God Works in Patterns by Chad Holland

so let me start in zephaniah chapter one verse one through three the word of the lord that came to zephaniah son of kushi the son of gadalia the son of a moriah the son of hezekiah during the reign of josiah son of ammon king of judah i will sweep away everything from the face of the earth when i destroy all mankind on the face of the earth i will sweep away both man and beast i will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish and the sea and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble when i destroy all mankind on the face of the earth pastor chad that was a harsh judgment word that's why i don't read zephaniah right there no listen it gets better i promise i just want to give you a little bit of a background for a few minutes about what is going on that would cause god to speak through this prophet with such strong language what is going on what has been happening for the lord to react this way the words of complete judgment and complete destruction of the earth are very consistent as a matter of fact the prophetess hulda is quoted here and in the book of kings because she is prophesying with zephaniah the exact same thing so the lord is confirming it with two witnesses you know how that's in the word but what's the cultural backdrop so we know the author we know the audience of course that's going to be israel and anyone connected to reading these prophetic books but what's the cultural context well it is quite interesting it's in the reign of king josiah so i don't know how much you know about this king he has a great story he became king at age eight i thought that was a little early but we trust god's wisdom i'm not sure my children would have done very well at age eight because we still have trouble ruling our own room and keeping it clean so i'm not sure eight years old would have done much but god chose and anointed josiah by age eight because his father ammon had been murdered this verse or this selection of verses tells us the lineage and it's very unusual in a prophetic book to get that many generations of lineage but i think it's important because the goal of this lineage is to get you all the way back to hezekiah that was the goal why well because hezekiah was a good godly righteous king of israel but then the next three in the generation not so much they did not follow the ways of the lord but josiah does and so he's trying to give you the generational book end right from this is what zephaniah is doing he's given you like josiah is a godly king and then you know kind of bad bad bad and then hezekiah is in his bloodline so he's he's bringing forth that inheritance from king hezekiah but what's happening in the reign of josiah is interesting because you have a power vacuum the assyrian empire has already invaded the north of israel babylon is on its way but it's not there yet egypt has stepped in and started battling against assyria so you kind of have a three-way battle going on for the mediterranean in the middle eastern region of the world and somehow in this foray of battle of these you know massive nations little israel that's been conquered that has been overseen gets lost little israel somehow squeaks through the cracks for a few years and nobody's really in charge of them and what that means is that all of the people that used to take care of the temple or try to use it for their political gain have left and all of a sudden the temple is now back into the hands of the israelites and it hasn't been that way for a while and king josiah though he started ruling at age eight he grows up and he is 26 years old now it talks about him in his 18th year of his reign he's 26 years old and in this political vacuum israel falls through the cracks the temple becomes something that they get to control again so josiah jumps on this opportunity and he sends his messengers and his secretaries and he says go tell the priest we need to do some renovations it's been a long time since we've done anything to the temple and so they go and tell the priest and they bring him the money and the resources and it says that they start to clean out the temple and they find a book found it it was the book of the law of god it had been apparently lost it wasn't even in the consciousness of israel it was in the temple no one apparently knew where it was nor was anyone looking for it a little bit of a symbol of what is to come on the earth i was asked last night to share the message at one of our campuses called and pastor yochanan asked me would you preach on the greatest challenge facing the body of believers today so i wrote back and said thank you for such an easy topic you know just let me boil down the whole universe to a 30-minute sermon no problem but you know what as i said before the lord it came pretty what seemed to be clear to me our job is preach the gospel make disciples and teach truth and truth is going to be hard to find the movement of truth is going to be the largest challenge we face in this next generation with media and social media and governments and fears and lockdowns and terrorism and everything that's happening the changing of the gospel the way it's been preached the re interpretations of the bible the new versions of the bible that aren't even accurate anymore to what god's original intent apparently was the bible talks about false messiahs false prophets false doctrine false teaching all of that's coming and sometimes it can be hard to find truth even if you wanted to find it you're not sure where to find it and it's so it was in the days of israel you know there were people in israel seeking truth and they couldn't find it why because the book of the law of god was missing but in the reign of josiah he takes the initiative they say they sends his people to go to the temple they they start to clean it out they find the book and they're shocked at what this book says that means the whole generation had never known it because they were shocked at what it said the secretary brings the book of god back to the king and it says josiah asked the secretary read the book so whatever you thought your devotion time was reading the bible it was not nearly as long as josiah's because he simply just had the book of god the book of the covenant the book of the law the torah was just read to him and he starts weeping and wailing tearing his clothes he's in sorrow he's in anguish he's repenting and he stands up and grabs all of his officials and he says we're going to change life in israel and from that point on if you go to the book of kings you can read about what josiah does he tears down every ashara pull he tears down every false altar every false shrine he starts executing the false priests he starts tearing down the temples that were never ordained by god anybody that profanes in the name of the lord they're out and he he creates a massive revival in israel just like his great-great-grandfather hezekiah did and that's why at the book of zephaniah it tells you the lineage is important to connect with the inheritance of hezekiah okay so that's the backdrop where zephaniah is going to come in as the prophet and start to prophesy along with the other contemporaries just so you can understand the other contemporaries we talked about the prophets holda but he's also a contemporary of the prophet jeremiah and habakkuk they're all prophetic friends together prophesying during this time of the power vacuum when josiah creates a hunger for god he repents this is what it says in second kings chapter 22 verse 16. this is what the lord says i'm going to bring a disaster on this place and its people according to everything written in the book of the king of judah that he has read because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols they their hands have made my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched tell the king of judah who sent you to inquire of the lord this is what the lord the god of israel says concerning the words that you heard because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the lord when you heard what i have spoken against this place and its people that they would become a curse and be laid waste and because you tore your clothes king josiah and you wept in my presence i also have heard you declares the lord therefore i will gather you to your ancestors and you will be buried in peace your eyes will not see all of the disaster i'm going to bring on this place and so they took their answer of the prophets back to the king king josiah after he read the words and repented and started this leadership toward revival he asked all the prophets to go and inquire of the lord for him and they brought him back this word because you listened because you repented not just as an individual for the nation that identificational repentance you repented on behalf of all of us and because you took action and you humbled yourself josiah i will not bring the judgment during your lifetime do you understand he saved an entire generation because of his humility he inherited the kingdom for another generation because of his humility and meekness what i want to point out in the study of the book of zephaniah and we're calling it does god change as a series but what i want to point out each week is something significant from the prophetic book that is connected to the new covenant scriptures what i want to show you is how consistent god is throughout his word which is why we read the whole book beginning to end one story there's no break in the middle god didn't change he didn't do a wardrobe change after malachi same god same purpose same attributes so holda is prophesying against israel because of her idolatry and disobedience zephaniah is prophesying against the whole world because of their idolatry and their stubbornness to listen to god so let me take you forward in those words of zephaniah for a moment i'm still in chapter one we're talking about the coming judgment of god zephaniah 1 14 says the great day of the lord is near it's near and coming quickly sound familiar and that what our lord said you see it's remarkable how many times yeshua is preaching and he's actually quoting from the old testament because he's the same god yesterday today forever when he wrote it the first time he meant it which is why he quotes himself in the brickhack the day of the lord is coming and it's coming quickly the cry on the day of the lord is bitter the mighty warrior shouts his battle that day will be a day of wrath a day of distress and anguish a day of trouble and ruin a day of darkness and gloom a day of clouds and blackness a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers i will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind because they have sinned against the lord their blood will be poured out like dust their entrails like dung neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the lord's wrath in the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth i think that's pretty clear there's not a lot of wiggle room right there when it says all who live on the earth it's a very harsh judgment to wipe out not only israel but the whole world but did you notice how many times it said the day of the lord did you notice that in the same verse where it says the day of the lord it says it's a day of trumpet blasts now i was very sensitive to that connection because we just got out of the feast of trumpets and we identified that on the prophetic timeline of god the next feast day to be fulfilled in human history is the feast of trumpets at the return of the lord with the last great trumpet blast and here it is in zephaniah he's saying that's correct on the bitter day of judgment the coming day of the lord that last great interaction will be recognized with a trumpet blast so i think we're on a good track with that and it's consistent with first corinthians 15 51 listen i tell you a mystery that we will not all sleep but we will all be changed in a flash in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound the dead will be raised and perishable and will be changed the last trumpet blast announcing how the age is changing and judgment the day of yom kippur prophetically is next but what about israel zephaniah is prophesying to the world but holda is prophesying to israel and you you can look up her ministry history in in your quiet times or in your your community groups to learn a little bit more about her and her family she comes from quite an important family in israel but she is prophesying at israel directly where zephaniah is prophesying to the whole world judgment that's coming and it reminded me of romans chapter 11 19-21 you will say then that branches were broken off so that i could be grafted in i being a gentile that's the context granted but they the jewish people israel were broken off because of unbelief but you gentiles you stand by faith but do not be arrogant but tremble for if god did not spare the natural branches meaning israel then he will not spare you either meaning the gentiles why is that important because when holda prophesies the same word that zephaniah prophesies and she does it directly to israel it means israel is not exempt from god's standards and his judgment say why is that important because it crafts certain elements of theology from time to time you'll hear a phrase and maybe you've heard it before the idea of dispensationalism or dispensational theology and it and it basically means if i were to take a big long paragraph and boil it down to a short sentence or two it really means that at different times throughout history people were saved differently and the jewish people have a different way of salvation but not according to the prophets not according to yeshua himself there's but one way to the father i'm the key i am the door i am the way right there's no difference between jew and gentile greek and the nations free man or male or female there's no difference when it comes to the path of salvation and so these verses help us understand that when god sets a standard and that standard is not met whether it's israel or the nations everyone has to bow their knee to that standard there's only but one way of salvation there are there are not multiple options here it is yeshua and yeshua alone that's it pastor mike said it was the blood of yeshua that dripped and fell for us and it's all humanity that has to humble ourselves like josiah and acknowledge that i cannot do this on my own god i have broken your laws i need you god to come and save me and i receive your work through yeshua it shapes our theology and so we started the night with the judgment verses and and it sounded quite harsh and we might say to ourself after getting that cultural background and history lesson did god change because some of the harshness the sternness of these verses almost don't sound like the god we hear preached about today it's like there's been a a reshaping of the image of god you ever seen a politician who likes to run for office and if you go back in history and read their old articles or their old judgments or things that they voted for and the way they used to treat people go back and read 10 or 15 years ago and you'll know who they really are but when they decide to run for a higher office they disappear for a little while and people somebody behind the scenes cleans them up they tell them what to say they tell them how to do it a different way and then all of a sudden they appear on the scene like i'm here to run for office and they act like a totally different person than they've ever been before god is not like that god doesn't take breaks god never slumbers he doesn't sleep he doesn't get tired he doesn't change i was praying and with our with our serving team before the service and i said you know when you're perfect there's nowhere to go there's no change that's why god doesn't change it's not because he's stubborn you're like if you said that to one of us like oh pastor chad he never changes it's like a negative thing like right he's so arrogant he's so prideful he never changes he's stubborn he digs his heels in no but when you say it about god it's a good thing god never changes why because you don't change perfection there's nowhere to go his word can be trusted but it may not sound like some of the the teachings of today about god's loving kindness though he is certainly loving and he's kind about god's mercy and forgiveness yes he is merciful he's forgiving he's full of compassion absolutely i'm not saying those things aren't true all i'm saying is those are not the only things that are true for those that are humble for those that will repent god listens did you hear what he told josiah josiah because you humbled yourself i listened to you thank you for listening to me and he saved an entire generation in israel because of one man's humility and repentance because you were humble this judgment was pushed off you say so did god change did he change his mind no he just honored the humility he honored the repentance hebrews 13 8 says yeshua is the messiah and he is the same yesterday today and forever he never changes numbers 23 verse 19 god is not human that he should lie not a human being that he should change his mind does he speak and then not act does he promise and not fulfill god never changes because you don't move off of perfection i'll give you our key phrase for tonight we'll put it up on the board cleansing the earth of sin is a pattern but god always makes a way of salvation it's a pattern you say i don't like that about god too bad it's too bad i don't think we're asking anyone to like it i think we're asking everyone to accept it and that god has a reason for it and it's better off for everyone because of what he does we've talked many weeks that he's not selfish he's not hiding something the way satan wants us to think he is he's trying to hand over the keys to his kingdom that's his whole goal the whole creation wasn't for him it was for us and he's trying to train us and get us ready and hand the keys over and say go rule the thing i created for you this is the destiny for which i created you but in order to get all of that in place he has to prune he has to correct he has to discipline and at times he has to judge cleansing the earth of sin is a pattern but god always makes a way of salvation so a quick history lesson here genesis 1 1-2 in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth now the earth was formless and empty darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of god was hovering over the waters did you notice there was the surface of the deep that means there was a surface of something there was something called the deep there was water that means there was something there pastor chad what are you getting at if something was there before the creation that we know about that means something existed on the there before the creation we know about so what are you saying i'm saying there's a pattern of cleansing the earth of sin i'm saying that lucifer in all of his rebellion had to be cleansed from the earth and do you know he never had the authority to come back until we gave it to him because the earth we know now the creation we know now was delegated to adam it was no longer delegated to lucifer and it was adam who relinquished his authority through sin and gave that authority back to satan who had it before and god had already dealt with lucifer let's call it for a lack of a better term notice i'm not behind the pulpit i'm over here with an opinion for a lack of a better term can we call it judgment by darkness and i'm only saying that because it was dark can't live in darkness there was no sun there was no yeshua there at that moment shining his light there was none of that plants can't live animals can't live beings can't live let's call it judgment by darkness if you have a better term i'm open to it everybody online feel free but the pattern was there sin had crept in god had to cleanse it but he made a way of salvation have you ever heard of the angels somehow they were saved not the ones that followed satan's rebellion but the ones who stayed with god and were humble he always makes a way of salvation of course then we have adam and eve's sin and god made a way of salvation through the sacrifices then we have noah and all that happens on the earth god makes a way of salvation but he still cleanses the earth from sin it's a pattern let's call that one judgment by water you follow you see what i'm doing here judgment by darkness judgment by kicking out of the garden let's call that the judgment of kicking i'm just making up terms here i don't know then we have judgment by water genesis 6 1-7 when human beings began to increase the number on the earth and daughters were born to them the sons of god saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful and they married any of them that they chose then the lord said my spirit will not contend with humans forever for they are mortal their days will be 120 years the nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterwards when the sons of god went to the daughters of humans and had children by them they were the heroes of old the men of renown the lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth and that every inclination of the thought of the human heart was only evil all the time the lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth and his heart was deeply troubled so the lord said i will wipe from the face of the earth the human race that i have created and with them the animals the birds and the creatures that move along the ground for i regret that i have made them the animals had gone through this before too by the way in the judgment of darkness notice that there's no animals by the time god enters the creation phase in genesis 1. there's just darkness and deep in waters a rainbow is then sent as a covenant sign that he won't do it again through water genesis 9 11 i establish my covenant with you never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth so that pattern tells me that the earth will never be destroyed again by darkness the earth will never be destroyed again by water but we know another judgment's coming so there has to be some method by which that part of the earth will be destroyed and zephaniah has the answer to it zephaniah chapter 3 verse 8. therefore wait for me declares the lord for the day i will stand up to testify i have decided to assemble the nations to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on all of them all my fierce anger the whole world will be consumed by fire of my jealousy and anger friends what zephaniah is telling us is the pattern will hold true the method will hold true but the way in which god chooses this time will not be darkness it will not be a flood it will be by fire and that prophecy links so consistently with the new testament scriptures you can tell where yeshua and the apostles got all of their language from from the tanakh an acronym that we use in hebrew to describe the torah the nuvement the ketuvim the tanakh it means the whole old testament it's a proclamation of the coming judgment by fire let me read our final verse tonight worship team you can come out and help me second peter chapter 3 verse through 10 by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly but do not forget this one thing dear friends with the day with the lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years or like a day the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance thank you josiah he's patient with repentance but the day of the lord will in fact come like a thief the heavens will disappear with a roar the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare friends as we continue the study of zephaniah we will be pointing out how many things are consistent with these prophecies and the new testament today we see the coming judgment on the earth but this time it is not a judgment by darkness or by water but by fire as we move on we're going to focus on patterns of yeshua's teachings and the new covenant scriptures and where he draws his context from in those passages i think you're going to be surprised at some of the most famous lessons in the new testament famous sermons how many of them are pulled from zephaniah a book you should have read and we're going to look at these areas and how they interact with modern day our modern world [Music] and we're going to look at how our modern world has tried to redescribe god almost in an effort to make him appear different make him sound like he's changed somehow to separate him from his unchangeable nature god is not a politician he didn't go behind a curtain and do a wardrobe change to make you like him more it's been the same plan of salvation from the very beginning there is in fact a pattern god will cleanse the earth of sin but he always makes a way of salvation whether it's the angels whether it's the skins and the sacrifice for adam and eve whether it's the boat for noah and his family whether it's a sovereign presence of god on earth or whether it is the age to come in the new bodies that we're going to get god always makes a way of salvation let's pray into that hallelujah father we want to acknowledge as a corporate body today that we love you because you never change god we say thank you that our confidence is in you because you don't change we acknowledge that perfection needs no movement we accept the words of the prophet today that in fact judgment is coming and as yeshua said the kingdom of god is here and judgment will come quickly we acknowledge that this next time it will come by fire revelation is going to reveal that to us in addition to the other scriptures but god can we today listen to the words of zephaniah and can we follow the model of king josiah he humbled himself he repented he tore his clothes he was grieved but not just for himself [Music] he interceded for the whole nation of israel and father that's what we want to do at king of kings today we want to intercede for the nation of israel that you would give us one more generation god before judgment that you would bring the harvest in let us be part of it god let us be part of the harvest that's prophesied in yeshua's name amen and if you haven't yet yielded your life to the messiah yeshua in the house or online today is the day of salvation there's not a better day than today if you've listened to the words of the scripture or the sermon and you said today is the day i want to say yes to the offer of salvation to be cleansed from my sin to be set free from my addictions to have hope in an age to come if today is that day for you come find me come find pastor mike come find one of our prayer partners go to the lobby we have prayer rooms up there that you can talk privately with someone after service but today friends is the day of salvation [Music] you

Channel: King of Kings Community Jerusalem

Views: 85

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Yeshua, Jesus, Messiah, Christ, Lion of Judah, Lord, God, Jerusalem, Israel, Gospel, Word, Truth, Faith, Salvation, Holy Spirit, Holy, Prophecy, Preaching, Ministry, Ministries, Grace, Mercy, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Believer, Christian, Church, Messianic, Congregation, King of Kings, KKCJ, KOKA, Pavilion, Pastor, Wayne Hilsden, Sermon, Message, Preacher

Id: G-oq7K5-Lrs

Length: 34min 46sec (2086 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 04 2021