuming them. Satan says, yes, yes, pour out your wrath on people and they're gonna hate you and they'll be mine and remain mine. But when he sees Zephaniah write this line, God will take away his judgment, the devil can't believe it. Yes, I got them both now. I've got man because he deserves wrath and I've got God. because he's guilty of an injustice. But then Jesus went to the cross and the whole dilemma dissolves because when he hung on the cross, all the sins of his people of all time were placed on him and God took away their judgment by putting it on his son as our substitute. and the remnant who believed in Christ are amazed. I don't have to pay the penalty? What? But I deserve it. No, you don't have to pay. Praise the Lord. Jesus paid it all. It's unbelievable. But there's more in this verse over which to rejoice. Not only no more judgment, But no more enemies. Notice what he says. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. Now the word enemies here is a collective singular referring to all of Judah's enemies. And this is substantiated even more in verse 19 when deliverance is promised from all who oppress or afflict you. So from the context of Zephaniah's prophecy, Judah will be rescued from their national enemies. When Zephariah wrote this, Assyria was still around. Nineveh hadn't fallen yet. Egypt would soon make Judah pay tribute. And then there was also Babylon rising in the east. And there were also the old local enemies, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites. But Zephaniah gives God's people hope of freedom, saying that they'll be cleared away. And that word cleared away means to move elsewhere, to lose all trace of. And once Judah returned to the land after exile, though there were still some bothersome taunts from the Ammonites as they rebuilt the walls, God had for the most part cleared out our enemies. Jeremiah, Zephaniah's contemporary speaks of this, Jeremiah 31. The Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the Lord. Judah, you see, would not only obtain the promise of No more judgment, only joy. There would be no more fear, only freedom. But another enemy cleared out, when you think about it, was their divine enemy. Chapter three, verse two, Judah drew not near to her God. And because of that treason, God became her enemy. And God used other national enemies to punish his people. And we also have God for an enemy. And the same reason is as Judah. Romans 8, 7, the carnal mind is enmity against God. Ephesians 4, 18, we are alienated from the life of God because of the blindness of our hearts. Colossians 1, 21, you were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Doesn't that describe every one of us? Did you not love your sin and despise God and his word? We deserve wrath for that. But like with Judah, there's hope of reconciliation with God. In captivity, when they were in Babylon, Psalm 137 says, by the rivers of Babylon, they hung their harps on the willows and wept tears of repentance as they remembered Zion and their singing of the Lord's song. But those mournful tones turned to joyful song as God had compassion, removed their judgment, brought them back to Zion where he, their king, would be in their midst. But you know, he'd been there all along, hadn't he? He had made a promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and God would be true to his word. They will be my people and I will be their God. That was his promise. He had not forsaken them forever. He was still in their midst working in men like Daniel and Zerubbabel and Ezra who would lead them in the paths of righteousness, lead them back to the Lord and eventually out from under the Lord's wrath. And the same holds true for us. There's hope. instead of wrath. Colossians 1, 21 and 22, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of Christ's flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. There's no sin so great, no wicked work so evil that will keep us an enemy once the Spirit of God leads you to repent and place your trust in Christ Jesus. Because in Ephesians 1, 7, in him there is redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. 2 Corinthians 5, 18, God reconciles us to himself through Jesus Christ. And when you find yourself no longer an enemy, No longer God's enemy? What do you say? Hallelujah, right? You shout it out, hallelujah! We sing to the Lord our new song of praise and honor and glory. And guess what? If God delivered Christ up for us, Romans 8, 32, will he not also freely give us all things? If God has freed us from the worst of our fears, that of his own wrath, won't he also free us from all the other fears? Zephaniah addresses this in verse 19, when he says, I will deal with all your oppressors. What other enemies do we fear? Well, Zephaniah mentions them in verse 15, when he says, The last phrase, you shall never again fear evil. Who's more evil than the devil? You see, Satan is another enemy that God removes. He seems, when we look at the world today, he seems to have free reign. In fact, the Bible attests to that. 1 John 5, 19, the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 1 Peter 5 says he walks about freely as a roaring lion terrorizing us. Let me tell you something about that lion. With regard to the righteous remnant, he's a toothless lion. He may roar, but Jesus took out the teeth at the cross. He can roar, and his roar is scary enough. But the bite was taken out of him through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Genesis 3.15 foretold that the seed of the woman would bring a death blow to the head of Satan. And at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Colossians 2.15, he disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross. Jesus in John 12.31 says, now the ruler of this world will be cast out. When? Next verse. When I am lifted up from the earth. Satan's power would be broken at the crucifixion first John 3 8 for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil and according to Revelation 2010 there's coming a day when Christ will order the devil to be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and will be tormented day and night forever and ever and What does heaven do after that in Revelation? They sing hallelujah. In fact, there's four hallelujah choruses there. Hallelujah, it's worth singing about. God shall deliver us from our great enemy, but he'll also release us from another enemy, and that's death itself. 1 Corinthians 15, 26 calls death our last enemy. But why does death come? Simple. Romans 6.23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Romans 5.12, just as through one man sin entered the world and death by sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. But what is death? Well, there's physical death, separation of the soul from the body. Genesis 5. at point-blank range, shoots this sharply into our minds. So-and-so lived, and he lived so many years and had so many kids, and he lived so many years after that, and he died. And then that person lived so many years and had sons and daughters, and then he lived so many years after that, and then he died, and then so-and-so lived and had kids, and he died, and so-and-so lived and had kids, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. Physical death is meant for us all. Hebrews 9, 27, it's appointed unto man once to die. This death scares us. But another should scare us even more. And that's spiritual death. Separation of the soul from God. Ephesians 2, 1 says the natural man is dead in trespasses and sins. Meaning they're totally destitute of spiritual life. In scripture, life is commonly used to express a state of union with God, and death, a state of alienation from God. And added to this is that we are the objects of God's wrath, a wrath that will be fully revealed in the worst death of all, eternal death, the eternal separation of the soul from God in hell. The immaterial part of us does not die. Our outward body dies, but not our inner soul, our spirit, it's eternal. And if in our physical lives we continue to walk according to the course of this world, if we continue to fulfill the lusts and sinful desires of the flesh with no repentance, then when our bodies die, we will become the objects of God's condemnation and suffering eternally for those sins in hell. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, and all who follow the prince and power of the air in their sin will follow him thereto. Second Thessalonians. One, verses eight and nine, God will take vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. That's Zephaniah one, two, and first part of verse three, chapter three. They shall be punished with everlasting destruction. Revelation 21.8, the unbelieving shall have their part in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone and fire. This is that fiery indignation against the wicked that Zephaniah talks about. And we deserve all of this because of our sin. All three aspects of death come on us on account of our sin. But according to Zephaniah 3.13, in the day of the Lord, after his wrath has been poured out on the wicked of the world, they'll remain a righteous remnant. How can they escape? Death's hold. Ephesians 2, 4 and 5. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, He made us alive together with Christ. When God pours out his love and unites us with Christ, we live because Jesus lives. Jesus says in John 5, 24, most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Yes, the wages of sin is death, but that verse continues saying the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's through faith in Christ that we find our escape from spiritual and eternal death. For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. You have God's promise on it. There's much to sing about, isn't there? And we're not done. There's still more in this passage. But there's two questions I need to leave you. Number one, are you alive in Christ or are you still dead in your trespasses and sins? Do you have a new disposition toward God? Do you love him? Have you repented, turned and fallen before the Lord in submission to him as your king? Your king? Is he in your midst? Christianity is all about Christ. Christ alive in his people. Christ in us. Is he in you? Have you surrendered your life to King Jesus? Have you entrusted your soul to him? You must settle this question if you want to avoid the day of wrath and experience the day of hope. And if you have believed, Can you be silent with news like this? I can't. Look through our hymnal. We wanna praise him, praise him, Jesus, our blessed redeemer. Hallelujah, what a savior. Hallelujah, what a friend. Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, has died for me? I can think of no better motivation to rejoice than that God has taken away his judgments and that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Doesn't that fill you with joy? Again, let those refuse to sing who never knew our God, but children of the heavenly king must speak his praise abroad. Let's pray. Our dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful that in Jesus Christ there is no more judgment because there's no more sin because that sin of ours was placed upon him when he died on Calvary. And then he rose triumphantly from death, which is the wages of sin. And when he rose, he conquered sin and Satan and death and hell in one sweeping motion. And if we are in him, we too are saved from sin and death and hell and Satan. And Lord, we look forward to the time when we will be with you forever in glory, when there will be no hint of sin whatsoever anymore, but only joy. And we look forward to the day that when we rejoice in your presence and sing the new song of redemption and sing worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. But may that be on our lips today. May that be in our lips every day. May we continually have the praise of our God who saved us who is with us in our midst, having forgiven our sins. May his praise be on our lips and in our minds continually. And we'll give all the thanks to Father, Son, and Spirit. Amen.