June 8, 2019 | David Shivers | Zephaniah 3:17 | Know the Wonder | Saturday Sermon

hallelujah hallelujah thank you Brian and praise team anybody else excited and thankful that the power of hell is broken in your life say it again Alleluia man that was awesome Mike thank you for encouraging us with that the only discouraging thing Mike said up here tonight Charles is that summer is here okay it's hot there is no breeze and we did something kind of fun today my wife and I went and picked up our two kids from camp summer camp we go to Sky Ranch our kids love sky ranch and on our way out there we throw those five love languages up there real quick Jack we did something fun many of you are probably familiar with these these five love languages that Gary Chapman did a number of years ago and while we're in the car we just kicked it around with the kids and I think this is just a great habit and practice for all of us to be in with those that are closest to us our spouses our children we need to know what their love languages are and and you need to know not only what yours is but those that are closest to you so that you can love them well so that you can encourage and bless it and put some deposits in their love tank so we were talking about that in the car today in my primary love language is words of affirmation I feel like for the most part I'm a pretty low maintenance guy all right my wife May my wife may not agree with that but I mean you just tell me I'm doing a good job and I'm awesome I mean I'm good I don't need any gifts actually the greatest gift my wife gives me us when she spends nothing on me Mike all right I mean I just rejoice I give her the high-five you thought about me honey and you spent nothing thank you thank you very much I love that acts of service I don't need you to do anything for me I'm pretty self-sufficient my parents both worked I grew up just kind of finding for myself I don't really need quality time I just need a few minutes now it's just parenthetically that's my wife's number one quality time so that's the probably the least on my list so God and his just way that only God does things puts two people together whose love languages are like completely opposite you know and physical touches hi I'm honest I love to to hold hands to hug my dad was a hugger he looked he he would look you in the eyes and he pulled us in close and I just always felt loved men in the arms of my dad but words of affirmation is is my favorite and it stops on my list and we're gonna look at tonight take your Bibles we're gonna look at a passage my favorite passage in Zephaniah in the Old Testament is F&I at 3:17 which just basically five promises five words of affirmation from God to the nation of Israel so I'm pretty sure I'm not going too far out on a limb and saying that probably very few of you spend any time this week and your quiet time in Zephaniah so I'm gonna help you out a little bit it's in your Old Testament it's a minor prophet very short book easy to miss it's after Habakkuk and right before Haggai all right so if you see some h's and then Zechariah if you hit Zechariah another Z just take a quick left and enter right there so Zephaniah he came from a royal family he was a descendant of a royal family a descendant of the good King Hezekiah he was a contemporary of the boy King Josiah a good king of Israel and the majority of his ministry was from about 640 to 610 BC that's when Zephaniah was a minor prophet ministering the nation of Israel here's what was going on the people of God had turned to idolatry and Zephaniah is warning the people of God he's warning the nation of Israel that judgment is imminent more than any other book in the Old Testament we find this phrase in the only three chapters with three short chapters of Zephaniah the day of the Lord the day of the Lord it's imminent judgment is around the corner there's a tone of urgency about the ministry of Zephaniah and in a world gone mad I mean 610 640 BC 2019 we know that this world has gone mad greed lust hatred idolatry same things that we deal with today Zephaniah was dealing with in the nation of Israel hundreds and hundreds of years ago and he gives them a message that is contemporary and applicable to us today five words of affirmation in this one little passage Zephaniah 3:17 it'll be on the screen and here's what I want to do as we jump into this here's what we're gonna do tonight that is gonna be a little bit unique we're gonna memorize Zephaniah 3:17 it's just five little words of affirmation and I'm gonna put them all on the screen for you real quick five little bullet points and Mike already got us going with just some kind of some responsive reading and some some back-and-forth so here I want you to say these let's just say these all together all five of them we're gonna start at the top on three are you ready Micah all right one two three the Lord your God is with you he is mighty to save he will take great delight in you he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with singing now that's not bad we're gonna get better as we go on I feel kind of like Brian did up here it was about a six I'm gonna give you about a four and a half to five on that just from just volume and response all right I need you guys to engage with me but we're gonna be going over every one of these I wanted you to see them take a snapshot in your mind because we are diving in the first one the Lord your God is with you God's presence in your myths in your midst five promises from God the first one is that his presence he's right there in your midst look at the very first portion of Zephaniah 3:17 the very first part the Lord your God is with you it's gonna be the first thing that you memorize this week as you leave here tonight just be reminded that the Lord your God is with you how comforting is that no matter how crazy no matter how busy no matter how stressed out you become or how much pressure you feel in a day to be reminded that the Lord your God is with you look what Isaiah said in Isaiah 41:10 and 13 he said do not fear for I am with you do not be dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you and help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand to uphold you with his righteous right hand he's got to be right there in your midst he says I'm right there with you just to be reminded that God is with you man no matter how crazy or chaotic or hectic a situation is you can take a breath when you know God is with you you could take a breath and your shoulders can drop because no matter what you're facing no matter how difficult or hard the road ahead may see to know that God is with me to know that God is in the boat with me that I'm rolling with God and he's in it with me Amen it just takes I can I can breathe I can take a breath so be comforted today be comforted this evening a family of God be this first word of affirmation is that God is in your midst God's presence take a breath drop your shoulders and remember he's right there with you Paul said it this way in Ephesians 1:13 and 14 listen to God's Word just the presence of God in your life and in my life here's what happens when we accept and receive the Lord he says when you're included in Christ you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation having believed Paul said you were marked in him with the seal the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory you were marked this gospel of your salvation when you believed that third person of the Trinity that Spirit of the Living God stepped into your heart and he is that deposit that will never leave that will never forsake you Hebrews 13 says he's there he's the same yesterday today and tomorrow and he ain't going anywhere he's with you he's in your midst I've been with a family this week a dear family the the Reese family Roy is a neighbor of mine he's on the board with PowerPoint ministries he's got two brothers bill and Nick Nick Reese's might Buster's son-in-law their dad big Nick I've been going through some just difficult health challenges it's going through some hard stuff and that's I've been going up there and ministering just seeing them and I reached on them I just keep telling big Nick and his wife the Lord is here he's in this he's in this battle with you so just remember the first thing that the Lord's our God he's with you the second word of affirmation in this text just look at the passage he is mighty to save say that after me he is mighty to say that's better that's better we had a 4.5 that was like a 6-1 ok Bennet barely over 6 alright just a smidge we're gonna keep building he is mighty to save God is powerful he is a mighty warrior how many of you know that power listen this mighty this salvation Jason talked about earlier he encouraged us to give and partner with God in this great blessing and being able to give we've got Vacation Bible School going on here on our campus our student ministry I see a bunch of our student staff right back there wave your hands guys in the beautiful blue t-shirts they're going to beach camp this week and we're just uh we're just a Bible believing faith community who believes that our God is mighty to save acts 4:12 says that there's one name given under heaven and earth on which men might be safe it's the name Christ Jesus and it's this Jesus who has saved us and that's going to be our hope and our prayer church family throughout this week Vacation Bible School student can't be praying that students young boys and girls will be on our campus who will be at that beach camp will hear the name of Jesus and they'll turn from the noise and the junk of this world and they will believe and receive this gift of salvation he is mighty to save amen he's mighty to save listen to God's Word listen to Deuteronomy 20 verse 4 where the passage says hear o Israel for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory he's a mighty warrior here o Israel the Lord your God he's with you look what he says in judges 612 he's not only with you but he says he's a mighty warrior when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon he said the Lord is with you mighty warrior gideon was heading into battle you know this story the Midianites had a affordable army he was significantly outnumbered and god just kept whittling down his army to where he got to 300 and gideon just needed to know that the Lord was with him but the Lord was with them he whittled it down so so that in the end he says a few verses later I will deliver the Midianites into your hands he whittled it down he wants to be the one who receives all the credit and all the glory he's mighty to say he's a powerful warrior so the Lord your God is with you his presence he's mighty to save he gives us great power the third thing we see in this passage is that God takes great pleasure he will take great delight in you say that after me he will take great delight in you he takes great delight and you well done well done we're gonna this is and hey this is the key passage this third point and the final point God's pleasure and God's passion are the same Hebrew Verte word used twice in this passage the same Hebrew word which means to delight or take pleasure and I'm gonna tell you a little bit more about that in just a moment but just know that your heavenly father he delights in you he smiles it's literally the word to smiled it's joy it's laughter it's exuberant it's to be bright and infectious shiny it's like a smile upon the face of a father and the truth of the matter we don't always feel like this we don't always feel like we're bringing a smile to our Heavenly Father's face and I'm gonna talk about that a lot more here in just a moment on my final point but I want you to keep rolling with me through the text here the next promise and word of affirmation he not only taste great delight in you but he will quiet you with his love repeat that after me he will quiet you with his love he will quiet you with his love it's God's peace we rest in his love the truth of the matter is that we were created by God for God and so there's no Idol created by man there's no Idol in this world an idol created by your heart that you will ever find rest or peace in because you were not created for those idols you were created by God for a relationship with God through Christ Jesus we rest in his love look at God's Word and Isaiah 26 verse 3 where the Prophet tells the nation of Israel that you will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you our peace comes from trusting in him and keeping our minds focused on our Heavenly Father his plans his path his ways John 16:33 Jesus said this so the disciples right before his departure in the upper room he says I've told you these things so that in me you may have peace in this world you will have trouble but take heart for I have overcome the world I said in a moment ago and I'll say it again there's no Idol in this world that will ever deliver all of the things of this world will leave you restless and longing for more our peace comes from God and from him alone jesus said it right there in me you may have peace the only place that our hearts were fully and completely find the rest that we were complete created for is when we rest wholly and completely in Jesus it's God's peace he quiets you with his love and the fifth and final word of affirmation here and Zephaniah chapter three is is God's passion that he sings over you he will rejoice over you with singing repeat that he will rejoice over you with singing let's try that one more time I just really love hearing you guys say that at the very last phrase right there on the screen you see me pointing to it go IVA joyce's over us with a same Hebrew word and gods passion and and in God's pleasure it's the same Hebrew word it's a party it's a celebratory word it's the verb to be bright to shine to smile and then what God looks at us a father with a newborn child you just can't help it you can just see it it's all over his face he smiles it brings you joy and here's the problem here's the issue with this many of you may be here tonight and you may not feel like this could possibly be true and I will I will submit to you tonight that this verse my favorite verse in the whole Old Testament Zephaniah 3:17 it's a high feeling verse it's a lot of feeling involved in this and our faith is not associated with in our faith in Jesus's and the facts of the gospel that we we love and we serve a Jesus who lived a life we couldn't live who died the death that we deserve and who rose on the third day victoriously that those are the facts of the gospel but there are feelings in life and there are times when we just need to know that the freedom that God enjoys as the sovereign God of the universe it's not to our credit he's not being coerced he freely pours out his favor and His goodness on you not because of anything you've done not because you put it forth a great resume he does it because you're his son you're his daughter it's his heart it's the same word to delight in to sing over to rejoice with it's his favor and you just think about the same God who created in Genesis the whole world with one spoken word think about the power of a heavenly father just think for a moment with me of a father God who sings over his children the same creator God he sings over you yeah I like you I don't feel worthy of that sometimes I don't just be really honest you may be saying like with me then I'm too guilty shivers you don't understand you don't know what I've done you don't know the lies I've told the deception I've woven I'm guilty look at Zephaniah three look at verse 15 just a couple of verses earlier the Lord has taken away your punishment the Lord's taken away every judgment against you he's put it all on Jesus let that guilt go tonight you may send me I'm enslaved severs you donors i'm enslaved to shame i've been manipulated slandered taking advantage of threatened I've blown it so many times there's just so much there's just this blanket in this weight of shame where I don't even feel like I can breathe some days look at verse 19 and Zephaniah chapter 3 at that time I will deal with all who oppressed you I will rescue the lame and gather those who've been scattered I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame I'm gonna restore you praise and honor he'll take away your shame he's singing over you you may you may say I can't even hear that voice I can't even hear that voice because he feels so far such a great distance between me and God I've turned my back I've run the other way done my own thing for so long he's so far gone so far away I can't even hear it look at verse 15 the Lord the king of Israel is with you good Zephaniah 3:15 the Lord the king of Israel is with you and then verse 17 the very first part we started with God's presence the Lord your God he's with you so don't let shame or guilt or distance be a deterrent tonight this word delight we often see it in Scripture that we are called as children of God sons and daughters of the Most High God to delight in him but God flips this thing in Zephaniah 3:17 and he says I delight in you I delight in you I'm throwing a party I'm smiling I'm celebrating it's it's the prodigal son who's come home it's that father whose son is in a distant land who's taking all of the inheritance and he's blown it he's laying there in the trough with those pigs and he's thinking about all those guys working it as his dad's his pops land and he's saying look I'm just gonna go be a worker I'm just gonna go work I'm turning around and he starts walking and you know this story where is that father where is that father he's on the front porch he's looking he's praying he's expected his eyes are on the horizon he's looking for his boy and when he comes what does the scripture say in Luke 15 he runs to his son he takes off and he read this is a God who sings over his children who smiles every time he thinks about you takes great delight in you this is my god this is your God tonight this is the words of affirmation this is love and here's the difference people you've heard all this before church family you're sitting there just like I have for years and you've heard all that before this is not going to be transformational in your life if you don't tattoo it in your soul that's why we're memorizing this don't just say these words after me go home tonight and studying the Lord your God is with you he's mighty to save he takes great delight and you keep quiet see with and he rejoices over you with singing this is our God this is our God and here is the reality that just like that prodigal son who came home and that father wrapped his arms around him that prodigal he went through a lot of challenges and when we leave here tonight you go out to dinner and you slip back into the routine of your week you're gonna go through some hard times you're gonna hit a wall at some point there's going to be a challenge there's going to be a storm my encouragement for you Church is that in the midst of that storm in the midst of that trouble don't forget the Lord's with you it's not gonna leave you or forsake you he's going with you through that storm and he's not only with you even better than that he's mighty to say he's got great power I mean just think for the trouble the trial the struggle that you're in right now I know how much would that change if you just believed for a second that I know he's got in it with you lame but he's fighting for you you got the king of the universe fighting for you he's gonna give you his peace and then here's the beautiful thing and in the midst of that trial that challenged that struggle even when we fail even when we fall even when we blow it and the devil starts saying you're guilty you're full of shame you're not worthy he's too far away I want you to remember Church and he takes great delight in you he's smiling even when you struggle even when you fall even when you fail he's pleased that you stay in the battle you're making him smile keep hunger thirsting for righteousness keep pushing on and he starts singing that song he says there's my boy there's my girl check her out she's still fighting she's still hungry she's still lifted high the name of Jesus she's still telling people that her God is worthy that her God is able he's right there taking delight in and with you through the struggle Church family you are completely and fully known by your father and you are loved by him these words of affirmation these five promises God's presence God's power God's pleasure God's peace and God's passion they're yours take these home with you tonight tattoo them on your soul and don't ever doubt again

Channel: Prestonwood Baptist Church

Views: 1,885

Rating: 4.8048782 out of 5

Keywords: YouTube, Prestonwood, Baptist, Church, Non-Profit, Ministry, Ministries, Jack Graham, Jack, Graham, PowerPoint, PPT, PowerPoint with Jack Graham, Dallas, Texas, Jesus, Christ, Bible, 2019, PBC, USA, America, Media, TV, Show, Offers, Daystar, TBN

Id: O48D228zOTs

Length: 25min 21sec (1521 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 10 2019