Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new. Now it will spring forth. Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field will glorify me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink. to my chosen people." All this he has done for his chosen people. What an invitation to fellowship. Who wouldn't want to dine with somebody who provides this for us? So that's our call. The call is to come to the table, to dine now, and to enjoy the feast that we're about to undertake. Amen. Father God, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles, the book of Obadiah, and we'll continue our study of this little epistle. I encourage you as well to turn in your bulletin to the outline, and use that to follow along, take notes, read the quotes, and by God's grace, get a better grasp on this passage, and by God's grace, by his grace, be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So we are in Obadiah, and this is a wonderful little epistle. Each week I study, I fall more and more in love with this wonderful little section. It's the shortest book of the Old Testament, certainly the shortest in the prophets, and yet it brings quite an incredible punch, because it's pastoral. It's very pastoral, it's very, very, it's aimed at the heart of God's people. I'm going to read 5 through 9. We'll be on it certainly this week and next week as well. But we have been studying it, so we're going to look primarily today at verse 7, but we'll read 5-9 as our passage. So if you would please stand together with me as we read God's word. Hear now the word of our King. If thieves came to you, if robbers by night, Oh, how you'd be ruined. Would they not steal only until they had enough? If great gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? Oh, how Israel would be ransacked, and his hidden treasures searched out. All the men allied with you will send you forth to the border, and the men at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you. They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you, There is no understanding in Edom, in him. Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountain of Esau? Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Ataman, in order that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. Let's follow the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the privilege of fellowshipping together now around your word and around this table. Lord, we pray you'd bless this time. All of this will fall on deaf ears, but for your spirit, we're combined with your word. transforming us by the ruining of our minds, that we might be your people and you would be our God. So Lord, bless this time together now, we pray this time of fellowship. Give me grace to preach a word with fidelity and Lord, wet it with the need of your people, that we might be a people who are fellowshipping richly and deeply with you this day. Lord, we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, please be seated. Most of you know and you've heard of the three Ps of sin. The three Ps of sin, the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin. The penalty of sin is Romans 6, the wage of sin is death. The penalty of sin is death. And praise be to God that Jesus Christ, God came to this earth, died on a cross for the penalty of sin, but he was sinless. Therefore he died a substitutionary death that we here might have life and might live with him. Praise be to God he dealt with the penalty of sin in his first advent. But with his death and resurrection, he also addressed the power of sin. The power of sin is its ability to enslave the sinner. The power of sin is its ability to keep the sinner sinning. We read in Romans 7, 22, I'm sorry, Romans 6, 6, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Christ, that our body of sin might be done away, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died, that's us, is freed from sin. Christ in his first advent also addressed the power of sin. When he died and rose again, he broke the power of sin over us such that we, listen to this, we do not have to sin. Sin for us is now a choice. For the non-believer, it's not a choice. But for us in Christ, we no longer have to sin. It is a choice. And a lot of that, you'd think that we would all choose not to sin. And yet, we find that in many passages where sin is the bane of the believer. Sin is our struggle, our daily struggle. Paul wrote in Romans 7, I joyfully concur with the law of God. I'm an inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin. Paul says in Galatians 5, 17, that the spirit sets its desire against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit, so that you do not do the things that you please. Christianity's a war because the presence of sin has not been dealt with. That's gonna come at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Until that time, you and I will struggle, like Paul, all our lives. We will struggle with sin. Yes, the power of sin's been broken, but that doesn't mean that it's gonna be easy. We know from scripture, it's a battle. It's a hard and fierce battle. And the question is, is there, in scripture, are there passages in scripture that can help us in this battle? And Obadiah is one such passage. We can look at many, but Obadiah 5 through 9 is one such passage. Recall the context that in 586 BC, the southern kingdom went into exile. And during the downfall, the destruction of the city, The Edomites came out in force, and they came out to heckle, and mock, and ridicule, and make fun of God's people as they were raped, pillaged, and burned, and killed, and destroyed. Soon their mockery and their making fun of God's people turned into action, and we know that they participated somewhat in the looting of the temple. such that by the time that Obadiah wrote this, which is right after 586, God's people are in chains, and Obadiah, look at verse 12, we looked at that, Obadiah said, do not basically open your big fat mouth He can remember the ridicule of God's people and how the Edomites opened their big fat mouths and made fun of God's people, how they died, how they suffered, how they ran, how they screamed. And so there's a sense of anger that Obadiah portrays here, that no doubt was not just him, but most of God's people, as they reflected back upon their brethren, their distant cousins, the Edomites through Esau. This is their family members, distant but nevertheless family members, and they were so cruel. And so brothers and sisters, get this, God would not have his people Hear me carefully. God would not have his exiled people live with bitterness, and anger, and resentment. He wouldn't. Understand what that means. Peter calls us men and women in exile. So does James. We're in exile. And God would not have his people at any time be in angry, bitter, Frustrated people. And so the book of Obadiah was written to both console and warn the people of God in exile. As I've titled it here, caveats and consolations in the face of persecution. That's why this little epistle was written. To shepherd a wounded heart in the midst of their pain and suffering. Last time we began looking at 5-9, which clearly is what I've titled an exposé of sin. God is warning his people, so this is the caveat. This is not a consolation. There might be a little consolation here, hearing the fate of the Edomites, but it's primarily warning. He's warning his people. regarding sin. Last week we began looking at, we saw the present restraint, sin's present restraint. We looked at verse five and saw that God currently is restraining the sin of this world, right? Where this world is livable for God's people. It's livable because God does not allow us to be as sinful as we possibly could be. Secondly, God does not allow us to reap the full consequences of the sin that we commit. If he did, this world would be unlivable. So there's a present restraint when it comes to sin. Now we're gonna talk about this a little bit more with our point this morning. Secondly, last week we saw its end. And the end of sin, this is layered. This passage is layered. Clearly it prophesies six, verse five, and then 18 of the downfall of the Edomites in verse nine we read, such that they will be cut off, the mountain of Esau by slaughter, and in verse 18, they would be no more. So that's the consequence in the life of Edom. But we have seen that already that there's statements here, absolute statements that could not apply to God's people or to the Edomites. And so we conclude this has to be referencing something bigger as well as the destruction of Edom. So there's a dual fulfillment here. And that fulfillment is the last judgment when every sinner who has sin will be cast into the lake of fire. That's the end of all sin. Now hear this, brothers and sisters, that's the end of every sin. So forget the big ones. Just think of a small sin. That's the end. That's the end of those seemingly insignificant sins that you and I might choose to live with in exile. It's not a big deal. Everyone struggles, and this is my struggle. It's not a big deal. Honey, I assure you, it's not a big deal. My anger, it's not a big deal. My struggle with lust, it's not a big deal. I've got it under control. Brothers and sisters, the end of any and every sin is the lake of fire. And that then brings us now to its treachery. Verse seven, but I've got to give you a disclaimer real quickly. You've got there in your notes a little bit. 7 and 8, 9, 10, or 8, 9, are all anecdotal to the Edomites. We could just as well look at the fall of Manasseh. I mean, Manasseh was raised in a godly home, Hezekiah. We could look at Solomon's fall. We could look at David's fall and see the consequences of sin and learn a little bit about sin. But here, God is using the downfall of the Edomites to teach his people about sin. So first of all, recognize this is anecdotal. But the key, therefore, that you must see is that 7, 8, and 9, you might say, that'll never happen to me. But you gotta see, brothers and sisters, that 7, 8, 9, the reason why it most likely won't happen to you is because of the first point we learn, because of God's restraining grace. We're learning verse 7 clearly is describing that sin is treacherous. Sin has a treachery that defies imagination. And it would be easy for you and I to look at this and say, well, that's the Edomites. Or look at David and say, that's David. Or look at Manasseh and say, that's Manasseh. When the point of this passage is that we see that it could be you and I saved for the grace of Jesus Christ. God's restraining grace, verse five, we learn that God gave it to his people that they might realize that they could be just like Edom if it wasn't for his grace. So realize everything that we see in seven, and there's a four-fold progression. It gets worse and worse. You think that's treacherous? Well, look at the next one. You think that's bad? Look at the next one. These examples of how sin is so treacherous, results in such treachery. Brothers and sisters, the slightest sin in your life could result in such treachery if God did not withhold its consequences. So with that, let's look at it. First of all, would you notice the treachery of sin? By definition, treachery is a betrayal of trust. Notice the treachery of sin, the betrayal of the nation. Verse 7, all the men allied with you will send you forth to the border. Now the phrase all the men allied with you could be translated literally, your partners by virtue of covenant. We mentioned this last week, that the Edomites at this time were in a covenant relationship with Babylon. We call this a suzerainty treaty, where the suzerain, the powerful king, the mighty kingdom, enters into a relationship with a small kingdom, a vassal kingdom, promising to protect them and help them, as long as that vassal kingdom does five things. One, they have to swear loyalty. Two, they have to accept the laws and government of, in this case, the Babylonians. Thirdly, they have to adopt the religion of the Caesarean Kingdom, which would be the religion of Babylon, which in the ancient world was no big deal because the syncretism was so common. Okay, so you're calling the God of Thunder that name? Okay, we'll just use that name as opposed to this name. Fourthly, they had to serve at their bidding. So if you're a vassal kingdom and your king, your suzerain says, attack, you have to provide men. If they say, you cannot attack, you cannot attack. That's why Edom was bound by the Babylonians. And lastly, they had to send a yearly tribute to the nation. So that's a suzerain, a vassal treaty that the Edomites were involved in. And as long, therefore, as long as the nation was strong and powerful, if you were the vassal kingdom, you were set. You were protected. And you know what? In 586 BC, the Babylonians were at their strength, which meant the Edomites were protected. They were safe. But then amazingly, and then characteristically, the Babylonians turned on him. Look at the phrase, all the men aligned with you will send you forth to the border. That's exile, brothers and sisters. Do you know what happened during this time? Shockingly, was it because of the treachery of the Edomites towards their brother? Was it a way that they celebrated? Did they lose respect? We don't know why, but this we do know, that many in Edom, right after they toasted the destruction of God's people, many of the Edomites themselves were brought into exile. Unbeknownst to them, shockingly, the Babylonians turned on them. That's the treachery of sin. Give you a modern example of it. Do you think those people living in Russia 10 years before Lenin took the throne or Stalin, do you think they ever imagined that their leaders would send more people to their death than Hitler did? It's a treachery of sin. You and I look at sin and we laugh at it. It's a passing pleasure. Now, there's some sins we don't all laugh at. Those are the sins we don't struggle with, by way of footnote. The ones that we don't struggle with, we can condemn. That's easy. The ones we struggle with, we can push off. We can slap off. We can slough off. It's not a big deal. Everyone has a struggle. Brothers, that struggle can result in the treachery. If God did not withstrain, The sin of this world, it could result in the treachery of the people in Russia under Stalin and Lenda, or the people in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. And how just one day the intellectuals and the wealthy were fine, and the next day they were being summarily rounded up and murdered. That's a treachery of sin, it betrays. The citizens of a kingdom by their kings, by their leaders. That's what happened with Edom. Babylon betrayed them. You think that's bad? Look at the next one, 7b. It's not just Babylon. Notice their civic betrayal, verse 7b. And the men at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you. This is referring to the local leadership of Edom. That's the men at peace with them. They're police. their government, their business leaders, their merchants, the strong and the powerful locally. If it wasn't for the vassal relationship, these are the ones who'd be in charge. These are the ones who would care and protect. Well, these are the ones, at this time, shockingly betrayed their citizens. Notice the word deceive. We saw it in verse three. It carries the idea of being lured and so lulled into an undesirable opposition. Think of what a worm on a fishing hunt looks like to a fish. That's this word, okay? And that's exactly what the local leadership of Edom did when it came to their brethren. I mean, how do you get, you're Babylon, how do you get Edomites out of these impregnable caves, way up high, where 10 Edomites could defend themselves against an entire army? says the commentators. How do you get them into exile? Well, you got to lure them out. How do you lure them out? Well, you get their leaders. So notice the way that it reads, the men at peace with you. In other words, they were smiling. Hey guys, meet us tomorrow morning at that juncture and I'm going to give you a great treat. They lured them out and they deceived them such that they became overpowered. Brothers and sisters, that's the treachery of sin. That's what sin does. It's treacherous. It puts your local policemen and your civic officials at odds with you. How many Christians have been betrayed by the very ones God appointed for their protection and care? Modern example of this would be World War II and the Nazi Germany and the Jews. You've seen the footage. I don't know if any of you have ever been shocked by it. I've been struck by it. Watch these videos and it seems as though Jews were all just too happy to line up, leave their homes, line up, get in boxcars and go to their death. Except in rare cases, the Jews did not fight. Do you know why? I learned about it just a couple of years ago. I read a book by Hannah Arndt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, and it gives the shocking answer how that happened. Quote, you got the quote there, without Jewish help in administrative and police work, the final rounding up of Jews in Berlin was done entirely by Jewish police. that would have been either complete chaos or an impossibly severe drain on German manpower. There can be no doubt that without the cooperation of the victims. it would hardly have been possible for a few thousand people, Germans, most of whom moreover worked in offices to liquidate many hundreds of thousands of other people. Over the whole way to their deaths, the Polish Jews got to see hardly more than a handful of Germans. Jewish councils were as a rule the locally recognized leaders to whom the Nazis gave enormous powers until they too were deported. To a Jew, this role of the Jewish leaders and the destruction of their own people is undoubtedly the darkest chapter of the whole dark story." Brothers and sisters, do you see that? That's the treachery of sin. You look at that and you go, how awful. Brothers and sisters, stop looking at them. Anytime you point a finger at them, you got three fingers pointing back at you. That's how treacherous the sin is that you're playing with. That's how treacherous the sin is we are playing with when we say, it's not a big deal. It's just a little outburst. It's not a big deal, it's just one look. Brothers and sisters, it's treacherous. Sin is treacherous. This is what sin does. This is what that one look does. This is what that one lust does. If left unrestrained, It gets worse. Notice with me 7c, the betrayal of comrade and family. They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. Who are the ones who eat your bread? That's your family members. That's your friends. That's your companions. Those are the people who you love. Those are the people who you know have your back. Those are the people who on Friday night you get together with because you just love them so much. They're the ones who's gonna set an ambush. The word for ambush, mazor, comes from zor, which is the Hebrew root for stranger. Your good friends, your family members, your father, your dad, your mom, your brothers, your sister, son-in-law, brother-in-law. They're going to hand you over to foreigners. Biblical example of that, think of Isaiah 55. I know most of you have what, Isaiah 40 or Psalm 40. Everyone quotes that one, I didn't write it down. But Psalm 55 in my mind is much more graphic. David wrote, it is not an enemy who reproaches me. Then I could bear it. nor does one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me. Then I could hide myself from him, but it is you, a man my equal, my companion, my familiar friend, we who had sweet fellowship together, who walked in the house of God to worship." In other words, you're the person I would meet, you would stay, I would stay, you would wait, I would wait, because we want to worship God together. That's the kind of relationship. You're the person who I sit down and I open my heart up to and I dump because we're so close. Family of God, sin, it's treacherous. Sin will turn your best friend into an enemy. I remember in Florida, there was a gentleman who was dying of an extreme form of cancer, horribly painful, that the drugs he had to take for it, he said, Greg, if you had one of them, it would kill you. That's how powerful these drugs are. I've had to habituate to them, but that's how horrible this was. And he said, and I'm an addict. If I didn't have that drug, he goes, I'll tell you what, I know why addicts do what they do. There've been times that I didn't have the drug, I was out, I didn't bring the drug, and I was going short. He goes, Greg, I would kill my mom for one tablet. And he wasn't joking. He said, I'm telling you, that's the nature of addiction. Brothers and sisters, that's the treachery of sin. The sin you and I don't think is a big deal. That's what that one sin could do. It could turn you into an enemy of your friends. It could destroy so much. Modern one, in the New Testament. Do you suppose, Christ said, that I came to grant peace on the earth? I tell you no, but rather division. From now on, five members of one household will be divided. Three against two, two against three. Father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. Brothers and sisters, Christ didn't come on his purpose to create a kingdom where that occurred. He's describing life in a state of sin and misery, and that is what sin does. We can look with shock at what other people do and say, oh, they're so mean, they're so horrible. But when you and I commit the most insignificant sin, that insignificant sin could result in that trail, that treachery, that betrayal. That's how treacherous sin is. Family of God don't play with sin. Do not play with sin is the idea here. It's treacherous. And yet, we're gonna go one more level, backside of your notes. Sin will lead you to betray yourself. Notice with me, 7D, there is no understanding in him. Now next week, we're gonna look at this a little bit more detail, because it's picked back up in verse 8 and 9. But understand that Edom and the ancient world were known for its wisdom. The ancient world, there's a lot of passages in scripture, we're going to look at those next week. The ancient world, Edom, when you thought of Edom, the first word that came to your mind was intelligent, wisdom, smart, advanced. That was their biblical reputation. Job 2.11, Jeremiah 49.7. They were known as the wise ones. Well, let me ask you something. When it comes to sin, can you give me a stereotype of how intellectual people deal with sin? I'll bet you can. Intellectual people deal with sin typically in this way. They're above it. I can look at a bum in the gutter and say, what a loser. His problem is he lacks willpower or he's an idiot. But I will not have that problem, even though I drink alcohol excessively. Because I know my limits. You ever hear that? I wouldn't. I can take meth. I can just one time. One time of cocaine. I've got it, guys. I've got it. Because I'm not like other people. I'm educated. I've got a brain, and this brain can calculate, someone like Spock, can calculate my blood content level of the drug such that I know exactly how far I can go, and here I will go no further. What a joke. And that's the point. What a joke. The treachery of sin is seen in that the Edomites, who were so smart and so intelligent, didn't see the betrayal come. Not in 586, not in the fourth, or in the middle of the fifth century, and not in 70 AD. They're so intelligent, yet they missed it all. And that's the final element, the treachery of sin. The individual sinner is completely in the dark when it comes to the progress of sin. They think that they are in full control, but in the end, they will always be caught as if in a spider's web of oppression and death. Now what we learn in Proverbs 7, Proverbs 7 is describing a young, a naive man, Christian. The naive is not the fool. The fool is the non-believer in the Proverbs. The naive, the simpleton, is an immature Christian. So we got an immature Christian who's being wooed by an adulteress, Proverbs 7. It's a shocking verse, passage. But get this, it's more than just a naive Christian being wooed by an adulteress. It's easy to look at that and say, oh, see, adultery, prostitutes are bad. It is a picture of the allure of sin. And it just so happens the example chosen here is the prostitute, but it could be alcohol, it could be anger, it could be name it. Listen to what it comes to a climax. Suddenly he follows her. As an ox goes to the slaughter, as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, until an arrow pierces through his liver, as a bird hastens to the snare, so he does not know it will cost him his life. That's the treachery of sin. As sinners, we don't realize that we don't have it under control. The treachery of sin is that every one of us think that depending on the sin, we've got it completely under control. Trust me, I can drive 125 miles an hour on the highway. Trust me. How many young teenagers have said that before they died? Trust me, I'm a man who knows how to hold his liquor. How many alcoholics said that before they became alcoholics? Trust me, I'm in full charge of myself. This drug won't bother me. How many drug addicts thought that before they became addicted? Paul David Tripp wrote, sin plays havoc with our spiritual vision. Although we are able to see the sins of others with specificity and clarity, we tend to be blind to our own. And the most dangerous aspect of this already dangerous condition is that spiritually blind people tend to be blind to their blindness. Isn't that great? The Edomites were blind to their blindness. If there's one thing, each one gets worse. You mean Babylon turned their back on them? How treacherous. You mean the civil leaders turned their back on us? Well, that's treacherous. You mean to tell me their parents, their brothers and sisters turned their back on them? That's unthinkable. Brothers and sisters, if that's not enough to scare you straight, to have everyone here be humble and realize you don't have your sin under control. Not one sin do you have under control. If you think you do, that's the fourth one. You're blind. Sin is that treacherous. Sin carries that big of a punch. And thus, as we endeavor to apply this passage to our lives, recognize, brothers and sisters, that to whom was this written, this passage? This was written not to the Edomites. but to the Jews. This was not written to the Edomites, but to the people of God in exile. D. W. Baker wrote, it is better understood that Edom is the subject of the present oracles rather than their addressee. Edom is just the example, it's not the recipients. Since Old Testament prophecy is chiefly directed towards Israel, even Jonah, contained the only recorded prophecy addressed directly to non-Israelites, is in its totality for Israel's use. Obadiah's judgment pronounced on a foreign people is not Israelite nationalistic chauvinism, but rather the recognition of universal responsibility and guilt before God of both Israel and the nations. In other words, this is written, brothers and sisters, inspired by Edom, but written exclusively for the people of God in exile, you and me. As Paul wrote, whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction that through perseverance and encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. This was written for you and me. What's the message? The message is, brothers and sisters, be sober, be awake, do not look lightly upon any of your sin. What was the sin? I'm just curious. Do you know the sin? that resulted in what we just read. The treachery that occurred, that did take place in Edom's life. Edom, many went into exile, the nation remained. In the fifth century, the Arabs rose up, dispossessed the rest of the Edomites to the Negev, which is a horrible place south of Judah, very hot and dry and arid. There they remained for the next three or 400 years, and then eventually they would be wiped off the face of the earth in fulfillment of verse 18 at 70 AD. So that's the treachery of sin worked out in them. What's the sin? What was Edom guilty of here? We saw it the very first week. What is it? Well, let's see, they went out in the middle of a battle and they heckled people who had killed in the last four or 500 years many of their countrymen. They took satisfaction in the downfall of Israel. In other words, they didn't commit adultery. They didn't bear false witness. They didn't covet their neighbor's wife. They didn't steal. They didn't think of all the Ten Commandments. That's not what they did. They went up on the Temple Mount, on Mount Zion, when God's people were gone. And the way that we read last week, the text reads, they made a toast to the downfall of their enemies. You ever look with a little bit of satisfaction when someone from Al-Qaeda is captured or killed? You ever say, good, I'm glad that ISIS terrorist died in that bomb. Is that a sin? That's all these guys did. These guys didn't go out and murder. they simply rejoiced over the downfall of people that seemingly insignificant moment when they were making a toast, could they ever have fathomed that they were toasting their own extermination? That's the treachery of every sin in your life. Oh, you who look at sin politely, or suppose the evil great, Look at the cross, brothers and sisters. That's the wages of every sin. They're all serious. They're all something we should be sobered by. It was just one look. Just one look. What could it hurt? Said David. And he lost his kingdom. Look, everyone needs to look out for their own financial situation. said Demas, it's just one time. One time, what could it hurt, said Alexander the coppersmith. Brothers and sisters, sin is a fire, the very world of iniquity. And why does God's people need to hear that? Because God's people are in exile. By the way, for a note, why are they in exile? Why are God's people in Exon 586? Do we know? I hope you know by now. It's because they sinned against God. And now they're in exile, and what's welling up in their hearts? More sin, bitterness, anger. Look what the Edomites did. And you know what God says to his people through this wonderful pastor? Brothers and sisters, let it go. Let the anger go, let the bitterness go, or it will destroy you. Look what it's gonna do to the Edomites. They're gonna be wiped off the face of the earth. Must you persist in your rebellion against God? Do you see it? That's the point of Obadiah here. Christians, let it go. Entrust your souls to a faithful creator in doing what's right. Let your sin go. Turn from your sin. Let it go. John Owen said, always be killing sin or it will be killing you. That's the options. Let it go, brothers and sisters. Let's kill it. Well, how do you do it? All right, let's wrap this up. How do you kill sin? Well, Obadiah gives us an incredible word of exhortation, verse 17. But that's it. He gives us this, and then that's it. So I'm going to look at Romans 6 this week and next week as we wrap up each week and specifically Romans 6 12 and 13 so look turn there please keep your finger in Obadiah and let's consider how Paul exhorts people to flee from sin. First of all notice with me verse 17, but on Mount Zion there will be those who escape. Brothers and sisters, Obadiah is right on. The answer to all sin in your life is to flee to Mount Zion. Mount Zion is Christ the kingdom. It's to go to Christ. It's to know the forgiveness that comes by grace through faith in him So if you're struggling with sin cling to Christ Cling to Christ because get this brothers and sisters if you don't cling to Christ than any activity you do in your battle against sin will be simply sola bootstrapia, simply moralism. It will be of no benefit to you whatsoever. It will make you twice the son of hell. rather cling to Christ. Know that no matter how bad your sin may be, God's grace is greater still. Believe it, accept it, understand it, that your foul, vile anger or lust or whatever it is that you easily slough off, that Jesus Christ died, yes, for that sin as well. Because if you understand that, if you understand grace, you know what this passage transforms to be? Not burden, but inspiration. Man, you and I are forgiven. You and I, God has broken, has taken care of the penalty of sin. He's taken care of the power of sin, which means you don't have to sin. which means you and I can, with a big smile on our face, say, I'm inspired today. You're right. Sin is a constant bane upon this world, upon me, upon this life. Let's be rid of it. Let's be done with it. You can say that with joy in your hearts, because it's well with your soul. And with that knowledge that it's well with your soul, go to Romans 6 now. We're going to look at one of three things that Paul gives. The first one is if you and I are going to have any success in our battle against sin. I'm not saying if we're going to win our battle against sin. That's going to come at the second coming, when Christ comes and takes away the presence of sin. But if you and I are going to have any success when it comes to sin, repenting from it, loosing ourselves from it, Notice what Paul says therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body by way the contrast the next statement This has to be in the inward man. He's talking about sins of your thought sins of your heart like anger disbelief bitterness unbridled passion pride lust etc Paul says, brothers and sisters, if you're going to win the war, if you're going to advance, not win, if you're going to advance the war against sin, it begins with what goes on in your heart. Notice it says, do not, in 6.12, it says, do not, forgive me here, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust. Did you get that? If you harbor sin in your heart, it leads to slavery to that sin. We learned from this a very important truth. Victory, when it comes, success, when it comes to our battle against sin, begins in the insignificant thoughts of our mind. I had a friend of mine who, my first church, who was an alcoholic, closet alcoholic, no one knew. His wife did. And after however many years I knew him, he had a break. And he went nuts and went drinking, and bar after bar after bar after bar. And he got found out, and he was placed in a hospital. And after a week or two, I was allowed to go visit him. And so I went and visited him, and he was broken. And I walked into his room, and he was very upset still. Very ashamed. And when I talked to him, he said, Greg, I've got a question for you. Why didn't God take away my love of alcohol? I said, what do you mean? He goes, on that binge, before I got any drink, every drink, I said, God, if you don't want me to have this, please make this taste bad. And he drank it, and it tasted great. He said, God, I don't understand. He goes, Greg, I don't understand. If God doesn't want me to be this way, why do I love it so much? And out of nowhere, I said, bro, it's because you've spent years cultivating a desire. See, the battle for sin on Friday night is begun Saturday morning. When a man struggles with the sin on Friday night, it's what he does the previous Saturday morning, I can say with some accuracy whether or not he'll succeed Friday night by how he lives Saturday through Friday. If you spend an entire week lusting, if you spend an entire week fantasizing and thinking, you're gonna fall. But if you and I do not present our bodies inside, if we keep them in check, if we repent the moment that we've got them, if we battle against them, greater will be the chance and the level of success on Friday. That's the point. Do not let sin reign in your heart unto the obedience of its lusts. That's where it begins. So it's prohibition. You and I have to be quick to say, no, I don't want to think those thoughts. I will not think that thought. I don't want to meditate upon. I'll tell you what, man, if I had the chance, I would go to work tomorrow morning. I'm going to go to work tomorrow morning. I'm going to walk in my boss's office. And I'm going to slam the door. And then I'm going to look at him in his eyes and say, I quit. Never again will you speak to me like that. Yeah, that's what I ought to do. Repent of that. That is, whatever's true, whatever's honorable, whatever's right, whatever's pure, whatever's lovely, whatever's of good repute, if there's any excellence, anything worthy of praise, set your mind on those things. When you and I set our minds on the opposite, do you know what we're gonna do? We are simply paving the way. We're simply stoking the flames of sin in our breast so that on Friday or Monday or someday, you and I break a break and we go postal. on our boss or our colleagues. The battle begins in the heart with the smallest, most insignificant thought, no Lord, forgive me God, that's wrong. Secondly, then it leads to the outside, 13a, and do not go on presenting the members of your body, now the external body, to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Secondly, we do care about what we do. Notice the word presenting two things. First and foremost, it has to do with the will. So once again, we're at the power of sin. God has given us the ability to say no to sin. Is that your will? I can see if it's your will by how you live. If I could just, if we could take a snapshot of your heart when no one's watching you and you're thinking about your bad relationship with your coworker, and if what comes to your heart is this desire for brothers and sisters, take that by the nip it in the bud. Nip it in the bud it has to do with your will and the desire to say this not that I Get this your goal cannot be victory over sin your goal must be to glorify God Your goal must be to love Jesus Christ your goal must be verse 17 of Obadiah I'm sorry 18 your goal must be to fellowship with Christ and therefore you must see that every sin you commit inhibits and limits your ability to enjoy Christ. It can't be this desire to win over sin. It has to be motivated out of verse 18 of Obadiah. With that, then, exert your will and say, enough! Enough temptations! Enough lust! Enough anger outbursts! Enough lusting! Enough whatever! I want to be a vessel for you, God! And then would you notice the word presenting is a present tense, and this is the hardest part, this is why it's a war. It's a moment by moment decision that we make. You can say, oh man, I do it on Monday morning, but I get to work and it just gets me so angry. Family of God, realize you're never off the clock on this one, never, there's no Sabbath. When it comes to fighting against the sin, Hebrews 4 says, until the second coming. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, and that Sabbath rest is a reference to the struggle of living in the state of sin and misery. That's the Sabbath rest that awaits us. Until that time, it's a battle. And so we pay close attention to ourselves and to our teaching. We be on guard for ourselves and for all the flock of God. The idea is we're never, ever not vigilant when it comes to what's in our breast. All right, so I hope that's of Benefit the key is cling to Jesus Christ brothers and sisters. That's verse 18 cling to Christ stay on Mount Zion Stay with close to your Lord and with that then choose to prohibit any form or ugly rearing of us of its head of sin because every sin has the ability to destroy a world that's treacherous. Don't play with sin. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you. Lord, that your word, you're so pastoral, God. You give us this incredible passage given to your people in exile who understandably should be angry and resentful and hurt at what their distant family did. But you were so quick to bring them a passage, a prophet who said, oh brothers, cease fighting and know that I am God. You're where you are by my appointment. I have you right where I want you. God give us the grace to personalize that and live in light of that and therefore know that the difficult people you place in our lives are there for our sanctification. They're there for our growth and our grace. They're there that we would not love this world, but we would love Jesus. God, give us the grace, therefore, at any difficulty, any temptation, resting in Christ, to say no. To say no to it and yes to you. No to anger or saying to it. And yes to fellowshipping and loving. Lord, I pray this for everyone here. We pray for the children in our midst who may have just been drawing pictures this entire time. God, please grant them the grace to be so matured and grow with such a growth that we all, young and old, would be men and women of Christ, bound to your glory and your service by the chains of love and mercy. We pray this in Jesus' name.